Alas, the specs you need for this are currently astronomical - emulating what is effectively another computer is tough enough, but people don't know enough about the wii to do it efficiently enough. In time, though, it'll get better.
(Fun fact, the GCN version of LoZ:OoT runs far slower on my PC than the N64 version!)

I watched it on youtube, it lacks textures and effects, and it runs like shit. Also, playing Wii games in HD in emulators doesn't really improve the graphics, it renders 3d models in HD but the textures remains low res.

After looking into this some more...


WHY NINTENDO!? WHY!? WHY NO HD SUPPORT RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE!?

Uh, there's more to HD than simply upscaling the image. Also, while the emulator is impressive it still has a shit load of problems and the requirements are so high that most people won't even be able to use it just yet.

All I notice is the AA, otherwise it sort of looks a lot flatter than it does on the Wii. Nice an smooth though.

Yeah it doesn't really look that much better....... maybe I don't have the eye for it

As a PC gamer myself, with a card I got for £20, I obviously don't trash on PC games for not running on basic machines :)

I have yet to find a game I can't play... acceptably, including GTAIV, and Crysis. Wii Emulation is NOT far enough along to emulate at a good speed on an "average system". Think about it, that video quotes the specs as:
+ E8400 @ 4GHz
+ 4GB Ballistix DDR2 RAM
+ XFX GTX 260 216 Black Edition
The Wii has a 729MHz single core processor, 91MB total RAM, and an incredibly weak graphics card. Overkill! You can run a SNES emulator on much closer to the original specs, an N64 emulator with a bargain bin PC from 5 years ago, I can emulate GCN games fine with my fairly cheap, 2 year old PC.

I'm not hating on emulation when I say Wii emulation isn't as good as it can be :)

Oh wow, better than the real thing? Why bother with the real thing then?

@ Solgrim

Nintendo dropped the HD capability on purpose to keep the hardware cost low. That way the target casual market will buy a billion of the things on a whim.

@PhazonYoshi

It isn't so simple as converting a few Ghz. Console hardware is highly optimized and doesn't use the same architecture as modern pcs. When the N64 came out if you looked at the specs loosely, it was vastly inferior to pcs of at time but no one could emulate it properly.

Only in this generation did the HD consoles went for overkill in specs to appease geeks with a PC mentality that only bigger numbers mean better graphics when there's a lot more behind it.

@-PL-

Try the one that is giving as an example... It's THE best game this gen.

@Coco, greks;

You're still missing the point :P
All I said was it takes a very good PC to emulate it well, and it's highly likely to improve as time goes on. The specs were just a point, I wasn't saying you should be able to run it on that. I agree with you all!

@Cad: Uh, wow. That looks terrible. I mean, I don't have the eye for that kinda stuff, but I've been over and done with playing games at 35-50% speed for years now. And I probably could scrape by with 1FPS on my machine.

Not that it's necessary. I have a Wii and I'm fine with how it is. After all, haven't emulators always had filters and all to make games look extra-nice?

brb gonna go to 1991 and demand Nintendo put in 2xSAI/Eagle/whatever filters in their console.

So these guys have created an incredible emulator (though it admittedly still needs some major work), and all you people are doing is bitching about it? Wow, fuck you assholes.

Am I to understand that this version looks better than the real game? 'Cause that's pretty much how I remember the game looking...

Then again, I wasn't scrutinizing the visuals to death. I was a bit busy. You know - having fun.

Nice find, Jim. Now I can play Bit.Trip Beat as it was always meant to be played, in glorious HD!

But on a serious note, if there is a difference, it doesn't seem like much of one. Some comparison screens would be nice, but then, maybe I just don't have that keen an eye for this sort of thing.

Why bother with wii emulation when snes emulators still work well :)

Like Cwal, I've been basking in this for a long while now, and it's better: plus it has faster load times and other perks (using a PSX/Xbox controller effortlessly, anyone)? Bonus protip: Dolphin also runs GCN games using the same ui/program!

You can buy a machine for $400 that will run this, easy, as well.

i've said it once and i'll say it again, the Wii's main flaw isn't it's lack of 720p and HD, it's the level of half-bakedness, lack of polish and quality shortage that is present in most of it's library. Even good publishers have just taken that route.

It's good, but honestly, it's not that big of an improvement. Might as well use the original hardware, which makes graphics that are perfectly fine, thanks.

A quick message for some of the emulator noobs out there. Emulation does not equal piracy. We buy our Wii games just like you, and many of us own a real Wii but, as they look so much better, choose to play the games on our PCs with high resolution and aa/af filtering.

I like emulation of vintage systems for the sake of nostalgia and preservation, this is just the last hurdle to piracy, playing an alive system without paying dick, disgusting.

[quote=Espada Andy 2]promoting piracy now jimmy?
way to fail....[/quote]

Way to go with the completely misinformed and ignorant comment. This is the reason emulation will never be widely excepted is because idiots like you continue to equate emulation with piracy.

In regards to the article and it's author, this comment within the article has to be the most disturbing comment I've read regarding emulation, yet again from the misinformed and ignorant masses:

"but those of us in the realm of the law-abiding will have to simply dream of what might one day be real".

Where the heck did you ever come up with the conclusion that emulation was ever illegal? For starters refresh yourself with some homework and read up on the Sony Vs. Bleem/Connectix court cases, then read up on court cases where Emulation has been declared legal by the USA.

Emulation is not illegal, however it's considered a gray area. You do know there are those who actually back up their legally owned games to use via emulation don't you? You do know that there are people that actually own both the system and games who like to play them via emulation?

I own a Wii myself, and I've backed up my own games to play via emulation, so don't you dare use the accusation that emulation is illegal or emulation = piracy because it doesn't.

Why do you think legal emulation communities that are the center of emulation projects are allowed to exist on servers located in the USA, mind you these sites also don't partake in the illegal distribution of copyrighted materials nor do they support any form of piracy.

Emulation isn't just about preservation, it's also about enhancing the experience with features that even the original hardware isn't capable of.

Save states, high resolution textures, higher resolution, enhanced graphics, filtering AA/AF, no restrictions on with homebrew, ability to easily cheat beyond the capabilities of the original hardware.

These are all reasons most people are into emulation, you can thank pirates for skewing the original meaning and conception of emulation to the masses.

Just like torrents can be used for illegal and legal purposes, just like a knife can be as a murder weapon or to cut food, emulation has both legal and illegal uses.

Emulation is also done for the challenge, some of you should get a clue before running your traps. The Wii/GC has to be the most challenging systems by far to emulate.

You have the strange sound formats Nintendo uses for Zelda/Mario games along with the task of emulating the just as equally nightmarish DSP hardware, strange development methods in games, strange unheard of features..

Combine that with the lack of documentation of the hardware, and even at this stage, even though it doesn't seem like much, the progress so far is an amazing feat in itself.

Due to reverse engineering (Also legal) the development team was finally able to get some sound working in Mario Galaxy, Zelda: Windwaker, and Zelda: Twilight Princess (GC) albeit not perfected as of yet.

If you want to see the amount of work that went into this so far, the unsurpassed difficulties in emulating the Wii/GC hardware or want to keep track of development look no further than the projects Googlecode page:

http://code.google.com/p/dolphin-emu/source/list

Which reminds me if emulation was illegal, why is the project allowed to exist on Google, why hasn't it been taken down yet?

Yeah, I thought so..

It seems some of the commentators here have became the laughing stock and disgrace of the emulation community. :P

http://forums.ngemu.com/dolphin-discussion/124358-dolphin-destructoid-com.html