Console emulation box, front end, controller options, advice needed

[severdhed]

i recently have a renewed interest in classic console games, so i hooked up my n64 and snes consoles, and while they are fun, the image quality with composite video cables looks really horrible when blown up to 70".  I have been playing these games on emulators on both my wii and original xbox, which works fairly well, but the n64 games are just difficult to play with anything but an n64 controller...plus the n64 emulation on these consoles is net very consistent.  I don't need a ton of systems or different controllers, but i'd like to emulate NES,SNES,n64 and probably the genesis and turbografx.  i want N64 controllers for the n64 games, and I think that SNES controllers will be fine for everything else.

i just picked up two Mayflash dual N64 to usb adapters
and a mayflash dual SNES to usb adapter

so, i'm looking at setting up a dedicated PC for emulation.  I've got a few options:

Raspberry Pi or Laptop

i already have a model B raspberry pi, which should be capable of emulating everything i want with the exception of the N64.  I've seen youtube videos of the new Raspberry Pi 2 being capable of N64 emulation.  In this scenario, i'd setup to different systems.  my original pi (mounted in a gutted snes, with the originally controller ports connected to the mayflash adapter) for the older consoles, and pick up a pi2 for the n64, which would be mounted in a gutted n64 case.  I'd have to buy the pi2, and try to find a dead SNES and dead n64.

or

i have a fairly decent laptop with a broken screen, it has plenty of power to emulate everything i want, and has an HDMI output.  this is the cheap option, because i don't need to buy anything.  however i'm a little concerned about dealing with multiple controllers.  I'd have to be switching out between the snes and n64 controllers, depending on the games i wanted to play. Configuring the individual emulators to use the right controller shouldn't be an issue, but i am not sure how that would work with a front end.  do i leave all of the adapters plugged in, and just connect the appropriate controller?  Can i set up a front end that could be operated by either the snes or n64 controller?  what front end should i use?  I'm pretty familiar with MaLa, it is what i use on all of my mame cabinets, but i was looking at emulation station, which seems pretty slick.

then comes the issue of making it not look super crappy, like a laptop with a bunch of adapters sticking out of it.  i could build an enclosure from MDf, but it would have to be fairly large and probably ugly. 

i like the idea of having it inside an n64 case, but if i don't use a raspberry pi, i'd have to buy a mini itx setup, which isn't exactly cheap.

I've got a small budget for this. 

suggestions? 

how is the emulation on the pi / p2? 

[AzureKnight]

A crazy thought on the design, what if you built a Mario Coin Box.  Then you could make it any size you wanted.   Have the top hinge open to run out whichever controllers you want to use.  You could hide all the electronics inside below another shelf that could hinge open.

[severdhed]

thats a good idea, except the laptop i'm using is a 17" model, so the motherboard is fairly large.  it would be a big box.  i have a smaller laptop to use, but it doesn't have hdmi, which makes it less desireable

[otsep]

A crazy thought on the design, what if you built a Mario Coin Box.  Then you could make it any size you wanted.   Have the top hinge open to run out whichever controllers you want to use.  You could hide all the electronics inside below another shelf that could hinge open.

Hmmm....  I may have to do this.

[PL1]

A crazy thought on the design, what if you built a Mario Coin Box.  Then you could make it any size you wanted.   Have the top hinge open to run out whichever controllers you want to use.  You could hide all the electronics inside below another shelf that could hinge open.

Maybe make it so it opens like Mario opens it -- by hitting the bottom of the cube.


Scott

[stavros693000]

i recently have a renewed interest in classic console games, so i hooked up my n64 and snes consoles, and while they are fun, the image quality with composite video cables looks really horrible when blown up to 70".  I have been playing these games on emulators on both my wii and original xbox, which works fairly well, but the n64 games are just difficult to play with anything but an n64 controller...plus the n64 emulation on these consoles is net very consistent.  I don't need a ton of systems or different controllers, but i'd like to emulate NES,SNES,n64 and probably the genesis and turbografx.  i want N64 controllers for the n64 games, and I think that SNES controllers will be fine for everything else.

i just picked up two Mayflash dual N64 to usb adapters
and a mayflash dual SNES to usb adapter

so, i'm looking at setting up a dedicated PC for emulation.  I've got a few options:

Raspberry Pi or Laptop

i already have a model B raspberry pi, which should be capable of emulating everything i want with the exception of the N64.  I've seen youtube videos of the new Raspberry Pi 2 being capable of N64 emulation.  In this scenario, i'd setup to different systems.  my original pi (mounted in a gutted snes, with the originally controller ports connected to the mayflash adapter) for the older consoles, and pick up a pi2 for the n64, which would be mounted in a gutted n64 case.  I'd have to buy the pi2, and try to find a dead SNES and dead n64.

or

i have a fairly decent laptop with a broken screen, it has plenty of power to emulate everything i want, and has an HDMI output.  this is the cheap option, because i don't need to buy anything.  however i'm a little concerned about dealing with multiple controllers.  I'd have to be switching out between the snes and n64 controllers, depending on the games i wanted to play. Configuring the individual emulators to use the right controller shouldn't be an issue, but i am not sure how that would work with a front end.  do i leave all of the adapters plugged in, and just connect the appropriate controller?  Can i set up a front end that could be operated by either the snes or n64 controller?  what front end should i use?  I'm pretty familiar with MaLa, it is what i use on all of my mame cabinets, but i was looking at emulation station, which seems pretty slick.

then comes the issue of making it not look super crappy, like a laptop with a bunch of adapters sticking out of it.  i could build an enclosure from MDf, but it would have to be fairly large and probably ugly. 

i like the idea of having it inside an n64 case, but if i don't use a raspberry pi, i'd have to buy a mini itx setup, which isn't exactly cheap.

I've got a small budget for this. 

suggestions? 

how is the emulation on the pi / p2?

I found some usb controllers for various game systems on ebay.  I bought the snes and nes usb controller and they are on par with the original, I highly recommend them. There is cheaper ones but theres no substitute for quality IMO.

I havnt tried the N64 and megadrive/genesis controllers yet but they look good.

incase your interested or didn't know about them I highly recomend

[stavros693000]

also found game cube usb as well.
im sure there are usb controls for just about every system on ebay if you look
or if your interested

cheers stavros

[severdhed]

those are cool, but i want to stick with original controllers.  I already have the n64 adapters and i have several original n64 controllers.  my snes adapter should be here tomorrow and i have two original snes controllers to use.  i have a retrolink NES controller, and while it is close, it just doesn't quite feel like the original.

i think for the time being, i'm going to skip the raspberry pi stuff and just use a PC.  beside the laptop, i also have a desktop computer here that may be a better choice.  it is a pentium dual core E2200 2.2ghz processor, 4gb ram running windows 7 x64. it has GeForce 7100 integrated graphics, but i can probably find a video card to throw in it if that would make any difference with project 64.  it is a slim hp, with a motherboard that is about 7.5" square.  The power supply is bulky, but i think i have access to a smaller one i could use.  This means i could possibly build a mario coin block about 9 to 10" square. 

I just setup project 64 on it and while it slows down a little when i set the resolution up high and bump the settings up to high, but if i set them down a little, it still looks better than my n64 console and it runs well.  I'm not super familiar with project 64, not sure if upgrading the video card would help, or it is more of a cpu thing. Opinions?


my big concerns are dealing with the front end and using different controllers. i want to be able to turn this thing on, plug in either n64 or snes controllers and be able to control the front end and play my games without having to reconfigure anything.   I think those are the only two controller types i want to worry about right now, but could maybe add more later. 

[thomas_surles]

those are cool, but i want to stick with original controllers.  I already have the n64 adapters and i have several original n64 controllers.  my snes adapter should be here tomorrow and i have two original snes controllers to use.  i have a retrolink NES controller, and while it is close, it just doesn't quite feel like the original.

i think for the time being, i'm going to skip the raspberry pi stuff and just use a PC.  beside the laptop, i also have a desktop computer here that may be a better choice.  it is a pentium dual core E2200 2.2ghz processor, 4gb ram running windows 7 x64. it has GeForce 7100 integrated graphics, but i can probably find a video card to throw in it if that would make any difference with project 64.  it is a slim hp, with a motherboard that is about 7.5" square.  The power supply is bulky, but i think i have access to a smaller one i could use.  This means i could possibly build a mario coin block about 9 to 10" square. 

I just setup project 64 on it and while it slows down a little when i set the resolution up high and bump the settings up to high, but if i set them down a little, it still looks better than my n64 console and it runs well.  I'm not super familiar with project 64, not sure if upgrading the video card would help, or it is more of a cpu thing. Opinions?


my big concerns are dealing with the front end and using different controllers. i want to be able to turn this thing on, plug in either n64 or snes controllers and be able to control the front end and play my games without having to reconfigure anything.   I think those are the only two controller types i want to worry about right now, but could maybe add more later.

I use maximus arcade on my cab, and I can plug in my n64 controller and use the front end with both my joystick and the n64 controller.

[gamer83]

Use an original xbox as an emulation machine,the emulators for it are amazing.grab one off of kijiji or craigslist for under 30 bucks.softmod it,replace the hd with a beefy one,and run unleashx as the front end.playing golden eye with dual analog sticks rocks your socks.there are controller mods you can do or buy/make a usb adapter for retro controllers.i can make a vid of mine in action if you want.heres a few pics of my controller mods.

[severdhed]

I have several Xboxes that I used for emulation for years, but it always comes down to the controller.....nothing compares to a Nintendo d pad. That is why I switched to a wii with the classic controller, which works fairly well, but the n64 emulation is problematic compared to the other emulators on the system.   I have not seen the retro adapters for the Xbox, if I could plug in my n64 and SNES controllers, that would work fantastically.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[keilmillerjr]

I have several Xboxes that I used for emulation for years, but it always comes down to the controller.....nothing compares to a Nintendo d pad.

The SEGA Saturn D pad is way better. It doesn't hurt your thumb as much because it's not a ---smurfing--- plus sign.

[eds1275]

I built mine (thread in the console section) and used xbox 360 pads. The N64 controller works pretty good if you map the C buttons to the second stick, but it does take some getting used to.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,141605.0.html

As for a computer, I'm running a core 2 duo 2.93 and it seems to be handling most things pretty well. It's just running integrated graphics though If I threw in even the cheapest card I'm sure I coould get all the 3d crap on the dreamcast running 100%.

[gamer83]

Im pretty sure you can either make or buy usb adapters for the xbox,I have an n64 usb controller converter,ill mock something up and test the original n64 controller,see how the xbox responds to it.ill let you know how the test goes

[severdhed]

I started messing around with setting up emulators on my laptop although I ran into a bit of a problem. It seems as if the n64 controllers need to be calibrated every time they are unplugged and plugged back in...is this normal? If so, that is a deal breaker.  I'd like to this up to just boot up, plug in the controllers and play...is there any way around this?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[eds1275]

If they controllers get unplugged they will often lose their ids and need to be recalibrate again. It may work better if the controllers are plgged in before the emulator starts. Someone on this site wrote a program that prevents this, and I've heard good things. I'm not sure who wrote it or what it's called, though...

[thomas_surles]

Are you using real n64 controllers? I'm using the generic Usb ones from eBay and it works fine for me. But I do plug them in before the emulator starts

[severdhed]

I'm using original n64 controllers with mayflash usb adapters.  Keeping them plugged in isn't feasible since I have small children who won't leave them alone.

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[yotsuya]

I'm using original n64 controllers with mayflash usb adapters.  Keeping them plugged in isn't feasible since I have small children who won't leave them alone.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Then you're going to have issues unless you use DrVenture's tool.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Have you checked out the KADE minconsole+?

http://kadevice.com/

D