Despite this, the one fork that continues, and will continue without takedown is Ryubing - by Greemdev. This is created by an original member of the Ryujinx team. It's safe, the code is beyond reproach (and violates zero laws or Nintendo code) and actually brings helpful updates.

Still...shitty news. And more indication that the Switch 2's architecture will be damn similar to that of this current Switch. Them taking emulators down means the upcoming games have a solid chance of being emulatable on release. But...that's my own (and others') conjecture, so we'll see when the time comes.

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[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 day ago (3 children)

What gives them the right to take down emulators? It's just code someone wrote that happens to be able to interpret bytes from a switch cartridge?

Why wouldn't they take down a company like analogue for example for making a hardware level gameboy emulator?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Just legal bullying. Good luck fighting an army of lawyers that are also lobbying the system. That being said all of that would be civil suits so if emulator creators don't earn money they don't have much to lose but the ability to continue the work.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 hours ago

Nintendo got one guy's paychecks garnished for the rest of his life. So even if you have no money there is a lot to lose.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

IIRC, part of the argument is that Switch games are encrypted, and the emulator uses real Switch keys to read the games. So Nintendo claims that by using official Nintendo Switch keys, it is violating Nintendo’s copyright and is subject to DMCA claims.

The argument is shaky at best. But the problem with DMCA is that combating it actually requires taking the claimant to court. So that’s a prohibitively long and difficult process, just to be able to go “hey Nintendo doesn’t actually have any claim here. Restore my repo.” Especially when Nintendo has a known history of drawing out long legal battles to exhaust defendants’ time+resources.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

From my understanding the repos wouldn't include the keys (or if they did then they definitely shouldn't). But yeah I understand the long legal battle thing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

Repos wouldn't include the keys, but they'd include instructions on how to obtain them. Those instructions (according to Nintendo's legal team) are enough to say that Yuzu violates the DMCA.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago

Right, Dolphin had an encryption key in there for the Wii that was hardcoded in. That is apparently the one bit of legal leverage Nintendo has to keep it off Steam, though being Nintendo, they would likely fight it, anyway.

In any case, the key could be a user provided configuration option, or tools for ripping games could do the decryption on their own. Either should keep the code safe from Nintendo being able to win a case. Though again, doesn't stop Nintendo from trying and exhausting your ability to fight it.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago

The patents on the Game Boy hardware expired years ago, so that's what gives Analogue the right to do what they do. As for these Switch emulators, I have no idea, but I'll guess it's just Nintendo trying to scare people without their own legal departments into complying.

[–] [email protected] 108 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Why are they hosting their code on Github? Switch to Codeberg or maybe self host. And yes I know Github has the most users but they're dealing with something radioactive.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 day ago

Codeberg can suffer from the same DMCA requests but at least is not managed by Microsoft. To really avoid(or ignore) DMCAs you need to self-host/use a vps for your own version control tool like Forgejo/GitLab or use a decentralized one like Radicle.

[–] [email protected] 67 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Just a reminder don't have emulators on GitHub. They work with big companies to make sure they are taken down. Forks do nothing to help since it's easy for them to find now.

[–] [email protected] 69 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (7 children)

Just a reminder don't have emulators on GitHub.

I don't like GitHub, but this is simply untrue. We host the PCSX2 project on GitHub, and GitHub even donated some amount at one point to the project. The following major, top-of-class video game console emulators (non-exhaustive) are officially hosted on GitHub:

PlayStation:

Xbox:

xemu (Xbox)
xenia (Xbox 360) (previous Wikipedia article deleted)

Nintendo:

Mesen (NES etc.)
bsnes-hd (SNES)
Gopher64 (N64; recently started as a successor to simple64)
Dolphin (GC/Wii) (Wikipedia article)
Cemu (Wii U) (Wikipedia article)
SameBoy (GB/GBC)
mGBA (GBA)
melonDS (NDS)

Sega:

Genesis Plus GX (libretro core for multiple)
Flycast (Dreamcast)

Atari:

Stella (Atari 2600) (Wikipedia article)
Atari800 (Atari 8-bit/Atari 5200)
A7800 (Atari 7800)

Misc:

Keep in mind that I've only chosen what I believe is the top one or one of the top ones from major consoles. If I could pick multiple per console, this list would be a mile long.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

We are literally in a thread about a takedown in GH. But if you go to other sites, they have the repo up.

Suyu, Nuzu, Uzuy, Torzu, and Sudachi have all been taken down. Youtube-dl got taken down until public outcry. The number of takedowns since 2022 have only increased over the years. 2024 being the highest amount.

I'm glad the repos above are not yet being taken down, I truly am. But GitHub is just Microsoft at the end of the day.

We are also on platforms (Lemmy/piefed) that have chosen codeberg over GitHub for their main git hosting.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

The issue is more with recent consoles e.g. Switch and Ps5/xbox

Well...If you want to emulate current gen, prepare to deal with consequences.
I believe Sony/MS turn a sort of blind eye to emulators of old gen if they arent hurting sales and being egregious with their presence (e.g. promote what it can do rather than word of mouth)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 hours ago

I think your right as well. Most manufacturers don't actively go after such projects unless they hit the bottom line.

Notable exceptions are old licenced games that may hit rerelease and someone came up with a way to decomp it. The policies are all over the place.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Self host, codeberg, make mirrors everywhere

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

I can't wait for federation with codeberg/forgeo. PRs from different instances sound great. Git is already set up. It will hopefully be a game changer.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 day ago

Nintendo playing whac-a-mole with these forks

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Didn't Nintendo just come out and say emulators weren't illegal?

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 day ago

Correct. Nishiura said that emulators are not illegal. Depending on how it is used ;P

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

Yah cuz they use them on official hardware hahaha

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 day ago

Why is Ryubing beyond reproach? I don't see them doing anything differently than Ryujinx.

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