3DS Emulator, Azahar, Gets Ahead of Illegal ROM Use
A new emulator, targeted at running Nintendo 3DS games, is now available. Azahar follows in the footsteps of popular, but now defunct, emulators Yuzu and Citra. Both were shut down by Nintendo, as the company has a zero tolerance policy for players using ROMS of its games outside of its own consoles, even though ROM use in general remains a largely legal gray area.
This first release of Azahar is trying something new, with regards to how it uses ROMs, including removing support for encrypted applications. The emulator can run on Android, Windows, Mac and Linux devices and brings with it a bunch of other tweaks. However, the developer does state that there is still work to be done.
“It is recommended that only developers and early adopters should use the emulator until our first stable release,” Azahar, the developer, said on the emulator’s GitHub page. “Here be dragons.”
What to Expect
Despite the warning concerning the emulator’s stability, plenty of gamers are already sharing usage tips and advice online. This is because Azahar is currently what’s known as a release candidate. In short, it’s a build that can be considered stable if enough people test and report it as being so.
Many are highlighting what Azahar can already do, in terms of performance and features. One example is Disable Right Eye Rendering. As the 3DS used a lot of 3D in its games, this mode disables rendering for either eye. As such it can result in performance improvements of up to 50% for some games.
ROM Legality
As it’s possible to get hold of game ROMs without originally owning the game in question, emulators typically skirt around any associated legal issues by promoting game preservation; this argument is helped by the fact that many emulators run games that went out of production a long time ago.
Not all companies see it this way, with Nintendo in particular taking a hard line on the use of ROMs of its games. But where Azahar stands out in this regard is how it approaches ROM use.
“Azahar will not allow launching or installing encrypted games, unless they have been obtained through Nintendo’s official applications, such as the eShop or System Settings,” PabloMK7, one of the main developers, said in a blog post on Azahar’s official website.
The developer also revealed that actual .3ds files are no longer supported, only the .cci extension. Although this is a relatively minor tweak, it does reference how Azahar approaches emulation differently compared to similar software. In other words, it does not run pirated games.