The fan-made Mario 64 mod that allowed for online play has been terminated due to copyright strikes. The 20 videos and Patreon of Kaze Emanuar are no more.
I'm dead. Nintendo just took 20 of my videos and my Patreon down. Nintendo Creator program is not available in my country :(
— Kaze Emanuar (@KazeSSBM) September 19, 2017
It comes as no surprise considering how protective Nintendo is with protecting their IP.
Nintendo has been known to take down many fan projects. In 2016, the company targeted over 500 fan-made games with DMCA takedown notices. This wide sweep of removals within the mod community saw projects come to close for IPs ranging from the Pokemon, Mario, and Zelda series.
Kaze did little to avoid attention to the project and openly ground gears with Nintendo.
new strat: release romhacks so fast after announcement, that nintendo doesn't even get the chance to C&D you
— Kaze Emanuar (@KazeSSBM) September 11, 2017
Despite the setback, Kaze continues to move forward with the project.
just because everyone thinks that some random videos taken down stops anything, nah. they are entirely unrelated to developement.
— Kaze Emanuar (@KazeSSBM) September 19, 2017
This persistence is unlike the reaction of many mod creators which often abandon projects and the traditional approach of keeping the project hush-hush until it's completed.
Emanuar talks to Polygon
Within moments, Kaze opened up to popular gaming website Polygon.
Telling the gaming news site his thoughts about the legality of the situation having written the code to make the project possible. Yet, a legal battle with Nintendo was not desirable.
Patreon quickly shuddered and removed Kaze's account though he mentions it was not part of his livelihood. He plans to make changes to what's presented to avoid legal disputes when moving forward with the platform.
About the project
The Super Mario 64 Online project was the creation of well-known modder, Kaze Emanuar.
He is the individual behind the Super Mario 64 Maker project and Super Mario 64: Last Impact project. These mods added new characters, levels, and bosses to the ever-popular Mario title.
The Super Mario 64 Online project allowed up-to 24 players to play within the Mushroom Kingdom dawning a wide range of characters.
Notable features of the project included:
- Playable favorites like Princess Peach, Waluigi, and Yoshi
- Multi-server support with sizeable player base
- Powers and abilities for each character
The original promotional video has been removed from YouTube as of this time yet gameplay can be found on the video sharing platform.
The project's website and discord are still online for enthusiastic followers to continue monitoring the (possible) development of the project. The forum remains a hive of activity since the shutdown.
The source code was released to the public to which many have taken it upon themselves to keep the project alive and thriving.
