Current Events > Nintendo Is Now Going After YouTube Accounts Which Show Its Games Being Emulated

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/10/nintendo-is-now-going-after-youtube-accounts-which-show-its-games-being-emulated

As long as torrents exist as a concept Nintendo will never stop Emulation or the distribution of their ROMs.

How can they even tell?

Nintendo is out of control

Emulation is not illegal. Youtube should countersue for Nintendo's misuse of litigation on RGC's behalf, I know they won't but it's ridiculous the way copyright strikes work on YT. Russ has fair use on his side but YT doesn't give a shit.

nocturnal_traveler posted...

How can they even tell?

In the case of the guy the article is referring to, he's showing off stuff like the Retron 5 and the like.

He's not emulating a game on his PC, he's using actual Nintendo hardware to show off 3rd party emulation consoles.

It is illegal to download ROMS so yeah. Thats outright theft.

I can understand something like ohhhh CluClu Land D, but lol at people thinking its ok to play Animal Crossing NH through emulation.

The days of emulation will be over. There's going to be a big war in the future that will lead to gaming emulation either ceasing to exist or be regulated to the Dark web.

Stealing from Nintendo is an ethical imperative.

Does Nintendo have a patent on Emulated Games?

_____Cait posted...

lol at people thinking its ok to play Animal Crossing NH through emulation.

It is and Nintendo can whine about it all they want but they don't have an actual legal leg to stand on. They're abusing the fact that they're a massive corporation who can afford to have a protracted legal battle against people who can't. What they're doing to Russ is abusing YT's copyright strike system.

HighSeraph posted...

It is and Nintendo can whine about it all they want but they don't have an actual legal leg to stand on. They're abusing the fact that they're a massive corporation who can afford to have a protracted legal battle against people who can't. What they're doing to Russ is abusing YT's copyright strike system.

As an actual lawyer who studied this topic in depth, can confirm this is absolutely true.

Companies can cry and whine about people emulating their games, but there is caselaw that 100% says that emulation of video games is perfectly legal. Nintendo just does not like it and they can use their status as a global entity to influence people to capitulate to their demands.

However, if someone were to actually fight them on it, they would actually lose. And Nintendo knows that. I think that if someone resisted, then they would likely not pursue legal action since they know they would lose.

there is no theft

nintendo isn't selling the game

and even if they are "selling" the game it is a different platform which makes it not even the same thing

buying an old game on the switch you are paying for playing it on the switch as people who owned the old game still buy it on the switch cause it is not the same

unless these are about games recently released and not 30 year old NES games?

Fuck time to take down my videos of me playing games on Swtich Online.

Rip the nuzlocke community. If they go after youtubers like pchal, flygonHG, smallant, etc I'll never support Nintendo again

fuck this company man

Remember that Nintendo sued Blockbuster and lost, Nintendo also sued Game Genie and lost.

People love to talk about their ninja lawyers but really they just like to throw around their corporate weight and get the little guys to settle as quickly as possible.

When it goes to court, they lose.

WingsOfGood posted...

unless these are about games recently released and not 30 year old NES games?

Yeah they're going after people emulating Switch games primarily. They don't even sell their old games anymore so it's a lower priority.

Turtlemayor333 posted...

Remember that Nintendo sued Blockbuster and lost, Nintendo also sued Game Genie and lost.

People love to talk about their ninja lawyers but really they just like to throw around their corporate weight and get the little guys to settle as quickly as possible.

When it goes to court, they lose.

Fun fact. They didn't actually sue Game Genie.

Game Genie preemptively took Nintendo to court themselves under the belief that Nintendo would take them to court eventually. So Game Genie attacked Nintendo and won haha.

Time for this video again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfBEj9BW_ok

nocturnal_traveler posted...

How can they even tell?

Games like xenoblade, fire emblem warriors 2, bayonetta 2 and 3 n' astral chain not running like booty butt-cheeks is a pretty good sign, lol.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


I don't really care if people pirate or not, but this obviously isn't the case for new Switch games. Between the games running badly on Switch and it being free to pirate, that's the main reason people are doing it.

SF_Okami posted...

As an actual lawyer who studied this topic in depth, can confirm this is absolutely true.

Companies can cry and whine about people emulating their games, but there is caselaw that 100% says that emulation of video games is perfectly legal. Nintendo just does not like it and they can use their status as a global entity to influence people to capitulate to their demands.

However, if someone were to actually fight them on it, they would actually lose. And Nintendo knows that. I think that if someone resisted, then they would likely not pursue legal action since they know they would lose.

Link to said caselaw?

People playing the NES/SNES classic and the older games from Wii, Wii U, Switch for example are all played using emulators on the console itself

Nintendo is evil news at 11

I got all the stuff I need

Mr_Karate_II posted...

Link to said caselaw?

Link is too long, but the case is Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. v. Connectix Corp. 203 F.3d 596 (2000).

Nintendo has taken the anti-consumer crown.

SF_Okami posted...

Link is too long, but the case is Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. v. Connectix Corp. 203 F.3d 596 (2000).

It should be noted that that case partained to the existence of emulators (specifically the use of copyright code that isn't in some way protected from access used to develop an otherwise non-infringing program), actually emulating games is legally dubious. If you own the physical game and dump the rom yourself, you should be ok.But otherwise you are committing copyright infringement.

SF_Okami posted...

As an actual lawyer who studied this topic in depth, can confirm this is absolutely true.

Companies can cry and whine about people emulating their games, but there is caselaw that 100% says that emulation of video games is perfectly legal. Nintendo just does not like it and they can use their status as a global entity to influence people to capitulate to their demands.

However, if someone were to actually fight them on it, they would actually lose. And Nintendo knows that. I think that if someone resisted, then they would likely not pursue legal action since they know they would lose.

Emulation itself as a concept is fine. What's being emulated and how it got into the emulator, however, is another matter. The article in the OP mentions it was a Wii U video that was taken down. Did the video in question showcase a device that played actual Wii U discs? I believe that should be OK, though Nintendo may have some patents on the hardware and/or firmware that could still be active to make a move against it. Yeah, the article says it's a copyright strike, but I'm not familiar with YouTube's system to know if they lump both things together for an IP holder to make a strike against a video. The Sony / Connectix case you mentioned may come into play if the device was playing actual physical media from a older Nintendo console. Or, in today's climate, that case could be overturned.

But if the video showed a ROM of a Nintendo game being played on the device, that's a different matter.

Kai_Laguna posted...

It should be noted that that case partained to the existence of emulators (specifically the use of copyright code that isn't in some way protected from access used to develop an otherwise non-infringing program), actually emulating games is legally dubious. If you own the physical game and dump the rom yourself, you should be ok.But otherwise you are committing copyright infringement.

Of course. Getting the games is the dubious part. But emulators themselves are generally fine, which is why you can even find some, such as Delta Emulator, on the app store, and creators can even charge money for it. I'm not sure if the video mentioned involves a copy of a dumped game, or pirated however.

Assuming the game was dumped, I don't really see an issue.

I'm guessing you got this from the person who shared it on the Nintendo board.

This is two strikes from the same channel and so far no other instance has been found. The first strike was for him showing how to dump Switch games to your PC, this second one was him showing a flash drive on-screen.

There should be some legal precedent that states that if they're gonna be so frivolous with their lawsuits, then they should at least be obligated to make whatever game(s) they're suing over available for purchase. Most of the time that's one of the main reasons why people emulate, because they can't easily access whatever game, so just give them what they want. At least that way Nintendo can still get their money.

SF_Okami posted...

Fun fact. They didn't actually sue Game Genie.

Game Genie preemptively took Nintendo to court themselves under the belief that Nintendo would take them to court eventually. So Game Genie attacked Nintendo and won haha.

And while it wasnt Nintendo who tried this, the Sony versus Bleem! lawsuit is a major win for gamers to this day.

I know a twitch to youtube show that is absolutely based off Nintendo emulation and other stuff. I don't think ppl should be trying to hack their switch to do illegal things. Is there that much harm with somebody making some money hosting a gameshow on old games. I get that it's not endorsed officially by the bigs but heh. Whatever.

I wish this guy would put Atari 2600 games in the mix. There are Atari emulators.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

100% this. There are tons of great older games that I just simply cannot play through legitimate means. I cannot buy them because they're not for sale. Were they available, I would stop emulating them and just play them normally.

reincarnator07 posted...

100% this. There are tons of great older games that I just simply cannot play through legitimate means. I cannot buy them because they're not for sale. Were they available, I would stop emulating them and just play them normally.

Yeah this is something I want to ask about as it pertains well to any entertainment like say cartoons/animation.

At least I hope I'm asking, but is there any reason to keep most of your stuff behind locked doors while being upset people resort to other means?

Unless I am misinformed, I imagine you're spending money to not only hold onto the rights of numerous titles, but money is spent to store it so keeping it unavailable really has no point.

Literally every Fire Emblem youtuber makes 99.9% of their content on emulators >_>

Antiyonder posted...

Yeah this is something I want to ask about as it pertains well to any entertainment like say cartoons/animation.

At least I hope I'm asking, but is there any reason to keep most of your stuff behind locked doors while being upset people resort to other means?

Unless I am misinformed, I imagine you're spending money to not only hold onto the rights of numerous titles, but money is spent to store it so keeping it unavailable really has no point.

Copyright, at least in the US, is free. So there's no money spent to hold onto the rights. (Not counting the times Disney and other copyright owners paid off members of Congress to extend the copyright term, something that won't be a factor for any video games for another ~50 years.)

Some games may have 3rd party licenses that have expired and the holders of those properties want too much of a cut to reup the license. Movie / TV adaptations, or stuff that used licensed music. There are a number of TV shows that weren't released on home media or to streaming as they originally aired because they used songs that they couldn't get the rights to use in the new format. If they did get released, the music they couldn't clear was swapped for other songs, angering people because of the change.

There's also stuff that is racially or culturally insensitive today. You mentioned cartoons - are you aware of Song of the South and/or the Censored Eleven (though some of them are now in the public domain)?

In any case, a copyright holder has the right to do as they see fit with their IP, which includes withholding it from the public.

MLBloomy posted...

Emulation itself as a concept is fine. What's being emulated and how it got into the emulator, however, is another matter. The article in the OP mentions it was a Wii U video that was taken down. Did the video in question showcase a device that played actual Wii U discs? I believe that should be OK, though Nintendo may have some patents on the hardware and/or firmware that could still be active to make a move against it. Yeah, the article says it's a copyright strike, but I'm not familiar with YouTube's system to know if they lump both things together for an IP holder to make a strike against a video. The Sony / Connectix case you mentioned may come into play if the device was playing actual physical media from a older Nintendo console. Or, in today's climate, that case could be overturned.

But if the video showed a ROM of a Nintendo game being played on the device, that's a different matter.

It's either the Odin or Ayn. They are steam deck equivalent. They garner a hefty price. It's better to get a steam deck. Most use a Linux is if I remember correctly

whoever is running shit at Nintendo needs to stop and be told "this aint it chief!"

Pikachuchupika posted...

Nintendo has taken the anti-consumer crown.

A company not wanting people to pirate their games is anti-consumer?

I loved my Super Nintendo, Gameboy Advance, 3DS and Switch, but I hate Nintendo the company.

Their legal actions are almost never warranted and even if they are, they are like the Hall Monitor abusing their power, that likes to rat kids out just to get pat on the head by the teacher.

I don't see Sony ever taking legal action against consumers over Video Game Emulation. In fact, there have been dozens of Private Servers for SWG, and actual illegal ones for the NGE where they stole the code, and still sony has done nothing about it.

Nintendo is the only company that consistently goes after the little guy, and for a company supposedly directed towards Kids, they sure do give off bully vibes.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

how is that illegal? If you own a copy of the game, you are legally entitled to emulate it.

Turtlemayor333 posted...

Remember that Nintendo sued Blockbuster and lost, Nintendo also sued Game Genie and lost.

People love to talk about their ninja lawyers but really they just like to throw around their corporate weight and get the little guys to settle as quickly as possible.

When it goes to court, they lose.

Other companies have also lost when they tried the same thing like Sony & Bleem.

Nintendo and Apple get away with being shit companies all the time.

SF_Okami posted...

Companies can cry and whine about people emulating their games, but there is caselaw that 100% says that emulation of video games is perfectly legal.

That's... not fully true. Emulation itself is legal. But emulation with roms you didn't dump and downloaded online is not.

I also feel less sympathy for people getting caught emulating the current Gen. At that point it's not about "accessibility".