Earlier this year, Citra, the 3DS emulator, was officially released for Android devices. If you thought that this was the biggest emulator news for Android this year, then you thought wrong. Enter Egg NS: a working Nintendo Switch emulator for Android.

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While it was made publicly available a few days ago, Egg NS was developed over a period of two years by the NXTeam Studios according to the official website. The website also claims that the team is based in the U.S. but that remains to be confirmed especially considering the typos and Chinese texts on the website. The video above is one of the few that are available at the time of writing and have been posted on the official website but GBAtemp member @mattyxarope noted that YouTuber Taki Udon confirmed the existence of Egg NS on Discord (under #android-devices) and shared additional videos (some of which you can see here, here and here). Another YouTuber, ETA Prime, also said that it's a "a legit Switch emulator for Android" and shared a picture of the emulator running Hollow Knight with a video planned for a later release.

GBAtemp member @bylaws who worked on getting Android to run on the Switch noted that Egg NS "uses stolen code from yuzu for the GPU emulation".

According to the official website, Egg NS works on Snapdragon 855, 855+ and 865 phones, with a list of compatible phones available on their website. The catch is that the emulator works specifically with the $100 GameSir X2 controller which is available for preorder, since it apparently provides a code required to run the app. Upon closer look, the Egg NS logo bears some similarity to GameSir's Happy Chick app (the chick inside a cracked egg) which itself runs a number of emulators.

NXTeam Studios has also shared a games compatibility list, detailing the performance of each game they tested. Understandably, less graphically-demanding games like Cuphead and Enter The Gungeon seem to run better in Egg NS, with the exception of Pokemon Sword & Shield which is said to have a "perfect" compatibility.

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Given that Egg NS is an emulator, not all games will run as well as on the native console. You might be better off with a Switch for now but it does show the potential of mobile phones and with time, Egg NS might improve and similar emulators with better performance might even pop up.

@mathew77 already started a discussion thread linked as the source material below. As for Egg NS' website and download links, you can find it from the YouTube videos but aren't shared in this post as they contain links to illegally-shared files.

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[Xzi]

You need a 300+ buck phone to run games, +100 buck phone controller to play and a legit switch costs only 200.

Why?

Well, most people already have a new-ish smartphone, but the controller requirement is definitely nonsense even at half that price. As for why people would want an Android Switch emulator, that part should be obvious: to play pirated Switch games on portable hardware.

 

[banjo2]

I don't plan on getting this, but how powerful would an Android phone have to be to have a decent experience with this?

 

[MadMakuFuuma]

so, we can expect bow up battery, like those galaxy 7? XD (only joke, i know emulation can be about optimize codes)

You need a 300+ buck phone to run games, +100 buck phone controller to play and a legit switch costs only 200.

Why?

if you already have the phone and controllers, why not?

 

[banjo2]

if you already have the phone and controllers, why not?

The catch is that the emulator works specifically with the $100 GameSir X2 controller which is available for preorder, since it apparently provides a code required to run the game.

 

[Andalitez]

so, we can expect bow up battery, like those galaxy 7? XD (only joke, i know emulation can be about optimize codes)



if you already have the phone and controllers, why not?

The controller is the problem.
Nobody has that yet

 

[Stealphie]

i'm sure @p1ngpong is very happy.

 

[Xzi]

I don't plan on getting this, but how powerful would an Android phone have to be to have a decent experience with this?

Looks like Snapdragon 855 started getting put in phones around early 2019 (Galaxy s10), so I guess that probably would be another hurdle for those of us who don't upgrade often. I'm still rocking an s7 myself with Snapdragon 820, well below the minimum requirement.

 

[matpower]

I'll say this as many times as I need to, until it's as clear as purified water:

You can't "steal" code if it's open-source. That's like stealing those AOL CDs that grocery stores gave out for free. Or stealing the newspapers that say "free, take one."

Are you actually unaware of software licenses? Yuzu is GPLv2, which forces you to share code as soon as you put a single line of GPL-licensed code (an exaggeration, but not far from reality). It has hold up in court and I expect it to have consequences for them, as they are US-based, unless Yuzu ignores it.
I do hope you don't have this mindset with MediCat and actually care about licenses.

As for this shitty emulator, it is the same as DaemonPS2: monkey patched code that is no way as good as a proper project would be.

 

[banjo2]

Looks like Snapdragon 855 started getting put in phones around early 2019 (Galaxy s10), so I guess that probably would be another hurdle for those of us who don't upgrade often. I'm still rocking an s7 myself with Snapdragon 820, well below the minimum requirement.

Oh, I see, I'm on 835

 

[Der_Blockbuster]

How does temp even frontpage this trash, I don't understand.

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Also funny how there are only 4 Videos from different channels which all feature the exactly same Video Layout and Configuration.
Smells like bs from miles away.

 

[banjo2]

View attachment 223470

How does temp even frontpage this trash, I don't understand.

I'm not experienced with the Switch homebrew/emulation world, but it's the first Android Switch emulator isn't it? Seems like it'd be notable anyway

 

[Chary]

So it wasn’t just China marketing hype after all. I currently have the X2 controller, and they teased a Switch emulator prior to sending it out. I thought it was just Engrish. Seems I’m going to have a very interesting time checking it out.

 

[Der_Blockbuster]

Also, I think the : "is a working ns emulator" smells like someone paid for that.
Normally you would say is working on a emulator. How is this working when only 20 indie games are playable. If they are. And where is the sword and shield gameplay?

 

[gudenau]

I'm wondering if this is using the AARCH64 hardware VM stuff at all.

That would be super interesting.

 

[Der_Blockbuster]

I'm not experienced with the Switch homebrew/emulation world, but it's the first Android Switch emulator isn't it? Seems like it'd be notable anyway

Yeah but the lack of reallife footage makes it kinda sus imo. For it to being frontpaged so quickly. Too many flags for me.

 

[Stealphie]

The controller requirement is stupid. Add touch controls or atleast make it so you can use other controllers.

 

[gudenau]

I'll say this as many times as I need to, until it's as clear as purified water:

You can't "steal" code if it's open-source. That's like stealing those AOL CDs that grocery stores gave out for free. Or stealing the newspapers that say "free, take one."

You can still steal it. If there isn't a license then you can't take anything, if there's a license you need to follow it's terms.

 

[Der_Blockbuster]

If I want to play Hollow Knight on my Phone, I can just Stream it to my phone via stream.

 

[Xzi]

Yeah but the lack of reallife footage makes it kinda sus imo. For it to being frontpaged so quickly. Too many flags for me.

Even the OP says you'd be better off with a Switch for now, I'm sure performance in most AAA games is subpar to say the least. It's more a proof of concept thing and provides an interesting glimpse into the future potential of Android Switch emulation.

In any case, it sounds like Chary will be able to give us more details in the near future without the need for anybody else to spend a penny:

So it wasn’t just China marketing hype after all. I currently have the X2 controller, and they teased a Switch emulator prior to sending it out. I thought it was just Engrish. Seems I’m going to have a very interesting time checking it out.

 

[MRJPGames]

I'll say this as many times as I need to, until it's as clear as purified water:

You can't "steal" code if it's open-source. That's like stealing those AOL CDs that grocery stores gave out for free. Or stealing the newspapers that say "free, take one."

You can actually steal open source code. Almost all open source projects have a license. If their use is not within that license (for instance most require proper credit be given, or even that new changes are shared publicly) then that is theft of open source code.

It would be the same as an AOL CD being free but having the subtext "Only one per customer" and you take 10. 9 of those are still stolen even though the CDs were being given away for free.

You might want to look into the Humongous entertainment games' release on Wii, where they stole ScummVM, and lost a lawsuit and had to pull their games.