Custom Robo trademark CANCELED

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Custom Robo, a Nintendo series first released in 1999 has had its trademark canceled.

It seems that Nintendo didn’t renew the IPs trademark.. Does Custom Robo’s trademark cancellation mean that it will be unlikely for Ray-Mk III to return as an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? Will the series enter the public domain or be purchased by another company? Only time will tell.

Kouji Kenjou, Custom Robo’s creator isn’t done with robot games, however, since Synaptic Drive, a 3D competitive shooter for the Switch which will be shown off at Tokyo Game Show 2018.

Authors Note: How do you feel about this? What are your experiences with The Custom Robo franchise?

 

thats a crying shame, i realise its been dormant for a while but still a shame havent hadnt many chances to plat em gere

 

This is why I want more obscure /secondary Nintendo franchises in Smash.

With Ray playable, this wouldnt have happened. It's a shame cause CR is a good franchise

 

This was a good franchise! This pretty much confirms that Ray isn’t showing up in Ultimate now... I wonder if Microsoft is going to buy that now? xD

 

Aw man. Custom Roba Arena was a fantastic game. I'll miss the series.

 

Always wanted the character, just because he looks cool in the same way Geno, Mach Rider and Skull Kid look cool; in that Boba Fett-kinda way.

 

This is a real bummer. I used to adore the one on the GameCube. Found out about the series through Melee as a matter of fact. Not a lot of places to go from here. I'll miss you Custom Robo. R.I.P.

 

See you space cowboy...

 

Dumb. I've only played Custom Robo for the GameCube, but despite seeing negative reviews, I enjoyed it.

 

that's unfortunate :C

 

The trademark cancellation date is marked 3/4/16. Very concerning to see this not being renewed in over two and a half years. Maybe they seriously will sell the series? Probably not. It'll probably stay dormant for a very long time.

 

If that’s the case couldn’t the fans make their own game with no legal issues

 

Where do I view copyrights for games?

I'm very curious about series like Hotel Dusk and Mole Mania and stuff

 

Nintendo does diddly squat with some of their IPs and keeps them, why in the world wouldn't they do the same with Custom Robo so that maybe we'd actually have a chance to get a new game?
...Actually, this could be a good thing for Custom Robo in general. There's always a chance of a third party picking it up, reviving it, making SURE it's good, and people who want him in Smash could still get him in Smash, but we'd also get some potentially good CB games again. The question is, who's gonna step up?

 

This is bad, and it's a combination on why I hate Smash For. Pushing 'relevant' series and shilling adverts for recent games killed the potential Smash had for the roster, and it goes back to the Assists in Brawl. When you squander 1st party potential in favor of 3rd parties and personal projects, this is what happens. Custom Robo fans can't get their characters in the playable roster let alone the actual game as a mere trophy and possibly no real way to get the IP back unless another company buys it. I'm not a Custom Robo fan, but overlooking something like that when the same company pushes to remove ROMS and fangames aggressively is a boneheaded move on their part. Again, not a fan but this is why the roster seems so disproportionate now and also why it took this long to get two of the most well-loved villains in the game, one being from an IP that pushed a console when it come out, said game outselling the IP that Nintendo is shilling in Smash to this day and outsold a now A-lister on the console with the biggest install base they've ever had when it returned as specified in the damn title.

Sorry for the italics, but this makes me angry. If your IP isn't Mario, Zelda or Fire Emblem, you better either rally up your base and get vocal like the Kutthroats did or hope you get a title that breaks out from the niche, it's real obvious that the suits running Nintendo today have no idea about their extensive catalog of intellectual properties until Sakurai looked into them more than likely. And I thought Stafy had it bad with the perception he gets now. Maybe being an assist ISN'T so bad in comparison.
...

The fact that I said that proves this goes deeper than anyone could fathom.

 

Sorry for the italics, but this makes me angry. If your IP isn't Mario, Zelda or Fire Emblem, you better either rally up your base and get vocal like the Kutthroats did or hope you get a title that breaks out from the niche, it's real obvious that the suits running Nintendo today have no idea about their extensive catalog of intellectual properties until Sakurai looked into them more than likely. And I thought Stafy had it bad with the perception he gets now. Maybe being an assist ISN'T so bad in comparison.
...

The fact that I said that proves this goes deeper than anyone could fathom.

Are you really going to push some conspiracy theory when Zelda fans are debatably the most salty with roster choices in the past few games? Sakurai decides and discusses with companies who he feels is the most befitting of the playable character status in Smash only in Roy and Greninja's cases can you say it was a different suggestion from his own, and last I checked it's his series to do what he wishes with. Not yours.

Animal Crossing, Metroid, Castlevania sure fit the "Mario, Zelda and FE mold" except, they actually don't.

 

This is bad, and it's a combination on why I hate Smash For. Pushing 'relevant' series and shilling adverts for recent games killed the potential Smash had for the roster, and it goes back to the Assists in Brawl. When you squander 1st party potential in favor of 3rd parties and personal projects, this is what happens. Custom Robo fans can't get their characters in the playable roster let alone the actual game as a mere trophy and possibly no real way to get the IP back unless another company buys it. I'm not a Custom Robo fan, but overlooking something like that when the same company pushes to remove ROMS and fangames aggressively is a boneheaded move on their part. Again, not a fan but this is why the roster seems so disproportionate now and also why it took this long to get two of the most well-loved villains in the game, one being from an IP that pushed a console when it come out, said game outselling the IP that Nintendo is shilling in Smash to this day and outsold a now A-lister on the console with the biggest install base they've ever had when it returned as specified in the damn title.

Sorry for the italics, but this makes me angry. If your IP isn't Mario, Zelda or Fire Emblem, you better either rally up your base and get vocal like the Kutthroats did or hope you get a title that breaks out from the niche, it's real obvious that the suits running Nintendo today have no idea about their extensive catalog of intellectual properties until Sakurai looked into them more than likely. And I thought Stafy had it bad with the perception he gets now. Maybe being an assist ISN'T so bad in comparison.
...

The fact that I said that proves this goes deeper than anyone could fathom.

It's sad to see Custom Robo go this route, but purposely putting an emphasis on niche characters just to prevent their franchise from dying isn't a good idea. Smash was never intended to be a savior for every franchise on the verge of extinction. Just like any other video game, Nintendo and Sakurai want to attract as many fans as possible, and unfortunately, Ray can't stand up against giants like Pikachu and Mario.

 

This is bad, and it's a combination on why I hate Smash For. Pushing 'relevant' series and shilling adverts for recent games killed the potential Smash had for the roster, and it goes back to the Assists in Brawl. When you squander 1st party potential in favor of 3rd parties and personal projects, this is what happens. Custom Robo fans can't get their characters in the playable roster let alone the actual game as a mere trophy and possibly no real way to get the IP back unless another company buys it. I'm not a Custom Robo fan, but overlooking something like that when the same company pushes to remove ROMS and fangames aggressively is a boneheaded move on their part. Again, not a fan but this is why the roster seems so disproportionate now and also why it took this long to get two of the most well-loved villains in the game, one being from an IP that pushed a console when it come out, said game outselling the IP that Nintendo is shilling in Smash to this day and outsold a now A-lister on the console with the biggest install base they've ever had when it returned as specified in the damn title.

Sorry for the italics, but this makes me angry. If your IP isn't Mario, Zelda or Fire Emblem, you better either rally up your base and get vocal like the Kutthroats did or hope you get a title that breaks out from the niche, it's real obvious that the suits running Nintendo today have no idea about their extensive catalog of intellectual properties until Sakurai looked into them more than likely. And I thought Stafy had it bad with the perception he gets now. Maybe being an assist ISN'T so bad in comparison.
...

The fact that I said that proves this goes deeper than anyone could fathom.

Because you don't like the characters =/= Smash 4's roster was terrible? This is the exact nonsense I see on gamefaqs.

Custom Robo didn't have much success and Nintendo elected to not pursue the series further. That makes basic business sense.
Prioritizing more recent and marketable characters over obscure "fan favorites" that hardly anybody outside the core Smash/Nintendo fandoms would even recognize makes basic business sense-- and Smash 4's newcomers were a varied mix (Duck Hunt Dog? Bowser Jr.? Pac-Man? Or is the sheer presence of a non-Gen 1 Pokemon newcomer and FE enough to irrationally tick you off?).

...Oh look, a DK fan using sales numbers to ***** about Fire Emblem. I feel like I'm back on the gamefaqs board pre-E3.

Ironic when Zelda hasn't gotten a newcomer since Brawl and debatable not even a unique one since Melee and FE was basically purely by chance. Lucina was an alt costume that got promoted at the last minute, Roy was easily the most demanded Melee veteran to come back after Mewtwo-- and keep in mind they both nearly made it into Brawl --, Corrin was specified as having "perfect timing" (recently released in Japan, not yet out in the West) and unique moveset potential to boot, and Chrom was both a meme and (based on google trends analysis) more requested than the likes of Geno. You also completely forgot about Pokemon, which has the most playable characters in Smash currently-- at the very least I figure'd you'd bring it up.

Oh no, commercial failures aren't getting new games while recent successes like Splatoon and Xenoblade are. It's almost like there's an ebb and flow.

Seriously, I think you need to chill out.

 

Hey Alexa, how do I buy a dead trademark?

 

Are you really going to push some conspiracy theory when Zelda fans are debatably the most salty with roster choices in the past few games? Sakurai decides and discusses with companies who he feels is the most befitting of the playable character status in Smash only in Roy and Greninja's cases can you say it was a different suggestion from his own, and last I checked it's his series to do what he wishes with. Not yours.

Animal Crossing, Metroid, Castlevania sure fit the "Mario, Zelda and FE mold" except, they actually don't.

I'm not talking about just Smash, I'm talking about their IP's in general. This isn't a conspiracy, it's exactly what it is: By not promoting their older IP's, they risk a trademark expiration and no way to renew it. If they use Smash to push their catalog, why not push their lesser IP's? And Sakurai doesn't own a damn thing with Smash, Nintendo has the final say if they want something in. THEY own the IP, not him. Your comment smells a little fishy. Did I strike a nerve or something?

Looking at The DanMan051 's comment, I think I did. I never said I didn't like the characters, I hated the way the roster was chosen, focusing on relevancy over fan favorites. Duck Hunt, Mega Man, Pac-Man and Greninja were great picks, in my opinion (Lemme put that one there for security). Reread my post again. And yes, Fire Emblem is being shilled by Nintendo, no amount of pointing fingers or generalization will erase that fact.

The attitudes alone with the responses to my posts proves my point.

P.S.: I'm actually a Zelda fan, a MASSIVE Zelda fan since I was four and I see no issue with the roster as is but am always open to more newcomers that aren't Link/Zelda/Ganondorf derivatives. Way to make that assumption, guy.

 

I'm not talking about just Smash, I'm talking about their IP's in general. This isn't a conspiracy, it's exactly what it is: By not promoting their older IP's, they risk a trademark expiration and no way to renew it. If they use Smash to push their catalog, why not push their lesser IP's? And Sakurai doesn't own a damn thing with Smash, Nintendo has the final say if they want something in. THEY own the IP, not him. Your comment smells a little fishy. Did I strike a nerve or something?

Looking at The DanMan051 's comment, I think I did. I never said I didn't like the characters, I hated the way the roster was chosen, focusing on relevancy over fan favorites. Duck Hunt, Mega Man, Pac-Man and Greninja were great picks, in my opinion (Lemme put that one there for security). Reread my post again. And yes, Fire Emblem is being shilled by Nintendo, no amount of pointing fingers or generalization will erase that fact.

The attitudes alone with the responses to my posts proves my point.

P.S.: I'm actually a Zelda fan, a MASSIVE Zelda fan since I was four and I see no issue with the roster as is but am always open to more newcomers that aren't Link/Zelda/Ganondorf derivatives. Way to make that assumption, guy.

But how are "relevant characters" not also fan favorites? They're more popular, so it just makes more sense to go for them than characters with no future (which Sakurai has explicitly ruled out) and less popular picks in general. You're confusing popularity within a small niche and overall popularity/marketability.

It only makes logical and fiscal sense to focus on series that are alive and well/have potential to grow over series that have remained super niche or are effectively dead (Captain Falcon is the grandfather clause incarnate when it comes to Smash; I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up axed in a reboot). Smash, outside of pure retro picks, has pretty much always gone with who's relevant at the time; Lucas nearly replaced Ness in Melee before Mother 3 was sunk into development hell and became playable in Brawl, Ike debuted in 2005 and what do you know he's in Brawl, The Wind Waker came out a couple years after Melee and oh look Toon Link, Fire Red/Leaf Green covered the Pokemon Trainer... Smash has basically always gone with recent and "happening" characters with a couple retro picks stuck in.

I can't help but notice that you ignored everything I laid out; keep in mind, two of FE's characters are Echoes and one of the remainders (Roy) is a semi-clone whose popularity is solely due to Smash. It's only got 4 unique characters in total; I don't exactly see how it's been "shilled" or gotten in the way of obscure older franchises getting characters.

EDIT: Also, I believe renewing a trademark is as easy as doing anything with the game and re-applying for it-- be it beginning work on a new project, or including it in a bundle or re-release. Unlike Golden Sun for instance, Custom Robo at least has a clear spiritual successor already on the way from the original creators. If Nintendo outright let a trademark expire and did absolutely nothing to try and get it back compared to all the other things they're at least renewing... then that tells you more about that individual trademark's value than Nintendo's business methods or whatever.

 

The DanMan051 Not ignoring your posts, but lines like
"..Oh look, a DK fan using sales numbers to ***** about Fire Emblem. I feel like I'm back on the gamefaqs board pre-E3."
Makes me not take your post seriously. And for another piece of your post...

I don't exactly see how it's been "shilled" or gotten in the way of obscure older franchises getting characters.

Corrin. Don't even deny this one. Everyone in the circle of Smash knows why they were added, regardless of what interviews may say. Same with Bayonetta* 'winning' the ballot. And for what it's worth, when you put a character in Smash, that's more or less permanent life insurance, as you said with Captain Falcon. If they can't get a new game, they'll always be alive and well in Smash. Even if they did a reboot, he'll likely be retained just on the notion of him being part of the original 12, and I think the fans of the character will get vocal if he gets the axe.

As a MOTHER fan too, I wouldn't want Ness or Lucas to get cut, mainly Ness. A reboot will present a lot of problems and as of right now I'm worried about where this final roster for THIS game is going and what future lies ahead for it. Worry about cuts and reboots when the time comes.

 

Smash 4 did feel very commercial with its character choices. In addition to the point about Corrin and Bayonetta, Fire Emblem has three Awakening characters but none from Judgral, Elibe, or Magvel. As much as I love Robin, it's pretty clear the series was represented by "sales" instead of "history".

I think it was the Wii U's poor sales and corporate forcing some things on Sakurai. I dont think every obscure Nintendo character needs to get in and popular people like Inkling deserve to get in just as much as Sukapon. But with Mario, Pikachu, Sonic, and Link on your box, that's all you need. One of their faces on the box alone would gurantee a high number of sales. People like Captain Falcon and Ness gave me this sense of adventure as a kid, I wanted to learn about them.

Custom Robo music would have be awesome. No renewal of Custom Robo in a world of reboots and sequels for Shenmue, Samurai Shodown, Streets of Rage, Devil May Cry, Metroid, Castlevania, Megaman, and more is sad. What bad timing. It's the perfect time for it

 

Smash 4 did feel very commercial with its character choices. In addition to the point about Corrin and Bayonetta, Fire Emblem has three Awakening characters but none from Judgral, Elibe, or Magvel. As much as I love Robin, it's pretty clear the series was represented by "sales" instead of "history".

is from Elibe...
Also tbh, Ephraim/Eirika would have worked really well in Brawl, the general art style of FE8 coupled with Brawls and FE8 being the most relevant then...would've been the best time for them to make the cut to playable if ever. A small part of me is hoping Fomortiis is a boss in Ultimate...would be so amazing if it happened. But yeah, I agree Smash 4/Ult seems to focus more on 3DS emblem overall, but that seems to be a trend in FE as well...(see: Heroes/Warriors).

Back on topic though, my only experience with Custom Robo was literally just the Brawl AT, which figures since it's a niche franchise. I guess if they aren't going to use the franchise, it makes sense to cancel the trademark, ceasing all hope from fans for a new ones. Condolences to Custom Robo fans.

 

is from Elibe...
Also tbh, Ephraim/Eirika would have worked really well in Brawl, the general art style of FE8 coupled with Brawls and FE8 being the most relevant then...would've been the best time for them to make the cut to playable if ever. A small part of me is hoping Fomortiis is a boss in Ultimate...would be so amazing if it happened. But yeah, I agree Smash 4/Ult seems to focus more on 3DS emblem overall, but that seems to be a trend in FE as well...(see: Heroes/Warriors).

Back on topic though, my only experience with Custom Robo was literally just the Brawl AT, which figures since it's a niche franchise. I guess if they aren't going to use the franchise, it makes sense to cancel the trademark, ceasing all hope from fans for a new ones. Condolences to Custom Robo fans.

Oh yeah. Oops lol

Also yes, fomortiis would be an awesome boss

 

I'm heartbroken. I was really hoping for a new one on Switch to rejuvenate the series. Guess Nintendo really wasn't willing to.

 

The trademark cancellation date is marked 3/4/16. Very concerning to see this not being renewed in over two and a half years. Maybe they seriously will sell the series? Probably not. It'll probably stay dormant for a very long time.

Then what made this news today?

 

Oof. I guess that makes sense, though as I’m pretty sure the most recent release didn’t sell well

 

The DanMan051 Not ignoring your posts, but lines like
"..Oh look, a DK fan using sales numbers to ***** about Fire Emblem. I feel like I'm back on the gamefaqs board pre-E3."
Makes me not take your post seriously. And for another piece of your post...


Corrin. Don't even deny this one. Everyone in the circle of Smash knows why they were added, regardless of what interviews may say. Same with Bayonetta* 'winning' the ballot. And for what it's worth, when you put a character in Smash, that's more or less permanent life insurance, as you said with Captain Falcon. If they can't get a new game, they'll always be alive and well in Smash. Even if they did a reboot, he'll likely be retained just on the notion of him being part of the original 12, and I think the fans of the character will get vocal if he gets the axe.

As a MOTHER fan too, I wouldn't want Ness or Lucas to get cut, mainly Ness. A reboot will present a lot of problems and as of right now I'm worried about where this final roster for THIS game is going and what future lies ahead for it. Worry about cuts and reboots when the time comes.

Seeing someone irately drag out a sales-based argument makes it really easy not to take them seriously.

They specifically set aside resources for a marketing-based 1st party character regardless; they began working on the character in June (based on the update data), so really only Elma and Corrin would've worked at that time-- and Corrin was from a more established franchise whose game had both released more recently and already sold better with far higher overall sales potential. The only FE character who was added more or less for the sake of it was Robin; every other character has different circumstances surrounding them (Lucina was an alt that got promoted at the last minute, Roy was a popular veteran request and already nearly made it into Brawl, Chrom became a meme and was actually a semi-popular request)-- the series lucked out.

Bayonetta is a different deal, because they outright lied about her purpose when the data says something else-- but they were open and transparent with Corrin being the result of deciding to include a marketing-focused 1st party character.

Captain Falcon's a meme, but how much would more casual fans miss him? People love to dig out MVCI's roster as a reason why a Smash reboot wouldn't work, but as someone more casually familiar with it... honestly it looks largely fine, which goes against the narrative they're trying to push. Smash has an infinitely larger casual audience than MVC which would far more easily carry it through something like that; they just need most of Melee's roster around for the "core" plus a few more popular/unique picks from later on and some newcomers and they could easily market a 30-40 character roster and rake in a few million sales.

Smash has always primarily focused on recent and marketable characters, and the amount of those is always increasing; unlike older more obscure characters who never really caught on/are from a series with virtually no future. Ultimate already added Ridley, K. Rool, and Simon for older characters-- what's wrong with the likes of Inkling, Isabelle, and Incineroar rounding things out? Or is it the DLC rumors, with the "surprising SE character", Steve (from the second most prolific game in existence, behind Tetris), and Granblue representation (which isn't super unlikely, as Nintendo now has a 10% ownership in Cygames and is partnering with them for Dragalia Lost-- and Granblue's also up there with FGO in Japan, making it more prolific than entire series in Smash) that have you concerned that Smash might continue doing what it's always done-- adding a couple older characters while primarily focusing on newer/more recent and marketable ones?

 

LMFAO WHO CARES

 

Then what made this news today?

It seems like with the announcement of Golden Sun, Rhythm Heaven, Mario Sluggers, etc. renewals, perhaps people began digging into other dead IPs to see what their status is. I'm actually very curious about this information. Where do people get it?

Like I said, in a world of reboots/sequels for Shenmue, Samurai Shodown, Streets of Rage, Devil May Cry, Metroid, Castlevania, Megaman, and more it makes me wonder what series Nintendo has deemed worthy.

Pit gave us a quality game after his debut in Brawl. Fire Emblem was brought over to the west after Melee. Mean while Tekken added a Walking Dead character, lets pray we never reach that level lol

 

Well that is a shame, maybe someone else with pick up the IP.

 

People love to dig out MVCI's roster as a reason why a Smash reboot wouldn't work, but as someone more casually familiar with it... honestly it looks largely fine, which goes against the narrative they're trying to push

MvCI was a financial flop.

 

The DanMan051 Memes? You're referring to characters as memes now? Now I can't take your post seriously. I really can't. And not once did I bring up those bull**** leaks in my posts. That's not the issue, the issue was if Smash is being used for pushing Nintendo's IP's, why not give the smaller IP's a push as well, so that they CAN sell better? That's it. The rest is just rambling on your part. For what's it's worth, the casuals lean on whatever the core audience likes or dislikes. Again, being playable in Smash is life insurance, maybe not for the IP but damn sure for the respective character.

 

MvCI was a financial flop.

And as I said, Smash has an infinitely larger casual audience than MVC that could carry it through a reboot.

The DanMan051 Memes? You're referring to characters as memes now? Now I can't take your post seriously. I really can't. And not once did I bring up those bull**** leaks in my posts. That's not the issue, the issue was if Smash is being used for pushing Nintendo's IP's, why not give the smaller IP's a push as well, so that they CAN sell better? That's it. The rest is just rambling on your part. For what's it's worth, the casuals lean on whatever the core audience likes or dislikes. Again, being playable in Smash is life insurance, maybe not for the IP but damn sure for the respective character.

FALCOOON-PAWNCH! Show me your moves! ...Yeah, Captain Falcon's basically one big meme known far more for the noises he makes than the game/series he's from.

It seems like you're really stressed out by the possibility of Smash including anybody for a remotely marketing influenced reason, so I figured maybe they'd gotten to you (and honestly, I wouldn't call them BS-- at this point there's tons of things on the table, and I wouldn't call any one of them unreasonable).

Custom Robo hasn't had a game since 2007; Golden Sun since 2010; Chibi Robo was always low profile and even though Ziplash came out at a near-perfect time it was low effort and didn't do so hot; none of these characters had games in the pipeline or recent successes when Smash 4 or Ultimate were entering development. Those characters would've made more sense to include in Brawl when they were somewhat recent/relevant; why blame Smash 4 for not including characters with no future when Brawl would've been the perfect point to add them?

That's the thing: most of the "smaller IPs" are basically just dead now. If Nintendo was well into development of a new game in any of those series while Smash 4's/Ultimate's development was starting, or they'd had a recent successful release, they'd probably have been considered.

 

Huge F..
The music going on in the background for me right now is pretty darned fitting for this too.

 

So does this mean Ray MK3 can finally fight Hamlet, Sherlock Holmes, and Uncle Sam in Super Public Domain Bros?

 

Trademarks can be canceled? This is new to me, shame

 

I’ll be honest, I’m not sure people really care enough about that series for that for any more news...

 

Cancelled 2016-03-04.

Uh, I think there's an issue with this story, in that the trademark was cancelled 2 years ago?