Why isn’t Sega Overprotective of its Intellectual Property?

Why isn’t Sega Overprotective of its Intellectual Property? https://youtu.be/IwTXCwqurNQ (47 minute video)

Sega is actually very protective of its IP† (such as Persona, and historically, abusing trademark law for copy protection purposes on the Genesis), but purposefully overlook Sonic fan works to garner goodwill as a front of Sammy’s less reputable and stronger pachinko and pachislot business.

That home gaming only made up a small part of SegaSammy’s revenue also led to the neglect that caused several years of weak Sonic games, until the company refocused on home gaming with a series of acquisitions. Even when combined with the arcade game business, home gaming still plays second fiddle to pachinko and pachislot, until the pandemic happened and nobody’s out gambling.

Moreover, the loose enforcement of Sonic IP almost allowed Ken Penders to walk away with it all.

† “Intellectual Property” is an umbrella term covering copyright, trademarks, patents, trade secrets and more. There are usually separate laws with very different rules for each. The term “Intellectual Property” makes it too easy to conflate between copyright, trademarks, and patents.However, it’s sometimes useful to discuss them as a group.

‡ Not an approval of the author’s neckbeardism.

Midwest Furfest 2015 highlights/亮点 (yes, 2015 你没看错)

这是我的 Furfest 2015 兽聚大会报告。你没看错,2015年。其实一回来就用英语写好了,但是因为想要处理照片然后翻译成汉语,然后就推到现在了……Furfest 2016 就要来了,为了不要把大家搞糊涂了,赶在那之前推出来吧。

This is my Furfest 2015 con report. Yes, 2015. I actually wrote the whole thing as soon as I got back, but because I wanted to wait until done with the photos and translate it into Chinese, I eventually deferred it till now… Furfest 2016 is coming, gotta put this out before that, otherwise people might get confused.


  • Singing Artuhr’s theme with Nico! 和Nico一起唱《Arthur》的主题曲!
  • getting into Torq and being very non-torq-y. 试穿 Torq 然后彻底破化角色形象。
  • Talking with Flurry 和 Flurry 对话
  • Skipping to the head of the parade with Saxxon. That’s almost like cheating! Also, the twice-parade. 游行时和 Saxxon 一起站在最前面。差不多快要算作作弊了。还有,游行长到结束以后可以从头再回来一次。
  • Meeting three of The Grotto Creations fursuits in less than 30 minutes! (sadly wasn’t able to set up a photo shoot because just can’t stop photographing other fursuiters. Need to be more patient, grr) 30 分钟以内遇到三只 The Grotto Creations 兽装! (可惜没有能够拍全家福,管不住自己去拍别的兽装去了。要耐心)
  • Greenreaper and Wah the Wah! GreenReaper 和他的小熊猫!
  • Spending too much money at Lemonbrat’s stall. (And a little at Ambarrrrrgh’s) 在 Lemonbrat 摊位上花了很多钱。(在Amb啊啊啊啊啊啊啊那里花了一点钱。)
  • Smaller things 比较小的事情
    • running into lygerah. Repeatedly. 遇见了 Lygerah。 然后再次遇见 Lygerah。 然后再次……
    • @dethbox
    • getting retweeted by SVC! AAAAAAH! 被 SVC 转推了! 啊啊啊啊!
    • yoshinomi. Senpai noticed me!!! 先辈注意到我了!
    • got to see Takun! Kev! Notch! Neybulot (which we should talk more often)! Fiber Kitty! AlysterWolf! ArcticSkyWolf! RamCat! And CanineHybrid in stealth mode! So many long-lost friends and fursuit crushes! 好多好久不见的朋友和我的兽装偶像!
    • Telephone’s panel. I swear, if they keeps that up it’s going to be bigger than Uncle Kage’s Story Hour… Telephone 的讲座。再这样下去人气要超过 “Kage 大叔的故事时间” 了。
    • Ordering a $30 meal and balancing the bowl on the leg to eat it 点了份 $30 的饭,然后把碗放在大腿上吃
    • main hotel is great for fursuiting. 主场地酒店对于穿兽装有优势
    • Dance competition rocks the socks off!!! 舞蹈比赛惊天动地!
    • I don’t think I actually used the 12-50mm lens this con. 这次兽展我好像没有用过 12-50mm 镜头。
    • Back in Anthrocon, I tried to make sure that when I asked fursuiters for a photo, I stop them for only the minimal time. Now I’m much less afraid to stop fursuiters for a longer time, and ask them to pose, or move around for better lighting (didn’t get used to bouncing my flash on ceilings until Monday). 在 Anthrocon 那次,每当问兽装表演者拍照的时候,我尽力减少停下他们的时间。现在我不那么害怕多停他们一会儿,问他们摆姿势,或者走到光照更好的地方(到周一我才适应用天花板反射闪光灯的光。)
    • even though it’s a big con, and mostly doing fursuit-related activities, I ended up chatting so much that my throat is sore! 虽然兽展很大,我也主要在做兽装相关的活动,最后还是聊了不少的天,以至于嗓子都有些沙哑。
    • TSA Agent giving announcements. Not notable in itself, but his rapid delivery and cool demeanor is almost entertaining. I appreciate the effort in trying to make travel better for all (2016 edit: especially in the holiday season), even though being TSA is a thankless job for the most part. TSA 安检人员发表的通告。通告本身并没有什么,但是他沉着的态度和讲话的速度快赶上相声了。我感激他在努力让大家的出行更好(2016注:特别是这是在节日期间),即使 TSA 是一个没什么人感谢的工作。
  • Disappointments 失望的地方
    • didn’t catch Fibre in suit (did get him out of suit && in the headless lounge) 没有在穿兽装的时候见到 Fibre (兽装休息室里面和没穿兽装的时候见到了)
    • didn’t see Fiber at all 根本没见见到 Fiber
    • didn’t get to do more than say Hi to ruki 和 Ruki 只是打了个招呼
    • Didn’t meet OMG fursuits, Trademark Fox, or
    • Only able to come in at friday night. Also, registration closed( who thinks that’s a good idea…) 周五晚上才能到。到的时候注册关门了
    • Forever alone while eating. (But I did use this chance to meet new people!) 吃饭的时候永远单身。 (遇见新同好的好机会!)
    • room mishaps. 房间问题。

Simply so much joy, nothing in the world could compare! Even when things aren’t going as planned I had lots of fun. 如此欢乐,世界上没有任何可以比拟!即使计划落空的时候,我也很高兴。

The atmosphere is so friendly, I can’t help being a bit friendlies too. I don’t know how many times people thanked me for taking their photos. To that I want to say:
大家都这么友好,这氛围让我也变得更和蔼了。我不知道多少次有人感谢我拍他们的照片。我只想说:

Thanks to everybody on staff and attended. Everyone I meet might not be perfect, but all are so approachable, enthusiastic, and truly example of the Furfest code of conduct : “be excellent to each other”. you make the world!
感谢所有主办和参加的人。你们也许并不完美,但是所有人都如此易于接近,如此热心,确实是 Furfest 守则 “卓越地互相对待”最真实的表现。世界因你们而精彩!

—–

翻译注记

Lemonbrat 上买的蝙蝠背心并没有怎么用 (但是还是觉得很享受) Didn’t use the bat hoodie from Lemonbrat that much (but it’s still enjoyable)

Amber那里买的衬衫有点小,也并没有怎么用 T-shirt from Amber was a little tight, didn’t see much use either

找不到合适的词翻译“fursuiter” can’t find an appropriate word for “fursuiter”

… and why I don’t update my journals

They take forever to write. 写的没完没了。

Really. The last journal (spur of the moment) took me better part of an hour. 真的。上一篇日志(心血来潮)几乎用了一个小时。

比起 Twitter 上 140 字的微日志,写长篇文真的很烦,特别是还要用双语写,时间变成双倍。Compared to 140 character microblogs on Twitter, it’s such a hassle to write long form, especially bilingually, which doubles the time. I dread the day I learn how to French… 学会法语会不会更糟糕?

I actually wrote my Midwest Furfest con report in English just after the con, but I waited to process photos to go with them. I’ll also need to translate when I do publish. 实际上 Furfest 的兽展报告,展会一结束就用英文写好了,但是我当时想等处理完照片一起放上来。发布的时候还要翻译。

这就是我的日志为什么从来不更新的原因。This is why I never update my journals.

Of tropes, readers and storytellers

Binge-read the fifth book of Maoyu Maoh Yuusha for the umpteenth time tonight. 今天晚上第不知道多少次再次高速阅读了《魔王勇者》第五集。

The appendix had the author of the book discussing creating novels with the author of novelizations of Earthbound and Dragon Quest. 附录中该书的作者与《Mother》 《勇者斗恶龙》小说版的作者谈论创作小说。

《魔王勇者》是一部很奇特的小说。Maoyu is a strange novel. Originally posted on 2channel (which is like 4chan), it’s a story about the Hero and the Demon King (who’s female, and an economist) together, trying to save the world from war and economic ruin. 最早贴出在 2channel 上,它是一个勇者和魔王 (女性、经济学家) 一起试着拯救战火和经济垮台中的世界的故事。更加奇特的是,这是一部没有旁白,没有叙述,只有对话、音效和场景切换的小说,也就是剧本体。而人物的名字则是例如 “勇者”“魔王”“年轻商人”“总管”这样的职位名字。Even stranger, it has no narrations, no descriptions, only dialogue, sound effects and scene changes, in other words, a novel in the form of a screenplay. And the names of all the characters are titles like “Hero”, “Demon King”, “Young Merchant”, “Butler”. But, Richard Eisenbeis writes for Kotaku that while these prototypical roles, who are familiar to many gamers and readers, start out generic, soon they develop into deep characters in this unconventional story. 这些玩家和读者无比熟悉的角色,在这不寻常的故事中,很快就发展成了相当惊喜的人物。

The discussion observed that creating an engaging story is the work of both the writer and the reader. 谈话中提到创作令人不能自拔的故事,要作者和读者配合完成才行。所以真希会尽量拿出读者服务精神,作为作者主动把手伸过去,尽力能够拿出读者脑中已有的概念,让读者能够感受到例如“啊,魔王大人好可爱”。So Mamare would make an effort in fanservice, extend his hands as an author trying hard to invoke the existing concepts in the reader’s mind, and let the reader feel, for example, “oh, Her Majesty the Demon Queen is so adorable”.

To me this is a strange way to use the word fanservice. “读者服务”一词这样用我觉得很奇怪。一般“读者服务”总觉得有些“让读者简单的满足”的感觉,例如绘胸大的女孩子。Usually “fanservice” has that “satisfy the reader with the most expedient way possible” feel, like drawing a girl with a full buxom. Here though the word is used to describe something else. 但这里“读者服务”似乎指的是别的什么。

Tvtropes.org (a massive time-waster, never go there) is a wiki, that analyzes and catalogues elements of story telling, many which a creator can rely on the viewer respond in some way. The wiki calls those elements tropes. TvTropes.org (绝对的浪费时间,不要去那里) 是一个 wiki,主要分析整理讲故事中的元素,其中很多元素创作者可以有信心地预计观众会如何反应。With all this discussion about storytelling, it’s disappointing the page of the Maoyu characters is mostly based on how they are portrayed in the comic, instead of the novel, since it has never been translated into English. 可惜的是,虽然小说的附录有这么多关于讲故事的讨论,这个分析故事网站的《魔王勇者》的角色描述页基本上是根据漫画而不是小说完成的,因为小说从来没有被翻译成英文过。

But you can watch the anime on Crunchyroll. And you should. 但是(在北美)动画可以在 Crunchyroll 上观看。你也应该看看。

And Log Horizon, also by Mamare, is available in English in book and dubbed animation, so check that out too. 同为真希作的的《记录的地平线》,小说和动画都有英文版,也可以看一看。

Going to Midwest Furfest this weekend. 准备去Midwest Furfest

I’m going to Midwest Furfest next week, coming in on Friday night and leaving on Monday afternoon.
下周末准备去Midwest Furfest, 周五晚上到达,周日下午离开。

I’ll be bringing my shiba fursuit, and one other “mystery” suit. I’m okay with hugs and touching, but please, no tickling! 🙂
我会带上我的柴犬兽装,还有另外一个“神秘”兽装。想摸摸或抱抱我都没有问题,但我怕痒 🙂

Out of suit, I’m Asian, male, black straight hair with a ponytail, what should be a rare sight in Chicago. Or you could just check the badge that says “Kakurady” (no badge name shenanigans). Best way to find me is sending me message on Twitter or Google+: https://twitter.com/kakurady
不穿兽装的时候我应该是芝加哥罕见的长发亚洲男性。当然看胸卡更简单,我的胸卡上写着“Kakurady” 。联系我最好的方法是在Twitter上给我发消息。

You can find the panels I’ll likely be attending at https://mff2015.sched.org/kakurady . This time, instead of spending all time at panels, I’m going to try spending more time just roaming in the hallways fursuiting and/or getting to know people.
日程安排请见这里: https://mff2015.sched.org/kakurady。这次我想试一下不要把所有时间都用在面板讲座上,留一些时间出来兽装趴趴走/和大家面对面交流!

I hope to take lots of photos! And uh… if anyone’s interested, I’d like to borrow/lend/swap fursuits? Let me know if you’d like me to try your suit, or if you’d like to try mine.
希望这次能够照很多照片!另外……呃,有没有人愿意试穿/出借兽装?如果你愿意试穿我的兽装或者愿意让我试穿你的兽装,请告诉我~!