Nintendo’s war with websites that host its retro titles has claimed another victim: EmuParadise, an online repository that provided access to classic games from various Nintendo eras, including the N64, NES, and SNES in addition to Sega Dreamcast and Genesis, and Sony’s PlayStation.
In a blog post on Wednesday, EmuParadise founder who goes by the alias ‘MasJ’ admitted that his site, which began in March 2000, could no longer operate in the current environment and that retro game lovers “won't be able to get [their] games from here for now” because he couldn’t think of a way that would “keep [EmuParadise] out of trouble”. Notably, MasJ didn’t mention Nintendo or any other gaming giant by name in his post at all, though it’s clear they were a factor.
“I started EmuParadise 18 years ago because I never got to play many of these amazing retro games while growing up in India and I wanted other people to be able to experience them,” he added. “Over the years, many folks have joined in and contributed to this vision and I think I can say that we've been successful in spreading our passion for retro games far and wide.”
“Through the years I've worked tirelessly with the rest of the EmuParadise team to ensure that everyone could get their fix of retro gaming. We've received thousands of emails from people telling us how happy they've been to rediscover and even share their childhood with the next generations in their families.”
MasJ noted that they have dealt with issues in "all 18 years of [the site’s] existence” and have "always complied with takedown requests”. But the situation surrounding hosting game files, which are the intellectual property of the publisher, has gone from being a relatively-ignored grey area of sorts to coming under intense scrutiny in recent years.
Nintendo filed lawsuits against two similar websites and got GitHub to take down a Game Boy Advance emulator last month. EmuParadise’s decision just weeks later suggests Nintendo had some influence.
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