Snes Emulation On The Gp2x - Newbie Seeks Views

[Sappy]

Hi there,

I'm considering purchasing a GP2X and trying to weigh up the pros and cons against the PSP.

The GP2X is definitely ahead at the moment in terms of its ease of use (ie. no sodding about with firmware), TV out and use of AA's, but I have some concerns.

I'd use the GP2X mainly for emulation of older systems (eg. NES, SNES, megadrive, MAME etc), but in particular the SNES. This is my favourite system and what I'd want to be able to play whilst on the move.

I'm had a good read through the boards and opinions on SNES emulation seem to be quite mixed. Whilst megadrive emulation seems to be there on the GP2X SNES development seems to be lagging behind.

I'm not trying to diss the hard work that has gone into SNES emulation to date by numerous people but just wanted to get people's views on the current state of play, eg. are the majority of SNES games playable? Which is the best SNES emulator? Are SNES emulators still being worked on? Is it likely that the SNES will ever be emulated properly or does the hardware prevent this?

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

 

[saehn]

I'm not trying to diss the hard work that has gone into SNES emulation to date by numerous people but just wanted to get people's views on the current state of play, eg. are the majority of SNES games playable? Which is the best SNES emulator? Are SNES emulators still being worked on? Is it likely that the SNES will ever be emulated properly or does the hardware prevent this?

Check out these two links:

http://wiki.gp2x.org/wiki/Emulation_Speculation
http://wiki.gp2x.org/wiki/SquidgeSNES

Most of the games are playable and SquidgeSNES is the best (IMO). The newest version of SquidgeSNES was released earlier this month. It seems that we may eventually have a perfect SNES emulator, the authors have done good work on it. Support for layer transparency (rain in Zelda, etc.) is still an issue.

 

[lubidog]

I hate to say it, but snes on the psp is beautifully done. The emu is the most professionally presented emu I have ever seen, and it just works so well. Messing around with the firmware is easy to do, and having a d-pad finishes the job for me.

I don't bother with any of the other PSP emus, but my memory stick is chockablock with snes RPGs and I love it!

 

[WhizzBang]

If you are buying a GP2x primarily for SNES emulation, I think you will be disappointed. SNES emulation is not bad and many games are very playable, but when compared to how good the emulation is for Mega Drive, Master System, NES, Gameboy, C64, ZX Spectrum, MAME and many others, the SNES emulation still isn't "there" yet.

Maybe one day it will be though, and that is part of the fun of the GP2x scene (following the software as it progresses, and helping out the authors by pointing out bugs, making suggestions, etc).

 

[NoidZ]

Yeah, when you buy a GP2X you'll probably check gp32x.de every hour, but it keeps you busy you know

 

[aapje89]

Yeah, when you buy a GP2X you'll probably check gp32x.de every hour, but it keeps you busy you know

It kinda sucks though, when you notice you have wasted you're time for 3 years by doing that...

 

[Shikaku]

Yeah, when you buy a GP2X you'll probably check gp32x.de every hour, but it keeps you busy you know

It kinda sucks though, when you notice you have wasted you're time for 3 years by doing that...

The GP2X has only been out for a little over a year now...

 

[lubidog]

Yeah, when you buy a GP2X you'll probably check gp32x.de every hour, but it keeps you busy you know

It kinda sucks though, when you notice you have wasted you're time for 3 years by doing that...

The GP2X has only been out for a little over a year now...

There was something before called the GP32. That's why the site is called www.gp32x.com

Any more questions?

 

[telegramguy]

Yeah, since MAME and the 8bit consoles and computers run so well, emulators like SNES are a bonus IMO. It's nice to pop into gp32x.de or youtube and see something new.

It's hard to beat US$180 for so much gaming entertainment.

 

[gaterooze]

Apart from transparencies, the new SquidgeSNES is fantastic on GP2X. With overclock, I can play 80+% of games fullspeed.

nkSNES has transparencies, but is much slower.

Within 6 months I think SNES emulation will be nigh on perfect.

So, it's not quite as good as the PSP's yet, however just about everything else is emulated better on the GP2X, including MAME, Mega Drive, c64, Amiga, Atari ST, Neo Geo, etc...

Obviously, I may be biased

 

[Lint]

NES emulation is possible in standard speed (but I think that it's still quite slow if compared to master system)
SNES takes a lot of overclock (which is unknown to rate until you buy a unit) and certainly psp is better
sega emulation is all setup, and you can play mega drive even underclocked
the real problem on a gp2x is the stick (mine sometimes don't register left), the lame mpeg4-only player (IMO) and sometimes it ends being quite expensive as you have to buy ac adaptor and/or rechargeable batteries

anyway, is a matter of time before a snes emulator be improved to close near/perfect emulation, and you know you're not going to have problems in the future because of new firmwares, hardware mods and things like that to play homebrew.....

 

[gaterooze]

the real problem on a gp2x is the stick (mine sometimes don't register left)

Have you tried unscrewing the cap a little bit? Sometimes it hits the side, blocking movement.

 

[Dubya']

Within 6 months I think SNES emulation will be nigh on perfect.

I looked at the source code for squidgeSNES and found components from SNESx9 v1.39 and GPX2 Minimal Library v0.B. With SNESx9 v1.50 being available right now and claimed to be a tremendous improvement over all previous versions:

http://www.snes9x.com/journal.asp

and with rlyeh's v0.C of his GPX2 Minimal Library which seems close to being released:

http://www.emulnation.info/retrodev/forum/...topic.php?t=150

do you think the recompilation of squidgeSNES source code using these two new versions will automatically result in a much improved version of squidgeSNES? Or will many changes be required within squidgeSNES code to accommodate the improved SNESx9 v1.50 and v0.C library?

 

[ShinSean]

I hate to say it, but snes on the psp is beautifully done. The emu is the most professionally presented emu I have ever seen, and it just works so well. Messing around with the firmware is easy to do, and having a d-pad finishes the job for me.

I don't bother with any of the other PSP emus, but my memory stick is chockablock with snes RPGs and I love it!

I agree with you about the emu, but, the PSP D-pad kinda blows . . from my experience anyway getting diagonals on that thing is a sore thumb'n a half.
It's nice that you can still use the analog stick on that emu.