After Yuzu emulator owners agreed to pay Nintendo $2.4 million USD and EmuDeck also announcing Yuzu and Citra removal right after the court settlement became available on the internet, Nintendo DS emulator DraStic turned free on Android Play Store (previously $4.99).
The developer Exophase wrote “I want to make it clear that I don’t have any kind of financial incentive”, stating that the Yuzu situation made it more urgent for this software to go free and opensource due to the implications that legal case could cause to DraStic. Quoting the Developer post on DraStic Discord server:
I just changed the app on GPlay to free. I don’t intend to even have it on there for that much longer but I want to make it clear that I don’t have any kind of financial incentive to not opening the source. Releasing the source in short order is something I fully intend on doing.
This change can’t be undone, so that’s it. I was already planning on this a while ago so it’s not simply due to the Nintendo stuff, that just made the whole process more urgent which I guess is a good thing because I’m terrible at doing things.
Note that Drastic also has a "Linux" version for Raspberry Pi devices usually distributed with retro-gaming focused distributions like Batocera so, this source code release might be a starting point for this emulator to be ported to other architectures like x86_64.
Quoting: ElectricPrismI 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. :\
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 March 2024 at 9:26 pm UTC
Quoting: Marlockimho relentless virtual protests in nintendo's virtual world squares (now that all games are MMOs) would be cheaperGuessing 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.
Quoting: Marlock(zero cost for nintendo users, which are the primary interested parties)Nintendo charges for its online service, though...
Quoting: PenglingQuoting: Marlockimho relentless virtual protests in nintendo's virtual world squares (now that all games are MMOs) would be cheaperGuessing 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.
Quoting: Marlock(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 March 2024 at 7:38 am UTC
Quoting: MarlockThis 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)Quoting: PenglingQuoting: Marlockimho relentless virtual protests in nintendo's virtual world squares (now that all games are MMOs) would be cheaperGuessing 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.
Quoting: Marlock(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
Quoting: MarlockYep, it was all tongue-in-cheekI 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.
Quoting: Purple Library GuyThis 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 March 2024 at 5:58 pm UTC
Quoting: PenglingThere is nothing more tongue-in-cheek than Yes Men. I'm a real fan!Quoting: MarlockYep, it was all tongue-in-cheekI 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.
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