Tag: Azahar

  • Azahar 3DS Emulator Launches with Performance Boosts and Fixes

    Azahar 3DS Emulator Launches with Performance Boosts and Fixes

    Key Takeaways

    1. Azahar 2120 is the first official stable version of the 3DS emulator, available for Windows, Linux, and Android.
    2. The emulator introduces a feature to disable “right eye rendering,” potentially improving performance by up to 50%.
    3. Azahar now uses .cci file extensions for game ROMs, moving away from .3ds files to avoid piracy associations.
    4. New updates include Nintendo 3DS eShop integration and fixes for visual glitches and gameplay bugs.
    5. Rising prices of 3DS consoles are boosting interest in 3DS emulation, especially with improved smartphone gaming capabilities.

    3DS emulation went into a bit of a slump after the downfall of Citra, which was an emulator that suffered alongside YuZu. However, things are looking up for 3DS emulation with the emergence of new emulators like Lime3DS and the latest one, Azahar.

    New Release of Azahar

    Azahar 2120 has just been launched on GitHub, representing the first official version of this 3DS emulator. While there have been earlier versions of Azahar, they were only release candidates. This marks the first “stable” version available for Windows, Linux, and Android. According to the developers, this release is based on a “merge of PabloMK7’s fork [of Citra] and Lime3DS.”

    Improvements and Features

    The latest release comes packed with numerous enhancements and bug fixes. One of the most notable features (which we talked about last week) is the ability to turn off “right eye rendering.” This option allows the emulator to display games in monoscopic mode. The Nintendo 3DS originally creates a 3D image through stereoscopic rendering, which displays the same frame twice from slightly different angles to create a 3D effect, similar to many 3D films. By turning off this rendering method, Azahar claims it can boost performance by as much as 50%.

    In addition to this, the emulator no longer supports .3ds files. Instead, it utilizes game ROMs with the .cci file extension. Converting existing .3ds files to .cci is simple; you just need to rename the file with a .cci extension. The developers chose the .cci format to “distance from piracy terminology as much as possible [sic].”

    Additional Changes and Popularity

    Other updates include Nintendo 3DS eShop integration for downloading purchased games, fixing visual glitches on Linux systems that use Wayland, and correcting a bug that caused Starfox 64 3D to render upside down during gameplay.

    With the increasing prices of 3DS consoles (like this renewed Flame Red 3DS on Amazon, curr. $214.34), 3DS emulation is becoming more popular. Given how well smartphones handle gaming and emulation now, it’s no wonder that interest in 3DS emulation is surging.

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  • Free Nintendo 3DS Emulator Launches with 50% Performance Boost

    Free Nintendo 3DS Emulator Launches with 50% Performance Boost

    Key Takeaways

    1. Azahar is a new Nintendo 3DS emulator developed from Lime3DS source code after the shutdown of Yuzu and Citra due to legal issues with Nintendo.

    2. The first release candidate of Azahar is available for testing on Android, Linux, macOS, and Windows, with plans for a stable release if no major issues are found in the first week.

    3. A notable feature of Azahar is the “Disable Right Eye Rendering” hack, which improves performance by displaying graphics in monoscopic mode, beneficial for lower-powered devices.

    4. To avoid legal problems, Azahar requires users to own a Nintendo 3DS to extract game files, using a tool called Artic, and does not support loading encrypted games.

    5. Azahar developers emphasize legal use, encouraging users to back up their own original games and providing information on this in their blog.

    Back when Yuzu, a well-known Nintendo 3DS emulator, shut its doors, Citra didn’t take long to follow suit, seemingly due to the legal actions Nintendo announced against the emulator’s creator. Shortly after, Azahar was introduced as a new Nintendo emulator that uses the source code from Lime3DS, which itself is based on Citra. Today, the developers of Azahar have shared the first release candidate for this new 3DS emulator.

    New Release Candidate

    The initial release candidate is a software version that the developers claim will lay the groundwork for future features. It’s being made available on Android, Linux, macOS, and Windows for testing purposes. If no major problems are uncovered within the first week of testing, it is likely to transition into the first stable release. You can grab it from the Azahar GitHub repository.

    Great Hardware Choice

    For 3DS emulation, something like the Lenovo Legion Go (currently $602.99 at Amazon) is a fantastic choice, especially when held vertically with the controllers disconnected.

    The release candidate comes with a variety of intriguing features, one of which is a hack called “Disable Right Eye Rendering.” This forces the emulator to display graphics in monoscopic mode—meaning it only uses one eye—potentially giving a 50% performance increase. This will probably only be needed on lower-powered Android devices, but it’s a handy tool to have. Azahar also enables users to download games directly from the Nintendo eShop if they have the 3DS system files.

    Avoiding Legal Issues

    To prevent facing the same issues as Citra and Yuzu, Azahar mandates that users must have an actual Nintendo 3DS to extract game files, using a new tool called Artic. There’s no method to load encrypted games, meaning game files must be decrypted first before they can be used in the system. One reason encrypted game support was removed is that bypassing TPM and security protocols was a crucial part of the arguments in lawsuits against Yuzu and Citra.

    However, Azahar does offer cryptographic keys to users, claiming that this is necessary for compatibility, and that these keys aren’t “creative enough to be protected by copyright law.” This simplifies things for users, as they won’t need to extract keys from their consoles.

    Emphasis on Legal Use

    The developers of Azahar maintain that their goal is not to promote piracy, and much of their communication stresses that users should only use the emulator to back up their own original games. More details on this are available in a recent blog post from Azahar regarding game loading.

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