Joe Rossignol
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for iPhone and iPad became available on the App Store today following Apple's policy change. The emulator is called Bimmy, it was developed by Tom Salvo.
In the app In the store Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/homebrew games made for the NES, but the app allows you to download ROMs for any NES games available for download online, such as Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong. . Nintendo released the NES video game console in 1985, so some of these games are almost 40 years old. On its website, Nintendo states that “downloading pirated copies of Nintendo games is illegal.”
The release of Bimmy comes after Apple removed the Game Boy iGBA emulator from the App Store for copying another emulator known as GBA4iOS . which was distributed outside of the App Store. Apple said it approved the iGBA functionality before learning that the app was a fake, suggesting that emulators of older Nintendo game consoles are allowed on the App Store, and Bimmy appears to be the first evidence of this.
At the Beginning This month, Apple updated its app review guidelines to allow the use of retro game emulators. Apple says that emulator developers “are responsible for all such software” offered in the app, including compliance with “all applicable laws.”
Update: In a post on the MacRumors forums, the developer Bimmy said he has decided to remove the app from the App Store. “Nobody approached me or pressured me to remove it,” he said. “But I’d rather not risk it.”
Tags: App Store, Emulator[ 216 comments ]
