VG247: “Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s release feels like the Switch is teetering on the cusp of a real piracy problem”

[Xwing]

Article Here

Era's thoughts? Doom posting? Legitimate concern? Are Xenoblade fans just more prone to piracy?

I have pretty vivid memories of literally every nerd on my college campus playing DS exclusively with a flash cart and pirated roms. I don't think any system will reach those heights of degeneracy again, but who knows.

As Alex says in the article, obligatory gif before someone can respond with it:

 

[S1kkZ]

dumb article. emulation is not piracy.

 

[nsilvias]

well linus did make a video recently about switch emulation (on steam deck) so the people definitely know

 

[Relix]

If you own a copy and emulate it, what's the issue?

The switch runs like dog shit . I love the game but there performance and blurriness is atrocious on a 4K TV. It's sad when better performance can be found elsewhere. I've been thinking of either modding my launch switch or just emulating the game. It's that bad. It definitely is a console trying to do more than it can realistically do at this point.

 

[Tohsaka]

Switch piracy has been easy and possible for years, this isn't a new phenomenon by any means. I don't think Xenoblade 3 has anything to do with it since I know people who have been into the scene for years and would never buy games if they couldn't pirate them in the first place.

 

[entremet]

I have no idea myself but the article is very light on evidence.

 

[Starlatine]

Dumb "emulation bad" article. Xenoblade wouldn't be the "start" of anything, it would be pokemon - and guess what, pokemon was still as popular and profitable as ever. There's zero correlation between people properly emulating anything and searching game downloads and if the author did a minimum amount of research he would know that

 

[Gonzito]

It doesn't matter. Nintendo is making a lot of money anyway. Besides, a lot of people owns the game but they are playing it in the emulator to get better graphics because in switch it looks like crap

 

[Xwing]

dumb article. emulation is not piracy.

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If you own a copy and emulate it, what's the issue?

The switch runs like dog shit.

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Not saying your points are invalid, but Alex addresses them in the article if you read it.

 

[Veil]

It's that Kotaku's article fault that Dread didn't sell 10 Million copies guys

 

[cw_sasuke]

Sales don't really support the statement.
What i agree that on is that certain places online people seem to be more bold when it comes to pretty much admitting to piracy. In the past they would at least be somewhat subtle about it when it came to current system and games.

So I get why it might seem like it's worse than before.

 

[mojo]

I mean People have been playing pirated switch games weeks before they actually drop for years at this point. Has something changed?

 

[Hrodulf]

and though it's anecdotal

Click to shrink...

Oh okay, this is fucking nothing.

 

[Beanbeany]

Stupid article. I'm(my friend) replaying SMT5 on my TV via Yuzu at 60fps an 4k because it looks and runs like shit otherwise.

I keep loading into my save on my switch to reference other stuff to help him with builds and areas on the map lol.

 

[RockmanBN]

Pokemon SWSH is the 2nd best selling generation in the series despite the piracy "problem".

 

[MouldyK]

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Enjoys Biggest Japanese Launch for the Series with Over 112,000 Units Sold

Monolith Soft's open world action RPG has debuted on top of the weekly Japanese physical charts, outpacing any previous Xenoblade title's launch sales.

gamingbolt.com

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has series’ biggest launch in UK

God save the Queen (Melia Antiqua) -- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has become the biggest launch in series history in the United Kingdom, overtaking the last entry

nintendowire.com

Huh...

 

[ciddative]

Piracy looms large in conversation, but due to all but launch models being significantly harder to hack, it's not spreading like wildfire or anything.

Lite and OLED models need soldering as far as I am aware, and 90% of the userbase won't care to look on eBay for used launch units

 

[Starlatine]

It doesn't matter. Nintendo is making a lot of money anyway. Besides, a lot of people owns the game but they are playing it in the emulator to get better graphics because in switch it looks like crap

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Its not even "just" better graphics and performance now. Emulating opens you to a lot of mods on pc too. I know i cant stomach vanilla BDSP on my console but the game is far more enjoyable with all the mods i got for it on pc to fix all the asinine decisions they made and add a bit more of variety around.

 

[seroun]

Tbh Xenoblade hasn't been the sea change of anything. Not a lot of ppl are talking about it in emulation circles, even in piracy circles. Arceus you could say it was one this year, but the Switch has been possibly to emulate well for a good while now. Not sure the reason of writing this article.

 

[Dest]

Emulation is not piracy.

 

[signal]

What i agree that on is that certain places online people seem to be more bold when it comes to pretty much admitting to piracy. In the past they would at least be somewhat subtle about it when it came to current system and games.

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I think it's more than you don't need to admit to piracy anymore. Everyone online that talks about emulation openly can just say 'yeah I bought the game and ripped it myself 🤷‍♂️' and there's no way to prove otherwise lol.

 

[Starlatine]

Not saying your points are invalid, but Alex addresses them in the article if you read it.

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He doesnt. He says "i know some people are using it right, buuuuuuuut i doubt its most people wink wink all these search results i took from my ass prove otherwise". And then doesnt substantiate anything.

 

[ramenline]

yeah, we had the same kind of silly articles go up for metroid dread, it's nothing new

 

[Wrexis]

I definitely think the media attitude towards it has changed. You wouldn't have seen "is fully playable on the Steam Deck*" 10 years ago.

* An older device name here of course.

Kinda interesting how personal people are taking this already.

 

[Shepherd]

I have a really strong opinion against emulating current-gen hardware, no matter how "ethical" it is. That being said, it didn't hurt the PS2, it didn't hurt the NDS, it won't hurt the Switch.

 

[coolasj19]

You're gonna get knocked for the emulation=piracy even if you don't state thats option OP. But thats not the point here is it?

Switch games are having presentation and graphical issues. It happens every generation in fact. The later on, the more ambitious stuff gets, the more restless the players get for just a little bit better. But this is a solved problem, if we assume the Pro Systems Last Gen were successful slowing people transitioning away from consoles to PCs in search of better graphical experiences. Nintendo didn't do a Pro model, they didn't release their games on PC, so people found a way to do it anyway. Surely Nintendo saw this one coming a long time ago. It won't be such a "problem" after better switch hardware is released

 

[Truno]

I imagine that one of Ninty's biggest priorities with NVIDIA right now is making emulation of the Switch 2 as difficult as possible, even if they have to gimp it to achieve that goal

 

[Hektor]

He doesnt. He says "i know some people are using it right, buuuuuuuut i doubt its most people wink wink all these search result i took from my ass prove otherwise". And then doesnt substantiate anything.

Click to shrink...

Could be an era poster

 

[out_of_touch]

Xenoblade is set for life. Metroid piracy is what you have to worry about :(

 

[Zebesian-X]

I'm just not sure how many people pirating switch games on PC would have actually bought it in the first place. Like I'd be 100% emulating this game if I had a good rig but not without buying a copy first. Emulation =/= Piracy

 

[_zoipi]

There a re a lot of ways to see it. People actually paid for a Wii U emulator Patreon when BotW aires, because while game is good, no game is worth by itself the buy in of a console. People wanted to pay, but not a console where game lags. Xenoblade chronicles is an hyped game, and people want to play, it but, not a bad version:

Switch emulation has pretty much always been very advanced despite the console's relative youth. That's a consequence of its relatively modest power level. But now it is so easy that many Switch games are now playable off-Switch on day one – or in the case of Xenoblade, day minus-four. Then there's the Switch's power level itself: where expansive games like Xenoblade often struggle, better performance can be had elsewhere.

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There's a reason over there to make ports of the game to other system, causwe they won't buy a console, but yes they would buy the game if it's accessible.

Nintendo has been the worst of the three manufactures since the release of the Switch. For a portable system, they didn0't thought people could drop it, and this the plastic on the extremely expensive Joy Cons is flimsy, then they denied that the drift was a serious problem. And these are things just related to hardware. That and making their games forever 60 bucks, their recent trend of finishing games after the release while being barebones, makes it difficult to be a Nintendo fan.

I know there's other reason like the simple "emulation is for free games" but there are more. Heck, i didn't even talk about countries where the Switch isn't sold.

 

[smocaine]

Does Xenoblade 3 have an exploit that lets newer Switch models to get hacked?
No? People are just looking to play the game at a better fidelity? No way.

 

[neoak]

How is dumping my cart with my launch model and playing it emulated "piracy"?

 

[Kalor]

I don't expect it'll get to the point anytime soon where its a serious issue and causing game sales to really suffer. Xenoblade 3 seems to be on track to be the best selling and third party exclusives seem to do well. It was an issue on the DS with how it easy it was to pirate stuff but it's not the same for the Switch.

 

[Wil Grieve]

The article is right that Switch has a vibrant piracy scene, but the problem isn't becoming bigger, because the only hackable Switches (without soldering) are the original models.

 

[Lemony1984]

I have a really strong opinion against emulating current-gen hardware, no matter how "ethical" it is. That being said, it didn't hurt the PS2, it didn't hurt the NDS, it won't hurt the Switch.

Click to shrink...

We know that a decent number of DS games were canned or cancelled becuase of piracy. It didn't hurt hardware sales but it certainly hurt the viability of the platform for new games, expecially from 3rd party devs/publishers.

 

[Xwing]

I love how Era gets on it's high horse about "emulation isn't piracy" when it's about the Switch, but I've gotten temp bans multiple times for discussing emulation as a solution to playing out of print retro games.

Like if you're going to love emulation, fine, but I'd appreciate not being banned for casual mentions of it, lmao.

 

[CloudsFromSpace]

We can say "emulation is not piracy" all we want, but it's absolutely true that piracy has decimated otherwise beloved consoles in the past. It's legitimate to be concerned that if the emulation scene of a console gets too mature too quickly, that piracy will follow and development will be cut short.

 

[Lumination]

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Enjoys Biggest Japanese Launch for the Series with Over 112,000 Units Sold

Monolith Soft's open world action RPG has debuted on top of the weekly Japanese physical charts, outpacing any previous Xenoblade title's launch sales.

gamingbolt.com

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has series’ biggest launch in UK

God save the Queen (Melia Antiqua) -- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has become the biggest launch in series history in the United Kingdom, overtaking the last entry

nintendowire.com

Huh...

Click to shrink...

The pirates are all american.

 

[jaekeem]

I mean even if the premise is true, the only way you deter piracy is a better user experience

I feel for devs, but you're never going to stop pirates

 

[Replicant]

dumb article. emulation is not piracy.

Click to shrink...

It's not, but in the case of switch, only a minority of systems can be hacked via software to rip your games. The rest need a physical hardware mod. How many people who own switches do you think have a hacked switch? I would bet it's under 20,000

 

[Kouriozan]

Kotaku did encourage people to pirate Metroid, nothing we can really do, the more a system is popular, the more prone to hacking and piracy it is.
If NVidia didn't fuck up, it would have take a bit longer for that.

 

[rare]

Switch piracy requires a variant of the console that only a certain amount of units have, and that percentage of hackable units diminishes over time (General wear, more newer units being sold, etc.) plus you need to be ok with spending the time setting up your CFW, sourcing the game, figuring out the method of installing it, etc etc. Don't forget about needing a jig too which'll cost you a few bucks off ebay/amazon. There is also Yuzu and Ryujinx but you need the BIOS for it, which takes time and isn't really TOO easy to find especially if it's your first time trying to find the sort of thing. You also need a PC that can be able to handle modern emulation, which at that point means you have already spent a good amount of money and time trying to get the game setup and playable otherwise your experience of the game will be worse than what it would be if you just got the damn game on your console.
The reality is this: Piracy is and has always been a non-issue. People don't just suddenly buy a game because they can't pirate it, people don't buy a game because they're not interested in it. People won't typically pirate a game that they aren't interested in, and they certainly won't go through the hassle of setting up a modern emulator and deal with annoying graphical and potential gameplay glitches, along with near constant stutter due to shader caching.
It's not like the old days where you can just get a flash cart and play every single game offline/local. Shit's a lot more complicated and I know people who have pirated shit before in the past that just won't bother any more because it just requires a lot more effort.
Also piracy =/= a lost sale if a sale was never made in the first place. I'd argue that shit like steam refunds are a bigger issue than piracy because that ACTUALLY makes the developer lose money for various reasons.

Anyway here's wonderwall.

 

[Mafro]

Gotta preserve those games that have just come out.

 

[_zoipi]

We know that a decent number of DS games were canned or cancelled becuase of piracy. It didn't hurt hardware sales but it certainly hurt the viability of the platform for new games, expecially from 3rd party devs/publishers.

Click to shrink...

Wasn't it a trend that only a few third party games were hot sellers because they weren't competition for Nintendo. I remember around maybe Wii U, 3DS or Switch launch that there were plans for Nintendo to space out the launch of their games so third parties could breathe and not have Nintendo games as a competition.

 

[Rosebud]

Aren't Nintendo games selling like hot cakes anyway

 

[seroun]

We can say "emulation is not piracy" all we want, but it's absolutely true that piracy has decimated otherwise beloved consoles in the past. It's legitimate to be concerned that if the emulation scene of a console gets too mature too quickly, that piracy will follow and development will be cut short.

Click to shrink...

What consoles have been decimated by piracy? As far as I know, the current sold models of both Switch and Switch Lite cannot be hacked. And the models that can be hacked can be through a complicated process.

It's easy to stop piracy: have a better user experience, and have a better product.

 

[cw_sasuke]

I think it's more than you don't need to admit to piracy anymore. Everyone online that talks about emulation openly can just say 'yeah I bought the game and ripped it myself 🤷‍♂️' and there's no way to prove otherwise lol.

Click to shrink...

True.

The article is right that Switch has a vibrant piracy scene, but the problem isn't becoming bigger, because the only hackable Switches (without soldering) are the original models.

Click to shrink...

These people likely just download the games and play them on emulators ? Doubt they even bother with original hardware for the most part.

Then again I remember you needing some system files from your Switch to use emulators, not sure if this can be circumvented. So you might need access to those files, but with games it's open season.

 

[phant0m]

If anything, I hope it means less 2nd/3rd party Switch-only exclusives. I'd love to buy XCX/XC2/XC3 and Live-A-Live on Steam.

I'd love for Ninty to get smart like Sony and starting dropping PC releases but Switch prints much money

 

[Starlatine]

We can say "emulation is not piracy" all we want, but it's absolutely true that piracy has decimated otherwise beloved consoles in the past. It's legitimate to be concerned that if the emulation scene of a console gets too mature too quickly, that piracy will follow and development will be cut short.

Click to shrink...

Era can try to pretend otherwise all they want, but emulation is not and will never be piracy. Ripping your own purchased content for your own enjoyment in a better state is not piracy.

The emulation scene of the 3DS and Switch were mature from week one and both consoles managed just fine. Don't worry the evil pirates are not going to kill the switch.