Hacking Making DSI XL into retro gaming machine.

[ThemBats]

Recently I stumbled upon an arcticle about Flashcarts with zero knowledge about them, and was just BLOWN AWAY. The fact that there are so many emulators that emulate some of(basicly all) greatest consoles of all time and the shear volume of games available to you is breathtaking, and because of the cheap microSD's you can have 16gigs(Some have 64(I-N-S-A-N-E)) just for games.

So after that I orderd my first flashcart, which is the DSTWO, because why wouldn't you want aaaall that emulation, 16gb MicroSD, AND even thou I have a 3DS, I orderd a DSI XL also. They still haven't arriwed but I want to be ready when they do. For now I just have two questions.

1. What are the best emulators(GameBoy, GameBoyAdvanced, MegaDrive, NES, SNES atleast)?
I know this was asked probably a million times before but since they keep getting updates I have no way of knowing which runs better.

2. MAME?
I was researching Mortal Kombat, and it seems that all of the MK games on consoles are dumbed down versions of the Arcade versions, so sould I download the MAME version rather then SNES or GENESIS?

 

[Aeter]

Gameyob for gb/gbc.
TempGBA for gba.
Picodrive for megadrive.
Nesds for nes.
Catsfc for snes.

 

[Bonny]

To be honest: A Dsi XL isn't the best system to be tuned into an "retro gaming machine". I also own one and a DSTWO.

GBA uns SNES are not running in fullspeed and also suffer other issues and Bugs. Another thing is the resolution of the Dsi XL Screen: Console Systems who originally got hooked up to a TV, always look crappy on it. The additional CPU of the DSTWO helps a little for better emulation resulty, but for me personally - it's still unplayable.

A PSPGo with it's internal 16GB of space is a better choice for emulation.

 

[YoshiInAVoid]

DS Lite is the best choice in my opinion.

They are incredibly cheap at the moment, I actually happen to own 3 DS Lites (as well as 2 3DSs and 2 DS phats).

They are much smaller than a DSi XL and can play GBA ROMs natively (not emulated, so they will be perfect) which is far better than having a DSTWO with an extra processor hogging your battery for a mediocre emulated experience.

There is no need to worry about updates and loosing support for your flashcard. The DSi has no way to run DSi homebrew on the latest firmware, and there is no way to access the DSi eShop without the latest firmware

The DS Lite has been out for so long that it's been thoroughly hacked and is customisable to the point that you can write your own firmware and flash it so that your DS will boot from it (done this myself several times)!

Unfortunately SNES emulation wont be great for the majority of games, however having perfect DS, GBA, and very close NES emulation (I'm sure there are also other full speed emulators such as for Sega Master System but I personally haven't tried them out) should really be enough.

 

[ThemBats]

Thanks for the replys guys.

I am aware that PSPGo has better tech. then the DS, and that PSP in general has a great history with homebrew but I kinda hate the things, they arent comfartable to me.
But I have a VITA and I LOVE that machine, fixes allot of issues with PSP and is really powerfull, and hopefully will get a CFW someday...If that happend it could run almost anything.

The reason I chose DSI XL is because I don't have a money for the very expensive games(I love to buy unused games), with the ps3 atleast games get old pretty fast and I can get them for cheap, different story for the DS, GBA or 3DS. Plus I don't know if I could play on a small sceen like that without a hadache.

Hmm...Its sad to hear that the emulation is not that great with SNES and GBA but still maybe it will get better?

And what about MAME, how does it run?

 

[RHOPKINS13]

DS Lite is the best choice in my opinion.

They are incredibly cheap at the moment, I actually happen to own 3 DS Lites (as well as 2 3DSs and 2 DS phats).

They are much smaller than a DSi XL and can play GBA ROMs natively (not emulated, so they will be perfect) which is far better than having a DSTWO with an extra processor hogging your battery for a mediocre emulated experience.

There is no need to worry about updates and loosing support for your flashcard. The DSi has no way to run DSi homebrew on the latest firmware, and there is no way to access the DSi eShop without the latest firmware

The DS Lite has been out for so long that it's been thoroughly hacked and is customisable to the point that you can write your own firmware and flash it so that your DS will boot from it (done this myself several times)!

Unfortunately SNES emulation wont be great for the majority of games, however having perfect DS, GBA, and very close NES emulation (I'm sure there are also other full speed emulators such as for Sega Master System but I personally haven't tried them out) should really be enough.

How do you manage to run GBA ROMs natively without emulation on your DS Lite? Are you using a GBA flashcart?

 

[YoshiInAVoid]

EZ Flash-3-In-1 is what I personally use. You can store the GBA ROMs and saves on your DS flashcard and launch them directly through your flashcard, or if it doesn't support it, just load Rudolph's GBA ExpLoader and run the ROMs through that.

The problem with DSi is that it just doesn't have any niche against the other models, it lacks GBA support as well as all slot 2 accessories such as the Guitar Hero grip, is larger, and costs more for its two low quality cameras and "updated" firmware which really is just more clunky (I find it easier to have all my apps like PictoChat and settings to be just there rather than having to scroll around a wasteland of junk to get to what I want).

 

[ThemBats]

DS Light has two slots for game cartridges, 1 for DS and another for GBA.
The first DS console that abandoned the GBA is DSI.

EDIT:
Sorry misread, thought you ment game cartridges.

 

[Aeter]

People are overreacting or haven't tried the latest emulators yet.
You will be able to play most games fine.
Catsfc might not play everything as good as you'd like but there is still quite a range of very playable games.
I personally use the gba emulator a lot and think it works pretty damn good.
Especially after knowing how it used to be when there was only NDSGBA.
GameYob and NesDS are quite awesome and are very complete emulators for the DS.
I suggest trying all of them out and forming your own opinion about the quality of them.
Some people expect a BSNES quality emulator for a DS which is a very unrealistic expectation.
So try them out and you might find it not as horrible as some are depicting here.
I for one, love the emulators and they do the job well enough for me.

 

[ThemBats]

Ok I'll try and see.
BTW when I reseave my DSI XL should I update it to the latest version??

 

[Aeter]

Ok I'll try and see.
BTW when I reseave my DSI XL should I update it to the latest version??

No update the DSTWO first to the latest firmware and EOS, after that it's safe to update the DSi.

 

[Foxi4]

I agree with YoshiInAVoid, get a DS Lite with a DSTwo and an EZ 3-in-1 or an EZ4 - that way you'll get the best of both worlds, unless you're interested in DSiWare. Native GBA compatibility is better than anything a GBA emulator on the DS could ever offer.

That being said, I'm leaning towards a PSP or a PSP Go, to be honest - they're just "better" for that sort of a thing. That, or perhaps a GCW Zero, even? The resolution's low, sure, but it's better than the DS's and perfect for retro gaming while at the same time it offers far more punch for the buck.

 

[ThemBats]

CGW Zero sure sounds interesting...
I'll make a seperate thread in the general gaming section and would like to hear more from you guys there.

 

[Bonny]

CGW Zero sure sounds interesting...

Absolutely! I once started a thread if anyone knows a dealer who still sells them for an acceptable price. 0 Replys. Are they still produce that thing?

 

[ThemBats]

http://www.gcw-zero.com/store
And it seems the site will soon sell the product world wide.

 

[Bonny]

Of course i know this link.

TThic / ThinkGeek - 150 / 160 $ + Shipping + Taxes= over 250 Euros for a german Customer. Not acceptable.
The Dragon Boxshop is always out of stock.

And it seems the site will soon sell the product world wide.

Yeah, but when?