Video game emulator are having a difficult time. Back in March, that is Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu, was discontinued following a lawsuit from Nintendo. Pizza Emulator, another Nintendo emulator, also disappeared around the same time. Then, over the weekend, after Apple updated its restrictions on classic game emulators to allow them to appear on the App Store, a Game Boy Advance app called iGBA quickly became a popular app. favorite application. iGBA did not make it past Monday.
However, an emulator that looks like iGBA is now available on the app store: Delta, a free upgraded version of the emulator designed specifically for iOS that supports games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and DS, making games created for those systems playable on the iPhone screen. Its creator, Riley Testut, says the emulator “focuses on providing a polished, easy-to-use emulation experience with iOS-specific features like AirPlay.” It supports a variety of controllers, including Nintendo Switch Pro controllers, Joy-Cons, Nintendo Switch Online controllers, and PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Apple loosens App Store restrictions on Enables retro game emulator enter its store in the first day of this month. The main stipulation in its rule change is that simulation apps must comply with “all applicable laws.” (Nintendo has history break on sites that traffic ROMs, which are playable software versions of its hardware game cartridges.) Apple also prohibits “copying” in its store. “Don't just copy the latest popular app on the App Store or make some minor changes to another app's name or user interface and make it your own,” its instructions read. In the case of iGBA, it is itself a version of another developer's product.
Testut, a USC student and app developer, told WIRED that he first learned of iGBA's existence on Discord, where Patreon supporters talked about it Saturday night. He quickly recognized his creation in the emulator listed on the App Store. “Not only are the controller interface and user interface identical, but also the internal name of the application literally 'GBA4iOS.app.'”
Online, Testut expressed shock and disappointment that iGBA made it to Apple's platform ahead of his own project. “I'm upset that Apple took the time to change the App Store rules to allow emulators, then approved the removal of my own app” even though he tried to push out an update. GBA4iOS update called Delta ”as of March 5,” he said wrote on Topics.
Testut said that the developer responsible for iGBA emailed him “and personally apologized for the mess…They didn't expect all this to happen so quickly,” Testut said.
Apple declined to comment.
As the games industry grapples with savings older game titles have risk disappear forever, emulators like Testut will probably always be more in demand. “We have repeatedly seen IP owners resist (consistently) porting older titles to newer hardware, preventing future generations from playing them,” Testut said. “The emulator ensures that old games can still be played again decades later, similar to playing old recordings.”
Even industry leaders believe that simulation could be the answer to game conservation problems. “My hope (and I think I have to put it that way for now) is an industry where we work on legitimate emulation that allows modern hardware to run any older executable ( within reason) allows anyone to play any game,” Xbox Head Phil Spencer said Axios in 2021. Microsoft has established one internal team focuses on preserving Xbox games.
Apple has opened the door to emulators on its app store; iGBA has proven that there is a very excited market waiting. Delta—as long as it remains in Apple's good graces—could eventually succeed.
