Emulation device for under the telly?

Hi guys. Is the best solution for emulation in the living room still either a modded Wii or XBOX? I was looking for something to play as much as possible. I realise you'd have to pay big bucks for PS2, Wii emulation so what's the most reasonable option please?

I suppose a JXD would be ridiculous since I don't need the portable side of it. Was looking at an OUYA but the reviews are pretty ghastly.

Hyperspin under d'telly would be awesome but I'm not too keen on building a pc.

Thanks!

Retr0gamer

Building a PC is pretty simple. If you want you could just get a second hand PC for it. It's the best bet. A modded XBox is another option. Once you go past 16-bit emulation it's not worth it since 32 bit emulation and upwards is terrible.

Hmmm what about RetroPie....anyone here have any experience of that?

CiDeRmAn

I agree with Retr0, a little PC is the best option.
Android emu is flaky while a Windows PC has a vast array of emulators available.
I wouldn't be too worried about Hyperspin, it's going to need a relatively recent pc to run smoothly, better to get good use out of an older PC running another front end that's not so resource heavy, like MALA.
And building a PC, it's not so hard, get someone to do it and set about organising Windows to your taste, bare bones and all that, you'll learn a lot!

A little PC? I do have a spare Acer Revo R3600 in the attic. Unfortunately it's a low powered ION thingy though, Will look into this MALA now.

CiDeRmAn

I wouldn't concern myself with emulating later consoles, the 8 and 16 bit stuff will run just fine on an older pc and with a decent controller or even an adapter so you can use original pads, it'll feel plenty authentic.

Are you saying not to hope for PSX or N64 emulation? I wonder what is causing all the trouble.

Retr0gamer

Deleted User wrote: »

Are you saying not to hope for PSX or N64 emulation? I wonder what is causing all the trouble.

Doesn't matter how good your PC is the emulators are terribly.

CiDeRmAn

Just buy an N64 and PS2, they are infinitely better than emulation and the games are cheap for both, building up a modest collection for each wouldn't take long either.
I say PS2 because it'll run your PS collection too, and the slim model is a little treasure trove of great games.
Also, another good reason to buy the actual machines is the controller design of both the PS and N64 is kinda part of the software as well, button position etc, muscle memory will guide you, but using a third party controller for emulation, not the same!

djsim101

Quote:
Originally Posted by Deleted User
Are you saying not to hope for PSX or N64 emulation? I wonder what is causing all the trouble.

Doesn't matter how good your PC is the emulators are terribly.

I wouldn't entirely agree with the above. I have gotten near perfect results on the psx \ ps2 emulation, especially for the psx.

The ps2 emulation can be a right pain though, as a lot of games will have different settings to get them up to near 100% and can get messy setting up, but also fun :P

I have to say that having the real hardware is the way to go though.

MrVestek

Why not get an Xbox 1 and grab yourself a copy of CoinOps5 or something like that?

Do a softmod, upgrade the internal HDD and you're laughing.

That's what I already have mate! The problem is the WAF is low....it's big, ugly and noisy. Given that it's around a decade old I just thought there would be something a little more advanced! I did buy myself a used Wii though so I'll check out emulation on that when I get a chance as it's suppose to be quite good.

MrVestek

WAF?

Wife Acceptance Factor

MrVestek

Deleted User wrote: »

Wife Acceptance Factor

She doesn't do as she's told? :P

80s Synth Pop

A decent laptop made in the past 4 years with an intel processor (except celeron), lots of memory, dedicated graphics and hdmi out would be your best bet. A second hand Dell XPS would do the job nicely. It would fit nice and snug under the TV.

For controllers, you can get a usb adapter for every classic controller out there. http://www.mayflash.com/Products/PCUSB/

Then all you need are the classic controllers and an Edwardian french polished antique mahogany and walnut chest to put them in for the WAF

Myrddin

"Would you rather that, or a full size cab? You decide"

All the WAF you need

o1s1n

...WAF?

Myrddin

o1s1n wrote: »

...WAF?

Wife Acceptability Factor or somesuch. I wonder if wives consider HAF when filling the bedrooms with clothes & shoes?

CiDeRmAn

o1s1n wrote: »

...WAF?

Wife And Frightening?

MrVestek

I have a different rule that I follow: WGAS.

Woman Go And ****e.

CiDeRmAn

Achilles wrote: »

I have a different rule that I follow: WGAS.

Woman Go And ****e.

I bet you won't let the missus read that....

MrVestek

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I bet you won't let the missus read that....

I don't see how she'd be able to read it even if I wanted to show it to her. There's no PC in the kitchen.

I think we got one of those "new men" here....:p

CiDeRmAn

I reckon he'd soil himself if Her Indoors got to read his forward thinking statements.....

eddhorse

I have a raspberry Pi with some of the older gaming systems on it.


Amiga (UAE4All)

Atari 2600 (RetroArch)

Doom (RetroArch)

Final Burn Alpha (RetroArch)

Game Boy Advance (RetroArch)

Game Boy Color (RetroArch)

Game Gear (Osmose)

Intellivision (RetroArch)

MAME (RetroArch)

MAME (AdvMAME)

NeoGeo (GnGeo)

NeoGeo (Genesis-GX, RetroArch)

Sega Master System (Osmose)

Sega Megadrive (DGEN)

Nintendo Entertainment System (RetroArch)

PC Engine / Turbo Grafx 16 (RetroArch)

Playstation 1 (RetroArch)

ScummVM

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (RetroArch)

Sinclair ZX Spectrum (Fuse)

Z Machine emulator (Frotz)


More info here to start you off and a howto :
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-turn-your-raspberry-pi-into-a-retro-game-console-498561192

CiDeRmAn

How does the ps1 stuff run on the 'Pi?
Just wondering, I wouldn't have thought it could cut the mustard tbh.
If it works well though it'd nice to get it into a Jamma set up, with the various psx based motherboards running some great games, Gnet for example.

MrVestek

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

How does the ps1 stuff run on the 'Pi?
Just wondering, I wouldn't have thought it could cut the mustard tbh.
If it works well though it'd nice to get it into a Jamma set up, with the various psx based motherboards running some great games, Gnet for example.

Mate of mine has it going and says that it runs pretty well, at as close to full speed as he can make out anyway.

Not sure about sound though, haven't sound drivers always been a bit of an issue with the Pi?

Shiranui

EnterNow wrote: »

Wife Acceptability Factor or somesuch. I wonder if wives consider HAF when filling the bedrooms with clothes & shoes?

No they dont. :pac:

Myrddin

Shiranui wrote: »

No they dont. :pac:

It's a two way street dude

Anyway, the Pi is a good suggestion for an under the tv device, really good actually.

Yup the Pi and RetroPie look tasty. Only drawback is there's no Amstrad CPC emulation which is essential in my humble opinion!

Shiranui

Awesome tutorial here --> http://lifehacker.com/how-to-turn-your-raspberry-pi-into-a-retro-game-console-498561192

Star Lord

80s Synth Pop wrote: »

For controllers, you can get a usb adapter for every classic controller out there. http://www.mayflash.com/Products/PCUSB/

I've got their GC adapter, and it mostly works. Doesn't seem to be able to interpret the shoulder button inputs correctly, which is a major pain in the rear end when trying to play any games!

EnterNow wrote: »

It's a two way street dude

Anyway, the Pi is a good suggestion for an under the tv device, really good actually.

PI-RI is a good suggestion for where the items fail the WAF or don't seek HAF :pac:

eddhorse

I haven't tried the PS1 on my Raspberry Pi yet.
In reference to the Amstrad not being in the list, you can get that separately and have it boot up on a different SD card.

There are other multi port emulators like Chameleon Pi. http://chameleon.enging.com/

CiDeRmAn

I think I'll stick to the genuine article when it comes to PS and Saturn games.
For previous consoles emu seems fine but, I suppose there are so many idiosyncrasies about the two 32 bit machines, is emulation, even in the best of circumstances up to scratch?

Retr0gamer

PS1 emulation looks awful and is nowhere near accurate and to even get a lot of games working you have to mess around with plugins for specific games.

eddhorse

Agreed, nothing beats the real thing !! But it's an alternative for people without the space !

Well there's also the Ouya...thoughts?

CiDeRmAn

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Well there's also the Ouya...thoughts?

Ouya one word review

"Pants"

Apparently...
There is the more open Gamestick on the way, that's the one that interests me tbh.

Star Lord

80s/90s arcade games, how do they fare on Raspberry Pi?

MrVestek

I might do a few 'how to' videos on my channel for setting this up and getting roms etc working on it.

Would there be any interest here in that?

CiDeRmAn

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

80s/90s arcade games, how do they fare on Raspberry Pi?

I believe the older stuff runs just fine on it, very nice indeed.