'GBA4iOS' Game Boy Emulator Shut Down After Nintendo Files DMCA Notice

MacRumors · May 14, 2014

GBA4iOS, the popular Game Boy emulator for iOS, has been removed by its creator Riley Testut on GitHub after Nintendo filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown request, reports The Next Web. First sharing the news through his Twitter, Testut stated that the emulator will continue to function normally on iOS devices, as in-app ROM downloads will be "temporarily suspended."

GBA4iOS saw its last major update in February, which added iPad support, controller skins, iOS 7 controller support, Dropbox integration, and an in-app web browser that could used to download Game Boy games from any ROM website. The emulator was also notable for bypassing Apple's App Store restrictions as it could be installed directly on an iOS device by visiting the project's official website and tapping a download link.

Traditionally, Apple has taken a strict stance on emulators in the App Store, which has caused apps like GBA4iOS to seek alternative methods for user downloads. For instance, open emulators such as iMAME and iDOS have made their way onto the App Store only to be pulled a short time later likely because of potential legal issues.

Despite the removal of GBA4iOS, the 'NDS4iOS' Nintendo DS emulator for iOS devices released last month remains available on its respective web page. However, it is unknown if Nintendo will file a similar takedown notice in efforts to prevent potential piracy.

Article Link: 'GBA4iOS' Game Boy Emulator Shut Down After Nintendo Files DMCA Notice

SPUY767 · May 14, 2014

Watching the death spiral of Nintendo will painful.

cmChimera · May 14, 2014

Saw that one coming.

sulpfiction · May 14, 2014

Rest easy Nintendo!

mdridwan47 · May 14, 2014

F Nintendo. Enjoy your slow death.

cmChimera · May 14, 2014

Wow, negative comments. I love how Nintendo enforcing their intellectual property rights, by not letting people illegally download their games, is bad choice.

lewisd25 · May 14, 2014

Taking out the in-app web browser that facilitates rom downloads would have complied with the DMCA. Emulators are not illegal, unauthorized distribution of roms is. The dev is just scared of Nintendo's legal pit bulls.

I never cared for GBA anyway. Someone please release a good NES, SNES, and MAME emulator using this alternative app distribution method. Please!

whooleytoo · May 14, 2014

cmChimera said:
Wow, negative comments. I love how Nintendo enforcing their intellectual property rights, by not letting people illegally download their games, is bad choice.

Considering how Apple protects its IP like a rabid doberman, it does seem a bit ironic to complain about Nintendo's actions on this site.

As a fan of iOS devices and many Nintendo games though, it's a pity there couldn't be a legal solution to this.

roadbloc · May 14, 2014

cmChimera said:
Wow, negative comments. I love how Nintendo enforcing their intellectual property rights, by not letting people illegally download their games, is bad choice.

+1. If Apple were to do this, the praise would be so high that angels in heaven would sing songs of copyright and litigation.

Dekema2 · May 14, 2014

He put too much time
and personal resources into this to see it fail.
Nintendo is stupid! Ironically, my sister just downloaded it the other day after I pressured her

Goldex · May 14, 2014

cmChimera said:
Wow, negative comments. I love how Nintendo enforcing their intellectual property rights, by not letting people illegally download their games, is bad choice.

The only legal way to play their old games is on a Wii U. That is just ridiculous.

roadbloc · May 14, 2014

Goldex said:
The only legal way to play their old games is on a Wii U. That is just ridiculous.

Or play them on the console they were designed for.

The only way I can run PPC apps is on Snow Leopard or a PPC Mac. That is just ridiculous.

Mr Fusion · May 14, 2014

cmChimera said:
Wow, negative comments. I love how Nintendo enforcing their intellectual property rights, by not letting people illegally download their games, is bad choice.

I for one have no issue with Nintendo taking this action.

But personally, these types of news bits from Japan are getting tiresome. It saddens me to see companies that once set the standard for technological innovation reduce themselves to IP trolls. We're talking about a country that still buys music CD's like its the 1990s because big business has such an iron grip on copyright and piracy laws. They need to wake up and realize the rest of the world is changing, they need to change along with it. GET BACK TO INNOVATING!!!

Maybe companies like Nintendo & Sony touch a nerve too with Apple fans because they're watching a potential :apple:

future without a strong leader unfold?

fel10 · May 14, 2014

Goldex said:
The only legal way to play their old games is on a Wii U. That is just ridiculous.

How is that ridiculous? It's their ips. They have the right to them.

Jsameds · May 14, 2014

N should give up on hardware and just make games for other consoles/devices.

Wiesenlooser · May 14, 2014

If anything, Nintendo should hire this guy.
He found a cool way to make Nintendo gaming relevant on an iPhone. The Emulator is actually quite good. I spent alot of time on it playing wario ware and Advance wars.

alphaprime · May 14, 2014

Frankly, both Nintendo and Apple can both go suck a **** on this issue as far as I'm concerned. There's no copyright infringement involved here (nor with the majority of emulators which Apple/Nintendo ban).

If it's wasn't for jailbreaking and/or Zeusmos, I'd never touch an Apple device ever again. As a product of the 80s, you can pry my emulators from my cold dead hands.

Happy that my children can one day enjoy the Nintendo-of-yore on their emulators while they read about the current disgrace of a company in their history books/tablets. RIP Big N.

cmChimera · May 14, 2014

roadbloc said:
+1. If Apple were to do this, the praise would be so high that angels in heaven would sing songs of copyright and litigation.

Hahaha yes, exactly.

Goldex said:
The only legal way to play their old games is on a Wii U. That is just ridiculous.

That's not quite true. You can play their old games on a 3DS/2DS as well (Or buy their old hardware). And that isn't ridiculous. OS X only runs on Macs. iOS only runs on iDevices. No one seems to be mad at Apple for keeping their products exclusive, why should Nintendo be any different? Because you don't want to pay for their consoles? That's a terrible reason. If you want to play Nintendo games, buy a Nintendo console. Want to play Halo? Buy an Xbox. Want to play God of War? Buy a Playstation. It's not a hard concept.

alphaprime said:
Frankly, both Nintendo and Apple can both go suck a **** on this issue as far as I'm concerned. There's no copyright infringement involved here (nor with the majority of emulators which Apple/Nintendo ban).

Um, distributing and/or downloading ROMS is copyright infringement.

Jsameds said:
N should give up on hardware and just make games for other consoles/devices.

The Wii U is their first flop in a while. I'm pretty sure they'll be ok.

nia820 · May 14, 2014

Lol. Playing a GB game on a touch screen is a bad experience anyway. I tried playing pokemom gold on my s4 one time the touch screen controls really hinder game play.

Nintendo has a right to protect their property. Some of you people act like Nintendo is public property. If windows store had a program that allowed osx to run on windows machines apple would be all over it.

alphaprime · May 14, 2014

cmChimera said:
You can play their old games on a 3DS/2DS as well

Yes, some of their old games, or about 2% of the overall Nintendo 8-bit/16-bit library. Groovy..

----------

cmChimera said:
Um, distributing and/or downloading ROMS is copyright infringement.

That's not what the emulator is doing.

maflynn · May 14, 2014

I saw this coming, Nintendo is enforcing its IP, they worked hard at developing their products. I'm surprised GBA4iOS lasted this long

zbarsky · May 14, 2014

It actually had in app-game downloads??? No freaking wonder it got taken down.

genovelle · May 14, 2014

roadbloc said:
+1. If Apple were to do this, the praise would be so high that angels in heaven would sing songs of copyright and litigation.

No it wouldn't because there are far more Apple haters on here than supporters. This post is proof of this, as it is the norm instead of the exception.

CarpalMac · May 14, 2014

genovelle said:
No it wouldn't because there are far more Apple haters on here than supporters. This post is proof of this, as it is the norm instead of the exception.

Clearly you have never read one of the "Samsung Found guilty" threads..

The hypocrisy shown by some in this thread is hysterical.

maflynn · May 14, 2014

genovelle said:
No it wouldn't because there are far more Apple haters on here than supporters. This post is proof of this, as it is the norm instead of the exception.

Just head over to one of the Apple vs. Samsung threads, you'll see that your supposition is not correct.

'GBA4iOS' Game Boy Emulator Shut Down After Nintendo Files DMCA Notice

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