Nintendo Forces Removal of Commodore 64 Super Mario Port 7 Years in the Making
A modder who spent seven years building a version of Super Mario Bros. that could run on a Commodore 64 faced a sad but predictable reaction from Nintendo this week: Not on our watch. The company has already filed takedown notices against the modder, ZeroPaige, though his creation can be found online if you know where to look.
One of the specific features of Super Mario Bros. is full-screen side scrolling, which apparently isn’t easy to implement. Nevertheless, the C64 version of the game is an incredibly faithful port, as can be seen below:
Of course, this means Nintendo was also watching. Almost as soon as the mod started to become popular, it was immediately taken down. The Commodore Computer Club tweeted about the issue:
Good times. Due to a DMCA takedown notice we had to remove the Super Mario Bros 64 download from our website blog post from 4 days ago. Hopefully everyone enjoys the #Commodore 64 #C64 game who was able to snag it.
— PDX Commodore Club (@c64club) April 22, 2019
Of course, the flip side to this is that you can still play SMB online in any number of ways, provided you can Google the phrase “play Super Mario Bros. online.” Striking down the C64 version is more about sending a message than actually preventing people from playing the game.
If you’re curious for more information on how old-school game programming worked in a very different era, check the YouTube video above. The techniques and skills programmers used to create early games were quite different — but no less interesting — than what we see today.
Continue reading
Windows 10 Will Make Flash Removal Mandatory This Summer
Flash has been phased out in most ways that matter, but there's one more nail being pounded into Flash's coffin, courtesy of Microsoft. Soon, Windows 10 will make Flash removal mandatory.
Western Digital Removed Code That Would Have Prevented Widespread Hard Drive Hacks
This does not clear WD of wrongdoing. If anything, it's even worse.
Google, Apple Cave to Russian Government Pressure, Remove Navalny Voting App
That means citizens who have not already downloaded the app will find it much harder (or impossible) to get it, and the opposition's efforts to gain ground against Putin's United Russia party could suffer.
Windows 11 SE Will Only Be Available on New PCs, Can’t Be Reinstalled if Removed
Microsoft's new stripped-down OS will only be sold on new devices, and if you try to "upgrade" the OS, the chances of getting 11 SE back onto the device in the future are slim.