# Wii vs Xbox 1 in terms of emulators



## Fudge (Aug 25, 2012)

Due to the discussion in the RetroArch GX thread, it got me thinking. Right now, what console do you think is better for an all in one machine to play your retro games? And no, PC doesn't count. Personally, I choose the Wii because of it's ease of use and better controller options. Obviously my reasons are up for debate, but in terms of actual hardware wouldn't the Wii be more powerful??


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## FAST6191 (Aug 25, 2012)

Admittedly I have not pushed the Wii hard on emulation in some time but xbox

Largely unified file structure and emulator setup on top of superbly functioning emulators- compared to the 360 and PS3 the wii is great and stuff will get done and you can certainly play games beyond a proof of concept level on the wii unlike most of the others.
Internal hard drive sparing partition issues and as far as emulators themselves go they dodged the iso 9660 + restrictions and do I do UDF stuff that troubled other things.
Not that the games have it but having fought TV upscaling for years the xbox can output resolutions most modern TVs are more inclined to handle well.

You say controller and I would agree the GC controller is great but unlike the playstation handkiller I have no qualms with the controller s. You can poke your Wii remote and classic controller though.

I know this is a hypothetical but I do have to throw in for the PC though- having one attach to a TV if you have a TV at all and great range of controllers gets it for me. Back on topic given the four controllers, proper leads and everything you need to hack probably the original xbox still but if there is a Wii in front of me and someone wants emulation (and is indifferent about XBMC) I would not even consider wandering off to find a xbox.


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## jalaneme (Aug 25, 2012)

the xbox 1 wins everytime, it's so good even the ps3 emulators are embarrassing compared to the xbox 1 emulators, nothing will ever beat it for a long time, on top of that it has XBMC which is a great media program too.


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## Psionic Roshambo (Aug 25, 2012)

I would have to say it depends on what you have, if you have a Wii and an Xbox but neither one is hacked go with the Wii its just easier to set up and get going. If you already have a hacked Xbox thats probably the better emulator machine since it gains the benefit of years and years of PC emulation being X86 based.

Another plus on the Wii's side is the homebrew channel and the Homebrew browser that makes updating and setting up emulators just so easy. Short of reading my mind or psychic prediction of what emulators I want to install it really can't get any easier.

Edit: Another thing to consider is networking, if you have a wireless network or just use wired networking.


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## yusuo (Aug 25, 2012)

I prefer the xBox, it's a little more work than the wii, but with XBMC it looks a hell of a lot nicer, plus the ability to stick upto a 500GB hard drive in the xbox allows you to have a crap load of games all in one place as well as Movies, TV Shows or proper Xbox games


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## FAST6191 (Aug 25, 2012)

RE: PsionicRoshambo's  Xbox vs wii... if you go down the path of trying to make a USB adapter in lieu of a memory card and action replay (or another previously hacked xbox and memory card) I will give you it is maybe a tiny bit easier for the wii but once there softmod installer deluxe makes most xbox stuff a breeze.
Once done as well auto installer deluxe is a point and shoot installer and if you want can even install a ROM pack to the ISO with minimal effort.

I know we are all probably a bit jaded after the last few years having to hold hands through others attempting to hack their gear (I know I have stopped saying soldering is easy after the first Wii DVD hacks) but neither are more than about 7 easy instructions and a tiny bit of reading on the screen with the xbox getting nominally harder if you want shadow C and virtual EEPROM.

Network- during the rise of wireless and the subsequent annoyance of setting up a wireless bridge I would give you but these days powerline networking kit is cheap as anything and certainly able to match a wireless G connection.


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## Hadrian (Aug 25, 2012)

I'd go for the Xbox, everything seems to run smoother for me. PC is so much better and easier (connect to a TV, grab a wireless controller and you're in for awesome times) though but Xbox is my second choice.

As for hardware, Xbox does some things better than the Wii and vice verse.


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## Devin (Aug 25, 2012)

*points to Original Xbox*

Original Xbox.


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## DinohScene (Aug 25, 2012)

Xbox.

It's basically just running x86 code.
So a lot of emulators where ported very quickly.
Some of them where even more optimized then their PC counterparts.


So, I chose Xbox over Wii.
Not because I prefer Xbox but since the emulators are way better.
I think some are even still better then todays PC counterparts.


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## bazamuffin (Aug 25, 2012)

yusuo said:


> I prefer the xBox, it's a little more work than the wii, but with XBMC it looks a hell of a lot nicer, plus the ability to stick upto a 500GB hard drive in the xbox allows you to have a crap load of games all in one place as well as Movies, TV Shows or proper Xbox games



Didn't the Xbox only recoginse up to 160gb (137gb readable)?  I seem to remember a site that had Project 411 which was a case replacement that housed 3 x 160gb HDD's (3 x 137 = 411).  I'm a bit rusty on that side of things, but I seem to recall those figures.  Anyhoos, back on topic, I prefer the Xbox emu's to Wii.  Anyone remember U64?  Xbox is worth it for that emu alone!!


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## DinohScene (Aug 26, 2012)

Xbox only supports partitions up to 160 GB.
Mine has a 160 GB in it and it has a 137 GB F partition and a ~20 GB G partition.
(no TSOP flash or modchip)

FATX has a max size limit of 2TB iirc.
Atleast for 360's
So I guess it should be the same for the old Xbox.


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## YayMii (Aug 26, 2012)

The Wii is really easy to set up, but the Xbox has well-programmed emulators and a built-in hard drive (although it's only IDE). And IMO the custom dashboards look a lot nicer than the Wii Menu/Homebrew Channel.
Only gripes are that some of the emulators haven't been updated in years, and the fact I can't transfer ROMs to mine anymore due to lack of a laptop with an ethernet port/lack of wi-fi (I suppose I could use a DVD, but I'd prefer to save those for other uses).


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## DinohScene (Aug 26, 2012)

You can mod a USB port to a controller/ controller port.

Pretty easy since those ports are slightly modded USB 1.1 ports ;p
The USB protocol is active.
(it still requires your USB drive to be FATX)


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## xwatchmanx (Aug 26, 2012)

I never owned an original Xbox, so I can't really give a fair comparison. But I love my Wii for emulation. NES and SNES and Genesis work great, and even PSX works decently with some individual tweaking per game. N64 emulation isn't that great, but at least you can play WAY more games than the virtual console offers. Plus, even if you don't want mod your wii, you have access to tons of virtual console games, even if you have to pay for them.

Also, I think the Wii is the best for providing the most similar "feel" to classic systems since there are so many controllers available. Gamecube controller works great for playing N64 games, Wiimote works for NES, and the classic controller pro works great for SNES, Genesis, and PSX. Plus, you have decent wireless (the original xbox didn't have wireless controllers, right?). I mean, the classic controller pro is basically a SNES controller clone with hand grips, dual analogs, and extra shoulder buttons added.

You can also use one of these


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## LibretroRetroArc (Aug 30, 2012)

jalaneme said:


> the xbox 1 wins everytime, it's so good even the ps3 emulators are embarrassing compared to the xbox 1 emulators, nothing will ever beat it for a long time.



That's absolute nonsense - take off your rose-colored glasses and realise most of those 'great' emulator ports on Xbox 1 are stone-age old and have long since been superseded. Oh, but I guess it's all about those ADHD-adled GUIs, sorry, almost forgot what is important...

The Xbox 1 scene can't be beaten at one thing for sure - rose-tinted nostalgia - trust me - I was in that scene just as much as the next guy, I'm now developing for it and the reality is somewhat different compared to the nostalgia-tinted glasses outlook - Xbox 1 gets taken to the cleaners by the Wii and in almost all respects Wii could do a far better job than the Xbox 1 ever could.

Only reason you saw more ports was because it was an x86 system.

Oh BTW - there's absolutely 'nothing' I would feel embarrassed about comparing the PS3 emulator ports to those of the Xbox 1 - in fact, I'd say it's the other way around at this point. You should try playing Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island with frameskip 0 sometime on Xbox 1 with a recent SNES9x core (you'll find the fastest out there right now is my effort - SNES9x Next - on Xbox 1 - and one of the most recent at this point too) and seeing how you like that - I can assure you it's well over 60fps on PS3 - even Wii can hack it - but the Xbox 1 can't.

So much for 'Xbox 1 wins everytime' - it can't even win from the Wii. It can't even run Virtua Racing at fullspeed on Genesis Plus GX - it hovers around 42/43fps - note - the Wii with the same code comfortably pulls 60fps all the time.


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## BasedKiliK (Aug 30, 2012)

LibretroRetroArch said:


> jalaneme said:
> 
> 
> > the xbox 1 wins everytime, it's so good even the ps3 emulators are embarrassing compared to the xbox 1 emulators, nothing will ever beat it for a long time.
> ...


Quick question about the 60fps SMW2 thing. Does the framerate still dip (on Wii and PS3) on the title screen or is it a full 60fps throughout?


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## The Catboy (Aug 30, 2012)

I have used both of them for emulation and honestly I prefer the Xbox a little more than the Wii.
I found the Wii is easier to set up and use, but if you have a slow SD card, that can cause some serious problems in emulation. That's really my only problem with it. If it wasn't for that fact I would say they about even for me.
Something I forgot to mention. Just between everyone reading this thread and me.
I enjoy transferring my files of to the xbox using an FTP server. It makes me feel special when everything is all set up and all running. This has nothing to do with emulation, it's just something I enjoy.


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## LibretroRetroArc (Aug 30, 2012)

demonicstrife said:


> LibretroRetroArch said:
> 
> 
> > jalaneme said:
> ...



You can try it for yourself and see. The Xbox 1 isn't even close to 60fps in that scene on a recent core (SNES9x 1.52+)


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## triassic911 (Aug 30, 2012)

The xbox.


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## emigre (Dec 6, 2012)

The Who.


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## MelodieOctavia (Dec 6, 2012)

I'm going to pistol whip the next person that necrobumps a topic for no good reason.


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