An NFT platform, Pizza Ninjas, has successfully launched a classic Nintendo 64 emulator on the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain using BTC ordinals. Ordinals allow data to be inscribed on satoshis, the smallest unit of BTC.
Emulators and Brotli Compression
Emulators enable gamers to play video game consoles on other devices without owning or operating the console itself. Pizza Ninjas has utilized Google’s Brotli Compression method to inscribe larger items. This allows for file size reductions of around 80%. For example, the iconic Goldeneye 64, which is 12.4 MB uncompressed, can be reduced to 3.15 MB using Brotli. This fits inside a single Bitcoin block (4 MB) or can be split across eight transactions under 400 kb.
Cost of Inscription
With network fees at their lowest since the start of Ordinals, inscribing this at the current 15 sats/vbyte would only cost $6,000. This is reasonable for a community of gamers interested in preserving these classic games forever.
Nintendo 64 and Doom
The Nintendo 64 was launched in 1996 and sold over 30 million units over its lifetime. In January, the classic first-person shooter Doom was also inscribed on Dogecoin (DOGE) using “doginals,” the meme asset’s version of BTC ordinals.
