When you need to play illegitimate backups on a hacked Nintendo Switch, one of the most important tools you'll need are sigpatches; normally, custom firmware Atmosphere does not allow the running of pirated games, but these sigpatches allow users to install .NSP files that they've downloaded from the internet. As of today, though, one of the most notable and popular sources of sigpatches--user iTotalJustice's GitHub repository of them--has been removed permanently, through a DMCA takedown. The GitHub was still active as of earlier today, but if you try to access it now, you'll be redirected to a DMCA takedown form, filed by Nintendo of America.

Nintendo of America: The Nintendo Switch console and digital video games contain technological protection measures (“Technological Measures”) that permit the Nintendo Switch console to interact only with legitimate Nintendo digital video game files. This process protects Nintendo’s copyright-protected video games, including but not limited to those covered by U.S. Copyright Registration numbers PA0002213509 (Super Mario Maker 2); PA0002233840 (Animal Crossing: New Horizons); PA0002213908 (Luigi’s Mansion 3); and PA0002028142 (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) by preventing users from playing pirated copies of Nintendo’s video games on the Nintendo Switch console.

Source

 

[CeeDee]

I think it's actually quite unreasonable all things considered, most people only pirate because they don't have the funds immediately, and it's been that way for literally decades. Look at South America for example, they had overwhelmingly large numbers of arcade game piracy, especially for Capcom titles, and yet their piracy actually spurred innovation from Capcom's end. Not to mention they still remain a consistent market for the company, and many other fighting game companies (though not as much anymore now that they've moved to much more expensive consoles and the like.)

Honestly, I don't exactly associate GBAtemp with that sort of piracy market myself, I'm well aware there is some overlap, but I've seen enough US flags and topical political discourse on the board to know a lot of people here definitely do come from areas that are better off. That's a reason for sure, but I don't think it's the reason people here do so.

I'd be willing to bet 5 LainaCoins™ on the fact that most people are just here for emulation on their devices through modding rather than outright piracy. It's a hunch rather than a data based assumption but my personal experience with reading posts here seems to be that piracy is not the overwhelming majority that it is commonly presented as, at least among the community. Lurkers and people who make an account just to troubleshoot one thing and dip forever however, if generously considered the "community" are likely to tip some odds, but not enough to outright prevail in measurements.

I do think a reason that you don't see it quite as often is that, well, it is technically illegal. A lot of people can't grasp that legality and morality are separate, so not too many really want to out and admit they pirate video games because of that. There's a reason most of those you see admitting to it in this thread are also pulling out some moral justification "Oh it's because Nintendo's bad for doing something I don't like, they deserve it" type of excuse to try and compensate for it.

Just a personal observation, but I've modded like, dozens of 3DS and Wii systems for people over the years, and literally every single one of them wanted to get games for free. Not for themes, not for homebrew, but plain piracy. I'm well aware that doesn't represent literally everyone, but it gives me a perspective on what people mod their consoles for.

(Side note: emulation's still piracy. It's not wrong, but let's not be disingenuous here, the vast majority of people don't dump their SNES carts. Downloading a ROM of a game you own is still technically piracy! Crazy, huh? Doesn't mean it's immoral!)

 

[LainaGabranth]

That's a strange situation, because I've had an opposite experience with modding stuff, all people wanted to do was play Mario on the NES on their Xbox One, phones, PSPs (seriously the number of people who want NES games on PSP in my area are insane.) But I'm also in the south, where most people (for some reason???) think SMB1 when they think of video games, and that's like, exclusively it? You get the occasional "can I get free fortnite vbucks on my switch???" kid here or there, but that's a whole other issue to even get into.

(Side note, I don't consider emulation piracy, and I don't think anyone else should too. I already stated prior I don't give a shit what the law says, and as an extension of that I don't think someone should be told by the law what to think, because the law is designed by the opposite in mind; in a proper society we would democratically decide what is or isn't piracy rather than let the rich decide for us, and I am of the unmovable stance that emulation of previous generation consoles is not piracy for the same reason that it's not piracy to pirate a modern game whose team have all been fired and replaced, such as pirating the C&C Ultimate Collection, as almost every game in that collection has had the teams responsible for it [up until C&C4 I think?] either fired or quit from Electronic Arts. Also, EA fucking *SUCKS* but that's not a factor in this scenario.)

 

[CeeDee]

(Side note, I don't consider emulation piracy, and I don't think anyone else should too. I already stated prior I don't give a shit what the law says, and as an extension of that I don't think someone should be told by the law what to think, because the law is designed by the opposite in mind; in a proper society we would democratically decide what is or isn't piracy rather than let the rich decide for us, and I am of the unmovable stance that emulation of previous generation consoles is not piracy for the same reason that it's not piracy to pirate a modern game whose team have all been fired and replaced, such as pirating the C&C Ultimate Collection, as almost every game in that collection has had the teams responsible for it [up until C&C4 I think?] either fired or quit from Electronic Arts. Also, EA fucking *SUCKS* but that's not a factor in this scenario.)

I feel I should make this clear, when I say "it is piracy" I do not mean "it is wrong". Morality and legality are not the same thing. It's still piracy to do those things, even if you'd find it morally justifiable to do so. You literally say "it is not piracy to pirate..." it's like, right there!
You can consider it "morally acceptable" and be okay with doing it, honestly I wouldn't disagree, but the fact that it is 'piracy' is pretty much objective by definition, even if you think the word makes it seem like it's wrong to do.
I'll be honest, it's mostly just a semantics thing than anything, really

 

[chrisrlink]

wheres a ryanroxs copycat when you need em?

 

[EnigmaExodus]

True, I can't actually recall an instance of a game company going after an individual for (download) piracy.

IIRC Japan has entertained that sort of nonsense in the past.

I also don't like the idea of "current gen" hardware being hacked. Simply because of the attention it draws from scumbag companies like N. One day, one of these nut job politicians is going to come in, either in the US or the EU parliament, and he/she/they may get it in their right minds to go after every single one of us. And by us I mean the fine people who make this all possible for the majority of us. The crackers, hackers and morally just people.

I like backups as much as the next guy but current gen... eh, wouldn't mind it if it doesn't become widespread.

Can understand where the perspective comes from but IMO if there is no distribution of pirated materials do not really see any issues here. Nintendo and co are not just poor bullied kids being picked on. They do not have to be NICE and help out with running homebrew on YOUR device but if its YOU playing with YOUR own console that is your problem.

 

[stanleyopar2000]

True, I can't actually recall an instance of a game company going after an individual for (download) piracy.

Kongnutz

 

[huma_dawii]

View attachment 320280​

When you need to play illegitimate backups on a hacked Nintendo Switch, one of the most important tools you'll need are sigpatches; normally, custom firmware Atmosphere does not allow the running of pirated games, but these sigpatches allow users to install .NSP files that they've downloaded from the internet. As of today, though, one of the most notable and popular sources of sigpatches--user iTotalJustice's GitHub repository of them--has been removed permanently, through a DMCA takedown. The GitHub was still active as of earlier today, but if you try to access it now, you'll be redirected to a DMCA takedown form, filed by Nintendo of America.



Source

Great Nintendo, WTF. Is there a backup?

 

[LainaGabranth]

I feel I should make this clear, when I say "it is piracy" I do not mean "it is wrong". Morality and legality are not the same thing. It's still piracy to do those things, even if you'd find it morally justifiable to do so. You literally say "it is not piracy to pirate..." it's like, right there!
You can consider it "morally acceptable" and be okay with doing it, honestly I wouldn't disagree, but the fact that it is 'piracy' is pretty much objective by definition, even if you think the word makes it seem like it's wrong to do.
I'll be honest, it's mostly just a semantics thing than anything, really

Nah, it's not piracy. Piracy as I define it requires money to be denied from the developers, with "pirate" in that sense meaning cracking relative to the presently accepted definition. When English develops a word that describes "Downloading a product that, despite being for sale presently, does not actually give money or royalties to the original developers" then I'll use it, but for now we have to use the limited vocabulary of this dogshit language. I can't wait for the day when arguments are done with psychic vibes that perfectly convey abstract concepts and emotion.

Emulation is preservation, not piracy, full stop. Any other position is just flat out wrong and I have no interest in them.

 

[CeeDee]

I can't wait for the day when arguments are done with psychic vibes that perfectly convey abstract concepts and emotion.

Mentally projecting the message "alright bro, you do you" with positive intent

 

[LainaGabranth]

Mentally projecting the message "alright bro, you do you" with positive intent

It's off topic as fuck but for real imagine how fucking sick that'd be. You don't have to speak another language, you don't have to search for a cultural equivalent that conveys the same aloofness and "agree to disagree" vibe, you could just think really hard to some random Japanese guy and he won't hit you with the "Nani sore? Oshii no??" of death.

 

[Marc_LFD]

Nintendo got better as a company

The Switch is obviously better than the commercial failure that was the Wii U, but "Nintendo got better as a company" really?

They're milking some of their games just as much as Rockstar does with GTA V, online play is now a paid service, their sports games feel barebones (while content will be added later), and the whole "insert the cartridge and play" concept has died thanks to updates and dlc.

Oh, and that god damn digital Mario 3D All-Stars "limited edition" farce. "Tier 2" of NSO is also pretty pathetic, and am expecting a "Tier 3" with Wii/WiiU games since they're imitating their rivals.

Yeah, they really got better as a company.

 

[Benja81]

I don't get the people mad about piracy (that aren't paid by Nintendo of course).
Why don't they just pirate if they're so jealous? If they're not jealous why don't they stfu & play their legally bought games?
& just to Eminem u don't give me the BS about driving up game prices b/c games are actually a lot cheaper these days if you count for inflation. Per google: "$50 in 1989 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $119.48 today"

 

[Trip_Away]

& just to Eminem u don't give me the BS about driving up game prices b/c games are actually a lot cheaper these days if you count for inflation. Per google: "$50 in 1989 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $119.48 today"

Not if you live in a third world country, where the price in the local currency increases considerably from time to time, due to the devaluation of said currency with respect to the dollar.

 

[Marc_LFD]

Not if you live in a third world country, where the price in the local currency increases considerably from time to time, due to the devaluation of said currency with respect to the dollar.

True, but the digital prices are very cheap (imo). Gray key sellers make it very accessible, too.

Xbox/PlayStation stores in Turkey, Argentina and India have really good prices. Of course, that's due to the currency value there and wages.

 

[Dust2dust]

True, I can't actually recall an instance of a game company going after an individual for (download) piracy.

Kongnutz

Kongnutz got in legal trouble for uploading, not downloading.

 

[Marc_LFD]

ISPs used to or still send warnings/threats to not download piracy. They apparently also throttle customers' speeds, but yeah, this is different than game companies.

 

[lordelan]

When you need to play illegitimate backups on a hacked Nintendo Switch, one of the most important tools you'll need are sigpatches; normally, custom firmware Atmosphere does not allow the running of pirated games, but these sigpatches allow users to install .NSP files that they've downloaded from the internet.

That's not completely true. You need them too for "selfmade" NSP forwarders for (legal) homebrew applications. If you want to have something like the hbmenu or NX-Shell on your homescreen among the other game icons, then you need sigpatches too.

Surprised it took this long. Good thiung we have many that can re-create them.

Including yourself. There's a guide here on gbatemp telling you how to create/update them yourself whenever there's a new FW update.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

@Chary Source link is broken.

That anti-circumvention clause is such a pain in the ass. "Unofficial NSPs" mainly refers to homebrew (hence "unofficial") and it avoids specifically mentioning use for piracy, but of course Nintendo doesn't care about that because it's all the same to them. Whether you're hacking your console for piracy or homebrew, you're evil and need to be stopped.
GitHub was not the best place for this anyway. It's not even source code. Nothing stopping iTotalJustice from switching to another host and continuing as if nothing happened, the takedown request didn't say not to.

 

[mrdude]

Maybe in your world everyone is thieving scumbag. But don't presume that the rest of us live that way.

I imagine you are going to be really annoyed when I release my new windows tool that I started making today to generate sig patches on windows - no need for python scripts. I've already nearly completed the loader stuff and I expect I'll be finished the FW/ES stuff pretty soon as well as I know how to write bitshifting code in c#....... Muwhahahah, I imagine the salt from you will be epic.

Here's a screenshot on getting the offsets to dump the loader from package 3 from the latest Atmosphere:

If you are in any doubt that I can do the rest of the code easily, check out the python scripts I released. I will just convert those to c# code and make a nice gui so that noobs can use it to generated their own patches.

Muwhahahahahahaaaaaaaaa.

 

[urbanman2004]

Nintendo getting desperate, steady reaching again, smfh ‍♂‍♂