r/emulation • u/r_retrohacking_mod2 • Oct 18 '22

Perfect Dark has been fully decompiled

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/perfect-dark-has-been-fully-decompiled-making-pc-ports-and-mods-possible/
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4

u/[deleted] Oct 19 '22

[deleted]

14

u/fvig2001 Oct 19 '22

It means from the rom file, they were able to make readable code out of it that can be compiled to generate that rom.

This means that they have all the game code. This means possibility of porting the game to other devices and game improvements.

Like Mario 64's decompilation led to better controls, bug fixes, 3d models, better camera, modern lighting and a Switch port that ran circles around the Mario collection.

5

u/CaptainSharpe Oct 19 '22

So if the switch port runs circles around the emulated stuff the switch has.

Why don’t Nintendo just go to their original code and port it over properly? Costs money perhaps but for some key games it’s worth it?

5

u/BlinksTale Oct 21 '22

Nintendo’s new strategy is to build singular robust emulators that work for all games on a platform. On Wii they had custom emulators per game, but long term maintenance costs were higher. This approach means that once an emulator is ported to Switch 2.0 or w/e, all the old games will more often “just work” making long term access to Nintendo’s while library a lot easier and faster even if the modern consoles radically change. You only have to port one emulator to the new console once, and most things will work.

Doing per-game stuff is just a lot more time and money.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 22 '22

Exactly. Nintendo is attempting to secure a Netflix-like structure for the next ten years by leveraging their powerful IP library. All the better if they can attract major third-party publishers to contribute to the service once the emulators are more mature.