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Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

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221–230 of 268 posts

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#221

As someone that just shelled out $200 for a PVM CRT monitor to support retro-gaming, this device doesn't appeal to me at all . I'd wager I'd get a better gaming experience via a low-lag emulator with the appropriate shader plugins. IMO, they should create a cheaper version of something similar to the Analogue NT[1], with built-in network connectivity that you can use to purchase and download legal roms. [1] http://ww…

It already exists. It's called a Wii U.

The Wii U only supports Limited RGB, and playing on a Wii U misses the entire point of Retro Gaming.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you do realize blowing on the cartridge works just as good as not walking under the ladder and avoiding black cats? As a matter of a fact it contributes to connector oxidation (moisture in your breath).

I was under the impression that blowing into it caused some moisture to get there and improve the .. conduction?

It improves surface contact. That it works isn't a myth at all. Many people mistakenly put the blame on dust, thinking that blowing on it remove the dust which made it work.

It's not great for it in the long term, though, but hardly as damaging as much of the smug internet would want people to believe.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#223
post #36

It's a pretty good deal for $60 but I hope there will be some way to add more games through emulation or download or whatever. Also I want to see a Nintendo Classic Gameboy once. Please!

While it's a GBA clone instead of the original Game Boy, there's the K1 GBA that can play original carts and has a cartridge that will accept a microSD for roms. I was really interested in them a couple of years ago but then I found emulators for my PSP.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#224
post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reimplemented, not ported. They wrote it from scratch, using innovative techniques to get the smooth side scrolling that was supported by hardware in consoles.

Back in the day nearly every "port" was a full reimplementation, from the code to custom graphics and sound. Such are the perils of writing to bare metal.

There are lots of ports from the 8-bit home computer era which don't have this problem. See for example, the number of ZX Spectrum ports to the Amstrad CPC machines.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#225
post #95
post #59

I'm amazed noone here has mentioned RetroPie[1]. A model B Raspberry Pi or even a Zero (if you can get one) should play NES games perfectly fine. You can get USB NES controller adapters pretty cheap or some knock-off USB NES controllers instead. I have a SNES-USB adapter for my setup that takes two SNES controllers. [1] - https://retropie.org.uk/

I'd personally recommend Lakka[1] (Kodi's distro modded to boot straight to Retroarch) over it, having used both. Worth it for fewer problems with controller mappings, if nothing else. Boots to a usable GUI in ~3-4s on a Pi2, which is nice. If you're using a Pi it's easy to try both before deciding, so may as well check it out. Anyone in the market for hardware, I've found that the abilities of various devices tend t…

> could play Mario64 acceptably but pretty much no other N64 games

That's a problem with the emulator, not the hardware. I have a work-in-progress Mupen64Plus fork that can play all N64 games at full speed or better on the Pi 2 with only minor occasional slowdowns (that should all be fixable). The problem is that the emulator plugins were all designed for GL 1.x era fixed function hardware, which is very different from what you need to make software run well on tiled architectures like the VideoCore IV. It's not easy to get them running—I had to add an SSA-based optimizing shader compiler, for example—but it all ends up working out fine in the end.

I would like to try running N64 games on even cheaper hardware like the C.H.I.P. at some point. I think they have a good chance at running at full speed.

The biggest problem with the Raspberry Pi for this kind of stuff is that the software, which mostly consists of lightly optimized ports of old emulators written for Windows, holds the hardware back. If you compare instructions-per-clock of CPUs and fill rates of console GPUs from that era with the relevant hardware on even cheap modern mobile SoCs, the latter blow the former away. It's just that the games of that era pushed the hardware to its limits, while the emulators on the Pi don't even come close.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It already exists. It's called a Wii U.

The Wii U only supports Limited RGB, and playing on a Wii U misses the entire point of Retro Gaming.

> playing on a Wii U misses the entire point of Retro Gaming

So does having a TCP/IP stack and a download store :)

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#227
post #210
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost as if they priced it so every 35-ish year old in the USA would buy one instantly. I know I'm in that camp.

27 here and that would be an insta buy for me if only I owned a TV :(

Yeah, too bad your MacBook Pro doesn't allow HDMI in.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#228
post #224
post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in the day nearly every "port" was a full reimplementation, from the code to custom graphics and sound. Such are the perils of writing to bare metal.

There are lots of ports from the 8-bit home computer era which don't have this problem. See for example, the number of ZX Spectrum ports to the Amstrad CPC machines.

Yes, and they usually were terrible ports. They ran poorly and didn't take advantage of the CPC's better hardware.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The carts are perfectly reliable Depends on the cartridge. Any of the ones with a battery save (like Zelda or Final Fantasy) need to be opened up, have the welded in battery clipped off the board, have a CR2032 socket soldered on instead, and then put a new battery in and reassemble. It's a LOT of pain to get a NES cart with a dead battery working again. That's probably why they opted not to put a slot in this thin…

Replacing the battery takes a couple minutes. Many of those carts are still running. The number of decent NES games that used battery saving can be counted on your hands, so to call it a LOT of pain might be exaggerating a little.

I think it's fair, Remember being 12?

Then again, when I was 12, my elders we're a very different set of folks.

Re: Nintendo re-releases NES as mini console

#230

SNES was the golden age of video games. I wish people would make more games in that style. Super Metroid will never be topped at this rate, and that's pretty sad. You don't have to make games look realistic to make them addictive and fun. Give me a world I can explore, with secrets I can discover, where my character can grow and gain new abilities and combine them for unique new experiences. Stuff like that.

I really love the open world rpgs like far cry, fallout, witcher, and others. Metroid felt big as a kid, just not sure if it'd hold up today.
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