Talk about poking a sleeping bear. The well-known peripheral manufacturer, dbrand, just dared Shigeru Miyamoto to show up with a baseball bat in hand.
It's no secret that Nintendo doesn't mess around when it comes to people knocking off their products. It's one of the manufacturers who actually bother showing up to court to sue offenders. But, in most cases, the threat of going up against one of gaming's oldest and biggest companies is enough to make potential defendants stand down.
Let it not be said that dbrand is like other companies.
dbrand, a well-known peripheral, manufacturer, made a daring statement with its latest creation, which are decals based on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for the Nintendo Switch. The main difference is that this isn't your ordinary skin. dbrand encoded a series of lines and shapes into the decal that reads, "Go Fk Yourself, Lawyers," which is as audacious as a message can get to a potential copyright issue that will most likely arise once Nintendo catches wind of this.
Considering that dbrand continues to egg Nintendo on, it's highly likely that it hasn't gotten a cease-and-desist letter just yet.
It's clear that dbrand sees this as a bold defiance of the norm and a jab at Nintendo's corporate lawyers, which have been a source of entertainment for the gaming industry over the past week.
The creative yet defiant approach by dbrand adds a new dimension to the ongoing dialogue around intellectual property rights, especially when it comes to gaming peripherals.
We'll find out soon enough if the ever-guarded Nintendo will consider dbrand's creative take as fair play or as an invitation to go to court.
Our bet is on the latter since we're talking about Zelda.
The Legend of Zelda is one of the best-selling video game franchises in history with nearly 130 million units already sold in three or so decades. Tears of the Kingdom, in particular, is en route to becoming a top entry within the franchise after earning near-flawless reviews from critics and audiences alike following its launch on May 12.
Tears of the Kingdom will reportedly get a post-launch expansion but Nintendo has yet to officially confirm this.
