
Earlier this month, the creators of Switch emulator Ryujinx announced that the project would be taken offline after being "offered an agreement by Nintendo". Yet now, four weeks on, it looks like the open-source emulator might not be totally dead (thanks, Overkill).
Over the weekend, a new update was released on the Ryujinx GitHub by user 'GreemDev', bringing things up to ver. 1.2.59 and suggesting — heck, confirming — that work continues around Ryujinx despite the original emulator attracting the eye of Nintendo and the firm making contact with its creator.
The updated bio claims that this new fork is "intended to be a direct continuation for existing Ryujinx users," with a new DLC folder and bug fixes reportedly added in the update.
Ryujinx was just Nintendo's latest attempt to clamp down on Switch emulation after the Big N successfully filed a lawsuit against Yuzu creator Tropic Haze earlier this year.
[source youtube.com, via overkill.wtf]
Comments 84
At the moment, the GreemDev fork looks to primarily be UI changes and improvements, and little to no changes to the emulation core itself.
It's yet to be seen if they have the means to do any necessary core changes for emulation fixes or accuracy improvements, such as if it emerges there's any issues with emulating the upcoming Mario and Luigi: Brothership (visual bugs, crashes, etc).
It's Tuesday with emulators and such stuff. There's almost always someone picking up the torch, and they're usually more discreet and proportionally safer from the legal strikes, barring whacky accidents like being publicly reported by the same outlets that get official review codes from console makers... oops.😳
Nintendo should do a full DMCA on those Github repositories. And fine anyone who is involved.
As long as Nintendo continues to sit on its library and do nothing with it, holding some of their games hostage instead of releasing them on their own platform, emulators will always pop up to set them free.
Fingers crossed Nintendo see this and do a 'Bowser' style execution!
I mean, good luck stopping at the very least these emulators from circulating in their "final" releases and even people attempting to update them despite Nintendo's attempts considering they're open source... and personally I'm so glad that's the case even though I haven't used a single Switch emulator myself yet because again, pirates will pirate regardless so the biggest loss would be for those using them for homebrew apps, cool mods of games, making games run better, availability when the eShop closes and NSO gets discontinued (hopefully both won't happen anytime soon if they continue on Switch's successor as they should, but eventually they will) etc.!
@Ravenmaster I san see your issue with all the unavailable switch software!
@Ravenmaster It's a Switch emulator. And every single Switch game Nintendo (or any company) released on Switch is either still available or removed from the eShop for legal reasons.
There is not one valid or legal reason to emulate Switch games.
@sanderev
Nintendo did not DMCA the original Ryujinx project because they had no grounds to do so. Github maintains a repository of DMCA takedown requests it has processed, and uses these to make such affected repositories publicly unavailable. Ryujinx is not among these, however Yuzu is. You can search for "nintendo.md" to see all of the DMCA requests that Nintendo have filed, and the large number of Yuzu mirrors and forks that have been struck down.
At most, they could probably DMCA the /shell.png image featured in the Ryujinx repository's readme.md, as it depicts partial screenshots and app icons for Super Mario Odyssey, Luigi's Mansion 3, Splatoon 2, Pokémon Sword, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
They might be able to claim something about their Github Wiki's guides on dumping Switch firmware and keys, but I'm not sure.
They make their position clear that they do not support piracy and will not tell you where to illegally obtain Switch software, firmware, or keys. The emulator operates on the principle that you provide your own using your own Switch hardware and legally purchased software.
Nintendo are unhappy with the fact that Ryujinx can be abused to circumvent copy protections, and that it has to implement keys to be able to load and play the games, but I don't know if they can legally do anything about it other than strong-arm people through whatever legal inch they can get.
If you want 3DS & Switch emulators to continue, stop reporting on them. Y'all have even posted articles from the lawyer saying it's news sites like these reporting on fan games and emulators that get them taken down.
It's like everyone's forgotten how to do things underground.
In addition, let me spend some words on piracy: while there will always be those who pirate regardless just because they want to play games for free regardless of their situation, there are also those who do so because games aren't available officially in their countries (luckily seems to be less and less the case, but I could be wrong) or simply because they can't buy games themselves as they're too young etc. - that's how it used to be for me despite having several games thanks to the ones my parents got for me, I would've missed on so many games back in the day if it weren't for downloading them from the internet even for consoles that were the latest ones at the time and the irony of it all is that I wouldn't be as much of a Nintendo and videogame in general fan as I am today and so wouldn't support the official releases as much as I do now that I can if it weren't also for that (and I also might not have chosen Japanese as my major and so my life up to now and even more so in the future could've been drastically different, but that's partially besides the point)!
I love to hear this kind of news.
Emulation is a hydra that no gaming company will ever defeat.
@Ravenmaster What are you on about? Are you even paying any attention at all??? This is a Switch emulator. Not a Gamecube or Wii or whatever emulator.
@sanderev
My valid and legal reason is dumping my legally purchased games with my legally modified switch to run with mods and improved performance on my PC…
@solarwolf07 At least two of those actions aren't legal. It's not legal to make copies of Switch games since they are copy protected. Also you are not allowed to modify games or run them on hardware that is unsupported by Nintendo. It says so on the box of every Switch game.
I'm sure Nintendo is reading NL... so yeah... now they know
@solarwolf07
That's also my position.
Under UK law, residents are allowed to make backups of "permanently owned" media such as music, film, and e-books.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29448058
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/359247/Exceptions_to_copyright_-_Guidance_for_consumers.pdf
However, upon reviewing this, it actually doesn't appear to cover software or video games like I had thought.
This is likely because it's uncommon to back up video games from games consoles, as compared to music or films from DVDs and blu-rays.
I'm actually concerned that the UK might not anything that protects a user's backups of games software.
In any case, my main motivation for backing up my Nintendo Switch games, like you, is so I can play them with performance and graphical upgrades, like my recent playthrough of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom at a rock solid 4K 60 FPS.
However, if the upcoming Nintendo Switch successor hardware is capable of playing my back catalogue of Switch games with such enhancements with no issues, I would actually have far less of a reason to take up emulating.
@sanderev
Nintendo may be very unhappy that consumers make copies of their games and play them on devices which are not sold by NIntendo, but they don't have any legal control over that. They are not a governing body.
However, the part about circumventing copy protections may hold water. Or it may not, DVDs technically have copy protection but they are trivial to circumvent and a lot of legal PC software is sold on the means to rip films from DVDs.
Japanese law as I understand it is far stricter about this, and even simply modifying save data outside of the software is apparently a criminal offence? I recall something about this being about fair play in games as to disallow cheating (e.g. giving yourself maximum resources or funds).
@sanderev Writing something on a box does not make it law.
@sanderev game boxes aren't lawbooks.
going against instructions on a box is at most a TOS violation, which is not illegal.
but the DMCA circumvention of protection measures section could indeed still apply.
As long as they stay in hiding and only focus on the Wii U part of the emulator then they should be alright for now. The Switch part of the emulator is what got them in hot water in the first place so that part needs to chill for a while. It'll probably just be for around 5-8 years then once Switch emulation is no longer focus by Nintendo then Ryujinx could slowly bring it back.
Switch emulation is straight out piracy. You can walk the nearest game shop and pick up these games no excuse.
@sanderev aw man, guess I have to stop emulating the games I own because the plastic box I also own says so…
@RupeeClock Never finished eow but if emulators actually fix the frame drops I’ll have to try that out to finish it
I think emulation is extremely necessary for game preservation....BUT!...I think people should also only develop emulators once official support for the console has ceased. I honestly can't blame Nintendo for going after an emulator of their current console as it's really only serving as a method for piracy. If these emulator devs were smart, they would develop these in secret and only do a public release after the console support is over.
@Serpenterror
Ryujinx and Yuzu are not Wii U emulators.
@HugoGED
Emulation does sadly help facilitate piracy, but modded Switch hardware is actually equally capable of piracy.
You can also use modded Switch hardware or emulators and still be completely above-board without pirating software, only running homebrew or legal backups.
@solarwolf07
Yeah, Echoes of Wisdom emulates extremely well and you can give it a few mods to improve the level of detail, optionally turn off the depth of field filter, make it ultra-wide, etc.
I did start playing the game on original hardware, but the performance hiccups were enough that I decided to emulate my backup instead.
All this again is why I'm very excited for the Switch successor hardware, so I can play my catalogue of Switch games with lots of improvements and no caveats or legal ambiguities.
@Dinglehopper Nah, emulating current consoles is great when those consoles can't run their games at 60fps and 1080p... -_-
@fenlix I mean, if that's what you want to use it for, go right ahead. I get wanting to emulate something to essentially overclock or mod it, but I don't think it means you shouldn't be buying the games either. But that's just me. I'd rather buy and play the games on the official hardware until support stops then later switch to emulation for after market stuff and general convenience.
Anyone know how to personally report these things to Nintendo themselves?
(Might be redundant given the fact that famous fansites report on them themselves)
@Ravenmaster What planet do you live on that thinks Nintendo aren't doing anything with their library??? Unbelievable.
Removed - flaming/arguing
@Joom Sorry, didn't mean to touch a nerve.
Thought Nintendo acquired Ryujinx as part of the agreement (of course, it was never really explained)? I mean, anything related to the creator's portion of the software.
Pretty sure the legal ninjas will be lying in the wait.
@fenlix good for you, but the majority of the Switch customer base doesn't care for it. They want to turn it on and play. Not play around with a handheld PC or SBC handheld and having to manage the software themselves.
@Joom lmaoo only one mad here seems to be you
Relax, it's just a comment.
@progx
Nintendo took on Tropic Haze, the company behind Citra and Yuzu, and they reached a settlement without taking this to court where a legal precedent may've been set.
As part of that settlement, Nintendo as I understand either are the legal holders of the Citra and Yuzu source code and/or have grounds to DMCA any copies or derivatives of that code.
Ryujinx on the other hand appears to have been a closed-doors agreement between Nintendo and gdkchan, the original author and maintainer of the Ryujinx project and all its repositories.
It's unknown what that agreement was, outside of the original project being deleted. DMCA was not involved, Ryujinx's website and Patreon were not shut down either.
As such, it seems much less likely that Nintendo will go after Ryujinx forks due to what appears to be a lack of grounds. However, just because they haven't yet taken action, does not mean that they won't, they could be building their case.
I hate switch emulation scene, while I like retro games emulation (I really like my analogue pocket), current gen emulation is just piracy, at least wait until switch 2 release or 10 years before making switch emulator. I don't want retro emulation scene affected by nintendo suing at it while trying to take down switch emulation scene.
Comment section-ly reminder that emulation is legal, emulating currently sold consoles is legal, the people emulating them are also the ones spending the most money on Nintendo, and encryption keys are not intellectual property.
@HugoGED
Factually wrong.
I own a Switch, but there's certain titles I dupe, YES, I dupe from my own console and bought copy to play them later at 4K60 on my OLED monitor. While in handheld the graphics and perfomance is tolerable, docked mode is straight disgusting to look at in most games. That is where emulation comes handy. You don't know how well TOTK plays at 4K60 my dude, plus I can migrate save files.
@Denoloco And that's the minority of switch emulator users, most people just want to play free games.
@RupeeClock Some people are already playing that game without issues in both Yuzu and Ryujinx. It had random crashes, but most problems were resolved when disabling automatic updates and tweaking some options.
@HugoGED
Minority or not. The argument stands. Emulation is legal.
I hear a lot of reasons why people support emulation, such as game preservation, the desire to tweak the specs, or simply being short on money. While I understand those arguments, it's still very entitled to believe that this warrants an act of piracy.
For a big publisher as Nintendo it may not hurt that much in the grand scheme of things, but there are also tons of small developers for which every penny counts.
I always love seeing people here get so defensive over a multi billion dollar corporation when in Reality said corporation doesn't care about us at all.
The only time I'm against Emulation is if the games are available now which in this case they are but tbh deep down I couldn't care less about Nintendo but I do care about their games.
@GrailUK You mean the part where they got rid of the Virtual Console instead porting it over to their next consoles? Then locked those games behind a monthly subscription service? Then sat on a bunch of titles like WW HD and TP HD + others never letting them see light of day? Yeah that was pretty annoying.
@JohnnyMind
That's the point, emulation shouldn't be the problem, but the same people (not all people of course) make it so because they always use it as an excuse and defense for playing the games for FREE and not even paying for the console (and I'm referring to the current ones obviously), and this act IS considered piracy; and that makes Nintendo take action on the matter and as we know how Nintendo is when acting legally, it ends up affecting emulation in general.
If people were honest and bought the games and the console, and with that they used the emulator and the roms, there wouldn't be any problems, but, I repeat, that unfortunately isn't totally true and the worst thing is that many defend this tooth and nail, excuse the expression, but they hypocritically defend piracy...
And the worst, worst thing is that, still in their defense of those, they will say that it is to show that mega corporations are not defensible, that they deserve it and a long etcetera of excuses, but forget about the companies, the ones that end up being affected are the workers who, without owing it or fearing it, are affected in many ways when their jobs are not remunerated as they should be there...
@BTB20 Have you seen how much better Switch games look on an entry level gaming PC? Better frame rates, high res texture packs, HDR colours, no hitching/stuttering due to extremely dated specs. Take a look here at BotW running on a bog standard RTX 3060Ti in 4K 60fps and tell me Nintendo doesn't do this to themselves by cheaping out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxXR5tTpqx4&t=308s
@sanderev You know what is a valid reason to emulate Switch games? Being tired of crappy aged hardware holding back frame rates and visuals.
Look how much better BotW runs at 4K 60fps on a bog standard entry level PC. Nintendo have been cheaping out on their hardware for years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxXR5tTpqx4&t=308s
@dew12333 Its Switch hardware that's letting the console down more so. I have a Switch so i'm speaking from experience when I say low frame rates and jitters are emersion-breaking. But look how much smoother BotW runs on a bog standard gaming PC at 4K 60fps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxXR5tTpqx4&t=308s
Always funny in these comments sections regarding emulation, the usuals immediately go to bat in the name for “game preservation” acting like this wouldn’t STILL happen even if Nintendo had every game they ever had in existence on the current platform.
We all know that is nonsense. Vast majority of people are not “emulating” old games from several generations in the past. No no no. By far it’s people that just don’t want to spend money and play their video game earlier on new release games. It’s not some guess work either.
The literal subreddits for these emulators is full of users alone that shamelessly admit they do it so they don’t give Nintendo a dime and play new games early. The “preservation” is often used as a shield so they can act like what they are doing has an ounce of moral righteousness.
@SakuraHaruka As much as I wish there weren't people using emulators to play games for free and/or not buy consoles even if they can more than afford it what I wonder is how much those actually affect sales - I doubt they'd buy those games/consoles even if emulators, pirated copies etc. were completely gone so again, I think it affects the kinds of people I mentioned more than anything.
Oh well, I'm doing my part by supporting the official releases whenever I can now that I'm able to and I encourage those who can to do the same exactly for the sake of those making the games so many me included love so much (couldn't agree more about some tending to forget that those who end up being affected first and foremost are unfortunately the regular workers, not the CEOs etc. of "mega corporations")!
@sanderev better performance, modding
I think this emulator is cool but I also think they should wait until the switch has been out of circulation for a while before continuing to work on it. It’ll be less of a priority to Nintendo by then which means they won’t be under the scornful eagle eyes of their cyborg lawyers 24/7 as well!
@Ravenmaster I get it. You want everything now lol.
Nothing wrong with emulating your purchased games in 4k 60 FPS
@Oni tbh I play much more switch games on the steam deck rather than my switch
Emulation always seem to stir up a storm.
You have to go through some real mental gymnastics to be opposed to it.
@RupeeClock I'm playing Brothership on my Steamdeck now using Ryujinx. Works pretty good, a few stutters during cutscenes is only issue I had.
@Ravenmaster What does any of this have to do with what you said in your previous comment?
"As long as Nintendo continues to sit on its library and do nothing with it, holding some of their games hostage instead of releasing them on their own platform, emulators will always pop up to set them free."
That has nothing to do with Switch games not running in 4K with HDR and whatever. The Switch games are fully available right now not "held hostage" on an older platform.
Well now i'm giving you 2 reasons for emulators. And they both stem from Nintendo's shortcomings. Also, emulation is technically not illegal in many countries so long as you own the original version of the games.
@GrailUK If Switch 2 doesn't deliver, there's gonna be a whole bunch of tech geniuses working on new emulators. Nintendo need to step up their game and bring some decent hardware this time around. They can't afford to mess up with so many more handhelds on the market now
@Ravenmaster It's their games that need to deliver. Always has been.
@GrailUK Yeah but when their hardware is sub-par then people are gonna emulate their games and run them on better hardware. That's my point.
@Ravenmaster With ya. Yeah, it's a good point.
Good news for gamers! Guess we gotta protect devs better to protect against the criminals of Kyoto.
As much as I like my switch for the form factor (after getting Nitro Deck for it, joycons are crap), I have to admit that the performance is hot garbage. I can't blame people for choosing to emulate switch games if the only alternative is to play them on an ancient tablet chipset. I would never have finished BotW if it wasn't for Ryujinx because playing it on switch literally gave me motion sickness. I know that the big N doesn't care if I play it or not after I already bought it, but my experience trying to play it on its native platform was so bad that I straight up skipped TotK and don't plan to check it out until I can buy it on something that can run it correctly. My experience with Pokémon Violet was quite similar, though I was able to push myself to play it on an actual switch as at least it doesn't depend on real time inputs all that much. But shadows flickering and models constantly popping in and out of rendering distance as I moved around weren't kind to my eyes either. It's a shame that only small indies run well on switch as they can already be played on other platforms, while 1st party titles aren't optimised at all to run well on switch despite being the only real reason to get switch over a handheld pc. I feel like this (along with the fact that switch is nothing more than an ARM tablet which have been around and reverse engineered for ages) is the reason why switch emulation was way easier and more widespread very early into the console's life cycle. Not many people bothered emulating 3DS when it was still an active platform because 3DS games ran perfectly fine on 3DS, but switch titles are a choppy, pixelated mess on the system they release on. I understand that Nintendo is not fond of people emulating switch, but they are partially responsible for the problem when they keep releasing games that are too demanding for their own system. Either reduce the scope/fidelity of the games or release more powerful hardware. If not people will emulate these games to play them comfortably, no matter how many projects Nintendo tries to kill.
@sanderev Maybe in the US, in the EU or is perfectly legal to circumvent drm for personal use.
@sanderev ok Nintendo simp, what to explain why
@HugoGED tell me which store I can go in and buy a ps1/2 game and the money I use does to the publisher/developer
@RupeeClock Such a tired failed argument that this isnt for piracy.. when 99% of use is piracy. Pathetic, like a 12 year old lying to his Mom and she just nods and allows it .. thats how you want Nintendo to act.
@lexiestence Bullcrap, when the switch 2 comes out, you'll still pirate games
@ChakraStomps
Just because it can be abused for piracy does not mean that it does not have legitimate uses.
However yes, I absolutely recognise that piracy is widespread and the existence of working emulators, soft-mods or mod chips motivates would-be pirates to go ahead with pirating the games.
I haven't mentioned the preservation argument myself, but being able to get a project like this rolling during the system's active lifespan makes the preservation effort easier and more sustainable into the far future. Such was the case for Dolphin Emulator, actually.
That said don't you dare insist that I'm making excuses for myself, I've purchased every one of my Switch games that I've played, and it's up to me if I play them on my unmodded Switch or an emulator, which is possible by dumping them through my soft-modded Switch.
@Dtronicsuk I was talking about Switch emulation and switch games... Nothing wrong with PS2 emulation lol
@HugoGED And what happens when the switch stops being sold and you can no longer buy the games.
Im not trying to say people dont use emulators for piracy, people do, but emulation is vital for game preservation. Unfortually, Nintendo are against there player base, they will DMCA anyone that does anything with there IP. You want to share your honest review on the latest zelda game and tell everyone how good it is and how they should buy the game, well nintendo will DMCA you. You create a mod that improves a game made for the n64, Nintendo will DMCA you.
At the end of the day, if i want to make a backup of a game that i PAID from my hacked console that i OWN so i can play it on a another device that i OWN then i am allowed to.
UK law states that i am allowed to make a backup of any media, digital or physical for my own PERSONAL use.
Nintendo could take me to court but they would be laughed out just like Sony was when they tried taking the devs of the first playstation emulator to court and lost.
At the end of the day, in a would where you no longer own the games you buy, i should be allowed to do what i want with the things i own. Remember, NEVER buy digital, always get a physical copy of the game on disk or cartage where possible, at least then, they cant take it away from you
@Ravenmaster yeah I hear you. If YOU don’t get want YOU want, then YOU will do whatever YOU want to get your way. And no the excuses don’t wash with me.
emulation isn't illegal if you already own a copy of the original games. All you're doing is playing them on a more capable platform such as a gaming PC that can handle high res textures, anti-aliasing, HDR colours and better frame rates. If Nintendo could provide hardware that did all that then there would be no need to emulate. Also if they released Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD on the Switch there would be no reason to emulate those either. Emulation happens due to Nintendo's shortcomings.
@Ravenmaster "If Nintendo could provide hardware that did all that then there would be no need to emulate."
How much do you reckon that sort of console would cost and what do you reckon the battery life would be? They stated years ago they're not part of the graphics arms race...it's not cost effective at all and you'd have to wait even longer for games. Doesn't really sound like a mass market machine to me really...
Well now we have inexpensive entry GPU's that support DLSS so i'm that's one improvement that wouldn't cost much more to make. Plus they're low wattage too so easy on the battery life.
Even a last gen RTX 3060Ti can run BotW at 4K 60fps. Using a custom SoC i'd say Nintendo and Nvidia could make a 4K capable console for around $400-500. Which is a lot cheaper than most people pay for a mobile phone these days
@Ravenmaster portable technology has moved on in the last 8 years, if it's a Switch successor that's still on the pricy side methinks...curious to find out though.
Removed - trolling/baiting
@SecureBoot so you're mad at them for banning you for doing something you KNEW that they are heavily against?
LMAO
Sounds like someone gets mad when they get caught with their hand in the cookiejar.
@Arkay
Nintendo isn't my mom. It's my switch and I can do what I want with it. I have no more respect for Nintendo than I do for politicians. They can ban me from buying games if they want, but that's not going to stop me from playing their games. The only one losing anything is them losing a few hundred dollars from me.
When I was a jobless kid, I pirated my games because I had no other way to play them. Now that I'm an adult the only one not getting paid is Nintendo because they won't let me pay them. Sucks for them because I typically enjoy their games the most.
@SecureBoot I pirated games when I was a kid as well for the same reason: had no means of acquiring them. That and wanted to "try before I buy". That's how I got into Xenoblade.
I understand where you're coming from but I'm just saying that it doesn't make sense to be mad at them for getting punished for doing something that you knew they don't like.
@Arkay
You misunderstand. I'm not mad. I don't have that kind of mental energy. I simply saw their decision, realized it was stupid, and took matters into my own hands
@SecureBoot ahh ok, understood.
@ChakraStomps the hell do you mean "pirate games"? Every single switch game I ever played I either bought or borrowed a physical copy of from my partner.
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