Bitcoin hosts classic Nintendo 64 emulator via Ordinals

A group of on-chain ninjas has inscribed an emulator for the classic home video game console Nintendo 64 (N64) on the Bitcoin (BTC) network as they campaign for the preservation of classic video games using the blockchain. 

I'm happy to share that Pizza Ninjas just inscribed a Nintendo 64 emulator on Bitcoin!

We didn't think this would be practical initially, but thanks to the new Brotli Compression on Ordinals

Inscribing a larger system like N64 and its games is more realistically feasible… pic.twitter.com/XcEAAqR04A

— trevor.btc — b/acc (@TO) February 22, 2024

Trevor Owens, the CEO of Bitcoin Ordinals portfolio tracker Ninjalerts, announced a development in their company’s ongoing “Pizza Ninjas” project. Owens said that their developers were able to inscribe the N64 emulator on Bitcoin using the Ordinals protocol. The executive told Cointelegraph that this is part of their effort to preserve “critically endangered games.”

While games being put on the blockchain may raise eyebrows due to the existence of copyright, Owens assured the community that they are doing this project legally. The Ninjalerts CEO explained that they are not putting any games under copyright on-chain. Instead, they are choosing games that are in the public domain and will inscribe those. Owens added:

“We want to advance the conversation with preservationists around classic games and hope that effort can be taken by the community to figure out how to put the critically endangered games on-chain in a legal way.”

This isn't Ninjalert’s first effort at preserving games through the Bitcoin network. On Jan. 8, the Ninjalerts team inscribed the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) emulator on Bitcoin. Apart from preserving games, the project was also an attempt to raise the technical bar for Bitcoin Ordinals projects.

Weeks later, someone else took a crack at inscribing a video game on-chain using Ordinals. Following Ninjalerts, a pseudonymous developer called “Mini Doge” inscribed the 1990s-style first-person shooter game Doom on the Dogecoin blockchain using the Ordinals protocol on Jan. 23. This allows users to play the free version of the classic game by accessing the Dogecoin network.

Owens believes that the trend of inscribing games on-chain will persist. “I think that's really cool, and I do think this trend will continue. People want to preserve cultural history, and games are a huge part of that.” However, the executive urged community members not to break copyright laws. Owens said that they advocate for finding legal ways to preserve the games on-chain.

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Owens also mentioned that as blockchain is permissionless, people can put whatever data they want on-chain. He suggested once it is on the blockchain it might be difficult for intellectual property holders to take down. “The interesting thing will be watching how the IP holders react. It is likely impossible to take this data down once it is uploaded onto the blockchain, especially on Bitcoin.”

Citing a study that found that nearly 90% of classic games released before 2010 are endangered, Owens highlighted the importance of preserving gaming history. The Ninjalerts CEO compared games to firm and music and described them as an important part of culture that is worth preserving.

“If we care about preserving history and culture, there is no better place to immortalize the data than on Bitcoin,” Owens added.

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