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Has Nintendo's handling of the SNES Classic convinced anyone else to build a Retro Pi

L

Lasthope106

Member
I have a RetroPie that I put together last year. The controllers for the RetroPie are the best USB SNES controllers according to many. Many hours were spent trying to configure it for the best possible experience. Even with all that, I still prefer to have a SNES Classic. As I mentioned in a different thread, the controllers alone are reason enough to get one.
 
U

UserDoesNotExist

Member
For me, it was Nintendo's radio silence on VC on the Switch that caused me to cross over to the dark side. I haven't done you-know-what for sixteen years (!) now, but I simply can't take being treated like a second class citizen anymore.

And this isn't a case of rationalization, either: I still do buy VC games on my 3DS when they're made available. But I'm done with being "moral" and getting scraps for it
especially since the only reason the goddamn games aren't already in the public domain is that Disney didn't realize it could trademark Mickey Mouse.
 
O

ozfunghi

Member
Robin64 said:
Nobody said they were doing that. Can we not jump to this conclusion in every GAF emulation thread?
Click to expand...

So, did anyone bother to ask the OP if he owns all the ROMS he is planning on playing on his Pi, and ripped them himself? I'm sorry i didn't read the entire thread. Maybe someone did or maybe the OP stated as much in a later message.

But if not, how 'bout it OP? Did you legally rip your own ROMS or did you download them illegally?

And what if the OP says he just downloaded the ROMS? Will this topic get closed? I would also find it pretty ironic that he would pay more for his Pi, than the price of the original product. But maybe the OP owns an immense collection of retro games, that he is willing to put on his Pi himself. I guess that's possible.
 
S

Seik

Banned
ozfunghi said:
So, did anyone bother to ask the OP if he owns all the ROMS he is planning on playing on his Pi, and ripped them himself? I'm sorry i didn't read the entire thread. Maybe someone did or maybe the OP stated as much in a later message.

But if not, how 'bout it OP? Did you legally rip your own ROMS or did you download them illegally?

And what if the OP says he just downloaded the ROMS? Will this topic get closed? I would also find it pretty ironic that he would pay more for his Pi, than the price of the original product. But maybe the OP owns an immense collection of retro games, that he is willing to put on his Pi himself. I guess that's possible.
Click to expand...

The real question is should we fact check and ask every single poster that posts about emulation to post a photo of him with the game holding a post-it with his/her username on it to have a clear mind?

If the OP or anyone posts about downloading a game illegaly, it's auto ban and it's known. This fucking shit about calling out people in every emulation thread is so toxic and ALWAYS derail these threads.

EVERY
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SINGLE
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FUCKING
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EMULATION
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THREAD

Like clockwork.
 
N

Nessus

Member
I would be in heaven if someone got Nintendo's official NES Mini software running on something else, like one of those clones from China.
 
OmegaDL50

OmegaDL50

Member
danm999 said:
Doing a limited run guarantees there will be people who won't get them and that it'll be a scalper's paradise.
Click to expand...

Even worse still. There was no assigned date for release. No planning could have been possibly made when Nintendo just said some vague "Sometime near the end of August" and let the retailers decide to put them up for sale on their own whim at 1 to 4AM in the morning when a majority of folks were asleep.

Nintendo said they would not repeat this mistake with the NES Classic. This did not happen.
 
O

ozfunghi

Member
Seik said:
The real question is should we fact check and ask every single poster that posts about emulation to post a photo of him with the game holding a post-it with his/her username on it to have a clear mind?

If the OP or anyone posts about downloading a game illegaly, it's auto ban and it's known. This fucking shit about calling out people in every emulation thread is so toxic and ALWAYS derail these threads.

EVERY

SINGLE

FUCKING

EMULATION

THREAD
Click to expand...

Sure, but maybe that has something to do with the fact that probably many of us, like me (and by that i mean that i KNOW people, not that i do this), know people who do not own one single retro game, yet pirate these games leisurely. I mean, there's always a loophole. Hacking a system is ok for homebrew, emulation is ok if you own and rip your own ROM... so let's all talk about emulation and hacking, because nobody would dare do this illegally, since it's against the TOS, right? Yet of all the people i know with hacked PS2's, DS's, Wii's etc... not one has used it for homebrew. So maybe we should fact check, or else maybe it should just become allowed to discuss regardless of the legal issues. If someone talks about committing murder, do you automatically assume it is self defense? Forgive me the overblown analogy.
 
B

BolognaOni

Member
bionic77 said:
I never played a NES Classic but the lag is horrible on the Pi for NES games so I am skeptical of that claim that it is better emulation (though it might be true because I certainly did not test them both).

I might be extra sensitive to it because I spent 2 billion hours on NES games but they felt horrible to play on the Pi. To the point where I stopped using it. Which is a shame because as I have said multiple times the games looked beautiful on the HDTV with whatever the Pi is doing to them.
Click to expand...

Best case scenario for any emulator right now is around 1-2 frames of additional lag (I believe native hardware+ CRT is about 3 frames for the NES). This assumes a good display, no issues with controller setup/connection, etc. The retro-pi is probably 2-4 frames of additional lag for NES, maybe a bit more for. So, noticeable, but should still be playable if everything is configured correctly. I also doubt that the Classic models are much better, but... they do have the advantage of being plug and play.
 
N

Ninja Dom

Member
Seik said:
The real question is should we fact check and ask every single poster that posts about emulation to post a photo of him with the game holding a post-it with his/her username on it to have a clear mind?

If the OP or anyone posts about downloading a game illegaly, it's auto ban and it's known. This fucking shit about calling out people in every emulation thread is so toxic and ALWAYS derail these threads.

EVERY
👏
SINGLE
👏
FUCKING
👏
EMULATION
👏
THREAD

Like clockwork.
Click to expand...

Seik, yes you're right - piracy shouldn't always be brought up in emulation threads. I understand your frustration.

But with this particular thread we're posting in, the OP is using the Pi as an alternative to a SNES Classic. It reads like, "If you're having difficulty buying a SNES Classic then here's a way to play the games using a Raspberry Pi at xxx cost instead".

My gripe is that the PI isn't a worthwhile alternative to a SNES Classic if you don't own any SNES games to begin with...unless you illegally obtain the ROMs.
 
GrayDock

GrayDock

Member
This, for now, shit preorder problem has made me restart an old project of put my RPI 3 inside a SFamicom with the proper wiring to make it look like a "real" SFAMICOM, with original controllers, that I already have, and all that.

I'll still try to get a SNES mini but only with official retailers, no scalpers for me.
 
Z

Zombie James

Banned
Seik said:
The real question is should we fact check and ask every single poster that posts about emulation to post a photo of him with the game holding a post-it with his/her username on it to have a clear mind?

If the OP or anyone posts about downloading a game illegaly, it's auto ban and it's known. This fucking shit about calling out people in every emulation thread is so toxic and ALWAYS derail these threads.

EVERY
👏
SINGLE
👏
FUCKING
👏
EMULATION
👏
THREAD

Like clockwork.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. GAF's rules about emulation and piracy are about as clear and black and white as you can get.
 
D.Lo

D.Lo

Member
Ninja Dom said:
Seik, yes you're right - piracy shouldn't always be brought up in emulation threads. I understand your frustration.

But with this particular thread we're posting in, the OP is using the Pi as an alternative to a SNES Classic. It reads like, "If you're having difficulty buying a SNES Classic then here's a way to play the games using a Raspberry Pi at xxx cost instead".

My gripe is that the PI isn't a worthwhile alternative to a SNES Classic if you don't own any SNES games to begin with...unless you illegally obtain the ROMs.
Click to expand...

Exactly, this is not a smackdown on any and all emulation but specifically claiming a Pi is a 'cheaper better alternative'. Without piracy is simply is not unless you own all the games already and ripped them yourselves. Which, when talking about the general public or even GAF, would be a very small number of people, and so a thread for that would have a very limited audience.

OP outright states
oni-link said:
It cost me about £90 in total when you include the cost of the controller
Click to expand...
.
Nessus said:
I would be in heaven if someone got Nintendo's official NES Mini software running on something else, like one of those clones from China.
Click to expand...
Assuming you own an original unit to rip the software from, what would you need the clone for?
 
F

fernoca

Member
The games are nice, but the whole thing around the Classics that makes people want them are the mini console and the official controllers. If this was some random generic case, like the many out there that play "classic games", this wouldn't have as much attention.

So while any Pi can serve as an alternative for the games, if you then add the costs of getting a similar looking case, turning official controllers into either wired USB or wireless, and then the games...is kinda hard for people to be easily convinced of the Pi as an alternative, much less a cheaper alternative.
 
K

KtSlime

Member
The op did not include price of the game carts, which is odd, because he included the price of a controller. Why not just use the controller op already has from op's SNES at that point and save some more money in that figure?
 
TriAceJP

TriAceJP

Member
ozfunghi said:
So, did anyone bother to ask the OP if he owns all the ROMS he is planning on playing on his Pi, and ripped them himself? I'm sorry i didn't read the entire thread. Maybe someone did or maybe the OP stated as much in a later message.

But if not, how 'bout it OP? Did you legally rip your own ROMS or did you download them illegally?

And what if the OP says he just downloaded the ROMS? Will this topic get closed? I would also find it pretty ironic that he would pay more for his Pi, than the price of the original product. But maybe the OP owns an immense collection of retro games, that he is willing to put on his Pi himself. I guess that's possible.
Click to expand...


Why do you care? You aren't the morality police. It's none of your business.
 
D

Drek

Member
Ninja Dom said:
Seik, yes you're right - piracy shouldn't always be brought up in emulation threads. I understand your frustration.

But with this particular thread we're posting in, the OP is using the Pi as an alternative to a SNES Classic. It reads like, "If you're having difficulty buying a SNES Classic then here's a way to play the games using a Raspberry Pi at xxx cost instead".

My gripe is that the PI isn't a worthwhile alternative to a SNES Classic if you don't own any SNES games to begin with...unless you illegally obtain the ROMs.
Click to expand...

I'd argue that of all cases this is one reasonably acceptable to look the other way on.

There is a large market for these games. Nintendo consistently refuses to service that market in a meaningful way.

Just like how the music industry refused to service a la carte digital demand for music in the late 90's leading to Napster Nintendo actively feeds the piracy of their back catalog by treating it like abandonware, then rolls out the occasional very narrow scope, limited access product.

PC piracy was substantially curbed and the market saw a healthy rebound when Steam got a strong foothold. Those games can still be pirated for free, so what changed? Music piracy is basically gone from the mainstream because of Spotify and similar services. How did that happen?

Service the market and there won't be a black market/piracy scene to worry about. Don't and you get the rewards your ignorance deserves.

Also, the notion that piracy of old software is illegal is fucking disgusting from a moral standpoint. It is, at worst, a civil issue of less significance than shoplifting as with shoplifting there is actual product loss and with old software no longer actively being sold there is literally zero material loss demonstrable on the part of the infringed party.

I don't personally pirate old games because 1. I'm old enough to have played plenty of them originally 2. have enough new games to keep me plenty occupied and 3. have enough of those old games collecting dust to make the idea of pirating more seem absurd. All that said, if some 15 year old wants to actually experience some of the better yet more obscure games from 20 years ago more power to her/him. Nintendo should offer them a compelling way to do that is actually readily available to the market and not a false scarcity, limited scope emu box of their very own.
 
TriAceJP

TriAceJP

Member
fernoca said:
Even doing that would add at least $150 to the costs of the Pi, case, controllers.
Click to expand...

As opposed to the scalpers prices that they'll most likely hit on eBay? Seems like you're still getting a pretty good deal.


Bonus Edit!

The Pi and a case are $40. Let's not act like this is a major expense. The 8Bitdo controllers are universal so if you decided to go that route, you have some great controllers you could use on your Switch/PC/What have you.
 
G

GreenMonkey

Member
Anyone who says "set up a retropie in 20 minutes" is a bit disingenuous.

I've probably spent 4 hours working on mine so far. And I bought a pi in a pre-modded Sega Genesis mini hub case.

The default ROM scrape in the UI isn't the best scraper - sselph's scraper requires some googling / digging around a bit to use.

Had trouble getting f-zero to scrape - had to update my retropie setup in the menus (even though it was a fresh SD card image from the site..linux needs its updates) and then a sselph scraper update and then a re-scrape attempt. Took me an hour of googling to figure out.

Default settings, especially SNES, were very laggy - had to do some settings tweaking to reduce lag.

Still haven't quite gotten the video previews to work, still need to do that.

And it is a tiny bit laggier than PC emulation, or (pretty sure) than the NES classic. I can reduce the lag a bit more with the dispmanx video driver, but I'll lose my scanline shader, unless I figure out how to implement an overlay to do it instead of using the shader...

There's quite a bit of software / emulator settings to get it *right*. If by, play, default settings, no artwork/details scraped, etc...yeah, 20 minutes, sure. But to get it *right* anywhere near the niceness of a NES classic, it takes a while.
 
I

Izayoi

Banned
I'm saying fuck it and making a nice emu box so I can run everything from NES to Dolphin. Just slap it in a mini ITX and hook it up to the receiver.
 
M

martinstraka8282

Member
Yes absolutely. You won't catch me trying to jump in to this BS created hard to find Nintendo retro boxes. Not just the created scarcity either though, they're just such incomplete collections that I don't want to bother.

In the end though, I don't know what the heck I'm doing for setting it up and find the retro pie too intimidating so it never happens.
 
TriAceJP

TriAceJP

Member
Izayoi said:
I'm saying fuck it and making a nice emu box so I can run everything from NES to Dolphin. Just slap it in a mini ITX and hook it up to the receiver.
Click to expand...

If you go this route have a decent PC already in play, try using the Steam Link paired with LaunchBox's Big Box mode.
 
F

fernoca

Member
TriAceJP said:
As opposed to the scalpers prices that they'll most likely hit on eBay? Seems like you're still getting a pretty good deal.


Bonus Edit!

The Pi and a case are $40. Let's not act like this is a major expense. The 8Bitdo controllers are universal so if you decided to go that route, you have some great controllers you could use on your Switch/PC/What have you.
Click to expand...
Again, read the premise of the OP (cheaper alternative) and what I said of people wanting this for the "official look" and "official controllers", more than just the games.

People in here and all over the world has been buying Pis with cases and controllers for years, so is not like is some new discovery.

The 8bitdo also cost at least $40 each. Great controllers (have 2), but not cheap to keep the costs down as a cheap alternative when adding them to everything else.
 
M

Mr_Moogle

Member
I think I'll eventually get a Raspberry Pie. I dont mind having to do a bit of tinkering because the pay off seems worth it.

I won't bother with Nes/Snes Classic. They seem like gimmicky bullshit.
 
W

Wet Bloodfart

Banned
What are the best controllers to use on a Retro Pi? I thought about buying an 8bitdo controller for it but I'm worried they're going to be shit if trying to play N64 or PS1 games.
 
D.Lo

D.Lo

Member
TriAceJP said:
Grab the games from the Wii EShop and rip them. No carts required!
Click to expand...
So the premise is you also need an NTSC Wii (since PAL Wiis have 50Hz games) and to have bought the original games (not all of which are on Wii) on the VC, so that's another $200 of 'required stuff laying around'. You'll still need a SNES ripper and carts for a few games, and will never have Star Fox 2, but we'll let that slide.

So your interpretation of the OP is actually:

"Hey, if you have $200+ worth of stuff already laying around, and time and knowhow to rip all the games yourself, you can also buy a Pi and put the huge valuable legitimate collection you already own on it, and now you have something marginally cheaper than a SNES mini, with only vast original caveats as part of the premise!".
 
Duchess O'Death

Duchess O'Death

Member
Retro Pi + this >>> SNES Classic.

il_570xN.1258985284_525y.jpg
 
F

fernoca

Member
Wet Bloodfart said:
What are the best controllers to use on a Retro Pi? I thought about buying an 8bitdo controller for it but I'm worried they're going to be shit if trying to play N64 or PS1 games.
Click to expand...
Pi is not great for many N64 games, but nearly perfect for PS1 games.

Pokken controllers turned out to be the best ones I have used one mine. Got 2, months ago when everyone started getting rid of them.

They lack analog sticks, but for everything else are just perfect (including PS1 games that don't use sticks).

8bitdo are great, but try to buy from good resellers. Some are faulty and many resellers have faulty batches were bluetooth sucks and battery never holds charge.
 
TriAceJP

TriAceJP

Member
fernoca said:
Again, read the premise of the OP (cheaper alternative) and what I said of people wanting this for the "official look" and "official controllers", more than just the games.

People in here and all over the world has been buying Pis with cases and controllers for years, so is not like is some new discovery.

The 8bitdo also cost at least $40 each. Great controllers (have 2), but not cheap to keep the costs down as a cheap alternative when adding them to everything else.
Click to expand...

SNES30 is $29 free shipping on eBay. Other alternatives are using those Buffalo USB controllers (I'm not a fan personally) or a Mayflash USB converter to use OEM hardware (looking at around $30-$40 for two).

It depends on how nice you want to go and what the average eBay price of these things are once the whole sale period is done and over with.


Wet Bloodfart said:
What are the best controllers to use on a Retro Pi? I thought about buying an 8bitdo controller for it but I'm worried they're going to be shit if trying to play N64 or PS1 games.
Click to expand...

You can get the FC30 Pro or wait until the SNES30 Pros come out. They throw on Analogue sticks so they work for anything.
 
B

bionic77

Member
BolognaOni said:
Best case scenario for any emulator right now is around 1-2 frames of additional lag (I believe native hardware+ CRT is about 3 frames for the NES). This assumes a good display, no issues with controller setup/connection, etc. The retro-pi is probably 2-4 frames of additional lag for NES, maybe a bit more for. So, noticeable, but should still be playable if everything is configured correctly. I also doubt that the Classic models are much better, but... they do have the advantage of being plug and play.
Click to expand...
It was tolerable for me on a PC emulator but even then it still never felt as good as a legit NES on a CRT.

But on the Pi I could never get the settings to a point where it did not bother me. It is possible that I missed something but I was just following the instructions and settings I found on their site for this issue.

Can anyone weigh in on the lag from the NES Classic who has also played on the Pi?
 
K

knkng

Member
"I own this $10,000 retro game collection of everything from NES to PS1, but only now that the SNES Mini pre-orders are difficult to obtain have I decided to start emulating all my games!"

I have no problems with people emulating shit, they're gonna do it anyways. But framing it as "I can't legally buy this new product, so I will emulate it instead" is pretty goddamn blatant.

Also lol at the Wii VC rippers. "I own all these games in playable form, but I'd rather jump through hoops to play them on a Pi for no reason." Sure thing, chief.
 
SaiyanRaoh

SaiyanRaoh

Member
Oh I will absolutely get one now. If Nintendo wants to play that limited quantity shit they do, then this is the result.
I have too much going on to have to fight to give them money.
I'd rather build an emulation machine with that time than play that game.
 
D.Lo

D.Lo

Member
Zombie James said:
You don't need an SNES to dump ROMs. An Arduino, basic electronics skills, and some open source software are all you need these days.
Click to expand...
That was replying to someone who wanted Nintendo's NES classic software in a Chinese clone box. Aka they would have to own an NES classic to rip the image, so what is the clone for?
 
O

ozfunghi

Member
TriAceJP said:
Why do you care? You aren't the morality police. It's none of your business.
Click to expand...

Well, as a member of this forum, it does concern me whether someone is talking about illegal stuff or not. Especially when it is posed as an alternative to an original product that offers retro games, with the excuse that it's "too hard to get". And what is just as annoying as people bringing up the legal issues, are the people assuming everybody talking about emulation on GAF, are all guys that have the original gamecarts and ripped those themselves. It's a two way street. So my response was towards those people first and foremost. I'm pretty sure the OP won't respond if indeed he is illegally pirating games.
 
InfiniteCombo

InfiniteCombo

Banned
Holy shit, some people are really (and unnecessarily) getting way too worked up in this thread.

On topic: no, I haven't considered a retro pie. I have an original SNES hooked up via RBG to a Framemeister. When I turn that shit on, I'm in heaven.

So in other words, number of fucks given about the SNES Mini: zero.
 
P

pretty done

Member
What is even the point of coming into a thread like this accusing people of pirating ROMs? Maybe they are, maybe they aren't, but you can't prove anything and you're not even affected by it at all.

Nintendo are the only ones affected, and if it really bothered them that much they would have made enough stock.
 
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