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Post by Sarge on Sept 19, 2018 17:19:05 GMT -5
To go along with the clone/mini-console thread, flash carts, optical drive emulators, or modded systems have become very popular (at least in the enthusiast community) to play games with more ease on actual hardware. I'd like for this thread to discuss currently available tech, and also potentially alert folks as to the new things that are coming soon. For instance, there's Prof. Abrasive's "Saturn Satiator", which promises to plug into a Saturn's expansion port in the back and load ISOs of games from there. You've got the current EverDrive line, SD2SNES, all sorts of stuff to talk about. For newer systems, often the preferred way to play is by modding the system in some way. For instance, I've been running PS2 games via HDLoader for years, and Open PS2 Loader has mostly taken the place of that. You can use tools like USB Loader GX to load Wii/Gamecube games off of an SD card or memory stick on a Wii or Wii U. Or there's the once-vibrant PSP hacking scene, where you could throw ISOs or EBOOTs on your memory cards and play from there without the wear and tear on the UMD drive. Anyway, does anyone have an interest in this sort of stuff? I love hacking around with systems and enabling these sorts of quality-of-life features, so I'll weigh in on a few things when I shake free from some responsibilities.
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Post by Ex on Sept 19, 2018 20:41:01 GMT -5
Anyway, does anyone have an interest in this sort of stuff? I've done a tiny bit of this kind of thing... I modded my original PS1 to use PS-X-Change back in 2006. It consisted of a simple mod involving a spring to hold down the lid detection button, and a swap disc. You booted the system off the swap disc, then swapped the swap disc with your burned PS1 game, closed the lid, hit X, and bam you're playing the game. I used that for a while, but eventually just started using ePSXe for all my PS1 stuff. I've still got that modded PS1 and the swap disc in my gaming closet. Tried to sell it on eBay last year, but got no takers. In 2007 I modded my PS2 slim to use Swap Magic. Which is another swap disc solution basically the same as described above. However in 2010 or so, I switched over to using FreeMcBoot, in tandem with burned discs that had been ESR patched. That removed the necessity of swapping any discs, the PS2 just loads the burned DVD like a normal game. If my PS2 was a phat, I'd use the HD loader stuff. But it's not, and the Slim's USB port speed is way too slow for that. I know I can use an ethernet solution to load ISOs off a NAS for a Slim, but nah, too much trouble. FreeMcBoot works just fine for me. For my DS Lites, I've always used flashcarts since 2007. As in a cart that boots the system into a menu, that allows you to load DS ROMs off a MicroSD in said flashcart. I used a variety of flashcarts back in the day, but ultimately an R4 with the final revision of the Wood firmware ended up being the perfect solution. I still use this method today for DS gaming, despite the fact we now have amazing DS emulators. In 2011 I soft-modded my PSPs to use CFW, and use its custom menu to load PSP ISOs off of an internal flashstick. I still use this method to play PSP games, despite the fact we now have a very good PSP emulator. In 2011 I soft-modded my Wii to use the Homebrew Channel and all the fun that brings. I mainly used it to be able to load legit import games... but also to pirate WiiWare stuff. But all of my Wii disc based games are played legit. Despite the fact we do have a very good Wii emulator. That's all I can remember. I have not modded my original Xbox, Xbox 360, Dreamcast (you don't have to mod it to play burnt discs anyway), Wii U, GameCube, PS3, 3DS, or Vita. All of those systems (sans DC) are playing legit games. All of my fifth gen and back gaming is done via emulation.
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Post by anayo on Sept 20, 2018 5:03:36 GMT -5
I like flashcarts and optical drive replacements but only if the economics beat using original hardware.
Someone on Racketboy sold me a SD2SNES for well under the retail price. Probably wouldn't have bitten otherwise.
I bought a Turbodrive for the Turbografx 16 at the cost of about $90, but that's only because it cost about as much as 2 hucard games I wanted (Devil's Crush and Legendary Axe 2). Authentic TG16 stuff is expensive if you weren't around to score any when it was cheap.
That FPGA TG16 CD-ROM replacement thingy that costs around 250 Euros just doesn't make sense to me economically right now. I could get a refurbished Turbo Duo for that much.
Same for Rhea and Phoebe on the Sega Saturn. They cost soooo much more than a Gameshark flashed with Pseudo Saturn and a spindle of CD-R's. I don't even get the price tag on that SD card adapter for the Dreamcast, since just CD-R's are all you need for that.
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Post by Sarge on Sept 20, 2018 10:37:44 GMT -5
Yeah, I agree on the TGCD and other ODEs so far. They're ridiculously expensive. That's why I'm hoping that Saturn Satiator ends up being a bit cheaper. I'll bite if it saves some wear and tear on my optical drive. But I do think that folks are getting them for that reason, plus just flat-out convenience. I've got a Dreamcast with a failing laser, and another that I had to pot tweak to get working right, which means that one is failing, too. It's a way to keep the hardware going, because honestly, for systems like that emulation doesn't feel quite right.
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Post by nullPointer on Sept 20, 2018 15:55:46 GMT -5
I first caught the soft-modding bug at a time when I was doing a lot of travel for work, and I wanted a portable emulation solution to help deal with the drudgery of living in hotels for stretches at a time. After putting in some research, the PSP became a really attractive option for this purpose due to the sheer number of emulators available, up to and including native emulation for PS1. Even all these years later, PSP is still my goto choice for portable emulation, though lately I've been considering a Vita upgrade more and more. That old soft-modded PSP is what I'm currently playing Koudelka on in point of fact.
At any rate after the PSP opened my eyes to the possibilities of what's out there and available, I was sort of hooked. My next system to get the soft-mod treatment was my 3DS, largely due to the same reasons I had modded my PSP. And in some ways the 3DS is an even better option than the PSP thanks to it's larger, brighter screen. The only thing it lacks is the breadth and depth of emulators available for the PSP. OTOH loading ROMs through the Virtual Console has proven to be amazingly resilient, even for titles not officially offered through the service (That's how I played the translation of Kyūyaku Megami Tensei earlier this year, and how I intend to finally play through the translation for the GBA version of Mother if I ever get around to it). The 3DS was also my introduction to flash carts. For the purposes of playing DS games, I have an R4i Gold cart which basically has a permanent home in my 3DS. It's a quality card, and I do recommend it, though if you're in the market for such a thing you need to be sure you're getting one that's compatible with your model of 3DS.
The next system to go under the knife was my ancient PS2 phat. On this one I'm running FreeMcBoot/OPL off an honest-to-goodness IDE drive via the PS2 HD adapter. PS2 emulation is actually pretty good at this point, but it's far from perfect and I appreciate the fidelity and experience of running the original hardware in this case. One project I've had on the back burner for a while is to convert the whole setup to load from USB instead. IDE drives aren't getting any cheaper or more plentiful, and it's a bit of a PITA to yank the drive and hook it up to a IDE <-> SATA adapter each time I want to load/remove games. Yay for future projects!
And finally the most recent system I soft modded was my Wii U. To be honest I may at some point do a factory restore on this one. I kind of jumped the gun in that the Wii U is still (basically) a 'modern' system insofar as it still gets firmware updates and that sort of thing (although to be fair, the 3DS just got a new firmware update over the summer as well, but those are nowhere near as frequent at this point). With each firmware update you kind of worry about continued functionality, and the possibility of account banning which all just sort of leads to unnecessary stress. So I'm really on the fence with my Wii U currently regarding whether to keep it in a modded state for the time being.
Long story short, soft modding has kind of become this whole separate aspect of the hobby that I enjoy, and in some instances it's not even necessarily the means to an end, but rather just another interesting project to work on. It's one way to pass the time!
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Post by Sarge on Sept 20, 2018 16:59:16 GMT -5
Well, there is another way to transfer games to the system, it just takes a while. You can run HDL Server, and connect to the PS2 either through a router or crossover cable using HDLDump/Dumb. It takes as long to transfer that way as it does to rip from the disc, but it does save the trouble of yanking the HDD in and out. I've used this method for years, although it can be a pain in the butt remembering the right network settings to use. I think the first system I ever soft-modded was the XBOX. The emulation scene on there was great, as you'd guess from a platform that was a gussied up PC, right down to using a Pentium III and a modified GeForce 2/3 variant. Other than that, the first flash cart I ever got was the FlashAdvance 256M Pro for the GBA. I still have it; it cost me more than the system did! EDIT: Huh, apparently Open PS2 Loader has a hidden option to enable the HDL Server stuff in it. Very nice. bitbucket.org/ShaolinAssassin/open-ps2-loader-0.9.3-documentation-project/wiki/hdl-server
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Post by Ex on Sept 22, 2018 10:59:39 GMT -5
soft modding has kind of become this whole separate aspect of the hobby that I enjoy I would much rather soft mod than hard mod, as my soldering skills aren't exactly great. I can do it, but I can't do it pretty. I suppose if hacking one's phone for side loading counts, I've also soft modded every smartphone I've owned. But I've only done that so I could play games on my phone that the Play store said were no longer compatible, despite the fact they were actually compatible.
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Post by anayo on Sept 22, 2018 12:13:33 GMT -5
soft modding has kind of become this whole separate aspect of the hobby that I enjoy I would much rather soft mod than hard mod, as my soldering skills aren't exactly great. I can do it, but I can't do it pretty. I suppose if hacking one's phone for side loading counts, I've also soft modded every smartphone I've owned. But I've only done that so I could play games on my phone that the Play store said were no longer compatible, despite the fact they were actually compatible. iPhone user?
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Post by Ex on Sept 22, 2018 14:25:48 GMT -5
Nope, I am an Android user, not a fan of iPhone or Mac anything.
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Post by Sarge on Sept 22, 2018 21:06:30 GMT -5
I did a jailbreak on my old iPhone 3G. I haven't bothered rooting my Android, it pretty much does all I need it to already. I haven't done too many hard mods, mainly because they aren't usually necessary. Like you Ex, I had one of those PSX-Change discs. Sadly, my burners and media were rubbish, so I never had much luck with it. I installed a hard mod in my Saturn, though, which was a bit harrowing. It was literally the first time I soldered. Thankfully, I nailed it the first time on these pins. I recently had to replace it, and even with the rust, it was easy to do. I've modded one of my SNESs as well with a lockout chip disable and 50/60 Hz switch, and enabled the audio expansion on one of my NES consoles. My most extensive soldering job was when I recapped that Sega Genesis a while back, which didn't fix my problem... but it didn't nuke the system, either, so yay? At some point, I'd like to swap out the HDD in the XBOX for a larger one, just to run stuff from there like I do the PS2. Although it now gets even less use than that system.
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