The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker – ever wanted to play retro Zelda titles on Xbox? Well you can’t anymore (pic: Nintendo)



Nintendo’s anti-emulator stance has apparently led to Microsoft banning them from Xbox consoles, much to preservationists’ annoyance.



Considering how difficult it apparently is for Microsoft to get its own exclusives out , it often feels like the chief reason to buy an Xbox Series X is, ironically, so you can play Nintendo and PlayStation games.



We’re not talking multiplatform titles either. Thanks to emulation software, the Xbox Series X is perfectly capable of running games from legacy platforms like the Nintendo 64 , the GameCube, and the PlayStation 2 .



Or at least it was. Recently, it’s been reported that Microsoft has issued a ban on such emulators, and apparently it’s because of Nintendo, perhaps the most anti-emulator company in the gaming business.



Technically, it is still possible to access these emulators through the console’s developer mode – a special state usually reserved for game developers that lets you create and test your own software.



However, while developer mode is listed as being a free download on the Microsoft store, it actually costs $20 to activate it.



It’s also not as easily available in some regions, so the whole thing has naturally upset retro enthusiasts and preservationists. Especially since Microsoft has previously painted itself as a champion of emulation.



In 2021, Xbox boss Phil Spencer explicitly supported widespread legal emulation so older games don’t fade out of existence.




Ladies and gentlemen, it’s been a good run. But now we’ve no choice but to @Xbox @XboxP3 #LetUsEmulate pic.twitter.com/K9KO1p655K — 🇮🇪 gamr13 🇮🇪 (@gamr12) April 6, 2023




‘[Emulation] was the entire reason that I, and many others, bought an Xbox,’ admits one gamr13, someone who helped distribute the RetroArch emulator, in a statement to Kotaku .



‘PlayStation and Nintendo platforms do require some modifications to run this kind of stuff, but Xbox until now has been a really open and welcoming platform for anyone, be it indie devs [or] gaming preservationists. It was like the Steam Deck of consoles.’



On Twitter, Microsoft Azure developer and self-described emulation enthusiast Alyanna McKenna shares an email she received from a friend on the Xbox Q&A team, which very much lays the blame at Nintendo’s feet.



‘The primary reason for the ban is related to legal issues with Nintendo,’ it reads. ‘While emulating itself is not illegal, it can be used to play games from consoles that are still under copyright protection without permission, which can create issues with Nintendo and its affiliates.’



This is hardly surprising; Nintendo’s never been subtle about its dislike of emulation, having sued some emulation sites into shutting down for freely distributing retro Nintendo games.



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Microsoft’s email also lists security risks as another motivator for banning emulators. However, the company has no plans to remove them from developer mode and is apparently working on a way to bring emulators back in general.



‘We are still exploring ways to allow safe and legal emulation on Xbox. We are in talks with legitimate emulator developers to bring their software onto our platform while ensuring that all copyright laws and security protocols are followed,’ it says.



Any such efforts will likely take a very long time and Nintendo will no doubt just try to get them banned again.




I’ll copy and paste my email from a friend at the Xbox QA team : Hi there, Thanks for getting in touch with us about the recent ban on emulators on the Xbox store front. We appreciate your interest and concerns. To answer your questions, the primary reason for the ban is… — Alyanna McKenna (@AlyannaMcKenna) April 6, 2023




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MORE : PS2 emulator dev gives up after ‘never-ending’ death threats and complaints





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