Gaming News “Thank you to those who weren’t C*ns”: In the face of death threats, he stops developing his tool
In just a few decades, emulation has taken a simply incredible leap forward. While computers have struggled to display the smallest 3D game (like Super Mario 64 in 3 frames per second), advances in technology have meant that the practice has become more democratic and nowadays nearly everything is nearly emulatorable. Only we sometimes forget that this preservation of video games – even if the topic is debatable – would be nothing without the genius programmers hiding behind these amazing emulators. And sad news has just come for the author of a very promising PlayStation 2 emulator…
Enough is enough ! The developer of AetherSX2, a PS2 emulator for Android devices, is throwing in the towel! Angered by the incessant requests from users and receiving death threats, the latter decided to stop developing the program. The application will remain available on the Google Play Store but will no longer be updated. In the face of the growing stupidity of some, he wanted to leave a message that says a lot about what’s on his mind:
AetherSX2 was always intended as a fun hobby for me, not a for-profit business. There’s no point pursuing a hobby that’s no longer fun. Thanks to everyone who wasn’t a jerk last year.
The last statement is clear and clean. The developer worked on this emulator with passion, but the growing community of the program caused inconveniences that he had not imagined. Aside from the outrageous death threats, the author of AetherSX2 has also suffered identity theft and an astronomical amount of complaints. Human stupidity in all its splendor will therefore have defeated this promising emulator.
PS2 games on AetherSX2 but without update
It is all the more unfortunate that AetherSX2 was one of the few ways to play PS2 games on Android devices. The other alternative is DamonPS2, but this software has been at the center of a strange affair. According to the creators of the well-known PCXS2, a very famous PS2 emulator, DamonPS2 has re-pumped the (open) source code of their program. Problem, DamonPS2 application is for-profit based on locked source code.
It’s sad, but the world of emulation is still stuck in the middle of an unbearable new story after the suicide of Near, author of the excellent BSNES (a very high quality SNES emulator), in 2021. It’s exasperating when you know it takes few individuals to overshadow a community passionate and concerned about supporting initiatives.
