Given the recent fuss surrounding a NES emulator on the Xbox One - and the resultant "will it, won't it" saga - it's perhaps a little surprising that you can now boot up your Xbox One system and download an N64 emulator.
Win64e10 - a modified version of the Nintendo 64 emulator Mupen64plus - was previously available on Windows Phone and Windows 10 but has recently been updated with Xbox One compatibility.
The app - which costs $9.99 - is available at the time of writing but time will tell if Microsoft steps in and removes it. If that were to happen, it is likely that the developer would be instructed to remove Xbox One support - something that happened with the aforementioned NES emulator.
Have you given this app a try? Let us know by posting a comment.
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[source destructoid.com, via microsoft.com]
Comments 72
Just a matter of time...
How long you ask? I give it 3 days and it's gone.
facepalms
now you can play conkers bad fur day on xbox, wait
The framerates a bit poop though, init
Sounds like you Xbox One owners better get downloadin' before Mirosoft steps in!
Wait til there is a Gamecube/Wii emulator for Xbox One. Ha ha!
Out of nowhere!
Oh, this isn't going to stop isn't it.
Well this won't help eshop sales. Not like they try very hard with the VC though. We still don't have Mario Kart 64 in the US eShop. And where the heck is Smash 64??
Once again here we are, here we are once again!
If they didn't allow the NES one, I don't think this has any chance either.
The games run like garbage, if they run at all. Save the ten bucks and spend it on the eShop.
Pffftttt....!!
Nintendo can kick some butts again.
@Whopper744 just buy them for wii vc if you really want them. I don't understand why people complain about hitting 2 buttons in a wii remote and waiting 15 seconds. I could have been playing one of those games before I got done typing this.
I'm sure this will happen with every single emulator available on the Microsoft Store... it sounds like it's basically just a tick box to make it available on XBOne, so even if they know it'll be removed, they'll all tick the box on the off chance of getting some extra sales for their app until it is removed.
Xbox fans:"Nintendo is for kids" now multiple Nintendo emulators coming out on Xbox one.
Nintendo's going to be angry about this...
Kill it Nintendo. I'm not usually one for an opinion on piracy one side or the other but I hope this meets an untimely, unpleasant death.
Why waste time or money when it will get shut down which is good.
@TheDavyStar lol. not for 10 dollars.
@Sanangelo89 Very few Xbox players think this way, fyi. And the same could be said for PC players, PS4 players. Heck, there are even a few Nintendo fans that complain Nintendo is just for kids.
It's true. I've seen them in the comments.
I was about to download it but the reviews on the XBOX store say the frame rate isn't too great. As much as I want it, I think I'm going to pass.
Man. The frame rate. I wish it was better
So question, if I downloaded this could I legally play a rom of Banjo Tooie, as I own it digitally via X360 and Rare Replay? Because the XBLA version of Tooie screwed up the music pretty badly, and makes the game far less enjoyable.
Nintendo's just mad that someone ported a better emulator than their own N64 emulator lol. The N64 emulation on the eShop sucks, forced 4:3 aspect ratio (some games like Paper Mario are really bad), poor color saturation, to name a few issues. Oh and DK64 on the eShop, it uses a bad audio sampling, simple interpolation instead of Gaussian.
@mikegamer thank god, I thought I was the only one. The color issues alone are bad enough. It's frustrating because you can go into Wii mode and play N64 games you've purchased there and everything looks so clean and crisp compared to the Wii U version.
It annoys me how this is allowed. Not sure if I'm the only one who thinks this.
That escalated quickly.
@mikegamer actually the Xbox one emulater barely works but keep posting about things you know nothing about.
Contrary to the NES one, I'm not exactly rooting for this one.
The N64 is still too young to "deserve" the "just emulate it illegally" treatment (and the NES kind of isn't, given NES games are sold for more money than discounted GTA games), and other than that, the "Xbox One has more N64 games than the Wii U does" jokes that popped up after Rare Replay's release got old very quickly.
@Nerdieo
You're not the only one. It annoys me too. Hope they get it down soon.
If people want to play Nintendo games, use the consoles. I don't see people clamoring for a PSX emulator in the Wii U.
@Luna_110 THANK YOU! If you wanna emulate games on Nintendo consoles, you have to "hack" it, which breaks the warranty. For Xbox? Nah. In fact, they'll get you half way and give you an emulator.
I struggle to care about this. Emulators are on just about everything nowadays. If someone can't emulate the N64 on their Xbox One they'll just do it on one of the billion other devices they have. Remove it, don't remove, it'll make no difference.
Meanwhile Nintendo once again tells their lawyers to;
Takedown notice in 3...2...1...
Someone should start making PS2 and Xbox emulators for the Wii U.
...or NX...
They should remove it from all the devices it is available on. These tools are hardly ever used for things that aren't illegal.
If I had an Xbox One and wanted to play classic N64 games, I'd spend £20 on Rare Replay, aka the best-value Nintendo package ever made (and I'm including the NES mini in that, as in my opinion the games in Rare Replay are better). I'd probably still be too busy with that to worry about some knock-off emulator filth.
I know people will claim that the emulator can be used for homebrew, but honestly, can you name any homebrew N64 games? I can't.
Still, hopefully this gets removed. Go spend the 10 bucks on a well-emulated alternative — the eShop.
Got it, even if just for the novelty of seeing Mario on an xbox one, and probably having something which is impossible to get haha.
It already has one. It's called Rare Replay. Games run in full 1080p and widescreen compared to native resolution and 4:3 on the Virtual Console.
Anyone who thinks this is illegal or should be removed, or that Nintendo has any grounds to have it removed, is an idiot.
Nintendo will block this. Nothing to see here... It never ceases to amaze me that people love to play Nintendo games but won't buy their consoles...or their games for that matter. But hey everything should be free because somebody wants it right? Right?
No one's stupid to pay $10 on an emulated that is very likely to get removed soon what were they thinking this should've been free lol
@Ryu_Niiyama: I agree with you. Also of note: I think some of these emulators are created by people, who once were Nintendo fans, & now are not.
@kamikazilucas
I think you mean the better version of Bad Fur Day because Conker Live & Reloaded was censored.
Unlike the Nesbox, this isn't using a product name that could even remotely be claimed to be infringing some kind of copyright—not that I personally think Nesbox really was either—so I see no good reason why this should not be allowed on the store, given that emulators are totally legal. Hopefully Microsoft agrees this time around, but probably not seeing as how it dealt with the Nesbox situation. Hopefully this developer went through the "correct" submission process in this case too, so Microsoft can't additionally use that as an excuse here to block the App from appearing on the store. Other than those two things, the name and the submission process, I don't see any valid sticking points for more Apps like this appearing on Xbox One. If all the boxes are ticked and all the legal requirements followed, we, as consumers and gamers, should be happy to support this kind of thing on our consoles; emulators are awesome when used responsibly.
All those Xbox owners who insist they don't want to play Nintendo games...
So it actually boils down to being cheap Jon Snows eh? How surprising!
@ All the people here that have implied they tried it, played it, have it, endorse it.
Traitors.
@FlowOfDough
Methinks you are the real idiot for buying into this garbage. Nintendo is the intellectual property owner for the Nintendo 64 and all it's games that were published on the system. They have the rights to protect their IP and livelihood. Microsoft, (Keep in mind that despite any collaboration they host with Nintendo, i.e. Minecraft "Super Mario Edition", they are still, at the end of the day, a competitor, and host separate intellectual property rights, that they themselves have the right to protect. i.e. "Kinect Sports".) with any pirate indies publishing emulators for any Xbox, do not. Any competent lawyer, judge, police officer, or any other law firm representative that deserves their job WILL answer with a response of this is in fact, a breach of law, and will take the necessary steps to bring justice to the situation.
Don't believe me? Maybe you'll believe Nintendo.
https://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp
If you're a half-wise person, you will throughly read the entire page with great care and insight.
Perhaps that will shift your twisted thinking. Otherwise, there is no hope for you as a human being, in which case I fear for you.
"The introduction of emulators created to play illegally copied Nintendo software represents the greatest threat to date to the intellectual property rights of video game developers." - Nintendo Corporate Division
@mikegamer @Utena-mobile It is not only you, I think most Wii U emulators suffer from poor performance on some areas in order to give us "authentic feel". N64 is the worst one. I still find it bizarre that I can't stretch the image full screen on TV or on the Gamepad. The color problem is there somewhat on the GBA emulator also. In this point I don't think the emulators will be updated nor that we will see many more Wii VC games updated for Wii U (like Final Fantasy for example).
People seem to forget that Nintendo aren't the only ones who made games on the N64, many other publishers did as well. Either way to the people who say "just get a Nintendo console to play Nintendo games" I have to tell you, not many people want to get an 20 year old console taking space solely to play some Mario 64 on (not to mention the ridiculous prices these consoles are being sold for along with games).
Nintendo's own solutions are terrible as well as the only way to get N64 games now is on the Wii U virtual console. Not only is the entire thing dead with the occasional release every blue moon, there is also the fact that a Wii U costs just as much as an Xbox One S and PS4slim. I doubt anyone in their right mind would buy a console as weak as a Wii U for the same price as its competitors just so they can play a small selection of overpriced N64 games and 3 decent Nintendo exclusives(MK8, Smash and ZeldaBotW)
@Slim1999 for most people who program the emulators themselves do it for the challenge it poses to make it work, it's rarely to promote piracy of software.
Wow! This means I can finally play Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Blast Corps, Perfect Dark, and Killer Instinct Gold on the Xbox One... Oh wait-
@impurekind Yeah, no. See, this developer is making an N64 emulator for a non-Nintendo system and charging for it. Because they're putting it on the Xbox Live Store, I'm fairly certain that Microsoft gets a cut of those sales. So they're profiting on the piracy of another company. Just because the name isn't copyrighted doesn't mean it's not illegal, or at the least, HIGHLY unethical. Most likely both. And if Microsoft were to allow it, Nintendo could, and absolutely would, sue them hard, no questions asked.
Yeah, we're all probably guilty of using emulators at some point or another, myself included, but those emulators we find online are free. It doesn't make it any less wrong, but at least someone else isn't blatantly profiting off of the emulator and ROMs themselves rather than the ad revenue the download site may get.
Also, it's sad to see that some people actually bought this and are actually complaining that the frame rate is bad and that it doesn't work properly. Not sure what most people expected from it.
@Lizuka I'm guilty of using emulators and most of us are, and I'' nowhere near against emulators, especially regarding Nintendo's lack of capability to transfer bought VC games to new systems and junk. I'm just against people selling emulators on different platforms and blatantly profiting directly from that piracy.
@HappyMaskedGuy
To be honest i haven't talked with any Xbox player who doesn't like Nintendo games in this console generation.
Lots of people bought Xbox One to play Killer Instinct and Rare Replay. Also both Forza 5 and Halo 5 has lots of user created content from Nintendo/Sega fans.
Edit: I still remember time when almost everyone had Wii and people used to say Nintendo is for kids.
I find it funny how Nintendo goes after fan project developers like Pokémon Uranium but are to scared to go after Microsoft for this. Very classy Nintendo go after the little guys but a corporation like you forget it.
@Tasuki Who ever said they were scared? With the NES Emulator, they didn't have to...Microsoft stepped in quickly and shut it down as they should. It's Microsoft's console, and since Microsoft is perfectly capable of handling illegal actions on their own consoles, Nintendo has no reason to get involved and it makes things easier for everyone.
The fact that it costs money should really be raising some alarm bells... I'm normally a vocal supporter of fan games and emulation, but this guy's just plain an idiot.
@jimi Never mind the aspect ratio, and no, I don't. The colors are too dark, they're too dull on the Wii U, there should at least be a way to stretch them forcibly. Paper Mario has even worse black borders.
@faint With pleasure.
@iGen What exactly are you trying to say here? That emulators are inherently illegal? Because they're not. This is literally no different than an emulator existing on your phone or PC. Even that Nintendo page you linked says nothing about emulators being illegal, only ROMs. And even then, it acknowledges the exception to that rule where making your own backups from games you physically own is legal. However, this is only an emulator, and as such, no one, not even Nintendo, has any legal ground to take it down. Please learn actual facts before taking on your high and mighty/condescending tone.
"Traitors", my ass. You're in no position to throw around words like that.
@TheDavyStar b-but DRM
@Donutman
Because my wife and I both prefer the Pro Controller over my old classic controllers, one which has seen much better days. That along with Miiverse, restore points, and the digital instruction books you can check out (which I do beleive you actually can pull up in a browser anyway honestly). Either way, I see no excuse as to why they aren't in the eShop.
why would anyone do that? just get a wii. its cheaper
@FlowOfDough
Look, the fact is the point I was making is that most people that download this are going to play retail Nintendo 64 games, which is a fact that I, and Nintendo for that matter, are pointing out. There's no need to get into the specifics of who's downloading it, what's being emulated on the system, what loophole people are using to avoid moral consequences, it's a simple fact that about 80% of the people downloading this, and other Nintendo emulators on other devices, is that their intentions are to play illegally acquired video games. Most people do NOT rip their own games and play it on downloaded emulators, I can tell you that. They are, sadly, a minority.
I see where you're coming from, where emulators BY THEMSELVES are completely fine, but who the hell is going to just download it and have it sit on their console, just for the sake of software possession?
I was coming from a point of common sense, and I AM right. Like some other users asked on this comment thread, what homebrew N64 game is there? Honestly, I have not heard of a single one. Not to mention, like I said, buying an N64 game from the internet, then buying a ROM ripping device for that said game, and then moving the ROM file into the downloaded emulator in order to legally play it is a lengthly and cumbersome task most people are not willing to proceed through. Especially when they can just buy a console, when they already have their physical game, anyway.
Legal loopholes that a small minority go through with, is a futile and frankly, sad path to take to get a point across.
Nintendo has common sense. You do not. Please understand that you are not the intellectual property owner of the Nintendo 64, and have no ground to determine what anybody's reaction should be, nor how Nintendo should act upon seeing millions of people playing THEIR games and THEIR ideas, using a tool that is being sold at a PRICE on the Xbox store. That is a legal breach in and of itself. These people that developed a tool to pirate N64 software are making money off of Nintendo's copyrighted intellectual property. It's bad enough it exists, but the pirates are being unfairly PAID for it? This product should be taken down for that alone.
"Traitors my ass"? First of all, you're in no position to be throwing around profanity like that, which gives me insight about your character, your values, and how seriously I should take you. Second of all, I stand by what I said about these people heavily implying they were playing illegally downloaded games on an tool that is being used for that specific purpose. (Keep in mind what I said about the 80%. Roughly so, anyway.) They are on a Nintendo centered site daily, closely following updates on Nintendo's corporate status, and here they are, playing games (almost always) illegally acquired, and damaging the creator's livelihood and well being. So in that sense, I personally see them as hypocrites.
What I said doesn't even have anything to DO with you. The way I see it, you're the one who has no position to defend these wrong-doing people you don't even know, and to accuse me of having no ground to do that.
Let that sink.
Tried to download this, but its apparently not compatible with my Xbox One. I guess they got on top of it?
@Whopper744 not true.wii vc
@GoshDangTravino It's not illegal to make or even sell emulators; not that I'm aware of. You may want to believe it is—and Nintendo and Microsoft would certainly love you and everyone else to believe that—but I don't actually think it is.
@Slim1999 I know. I said eShop.
@iGen Oooookay, let’s just look at this whole thing here.
First off, I can get where you’re coming from with the “common sense” thing. Hell, I’ve taken that route in the past. Yes, I’ll acknowledge the fact that most people who use emulators are gonna play their games illegally. That’s always been a truth of emulators, and no one’s ever going to stop it. And playing illegally downloaded games is generally morally wrong, in a sense.
But since you’re talking about “common sense”, let’s go that route for a second. Let’s disregard the law. Imagine you own a game, and download a ROM of said game online to your computer so you can play it on there with an emulator. Illegal? Yes. Any morally different from using a game copier device yourself? Not really. The end result is the exact same. So, yes, it’s illegal, but there’s nothing inherently morally wrong with it. Legally wrong and morally wrong is an important distinction.
So, in that sense, that adds to the list a lot of people that use emulators for perfectly moral purposes. However, there aren’t many other uses for an emulator on the Xbox One aside from piracy. But that leads me to a question.
What does this emulator allow you to do that you can’t do with any other emulator on most other platforms? Answer: Nothing. Your outrage over this is a bit… late to the party, so to speak. Frankly speaking, this emulator is a piece of crap, and most people would be better off using one on their phone or PC. Even a crap PC could emulate N64 better than this. The actual percentage of people in the emulation scene who will actually use this regularly is quite low, partially because it’s a piece of crap, and partially because of the $10 price tag. There are free alternatives on most other platforms that would work just as well, if not better.
Like I said though, you’re late to the party. Paid emulators have existed for quite a while, mostly on phones. Now, the point I’m about to make here doesn’t really apply much to this specific emulator, but it’s still a point. Emulators take work to develop. There’s nothing illegal about asking for money for your non-copyright breaking work. And your wording is quite unfair to say the least. Emulation is not a “tool for pirating N64 software”. Emulation has never been inherently meant for that specific purpose alone. I’ve heard “game preservation” thrown around a lot. Sure, Nintendo releases some games on Virtual Console, but what about the ones they don’t? Do you really expect someone to pay $115 just to be able to play Conker’s Bad Fur Day? (Yes, I know that game has been re-released in the Rare Replay collection, it’s just an example.)
What about romhacks? There’s nothing illegal about those. The Super Mario World romhacking scene alone is freakin’ huge. Yet, without an emulator, there’s no way to play those without having one of those SNES flashcarts you can play game backups off of. And at that point, there’s not much difference between that and using an emulator.
But, back to what you were saying. You say I’m not in a position to tell people how to react? No, I’m not. And I haven’t done so any more than you have. But I do have the right to call them idiots for it. But what about Nintendo? Am I in a position to tell them how to act? No, I’m not. And again, I haven’t done so. What I am in a position to do is state the objective fact that they have no legal ground to take this down. You want to know why? Do some research on Bleemcast. Remember that whole thing? There’s a reason Sony lost that case. Despite being an emulator, a tool that allowed people to play Playstation games on the Dreamcast, even pirated games, when Sony filed a lawsuit against them, they lost. Yes, Bleemcast went out of business because of the legal fees, but Sony still lost. Because it was established that emulators are not illegal. That applies even if the emulator cost money. If they were illegal, the many paid emulators on Google Play would have been taken down by now. Especially that Nintendo DS one that costs a whopping $7.
And, wow, you kinda fell apart at the end there. “What I said doesn't even have anything to DO with you.” Okay? How dare I defend people on the internet. Whether or not I know them has nothing to do with it. You don’t know them any more than I do, get out of here with that high-and mighty stance. Especially with that comment on profanity, that alone makes you lose some of your credibility if you really think profanity is any judge of someone’s character.
@FlowOfDough
It does. Ask any professional adult on the internet. Think of a comment like a resume. Why would you want to come across as uneducated and juvenile to somebody else, just to make a point? Some people think it's like pepper on food, but it's actually sludge on food. So to speak.
Look, we both raised some interesting points, and ultimately, we're both right. This is a stupid "argument" and I can already see that it's a lost cause.
This emulator will get taken down, one way or another, and you did make some great points about ROM hacks and $115 games. I also did with the common sense of what people are going to do with this said emulator, and how legal loopholes should not exist, since they're so inconsistent.
We're both right, we're both wrong, we both have grounds. Fact is, nobody is going to change their viewpoint on this issue.
Let's just agree to disagree, okay?
PS: Apparently, if you look around, other people have been having this same argument with others.
PPS: LOL!
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2016/09/nintendo_64_emulator_unceremoniously_yanked_from_xbox_one_store
Told you. Good on Microsoft.
@jimi Whatever
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