Why Nintendo sued a Switch emulator out of existence
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Apr 4, 2024
Tune into a deep dive into the volatile world of video game emulation. Discover why Nintendo took drastic legal action against the Yuzu emulator, shaking the emulation community to its core. Explore the intricate balance between copyright enforcement and the preservation of gaming history. Hear about the nostalgic resurgence of emulators, the challenges developers face under the DMCA, and the broader implications for the future of gaming. It's a fascinating discussion that reveals much about copyright, nostalgia, and the future of gaming preservation.
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insights INSIGHT
Emulator Definition
Emulators are software enabling games or apps to run on different hardware than originally intended.
This allows playing a game designed for one console (like a Switch) on a PC.
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Emulators' Wide Use
Emulators are foundational to computing and have existed for a long time, used beyond gaming.
They are important for software preservation, interoperability, and understanding systems.
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Emulation Popularity
Game emulation is currently popular due to retro gaming nostalgia and companies re-releasing old games.
This creates a cycle where emulator developers gain recognition and potential industry jobs.
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Hello, and welcome to Decoder. This is David Pierce, editor-at-large at The Verge and co-host of The Vergecast, subbing in for Nilay, who’s out on vacation. Regular Decoder programming returns next week. In the meantime, we have an exciting episode for you today all about video game emulation, which, as it turns out, is a whole lot more complicated than it seems.
Gaming emulation made headlines recently because one of the most widely used programs for emulating the Nintendo Switch, a platform called Yuzu, was effectively sued out of existence. There’s a whole lot going on here, from the history of game emulation to the copyright precedents of emulators to how the threat of game piracy still looms large in the industry. To break down this topic, I brought Verge Senior Editor and resident emulation expert Sean Hollister on the show. Let’s get into it.
Decoder with Nilay Patel