Last year, the internet saw its first glimpses of a Wii U emulator titled Cemu. In October, release 1.0.0 of Cemu could barely load past the title page of Mario Kart 8. Just seven months later, build 1.5.0 has the same game running at a near-constant 60 frames per second.
All this development seems to be coming from one person, GBATemp forum user Exzap. Hailing from the Netherlands, he has built a strong community of supporters, boasting a subreddit with nearly 3,000 members and a Patreon bringing in more than $1,600 a month. Clearly, there’s a lot of excitement about the prospect of emulating Wii U games.
With the Wii U on its way out, and the NX set to launch next spring, emulation could be a great way to keep the Wii U community alive. Just like with Dolphin, a popular Gamecube and Wii emulator, it ,to,o has seen a massive community grow around it. The biggest draw being the ability to install texture packs for old games and upscale them to far past the original resolution. This means being able to play Metroid Prime or Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes on an HDTV with much crisper-looking visuals. Not only that, gamers can play games like Super Smash Bros. Melee online, with little latency.
While Wii U games look plenty pretty, there could always be room for improvement. With 4K televisions growing in popularity, being able to play Mario Kart 8 or Bayonetta 2 at such a high resolution would be a treat.
Currently, Cemu plays nice with most computers. All it takes is a decently powerful processor, like a Core i5, and a well-equipped graphics card. Exzap says that Cemu will work well on both Nvidia and AMD cards. Gamers can download the emulator for free right now, with updates being released biweekly.
