Switch emulators get DMCA'd, new clamshells, and two incredible Mario Kart mods
💘 Happy Valentine's Day and welcome to another (late) edition of The Memory Core weekly news roundup! Going forward, I may always send these on weekends to save myself the trouble of apologizing.
I have some very, very exciting news to share with you in the coming week, but this past week has also been a big one, for better or worse. I've got one story for you, then the roundup.
Scroll to the end for two incredible Mario Kart mods.
Switch emulation under fire again
Nintendo Switch emulation has really gotten into a good spot over the past year, with Yuzu forks Eden and Citron making huge leaps forward. But this hasn't gone unnoticed by the big N.
This week, a Nintendo employee sent a DMCA notice to GitHub, targeting nearly 40 different repositories and countless more forks. These include older, abandoned repositories, as well as popular apps like Eden, Citron, Kenji-NX, and MeloNX.
I had a look at the specific text of the DMCA notice, and there are a few things that stand out.
First, Nintendo appears to be using the same argument as always. It writes:
"Nintendo Switch emulators are primarily designed to play Nintendo Switch games. Specifically, these Nintendo Switch emulators illegally circumvent Nintendo's TPMs and run illegal copies of Nintendo Switch games."
Later, it continues:
During operation, these emulators necessarily use unauthorized copies of... cryptographic keys to decrypt unauthorized copies of Nintendo Switch games, or ROMs, at or immediately before runtime without Nintendo's authorization. Thus, they are primarily designed to and unlawfully 'circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under' the DMCA, and distribution of these emulators constitutes unlawful trafficking in technology that is 'primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access' to copyrighted works.
In short, the argument is that because Switch emulators can play pirated Switch games, they inherently infringe on copyright law under the DMCA. Nintendo's position appears to be that there is no way to legally play Switch games outside a Switch, even if you own the game.
Reverse engineering software is generally considered fair use, but tools that circumvent technical protection measures (TPMs), such as cryptographic keys or DRM, are not protected. It's worth noting that no modern Switch emulator provides cryptographic keys, firmware files, or ROMs.
In fact, asking about them will quickly get you banned from the project. Instead, you are encouraged to mod your own consoles to download your own keys and game files from your own hardware.
Nintendo cites two cases in its complaint. The first is Nintendo of America Inc. v. Tropic Haze LLC, AKA the Yuzu case, which was settled for $2.4 million in 2024. That case was never fully adjudicated, but the Yuzu devs were playing much more fast and loose with keys and game files.
The other case cited is Nintendo of America Inc. v. Jesse Keighin, which I wrote about last October. Keighin (AKA EveryGameGuru) was sued for streaming emulated Switch games that hadn’t been released yet.
Keighin did not defend himself in court, so the default judgment has limited precedential value. It was also more about streaming/sharing copyrighted content rather than emulation.
But one interesting note from the ruling is that the judge rejected Nintendo's claim that sharing cryptographic keys constitutes a TPM circumvention. The judge argued that these are merely data and do nothing unless combined with an emulator.
Still, the ruling accepted Nintendo’s uncontested claim that emulators like Yuzu and Ryujinx exist only to bypass security measures and have no other commercial value, and Nintendo is now using that as a building block for future cases.
That might have been different had the case been litigated, where the judge would have had to consider other use cases for the emulators, such as game preservation or homebrew games. For what it's worth, Citron positions itself as a "Nintendo Homebrew emulator."
Finally, there's some confusion about another part of the DMCA notice.
One of the final questions reads, "Is the work licensed under an open source license?" The employee answered "No," which some have interpreted to mean that the targeted Switch emulators themselves are not open source (which they are).
However, I believe, in this context, the "work" is the Nintendo Switch console and its TPMs. This is referenced earlier in a question that reads "Please provide a detailed description of the original copyrighted work that has allegedly been infringed." But it is confusing and open for interpretation.
While GitHub has yet to remove the repositories from its website, it's likely only a matter of time. GitHub is now owned by Microsoft, which, for obvious reasons, is more likely to capitulate to requests from other corporate entities.
Thankfully, established projects like Citron and Eden are already hosted outside of GitHub, so the projects aren't in danger of disappearing any time soon.
However, without hosting the projects on GitHub, their distribution costs are likely to skyrocket. If you have the means and want to see Switch emulation continue to thrive, consider supporting Eden to help with the hosting costs. At the moment, there doesn't seem to be a way to support Citron or other projects.
Handheld highlights
📂 This week, rumors for two new clamshell handhelds began to crop up, starting with a Pocket Flip 2-style device with a 4.7-inch screen called the TrimUI Flap X1. The other is a GBA SP-style handheld with a smaller form factor. It may be a while before they materialize, but check out the renders if you're clamoring for clamshells. [Reddit] [Reddit]
💊 Specs for the RG VITA Pro were confirmed this week, and it will be sporting a RockChip RK3576 and 4GB of RAM, but more importantly it will be running Linux. The reduced overhead could offer a major performance boost, but it will still likely struggle with Vita emulation, given the state of the software. [Retro Handhelds]
‼️ In more exciting news, custom firmware developer Gamma confirmed that he is partnering with ANBERNIC to make GammaOS available for the RG VITA Pro at launch, for free. That alone might make it worth the purchase for many. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks. [Discord]
🙅 The Steam Deck went out of stock in the US this week, prompting fans to come up with all sorts of theories as to why. Is it the RAM shortage? Is it tariffs? Is Valve gearing up for a Steam Deck 2? Personally, I think it's just the RAM shortage, but either way, it might be a while before you can get your hands on one. [Steam]
FPGA focus
🕹️ Analogue released yet another firmware update for the Analogue 3D, but it's mostly bug fixes and minor tweaks. You'll have to wait a little longer for the big Wi-Fi update, sorry. [Analogue]
⬆️ Update All version 2.5 is now available, with support for CRT monitors and some seriously retro themes. It will auto-update if you have it installed on your MiSTer, but check out the Patreon post for more details. [Patreon]
The Emulator Station
📈 PabloMK7 previewed a new Vulkan shader cache for Azahar, which has the potential to dramatically decrease stuttering in 3DS emulation. Essentially, this will allow you to preload shaders for a given game, significantly reducing real-time performance requirements for a smoother gameplay experience. [X]
🍊 Citron might be wiped off GitHub soon, but it's also making its way to a new platform: iOS. The dev team has taken JIT implementation from the MeloNX emulator to bring the Switch emulator to iPhones and iPads. It's not ready yet and you'll need to jump through some hoops to enable JIT on your device, but it's great news for iOS gamers. [Reddit]
👤 PS4 emulation continues to make slow and steady progress, with a new stable release for ShadPS4 with the codename JustShadow4 released last week. It's still early in the game, but check out the patch notes for the technical details. [GitHub]
🤩 The emulation frontend Cocoon released a big 2.0 update this week, with new background music, themes, and more. It's a very iiSU-like aesthetic, but without some of the more ambitious social features. It works for both single and dual-screen devices. [Cocoon]
🆕 A few weeks back, I wrote about Epic Games coming to the PC emulator GameNative, and a new update just made the experience even better. It's now significantly easier to sign in to your GoG and Epic account, and games should run better, too. [Download]
Retro archive
🛒 Mario Kart Wii Deluxe X is a massive update for the Wii game mod, adding more than 700 tracks (which is nearly every Mario Kart track ever made). There are four different versions available, each with different perks and styles. Check out the trailer for a preview, and head over to the official Discord for download links. [Trailer] [Discord]
🏎️ Mario Kart Double Dash: Retro Track GP is a new mod that adds 48 new courses to the GameCube title, complete with a new soundtrack. You can download the mod today, and yes, it does work on original hardware. [Trailer] [Download]
🔫 I wrote about this a while back, but you can now download the full game installer for Unreal Tournament 2004, completely for free. You can then apply the OldUnreal community patch to relive your teenage years. [Website]
🎞️ A new documentary film called Passport to Adventure: The SCUMM Story is now in the works. It will explore the classic LucasArts titles made with the legendary point-and-click engine, including the first three Monkey Islands, Sam & Max Hit the Road, Maniac Mansion, Loom, and others. Head over to the website to subscribe for updates, or watch Cressup's interview with writer/director Richard Moss. [Website] [Interview]