Turn your old stuff into a Fantastic Emulation Machine!

[dumpster]

I'm no hacker - I wouldn't know where to begin.  But the world of hacking and modding has always really interested me.  I love the stuff that people make, not because they get paid but because they are passionate about what they are doing. I find it quite incredible that I'm finally working my way through Toy Commander, a Dreamcast game from 2000 that I really liked and never completed, but in 2019 on the Nintendo Switch in a higher resolution.  I find it quite unbelievable that Sony would remove the backward compatibility from the PS3, only for hackers to create a custom firmware that allows PS2 games to work on the consoles that never had that facility.  I've been fascinated to play the old pub quiz machines in the warmth of my own home, pumping in unlimited money and learning how the machine behaves when it doesn't want me to win.  Back in the 1990s, I was blown away by the incredible achievement of the MAME emulator, and in 2019 it supports over 7000 individual games, many of which would be unavailable in any other way.  With old consoles and arcade machines falling victim to failing components, rotting plastics and so-called suicide batteries, it's fantastic that the history of video gaming is preserved in this way.

 

The barriers to entry are less than they have ever been before.  There was a time when you would need to invest in the most powerful computers to stand a chance at emulating the most basic of hardware (back in the early nineties I remember using a £1000 PC to emulate the 48k Spectrum), but today you can build an emulation box from a Raspberry Pi, or even chuck together a PC using parts from Ebay and get decent results. For me, the first time I kept a permanent emulation machine under the TV was with the Nintendo Wii.  Such a small footprint, wireless controllers, a classic pad layout that resembled a Snes joypad layout and perfect emulation of all the games I played in my teenage years was too much to resist.

 

And now, it's all starting to be used more than ever in my house.  In an era where Mario Kart on a mobile phone offers in-game purchases and a monthly subscription, it can be nice to just switch on the emulation machine and spend an hour playing Contra 3 to completion, finding a few more of the levels you missed in Super Mario World 30 years ago, or just firing up Spectrum Basic and seeing how much you remember.  Or enjoying those N64 games you never played at the time because you owned a Playstation.  As developers face accusations of making games deliberately tedious grinds to incentivise in-game purchases, it's nice to go back to simpler times, especially as these games can be every bit as fun as the new stuff.  Has there ever been a run-and-gun game better than Gunstar Heroes or Contra 3?  A better platformer than Mario Galaxy?  A purer challenge than Gameboy Tetris (which doesn't have the gameplay ruining powerups of Tetris Blast!)?  Is Ridge Racer on the PSP still the best in the series, or does the PS1 version, upscaled to HD via Retroarch win out?

 

Luckily, it's very easy to find out. We all have old consoles that clutter the garage or have been forgotten about in the loft.  You'd be surprised how many of these can be quickly and easily modded to play all sorts of retro titles.

 

Turn Your Wii into a Fantastic Emulation Machine!

My first thread on the subject - The Wii is simple to mod, cheap to buy and a really lovely machine to play with. You'll be amazed at what it can do.

 

Turn your Wii-U into a Fantastic Emulation Machine.

But then Nintendo released the Wii-U, and you can turn that into a Fantastic Emulation Machine as well! You can mod the Wii that lives inside the Wii-U, and have all the benefits of the modded Wii, and all the benefits of the modded Wii-U as well. 

 

Turn your Original Xbox into a Fantastic Emulation Machine

The OG Xbox was a proper workhorse and homebrew people had a great time when it was finally hacked wide open.  There's still stuff going on today, including a great new front end for all the emulators. If it wasn't for the size of the console, the Xbox would be my emulation machine of choice, but the Wii is so much smaller that I prefer it even though the Xbox is that bit more powerful for emulators.

 

 

Turn your PS3 into a Fantastic Emulation Machine!

The PS3 can become your all in one solution for Sony, allowing PS3 games, PS2 games, PS1 and even PSP games.  And yes you can play PS2 on a console that isnt normally backwards compatible. 

 

Turn your PS Classic into a Fantastic Emulation Machine

Stick your favourite PS1 games on it.  No-one ever liked Cool Boarders 2, so switch it out for the games you do like.  Also, replace the rubbish PAL conversions with their better USA counterparts and much more.

 

Turn your PSTV or PS Vita into a Fantastic Emulation Machine. 

It's great for emulation of everything up to 16 bit and of course it's phenomenal for PlayStation, PSP and Vita games. Whack a 128Gb Micro SD card, and tell Sony where they can stick their ridiculous, expensive and unreliable proprietary formats.  The Vita is an awesome, incredible machine - Sony just didn't want you to know that, so hackers did it all instead. Why restrict yourself to the Sony range of compatible PSP titles, when the Adrenaline emulator plays them all? Who needs a Playstation Classic when you can have a Handheld that does it better?

 

Turn Your PSP into a Fantastic Emulation Machine!

And the crazy thing about the Vita is that many of the 16 Bit emulators are actually the PSP versions reskinned!  Yes, the PSP and PSP go make fantastic emulation devices as well, with the PSP Go especially looking like a very lovely piece of kit even in 2019.

 

 

Turn your Nintendo Switch into a Fantastic Emulation Machine!

Ongoing, and pretty incredible, the Switch scene improves almost daily.  You need a pre-July 2018 model and it's not entirely as simple as the others (you need to keep a jig-kick on your keyring, and a USB cable with your console when you take it out, so that should you need to, you will be able to re-enter the emulation side of the machine by connecting the console to your phone and running an app.)  But - just wow.  All I ever wanted was my Dreamcast collection on a portable with decent controls and a big screen and now I have it.  They are working wonders with the Switch, and the original model has an easy, exploitable flaw that Nintendo can never patch.  The Switch is my gaming machine of choice now....

 

Turn Your DS into a Fantastic Emulation Machine!

The abundance of flash cards for the DS in it's lifetime lead to lots of homebrew interest, and it's still going on.  There's lots of programs for emulation, making music, and doing things with the DS I never thought possible.  And yes - Lemmings DS is a homebrew game that is the definitive way to play Lemmings, with touch controls. A real achievement.

 

Turn Your Old PC Parts into a Fantastic Emulation Machine

Our very own @Treble has been documenting his attempts at building a decent emulation PC from eBay parts.  His second thread is here:

 

Turn Your Raspberry Pi into a Fantastic Emulation Machine

Or how about building your own dedicated machine from the tiny Pi based boards?  Retropie is a bit more work to get started, but it's pretty outstanding and makes a wonderful under-the-tv all in one solution.

 

Turn Your Cat into a Fantastic Emulation Machine

Got a cat? Got a wired control pad with a smooth round end?  Got some KY Jelly?  Stick it up it's arse, and you'll be amazed how well it runs Symphony of the Night.