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Post by Sarge on Feb 8, 2018 16:01:38 GMT -5
So, as some of my posts have alluded to, keeping old systems running can be a gigantic pain in the rear. Between dying capacitors, lasers, power supplies, hard drives, the works, it's more and more important to be able to replace the hardware (or keep it running). What prompted me to bring this up is all the hubbub about the Analogue Super Nt. It apparently (almost) perfectly recreates the SNES, right down to its quirks. And unlike Analogue's previous offering, the pricing falls into more reasonable territory: $190. I have to admit, it's pretty tempting to get a machine that will perform well over HDMI. Even more interesting will be if the "unofficial" cores show up on the system like they did with the Nt mini. (Also, it's pretty neat that they're including a "Director's Cut" version of Super Turrican as well as its sequel on the system.) There are also other things, like optical drive emulators like GDEMU/Rhea/Phoebe for Dreamcast/Saturn or the recently-released Super SD System 3 for PC Engine. So what's everyone's take on these (and other) solutions? Anyone got a favorite? |
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Post by anayo on Feb 8, 2018 16:14:40 GMT -5
Holy cow, Sarge, I did not know the Super SD System 3 for PC Engine was a thing that existed. I was wondering if some genius had invented one while fiddling with my SD2SNES today.
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Post by Sarge on Feb 8, 2018 16:17:11 GMT -5
I think it came out in December. Honestly, I might have skipped buying a Duo entirely and just gotten that thing instead with a cheap PC Engine. It may be pricey, but I did pay like $300 for that modded Duo, soooo... yeah, I'd say it's worth it. EDIT: An interesting article from byuu of higan fame on FPGAs versus software emulation. I do think it's important to cut through some of the marketing junk going on here; the Super Nt may very well be incredibly accurate, but that also doesn't mean that higan is somehow inaccurate. And I've known for a while that some of the breathless coverage of FPGAs as somehow being inherently "better" than software is just wrong. I even made that point somewhere else that, really, FPGA implementation is still emulation, just in hardware. Low latency is probably the biggest thing that FPGA-based consoles bring to the table, but there's nothing stopping a coder from taking a CPU and doing the same thing. EDIT2: And another. |
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Post by anayo on Feb 9, 2018 9:58:36 GMT -5
This is the first time I heard of FPGA. It sounds like a really interesting concept. I'll have to read up on it more later.
Yeah when I saw the Super SD System 3's $300 price tag I thought, "For that much I could just get a Turbo Duo." Rhea, Phoebe, and most Everdrives deter me from purchasing for that reason. I only ended up with a SD2SNES because one showed up on RB for considerably less than its retail price. As for my TG-16, I bought an Everdrive for that because the price ($96 shipped) was about the same as two hu cards I wanted (Devil's Crush, $60; and Legendary Axe 2, $30.)
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Post by Sarge on Feb 9, 2018 10:09:20 GMT -5
Yeah, I definitely got a Turbo EverDrive, it was quite cheap around Black Friday with the discount, and TG-16 games are ridiculously expensive. I do need to get back to playing some stuff on there.
Legendary Axe 2 is pretty tough. I got a bit frustrated with it last year...
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Post by Ex on Feb 9, 2018 10:17:01 GMT -5
I think these repro systems are cool for folks who value hardware. I am a low down dirty emulator hound*, so I don't get excited personally for them. I do like to see these repro systems existing, eventually there will come a time when all the original hardware is dead. And well, cartridges can only live so long, and CDs all rot eventually. So, I guess repro carts and repro discs are cool too. *As far as emulation goes, I see it like this; let's say I want to watch a movie from the 80s. Now, if I was going to watch it "legitimately", I might view the movie via its 80s VHS tape on an 80s VCR via an 80s CRT TV. That's pretty authentic from a hardware perspective. Or, I can just stream said movie to my laptop via Netflix, which is closer to the emulation approach. In both instances I'm netting the same end result; seeing the 80s movie. But one result is simply easier to accomplish than the other, and I don't have to deal with any head tracking! Well that's how I feel about emulation. The amount of conveniences that emulation brings outweighs the "cool" factor of hardware, IMO. Unless you just really enjoy blowing on cartridges, or soldering capacitors, or cleaning button contact pads, etc.  |
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Post by anayo on Feb 9, 2018 10:56:52 GMT -5
I think these repro systems are cool for folks who value hardware. I am a low down dirty emulator hound*, so I don't get excited personally for them. I do like to see these repro systems existing, eventually there will come a time when all the original hardware is dead. And well, cartridges can only live so long, and CDs all rot eventually. So, I guess repro carts and repro discs are cool too. *As far as emulation goes, I see it like this; let's say I want to watch a movie from the 80s. Now, if I was going to watch it "legitimately", I might view the movie via its 80s VHS tape on an 80s VCR via an 80s CRT TV. That's pretty authentic from a hardware perspective. Or, I can just stream said movie to my laptop via Netflix, which is closer to the emulation approach. In both instances I'm netting the same end result; seeing the 80s movie. But one result is simply easier to accomplish than the other, and I don't have to deal with any head tracking! Well that's how I feel about emulation. The amount of conveniences that emulation brings outweighs the "cool" factor of hardware, IMO. Unless you just really enjoy blowing on cartridges, or soldering capacitors, or cleaning button contact pads, etc. For some people there's definitely an appeal to the original technology, and not just with games. Earlier when I drove to Chibby's house I noticed his VHS collection. It's a very casual collection, not like the level of enthusiasm in Adjust Your Tracking, where people will spend $500 on eBay for rare tapes. He just kept picking up weird looking titles at Goodwill for 50 cents each before he ended up with 50 tapes or so. Anyway we watched 3 tapes over 3 days. Something about the experience felt very different from the modern HDMI/Blu-ray player/streaming service landscape of this decade. It's not for everyone, but there's something fun about reminiscing over the way things used to be. |
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Post by Ex on Feb 9, 2018 11:03:24 GMT -5
It's not for everyone, but there's something fun about reminiscing over the way things used to be. Oh sure, nostalgia is a key factor. I understand where you're coming from. I'm just saying personally; convenience > nostalgia |
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Post by Sarge on Feb 9, 2018 11:07:20 GMT -5
I like both, honestly. I love having the carts and hardware, but there are definitely times where the convenience of emulation outweighs my wanting to play on the real hardware. Just depends on my mood.  |
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Post by anayo on Feb 9, 2018 11:08:40 GMT -5
If real hardware's too expensive I'll just emulate. I've resigned myself to just playing PC Engine CD on my home-brew enabled Wii with Mednafen.
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