Nintendo has been actively taking down YouTube videos that feature its games being emulated or modded, which has sparked significant discussion and concern within the gaming community.

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  • Obinice
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    316 days ago

    So you’re saying I should never buy anything from Nintendo?

    Cool cool cool, cool, cool.

  • @Olgratin_Magmatoe
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    346 days ago

    I wouldn’t be surprised if this backfires a bit. The reason most publishers/IP holders don’t go after videos on youtube and twitch is because it’s basically free advertisement for your game.

    If this behavior leads to people holding back on making nintendo based content, it could fuck them over in the long run. If you were a streamer or youtuber, would you feel particularly comfortable making videos and streaming nintendo games?

    I know I wouldn’t. There is no guarantee that nintendo actually puts effort into determining whether you are using an emulator or not. And even for the people who do use emulators, they may not be looking to continue making nintendo content.

    • @tacosplease
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      176 days ago

      Nintendo is going after a lot of their biggest fans. It’s so obviously stupid, but they just keep doing it.

    • @[email protected]
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      186 days ago

      They’ve been doing this for a long time, and it definitely has a depressive effect. Even a big gaming youtubers like Videogamedunkey has commented on how every single time he does a video about a Nintendo game it gets demonetized, and while he can afford to take the financial hit every now and then there are plenty of mid-tier creators who can’t.

  • @yamanii
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    557 days ago

    They just killed Ryujinx too, proving it wasn’t the fact that Yuzu was making money.

    • @jeeva
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      97 days ago

      I missed this - what happened? (Searching now)

  • @GeneralInterest
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    236 days ago

    If someone has bought a Switch game legally, then it’s legal to dump that game to a PC and play it on a Switch emulator, right?

    Sure you could say that very few people dump their own games, but those that do are doing everything legally I think?

    • @[email protected]
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      6 days ago

      it’s legal to dump that game to a PC and play it on a Switch emulator, right?

      Depends on where you live. Copyright law varies significantly from country to country.

      In the USA, section 117 of the copyright act lets you create a copy for archival/backup purposes only. What I’m unsure about (and don’t know if there’s any relevant caselaw) is whether bypassing copy protection to create the copy violates the DMCA.

      The equivalent Australian copyright law explicitly states that you can use the backup copy instead of the original one. The US law doesn’t (all it says is that you can make an archival copy, not how you can use the archival copy), so it’s a grey area.

      Both laws are for “computer software”, but you could easily argue that a video game is computer software.

      • archomrade [he/him]
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        25 days ago

        Pretty sure they would consider this “format shifting”, which is not a valid exception to bypassing copy protection

      • Cethin
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        36 days ago

        I don’t see any way you could argue a video game isn’t computer software. It literally just is.

        • @[email protected]
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          16 days ago

          Nintendo could try make up something like “it’s not computer software since the Switch is a console, not a computer” or something like that. Not a great argument, but they have good lawyers and could probably convince a court that it’s true.

          • @[email protected]
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            26 days ago

            But the game is running on a computer with the emulator which still strongly lends to it being software

            • @[email protected]
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              36 days ago

              I think I somewhat recall during the peak Wii U disaster era, during shareholder meetings Nintendo would call the games for the system “Software”. So, that’d definitely backfire on them I’m sure

    • @[email protected]
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      106 days ago

      Nah. From Nintendo’s position, you don’t “own” the game. They do. All you bought is a license to play the game on a Nintendo approved console. By ripping the game from the switch dump, you are violating the license you bought by copying their software without permission.

      From a practical perspective, fuckem. Your paid money to play the game and if you decide to play it on something else you own, go nuts.

    • @[email protected]
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      36 days ago

      IIRC this is what is currently protected in American law, but the problem is that in the time between now and the Sony/Bleem lawsuit Congress passed the DMCA, which has a provision making it illegal to bypass copyright protection. When emulating any modern console, you are naturally required to bypass the copyright protection on the game, which Nintendo would argue makes it illegal to do.

      Maybe you could get around this with some kind of emulation scheme that requires the console to be plugged into your PC, like the emulator uses the console’s official hardware for the copyright check and then just takes over rendering the game.

  • @mlg
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    347 days ago

    They’re clearing out the scene before the switch 2 releases because they perceive the current emulators as a major threat somehow.

    Which I assume means that the new switch is similar enough in architecture that it would be relatively trivial to ship a fully functional emulator on hardware release.

    Pretty insane because at least in the USA, emulation is protected by law, except if someone can successfully argue that you are bypassing DRM which is illegal.

    In a working system, this wouldn’t be an issue but I imagine neither Yuzu nor Ryjunix would want to deal with Nintendo’s insane law team that could wreck them financially in a matter of days before even entering a court room.

    I hope someone either makes an anonymous dev team for a future project, or gets assistance from a consumer justice firm/group to properly argue in court to shut Nintendo down. They really should not be able to do this because it was already a thing 24 years ago:

    Sony Computer Entertainment v. Connectix Corporation, 203 F.3d 596 (2000), commonly referred to as simply Sony v. Connectix, is a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which ruled that the copying of a copyrighted BIOS software during the development of an emulator software does not constitute copyright infringement, but is covered by fair use. The court also ruled that Sony’s PlayStation trademark had not been tarnished by Connectix Corp.'s sale of its emulator software, the Virtual Game Station.

  • @gmtom
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    257 days ago

    Nintendo is doing everything in it’s power to screw over gamers, yet people will still consistently be like “omg pokemon, hiiiiii 🥺” and buy their slop even when the games get worse every time.

    Like could you imagine if Microsoft did shit like this, the backlash would be huge.

  • @AndrewZabar
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    317 days ago

    Wow! Way to tell the world to never buy your products because you’re petty sniveling greedy and absolutely hate your fans.

  • @CaptPretentious
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    66 days ago

    So the switch itself emulates older consoles… I could have swore I remember reading something like the anniversary bundle that they put out for a limited edition had a emulator that someone made.

  • @MSids
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    97 days ago

    I’ve been gradually building up my Switch digital and physical library and stuff like this makes me want to just switch back to Steam and spend my dollar elsewhere.

    The strikes are absolutely frivolous and Russ sets a great anti piracy example for others. Backups of your own content are protected.

    • @[email protected]
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      67 days ago

      I’ll have to mod a switch purely out of spite.

      • @MSids
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        37 days ago

        I’m going to stand by what Retro Game Corps stated that they don’t want to advocate for piracy. Lawful backup of your own games is protected. The aggression against Russ and others is uncalled for.

  • @GustavoM
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    15 days ago

    Imagine being a long time Nintendo fan to end up being sued because playing their games (and sharing your experience with others) is now considered the same as stealing.

  • Flying Squid
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    47 days ago

    This is what we get because Atari fucked up with E.T.

    (Atari would be owned by Disney by now, and thus also evil.)

  • @OutrageousUmpire
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    -406 days ago

    I have a hard time defending the YouTubers on this one. I mean, Nintendo has been pretty good about allowing older games to be played on its modern consoles. See VGC, the NES/SNES/N64 pass, and the multiple re-releases put out for the Switch. At some point just pony up the money or play the older games on a physical older console.

    • @okamiueru
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      6 days ago

      It’s not the same thing? Emulation of older consoles improve and mod the experience. Upscaling, custom textured, etc

    • @ocassionallyaduck
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      116 days ago

      See: Kaizo Mario directly inspiring Mario Maker.

      See: LttP Randomizer, along with literally any other randomizer.

      See: speedrunning streams literally making the market that Nintendo then sold the Nintendo World Championships cart into.

      Nintendo absolutely benefits from this. They just want to crack the whip and take over. Fuck them.

      Also, still can’t buy Mother 3. Double fuck them. Tons of titles play better on emulation. I shouldn’t have to justify it.

    • Kilgore Trout
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      86 days ago

      Defending the youtubers for… doing something completely legit

    • @[email protected]
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      76 days ago

      I mean at this point my attitude on Nintendo stuff is fuck em, I’ll play their games without paying (if I even feel like playing any of their games) because they deserve it.

      • @OutrageousUmpire
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        06 days ago

        What did they do to you?

    • @Aermis
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      46 days ago

      Where the hell am I supposed to get a N64?

      • @OutrageousUmpire
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        -96 days ago

        Plenty on eBay

        • @LordKitsuna
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          126 days ago

          What’s the point of that? Nintendo isn’t getting any money from that sale so from their perspective it’s literally no different from emulation.

          If there is no legitimate means for you to purchase an original product from the company and give them your money then why the hell do they care if you’re emulating something they weren’t going to get money either way

  • Lvxferre
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    2897 days ago

    “So, those guys generate positive advertisement for our games. How do we stop it, and make sure that public opinion shifts to «Nintendo is cringe and you’re a loser if you play this shit»?”

    Also, what the fuck is with Japanese law, criminalising modding?

    • @[email protected]
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      36 days ago

      You sure is Nintendo of Japan and not Nintendo of america that’s doing it because the american office would use american jurisdiction

      Also, what the fuck is with Japanese law, criminalising modding?

      You state that this is Japanese law but what is clearly happeing here is nintendo abusing laws, please correct that statement of yours because your unfairly criticising the Japanese government for the actions of nintendo

      • Lvxferre
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        15 days ago

        It is the result of Japanese law. Further info here (in English) and here (in Japanese).

        As such, yes, the Japanese government is also to blame. Plus any other government playing along with this crap, be it from USA or Brazil or whatever.

    • @[email protected]
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      36 days ago

      I would assume a company such as sony or nintendo lobbied for that law.

    • Capt. Wolf
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      837 days ago

      Also, what the fuck is with Japanese law, criminalising modding?

      My best guess would be that they’re trying to get ahead of the recompiler scene before it catches a bigger foothold. But also, that lumps in the entire rom hacking and fan translation community, which I’m sure they view as perpetuating the piracy of their games.

      • @AndrewZabar
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        27 days ago

        Nonetheless, the best thing would be to let those kinds of fans do what they do, because it is free advertising. But no, they’d rather be right than pragmatic, so they shoot themselves in the foot. Meanwhile, if they’re so worried that these guys have that kind of serious reach and influence - aren’t those the people they shouldn’t piss on??

      • @grue
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        27 days ago

        I don’t care what bullshit justification they try to come up with for it; the bottom line is that it violates computer owners’ property rights.

        It is absolutely unconscionable, ass-backwards, Bizarro-world bullshit to privilege temporary fake Imaginary Property (IP) over and above actual property!

      • @woelkchen
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        677 days ago

        My best guess would be that they’re trying to get ahead of the recompiler scene before it catches a bigger foothold.

        If AI-generating images from copyrighted training material is legal, then generating source code from copyrighted binary code is as well.

        • @[email protected]
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          46 days ago

          That’s only true if you’re a large corporation doing it.

      • @[email protected]
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        117 days ago

        It’s probably not about that but rather to destroy the secondary market of modchips and save-file editors in Japan.

    • @[email protected]
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      617 days ago

      Typical Japanese bullshittery. I watch sumo, and even when there was no official way to watch outside Japan the sumo association would get youtube accounts showing matches taken down. Tons of industries are still run by technological dinosaurs.