Well, there it is. After what happened with yuzu, many wondered if it would happen, and now it has. Nintendo has shut down the Nintendo Switch emulator Ryujinx.
Earlier today the GitHub page vanished into a 404 not found error, with some confusion amongst contributors. But it has now been confirmed on the official Discord and on social media that it's not an error. As stated in the post the original creator was contacted by Nintendo and offered an agreement if they stopped working on it and removed everything related to Ryujinx.
It should be noted, this announcement comes from another contributor riperiperi, not the original Ryujinx creator gdkchan:
Yesterday, gdkchan was contacted by Nintendo and offered an agreement to stop working on the project, remove the organization and all related assets he's in control of. While awaiting confirmation on whether he would take this agreement, the organization has been removed, so I think it's safe to say what the outcome is. Rather than leave you with only panic and speculation, I decided to write this short message to give some closure.
These words are my own. I don't want to speak for anyone else here, so just remember that while reading.
Thank you to @everyone who has contributed code, documentation or issue reports to the project. Thank you all for following us throughout the development. I was able to learn a lot of really neat things about games that I love, enjoy them with renewed qualities and in unique circumstances, and I'm sure you all have experiences that are similarly special. I'm extending my own massive thanks to our moderation team, who have been here through some rough circumstances and always found ways to make light of it.
In related news Nintendo recently filed a lawsuit against Palworld maker Pocketpair.
Additionally, Nintendo has continued their crackdown on YouTube videos showing their games being emulated, with Retro Game Corps recently being hit as they explained in a post. Even though it was for the Wii U, a console no longer supported by Nintendo.
Why do these emulator devs keep bending over backwards for Nintendo? Emulation and Reverse Engineering have both been proven to be legal on multiple ocassions. Literally all Nintendo can do is huff and puff.
Extortion.
Nintendo can sue anyone out of existence, regardless of whether they are right or not.
Emulation is for preservation.
When the Switch will be discontinued, emulators will come in handy.
They had a patreon and were raking in thousands per month. What were they expecting? Why are so many grifters trying to profit off emulation and mods derivative on copyrighted work? Whatever happened to gamers and tinkerers sharing openly and freely on the open source internet?
I'm not a lawyer but looking at various things that happened in the industry I want to share my view.
If they infringe on copyright, it doesn't really matter if they receive donations or not (also it's not mandatory). Either they do infringe or they do not. But, unless they copied bits from the Switch or other Nintendo work, they don't.
Someone may say they circumvent DRM but I'm not sure I agree with that because if you're using your own dumped keys and your own dumped bought game, are you really circumventing something? Of course things change if they were bypassing something without the need for you to have the legally owned unlocking key.
We also have to remember that emulation is legal according to Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. v. Connectix Corp.. Also, reimplementation of APIs is legal as well (Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc..
Of course, these cases are all about the US. Other Countries may have different rules (in Europe should be mostly the same, I think?).
The issue is: are those emulator devs really want to dispute against Nintendo in Court?
Nintendo has billions of dollar of "war chest" available to use and those devs most surely don't. Why would they risk losing all they have?
If a console is still actively being sold, offering any kind of emulation for it is asking for trouble.
Especially if it is a Nintendo console.
I'm relatively certain that once the Switch's lifetime has ended, Nintendo will be a lot less aggressive towards its emulation.
After all, I don't see them going after GB, NES, SNES, N64, DS, GameCube, etc. emulation (unless there is some additional shadiness involved).
I just wish they would communicate more clearly. A simple "do not try to emulate our actively sold/developed console, or else" would go a long way.
Though I guess they communicate through actions here
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 2 October 2024 at 7:34 am UTC
I recently noticed that the suyu gitlab repo has been closed,How? When? I'm looking at it now and it doesn't look closed.
If you want to play Nintendo games, then buy a Nintendo console. It's as simple as that.
I HAVE been buying Nintendo Consoles all the way back starting with the Nintendo 64. I am even one of the 5 people who bought a WiiU.
But they don't really make TVs with composite slots anymore, everything's HDMI now. So it doesn't matter if I have physical hardware (Which I DO by the way), CRTs are dying one by one, I won't be able to play the games I grew up with forever unless emulators are allowed to exist. A future without emulation is horrifying. Entire generations of culture lost because of hardware that is not compatible with modern TVs.
There is no good argument in favor of removing emulators from existence. If you approve of this, I literally see you as no better than people who burned books under fascist regimes.
Additionally, let's say in a completely hypothetical scenario (which isn't our reality, let's be crystal clear) that all games were still readily available and that I didn't need an emulator to play Geist on modern TVs because N-Space is currently defunct and therefore cannot sell their game on virtual consoles while receiving money for the game. There's still a strong argument in favor of emulation due to being able to remaster games yourself. For example: On a WiiU emulator, you can play Breath of the Wild at 8k 240fps given powerful enough hardware. On a switch, it barely hits 720p 30.
not to mention stuff like region locked games.
hell imagine import an game, only to realize that you also need to import an video game and maybe even an tv to play it, then after you finally stole a bank to purchase all that, you still need to learn another idiom....
Why do these emulator devs keep bending over backwards for Nintendo? Emulation and Reverse Engineering have both been proven to be legal on multiple ocassions. Literally all Nintendo can do is huff and puff.
Did people forget that Bleem! went under due to legal fees, even though the court sided with them?
Nintendo doesn't have to win their case, they just have to drag it out long enough for you to exhaust your resources trying to fight them.
I recently noticed that the suyu gitlab repo has been closed, too. Computers are supposed to be learning and creative tools, and instead we have this walled-garden situation created by greedy companies. Maybe devs should host their repos in countries that are not too bothered about what Nintendo says...computers are creative tools, then nintendo take down their own servers of mario maker, because they want to sell mario maker 2 or something...
not to mention "wario ware do it yourselft" and others.
I recently noticed that the suyu gitlab repo has been closed,How? When? I'm looking at it now and it doesn't look closed.
This post seems to explain the situation.
I recently noticed that the suyu gitlab repo has been closed, too. Computers are supposed to be learning and creative tools, and instead we have this walled-garden situation created by greedy companies. Maybe devs should host their repos in countries that are not too bothered about what Nintendo says...
Suyu is still there guys: https://git.suyu.dev/suyu/suyu
The Gitlab one was taken down months ago: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/03/gitlab-takes-down-nintendo-switch-emulator-suyu-due-to-the-dmca/
I recently noticed that the suyu gitlab repo has been closed, too. Computers are supposed to be learning and creative tools, and instead we have this walled-garden situation created by greedy companies. Maybe devs should host their repos in countries that are not too bothered about what Nintendo says...
Suyu is still there guys: https://git.suyu.dev/suyu/suyu
The Gitlab one was taken down months ago: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/03/gitlab-takes-down-nintendo-switch-emulator-suyu-due-to-the-dmca/
It's only a matter of time before Suyu gets shutdown because they continue to use code from Yuzu that Nintendo now owns and the people on Youtube and elsewhere that keep showing off that they can play Switch games on other hardware using Suyu, which will get Nintendo's attention real quickly.
Why do these emulator devs keep bending over backwards for Nintendo? Emulation and Reverse Engineering have both been proven to be legal on multiple ocassions. Literally all Nintendo can do is huff and puff.
Because, sadly, in most justice systems, especially on the civil side, it's far less a matter of actual justice... actual right and wrong... that wins a case, but rather who has the money to go through the process of the court system.
Or, more directly, Nintendo simply has the money to outlast the developers of these emulators in court, regardless of whether Nintendo is actually right or wrong. Their bank account allows them to win by default.
Suyu is still there guys: https://git.suyu.dev/suyu/suyu
I sit corrected. Thanks!
I sit corrected. Thanks!That's what I meant. I didn't know about any mirrors.
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