You Can Play Super Mario 64 In Your Browser

I remember how amazing it was to play NES games in your web browser!

Nintendo would be better focusing their energy on banning joy con drift.

That's an absolutely genius subtitle to this article

This is amazing. Even on the phone

See which wireless controllers are supported
Xbox Wireless Controller with Bluetooth (Model 1708)
Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2
Xbox Adaptive Controller
PlayStation DualShock 4 Wireless Controller
Other MFi (Made for iOS) Bluetooth controllers might be supported

Hey cool. I bet they'd be fine if I ripped off their work in the future too. After all, they are ripping off Nintendo's. So clearly it's fair game!

I mean, that tag line wrote itself lmao! It sounds pretty cool and all...but no, man. This is wrong. Isn't it?

Technically, playing ROMs in a browser is technically legal, or at least, is less of a grey area in law. You aren't distributing the ROM in a downloadable sort of way and it isn't going to be stored on someone's hard drive. So there is no duplicating piracy business. Heck, you could technically argue this is no different than a friend letting you play Mario 64 on one of their many N64s (many many N64s).

This probably still won't stop Nintendo from finding a way to shut this down. And they are still probably in the legal right since it is their product. But still, this is a cool project either way. It would be a shame to see it die unceremoniously by the Nintendo Ninjas.

If you minimize it, it's Browser Jr.

I'll see myself out

How are hacks, emulation and the like always labeled as "news", feels more like "random".

Public domain needs to be a thing again.

Copyright laws are important so people and companies can profit from their creations and make more stuff, but once the creator dies, the creation must become free for everyone to use, and since companies can last centuries, their creations must become public someday, if copyright worked like it should, by now, many classic videogames like Super Mario 64 would be free to share the roms and also share those mods.

Plus, if a franchise is too important for a company, becoming a symbol for them, trademark laws can still make sure that Nintendo will own Mario forever and only they can make new Mario games, but old individual Mario games can still become public domain.

Or like me you can play it on your actual N64 with your kids and teach them all about Retro gaming and how it used to be and start a new generation of retro gamers.
Or is that just me?

I prefer my way thanks.

@Heavyarms55 I’m sure if they ever make a cult classic that they refuse to sell to people for no reason at all they won’t mind if you do stuff like this

I just realized that this is widescreen, huh. This is better than what Nintendo did for the switch. Why is copyright so terrible?

Haha! It's almost 100% certain Nintendo will crack down on this purely because it's directly using its copyrighted material (the character designs and 3D models, textures, sound, etc), even if it's not monetized. I don't think it should, and certainly if there's no monetization of the work involved, but I don't think that will give Nintendo pause even for a second.

What Nintendo should be doing is looking at this and thinking "Well, the time is right to create an entirely online browser-based version of our Virtual Console service or similar, where people can sign up and get access to all of our classic games to play directly on any and every single platform that runs a standard browser, maybe for a monthly subscription fee or whatever, a bit like the Nintendo version of Netflix or something along those lines...."--but it will probably just shut this down and do very little with what is clearly a brilliant idea who's time has also clearly come.

@impurekind we’re talking about a company who basically refuse to look at their past unless it’s a wii u port which they can repackage for full price, I don’t think they’d ever do something cool like that even if it killed them

That sub-title is absolutely brilliant. Props to @Kate Grey for that 10/10 line

More piracy, and more piracy articles on Nintendolife.

@Xenobound94 it's more complicated than this. Yeah, there is no storage or distribution, but they're giving access for multiple users when they would have the license to play one at a time (supposing it have one licence). And to tell the truth, you
you downloaded to your PC's cache memory when you try to use it. It's temporary, but it's a kind of storage

I just tried it on my Xbox Series X - Surprised at how well it worked - Definitely felt weird to play Mario on Xbox though

@Nin10dood Nice in concept, but unless you pay someone to maintain that N64 and the controllers it will likely be dead in 20 years.

Emulation, whether official or non-official, is the key to preserving games for the future.
See these videos for more info by a game developer/game preserver:
https://youtu.be/HLWY7fCXUwE
https://youtu.be/dp-DRU24J18

I glanced at this article and thought it read play Mario 64 as Bowser XD

Good job, now it should be nuked to death by Nintendo.

Chef's kiss for the subtitle, seriously!

The sound isn't working for me. Anyone know a solution?

Far as i know thats been around since 2017 Ive finish it during school haha. imagine if they could do the gamecube next! That will have to be a big leap

@Dizzymario Funny, I had no issues buying it on several platforms over the years. It's perhaps one of the absolutely easiest retro games to purchase and play. But sure, whatever you say.

@victordamazio Please explain to me why Nintendo shouldn't own Mario forever. They make the games. They made the character. And they are still actively making games for the series.

It's not like it's a dead series and everyone who worked on it is long since dead. This is an active series that still regularly gets new entries.

Nintendo and the people working for Nintendo made these games. They put in the effort. They should be able to profit off of it more or less indefinitely. It's their work. We are not just entitled to it once it gets old.

Now, if a company lets a franchise die, and it's no longer in any form of active development or sale. And the people who own the rights to it pass away, then, maybe, you'd have a point.

We are not entitled to another person's work. We are not. Period. It doesn't matter how old it is. If the person or people who made something are still alive, it's theirs to do with as they please. They are no even obligated to sell it to us. Video games are luxury items, now necessities that we need to survive like medicine or food.

I just got 4 power stars using a PS5 controller on Microsoft Edge. What a time to be alive.

@Heavyarms55 "Please explain to me why Nintendo shouldn't own Mario forever."

After 70 years the copyright for Mario 64 will expire and it will become public domain.

@impurekind you don't even need to stream the game, you can outright PLAY the game in your browser, same as Breath of the Wild honestly, they are not demanding games

Same people crying about the same old crap if you don't like it skip on by your not forced to support it or read the article but the countinuos crying is just gonna make you that guy who people point and laugh at.

"Browser's Inside Story"! HA! Love it!

@Heavyarms55
Couldn‘t agree more, some people don‘t seem to see the hard work that went into creating the game. Myamoto and his team were pioneers for 3D-gaming and basically had to do anything from scratch. And in addition the game is still perfectly playable over twenty years later which just goes to show how much effort went into polishing it.

Is it possible to play this with the 8Bitdo's SN30 Pro +? If so, how do I connect it?

@Heavyarms55 Because stuff like music, stories, characters, are just ideas, while people worked hard to make them, they are still just ideas, people should not be allowed to own ideas, ideas are meant to be shared, improved and expanded, copyright is not actual ownership like owning money, land, a house or a car.

And yes, copyright laws state that once the creator of something like music, books, movies and also videogames die, their works become public domain and everyone can use them, but companies can last centuries, longer than people can live, that's why when copyright is owned by a company, the timer for copyright to expire starts after release, they don't have to wait for the company to stop existing.

Many popular stories and characters are in the public domain, and even were copyrighted at one point but then became public domain, every year we have thousands of works based on fairy tales, mythology and classic literature, this isn't stealing content, this isn't being lazy.

Changing the subject to Disney, for decades, they tried to extend copyright more and more so they would never lose the rights of things they created like Mickey Mouse, you could argue that they created Mickey so they are just protecting their creations, nothing wrong with that, but many other Disney creations were directly taken from the public domain, The Jungle Book movie was released one year after the original book became public domain.

@Heavyarms55 Another thing, trademark laws allow a character to be owned by a company forever, but only in a way where the character is too important for a company, to the point it becomes their symbol.

Disney not only has a copyright on Mickey, but also a trademark, since he is the mascot of the Disney company, however, individual Mickey cartoons released decades ago can still become public domain and free to be shared on YouTube and cheap DVDs.

Nintendo has a trademark on Mario, they will own the character forever, but old individual Mario games can still become free to have their ROMs shared.

@victordamazio
You name it, they worked hard to make them. How would you feel if someone asked you to make your creation public domain if you‘ve spent years of hard work on it? They are still alive and we are not talking about 70 years after its release but 25 years at this point in time. I don‘t see any reason why this game should be public domain anytime soon.

And it‘s not like people haven‘t used the SM64 formula in other games. It‘s not like Nintendo is sueing everbody who creates a 3D-platformer that is similiar to SM64. So the general idea was definately shared, expanded and improved on as you call it.

@Duffman92 Maybe Super Mario 64 is not that old then, but at least classic videogames from the 1970s and early 1980s should be public domain by now, many forgotten arcade games are from companies that don't even exist anymore and nothing is being done with them.

Also, it's true that many other 3D Platformers were made, but we are talking about improving the actual Super Mario 64 game, fans done a much better job with their PC port and mods to that port than Nintendo did with the official release for Switch.

@-Juice- Same problem

@victordamazio the game is the work of a company, not a perdon. The creator will not die.
Just like movies, to be public domain you have to wait about 70 years.
Nintendo is still sellong this game, and people are buying it.

I cant get audio to work. can someone help me please?

@victordamazio It's impressive actually, just how much and how strongly I disagree with you and these ideas you support. I pity all the creators out there that you are so eager to screw over for your entitlement.

@Duffman92 It comes down to people feeling like they are owed or entitled to someone else's work. We aren't. And these are luxury items, not necessities we need for health, safety or survival.

I firmly disagree agree with IP and copyright laws in the case of things like life saving medical care and medicine. But we are talking about video games! No one needs these to survive. We are not owed access to them are a right.

@LittleAnonymousHAX0R its piracy because for the decompilation project, you need to provide you own rom of the game to actually compile it. this browser version includes all the original assets already which makes it 100% piracy and shouldnt be advertised on this website

Love Nintendo but also gonna say there's nothing morally wrong with emulating a 20+ year old game made by a multi-billion dollar company. Their losses to this existing is literally miniscule/practically non-existent. I'd understand if people were emulating/pirating something made by a small creator but it's ***** NINTENDO 😂

I just finished Super Mario 64 in my web browser. Amazing.

@ArtiomNLS I just tested it with my 8BitDo Pro 2 and it worked perfectly. I got it to work by connecting it to my PC with a USB to USB-C cable and having the controller set to X instead of Switch.

@Hinade The word "news" these days is as superfluous as they come. I will say I didn't know about it, so it was actually news to me.

@Heavyarms55 Nintendo shouldn't continue owning Mario because "they" are a corporation, not a person. the PEOPLE who made Mario 64 are not the same PEOPLE who made Mario Odyssey, and the PEOPLE who made the original Super Mario Bros. also aren't the same as either. they have already made an obscene profit off of the Mario intellectual property, and it's not as though they could not make more Mario games if the IP became part of the public domain. this stanning for multinational corporations is absurd. the public domain exists for works which have become part of culture. Mario certainly has--there are adults alive now who played Super Mario Bros. 1 as toddlers, and for whom Mario is as culturally relevant and omnipresent as something like Red Riding Hood was at the time of its inception. imagine if you couldn't use folkloric characters like Robin Hood anymore, and everytime someone did attempt to, they would have their not inconsiderable efforts written off as theft by rude nerds like you.

@B_Lindz thank you, kind stranger.

@ArtiomNLS You're very welcome.

@TheRealMW You call me rude, but your the one who resorts to name calling. There's really nothing left to discuss.

Do not waste my time trying to justify theft again.

Been using this website for almost a year now. Now that there's an article about it, I won't be surprised if the Nintendo ninjas strike it down within a month.

@impurekind no it doesnt contain any copyrighted assets/materials, the site only provides you perfectly legal reverse engineered Mario 64 source code, and you need to provide the Rom with all copyrighted materials And assets yourself

@T0biasCZe Well there you go then.

@Bustacap no it doesnt contain the assets like the PC port version you need to supply your rom yourself

@T0biasCZe unless it changed since my comment, no you dont

@Bustacap Oh i was thinking about different browser port
this one "Super Mario 64 Java Script" needs your own rom...
https://sm64js.com

@-Juice- I have the same problem.

@Heavyarms55 oh grow up

@Heavyarms55 Copyright infringement is not even theft.

If you make a song, and another person starts playing that song without your authorization, nothing was stolen from you, stealing something means the owner doesn't have it anymore, copying something and taking away the copy, means the owner still has the original.

Well great this website is now shutdown

@victordamazio mario 64 is only 25 years old my friend.
even the most generous of copyright laws put the minimum at 50.

@victordamazio to legally play that song you do have to buy a licence to use it. (which is either covered by the terms you agreed to or by the purchace of the CD) making and distributing copies without the creators written concent is illegal.

I'm honestly sad how no one understands how copyright laws work/ have worked in the past.

it is completely possible to own an idea. that is the point of copyright. I have an idea and my friend rips it of and goes on to make millions I would expect them to pay me royalties for the money he made, copying my idea

to my knowlege, there has never been a copyright law for when the creator dies, if the copyright has not expired, the cpyright goes to the creator's estate.

a company can own intelectual property just as much as they can own any property.

different countries have different copyright laws, most set the bar at either 50 or 75 years. 22 years ago the US set a precident raising the term to 95 years.

in many countries, you can renew intelectual property by making new content that includes the IP. however the original content will enter the public domain at the specified time. (eg plane crazy, the first ever Mickey mouse cartoon will enter the public domain janurary 1st 2024 However the rights to use mickey mouse in content unrelated to plane crazy will not. likewise, you won't be able to use someone else's version of plane crazy until that version goes into the public domain. this is why disney can copyright their version of fairy tales even though the stories themselves are in the public domain)

once in the public domain it can be referenced parodied or recreated by anyone at any time without paying royalties for licencing. until then it is actually illegal to play copy or distribute content or derivative works without first recieving written concent (covered in the terms of agreeement you didn't read)