#43: Emulation's crazy 48 hours

In today's overkill digest newsletter, we're looking at the wild 48 hours Suyu had this week.

Hello, and welcome to a new edition of the overkill digest newsletter, your go-to source for everything handheld devices (and lately, emulation).

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But without further ado, let's get to this week's news.

Big this week

Suyu went live, was removed, and is back again. What a crazy ride for Suyu. The Switch emulator based on Yuzu's source code was released earlier this week in the first public beta, only to be taken offline (kind of) shortly after. In less than 48 hours, GitLab (the platform where the downloads were hosted) received a DMCA takedown and, therefore, removed Suyu's GitLab page. I followed the evolution of this live in Suyu's Discord channel, and for a long time, the initial sentiment was that Nintendo went after them. But over time, due to some inconsistencies in how the takedown request (read here) was worded, the community started to believe that this might have been the action of a troll. Nonetheless, the GitLab page is still offline and unlikely to be back, so the Suyu team decided to self-host all the code on their website. Suyu runs fine on Steam Deck if you're wondering. It's, after all, basically still mostly Yuzu. Here is our guide on how to get Suyu up and running if you want to continue playing your legally dumped Switch games on the Deck.

Quick Links

World of Warcraft now has a Battle Royale mode. No, you're not hallucinating. Plunderstorm is a new mode bringing the Battle Royale format to WoW. Every round sees you battle monsters and plunder booty before moving into the PvP parts of the game as matches draw on. You need an active sub to play this game, but no expansion is required.
The ROG Ally has a Windows problem. Timo has been testing the ROG Ally and, in his first week, ran into multiple issues, all linked to Microsoft's operating system running on this handheld.
Valve changed how families can share games. Previously, if you shared a library with your family, for example, your brother was playing Helldivers 2 from your library, he'd be kicked out if you decided to start Baldur's Gate 3. Now, both players can play simultaneously. It's also easier for parents to limit what their kids can play. But there's one change I dislike: if you share your library with family living in another country, you won't be able to do so with this new system.
Sony is pausing PSVR 2 production. It looks like Sony overestimated the success of the PSVR 2, as they are now halting production to sell their inventory first. I'm not very surprised. I own the PSVR 2, and there are simply no games. Let's hope their efforts to bring PSVR 2 to PC will help. It's, after all, fine hardware.
Overwatch 2 will unlock all heroes for all players. Starting with Season 10, all new heroes will be immediately unlocked without the need to buy a Battle Pass. There will also be a Mythic Shop, and Blizzard teased new maps.
The startup hoping to Steam Deck-ify the world. Playtron is a new startup trying to build an Android of gaming. Fascinating read.
Larian Studios is done with the Baldur's Gate IP. At GDC, Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke announced they would not make a Baldur's Gate 3 DLC or a Baldur's Gate 4. In fact, Larian Studios is moving away from Dungeons & Dragons entirely.
How Valve created the Steam Deck OLED launch trailer. A fun behind-the-scenes look at how Valve used 100 Steam Decks to create their orb.
When Apple promoted PlayStation emulation on Mac. How times have changed: Nowadays, companies don't want to touch emulation in any way, but in 1999, Steve Jobs went on national television to rave about how the Mac could emulate the PlayStation.