NES entertainment

[KOF_King]

Hey everybody! Other than a Christian, I am a fanatic retro gamer. Unfortunately I dont have money to buy systems and stuff, so emulators are my friend. I have been thinking about the NES PC build.

Was wondering if anybody had build anything like this? Or any other kind of pc mod that's awesome.

 

[benf]

One day I'm going to turn one of my dead dreamcasts into a gaming PC.

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

I've thought about it before, but I never did anything with it simply because I don't see the point when I can just use my main computer to run them.

 

[Breetai]

True retro gamers do not use emulators.

You could aways download retro games from the Wii Virtual Console if you have a Wii.
Otherwise, I would suggest picking up a lot for one retro console (an SNES or NES lot is a great start). If you do it right, buying a few lots, you can actually MAKE money by reselling things.

There are a few retro forums like Racketboy.com or Digitpress.com that have good retro gaming communities. They also have buy/sell threads that have great deals sometimes. Of course, there are a few of us here into retro gaming.

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

There are a few reasons that I refuse to use a real NES anymore.

One is that my TV is tiny. We don't watch TV so we don't have a fancy one. My monitor on the computer is actually bigger.
Two is that companies no longer make money from these games in hardware form.
Three is that it takes up less space.
Four, it's quicker.

And most important
Five: No *FLASH* *FLASH* *FLASH* *FLASH* *blow in cart* *FLASH* *FLASH* *FLASH* *FLASH*

 

[benf]

Five: No *FLASH* *FLASH* *FLASH* *FLASH* *blow in cart* *FLASH* *FLASH* *FLASH* *FLASH*

Please don't blow into NES carts, you're killing them

 

[Cute Tink]

I still have my old NES. I just hooked it up to my large TV recently and had to laugh at the graphics quality on such a large screen. The kids like it too. The NES PC sounds like a quaint idea that I might try one day, but I wouldn't destroy my NES to do it.

 

[Breetai]

One is that my TV is tiny. We don't watch TV so we don't have a fancy one. My monitor on the computer is actually bigger.

Old games are meant for old and small TVs anyway!

Two is that companies no longer make money from these games in hardware form.

Does that matter? They don't make money when you download roms, either.

Three is that it takes up less space.

Legit.

Four, it's quicker.

That ruins the fun!

And most important
Five: No *FLASH* *FLASH* *FLASH* *FLASH* *blow in cart* *FLASH* *FLASH* *FLASH* *FLASH*

You know, that's fairly easy to fix...

 

[Breetai]

Hey everybody! Other than a Christian, I am a fanatic retro gamer. Unfortunately I dont have money to buy systems and stuff, so emulators are my friend. I have been thinking about the NES PC build.

Was wondering if anybody had build anything like this? Or any other kind of pc mod that's awesome.

I just noticed your username...

You should be having a thread called "Neo Geo entertainment" or "SNK entertainment".

 

[Dark_Lite]

Hey everybody! Other than a Christian, I am a fanatic retro gamer. Unfortunately I dont have money to buy systems and stuff, so emulators are my friend. I have been thinking about the NES PC build.

Was wondering if anybody had build anything like this? Or any other kind of pc mod that's awesome.

What's there to build, really? A PC from 1998 could probably emulate an NES. If you're looking specifically to build a PC that is for emulators, then get a case designed to fit into a home theater area, build a decent (but cheap) PC, throw an OS and XBMC on, then configure it to launch emulators.

 

[Cute Tink]

I think the draw is that it not only emulates the NES games, but it fits in the NES case and uses the controllers.

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

Old games are meant for old and small TVs anyway!

I'm not 4 anymore and don't like to sit on cold floors either.

Does that matter? They don't make money when you download roms, either.

It does when I have to spend money on something and collectors like to jack the prices of some games.

That ruins the fun!

For you. I actually value the free time I have and don't wanna spend it sitting around trying to make something work. I just wanna play the bloody game.

You know, that's fairly easy to fix...

Probably, but again, I can't be bothered taking the time to look up information and fix it.

I'm not saying that the whole collector thing is bad. We all have our strange collections and hobbies. What I have a problem with is people who look down on others because they don't do things the way they do them. I have another friend who is all into this retro gaming thing and insists that if you're going to do it, that you have to do it his way or you're not a true fan. I absolutely despise that elitist attitude.

 

[Breetai]

I'm not 4 anymore and don't like to sit on cold floors either.


It does when I have to spend money on something and collectors like to jack the prices of some games.


For you. I actually value the free time I have and don't wanna spend it sitting around trying to make something work. I just wanna play the bloody game.


Probably, but again, I can't be bothered taking the time to look up information and fix it.

I'm not saying that the whole collector thing is bad. We all have our strange collections and hobbies. What I have a problem with is people who look down on others because they don't do things the way they do them. I have another friend who is all into this retro gaming thing and insists that if you're going to do it, that you have to do it his way or you're not a true fan. I absolutely despise that elitist attitude.

Oh, I totally get what you're saying. He paid good money for his stuff, and when he knows other people enjoy the same games but pirate them for free, he probably feels bad that he spend good money to get a legit copy of the games (despite the money not going to the producer at all).

I think I can see both sides, because I've been on both sides!

 

[Breetai]

What's there to build, really? A PC from 1998 could probably emulate an NES. If you're looking specifically to build a PC that is for emulators, then get a case designed to fit into a home theater area, build a decent (but cheap) PC, throw an OS and XBMC on, then configure it to launch emulators.

My old Pentium 75Mhz from 1996 ran NES games perfectly, as far as I could tell. Genesis and TG-16, also. SNES chugged on it. I believe a 486 could run NES emulators like Nesticle quite well.

 

[147]

My old Cyrix processor from 1999 ran up to the 16-bit generation perfectly. I don't recall ever trying anything beyond that, but an old Pentium III could probably do well. Key is a graphics card equivalent to whatever system you wanted to stop at, maybe a little higher, since it is emulators, and cannot perfectly mimic the system it's emulating (Plus there are still resources required for the OS in the background), and a matching CPU and RAM amount. Just remember, go with enough that you can run your OS barebones, strip out anything unnecessary to what you need it for (Software and processes -- There's tutorials for this online), then set up your emulator. Also, bear in mind that if you're going to run a frontend program for your emulators, that you'll need to take into account the amount of resources that will take as well.

You could honestly though, put one of these together FAR cheaper than collecting all the systems would cost, and FAR cheaper than doing any bleeding edge gaming.

 

[Dark_Lite]

Yep. All you need is a small HTPC case, like this, a micro ATX motherboard with onboard video like this, a cheapo processor like this, and then whatever RAM, DVD-ROM and HDDs you have lying around.

Throw a stripped down version of Linux on it that can run XBMC and configure it to launch emulators. Then hook up a USB controller (XBOX 360 controller works for this), install proper drivers, and be on your way.

The parts above come out to $129.97, which as I said, excludes RAM, DVD drive, and hard drive(s). If you need those, just get some really cheap ones. A < 100 GB hard drive is more than enough if all you plan on doing is using emulators for 8-16 bit games. You can get away with < 1 GB of RAM too. You'd probably need slightly beefier hardware if you want to run a PS1 or PS2 emulator. This is also by far not the cheapest system you can build to do this. The processor and case are a few bits above the cheapest things on Newegg. It's probably not even the cheapest parts you could find. Tiger Direct + Newegg will generally get you an overall cheaper build.

If you literally have no other plans for this thing other than playing NES/SNES/Genesis games, you should almost be seeking out the crappiest (and by extension, cheapest) hardware you can find. Even the lowest-end modern hardware blows those systems out of the water.

 

[Breetai]

Throw a stripped down version of Linux on it that can run XBMC and configure it to launch emulators. Then hook up a USB controller (XBOX 360 controller works for this), install proper drivers, and be on your way.

Except the d-pad on the 360 controller is pretty terrible, and the vast majority of games you'd be emulating rely on it. A PS3 controller would work better. The best option would be a USB Sega Saturn pad. Second would be a USB SNES pad.

 

[Dark_Lite]

That is true.