Turns Out Emulating Games Is Fine, As Long As You Aren’t Doing It

It’s a known fact that Nintendo has had a rough relationship with emulation, and that’s still putting it quite mildly. The Japanese company has gone after even the legally pursued emulator developers and ROM websites. It has been made clear in the past that it’s not right to copy or download older games or emulate them, even if you own them.

However, it seems like Nintendo doesn’t follow its own word. According to some newly surfaced evidence, the Nintendo Museum has been found using emulators for one of its interactive displays, which is absolutely mind-boggling considering the company’s hate against emulation.

Official Nintendo Museum Found Emulating Games

After some delays, the Nintendo Museum officially opened to the general public on October 2nd, 2024. The center allows people to explore the Japanese company’s vast catalog of consoles and titles. Players can even get firsthand experience of games that define the gaming industry.

However, it seems like not all of these games are running on vintage hardware. One Museum-goer decided to unplug a controller from the station playing the 1990 SNES Super Mario World. This instantly played the iconic “Device Disconnect” sound, which Microsoft’s systems have been using since the ages at this point.

Nintendo‘s decision to use emulators to run these classic games has led to an intense backlash online, with gamers calling the Japanese company a big hypocrite for implementing such solutions while banishing every emulation software under the sun.

Rules for thee, not for me.

— Dies Horribly (@DiesHorribly) October 14, 2024

However, this revelation isn’t shocking at all. The Japanese giant’s anti-emulation view is only concerned with third-party projects; it doesn’t care about relying on such methods itself. If you’re unaware, most of the Nintendo Switch Online catalog is emulated, and the company has also run a 3DS emulator service dubbed Virtual Console in the past.

The community’s response to this reveal is far from surprising either, considering how it’s just been a few weeks since Nintendo shut down another leading emulation project when it took down Ryujinx. While gamers continue to hope that Nintendo might change its way in the future, it’s unlikely, considering the company will do anything to guard its IPs and systems.

Nintendo is Even Striking YouTubers For Showing off Emulated Games

Nintendo has upped its game in recent years and has been cracking hard down on emulators. However, the company has taken things to the next level as it’s now targeting YouTubers who feature emulated game footage in their videos.

Popular YouTuber Retro Game Corps, whose whole channel is built around reviewing old systems designed to emulate classic games, states that he’s being targeted by the Japanese company.

According to the YouTuber’s community page, Nintendo has striked his recent videos, which showcase emulated Wii U gameplay. He claims that he is considering filing a counter-claim but doesn’t want to bother going against such a big company.

With two copyright strikes and a third one that will shut down his channel, the YouTuber has gone through all his old content and blurred out all footage related to Nintendo games.

It’s an extremely disappointing situation, considering the fact that his entire channel revolves around games that the company isn’t even selling anymore.

With that said, what do you think about Nintendo’s move to emulate its own games despite its stance against it? Let us know in the comments below.