Steam Deck is the best emulation machine out there right now for me.
RetroGaming
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I've been thinking about getting the new pixel fold or the Samsung z ~~flip~~ fold. When you open them to tablet mode they're a big square screen. When you clip on a controller it looks like a sick retro gaming handheld because of the screen ratio.
That's a $2000 gaming setup! ($1900 for z fold, $100 for gamesir controller.)
I think I'll just get a Powkiddy RGB30 with a square screen for $80.
You linked a Fold not a Flip. The difference is nearly $1000.
That said the Fold is a solid choice but if you're only going to play games, save a couple bucks and don't get a 6. The improvements have been so incremental you might be able to make due with a 4 or 5.
Where is the raspberry pi at 30$??? it is more than that nowadays
They're inflated right now, depending on where you buy them. I got one for MSRP (around 30 bucks) last year at my local electronics store, but I had to give them my info to deter scalping.
“Right now” for Pi inflation has been since like 2016. This is just their price now.
An official raspberry pi isn't worth gettin imo. Especially after their artificial availability issues during the pandemic.
Plenty of alternatives out there, which is what I'd recommend. OrangePi is much more reasonable price wise.
And if you don't need arm, a used thin client will do the same job, cost a lot less, and have more compatibility.
Yeah I’m a huge Raspberry Pi fan but not only is it practically impossible to find a pi at that price, pi’s also can’t reliably emulate games past the 32 bit era
Get a mister.
It IS the original hardware; its an FPGA
It perfectly emulates the CPU, but it’s not the same as touching the actual hardware. For better or worse.
We can't even say it perfectly emulates the CPU. It may pass all tests we know about, but even 1980s CPUs were complicated enough to have odd niche behavior.
It's some great hardware, but I think a lot of people have been hoodwinked into thinking FPGA = perfect. Often some of the same people who turn their nose up at software emulation for equally bad reasons.
It's still emulation. Yes, it's emulating hardware, as close as possible and often indistinguishably close, but it's still emulation.
For example, my EDGB X7 runs fine on any real Game Boy I have, but can't switch games on an Analogue Pocket.
Another weird issue that I had was that if I launched my Pokemon Crystal save on Pocket it would, for some reason, permanently change my character from a boy into a girl (without saving the game!). This wasn't happening on my Game Boys (I restored the save a couple of times to test it).
As someone who owns most of the consoles, has Pvm etc don't play the scalpers game just emulate. Thankfully the bubble has burst on a lot of markets, and we're seeing more reasonable prices, but the OG hardware can only last so long. If anything grab a controller for each system you love, even saying that, 8bitdo have really stepped up, and I would say surpassed a lot of the old first party ones.
It helps that emulators have caught up in the last ten years. When I started collecting consoles there wasn’t a good emulator for the Saturn and even emulating the snes on a mobile device with similar power to a pi was inaccurate at times.
I have less and less reason to want to use original hardware other than nostalgia.
8bitdo is amazing
There's nothing wrong with wanting to stick to original hardware, if you already have it or can afford to buy it.
Setting up a Pi or other single-board system as a dedicated retro game emulator is also an absolutely valid choice IMO. It's a fun, generally affordable little project that you can tinker with forever, e.g. changing cases and controllers, UI tweaks, ROM file organization, per-game settings optimization. But I don't think that it's ever been the "best" emulation option for anyone who didn't already have their heart set on "doing something fun and interesting with a Pi".
The smartphone you already have, dedicated retro gaming handhelds, Android TV boxes or sticks, and cheap/secondhand/already-owned PCs (desktop, notebook, or kiosk) all arguably match or exceed the performance and value-for-money of any Pi-based system.
Yet in any thread where someone new to emulation is asking for advice, there's always a flock of folks who suggest getting a Pi like it's the only game in town. It honestly baffles me a little. Especially because almost all of them are just running a pretty frontend over Retroarch, and Retroarch is available for virtually every modern consumer computing platform (and so are a lot of pretty frontends, if that's a selling point).
For context, I've got a dozen or so retro systems, but I prefer to emulate as much as possible.
Honestly, I will emulate almost all consoles EXCEPT N64…. This little weird Frankenstein console barely holds by a thread so most emulators can’t recreate its flaws and quirks correctly (which, funnily enough, are needed to run games smoothly)
PS2 emulators on the other hand, are FREAKING awesome!!! :D Live upscaled Battlefront 2 is GREAT!!
Still waiting for an N64 emulator that renders Bomberman 64 menu properly
It's usually the reverse in my experience. I love playing on original hardware when I have access, but some people get really anal when you emulate.
I tell you something that will make a big difference for titles pre-2005 or so: playing on a CRT television.
Especially on SNES titles which I played a lot as a kid, the extremely sharp look you get from emulators on flat panel displays just looks wrong.
I have a friend like this, I'm a Nintendo collector and enjoying the hardware is my hobby. I know it's an expensive endeavor, and I don't expect anyone else to do it. I genuinely think any game should be up for piracy and emulation support, and it's incredible what can be done to make games look, sound, and play better than the original. But when I'm sitting there having fun with Metroid Fusion on my GBA SP and you sit there going "why would you ever do that when emulating is cheaper and better" I don't think you're conversing in good faith.
That's really cool and I'm glad people want to maintain the heritage of gaming, but I'm the exact opposite. I never want to play on old hardware or even use old style controllers again if I don't have to.
I like to use controllers that have new tech but the old layout for the beat of both worlds
Some controllers are almost integral to the experience. Intellivision and Colecovision come to mind. Having said that, emulation and modern controls are generally great, and generally my preference.
I feel like its the opposite, people keep talking about how original hardware is "better" despite old consoles and games being so expensive a proper collection is basically a luxury.
A dream project for me, when I have the space for it, is to have a set of Ikea kallax shelves with a cubby for each retro console with some LEDs inside hooked up to a retropie emulating those consoles so those cubbies light up when that console is being emulated.
I have a lot of the actual consoles and they're in working order, but it's a bit of a pain in the ass to get them hooked up, swap cartridges, etc. sometimes. And I have just enough programming and electronics background that I feel up to the task of trying to make it work, just don't have the space for a big display shelf at the moment.
I can appreciate the experience of playing on the actual hardware and the cases where it's superior, but for me the experience emulating them is 99% as good with significantly less effort. Totally cool if others prioritize things differently though.
Does anyone "prefer" emulation?
edit: I should added the caveat "if it's feasible" because yeah it often isn't. We don't all have a lot of space, time, and money to deal with multiple old systems.
edit2: okokok there are plenty of reasons to prefer emulation. I was just thinking of controller/feel of the games almost always was best on the original.
Yes. Original hardware is a pain in the ass.
I want to play on my nice PC or steam deck, with save states, whatever gamepad I prefer, and an unlimited library.
I do because I just don't want all that stuff around. Save states are also a blessing for folks like me with endless skill issues.
Sure. You can fix frame rate drops, play with any controller you want, easier to play with mods, save states, speedup when replaying a game, easier to record video or stream. If you're playing a 3d game you can run in higher resolution with better anti aliasing and anisotropic filtering. For a 2d game sometimes one of the upscaling filters will look good. You can use CRT filter if you want and you don't have a CRT TV. You could do it on Steam Deck and cloud sync your saves with your PC, and even your phone (especially for turn based games)
There's even fun achievements via retro achievements!
I actually do. Upscaling, fast forwarding, modding, cheats, save states are all nice QoLs. A lot of emulators for these retro consoles are pretty platform independent too, so I can run them from anything from a PC, a handheld device, phone, other gaming consoles or smart fridge with my choice of peripherals.
I do - but I don’t necessarily think it’s “better”.
It's why I've used a GameCube controller on the Wii, WiiU, and Switch—coincidentally I adore the Switch Pro controller on PC. And yet, a friend of mine thinks I'm crazy and still rocks the N64 controller.
Some things just fuse into you and you get more dopamine from the "thing" than the thing playing on it.
I never really cared until I emulated Super Mario RPG and literally could not make a specific jump in Booster's Castle because of the frame skipping. I never have any trouble on an actual SNES there. Can't ever make it emulated. :/
How well does it emulate Metal Gear Solid 4?
I never liked ROMs on my computer, but I have a modded SNES Mini that feels legit enough for me.
FPGA master race!
I love old consoles... but old media (carts, cds/dvds) not so much. Flashcarts have been a revelation for me. I'm happy to help out the collectors out there by lowering the demand for original cartridges for my NES or gameboys.
And honestly its a much purer and more fun experience than an everything emulator where you spend most of your time setting it up and then deciding which game of all the games ever created you feel like playing right now. But I do also enjoy setting up emulator devices be they handheld or set top, and playing on them. I'm not a snob, it's all good stuff and its a great time no matter what your choice, tbh.
I'd understand if it was about the controllers since the games were made to work specifically with them, but choosing to pay several hundred dollars instead of juste using something that cost less than a 100 and got far better UI and features is something i'll Never understand. Tho, It would make sense if you had that console as a child and getting the real one make you feel nostalgic.
A controller that looks like an old SNES with a PS2 form factor is all the retro authenticity I need