Hacking N64 Emulation on 3DS

[Hadrian]

Soo... now that we have confirmed system specs...

...is this still possible?

We don't have any confirmed specs at all regarding how well it runs.

 

[Warrior522]

Soo... now that we have confirmed system specs...

...is this still possible?

We don't have any confirmed specs at all regarding how well it runs.

...I'm confused...

 

[Midna]

They aren't confirmed. IGN leaked them. Big difference.

 

[narutofan777]

sure it'll be able to, ppl just gotta hack the 3ds first so we can see the possibility

 

[Warrior522]

They aren't confirmed. IGN leaked them. Big difference.

Ok, then ASSUMING they are the actual specs...

...is this still possible?

 

[Okami Wolfen]

Probably. N64 clock speed was around 93 MHz. 3DS rumored clock speed is 266 MHz for each CPU, 532 MHz combined. It probably won't have %100 compatibility but it will at least be faster than the N64 emulator for PSP.

Here's another rumored CPU spec:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/30/marvell...lets-or-phones/

 

[gamefreak94]

I know this is unrelated but which has better graphics. ps2 or Gamecube? I'm asking since the 3ds is rumored to have graphics a little better than gamecube and psp is almost ps2 graphics(When i mean almost i don't mean like this → ← close but like → ←
Also do you think the 3DS has better graphics than PSP? B/c one guy and I were arguing on which has better graphics.

Ontopic: Why need emulation when Nintendo are recreating the N64 games?(Well the first party games anyways.)

 

[Warrior522]

They aren't, they've only remade Zelda and Starfox...

 

[smile72]

It could very well happen I think it is possible for an N64 emulator on the 3DS.

 

[nutella]

Probably. N64 clock speed was around 93 MHz. 3DS rumored clock speed is 266 MHz for each CPU, 532 MHz combined. It probably won't have %100 compatibility but it will at least be faster than the N64 emulator for PSP.

Here's another rumored CPU spec:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/30/marvell...lets-or-phones/

As awesome as that would be, I highly doubt they'll stuff a quad in this.

 

[42f87d89]

What if instead of emulating, someone would "translate" the n64 games to a "3ds rom"?
I know that would be a lot of work to patch every single game,but would it be possible like that?

 

[Midna]

What if instead of emulating, someone would "translate" the n64 games to a "3ds rom"?
I know that would be a lot of work to patch every single game,but would it be possible like that?

That's called a port. And as long as they're going to the trouble of all that, I'd guess they'd just make a remake instead.

Hardware capabilities aside, I doubt Ninty will release N64 on the VC. That would be throwing a lot of potential remakes away.

 

[Deleted User]

That's called a port. And as long as they're going to the trouble of all that, I'd guess they'd just make a remake instead.

Hardware capabilities aside, I doubt Ninty will release N64 on the VC. That would be throwing a lot of potential remakes away.

Yes that is true, but if Ninty remakes SSB or creates SSB 3D, IT WILL PRINT MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SSB YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just hope the 3DS has the processing Power promised.

 

[koji2009]

Emulators "translate" instructions meant for one system to run on another.

That's not the same thing as porting which is using a common source code then compiling it to the instruction sets of a required piece of hardware.

As for whether nintendo will do it if the 3ds is capable of doing it... It's all about how much money nintendo thinks it will make on it. First off, they would almost HAVE to allow for N64 games purchased on wii to be transferred to 3DS. Why? Because they will have a LOT of angry customers if they find out they can't transfer games they 'own' on Wii to the 3DS. That immediately will cut into their revenue (a way around that would be to charge a "transfer fee" but it will still cut into profits overall) and be a negative.

Secondly they have to balance possible net gains, with total cost of making a new emulator and putting a dedicated staff to improve compatibility (to allow for other companies to use it)

Third, they will have to compare it to the possible money loss versus remake revenue.

That said, if Nintendo can rubber stamp parts 1 and 2... part 3 won't hold them back at all. This is a company that just released a new copy of Super Mario Allstars on a wii disc DESPITE the game already being out on virtual console. It could canibalize sales somewhat, but if nintendo was going to handle this intelligently, they'd leave most of the VC ports to third parties or games they wouldn't bother remaking (of which there are many, but easy to make a quick buck off of)

As for the great "can XXX emulate YYY" debate... There is no magic number... Whoever said "8 to 10 times more powerful" of a system needed quoted BS. I remember when I had an 400mhz PC that could emulate N64 better than SNES

(God bless UltraHLE) and the difference based purely on processor speed was over 100x in the SNES case. Hell, Bsnes is the most accurate SNES emulator and it requires a heftier machine than that to play games at full speed with no frame skip.

 

[Deleted User]

What I am concerned about is screen resolution like the NES emulator on DS. Mike Tyson's Punch-out looks awful.

 

[steves334]

What I am concerned about is screen resolution like the NES emulator on DS. Mike Tyson's Punch-out looks awful.

u shouldnt be too concerned about it looking awful. your mom looks awful and your dad still boned her. otherwise u wouldnt be here

 

[Rydian]

As for the great "can XXX emulate YYY" debate... There is no magic number... Whoever said "8 to 10 times more powerful" of a system needed quoted BS. I remember when I had an 400mhz PC that could emulate N64 better than SNES

(God bless UltraHLE) and the difference based purely on processor speed was over 100x in the SNES case. Hell, Bsnes is the most accurate SNES emulator and it requires a heftier machine than that to play games at full speed with no frame skip.

The 8-10 times was true before the advent of HLE.

There's also a difference between recompilation and dynamic interpretation, I think it's the second that's the older method and the one people cite the figure for. I'm not really up to date on that.

 

[nutella]

What I am concerned about is screen resolution like the NES emulator on DS. Mike Tyson's Punch-out looks awful.

That should be the least of your concerns.

 

[koji2009]

What I am concerned about is screen resolution like the NES emulator on DS. Mike Tyson's Punch-out looks awful.

NES resolution 256x224

DS Screen 256x192

GBA Screen 240x160


No matter how you look at it, the NES has a higher resolution then those two portable systems emulating it... so of course the image isn't going to look as good because you either have to drop pixels (ugly) or blend pixels (blurry) to make it fit. The 3DS is 400x240, thus all NES games will fit and (most) SNES games as well... that is assuming that there will be emulators released for it.

 

[RchUncleSkeleton]

I see everyone talking about yes it's possible, then they go on to say nintendo will probably be porting more n64 games to the 3DS! Emulating an N64 rom and Nintendo porting the game are 2 entirely different things! When Nintendo ports a game they change the coding and optimize it for the system it's being ported to, therefore you get a fully working game for the platform. Emulating a game is using the CPU power of the system to run emulation of the N64 on that hardware and since emulation usually requires a power multiple of about 10 times it's highly doubtful that the 3DS would be capable of running N64 emulation at full speeds, that is unless the architecture of the 3DS is extremely similar to the N64's...which is not likely.