Lingcod
| Developer(s) | NVIDIA GameWorks |
|---|---|
| Latest version | N/A |
| Active | No |
| Platform(s) | NVIDIA Shield TV |
| Architecture(s) | ARM |
| Emulates | Wii GameCube (unused) |
| Website | NVIDIA |
| License | Proprietary |
Lingcod is the Wii emulator used for NVIDIA Shield TV units sold exclusively in China. It was licensed by Nintendo as part of a deal by bringing the Tegra X1 SoC used on Nintendo Switch.
Overview
The emulator is packed in a framework made by NVIDIA known as Northport. It seems the emulator was built upon a port of Dolphin with additional DRM code, as there is mentions of Super Mario Sunshine inside the emulator's internal files. The games also must be played online, however, the servers for these games were shutdown in 2021, rendering them unplayable.
While there were plans to release the Wii in China through iQue (Nintendo's representative in the country), Nintendo limited sales of Wii units just to Hong Kong and Taiwan instead, by importing Japanese units and games.
Features
- All games feature localized versions of Wii games in Simplified Chinese made by iQue;
- Games must be played with an Internet connection, as part of DRM;
- Since the servers were shutdown in earlier 2020s, these games are not playable anymore in the unit.
- Games were also updated with online patches.
- Games are upscaled and optimized for HDTVs;
- All games' internal code were changed in order to not run in other Wii (or Wii U) units and/or emulators.
Games
Lingcod has official compatibility for 5 games, which are:
- Donkey Kong Country Returns
- New Super Mario Bros. Wii
- Punch-Out!!
- Super Mario Galaxy
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
In addition, Cooking Mama and Super Mario Sunshine are mentioned in the emulator's internal files, but were never released (the latter is a GameCube game). Mario Kart Wii did receive a playable demo for the system, but it did not end up being released on retail format.