Nintendo Updates Its User Agreement To Crack Down On Emulation
Nintendo Updates Its User Agreement To Crack Down On Emulation
In short, if you happen to hack your Switch or run emulators, you may find that it winds up getting bricked entirely.
Nintendo is Nintendoing again!
laughs in steam deck You know, I didn’t really have a lot of interest in emulating old Nintendo games, but now I think I’ll do it just because Nintendo doesn’t want me to.
Thank god I own a PC and not a corpo platform.
As a Linux gamer the idea of unauthorized software is absolutely absurd. Also spending billions on "security" to make sure only approved games are played then approving slop.
But I didn't agree to their user agreement
Preventing me from accessing Nintendo network and store is one thing. Somehow bricking me physical device, that I own? Fuck them
Joke is on them. I have had every NES and SNES rom ever made for a long ass time. I need to make sure i have every N64 rom (even if I don't play that often) and now every GameCube.
I still don't have a Wii emulator or even looked into that.
Dolphin, the gamecube emulator is also a fairly complete wii emulator. The wii was basically 2 gamecubes duct-taped together.
I have dolphin, thank you for mentioning that.
Is there a way to obtain such treasures in one clean swoop? Asking for a friend.
When I have the time I will try to download as much stuff as possible and make a torrent file. I'll share it in a PM.
Note to self: walk the walk...
Steam over here just open sourcing their full ass os and you can literally do anything you want. Best money ive spent
Granted 90% of the components they used in SteamOS are readily available open source components, the componets they did make they did also open source (such as gamescope).
Thats beautiful to hear
And the only digital store so far that directly allows sharing your collection with your family (yes, I call my long time friends a family). I mean, it am sure they are winning the long game.
Meanwhile EA got their like third remake which STILL sucks, Epic trying to buy exclusivity in PC market, Ubisoft launcher is just a shit stain that nobody wants to use directly and is forced on them, and the rest (Bethesda, Rockstar, Battle.net) are not really worth considering as a store, rather than just DRM-checking slop nobody really needs.
Valve remains goated because they're not a public company. They set out to satisfy their customers, not their shareholders.
Yeah the amount of games I buy and never even play, its ridiculous lol, big ass back log and can play anything I want under the sun. If my deck can't handle it then moonlight and streaming from my rig can.
Same. Possibly getting a second
I have 2 because i got the white led. dunno what to do with the 2nd
I don't buy physical objects and then agree to not own them. I don't even like that shit with digital goods. I don't need someones authorization to "allow" me to use what I buy as I see fit. If buying isn't owning than pirating isn't stealing.
So if I never buy a Nintendo product, I'm fine to emulate? Got it
Malicious compliance
Honestly, I’m an advocate for emulation and game preservation and all that, but I’m surprised this is only now the case. I don’t have the nerve to try to hack my device if it’s the currently being supported platform. If they’ve already abandoned it then it’s fair game but the currently active console with your current actual information on there that gets regular updates? You’re just playing with fire.
It’s like taking it upon yourself to make an “HD remake” of the IPs owned by famously stringent companies who aren’t afraid to put the hammer down on these things.
I don’t have the nerve to try to hack my device
their device. Your own device, such as a Steam Deck, you don't have to hack, you can run anything on it however you like.
I generally agree, I only really hack consoles that aren't being supported anymore, but I don't like how over-reaching the end user agreement is sounds like it's likely to be abused
At this point if you're buying their stuff, you're the reason they get away with it and you're the problem because you can't control them, you can only control you... and you didn't.
I've decided that I'll skip Nintendo consoles moving forward and just use emulation if there's a game I really want. I'll buy the cartridge to cover myself ethically and just put it in a drawer.
Since Nintendo games never lose value apparently, just keep it sealed and sell it off when you get bored for a break even.
Nintendo is such a shit company now. I'd be surprised if they ever innovate again. They'll just sit around and sue and release mediocre to bad bullshit.
They always been like this.
Half disagree. They've taken a lot of risks in the past with designs that other companies wouldn't have. Things that didn't always pan out well and became the butts of jokes.
But yes, they've been a litigious company with ties to the Yakuza that people frequently forget as well.
even older consoles will cause your nintendo switch to brick???
They wish they could stop me from emulating old games lol
Fr tho
This is why I pirate.
I'm tired of companies telling me what I can and can't do with something I've purchased.
Anyways. I'll be gaming on my PC if anyone needs me.
I don't really see how the new agreement is any more restrictive than the previous one?
Guess who decided not to buy a switch 2 after this news.
(Me)
I don’t want them bricking my shit.
Ima help out with switch emulator projects now instead of just playing their games.
Fuck em.
For real. What will a Switch 2 do that a Steam deck (or one of its several competitors) won't? There are still switch emulators, and there will be switch 2 emulators.
Steam deck - 98% all games, PC, Nintendo, arcade, etc
Switch - Nintendo games only, massive restrictions from an anti consumer company
I'm gonna emulate even harder now.
Right? This just makes me want to emulate every Nintendo everything from now on.
Groovy. All they're doing is making me more certain that I will not move above my 3DS. At least, not until there's a guaranteed CFW for Switch.
At least, not until there's a guaranteed CFW for Switch.
There is for early models of the Switch:
https://switch.hacks.guide/user_guide/getting_started.html
If you are interested you’ll have to buy a used one, older is more likely to work.
i would rather by a tablet or a pc then buy a switch just to mod it
Well, I wouldn't buy anything but a used one - do you think I'm going to give any money to Ninty's lawyers?
This is the only thing giving me any slight of interest in wanting to get a switch 2. I have an early switch and its pretty cool what it can do when hacked
And how exactly do they intend to detect or prevent emulation?
As of right now, it seems like the only way they can detect a hacked Switch is if its user goes online for a game in the emuNAND. I don't think there is a way for them to detect emulating on PC, unless you're like that streamer who publicly flouted Nintendo's cease and desists
Been thinking of getting a used Switch Mini exclusively to solder in a chip and use it as a nice emulation handheld. As long as it doesn’t rat itself out over Bluetooth or something to its older brother gathering dust behind the tv (which has never been touched by the light of piracy), I should still be good I guess.
It’s unfortunate, but what I’m actually worried about is that world where different devices will report on each other.
Just get a proper emulation handheld. It won't have Joycon's that will drift in 12 months. The Switch doesn't do anything special versus an emulation handheld. There are a million to choose from at every price point.
This Community : but but but. I only use emulators to play my backed up cartridges I've never pirated one game before.
Nintendo could make fucking bank if it was easier to actually pay them to play their old games. They have no leg to stand on since I can’t.
It boggles my mind that they aren't just packaging up old games into an exe and posting them one by one on Steam. Its free money.
nintendo does not want you to play their old titles, theyve been quoted saying "emulation stifles innovation" to me this just says that we cant play old games because it makes their new ones look bad. Nintendo is pulling a call of duty on us, just re-releasing games with a fresh coat of paint and a new gimmick for example MK with its new open world. Zelda with an open world. Smash brothers, Pokemon... you get it. Dont get me wrong i love these games and IPs, but the games have barely changed since 64. I will say the new DK and MK titles look great, but Ill just wait till we can fully emulate switch 2 and keep my money.
Plus i wont have to worry about them bricking my PC. The last good hardware theyve released was the 3ds and wii u. but they only became great when the modding scene stepped in and made them so. They are clearly worried about the modding scene, dumping games, and adding emulators for old titles. To me, nintendo is dead and has been for a while. The dev teams within nintendo are still pushing out gold. Whilst everyone else there is looking to fuck over the consumer.
They could literally just sell ROM files, bring your own emulator
They're not stupid, they're manipulative. In my experience, that's always the case in situations like these.
If I ever get sued by nintendo for some reason I'm making a large part of my case to try and convince investors how much money they could make having games available on pc, I doubt I could win a lawsuit but I will do my best to be a seed that changes your company forever
Pirating Nintendo games is a good deed. Everyone should be proud of it.
How is retropie still able to operate? Seems like 9 out of 10 people who buy a raspberry pi are using it with retropie to play retro games. Seems like something that holds that much of the emulator industry share would be targeted by Nintendo.
Subsequently, if I know someone who knows someone who has a retropie for gaming, what's the worst case scenario that could come from Nintendo shutting down retropie's ability to provide the means to emulate? Will it be fine as long as the OS isn't updated any further? Just run the emulators and roms already installed on it as long as no new emulators or roms are added after the possible crack down?
Nintendo can't control anyone else's hardware, they can't stop you from doing what you want on a Raspberry Pi. They're trying to crack down on Switch modding, but even that's just a cat-and-mouse game.
You will not get in trouble for emulating at home. Emulation itself is legal, it's only illegal to download games you don't own. But it's nearly impossible for anyone to get caught doing that, and very obviously not worth any lawyer's time to pursue individual end users for pennies in damages. You are safe.
What Nintendo wants to do is attack piracy at the source. They can go after sites that distribute ROMs, but those are like a hydra, kill one and three more take its place. Then there's the likes of Yuzu and Ryujinx, where Nintendo claims to have found some technicality about these emulators having something they shouldn't. But the forks are still being distributed, and you the end user will not get in trouble for downloading the fork at home.
Note that for the most part, they're really only concerned with protecting their current hardware. They've never gone after Dolphin, Snes9x, mGBA, etc, because they know those are battles they can't win. Considering how aggressive Nintendo is on the battles they do fight, it's clear that anything Nintendo doesn't go after is something they can't go after.
thanks for clearing stuff up
I'd never thought of it in these specific terms before, but the essentially educational and fear-ameliorating nature of your post led me to realize that it's likely that a lot of what Nintendo's doing with all of this legal barnstorming is essentially PR, and that's all it's meant to be.
They have little hope of actually winning cases or of doing anything more than cutting off one head of the hydra if they do, and all of their safeguards can be and will be worked around, repeatedly if necessary, so from a practical standpoint, they're fighting a losing battle. But all of their noise and aggressive posturing likely serves to scare a lot of less-informed gamers into not emulating in the first place, so it furthers their goals anyway.
I mean it's still important to walk an emulators for current Hardware while we still have modern working examples and can capture Network packets and whatnot but I'm not totally against the idea of Simply holding your insights from public consumption for a while out of practicality alone
Fuck me 10/10 response. Thank you that answered so many of my questions.
Maybe it's just a coincidence that because I switched to Lemmy almost 2 years ago I started seeing more IT related news and thats why im seeing so many more articles about Nintendo shutting down as much pirated material as they can. Or is it that they only recently started this crusade? If so, do you have any more information as to why they started making this a priority in the past couple years?
You can say 9 out of 10 buying a raspberry pie are setring up retro pie for emulating, but 98 out of 100 people emulating aren't using a raspberry pie to do it.