Help-Home Retro Game solution

[Demon-Seed]

Hey Guys,
I am finally getting a games room back, and first thing I am doing is a HD tv, and was looking for a all in one console machine.  I currently do have a xbox with coinops, but find it does not support all games.  I have thought about an OUYA, modifying my PS3, a modded wii and a PC.  I want to keep it 100$ or less, and want the interface to be clean.  I have seen some ps3 solutions that are horrible.  Oh.. wireless is preferred for pads too.... and it must be simple to use.. as I work full time and have 4 kids.... Want to run NES up to N64/ PSX.....and was hoping to play console light gun games... any suggestions?

thanks
Jim

[Zrooney]

I think a Wii would be your best option for the price range. Considering you can easily get them sub $100 via Craigslist, fleamarkets, etc. Once you load Homebrew channel on it(which is super easy to do) you can load almost any emulator known to man on it. Unless you want to play some really obscure 3DO or CDI games, there should be more than enough emulators for any console you want, and if you get a backwards compatible one you can even run GameCube games on it. Seeing as all Wii motes only come in one flavor, wireless, it seems like a no brainer to me. Hope this helps!

*I have not used any emulators on the wii besides and NES one, so i can not attest to their quality. I have however soft modded my Wii which was super easy to do.

[knave]

...I have thought about an OUYA... I want to keep it 100$ or less, and want the interface to be clean.

Nothing is going to be 100% all-in-one but I am pretty pleased with the emulation options on the Ouya not to mention the OUYA games themselves.

...and it costs $100 and you are done...no hacking, rooting moding needed.

...then again there are others on the Forum who disagree with me...(let them think that the Ouya is just for android ports..."it's not")

[ark_ader]

...I have thought about an OUYA... I want to keep it 100$ or less, and want the interface to be clean.

Nothing is going to be 100% all-in-one but I am pretty pleased with the emulation options on the Ouya not to mention the OUYA games themselves.

...and it costs $100 and you are done...no hacking, rooting moding needed.

...then again there are others on the Forum who disagree with me...(let them think that the Ouya is just for android ports..."it's not")

No its not just for emulation ports.  It is supposed to be the Android platform that it should have been from inception.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if all Android based devices had supreme gaming capability out of the box?  Yes  it does have some basic capability, but it is the OS that lets it down.  Not every manufacturer uses the same standard.  If it did, the OUYA would be even more platform specific which other manufacturers would aspire to.

BTW I'm getting one for Christmas, so I will hold on future judgement until its arrival.

[knave]

I am an OUYA fan. But its not perfect. Mostly because getting it to do some things can take some tinkering. It really should have an official Netflix app by now. And 8 gb is not enough storage these days.
As far as the OS goes...it was OK at launch we are on major update 3 right now and it is getting better...

The whole point of an Indie game console is that its like a beta test...and a fun one.

The emulation is not perfect either but it works. Someone here said there were better options that played more of the games but I think that the Mame alone seems to play all that I'm interested in. Not to mention the NES/Genesis and other console emulators. Bottom line...even with a few flaws the Ouya is worth its $100. $100 is 10 movies worth of entertainment...loosely 20 hours. I have what, 100 hours on it...that's a buck an hour for some pretty good fun.

For all the crap you talk Ark...I think you will like it. Don't forget you can use your PS3 controllers for multiplayer.

[deadpool18]

Ouya can be bought for $60 today with free shipping and $5 game credit.  Just go to www.ouya.tv and use the discount code "calamity." I can't imagine a cheaper emulator box solution!

[knave]

That's a great deal!

Promo has ended though...but their is a new deal of $10 off through December with the code "KillingFloor"

[Howard_Casto]

I think a Wii would be your best option for the price range. Considering you can easily get them sub $100 via Craigslist, fleamarkets, etc. Once you load Homebrew channel on it(which is super easy to do) you can load almost any emulator known to man on it. Unless you want to play some really obscure 3DO or CDI games, there should be more than enough emulators for any console you want, and if you get a backwards compatible one you can even run GameCube games on it. Seeing as all Wii motes only come in one flavor, wireless, it seems like a no brainer to me. Hope this helps!

*I have not used any emulators on the wii besides and NES one, so i can not attest to their quality. I have however soft modded my Wii which was super easy to do.

I would give this a +1, but since the wii isn't hi def I'm giving it a +1/2

You can get a BRAND NEW Wii for 100 bucks now, the new slim model.....  In terms of interface to the games you actually have some options with it.  You can run emulators the traditional way, you can have the individual roms launched via the various hard drive loaders out there, making it more like a pc or you can even use the official VC emulators via some tools I built back in the day to make icons on the dashboard for your favorite games.  Again, the big deal is that it isn't HD.  Right now this isn't a huge issue, but we are slowly creeping into an era where tvs might not have component out anymore. 

[pbj]

Problem with Wii is you have to use the damned remote to navigate the menu.

[Howard_Casto]

No you don't.  Any classic controller or controller that shows up as a classic controller will allow you to navigate the menus via the analog stick.