Yes, this would be great, but I don't see how they could ever achieve it the way you or I envision. Emulators like Dolphin allow us to play (almost) any game f

Yes, this would be great, but I don't see how they could ever achieve it the way you or I envision. Emulators like Dolphin allow us to play (almost) any game from the associated era. As far as I know Nintendo can't just re-release all the games developed for their consoles; the publishers/rights holders would have to do that. So while yes, Nintendo could release an official emulator for PC (like they do for their consoles) the library of compatible games would be rather small (just like on their console emulators). Alternatively they could of course build an emulator just like Dolphin which plays normal disc/cart images, but again what use is that? The average consumer can't rip their own images, and downloading images that you don't own the original for is illegal. So there's not much utility to Nintendo's target market. Plus, I believe this could potentially erode the relationship that Nintendo has with publishers. Publishers demand a platform that will help them maintain control over the IP. If Nintendo releases an official, unlocked emulator they're saying to publishers that Nintendo will protect their IP ... but only for so long. That's in contrast to today where publishers are effectively guaranteed infinite protection. On the bright side, emulation will likely be better for this latest generation of consoles, because they've become increasingly similar to PCs.