Universal Gaming system?

[bn]

I have an extra computer and I was kind of planning on setting it up as just a straight gaming console by putting several emulators on there and running a tv out from my video card to the tv.
I was just gonna use it for games and movies, but I'm still kinda kicking it around. Any ideas?

[Dhruv]

Great idea except you're going to have to use your keyboard to play the games and that there are no X-Box and Gamecube emulators going to be released as yet. Also game compatibility is another issue and if you get caught then you're screwed.

[drgabber]

Get a wireless keyboard with a trackball or other pointing device built in. Get 2-4 usb game controllers(I like the Gravis Xterminator Digital). If you are not sure which emulators to get, go to http://www.zophar.net.

Good luck with this cool idea!

[Im[CuRsED]]

I dont have an extra computer but i do have alot of emulators..U dont have to use ur keyboard either...I have a gravis gamepad pro and works really well..Also if u want to look into it but there is usb adapters for contollers like the N64,snes, and playstation to name a few. Might wanna search around... I was think of gettin a Ps2 and getting a mod for it...I dont mind paying for the system but i do mind paying for the games..It would be cool if some game system came out that u just bought the system and the games were free via internet or whatever.. Emulation is cool and all but the game system is the best emulator of all. good luck

[d4n13l]

Definately get MAME emulater, it is the ultimate arcade game emulater, just ask Sefy about that one - he has like 3000 games for it or something!
There may not be anything like having the actual console, but PC emus are the next best thing: It saves you buying expensive games, hardware and having hundreds of consoles lying around the place.
There is a really neat joystick you can get for the PC as well, I think it is called a "Hotrod". It is a hardcore industrial strength arcade style joystick, worth getting if you like beat em ups such as Street Fighter II - Joypads suck for games like this.
Are you really bothered that there are no Gamecube or X-Box emulaters out yet? I couldnt care less: MAME beats the hell out of any console emu.

[bn]

I'm not really bothered byt the fact that xbox and gamecube emulators aren't out yet, because I'm sure they will be shortly. I am kinda new to the whole emulation thing, so i would appreciate any info you could give me. It would be a great help. Also, any suggestions on what type of processor I should use?

Thanks

[d4n13l]

Get the fastest processor that you can if you want to be able to play Gamecube and X-Box games: I think it will take a lot of processing power to software emulate these.
If you buy the fastest that you can afford, you also get the added benefit of having a fast computer that will last longer. As in, it will have the extra power there if you need it at a future point in time.

[bn]

Yeah, but do you think I should go amd or intel?

[Beavis]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-11-10 09:43:40, bn wrote:
I'm not really bothered byt the fact that xbox and gamecube emulators aren't out yet, because I'm sure they will be shortly. I am kinda new to the whole emulation thing, so i would appreciate any info you could give me. It would be a great help. Also, any suggestions on what type of processor I should use?
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

The MAME stuff and the classic console emu's are pretty cool. You could even buy Bleem and play the PS1 games. You don't need a brand new PC to make those work well. But unless you need a new PC anyways, does it really make sense to buy a top-dollar computer to run buggy emulators (that don't even exist yet) for a $200 game console???

[d4n13l]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-11-10 21:22:10, bn wrote:
Yeah, but do you think I should go amd or intel?
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>
If you dont mind wasting money then get an Intel... if you would rather have a faster processor for less money get an AMD.
My P3 500 can run any current console emu easily, I would think a Duron would make the most sense. You can always upgrade at a later time if you need to. If you can afford a bit more, get something like a 266Mhz FSB 1Ghz Athlon and use CL2 DDR.

[bn]

Well, I have an extra celeron 566, and the board is upgradeable to p3 1 ghz. I was trying to decide whether to just use what I have or get something a little different. But do you think the celeron would be enough?

[d4n13l]

For current emus, yes.

[bn]

Good news, I realized that I didnt have a motherboard to go with that celeron, so I bought a 750 duron from my friend. I should have everything done as soon as I get a little free time to work on it.

Also-
I was planning on just putting a 256 sdram stick in. Do you think that will do the trick, or should I go more/

Thanks

[Macros746]

Alright it sounds like a fun idea but be prepared for a LONG wait. In order for a computer to emulate a system effectively it has to be a minimum of three times faster than the system it is emulating. An example is that a truly effective N64 emulator (UltraHLE) won't run smoothly on anything under a 400mhz....Bleem the same...and the processor in a playstation is only 33mhz! So to effective emulate X-Box and Gamecube...both of which are GAME DEDICATED and therefore at least as powerful as a top of the line PC, you are going to have to wait a long time. This doesn't mean that your idea isn't a good and fun one, just be prepared to play only PS, N64, SNES, and older systems for the time being.

Mark

[d4n13l]

BN,
256MB will be more than enough.
Make sure you get CAS2 rated RAM.

[Macros746]

Sadly, they haven't even put out a Dreamcast Emulator that works yet.....they could make back alot of their money if they did.....


Mark

[thxkid]

If you plan to get N64, bleem or maybe a Xbox or Gamecube emaulator don't even think of a CPU less than 1 gig and 256 megs of PC 133 ram with at least a 32meg video card, anything slower and the games will be laggy and not feel like a real game console. N64 emulators needs lots of processing power to run correctly, and since the xbox is bassed on a 733 pent 3 you can allready guess what kind of power you need for it. The gamecube is a 466 risc processor so its gonna as fast or faster than the Xbox.
With my 1.2 gig thunderbird all my emulators run smooth and as fast as the console, N64's play just as great as the console. Plus having a 3DFX card makes a HUGE difference also for the graphics and smoothness, mine is a Voodoo 5500 AGP.

[XanaXManX]

Where do u get the N64 emaulator I had one a while back but it sucked as u could not set up the paddle with it however it would play any rom I threw at it but they stopped updateing it so where do u get this one u guys are talking about / Thanks

[suspect]

Another thing to think about -- the dreamcast has emulators out for it. These things are gonna cost only $50 after thanksgiving, so it might be worth it. Right now they have an arcade emulator, and a nintendo emulator running at full speed. theres also a full speed genesis emulator being developed (or you can use the one echelon ripped from the sega games pak). The super nintendo emulators are a bit slow, but they're constantly being developed, so they should be full speed soon. Oh and don't forget bleem!cast, theres a couple different releases for a few games, (gran turismo 2, tekken 3, metal gear solid). Its not a full fledged psx emulator, but its better than nothing.

check out http://www.dcemulation.com/


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: suspect on 2001-11-15 21:11:16 ]</font>

[Macros746]

Actually, no one yet has developed a DC emulator that plays commercial games. As far as I know most drives can't even read the discs. The one "working" emulator was supposed to be Nightmare which turned out to be a big hoax. As for working N64 emulators...you want the UltraHLE...I have been out of the scene for a while but I don't think they are still updating it. But, when I played it last it played pretty much everything perfectly. Bleem works great when it works at all...seeming Castlevania: SOTN running at high resolution is one of the best things I've ever seen. I imagine an X-Box emulator will be around relatively soon given that the architecture is similar to a PC, but PS2 and Gamecube emulators are a long way off.......


Mark

[TheInformer]

UltraHLE is as old as the hills.

For current N64 emulation, you should try out Project64 or 1964. For more information on emulation, check out some of the major emulation sites such as:

http://www.retrogames.com
http://www.zophar.net
http://www.emulation9.com
http://www.vg-network.com

[bn]

Thanks for all the great ideas. Hopefully, this will work, as I am only going to have games on this computer. (Video card is 64mb), and some of the stuff that I wanted to do is just to play PC games on my tv.
I have, however heard of a hardware emulator. Anyone know anything about these?
Also, I have been looking for some sort of converter so that I can use playstation 1 or 2, dreamcast, x-box controllers (thru the usb ports) anyone know where I can get those?

[Harryford]

yo be thank full for your systems I have a hp pavilion 6635 only came with 64 megs of RAM. I upped it to 320megs only a 533 processor. I put in a 4x4x32x writer wich is slow as hell I cant even run a descent psx game!

[d4n13l]

Your system sucks...
My CPU runs at 500Mhz, I can play PS games on Bleem without any lag. You need to seriously look at your OS configuration and what software you run. I also have a 2x4x32 CDRW, which works fine, no cause for complaint. It writes at 4x pretty well, is an entire 80min CDR taking 20 odd minutes to burn too much or what?
Even if your CPU is a Cyrix, it shouldnt be that slow.
If you do a bit of research on optimising Windows and apply it, you should be able to gain a substantial performance increase... also, try o/clocking your CPU or FSB a little and verifying that your BIOS settings are correct.

[devinemi83]

be careful with bleem

I bought the store version to use with my 500mhz celeron
and it wouldnt install kept causing a fault in kernal32.dll
when I contacted the company they told me that my sound card wasnt compliant, I have the Soundblaster 64V PCI and they said that it was a known issue with the older version of bleem and something about I had version a and I needed b for it to work because I used the trial version before purchase and it worked just fine.
I even asked if I could have a free upgrade or at least a patch to make it upgrade, they said no!! You will have to map another 30 bucks for the downloadable version that will work.

[d4n13l]

Just one reason why Warez rule.

[suspect]

to clarify my earlier post (yeah i know it was a month ago). I said that dreamcast has the emulators i mentioned available for it -- not x86 hardware, dreamcast hardware.
If you followed the link you would have noticed that. And yeah i know there is no working dc emulator for the pc that plays commercial games.

And for $50 its a pretty good buy now. . . .

[mijman]

I have done this very thing, but without the TV out thing. It is an old system, a mere 200 mhz, but it is great for a dedicated MAME/Coleco/2600 (and perhaps genesis/nintendo) machine. I got a great PSX/2 arcade stick, and a USB converter. I've downloaded a bunch of other emu's, but have not had time to try them out yet (I have to use them on one of my other computers).
Playing PacMan with a pad SUCKS

[d4n13l]

mijman, do you have a "hotrod" arcade joystick?