Legendary programmer behind Super Nintendo emulator ZNES had no idea how popular it had become until EA wanted to hire him: “Everyone here knows me”

ZSNES was a phenomenon back in the ’90s – a simulator that could execute the finest SNES titles at full velocity on even basic computers of that era. It gained immense popularity, and I would suggest that most gamers from a certain generation have some blurred recollections of its straightforward yet legendary interface. Developer zsKnight had minimal awareness of its fame, however, until EA unexpectedly sought to recruit him.

zsKnight recently stepped into the limelight for a rare discussion with another icon of the early emulation community: Zophar from the site Zophar’s Domain. The extensive dialogue explores some intriguing subjects – our colleagues at PC Gamer highlighted some key moments – but zsKnight’s recounting of how he came to understand ZSNES’s renown is particularly endearing.

The sole indication zsKnight had of its popularity stemmed from the messages he received, about a “few dozen” each day. “I had that sense that it is somewhat popular but I truly had no idea how well-known it was,” he states, and his “motivation” was simply to create an excellent emulator.

“I actually discovered how famous it was, interestingly enough, when I joined EA. Because I became part of EA through the emulator,” zsKnight elaborates. I sadly can’t completely discern the name of the individual at the corporation who zsKnight acknowledges for contacting him, but this connection “kind of asked me, ‘Hey, would you like to work for EA?'”

“I figured, ‘oh sure.’ So I arrived there and everyone who interviewed me recognized me as zsKnight. That was my first experience in the office. Everyone here is aware of me, and everyone here desires me to be part of their team. I had one individual there tell me, ‘oh, I’m here because of you.’ I’d respond, ‘wow, that’s incredible.’

Another tidbit of ZSNES trivia – we in the US have been mispronouncing it all this while. zsKnight is Canadian, so its correct pronunciation is “zed-SNES.”

zsKnight has a valid cause for so abruptly reappearing in the public spotlight, as earlier this year he launched a game named Retro Endurance 8bit in Steam Early Access. It features a collection of distinctive, retro-style games blended into a WarioWare-inspired shuffle mode, and it appears to be an absolute joy for those nostalgic about ZSNES.

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