![]() ![]() Their accomplishments include overclocking the virtual SNES processor without any distortion, with spectacular results. They were particularly passionate about game preservation, and dedicated the development of BSNES - later renamed Higan - to being as accurate as possible. Near was famous for their detailed, perfectionist approach to their work. In a series of messages published on Twitter, Near talked about the online attacks and doxing that they and their friends suffered from Kiwi Farms, saying, "The internet is not a game. ![]() If you ever played bsnes/higan/Snes9x, or potentially countless other emulators, he had a hand in their success.- belthesar June 27, 2021 Yesterday we lost Byuu / Near, a legend in the video game archival and emulation scene. Last night, I was made aware of some incredibly disheartening news. Closest analogy I can do: SNES can change the language it’s speaking at any moment- slowbeef, i do stuff with betus every wed 9pm June 27, 2021 Opcode interpretation is dependent on the state of the processor. Re: Near/byuu SNES emulation is challenging like very few other computer architectures. Many expressed anger at the online bullying that ultimately pushed Near to take their life, their outrage centered on Kiwi Farms, a forum with a reputation for vicious targeted online harassment. Community members took to social media to express their sadness following the tragedy, praising Near's work and talking about the positive impact they had on their life. If you are outside of these regions, check this list for a hotline in your country. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (US), Crisis Services Canada (CA), Samaritans (UK), or Lifeline (AUS). In the field of fan translation, Near contributed programming to localizations of games like Mother 3, Dragon Quest 5, Der Langrisser, and released a localization of Bahamut Lagoon in 2021, 23 years after beginning it, as a Vice profile explains. Parts of the emulator created to keep Stephen Hawking's voice synthesizer working in the final years of the famous physicist's life were even borrowed from higan's open source code. ![]() If you've played any of the indie games influenced by EarthBound, aka Mother 2, then odds are good that game's designer had a copy of EarthBound open in higan for reference. Near's bsnes was the first Super Nintendo emulator with 100% compatibility, and higan is a multi-system emulator supporting 26 different devices including the NES, SNES, Game Boy and Game Boy Advance, Sega Master System and Genesis/Mega Drive, and PC Engine. The linked document also focuses on the Kiwi Farms forum and the doxing and harassing of Near and their friends. Subsequently, Hector Martin, an IT consultant and Linux hacker, posted a message about Near from a mutual friend ( CW: contains explicit details of Near's method of suicide) and said that they had confirmed Near's death with police in a follow-up tweet. Near posted a thread on Twitter explaining how they were affected by a campaign of harassment organized against them on the Kiwi Farms forum. Near, also known by their username Byuu, the creator of several groundbreaking videogame emulators and a recent celebrated translation of JRPG Bahamut Lagoon, has died by suicide. ![]()
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