It is with no great amount of surprise that I report how Nintendo are back on their game again- trying once again to shoot a shot across the bow of the grey gaming market as though their threat underlines the very foundation of the industry. Honestly, if Nintendo put as much effort into affirming their own online infrastructure, or even pushing for greater digital rights for the benefit of their audiences, as they do pummelling people into the ground with lawsuits- we'd be in a utopian age of gaming. But Nintendo aren't really the virtuous sort, are they? No, they are much like Rockstar in that regard. They rule from atop a palanquin carried by their lessers and use that vantage point to spit on us less fortunate, because that's just what you do when you become a big studio I guess. Should that be reason enough to complain and write a blog on the matter? I dunno, but Imma do it anyway.
Nintendo have always held a draconian and nigh-on tyrannical grasp on exactly how people interacted with their software even at the detriment of the experience themselves. Using voice chat on the Nintendo Switch is an absolute nightmare because Nintendo want to filter out those who just casually want to game with those determined to communicate for high level play. (And whom can't just shell out a fresh window for Discord, I guess.) They forced a limited distribution window for a port of all their most classic Mario games and created a bubble economy for it- despite them being fully capable of offering a digital version of the game at any point- practically feeding free content for scalpers. And they even bristle at the thought of someone doing a Nuzzlocke Pokemon challenge because that isn't the exact way that Pokemon was designed to be played. They're total control freaks.
As such, it only makes sense that Nintendo would absolutely flip a lid at the mere mention of video game emulation. Emulation, of course, refers to the use of software that imitates another piece of software in order to utilise programs exclusive to that infrastructure, which in this case means computer programs that run raw files for a Nintendo Gamecube/64/Gameboys game as though it were a console running the game itself. Whilst inherently there is nothing illegal about this provided that the files themselves are legally acquired, such as if you own a copy of the game itself- but that wouldn't be playing within the exact parameters that Nintendo want you to have fun within- as we all know- there are right and wrong ways to have fun when Nintendo are pointing a gun at your head.
Now of course, with emulation machines naturally comes a compatibility with pirate sites that upload ISO files of old games that people then emulate, but I'm going to fire off a hot take here- I think most of the time this tends to be harmless. Oh, are sales of 'Gio Gio's Bizzare Adventure' being hurt by emulation? That game which only exists on the PS2 and have never been ported? Of course not! And a lot of the time that is how people engage with Emulation- to enjoy games that aren't being supported on any modern day storefront or under the purview of any developer. In some cases Emulation is the only way that a lot of these games have managed to survive from becoming lost media forever. But then when you get to Yuzu, which offered a Nintendo Switch emulator, the margins get a bit blurrier.
The Nintendo Switch is very much an active console that Nintendo are invested in and actively releasing games for, as such when they come to deducing potential factors that hurt their infrastructure- it's with little imagination that they can summon up a program like Yuzu as a problem. Again, the Emulator itself is not performing any piracy, but people seem to be using it for that end. Nintendo themselves cite a story I didn't even know about regarding Tears of the Kingdom breaking it's streetdate and ending up on Emulator before hitting stores. (And I thought I was the criminal somehow getting the game at normal retail price by picking it up day one in-hand.) Now, whether or not the Emulators of the game had an actual dent on their bottom line is irrelevant- that it happened at all is fuel for Nintendo's ever hungry dragon's maw.
It is actually something of a questionable stance to take- insisting that Yuzu knowingly 'facilitates' piracy in order to force a lawsuit upon them, although in Nintendo's defence (bleurgh- can't believe I uttered that accursed sentiment!) what else is an Emulator like that going to be used for? The majority of people using Yuzu would have to do using Nintendo Switch code extracted from a hacked console or pirated- and the games they use will probably go through the same lens. I suppose it's the same logic where a knowing provider of synthesis materials and the tools for a lab might be liable as a supplier despite having done nothing illegal themselves, although with much less higher stakes and, let's be honest, a greatly exaggerated impact. (It's not like those pirated players were one emulator away from rushing out to buy a $300 Switch, now were they?)
Yuzu is now shut down. They are on the hook to pay over a million dollars in damages to Nintendo, because any trumped up charge needs a fall guy I expect, and now a dozen other copycat emulators are popping up all over the place with sketchy hosters that could very well be offering scam software putting players in jeopardy- but Nintendo don't care, they barely see us as human. So that, in a nutshell, is a summary of Nintendo's disdain for everything Emulation- underlined by their lawsuit which explicitly connects Emulation with Piracy. Oh wait... hang on- isn't the Nintendo Switch brimming with Emulation tools- some of which are literally subscription incentives? Hmm... guess it isn't so black and white, now is it?
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