N64 emulation in an ultra small form factor...what options do i have?

[severdhed]

I have a dead N64 that i gutted, wired up the controller ports to usb adapters and had it all ready to go for a raspberry pi 2 based emulation console.  once i got my hands on the pi 2 however, i discovered that contrary to what i saw on various youtube videos, n64 emulation on the pi 2 just isn't working that well.  some games are playable if you use alternate emulators, but it isn't a consistent eperience.  i've since transplanted the pi into an SNES, which it is more than capable of handling. 

so, i've still got this n64 case with nothing to put in it.  I need to find something small enough to fit inside the n64, that is powerful enough to run an n64 emulator.  i don't care if it runs linux or windows or android or whatever, as long as i can have it boot up into some type of front end that i can launch n64 roms from and can be controlled with only n64 controllers using usb adapters.   It must also have HDMI video output.  also, the cheaper the better...i don't have a huge budget for this. it will not be running any emulators other than the n64.

so, what are my options?

OUYA
Intel Compute Stick
gigabyte brix
something else

[reptileink]

Although not ideal, you could probably create an external "black box" and run the wiring from that to your 64 if space is an issue inside. 

Tuck the box behind your TV/stand/shelving etc and run it all from the N64 "body"

So still have the N64 feel, but not have to worry about all that stuffed inside. I am assuming heat would play a factor cramming more stuff inside a case.

[severdhed]

Yeah, I could. I already have a pc connected to my tv that is more than capable. But I'd rather have a small, self contained unit that is easily portable. The emulation is pretty close on the raspberry pi 2, I can't help but think there has to be something small out there with enough power to handle this.

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[Token]

I haven't tried it, but an Amazon Fire TV seems like it should fit inside a gutted N64. You can side-load android apps on the Fire TV.

I haven't run N64 emulation on Android. Also, I'm not sure if you'd be able to use an N64 USB controller or not.

[Phreakwars]

Maybe an AMD AM1 board using a radiator cpu cooler from a laptop might work. The 4 core AM1 CPUS are very low wattage yet powerful. Plus utilize decent on board graphics that can handle N64 emulation. You'd need to find low clearance ram though I would suppose.

[paigeoliver]

An older atom based netbook should both handle it and fit inside the N64 case.

[Phreakwars]

An older atom based netbook should both handle it and fit inside the N64 case.

yep,  or maybe an Acer Aspire that has on board ATI/Nvidia graphics. Or how about an ASUS EEEPC. Dell used to sell one as well, but if I remember correctly  they weren't all that powerful.

[paigeoliver]

An older atom based netbook should both handle it and fit inside the N64 case.

yep,  or maybe an Acer Aspire that has on board ATI/Nvidia graphics. Or how about an ASUS EEEPC. Dell used to sell one as well, but if I remember correctly  they weren't all that powerful.

They aren't powerful, but N64 doesn't exactly require a lot of power. UltraHLE was running N64 full speed on 300 mhz processors back in 99. I am sure the 1.2 ghz to 2 ghz Atoms can handle N64 emulation on at least one emulator. If they can't then none of the idiot dev boards will either, since they will just be running terribly optimized versions of the same software the Atom would have.

[Phreakwars]

Here's that Dell I was talking about :

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-Processor-Genuine-Windows%C2%AE/dp/B0024MB1A0/

Could probably find one on eBay cheaper.

Note, it comes with only 8 gigs of hard drive space, you'd have to buy a new SSD for it. I think the largest one's I've seen for it are 64 gigs. If you need more space then that, then you'd want to consider an external USB drive.

I've played around with these before and was able to get 2gigs of RAM into it, and even run Windows 7 tiny (gutted version). A pretty capable machine if you put effort into it. Not sure how it would handle N64 emulation though.

[Phreakwars]

A quick eBay search turns up this mother board for pretty dang cheap, which is, I assume, all you'd really want/need from it. No need to buy a whole PC if you don't need to, just buy the parts, which might, or might not be cheaper in the long run. Guess you'd have to do some research and pricing.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/151251349181

[Phreakwars]

More info on N64 from Dell forums:

http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/gaming/1304-n64-emulator-working-mini-9-a.html

Edit: BTW, the Mini 9, does NOT have HDMI, you'd need a converter, which are pretty cheap, and you'd probably be able to stuff one inside as well if you put your mind to it..

[jdbailey1206]

Severdhed you answered your own question in your original post.  The Brix can definitely handle what you need but is too expensive.  This little guy is what I picked up.  I already had the memory and the hard drive I picked up was only $90.  I'm sure you can find one that is less expensive.  I opted for the 128GB version and that was over kill. 

What I'm getting at is I bought one and put it in a NES.  I was inspired by DaOldMans build.  I removed the top and bottom and kept the outer ring on for heat issues and I have not had any problems to date.  The best I can get out of it is PS One emulation and that is more than enough for N64 emulation.  I wanted to go as far as PS2 but skimped and bought the i3.  Doesnt matter.   I only play Resident Evil 4 on the PS2 so I downloaded it on the 360 and all was good. 

Enough of my rambling.  I'll take a picture tonight of my 'creation' and show you how much room I have to spare.   Hope this helps.

[keilmillerjr]

Get a working n64 and buy an everdrive. You can have every single game playable on original hardware. No emulation. Done. N64's are cheap. I sold mine for only a few dollars.
 

[severdhed]

Severdhed you answered your own question in your original post.  The Brix can definitely handle what you need but is too expensive.  This little guy is what I picked up.  I already had the memory and the hard drive I picked up was only $90.  I'm sure you can find one that is less expensive.  I opted for the 128GB version and that was over kill. 

What I'm getting at is I bought one and put it in a NES.  I was inspired by DaOldMans build.  I removed the top and bottom and kept the outer ring on for heat issues and I have not had any problems to date.  The best I can get out of it is PS One emulation and that is more than enough for N64 emulation.  I wanted to go as far as PS2 but skimped and bought the i3.  Doesnt matter.   I only play Resident Evil 4 on the PS2 so I downloaded it on the 360 and all was good. 

Enough of my rambling.  I'll take a picture tonight of my 'creation' and show you how much room I have to spare.   Hope this helps.

the NUC looks like a good possibility.  The N64 case really doesn't have a lot of room inside, i'm afraid a netbook motherboard may not fit. The SNES case has way more internal space.    You say PS1 emulation works fine on your nuc, have you actually tried n64 emulation?  the raspberry pi 2 handles ps1 pretty well, but the n64 isn't as good.

Get a working n64 and buy an everdrive. You can have every single game playable on original hardware. No emulation. Done. N64's are cheap. I sold mine for only a few dollars.
 

I already have a working n64, and the cartridges for 90% of the games i care about...however i absolutely cannot stand using composite video.  If i had room for a 26" CRT tv somewhere it would be a different story, but on a large HDTV, n64 over composite video looks horrible.    I know there was that guy working on an HDMI mod for the n64, but it still hasn't been released, so therefore i'm looking at emulation.   

A small enough atom board should be sufficient, i was just hoping someone here actually had tried this before.    I know there are some cheap android devices out there that may be able to do it, but getting the controllers to work and just the general lack of customization available to the software make it less than desirable.  the intel compute stick seems like it might be a good choice...it will definitely fit,  but i just cant seem to find anyone who has one or anyone who has tried running an n64 emulator on it.  just a lot of speculation. also, it is $150

[ChanceKJ]

.

[vwalbridge]

N64 played like crap on my Zotac Pi320 but a NUC would probably play it fine.

[severdhed]

i found a youtube video of a guy running various emulators on a intel computestick.  he showed it running mariokart 64, which worked very well, but didn't show any other n64 games.  I posted a comment to the video asking about how the other n64 games run, hopefully he will reply.

here is the video in question.



i can justify $120 for the compute stick if it works well.  the size makes it very easy to fit in the n64.  it should just be a matter of adding a few extensions cables for the hdmi and power, and a usb hub for my 2 controller adapters. 

i'll also keep looking and if anyone else as any other suggestions or first hand experience, i'm all ears. 

[DudeRegular]

Check out this mini pc at $99.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883722001

[slickam]

I haven't used it yet, but a while ago I picked up a Minnowboard Max. It's a bit bigger than the Raspberry Pi, but it's a dual core 1.33GHz Bay Trail Atom processor with 2GB of RAM. I'll try to get an N64 emulator running on it this weekend.

[severdhed]

I haven't used it yet, but a while ago I picked up a Minnowboard Max. It's a bit bigger than the Raspberry Pi, but it's a dual core 1.33GHz Bay Trail Atom processor with 2GB of RAM. I'll try to get an N64 emulator running on it this weekend.

Awesome, thanks

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[keilmillerjr]

You can mod a wii and grab one of those n64 controller adaptors.

[severdhed]

I already have a wii with the n64 emulator. As well as a modded Xbox with the emulators on.  I really want to use the original n64 controllers and want it to have hdmi. I know I can get adapters for the wii, but it still only has component video. And I could be wrong, but doesn't the wii require you use a wiimote to get into the homebrew channel to launch the emulators?

I really want something I can put inside this n64 shell with an hdmi output. I already gutted the n64 and wired up the controller ports. I had everything ready to go for the raspberry pi2, only to find out that the performance just wasn't there.   I love my pi snes. Im working on a genesis now, and next a PlayStation. I really want an n64 to go along with it

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[actionless]

I have an NTSC N64 that has been RGB modded running through an XRGB mini upscaler. I use an Everdrive for the games.

This is the ultimate setup - Looks bootiful! And way better than emulation will ever be.

[nitrogen_widget]

I have a cheap dual core 1.5ghz android stick that runs super mario 64 just fine.
cost me $20 off ebay when they had them.

This s805 box is quadcore & fairly cheap.
http://www.amazon.com/XINYE-Android-Amlogic-Quad-core-Support/dp/B015O4MWZC/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1446136568&sr=1-9&keywords=quad+core+android+tv+box

for connecting an n64 controller i've seen on XDA forums where people used the N64 usb controllers off amazon & ebay with mupen.
but I don't have one of these controllers yet.

I've been looking at doing something similiar with another cheap android stick I have.

[severdhed]

i guess if i could get controllers to work, that might not be a bad choice, especially considering the price compared to the other options.

i'd have to find some kind of android launcher that would work like an emulator front end...something like that almost has to exist.

have you tried any other roms other than mario 64?  what about perfect dark, wcw revenge, turok, mario kart?

[severdhed]

I have an NTSC N64 that has been RGB modded running through an XRGB mini upscaler. I use an Everdrive for the games.

This is the ultimate setup - Looks bootiful! And way better than emulation will ever be.

that sounds awesome, however way above my budget.  those upscalers seem to run around $300, plus $150 for an everdrive, $20 for the RGB amp ( plus shipping) That puts us at around $500, plus there is a bunch of delicate soldering involved.    I guess if I was going to play it every day, and was single with money to burn, that might be a viable solution.  but, i have 4 kids to take care of, and will probably play this a few times a year.  i'll take cheap emulation over the alternative.  I had fun playing WCW vs NWO revenge with my kids the other day, but composite video looks like crap on a modern tv. 

the android devices are intriguing, but i'm just not sure it could be set up to boot right to the emulator and be controlled only with my n64 adapters.  thats where a pc based solution might be a better choice.

[nitrogen_widget]

i guess if i could get controllers to work, that might not be a bad choice, especially considering the price compared to the other options.

i'd have to find some kind of android launcher that would work like an emulator front end...something like that almost has to exist.

have you tried any other roms other than mario 64?  what about perfect dark, wcw revenge, turok, mario kart?

No, but I can try them out this weekend for you.

Nostalgia from ouya is coming to play.
Otherwise there is Gamesome but it's kind of annoying to use with a gamepad.
XBMC can be used but it's a pain to setup & I never got it working.