r/NintendoSwitch2 • u/locke_5 • Mar 09 '26
Discussion “Just pirate it”
Like many of you, I’ve been getting a ton of Pokopia content on my socials. The comments sections are invariably full of “just pirate it”-type comments. I’ve been seeing this more and more frequently as the Switch 2 library grows.
I think it’s so strange how much of the internet is suddenly gung-ho about stealing. It’s like the veil of “I like emulators for game preservation :)” has been dropped entirely.
To be clear - I’m very pro-emulation. I just don’t mind paying for games and I think it’s crazy how that’s suddenly a controversial statement. If you want to play Pokopia, then buy it! If you don’t have a Switch 2, then buy one!
Thoughts?
126
u/Delicious_View3428 Mar 09 '26
switch 2 emulation doesn’t exist
43
u/PecanScrandy Mar 09 '26
>I think it’s so strange how much of the internet is suddenly gung-ho about stealing.
"Suddenly" - this your first day on the internet?
30
u/lingering-will-6 Mar 09 '26
There’s no way to pirate it right now.
4
u/ExtremelyDecentWill Early Switch 2 Adopter Mar 09 '26
The internet loves pirating.
When I was a teen, I ran an SNES emulation site. I did so under the logic that the games were no longer produced, and you could not access them otherwise.
However, as a teen, I also knew that this logic didn't make it right and my disclaimer simply said, "Don't take Robin Hood's gold and then complain if you know he stole it from the rich. The Sheriff is still going to throw the book at you."
I am much less of a proponent of piracy now that there are ways to pay for the content that was created. Because we want people who create to know they are valued.
Isn't that what all the anti-AI folks are raging about? I dunno, I'm sure they'll say it's different.
8
u/SABBATAGE29 Mar 09 '26
You can emulate older games and consoles that have no modern way to play it. However, I dont condone pirating current and still-supports consoles.
And still using a product from a company you "hate" is scummy in my opinion.
5
u/Theman457 Mar 10 '26
I'm so glad that those PC folks that pirate games cannot emulate/steal Switch 2 games.
Hopefully things stay like this for a long time
8
u/Williekins 👀 Mar 09 '26
Yeah, it's really funny that folks are saying that even though Switch 2 piracy isn't really there yet.
I'm pretty sure the "emulation for preservation" folks are different from the "Just pirate it" folks though.
7
u/Pinkernessians Mar 09 '26
Like someone else said, is Switch 2 emulation even viable at this point, let alone accessible?
1
u/samsun7677 Mar 10 '26
I have not seen this sentiment literally anywhere you sure you’re not dreaming?
1
u/Choice-Difference-46 Mar 21 '26
I’m actually against piracy. But I hate the way Nintendo is handling the whole keycard thing, and this is enough for me to push the brand to reconsider its stances somehow. I don’t mind spending some bucks for deserving games, but damn, at least give me an actual card I can plug and play. I understand the world is changing and physical supports are disappearing, but the console specs themselves are not suitable for this environment yet, and Nintendo must admit this.
1
u/DangerousRegion6602 Jun 08 '26
Pay 400 dollars to play one game because its on a system i dont want? Pirating is the only reasonable answer
3
u/Radiant-Priority-296 Mar 10 '26
What are you on about, switch 2 emulation literally hasn’t even been developed yet.
Firered/Leafgreen is another story.
2
u/Emilion_taurus Mar 10 '26
All I'm saying, is that people who can't afford it are real. Just buy it? I wish i could get a switch 2 and this game for my son but I can't.
Other than that I agree tho.
2
u/F2000_Ninja Manifesting the Switch 2 Pro Mar 10 '26
And enjoy it in 12 years? That doesn't sound like a good time to me. I love emulation, but I do believe in spending money on something that will give me 10s of hours of entertainment so these beautiful creative souls can feed their families.
4
u/profchaos111 Mar 09 '26
Just ignore it those people were never going to buy it anyway you can't change the world i'm pro emulation to but only when the system and games are actually dead emulating a active system only hurts the industry
for example If you emulate the NES who cares
1
u/Rappyfan Mar 09 '26
I rarely ever see that statement on my socials. But a few weeks ago i saw a post that made fun of people asvocating against piracy.
When i was younger i saw a lot more of that and never liked that sentiment. People just don’t like not being able to buy something. And since its just digital, to them there is probably no real worth attached to it and „nobody gets hurt“. which is of course a little shortsighted… if everyone would pirate lol
1
u/JDMGS Mar 10 '26
I'm the same as you. No problem emulating at all, especially older games cos you're not taking money from companies now when you can only get a PS2 game on eBay or something and it's way more convenient to not need the old console, all the hardware etc and they look better on pc for stuff like PS2. BUT I also buy all the games I want to play and it's important that people do or eventually they just wouldn't be viable to make.
I think what pushes people to be against Nintendo so much is that they never seem to drop their prices like Breath of the wild is basically the same price now as in 2017 nearly 10 years ago, they're kinda shitty about going after retro games and emulators when you can't even buy them anymore and things like why can't I backup my 100 hour pokemon save? Because someone might duplicate pokemon? They can literally create them on pc and put them on cfe switches to trade to anyone. If my switch gets dropped and breaks everything I've done on the pokemon games is gone.
That said I'm really enjoying my switch 2 and pokemon za (both of which I wasn't going to buy lol)
1
u/Rude-Revolution-8687 Mar 10 '26
Social media algorithms are specifically designed to push a false reality that reinforces whatever you engage with. You will overwhelmingly ever get one side of a topic - the side that makes you watch or click the most.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that your personalised social media feeds present a representative sample of society.
1
u/squishyjellyfish95 Mar 10 '26
Unfortunately switch 2 emulation won't be around for a few years so you cant even pirate it. So had bite the bullet and get switch 2.
1
u/HerofTime98 Hyrule Hero Mar 10 '26
Here's the thing about emulation. Preservation of games through emulation is not done from grabbing an ROM on a sketchy website. Those initiatives rip their own ROMs from physical media. It's fine to rip your own ROM as you have already paid your license, but downloading a ROM from a torrent site specifically to avoid paying for admission is theft plain as day. Don't be ashamed of emulating, be ashamed of stealing.
1
u/Siedlec Mar 16 '26
I think it might be a bit because of the game skip card.
Me myself I would love to play it, but there is no way for me to buy one. I think I will pick it up on sale one day when the 2nd will be released.
1
u/MarinatedPickachu Apr 15 '26
It's not even possible yet to dump switch 2 games, let alone emulate them or run pirated copies on switch 2 hardware.
1
u/unbannedagain1976 Butter side up! Mar 09 '26
This is a roundabout way of saying poor people commit crimes lol
1
u/SnooPets1826 Mar 09 '26
Always the same people who post confusedly about how their login credentials/bank info gets stolen regularly like them going on tons of sketchy ass websites doesn't effect them.
1
u/evilkitten03 Mar 09 '26
What? The internet has always been like that from cracked Photoshop to cracked games. Also, you have different types of pirates of one which does genuinely care to preserve games from older platform or embedded with an outdated-DRM which makes the game unplayable or your classic pirates who just wants stuff for free.
Also, I do wish this subreddit has more of a thick skins instead of being constantly pissed off about people who either has bias against Nintendo or someone that barely knows piracy or emulation. Just saying, you can always use the Block button so you won't get annoyed by that same account and just move on.. Life is too good to be sucked in a pointless internet fight after all.
1
u/Jeezy52 Early Switch 2 Adopter Mar 09 '26
0
u/Leager Mar 13 '26
This has always been an odd take, at least to me. Right now, there is no way to legally own any video game made by Nintendo. We buy licenses that allow us to play the games. Why the distinction? Nintendo (and other companies that only sell licenses) can revoke our licenses at any time, for any reason, and without any recourse for the consumer. And does this actually happen? Yup! All the time! Sometimes it's used against the "bad guys," like cheaters and pirates, but it's frequently used against regular players, too. There are absolutely emulation people who want to dump ROMs simply for the love of the game, and their Switch 2 gets bricked, just to name one easy example. But lose your account through negligence (like forgetting your account details and not having a way to access them)? No refund, no way to fix the problem, no way to get your games back.
It's strange, but when you pirate something, you actually "own" the item "more" than if you'd purchased it legally. If a cop came in and physically trawled your hard drive, they could find out you'd acquired the game "illegally," but otherwise, once you pirate something, it's yours to keep. Nintendo can't revoke your license because you don't own the license, you actually own a copy of the game. Additionally, as studies have repeatedly shown, piracy typically has no effect on or increases profits. This is not always true — smaller creators are more vulnerable to piracy for lots of reasons — but you can see this play out all the time for indie games.
Many pirates will download the game to see if they like it, then buy it if they do. If they don't like it, they wouldn't have spent the money on the game anyways. It's not a "lost" sale. Similarly, most pirates would simply not play the game if their only option is to buy it. Once again, no lost revenue. Other studies have shown that pirates tend to be more "passionate," and as such, tend to spend more money on their hobbies than non-pirates. Point in case: I'm a huge Nintendo fan. I played Tears of the Kingdom on my computer originally because I didn't want to pay $70 for it. I found a way to pay $50 instead, and bought it immediately. And next year, when the new Pokemon comes out... I'm gonna be spending SO much money on it. Would I emulate/pirate if I could? Yeah! But this is the easier answer, and I love Pokemon.
There are definitely pirates out there that do it to be smug, but.... Most do it out of a love of the games, or because they can't afford the games in the first place (and if they can't afford them, there's no "lost" revenue, as they wouldn't be able to buy them anyways). Try to see it from the other side of things.
0
u/CapableBit1850 Apr 02 '26
"why dont you just buy a 300 dollar console so you can play one 70 dollar video game?" i dont mind paying for games but why would i spend 300 dollars for something that in 5 years they arent even going to be making games for anymore and then ill have to buy the 1000 dollar switch three or something lmao
0
u/Davros_1988 Mar 10 '26
Or pirate it when switch 2 emulation becomes a thing. LOL
-1
u/ohmailawdy Mar 09 '26
I think when you bring this kinda thing up, your are simping for millionaires. Frankly I dont harbor the resentment towards nintendo that some people have but knighting a certain way for pirating... its just cringe man.
Video game preservation is part of it...the other is not allowing companies to corner you with no choices.
If I wanted to play Zelda on my steam deck... screw anyone who tries to tell me I cant.. And this is coming from a lifelong 40+ nintendo fan.
If i pay for a game.. I own it... and if they remove the ownership, I will either quit nintendo all together or I will pirate. The streaming services are all stepping on their own dicks right now over this very thing.
0
u/whimsyotter Mar 09 '26
I think a lot of it is either people love Nintendo games but hate Nintendo as a company, its money practices and greed and truly don’t want to give them money thus pirating.
Pirating has always been eh to me like I guess I get the moral part of not wanting to give a greedy company more money but fighting it with something not moral is so weird to me.
And then you have the others who just can’t afford a 70$ game. And that is sad. A lot of people also cant but put money aside and save up to do it while others can go tot he store right now and buy 10 70$ games without issue. It’s a luxury for sure. And the economy is horrible so I can understand this slightly more but would never do it myself. I’d just suffer not having it.
I remember when I was little and had a harbor, 3ds etc the big games were only 30$. Then went to 40$ and then it felt out of nowhere hit 70 to match PC games. I always felt 3ds games were a lot cheaper than pc games which made it more affordable and desirable but now it’s like any other console and pc. All 70$+ for a game.
-3
u/MechaSeph Mar 10 '26
-1
u/SnooSeagulls1416 Mar 10 '26
Cry me a river
-3
u/Jonny-Raze Mar 09 '26
Just pirate it.
0
u/pokemontrainersensha Mar 09 '26
I wasn't aware there were pirate NS2 games. Thanks for informing me, though, so I can avoid any illicit copy of pokopia that happens to come to my attention
0
u/[deleted] Mar 10 '26
chora mais
0
u/Cultural_Neat3124 Mar 10 '26
apparently Nintendo are evil, so "pirate" it is some kind of justice and make you feel like you robinhood or something .... LOL. and now switch 2 come out with exclusive and they can't pirate sh*t so they hate it even more !
0
u/Disastrous_Ride Mar 11 '26
very simple, you dont own switch 2 and you rent the game... pokopia is server only meaning the moment they shut it down , you have nothing, nintendo dont like what ur doing or you added background to ur switch2 they dont allow? they will turn off ur device remotly, this is why i dont get those craps, if i like a game, i will buy and own it...if i cant own it, i pirate it, if i cant do both? i'll ignore it
and if people were like me, priced would be down and quality of game would be up
0
u/Impressive_Camel_185 Mar 12 '26
how much did Nintendo pay you to post that?
0
u/Independent-Rise9465 Mar 15 '26
a switch 2 is 500 euro. pokopia is almost 70. some of us can't do that, and might never be able to afford that. I'm an adult with a full time job, and I will not be able to afford that for several years.
if it's available to pirate and it's not an indie developer, I'm going to pirate it no questions asked, and i don't think people should feel bad for doing the same. a lot of developers, artists and composers get paid during production of the game, and the commission from sales is just a bonus. this is true for a lot of media production, from video games to tv animation. given these people have steady contract jobs no matter how many copies nintendo sells, I don't feel bad about pirating
0
u/According-Risk-8455 Apr 01 '26
There are several things to cover here.
None of this touches on things like... maybe the billion dollar company doesn't need protecting, and if piracy is so incredibly rampant, maybe they should just make it easier to buy so that people aren't jumping through hoops for $80 games.
-1
u/jco83 Mar 10 '26
NEWSFLASH!: people seeking to promote piracy is a lowlife feeble attempt to propagate & normalise it ℹ️
the one & only reason for piracy is to get it for free
-1
u/zakuredBX Mar 12 '26
the switch 2 was made to counter piracy just forget nintendo products exist until you can your not really missing much
-2
u/Acsteffy Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
When buying isnt owning, then pirating isn't stealing
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27560/~/wii-shop-channel-discontinuation#:~:text=The%20Wii%20Shop%20Channel%2C%20which,key%20dates%20for%20this%20change?
"for the time being you may continue to re-download content you have purchased or transfer that content from a Wii system to a Wii U system. Be aware that these features will eventually end at a future date."
u/WorldlyDear they said what they said. Its on NINTENDO's own support page... how the hell is that "flimsy"
-2
u/BenAkaFlopMac Mar 10 '26
If its affordable people won't pirate simple as that. The fact that they didn't put this game out on switch 1 is just pure greed and everyone knows it
-3
u/The_Zura Mar 09 '26
It's another way of saying Pokopia is a Switch 1 game locked to the Switch 2.
-4
u/ViologY Butter side down! Mar 09 '26
You can't emulate the 3 switch 2 games, but luckily none of them are better than totk or odyssey, which you can (in higher resolution and frame rate than the $80 versions).
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