N64 Emulator Appears on Xbox Games Store
By Cody Gravelle 26 September 2016
A N64 emulator called Win64e10 has appeared in the Xbox Games Store and is available for download now, although it remains doubtful it’ll be around for long.
Gamers would be hard pressed to find a list of the best consoles ever without the Nintendo 64 somewhere in the discussion. The console that inspired millions of children in its day has since been upgraded to the stuff of legends since it gracefully bowed out of the spotlight for the Nintendo GameCube. Even in an age of 4K displays and evolving game worlds, fans still talk about the N64 and its incredibly deep library of iconic games.
It should be no surprise to anyone, then, that N64 emulation has been a popular PC pastime for years now. A discovery made earlier today might come as more of a shock to those familiar with the world of video game emulation, however – a N64 emulator called Win64e10 has appeared in the Xbox Games Store and is available for download right now. The app, which was originally spotted by Destructoid, is apparently a modified version of Mupen64plus, an emulator that was originally limited to the PC and some mobile devices.
The app’s official description labels it as “the most advanced N64 emulator for Windows 10”, and its creators state that it supports every N64 game ever made. After gamers were very clear about their desire for a new N64 mini-model, the release of a N64 emulator for the Xbox One is sure to make it one of the most popular apps on the Xbox Games Store in short order.
Of course, that’s assuming that Nintendo has nothing to say about the sudden appearance of one of its most popular gaming consoles on a rival company’s platform. Nintendo has been notoriously over-protective of its creations, and recent precedent has suggested that its policy hasn’t changed – Nintendo shut down Pokemon Uranium a few months ago despite the pleading of many gamers, and it’s highly likely that the same fate will befall Win64e10 in the near future.
Gamers looking for interesting Nintendo and Microsoft crossovers that are unquestionably legal could check out Rare Replay, the anniversary celebration released by Rare just over a year ago that features a few N64 classics. It might not contain some of the all-time greats like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or Super Mario 64, but it’s definitely going to still be around in a few months – and that’s certainly not a guarantee for Win64e10.
Source: Destructoid (via VG 24/7)
