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. A list of international suicide hotlines can be found here.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. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline in the U.S. Thankfully, there are institutions that are willing to help victims of harassment and help them get better.
However, harassment on the internet continues to cause pain and death, with harassment being widespread and increasingly toxic. Their work in emulation spanned almost a decade, with projects bsnes and higan being successful efforts in video game conservation. Kiwi Farms has been linked to the deaths of Chloe Sagal in 2018 as well as being implicated in the sharing of live streams and videos of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings. Kiwi Farms is an American Internet Forum focused on trolling, harassing, and doxing people they deem to be “lolcows,” or people that can be milked for laughs. I never deserved any of this.” Joshua Moon is the owner of Kiwi Farms. That’s on every last person who pushed me to this point and didn’t let up. “I would have kept going if Joshua Moon had shown me just the tiniest bit of compassion,” Near tweets shortly before their death. The escalating harassment experienced by Near, particularly by Kiwi Farms, led to their death. Based on the account (TW: suicide, self-harm), as well as on Near’s Twitter account, they have experienced harassment from the internet – ranging from bullying to doxing. “I have spoken to the police department in charge of the investigation,” Martin tweets, “and they have confirmed that Near passed away yesterday, June 27th 2021.” Hector Martin, a friend of Near, tweeted a Google Doc detailing the events leading up to the untimely death. Near, the creator of SNES emulators bsnes and higan, has died.