I was challenged on page 2, so I put together a Rasp Pi box and got a SNES classic. I haven't tried to hack my SNESc yet.
+pi~ Rasp Pi box (Retropie+RetroArch+EmulationStation) only wins temporarily for me because I can get wireless controllers working on it. I tried 8bitdo NESmini wireless adapter with a SNES30 bluetooth controller. It maps all buttons to B or A, because that would make sense for the NES adapter to want to bind for NES games. SNESc still has 3 feet wired Wii controllers.
+pi~ thousands of games with video previews is nice.
+pi~ Retrorama Emulation Station game select theme is beautiful. The loading screens and sidebar overlays in-game are also excellent. Phill's Doodles is a great author.
-pi~ Configuration to make the Retrorama Emulation Station beautiful (increasing font sizes, depositing theme images, renaming metadata, collecting video previews, scraping hiccups) is days of not fun and still not finished after weeks. Preloaded SDcard images from yonder are generally sloppy and can only serve as a jump-off point for specific configuration.
-pi~ Interface can be broken mashing buttons at the wrong time. Even without doing anything rash, sometimes menu interfaces simply fail to load when browsing too long. Also, main menu using xbox controller notation and games using SNES button notation is confusing for guests.
-Pi~ Heat syncs keep sliding off my crappy thermal paste job. It is hard to find a good+functional custom case for form factor.
-Pi~ May have to rebind controls for some emulators (game systems) after you think your controller is universally configured. Depending on what emulator, it may require a USB keyboard.
+SNESc~ menu interface is cleanest. It is idiot-proof. I don't feel like I'm going to break it with a bad button press at the wrong loading time.
-SNESc~ The fake controller plate to expose the real controller ports is stupid.
~SNESc~ Save state rewind system feels like too many steps (exit game, go to suspend point, rewind, reenter game) but at least it always works. Pi's version of Retro Arch rewind exists, but is inconsistent if you can even activate it.
~SNESc~ There are many game menu sorting options, I am hoping the game metadata for hacking additional roms taps into it.
~~input lag feels identical on each box. I blame frame delays on HDTVs. Still playable on TV Game Mode, depending on HDTV model.
~~neither box has greatest visual upscaling. It's serviceable and both work well enough. SNESc doesn't do a 16:9 force-stretch or anything, which is commendable. Both can do fake scanlines. I don't like pi's scanline (and shader) options but I don't think I tried them all either.
Overall:
If you play old games alone or with only tech-savvy folks, build the tiny emulator box.
If you play old games with regular people or other people use it on their own, grab the SNES Classic.
Last edited by DJ Incompetent on Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sumez wrote:It's almost like using an actual SNES isn't an option anymore
But he wants t3h |n73rf4c3!!!1
Not really sure why, since it takes a stupidly long time to set up and does next to nothing, but he wants it all the same. Otherwise he would have settled for SNES9x or some equally accessible SNES emulator ages ago.
You know plugging your laptop into an HDTV is less work than setting up your PS4?
RBelmont wrote:A little math shows that if you overclock a Pi3 to about 3.4 GHz you'll start to be competitive with PCs from 2002. And you'll also set your house on fire
Too bad most of those stand alone things aren't actual hardware in a box. However, even with the Flashback 2 (2600 on a chip, but not perfect), I ended up going back to an actual 2600 with Harmony Cart. I have no interest in modding the Flashback 2 with a cart slot due to compatibility issues. While it can't play all games, I like the SD2SNES quite a bit and like how it can play the Megaman X, BSX, MSU1 homebrew (including a hack of Star Ocean to work with MSU1 instead of S-DD1), and DSP chip games. I also have the carts of Kirby Super Deluxe (JP version), Yoshi's Island, and the original Star Fox.
Sumez wrote:It's almost like using an actual SNES isn't an option anymore
But he wants t3h |n73rf4c3!!!1
Not really sure why, since it takes a stupidly long time to set up and does next to nothing, but he wants it all the same. Otherwise he would have settled for SNES9x or some equally accessible SNES emulator ages ago.
You know plugging your laptop into an HDTV is less work than setting up your PS4?
...
...
...
I'm trying to hide good gaming tech in 2017 living room spaces. I shouldn't have to choose hiding from family in some basement dungeon to engage in family-unapprochable hardware to enjoy a hobby only because the technical experience of the media itself is the most pure.
Inserting a laptop or a tower in a minimized entertainment center with wall-mounted TVs is a poor choice.
Bringing back a CRT to a living room or family room is dumb.
Framemeister to an original SNES is neat, but an expensive compromise that doesn't completely solve the problem of multiple large boxes to set.
I shouldn't have to store a keyboard somewhere to field troubleshooting.
I believe I can eliminate visible boxes from main room televisions. This is classy interior decorating, so I will try.
Not to mention pets. I've destroyed a few games on occasion because i was so frustrated with dogs fucking something up i tried to keep in pristine condition.
Currently on my living room 'TV table' I have
Laptop pumbed in to TV
TV
Speakers
Three HDDs
Router
X360
Xbox1
PS4
SNES mini VCR
3DS
Amost 200 as yet unwatched DVDs and BRs
1000 assorted
150ish academic books (underneath)
I'm no fan of minimalism.
Ultimately having a lot of fun with the SNES mini despite the relative ease of running any commercially released SNES/SFC game on a big telly with emulated scanlines and an actual SNES pad. Everyone so far has really enjoyed the SNES mini, it's frontend, it's 'aesthetic' for want of a better word. I don't think I would have bought it if it wasn't for this fact, and it's cheap enough to not really care either way. I love mucking about with emulation settings but a lot of the time I find a list of 1000s of games and clones and hacks and fan translations offputting.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/10/ ... -features/
Hell, all it's missing is a dedicated cheat system, but if you need those, you can always patch codes in the roms.
edit: Since it loads Retroarch modules, you can also emulate NES, GBA, and others on the SNES Mini. Holy shit.
ChurchOfSolipsism wrote:I'll make sure I'll download it illegally one day...
Shouldn't be that surprising. You could do all this stuff with the NES Classic and the guy who made Hakchi confirmed it would be possible with the SNES Classic before it was even released.
Shouldn't be that surprising. You could do all this stuff with the NES Classic and the guy who made Hakchi confirmed it would be possible with the SNES Classic before it was even released.
Oh, I wasn't aware of that.
ChurchOfSolipsism wrote:I'll make sure I'll download it illegally one day...
It's hard to get the exact numbers on it. If it's ~500 mhz, you'll see some slowdown in the end sections of Metal Slug 3. If it's ~1 ghz, most every 2d game short of Cave's Mushihimesama hardware and up should be fine. Nintendo 64 and PSX1 emulation on either should be feasible. Neither will run Playstation 2 games at a playable speed.
... frankly I say to hell with the pi if you're serious about emulation. Get a cheap refurbished PC for roughly the same price, so you can at least play something that was released 18 years ago.
(Isn't it a trip that we're vintage now? Pac-Man is now more ancient to us, than black and white movies were when we were kids.)
Honestly, they're not one and the same. I can't see it being that hard to understand that someone would want an SNES Classic and want to unlock all this crazy, unexpected potential inside their little $80 collector's box.
BryanM wrote:It's hard to get the exact numbers on it. If it's ~500 mhz, you'll see some slowdown in the end sections of Metal Slug 3. If it's ~1 ghz, most every 2d game short of Cave's Mushihimesama hardware and up should be fine. Nintendo 64 and PSX1 emulation on either should be feasible. Neither will run Playstation 2 games at a playable speed.
1.5 ghz, definitely no slowdown on Metal Slug 3 at all. Rejoice!
(PSP emulation should be possible at these blazing speeds.)
(Man, I remember when 1 ghz was the bleeding edge for mobile, and now it's not even junk. At least some of our technology is making some strong obvious gains in day to day life.)
I walked into gamestop yesterday around 10:30 AM and just bought one. Guy said he had just gotten his shipment in, but it would be gone by lunchtime.
there were no customers in the store.
I have realized a few things about this console already.
1. The front panel is Stupid design. Someone should make a wireless reciever that plugs into the control ports, and replaces the whole front panel. I think some engineers at nintendo were bored. it also feels like it would break off, if you bumped it.
2. No home button on controller. Also dumb.
3. Ive heard people complain about the sound on this console. I was playing Castlevania IV and it sounds spot on, except for the fact that My flatscreen has crappy speakers in it.
4. other than that, this console works awesome. Its WAY better than that Sega Genesis classic junk system.
mvsfan wrote:
1. The front panel is Stupid design. Someone should make a wireless reciever that plugs into the control ports, and replaces the whole front panel.
Totally agree. I thought the Wii ports looked incredibly ugly on the front of the NES, but it still looked better than having this flap hanging down all the time. I was going to remove the flap entirely but found it just looks weird that way since the actual ports are recessed into the front of the system, not flush.
I've seen someone else mention a wireless receiver that can fill the whole area, and would love to see that. Sadly, since 8bitdo is already releasing its controllers with included individual receivers, I think the monetary incentive for anybody to release a better-looking standalone module is pretty nonexistent. I suppose it's not really a problem since the stock Nintendo wired controllers are likely to remain the best to actually use.
mvsfan wrote:2. No home button on controller.
Run Hakchi2. It's incredibly easy to use and you can assign any button combination you like to duplicate the "reset" function. Makes all the difference in the world. Your choice if you want to go any further with actually adding games.
