GPI Case

TinCool

I got myself a retroflag GPI case setup for christmas. http://retroflag.com/GPi-CASE.html.It's really good. The cartridge houses a Pi Zero, along with your micro SD Card. There are some decent images that you can flash on to it specifically for the GPI over on arcade punks. They're mostly flavours of retropi with emulation station as it's frontend. Playing the likes of Puzzle Bobble, Double Dragon, Outrun, Splatterhouse is great craic. Recommend it, if you're interested in this kind of thing and not looking to play any heavy duty arcade stuff.

o1s1n

That looks really cool. How are the buttons and D pad on it?

KeRbDoG

Got one last year - the buttons are OK, found them a little 'slippy' if that makes sense?

A Pi Zero(W) is a single core CPU unit so isn't as good with emulation as say a Pi3 or 4. Someone has made a kit so you can install a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+ (1-cheap)or(2-expensive) but that will reduce the battery life so someone did a rechargeable battery mod here but then you could get the PCB from the likes of Amazon and figure it out.

Realistically, there are prob better devices out there with the power of a Pi3 Compute module for cheaper/sleeker

Retr0gamer

The screen is what is putting me off. 320x240 resolution will mean you will get pixel doubling in most games. That shimmering effect you get when there's pixel doubling really puts me off. I know it's a bit much to ask for a better screen at that price but that effect is really noticeable to me and puts me off. I know you can do 1:1 pixel mode but you end up with borders and weird aspect ratio issues. Are there similar devices with a higher res screen?

KeRbDoG

I'm sure there is a config option somewhere either in the menus or in a config file but again, if you are that particular about your emulation maybe best to get a PS Vita or some other dedicated emulation unit with a more powerful CPU

Retr0gamer

KeRbDoG wrote: »

I'm sure there is a config option somewhere either in the menus or in a config file but again, if you are that particular about your emulation maybe best to get a PS Vita or some other dedicated emulation unit with a more powerful CPU

It's nothing to do with CPU. It's a screen resolution issue. With fixed resolution screens this effect is very distracting as scrolling just looks choppy and wrong. With higher resolution screens you can eliminate the shimmering effect with interpolation. You get it a lot in Wii homebrew emulation (which is strange as the Wii can natively display the weird resolutions of old school systems and does a good job of upscaling them to 460p). It really badly affects SNES and NES games due to the weird output resolutions while Megadrive is fine. I know I can be nitpicky with emulation but I don't think this is nitpicky as it's a really distracting effect! a 640x480 screen would fix a lot of the issues.

Would love a little pi emulation system like this though, right up my alley.

Inviere

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I know I can be nitpicky with emulation but I don't think this is nitpicky as it's a really distracting effect!

I would agree. When it comes to emulation, any form of distraction can be a deal breaker, so emulators need to be damn near 'perfect' for me to bother with them. Sure, this is a screen hardware issue and not an emulation issue, but I think your point stands...if you notice niggly little things, it completely ruins the experience imo. I was about to buy the original Odroid some time ago, but read up about the horrific screen tearing issues on certain systems (maybe NES?), and it put me right off buying one.

*perfect in the sense that you can load up a game, play it at full speed, and not notice any bugs/glitches related to the emulation.

Retr0gamer

I actually wouldn't be too picky with emulation on a portable system like this but those screen issues put me off and I feel a 1:1 pixel mode might just be a bit too small on that screen. I might do some research and see how 1:1 mode looks on it as that would fix the problem.

Inviere

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I actually wouldn't be too picky with emulation on a portable system like this...

That's because the emulators that a Pi Zero can run, are all damn near perfect in what they do (from a playability standpoint). Snes, Nes, Megadrive, Mastersystem....all the usual bunch, that type of emulation is down pat these days (if the hardware can manage them). When you step up towards the 32bit systems and beyond, I find standards can drop sharply if you're not at the bleeding edge. That said, the progress made over the last few years has been just brilliant. N64, Saturn, PS3, 360, Wii U, and even Switch emulation is all getting a lot of love these days, and it's really great to see, possibly with the exception of Switch....that's just waaaay too soon.

KeRbDoG

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I actually wouldn't be too picky with emulation on a portable system like this but those screen issues put me off and I feel a 1:1 pixel mode might just be a bit too small on that screen. I might do some research and see how 1:1 mode looks on it as that would fix the problem.

Cool, let us know what you find. Note the display isn't HDMI but running off the GPIO header

Retr0gamer

KeRbDoG wrote: »

Cool, let us know what you find. Note the display isn't HDMI but running off the GPIO header

Well just going to see if there's any YouTube videos on it. Think new and snes resolutions might look a little small on a 320x240 screen in pixel perfect mode. Hope there's. Videos showing it.

TinCool

I did notice Mario's left testicle in Super Mario World was more rectangular than square. Probably explains it.