Hyperspin vs GameX

[vaderag]

Is there a feature comparison of these two frontends anywhere?

I've spent a good week or so setting up Hyperspin and still have some easy to go, but I've been seeing lately that gamex is much simpler to set up...

I'm prepared to give that a try too, but I'm worried it might lack features that I need/wasn't (ledblinky / cp wizard etc)

[rust2dust]

Hyperspin, gameex,retro-fe.....all pretty much do the same thing. Not to mention its not the front end that does all the magic...... your backend "hyperlaunch, rocketlauncher" is where magic happens...and as of last check rocketlauncher was compatable with all fronends mentioned.

Your frontend is the pretty box that the real guts come in...it all comes down to the look you are going for.

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

[rackoon]

wanted hyperspin real bad but gave up after a week of frustration. Gameex was simple just make sure your pathways all match up

[vwalbridge]

I'm a Hyperspin guy all day. But I had to take my patience pills and really learn how it works. In fact, I jammed Hyperspin inside of a Coleco tabletop just to prove it can run on just about anything if you tweak it enough.

However, with Hyperspin, I think the effort is worth the reward.

[vaderag]

I'm a Hyperspin guy all day. But I had to take my patience pills and really learn how it works. In fact, I jammed Hyperspin inside of a Coleco tabletop just to prove it can run on just about anything if you tweak it enough.

However, with Hyperspin, I think the effort is worth the reward.

So what's the reward compared to gamex? Or what is gamex going to lose me?

I like where I'm getting to, no doubt, but its gonna take me as long again to set up HS... Artwork is the killer with HS

Also, I didn't realise gamex used RocketLauncher too... Guess that would make any transition easier!

[Token]

However, with Hyperspin, I think the effort is worth the reward.

So what's the reward compared to gamex? Or what is gamex going to lose me?

Hyperspin is pretty.

[Dal1980]

I'm using launch box as a means to an end at the moment. Big Box Mode covers everything I need in a pretty way. Looking to start using RetroFE when the new version comes out (unknown when that will be).


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[stigzler]

Depends what you want. Do you prefer Apple or Android? If yer an apple guy - go hyperspin - slick; huge fanbase and uniform with other hyperspinners. If yer an android grifter - go GameEx. I chose the latter a few years ago after trying hyperspin and glad I did. Feels a lot more customisable and also good for a beginner, but can also do advanced stuff. Few years down the road, now writing plugins for it.

GameEx can use both CPWizard and has a brilliant LCD/LED plugin (both of which I use). What other features you needing?

rust2dust's point is a massive one - and one I missed  when I started. When started setting everything up, I viewed the task as ROMS > Emulator > FrontEnd. However, progressively over the years, the model has progressed to ROMS > Emulators> Middleware > FrontEnd. Frontend takes care of database/images/selection stuff; middleware all the intricacies of emulator launching (per-game settings; support apps; key maps etc). Take some time to check out the Middle-men before choosing yer front end. Another such middleware app is retroarch, or lakka on linux.

Maybe if you brief on what you envisaging your rig to do (controls, displays, systems, types of games etc) then people can advise more specifically.

Oh, the other thing is about GameEx that it's being redesigned from the bottom up and is looking like it's going to have a huge number of user-friendly customisations such as theme designs, animation, a controls viewer, per-page scripting amongst others.

My 2p's worth.

DISCLAIMER: Other Front Ends and Launchers are available, and the opinions expressed herein by no means constitute:

• An invite to a fight
• An implication that "my Front End is more impressive than your Front End"
• A promise that my recommendation will let you sit back whilst it sets itself up
• A declaration of war on anyone that use Hyperspin.

[rust2dust]

I have hyperspin on my bartop. Gameex on my fullsized cab and am putting retro fe in my htpc via kodi.....I like them all for different reasons.

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

[MNMax21]

I've had GameEx since 2012.  I didn't know much about Front Ends at the time and I tried both GameEx and Hyperspin.  I had a very difficult time understanding Hyperspin.  I picked up on GameEx pretty quickly.  However, the two things that sold me most on GameEx were.. The forum community is very active and responds with answers to questions very promptly.  The entire community is urged and happy to assist anyone, which makes it great for someone like me who doesn't understand all the technical terms, etc.  The other piece was that the creator of GameEx is still constantly improving the product and members of the community send out plug ins too.

There is also a forum section dedicated entirely to getting high scores in certain games each month.  It's pretty cool.  Unfortunately, I haven't had that much time to participate in this recently.  It's a sweet deal though.

Not to mention, the upcoming release of GameEx Evolution.  You should check out the preview videos at www.gameex.com.

[flash1987]

You guys make GameEx sound like a pretty friendly group of enthusiasts.  I've been working very slowly on my Hyperspin set up for a while and although there are some good guides and helpful people it can be a little hard to get some things...

[vaderag]

I have hyperspin on my bartop. Gameex on my fullsized cab and am putting retro fe in my htpc via kodi.....I like them all for different reasons.

What reasons? What makes GameEx better for fullsized but Hypersin better on Bartop. And RetroFE?

Depends what you want. Do you prefer Apple or Android?

Maybe if you brief on what you envisaging your rig to do (controls, displays, systems, types of games etc) then people can advise more specifically.

Ha - I use Windows Phone
Seriously tho, I'm more Android than Apple

I'm mostly envisioning using Mame, with a bit of other emulators here an there... I WILL be setting up everything up to Gamecube (I was a big fan of the GC) and have USB ports on the front to take pads for them. I'm mostly wanting Mame set up exactly how I want, with LEDs showing buttons in use, in colours that would have been for that cab / console...


Re. Middleware - i'm pretty into RocketLauncher now and given that the middleware is arguably the most complicated to set up I'm inclined to stick with it - already set up fades that I like (tho i may change later once i'm fully set up) and about a third of my emulators).


Overall, what drew me to starting with Hyperspin is exactly what was said above - it's pretty. And I want people to be impressed at all the work i've put into the cab. HS will finish it off nicely. That said, i'm a big fan of function over form.
I must say tho i've found them pretty helpful on the forums...

And that brings me on to my biggest bug with HS - the amount of time (and potentially money if i need FTP access) to get all the images set up correctly... They seem to put many of the base wheel sets etc behind the paywall which is frustrating - i don't mind spending time downloading images individually. I found an old torrent with many images in so i have a lot of gaps to fill - at the bare minimum for HS to look good, in my mind, you NEED Wheel Images and ideally Videos. Without both of those it looks a bit naff... (tho I have changed my missing video to the BBC Test Card which gives the retro feel I want)
Does GameEx or any other fe solve the media problem in a better way? Ultimately I don't mind donating a reasonable amount to a project that I use, but I'd rather see how things look and decide I want to stick with it before I do, and I'd also want it to do the work for me if i'm going to pay!!

[rust2dust]

My fullsized cab was my first build...gameex was easy to set up. It is my stripped down version....any games that need xbox controls etc are not on that machine. (Joystick and 6 buttons) soon after that I started my hs build and made a custom bartop. 100+ systems etc. I have just recently become aware of retro-fe and who wants 3 versions of the same thing?....so I was going to try something new....

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[vaderag]

My fullsized cab was my first build...gameex was easy to set up. It is my stripped down version....any games that need xbox controls etc are not on that machine. (Joystick and 6 buttons) soon after that I started my hs build and made a custom bartop. 100+ systems etc. I have just recently become aware of retro-fe and who wants 3 versions of the same thing?....so I was going to try something new....

Haha - fair enough!

[stigzler]

Depends what you want. Do you prefer Apple or Android?

Ha - I use Windows Phone

There's always one..... 

Yer gonna get a lot of your function from RocketLauncher. Think most FE's give a degree of functionality, it's about what you have to do to instrument it. I found GE user-friendly for learning various things. Not sure how much HS relies on scripting.....

One advantage of HS is that there seem to be a lot of people producing "full images" - my understanding being it works straight out of the box - all setup. Don't some fella's even sell pre-configured hard-drives?

HS is pretty, but my personal opinion is that one setup resembles all the others. So, for me, if I was going to spend years making something -  I wanted customisation, pimping, modding and chavving-up.

[vaderag]

One advantage of HS is that there seem to be a lot of people producing "full images" - my understanding being it works straight out of the box - all setup.

I wish that were the case. People definitely sell pre-configured HDDs, but a) I don't want to pay for that, b) most of them are based off the UG Hyperspin Project and c) this is about 5 years out of date.
I actually found an old instance of that and while it provided a bunch of the media, everything else I've basically started from scratch with, and it's working out harder to find the missing media than just download again in some instances!!

[ant2]

I use both.
Game ex on my cabinet,  hyperspin on my driving racer.

Game ex is much more light weight and easier to set up.
I've spent probably 100 hours on my hyperspin set up figuring it out, getting the wheel to work etc. But it does look cool

[vwalbridge]

HS is pretty, but my personal opinion is that one setup resembles all the others.

This is only true if you just install the default HS setup.

...so it's actually that's quite the opposite. HS is VERY customizable if you take the time to learn it.

HS has dozens of user-made themes out there. Not to mention all the customizations you can make to the animations, box art, game labels, game cartridges, and wheel badges. You can chance the orientation of the game wheel, sound effects, game loading scripts, fonts colors. Heck, they even supply a program called "HyperTheme" where you can design your own 'til your hearts content. You just have to be a member of the HS FTP to see all this great content.

Matter of fact, check out Jeepguy81's vertical Hyperspin theme. Hands down, the best vertical FE/theme for a vertical cab.

[BadMouth]

The problem is hardly anyone makes custom layouts for their Hyperspin setup.
I assume it's a PITA because I've only seen it attempted once here and the person didn't even finish it.

Some people get off on crowded bars, loud environments, flashing LED lights, etc.
Those people absolutely love the default Hyperspin because it's stimulating to them.
Not knocking them.  That's just how their brain is wired.
If that stuff gets you excited, Hyperspin is for you.

I hate the default setup.  I find the wiggling joystick, noises, flashing stuff, etc. to be ridiculous and obnoxious.
Kinda like someone trying to sell you something by shouting and shaking a product in your face.
I turned all that crap off, but at that point I didn't see any benefit to using HS over something simpler.

I'm still on Mala, but since it's not being updated I'll probably use GameEX on the next build.
As far as I can tell it's the only other FE with plugins to support screen rotation and joystick switching, both of which I need.
Hopefully it's not too much work to get rid of the very un-arcade windows media center vibe it has.

What I really want is a front-end that groups all the arcade games into one list regardless of emulator (and supports automatic screen rotation and joystick switching for ALL games).
It can be done in all of them with time consuming workarounds, but I thought by now someone would have made a front end where it was the main feature.

[vaderag]

I hate the default setup.  I find the wiggling joystick, noises, flashing stuff, etc. to be ridiculous and obnoxious.
Kinda like someone trying to sell you something by shouting and shaking a product in your face.
I turned all that crap off, but at that point I didn't see any benefit to using HS over something simpler.

Ha - totally agree - they were the first thing to on mine - those joysticks and player start - totally pointless.

I've been setting up without speakers up to now and the first time i plugged them in i was like wtf!? I have to find a way to turn off the wheel spin sounds etc when i get a sec

[vwalbridge]

I hate the default setup.  I find the wiggling joystick, noises, flashing stuff, etc. to be ridiculous and obnoxious.
Kinda like someone trying to sell you something by shouting and shaking a product in your face.
I turned all that crap off, but at that point I didn't see any benefit to using HS over something simpler.

Ha - totally agree - they were the first thing to on mine - those joysticks and player start - totally pointless.

I've been setting up without speakers up to now and the first time i plugged them in i was like wtf!? I have to find a way to turn off the wheel spin sounds etc when i get a sec

Yep, I thought the same thing as well. I turn all that crap off. All that crazy eye-candy is like driving past a sleazy car dealership. But it's really easy to disable them. A couple of check-boxes and ini file modifications.  However, what HS lacks in tastefulness, it makes up for in customization.

For example, here is a typical NES sub-wheel for HS:


...but here is my heavily modified NES sub-wheel for HS. I wanted something VERY simple. It's like iTunes coverflow with box art on the bottom with a video preview on top. That's it. No text, no directions, no silly animations. Just find the game and it loads the video preview above. I wanted to let the box art and video preview do all the talking. (This happens to be on a vertical monitor) I know that I'm not going to change anyone's mind about HS. You have your favorite FE and like it. But I do feel a little obligated to defend it when people don't realize you CAN customize it.

[DeLuSioNal29]

I user Hyperspin myself (I'm in the process of upgrading it to the latest version).  But I always had a ---smurfette--- of a time getting Steam games to play nice with it.

[stigzler]

HS is pretty, but my personal opinion is that one setup resembles all the others.

This is only true if you just install the default HS setup.

...so it's actually that's quite the opposite. HS is VERY customizable if you take the time to learn it.

Yeah - did wonder if that were the case. I guess I'm just going off any videos I've seen online all seeming to have the same theme/setup showing. However, I'm guessing with so many users, any customised gems are going to be a needle in a haystack. Guess if you own a VW Beetle, you're more likely to see creative and artistic mods of it than if you own a Ford Capri.

What I would say for the Hyperspin crowd is that it looks like y'all have done a fantastic job in making custom game logos + accumulating game related artwork.

I would love to see some creative Hypserspin themes.

[BadMouth]

...but here is my heavily modified NES sub-wheel for HS. I wanted something VERY simple. It's like iTunes coverflow with box art on the bottom with a video preview on top. That's it. No text, no directions, no silly animations. Just find the game and it loads the video preview above. I wanted to let the box art and video preview do all the talking. (This happens to be on a vertical monitor) I know that I'm not going to change anyone's mind about HS. You have your favorite FE and like it. But I do feel a little obligated to defend it when people don't realize you CAN customize it.

Now that I like, although I would have made a static NES themed background.

[vwalbridge]

Yea, I'm not going to lie...HS can be an absolute PITA setting up. If you ever take the plunge, you will want to tear your hair out several times during the process. (This is mostly the case if you want anything customized whatsoever) There is no doubt that there are easier Front Ends out there.

The silver lining is that once you have it set up, you can just copy the HS folder from one computer to another. Saving you dozens of hours on the 2nd cab. Of course, this is something you could probably do with many front ends.

Ultimately, I'm glad threads like this come up because builders should really do their research before slapping their FE on a cab. They should really know what they are getting into. It can be a nightmare when you regret your FE and want to switch it out. In fact, that's probably why I stuck through all the hellish hours configuring HS...it was less work to power though it than it would have been to start all over with another FE.

[vaderag]

Yeah, that's a fair point. I have reached hair tearing point a couple of times, but the main reason for that is the specific requirements of the Hyperspin naming conventions and the lack of availability of the media... I like the way it looks afterwards tho (with a bit of tweaking)

Does any other frontend make getting the media easier?

[vwalbridge]

Does any other frontend make getting the media easier?

What do you mean by that exactly? Do you mean like the video snaps, box art, logos, etc?

Because that is one thing that HS actually makes pretty damn easy with Hypersync.

[vaderag]

Does any other frontend make getting the media easier?

What do you mean by that exactly? Do you mean like the video snaps, box art, logos, etc?

Because that is one thing that HS actually makes pretty damn easy with Hypersync.

Yeah, that's what I mean. I guess HyperSync is something I pay for?

[vwalbridge]

Does any other frontend make getting the media easier?

What do you mean by that exactly? Do you mean like the video snaps, box art, logos, etc?

Because that is one thing that HS actually makes pretty damn easy with Hypersync.

Yeah, that's what I mean. I guess HyperSync is something I pay for?

Hypersync comes with Hyperspin so it's "free". However, You must pay to be a member of HyperSpin and EmuMovies to obtain the media. (regardless of your FE)

[vaderag]

Does any other frontend make getting the media easier?

What do you mean by that exactly? Do you mean like the video snaps, box art, logos, etc?

Because that is one thing that HS actually makes pretty damn easy with Hypersync.

Yeah, that's what I mean. I guess HyperSync is something I pay for?

Hypersync comes with Hyperspin so it's "free". However, You must pay to be a member of HyperSpin and EmuMovies to obtain the media. (regardless of your FE)

That's not strictly true. I've found quite a few sites with the videos and images for the systems I've set up so far (certainly mame) and with a bit of excel wizardary and DownThemAll you can get a lot automated and free.

I have no doubt that its easier getting it from paid Hyperspin ftp, but crippling yourself our the door isn't a good way to get a donation from me. And it is crippled without the artwork.
I'd never have paid for Plex for example if they used that model.

I may yet end up donating for the reason above but I want to be in a position that I'm sure I've made the right choice before I do, which is kind of a catch 22!!

[Milky]

I'm brand new to this whole arcade building thing and as such had to setup Hyperpsin for the first time over December.  At first it was pretty daunting with all of the moving parts it seems to have.  Honestly, the only way I got through it was by watching Simply Austin on Youtube.  He did an amazing job of walking through the process step by step and making things easy to understand.  If anyone is interested in Hyperspin and looking to set it up the easiest way they can I strongly recommend at least giving those videos a try.  My Hyperspin setup isn't perfect, but it's vastly superior to what it would have been otherwise without the tutorials.

[vaderag]

I'm brand new to this whole arcade building thing and as such had to setup Hyperpsin for the first time over December.  At first it was pretty daunting with all of the moving parts it seems to have.  Honestly, the only way I got through it was by watching Simply Austin on Youtube.  He did an amazing job of walking through the process step by step and making things easy to understand.  If anyone is interested in Hyperspin and looking to set it up the easiest way they can I strongly recommend at least giving those videos a try.  My Hyperspin setup isn't perfect, but it's vastly superior to what it would have been otherwise without the tutorials.

Yeah, i came across those too, but I'm not a video fan so I used this guide which made things pretty simple and meant I learned a bit over the way:
https://gameroomsolutions.com/setup-hyperspin-mame-hyperlaunch-full-guide/

I know what i'm doing with HS and RL now, it's just time consuming setting up all the emulators (which has to be done for any FE) and getting the artwork for HS.
I still havent heard off anyone if getting the artwork/vids for any other FE is easier...

If someone said to me "Oh yeah, GameEx you just plug in your roms folder and it downloads all the logos / vids for you" i'd jump ship right now. But I don't think that's the case...

[Milky]

I'm brand new to this whole arcade building thing and as such had to setup Hyperpsin for the first time over December.  At first it was pretty daunting with all of the moving parts it seems to have.  Honestly, the only way I got through it was by watching Simply Austin on Youtube.  He did an amazing job of walking through the process step by step and making things easy to understand.  If anyone is interested in Hyperspin and looking to set it up the easiest way they can I strongly recommend at least giving those videos a try.  My Hyperspin setup isn't perfect, but it's vastly superior to what it would have been otherwise without the tutorials.

Yeah, i came across those too, but I'm not a video fan so I used this guide which made things pretty simple and meant I learned a bit over the way:
https://gameroomsolutions.com/setup-hyperspin-mame-hyperlaunch-full-guide/

I know what i'm doing with HS and RL now, it's just time consuming setting up all the emulators (which has to be done for any FE) and getting the artwork for HS.
I still havent heard off anyone if getting the artwork/vids for any other FE is easier...

If someone said to me "Oh yeah, GameEx you just plug in your roms folder and it downloads all the logos / vids for you" i'd jump ship right now. But I don't think that's the case...

As far as the artwork Austin does provide some cart art/backgrounds/themes/wheels/etc. in case you're interested in checking some of that out.  Some of it is his own and may not be to everyone's liking, but it is in a nice format where you just drag and drop a folder to the right destination.  Unfortunately, like you said, vids are a pain still and I had to use hypersync on those.

[aldub516]

My two cents. Overall im a well rounded smart guy, meaning i can figure out most things easily, from hands on building to software and computer problems. With that being said, when i first got into the hobby a few years ago, i tried hyperspin...many times. And it was alien language to me. Most tutorials were out of date, or would refer you to files that didnt match up to what the tutorial showed. So i abandoned it and ended up using something easy like mamewah.. This was about 6 years ago so options werent as great. Fast forward i ended up trying hyperspin again, and to no avail, ended up giving up. Again, it seemed like the most impossible program to set up. Thats when i found gameex. It was my saving grace. I ended up purchasing the full gameex software and using it in my first real build. To me, gameex was everything you could want, with "ease of use" at a maximum. All the settings are done through a graphic interface with drop down menus. You could make some of the more harder settings with ease. Startup programs, external programs, performance, inputs, emulators and such. Gameex got a 10/10 from me, and i went on to praise it to everyone and use it in all my builds. Everyone liked it, but would always ask why not hyperspin. Hyperspin naturally, is eye candy for days, and if youre going to spend time building a machine, might as well have it look every bit spiffy on the inside. So after YEARS of dedicated gameex use and contributions, i decided to try hyperspin again. This time i really focused, and using austins new tutorials, i can say, for the first time ever, it really is easy and possible to get hyperspin up and running. If you were to follow his videos 100% with his links, you WILL have a perfect up and running hyperspin system with all the emulators u want. So i recently paid for hyperspin and emumovies, to expedite all the artwork and sparkle in hyperspin. With a little time and watching some of austins videos, i have a good grasp on hyperspin and its actually pretty simple now. So i am currently a hyperspin user and fan.

Pros and cons

Gameex Pros- INCREDIBLY easy to use, especially with more complex things such as led programming, use of multiple screens, etc. Any user can probably get a full gameex system running on their own by running through the set up menu. GREAT community that walked me through endless problems. I was able to get any problem fixed with a lot of fast help from people on their forums. Also the creator is very active.. if a bug is discovered on even 1 persons system, he will have an updated .exe posted in the forum with a quickness. Also many community made programs and apps and plugins which make things very automated and easy.

Gameex Cons-Im not the most technical guy, so the only real cons i can speak of, is the looks. I found some nice themes, and learned how to edit them to fit my builds, so i was happy, but compared to hyperspin, its very far behind. I found no real issues minus the lack of asthetics.

Hyperspin Pros- the look! The wheels, the game themes in the menus, transitions, sounds. Its the "whole f'n show" when it comes to your arcade display. Combined with the account to expedite all the downloading, it blows away any other front end. Also, once u set up a few emulators such as retroarch and mess using austins tutorials, you will realie how fast and easy it is to add emulators. All of the modules and "brains" of an emulator are built into hyperspin, and with just a couple clicks u can install endless emulators. I was able to add the majority of nintendo emulators all using retroarch in just a few minutes, with all the artwork and all.

Hyperspin cons- very hard to initially learn and grasp. It takes a lot of time and video watching, but eventually you will have an "AH HA!" moment when you get how it all works. The price for both emumovies and hyperspin to REALLY take advantage of everything can get kind of steep at almost 70 dollars, BUT with that.. emumovies either way will make your experience better, gameex or hyperspin aside.. and well, hyperspin account allows u to use hypersync, and with just a button push will sync ALL of your game and system artwork, info, etc.

If i had to choose one, it would be hyperspin. And if youre serious about your machine and the time you put into it, hyperspin is the perfect icing on the cake.
With that said, i spent years preaching gameex to the world and hating on hyperspin, so id say youd be happy with both. The general assessment seems to be, if you can get hyperspin working, its what youd want.

[vaderag]

Thanks for the detailed response and story. Really interesting!

One question I have - is RetroArch an alternative to RocketLauncher?

[BadMouth]

Hyperspin Pros- the look! The wheels, the game themes in the menus, transitions, sounds. Its the "whole f'n show" when it comes to your arcade display.

If you like:


 

[stigzler]

If i had to choose one, it would be hyperspin.

Splitter. 

Only joking!

However, I do propose we all have a fight. You hyperspinners with your fancy bikes with bells on....



Not sure who Channel 2 news is - did someone mention Mala?

[Draco1962]

I'm brand new to this whole arcade building thing and as such had to setup Hyperpsin for the first time over December.  At first it was pretty daunting with all of the moving parts it seems to have.  Honestly, the only way I got through it was by watching Simply Austin on Youtube.  He did an amazing job of walking through the process step by step and making things easy to understand.  If anyone is interested in Hyperspin and looking to set it up the easiest way they can I strongly recommend at least giving those videos a try.  My Hyperspin setup isn't perfect, but it's vastly superior to what it would have been otherwise without the tutorials.

Yeah, i came across those too, but I'm not a video fan so I used this guide which made things pretty simple and meant I learned a bit over the way:
https://gameroomsolutions.com/setup-hyperspin-mame-hyperlaunch-full-guide/

I know what i'm doing with HS and RL now, it's just time consuming setting up all the emulators (which has to be done for any FE) and getting the artwork for HS.
I still havent heard off anyone if getting the artwork/vids for any other FE is easier...

If someone said to me "Oh yeah, GameEx you just plug in your roms folder and it downloads all the logos / vids for you" i'd jump ship right now. But I don't think that's the case...

Actually, GameEx does download missing media from EmuMovies (you have to have at least a basic account to connect). The download limit is governed by your EmuMovies membership so will stop once you reach the daily limit if you are not a paying member.

Regardless of the FE you choose, there are going to be pros and cons and some elbow grease and dirt under the nails to be had. Just comes with the hobby. If anyone isn't willing to get their hands dirty, they will find themselves missing out on some satisfying fun in the end.

[Milky]

Thanks for the detailed response and story. Really interesting!

One question I have - is RetroArch an alternative to RocketLauncher?

Again, I'm fairly new myself, but from what I gather RetroArch is an "emulator" that can be run in RL.  In fact, that's what's running most of my console systems on my setup right now.  Emulator is in quotes because I guess some say it's not truly an emulator itself, but instead kinda runs other emulators or some such.  Hopefully someone with more knowledge than myself can elaborate if necessary.

[vwalbridge]

Thanks for the detailed response and story. Really interesting!

One question I have - is RetroArch an alternative to RocketLauncher?

Again, I'm fairly new myself, but from what I gather RetroArch is an "emulator" that can be run in RL.  In fact, that's what's running most of my console systems on my setup right now.  Emulator is in quotes because I guess some say it's not truly an emulator itself, but instead kinda runs other emulators or some such.  Hopefully someone with more knowledge than myself can elaborate if necessary.

This is mostly correct. RetroArch is technically a Front End. However, people often refer to it as an emulator. RetroArch is not actually an emulator itself. Rather, a muli-platform front-end for the libretro API. In other words, it aggregates many other emulators as "cores".

It's basically a FE with built in emulators.