Delta, a recently released iOS and iPadOS emulator that supports retro Nintendo consoles up the the N64, has taken the iOS App Store by storm.
However, there’s still a gap in iOS Nintendo console emulation that includes newer consoles like the GameCube and the Wii. I assumed that it would only be a matter of time until newer Nintendo console emulators appeared in Apple’s iPhone/iPad storefront, but it appears that’s not the case.
In a recent blog post, OatmealDome, the developer behind DolphiniOS, outlined that apps that “install executable code” don’t fall within the App Store’s guidelines. This is where things get technical, but on a base level, for DolphiniOS to run on iOS, it needs to translate PowerPC instructions into ARM-compatible code. This requires executable code, which Apple’s App Store guidelines currently don’t allow.
“The GameCube and Wii have a PowerPC-based CPU inside them. All modern Apple devices use an ARM-based CPU. It isn’t possible to directly run PowerPC code on an ARM CPU, and vice versa. Therefore, if we want to run a GameCube or Wii game on an iPhone, it is necessary to translate the game’s PowerPC code to ARM so that the CPU can understand it,” writes OatmealDome in the blog post.
Arstechnica published an excellent, far more detailed breakdown regarding just-in-time (JIT) compilation and why it’s necessary to bring a GameCube and Wii emulator to the iPhone and iPad.
OatmealDome does acknowledge that it’s technically possible to run DolphiniOS without JIT, but that it results in performance so bad that games are unplayable (check out the video above). So unless you’re willing to play Mario Kart: Double Dash in slow motion, DolphiniOS is never coming to iOS.
There’s a possibility other developers in the emulation community will find a workaround for this issue, but the broader emulation community doesn’t seem very positive about that prospect right now. For more on Delta, the recently released emulator that supports Nintendo consoles up to the N64, check out our in-depth guide on how to customize the app.
Source: OatmealDome Via: Arstechnica
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