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I think it’s more of the spirit of the thing than it is the law, specifically. The fact is, I’d imagine a solid 90% of people using Switch emulation are using

I think it’s more of the spirit of the thing than it is the law, specifically. The fact is, I’d imagine a solid 90% of people using Switch emulation are using it for piracy of games that are usually still available on the shelf - or worse, brand new. As a homebrew developer for, EG; the SEGA Saturn and Atari Jaguar - I absolutely do get that there are a few of us that legitimately use emulators for legal purposes. I also download ROMs all the time of even mainstream titles that have never seen a re-release. (Here’s looking at you, ‘Knuckles’ Chaotix’ for the SEGA 32X…) But the issue with Switch emulation is that, yes; I’ve got a few friends who simply downloaded and played all the way through the new Zelda title released just recently via emulation, and it’s just kind of…it’s easier to understand why that isn’t really ‘okay’ to me.

TheAceOfHearts 3y ago
You can rip your own games for the Switch. But I don't think there's anything morally dubious with buying a copy and downloading a ROM to play on your emulator. Many people I know just buy the game (because game devs need to eat) but prefer to play on an emulator because it provides an objectively superior experience. Increased framerate and the ability to manage your own save files is enough to justify using an emulator.
jquery 3y ago
Nintendo had plenty of tools to stop Zelda from working on emulators, at least for a few weeks after release. I am curious why they chose not to bother.
jquery 3y ago
Ok, after trying out the emulation, I can safely say it is far below the experience on the Switch. I feel sorry for anyone solely doing emulation thinking they're getting the full Zelda experience. The controls are janky and laggy. The audio/video desyncs. Lots of frame skipping/stuttering/acceleration/deceleration. A whole mess of issues and that's just in the first 10 minutes of the prologue. You probably could beat the game if you ignored those issues but it had all the delicacy of a movie camrip. Yeah, you can watch a camrip and understand the movie, but the enjoyment just isn't the same.

TheAceOfHearts 3y ago

You can rip your own games for the Switch. But I don't think there's anything morally dubious with buying a copy and downloading a ROM to play on your emulator. Many people I know just buy the game (because game devs need to eat) but prefer to play on an emulator because it provides an objectively superior experience. Increased framerate and the ability to manage your own save files is enough to justify using an emulator.

jquery 3y ago

Nintendo had plenty of tools to stop Zelda from working on emulators, at least for a few weeks after release. I am curious why they chose not to bother.

jquery 3y ago

Ok, after trying out the emulation, I can safely say it is far below the experience on the Switch. I feel sorry for anyone solely doing emulation thinking they're getting the full Zelda experience. The controls are janky and laggy. The audio/video desyncs. Lots of frame skipping/stuttering/acceleration/deceleration. A whole mess of issues and that's just in the first 10 minutes of the prologue. You probably could beat the game if you ignored those issues but it had all the delicacy of a movie camrip. Yeah, you can watch a camrip and understand the movie, but the enjoyment just isn't the same.