Nintendo Switch Emulator Announced

Megalith

Megalith

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The Nintendo Switch isn’t even a year old, but an emulator is already on the way. Judging by the developer’s previous work, which includes Citra, the popular 3DS emulator, “Yuzu” should make it easy for PC gamers to try out exclusives such as Super Mario Odyssey.

No word yet on a projected release date, but keep your eyes peeled. The biggest game on the Switch, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, is already playable with an emulator because it released on Wii U too. But there's a lot of excellent games that are exclusive to the Switch, including Super Mario Odyssey.
 
Thats honestly cool. If I could dump my cartridges and play them on this in a rendering scale of 4k+, I'd be in heaven
 
This works for me. I wish Nintendo would just embrace the emulation world and be done with it.
 
I'm happy to buy the games and play them on PC. I hope this comes true...
 
Cemu (WiiU) and Citra (3DS) are excellent emulators that, thanks to support from fans, quickly went from barely-playable on commercial titles to being nearly perfect for many games in less than the span of a year. There is even (beta quality, requires some workarounds etc..) ability to play online! I'm a great supporter of these projects because they can showcase just how much better most of these games are on PC. Breath of the Wild is probably the best example, running in Cemu with relatively few glitches when properly configured, with all sorts of tweaks and high-resolution rendering/graphics packs! Likewise, the ability to enjoy 3DS titles at high res on a big screen is great using Citra. Also, it is important to note that despite Cemu and Citra not originally releasing open source or multi-platform, they both keep their promises and have released Linux builds and plan to open the code fully later in the project, much as Dolphin has done so.

I can only hope to see a similar emulation project arise for the Switch and will consider donating once I see real progress.
 
iNViSiGOD said:
BoTW on Cemu looks amazing at 4k. It'll be fun following this project and see how it progressess.
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I tried cemu for fun but I heard botw doesn't run that well.

And the weird issues with the titling controller.. Seems like it's ghetto rigged together.
 
Sorry nintendo, love your 2-3 games each console release, but you don't have a minimal investment platform I can play them on. Used copy from store to be "legal" + emulation is all you'll get.
 
craigdt said:
I tried cemu for fun but I heard botw doesn't run that well.

And the weird issues with the titling controller.. Seems like it's ghetto rigged together.
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It was pretty hacky at one time but it's really smoothed out quite a bit. As for performance it all depends on the hardware.
 
Had no luck when I tried Cemu over the summer. It ran, but it wasn't exactly "playable." Tried Smash and MK.
Hopefully this progresses faster than that, or most other emulators. By the time they're really good (and have features like surround sound) the systems they're emulating are 10 years old.
 
Its never the same, there is always some shit with emulators.. always, no matter how old the console, no matter how recommended the emulator is... Its always something, controls, corrupt save states, interface issues on the emulators, just something somewhere is going to take a dump on you somewhere, it just is. Don't get the mentality about Nintendo either, release games on the pc and be done with it? How does that make sense? Why in gods name would you give up control of the experience after being successful for decades, sure its not Wall Street required infinity growth with infinity profit, yes sure. I mean shit, so many things Nintendo made mainstream and are now taken for granted, shoulder buttons, rumble feedback, analog thumb control, freaking touch screen for games since 2004, motion controls.. no saying they invented all of it, or the first, but in a lot of these things they are the first to show how to implement and use these things better than anyone else, sometimes years ahead.. and no, wii controls were not a gimmick.. properly implemented, they are great! Switch controls are sweet, you won't emulate that shit properly for years if ever.
 
Uvaman2 said:
Its never the same, there is always some shit with emulators.. always, no matter how old the console, no matter how recommended the emulator is... Its always something, controls, corrupt save states, interface issues on the emulators, just something somewhere is going to take a dump on you somewhere, it just is. Don't get the mentality about Nintendo either, release games on the pc and be done with it? How does that make sense? Why in gods name would you give up control of the experience after being successful for decades, sure its not Wall Street required infinity growth with infinity profit, yes sure. I mean shit, so many things Nintendo made mainstream and are now taken for granted, shoulder buttons, rumble feedback, analog thumb control, freaking touch screen for games since 2004, motion controls.. no saying they invented all of it, or the first, but in a lot of these things they are the first to show how to implement and use these things better than anyone else, sometimes years ahead.. and no, wii controls were not a gimmick.. properly implemented, they are great! Switch controls are sweet, you won't emulate that shit properly for years if ever.
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People figured out that you can connect Wii controllers to PC with bluetooth, use a wireless sensor bar and play Dolphin with them. I'm sure someone will eventually figure out how to do the same with Switch joycons.
 
MaZa said:
People figured out that you can connect Wii controllers to PC with bluetooth, use a wireless sensor bar and play Dolphin with them. I'm sure someone will eventually figure out how to do the same with Switch joycons.
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Actually both the Joy Cons and the Switch Pro Controller can be connected to a PC via Bluetooth, last I heard it didn't work perfectly but since syncing them is half the battle full functionality shouldn't be far behind.
 
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Controls are the least of my concerns. Most games don't really even use anything beyond what the other consoles do.
I just look back to just about every other emulator and see how long it took to properly run the games at their native resolution (or better) without screwing a bunch of things up. Dolphin is probably the best emulator I can think of, but it literally took a decade to finally nail down the GC and Wii. They're still updating it more or less daily, too.
PCSX2 works rather well, but it didn't until roughly a decade after the PS2 hit.
Cemu only half works and it's based on a console that came out 6 years ago.
That PS3 emulator is pre-alpha and that system came out 12 years ago.
It's easy to get excited about a new project like this, but realistically it might be 5 years before this thing actually even works, let alone offers any improvements.
Emulation takes time and while it can eventually be amazing (especially for classic systems). Yet, the idea of playing Switch games on a PC with any level of quality any time soon seems like a pipe dream.
 
Domingo said:
Controls are the least of my concerns. Most games don't really even use anything beyond what the other consoles do.
I just look back to just about every other emulator and see how long it took to properly run the games at their native resolution (or better) without screwing a bunch of things up. Dolphin is probably the best emulator I can think of, but it literally took a decade to finally nail down the GC and Wii. They're still updating it more or less daily, too.
PCSX2 works rather well, but it didn't until roughly a decade after the PS2 hit.
Cemu only half works and it's based on a console that came out 6 years ago.
That PS3 emulator is pre-alpha and that system came out 12 years ago.
It's easy to get excited about a new project like this, but realistically it might be 5 years before this thing actually even works, let alone offers any improvements.
Emulation takes time and while it can eventually be amazing (especially for classic systems). Yet, the idea of playing Switch games on a PC with any level of quality any time soon seems like a pipe dream.
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Uh-huh, and yes you use all of it.
https://www.gamereactor.eu/news/499...da+Breath+of+the+Wild+controls+on+the+Switch/
 
Vader1975 said:
I figured that since this is just a Nvidia Shield that this would of already happened? We sure this didn't already happen?
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It is the encryption and copy protection that needed to be broken first before a emulator could work. It is why there is still no PS4 and Xbox emulators yet even tho they are 4 years old basically PCs.
 
Uvaman2 said:
Uh-huh, and yes you use all of it.
https://www.gamereactor.eu/news/499...da+Breath+of+the+Wild+controls+on+the+Switch/
Click to expand...

There's nothing there that can't be done with an Xbox One controller except the (entirely optional) "precision aiming" via the tilt function. A PS4 controller can handle everything AND is does have a tilt function.
I suppose neither have the take screenshot button, but there's nothing keeping you from remapping the home button on either controller to do that. After all, you wouldn't need that button with an emulator. Plus, it's a PC after all. You can do that at will any number of ways. Most emulators have built-in screenshot or even video recording functions.
Controls are the among least of the issues when it comes to porting the Switch to the PC.
I'm far more concerned about actually getting games to run properly in less than 5 years.
 
I own BotW on Switch but opted to play it with CemU instead. Honestly, Cemu provides a higher quality experience with frame rates in the mid 40s and significantly better visuals.
 
The coolest thing about the switch is it’s portability. I’d argue the same was true for the vita. Nintendo is capitalizing on that better than Sony did.

I’m not sure an emulator will capture the magic. But hey - more power to them.

It’s interesting how all the switch games I own are designed with portability (and starting and stopping) in mind.

Now if Nintendo were smart - they’d develop and sell me a native switch emulator. I’d pay for that. Then they could probably milk me pretty darn good for old nes and snes games. If they bundled ALL the games - I’d probably be in for a couple hundred bucks. All they got to do is make it easy to play their old libraries and people’s wallets will open up.
 
Do not really have any interest in playing it any other way than on the Switch. Maybe the games looks better in 4K, but maybe the lack of high end graphics is what pushed them to make the games more enjoyable in other ways not pertaining to pixel count.

Could we remake Green Hill Zone 1 theme song with a full orchestra recorded in 24/96? Sure. Is the original shitty experience better? You betcha!
 
Kongar said:
The coolest thing about the switch is it’s portability. I’d argue the same was true for the vita. Nintendo is capitalizing on that better than Sony did.

I’m not sure an emulator will capture the magic. But hey - more power to them.

It’s interesting how all the switch games I own are designed with portability (and starting and stopping) in mind.

Now if Nintendo were smart - they’d develop and sell me a native switch emulator. I’d pay for that. Then they could probably milk me pretty darn good for old nes and snes games. If they bundled ALL the games - I’d probably be in for a couple hundred bucks. All they got to do is make it easy to play their old libraries and people’s wallets will open up.
Click to expand...

A dock that runs the games in 1080p would be about all I would hope for. But probably not feasible at a reasonable price.
 
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