Emulation: the reproduction of a function or action of a different computer. For those unfamiliar, the video game industry has a rich history of talented individuals creating “emulators” for portable and home consoles alike: the GBA has VisualBoyAdvance, the Playstation 2 has PCSX2, and the 3DS has Citra, to name but a few. It’s only fitting that someone will look to continue that trend with the latest hardware. Enter yuzu, the experimental, open-source emulator that looks to run Nintendo Switch games.
Announcing yuzu, the first Nintendo Switch emulator that does all of the things you didn’t need it to do! Stay tuned for more from the yuzu team!
— yuzu (@yuzuemu) January 14, 2018
The announcement of the project came on popular gaming forum site GBAtemp, along with a Twitter announcement, by user bunnei, one of original authors behind the 3DS emulator Citra. The idea originally started in Spring of 2017, but the emulator is still in its infancy. The program can’t play any games yet, nor do the developers know when it will be capable of doing so, but are working to get . For those curious about the name, yuzu (citrus junos) is the name of the popular Asian citrus fruit, and was chosen to pay homage to the Citra developers. yuzu currently has builds available for Windows, Linux, and macOS.
If you’d like to get involved in the process, the yuzu team is asking for donations, along with contributions, of any amount to support them in the long process. If you’d like to donate you can reach them here; if you’d like to contribute in the development process, you can join their Discord chat.
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Caleb has been a gamer and Nintendo fan since picking up Pokémon Red for his Game Boy back in 1998, at the wee age of 4. He’s an avid Pokémon TCG collector, and is currently enjoying Breath of the Wild on Switch, along with PUBG on Xbox. He’s a fan of the outdoors when not writing, while also being an avid runner and world traveler. Give him a shout if you’re a fan of Arsenal FC.
Plays: Switch, 3DS, Xbox One, Pokémon TCG, and Various Board Games.