Nintendo, famed for hating emulation, likely using Windows PCs to emulate SNES games at its museum

Nintendo Museum may use Windows PCs to emulate SNES games.

: Nintendo, known for its disdain for emulators, appears to use Windows PCs to emulate SNES games at its museum. A video by user @ChrisMack32 suggests the presence of PC emulation through sounds associated with Windows devices. The development is ironic given Nintendo's history of strong-arm tactics against third-party emulators. Many commentators label Nintendo's move as hypocritical.

Emulation has always been a contentious issue for Nintendo, notoriously outspoken against unauthorized replicas of its intellectual properties. Recently, it was discovered that the Nintendo Museum in Japan might employ Windows PCs to emulate SNES games, a revelation surfaced by a video posted by @ChrisMack32 highlighting sounds characteristic of Windows when interacting with the museum's gaming setup.

The use of emulation on PCs provides operational advantages by reducing the need for maintaining outdated hardware for every station in the museum, a logical choice despite Nintendo's traditional approaches. The games showcased include old favorites such as the 1990 classic Super Mario World, understandably leaning on in-house emulators resembling those used for Nintendo Switch Online services.

Yet, this decision invited backlash, perceived as hypocritical given Nintendo's aggressive history in protecting its intellectual properties from imitators. The company has previously enforced heavy penalties for emulation developers like Tropic Haze, and even pressured digital platforms and communities like Valve and riperiperi into submission, marking its effort to monopolize game emulation.