Homebrew Why I think an N64 emulator would be possible on the New 3DS!
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N64 on 3ds would be sick but PS1 is not only just as sick but slightly more feasible as well as much closer to playable than a hypothetical emulator. Not to shit on N64, on the contrary it's easily my favorite system. I just feel like with a little more attention, effort and popular demand, pcsx-rearmed could be nearly flawless. N64 is fantastic but some (NOT ALL!) of it's best games are already playable on a 3ds. Examples : SM64, DK Racing=DS versions. OOT, Majora, Starfox, Rayman=3D versions. Their might be more but you get the point. Fullspeed ps1 emulation gives you games like Megaman Legends 1&2 (3 was almost on 3DS!!!), Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy 7-8, Resident Evil 1-3 and so many more ridiculously good games. Don't get me wrong, I want to play Banjo on my 3DS as much as the next guy but I think pcsx-rearmed needs a little more hype to boost the interest for devs before we start asking for the next system. Since I don't have the skills to make anything happen, the most I can do is ask nicely and be reasonable. They gave us a finger, we'll as for the arm when we finish the hand......or something?
It is not going to happen, it's just not a matter of saying "the 3ds is more powerful than the n64 therefore it must be possible to make an emulator for it", it also requires enough processing power for translating the n64 code instructions to the code language the 3ds use.
Back in the day, I had PJ64 on PC using an AMD K6-2 at 450mhz and a Voodoo3 3300 video card playing Conker's Bad Furday, and it ran mostly fine. OOT and MM ran pretty good too. It wasn't perfect. It was like 15-20fps, but it was playable.
OP is right that Wii runs N64 emulators just fine with less clockspeed... GameCube ran N64 emulators just fine with less clockspeed... The GameCube version of OOT and Majora's Mask were actually emulated. In fact, this is where one of the N64 roms for OOT Master Quest comes from is the GameCube, and look at that thing's CPU, it's a piece of crap compared to the New3DSXL. Neither the GameCube nor the Wii has a mips processor.
The only thing I can think of is that the N3DSXL uses an arm processor which isn't exactly a processor known for horsepower, even at higher clock speeds. Even then I'm not convinced considering the above K6-2 based PC ran N64 games just fine. Either that or the expertise to optimize them for the 3DS either doesn't exist or the people with the expertise aren't interested. It's one thing to have an emulator for one system that runs fine, it's another to port it without optimization to a completely different cpu.
OP is right that Wii runs N64 emulators just fine with less clockspeed... GameCube ran N64 emulators just fine with less clockspeed... The GameCube version of OOT and Majora's Mask were actually emulated. In fact, this is where one of the N64 roms for OOT Master Quest comes from is the GameCube, and look at that thing's CPU, it's a piece of crap compared to the New3DSXL. Neither the GameCube nor the Wii has a mips processor.
The only thing I can think of is that the N3DSXL uses an arm processor which isn't exactly a processor known for horsepower, even at higher clock speeds. Even then I'm not convinced considering the above K6-2 based PC ran N64 games just fine. Either that or the expertise to optimize them for the 3DS either doesn't exist or the people with the expertise aren't interested. It's one thing to have an emulator for one system that runs fine, it's another to port it without optimization to a completely different cpu.
Last edited by JennaScvl,
They really should keep working on the N64 emulator for PSP first, and finish up pcsx re-armed for 3DS. It's unfortunate that unfinished emulators are becoming a norm 
Disclaimer: I actually only vaugely know what I'm talking about.
I think the problem is way more about graphics rendering. Running a software renderer is unfeasible on weak computers, so on 3ds we definitely need a hardware renderer. The 3ds's PICA gpu is not well utilized by Homebrew AFAIK, a new rendering library or something would need to be made to avoid it being quite slow. This would require a massive amount of time and knowledge of the 3ds's gpu. Then you would need to know enough about the N64 to make a fast hardware renderer.
This would be a massive project and would probably one of the most impressive 3ds homebrews ever.
TLDR: Hardware renderer is probably the problem and it would require massive knowledge of 3ds and N64 to even have a chance of getting a remotely fast N64 emulator.
I think they probably just get rid of all the bugs they can find on a per rom basis and make sure it is fullspeed and not too much more. O3ds was probably never a goal to get fullspeed.
I think the problem is way more about graphics rendering. Running a software renderer is unfeasible on weak computers, so on 3ds we definitely need a hardware renderer. The 3ds's PICA gpu is not well utilized by Homebrew AFAIK, a new rendering library or something would need to be made to avoid it being quite slow. This would require a massive amount of time and knowledge of the 3ds's gpu. Then you would need to know enough about the N64 to make a fast hardware renderer.
This would be a massive project and would probably one of the most impressive 3ds homebrews ever.
TLDR: Hardware renderer is probably the problem and it would require massive knowledge of 3ds and N64 to even have a chance of getting a remotely fast N64 emulator.
Is that really a goal? Their emulators have not matched console when you do more complex glitches in my experience.
I think they probably just get rid of all the bugs they can find on a per rom basis and make sure it is fullspeed and not too much more. O3ds was probably never a goal to get fullspeed.
That's because the PSP has a MIPS processor therefore doesn't have to emulate as many tasks as a 3ds with an ARM processor.
kinda sad innit
but then again the psx had a 33mhz mips processor
the n64 has a 96 mhz mips cpu
in layman's terms an n64 is basically 3 psx's in the clock speed department
but yacould add overclocked on the n64 emulator then. atleast we should get mario 64 to run. ill try porting retroarchs n64 emu on 3ds or switch
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If it won't run with the stock clock speed, it will likely not run when overclocked, either.
It can, but it also doesnt run it properly. If there was there would be more hype on the psp front for the n64 emu.
i know it doesnt run at 60 fps. no does it mean... a PSP 3000 (which is mine) is more powerful then a NEW 3DS XL?
I dont think its that. I think its more the hardware itself that the psp has which allows it to run a bit better. Yes its stupid its a sony item and can run nintendo better.
The PSP and N64 are both MIPS based, making it easier to emulate since both systems are so similar.
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Sonic Angel Knight:
Or, I also heard that if you use flash memory, it can act as more "RAM" at least windows tell me when I stick a flash drive into it. -
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K3Nv2:
I can think of the design teams process another joystick and no audio or a joystick and mono audio -
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