The official Nintendo Museum seems to be emulating SNES on a Windows PC. This is a little embarrassing

Nintendo has a difficult relationship when it comes to emulation. That's an understatement. The company has taken legal action against emulator developers and ROM sites. Its website also makes it clear that you can't copy or download older games, nor can you download a ROM to use for emulation, even if you already own the original.

Twitter user @ChrisMack32 has made an embarrassing discovery. They posted a video showing a SNES controller being unplugged (via USB) from a booth in the official Nintendo Museum of Japan. It makes a familiar sound: "ding dong din" when a Windows USB device is disconnected.

Hmm. Although we only see a small part of the screen, the device to which the controller was attached appears to be playing Super Mario World. It's a SNES game, which suggests that it is being emulated by a Windows PC.

It is, of course, the superior machine. It does seem a little rich for a company who has been so vocal about the dangers of emulators and sites that distribute ROMs, even if the ROMs are used by people with original copies of the games that they wish to emulate. Nintendo has argued that emulators "harm innovation", which is also a bit of an overreach.

What did we really expect, on the other hand? What did we really expect? To me, it sounds like a nightmare. You could run them on the Nintendo Switch, of course, if you want to keep everything above board.

It's clear that the sound effect is a Windows sound, so unless the video has been edited, the Nintendo Museum might have just booted up the games on an emulator, rather than a real PC.

Isn't that the point? While ROMs, emulators, and other similar software exist in many people's minds as a moral grey area, it's not surprising that they are used for their convenience. It's just y'know not really legal.

Twitter users have pointed out that the fact that the controller is easily detachable also means that this machine can now be connected by any number devices, and thereby easily compromised.

So, we have a failure on the emulation side and a cybersecurity blunder all in one. Good stuff. Anyway, one simple sound effect and one embarrassing revelation. I could go on about how this is a huge tacit win for PCs and emulation in general, but that seems to be in poor taste. I think someone from the Nintendo Museum is about to get a nasty note, and that would be enough to ruin anyone's mood.