Dolphin: Does what Nintendon't - Wii and Gamecube Emulation

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Dolphin: Does what Nintendon't - Wii and Gamecube Emulation

Gyoru: Jul 13, 2004

Disclaimer: I am not a part of the Dolphin team so feel free to contribute information and correct me when I'm wrong.

Dolphin is a Gamecube, Wii and Triforce (the arcade machine based on the Gamecube) emulator which supports many extra features and abilities not present on the original consoles. Gamecube and Wii compatibility is okay - one can expect "mainstream" titles to be running in some form or another; lesser known titles can be hit or miss. Triforce compatibility is currently limited to one game - others require more of the Triforce-specific peripheral devices to be emulated.

Dolphin isn't perfect (yet). It's being actively worked on to improve compatibility and performance.

Getting Started

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0550ny7B0wA&hd=1

Download a stable build from Dolphin's download page. You can also opt for an ICC optimized build from the SVN build forum.
Follow the Official Configuration Guide

Which SVN revision should I use?

It depends on your PC specifications and the game you are trying to emulate. A general rule of thumb is to stick with the official stable releases until you get a feel for how certain games perform in that environment. After acclimating to the stable build, try different SVN builds and compare performance.
According to this Fastest and Best Revisions thread:
- Best Compatibility and Stability: Dolphin 3.5
- Best Performance: r6515

What kind of PC do I need to run Dolphin smoothly?

A general rule of thumb is to have a relatively recent GPU and a dual-core or quad-core processor that is at least 3+ Ghz. If you were able to run PCSX2 smoothly, you should get similar results on Dolphin.

Which video plugin should I use?

Direct3D9: Fastest
Direct3D11: In between DX9 and OGL
OpenGL: Slowest/most accurate - use this if you're experiencing graphical glitches in DX9/11

What are the HLE/LLE options under DSP/audio settings? Which should I choose?

HLE is faster while LLE is more accurate. Only use LLE if you can handle the performance drop and/or you need to get rid of some audio glitches that are present in HLE.
In order to use LLE, you must dump your Wii's DSP and place the resulting dsp_coef.bin and dsp_rom.bin files in your <Dolphin>\Sys\GC\ folder.

How do I dump the DSP from my softmodded Wii again so I can use it for Dolphin's LLE sound mode?

Download DSPSpy Dumper.
Extract the folder and copy it over to your Wii's SD card under the \apps\ folder for homebrew.
Go to your Wii's Homebrew Channel and run the DSPSpy Dumper to dump dsp_coef.bin and dsp_rom.bin to your SD card.
Copy those files to your <Dolphin>\Sys\GC\ folder.

What does the "Lock Threads to Cores" setting do? Should I turn it on? What about "DSP LLE on Thread" under Audio settings?

You should check "Lock Threads to Cores" if you have a dual-core or preferably a quad-core processor. Dolphin can only utilize 2 cores so doing this will put most of the emulator's workload under your 1st and 2nd cores.
DSP LLE on Thread should only be turned on if you are using the DSP LLE recompiler and if you have a quad-core processor like an i5 or i7. On a quad-core, this setting will put the entire DSP LLE emulation workload on your 3rd core.
Both of these options are designed to help speed up the emulator.

How does Dolphin make games look so good? Does it render everything at native resolution? If not, doesn't that mean all Dolphin does is stretch the image at higher resolutions?

Depending on how you configure your video settings, you can force games to render at higher resolutions than native. You can still run games at native resolution if you want, but generally increasing the resolution will result in an increase of the image quality. Dolphin will render all 3D objects at the higher resolution, which has a natural anti-aliasing effect. 2D sprites (think static HUD icons etc) tend not to upscale as well so they may look slightly pixelated. Note that the higher the resolution you use, the bigger the impact it has on performance.

Do I have to rip Wii games into ISO/CISO/GCM/GCZs? Can't I play them from my DVD drive?

Yes, but it's highly recommended that you play an image from your HDD. The latency and access times when playing from a DVD drive can crash the emulator. While Wii discs are just standard DVD5/DVD9s, they can't be ripped using a standard DVD drive. You can backup both Gamecube and Wii discs by using homebrew applications on an actual Wii system, which must be softmodded. Here is a link to the Wii homebrew thread with instructions on how to rip your games. There are some very specific disc drives that can copy GC/Wii games to the PC as well.

How do I use a real Wiimote with Dolphin?

You need to have the following:
- A Wiimote
- A wired/wireless Wii Sensor Bar or homemade equivalent like 2 lit candles
- A Bluetooth connection on your PC that's either onboard or through a dongle
Follow one of the connection guides here.

Can I use another input method like a mouse, keyboard, or gamepad?

You can emulate a Wiimote by using your mouse and keyboard. You can also use controllers like the Xbox 360's controller or PS3's Dualshock 3.

Gyoru fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Dec 26, 2012

# ? Jul 6, 2011 01:25

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# ? Apr 29, 2024 05:45

Gyoru: Jul 13, 2004

If you would like to request a specific game or have screenshots that you would like to contribute, simply post in the thread. :wooper:

Gyoru fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Oct 26, 2011

# ? Jul 6, 2011 01:26

Doc Monopoly: Feb 18, 2011

I saw that you mentioned ripping games from an HDD. I think you should do a write up on homebrew or point them to the homebrew thread if that is still alive.

e: found it http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3075676

Doc Monopoly fucked around with this message at 01:36 on Jul 6, 2011

# ? Jul 6, 2011 01:28

Umberger: Jan 24, 2010

Gyoru posted:

Wii discs are just standard DVD5/DVD9s so they can be ripped normally. The Gamecube's minidiscs requires you to rip using homebrew applications on an actual Gamecube or Wii system. There are some very specific drives that can read GC games to the PC as well.

Are you sure about this? Everything I've ever read (including Dolphin's own board) about dumping Wii games has said that you need to either use a specific DVD drive with Rawdump, or otherwise use homebrew on a Wii console itself.

e: To clarify, I know they're DVD5 and some are dual-layer DVD9s, but I've always seen people say that the method to actually create a dump of the disc is much more restrictive than you make it out to be.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 01:31

iastudent: Apr 22, 2008

Tales of Symphonia looks drat good in those screenshots. Wish my system wasn't lagging behind in years so I could give the Baten Kaitos games a spin in Dolphin.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 01:31

Gyoru: Jul 13, 2004

Clarified the disc backup process and linked to the Wiibrew thread.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 01:38

Heran Bago: Aug 18, 2006

My gaming rig went pop and my other computer has an 'Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD.' Can I still use dolphin with some obscure settings or am I SOL because Intel hates OpenGL?

I mostly want it for testing out New Super Mario Bros Wii edits.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 01:44

Gyoru: Jul 13, 2004

Heran Bago posted:

My gaming rig went pop and my other computer has an 'Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD.' Can I still use dolphin with some obscure settings or am I SOL because Intel hates OpenGL?

I mostly want it for testing out New Super Mario Bros Wii edits.

You need a dedicated graphics card instead of an integrated one. You might be able to run something at native resolution, but I doubt it would be at a playable speed.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 02:43

VDay: Jul 2, 2003; I'm Pacman Jones!

Oh man those ToS screenshots make me regret selling my 360 copy a couple years back. I might have to track a used copy down to play with save states. That game was perfect to just throw on for 15 mins and get a new costume, grind some grade, or go dick around in the arena.

And nice OP.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 02:49

Myriad: Apr 26, 2010

Trying to play Fire Emblem - Path of Radiance on this thing has ended in tears. Keeps hanging during the talking bits between missions, I guess I just need to wait till I get my wii back before playing it.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 02:56

Toad King: Apr 23, 2008; Yeah, I'm the best

Hey there, Dolphin dev here. I just wanted to make a couple notes for new users:

If you have a 64-bit OS, use the 64-bit version of Dolphin. It usually has better speed than the 32-bit version.
The LLE DSP sound system, while slower, works much better for pretty much every game. If the sound doesn't work properly, use LLE. With the recompiler, you get close to HLE speeds. It can even help with some hangs/crashes, but that depends on the game.
Most dumps from Wii USB loaders are in a special format that Dolphin can't use directly. Either use some software to extract the raw ISO, or just redump them with CleanRip.
For Windows users: Make sure you have DirectX up to date (updater) and get the Visual Studio 2010 redistributables. (32-bit/64-bit) This fixes any missing DLL issues you might have. NEVER grab random .dll files from the web and just shove them in C:\Windows\System32. That's just asking for trouble.
For non-windows users: Yes, we know the OpenGL backend is currently slower than the DirectX ones. It will get better. Eventually.

I'll try to check the thread every so often for any questions you might have.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 03:16

bunky: Aug 29, 2004

Toad King posted:

Most dumps from Wii USB loaders are in a special format that Dolphin can't use directly. Either use some software to extract the raw ISO, or just redump them with CleanRip.

Argh. Guess I have to convert all my games off my WBFS hard drive to ISOs. Is it even worth it if I'm running a C2D at 3.6 gHz and a 1 gig 4870? Dolphin 2.0 was very hit and miss for me.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 03:29

cat doter: Jul 27, 2006; gonna need more cheese...australia has a lot of crackers

bunky posted:

Argh. Guess I have to convert all my games off my WBFS hard drive to ISOs. Is it even worth it if I'm running a C2D at 3.6 gHz and a 1 gig 4870? Dolphin 2.0 was very hit and miss for me.

You'll most likely get pretty dang good speeds with that PC, actually. I have a Phenom II x4 at 3.8GHz and most games run very near or at full speed.

Speaking of the LLE recompiler, I've been having a problem where I get a fairly significant performance drop using it and any games that run at less than full speed cause the sound to stutter like crazy, even at 58fps. Could it be my LLE rip? Or am I missing a certain setting?

# ? Jul 6, 2011 03:36

Toad King: Apr 23, 2008; Yeah, I'm the best

cat doter posted:

You'll most likely get pretty dang good speeds with that PC, actually. I have a Phenom II x4 at 3.8GHz and most games run very near or at full speed.

Speaking of the LLE recompiler, I've been having a problem where I get a fairly significant performance drop using it and any games that run at less than full speed cause the sound to stutter like crazy, even at 58fps. Could it be my LLE rip? Or am I missing a certain setting?

LLE needs the game to run at full speed otherwise you get some stuttering. And are you saying that the LLE recompiler is slower than the LLE interpreter? If so, that's a bug and you should report that.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 03:56

cat doter: Jul 27, 2006; gonna need more cheese...australia has a lot of crackers

Toad King posted:

LLE needs the game to run at full speed otherwise you get some stuttering. And are you saying that the LLE recompiler is slower than the LLE interpreter? If so, that's a bug and you should report that.

Nah I meant that it's slower than the HLE emulation. I am trying to run Donkey Kong Country Returns and Super Mario Galaxy 2 though, so I guess I have to put up with HLE for now.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 04:13

Proletariat Beowulf: Jan 7, 2007; I wish meat screamed as I ate it.

Twin Snakes replay, here I come. Some youtube users (though beyond belief) have gotten it to run at full speed with cutscenes that will run, though their sound stutters a bit. Looks rad.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 05:42

Toad King: Apr 23, 2008; Yeah, I'm the best

cat doter posted:

Nah I meant that it's slower than the HLE emulation. I am trying to run Donkey Kong Country Returns and Super Mario Galaxy 2 though, so I guess I have to put up with HLE for now.

If you have a tri-core or quad-core CPU, you can try running LLE on a thread. It's less stable, but it could make it faster. Just check the box in the audio options.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 05:57

craig588: Nov 19, 2005; by Nyc_Tattoo

I found out about this a couple weeks ago and was thinking of making a post about it myself but I got too lazy. Playing Pikmin at 1080P is amazing, it's the only game I've played so far but it's good enough to make me want to play through all my old Gamecube games. For some reason Gamecube games scale way better than N64 or PSX games do, maybe it's just Pikmin because of the art style, but give it a shot if you've been considering replaying it on your actual hardware. It runs basicly perfect and I only have an QX6850 with a 8800 Ultra, the only time I get slowdown is when I have more than 80 or so guys on screen.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 13:26

Nucular Carmul: Jan 26, 2005; Melongenidae incantatrix

If I'm assuming correctly (from the screenshots), you have Tales of Symphonia on there, kudos for that alone, more people need to play that game, best Tales game :colbert:

# ? Jul 6, 2011 13:32

Execu-speak: Jun 2, 2011; Welcome to the real world hippies!

You know what I don't understand about Dolphin, why is it that I can run Wii games upscaled to 1080p with 16xAA at 60fps yet Gamecube games which have much worse graphics run at 20-30fps?

Also does anyone know how to get Red Steel 2 working without massive freezing and audio glitches?

# ? Jul 6, 2011 13:40

Eddain: May 6, 2007

A while ago I tried to play Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and encountered a pretty common Dolphin bug around chapter 17 that completely screwed my savefile.

Then I tried playing Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn and a lot of random issues killed it for me.

Are PoR and RD working these days on the latest version of Dolphin? I know I could just play them on my Wii but god, I never use that thing and don't really want to unbox it for random gaming urges.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 13:46

VDay: Jul 2, 2003; I'm Pacman Jones!

Speaking of Path of Radiance, whenever I set anisotropic filtering to anything higher than 1X I get red boxes around the character eyes/mouth during cutscenes. Is there a fix or hack I can select or am I stuck with that? Using the 7669 64-bit build.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 13:54

Gyoru: Jul 13, 2004

VDay posted:

Speaking of Path of Radiance, whenever I set anisotropic filtering to anything higher than 1X I get red boxes around the character eyes/mouth during cutscenes. Is there a fix or hack I can select or am I stuck with that? Using the 7669 64-bit build.

I don't have Path of Radiance with me, but for Radiant Dawn you can use OpenGL to get rid of the face boxes.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 14:37

boner meter: Apr 27, 2006; I AM A SMUG ASSHOLE WHO BELIEVES IN RACIST PROPAGANDA. I DESERVE ONLY RIDICULE.

Holy poo poo, I had no idea emulation had gotten to this level. Anybody tried playing Eternal Darkness on this?

# ? Jul 6, 2011 14:49

XboxPants: Jan 30, 2006; Steven doesn't want me watching him sleep anymore.

boner meter posted:

Holy poo poo, I had no idea emulation had gotten to this level. Anybody tried playing Eternal Darkness on this?

Count me in as another. I knew you could play them 720p, but 1080p with 16x AA? Nuts! That Wind Waker looks loving GORGEOUS.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 15:05

Rascyc: Jan 23, 2008; Dissatisfied Puppy

Do you have any Muramasa screenshots Gyoru?

Also does anyone know if the drifting (sync-wise) audio during cutscenes was ever fixed for Arc Rise Fantasia?

Finally, I'm glad the optimized builds were finally linked somewhere else other than that one neon green web page with trance music playing in the background.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 15:50

Jimmmmah: Oct 11, 2000; Forum Veteran

I've been using this for a week or two now and just chiming in to say how well it runs, I initially had a few problems with a few of the games but downloading 3.0 fixed the majority of them. Is there a way of customising the graphics options for each individual game instead of the main config ? Some games such as Mario Sports Mix require Directx 11 to display all the menu's, whereas something like New Super Mario Bros works better in directx 9 with the settings slightly tweaked, instead of changing it each time between games - is it possible to just change it in the games properties ?

# ? Jul 6, 2011 19:05

MonkeyforaHead: Apr 7, 2006; God, you vindictive bitch, why can't I ever have any "me" time

VDay posted:

Oh man those ToS screenshots make me regret selling my 360 copy a couple years back. I might have to track a used copy down to play with save states. That game was perfect to just throw on for 15 mins and get a new costume, grind some grade, or go dick around in the arena.

And nice OP.

If you're serious about this I may be willing to actually get off my rear end and foist my copy off on someone finally. I found myself having to quit that game partway through the first disc before the story caused me any more irreversible brain damage. It's still gathering dust somewhere, and from what I hear it's pretty sought-after due to a limited print run, so no point in me hanging onto it.

I don't have PMs so if you want, add me on Steam (preferable) or mail me

# ? Jul 6, 2011 19:37

Gyoru: Jul 13, 2004

Added Muramasa screenshots to the OP.

Here are some bonus screenshots from the Muramasa Hi-Res Texture project on the Dolphin forums. It's currently in Beta stages and only for the PAL release so I couldn't test it.
http://forums.dolphin-emulator.com/showthread.php?tid=16870

# ? Jul 6, 2011 19:37

RadicalR: Jan 20, 2008; "Businessmen are the symbol of a free society
---
the symbol of America."

Holy poo poo.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 20:07

Dominic White: Nov 1, 2005

RadicalR posted:

Holy poo poo.

Seconding that. I wonder if the upcoming official HD remake will look anywhere near as good?

# ? Jul 6, 2011 20:20

Carecat: Apr 27, 2004; Buglord

Been trying to get better performance in Super Mario Galaxy 2, followed the advice in the thread on the forums for it but my FPS still tanks in a lot of scenes. Is a Q9550 just not up to it? Its 2.8ghz.

Trying the optimized 6515 from the forums to see if it helps.

Carecat fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Jul 6, 2011

# ? Jul 6, 2011 21:07

Behonkiss: Feb 10, 2005

Reading this thread makes me sad for two reasons: I don't have a PC good enough to run this well, and Nintendo has already said that the Wii U won't up-convert Wii games despite being HD, so it will be a long time, if ever, before I play Wii and Gamecube games in HD.

Dominic White posted:

Seconding that. I wonder if the upcoming official HD remake will look anywhere near as good?

I don't think that was ever officially started.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 21:10

Setzer Gabbiani: Oct 13, 2004

Epic Yarn is yet another one of those gorgeous upscaled 2D titles, and you can complete it without any problems

And I must be haunted by the spirit of Carmack, because in every single case, OpenGL is the best-looking and fastest renderer, and ever since per-pixel lighting was fixed in either the 6970's driver or the latest SVN, it's pretty indistinguishable from D3D11

It'd also be nice if AMD wasn't 2 years behind on SSE4+ support :saddowns:

# ? Jul 6, 2011 21:19

boner meter: Apr 27, 2006; I AM A SMUG ASSHOLE WHO BELIEVES IN RACIST PROPAGANDA. I DESERVE ONLY RIDICULE.

Gyoru posted:

Added Muramasa screenshots to the OP.

Here are some bonus screenshots from the Muramasa Hi-Res Texture project on the Dolphin forums. It's currently in Beta stages and only for the PAL release so I couldn't test it.
http://forums.dolphin-emulator.com/showthread.php?tid=16870

I don't even know what the gently caress this game is and I'm stunned.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 21:21

meecrob: Jul 3, 2007; I'd scarf down a whole wet bucket full of shit before I ate another plate of meecrob.

I have been waiting for a Dolphin thread!

[Rant about bluetooth compatibility]

I have been trying like a motherfucker to get either one of my PCs to work with a wiimote. I've gotten it almost working in windows. I wasn't sure my bluetooth dongle was compatible with it, so I went out and bought 2 different ones of the list (http://wiibrew.org/wiki/List_of_Working_Bluetooth_Devices) and I still can't get anything. I can get windows to recognize the controller for a little bit, but isn't usable as an input device. I feel kind of bummed since I have spent about $100 to get it working. I could have bought a Wii for that much, but I want higher definition graphics.

I have tried the Microsoft Wireless Transceiver for Bluetooth 2.0 (my original dongle), an IOGEAR GBU421T and a Rocketfish Bluetooth Adaptor RF-FLBTAD on both Vista 32 and Windows 7 and no dice. I have tried widcomm and the microsoft stack and even a trial of bluesoleil. The best luck I have is with bluesoleil, but the trial of it doesn't work long enough for me to test if it works and I'm not about to shell out more money on this endeavor.

[/rant]

So can you guys that have working Wiimotes post what dongle you use sucessfully on what OS and with what stack? Maybe we can have our own list going or someone can sperg enough to update a wiki.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 22:38

Gyoru: Jul 13, 2004

meecrob posted:

I have been waiting for a Dolphin thread!

[Rant about bluetooth compatibility]

I have been trying like a motherfucker to get either one of my PCs to work with a wiimote. I've gotten it almost working in windows. I wasn't sure my bluetooth dongle was compatible with it, so I went out and bought 2 different ones of the list (http://wiibrew.org/wiki/List_of_Working_Bluetooth_Devices) and I still can't get anything. I can get windows to recognize the controller for a little bit, but isn't usable as an input device. I feel kind of bummed since I have spent about $100 to get it working. I could have bought a Wii for that much, but I want higher definition graphics.

I have tried the Microsoft Wireless Transceiver for Bluetooth 2.0 (my original dongle), an IOGEAR GBU421T and a Rocketfish Bluetooth Adaptor RF-FLBTAD on both Vista 32 and Windows 7 and no dice. I have tried widcomm and the microsoft stack and even a trial of bluesoleil. The best luck I have is with bluesoleil, but the trial of it doesn't work long enough for me to test if it works and I'm not about to shell out more money on this endeavor.

[/rant]

So can you guys that have working Wiimotes post what dongle you use sucessfully on what OS and with what stack? Maybe we can have our own list going or someone can sperg enough to update a wiki.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/super-mini-bluetooth-2-0-adapter-dongle-vista-compatible-11866

That one is $1.80 with free shipping from dealextreme. It works on Win 7 x64 with the generic Microsoft bluetooth stack. I use it for both my Wiimote and Dualshock 3.

# ? Jul 6, 2011 23:12

XboxPants: Jan 30, 2006; Steven doesn't want me watching him sleep anymore.

Setzer Gabbiani posted:

Epic Yarn is yet another one of those gorgeous upscaled 2D titles, and you can complete it without any problems

And I must be haunted by the spirit of Carmack, because in every single case, OpenGL is the best-looking and fastest renderer, and ever since per-pixel lighting was fixed in either the 6970's driver or the latest SVN, it's pretty indistinguishable from D3D11

It'd also be nice if AMD wasn't 2 years behind on SSE4+ support

Those sprites are loving polygons!?

# ? Jul 6, 2011 23:18

Cowman: Feb 14, 2006; Beware the Cow

I still think Dolphin would have been a better name than Gamecube. My Wii's DVD drive bit the dust and we haven't gotten around to getting a new one. It's definitely a surprise at how well the games upscale and are rendered. Excellent job to the developers.

# ? Jul 7, 2011 00:26

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# ? Apr 29, 2024 05:45

jromano: Sep 24, 2007

I was thinking about making one of these threads. I just built a new desktop and I'm amazed at how well Dolphin works. Super Mario Galaxy 2 and New Super Mario Bros look spectacular in 1080p. Most Wii games I've tried run locked at 60fps after fiddling with the settings a little bit. If you have an i5 with a half-decent GPU, you should be good.

Definitely grab one of the optimized builds. I'm using Lectrode's 3.0 (7617)x64 ICC optimized build. Make sure you have the latest DirectX and Visual C++ 2010 x64 or it won't run. The default settings aren't terrible, but I suggest a couple changes.

General: Enable dual core, enable idle skipping, JIT recompiler, lock threads to core
Audio: HLE with only "Enable DTK Music" checked, XAudio2 backend
Graphics: D3D9, internal resolution to auto (window size), scaled efb copy, ignore format changes, efb copy to texture, disable external frame buffer, fast mipmaps, cache display lists, disable per-pixel depth, openMP texture decoder

Most of those options are default, just a couple changes really. The only issue I ran into was having to use LLE instead of HLE on the castle levels for Mario Galaxy 2 or it crashes when you get the power star. Hopefully it's fixed soon, since it's kind of a pain to setup LLE.

It controls surprisingly well with a mouse and keyboard. I'm using an XBox 360 controller and it works perfectly with full rumble support. Might post some screenshots later!

# ? Jul 7, 2011 02:38

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Dolphin: Does what Nintendon't - Wii and Gamecube Emulation

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