That said I wonder:
- how does Apple define “retro”? Is it just “not in circulation”?
- how normal will Nintendo be if Delta (game boy / DS / N64 emulator for iOS) is suddenly on the App Store? We’ve seen them be assholes about Yuzu (semi understandable because the Switch is still sold) and Dolphin but I’m sure they’d love to spin a “Delta competes with the Switch Online program so we want it shut down” argument against Apple when/if it ever gets there.
Exciting and weird times ahead even if I wouldn’t want to be in whoever will try to test those waters first lol
There'll probably be no problem with Nintendo if they don't do Yuzu-grade dumb things like monetising the emulator, releasing unreleased code (for money), offering a storefront for currently retailing games (also for money), simple stuff.
In the case of Dolphin, that was more Valve just capitulating to Nintendo making a takedown request due to code that Dolphin was using to decrypt protections. Dolphin is still out there, still very active. Yuzu was greedy and dumb, many other emulators survive fine and it's all down to not giving them an excuse to sue you out of existence. Don't offer up their IP or try and make cash off it and you'll be okay.