As the Meta Quest 3 VR headset is powered by Android, users can install all manner of applications onto the device. One user decided to push the headset to its absolute limits, emulating the Nintendo Switch handheld inside the standalone VR headset.
In the past, users have shared how to emulate PS2 games on the Meta Quest 3. However, while the PlayStation 2 requires fairly modest specs to emulate, the Nintendo Switch is a much more power-hungry beast.
Posted on the Oculus Quest subreddit, one user showed off the Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu running on the new Meta Quest 3. Not only that, the emulator was running Super Mario Wonder, the latest platformer from Nintendo.
While the emulator doesn’t run Super Mario Wonder at full speed, after all it is very intensive, it does run the game. For those who want to run smaller games, such as Cuphead, Star Ocean, etc, Yuzu on Meta Quest 3 will suffice quite nicely. However, it’s worth noting, the user was running the emulator in quite a complex, moving 3D VR environment, not just on its own via pass through.
While many were unimpressed with the performance on Nintendo Switch emulation on Meta Quest 3, many tried to explain that the feat is impressive just by itself. Additionally, by running the game in a VR environment, it’s even more cool.
“It’s really impressive, even though it's laggy,” one fan explained. “10 more years and this can just straight up replace my computer, I think.”
“For anyone saying it's laggy: yuzu hasn't even been updated yet to optimize for Mario Wonder,” explained another. “It came out very recently. Honestly think that with a few updates it'll run a lot smoother.”
The Meta Quest 3 VR headset may be incredibly powerful, but the hardware is yet to see the success its predecessor did. At the time of writing, just 0.15% of PC VR gamers are rocking the new headset. Furthermore, Meta Quest 3 sales are not performing as well as expected, and supplies are being heavily slashed just a month after launch.
Nevertheless, the Meta Quest 3 community is small but alive, and as time goes on there is hope that Meta’s more powerful headset will be adopted by fans.
The Meta Quest 3 is available to buy right now at most major tech retailers.