Quietly following on the heels of the injunction ruling against Yuzu emulator that resulted in its removal and ceased development, popular Nintendo 3DS emulator Citra is following suit. Yuzu's parent company, Tropic Haze LLC, is also the owner of the development team for Citra 3DS emulator, and because of the recent ruling, Citra has also met the same fate. As of current writing, Citra has been removed from download on its official website, and the Citra GitHub repository has been taken down as well.

An official statement from Bunnei, a representative for both Citra and Yuzu, was posted on the Discord channel for Yuzu, saying that they never intended to allow piracy to impact Nintendo, and that playing games on "unauthorized hardware" is harmful, so development on both emulators will cease as of today. Citra's Discord server has also locked itself down, following the announcement.

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[osm70]

As far as I'm aware though it is actually legal to make backups, you just can't distribute them, but you can make them for your own personal use, same as with any other media.

Post automatically merged: Mar 5, 2024

TBH I find it hard to take this seriously, it looks like a troll pasta through and through. If it was actually serious though, I've been friends with kids like this and honestly it's rarely the kids fault, it's just that if you raize your children with no trust you build between your self and the child, what the fuck do you expect to happen later. In most cases like this, I would blame the parents, especially because there was no grounds for smashing that 3DS at all. Sure, take it away if you must, but smashing it was unnecessary.

Replying to the bolded part: You are legally allowed to make a perfect 1:1 (unmodified) copy. However, if there's any copy protection in place, breaking it is not legal. So, yes... you can dump a game, but not actually play it. Assuming you find a way of dumping the game without modding the 3DS itself in the first place.

 

[deinonychus71]

You're entitled to defend Nintendo all you want, but emulation is ultimately how we'll be able to play old games because the consoles or cartridges/discs will eventually rot.

Besides, emulation has the bonus feature of making improvements to the picture quality whereas the original console you'll get that composite picture quality.

I grew up in the 90's though I'll tell you I don't want to play old games with blurry video quality. Just no.

I'm from the 80s, I think low resolution on blurry CTR has a certain charm to it, but that's beside the point.

I don't defend Nintendo going after emulators. Heck no. Nowhere did I do that. I think emulators should be protected because at this time they are the only way to preserve the gameplay experience of dying consoles.
But I do blame people who misuse emulators, especially current gen so that they don't have to pay for games readily available. They gave Nintendo all the proof they needed to shut it down for facilitating piracy. You can't possibly legally own games that aren't released yet.
Citra would still be alive if it wasn't for these people, putting all the blame on Nintendo is too easy.

 

[Ligeia]

But I do blame people who misuse emulators, especially current gen so that they don't have to pay for games readily available. They gave Nintendo all the proof they needed to shut it down for facilitating piracy. You can't possibly legally own games that aren't released yet.
Citra would still be alive if it wasn't for these people, putting all the blame on Nintendo is too easy.

You have a fair point, but to me the question is not about the legality of it. Of course Nintendo is in the right from a strictly legal point of view. The question is : is it morally appropriate ? Is it proportionate to the harm actually caused to their business ? I don't think so and I believe most people feel it and that's why Nintendo gets more and more hate. They are abusing their power.

And the yuzu/citra team was not the only one making profit from their emulators. Doesn't mean the other companies feel the urge to come after them (so far I guess).

It's one of those things people believe, but isn't really true. Without going too much in detail: the law often quoted for creating backups applies to computer software, not video games. That law also stated that you can create a backup for archival purposes, but not one that you can use however you please. I also believe, though not sure, that backups have to be created in the same way (so disc to disc, not disc to hdd). And offcourse, modifying them (cracking copy protection) is not covered by that law.

But more important: when you buy a game, you actually buy just the disk/cartridge and a license to use it. Many games often show a whole list to which you have to agree on, before playing, or has links to the user agreement. Those agreements often state that you cannot create copies/backups.

Offcourse, laws are different at some places, but in general it's safe to asume you are in fact not allowed to create a backup.

Interesting. I was one of those people.

 

[Viri]

I actually didn't know the same team working on Yuzu, worked on Citra. lol

 

[Mudb0y]

I actually didn't know the same team working on Yuzu, worked on Citra. lol

Neither, Yuzu wasn't a massive loss to me but Citra hits a lot closer to home. I got a lot more pissed when I found that out.

 

[shinwg]

View attachment 423872

Looks like we`re safe.

How ? I checked the s is already closed

 

[LightBeam]

don't even pirate them.

Why not ?

 

[Spamzilla]

I'll never get to play Luigi's Mansion 2 now...

 

[ertaboy356b]

I'm mad and more concerned about the 3DS emulator shutting down, personally.

Yeah it sucks that one of the more mature emulators got shutdown but that's just how it is. Take the learnings of the pioneer and make something better and more accurate. That's how emulation has always been. If you think Citra is good, then you haven't seen some transitions like ZSNES -> SNES9X -> BSNES (Cycle Accurate emulator). SNES9X is the best of both world, somehow accurate but performant. ZSNES is less accurate but very performant white BSNES is the most accurate and the slowest. In this take, I find Citra like ZSNES, less accurate and performant, newer emulators will be like SNES9X in the future. It's like DeSMumE vs MelonDS.

Post automatically merged: Mar 6, 2024

Replying to the bolded part: You are legally allowed to make a perfect 1:1 (unmodified) copy. However, if there's any copy protection in place, breaking it is not legal. So, yes... you can dump a game, but not actually play it. Assuming you find a way of dumping the game without modding the 3DS itself in the first place.

This, you are allowed to make a backup of the cart but since there's a copy protection, you cannot use it. If you somehow found a way to copy that backup into another cart, then the game can be played back on the hardware. There are ways to dump the game without 3DS but of course, these are encrypted and cannot be used on an emulator without a key.

Post automatically merged: Mar 6, 2024

I'll never get to play Luigi's Mansion 2 now...

Just play it on the Switch.

 

[projectcitrus]

View attachment 423872

Looks like we`re safe.

Plenty of archives available as well as citra-emulatordotcom

 

[DarkKaine]

And get fucked by Nintendo too? I highly doubt anyone with a brain would do it. One way or another they will have to start over with a different name (not sure if "Yuzu" and "Citra" are trademarked) and codebase.

Just host your repo on a server in Romania with identity protection. Never give out your real name. Accept donations only in crypto and you're all set. I used to run a server like that and the CEO of the company said he receives about 300 DMCA takedown requests a month which they simply ignore. DMCA's have the same utility as toilet paper in Romania.

 

[MightySashiman]

Nothing you said had anything to do with "people's rights".
"Pirating a game because it doesn't cost them anything" isn't a right.
"Testing a game before buying" isn't a right.
Entertainment is a luxury, there is no "right" to be automatically granted access to it.
It's a lesson people normally learn early in life.

Being mad and threatening companies because you don't get to play what you want when you want isn't going to change that. On the contrary. You're giving ground for their actions.

Now if you and your friend want to pirate for whatever reason, whether you think them ethical or not, that's your problem really, nobody is gonna go after you. But let's drop the act, you do it for yourself, because it's free and you don't wanna pay the right to play the game, and for nothing else. Certainly not for game preservation or to make any sort of ethical statement.

don't bother there is no possible rational reasoning space. Have had the same discussions on r/piracy on reddit. The people crying about how emulation is RIGHT and PIRACY FTW are the same that will be whining because they are underpaid (that is, the small proportion that actually have a job and actually contribute to the economy...)

 

[Bladexdsl]

are you forgetting the $2.4mil fine from nintendo? pretty sure they’re not running away with it

that's only a dip in the ocean from what them bastards made from their patron!

 

[Lumstar]

don't bother there is no possible rational reasoning space. Have had the same discussions on r/piracy on reddit. The people crying about how emulation is RIGHT and PIRACY FTW are the same that will be whining because they are underpaid (that is, the small proportion that actually have a job and actually contribute to the economy...)

It's clear we're dealing with two widely different groups of people. I can relate to many things. Fan translating a licensed game unlikely to ever be picked up, creating a private server for a shut down MMO, etc.

But some folks are so entitled, they actively defend emulating brand new releases currently being sold.

 

[LingFox]

Where is anonymous when you need them

Being hired by big corpo, that's where they are.

Nintendo's attack on emulators could lead to severe consequence, such as dangerous cyberattack on all of Nintendo's infrastructure like happened to Sony in 2011.

yeah you wish. The best outcome would be their e-shop storefront being invaded with all sorts of shovelware, to the point of overloading their servers.
No, the real thing is that we should get together and create a real alternative, or decompilation projects for all nintendo IPs.

But some folks are so entitled, they actively defend emulating brand new releases currently being sold

I should be able to play the game I own wherever I want, especially if it runs like ass on the official hardware.

The people crying about how emulation is RIGHT and PIRACY FTW are the same that will be whining because they are underpaid (that is, the small proportion that actually have a job and actually contribute to the economy...)

so you're mocking people based on their wages now? before you claim that it's "hypocritical", you should stop and think: "Should I buy this 80$ game, or should I pay rent this month." Regional prices are also all sorts of messed up. You got to pay 80$ even in countries where you make the equivalent of 30$/month but still get priced 80$. also some rogue devs showed how the claim that "games are getting more expansive to make" was a bullshit hoax made by PR. I swear, first worlders can't understand what's going on outside of their safe space.

 

[Bladexdsl]

the best outcome would be their e-shop storefront being invaded with all sorts of shovelware

that already happened!

 

[JeepX87]

yeah you wish. The best outcome would be their e-shop storefront being invaded with all sorts of shovelware, to the point of overloading their servers.

No one know about situation with Sony until hackers attacked their infrastructure and we don't know with Nintendo, so hackers are only one is familiar with security and Nintendo's infrastructure.

I'm saying about possible consequence but it don't means that is going to happen, so it is up to hackers.

There is no doubt that most members in here would laugh if Nintendo's infrastructure gets shut down by cyberattack.

 

[BeniBel]

https://www.nintendo.com/sg/support/switch/eula/usage_policy.html

This is Nintendo's EULA, to which you agree to when using the Switch or its games.

（1) The Software is licensed, not transferred to you

（4）You may not copy, duplicate, publish, transmit publicly, lease, modify or reverse engineer the Software.

An EULA trumps acts 117 of the Copy Protection act, which states you can create archive copies for computer software. You can fight it, but as long as you don't go and sue Nintendo in an attempt to overthrow their EULA, this are the legal rules you agreed on when buying your switch (game)

Other consoles such as the 3DS has similar EULA's.

So stop yelling that you're entitled to emulate your games, create backups or use mods/patches, because legally, you're not.

 

[LingFox]

No one know about situation with Sony until hackers attacked their infrastructure and we don't know with Nintendo, so hackers are only one is familiar with security and Nintendo's infrastructure.

I'm saying about possible consequence but it don't means that is going to happen, so it is up to hackers.

There is no doubt that most members in here would laugh if Nintendo's infrastructure gets shut down by cyberattack.

It's not that I don't agree, but it's simply that times changed and I seriously doubt someone would be able to form the new blood to forcefully hold nintendo accountable of their action without that group turning to a shitshow mere minutes it gets created, with almost everyone using either that spyware discord (with no Open Source alternative available, and no, matrix's clients aren't discord alts) or some matrix node which is so public and insecure that everyone can simply login and basically log all of their actions, there's a need for another paradigm shift where you start by teaching people good OpSec before acting.

I mean, just look at the pirate scene, it's a joke compared to what it was a couple of years ago. But this is offtopic at best; I seriously hope someone will be able to hold Nintendo accountable for their actions, this is all unacceptable.

https://www.nintendo.com/sg/support/switch/eula/usage_policy.html

This is Nintendo's EULA, to which you agree to when using the Switch or its games.

（1) The Software is licensed, not transferred to you

（4）You may not copy, duplicate, publish, transmit publicly, lease, modify or reverse engineer the Software.

An EULA trumps acts 117 of the Copy Protection act, which states you can create archive copies for computer software. You can fight it, but as long as you don't go and sue Nintendo in an attempt to overthrow their EULA, this are the legal rules you agreed on when buying your switch (game)

Other consoles such as the 3DS has similar EULA's.

So stop yelling that you're entitled to emulate your games, create backups or use mods/patches, because legally, you're not.

This is interesting, although this is a moot point when you consider that other software such as most MMOs, who are well alive just because people keeps voiding that eula. EULA is not a law, and it's not always enforceable. not a source, but an interesting reading regardless;
also keep in mind that EULAs are not valid in all countries.
Good luck enforcing that EULA on countries such as the Bahamas.
more interesting readings: article on legamart.com; some quora discourse (lol)
TL;Dr: EULA =/= Legislation. So stop being so entitled in telling people to not be entitled, it's infuriating.

 

[Sphaa]

https://www.nintendo.com/sg/support/switch/eula/usage_policy.html

This is Nintendo's EULA, to which you agree to when using the Switch or its games.

（1) The Software is licensed, not transferred to you

（4）You may not copy, duplicate, publish, transmit publicly, lease, modify or reverse engineer the Software.

An EULA trumps acts 117 of the Copy Protection act, which states you can create archive copies for computer software. You can fight it, but as long as you don't go and sue Nintendo in an attempt to overthrow their EULA, this are the legal rules you agreed on when buying your switch (game)

Other consoles such as the 3DS has similar EULA's.

So stop yelling that you're entitled to emulate your games, create backups or use mods/patches, because legally, you're not.

It's not that simple. Lots of nations have laws that gives you right to make a personal copy of a game/movie you own. So, even if Nintendo says you can't, the law in your country may say "Yes, you can!"