Following the removal of the Wii emulator on Steam, Nintendo may be developing its own emulators for older systems.
All eyes in the sector are focused on Nintendo Switch 2, the console that is called to take over the one of the most revolutionary and successful models of the whole story. At the moment, the Japanese company is signing up for next year to find out new details about the hardware that will happen to Nintendo Switch, although rumors and alleged leaks do not stop flooding the network. One of Nintendo’s big bets in this generation has been the subscription model of Nintendo Switch Onlinewhich allows you to play classic titles and with the next generation it could go a step further.
This is because it has been found that the large N would be working on their own emulators of more powerful consoles, such as the case of Wii, Nintendo DS and 3DS, according to Nintendúo’s colleagues. The details come from NERD, Nintendo’s European research and development division, which has already worked on other console emulators currently on Nintendo Switch Online. Through a new job offer, the company seeks a emulation engineer specializing in C++ 03. This programming language is precisely the one used for Wii, Nintendo DS and 3DS games.
NERD, the division of Nintendo which developed several official emulators including the GC/Wii emulation in 3D All-Stars, has put up a job posting requiring experience in C++03, the C++ standard used for Wii and DS/3DS games. It seems Nintendo’s working on more Wii/DS emulation. pic.twitter.com/7vhRj4TcyO
— RGD (@raregamingdump) May 29, 2023
This makes it clear that Nintendo could be working on its own emulators dedicated to Wii, Nintendo DS and 3DS so that through Nintendo Switch Online you could play some of the titles of the aforementioned consoles. The question here lies in whether it will be possible on Nintendo Switch or we will have to wait for its successor to arrive to make it a reality.
Nintendo has pulled a popular Wii emulator from Steam
This movement that Nintendo is preparing could serve as an explanation for the rush of the Japanese company to remove one of the best known Wii emulators on Steam. According to the explanations of those from Kyoto, the decision was made because “the use of illegal emulators or illegal copies of games harms the development and ultimately stifles innovation. Nintendo respects the intellectual property rights of other companies and, in turn, expects others to do the same.” However, behind this reason could be the development of its own official emulator.
We will have to wait to find out what Nintendo’s steps are in this regard, although seeing how Nintendo Switch Online has evolved with respect to the inclusion of games from other systems, it seems the logical leap.