What Emulators Are You Using - 2018?

[Jagosaurus]

I always have been original hardware or bust. But now I'm starting to come around to the idea of emulating since I have realized my collection is going to last what? 10-30 more years before cd rot and decay take them So I'm looking for a more console approach to emulation. I do have Analogue's snes preordered, so if the unofficial firmware from their nes makes the jump to their snes I will probably be all over that. Also was thinking about buying a Wii and trying to set up the homebrew channel, I'm tempted by their DOS ports that support controller use. I do have 2 pcs with my older xp running magic engine and mednafen with a Mayflash Saturn usb adapter, but haven't touched it since I bought a pc engine duo I'm weird like that with running emulator's on pc not holding my attention, but Sega throws a bunch of genesis roms on a ps3 disc, and I'm hooked

I previously had a XP PC I saved from work being used as my dedicated emu PC connected to my TV. It was a legacy customer voice mail system headed to the recycling bin that found its way to my truck . It was more than enough juice to run up through 5th gen.

What you'll run into is Direct X issues. Current emus are looking for a version of DX above what is compatible with XP (maxes at DX 9 IIRC).

I was stuck hunting down old versions/builds of emus released during XP hay-day which obviously were behind the times in accuracy, compatibility, & features.

Bc of this, I ended up then saving a Windows 7 PC from work . Much better experience. I know eventually I'll have to upgrade it when Direct X outpaces W7.

Now, XP can run older PC games in compatibility mode. That's a plus!

[Tanooki]

Despite the fact I generally don't emulate anymore I had that list. I have been fairly regularly since I got the Core Grafx II firing up the Magic Engine emulator in short bursts. You can only mine out so much reviews/data on the old games as it's not a hip/cool thing for everyone to make a site over into overkill like Nintendo and Sega stuff.

Having a smokemonster package of PCE/TG stuff you can just throw that against trusty old Magic Engine and really work things out. It's fun having a moment of discovery I have been unable to really experience as a 'new' thing from a dead console probably going on 15 years now. I mean yeah I had that Duo back in the day but the US TG library is shit outside of a few gems on those HuCards but the PC Engine has a wall of amazing stuff their horrible management denied us (NEC was a stupid as Sega was with Tonka in the SMS era.)

[Jagosaurus]

I thought this comparison would be fun. I wanted to run games and compare the composite image on a LCD vs the emulators. Everything is 4:3, not stretched. I have the emulators connected to my LCD via VGA running at 640×480.

To be honest, I was surprised. When I start playing in composite, I know it doesn't look as good as the emus but whoa... big side by side difference. S video does improve the composite image but I'd say it's a 20% improvement at best. Of course, your mileage will vary on each TV.

If you're not going to drop the money on a XRGB or OSSC RGB to HDMI setup and you're not keeping a CRT around, I think these images speak for themselves...

NES Composite on LCD


NES Emulator on LCD


4 more examples in spoiler tab

Genesis Composite


Genesis Emulator

Notice the word "out"

Genesis Composite


Genesis Emulator


SNES Composite


SNES Emulator

[chuckster]

This is a huge perk of emulation that is glossed over most of the time. PQ on most modern emulators and advanced shaders will be excellent and equal to or better than original hardware in some cases. A $150 discarded office PC can provide video quality that can surpass that of a $200-400 scaler with original hardware.

Of course these two solutions are the end result of two very different mindsets, so they are not strictly comparable. I'd say the person waiting on an OSSC or BVM has already decided emulation is not acceptable.

But for those just getting into retro gaming--especially on a flat-panel--dumping your games to ROMs and setting up an emulation PC can be a very high-quality gaming experience.

[SpikeSlania]

I can't really see a difference in your snes comparison shots Get the Super Mario World hack for Genesis and take pictures of that! But yeah, I will be moving in a week and won't have space for a desk to set up my pc since I decided on having 2 recliners instead in front of my tv So I probably will need to look more into that Wii Homebrew thing or how hard is it to get a retropi set up? Though before I even think about a retropi need to see if my analogue snes nt will have emulator support through unofficial firmware

[Jagosaurus]

Yeah, I also feel resolution and ease of use on modern TVs/monitors often gets overlooked when discussing the pros of emulation.

The XRGB type set ups are chasing that clean emu look from real hardware. I agree, it's often 2 dichotomous camps on the web but lots of here on RB use both.

I agree the SNES composite signal does fair better but take another look at the information block grid & Yoshi's saddle. Definitely crisper in emu.

I need to take a comparison shot of PS1. When I booted up Crash Bandicoot in ePSXe via VGA it looked very sharp. Interested to see the side by side! Screen shot might not do 3D polygons in action as much justice as footage though.

[chuckster]

So I probably will need to look more into that Wii Homebrew thing or how hard is it to get a retropi set up? Though before I even think about a retropi need to see if my analogue snes nt will have emulator support through unofficial firmware

As far as the Pi vs. Wii, I'd say Pi is easier to get up and running. I used Lakka, but all I did was slap the image onto a microSD, throw some games on it, and roll. My 360 controller, iBuffalo SNES pad, and my Hori RAP3 were all plug-n-play. If you've ever dealt with Retroarch it's really quick and painless. The Wii takes a bit more doing but there are plenty of tutorials out there that make it pretty easy.

The biggest difference is in output. The Wii only outputs 480p max (as far as I know),but can easily do 240p in S-video or component for top-tier analog video. The Pi can emulate at 1080p without all that much issue. It can do high-quality 240p but it takes a bit more hardware and tweaking. I say if you're more interested in easy and cheap 240p emulation, a Wii is the way to go. For HD emulation on the cheap, a Pi is a better option. I personally use the Wii with my main retro setup and the Pi with a CRT VGA monitor.

The Analogue St should be pretty awesome, but I say a Pi or Wii is still worth it while you wait, based on price. No telling when or if that firmware will come through.

[SpikeSlania]

That and with the Wii I get Mario Kart and Brawl. Does the Wii have good SMS and GG emulation?

[JoeAwesome]

There's something more true to form on the NES composite shot, Jag. Look at the blocks at the bottom of the screen; the trees covered in webs. The emulator scrubs the details out a little too much for me.

[chuckster]

I thought this comparison would be fun. I wanted to run games and compare the composite image on a LCD vs the emulators. Everything is 4:3, not stretched. I have the emulators connected to my LCD via VGA running at 640×480.

Are those emulation shots filtered? The CV one in particulat looks like it has a smoothing filter on it.

That and with the Wii I get Mario Kart and Brawl. Does the Wii have good SMS and GG emulation?

Yes, I also forgot to mention, the Pi and Wii have different strengths when it comes to consoles covered. On Pi you get good PS1 support along with better MAME performance. The Wii on the other hand has perfect GC and (duh) Wii support, especially if you have the first model.

As for SMS and GG, I don't play them enough to say what's good, but Gens Plus GX on Wii handles Genesis extremely well, and it also has support for both SMS and GG.