Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
OS X 3ds emulator
- Thread starter Doublea6
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Well I've searched a lot, haven't found a whole lot. So I was pretty much wondering if anybody actually had a 3ds emulator that worked. Thanks for helping.
I've had that problem too. There's a really simple solution, I've heard it work great for other people too and best of all runs all 3DS software perfectly http://www.emulatorworld.com/3DS
Sarcasm at its best. 
For anyone that finds themselves on this thread after a search...
There is a DS emulator for OS X, it's called DeSmuME. It's not a 1.0 release, however I've never had any issues with it.
The 3DS is actively being worked on by Nintendo with updates being pushed out every month to work with the new games. Hence its been really hard for people to reverse engineer it. They think they're getting somewhere, when it's patched up by the next week. Thus there isn't even any homebrew.
We most likely won't see an emulator until three years down the road at this point, especially with the Pokemon X & Y buzz and new 2DS systems being put out. It's kinda stale right now, but it's going to quickly turn around by December and give it another 2 years of life.
So like Dagless has pointed out, indeed your only option is to just get the actual hardware. There is no emulator that can play 3DS, and there's no point to the development of one until the 3DS development itself comes to an end because you wouldn't be able to play the latest games when they rely heavily on updated firmware.
For anyone that finds themselves on this thread after a search...
There is a DS emulator for OS X, it's called DeSmuME. It's not a 1.0 release, however I've never had any issues with it.
The 3DS is actively being worked on by Nintendo with updates being pushed out every month to work with the new games. Hence its been really hard for people to reverse engineer it. They think they're getting somewhere, when it's patched up by the next week. Thus there isn't even any homebrew.
We most likely won't see an emulator until three years down the road at this point, especially with the Pokemon X & Y buzz and new 2DS systems being put out. It's kinda stale right now, but it's going to quickly turn around by December and give it another 2 years of life.
So like Dagless has pointed out, indeed your only option is to just get the actual hardware. There is no emulator that can play 3DS, and there's no point to the development of one until the 3DS development itself comes to an end because you wouldn't be able to play the latest games when they rely heavily on updated firmware.
You're not going to see a 3DS emulator for at least a year or two, maybe longer.
The reason for this is two fold:
1) There are no ARM emulators out there fast enough to run the 3DS system software (or any 3DS game for that fact). MAME recently got a basic DRC core that *could* potentially be up to the task in the future, but they've got a very, very long way to go before that is even remotely possible.
2) There is more to the 3DS then a CPU, and to my knowledge no serious reverse engineering attempts have been made to reverse engineer the 3DS's GPU, WLAN chipset, or any of the other silicon inside the console.
At this point in time, anything you see claiming to emulate the 3DS is a scam or fraud (there's some lame ass emulator out there called "eMu3Ds" that makes you complete a survey to get the "BIOS files"- it's a total scam, don't bother falling for it). You might as well stop searching the internet because 3DS emulation isn't going to magically sprout up overnight- the code required to make it happen doesn't exist yet and nobody is actively working on it with any meaningful amount of dedication or effort.
-SC
The reason for this is two fold:
1) There are no ARM emulators out there fast enough to run the 3DS system software (or any 3DS game for that fact). MAME recently got a basic DRC core that *could* potentially be up to the task in the future, but they've got a very, very long way to go before that is even remotely possible.
2) There is more to the 3DS then a CPU, and to my knowledge no serious reverse engineering attempts have been made to reverse engineer the 3DS's GPU, WLAN chipset, or any of the other silicon inside the console.
At this point in time, anything you see claiming to emulate the 3DS is a scam or fraud (there's some lame ass emulator out there called "eMu3Ds" that makes you complete a survey to get the "BIOS files"- it's a total scam, don't bother falling for it). You might as well stop searching the internet because 3DS emulation isn't going to magically sprout up overnight- the code required to make it happen doesn't exist yet and nobody is actively working on it with any meaningful amount of dedication or effort.
-SC
Would it kill you to spend the $129 on a 2DS and play the games on hardware that was meant to play them?
Can't imagine how enjoyable it will be to use a mouse for the 2nd screen etc. If you want to play 3DS games there is plenty of hardware available to play them
Can't imagine how enjoyable it will be to use a mouse for the 2nd screen etc. If you want to play 3DS games there is plenty of hardware available to play them
Emulators are not illegal, and neither are ROMs, providing you own the original hardware and a copy of the game you are playing. This is not against the forum rules. Posting links and/or discussing sources of ROM files without the intention of purchasing that game is probably against the forum rules.
Also, stop yelling. Capslock is not cruise control for cool.
-SC
Also, stop yelling. Capslock is not cruise control for cool.
-SC
ROMs have always been in the murky territory kinda how ripping DVDs and BluRays have been.
I understand the want to use emulators for more traditional controller and 1 screen consoles, but for a DS which is dual screen and with touch input - I just can't imagine how fun games would be in that kind of setup. Also blowing the image up to a larger size than designed would also be a sad thing to see.
I understand the want to use emulators for more traditional controller and 1 screen consoles, but for a DS which is dual screen and with touch input - I just can't imagine how fun games would be in that kind of setup. Also blowing the image up to a larger size than designed would also be a sad thing to see.
Playing a DS game on the computer is no fun. At least buy the hardware and flash roms if you're so desperate to play.
Just for the sake of the argument and even if this is a kind late reply (but I always enjoy both enlightening and also tearing the masks apart), take a look at what nintendo itself says.
I mean emulation is illegal alright? It's just that people like to drift and say they dump their ROMs (yeah right!) and whatnot but that is a far cry from reality. And some people go to the extent of wearing the "I like emulation for home-brew" mask (We all enjoy an awesome rotating 3D cube, no?).
From TFA:
So what you're telling me, is that Nintendo has some kind of right to continually benefit from me because my ancient console died and the only replacement I can buy is a brand new console, all so that I can pay for the games I've already bought again?
Unfortunately I live in a sane country with a sane government and sane laws. Emulation is not illegal here, if you own the hardware first- so I don't really care what Nintendo thinks they're entitled to.
I'm not at all surprised that they're against emulation. God forbid people should continue enjoying the same old entertainment until the end of time. If that happened, they might land up going bankrupt! And then what would we do without the next major rehashing of Super Mario Brothers?
-SC
So what you're telling me, is that Nintendo has some kind of right to continually benefit from me because my ancient console died and the only replacement I can buy is a brand new console, all so that I can pay for the games I've already bought again?
Unfortunately I live in a sane country with a sane government and sane laws. Emulation is not illegal here, if you own the hardware first- so I don't really care what Nintendo thinks they're entitled to.
I'm not at all surprised that they're against emulation. God forbid people should continue enjoying the same old entertainment until the end of time. If that happened, they might land up going bankrupt! And then what would we do without the next major rehashing of Super Mario Brothers?
-SC
The Nintendo quote was just in the mood for this topic (3DS) but it is true that laws vary from country to country
from case to case, and so on.
Now I absolutely agree with the fact some old consoles won't benefit from "sales" anymore so not like by emulating them, they won't perceive money. But anyway copyright is copyright and intellectual property is intellectual property and they can do whatever they please or feel like, after all they "invented" it. A sarcastic Nintendo CEO could tell ya "Ok, then go ahead and invent the game yourself and build your own console to run it on you don't own anything, it's ours and we can do as we please". But unfortunately internet sometimes has left us with that "I'll do as I please because I can" motto. It's like people going nuts about Apple going nuts about jailbreaks I mean.. nowhere did it say the iPhone or iPad was yours to do whatever you want.. it comes with some terms, like no-opening of it, no reverse-engineering and so on. You can surely run your truck over it and explode it but the moment you got the iPhone you accepted the fine print that stated the thing, as assembled is yours but you shall not disassembly it in any way or screw with the software. In the case of jailbreak then it is the breaking of iOS terms where you are supposed to "play by the rules". Im making it up because I never read the fine print so don't quote me on it, but I know at least half devices we own and software we download come with some EULA that states stuff similar to what I said.
Same happens when you buy a house you can do as you please inside but you are not to build some certain "extensions" that might mess with the walls or common spaces with you neighbors and so on so no.. it's not really completely "do-as-you-please yours".
Now, getting back on the already off topic discussion (sorry OP):
In the end the amount of people having the actual hardware that's just probably the 1% (of course everybody on the internet owns all cartridges even the obscure versions only sold in a given country in a given timeframe etc). So that's when I say what's the big deal about just coming straight and say emulation is just piracy and that's it. There will always be a fine line, but still.
It's like official emulation forums they will all go nuts if people ask "Where can I download X ROM" and ban them and pretend they are so pure, but yet their beta testers have a personal collection of every known ROM (and every accompanying real physical copy of it, right?). And then developers will go crazy saying their intended purpose was bringing "My lil' rotating cube 3D" or other amazing home-brews to life.. no no.. ROM loaders or ISO loaders where just a side-effect hmmm yeah.
Now don't go hating Cap'n.. I like emulation as much as you do, it's just I feel a tickle when people discuss how it is so legal and perfectly normal when in reality it's a bit more complicated, at least, from my very own, crazy, PoV
Now I absolutely agree with the fact some old consoles won't benefit from "sales" anymore so not like by emulating them, they won't perceive money. But anyway copyright is copyright and intellectual property is intellectual property and they can do whatever they please or feel like, after all they "invented" it. A sarcastic Nintendo CEO could tell ya "Ok, then go ahead and invent the game yourself and build your own console to run it on you don't own anything, it's ours and we can do as we please". But unfortunately internet sometimes has left us with that "I'll do as I please because I can" motto. It's like people going nuts about Apple going nuts about jailbreaks I mean.. nowhere did it say the iPhone or iPad was yours to do whatever you want.. it comes with some terms, like no-opening of it, no reverse-engineering and so on. You can surely run your truck over it and explode it but the moment you got the iPhone you accepted the fine print that stated the thing, as assembled is yours but you shall not disassembly it in any way or screw with the software. In the case of jailbreak then it is the breaking of iOS terms where you are supposed to "play by the rules". Im making it up because I never read the fine print so don't quote me on it, but I know at least half devices we own and software we download come with some EULA that states stuff similar to what I said.
Same happens when you buy a house you can do as you please inside but you are not to build some certain "extensions" that might mess with the walls or common spaces with you neighbors and so on so no.. it's not really completely "do-as-you-please yours".
Now, getting back on the already off topic discussion (sorry OP):
In the end the amount of people having the actual hardware that's just probably the 1% (of course everybody on the internet owns all cartridges even the obscure versions only sold in a given country in a given timeframe etc). So that's when I say what's the big deal about just coming straight and say emulation is just piracy and that's it. There will always be a fine line, but still.
It's like official emulation forums they will all go nuts if people ask "Where can I download X ROM" and ban them and pretend they are so pure, but yet their beta testers have a personal collection of every known ROM (and every accompanying real physical copy of it, right?). And then developers will go crazy saying their intended purpose was bringing "My lil' rotating cube 3D" or other amazing home-brews to life.. no no.. ROM loaders or ISO loaders where just a side-effect hmmm yeah.
Now don't go hating Cap'n.. I like emulation as much as you do, it's just I feel a tickle when people discuss how it is so legal and perfectly normal when in reality it's a bit more complicated, at least, from my very own, crazy, PoV
Citation please?
Because that dude who wrote Higan (formerly BSNES) actually did own every single SNES cartridge ever made. He literally tested his emulator with every single one of them, so that he could claim 100% accurate emulation.
Also, I've personally contributed to a vast number of emulators over the years, many of which I didn't own the console for. And I didn't need ROM files either, since it was trivial to write my own test cases to make sure everything was working. A good portion of the developers keeping these projects alive don't even give a **** about ROM files, because they're too busy trying to figure out how the hardware works. That's why they do it, not to play pirated games, but to figure out how the hardware is supposed to work and re-implement that in software.
So get off your mighty high horse. Those forum admins ban pirate users on sight not because they want to pretend they're pure, but because they care enough about their project that they don't want to be held liable and potentially sued by the equipment manufacture.
-SC
No citation needed, just search for most beta testers and their ROM tool listing thingy with all ROMs in existence (e.g N64 ROMs with every v1, v1.1, v1.2 and so on).
I highly respect emu devs, as developers they are, for what they do, because it's fun and interesting to crack down on shallow spec pages and try to guess the infinite number of things they do to provide a realistic emulation of the target hardware.
And I'm not being self-righteous here, just expressing my opinion on the issue. If you look at the OP, asking for 3DS emulation I don't see as he's buying a 3DS ROM dumping machine and wants to start early to "preserve his games".
But anyway, I start feeling youtubish here and I apologize to everybody who reads this as it has gone way off topic, because of me.
Since I don't like infesting forums with more hatred/spam than there is already out there, I step off here, sorry if I offended you ScottishCaptain, or you thought my opinions were a cavalcade of hatred/illusionism/conspiracy theory/illuminati/etc.
I highly respect emu devs, as developers they are, for what they do, because it's fun and interesting to crack down on shallow spec pages and try to guess the infinite number of things they do to provide a realistic emulation of the target hardware.
Which contradicts the open status they claim. If they wanna keep it secret society-like, then they can make their virtual hangouts and just be happy they were able to emulate something, but when they release it publicly it's pretty obvious (from my perspective) they know people will use it to pirate games, and not just to play the homebrew demos that mostly only the main devs would get awed-at ("Look I did it!!! I emulated X!! It's working"). How many people out there actually own a ROM dumping machine? Just a few and it's not a secret.
And I'm not being self-righteous here, just expressing my opinion on the issue. If you look at the OP, asking for 3DS emulation I don't see as he's buying a 3DS ROM dumping machine and wants to start early to "preserve his games".
But anyway, I start feeling youtubish here and I apologize to everybody who reads this as it has gone way off topic, because of me.
Since I don't like infesting forums with more hatred/spam than there is already out there, I step off here, sorry if I offended you ScottishCaptain, or you thought my opinions were a cavalcade of hatred/illusionism/conspiracy theory/illuminati/etc.
It's a scam.
http://3dsemulatordownload.net/faq.html
Look for the BIOS files. They force you to take surveys. The BIOS files do not, in fact, exist. The entire "emulator" was written as a bunk application that prompts you for the BIOS files and nothing else, which in turn drives you to the FAQ and makes you complete their surveys.
This is the same scam as a dozen other "emulators" claiming to emulate the 3DS, Xbox 360, PS3, etc (all virtually un-emulatable systems). I would advise that everyone steer clear from these frauds, because that's what they are.
-SC
http://3dsemulatordownload.net/faq.html
Look for the BIOS files. They force you to take surveys. The BIOS files do not, in fact, exist. The entire "emulator" was written as a bunk application that prompts you for the BIOS files and nothing else, which in turn drives you to the FAQ and makes you complete their surveys.
This is the same scam as a dozen other "emulators" claiming to emulate the 3DS, Xbox 360, PS3, etc (all virtually un-emulatable systems). I would advise that everyone steer clear from these frauds, because that's what they are.
-SC
You're aware that you don't own the game, right? You own a license to play that game on that hardware (bonus if Nintendo includes backwards compatibility, you get to run that software on an additional line of hardware). It even states this in every manual that comes with the game.
Lots of confusion over ownership.
If I saw Star Wars episode 4 in it's opening week at the cinema, does that grant me a license to download a 1080p bluray rip from a torrent site?