Mod that adds online play to Super Mario 64 draws ire

[dlevere]

ROM hack is still available online despite YouTube and Patreon take downs.

Nintendo has issued a number of DMCA copyright take down notices aimed at hindering a popular mod that adds online play to a PC emulated version of Super Mario 64, letting up to 24 players run around the game's world together as a number of different characters.

ROM hacker Kaze Emanuar says Nintendo issued take down requests for several videos of Super Mario 64 Online game play on his YouTube channel.

Those videos featured download links and instructions for installing the ROM hack, which have also been removed along with the videos.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/...nintendos-ire/

[Lazy Bastard]

Seems like bad publicity for Nintendo; probably not the best way they could've gone about this.

[MathUser]

Does it use something like Kailera or private servers to go online? I hope nintendo don't shut it down all the way.

[Pyriel]

I can sort of see the conundrum here. For better or for worse, Nintendo is still trying to sell or resell this 20-year-old game to people, and I don't think we could ever expect them to watch idly as modders turn pirated copies of the game into something that could cut into those sales. If this was an enhancement that the original cartridge plugged into, or something that tried to be quasi-legal by attempting to ensure it was only applied to legitimate copies, then maybe.

Whether the current trend of remakes, remasters, and plain-old repackaged originals is problematic is a different (albeit related) matter. I'm not really going to touch it, though.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

The thing is...Nintendo's making a big stink over a game they hardly make any money off of, while completely ignoring other games that have a much larger financial footprint. (all those Pokemon mods you see nowadays is testament to that).