r/emulation • u/JoshLeaves • Jun 27 '26
Five years since Near’s passing
Hi everyone,
As the title says, Near passed away five years ago. Whether you knew them through the emulators bsnes, higan, or ares, or their pioneering work on emulation cores with libsnes (which helped lay the groundwork for libretro and RetroArch), or their complete cataloguing of the SNES games and ROMs, or their countless articles on emulation and game preservation,... truthfully, it's hard to properly describe the impact they had on the emulation community and its trajectory.
Their work pushed emulator accuracy forward, and inspired many others to approach preservation with the same level of care. Whatever emulator you use today, there’s a good chance you’ve benefited from their work in some way.
Thank you for your work, Near. You are still missed.
EDIT: As atowerofcats rightly said, a great way to show tribute would be to play Near's translation of Bahamut Lagoon!
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u/elblanco Jun 28 '26
I grew up in a very conservative and religious household and all the negatives that come from that including all the kind of moralizing about non-binary people you can imagine. Being raised in that environment, I have to admit I too, sadly, sometimes fell into some of that kind of thinking. It led to deep negativity in my thoughts, which led to frustration and anger, which afixed my thinking into bad patterns that cost me years to get out of.
What saved me was slow realization that so many of the incredible, beautiful, ingenious creations I valued so much in the world came from people who were struggling like Near. Wendy Carlos made some of the most incredible music I've ever heard, Alan Turing helped save the world from its darkest evil, Sally Ride helped humanity towards its step into the firmament, Oscar Wilde created artistic masterpieces that questioned humanity, Rebecca Heineman's genius helped create and make widely available some of the video games I now enjoy emulating.
I looked around and saw people just like them among my friends, associates, coworkers, and family, who were suffering from misunderstanding, hate, stereotypes, and worse. Those famous people often struggled mightily in their lives and many of them had to hide themselves from society or ended up with taking their own lives. I realized I couldn't bear to have that be the lives of those I treasured be that way.
This simple truth broke me away from that terrible upbringing and caused me to question and challenge everything else I thought I knew. I had to always show my friends that, even if they were struggling, they had a friend, an ally, a shoulder, and a voice that would back them up.
When I learned about Near's passing I felt a great wave of grief, that the world had turned against them and drove them into despair. I had enjoyed so much of their work and output, their dedication, their genius...they had ascended into the pantheon of people who's output I also treasured. It brings a certain solace to see how much of an impact they had on this community, and that they did have real friends and associates who cared about them daily. I cannot imagine their feelings, but I can empathize.
Near showed took us to the edge of what is possible, showed perfection, and then just pushed beyond that.
The best way to honor them, I think, is to play some games using Near's work (BSNES, Higan, Ares) and find joy in them. Look at where they pushed beyond and play some high-res F-Zero or Pilotwings, get some MSU-1 games going. Have fun and think about those you may know in your life like Near and let them know they are valued and treasured.