Nintendo may be waiting in the shadows to destroy any emulator
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The legality of emulators and ROMs
A ROM is simply a data file located on a game disc or cartridge, a read-only memory device that can be legally obtained by removing it from the original hardware. Users are expected to obtain ROMs legally, although they are not difficult to find online.
Bimmy was removed due to fear of reprisals from Nintendo
The ease with which old software can be pirated is a problem for gaming companies. This eliminates a potential revenue stream (which these companies don't seem to have any intention of exploiting anyway), but as with music piracy in the 2000s, this process is difficult to enforce and enforce in court.
Instead, companies like Nintendo are trying to use laws like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to ban emulators. Nintendo successfully removed Yuzu, a Switch emulator, because it broke the console's encryption, thereby violating the DMCA.
Other emulators don't need such complex methods to run classic software. Thus, without the DMCA, there is no legal basis for using most of the core software of these emulators — at least for now.
Developers like Tom Salvo are concerned that their decision could set a legal precedent. If Nintendo had decided to try its luck with an emulator published on the Apple App Store, it might have been successful.
For some reason, the same level of attention has not been shown to the Google Play Store, where emulators exist in huge numbers. These emulators may be protected by a legal gray area, and the Apple App Store will soon be filled with them.
The only way to find out is whether a well-known emulator managed to be published in the App Store and whether it remained without problems. The problem is finding a developer willing to take the risk of going against Nintendo or Sony.
Still waiting famous emulator for iOS
All eyes are on Riley Testut and his several emulators. He created GBA4iOS to emulate Gameboy games, and then continued that project with Delta, which can run everything from the NES to the N64.
The Delta emulator can run several classic console games
However, Testut has remained silent about its intentions to bring Delta or GBA4iOS to the Apple App Store. This could be a conflict of interest as it introduces AltStore as an alternative app marketplace in the EU.
Some have speculated that Apple's goal in allowing emulators now, after fighting the idea since the App Store's inception, is to undermine Testut's efforts to bring the AltStore to the EU. The timing of Apple's guidance update suggests just that.
There are still many questions about emulation on iOS and other Apple platforms. While Apple seems ready to approve Gameboy and NES emulators, we have yet to see emulators that require system BIOS files like the PlayStation One.
There is no reason why even a Nintendo Gamecube or Wii cannot run on an iPhone or iPad, other than legal issues. We'll just have to wait and see who's willing to take the risk between App Store success and lawsuit hell.
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