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Nintendo is suing the creators of Switch emulator Yuzu

overkill.wtf

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Re: Nintendo is suing the creators of Switch emulator Yuzu

#351

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Better how? The detachable joycon with accelerometer control are a mechanic in some games (eg. Zelda crossbow aim). I would imagine this would be worse experience on steam deck.

Better as in much better framerate with no performance drops. At least that's what I've heard. Pretty much all the games I have played allowed to disable the motion controls. I think it counts towards accessibility. Personally I really dislike the whole motion control aspect so always turn them off. Zelda included. I'm sure there are other tradeoffs as well. But would love it see what it's like on an emulator. Or may…

> Pretty much all the games I have played allowed to disable the motion controls. I think it counts towards accessibility.

I think motion control is the only option for Pokemon Let's Go.

Re: Nintendo is suing the creators of Switch emulator Yuzu

#352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can play Switch games on Steam Deck!?

Yes, better than on the Switch. (now I'm awaiting legal action from Nintendo)

Get out of here. Seriously? I’ve been playing older system games pretty well on it but switch felt like it would be too much a load.

Re: Nintendo is suing the creators of Switch emulator Yuzu

#353
post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nintendo's NES/SNES emulators have always been their own in-house tools. The NES/SNES Classic consoles did run on Linux, and Nintendo published the operating system source code as required by the software licenses, appropriately. The emulators are not part of the source release, and very likely derived from the same ones used on Wii virtual console (possibly older, Animal Crossing had a NES emulator on the GameCube t…

My understanding is that The "Nintendo hired the iNES Developer" story is actually it's own myth! The person referenced who Nintendo hired is Kawase Tomohiro. The basis for calling him "The iNES Developer" is that, in a changelog for 0.7 of iNES, Marat Fayzullin - the developer of iNES - wrote: "Sound support completely rewritten, thanks to Kawase Tomohiro" That is the entirety of the association. That single line in…

Interesting, I always assumed Marat himself was hired. Thanks for the correction!

Re: Nintendo is suing the creators of Switch emulator Yuzu

#354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s an argument to make. Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty of manslaughter for doing nothing to prevent her son from shooting up his school. That was criminal court with a much higher standard than a civil case. Nintendo has consistently been one of the strongest protectors of their IP, and a defense that says “We tell users not to commit piracy” is about as effective as a sex workers disclaimer that “money is ex…

That case is in regards to a guardian figure who has some level of legal responsibility for the children in their care. In that case it makes sense to hold someone accountable for the actions of someone else because the person in question agreed to that when they became a guardian. Software developers should not be held liable for what their users do with the software unless the software itself does something illegal…

I haven't looked at Nintendo's materials, but I would think they were able to find enough evidence to get them past any preliminary dismissal motions, and get to discovery in which case Nintendo would likely get access to all communications and electronic files (read: source code).

I think Nintendo would be banking that the Yuzu team likely had lax (if at anything) policies and processes for compliance to their public stance on piracy.

Re: Nintendo is suing the creators of Switch emulator Yuzu

#355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No because the primary use of Linux is not piracy. Whereas for emulation it is. It's not piracy to play a game that you've backed up on different hardware than the original developers intended.

My understanding is that it actually is (or at least probably is) illegal to create and play your own backups...

Perhaps that's true, but not because it would be piracy. Backing up media for personal has a pretty strong fair use claim, so I don't think it should be considered copyright infringement.

But there is also the DMCA, and the anti-circumvention provision, which can be attributed a lot more to the user backing up their game than it can be to the developers of the emulator. But that wouldn't be the same thing as copyright infringement.

That said, if the"interoperability exception" applies to anything at all, I feel like it should apply here. You are circumventing copy protection mechanisms for the explicit purpose of interoperability with other software.

On moral grounds, I also have absolutely no qualms whatsoever with someone circumventing copy protection mechanisms to make a copy of a thing they bought to use for personal use. The fact that that could be potentially illegal at all is disgusting.

Re: Nintendo is suing the creators of Switch emulator Yuzu

#357

> As a result, Nintendo ... is demanding that the Yuzu emulator is shut down. When corporations like Uber violate multiple laws, do they get shut down? When Amazon treats its employees poorly, does it get shut down? When Google forbids manufacturers to pre-install competitor apps, does it get shut down? Well, it seems that as long as copyright is not infringed, everything is ok. Also it seems to me that Nintendo migh…

Monopoly is literally the point of copyright. That's its explicit purpose.

Their entire case rests on the presumption that the DMCA protects Nintendo's monopoly over not only distribution, but playback of its console game software.

Re: Nintendo is suing the creators of Switch emulator Yuzu

#358
post #94

Speculating here but it feels like part of Nintendo's beef is the popularity of PC form factors that look like a Nintendo Switch. Most notably the Steam Deck but there are loads of them. In 2022 Nintendo starting taking down Youtube videos showing Steam Decks running Switch games: https://www.resetera.com/threads/nintendo-started-blocking-v... And last year went after Dolphin (GCN/Wii emulator) as soon as they announ…

It would be amazing if Valve stepped up with legal funds/protection there. They do get money from people buying SteamDecks for emulation and well... free publicity if they take on Nintendo.

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Re: Nintendo is suing the creators of Switch emulator Yuzu

#359
When the game isn't be sold any more, along with the console, emulation makes sense.

But the switch emulation for at least 2 years now has been more than good enough to run games of a current gen system, and you're absolutely kidding yourself if you think any meaningful percentage own the game.

The emulator also requires Nintendo data they're not actually allowed to ship (there's a number of resources to download it though), but they specifically coded to support it.

Imo switch 2 is coming and it'll likely be almost the same system just beefier, so going after the emulators makes sense for them.

Re: Nintendo is suing the creators of Switch emulator Yuzu

#360
post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"infringement" in this case means traditional copyright infringement, not DMCA circumvention infringement. Legitimate users of Switch games will have a strong fair use case for this.

While I'm willing to believe that someone like the EFF or similar will step up to provide them competent legal representation given the stakes of this case, I doubt that Yuzu will win against Nintendo given things like the Psystar vs Apple case. That ship sailed 20 years ago and the future is one of being ruled by the whims of major software producers :(

AFAIK Psystar lost because they bundled macOS with their product.
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