Can anyone share thoughts/feedback on those modern emulation consoles?

[jerseystyle]

I’m thinking of picking one up, like this guy:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08ZHNJ6VB/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?smid=A3G3PHQK14NB87&psc=1

 

I know that the emulation isn’t perfect, but I don’t wanna mess with computers/raspberry pie stuff- I want it to be as  “out of the box” as possible.  Any of y’all tried this, or machines like it? I’m looking for an all in one solution, and these seem as close as I’ve found. But I’ve never actually had any hands on time with these things so any thoughts are appreciated. 

Edited August 3, 2022 by jerseystyle

[Flojomojo]

I don’t have any experience with that particular thing, but emulator boxes are getting better all the time. Wired controllers should give you the least lag and buying from China usually means you’ll get a lot of roms unencumbered by copyright enforcement …

 

I’ve seen someone I respect endorse this “play everything” box recently. Haven’t tried it but I trust the source. 

 

If you want a handheld instead, the Anbernic RG351v has many fans. 

[Tanooki]

Well if you go the route of the handheld the Miyoo Mini V2/V3 is an excellent choice, especially if the listing includes the micro sd card within it.  As it comes from the land of the seedy east it's loaded up with 1000s of games from like the NES through PS1 era, arcade included.  Good form factor, very good emulation package, great selection of games, has no controller, screen or audio issues, so it's definitely a top contender on the pocketable side of things and can be had for I think around $50 or less.

[Cynicaster]

Wow, that Super Console X thing looks pretty freakin' awesome, can't believe I've never heard of that before.  

 

I recently got onboard with my first retro emulation handheld and went with the Anbernic RG351MP.  Not sure exactly what I was expecting but I feel as though this device has exceeded my expectations in almost every way I could come up with.  The metal case gives it a nice heft that makes it feel almost like a premium device.  I installed the "aftermarket" firmware called "AmberElec" and it is super easy to use and very to-the-point.  Highly recommended.  

 

 

Edited August 5, 2022 by Cynicaster

[solidus]

I only have experience with the Anbernic and Miyoo handhelds.. and I would say they are a no brainer if you do not mind emulation and want something portable. As for a stationary console though... I dont really have hands on experience. For me, the best route was always to build a very cheap, small form factor PC and just run retroarch.

[Keatah]

1 hour ago, solidus said:

As for a stationary console though... I dont really have hands on experience. For me, the best route was always to build a very cheap, small form factor PC and just run retroarch.

Yup. I don't really know how many "specialty" stationary consoles exist out there. But a standard PC is the way to go here. SFFPCs remain versatile and expandable enough to satisfy any emulation need. Much of the versatility comes by way of the multiple emulators available. Then you have file management capabilities. The very same machine easily doubles up as a archivists & storage tool.

 

Next there's controllers. You can get, mod, or make just about any controller for SFFPC. And then the hardware is ubiquitous. Just everywhere. Rather straightforward to buy it, from just everywhere!

 

Not much a fan of portable gaming however. I figure if I'm going to play I'm gonna want a grand expansive experience. Not be confined to a hot'n'heavy limited power portable with a 4" screen. Not be limited to how I can adjust and customize the whole gig. Besides if I'm gonna be out and about, why bother holing up in that 4" screen? You can do that at home. I tried it a few times and that's what it turned out to be. So no.

[solidus]

40 minutes ago, Keatah said:

Yup. I don't really know how many "specialty" stationary consoles exist out there. But a standard PC is the way to go here. SFFPCs remain versatile and expandable enough to satisfy any emulation need. Much of the versatility comes by way of the multiple emulators available. Then you have file management capabilities. The very same machine easily doubles up as a archivists & storage tool.

 

Next there's controllers. You can get, mod, or make just about any controller for SFFPC. And then the hardware is ubiquitous. Just everywhere. Rather straightforward to buy it, from just everywhere!

 

Not much a fan of portable gaming however. I figure if I'm going to play I'm gonna want a grand expansive experience. Not be confined to a hot'n'heavy limited power portable with a 4" screen. Not be limited to how I can adjust and customize the whole gig. Besides if I'm gonna be out and about, why bother holing up in that 4" screen? You can do that at home. I tried it a few times and that's what it turned out to be. So no.

Exactly. Plus the used market is flooded with old PC parts. You can use Aliexpress/Ebay and build a small  PC for a few hundred bucks. Mine has parts from around 2011 and runs everything up to PS1/N64 flawlessly. I have a 2011 era i7 cpu and a pretty crappy Radeon GPU just for a bit of an up scaling boost for 3d consoles.

[+Gemintronic]

The problem with not going Rpi4 + enclosure is these fly-by-night pirate consoles are never going to be updated.  Your favorite game may be stuttery and unplayable and that will never change.  May as well put up with buying an Rpi4 and enclosure AND imaging a TF card.  The long term enjoyment matters.

[Keatah]

9 minutes ago, solidus said:

Mine has parts from around 2011 and runs everything up to PS1/N64 flawlessly. I have a 2011 era i7 cpu and a pretty crappy Radeon GPU just for a bit of an up scaling boost for 3d consoles.

Yes. A PC's lifespan in terms of performance is on average some 10-years nowadays. Been that way since Nehalem/SandyBridge/IvyBridge.

 

AAA games and professional content creation are different beasties. Hardware is good only for a year or three at best.

 

[Keatah]

3 minutes ago, Gemintronic said:

The problem with not going Rpi4 + enclosure is these fly-by-night pirate consoles are never going to be updated.  Your favorite game may be stuttery and unplayable and that will never change. 

True enough. If you have problems with a game you can always open a ticket or write the developer of the emulator. Most seem open to suggestion and interested in fixing the problem. Or in the case of MAME, just wait it out. With so much development activity there's a good chance a problem is already being worked on.

 

3 minutes ago, Gemintronic said:

May as well put up with buying an Rpi4 and enclosure AND imaging a TF card.  The long term enjoyment matters.

It does. A parallel example would be I "bought into the Altirra franchise" for Atari 8-bit emulation on PC. And have been utterly impressed with how it evolved over the past 10 years. New features. Refinements. Accuracy. It's all there. Updating it takes all of 30 seconds to download and unzip it.

[+Gemintronic]

If I had to go with a emulation clone system now I'd make sure it ran OpenDingux.  Basically, a linux variant for various emulation consoles.  That ups the chance that emulators and programs get updates and new features.  Sure extended the life of my Dingoo A320.

[youxia]

There really is no point in the "why not just get a mini PC/RPi" posts, because there are people, OP included, who don't want to go through any setting up process whatsoever, for whatever reason -  and that's perfectly fine. These ready-made boxes are for them, not for me or you. The lack updates doesn't really matter for them that much because they are highly unlikely to be bothered by whatever minuscule imperfections might be present at this point in time (and most 8-16 bit emus are pretty much "complete" already).

 

The one problem I see with the Super Console X (and probably most of its ilk) are the cheapo controllers - that's the weak link. If  I was buying one of these things I'd first research if it's possible to use some of the better existing ones (Sony, MS, 8bitdo, etc).

Edited August 8, 2022 by youxia

[Tanooki]

@Gemintronic Yes and no.  It depends what the core operating system is.  Most(all?) the Abernic stuff, the MiyooMini, and various others that aren't like bottom of the barrel stuff (the cheapo $5-30 range or so stuff) have vibrant communities that supply updated choices of a new core to use.  Those are just as good if not better than any pi mess.  Depending on the unit they do range from bland to great output over a cable to a tv, so as such, they can be just considered gamepads to the TV which solves the hate on handheld angle some have.

 

I'd take the handheld I can lock into a TV with ease over a pi anytime.  Pi's as youxia said a half hour ago, commonly are an utter pain in the ass to setup if you have never done it before or have a low threshold for bullshit and hurdles after hurdles.  The others, they work fine as-is, and can be made (if not already) excellent with someone elses one stop copy to the memory card new firmware that makes it totally on point in a fraction of the time and effort.  But also as he said there, some maybe fine with it just being as-is with being slightly off on this or that if it doesn't really mar the gameplay and output.  And yet others who get the one stop re-flash with a better set of tools that can be done nearly effortlessly can still get that tweaked high experience for them, or with some self work too.  It's just not that black and white.

[jerseystyle]

4 hours ago, youxia said:

There really is no point in the "why not just get a mini PC/RPi" posts, because there are people, OP included, who don't want to go through any setting up process whatsoever, for whatever reason -  and that's perfectly fine. These ready-made boxes are for them, not for me or you. The lack updates doesn't really matter for them that much because they are highly unlikely to be bothered by whatever minuscule imperfections might be present at this point in time (and most 8-16 bit emus are pretty much "complete" already).

 

The one problem I see with the Super Console X (and probably most of its ilk) are the cheapo controllers - that's the weak link. If  I was buying one of these things I'd first research if it's possible to use some of the better existing ones (Sony, MS, 8bitdo, etc).

Yeah I appreciate the PC advice but I’m not interested in that. I gave no tech skills and just want something decent and easy, that I can bring up to Canada when I see my kiddos, plug in at hotel rooms, etc. thanks for the advice on the controllers though, I hadn’t considered those being potentially crappy.

[jerseystyle]

So, update! I picked one up off of Amazon (superhenk or something like that) and have been messing around the past few days. Thus far really impressed, especially considering it was 90 bucks. The controllers aren’t great but they are decent (and wireless). And the system is TINY! I’m hoping I can finally beat Rastan and Quartet now (my two “white whales” from back in the day) and it’s great playing Vectrex and O2 games again, since my collection has been in a friend’s garage for 15 years. Emulation seems fine and all I had to do was turn it on! I was pleasantly surprised by the LCD game section. I’ve included some pictures. 

[grownup]

The games are fun if you just want to play, but the thrill of having a vintage original collection just won't be there 

[jerseystyle]

1 hour ago, grownup said:

The games are fun if you just want to play, but the thrill of having a vintage original collection just won't be there 

For me I just like having access to the games. I’m not a collector so I’m fine with the compromise.  I’ve got like 20 systems (with multi carts) locked up and I have no desire to set them up again- other than maybe the Vectrex.