Nintendo has yet again issued a series of DMCA takedowns across GitHub that specfically target popular Nintendo Switch emulators. Nintendo's reasoning is to protect its copyrighted IP and prevent unauthorized distribution.

It's common knowledge that most emulators worth their weight do not themselves include any cryptographic keys - with most requiring users provide their own. However, Nintendo has previously insisted that such emulators facilitate copyright infringement rather than claiming them to be illegal as such, and as of now, no court has formally ruled that using or distributing emulators without games violates copyright.

Of course, emulators offer many benefits rather than simply "facilitating piracy". One of the big ones, being of course; game preservation - allowing future generations to experience games that might no longer be available for purchase or that have been delisted. Emulators can also be a great help to users with accessiblity needs, providing alternate input options for those that need it.

What do you think? Is Nintendo justified in its crusade against emulators or should they take a step back?

Source

 

[mathew77]

My very own message to all the Nin's legals:

 

[Ondrashek06]

Is Nintendo justified in its crusade against emulators

No, it simply isn't. Zero copyrighted material is actually being distributed with the emulators.

The only reason why Nintendo is taking the emulators down is because they "can be used for piracy".

Sure, they can be used for piracy, in the same way that a knife can be used for stabbing someone to death. But both have uses that are useful and legitimate.

 

[K3Nv4]

Guess the Nintendo groundhog lawyers didn't see their shadow.

 

[ut2k4master]

No, it simply isn't. Zero copyrighted material is actually being distributed with the emulators.

The only reason why Nintendo is taking the emulators down is because they "can be used for piracy".

Sure, they can be used for piracy, in the same way that a knife can be used for stabbing someone to death. But both have uses that are useful and legitimate.

except that those emulators are used for 99.999% piracy

 

[whitesword7]

except that those emulators are used for 99.999% piracy

you do realize saying things like this isn’t beneficial to anyone except for those working at nintendo right?

also you don’t have the data to prove that number anyway

 

[Dark_Ansem]

except that those emulators are used for 99.999% piracy

Doesn't matter. If intention were same as fact then all gun sales would be prohibited.

Is nintendo for real this time or it's losers who pretend to be?

 

[Osha]

except that those emulators are used for 99.999% piracy

What they're used for is irrelevant to what they're developed as. You can use a kitchen knife to stab someone, but that doesn't mean it's their intended use.

 

[synckun]

except that those emulators are used for 99.999% piracy

The main point acknowledges that but that's like saying all knives are used for murder which isn't true

 

[JK_]

Sure, they can be used for piracy, in the same way that a knife can be used for stabbing someone to death. But both have uses that are useful and legitimate.

If it weren't for emulators, I wouldn't be able to enjoy a decent chunk of my legit video game hoard collection. Between lasers, batteries, systems dying, etc, I have whole collections for a few systems I don't have anymore because of them dying.

If it weren't for PPSSPP, I wouldn't have been able to play the copy of Tales of Phantasia X I actually bought to play the fan patch a couple of weeks ago. All of my PSP screens have turned yellow, the UMD drives screech (fixed that with some grease though), and the batteries are shot. My PS3 YLOD'd a long time ago. If it weren't for RPCS3, I wouldn't be able to play any of my legit PS3 games. My PS1 and PS2 struggle to even see what a disc is anymore, but thanks to Duckstation and PCSX2, I can still play the games (I even dumped my own BIOs files from both systems before that's an argument).

I'm also not going to pay the second hand prices these consoles go for now. Once it reaches the point where it's more than I paid NEW when the thing was out... Nope. Emulator and disc/rom dump it is.

 

[Ettino]

One of the big ones, being of course; game preservation​

Who are we kidding, eh? Yes, let's preserve them games,......for free!

 

[LokeYourLord]

Seems as if all of the relevant ones are still chugging along fine. Only one of them is on GitHub, while the others host their own repositories anyways since they learned it the hard way from the last emulators & GitHub takedowns. I don't see any of them going away soon, and the only one at risk is Eden, since it is officially on GitHub, whereas Citron and the others aren't.

Also, am I the only one that finds it ridiculous that Nintendo doesn't learn for shit? They tried it before, and what happened? As the saying about the Hydra goes: Cut off one head, three more grow in its place. Nintendo is playing whack-a-mole, and the moles double each time they knock one down. It's a battle they simply cannot win.

 

[The Catboy]

One of Nintendo’s largest IPs be doing this shit

But sure, I am glad their legal department is well founded and managed

 

[Reecey]

you do realize saying things like this isn’t beneficial to anyone except for those working at nintendo right?

also you don’t have the data to prove that number anyway

What else do you think emulators are used for? other than running 100% piracy software. It’s not as though you can say they are used for homebrew purposes

 

[sevenisseven]

If it weren't for emulators, I wouldn't be able to enjoy a decent chunk of my legit video game hoard collection. Between lasers, batteries, systems dying, etc, I have whole collections for a few systems I don't have anymore because of them dying.

If it weren't for PPSSPP, I wouldn't have been able to play the copy of Tales of Phantasia X I actually bought to play the fan patch a couple of weeks ago. All of my PSP screens have turned yellow, the UMD drives screech (fixed that with some grease though), and the batteries are shot. My PS3 YLOD'd a long time ago. If it weren't for RPCS3, I wouldn't be able to play any of my legit PS3 games. My PS1 and PS2 struggle to even see what a disc is anymore, but thanks to Duckstation and PCSX2, I can still play the games (I even dumped my own BIOs files from both systems before that's an argument).

I'm also not going to pay the second hand prices these consoles go for now. Once it reaches the point where it's more than I paid NEW when the thing was out... Nope. Emulator and disc/rom dump it is.

seconded on this point. it’s cheaper to dump my massive collection of rpg games than it is trying to secure ~6 working condition consoles that won’t die before i’m able to get through my collection again. it’s frankly ridiculous the way some people treat these spectacular software solutions, and it’s even more ridiculous that they legitimately think piracy is stealing rather than low level copyright infringement

 

[GengarsGhostlyGiggles]

I bought pokemon legends ZA, and it was one the worst pokemon games I've ever played (battle system was nice though, but everything else sucked massively, second pokemon game after scarlet/violet i just gave up on).

Nintendo, Instead of worrying about emulators and reselling olds games for ridiculous prices. make better games !

 

[ut2k4master]

Doesn't matter. If intention were same as fact then all gun sales would be prohibited.

as they should be, lol

Post automatically merged: Feb 14, 2026

The main point acknowledges that but that's like saying all knives are used for murder which isn't true

which is why i didnt say it

 

[KingVamp]

Reminder, Switch is about to pass the PS2 in sales. These emulators are not making a dent.

 

[mangaTom19]

What else do you think emulators are used for? other than running 100% piracy software. It’s not as though you can say they are used for homebrew purpose

I actually use switch emulators to play the games I own on switchfor better resolution or maybe with some mods. Once I modded my switch lite, I dumped both XC2 and TotK game and save files and played it on my pc. It especially suited my purpose considering how horrible XC2 ran and looked on handheld mode. For TotK, I use it mostly for the 60 fps mod. I agree that some use it for piracy purposes but there are others that use it differently so making a broad statement like that isn't exactly true.

 

[doorbell8423]

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