Signaling Citrus

Weird post name, but there were two pieces of news that I wanted to give my two cents on, but I didn’t feel like I had enough to say for a whole blog post. I’ve combined the two into this one post. First up are my thoughts on Signal getting usernames. But if you’re not interested in that, feel free to skip to the second part on Nintendo shutting down the yuzu emulator.

Signal Has Usernames Now

Signal has usernames now… so what?

If you’ve read some of my posts before, you know (roughly) what I think about Signal. I think its a high quality private messenger that has some possibly questionable downsides, especially relating to the whole phone number thing. Well, if you haven’t heard (or guessed), Signal has introduced a username feature. I think this is a great feature, but it doesn’t solve all my issues with the app.

For those who want a TL:DR, this update allows anyone to add a username to their Signal account. This removes the need to share your phone number (a very sensitive piece of information) with other people. Usernames are designed to be added, removed, and updated at any time. By design, they’re not meant to be some permanent unique identifier, but rather more of a unique invite you can share and revoke as needed. In addition to this, it also enables phone number privacy by default.

Overall, I think this is a great update. Phone numbers are effectively a unique identifier. Most people only have one number, and that number is linked to their real identity with their phone provider. Exposing that to someone you don’t necessarily trust is a huge possible risk. Having it be private by default makes it easy for even the most technically illiterate person to reclaim their privacy. Usernames are a great replacement, especially with how they’re implemented. Usernames are designed to be more ethereal in nature. Other messenger or social media apps treat username as a permanent fixture, part of your identity, but Signal defies this in an effort to keep users private. They function as a way to quickly connect without exchanging a phone number, making it easier to stay anonymous while using Signal. I could see this being a bit confusing for some people who have the traditional mindset of usernames, but this is a positive direction to go in.

However, I still feel like this update has a lot of missed potential. Accounts are still linked to a phone number. I don’t like this. Signal claims this is to reduce spam (citation needed), but I have doubts about this. While Signal can’t eliminate spam via traditional means (E2EE means they can’t even see message contents), they have made it basically impossible to contact someone unless you know their exact username. And the fact that usernames are designed to be changed and removed to limit who can add someone just re-enforces this point. Phone numbers frankly aren’t needed any more. Messengers like Session or Tox have provided secure and anonymous messaging for quite a while now, while not requiring a phone number. While these options are generally less approachable for an average person, they just prove that they aren’t needed for something secure and private.

This forced reliance on phone numbers for accounts also limits how many accounts a person can make. Something important for privacy is separating your identities. If you want to keep certain things private, it makes sense to not do them under a name people know you by. Keeping things separate is paramount to maintaining good privacy, so to accomplish this you need to maintain multiple accounts, especially when it comes to messaging. Signal basically forces a person to pick one identity and run with it. If you only message people you know in your real life, this might not be an issue, but I can guess that if you’re reading this blog, you maintain some degree of separation between the people you talk with in real life versus online. Signal doesn’t allow for nuance, meaning if you want to use it for secure communication, you’re forced to pick and choose which group gets that. Sure, you can use multiple services, but its already hard enough to get people to switch to something more secure, so its often a waste of energy to try to convince them to use something just as secure that isn’t as user friendly.

Good update, but it doesn’t fix most of the issues I have with Signal.

The Death of Yuzu

Nintendo has done what they do best, kill another fan project. But this time, its not some silly fan game, but rather them striking down the impressive yuzu emulator. For the uninformed, yuzu was an emulator for the Nintendo Switch, with the ability to boot and play many commercial games, often times at better resolutions and frame rates than the Switch could natively produce. Seeing it get shut down when emulation is legal is a bit of a shock.

Originally, I had something much longer diving into the legal documents and trying to figure out why Nintendo went after yuzu, but I couldn’t quite get it into a position I was happy with. I’m going to pivot a bit. Nintendo has always been successful because they’ve always managed to make games that capture the hearts and imaginations of the players. I cannot deny that the Nintendo games I played growing up shaped me as to who I am today, but what makes me sad is that these games aren’t coming with us into the future. They get lost and left behind in the past whenever new games and consoles release. This means people who missed out on these games will be unable to experience these games, or if you want to come off as a bit pretentious, works of art. Emulation plays a role in preserving these games, allowing anyone to easily play games from past systems. Its easy, accessible, and can often provide features that can improve the game. Without emulation, much of gaming history would be lost.

I don’t think people really understand how important emulation is. The Video Game History Foundation did a study last year that found 87% of video games before 2010 are not commercially available. This is an astonishingly high number. Imagine if only 10% of movies before 2010 were available, or songs, or shows. How crazy would that be? I’m sure you’ve recently consumed a piece of media before 2010. How did make you feel? Maybe it was mediocre, just another thing, but there is a chance that it could have been pivotal. I’m sure there is something out there that impacted you, but you just found it later than everyone else. With video games, its nearly impossible. That 87% looms over us, making it impossible to play some games. Some may argue those are only “old” games and thus lack appeal, but when nearly 2000 games have been delisted in the modern era, this preservation issue still exists for modern titles. Just a week ago we saw Octopath Traveler disappear from the Switch eShop (Archive). Undeniably, even Switch emulation is important for preservation.

The fact is, emulation is needed. We’re losing games, and “porting” or “remaking” or “remastering” them isn’t the answer. Preservation is a tricky subject. Think of it like this: when is a game preserved? Does a remaster that changes and modernizes the gameplay count? Does a remake with a shiny coat of paint count? Does a port from an old console to a new count? Or do you need the original hardware and a period accurate display to truly preserve something? Video games are such a unique case, given how the interactive nature of them makes them different than preserving any other form of media. And all that doesn’t even begin to consider the era of online and live service games. It becomes almost impossible to preserve these dynamic and ever changing experiences. Emulation at least provides some answer, with it reproducing the functionality of games on hardware they were never meant to run on. For some, it doesn’t compare to original hardware, but in all the ways that matter, its what we need.

But its hard to talk about emulation without piracy. If you take piracy into account, that 87% number goes down to nearly nothing. But piracy is illegal, and while I can’t tell you what you is and isn’t ethical, I can tell you the morality and legality are not the same. Frankly, the reason Nintendo went after yuzu was piracy. And while most emulator teams will claim the same thing, that their emulators are not meant for piracy, but the fact is, most people do use them for such. Why? It comes back to that preservation issue, that game companies don’t preserve their past games. You can’t buy 90% of them, but to be fair, you also can’t buy a lot old books, or movies, or shows. But they’re still accessible. How? A little thing called a library. At least in the United States, libraries give people access to thousands of influential books and movies and shows and music. Its not as well known, but your local library probably comes with access to a sizeable portion of digital content. Talk to a librarian to learn more. But my point is, there exists a (legal) solution to this problem, libraries. They could take some of this burden and provide games in the same way they can provide other digital files. This library approach also avoids some issues with re-releasing older games. Often times games are a collaborative process between many companies, making it unclear as to who owns the game. When its unclear who owns it, its also unclear who can permit it to be re-released. Libraries would also avoid issues associated with games owned by companies that don’t exist anymore. It is a wonderful solution, the real issue is the infrastructure and laws aren’t in place. Until then, it seems the best way for the average person to play a classic game is piracy, and people shouldn’t have to resort to a crime just because a company is negligent.

I’d like to end with a bit of a personal story. Citra was also shutdown when yuzu was sued. And this kinda stung for me. I had a 3DS when it was in its heyday, and it quickly wormed its way into my life, more so than any other console before it. I’m not joking when I say I almost always had that thing on me. I played countless games over the years, a lot of them making it into my best games of all time list, but it also changed the way I viewed games. This was the time my eyes opened to online communities, and I realized that games were so much more than just something to pass the time. Playing these games helped me meet people and bond with them. Some of the friends I made back then I still talk to on a daily basis, and its all because of how good these games were. But when I talk to people who haven’t played these games, I get a bit sad because I know they won’t be able to. Any attempt at porting or remaking them will inherently be a different experience. The 3DS was a unique console with its dual screens and underused 3D gimmick, but emulation is the only way to properly experience it outside of owning an actual console. I got to share so many wonderful games with others on this silly little console, but I won’t get to do that any more, and it brings an indescribable sadness to my heart.

At the end of the day, nothing is gone from the internet forever. Back ups of these emulators exist, and I’m sure you can find what you’re looking for with enough googling. The projects being open source also leaves the potential of new developers coming in and picking back up the work. I just wish we lived in a world where video game preservation was taken seriously, or at least one where companies don’t go after the fans that do that job for them.