Nintendo Switch Emulators aren't real, and will mess up your computer

Nintendo Switch display
Nintendo Switch display (Image credit: iMore)

In much the same way some people will opt to play Nintendo Switch games on a computer instead of the console if it saves a little cash, there exists some people willing to disguise malware as Switch emulation software if it makes them a little cash. That's right, if you see something claiming to be a Nintendo Switch emulator you should really think twice before installing it. Switch emulators aren't a real thing, and installing that software is a really great way to turn your computer into a malware farm.

Scammers are taking advantage of a video floating around showing off Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in 4K as evidence of Switch emulation, but that's not the case. What you see in that video is an unfinished version of the Wii U port for Breath of the Wild running on a PC. It is currently possible to do this yourself, but the game isn't 100% polished and may break in some areas. More importantly, it's not the Switch version of the game which means other Switch games will not be ready to play anytime soon.

If you're really eager to see what the Switch gaming experience is all about, your best bet really is going to be picking one up for yourself and trying it out.

Nintendo's latest console isn't just a portable gaming machine, it's a very powerful computer in an impressively small case. The NVidia Tegra X1 processor in this tablet was built to run in laptops and cars, and its Maxwell GPU is not something easily emulated by just anything. It may not be particularly impressive when compared to traditional desktop processors and GPUs, but emulating hardware is not a 1:1 resource expense.

The recommended system specs for the Wii U version of Breath of the Wild include 16GB of RAM, at least 3.5GHz quad core CPU, and at least a GTX 970 processor. Basically, emulating a Wii U game requires a computer that meets almost all of the same spec needed to run an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. While the Wii U and Switch are comparably equipped, the latter is using an ARM processor which is going to be somewhat more complicated to emulate.

It's not impossible for someone to eventually figure out how to emulate the Switch in a way that doesn't require a super powerful machine, but it's not coming anytime soon. If you're really eager to see what the Switch gaming experience is all about, your best bet really is going to be picking one up for yourself and trying it out.

Russell Holly

Russell is a Contributing Editor at iMore. He's a passionate futurist whose trusty iPad mini is never far from reach. You can usually find him chasing the next tech trend, much to the pain of his wallet. Reach out on Twitter!