David Kirk Ginder (February 22, 1983 – June 27, 2021), better known by the pseudonyms Near and Byuu, was a programmer who specialized in emulation of video game console hardware. They developed

higan is a Buddhist holiday exclusively celebrated by Japanese sects for seven days; three days before and after both the Spring equinox ( shunbun) and Autumnal equinox ( shūbun). It is observed by nearly every Buddhist school in Japan. The tradi ...

, the first emulator to reach 100% compatibility with the

Super Nintendo The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...

library. Near also contributed to fan translations and SNES

preservation Preservation may refer to: Heritage and conservation * Preservation (library and archival science), activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record while making as few changes as possible * ''Preservation'' (magazine), published by the Nat ...

efforts.

Biography

Near started out in the emulation scene as an amateur programmer, translating Japanese video game

ROM image A ROM image, or ROM file, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory Computer chip, chip, often from a ROM cartridge, video game cartridge, or used to contain a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's arc ...

s at the age of 14, and one year later developed a tool for displaying resized text font in games. After that, a ''patching assembler'' called "xkas" would follow, which streamlined the ROM-translation process. The development of bsnes, later known as

, was triggered by bugs during translation of

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...

game ''

Der Langrisser ''Langrisser II'' is a tactical role-playing game for the Sega Mega Drive console. It is the sequel to '' Langrisser'', and was unreleased outside Japan until the remake for Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Windows which released a year afte ...

'' that would only appear on the original hardware but not on 2004-era Super NES emulators; as such, the aim of bsnes was for accurate emulation. Near contributed to the translation of the Nintendo RPG ''Mother 3'' and to the improvement of the emulator Snes9x. They also engaged extensively in creating faithful copies of Super NES games for preservation. They also invented the "MSU-1" mapper, which gave the Super NES 4 gigabytes of ROM space and the ability to play CD-quality audio. In 2019, Near retreated from the emulation scene, after "a series of escalating privacy intrusions and targeted Internet harassment" affected their mental health. In February 2021, Near released a new translation for the Super Famicom game ''

Bahamut Lagoon is a 1996 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. ''Bahamut Lagoon'' was released on the Virtual Console in Japan on September 29, 2009 for the Wii and on February 5, 2014 for the Wii U. Gameplay ''B ...

'', a passion project that they had attempted multiple times since 1998. This is also the game where Near's former pseudonym of ''byuu'' comes from.

Death

In a

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

thread posted on June 27, 2021, Near claimed to be the victim of long-term harassment from

Kiwi Farms Kiwi Farms, formerly known as CWCki Forums ( ), is a web forum that facilitates the discussion and harassment of online figures and communities. Their targets are often subject to organized group trolling and stalking, as well as doxing a ...

users. Near, who was

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

, said that they had endured lifelong bullying but that the abuse had recently centralized around Kiwi Farms, which had "made the harassment orders of magnitude worse". Near stated that they and their friends had been doxed and goaded into suicide by members of the website, and that Near had been mocked for being

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

. After posting online, Near hung themselves around 1pm local time; an autopsy revealed anti-depressants and cold medication in Near's system at the time of death. Tokyo police entered Near's apartment and found their body the next day, following numerous

wellness check A wellness check (also known as a welfare check or a safe and well check) is a colloquial term for an in-person visit from one or more persons, usually by law enforcement officer, law enforcement or public safety officers, conducted in respons ...

requests to the police and United States Embassy. On June 28, Hector Martin posted a link to a

Google Doc Google Docs is an online word processor and part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite offered by Google. Google Docs is accessible via a web browser as a web-based application and is also available as a mobile app on Android and iO ...

which he said came from a mutual friend of his and Near's, which said that Near had died by suicide, and alleged that the harassment from Kiwi Farms amounted to murder. Martin subsequently reported on June 28 that he had spoken to police who confirmed that Near had died the previous day. ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' reported on July 23, 2021, that it had confirmed with Near's former employer that they had died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Near 1983 births 2021 suicides 2021 deaths Free software programmers 21st-century Japanese LGBTQ people Software engineers Nationality missing Non-binary scientists Autistic LGBTQ people Autistic people Victims of cyberbullying LGBTQ people who died by suicide Suicides by hanging in Japan