Nintendo has responded to actions it took to have the popular Dolphin emulator for GameCube and Wii taken down from Steam’s store, calling the move a way to protect its work.
Why did Nintendo block the Dolphin emulator?
The creators behind Dolphin, an emulator for the Nintendo Gamecube and Wii, announced over the weekend that the emulator had been pulled from Steam stores and its release “indefinitely postponed.” The move comes after the creators said that Nintendo issued a cease and desist on listing the store, citing a DMCA against the Steam page.
“We were notified by Valve that Nintendo has issued a cease and desist citing the DMCA against Dolphin’s Steam page, and have removed the Dolphin emulator from Steam until the matter is settled. We are currently investigating our options and will have a more in-depth response in the near future,” said the creators at the time (via VGC).
In a statement to Kotaku on the decision, Nintendo confirmed the news, and said that it was committed to protecting “the hard work and creativity of video game engineers and developers.” The company went on to say that using “illegal emulators or illegal copies of games” not only harms development, but also stifles innovation.
“Nintendo is committed to protecting the hard work and creativity of video game engineers and developers. This emulator illegally circumvents Nintendo’s protection measures and runs illegal copies of games. Using illegal emulators or illegal copies of games harms development and ultimately stifles innovation. Nintendo respects the intellectual property rights of other companies, and in turn expects others to do the same.”
While the legality of emulators remains in flux, the crux of the issue with the Nintendo Dolphin emulator seems to be the use of the Wii Common Key in the emulator. This allows the emulator to potentially bypass piracy protection measures, which is why many believe Nintendo was so quick to crack down on the emulator being widely spread.
