The development team behind the GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin has shared some surprising news – announcing Dolphin will be “coming soon” to Valve’s Steam service in Q2 2023. You can even wishlist the free download on Steam right now.
When Dolphin launches on the Steam Store, the team will share an article detailing the “process and features” of this particular version. Here’s what the developers had to say about the initial announcement:
“We’re pleased to finally tell the world of our experiment. This has been the product of many months of work, and we look forward to getting it into users’ hands soon!”
It follows on from the same team receiving a Steam Deck ahead of release last year and trialing Dolphin on the unit with some exclusive titles.
Here’s a bit about the Steam version, and as noted “this app does not come with games“. It’s also mentioned how you’ll also need to “own an original copy of any game you want to use with Dolphin”. This emulator will include support for 4K displays, modern controllers, is fully open source, and is once again a free download.
Welcome to the World of Modern Emulation
Dolphin Emulator is your one-way ticket to nostalgia if you’re looking to relive classics from the big N’s cube-shaped and motion controlled consoles. Return to an era of gaming before the advent of microtransactions and experience a diverse library of thousands of titles that were released for these consoles over a span of 15+ years. Dolphin Emulator allows these classic games to be reborn into the modern era with support for 4K displays, modern controllers, and much, much more. All of this, fully Open Source and free to download.
How Does It Work?
Dolphin Emulator creates a virtual environment on your device that is capable of running games originally developed for two of the Big N’s revolutionary consoles. However, Dolphin itself does not provide any of the games. It is just a tool to run legally obtained copies of these games. Once you have dumped copies of your games into a compatible format, you can launch them directly in the emulator.
Why Emulate?
Using emulation to play your games comes with many advantages. Dolphin can surpass the capabilities of the original hardware with enhancements like increased resolution, widescreen hacks, HD texture packs, and patches to increase the frame rate. While playing a game, features like quick saves (save states), slow motion, and turbo can make playing through annoying sections a breeze. You can even take your favorite local multiplayer games online with Dolphin’s built-in netplay. Once you’re bored of a game, you can breathe new life into it by playing community-made mods like randomizers and custom level packs.