Nintendo tuo takaisin harvinaisen Pokémon-kortin 23 vuotta myöhemmin kuuluisan taikurin luopumisen jälkeen kanteen: "Olin typerys"

Pokémon, joka on ollut poissa Pokémon TCG:stä yli kaksi vuosikymmentä, on vihdoin palaamassa, kun illusionisti Uri Geller (joka väitti, että Pokémon perustui hänen kaltaisuuteensa) ilmeisesti sai uuden näkökulman elämään. Geller haastoi Nintendon oikeuteen ensimmäisen kerran vuonna 2000 nähtyään kuvan Kadabra-korteista Japanissa, jonka nimi on "Yungerer" tai "Yungeller" (selkeä viittaus sanoo Gellerin omaan nimeensä), vaatien 60 miljoonan dollarin vahingonkorvauksia. Vaikka kanne hylättiin vuonna 2003 Amerikassa, Geller jatkoi sen ajamista muilla alueilla.

Nintendo remained tight-lipped about the matter, though fans noted that Kadabra began to be used more sparingly outside of the games and, in the case of the cards, eventually not at all. The Pokémon was removed from the trading card game in 2002 but will return in this year's Pokémon Card 151, which features the very first game's roster (including Kadabra). 

Tämä uutinen meni rikki PokéBeach-sivustolta (avautuu uuteen välilehteen), joka sai myös viestin julkaisun jälkeen Gelleriltä. 

"I am pleased Pokémon fans are excited to see Kadabra return to the card game," said Geller. "Look, I want to thank the Pokémon fans who reached out to me over the last [few] years. Including the ones from PokéBeach, who kept contacting me non-stop. So basically, it was you and my granddaughters that got me to change my mind.

"Now we can all see Kadabra reunited with the original Pokémon in the card game this summer. I love you all. And I admit, totally open and honest. I was a fool. It was a devastating mistake for me to sue Pokémon. [Kadabra] was basically a tribute to Uri Geller. But it’s back now. Forgive me. I love you all. Much love and energy."

Vaikka Gellerillä on aiemmin ollut riita-asioita, hänellä saattoi olla tässäkin vähän järkeä. Kadabra on ehdottomasti saanut inspiraationsa Gelleristä, joka on maailmankuulu illusionisti ja joka oli jatkuvasti näytöillä menneinä vuosikymmeninä. Loput Alakazam Pokémoneista perustuvat muihin taikuihin: Abra on Edgar Cayce; Alakazam on Harry Houdini.

Geller apparently wrote to Nintendo in late 2020 to tell them he'd changed his mind about things, and in December 2020 the president of The Pokémon company, Tsunekazu Ishihara, wrote a letter of thanks (and to give credit where it is definitely due, this seems sparked by a PokéBeach campaign that began on its forums in 2018).

In August 2022, Geller had basically announced this was coming. "The reason I changed my mind—first of all, I did a stupid thing for suing them," said Geller. "I was just angry that my name appeared on a Pokémon card out of the blue without ever being asked. The most important thing is in these 20 years I became a grandfather. I saw my granddaughters and I thought 'Come on, you gotta release the Pokemon card back into circulation again.' Hence my letter. And what a nice letter [Ishihara] sent back. I’m really happy about it."

This is a very Friday story, in which a notoriously litigious corporation is finally no longer under the threat of litigation, and can do a nice thing, but arguably they also deserved it, so… I'm throwing my hands up. I guess at least Nintendo knows Houdini isn't gonna sue.

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• Lähde: https://www.pcgamer.com/nintendo-brings-back-rare-pokemon-card-23-years-later-after-famous-magician-drops-lawsuit-i-was-a-fool