A Nintendo Lawyer has clearly described what the company may or may not deem illegal regarding the emulation of their consoles.

A Nintendo lawyer explained that the company will continue to pursue legal action against emulators but only in specific instances.

Nishiura added that if the emulator also disables security measures like encryption, that could also be considered illegal. He said this counts for other methods such as flash carts, citing the use of Nintendo DS flash carts (such as the R4) which bypassed security by imitating a legitimate DS game.

However, when you play the same game on your own PC or phone, using an emulator that Nintendo doesn’t own, would it still be legal? The Sony v. Connectix case created a precedent that makes emulation of video game consoles is legal, including copying its copyrighted BIOS.

Last year, the world of video game emulation faced significant challenges as Nintendo ramped up its efforts to shut down several major projects, including Yuzu, Citra, and Ryujinx.

Koji Nishiura, Nintendo's patent attorney, weighs in on the legality of video game emulators.

Nishiura also emphasised the use of emulators is a problem for all developers making software for Nintendo devices, which is why the company is strengthening measures against such illegal tools.

Nintendo is famously litigious when it comes to emulators. In March 2024, developers of Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu were ordered to pay $2.4 million in damages after a court settlement with Nintendo.

"To begin with, are emulators illegal or not," Nishiura asks. "This is a point often debated. While you can't immediately claim that an emulator is illegal in itself, it can becom