Not only will it get pulled, Nintendo is 100% going to go after for all involved. They don't screw around.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Nintendo 3DS Emulator for iPhone Released in App Store With Caveats
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Oh right, I had already forgotten about the NDS… thank you.
Yeah, I agree. I don’t think it will last too much.
It’s astonishing how little people here know about the legality of emulators.
It’s perfectly legal to charge money for one, that was settled over 20 years ago.
Yuzu died because their devs were sharing ROMs between them and developing it on unreleased games. Not because they charged for it.
This will not be pulled and Nintendo has no legal grounds to sue the dev.
It’s perfectly legal to charge money for one, that was settled over 20 years ago.
Yuzu died because their devs were sharing ROMs between them and developing it on unreleased games. Not because they charged for it.
This will not be pulled and Nintendo has no legal grounds to sue the dev.
Dude….are you posting from Windows? If you type on an Apple device it will always auto correct to ‘macOS’
When it comes to enabling a person to enjoy intellectual property they haven't purchased, so does VLC and the app formerly known as iTunes.
It’s legal to back up and emulate software you own. In fact it’s necessary these days, since companies sell games digitally and then shut down the storefronts (as Nintendo just did with the 3DS store). Of course Nintendo would love to just endlessly sell you remakes of their old games, but if you bought it once and backed it up, you can play it forever perfectly legally.
that... doesn't answer my question but no. im not posting from windows.
Sure, now you tell me exactly how you personally backed up your Nintendo 3DS games and created the roms. Go ahead and post your personal pictures of the hardware you used.
Now just admit you downloaded the roms off a website, claim you "own" them, and pretend like its completely legal to use someone else's ROM, not yours (because you don't even own a 3DS game), and rationalize it.
Ahh the internet.
He may have downloaded tons of games he already owns. I do this all the time as most of my PSP collection is imprisoned on the PSN. In the UK it is not illegal to use copies of software you have paid for.
Whilst not exactly legit it’s not illegal either. They own that game and can copy its code if they like. It’s kinda like asking a friend to make a cassette of a CD because your aunt brought you the wrong format and you only have a Walkman.
Which bit?
Yeah, the 3DS online services all got turned off in April.
And Nintendo are like any other company and like profits. If your behaviour isn’t denying them revenue they will ignore it.
The eStore for Nintendo 3DS was shut down - there is now no way to purchase 3DS games through retail either physically or digitally.
Hence, why its status as an emulator likely meshes with Apples "retro" rule
I got it on Steam. Tsushima is sooo well made you have to play it in black and white mode.
You can buy 3DS games all day on eBay, Mercari etc. They did not suddenly disappear from existence.
Except I don’t need to demonstrate any of that, and emulating remains perfectly legal. 🤷♂️
For the record I owned at least two 3DS systems back in the day, along with every game I’d be interested in emulating. I also think Nintendo is greedy and scummy with their overpriced remakes and shutting down online stores. They can pound sand.
You are missing the point. Nintendo isn’t selling copies on eBay lol.
As I said in my post, there is no way to buy Nintendo games through retail. Buying games on eBay only profits the previous owner, not Nintendo or the developers.
Emulating software you purchased is not theft. Not sure how many times this has to be repeated. But OP’s point was not about theft. It was about whether or not retro emulation (of games no longer sold by Nintendo) would be a major priority for Nintendo’s lawyers. Either way, there’s nothing for them to go after here. Rom sites, yes; emulator software, no.
It wasn't just that, it was also the fact that they had guides explaining how to extract encryption keys on their site. Nintendo saw that as Yuzu actively participating in circumvention of copy protection, which is illegal under DMCA.
A lot of emulators have two CPU modes: interpreted (essentially emulating the system's CPU) or dynamically recompiled (converts the system's CPU instructions to x86-64 or ARM instructions). They probably just implemented a build flag to remove the recompiler.
Selling open source derived code is allowed by practically all open source licenses. Most of them require you to change the name of derivative works to reduce confusion (plus the original name may be trademarked). Some licenses such as GPL let you sell open source software but require the developer of the paid software to provide the source code to anyone that asks for it.
Also, it's a misconception that open source software has to be free. "free software" means that it's free as in freedom, but not necessarily free as in cost. A developer of open source software can choose to charge money for it. The issue is that due to open-source being free, there's no way to prevent a paying user from giving the source code to someone else for free.