Good morning, and welcome to what feels like the 1097th episode of “Nintendo Gets Some Cool Shit Taken Off The Internet.” Only this time we’re not even talking about a tribute game or piece of fan art, but a harmless old book.
What You Should Know About Mario Strikers' Big Free Update
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Last week we shared some images of the Super Mario 64 Complete Clear Guide Book, a tome released in Japan alongside the game, that was notable for the fact that—instead of just telling players where to go—a series of incredible real-world dioramas were commissioned to serve as 3D maps. It was cool, we all enjoyed it.
To be clear, this book was released in 1996. In Japan. It was never released in the West, has never been released anywhere since, and has not been commercially available for decades. The only way you can purchase a copy, if you have the cash, is to spend hundreds on one via resale on eBay or Yahoo, from which Nintendo wouldn’t see any proceeds. Oh, and also these scans weren’t making anyone a cent.
It would have been the easiest thing in the world for Nintendo to leave this be, to let Mario fans enjoy this thing they never had the chance to enjoy before. Having high-quality scans uploaded to the public domain wasn’t just for recreation, either; it was preserving the book’s contents and making them publicly accessible long after the opportunity to purchase the book directly had disappeared.
But nope! Nintendo of America sent a takedown notice earlier today to the Internet Archive, where the scans were being hosted, who then passed it into the scan’s uploader, Comfort Food Video Games. CFVG sent me this statement after the takedown which pretty much sums the whole situation up:
