After a rough week, the emulation and homebrew scene continues to suffer major losses. As of today, homebrew developer Steveice10's GitHub repository has been deleted. A known quantity in the 3DS homebrew scene, Steveice10 created important tools for the system such as a modified sysupdater, a port of GBC emulator GameYob to the 3DS, and most importantly, FBI title manager, which allows users to install .CIA format 3DS titles and homebrew.

FBI has not been updated since 2020, and was considered feature-complete, with its source code available and the project archived, but it was suddenly removed from GitHub today, along with all of his other projects. The exact reasoning behind the removal isn't known, though the timing implies it may be related to other events happening in the emulation and homebrew scene recently.

Source

 

[DuoForce]

Nintendo ninjas did the impossible and took down the FBI

 

[namikaze]

god, nintendo really gets on my nerves when it comes to the 3DS. they just don't want anyone preserving it's life do they?

 

[NinStar]

Everyone scared for no reason and removing their stuff from the internet, exactly what Nintendo wanted.

 

[urbanman2004]

Fuck Nintendo. Now I have to update the mods on my 3DS which I haven't done so in 3 or 4 years...

 

[ber71]

GodMode9 can install titles too, so FBI is not that necessary.

 

[slaphappygamer]

GodMode9 can install titles too, so FBI is not that necessary.

....ssshhhhhhh....you're talking too loud now. They will hear you.

 

[17hitcombooo]

rough week for nintendo haters, huh?

 

[aos10]

so, the reason this happened, some of the people who worked on yuzu also worked in FBI, so they deleted their account and everything related to them and FBI was one them.

 

[tech3475]

Starting to feel like the OG Xbox days, where you had to go to 'the usual place' like some kind of speakeasy.

 

[Julie_Pilgrim]

Sad. I know people have copies and forks of this kind of software all over the place, but I think maybe it's time for someone to start organising it. The4n recently took his hacPack (for building Switch NSPs) and probably the rest of his account off GitHub too, I have the almost-latest source but it's still not a good feeling.

Is archive.org a good place for preserving stuff like this?

archive.org isn't a terrible place, but over the past week or so I've been trying to collect the repos and put them on a gitea instance so there can be a github-type interface but you know. locally owned and all that

 

[Sd4930Ur]

No ! I buy a Nintendo console =)

 

[MasterJ360]

Yeah thats just sad. FBI was definitely 1 of the most important 3DS homebrew tools out there. I'll have to find the archived 2020 version . I haven't touched my hacked 3DS since probably 2018.

 

[Maximumbeans]

Makes sense. People are protecting their arses because these devs are usually just normal folk who don't want trouble or harassment.

I doubt this is forever. Once the dust settles over the situation kicked off by Yuzu, the community will be able to step back out a little. And there are copies everywhere. Discord, Internet Archive, Mediafire, 4chan, fucking Whatsapp—if you need it, you'll be able to find it.

 

[duwen]

All these devs should sue Nintendo - afterall, they've created system selling software and not got paid for it!

 

[Lazyt]

Nintendo can you just chill?

 

[raxadian]

Sad. I know people have copies and forks of this kind of software all over the place, but I think maybe it's time for someone to start organising it. The4n recently took his hacPack (for building Switch NSPs) and probably the rest of his account off GitHub too, I have the almost-latest source but it's still not a good feeling.

Is archive.org a good place for preserving stuff like this?

For 3DS? Yeah Nintendo is paying more attention to Switch stuff so as long as 3DS stuff is not in the news they are likely to ignore it.

 

[MightySashiman]

It's even worse than that. Nintendo is the Yakuza so is not beholden to any rules or laws or constitutional "rights" in any nation.

You really have no clue how corporate law works... stop it with the vilain fantasy. It's just a corporation actively protecting its assets. If Nintento is so bad, why even bother being interested in their platform and playing their games.

 

[raxadian]

Can confirm backups exist in certain web archive but if course I can't link them here to avoid it being taken down.

 

[Subtle Demise]

You really have no clue how corporate law works... stop it with the vilain fantasy. It's just a corporation actively protecting its assets. If Nintento is so bad, why even bother being interested in their platform and playing their games.

It was a hyperbolic joke. Are you aware of corporate lobbying? How else do BS totalitarian laws like the DMCA get written and passed in the first place? Why is """""circumventing protection""""" declared to be legal for Android and IOS phones, but you do the EXACT same fucking thing on a game console, and companies like Nintendo and Sony send spies to homebrew devs' houses and workplaces and sue them and even bring criminal charges against them? There is ZERO difference between installing a modchip or softmodding a game console and Jailbreaking an iPhone or rooting an Android.

 

[J-Will]

Thank god I still have FBI on my 3DS's SD card. Welp, time to upload to internet archive.