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Nintendo
Nintendo is a multi-billion-dollar company established in Kyoto, Japan, and has multiple subdivisions outside of Japan. They are well-known for massive franchises, such as Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid. They are positioned as the last company to make software entirely exclusive to only their platforms, often to the detriment of their fans.
Anti-consumer Practices
History against emulation
Nintendo is well-known for their extensive history of combating emulation, from them suing N64 emulator UltraHLE[1] in 1999, to more modern emulators, such as Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu[2] in 2024. Nintendo has also pressured for restrictions to access emulators, such as Dolphin's non-inclusion as a core[3] for the Steam version of Retroarch.
History against hardware modification
Nintendo in the pas has sued the creation of hardware modifications, such as the Game Genie[4] and 10NES circumvention[5]
De-listing/destruction of access to games
In late January of 2019, Nintendo shut down their first digital storefront, the Wii Shop Channel[6], and subsequently later on shut down the Wii U and 3DS eShops [7]. These shutdowns have caused hundreds of games to become impossible to obtain new copies of and for some, additionally play, among these include Splatoon 1, Super Mario Maker, Pokemon Picross, and more[8]. As of now, over 1,000 digitally-exclusive games can only be obtained via piracy, and a subset requires additional modification to run.
References
- ↑ https://games.slashdot.org/story/99/02/12/0943207/nintendo-confirms-it-will-sue-ultrahle-creators
- ↑ https://www.romanolaw.com/ninten-dont-breaking-down-the-yuzu-emulator-lawsuit/
- ↑ https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2023/07/20/what-happened-to-dolphin-on-steam/
- ↑ http://www.museumofintellectualproperty.org/features/game_genie.html
- ↑ https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/summaries/atari-nintendo-fedcir1992.pdf
- ↑ https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27560/~/wii-shop-channel-discontinuation
- ↑ https://www.nintendo.com/au/support/articles/wii-u-and-nintendo-3ds-eshop-discontinuation/
- ↑ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/analysis-digital-only-wii-u-3ds-games/
