ROMs VS CIA

[Lehnah]

Hello folks,

Sorry for what is probably a noob question, but I'm wondering what the advantage of using CIA files over ROMs or vice versa is for older games? I've several SMS/MD/GG and GBA games I've backed up the ROMs for and have been using via emulators on my New2DS. However, I've also tried a few of them as CIAs (via Injectors) and I can't really notice any difference, other than the CIA's install as native programs and are arguable "easier" to get into. Of course I also realise that CIAs don't offer any benefits emulators might, such as filters, save states, etc.

So yeah, any benefit of one over the other? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[The Catboy]

The best "emulators" on the 3DS aren't even emulators, they are just homebrew using the built-in functions of the 3DS. The benefits of using open_agb_firm for the average user are mostly saving you from maxing out your homemenu icon limitation. I prefer using emulators for the features they provide and not reaching that max icon limit.

 

[master801]

Virtual Console has arguably better performance depending on the platform and game.

The best "emulators" on the 3DS aren't even emulators, they are just homebrew using the built-in functions of the 3DS. The benefits of using open_agb_firm for the average user are mostly saving you from maxing out your homemenu icon limitation. I prefer using emulators for the features they provide and not reaching that max icon limit.

In my experience, using mGBA ran games worse (in both performance and compatibility) on o3DS than in open_agb_firm.

 

[retrospect]

Snes9x supports the SuperFX chip, so you can play games that won't work on Nintendo's emulator, like Yoshi's Island.

European SNES games seem to run in higher resolution that American ones, so on a 3DS I'd say use European ROMs and on a DS I'd say use American ones (since fewer pixels get cut off).

 

[Lehnah]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

So is injection still the best method for playing GBA games on N2DS? I have done some searching but couldn't find a definitive answer

 

[retrospect]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

So is injection still the best method for playing GBA games on N2DS? I have done some searching but couldn't find a definitive answer

Injection uses agb_firm to play GBA games, which is real GBA firmware.

Open_agb_firm is just as good but easier it's to manage saves and ROMs.

In both cases you can't use 3DS-specific features, like sleep.

iirc injection of GBA games doesn't work on emuNAND.

 

[Lehnah]

So there's no real benefit of Open_/agb_firm unless you want to add more than 300 titles? I highly doubt I'll ever reach that many as I'm just playing some retro faves.

 

[wormdood]

So there's no real benefit of Open_/agb_firm unless you want to add more than 300 titles? I highly doubt I'll ever reach that many as I'm just playing some retro faves.

As others have mentioned open agb makes use of real hardware instead of relying on software alone making most games run more accurately than software based emulation ... That being said software based emulation comes very close to it's hardware based alternative in quality but also has more bells and whistles like save states ect
The real question is whether you value a faithful experience or the bells and whistles

 

[Lehnah]

I read a few threads on Open_agb_firm and I must admit I found it a little confusing with the talk about saves and not being able to switch between 2/3DS and GBA modes. So you have to turn the console off if you want to switch modes?

Edit:

That being said software based emulation comes very close to it's hardware based alternative in quality but also has more bells and whistles like save states ect

So as open_agb_firm isn't emulation you just get the stock standard play experience, right? Are there any GBA emulators you'd recommend for play in a New2DS? I have installed Retroarch but I've not really experimented yet.

 

[retrospect]

Are there any GBA emulators you'd recommend for play in a New2DS?

mGBA is often recommended. I haven't spent much time using it for GBA myself. For GB/GBC games it's better if you use a dumped GBC BIOS file. That last bit often goes unmentioned.

(There's another GBC emulator called GameYob, but people say the DS versions are better than the 3DS version. You can of course run a DS version, but not much point if you're already using mGBA for GBA.)