Law Nintendo is suing the creators of Switch emulator Yuzu - Emulator tools aren't inherently illegal, but the way in which Yuzu is being actively used and promoted is what Nintendo appears to be objecting to here.

New documents filed Monday, February 26 reveal that videogame giant Nintendo is taking action against the creators of the popular emulator tool Yuzu.

The copyright infringement filing, from Nintendo of America, states that the Yuzu tool (from developer Tropic Haze LLC) illegally circumvents the software encryption and copyright protection systems of Nintendo Switch titles, and thus facilitates piracy and infringes copyright under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Nintendo alleges that Tropic Haze's free Yuzu emulator tool unlawfully allows pirated Switch games to be played on PCs and other devices, bypassing Nintendo's protection measures.

The official Yuzu website suggests that the tool is to be used with software you yourself own: "You are legally required to dump your games from your Nintendo Switch" — but it's common knowledge, that this is not how these tools are primarily used.

The legal document claims that over a million copies of last year's The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom were downloaded prior to the game's official retail release.

Additionally, Nintendo's filing points to the success of Yuzu's Patreon page, highlighting how the project is actively supported by over 7,000 members. At time of writing, the Yuzu Patreon currently brings in close to $30,000 USD per month. Nintendo's filing alludes that this Patreon page has been actively engaged in promoting the emulator, and thus by extension piracy.

Emulator tools aren't inherently illegal, but the way in which Yuzu is being actively used and promoted is what Nintendo appears to be objecting to here.

As a result, Nintendo is now seeking a trial by jury, damages, and is demanding that the Yuzu emulator is shut down.

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[the_hidden_one]

I've been using emulators since the 90s (NESticle FTW). The hobby was always about preservation and playing old games. Every emulator project was a passion project by people that loved the hardware.

The unwritten rule was to never do this to current gen hardware. That's how you get around the 'piracy' label. You can't pirate something when you aren't profiting from it and there are no other ways to play the games. The Yuzu devs and the guys that made that Switch flashcart were always playing with fire. Especially with a company like Nintendo who have hated emulation since the beginning.

 

[6MillionCoofs]

The Yuzu devs and the guys that made that Switch flashcart were always playing with fire.

The flashcart guys especially. When you consider that R4 cards were widely sold in actual game retailers and everyone knew what they did and as a result most DS were hacked soon after release and the DS family is now known as very hackable the last thing anyone should want to do is publicly announce they are making something like the R4 to the world.

 

[DumbDude43]

The patents on the old console components have expired.

how old are we talking? even the original NES is barely 40 years old, surely patents last longer than that?

 

[Disc]

That’s some absurd FUD right there. The patents on the old console components have expired.

And even if that is true, if that's the case the emulator team should have been like most emulator teams and not charged and there's no problem.

If your industry is so fragile that one entirely legal lawsuit can cause the whole thing to crumble, maybe you should at the VERY LEAST be strangling any halfwits who start to endanger it.

I'm really sick of pathetic moral-less assholes whing about how they deserve every single form of pop culture entertainment for free, in the exact shape and form that they desire, immediately and without consequence. Nintendo has been incredibly lax with piracy since the late 00's, considering how they used to go after unlicensed NES carts and peripherals back in the day. Video game developers are artists and they deserve to make money off their craft; it's irrelevant how much money the company is worth or the fact that they don't offer 100% of their back catalogue for sale. First of all there's complicated licensing issues, but it's ultimately Nintendo's decison whether or not what services they offer. I hope they sue more fucking people so I can laugh at all the Nintoddlers whining on X.

Following rant largely is about current gen pirates, previous-gen pirates are at least distributing something that can't always be sold or found, and it's easier to sell the still pretty laughable 'historical preservation' angle when it is technically history.

I've always said that I kinda respect pirates who just staight up admit they are pirates, with no attempts to pretend they're anything but, but fucking despise the ever-ongoing fugue around every mildly disappointing piece of gaming news ever where there's a storm of people who say that not getting customisable boot laces is why they're going to be pirating cod 427. The moral arguments are paper-thin justifications purely to pretend they're doing it for any reason other than "I want to have brand new thing and not pay for brand new thing", and usually are just excuses not to pay after already long having made the decision.

You don't think a game is worth the price? Don't buy it or fucking wait until it goes on sale, then, as it inevitably will. You can't afford the hip new framerate chugger? Surprised you can afford a computer that runs it then, unless you were always intending not to pay for any games.

Just admit you're pirating just because, spare me the property is theft rant. And give me my bloody tophats.

 

[Day of the Cope]

The legal document claims that over a million copies of last year's The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom were downloaded prior to the game's official retail release.

You fuckers sold a glorified expansion for full price.
Pokemon SV sold more than any game before it despite the games getting worse with every generation.
Kiss my ass.

 

[6MillionCoofs]

how old are we talking? even the original NES is barely 40 years old, surely patents last longer than that?

No. Why would you keep the patents for the parts of a machine long since out of production that you no longer make, stock or sell and no one plays.

Especially when most of those parts were general parts at that,

 

[ye's Official KF Burner]

It doesn’t.

There’s a reason why Nintendo has only gone after people if they make money. Until you do that they don’t care.

And as said, if they’d not been retarded with a public patreon for the emulator this would not be happening.

Nintendo has gone after 100% nonprofit projects if the project is better than the product Nintendo came up with. So no, it isn't always the case. Nintendo has made some fucked up decisions when they feel slighted.

 

[6MillionCoofs]

Nintendo has gone after 100% nonprofit projects if the project is better than the product Nintendo came up with.

There’s always been some money componant somewhere in everything they’ve gone after from what I know.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

This will probably hinge on finding improper conduct by the developers, like promoting illegal use. Hopefully Nintendo's suit is dismissed.

 

[Lone MacReady II]

*Ahem* Get fucked post-modern Ninty.

Nintendo has gone after 100% nonprofit projects if the project is better than the product Nintendo came up with. So no, it isn't always the case. Nintendo has made some fucked up decisions when they feel slighted.

Remember when they killed AM2R on Metroid's 30th birthday? Pepperridge Farms remembers.

 

[AgendaPoster]

Based nintendo, as usual

Piracy is good

 

[George Lucas]

how old are we talking? even the original NES is barely 40 years old, surely patents last longer than that?

They last about 20 years.

 

[Party Hat Wurmple]

First of all there's complicated licensing issues, but it's ultimately Nintendo's decison whether or not what services they offer. I hope they sue more fucking people so I can laugh at all the Nintoddlers whining on X.

Nah. Burn in hell. Nintendo has a notorious habit of not re-releasing old content and leaving content locked behind obscure mechanics that don't work anymore when they do re-release things. So until Nintendo can give me a halfway decent method to play Pokemon Nigger Black 2 without an emulator, fuck em. I don't give a shit. Steal every cent.

 

[TheBigZee]

Jury trial about technical thing. Defendents are fucked.

 

[Otoya Yamaguchi]

Piracy is good

Piracy is gay. That's why gays are called butt pirates.

*Ahem* Get fucked post-modern Ninty.
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Remember when they killed AM2R on Metroid's 30th birthday? Pepperridge Farms remembers.

Am2r was shitting up the legacy of their ip

 

[AgendaPoster]

Piracy is gay. That's why gays are called butt pirates.

The richer the corporation, the more justified it is to plunder its assets and wealth.

 

[Otoya Yamaguchi]

The richer the corporation, the more justified it is to plunder its assets and wealth.

Sure, if you're gay. I'm not gay so I don't think you'll ever be able to convince me to like guys butts unlawfully steal a piece of art someone worked on

stealing is literally nigger behavior, its literally the stereotype for niggers. try acting white for a change, you might be able to get a job and not have to steal

 

[Moja Zemlja]

Generally I'm pro-piracy on a basis of "its free" but I do hate the moralfagging people do to try justify why they pirated something and its always the worst when its justifying it with Nintendo stuff. The mental gymnastics people perform to try cope with doing a bad thing when they could just say "I didn't want to pay", own it and don't be a little bitch.

 

[linchan]

how old are we talking? even the original NES is barely 40 years old, surely patents last longer than that?

In the US patents only last 20 years. Even the Nintendo Wii has expired patents at this point.

 

[Aero the Alcoholic Bat]

I mean, doing stuff on Patreon was even dumber than trying to publish Dolphin on Steam, when installing Dolphin on your PC (or even Android) is relatively easy even without a centralized digital distribution store.

Are people too dumb to run installwizards or the like from their download folder? That's how everyone did it until fairly recently.