This news comes just a few weeks after Nintendo slapped a massive $100 million lawsuit against the owner of LoveROMS and LoveRETRO. These websites were very similar to EmuParadise, hosting a vast collection of retro games and emulators. Mere hours after the lawsuit was filed, both websites were taken offline. Interestingly enough, many responses from the community to the closure of these sites pointed to EmuParadise still being around as another trustworthy source of games. Obviously, that claim no longer applies. In addition to the fall of LoveROMS and LoveRETRO, Nintendo then had an online GameBoy Advance Emulator removed from GitHub.
It must be noted that EmuParadise’s announcement does not specifically denounce Nintendo as being a/the reason for the removal of all the games from the site, But, it has had run-ins with the Big N in the past. Back in June 2017, all of Nintendo’s first-party titles were taken down from EmuParadise’s library. So, taking the two aforementioned recent closures into account on top of last year’s scuffle, it wouldn’t be surprising if Nintendo does have a role to play in this announcement after all, but EmuParadise has yet to name any names. The fact of the matter is, the site was in violation of copyright laws. So, whoever forced the site to make this drastic move did have the legal grounds to do so, especially since EmuParadise was benefiting financially from hosting its library due to selling ad space.
Will this kill the emulation scene? Not exactly. Other sources still exist. However, this is a crippling blow nonetheless. EmuParadise was known not just for having a vast collection of games, but also being a safe source due to many other ROM/ISO sites being riddled with evasive ads and viruses. So, many in the community are going to have to find somewhere else to get their games if they’re still willing to make the effort.