N64 Emulation Questions

[Lumpy]

Ok...I finally have my MAME configuration figured out.  Now on to N64.  I'm looking to use the original N64 controllers with a USB adapter.  The main game I want to play is Mario Kart 64.  

First my current specs......then on to my questions.

I have a 1Ghz PIII with 512 RAM running a Matrox G450 Dual Head (32MB) with S-Video out to the TV.

1.  With my current specs am I able run Mario Kart 64 at full speed.  (From the testing I did I had some lag with the sound)  Do I need a better graphics card?

2.  What is the best emulator to use for N64 / for Mario Kart 64?

3.  What is the best converter to buy for the gamepads?  Is the one from Jandaman's the best one?    http://www.jandaman.com/thestore/prods/n64psxusb.html

4.  Do the converters give you access to analog stick on the N64 controller for slide turns?


I'd appreciate any and all help you guys can give.  Mario Kart took up the majority of my college life.  We'd play 64 races of Mario Kart in honor of N64 (yes beer was involved).  Our worst binge was 128 games in a row.

Thanks

[SpamMe]

I can't speak from anything but personal experience, so don't take anything I say as fact... or even mildly truth-related.

1.  With my current specs am I able run Mario Kart 64 at full speed.  (From the testing I did I had some lag with the sound)  Do I need a better graphics card?

I've been running mario kart on a 1.8 and 2.0 ghz machine (with a radeon 8500 and a geforce4 4200, respectively). for the last few weeks. It ran pretty well in both 1964 (though the radeon card and the newest version don't get along), and Project64, but I noticed a lot of slowdowns when playing 2 player splitscreen.

2.  What is the best emulator to use for N64 / for Mario Kart 64?

Project64 is the most compatible of the N64 emulators right now, but none of them 1964 does pretty well also, and is still being developed.

3.  What is the best converter to buy for the gamepads?  Is the one from Jandaman's the best one?    http://www.jandaman.com/thestore/prods/n64psxusb.html

The best converter is the Adaptoid, hands down (http://wishtech.com/). It is compatible with all N64 controllers, supports the rumblepacks and memory packs etc. etc.
That being said, I opted for a pair of the jandaman ones, but only because of cost concerns ($20 for a pair vs. $60/pr).

4.  Do the converters give you access to analog stick on the N64 controller for slide turns?

Yes

[Gideon]

If you're using the original controllers, why even bother with an emulator?  It seems like you're doing an extra conversion (or more) when there is little reason to.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah really...snes, nes and older systems I can see as they are well emulated and the systems are so old that it's inpractical to keep them hooked to your tv.  N64 on the other hand has poor emulation that requires too much resources (these emus must be REALLY unoptimized).  

[Lumpy]

I guess I should have added I don't currently own the N64.  I was planning on purchasing the joysticks and converts so I could use them for other games besides just the N64.  I didn't know if that made more sense then getting the console and the few games that I play.

From what I'm getting from this it's not worth trying to emulatate N64 and I'm better off breaking down and buying the console?

[SpamMe]

::shrug:: I see where these guys are coming from. N64 emulation isn't perfect, and is nowhere near as accurate/fast as older consoles, but it was worthwhile to me to have all these consoles incorporated into the arcade (TV/vcr inputs ALL taken, it's hard enough to remember what inputs control what anymore, and it'd be worse with another switch so the n64 is just collecting dust now, sans controllers).
I'd give the emulators a shot, personally, you may find that the games you want to play run fine, or that the games you love absolutely do not, but nothing lost, really.

[Yander]

Try running the games you like on project 64. If your happy with the results get the controllers and adapters or BYO http://home.t-online.de/home/stephan.hans/n64.htm or http://www.zen35383.zen.co.uk/stnield/usbpads.htm

[Howard_Casto]

Sounds to me that you want to run pirated copies of the games.  That's frowned upon here, especially by me and especially when it comes to consoles, in which everyone can afford to own the games legitimately.  Arcade roms are sorta a grey area as it's dfficult to own the rights to play a game legitmately, but there is no such grey area when it comes to consoles.

I'm very serious about this btw... so serious that I own a few playstation games and don't even own a playstation!  These are to make my playing the games legitimate.  

[crashwg]

How is it that you justify haveing playstation bios howard?  If I'm not mistaken, those are copywrited too...

[Howard_Casto]

How is it that you justify haveing playstation bios howard?  If I'm not mistaken, those are copywrited too...

It doesn't, luckily there have been alternatives to using the real playstation bios for ages now.  Think before you half handly insult me.  

[Lumpy]

Howard,

I respect you as a person on this board and don't want to get into an arguement with you or anyone else, but I wanted to say my piece and then if someone wants to delete this thread go ahead.

I didn't really appreciate you associating me with pirating software.  It feels like you singled me out to make an example out of me.  Not Cool in my opinion.

How many people that you know have the complete rom set of nintendo or any other console?  Do you or they own all those games.  Can we take a poll of everyone on this board and see how many own all of the stuff they run?  

Second, I don't see a difference between console games and arcade games and I don't know how there can be a "grey area".  Either you own it or you don't.

I'm trying to make my "arcade cabinet" that doesn't exist yet run everything as simple as possible.  It's not about stealing....it's about seeing if you can get stuff to run.  I'll probably end up buying the console anywase, but I wanted to see if I could get it to work.  

So if I go out and buy the game, but not the console can I legally emulate it?

Howard......I hope I didn't make an enemy out of you or anyone else, but I think you were a little quick to snap out your opinion.

[Howard_Casto]

Answering your questions.... no there is a HUGE amount of grey area... you can own an arcade pcb and legally you are STILL not entitled to run the game.  There in lies the grey area.... same goes for consoles.  Even if you own the cart it's STILL illegal to run a "backup copy" on your pc.  Disc based systems are a very special exception as you are running the physical disc you purchased and not a dump of the rom images.  (btw the all caps is not me yelling, it's my emphasizing)

I singled you out because you had enough blatent disregard to publically state that you are going to run pirated games.  Evne if you do that kind of stuff man, you should never post about it publically, unless you want to go to jail or something.

I didn't snap... if I snapped you'd know it by the tears runnning down your face or the sudden rise in your blood pressure.  I'm just telling you... your not going to get help getting stolen stuff to run around here.  

But you've brought up a whole second issue...... you want to run these in a cab right?  You want to use official controllers right?  Then why in the world are you putting it in your arcade cabinet?   So you can stand up or set akwardly on a stool playing a game that is meant to last hours instead of lying on the couch in front of the tv like your supposed to?  Think about that for a second.  If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times... console games are meant to be played on consoles, especially games with analog controls.  There are some noteable exceptions, but I can't think of any for the n64.

You didn't make an enemy, I'm just dissapointed in you.  

[abrannan]

I'm just telling you... your not going to get help getting stolen stuff to run around here.  

Oh come now, Howard, let's be honest here.  He's not going to get help from *YOU* running console emulator here.  But there are plenty of other people who will help him.

[pmc]

My cabinet has a VGA display so I can't plug my PSX into it. So I run ePSXe and I can play right off my original media or use a image stored on the hard drive. I think that's legal. Sure is convenient.

As for the games, I think the shooters are fantastic to play on a cabinet. I agree RPG games and games that use the little analog joysticks will not map to a cabinet great. I found the same thing when trying to play games like Tomb Raider on the cabinet -- the heavy use of L1/L2 and R1/R2 index-finger buttons for looking around in a 3D environment maps very poorly to arcade push-buttons. But lots of games are joystick+1-button and play better on a cabinet than they do with hand-held controllers. That's my opinion anyway.

Anyway, I think you should stick with real controls for Mario Kart (which I think was your original plan). I think it'd be really hard to steer well with an arcade stick.

- Patrick