Live data from Hacker News

Nintendo is removing switch emulation videos on Steam Deck from YouTube

exputer.com

231–240 of 307 posts

Re: Nintendo is removing switch emulation videos on Steam Deck from YouTube

#231
post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A good rule to live by is to ask "what would happen if everyone did X?" This is an awful rule to live by. There are very few things in the world that _everyone_ would actually do.

This is a well established philosophical concept referred as Kant universality laws. It is a good rule to live by. Makes it obvious that cutting in line is immoral because lines could not exist if everybody did it.

It's not just in deontology either. It's also fundamental to rule utilitarianism.

Re: Nintendo is removing switch emulation videos on Steam Deck from YouTube

#232

It's hard to defend what Nintendo is doing because no one can actually buy old NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, and Wii titles online legally.

Why is Nintendo obliged to provide older content, or otherwise allow emulation? If a company ceases to provide something, does that give you rights to acquire that something illegally?

> Why is Nintendo obliged to provide older content, or otherwise allow emulation?

Provide older content, no, "allow" emulation, yes. It's not even "allow", Nintendo doesn't have the authority to allow or disallow anyone from making, distributing and running emulators.

Re: Nintendo is removing switch emulation videos on Steam Deck from YouTube

#233
post #199

There's a really surprising amount of confusion in these comments about how copyright (at least in the US) works. More confusion than I expected to see on a site like Hackernews. Emulators are legal, including emulators for current-gen systems. Switch emulation is exactly as legal as Gameboy emulation. You can argue current-gen emulators are irresponsible, you can say they're mostly used for piracy, but Nintendo does…

> More confusion than I expected to see on a site like Hackernews. Kinda funny, because... you're here claiming that Nintendo is (likely) doing something illegal here and are adding to the confusion. The thing is, the removals that are in the press right now, especially the Steam Deck one, had gameplay in them... and as far as I know and understand US law and its current interpretation, Nintendo is likely well within…

It depends on the nature of the gameplay footage in the videos. There's a high likelihood that it was Fair Use.

Re: Nintendo is removing switch emulation videos on Steam Deck from YouTube

#234
post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A good rule to live by is to ask "what would happen if everyone did X?" This is an awful rule to live by. There are very few things in the world that _everyone_ would actually do.

This is a well established philosophical concept referred as Kant universality laws. It is a good rule to live by. Makes it obvious that cutting in line is immoral because lines could not exist if everybody did it.

I'm pretty sure ethics advanced at least a little since 18th century.

Re: Nintendo is removing switch emulation videos on Steam Deck from YouTube

#235
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Guilty until proven innocent is what the DMCA is. Perhaps one of the most asinine, imbecilic, and nonsensical laws of our time.

It's also one of the most confused and irrelevant laws when it comes to people discussing how YouTube works. Something like 2% of takedowns on YouTube are through DMCA.

This is true. The vast majority of YouTube takedowns are via the Content ID system, outnumbering copyright claims 50 to 1. But that doesn't tell the entire story.

The reason why YouTube has such a robust Content ID system in the first place is inherently due to DMCA. The less automated DMCA complaints YouTube receives, the less damage control and legal overhead it will be as expenditure.

Re: Nintendo is removing switch emulation videos on Steam Deck from YouTube

#236
post #65

Nintendo really cares about the Nintendo experience, from their games all the way to the physical product people hold to experience them. And it shows. People talk about Nintendo as if a spell has been cast on them (much in the way Apple fans talk about Apple). If you look into how much Nintendo spends on R&D and compare it to their revenues, you'll see they are _really_ serious about R&D. It would be detrimental to…

Nintendo is abusing DMCA to file claims against videos that are not actually infringing on their copyrights simply because they don't like the content. That is absolutely worth getting mad about.

Re: Nintendo is removing switch emulation videos on Steam Deck from YouTube

#237
post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm all for emulating systems that don't exist anymore. But this commenter's level of naive entitlement is beyond obnoxious. A good rule to live by is to ask "what would happen if everyone did X?" In this case, Nintendo would cease to exist. Maybe you'd be happy about this. Plenty of people wouldn't. Switches are generally available and not that expensive. If you want to play Switch games, buy one. If you don't, don'…

> In this case, Nintendo would cease to exist The same argument used to say pirated music would kill music. I hope you realize how ridiculous it is.

> The same argument used to say pirated music would kill music.

Yes, because it was true then too. Well, mostly true. There are big differences between music and video games. For example, the vast majority of artists can't support themselves based on the sale of recorded music. Most support themselves through performances. Additionally, there is a lot licensing of music to movies, TV and advertising.

But yes if no one paid for music it's quite likely that the industry would cease to be.

None of this applies to video games.

But I don't care if you pirate music (I did, at least before Spotify made it too convenient not to bother, which is a whole separate lesson). I also don't particularly care if you want to emulate Switch games. What I find distasteful is dressing up this selfishness as somehow being moral or just. You're not a principled crusader standing up for freedom. You're just a guy who doesn't want to pay for something.

Re: Nintendo is removing switch emulation videos on Steam Deck from YouTube

#238

It's hard to defend what Nintendo is doing because no one can actually buy old NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, and Wii titles online legally.

Why is Nintendo obliged to provide older content, or otherwise allow emulation? If a company ceases to provide something, does that give you rights to acquire that something illegally?

Legally? No. Morally? Yes.

Re: Nintendo is removing switch emulation videos on Steam Deck from YouTube

#239
I'm honestly feeling like my perspective must be bubbled somehow. Can anyone point to an example of the DMCA doing anything that isn't just snuffing out the efforts of small communities or individuals in service of some megacorp's imagined potential extortion profits?

Re: Nintendo is removing switch emulation videos on Steam Deck from YouTube

#240
post #199

There's a really surprising amount of confusion in these comments about how copyright (at least in the US) works. More confusion than I expected to see on a site like Hackernews. Emulators are legal, including emulators for current-gen systems. Switch emulation is exactly as legal as Gameboy emulation. You can argue current-gen emulators are irresponsible, you can say they're mostly used for piracy, but Nintendo does…

> More confusion than I expected to see on a site like Hackernews. Kinda funny, because... you're here claiming that Nintendo is (likely) doing something illegal here and are adding to the confusion. The thing is, the removals that are in the press right now, especially the Steam Deck one, had gameplay in them... and as far as I know and understand US law and its current interpretation, Nintendo is likely well within…

> and are adding to the confusion.

> had gameplay in them... and as far as I know and understand US law and its current interpretation, Nintendo is likely well within its rights to DMCA gameplay.

No, not for informational purposes. Nintendo doesn't have the right to (for example) demand a review video come down just because it doesn't like the coverage -- even if the video includes gameplay. If the emulator tutorials showcased large swaths of gameplay then that would be a problem, but snippets would not fall into that category.

Copyright has limits. Companies often try to create the impression that every review, article, tutorial, or blog post that references their products only exists at their pleasure. But that's not actually how copyright works. You can't take down a news article or tutorial unless it's using those snippets in a way that goes beyond fair use.

Of course, Nintendo technically can take down those videos, but not because there's a legal right to or because they're protecting their IP; Nintendo can take down those videos because it has a bunch of lawyers and can threaten to ruin your life regardless of the eventual outcome of any lawsuit, and because Youtube will take down the videos for Nintendo without ever checking to see if Nintendo is abusing the DMCA/takedown process. But that's a separate conversation.

As always, IANAL, but including a snippet of gameplay from a Nintendo game in a tutorial about a Nintendo emulator is probably perfectly legal.

Post reply on HN