Kind of disappointing to see how many people quickly choose sides on this without bothering to read or consider the details:

1. As is pointed out in the headline to the article, the body of the article, and by many commenters, this is not Nintendo, this is The Pokemon Company. Feel free to boycott Pokemon games if you hate this company protecting their IP in this manner, but don't go throwing out your Wii U or 3DS in protest because that's unnecessary overkill. There are plenty of great games on both consoles produced by companies completely unrelated to TPC.

2. I know that everybody likes to believe that we're only in it for the love of the games but no business-owner does anything for a loss (unless it is for charity in which case it's a tax write-off, however I think that we can all agree that a Pokemon tournament is not charity). If this guy can't afford a $4000 lawsuit, then he most definitely can't afford to hold a loss-making tournament out of the goodness of his heart. There is no doubt that something about this would have generated some form of profit for him, and TPC's lawsuit says as much.

3. Everything about this event was Pokemon themed: Pokemon games, Pokemon music, Pokemon-themed alcoholic beverages... Most of us know enough about IPs and precedents to understand that, at some point, somebody will get stung doing stuff like this. Charging entry fees and using Pokemon to advertise is probably pushing it just that bit too far. A cease and desist stops one party, suing for $4000 stops anybody from thinking about holding a similar party now or in the future. Harsh, but effective.

4. Contrary to what his gofundme campaign alludes to, this is not his first unofficial Pokemon party, and he is not being sued for organising a single party. TPC is attributing all five parties to this guy's company, which is is made pretty clear in the lawsuit documents along with TPC's strong belief that their IP has been used without consent at each of the previous parties (and given that every party has been called "the X annual unofficial Pokemon PAX kickoff party" that's a pretty safe bet to make). Consequently, this is a lawsuit for five parties across five years, four of which have already happened, and that'll include any profits made from all five parties. $4000 seems like a lot, but not when it's spread across five years.

5. Last but not least, he refused to hire a lawyer to help himself out, and he agreed to the final outcome. He might not like it, but if he wanted a better outcome he should have sought legal advice.

I don't like to see big companies sue "the little guy", however in this case "the little guy" is an IP thief. Just because you're a fan of something doesn't mean you can use that IP however you like. I don't like to see anybody, big corporation or individual, stealing the intellectual property of somebody else for fame or profit without even attempting to contact the IP owner.

If you still feel bad for the guy don't worry, he's already got over $3000 for his gofundme campaign... although asking for donations to pay a fine from violating the law completely violates gofundme's TOS, so obviously he hasn't learnt a lot about understanding how to follow rules.