Nintendo DS emulator DraStic became free of charge after Yuzu case

So, SOMETHING positive came out of this dreadful affair!

Wait, he's removing the emulator from Google Play? Does that mean he's not supporting the Android version anymore?

Wait, he's removing the emulator from Google Play? Does that mean he's not supporting the Android version anymore?

There are plenty of ways to install apps on Android. He could just distribute an .apk file. Maybe get it listed on F-Droid when it's open source.

I remember a time when almost all emulators were always free\no paywalls just to try and avoid an avenue of being sued.. then around the time app stores came around, people started trying to charge for them again and I guess because most didn't get any attention/problems it just continued.

I remember a time when almost all emulators were always free\no paywalls just to try and avoid an avenue of being sued.. then around the time app stores came around, people started trying to charge for them again and I guess because most didn't get any attention/problems it just continued.

I wasn't even aware paying for emulators is a thing.

I guess they took DraStic measures to make it free (and eventually, open source) so that Nintendo doesn't come after them and I never even heard of this emulator before


Last edited by ToddL on 7 Mar 2024 at 5:53 pm UTC

I wasn't even aware paying for emulators is a thing.

I got into emulation due to the attention that Sony drew to bleem! with their lawsuits - bleem! was a paid emulator (as was its "bleem!4DC" variant for the Dreamcast), as was the Mac equivalent, Connectix Virtual Game Station, which Sony also lawsuited before that.

It certainly was a thing that happened in the gaming space, and I'm sure that paid emulation solutions must've existed in the business space, too.

I wonder how effective a reverse PR campaign would be.

Could the gaming community crowd fund a NYT Square billboard, or hold signs to create a awareness Nintendo is engaged in lawfare against their fans + The Tech Sector.

I think that drawing BIG attention to what Nintendo has done here would work against their interests and show them to be the crybully that they have become.

We need to make it not worth it for Nintendo to continue their hostile anti-consumer behaviors.

And we need them to know not to mess with the hornets nest.

Downloaded the day before we went to court. Including the git. Sorry not sorry Nintendo.


Last edited by etoven on 8 Mar 2024 at 2:06 am UTC

Sooo, can I have my $4.99 back? Lol

I wonder how effective a reverse PR campaign would be.

Could the gaming community crowd fund a NYT Square billboard, or hold signs to create a awareness Nintendo is engaged in lawfare against their fans + The Tech Sector.

I think that drawing BIG attention to what Nintendo has done here would work against their interests and show them to be the crybully that they have become.

We need to make it not worth it for Nintendo to continue their hostile anti-consumer behaviors.

And we need them to know not to mess with the hornets nest.

Frankly, I don't think there's much that could be done to stop this sort of behavior, particularly because I think (without any particular legal knowledge) they're within their rights to do this. Yuzu devs were caught admitting that they knew that people were using pirate game dumps and system files with their software to emulate (and pirate) games, and they were making money in the process via Patreon.

Don't get me wrong, trying to take down AM2R, Gary Bowser essentially being made an indentured servant for the rest of his life, etc. etc. etc. is ridiculous, but you'd need a lot of money and a crack team of lawyers to take on Nintendo. I have my doubts a 10 second ad in between Crypto and AI shilling in Times Square is gonna do much, nor will protests. :\

imho relentless virtual protests in nintendo's virtual world squares (now that all games are MMOs) would be cheaper (zero cost for nintendo users, which are the primary interested parties) and would hit nintendo's fanbase (closer to their pocket) more directly

gaming news outlets would probably pick up on that event and if it was big enough, traditional and business news outlets might even mention it, all for no cost

...although my favorite protesters are The Yes Men, and what they would say is not anti, but pro-absurd (the same thing the suits from their protest target are saying, but in a less veiled way so the suits can believe they genuinely agree while everyone else can see it's absurd) + a dash of ludicrous

"we hate nintendo for suing their fans"
>>
"we love nintendo so much we totally agree they should keep suing us fans for any work we do that uses parts of their IP to show our love of nintendo games... in fact they should sue us all, more often, and ruin our lives harder, because we're all BDSM and it feels great to be enslaved by our mistress and her lawyers"


Last edited by Marlock on 16 Mar 2024 at 9:26 pm UTC

imho relentless virtual protests in nintendo's virtual world squares (now that all games are MMOs) would be cheaper

Guessing this might be a bit tongue-in-cheek, since none of Nintendo's games have live virtual squares and they don't run any MMOs?

From what I remember, even the hub-cities in the Splatoon games just pulled names and outfits from a pool of users who are online when you log on and then just put them in random poses in your personal temporary local instance of the area. The maximum interaction you have with them is to view a message or such (if that), so long as displaying them hasn't been disabled by the user or parental controls.

(zero cost for nintendo users, which are the primary interested parties)

Nintendo charges for its online service, though...

imho relentless virtual protests in nintendo's virtual world squares (now that all games are MMOs) would be cheaper

Guessing this might be a bit tongue-in-cheek, since none of Nintendo's games have live virtual squares and they don't run any MMOs?

From what I remember, even the hub-cities in the Splatoon games just pulled names and outfits from a pool of users who are online when you log on and then just put them in random poses in your personal temporary local instance of the area. The maximum interaction you have with them is to view a message or such (if that), so long as displaying them hasn't been disabled by the user or parental controls.

(zero cost for nintendo users, which are the primary interested parties)

Nintendo charges for its online service, though...

Yep, it was all tongue-in-cheek

Nintendo is too controlling and too murderous for any in-game protest to actually work..
They'd probably ban and sue users over it, same as they do with emulators, spin-offs...

... 3rd-party mods... ... ow wait, there are none either because their platform is ludicrously closed off

AFAIK (but i'm not a nintendo cult follower) the only pokemon square in a nintendo game that's an MMO was real world squares in Pokemon GO

hum... now where did they place those rare pokemons?! :p


Last edited by Marlock on 17 Mar 2024 at 7:38 am UTC

imho relentless virtual protests in nintendo's virtual world squares (now that all games are MMOs) would be cheaper

Guessing this might be a bit tongue-in-cheek, since none of Nintendo's games have live virtual squares and they don't run any MMOs?

From what I remember, even the hub-cities in the Splatoon games just pulled names and outfits from a pool of users who are online when you log on and then just put them in random poses in your personal temporary local instance of the area. The maximum interaction you have with them is to view a message or such (if that), so long as displaying them hasn't been disabled by the user or parental controls.

(zero cost for nintendo users, which are the primary interested parties)

Nintendo charges for its online service, though...

Yep, it was all tongue-in-cheek

Nintendo is too controlling and too murderous for any in-game protest to actually work..
They'd probably ban and sue users over it, same as they do with emulators, spin-offs...

... 3rd-party mods... ... ow wait, there are none either because their platform is ludicrously closed off

AFAIK (but i'm not a nintendo cult follower) the only pokemon square in a nintendo game that's an MMO was real world squares in Pokemon GO

hum... now where did they place those rare pokemons?! :p

This points to a more general problem with the virtual town square as opposed to the real one, when it comes to popular power: In the virtual one, it's like the authorities have doctor Manhattan. "Listen closely: You will all return to your homes." "Yeah? And what if we don't want to, ya blue-faced freak?" "You misunderstand. It was not a request." (Poof! Crowd all gone)

Yep, it was all tongue-in-cheek

I must confess, I wasn't 100% sure because the bit about the yes-men was actually pretty true-to-life! As an ex-fan, I've seen first-hand the crazy lengths they'll go to in order to try to justify poor decisions from the company, and you got their mannerisms spot-on.

This points to a more general problem with the virtual town square as opposed to the real one, when it comes to popular power: In the virtual one, it's like the authorities have doctor Manhattan. "Listen closely: You will all return to your homes." "Yeah? And what if we don't want to, ya blue-faced freak?" "You misunderstand. It was not a request." (Poof! Crowd all gone)

In-game virtual squares are not actually public squares at all, though gamers that are deeply involved in a game may use it as such for a while, even for more than in-game interaction.

On the other hand, whenever a company goes Doctor Manhattan and makes a big enough crowd go puff, it does become news...

...and Nintendo can only make those people go puff in the game, not on the real world and Discord and Reddit and Youtube and Insta and FB and etc, all at once.


Last edited by Marlock on 17 Mar 2024 at 5:58 pm UTC

Yep, it was all tongue-in-cheek

I must confess, I wasn't 100% sure because the bit about the yes-men was actually pretty true-to-life! As an ex-fan, I've seen first-hand the crazy lengths they'll go to in order to try to justify poor decisions from the company, and you got their mannerisms spot-on.

There is nothing more tongue-in-cheek than Yes Men. I'm a real fan!