Xbox One NES Emulator Passes Certification, Could Hit Console In The Next Few Days

if this gets published there's nothing stopping everyone else from getting their own Emulators up on let's say the 3DS eShop or the PS4?

Emulator contains OS software, still not really legal

This'll be interesting. 1 way this could go is MS could force them to blacklist certain ROMs, especially if one for the original Xbox comes out. Most likely Nintendo's lawyers will be foaming at the mouth but kept on a leash.

What would be their legal stance for removal? Copyright on the game pictures used in the advertising? Or the lack of ability to use the physical media for the games? I see tons of emulators all over the place so I'm not sure where the law stands on this. I'd think Microsoft may want to avoid the issue though, I'm surprised they certified it for their store.

There may be trouble ahead!

@plug313 Highly doubt Nintendo or Sony would let that through.

Yikes. What MS does or doesn't do may have serious repercussions down the line.

But with Universal Windows Apps (or whatever it's called), this was going to happen sooner or later.

Why not just call it something else. It's as if they're slapping Nintendo in the face with that name. Just call it retrobox or something instead of pointing a finger at yourself.

@Gerbwmu I'm not surprised. Remember when some Microsoft share holders thought they were getting Donkey Kong when they acquired Rare.

I just hope Wii U gets an XBox emulator.

I mean, just for crappy homebrew games, not for Halo, GTA, Morrowind, Conker LIVE & Reloaded, Thief: Deadly Shadows, Fable, and other good games.

If this stays up, I may have Santa bringing me Xbone this Christmas season.

Hah, I think this is the ultimate troll move to Nintendo considering the recent junk they've done.

This is a brave new world indeed.
However this goes, it will set an interesting precedent.

@Spoony_Tech "Remember when some Microsoft share holders thought they were getting Donkey Kong when they acquired Rare."

I guess dreams do come true!

What were MS's team thinking? Do they really want to tango with Nintendo's legal team, or to deal with the Ninjas?

@MadAdam81 NES has no OS, as is the case for most older cartridge based systems. Games are written in assembly, machine code. The games communicate directly with the hardware.

Nintendo has allowed physical clones to exist.
All an emulator is, in reality, is a software clone.

Plus, Nintendo does not own all the NES games.
So this should be interesting how it goes.

@Spoony_Tech Considering that there are emulators up on the Windows Store that are called "VBA8," and "SNES8X", I think it makes snese. After all, it also comes across as a homage to a certain program called "DOSBOX."

I know big business isn't that smart, but if I were in charge of Microsoft and one day wanted to do business with Nintendo to have Mario and their games on XBox and Windows legitimately, I would not upset them now, who cares if it's illegal or not. I mean MS is desperate to get Pokemon Go on the Windows phone- this will not help if Nintendo doesn't trust you, and they hold grudges for a long time.

This thing only has emulators for NES, SNES, GB, GBC, GBA.
Yeah, it'll disappear quick!

Unless Nintendo has something to gain out of this: I'm just gonna cross my fingers and hope this gets taken down. The team responsible for the emulator seem like they're gloating about the fact that their project has gotten so far...unless, of course, this is some genius scheme to get people to download a "legitimate" emulator to track down who uses ROMs and where they get them from. I remember hearing recently that a lot of torrent sites were getting shut down or had warnings about torrents getting tracked and stuff, so who knows?

Pfffttt...
Nintendo will be upset when see that...

And if this gets away...which I doubt it will...Sony will be the next one targeted. This is just a way for the X-box One to try and sell out the others (which is not happening). Microsoft just needs to get out of the game race, sell the few IP's they have, and let Sony and Nintendo make the games...again, I'm a nintendo and sony fanboy, never liked Microsoft (largely due to them never keeping their game franchises around...hello Blinx, Amped, Project Gotham, Whacked, Kung Fu Chaos, Toe Jam And Earl 3, Conker, Viva Piñata, Banjo, Jade Empire, Nightcaster, Azurik and now even Fable).

Don't let this happen Nintendo!!!! The way I see it, if you want the nintendo games...buy their systems...if you want the sony games...buy their systems. There's nothing wrong with having more than one system. With my Atari, NES, Super NES, N64, Gamecube, Wii, 3DS, Vita, PSone, PS2, PS3, PS4, Genesis, 32X, Dreamcast and yes...the X-box and 360 and even the PSP...sitting by my televisions (or some boxed up for later usage), what's wrong with collecting the systems and having various systems to play...they all have their games, but don't cheat the other companies.

Interesting. If I had an Xbox one this might be really exciting. I can't wait to see how this goes.

This is great. Is master system emulator coming next

Well this will be fun to watch. On the one hand it's a grey area as a product and how it's used and on the other the UWA of windows is allowing it.

@MadAdam81
NES doesn't feature any kind of OS, or even BIOS. When the console is turned on, the CPU immediately starts looking at the reset vector ($FFFC-$FFFD), to check how the game should be started.

And yeah, you're correct - overall the OS/BIOS thing is illegal, that's why no official emulator release was ever bundled with one (it was up to the user to get it, either by illegal means, or by dumping one from the already owned console), but the emulator alone isn't illegal by any means (you don't have to play games on it, you can just use it to try out some homebrew demos/games, or learn to develop stuff, without buying the console and flash cart/coder's cable).

@JLPick
Toe Jam And Earl 3 isn't a Microsoft franchise, the game was developed for the Dreamcast, but when the console bit the dust, they shifted development over to Xbox (as with many other titles, which were intended for the Dreamcast, but ended up on Xbox, as SEGA sticked with the Microsoft for a little while).

I would have two NESes linked to my TV then. The more, the merrier.

Utter bullshizzle, but I suppose they will get away with it.

@Iggy-Koopa
I don't know if "bullshizzle" is a swear you came up with or something conjured by NintendoLife's filter, but either way, good job, whoever is responsible for this. xD

At this point Nintendo no longer owns the NES. Every single patent has long since expired. They only have the trademark on the name. Rare Replay had an N64 emulator. The PS4 has SNES emulation. It's 100% legal to make an emulator, sell it, and profit off of it.

I don't know if Microsoft thought this through. I get that they want to give Xbox PC-like capabilities, but they are going down some weird paths.

In addition to the emulator, there is also a torrents download app coming to it.
http://www.windowscentral.com/xbox-one-bittorrent-client

This will totally hit the store. There have been developer test apps on there that I downloaded just because

You know what, given this week and Nintendo selling its soul to Apple, I could definitely seem them saying, "Ah who cares anymore, just let everyone play our games for free."

I was really hoping the whole Apple Mario Endless Runner would grow on me, but its clearly just a sign Nintendo is surrendering to being a 3rd party. There's like no way I'm buying a NX unless it's priced aggressively. Given PS4 Pro is $400, NX can't be more than say $150. It's doomed otherwise.

Protective of their IPs? If only that were true in a positive sense. At the moment it only means that they charge unreasonable prices to enable you to play 20-something year old games, and if they choose to do something new with the franchise then based on recent releases it's the equivalent of going to the trouble of getting Oasis back together only to have them sing a Bewitched medley.

"Your move, Nintendo"

If that move includes revealing NX so people can talk about Ntineod hardware rather than everybody else, I'm all for it.

Nintnedo should just look at this as free advertising for NES Classic Mini. Sure, a few people will steal rather than buy a $60 box, but most people stealing those NES ROMs are going to buy a NES Mini b/c it looks like this.

They may let it go live and then sue Microsoft for allowing a method of pirating their games (not like on PC where you can just distribute it, this has been approved by MS - just like if they try and get an emulator on steam) so the distributer (MS) is the one who will be targeted.

Could work out quite profitable for Nintendo if MS don't step in and stop it

@Spoony_Tech "Just call it retrobox"

This. Sometimes I think people need to get in trouble not for what they do, but just for being so defiant about it. It even has that little NES in the corner. Be original and find something generic. "TheGamesofthe80s" sounds nostalgic enough. TGTE.

Good lawyer question.

If you buy a NES Mini and then only play those 30 games on NESbox, can you argue you are only playing games you already own and therefore it's legal?

Nintendo will take it down in 1 week just like they did with emulators on Android... Oh, wait...

Honestly, Nintendo should hire less lawyers and more people to study why iTunes, Netflix and Steam succeeded in environments which were far more infested with piracy. A tip: pleasing costumers had a higher priority over blocking pirates.

Shut em down, boys.

@Operative what recent things have they done?

Yeah, it's the name if anything that'll get this in trouble. Nintendo owns the rights to the NES trademark, so even if Nintendo game ROMs are somehow blocked from this, they could have them on that if they wanted. And probably will. Though I expect a name change will be enforced rather than a takedown, as it is technically legal otherwise.

If taking other people's stuff becomes legal, then I hope the guys who worked on this will be "visited" at night. An eye for an eye.

It is quite interesting how this is going through really. Nintendo is going to have a hard time taking this down really since emulators are not illegal. I am curious to see how this will unfold.

@Arehexes
Nintendo is going to have to go after those people with the USB drive and really, Nintendo is going to have a hard time getting that information from Microsoft, if Microsoft can get that information.

@Ogbert
Actually, no, the term "NES" is not trademarked as really, it could stand for anything. What is trade market is "Nintendo Entertainment System," not the abbreviation.

Hmmmm.... Technically it's legal but I'll download right away (as long as it's cheap) in case Nintendo makes a case regarding copyright or piracy or something.

I will accompany this process with interest. An emulator is a piece of software and as long as its not using any copyrighted code, there is nothing illegal about it. Of course an emulator without a ROM image is just a niece piece of software you can use to mess around with homebrew, public domain releases.

let's mess with nintendo and put a dolphin build in the eshop.

Again like so many times with this bloody industry. What is happening is not illegal, but it is morally shady. After all, if the purpose of a 'legit' piece of software is to purely play pirated games, then the act of allowing this legit software is condoning piracy. While it is not breaking the law, Microsoft can look the other way with fear of no comeback. I feel annoyed Microsoft have such short sightedness.

You're playing Super Mario Bros without the consent of the property holder? This cannot possibly be legal.

I can't believe this is actually happening, if Nintendo doesn't agree with it, I doubt it will last very long.

@Luna_110 You could say that about any emulator, regardless of platform. I think this is just an opportunity that everyone just assumed was closed off

Seeing as I have a nice collection of NES games through Virtual Console, I won't be needing this on my Xbox.

While I know it's an emulator and all the other legal mumbo-jumbo, Microsoft should've at least seen the red flag with this. They shouldn't have let something like this through.

@plug313 The 3DS emulator is still crap- the system will be long dead before it gets working to an acceptable level on PC, even.

@DarkVortex Please tell me you're not serious. Though, considering I've been seeing the "wretched hive of scum and fanboyism" side of NL more and more, I wouldn't be surprised.

Here's the thing, imo. This isn't just a jab at Nintendo, but to many 3rd-parties as well. VC has been a source for profit, though small, to all of them, and many titles are still being released on both Wii U and n3DS.

You can argue that if you rip your own games, then you have a right to use the rips, but let's be honest here. How much of a percentage of folks are doing that vs downloading from the internet?

@XCWarrior Not the same market. The PS4 Pro is for professional gamers. People who make a living by playing videogames.

@Waninoko I know...messed up when I was typing. Still, wish Sega would give that one, Panzer Dragoon and some of their other franchises another chance...or at least re-release most of their Dreamcast titles in a large collection disc!

RIP Bill Gates

Even though he had nothing to do with it

Microsoft is intentionally trying to piss of Nintendo. Lol That's like poking a sleeping Bear with a stick. The fact this and a torrent app are coming actually gives Nintendo a fair argument in court. Law Suits ahoy! 🙃

@DarkVortex You weren't going after the people making the emulator- you were attacking the hardware itself.
Either you're doubling back on yourself or you need to work on expressing your opinions.

i mean if this is on ps4 i have no problems with it, but xbox one.... ew, thats why microsoft has their crappy windows phone and their crappy xbox

Get this shut down now.

@2MadAdam814 The NES didn't have an operating system. All the software was stored on the cartridge. When powered on, the cartridge had full control over the system’s hardware.

In a way I believe this is still highly likely to get blocked by Nintendo's lawyers. But I won't lie, if for some reason this goes live and isn't blocked, I'll download it. But emulation is still emulation, typically it's buggy and not a great representation of the original product. The only emulation I'm really excited for is the NES Classic Mini. Come on Best Buy and Amazon in the US, open up those preorders! I'll be pretty disappointed if I can't order one.

So, Microsoft is trying to bring bootlegging (emulation) to the mainstream console? I understand that emulation is already available on PC, but still that's dirty imo.. I can't partake. A person should always compensate from their craft/product.

@Nico07 Preorders still aren't available in the US? They've been up in the UK for a while now.

I just checked and for anyone wondering this is already available on PC and Windows phone. It runs as a published app in the Microsoft Store for Windows 8.1 or 10. Apparently it's been available now for years. So I really think this will hit Xbox One. The Windows Store already has a lot of emulators so Microsoft and Nintendo haven't done much to stop them. As far as I know this is just the first one to hit Microsoft's actual gaming console versus a standard PC where this type of thing has been going on for a long time now. The reason these emulators (there are GBA and N64 emulators on Xbox One already apparently) are coming out now is because as of a July 30th Xbox One update, Microsoft is unifying purchases between the Xbox One and PC. So as these already have existed on PC they will show up more and more on the console.

Also the NESbox on PC mentions it does more than just NES emulation, it runs SNES, Sega Genesis, GameBoy Color, and GameBoy Advance.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/nesbox-emulator/9nblggh3szfq

@hieveryone

I like my Windows phone. Does what I need it to do. Detest Xbox. Love Playstation 3.

None have anything to do with the others.

@Ogbert Same here.

oh cool... now you can make mario run by... emm... waving your hand... !

No worries, Nintendo will be on this very quick I bet it won't even get to the point where it will actually release.

Only way Nintendo wants you to experience NES is on their Virtual Console, original system, or the NES Classic Edition coming out soon.

Let's pre-order Mini NES !

At the end of the day, its a bunch of old games that already made their money. Only so much you can do to keep them "official" and on proper hardwares. Will we still be fighting this battle in 20 more years?

Nintendo is going to to take it down and make it harder to get obscure roms. Duh.

I'm really surprised MS even allowed it

Nintendo shouldn't be worried. They're the big N!!! They have like two whole games still coming to the Wii U, and underground indie hits like skunky super slots saga. I'm so not concerned. If I do get a hankering to play an old NES game, I far prefer to pay $4.99 each as well without all that annoying cross platform nonsense.

@Grumblevolcano Yeah still nothing except for Target that apparently had them up for a very short time one morning.

I will not be downloading this. I play the Xbone for its games, not Nintendo's.

@bitleman "Professional gamers"? Wha?

I think you are referring to people who only like high end stuff. That would be the PC Master Race crowd who wouldn't be caught dead with anything that can't do 1080p (and soon 4K only)/60FPS, which apparently PS4 Pro still can't do consistently because games still have to be able to run on a PS4.

At this point I personally don't really care as NES games are pretty lame by today's standards and it's not like it hurts Nintendo's business (anyone who wants to get a NES mini will probably still buy it).
I'd even argue that Nintendo should have made all VC titles on Wii U available for free. They would still be exclusive to Wii U owners and it could be an additional selling point for some nostalgic people to buy a Wii U in the first place.
But at the very least Nintendo could make all VC titles available with a monthly subscription (not unlike PS+). The amounts of money Nintendo is charging for buying a single VC title are seriously ridiculous and simply not worth it.

There have been tons of emulators for Windows and Android out there for years and Nintendo hasn't taken them down either. Why should they start now?

@Damo: As you said it yourself, distributing an emulator isn't illegal, so on what basis should/could Nintendo take it down?

@JLPick
Totally agree! I really enjoyed Panzer Dragoon Orta, Jet Set Radio Future, Outrun 2 and Gunvalkyrie! I wish JSR and Panzer Dragoon (along with some Dreamcast games, like Skies of Arcadia) would make the grand comeback someday...

I love the purpose and functionality, I just hate the name. It's far too associated with Nintendo. As a competitor, the last thing you want to do is to seem too similar with your competitors as far as naming conventions go.

Putting this on Xbox costs Microsoft nothing. They may pull it at Nintendo's request, no harm done. And Nintendo would file today if they could find cause, such as unapproved use of their IP. Even the inevitable YouTube "Look, I'm playing SMB on XBox" would probably not be enough, depending on monitization.

Remember folks:

Sony V. Bleem
Sony V. Connectix

All cases deem emulators legal under US law

Looks like Microsoft is trying to rip-off Nintendo IPs again, just like they did in stealing Nintendo IPs from a certain UK based Second Party Developer in September 2002.

Well, time to see how long it lasts if it does make a release. I doubt it will make it long at all if this in anyway distributes roms (or does it force the user to load them separately somehow?).

Microsoft, especially, must understand how unfortunate it is to officially allow software to be used without a license. Sure, Microsoft doesn't exactly go nuts if someone pirates Windows, but it's still a loss for their business and part of why they are releasing new Windows versions a lot more often these days.

To pretend it won't be used for piracy of Nintendo's software is a joke excuse. Contra, a Konami title, is right there in the image promoting it (Super Mario is there too of course). It won't just be Nintendo who will be against this, that's for sure.

For whatever reason, people think this isn't illegal, and they don't seem to realize the damage this has on the industry as a whole. Here is a direct quote from nintendo's legal page:
Yes. Personal Websites and/or Internet Content Providers sites That link to Nintendo ROMs, Nintendo emulators and/or illegal copying devices can be held liable for copyright and trademark violations, regardless of whether the illegal software and/or devices are on their site or whether they are linking to the sites where the illegal items are found.

@mike_intv it doesn't own full rights to them all, but it licence them and earns a cut of the profits from the games. Additionally, still prolly a bad idea to steal from other companies too.

@GrailUK it is illegal, again here is a post from Nintendo's legal page:
Yes. Personal Websites and/or Internet Content Providers sites That link to Nintendo ROMs, Nintendo emulators and/or illegal copying devices can be held liable for copyright and trademark violations, regardless of whether the illegal software and/or devices are on their site or whether they are linking to the sites where the illegal items are found.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
But while there's music and moonlight and love and romance.....
(You have the strange honor of being the first comment I've sung😂😂)

Good

Meanwhile, Nintendo tells the lawyers to;

@Kokopelli121123 Thank you for the quote. I am even more disappointed in Microsoft.

@shani totally agree. To the point

Nintendo's just mad because someone made an emulator that has higher compatibility and more accurate emulation than their horribly emulated Snes and NES games lol

@Kokopelli121123

Sony V. Bleem, Sony V. Connectix all state otherwise

ROMs, yes, very bad news
Emulators, don't fall under US copyright laws as hardware cannot be copyrighted

Ballsy move by the uploader, d*** move by MS by letting get this far and a "wtf r u doing?" for Nintendo and every other company who's software is being used here, thought they'd jumped on it by now.

Though it'd be pretty easy to kill on console, one compulsory update and it's gone. But if it does go through, MS should be prepared and better have no problem with having Xbox emulators on rival consoles too. Though I still highly doubt it'll go through.

@AlexSora89 @Iggy-Koopa Well apparently shizzle is just sure.

Ever heard "Fa shizzle" on Urban Dictionary?
It means, "for sure".
Fa shizzle ma boi

@ikki5 in the case of an emulator designed to run ROMs of games originally for the Nintendo Entertainment System it's pretty clear what NES refers too. If Nintendo decided to take action against the name they'd have a pretty strong case. "It could stand for anything" won't stand up well here.

@Braok
I knew that one, but... bullshizzle? Does it mean "bullsure"?

@DuckDodgers1989 If you're talking about Rare, Microsoft stole nothing. All IPs, games, and other Rare assets were sold to Microsoft legally by Nintendo and Microsoft is free to do whatever they wish with Rare's IPs.

If Nintendo is hurting now because they sold off the rights to Killer Instinct and Perfect Dark, two IPs that would appeal to older gamers, then maybe they should not have sold Rare off.

But let me be clear. Microsoft did not steal anything. Nintendo was selling Rare, and Microsoft stepped up to the plate with a bag of money that Nintendo gladly accepted. Nintendo could have canceled the sell at anytime or sold Rare to another company.

Microsoft got Rare in a legal sell from Nintendo. If Nintendo is unable to exploit Rare's IPs, then its their own fault for letting them go.

@Braok
"Shizzle is just sure"

Yes, but that's because the -izzle suffix has been swapped in for the end of the word, and can be done so for any word.

"Bullshizzle" is completely acceptable.

Come on, this is Ebonics 101 here 😉

Surely Nintendo has the right to nail them for using their IP software and keep that off Xbox, as for 3rd party IP, that should be up to their owners, right?

I don't think there's anything Nintendo can do. As long as the emulator doesnt have anything preloaded then they are free to do as they please.

@MrGawain My thoughts exactly. More than likely, this will be stopped or pulled quickly.

Nintendo used copyright protection.
It's super effective!

Seriously though, after all the piracy on the WII and DS Nintendo has been coming down hard on this stuff. It'll be available for a week before Nintendo's lawyers force them to remove it from the store.

Nintendo: ...Release the hounds.

Given that emulators are available on just about every device nowadays, I'm struggling to see this as a particularly big deal.

If nothing else, surely the very use of "NES" in "Nesbox" infringes on Nintendo's trademark?

I fail to see how this is a big deal.

The Google Playstore and Amazon Appstore have had various emulators for years now.

Also, emulators themselves are legal provided they don't contain copyrighted material (OS or ROMs for example).
Yes, you can illegally download ROMs, but you can also download homebrew or even dump ROMs yourself.

The only thing Ninty could do sue-wise would be the use of NES in the name.

Then they should quit being stingy and let us have some RARE games.

@Angelic_Lapras_King

Where is that from? Lol It looks weird and funny

I'm guessing the key point here is how the emulator works. Is there something specific about the way this works that means it goes around certain routes to get the files?

It recalls to my mind the Game Genie case with Codemasters. Nintendo tried suing them but lost because the changes to the game weren't permanent and Nintendo had devices which also altered games in a similar way. I know it's a different case but sometimes the devil is in the details.

https://mobile.twitter.com/nesboxcom/status/774538146159718400 Looks like NES emulator for Xbox is not going to happen.

Nintendo, do you still want people to buy the Mini NES? Strike this down and it's your time to shine! Really though, how have they not DMCA reported this? Unlike fan games, they're making an EMULATOR for NES games! At least with Polemon Uranium (a game I got before Pheonix Wright showed up), the game had new things. Welcome to XBOX, NES games!

@Turniplord I like this idea a lot. It can give Microsoft bad ratings to prepare for the NX, and the few XBOX players who played the emulator can possibly act like free advertising for the Mimi NES.

@Tempestryke Its the "Brother Nero" wrestling storyline from TNA Impact Wrestling. Its essentially the wrestler Matt Hardy being so jealous of his Brother Jeff, it has broken him mentally, becoming Broken Matt Hardy and going after Jeff, who he now calls Brother Nero (His middle name) and deleting him (Hence the DELETE gif). The whole storyline is in the so bad its golden goodness category and is as crazy and funny as the gif.

If you wanna see the defining moment, go look up The Final Deletion on Youtube or read up more on it, its on the Urban Dictionary under Brother Nero. XD

@Wandman5612
Just let people who want to buy Mini NES.
Mini NES TRULY represent Nintendo Nostalgia.
It can't be replaced by Xbox one.
If i want to play NES games again, i can use original NES cartridge, plug into NES and play it with LESS POWER consumption and Traditional TV, unlike Xbox one that use HIGHER WATTS to play NES Emulator and Online connection to activate Xbox one. Seriously ?
And also, by doing so (Put NES Emulator in Xbox one) it disgrace the Microsoft image against Nintendo. Such an unfair competition, i felt more disgusting about Microsoft. That's why i NEVER CARE any efforts from Microsoft. Just simply i abandon Microsoft.
Nintendo can sue Microsoft for sure.

Wow this is lame and stupid all because xbox can't make their own games they have to copy Nintendo i mean this shouldn't even be allowed they should get sued right away immediately xbox really sucks their the worst forget this ill just buy my NES game on Wii U E shop Virtual Console

Take a look at that image the creator provided, and notice it says "Window 10 Clients." XBox One support was never approved. In fact, XBox One support was denied just recently. The emulator was only approved to be to be published for Windows 10 platforms including Xbox One and PC but neither was specified. PC support will probably be approved considering there is already a lot of them, but Xbox One support is probably not going to happen. While the creator was anticipating a release on XBox One, but he did not read or understand the entire information in his submission.

https://twitter.com/nesboxcom

@Angelic_Lapras_King

Thanks! I'll hafta check that out.

@mike_intv think about what you just said lol. Most people are downloading Nintendo owned games lol

@jimi if that's the case all Xbox games should be available on nintendo

Well, I mean, that emulator itself is doing much better job for Nintendo's classic NES library given how nintendo themselves seem to not care and their selection is really pathetic on their consoles themselves

@jimi

People pirate those as well. But yes. Old video games are way easier to get ahold of. You can fit quite a bit of NES games on a floppy disc. You can fill a regular CD-R up with them and run them on a Dreamcast. I buy them on Virtual Console, and I prefer it that way. Especially on 3DS. However, I'm sure just about everybody who knows anybody has run an entire library of games unofficially. Children post videos on YouTube about how to do it. Its not an excuse, its reality.

Sad to see so many uninformed comments in this thread.

This is a legal minefield and a half.
Interestingly enough, SEGA recently opened up their emulation Frontend on Steam for users to upload their "Rom Hacks".
Obviously, people used it to distribute game Roms.

But an NES Emulator on a Microsoft console is a bit iffy.

@Einherjar as uncovered by @MortalKombat2007 seems so does Microsoft. They have requested they drop Xbox support and have them resubmit it for PC only.

https://twitter.com/nesboxcom/status/774538146159718400

I had a suspicion Microsoft would probably not want to annoy the Big N considering their recent partnerships.

@Wexter Yup, its one thing to have it on PC and another to have it on consoles.
I mean, just look at the plethora of (commercial) emulators on mobile devices that are "permitted to exist".

Having it on an Xbox, a direct competitor product is extremely iffy. And even IF not directly illegal, it still opens them up for a clever and crafty lawyer.

All in all a nice proof of concept i guess, but to think that this would have gone through without raising some eyebrows might have been a bit naive. Especially when dealing with Nintendo products / IPs, as it was proven many times lately.

Nintendo has a pretty twitchy trigger finger.

@Ogbert Yet the problem is, the trade marked name is not actually used. It doesn't matter if the intent is obvious, the fact still remains it was never used. Nintendo can't do squat. They can request Microsoft to take it down and hope that they will do so.

@NESguy94 Emulators aren't piracy, but nice try.

@mikegamer
If they use any bit of the original source code then it's theft of intellectual property. I assume there has to be some as they would have to get past the NES10 chip and other anti-piracy protocols found inside of the ROM .

Please Nintendo just start selling the roms, make everyone happy and make money yourself on this old software. Move with the times.

@NESguy94

Various supreme court judges have deemed emulators as original work and since hardware cannot be copyrighted under US law, the emulators themselves cannot be deemed as illegal . If they contain BIOS files (which have to be dumped on users' own accord), then yes, that would be very illegal.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/Sony_v_Bleem.htm
http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/780/1283/1445354/

https://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/203_F3d_596.htm

So yes, on the surface, the emulator is copacetic with copyright law, but is still very shady in some circumstances, the games however, are a different matter, Nintendo has very little to use against these since the code is considered an original work.

Its cool, it got taken down by MS already so no need to worry about all the legal troubles.

@AlexSora89 @Braok I dunno, I just make this shizzle up as I go along.

It's not coming to xbox one, only pc. Confirmed by microsoft.

@RoyalAmorini Good. Legal or not, selling it on there'd be a shameful thing to do. Even if they were able to get away with it legally, do you think Nintendo would ever allow an emulator of PS1 on one of their consoles while Sony's still making game systems? No, because they're better than that.