Back in September, we reported on a mod for Super Mario 64 created by Kaze Emanuar which allowed players to play the game online with up to 24 players at once. The project's videos and the creator's Patreon account were soon taken down by Nintendo, although the mod continued to live on through online distribution.
Now, eight months later, the project has been revived under the new name of 'Net64 2.0', acting very similarly to the previous edition with a few new additions such as playable Sonic and Knuckles options. The video above shows off this new build and describes how it all works should you be interested. The new version also enables players to search for open servers to join, adding new multiplayer possibilities like this capture the flag minigame.
Speaking to Kotaku, Emanuar says that he is hopeful that this version will stay around online for longer than the original.
“I don’t know if [Nintendo will] go after Net64 too, but I believed that they only took down SM64 Online because it got so super popular and came out right before Odyssey anyway. I think this client will stay up for a little longer than the SM64 Online one.”
It seems that this is only the start of Emanuar's ambitions, too, with other N64 projects such as a version of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask that makes use of Super Mario characters and powerups, as well as a Super Mario Sunshine mod that makes use of the original 'SM64 Online' engine, both in his mind.
Do you like the idea of playing classic Nintendo games online with friends? Do you think this is something Nintendo may create itself alongside the upcoming NES game multiplayer features? Let us know your thoughts down below.
[source kotaku.co.uk]
Comments 44
When in doubt, sue it out.
This is not going to stay active for long, also in the video Korok Village from OoT was shown
Nintendo will Shut Down it in 3...2...1...Bleep !
Good thing Nintendo cant mess with this. The no fun police cant ruin fun this time!
The problem isn't making the mods. The problem is he tired/might be trying again to profit off it. There is no question here, he is using Nintendo's intellectual property to make a profit. Not fan art or anything similar, but actual code and assets from Nintendo games. If he weren't profiting off of it - I would say Nintendo is/was over-reacting. There are countless mods for countless games that do all sorts of things that never get in trouble. Why? Because people aren't trying to make money off of them.
Why do this to butcher games, I don't get it
"Because why not?"
Because it's illegal?
Knuckles breaks the ice slide with his glide.
Thing is, if the guy keeps a Patreon out of the equation, the mod might live a little longer.
Nintendo Really needs to make a HD Mario 64 remake
Its a licence to print money.... Imagine that and a Sunshine remaster with a HD lick of paint, both games supplied on the one disc (similar to the crash bandicoot remaster)
Seriously which self respecting Mario fan wouldn't buy that.
Hackers are better people than non-hackers. Pirates have more fun.
Probably the only way sonic can be in a good 3D game
Sonic & Knuckles 64? I'm sure it's a sight better than '06.
A Nintendo made version of this would be amazing.
Why does everyone think this is a bad thing? This lets you play one of the best Mario games with 11 new characters with different abilities. There’s also the fact that you can play this online with friends or other people. You can all go find stars together, or just play around. You can’t just say no to something without looking at the positives. And if it gets taken down, then you can still make, and go on servers if you still have the application.
Kirby looks like just a easy mode
@Heavyarms55 Kaze technically wrote the server code and each characters ability code himself. He just tells the game how something should work with a character other then Mario, since Mario was the only character in SM64. The rest of the game is untouched. Besides, people get paid to draw Mario characters as commissions, how is using a Mario model in a game any different?
@PaulDuran appearances can be deceiving..........but not in this case it’s unbelievably easy
@Marios-love-child I was hoping to see Mario 64 and OoT both in HD for the Wii U. I was also waiting for another 1080 and F-Zero. That never happened though.
This looks amazing - have any of you watched the full video?
@chardir
If I'm not mistaken, this requires the rom of Mario 64 to run which you can make yourself completely legal.
@Xaessya Ah yes, "Mario 64: Sonic the Hedgehog Edition", I loved playing that back in '98
@TenEighty @Marios-love-child Nintendo is sitting on a gold mine of HD remasters with the likes of Mario 64, Ocarina of Time etc and it baffles me why they don't
@chardir @Heavyarms55
If it's illegal, then why didn't Nintendo take down the hosted files of the tool itself (back when it was the original release)? They took down the Patreon and the Video, which is completely fair, i won't argue against that, but they didn't take down the download links for the tool, which means the link was still completely acessible, and you could still download and use SM64O.
But if the tool itself is illegal, why did Nintendo let it live?
If i had to guess, it would be because the tool itself doesn't have any stolen assets inside it. The characters inside the tool, which are custom-made, are sent to the emulator running the game. All game modes, PvP, the online functionality, and whatever code is used, it's all made by the creator(s) of the tool, all those things are sent through signals to the emulator, and the game acts as if those assets were always in there, but they weren't.
So what does that mean? You need to have a rom of the game in order for the tool to be usable. The rom can be ilegally downloaded, but that has nothing to do with this tool. You can be a complete pirate, but the tool itself has nothing to do with that. And since the rom can be obtained through legal means, and is not only obtainable via pirating, then that means this tool is perfectly legal.
Besides, if i'm completely wrong and Nintendo is allowed to take this down, should they? People like to use the "if they don't, their rights can be stolen", but afaik this only applies to fan-projects that would, theoretically, get way too much attention. This one in particular isn't, at least not as much as it was getting before (espcially because it's now called Net64, instead of SM64Online).
So hear me out: if this has no chances of significantly impacting Nintendo's profits, or get Nintendo's rights stolen, then why ruin the fun? Everyone who is playing this is having fun, and would get upset if Nintendo took it down. In cases like Pokemon Uranium and similiar, where the project gets far too much attention, it's understanble (even if upsetting) that Nintendo takes those things down. But right here, we have a project that didn't blow up the internet or anything, it's getting some attention, but not nearly as much as it was before (and then was "taken down").
So really, why do you let yourself get bothered about this? It's not hurting Nintendo, it's not hurting anyone, it's not hurting you. So why should any action be taken? Let people have their fun, isn't this what games are about?
Just tried it right now and god it is stupidly hilarious and fun!
If I find a ROM hack such as this, would it be ok to post in the NL forums?
@MegaMari0 Sycophancy much?
Could someone find the system reqs Thanks.
@Bunkerneath That's from his Mario 64/Ocarina of Time crossover ROM hack:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1vvuQ5kVB0
He's demonstrating it works on ROM hacks of the game like that one and Last Impact.
They should rename this hack "Super Mario 64 Online & Knuckles"
Doesn't really appeal to me when there's plenty of games in my backlog to be playing.
"The project's videos and the creator's PATREON account were soon taken down by Nintendo,"
God I'm starting to hate Patreon. It's the perfect vehicle for internet thieves to make money on their stolen goods while claiming they "aren't selling anything." Using someone else's assets? Then you shouldn't be making squat.
@MimoDX2 Making it is legal. profiting off it is not. That is the distinction.
@KnockKnock Yeah he wrote the mod code, but the base game is straight from Nintendo, and all the original models from the original game as well. Think of it like this, Toyota buys a bunch of Ford cards, swaps out the transmissions and puts in a new stereo systems and then tries to sell them as their products and does it all without permission from Ford. It is still 90% a Ford product.
@Mr_Pepperami Wow. What a hilarious and factual "3D Sonic has never been good" joke that I've never heard before. My body is trembling from its originality and truthfulness.
@Heavyarms55 That’s the point. Everything is still the exact same as the original,, you would need a rom of the game anyway for Net64 to work. The game and characters are still Nintendo and Sega property. Just adding characters and code to a game won’t get you in trouble. I don’t even think Kaze even has a Patreon anymore anyway.
@Heavyarms55 "Yeah he wrote the mod code, but the base game is straight from Nintendo, and all the original models from the original game as well. Think of it like this, Toyota buys a bunch of Ford cards, swaps out the transmissions and puts in a new stereo systems and then tries to sell them as their products and does it all without permission from Ford. It is still 90% a Ford product."
Except this analogy doesn't apply here. Net64+ (the tool that adds multiplayer to the game) only adds stuff for the game. The tool has absolutely no codes or assets from the base game, instead, the tool injects it's 100% custom-made assets in the game while it's running.
And the only way the game can be "running" is if you have the rom of the game, and you emulate it. If you don't have the rom of the game, you can't emulate it, and this leaves Net64+ to be completely useless, because the custom code and assets will not work if the game is not running.
Jon Taffer says: Using Nintendos' code & assets?
SHUT IT DOWN!!!
@TheDragonDAFan thank you very much. I’m also available for parties and bar mitzvah’s.
@MimoDX2 Hmm yeah in that case I misunderstood. By that logic it's much more a grey area. Kinda like unliscensed games back in the day.
@BigKing
Because a pirate is free.
@Heavyarms55 I'm that kaze guy - There is a misconception here:
I never tried to make any money from this. My patreon has always been unrelated to this project and everything in this client is for free. I've gotten adsense from the video, but that's the most I've gotten out of this.
You might be confused, because someone else has made an inofficial client that had a cryptominer inside of it. I did not know about that client and was entirely unrelated to it though.
@Kaze_E I apologize then. It appears I was misinformed or misunderstood.
Nintendo ought to hire this guy, especially if he can get this running on a Switch!
Im shock how Nintendo didn't shut that down..
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