The Dev Behind One Of The World's Best SNES Emulators Has Reportedly Passed Away

[Anubis]

Just read an article about Near, developer behind BSNES, suicide after being bullied online for identifying as non-binary.

Near's work in the realm of retro gaming preservation and emulation is nothing short of remarkable. Work on BSNES began in 2004, with the aim of making an emulator which was as accurate as possible. Early versions of BSNES ran slowly on anything but top-level hardware, but, thanks to the fact that Near went the extra mile and actually decapped SNES chips to better understand them, it has become the gold standard of SNES emulators, boasting 100% compatibility with the entire SNES library. However, despite being focused on their own emulator, Near has taken the time to offer assistance to the developers of SNES9X to improve that project, too.

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[gimbal]

It's terrible.

I can't say anything else about it, because I always drift towards no-no topics when I try to reason the how and why behind this. Rest in Peace, Near who is now Far.

[PortuguesePilot]

Bullying, either online or offline, are acts of cowardice and show a severe lack of empathy. People these days are a lot more self-centred and, thus, less community-oriented than in any recent period of History. The fact that Near and other people like him chose the suicide way also tells us that these people are in big suffering and also that they don't possess the coping skills to deal with bullying and/or the detrimental opinions of others.

It's always a tragedy when it happens and we should focus more energy and resources into fixing it: by 1) teaching the general people about the importance of a community-oriented mindset and an acceptance of human variation that does not go against the freedom of others and 2) to capacitate those who might be vulnerable to public scorn or outright bullying with the skill-set necessary to either endure, rebate or ignore said attacks.

How many more people need to kill themselves (or others, in some cases) before we decided to act once and for all?

[gimbal]

"and also that they don't possess the coping skills to deal with bullying" - a problem in itself, let's not ignore that aspect of it. What is there left today that prepares people for it I wonder. Military service is mostly gone except for some countries, schooling has become far less gruelling, parenting is now designed to raise softies, kids stay with the parents well into their adulthood...

I wouldn't want it to be like it was after the war but I can't ignore the fact that a backbone has almost no chance to be formed nowadays, until it is too late.

[alkis]

Heart-breaking.
https://twitter.com/near_koukai/stat...86845912834054

[Pixelfill]

Internet Bullying is a huge problem, I fear for my daughter's generation as if left unchecked it will only become worse.

As Near named his antagonists will/can any prosecution be pursued?

RIP

[dreadnought]

Shocking and sad news. He was an emulation savant, and his pursuit of accuracy has inspired many people in this hobby and improved it for everybody. His legacy will live on for sure.

R.I.P byuu (that's the name I've always known him as)

[Daedalus]

Originally Posted by gimbal

"and also that they don't possess the coping skills to deal with bullying" - a problem in itself, let's not ignore that aspect of it. What is there left today that prepares people for it I wonder. Military service is mostly gone except for some countries, schooling has become far less gruelling, parenting is now designed to raise softies, kids stay with the parents well into their adulthood...

I wouldn't want it to be like it was after the war but I can't ignore the fact that a backbone has almost no chance to be formed nowadays, until it is too late.

You say that like nobody ever committed suicide before 2010. Which is a blatantly ridiculous idea. Bullying has been around forever, but in a similar fashion to conspiracy theorists, the ubiquity of the internet and social media allows otherwise small, isolated groups to converge and bring to bear a collective mass of hate that couldn't easily exist 30 years ago. I remember bullying and nastiness in the '80s. It was nasty, and often a sink or swim situation that not everyone could rise above. But back then you could run away from it, at least for a while. Today it looks similar, but more concentrated thanks to the global team effort put into it, more brazen thanks to the anonymity, and inescapable because everyone is always connected. So no, it isn't simply a case of growing a backbone, and taking such a line is pretty ignorant and heartless. It's a whole different level of hatred that previous generations never had to deal with.

[rabidgerry]

Originally Posted by Daedalus

Bullying has been around forever, but in a similar fashion to conspiracy theorists, the ubiquity of the internet and social media allows otherwise small, isolated groups to converge and bring to bear a collective mass of hate that couldn't easily exist 30 years ago. I remember bullying and nastiness in the '80s. It was nasty, and often a sink or swim situation that not everyone could rise above. But back then you could run away from it, at least for a while. Today it looks similar, but more concentrated thanks to the global team effort put into it, more brazen thanks to the anonymity, and inescapable because everyone is always connected. So no, it isn't simply a case of growing a backbone, and taking such a line is pretty ignorant and heartless. It's a whole different level of hatred that previous generations never had to deal with.

Exactly, on a lot of those points.

The social media thing, well what can I say? That's a problem born out the bullshit fakery make believe worlds that exist in peoples heads thanks to social media. Sure you can use it if you like but I'm someone who has never bought into that, never had a facebook or anything else (my band does but entirely different and I don't run the page). You are basically never able to escape with social media, it's everywhere if you let it absorb you and thus you are now prone to this type of bullying bollocks. Sad to say but when it's abused it is another avenue for the bullies to get you.

In the 90s I had terrible times simply for my taste in music (reflected in my appearance etc). I also wasn't allowed to believe it was bullying, as that is for wimps of course! My school environment basically said "you have to tolerate this because it's our culture to abuse you". That was normal where I am, from.

I might not agree with non binary but I am not going to torture some fella over it, or even let him know what I think because it's none of my business and he can say or think what he wants. It's a really sad that this person has felt that suicide was the answer, and I can empathise as I remember how it felt.

Originally Posted by gimbal

"and also that they don't possess the coping skills to deal with bullying" - a problem in itself, let's not ignore that aspect of it. What is there left today that prepares people for it I wonder. Military service is mostly gone except for some countries, schooling has become far less gruelling, parenting is now designed to raise softies, kids stay with the parents well into their adulthood...

I wouldn't want it to be like it was after the war but I can't ignore the fact that a backbone has almost no chance to be formed nowadays, until it is too late.

Totally agree on the bunch of softies bit, you can't say anything to kids these days and there is basically zero discipline. Also where I live, in general I see kids are not being taught to respect other people or care about other people, and to be honest their parents don't seem to respect other people either so it's just a vicious circle.

[Mick]

The internet was a much better place before everything became so personal and massively centralised through big tech companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter.

If you had a hard time on a website there were hundreds of other websites to go to and because people used aliases (as on here) things weren't so personal, you could just make another profile and start afresh rather than having everything linked to a real life name and profile.

[rabidgerry]

Aye, because now it's people setting out their (life) stalls on there and it's like a floating beacon in cyber world directly attached to your real life.

Back in the day it was chatrooms and forums like this.

[ExiE]

I blame the non-binary crap. It is an artificial construct of this crazy era.

But I have to admit that social media/plaforms are not for soft and fragile people...

[LoadWB]

When I was different; when I was socially awkward; when I was special; when I was bullied and beat up; when I was depressed and lonely; when I was lost and hated myself and everyone; I was a child and I had people in authority around me who recognized my pain and recognized that I needed guidance and not to be left to my own undeveloped devices. All I wanted was to be normal. I hated being held up above others and standing out, but everyone was proud of me and it made them happy, so I tried, but I could not make it work.

I got help when I was a child. I got help into my teens. I became a far more emotionally mature and capable adult.

This interview is heart-breaking. All of the signs are right here, plain as day.

I tend to be overly sensitive and self-critical, and I am not the most adept at social graces, but I'm working on these challenges as best I can.

NO ONE can do this alone, and yet it is obvious he was alone at the critical points he needed someone. This must be addressed during development, before being loosed into the world. The world is a harsh reality and it is filled with adult-aged children who never learned how to interact with other people. It takes mettle to face the world.

I value honesty above politeness, and rationality above emotion.

Because far too often, politeness is a mask and emotions can betray you. Honesty, or "brutal honesty" as many in my life have called it, does not require empathy or emotion. Cold hard facts should be the guiding principle, right? It took me a long time to understand.

I find I'm not content unless I am working on problems that are just beyond my limits, always seeking to increase my knowledge and capabilities. You'll pretty much always find me working on something, as I don't enjoy leisure time.

You push yourself to achieve something which is beyond, and you do it alone, because you can shine in your accomplishments and you can hide your failures and self-flagellation. Leisure time is lazy, non-productive, and you gain nothing from it.

God damn it. I never met this kid. I likely wouldn't agree with him on many subjects. But I know him and know from whence he came. Thankfully my parents and a few teachers recognized that I was not going to make it on my own.

While I want to point fingers and assign blame, I just don't know for certain. I can say, however, that it sounds to me that he needed help during a period of his life and did not get it, and instead found his own way to cope to make it through, but that coping mechanism couldn't hold up. It is this way for far too many people in our world. Just blaming the bullies, or the parents, or the schools, or society, or agendas, or or or... what is obvious is that far too many adults are not growing out of childhood, and it is harmful.

The Nintendo Life article from which I pulled these quotes ends with this:

"If you're struggling with similar issues then The Samaritans can help – you can reach them here."

You might have to get out of your comfort zone, or what you think is your comfort zone, for a while. You aren't obligated to explain anything. Just get help. Even just talking so someone who understands can put you in the right direction.

For those of us not suffering these torments, the signs are almost always present when someone you care for is suffering. It can take just a simple question or comment, and patience. Don't be patronizing, don't be overbearing, don't act like you're making some great sacrifice, just be you. I can tell you, in this state of mind while we don't want to trust anyone, and even when we feel we can't, it is ingrained in us all, integral to self-preservation, to trust someone.

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by Daedalus

You say that like nobody ever committed suicide before 2010.

You read it like that, don't imply that I say it like that. You have no reason to do me such a huge disservice.

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by ExiE

I blame the non-binary crap. It is an artificial construct of this crazy era.

Bullshit. Saying this not even in regard to your opinion on "non-binary crap", but the fact that Near had been harassed for years, for just about anything, and it's not only related to the recent coming out.

[Galahad/FLT]

I've never understood how cyber bullying works.

I've met plenty of poisonous people online, I invariably block them and pay them no mind, trolls and angry people that get off on this stuff dont have a direct line for their idiocy.

Its not social media its anti-social media, and for reasons I cannot fathom, young folks just absolutely cannot stomach the possibility that they are not on it and not a part of it.

Its corrosive and feeds narcissistic personalities, to the point that even though its damaging the well being of these kids, they can't move away.

The non-binary thing is a red herring, this poor kid was dealing with problems long before this came up, and its clear the trolls that were baiting him were doing so for any reason long before the non-binary declaration.

The chances are he wasn't non-binary at all, but rather hoped the declaration would have eased the stuff he was facing.

I won't mourn twitter when it eventually dies the death it needs to, its a fucking cesspit, but for some reason, young people are worried they are missing out if they are not part of it.

Its probably this stalemate for Near that caused him to end it all, couldn't be without social media, but social media was the thing that he thought made him relevant that was doing him damage.

The fact is that his accomplishments speak for themselves, a shame then that a noisy minority were able to convince him otherwise.

[Anubis]

Originally Posted by ExiE

I blame the non-binary crap. It is an artificial construct of this crazy era.

But I have to admit that social media/plaforms are not for soft and fragile people...

Thinking like this is exactly what feeds online trolls and bullies. I am not saying that you are one, just that this mindset that talks about stuff that either they don't understand or are not willing to understand usually leads to bullying.

With so many colors of gray, some things is just hard to describe with black or white...

[Girolamo85]

sad and very bad news...rip
Bullies are severe problem and obviously everyone react in different way

[jbenam]

There is plenty of information about what really went on with this if you search around - this was not a suicide, it was murder and it's all by the hands of the horrible monsters at Kiwi Farms. They are a menace to the world and deserve to be blasted into oblivion.

Near literally begged for their life and the founder of Kiwi Farms acted in the most inhumane way possible.

That said, rest in peace Near - a real genius and a very kind person at heart.

[rare_j]

If you search up the name mentioned in the twitter post, you will come across an ny times article in the first page of results. I was not aware of the scale and organisation of the activity. It makes for chilling reading.