Favorite Method of Emulation?

[suppow]

I prefer flashcarts and the like so I can load the roms/isos on their original devices. Not sure why, maybe its just a nostalgia thing. Just doesn't feel the same playing them on any device they weren't meant for.

it's always best to play the games on what they were meant to run on. or the next closest thing.

 

[the_randomizer]

When I play Snes games on the Wii (Snes9x Next), it feels very close to the real thing (especially the audio emulation, and yes, I'm obsessed with that aspect), especially with the bilinear filtering, which I personally think looks like how a CRT "bled" the pixels together, unlike the Virtual Console. We all know how bad 16-bit VC games look on most LCDs. The Classic Controller also feels like a 16-bit console gamepad, and that makes all the difference. So, combining those two elements, excellent emulators and nice controllers, you get one heck of an experience!

 

[suppow]

and later, I yet again switched to this, which allowed me to do a full run of Ocarina of Time rather comfortably. Not bad.

Spoiler: iControlpad

that seems pretty interesting, where are the shoulder buttons?
i dont own those kinda phones so i wouldnt know if they're inter-compatible, or where it would connect, and if it'd feel wobbly.
ever since 2008 i've avoided most new cellphones because their time of obsolescence is so quick that to me they're just not worth the money/time
i rather stick with consoles which have a life-span of AT LEAST 5 years, unless you're they VirtualBoy of course.

I later switched to emulating on a soft-modded Wii. This didn't work great for N64, but it did great for all the legacy consoles.

I then switched to emulating on my Macbook Pro, using a classic controller pro and wiimote for input.

Nowadays, I really don't emulate at all, because I'm frustrated with all the extra pain and incompatibilities involved. I'm debating between starting up a retro game collection (which I would love to do), or else just grab everdrives and the like so I can have the convenience of emulation along with the benefit of actual hardware.

i dont see much of a compatibility issue when it comes to NES, SNES, GB/C/A, Master System, Genesis, GameGear. it seems pretty stable to me.

i see what you mean with making that decision, to me, the way i choose to do it, is to try games out on flashcarts or so as roms, and if i see i like it, i buy it for my collection.
it feels like back in the day when we would rent games, and buy them if we liked them, we cant rent those games anymore (i think), so i have to try the rom first.

for PSX, PS2, Xbox/360, GameCube, you can just burn the ISO to try them first. for the Wii you can load them on a USB-HDD without having to burn them.

the difficult one is the N64

 

[suppow]

When I play Snes games on the Wii (Snes9x Next), it feels very close to the real thing (especially the audio emulation, and yes, I'm obsessed with that aspect), especially with the bilinear filtering, which I personally think looks like how a CRT "bled" the pixels together, unlike the Virtual Console. We all know how bad 16-bit VC games look on most LCDs. The Classic Controller also feels like a 16-bit console gamepad, and that makes all the difference. So, combining those two elements, excellent emulators and nice controllers, you get one heck of an experience!

i think i prefer no filtering, and just enjoy the pixels. i just hope you're using aspect-ratio and not stretching the thing to make it look ugly. hate it when people do that
and i really like the Classic controller Pro, it only lacks a few things, but for me it's up there with the 360 controller (but the Classic Pro has better Dpad)

 

[the_randomizer]

When I play Snes games on the Wii (Snes9x Next), it feels very close to the real thing (especially the audio emulation, and yes, I'm obsessed with that aspect), especially with the bilinear filtering, which I personally think looks like how a CRT "bled" the pixels together, unlike the Virtual Console. We all know how bad 16-bit VC games look on most LCDs. The Classic Controller also feels like a 16-bit console gamepad, and that makes all the difference. So, combining those two elements, excellent emulators and nice controllers, you get one heck of an experience!

i think i prefer no filtering, and just enjoy the pixels. i just hope you're using aspect-ratio and not stretching the thing to make it look ugly. hate it when people do that
and i really like the Classic controller Pro, it only lacks a few things, but for me it's up there with the 360 controller (but the Classic Pro has better Dpad)

Unfiltered pixels look like a pile s**t on my LCD TV due to lack of 240p and yes, I use 16:9 but it doesn't look horrible when stretched out. 4:3 aspect ratio looks too, well, square and I can't stand the black boarders on the side, but that's me.

 

[suppow]

Unfiltered pixels look like a pile s**t on my LCD TV due to lack of 240p and yes, I use 16:9 but it doesn't look horrible when stretched out. 4:3 aspect ratio looks too, well, square and I can't stand the black boarders on the side, but that's me.

lol, so you're picky about sound, but dont give a f**k about visuals?

 

[JulietStMoon]

that seems pretty interesting, where are the shoulder buttons?
i dont own those kinda phones so i wouldnt know if they're inter-compatible, or where it would connect, and if it'd feel wobbly.
ever since 2008 i've avoided most new cellphones because their time of obsolescence is so quick that to me they're just not worth the money/time
i rather stick with consoles which have a life-span of AT LEAST 5 years, unless you're they VirtualBoy of course.

The shoulder buttons are lower on the back, so you have to hit them with your middle fingers. Once you get used to it, it's not that bad. The grip that holds the phone on it is adjustable with different levels, so you don't have to worry about wobbles on most phones. However, if you're interested, they just finished a kickstarter for the iControlpad 2, a sequel with a better grip, proper shoulder buttons where they should be, and a keyboard built in. Plus, it's completely open source. If you're interested, I seriously recommend waiting for that instead of getting the original. It's set to be about the same price, too.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1703567677/icontrolpad-2-the-open-source-controller

i dont see much of a compatibility issue when it comes to NES, SNES, GB/C/A, Master System, Genesis, GameGear. it seems pretty stable to me.

i see what you mean with making that decision, to me, the way i choose to do it, is to try games out on flashcarts or so as roms, and if i see i like it, i buy it for my collection.
it feels like back in the day when we would rent games, and buy them if we liked them, we cant rent those games anymore (i think), so i have to try the rom first.

for PSX, PS2, Xbox/360, GameCube, you can just burn the ISO to try them first. for the Wii you can load them on a USB-HDD without having to burn them.

the difficult one is the N64

It's not so much straight compatibility issues (except for N64 and PS1 games), as much as it is performance. Even when playing NES and SNES games on the soft-modded Wii or laptop, there are occasional EXTREME slowdowns where there shouldn't be, for example. Especially when a certain amount of characters appear on the screen.

And I agree. I don't mind paying for games. But the way I see it, so many legacy games are ridiculously rare and expensive, and cost way more than even when they first came out (Mega Man X3 on the SNES, for example). Plus, no money is going towards the original developers if I buy them used anyway. I would love love LOVE to be able to get the original game carts, but the price is such a barrier. And for me, even though I'd love to have a collection, having that same experience is more important than having the physical collection, you know what I mean? As long as hardware performance and control, etc are the same, i don't care if it's on an official cart or a flash cart. But I definitely don't pirate "current" games (I used to pirate DS games on the supercard until a few months ago, but my conscience got the better of me).

 

[Intimidator80]

Anything Wii and under on my PC but the handhelds which i will play on the DS just cause they looked crappy in full screen on the pc xD and i got the usb adapter that allows me to use the real controllers for each system too which is alot better then a pc controller IMO Also riged up my pc to be able to use the wii remote as well which is the bomb for wii games!

those adapters are awesome, indeed. how do you get about the sensor bar?

Usb bluetooth dongle adapter and wireless wii sensor bar,with those 2 i can connect the wii remote and nunchuck to the pc through the dongle adapter and use it with dolphin and it will think its a wii system.Only way to get some wii games to even work on your pc.

 

[the_randomizer]

Unfiltered pixels look like a pile s**t on my LCD TV due to lack of 240p and yes, I use 16:9 but it doesn't look horrible when stretched out. 4:3 aspect ratio looks too, well, square and I can't stand the black boarders on the side, but that's me.

lol, so you're picky about sound, but dont give a f**k about visuals?

I do, but unfiltered looks like crap. My TV doesn't support native 240p, what the hell are you bitching about? I'll use my emulators however the hell I want to use them. Stop f***ing around and let me be. If you don't like it, screw off and shut the f**k up.

 

[JulietStMoon]

lol, so you're picky about sound, but dont give a f**k about visuals?

He cares about the visuals, it's just that the method you suggest legitimately looks worse on the TV he uses.

 

[the_randomizer]

He cares about the visuals, it's just that the method you suggest legitimately looks worse on the TV he uses.

At least you can empathize my predicament. I have no choice, either I use filtering or I don't play the emulator.

 

[JulietStMoon]

At least you can empathize my predicament.

I use filtered pixels myself, because they honestly look WAY better on my HD than unfiltered does. That said, I put it in 4:3 correction mode, too.

Using a 480p component cable seriously helps, too.

 

[the_randomizer]

At least you can empathize my predicament.

I use filtered pixels myself, because they honestly look WAY better on my HD than unfiltered does. That said, I put it in 4:3 correction mode, too.

Using a 480p component cable seriously helps, too.

Definitely helps, and granted, some LCDs (like my parent's Sony Bravia) support 240p, but most don't. Therein lies the issue. suppow here is obviously delusional and probably has a CRT and not an LCD.

 

[JulietStMoon]

Definitely helps, and granted, some LCDs (like my parent's Sony Bravia) support 240p, but most don't. Therein lies the issue.

I have no idea what I have... all I know is it's a 37-ish inch widescreen HD Sansui that came with my apartment. Lol.

suppow here is obviously delusional and probably has a CRT and not an LCD.

And relax, dude. No need to fuel the fire.

 

[the_randomizer]

Definitely helps, and granted, some LCDs (like my parent's Sony Bravia) support 240p, but most don't. Therein lies the issue. suppow here is obviously delusional and probably has a CRT and not an LCD.

I have no idea what I have... all I know is it's a 37-ish inch widescreen HD Sansui that came with my apartment. Lol.

I currently have a 32" LCD and despite being from a budget line, it looks pretty darn crisp and vibrant; Snes9x Next looks amazing, in fact, it looks like the real deal. So does GenplusGX and other 16-bit console emulators. suppow probably doesn't know native resolution means and why LCDs generally don't render it.

 

[suppow]

The shoulder buttons are lower on the back, so you have to hit them with your middle fingers. Once you get used to it, it's not that bad. The grip that holds the phone on it is adjustable with different levels, so you don't have to worry about wobbles on most phones. However, if you're interested, they just finished a kickstarter for the iControlpad 2, a sequel with a better grip, proper shoulder buttons where they should be, and a keyboard built in. Plus, it's completely open source. If you're interested, I seriously recommend waiting for that instead of getting the original. It's set to be about the same price, too.

http://www.kickstart...urce-controller

seems to me a lot like the Pandora Portable, is it the same team?

It's not so much straight compatibility issues (except for N64 and PS1 games), as much as it is performance. Even when playing NES and SNES games on the soft-modded Wii or laptop, there are occasional EXTREME slowdowns where there shouldn't be, for example. Especially when a certain amount of characters appear on the screen.

i know just what you mean, that's why for me, the best way to play those are with an N64 flashcart, and a PSX, i assume that if you're looking for PSX games for your collection, that you have a PSX, and if not, they're dirt cheap to get, and it's really easy to mod them, i even heard there's an SD Card mod coming out, like for the DreamCast.

And I agree. I don't mind paying for games. But the way I see it, so many legacy games are ridiculously rare and expensive, and cost way more than even when they first came out (Mega Man X3 on the SNES, for example). Plus, no money is going towards the original developers if I buy them used anyway. I would love love LOVE to be able to get the original game carts, but the price is such a barrier. And for me, even though I'd love to have a collection, having that same experience is more important than having the physical collection, you know what I mean? As long as hardware performance and control, etc are the same, i don't care if it's on an official cart or a flash cart.

exactly, those games which are ridiculously i stay away from them, until i can get them for a reasonable price, otherwise you're just agreeing to whatever price the seller wants, and it's the fault of the buyer, and yeah you're not giving that money to the developers, so the only one cashing all that money is the seller >
presonally, i rather play those games as roms, until i can get them for a decent price.

But I definitely don't pirate "current" games (I used to pirate DS games on the supercard until a few months ago, but my conscience got the better of me).

i really see a difference between playing roms of OLD games that are not being made anymore (so you cant hurt the console, and the developers are not getting the money anyways - it's not like ALL the games are on the Virtual Console),
and "pirating" modern games, vs trying them first, where you can affect the economy of the console.

like i said, we cant rent games like that anymore, so to me that's the closest thing.
and i prefer to give the money to the people making the flashcarts and all those cool things, than to a seller hogging the money.
(i know some people really dedicate themselves to finding the games and making them available to purchase, but not all)

 

[JulietStMoon]

*Snip*

Yes, the ICP and ICP2 are by the same team as the Pandora.

And I agree, there's nothing wrong with testing games on emulators. If I do indeed decide to start collecting real retro games, I'll definitely be testing the ones I'm not sure I'll like via emulation, first.

And on that note, one of the other main reasons I want an everdrive is so i can easily play SNES homebrew and the like on actual hardware.

 

[Coto]

SNES backwards i'm fine with Wii or my notebook as an entertainment center. N64 onwards pure real hardware, no emus (not even VC). Framebuffer effects on N64 aren't even comparable

 

[suppow]

ok, i'm gonna try to get all in order

I do, but unfiltered looks like crap. My TV doesn't support native 240p, what the hell are you bitching about? I'll use my emulators however the hell I want to use them. Stop f***ing around and let me be. If you don't like it, screw off and shut the f**k up.

ok, nevermind unfiltered/filtered that's fine. filtered does look better on bigger resolutions, i just said that i liked unfiltered better. but . . . (continued below)

He cares about the visuals, it's just that the method you suggest legitimately looks worse on the TV he uses.

the method i was suggest (and note), was not filtered vs unfiltered, i was mainly talking about aspect ratio

At least you can empathize my predicament. I have no choice, either I use filtering or I don't play the emulator.

again with the filtering

I use filtered pixels myself, because they honestly look WAY better on my HD than unfiltered does. That said, I put it in 4:3 correction mode, too.

Using a 480p component cable seriously helps, too.

exactly, that method works well on higher resolutions, filtering + 4:3

Definitely helps, and granted, some LCDs (like my parent's Sony Bravia) support 240p, but most don't. Therein lies the issue. suppow here is obviously delusional and probably has a CRT and not an LCD.

no, i dont have a CTR, and no i'm not delusional (as far as i know )

And relax, dude. No need to fuel the fire.

exactly, chill out


so obviously you missed the whole point and went in the wrong direction,
i was arguing against stretching, (4;3 vs 16:9/16:10)
(to me stretching seems wrong regardless of tastes, filtering it's fine for higher res, and it's your taste - i just like pixels)

it just seemed funny to me that all along he's been so touchy about sound, but had no problems stretching it (which looks ugly)
i thought he would be the same with visuals

 

[mightymuffy]

I mostly use the Wii to be honest nowadays - Everything up to the SNES runs well, it's on my big downstairs telly, and Retroarch & forwarder channel = easy to use! Do seem to spend more time setting up the games for playing rather than actually playing them mind - they're there for when I need them though!

Handheld it's a bit different... I'm similar to PJM but also have a PSP
Maybe it's just me, but I prefer GB(C)(A) emulation on the DS to the PSP, feels better on a Ninty machine!
SNES (though it's not perfect...)/ Megadrive/other consoles though = PSP.