Whatever alternative you’re offered, I don’t think it’s worth spending more than $50 on an emulator console. (This is the maximum make sense price for any hardware that can emulate old consoles up to PS3).
Interesting! Thanks for letting me know. A steam deck is a consideration since its very cool but also quite expensive. Pi, I assume put in a handheld format, would be an idea as well.
It’s interesting that your experience with the ps3 is so different from other commenters. What exactly were you disappointed with?
The ps3 provides decent ui but due to stunted interest in the ps3 for homebrew there hasn’t been as much of a focus on getting emulators running well, just to get them running, so while 2d systems will run well at native res you won’t be able to push them very far with shaders, and while n64 allegedly works decently you’ll be stuck with buggy and slow performance. The real upside to the ps3 is decent ps1 and ps2 emulation because of Sonys efforts (even on non-bc consoles) which opens the door to thousands more games.
Interesting! I never thought of the ps3 marketshare/sales. Makes a ton of sense. I will keep an eye out for sources so I can make an informed decision. :)
“Emulators & ROMs” part of megathread. Think it’s not worth to buy something for the roms when you can donwload them. Why not get something modern like a steamdeck or ayaneo for a true handheld experience?
The main reason is because I dont have 400 bucks (much less 1000) to burn on something nice to have atm. I could absolutely use one of my two beefy computers if need be but I figured I‘d ask what other people do.
A raspberry Pi is a very good emulation device using the RetroPie image. A Pi 4b can go up to PSX/N64 fairly easily.
On the handheld side of things, most of them that “come with” ROM sets will have them loaded on an SD card. These manufacturers often skimp on the cards though, so expect it to die quickly. You can usually just clone the whole SD to a new one and it’s fine.
Most of these devices use RetroArch and software emulation. However, there is another option. The Mister project and devices sold by Analogue use field programmable gate arrays - chips that can change their structure according to software. This means running an NES game on one of these devices is more literally like running it on original hardware. For accurate emulation, this is the best option by far. However, it comes with a significantly higher price tag.
In general the easiest and least expensive startup for emulation is on the PC. With fairly modest hardware, emulation of everything up to PS2 is possible with some newer platforms also being very emulatable (notably everything Nintendo puts out is easy to run because their architecture is largely straightforward, their systems are lower power, and there is significantly more demand for their games)
If you specifically want something hooked up to your TV, a first generation (launch window, before they increased the battery life) Switch can happily run a fair amount of stuff, including everything up to N64/PS1. The (new)3DS/2DS is also a great emulation device and can run basically everything up to SNES/Genesis handheld.
Oh and one more option. If you have Android, you can easily install a variety of emulators and use a Bluetooth or wired controller with them utilizing a controller phone mount.
Thanks for letting me know! I‘m playing with the idea of a handheld but I‘m open to other options since I would love to balance price/experience/comfort.
Most people say rooted ps3 would work well, one said it doesn’t. I sadly only have an iphone atm so android is no option. I could technically root an old iphone if that works. Otherwise I‘d probably buy a decently priced handheld.
Building one from scratch is a bit much next to my ubuntu home server with 14 docker containers, two pcs (one linux, one windows) and 6 pets. :) But i would opt for a kit or something if it’s better than prebuilt (ie anbernic).
Its so awesome that so many people are giving good suggestions. Thank you very much.
I recommend the Chinese handhelds too, I only have a Retroid Pocket 2 (too old), Anbernic RG351V and a Miyoo Mini V2, I only use the RG and Miyoo, the later is great for simple games/quick burst but due the lack of wifi antenna it is not possible to use Retroachivements with it… which it is possible with the RG351V, also the Anbernic has quite the better hardware without a question.
Notice all these aforementioned handhelds would only give you a pleasant experience up to PS1 (minus Saturn), so if you want a handheld that can at least give you PSP, Dreamcast and N64 I’d pick an Android based Retroid Pocket 3+ Anbernic also have some capable models for this. it is worth to mention that if you have a relative new Android phone you already have a capable emulator with you all time, you’d only need a holder or a telescopic joystick to enjoy an almost endless library of games (despite having a PSP I finished Persona 3 Portable with my phone and a Razer Kishi controller).
I haven’t finished it yet but i absolutely love Harvestella. It’s barely a farming sim, more like a Final Fantasy game with farming elements inside it, but I really really enjoyed it.
My favorite of all time is Rune Factory 4. God the amount of time I spent on that game is obscene lmao. I dunno what really makes it unique that I love it so much, maybe the bigger focus on dungeon crawling to go with the farming, but yeah, huge huge fan. Also Forte was so cute.
I didn’t like RF5 nearly as much, but I bought it twice (Switch and PC) because it’s a miracle it even came out and I wanted to support that. For those who don’t know, Neverland Co., the company that developed Rune Factory (and Lufia!) went bankrupt after Rune Factory 4. But then Marvelous hired most of the people on that team, which led to Rune Factory 4 Special, then Rune Factory 5, and now Rune Factory 6 and a spin-off that just got announced! Those sorts of comeback stories make me very happy. I’m really hoping these next two games allow them to refine their 3D engine.
So that’s why RF5 is so janky? Don’t get me wrong i’m playing it right now and deeply enjoying it, especially getting to see Doug and Margaret kicking around town again, but I have so many issues with this game lol.
The camera lags when you rotate 360 degrees around your character, sometimes the rocks that spawn on your field will be totally invisible until you save and reset, preventing you from tilling certain areas. I’m having some weird lighting issues too but that doesn’t bother me really.
On the bright side, they give you a lot of farming room quite fast if you play through the dungeons, and they finally made it possible to be a lesbian! How cruel fate is that allowed me to not get married to Margaret in RF4… For the record, I ended up with Vishnal.
Its one of the best farming games I’ve ever played, but it’s also like… a real ass simulation game. You don’t get to grow whatever you want, you will grow rice and you’ll either like it or leave. Kept your paddy’s water level too high? Mold. Didn’t get rid of pests? Disease. Didn’t keep enough water in on a hot day? Uh oh, water evaporated and now your rice is under watered. If the waters too cold it won’t absorb nutrients right.
It’s also 50 percent a action rpg platformer, but don’t think you can get around doing the bare minimum in the farming just to play it: your stats are directly reliant on how good you rice farm. No level grinding through combat.
I really enjoyed it but I’m still not sure who the target demographic for this game was. How big is the overlap between “traditional rice farmers” and “action rpg enjoyers”? At any rate, I high key reccomend it if you think you could be interested in rice farming whatsoever, because the story is great too.
With my track record at killing even cacti, I am going to suck at this game. It does sound interesting, though (and “great story” is enough to make me face the rice farming).
It definitely sounds unique, which is exactly was I was hoping for when I made the post! Thank you!
Command and Conquer 3. I’m not very familiar with the series but I’m enjoying it, at least now that I figured out why the campaign was so hard. Apparently they patched the game balance after release with multi-player in mind and didn’t consider the consequences for single-player. So after a small mod to restore the original resource gather rates, the game is a great time.
As a super casual player, I’m mostly enjoying the spectacle of the campaign. Coming from rts like age of Empires 2, which has a sometimes pretty strict population cap in it’s missions (and also medieval technology), being able to build up an unlimited army of giant tanks and mecha is pretty fun. Maybe that loses its novelty at some point. Speaking of novelties, the fmv cutscenes are an interesting choice. I realize they were a fad when the original game was released, but I respect that they decided to preserve that portion of the series’ identity.
The use of only one resource is strange. It feels like there are only a couple places on the map (the tiberium fields) that actually matter, and the rest is just empty space. I haven’t seen what the multi-player maps look like, maybe they add neutral buildings or something to give the players something to fight over. They’ve been a couple of those so far.
My opinion is also heavily influenced by the fact that the game is from the time before all the modern bullshit with microtransactions and stuff. Like, I paid for a game, and I received an actually complete game that doesn’t try to sell me a bunch more stuff. Wild. Having just moved on from Immortals: Fenyx Rising, which really suffered from being a Ubisoft game despite its charming setting and characters really drives that point home.
I actually am a really big fan of FMV in video games. If that’s a subject that interests you, you should look at the games made by Sam Barlow. His big one recently was Immortality though he kind of made his name with Her Story and The Lies we Tell.
Still working on preparing for the “final push” in TotK, didn’t play a whole lot again this week. When you only have around 25 shrines to go, finding them on a map that big without a guide can get really tedious, especially when most of the ones I’m finding now are in caves. They really like putting them in caves in this game, I’m noticing.
I may also start up one of the strategy RPGs I bought in Steam’s little strategy game sale the other week. I bought a bundle that includes Symphony of War, Dark Deity and Tyrant’s Blessing. Not sure which to try first, though. I had Symphony of War and Dark Deity on my wishlist already, but Tyrant’s Blessing also seems interesting.
I grabbed Death’s Door on a whim for $8 and I’m blown away. It has so much charm, the music and atmosphere are amazing and it feels great to play. If you like the old top-down Zelda games, don’t sleep on this one.
I have heard great things about the game. It’s on my backlog, but with all the games I am playing don’t want to start another one before finishing at least one or two of these.
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