More than ten years after its debut, Nintendo’s Wii Shop Channel is still kicking — and now one at least one Wii emulator, Dolphin, has advanced enough to be able to access the digital storefront and purchase games.
This is a significant breakthrough for the Dolphin devs, and it means that (at least as of this writing) emulator users can now engage with Nintendo’s online storefront in the same fashion as Wii owners.
In a video published earlier this month, Dolphin devs actually demonstrate using the emulator to access the Wii Shop and buy currency with a credit card.
Of course, Nintendo has not officially endorsed such behavior, which flies in the face of the company’s longstanding opposition to emulation on the basis that it is a vehicle for software piracy.