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[Codiox]

The Nvidia SHIELD handheld and tablet are pretty great. I've used both, emulated games for PSX and below without any issues.

This. I got myself a shield tablet with a Bluetooth controller and it kills everything emulation-wise until you hit dolphin. Dolphin is not supported anymore on the shield.

 

[c0de]

It's the New Nintendo 3DS.

Not even a question here. Native hardware GBA playback, and retroarch covers everything from the Atari and NES up to the SNES full speed, including neogeo and arcade.

Oh and as a bonus, it's a 3DS.

Which systems are supported by Retroarch on the 3as?

 

[runnin_blue]

My info may be outdated but I recall the general consensus being that the PSP 2000 is the end-all-be-all for portable emulation due to the hackability.

After years of procrastinating I finally went down this route and there is one important point I would make. I assumed that since the PSP's screen is a decent size, that it would be perfect for emulation. Turns out that if I try to play for an hour or more it becomes really uncomfortable for me, I get some serious eye strain. Kind of ruins the experience. I'm not sure exactly what causes it and it might just be me, but something to keep in mind.

And no, stretching to full screen doesn't help and can also affect the responsiveness of some games.

In saying that, I was shocked at how easy it is to setup nowadays. Just soft-modding, no flashing.

 

[Rich!]

Which systems are supported by Retroarch on the 3as?

-SNES
catsfc_libretro.cia
catsfc_plus_libretro.cia
pocketsnes_libretro.cia
snes9x_next_libretro.cia

-DOS
dosbox_libretro.cia

-ARCADE
fb_alpha_cps1_libretro.cia
fb_alpha_cps2_libretro.cia
fb_alpha_libretro.cia
fb_alpha_neo_libretro.cia

-NES
fceumm_libretro.cia
nestopia_libretro.cia
quicknes_libretro.cia

-MSX
fmsx_libretro.cia

-GAMEBOY
gambatte_libretro.cia

-MEGA DRIVE
genesis_plus_gx_libretro.cia
picodrive_libretro.cia

-GBA
gpsp_libretro.cia
mgba_libretro.cia

-MAME
mame2000_libretro.cia
mame2003_libretro.cia

-NEOGEO POCKET
mednafen_ngp_libretro.cia

-PC ENGINE
mednafen_pce_fast_libretro.cia

-VIRTUAL BOY
mednafen_vb_libretro.cia

-WONDERSWAN
mednafen_wswan_libretro.cia

-CAVE STORY
nxengine_libretro.cia

-PS1
pcsx_rearmed_libretro.cia

 

[nicoga3000]

This. I got myself a shield tablet with a Bluetooth controller and it kills everything emulation-wise until you hit dolphin. Dolphin is not supported anymore on the shield.

On the tablet or the shield TV? I have Dolphin running on my ShieldTV just fine.

E: Also, I love and hate retroarch. I honestly cannot get the workflow on that damn program figured out.

 

[Strangelove77]

PSP Go is great for this. Especially if you want something as portable as a phone but with a good dpad and buttons.

 

[runnin_blue]

PSP Go is great for this. Especially if you want something as portable as a phone but with a good dpad and buttons.

Is the PSP Go's dpad better than the original PSP's? I found the OG PSP's dpad really poor for certain games like Super Mario World for example.

 

[c0de]

-SNES
catsfc_libretro.cia
catsfc_plus_libretro.cia
pocketsnes_libretro.cia
snes9x_next_libretro.cia

-DOS
dosbox_libretro.cia

-ARCADE
fb_alpha_cps1_libretro.cia
fb_alpha_cps2_libretro.cia
fb_alpha_libretro.cia
fb_alpha_neo_libretro.cia

-NES
fceumm_libretro.cia
nestopia_libretro.cia
quicknes_libretro.cia

-MSX
fmsx_libretro.cia

-GAMEBOY
gambatte_libretro.cia

-MEGA DRIVE
genesis_plus_gx_libretro.cia
picodrive_libretro.cia

-GBA
gpsp_libretro.cia
mgba_libretro.cia

-MAME
mame2000_libretro.cia
mame2003_libretro.cia

-NEOGEO POCKET
mednafen_ngp_libretro.cia

-PC ENGINE
mednafen_pce_fast_libretro.cia

-VIRTUAL BOY
mednafen_vb_libretro.cia

-WONDERSWAN
mednafen_wswan_libretro.cia

-CAVE STORY
nxengine_libretro.cia

-PS1
pcsx_rearmed_libretro.cia

Thanks.

 

[Ludovico]

.

Thanks for this.
I've got my n3DS setup with A9LH, and I'm still mucking about with subpar retro emulation. The nightly gpsp.cia failed to boot and the latest stable had distorted lines running across the top. Also failed to hit a steady 60fps across several games.
I think I'll stick to installing my gba stuff injected, especially for Mother 3, but if I try retroarch again which of those two would you recommend?

 

[Strangelove77]

Is the PSP Go's dpad better than the original PSP's? I found the OG PSP's dpad really poor for certain games like Super Mario World for example.

It's almost exactly the same shape from what I remember, but lower due to them trying to make it as thin as possible and accommodate for the sliding screen. It's less "jabby" and sticks less into your fingers, if that makes sense.
I usually played a lot of arcade games like Marvel Vs Capcom and stuff on it. Did fine.

 

[DarkConfidant]

PSP 2000, imo.

 

[runnin_blue]

It's almost exactly the same shape from what I remember, but lower due to them trying to make it as thin as possible and accommodate for the sliding screen. It's less "jabby" and sticks less into your fingers, if that makes sense.
I usually played a lot of arcade games like Marvel Vs Capcom and stuff on it. Did fine.

Ok hmm, wonder what a PSP Go goes for nowadays?

 

[GhostTrick]

Come on, PSP is only good for PSX native emulation. It was a good device back then. But buying it nowaday for emulation is a terrible idea when average android devices do a shiton better than PSP for emulation.

 

[MDave]

If its a handheld that requires hacking to get emulators on, its no doubt the New 3DS. This is your top option here.

Emulates and runs native pretty much every single Nintendo/Sega/Atari handheld console out there, except for PSP/Vita. Biggest library of emulated and non emulated games you can play on the go.

If you want something that doesn't require hacking, the GPD XD covers a lot of ground too. And it can support streaming PC / PS4 remote play to the handheld too, so technically you can play almost everything under the sun through that including PC console emulators. The dual analog sticks are nicer then the slide pad.

On a budget and don't care about hacking, or emulating past PS1 / Snes, and want something very pocket friendly? Xperia Play. Unless you want to play PSP games, don't go for a PSP when this thing exists. My personal choice for emulation on the go.

 

[runnin_blue]

Come on, PSP is only good for PSX native emulation. It was a good device back then. But buying it nowaday for emulation is a terrible idea when average android devices do a shiton better than PSP for emulation.

I'm wondering how much it goes for, I'm not going to buy one. I'd rather an OG Nvidia Shield, but they're rarer than 4 leaf clovers round here.

 

[GamingOblivion]

My info may be outdated but I recall the general consensus being that the PSP 2000 is the end-all-be-all for portable emulation due to the hackability.

Super outdated. The New 3DS does everything the PSP can do but better. And you get access to the entire library of DS and 3DS games.

 

[butman]

Xperia Z3 Compact (4.3") + GCM10 + Best controller ever.

 

[Terra]

The JXD s192 is a monster. Plays everything I throw at it. Has an official Nvidia K1 processor inside.
And also has access to Geforce NOW and Gamestream to play your games from Steam.

Best gaming buy I have ever made.

http://www.jxd.hk/game-console/s192/

 

[night_golf]

I got a GPD XD on a black friday deal and besides regretting only getting one with 16gb internal memory, it's been great. As a Mac-only guy, I find it super hard to do things like load apps/games downloaded from elsewhere, and this is also my first Android machine in general so it took me some getting used to.

The new JXD machine, the S192, looks pretty sick. GPD is also supposedly working on an XD2, so you might want to investigate a bit more.

 

[nicoga3000]

The JXD s192 is a monster. Plays everything I throw at it. Has an official Nvidia K1 processor inside.
And also has access to Geforce NOW and Gamestream to play your games from Steam.

Best gaming buy I have ever made.

http://www.jxd.hk/game-console/s192/

What makes this better than the Shield K1 Tablet + Controller?

 

[Aters]

PSP was great for me. It runs SNES, GBA and PSX games almost flawlessly, and it runs PSP games.
But now my PSP is dead.

 

[KojiKnight]

PSP was great for me. It runs SNES*, GBA** and PSX*** games almost flawlessly, and it runs PSP games.
But now my PSP is dead.

As someone who has had both a hacked PSP and Vita... You need to put a giant asterisk next to every one of those.

*Except many special chip games which will either not work, or work slowly. Non-chip games may still have slowdowns or just be incompatible
**Larger games won't work on original PSP, a large portion of games will run with slowdowns or lots of dropped frames
***Only POPS compatible games, may not be compatible with all versions of POPS, may experience occasional bugs, glitches, or crashes.


The PSP was a beast for portable emulation... a decade ago.

 

[Rich!]

PSP was great for me. It runs SNES, GBA and PSX games almost flawlessly, and it runs PSP games.

The PSP does not run SNES flawlessly. It runs SNES poorly, and with terrible framerates and compatibility.

 

[StereoVsn]

What makes this better than the Shield K1 Tablet + Controller?

It's less unwieldy perhaps, but I feel this is overpriced. $340 for 2GB RAM/32GB internal storage device?

 

[Terra]

What makes this better than the Shield K1 Tablet + Controller?

For me, it´s all about portability and that it is less clunky and more nice to hold in the hands.

I sold my Shield Tablet+Ipega controller and bought the JXD S192 instead.

 

[nicoga3000]

For me, it´s all about portability and that it is less clunky and more nice to hold in the hands.

I sold my Shield Tablet+Ipega controller and bought the JXD S192 instead.

Interesting....How does it handle N64, PSX, and DC?

It's less unwieldy perhaps, but I feel this is overpriced. $340 for 2GB RAM/32GB internal storage device?

Yeah, this is what I'm thinking. But if it's a rock solid device...However, the ability to read comics and such on a dedicated tablet (that isn't my wife's iPad) is another point for the K1.

 

[CronoRobo]

I've heard good things about the JXD 7800B tablet. You can use it for SNES, GBA, PSP, DS, PSX, Dreamcast, MAME, Megadrive and a lot more. The only real drawbacks are with N64 emulation and possibly another one I can't remember, and to be fair N64 emulation has never truly perfect on a handheld device.

I have this one, and it's great...

the only drawback is the battery life.

 

[GreenMonkey]

I've been watching this market for ages.

Have a hacked n3ds Majorca's Mask edition. Originally hacked with Cubic Ninja, using Ironhax right now. Wife borrowed to play an import of Style Saavy 2 and so I haven't done much with it since. Need to read up and update with it with cfw or whatever.

Did a PS3 controller with a Gameclip mount and a Nexus 7 for a while. Great but bulky.

Have a Moga cellphone controller which isn't bad but the buttons / dpad are meh.

Saw the 8bitdo has a cellphone mount now, that looks pretty slick.

Really would like a dedicated device like the nvidia shield tablet but it went out of production so fast. The GPD and such are interesting but haven't decided one is worth investing in.

 

[Vic20]

The JXD s192 is a monster. Plays everything I throw at it. Has an official Nvidia K1 processor inside.
And also has access to Geforce NOW and Gamestream to play your games from Steam.

Best gaming buy I have ever made.

http://www.jxd.hk/game-console/s192/

Damn! If this device streams steam games well then its going to be hard for me to say no to it!

 

[Aters]

The PSP does not run SNES flawlessly. It runs SNES poorly, and with terrible framerates and compatibility.

Really? I guess I never noticed because I only played RPGs on it.

 

[Vic20]

Damn it, purchased!

Also, my God, this is the worst/best promo video in recent memory!

https://youtu.be/FLpE8fZn9Gc

Be-freakin-hold the awfulawesominess!

 

[Krejlooc]

Damn! If this device streams steam games well then its going to be hard for me to say no to it!

It looks like it uses the same app that the Nvidia shield handheld uses to stream steam games, and the hardware seems comparable. With a good router, the shield handheld is great at streaming steam. I can't give a recommendation to this JXD handheld, but I overwhelmingly give the shield portable a thumbs up. Best handheld I've ever owned TBH.

 

[nicoga3000]

It looks like it uses the same app that the Nvidia shield handheld uses to stream steam games, and the hardware seems comparable. With a good router, the shield handheld is great at streaming steam. I can't give a recommendation to this JXD handheld, but I overwhelmingly give the shield portable a thumbs up. Best handheld I've ever owned TBH.

They're so hard to find in good condition for a fair price now. The JXD is expensive, but the dedicated buttons and such means I may end up buying it despite the price. The K1 looks fantastic, too. Gonna have to weigh my options.

 

[Vic20]

It looks like it uses the same app that the Nvidia shield handheld uses to stream steam games, and the hardware seems comparable. With a good router, the shield handheld is great at streaming steam. I can't give a recommendation to this JXD handheld, but I overwhelmingly give the shield portable a thumbs up. Best handheld I've ever owned TBH.

I just ordered one, so its down the rabbit hole for me! I had a shield handheld and loved it, but despite buying the tablet successor, I just couldn't get into the tablet without the physical controls attached. This device fixes all those issues it would seem!

 

[Pancakes R Us]

Is the PSP Go's dpad better than the original PSP's? I found the OG PSP's dpad really poor for certain games like Super Mario World for example.

The Go's D-pad is so much better IMO. I can actually pull off the moves in Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max, unlike with the OG PSP's D-pad.

 

[finalhour]

Anyone have any experience with TV Out on the GPD? Curious how well it works. In theory it seems like it could be a good retro console / handheld hybrid

 

[nicoga3000]

Anyone have any experience with TV Out on the GPD? Curious how well it works. In theory it seems like it could be a good retro console / handheld hybrid

The Shield TV is still the best emulation console IMO. I use it in my home office for Netflix and retro gaming. It's super easy to move around, too. Wife and I were playing Mario 64 last night on our main TV in about 90 seconds from turn off in my office to boot up on the main TV. Works great with a wired 360 controller, too. Also relatively cheap at like $300 or so.

 

[nickerous]

I've got a bunch of these listed in this thread. Still waiting on one that will handle Dolphin. If it can do that, everything else should be good too.

I carry my N3DS and Xperia Play to work every day. Shield portable and N3DS XL are good for home use. Also the PSP Go has a console mode where you hook it up to a TV for use with a dual shock controller.

 

[Blak_Status]

I love my Shield handheld but it's not great at being portable. It's a little bulky. I'm actually considering getting the GPD XD.

 

[ViciousDS]

I've heard good things about the JXD 7800B tablet. You can use it for SNES, GBA, PSP, DS, PSX, Dreamcast, MAME, Megadrive and a lot more. The only real drawbacks are with N64 emulation and possibly another one I can't remember, and to be fair N64 emulation has never truly perfect on a handheld device.

I had one of these and gave it to my cousin when I got the shield.....its pretty solid.....some of the buttons feel a bit cheap but overall it didn't have a problem running most things.

The JXD s192 is a monster. Plays everything I throw at it. Has an official Nvidia K1 processor inside.
And also has access to Geforce NOW and Gamestream to play your games from Steam.

Best gaming buy I have ever made.

http://www.jxd.hk/game-console/s192/

Holy shit that thing is sexy!

 

[Majima Everywhere System]

A phone, because it's always with me. You sacrifice the buttons, but at least you don't have to play phone games.

 

[Nightshade]

I keep a PSP loaded with emulators on my night stand.

 

[PulseONE]

The PSP gets my vote as well, almost any kind of retro emulation works great on it

 

[mikespit1200]

This is what I use, too. I've only ran NES and Mame on it.

what mame emulator do you use? performance was always shitty for me.

 

[jimjonjimmy]

Anyone have any experience with TV Out on the GPD? Curious how well it works. In theory it seems like it could be a good retro console / handheld hybrid

You need to turn the system off entirely before plugging the HDMI cable in to use it otherwise just plugging in a HDMI cable will make the system slow down.

 

[Robin64]

The PSP gets my vote as well, almost any kind of retro emulation works great on it

You and I have a different idea about what great means.

Even SNES on that thing is hacky, full of incompatibilities, and just pretty bad in general.

 

[MacTag]

Honestly the GPD is the final answer here for both power and ease of use. N3DS is neat to use as a curiosity but it's hardly ideal if you're serious about portable emulation. The fact that it plays 3DS games isn't so much a bonus here as it is "the single solitary advantage."

I'd say controls are another big advantage for n3DS over basically every android handheld. I have a Shield Portable that can do so much more emulation wise but find myself going back to my hacked n3DS because the dpad and buttons are just so much better.

 

[Panda Rin]

Been using this with my phone. Played through Birth by Sleep on a Nexus 5 last year.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

I've been using my phones for the past couple years. They run almost everything and the controllers cost like 20 bucks.

This is what I do as well. It's the only way to ensure that your hardware won't be outdated in 3 years and offers the best upgrade path. Short of Dolphin, it runs everything I throw at it and if a button, stick or dpad break I can replace it for under $20. $5 MicroHDMI as well and its playable on the big screen.

Well, right now I use a PS4 clip and Note 4 with OC, and also a couple bluetooth 8Bitdos when I'm not at home since it's better pocketable. Will probably replace the PS4 controller with one of the new XOne controllers with Bluetooth.

 

[Ceallach]

So the SNES emulation on a n3ds is great. On the O3ds it is not good at all.

But I think the best bet is to grab a used Vita, make sure it is on old fw and put vhbl on it