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Cemu

Cemu is a free and open-source Wii U emulator, first released on October 13, 2015 for Microsoft Windows[1][3][4] as a closed-source emulator developed by Exzap and Petergov.[5] With the release of Cemu 2.1 on August 27 2024 it gained stable support for Linux and macOS. Though still under development, it is able to run the majority of games smoothly, assuming compatible hardware.[6][7][8] The popularity of the emulator spiked with the release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in 2017 as Cemu successfully booted and ran the title within hours of its release.[9]

Cemu
Original author(s)Exzap
Petergov
Developer(s)Team Cemu
Initial releaseOctober 13, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-10-13)[1]
Stable release
2.2 / September 8, 2024; 2 months ago (2024-09-08)[2]
Repositorygithub.com/cemu-project/Cemu
Written inC, C++
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows, Linux, macOS
Size25.0 MB compressed (Windows)
Available inEnglish
TypeVideo game console emulator
LicenseMozilla Public License 2.0
Websitecemu.info

Development

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Designed as a proof-of-concept, the initial release of Cemu could successfully boot Mario Kart 8 and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD yet lacked Wii U GamePad support and audio and suffered from stutters and video glitches.[10] Cemu could run on 64-bit Windows operating systems and only supported OpenGL 3.3 on release. Despite the Wii U sharing a similar name as its predecessor, the Wii, the emulator was built independently from Dolphin, a Wii emulator, as the systems only shared their CPU architecture in common.[11] The emulator would rapidly progress from this state and increase its compatibility with the Wii U game library and add more features.

A couple of days after The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild released, Cemu was able to boot the game - though running at a sluggish framerate, without audio, and filled with many glitches. The anticipation for emulation of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild caused the emulator's Patreon to increase monthly donations to $7,400 per month[12] and later $22,317 per month.[13] Developers of Cemu expected that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild would be playable with only a few months worth of work,[9] and had a rudimentary version of the game's tutorial playable within weeks of its release.[14] Cutscenes were made available with a community-made add-on called Cemuhook, though Cemu 1.18.0 removed the need for the plugin.[15][16]

Reception

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The emulator has received positive reception on its ability to play Wii U games on PC at higher resolutions than 1080p, the base resolution of the console, via the usage of community graphics packs. For example Mario Kart 8 and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild can be run in 4K resolution on compatible hardware.[17][18] Many mods and enhancements have been developed for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild;[19] in August 2017, a hack to Cemu Emulator developed by Cemu community member Xalphenos allowed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to run at 60 frames per second (FPS), higher than the game's native 30 FPS limit.[20]

Unlike other emulators, Cemu was notably not open source from its inception until 2022. Exzap explained that it allows for quick progress and for more control of its development. However, the decision drew criticism from other emulation developers. Higan creator Byuu, later known as Near, condemned the Cemu's closed-source nature, arguing that Cemu benefitted from the work of previous emulators without contributing back. Pierre Bourdon, a Dolphin developer, also disagreed with its commercial status, expressing concern that high paying donors could influence the emulator's development team to favour certain bug fixes or games to support.[21] In January 2022, Exzap revealed Cemu's roadmap, stating that Cemu is planned to go open source in 2022.[22] Seven months later, in its 2.0 release, Cemu became open source under the Mozilla Public License, and introduced its first builds for Linux,[23][24] and later for macOS.[25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Plunkett, Luke (14 October 2015). "Wii U Emulation Is Coming Along". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  2. ^ "Cemu changelog". cemu.info. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  3. ^ Khan, Imad (16 May 2016). "Cemu Wii U emulator runs Mario Kart 8 almost flawlessly after update". Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  4. ^ Hassan, Ahmed. "CEMU 1.5.1 Perfectly Runs Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, Mario Kart 8 & Super Mario Bros U - TechFrag". Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  5. ^ Khaw, Cassandra (14 October 2015). "Cemu, the first working Nintendo Wii U emulator, publicly released". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  6. ^ Mendoza, Menchie (16 December 2015). "You Can Now Play 'Mario Kart 8' On PC With Cemu Wii U Emulator [Video]". Tech Times. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  7. ^ Khan, Imad (16 May 2016). "Cemu Wii U emulator runs Mario Kart 8 almost flawlessly after update". Digital Trends. Archived from the original on 18 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Cemu Compatibility List". Archived from the original on 2022-12-29. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  9. ^ a b Phillips, Tom (March 7, 2017). "Zelda: Breath of the Wild already up and running on PC". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  10. ^ "Wii U emulator (almost) runs 'Mario Kart 8' on your PC". Engadget. 14 October 2015. Archived from the original on 2021-04-13. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  11. ^ Khaw, Cassandra (2015-10-14). "Cemu, the first working Nintendo Wii U emulator, publicly released". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 2015-10-15. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  12. ^ Fenlon, Wes (2017-03-07). "How the Cemu emulator's devs got Zelda: Breath of the Wild running in just a few hours". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 2021-03-06. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  13. ^ "Wii U emulator team has huge parts of Zelda: Breath of the Wild working on PC". VentureBeat. 2017-03-23. Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  14. ^ Williams, Mike (March 22, 2017). "Breath of the Wild Nearly Running on PC Via CEMU Emulator". USgamer. Archived from the original on October 26, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  15. ^ Becht, Eli (May 2, 2017). "'Breath of the Wild' CEMU 1.7.5 Update". Heavy.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  16. ^ Meo, Francesco De (2020-04-06). "Wii U Emulator Cemu 1.18.0c Released; Vulkan Performance Improved For Zelda Breath of the Wild and More". Wccftech. Archived from the original on 2021-02-27. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  17. ^ "Mario Kart 8, Running At 4K". Kotaku. 7 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-04-16. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  18. ^ "Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Looks Awesome In 4K". Kotaku. 9 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  19. ^ Morton, Lauren (2017-11-20). "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's PC mod scene is bizarre and amazing". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 2021-01-23. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  20. ^ Fenlon, Wes (2017-08-18). "New Cemu emulator hack enables 60 fps in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  21. ^ Fenlon, Wes (2017-03-28). "The ethics of emulation: how creators, the community, and the law view console emulators". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 2021-11-18. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  22. ^ "Roadmap - Cemu Wiki". Cemu Wiki. Archived from the original on 2022-02-21. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  23. ^ Fenlon, Wes (2022-08-24). "Here's why Wii U emulator Cemu going open source is a big deal for emulation—and for the Steam Deck". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 2022-08-24. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  24. ^ "CEMU, the Wii U Emulator, has now become Open Source". OC3D. 2022-08-24. Archived from the original on 2022-08-24. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  25. ^ "Cemu macOS Compatibility Chart". cemu.emiyl.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-29. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
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