20 ms·

Leaked Game Boy emulators for Switch were made by Nintendo, experts suggest

238 points by takiwatanga 5y ago

prophesi 5y ago
My guess is that this will be officially released as GB/GBA apps for the Nintendo Online service once the eShops for the Wii U and 3DS are discontinued next year,
widowlark 5y ago
Finally. This barely helps, but at least now there might be some access to legacy portable games that does not require a significant monetary investment and/or piracy
- circa 5y ago
  I agree! I hope it's real. Very exciting. I love so many classic GB games
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 5y ago
  > ... that does not require a significant monetary investment and/or piracy Unfortunately, we're talking about Nintendo. I'll be hoping with you but I'm not holding my breath.
whateveracct 5y ago
It's all about the EverDrive on original hardware. Gameboy Player is especially nice (either on a CRT of upscaled with a separate tool)
endisneigh 5y ago
I’ll never understand why Nintendo doesn’t do a subscription to play any old game older than say three generations. Nintendo is in the best position - since they never focused on specs all of their consoles are easily emulate-able. There’s really no excuse. Even from a revenue perspective I’m confident they’d make more money this way. Make it so it works on any device - again Nintendo can do this because the consoles don’t require great computers to emulate. You probably could run 100 gba emulators simultaneously at 120fps on a modern commodity desktop.
- idonotknowwhy 5y ago
  The did focus on specs prior to the wii. GameCube > ps2 (apart from disc capacity) N64 > Ps1 (again, apart from storage)
- duxup 5y ago
  That’s on the Switch to some extent.
  - fuzzer37 5y ago
    Albeit with a limited library (Although I'd say nearly every game worth playing is already on there, besides a couple N64 games). For reference, with the Switch Online subscription you get * NES * SNES * N64 * Sega Genesis I guess you could argue that Gamecube isn't represented yet, but that's the only major out of date system that isn't included (Understanding that almost any game playable on the WiiU is also on the Switch).
    - Legion 5y ago
      > Although I'd say nearly every game worth playing is already on there, besides a couple N64 games I'd say it takes a very narrow view of what's "worth playing" to say that. To me, the Switch Online emulation services are defined by what they're missing.
      - fuzzer37 5y ago
        What would you say they're missing? I mean, all of the NES, SNES, and N64 Mario games are on there, along with all of the Zelda games on those consoles. Nearly all of Nintendo's IP's are on there. I can't really imagine anything that it's truly missing.
        LukeShu 5y ago
        (edit: This comment speaks to the N64 only) Nintendo IPs: Donkey Kong 64. Diddy Kong Racing. Kirby 64 (Crystal Shards). Any of the Pokemons. Any of the Bombermans. Excitebike 64. Non-Nintendo IPs: GoldenEye. Any of the Tony Hawk Pro Skaters[1]. Either Duke Nukem. Doom 64[2]. The second Banjo-Kazooie. Wave Race. Earthworm Jim. [1]: Pro Skater 1 & 2 have been released for the Switch separately from NSO; $40 for both of them as a bundle. 3 has not been released for the Switch. [2]: Doom 64 has been released for the Switch separately from NSO; for $5.
konfusinomicon 5y ago
every day that nintendo doesn't make it simple and available for people to play all the games from the past, 100 people discover emulation. the barrier to entry as far as technological know how to procure and operate said emulators has gotten easier and easier as the years go by. they in turn tell more people, who keep the news flowing to more and more and more. the losses by nintendo, and the publishers of games added up over all that time must be astronomical. imagine the emulation capabilities of launchbox combined with a library of roms the size that most the target demographic could pirate online with a negligable amount of effort, on a non jailbroken ps5 or xbox or switch. these companies are missing out on so much cash flow from what are essentially dead revenue streams. and customer satisfaction would be through the damn roof..
- lostgame 5y ago
  >> every day that nintendo doesn't make it simple and available for people to play all the games from the past Due to licensing, this isn’t possible. So there‘a going to be an infinite amount more days like this.
  - Al-Khwarizmi 5y ago
    Even just supporting first-party titles would go a long way. In the particular case of Nintendo, many, if not most, of the most universally acclaimed classics are first-party games.
    - mattl 5y ago
      What first party NES and SNES games are you missing from NSO?
      - mathgeek 5y ago
        The games in question are for handheld systems (Game Boy and Game Boy Advance, specifically).
        5y ago
CobrastanJorji 5y ago
For those of you who aren't up on your Nintendo emulation pricing schemes, here's the current model. If you want to play an old NES, SNES, and N64 game, Nintendo makes those available on their current console, the Switch. However, unlike other games, those classic Nintendo titles are not for sale. Instead, you may access them via a monthly subscription, "Nintendo Switch Online." However, the N64 titles are behind a second paywall. If you want to play Mario 64, you need to sign up for a SECOND monthly subscription called the "Expansion Pack." Also however, if you want your kids to also be able to play N64 games on their profiles, that requires a "Family Membership." Nintendo ties a few other perks into the plan, like a really tiny Amazon Prime, so the base subscription also unlocks online play in general (like an XBox or Playstation subscription), and expansion packs for certain games require the second subscription, like the latest features for Animal Crossing or new tracks for Mario Kart. Charging me $20 to play Ocarina of Time is a lot, but it's a reasonable price that I would probably pay well before I started looking into emulation. But renting Ocarina of Time to me for $80/year is just awful.
- Tijdreiziger 4y ago
  You can get the Mario Kart and Animal Crossing DLC as a one-time purchase, no subscription required.
stanford_labrat 5y ago
Being unable to find a legit way to play GBA games was what got me into emulators in the first place. Eventually I "cracked" my Nintendo 3DS and turned it into a homebrew console, which was for me a really interesting and fulfilling technical challenge. It basically allowed for the whole Nintendo handheld catalogue (barring technical capabilities of the hardware itself), as well as some really cool customization. Highly recommend if you're looking for a handheld device that can play most Nintendo games pre-Switch.
- naoqj 5y ago
  There is a legit way: buy a GBA or a NDS.
  - boondaburrah 5y ago
    Emulation is also legit (as long as you use genuine cartridges)
    - m10i 5y ago
      So I've heard this argument for years, and although it sounds quite reasonable to me, does it hold up in court I wonder? i.e. I purchased an original copy of X and therefore it is legal for me to play it on an emulator.
      - ranger_danger 5y ago
        it's only legal to emulate if you dump the ROM from the physical cartridge you own first. downloading the ROM off the internet is still illegal no matter what.
      - iratewizard 5y ago
        What crime are you being charged in? Piracy of a game cartridge is a clear crime. Downloading an emulator that interacts with a game cartridge you legally own? Not so clear.
thaumasiotes 5y ago
> experts tell Ars that a pair of Game Boy and Game Boy Advance emulators for the Switch that leaked online Monday show signs of being official products of Nintendo's European Research & Development division (NERD) ...did they form that acronym on purpose?
djmips 5y ago
The evidence that it's not official based on a menu option showing EZFlash doesn't mean it's not official only based on my knowledge that some first party and close third party console developers in the past have used whatever is cheap and easy to get their hands on.
- justinlloyd 5y ago
  Can confirm. EZFlash and its ilk shipped an awful lot of GB and GBA games much like Datel carts shipped an awful lot of PSX games.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
lobochrome 5y ago
I have worked for ~4 years at Nintendo in production planning and inventory management/demand forecasting. I'd just like to clarify one thing - which is repeated so frequently but just plain wrong: There is no secret "scarcity" creates more demand masterplan from Nintendo. - Nintendo sells to retailers (for the most part) - so any type of price gouging isn't benefiting them. - Everybody at Nintendo would prefer retailers to never run out of stock. The second a retailer runs out of stock - overall customer demand drops. There is no secret evasion to other channels (which of course are also out of stock) happening. - Hype effects are only _maybe_ valid for very niche core gamer titles (Xenoblade, Fire Emblem, etc.). Yes, sometimes these titles benefit a little in the beginning pulling in demand from week 2 & 3 into week 1 if presales are closed very early due to limited availability. - Core gamer titles generate furious outrage on the internet, which sometimes even spills over to mainstream journalism, but are barely relevant to the bottom line compared to mass market titles (Mario, AC, Zelda of course but also titles like NintenDogs). - Production Planning starts anywhere from 8 weeks to 6 months in advance of a titles release. It's damn hard to predict how well a title will sell that early on. It is even worse for HW which has lead times much, much longer. - Games are shipped via air and final assembly happens in the region where they are sold. HW is shipped via boat from Asia directly. This means right about now somebody is ordering Christmas HW. How do you think the red left joy-con will sell in December? We had tricked-out time-series forecasting statistics at the end but still got it wrong ~20% of the time. - Overstock is crazy expensive, both in the channel and in Nintendo Warehouses. If you order too much of a title and it turns out the title only has a core day 1 audience you or the channel which you made believe in the title is totally screwed.
- lobochrome 5y ago
  Oh and on emulators: Again - old titles are not relevant but for the smallest minority of noisy internet nerds. Whenever we released something in that direction, it got nowhere near the needed reaction from the market to justify its investment. It only appeases the noisy nerd minority. Make no mistakes - many many people working at BigN belong to that minority, especially in the lower ranks. But management needs to make decisions that are profitable - otherwise, there wouldn't be enough runway to make bold bets like WiiU, Switch, Tomodachi Life, Splatoon etc.
justinlloyd 5y ago
News: Nintendo hired developers (1st party and 3rd party) to make emulators for older consoles but never released them. <insert awkward look monkey puppet meme> Footnote: I have no knowledge of either of the leaked emulators.
DaveSapien 5y ago
I thought I was having a stroke when I first booted up the NES virtual console and the start screen from Mario Land (original GameBoy) flashed on screen for a split second. Anyone else have this experience, all most two years ago?
- richardfey 4y ago
  You better get checked!
JansjoFromIkea 4y ago
The only major monetary value I see to these emulators on Switch is: - an extra thing to make the money you're paying to play Mario Kart/Smash/etc online with your friends a bit easier to stomach - an extra multiplayer option to have when your friends are bored of the other games Gameboy games don't offer much of the latter and I think the general response to seeing GB games on a big screen at this stage is probably closer to "I can't believe it was so primitive!" than anything else. When you go past the number of people who use emulators on PC/android devices, the number who engage in netplay services is astronomically low because it requires a bit of effort on both sides. I'd imagine the novelty of easy access functional netplay is probably worth drastically more than a more complete or better optimised set of emulation options, and even then it's not worth that much.

238 points by takiwatanga 5y ago

My guess is that this will be officially released as GB/GBA apps for the Nintendo Online service once the eShops for the Wii U and 3DS are discontinued next year,

widowlark 5y ago

Finally. This barely helps, but at least now there might be some access to legacy portable games that does not require a significant monetary investment and/or piracy

circa 5y ago
I agree! I hope it's real. Very exciting. I love so many classic GB games
lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 5y ago
> ... that does not require a significant monetary investment and/or piracy Unfortunately, we're talking about Nintendo. I'll be hoping with you but I'm not holding my breath.

whateveracct 5y ago

It's all about the EverDrive on original hardware. Gameboy Player is especially nice (either on a CRT of upscaled with a separate tool)

endisneigh 5y ago

I’ll never understand why Nintendo doesn’t do a subscription to play any old game older than say three generations. Nintendo is in the best position - since they never focused on specs all of their consoles are easily emulate-able. There’s really no excuse. Even from a revenue perspective I’m confident they’d make more money this way. Make it so it works on any device - again Nintendo can do this because the consoles don’t require great computers to emulate. You probably could run 100 gba emulators simultaneously at 120fps on a modern commodity desktop.

idonotknowwhy 5y ago
The did focus on specs prior to the wii. GameCube > ps2 (apart from disc capacity) N64 > Ps1 (again, apart from storage)
duxup 5y ago
That’s on the Switch to some extent.
- fuzzer37 5y ago
  Albeit with a limited library (Although I'd say nearly every game worth playing is already on there, besides a couple N64 games). For reference, with the Switch Online subscription you get * NES * SNES * N64 * Sega Genesis I guess you could argue that Gamecube isn't represented yet, but that's the only major out of date system that isn't included (Understanding that almost any game playable on the WiiU is also on the Switch).
  - Legion 5y ago
    > Although I'd say nearly every game worth playing is already on there, besides a couple N64 games I'd say it takes a very narrow view of what's "worth playing" to say that. To me, the Switch Online emulation services are defined by what they're missing.
    - fuzzer37 5y ago
      What would you say they're missing? I mean, all of the NES, SNES, and N64 Mario games are on there, along with all of the Zelda games on those consoles. Nearly all of Nintendo's IP's are on there. I can't really imagine anything that it's truly missing.
      - LukeShu 5y ago
        (edit: This comment speaks to the N64 only) Nintendo IPs: Donkey Kong 64. Diddy Kong Racing. Kirby 64 (Crystal Shards). Any of the Pokemons. Any of the Bombermans. Excitebike 64. Non-Nintendo IPs: GoldenEye. Any of the Tony Hawk Pro Skaters[1]. Either Duke Nukem. Doom 64[2]. The second Banjo-Kazooie. Wave Race. Earthworm Jim. [1]: Pro Skater 1 & 2 have been released for the Switch separately from NSO; $40 for both of them as a bundle. 3 has not been released for the Switch. [2]: Doom 64 has been released for the Switch separately from NSO; for $5.

konfusinomicon 5y ago

every day that nintendo doesn't make it simple and available for people to play all the games from the past, 100 people discover emulation. the barrier to entry as far as technological know how to procure and operate said emulators has gotten easier and easier as the years go by. they in turn tell more people, who keep the news flowing to more and more and more. the losses by nintendo, and the publishers of games added up over all that time must be astronomical. imagine the emulation capabilities of launchbox combined with a library of roms the size that most the target demographic could pirate online with a negligable amount of effort, on a non jailbroken ps5 or xbox or switch. these companies are missing out on so much cash flow from what are essentially dead revenue streams. and customer satisfaction would be through the damn roof..

lostgame 5y ago
>> every day that nintendo doesn't make it simple and available for people to play all the games from the past Due to licensing, this isn’t possible. So there‘a going to be an infinite amount more days like this.
- Al-Khwarizmi 5y ago
  Even just supporting first-party titles would go a long way. In the particular case of Nintendo, many, if not most, of the most universally acclaimed classics are first-party games.
  - mattl 5y ago
    What first party NES and SNES games are you missing from NSO?
    - mathgeek 5y ago
      The games in question are for handheld systems (Game Boy and Game Boy Advance, specifically).
      - 5y ago

CobrastanJorji 5y ago

For those of you who aren't up on your Nintendo emulation pricing schemes, here's the current model. If you want to play an old NES, SNES, and N64 game, Nintendo makes those available on their current console, the Switch. However, unlike other games, those classic Nintendo titles are not for sale. Instead, you may access them via a monthly subscription, "Nintendo Switch Online." However, the N64 titles are behind a second paywall. If you want to play Mario 64, you need to sign up for a SECOND monthly subscription called the "Expansion Pack." Also however, if you want your kids to also be able to play N64 games on their profiles, that requires a "Family Membership." Nintendo ties a few other perks into the plan, like a really tiny Amazon Prime, so the base subscription also unlocks online play in general (like an XBox or Playstation subscription), and expansion packs for certain games require the second subscription, like the latest features for Animal Crossing or new tracks for Mario Kart. Charging me $20 to play Ocarina of Time is a lot, but it's a reasonable price that I would probably pay well before I started looking into emulation. But renting Ocarina of Time to me for $80/year is just awful.

Tijdreiziger 4y ago
You can get the Mario Kart and Animal Crossing DLC as a one-time purchase, no subscription required.

stanford_labrat 5y ago

Being unable to find a legit way to play GBA games was what got me into emulators in the first place. Eventually I "cracked" my Nintendo 3DS and turned it into a homebrew console, which was for me a really interesting and fulfilling technical challenge. It basically allowed for the whole Nintendo handheld catalogue (barring technical capabilities of the hardware itself), as well as some really cool customization. Highly recommend if you're looking for a handheld device that can play most Nintendo games pre-Switch.

naoqj 5y ago
There is a legit way: buy a GBA or a NDS.
- boondaburrah 5y ago
  Emulation is also legit (as long as you use genuine cartridges)
  - m10i 5y ago
    So I've heard this argument for years, and although it sounds quite reasonable to me, does it hold up in court I wonder? i.e. I purchased an original copy of X and therefore it is legal for me to play it on an emulator.
    - ranger_danger 5y ago
      it's only legal to emulate if you dump the ROM from the physical cartridge you own first. downloading the ROM off the internet is still illegal no matter what.
    - iratewizard 5y ago
      What crime are you being charged in? Piracy of a game cartridge is a clear crime. Downloading an emulator that interacts with a game cartridge you legally own? Not so clear.

thaumasiotes 5y ago

> experts tell Ars that a pair of Game Boy and Game Boy Advance emulators for the Switch that leaked online Monday show signs of being official products of Nintendo's European Research & Development division (NERD) ...did they form that acronym on purpose?

djmips 5y ago

The evidence that it's not official based on a menu option showing EZFlash doesn't mean it's not official only based on my knowledge that some first party and close third party console developers in the past have used whatever is cheap and easy to get their hands on.

justinlloyd 5y ago
Can confirm. EZFlash and its ilk shipped an awful lot of GB and GBA games much like Datel carts shipped an awful lot of PSX games.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

lobochrome 5y ago

I have worked for ~4 years at Nintendo in production planning and inventory management/demand forecasting. I'd just like to clarify one thing - which is repeated so frequently but just plain wrong: There is no secret "scarcity" creates more demand masterplan from Nintendo. - Nintendo sells to retailers (for the most part) - so any type of price gouging isn't benefiting them. - Everybody at Nintendo would prefer retailers to never run out of stock. The second a retailer runs out of stock - overall customer demand drops. There is no secret evasion to other channels (which of course are also out of stock) happening. - Hype effects are only _maybe_ valid for very niche core gamer titles (Xenoblade, Fire Emblem, etc.). Yes, sometimes these titles benefit a little in the beginning pulling in demand from week 2 & 3 into week 1 if presales are closed very early due to limited availability. - Core gamer titles generate furious outrage on the internet, which sometimes even spills over to mainstream journalism, but are barely relevant to the bottom line compared to mass market titles (Mario, AC, Zelda of course but also titles like NintenDogs). - Production Planning starts anywhere from 8 weeks to 6 months in advance of a titles release. It's damn hard to predict how well a title will sell that early on. It is even worse for HW which has lead times much, much longer. - Games are shipped via air and final assembly happens in the region where they are sold. HW is shipped via boat from Asia directly. This means right about now somebody is ordering Christmas HW. How do you think the red left joy-con will sell in December? We had tricked-out time-series forecasting statistics at the end but still got it wrong ~20% of the time. - Overstock is crazy expensive, both in the channel and in Nintendo Warehouses. If you order too much of a title and it turns out the title only has a core day 1 audience you or the channel which you made believe in the title is totally screwed.

lobochrome 5y ago
Oh and on emulators: Again - old titles are not relevant but for the smallest minority of noisy internet nerds. Whenever we released something in that direction, it got nowhere near the needed reaction from the market to justify its investment. It only appeases the noisy nerd minority. Make no mistakes - many many people working at BigN belong to that minority, especially in the lower ranks. But management needs to make decisions that are profitable - otherwise, there wouldn't be enough runway to make bold bets like WiiU, Switch, Tomodachi Life, Splatoon etc.

justinlloyd 5y ago

News: Nintendo hired developers (1st party and 3rd party) to make emulators for older consoles but never released them. <insert awkward look monkey puppet meme> Footnote: I have no knowledge of either of the leaked emulators.

DaveSapien 5y ago

I thought I was having a stroke when I first booted up the NES virtual console and the start screen from Mario Land (original GameBoy) flashed on screen for a split second. Anyone else have this experience, all most two years ago?

richardfey 4y ago
You better get checked!

JansjoFromIkea 4y ago

The only major monetary value I see to these emulators on Switch is: - an extra thing to make the money you're paying to play Mario Kart/Smash/etc online with your friends a bit easier to stomach - an extra multiplayer option to have when your friends are bored of the other games Gameboy games don't offer much of the latter and I think the general response to seeing GB games on a big screen at this stage is probably closer to "I can't believe it was so primitive!" than anything else. When you go past the number of people who use emulators on PC/android devices, the number who engage in netplay services is astronomically low because it requires a bit of effort on both sides. I'd imagine the novelty of easy access functional netplay is probably worth drastically more than a more complete or better optimised set of emulation options, and even then it's not worth that much.