What is the best console to have homebrew on, and why?

[Deleted_413010]

I didn't know the wii u couldn't read gamecube disks.Are there wii's that dont have GC support?

Most original Wii's from what I know do have GC support. Mine does. In fact my Wii is still original...untampered. Never homebrewed.

 

[CORE]

There was a model revision in Canada only I think? That is Wii Only.

Spoiler: Wii MIni

 

[Alexander1970]

There was a model revision in Canada only I think? That is Wii Only.

Spoiler: Wii MIni

In Europe too.

 

[Deleted_413010]

There was a model revision in Canada only I think? That is Wii Only.

Spoiler: Wii MIni

The Wii Mini was released in the United States. If you mean a revision where GC support was removed from it then that's sad.

 

[leon315]

plus PS3 can play PSX discs without any convertions, all other consoles require y ou to convert them into ISO/rom 1st.

the last psx game i played on ps3 was Silent Bomber, it was so fun, too bad we didn't get any sequel.

 

[Haloman800]

Wii U has everything the Wii has, plus all Wii U library.

 

[CORE]

@leon315 I totally forgot about PS3 and being able to play PS1 - PS2 - PS3 is awesome and you also got RetroArch can the PS3 play PSP Games? Digital I mean? But @leon315 being able to convert to ISO is a Blessing Disc Drives Dont Last!

Oh might as well throw in PS2 and Pops PS1 damn love these Consoles prior 2012 Wii U for me the last True Console XBOXOne and PS4 just Restricted HTPCs same for Switch only Android Tablet I will take a Shield instead thanks but I will also take a Switch if anyone wants to donate one That is how I ended up with a PS4 my Friend gave me his since he upgraded to Pro. I would not have one if it were not for him I really dont care for it besides Exclusives.

 

[Alexander1970]

Wii = advanced Gamecube
The most hardware/equipment for the Wii was original designed for the Gamecube.

 

[leon315]

@leon315 I totally forgot about PS3 and being able to play PS1 - PS2 - PS3 is awesome and you also got RetroArch can the PS3 play PSP Games? Digital I mean? But @leon315 being able to convert to ISO is a Blessing Disc Drives Dont Last!

yep, you can even extract ISO from psx discs through Multiman, and ps3 has $ony's official PS2-psp emulator in later FW, so you don't need Retroarch for psp games. it doesn't cover 100% of library but it's still quite large!

Plus playing Mario games on $ony's console is simply priceless

 

[kuwanger]

The best console to have homebrew on is the one you have and use.

 

[Kioku]

The best console to have homebrew on is the one you have and use.

I knew my SNES had a greater purpose!

 

[ELY_M]

I am going with Nintendo Switch because you can take it with you to anywhere. It is my most favorite console to have homebrew.
I done more on my switch than other consoles I have.

 

[Stwert]

I didn't know the wii u couldn't read gamecube disks.Are there wii's that dont have GC support?

Only the Wii Mini, it cant play GameCube games. But you wouldn’t want one of those pieces of crap anyway.

Other than that, all Wii’s play GameCube games and can use GameCube discs.

 

[brickmii82]

The Wii is the best bang for your buck. I'd have voted Wii U but they're still $100+ whereas a Wii can be found with all accessories and 2 Wiimotes for a $20 bill. Add in SD card cost and you have a retro machine for 30$. Thats cheaper than a retropie

 

[FAST6191]

I will ignore the likes of the Amiga as homebrew on an ostensibly open system... yeah.

Homebrew is more than emulation to me. Indeed emulation is but a tiny fraction of it all. I like emulation but it is a trivial thing these days (was back when as well but for ease of use a hacked console represented something). On the flip side remakes of old games is a different matter.

Anyway that leaves 5 main contenders. Backwards compatibility + a bit of token extra stuff I am ignoring, and none of them make the experience so much radically better that it gets hard -- none showcase stuff like that fancy mode 7 filter or high resolution rendering or anything like that.

Xbox, GBA, DS, PSP, Wii.

No other device has seen the levels of creativity and drive to make cool shit as those devices. I have serious doubts we ever will see it again either as somewhat open devices reign again and I can't see a nominally closed device overcome that, nor having interesting enough hardware to justify it.

The wii was a bit of an anomaly. There was some good homebrew beyond emulators and systems management but not as much of it and it did not do as much as the others. What homebrew it got often struggled to shed the tech demo... I am going to say stigma but want a better term than that.

The xbox had xbmc which was a complete game changer for a lot of things. After linux though it was mostly emulation that drew people in.

The GBA. Did very well here and set the stage for what was to come but has been overshadowed by the DS and PSP. That said there are still some absolute gems in its homebrew catalogue ( https://gbatemp.net/threads/links-to-various-gbatemp-features-over-the-years.352851/ features a few and notes more in passing).

DS vs PSP then. On the emulator side of things the PSP won overall but most of that was "I'll port this old PC emulator as C compilation is a thing that can be done here" which contrasted with the GBA/DS approach of tightly coded emulators doing good stuff. I dismissed emulation already. The PSP's extra power allowed it a more or less fully realised version of SDL which helped a lot of take off, and its extra power was put to use on many occasions to do things the DS could not. On the other hand the DS' touch screen did a lot for it, and what the DS did get was often very fun and put together with the DS in mind, plus all the ports of various protocols.

If you had a DS and PSP while they were active then you probably would have had the best time in homebrew on any device.

 

[the_randomizer]

The Wii is the best bang for your buck. I'd have voted Wii U but they're still $100+ whereas a Wii can be found with all accessories and 2 Wiimotes for a $20 bill. Add in SD card cost and you have a retro machine for 30$. Thats cheaper than a retropie

Wii is absolutely perfect for Snes with Snes9x GX 4.4.0, NES with Nestopia Undead, GBA with mGBA*, and Genesis with Genesis Plus GX.

*mGBA runs every commercial GBA game full speed, unlike VBA GX, which struggles with many games and frameskipping abound.

 

[Flame]

I will ignore the likes of the Amiga as homebrew on an ostensibly open system... yeah.

Homebrew is more than emulation to me. Indeed emulation is but a tiny fraction of it all. I like emulation but it is a trivial thing these days (was back when as well but for ease of use a hacked console represented something). On the flip side remakes of old games is a different matter.

Anyway that leaves 5 main contenders. Backwards compatibility + a bit of token extra stuff I am ignoring, and none of them make the experience so much radically better that it gets hard -- none showcase stuff like that fancy mode 7 filter or high resolution rendering or anything like that.

Xbox, GBA, DS, PSP, Wii.

No other device has seen the levels of creativity and drive to make cool shit as those devices. I have serious doubts we ever will see it again either as somewhat open devices reign again and I can't see a nominally closed device overcome that, nor having interesting enough hardware to justify it.

The wii was a bit of an anomaly. There was some good homebrew beyond emulators and systems management but not as much of it and it did not do as much as the others. What homebrew it got often struggled to shed the tech demo... I am going to say stigma but want a better term than that.

The xbox had xbmc which was a complete game changer for a lot of things. After linux though it was mostly emulation that drew people in.

The GBA. Did very well here and set the stage for what was to come but has been overshadowed by the DS and PSP. That said there are still some absolute gems in its homebrew catalogue ( https://gbatemp.net/threads/links-to-various-gbatemp-features-over-the-years.352851/ features a few and notes more in passing).

DS vs PSP then. On the emulator side of things the PSP won overall but most of that was "I'll port this old PC emulator as C compilation is a thing that can be done here" which contrasted with the GBA/DS approach of tightly coded emulators doing good stuff. I dismissed emulation already. The PSP's extra power allowed it a more or less fully realised version of SDL which helped a lot of take off, and its extra power was put to use on many occasions to do things the DS could not. On the other hand the DS' touch screen did a lot for it, and what the DS did get was often very fun and put together with the DS in mind, plus all the ports of various protocols.

If you had a DS and PSP while they were active then you probably would have had the best time in homebrew on any device.

thank you. somebody understands. people posting which games they console can run made by the console manufacturer makes it the best homebrew device.

"lol my device can run all the Nintendo library" thanks to nintendo.


homebrew is something which is not made by the console manufacturer.

great homebrews are like moonshell on the DS, xbmc on the OG Xbox. TWiLight Menu++ on the DSi.

 

[the_randomizer]

I'd be more inclined to use homebrew if there were more apps like media players for the N3DS and the like.

 

[Flame]

I'd be more inclined to use homebrew if there were more apps like media players for the N3DS and the like.

well homebrew devs can do so much. its about using resources for what is needed. would it be worth it making a media player on the 3DS when almost every other device these days can play media files.

when moonshell was made, it was wow. smart phones was not a thing yet on the level it is today.

imo homebrew is about giving people what they want what the console manufacturer wouldnt care or waste they time with but with in reason. i.e. android on the switch. kodi on the Wii U


kodi on the Wii U would make sense, it would be able to do HD videos(i think) even use the gamepad as a way to view and control the videos. with out you needing to convert them to different size or format.

 

[zomborg]

My response is based only on my experience. My vote is for the Wii and Original Xbox.
My wii could do everything but fry eggs. My Xbox could do almost as much and XBMC was so freakin cool!
I can't really weigh in on the Wii U because I've never modded one.