Fans made a native 'Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time' PC port
The creators took steps to avoid legal trouble.
You won't have to use the Switch Virtual Console (or a good emulator) to make the most of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on modern hardware. VGC reports fans at Harbour Masters have developed a native PC port (available on Discord) that supports many up-to-the-minute features, including HD (and ultra-wide) graphics, modding, keyboard input and even Switch-style gyroscope aiming. You could make good use of a Steam Deck in your latest round of gaming nostalgia, to put it another way.
And yes, Harbour Masters claims it can avoid Nintendo's legal team. The Ocarina of Time PC port revolves around Ship of Harkinian, a tool that turns a user-supplied (and hopefully legal) Nintendo 64 ROM for the game into a usable program. As the software doesn't include any of Nintendo's content, the developer supposedly can't pursue Harbour Masters over copyright violations.
The conversion should improve, too. The creators are working on 60 frames per second graphics, twin stick controls, text-to-speech upgraded models and higher-resolution texture packs. Mac and Linux support is also said to be in the pipeline, as is a PC adaptation of Majora's Mask.
Whether or not this port is legally safe, it reflects fans' determination to preserve Ocarina of Time and other Nintendo classics without relying on official emulation or re-releases. Enthusiasts ported Super Mario 64 in 2019, for instance. While this work isn't as vital as it once was with the existence of solutions like the Virtual Console, it does provide gamers more control over where and how they play the titles from their childhood.
