Your "Retro Gaming" Hardware or Emulators?

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Sun Mar 07, 2021 9:49 pm

I am curious what everyone uses for their "Retro Gaming". What hardware do you use? Modern, classic, emulation, controllers, other things, etc.

Basically, how do you do most of your retro and classic gaming?

For me, it's 99% modern hardware and emulation. Like I have said in other threads, I don't have the room or time to have a house full of classic hardware that I know I would if left to my own devices. So, I condensed and moved it almost all to emulation.

On my Windows/Ryzen based PC, I use WinUAE 64 (Amiga), PCem (PC/DOS), MAME, and DOSBox for most of my classic hardware emulation. With a spattering of other software for my console or machine specific needs. I also buy up a lot of old/retro and indie/remake games on Steam to play directly.

Here is what I use for a vast majority of my gaming, outside of my "modern" PC...

I am a huge fan of the Raspberry Pi (as you may have gathered form other threads), I am currently running 3 of them, either with RetroPie or the latest Raspberry Pi OS. You can see the Pi 4 8G model sitting there with an Ice Tower cooler since I have it overclocked. I mainly use that for N64 and other emulation the Pi 3 can't handle all that well. Speaking of the Pi 3, that's sitting in the Sega Genesis style MegaPi case, and it's where I do most all of my 8-bit, 16-bit, and Arcade emulation. I have it setup using RetroPie of course, and it took me weeks to get it setup and looking/running just the way I wanted it. Lastly, there is an original Pi 1 B+ sitting in that NES style case next to the MegaPi, and it mainly gets used for 8-bit and earlier games, though since I got the Pi 3 setup, it has not seen much use and I am thinking of re-tasking it.

You can also see the C64 Mini in there, for what it is, it's an awesome little device, as many of you probably already know.

Right below that is a Sega Genesis portable from AtGames that I have had for years. It has seen a lot of use and is still working wonderfully!

Finally, the controllers! For me, this is where I have the most fun!

Yeah, I like to be as close to the original "feel" as possible when I play, especially when it comes to console emulation. So I managed to put together a nice collection of my favorite controller styles, all with modern USB hardware. I am lacking an N64 and Sega Genesis style controller because the SNES ones work just as well for my needs. Though I still want one of each, just becasue. haha

The SNES controllers from 8BitDo (SN30pro) are awesome! Very comfortable, responsive, and all the buttons needed to handle just about all your input needs across most platforms. The NES ones are a set I got off Amazon for about $12 I think it was, and shockingly, they work and feel great. The stand alone SNES controller is what I was using before getting the 8BitDo controllers.

The Atari style joystick is from Hyperkin, and is an excellent quality option, with 6 buttons, for your Atari and joystick emulation needs. My wife picked it up for me and and I love it!

The Nintendo Switch controller was one I picked up for playing games on the switch with my daughter. I was using it on my PC and RetroPie for a long time. Great controller, just not "retro" enough for me. haha

At last, we have the Mayflash Arcade stick taking up all my space! I love all the other controllers, but for that true classic arcade feel, you need micro-switches! So I picked it up on Amazon as well. It's a fantastic controller that's easily maintainable and up-gradable for a good price.

Also, wired is a feature, not a hindrance in my humble opinion. I really dislike wireless controllers. ?

So there you have it, that's how I handle my "retro gaming", how about you? ?

TomXP411 · Post by **TomXP411** » Mon Mar 08, 2021 12:34 am

MiSTer or emulators on PC.

On both, I use some cheap NES style controllers I picked up on Amazon.

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Mon Mar 08, 2021 1:25 am

44 minutes ago, TomXP411 said:

MiSTer or emulators on PC.

On both, I use some cheap NES style controllers I picked up on Amazon.

I was looking at MiSTer not long ago actually, over the past couple weeks. That looked like a really cool project and something I would have loved to try out!

Sadly, the overall price of the hardware, especially since I already have a lot sunk into my Pi's, and looking at doing a handheld using the Zero and GPi Case...

How well does it work? Do you like it?

TomXP411 · Post by **TomXP411** » Mon Mar 08, 2021 1:29 am

4 minutes ago, Strider said:

I was looking at MiSTer not long ago actually, over the past couple weeks. That looked like a really cool project and something I would have loved to try out!

Sadly, the overall price of the hardware, especially since I already have a lot sunk into my Pi's, and looking at doing a handheld using the Zero and GPi Case...

How well does it work? Do you like it?

It's easily the best integrated solution I've found. None of the individual cores are as good as the best software emulators in terms of features, but MiSTer makes up for it in actually running the cores and the quality of the actual emulation. Using the computer cores on MiSTer is a lot more like using the actual computer, since you don't have all the Windows or Linux chrome getting in the way.

It is a bit costly, compared to a Pi based solution, but I think the final result is just much smoother and easier to use than trying to maintain a RetroPi solution.

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Mon Mar 08, 2021 1:48 am

11 minutes ago, TomXP411 said:

It's easily the best integrated solution I've found. None of the individual cores are as good as the best software emulators in terms of features, but MiSTer makes up for it in actually running the cores and the quality of the actual emulation. Using the computer cores on MiSTer is a lot more like using the actual computer, since you don't have all the Windows or Linux chrome getting in the way.

It is a bit costly, compared to a Pi based solution, but I think the final result is just much smoother and easier to use than trying to maintain a RetroPi solution.

So it's more of a "closer to metal" solution, hence better performance. Not as close as actual hardware, but closer to emulating from within an OS, etc. If I am reading it correctly?

Grrr... The more I think about it, the more I wanna play with it... lol

I do really like the Pi hardware, and use it for more than emulation, but I also like to try different things and tinker. I may still circle back to it, I just have that feeling it will eat at me. haha

Michael Parson · Post by **Michael Parson** » Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:53 am

It's actually closer to running on metal than running software emulation, since it's implementing (most) all the chips of the original hardware on the FPGA. You'll get more speed (turbo modes, etc) with emulators, FS-UAE gives me a ridiculously fast Amiga, where the MiSTer's MiniMig is more like a slightly souped up A1200, but it's a lot closer to cycle accurate than any of the UAE implementations. I'm enjoying the MiSTer and am looking forward to the MiSTix board which will be an adapter board for mounting the DE-10 Nano in a Mini ATX case, with the ports coming out the back. I plan on using it to put my MiSTer setup in the Checkmate A1500 plus case to finish off the Amiga look & feel.

Cyber · Post by **Cyber** » Mon Mar 08, 2021 5:48 am

Mostly emulation. I have few old machines I want to fix and install (can't find time to do that). Recently got RPi 3, plan to use it for different things, retro gaming is one of them.

But one device I got about a year ago I want to mention is the one in picture. It's a chinese clone of NES in GameBoy style case with about 300 games built in. Quality is poor, but it works. It was a gift to me, and I did not have high hopes for it, but I was actually surprised of some of its advantages:

- very cheap (about $8)

- turns on instantly, games start instantly (so it looks like it has real hardware and no emulation)

- play portable on built in screen or on TV (it has TV AV output)

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Mon Mar 08, 2021 7:08 pm

13 hours ago, Cyber said:

Mostly emulation. I have few old machines I want to fix and install (can't find time to do that). Recently got RPi 3, plan to use it for different things, retro gaming is one of them.

But one device I got about a year ago I want to mention is the one in picture. It's a chinese clone of NES in GameBoy style case with about 300 games built in. Quality is poor, but it works. It was a gift to me, and I did not have high hopes for it, but I was actually surprised of some of its advantages:

- very cheap (about $8)

- turns on instantly, games start instantly (so it looks like it has real hardware and no emulation)

- play portable on built in screen or on TV (it has TV AV output)

The Pi3 can easily handle most all classic consoles easily, I really like mine.

I have looked at a lot of those Chinese "clones" over the years, but never actually picked one up. I have read and watched a lot reviews on popular models, and seriously looked into getting one many times. What ended up stopping me was my plans to drop a Pi Zero W into RetroFlag's GPi case and "make my own".

I just really like RetroPie and it's configurability/compatibility with so many systems and emulators. That, and I am used to working with it. :)

Still, there are a lot of them out there that get pretty decent reviews for how "cheap" they are.

Cyber · Post by **Cyber** » Mon Mar 08, 2021 7:42 pm

The Pi3 can easily handle most all classic consoles easily

I know RetroPie is very popular OS for retro gaming on Pi.
But I also want to try Faux86 and Dosbian for DOS gaming.
Thoigh I still have my old DOS PCs, which I need to check if they still work, I don't know where to install them, and PI is so small. )

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Tue Mar 09, 2021 6:05 pm

22 hours ago, Cyber said:

I know RetroPie is very popular OS for retro gaming on Pi.

But I also want to try Faux86 and Dosbian for DOS gaming.

Thoigh I still have my old DOS PCs, which I need to check if they still work, I don't know where to install them, and PI is so small. )

Yeah, RetroPie just works so well and supports so much. :)

I have run Faux86 on my Pi3 and it worked really well. I tried it on my Pi4 and could not get it to install, let alone run, but its also not supported yet.

I fully understand the problem of not having enough room. haha

I also use PCem for DOS emulation on Windows. I actually like it more than DOSBox, but still use both.