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Nintendo has finally sued too many smart people, and shut down too many fan projects. I can no longer support their bad behaviour so I can't support the Switch.

Nintendo has finally sued too many smart people, and shut down too many fan projects. I can no longer support their bad behaviour so I can't support the Switch. I know they've been bad actors in that space for a long time but I guess I've just gotten old enough to see past my nostalgia. Also the quality of the switch is below my expectations. My NES controller still works, but my joycons are dead.

heavyset_go 5y ago
> Nintendo has finally sued too many smart people, and shut down too many fan projects. I can no longer support their bad behaviour so I can't support the Switch. I know they've been bad actors in that space for a long time but I guess I've just gotten old enough to see past my nostalgia. For reference, Nintendo stalked Neimod and compiled a dossier on him[1][2], tried to get him to incriminate himself online[2], and then dangled a job opportunity in front of him in exchange for information about his 3DS exploits[3]. From here[4]: > Nintendo had run background checks on the hacker, knew where he lived, where he worked, and where he graduated from. To make the story even more creepy, the gaming company was allegedly spying on the man, knew everything about his typical day, his usual activities, friendships, times he left his residence, restaurants he liked to visit, and more. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25580861 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25580861 [2] https://twitter.com/forestillusion/status/1341230631913541633 https://twitter.com/forestillusion/status/134123063191354163... [3] https://twitter.com/orcastraw/status/1341178144708059136 https://twitter.com/orcastraw/status/1341178144708059136 [4] https://www.technadu.com/nintendo-spying-3ds-hacker-neimod-trying-to-stop-him/234759/ https://www.technadu.com/nintendo-spying-3ds-hacker-neimod-t...
- judge2020 5y ago
  Is it known how they got this info? Typically this would've required hiring some private investigator for a few weeks to follow them and gather intelligence, but now it seems they could have simply ran his name to get all this information from a background check agency (in my experience these background checks are typically very detailed including employment and income information).
  - lelandfe 5y ago
    The leaked slides include these bullet points: - "Surveillance didn't reveal any friends or visitors entering or leaving the residence" - "Only additional activity included a trip to the bank and a restaurant (alone)"
  - rndgermandude 5y ago
    [2] has a Nintendo document with a bullet point starting with "Surveillance didn't reveal...". The other stuff mentioned in this section also required surveillance, not just a background check. They stalked the guy as part of their operation they named "Belgian Waffle".
- 1_player 5y ago
  This reenforces my decision to jailbreak my Switch Lite. It's been sitting unused for 2 years, I don't like it, gives me cramps, and the store prices are ridiculous when used to the convenience and sales offered by Steam. And I have to pay for the Nintendo Online subscription to install a NES and SNES emulator. Yeah, no. Any good Switch jailbreak resources? I'm comfortable doing it, I don't know what's the latest and most effective hack these days.
  - Narushia 5y ago
    https://nh-server.github.io/switch-guide/ https://nh-server.github.io/switch-guide/ is the recommended guide for Switch. However, there’s currently no way to run a custom firmware on the Switch Lite.
  - looperhacks 5y ago
    For the lite, you will have to install a modchip. These are currently hard to find or very expensive. But if you still want to do it, there are many tutorials online. A few keywords you can use are "Mariko" (Codename for newer switch models like the lite), "CFW" (custom firmware) and atmosphere (the most popular CFW)
- markus_zhang 5y ago
  It's surprising that no one in the community takes retaliation, in one form or another. If you don't have the ability to harm others you are sheep in the jungle.
mdm_ 5y ago
>Nintendo has finally sued too many smart people, and shut down too many fan projects. I've always wondered, with Nintendo's history of being rather litigious and forcing fans to take down gameplay videos, etc, how have they not sued Roblox out of existence yet? Practically every game I see my kids play on Roblox makes heavy use of unlicensed Nintendo IP: models/images of Mario, Yoshi, Pikachu, well known music and sound effects from various Nintendo games, and so on. Robolox is not some obscure app, AFAIK it has over 150 million users and rakes in money from these games that are making extensive use of Nintendo's IP. IANAL but this seems like a slam dunk, what gives?
- runevault 5y ago
  Isn't all that stuff fan made?
- bdowling 5y ago
  > IANAL but this seems like a slam dunk, what gives? Roblox is protected by the DMCA from liability for copyright infringement based on user submitted content. All that Nintendo can do is file DMCA claims and then wait. Nintendo could not sue unless Roblox fails to take down the material. Suing the users who submitted the material would be a waste of time in most cases, because most users don't have any money to pay damages.
- BigJono 5y ago
  Because lawyers don't pick fights to lose them. Arguing to what extent a platform has to moderate content, in a foreign court, against a warchest in the billions, is a much different ballgame to just binning a beloved fan game community once in a while to send a message.
- slightwinder 5y ago
  Can they even sue roblox? They are only the platform, the content after all comes from the creators. And the question is whether this amounts as fair use. Fanart and stuff is not getting sued either for reasons. But then again, people can make money with Roblox, so i'm curious whether Nintendo does sue people who make Money with their content on Roblox.
n3dm 5y ago
>I can't support the switch >Bought a switch Bro, what?
- 1_player 5y ago
  People change their mind.
qwertywert_ 5y ago
> joycons are dead Did you try cleaning out the connector?
vlunkr 5y ago
I don't understand people getting upset about fan projects being shut down. What do you expect to happen? You can create an earthbound-like game without calling it earthbound.
- feanaro 5y ago
  I personally expect it to be left to exist.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - KronisLV 5y ago
    Agreed, if we lived in a different world than our current one, it would be nice and i wouldn't bat an eyelid at seeing that. Want to play the old Star Wars Battlefront 2 with fan made leader servers? Go ahead, there's a project out there for the hundreds to thousands of nostalgic people. Want to play Battlefield Bad Company 2 in a similar manner with fan made projects to support the game after the company behind it has given up? You're more than welcome. Want to play fan made mods/expansions for KOTOR2 or maybe the Jedi Outcast games, or maybe Battlefield 1942 or Battlefield 2? Sure! Perhaps play a newly created fan game for the Duke Nukem series, which really took a nosedive a few years back? Go ahead, enjoy that person's art. Of course, one can argue that it would become way more problematic if the developers of any such project tried charging money for them, though as long as they're freely available and any donations are entirely optional, i don't see any problems. And yet, in our current world, things are not that simple - whenever there's a threat of cease & desist for any project like that. Games like STALKER have a rich modding scene that keeps the games alive years after the developers finished them and introduce everything from new mods to total conversations, something that might as well not be possible with a different company behind the game, which would pursue legal action.
    - feanaro 5y ago
      > And yet, in our current world, things are not that simple - whenever there's a threat of cease & desist for any project like that. That is exactly the point, though. It's only complicated due to artificial problems created by misguided people and overreaching companies like Nintendo. I deeply wish that we could collectively just become a bit more relaxed about things and stop trying to control everything.
skinnymuch 5y ago
Why did you buy a Switch?
shawabawa3 5y ago
They also illegally refuse refunds in the EU for games you've bought but never downloaded or launched
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
tasubotadas 5y ago
I am now really looking forward to see Steam Deck launch
- 0-_-0 5y ago
  apparently switch emulators run well on it :)
yucky 5y ago
>My NES controller still works, but my joycons are dead. Do you have to blow in your switch to get the games to work?

heavyset_go 5y ago

> Nintendo has finally sued too many smart people, and shut down too many fan projects. I can no longer support their bad behaviour so I can't support the Switch. I know they've been bad actors in that space for a long time but I guess I've just gotten old enough to see past my nostalgia. For reference, Nintendo stalked Neimod and compiled a dossier on him[1][2], tried to get him to incriminate himself online[2], and then dangled a job opportunity in front of him in exchange for information about his 3DS exploits[3]. From here[4]: > Nintendo had run background checks on the hacker, knew where he lived, where he worked, and where he graduated from. To make the story even more creepy, the gaming company was allegedly spying on the man, knew everything about his typical day, his usual activities, friendships, times he left his residence, restaurants he liked to visit, and more. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25580861 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25580861 [2] https://twitter.com/forestillusion/status/1341230631913541633 https://twitter.com/forestillusion/status/134123063191354163... [3] https://twitter.com/orcastraw/status/1341178144708059136 https://twitter.com/orcastraw/status/1341178144708059136 [4] https://www.technadu.com/nintendo-spying-3ds-hacker-neimod-trying-to-stop-him/234759/ https://www.technadu.com/nintendo-spying-3ds-hacker-neimod-t...

judge2020 5y ago
Is it known how they got this info? Typically this would've required hiring some private investigator for a few weeks to follow them and gather intelligence, but now it seems they could have simply ran his name to get all this information from a background check agency (in my experience these background checks are typically very detailed including employment and income information).
- lelandfe 5y ago
  The leaked slides include these bullet points: - "Surveillance didn't reveal any friends or visitors entering or leaving the residence" - "Only additional activity included a trip to the bank and a restaurant (alone)"
- rndgermandude 5y ago
  [2] has a Nintendo document with a bullet point starting with "Surveillance didn't reveal...". The other stuff mentioned in this section also required surveillance, not just a background check. They stalked the guy as part of their operation they named "Belgian Waffle".
1_player 5y ago
This reenforces my decision to jailbreak my Switch Lite. It's been sitting unused for 2 years, I don't like it, gives me cramps, and the store prices are ridiculous when used to the convenience and sales offered by Steam. And I have to pay for the Nintendo Online subscription to install a NES and SNES emulator. Yeah, no. Any good Switch jailbreak resources? I'm comfortable doing it, I don't know what's the latest and most effective hack these days.
- Narushia 5y ago
  https://nh-server.github.io/switch-guide/ https://nh-server.github.io/switch-guide/ is the recommended guide for Switch. However, there’s currently no way to run a custom firmware on the Switch Lite.
- looperhacks 5y ago
  For the lite, you will have to install a modchip. These are currently hard to find or very expensive. But if you still want to do it, there are many tutorials online. A few keywords you can use are "Mariko" (Codename for newer switch models like the lite), "CFW" (custom firmware) and atmosphere (the most popular CFW)
markus_zhang 5y ago
It's surprising that no one in the community takes retaliation, in one form or another. If you don't have the ability to harm others you are sheep in the jungle.

mdm_ 5y ago

>Nintendo has finally sued too many smart people, and shut down too many fan projects. I've always wondered, with Nintendo's history of being rather litigious and forcing fans to take down gameplay videos, etc, how have they not sued Roblox out of existence yet? Practically every game I see my kids play on Roblox makes heavy use of unlicensed Nintendo IP: models/images of Mario, Yoshi, Pikachu, well known music and sound effects from various Nintendo games, and so on. Robolox is not some obscure app, AFAIK it has over 150 million users and rakes in money from these games that are making extensive use of Nintendo's IP. IANAL but this seems like a slam dunk, what gives?

runevault 5y ago
Isn't all that stuff fan made?
bdowling 5y ago
> IANAL but this seems like a slam dunk, what gives? Roblox is protected by the DMCA from liability for copyright infringement based on user submitted content. All that Nintendo can do is file DMCA claims and then wait. Nintendo could not sue unless Roblox fails to take down the material. Suing the users who submitted the material would be a waste of time in most cases, because most users don't have any money to pay damages.
BigJono 5y ago
Because lawyers don't pick fights to lose them. Arguing to what extent a platform has to moderate content, in a foreign court, against a warchest in the billions, is a much different ballgame to just binning a beloved fan game community once in a while to send a message.
slightwinder 5y ago
Can they even sue roblox? They are only the platform, the content after all comes from the creators. And the question is whether this amounts as fair use. Fanart and stuff is not getting sued either for reasons. But then again, people can make money with Roblox, so i'm curious whether Nintendo does sue people who make Money with their content on Roblox.

n3dm 5y ago

>I can't support the switch >Bought a switch Bro, what?

1_player 5y ago
People change their mind.

qwertywert_ 5y ago

> joycons are dead Did you try cleaning out the connector?

vlunkr 5y ago

I don't understand people getting upset about fan projects being shut down. What do you expect to happen? You can create an earthbound-like game without calling it earthbound.

feanaro 5y ago
I personally expect it to be left to exist.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- KronisLV 5y ago
  Agreed, if we lived in a different world than our current one, it would be nice and i wouldn't bat an eyelid at seeing that. Want to play the old Star Wars Battlefront 2 with fan made leader servers? Go ahead, there's a project out there for the hundreds to thousands of nostalgic people. Want to play Battlefield Bad Company 2 in a similar manner with fan made projects to support the game after the company behind it has given up? You're more than welcome. Want to play fan made mods/expansions for KOTOR2 or maybe the Jedi Outcast games, or maybe Battlefield 1942 or Battlefield 2? Sure! Perhaps play a newly created fan game for the Duke Nukem series, which really took a nosedive a few years back? Go ahead, enjoy that person's art. Of course, one can argue that it would become way more problematic if the developers of any such project tried charging money for them, though as long as they're freely available and any donations are entirely optional, i don't see any problems. And yet, in our current world, things are not that simple - whenever there's a threat of cease & desist for any project like that. Games like STALKER have a rich modding scene that keeps the games alive years after the developers finished them and introduce everything from new mods to total conversations, something that might as well not be possible with a different company behind the game, which would pursue legal action.
  - feanaro 5y ago
    > And yet, in our current world, things are not that simple - whenever there's a threat of cease & desist for any project like that. That is exactly the point, though. It's only complicated due to artificial problems created by misguided people and overreaching companies like Nintendo. I deeply wish that we could collectively just become a bit more relaxed about things and stop trying to control everything.

skinnymuch 5y ago

Why did you buy a Switch?

shawabawa3 5y ago

They also illegally refuse refunds in the EU for games you've bought but never downloaded or launched

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

tasubotadas 5y ago

I am now really looking forward to see Steam Deck launch

0-_-0 5y ago
apparently switch emulators run well on it :)

yucky 5y ago

>My NES controller still works, but my joycons are dead. Do you have to blow in your switch to get the games to work?