Nintendo uses emulators in the museum, but fights fan projects

A Nintendoknown for its strong stance against third-party emulators, surprised fans and critics alike by apparently using emulators in its own museum. The revelation came to light recently, when a visitor to the Nintendo Museum, located in Kyoto, Japan, made an intriguing discovery.

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Hypocrisy on Nintendo’s part?

The Twitter user (@ChrisMack32) decided to disconnect a controller from an interactive station at the museum that was playing the classic Super Mario World, originally released for the Super Nintendo (SNES) in 1990. To his surprise, the action resulted in the reproduction of the iconic “Device Disconnected” sound characteristic of Windows operating systems since the Windows XP era.

Upon reconnecting the controller, the equally familiar “Device Connected” sound was heard, providing strong evidence that the museum’s Super Mario World exhibit is running on a Windows-based SNES emulator rather than the original hardware.

This discovery generated intense reactions on social media, with many users accusing Nintendo of hypocrisy. The Japanese company has a long history of opposing third-party emulators, often taking legal action against fan projects and independent developers who create or distribute emulation software.

Recently, in March 2024, one of the main Switch emulators, Yuzu, had its operations closed due to a lawsuit filed by Nintendo, which also sought a fine of US$2.4 million.

Nintendo has always used emulation internally

However, it’s important to note that Nintendo’s stance against emulation has historically focused on third-party projects. The company has shown no hesitation in using emulation internally for its own purposes.

A notable example is the Nintendo Switch Online service, which offers a library of emulated classic games. Previously, Nintendo also operated the popular Virtual Console emulation service for the 3DS.

The use of emulators at the Nintendo Museum is therefore in line with the company’s internal practices. There is no evidence to suggest that the museum’s interactive displays are using anything other than Nintendo’s own emulators, of which the company has an extensive collection.

Despite this, the fan reaction is not surprising, especially considering that Nintendo continues its fight against third-party emulators. Recently, in October 2024, the company managed to shut down another popular emulation project by contacting the lead developer of Switch emulator Ryujinx and getting him to agree to stop development and even delete the project’s GitHub repository.

Source: Game Rant