Over eight years and nearly 22,000 commits since the release of Dolphin 5.0 in June of 2016, Dolphin has evolved to become a stable and accurate emulator of both the Nintendo Wii and GameCube. It currently boasts impressive title support and a range of enhancements and features that elevate the emulation experience. In a big change forward, Dolphin is now moving to a rolling release model starting with version 2407 (for July 2024).

This new approach includes frequent updates with changelogs, hotfixes, and date-based versioning, eliminating the need for the previous stable release scheme. The new release strategy aims to provide continuous improvement without long development pauses, that should enhance both infrastructure and user experience.

Here are the details of the new rolling release scheme:

• The first two digits are the year, and the second two are the month. 2407 codifies a release from July 2024.
• All subsequent dev builds after a release will be numbers added on to it. For example, 144 commits after 2409 would result in dev build 2409-144.
• Our next release will be 240X. Yes, it will be in just a few months from now!
• Hotfix releases will have the addition of a suffix. For example, a single hotfix to Dolphin 2409 would be "Dolphin 2409a".
• Beta builds are being replaced by releases. All users in the beta update track will be moved to the new release track.

If you are already using the latest beta or dev releases, not much should change, however if you are still using the previous 5.0 stable release you should head over to the site now and upgrade to the latest version to take advantage of the incredible work done by the team. This 2407 release is available for download immediately for Windows x86-64, Windows ARM64, macOS, and Android.

Source

 

[raxadian]

This 2407 release is available for download immediately for Windows x86-64, Windows ARM64, macOS, and Android.

No Linux? Why?

 

[Hanafuda]

When I saw the headline I thought... "shit, dolphins finally have higher IQ then the average gamer, they about to attack Japan in a revenge attack in a kamikaze style". But I thought no, something smells fishy about that.

Then I opened the article and read it. It's just about the emulator. Love dolphin.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

 

[stanleyopar2000]

Fuck who ever made this headline Jesus Christ

 

[a_username_that_is_cool]

Didn't it already release?

 

[orangy57]

A better numbering scheme makes sense, but i'll miss being on version 5.0-7fucktillion tbh
It always seemed weird that dolphin was on the same "5.0" considering that the emulator is night-and-day different from what it was back then. Just go use Dolphin VR 5.0 (which is trapped in eternal 2016 limbo) and tell me that they're even remotely the same version

 

[MaxiBash]

Nintendo be like:
Now it's time to sue them

holy shit can we stop with these fucking comments, it's getting to a point now where it's nothing but irritating that can't even be seen as a joke
you know full well Nintendo isn't going after something that by them isn't considered a cut into potential profits
yet we all cry and riot when Nintendo actually does sue someone or dmca a project

 

[ItsAshleyFTW]

holy shit can we stop with these fucking comments, it's getting to a point now where it's nothing but irritating that can't even be seen as a joke
you know full well Nintendo isn't going after something that by them isn't considered a cut into potential profits
yet we all cry and riot when Nintendo actually does sue someone or dmca a project

Yeah Dolphin's been around forever, so why would Nintendo just now sue them? They don't care about emulators unless it's for the Switch or a console that's still supported.

 

[MaxiBash]

Yeah Dolphin's been around forever, so why would Nintendo just now sue them? They don't care about emulators unless it's for the Switch or a console that's still supported.

Technically they cared when Dolphin was planned to come to Steam, but the only reason that dream ended is because Valve asked Nintendo if that was okay, and Nintendo of course said no. Though no further actions were taken after that.

 

[4d1xlaan]

The good ol' Dolphin is back. Just a shame my computer has always refused to emulate it.

never left

 

[Azrubel]

Excellent clickbait title. Expected it to be yet another takedown by Nintendo's Legal Team.

 

[Bladexdsl]

They don't care about emulators unless it's for the Switch or a console that's still supported.

explain vimms take down than

 

[ItsAshleyFTW]

explain vimms take down than

Only the roms were taken down not the emulators. Nintendo has never gone after an emulator for a console that isn't currently supported. They tried to go after Dolphin but only after they announced it was coming to Steam. Once Steam canceled the release the whole matter came to an end.

 

[Reploid]

holy shit can we stop with these fucking comments, it's getting to a point now where it's nothing but irritating that can't even be seen as a joke
you know full well Nintendo isn't going after something that by them isn't considered a cut into potential profits
yet we all cry and riot when Nintendo actually does sue someone or dmca a project

Why would we when we get such a funny reaction from funny ppl?

 

[RedColoredStars]

they don't seem to care about dolphin unless it's on the steam. but than again they take down vimms which has old roms but they allow ryu to continue.

explain vimms take down than

You seriously think hosting emulators for old consoles and hosting roms for old consoles are the same thing. You never cease to amaze me with your absolute brilliance.

 

[Tofu_mommy]

No Linux? Why?

Binary builds make no sense as the distributions would be providing them via their package managers.

 

[SDA]

never left

Did I say it left? No.

 

[4d1xlaan]

Did I say it left? No.

"Is back" implies it wasn't there for a time

The whole point of this is that nothing changed compared to before lol

 

[raxadian]

Binary builds make no sense as the distributions would be providing them via their package managers.

https://flathub.org/apps/org.DolphinEmu.dolphin-emu

I do not trust that link.

 

[Wolfy]

I love the monthly blog posts, but I would kill to get a new video showing off the improvements since 5.0 T-T

 

[Tofu_mommy]

https://flathub.org/apps/org.DolphinEmu.dolphin-emu

I do not trust that link.

I intentionally stay away from these alternatives to proper packages, as they tend to be broken in all sorts of ways, need extra work, and add another package manager to worry about. At least flatpaks sort of work, but are quite GUI centric. I hope everyone who had the misfortune of touching snaps will forget them, including myself.

Arch package is still flagged as out of date, not that my laptop can really handle Dolphin well, I assume it would struggle with running games even at their native resolutions.