Sketchy Emulation Boxes

[dave7g]

I'm just wondering what the morality stance is on these things is. They seem to have everything up to PS2 working quite well. They would be so handy to just plug in to the TV and never have to mess about with them ever again. I'm interested in getting one and getting some advice, but not sure if talking about these is cool or not. 

 

Cheers

[earlymodernsteve]

I think it's okay as long as you're not discussing or linking to ROM sites. Which is a moot point as they generally come preloaded anyway. There's an active thread on the handheld equivalents that hasn't had any problems.

 

I've got a Super X Cube (I think, the naming is all over the place with these) that dies a decent job and works with console controllers pretty well. I haven't used it in a while as my TV is short on HDMI connections but it was a bargain for the £60 or so I paid. Having said that, I think that one may top out at Dreamcast/PSP but would need to check.

 

I put it away and reattached my Wii U so the kids could play Mario Party and since then have been using a Retroid Pocket 2+ instead for handheld gaming.

[dave7g]

It seems to be the android based boxes that begin to struggle with PS2, I'm not too bothered about that, I'm just interested in Saturn stuff. Although, might as well get the best one if I can. There are some in the 700 euro range which is way too much. They are basically pcs

[merman]

Wicked Gaming & Collecting on YouTube has hundreds of videos.

 

Essentially

- avoid the cheap, chemical SNES/PS2 controllers

- avoid the RockChip based models if you want N64/PS1 and beyond

- buy an Android box, a plug-in hard drive and write the Batocera front end to it yourself

- mini-PCs give better performance BUT make sure they have adequate cooling

[dave7g]

Yeah, I've been watching his stuff recently. There just doesn't seem to be a clear winner at the moment from all the boxes. I may just wait for a best of 2022 boxes video and go from there.

[Flub]

There's some good boxes out there. And presumably you'd need some kind of organisation dedicated to archives to provide the roms and bios.

[dave7g]

I'd be shocked if there wasn't some sort of archival society dedicated to just that. I'm just after one that has everything ready to go with absolutely zero faffing about required.

[Anne Summers]

I've tried a few, maybe not the best ones, but always found that emulation of anything above 16-bit consoles is just a bit on the shaky side. Glitchy polygons, a good number of the pre-loaded games just not working, etc. Not really tried Saturn or DC stuff on them so that might be ok I guess. But for PS and Xbox, I think PC emus are the way to go if you want speed and accuracy. 

[PikaStu]

Another shout out for Wicked Gaming and his side channels. He looks at tons of emulation boxes from China, they’re mostly all shit though.

 

These days, it’s probably best to get a cheap, used Xbox Series S and install Retroarch. That way you get a nice controller and the option of emulating or buying remastered titles like Radiant Silvergun or Guardian Heroes on the digital store. 

[dave7g]

I went for a mini PC build, a little more than what I intended to pay but the plan is to eventually stick it into my MK Arcade 1up cab. Hopefully that's not too difficult to do.