Nintendo has sent a DMCA notice to Ryujinx forks
Nintendo has sent a DMCA notice to Ryujinx forks
GitHub link to Nintendo's claim - all the details you need are here
The emulator forks which are being taken down are as follows:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
- DuckStation (PSX/PSOne)
- PCSX2 (PS2) (Wikipedia article)
- RPCS3 (PS3) (Wikipedia article)
- shadPS4 (PS4) (Wikipedia article)
- PPSSPP (PSP) (Wikipedia article)
- Vita3K (PS Vita)
Xbox:
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.
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.
duckstation works damn fine on my pixel. favorite psx emulator
Self host, codeberg, make mirrors everywhere
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
Didn't Nintendo just come out and say emulators weren't illegal?
Correct. Nishiura said that emulators are not illegal. Depending on how it is used ;P
Yah cuz they use them on official hardware hahaha
Nintendo playing whac-a-mole with these forks
Why is Ryubing beyond reproach? I don't see them doing anything differently than Ryujinx.
Anybody got a link to a codeberg fork that looks reliable ?
I have no issue with emulating games. But I also have no issue of a company trying to stop their games from being emulated.
Fuck Nintendo
Indeed
If you’re going to sit on a fence, what’s the point in doing it on a public forum? What does that do?