Ravenous

Every so often I get this kick to play Zelda OOT, or the original Donkey Kong Countries.....All those different Mario Karts.... Starfox 64 would be nice, maybe even other console games like Earhtworm Jim or Contra. How can I do this? Ironically I own all these games but my N64 or SNES or genesis no longer work. The games are just sitting there in storage. But Id rather have them in one place. On a hand held system or TV plug in. Any ideas for me?

JCWBobC

Easiest way is to download the games, an emulator, and either use the keyboard or buy a USB SNES or N64 controller. I bought a USB SNES controller from Amazon for $10 and it works great.

The Cow

http://hyperkin.com/Retron5/

Ravenous

Hey The Cow, that's neat. Didn't know something like that existed!! Hmm that's something to look into, but....

JCW, instead of a computer, could they be downloaded to a handheld device like the psp or ds?

19K

You could get an OUYA. It's technically a console that you have to plug into a TV, but it's only about as big as a Rubik's cube. It's awesome for emulating old games. I have the entire NES/Super NES/Genesis/TurboGrafx16/etc libraries on mine. Literally 5000+ games.

Ravenous

Holy Moly. Does it already come emulated or do I have to have some one do that?

19K

It has a "store" in its interface. You have to download the emulator for whatever system you want to emulate (they're all free). Then you just have to go online and find the ROMs of whatever game you want to play. Those older games are so small that entire collections can fit on a simple USB stick. Here's a video showing the basic gist of it...

http://youtu.be/T97Om33ijh4

Ravenous

Thanks! This looks like the route to go!

Seems like a popular player. Its sold out on there own website. Don't think Ive seen that before lol.

19K

I'm not sure how popular it is in the video game world, but I love mine. It's definitely awesome for Retro gaming. I bought mine for that sole purpose because I'm a NES freak. It's HDMI to your TV, so the games look better than they ever did. You'll be amazed when you fire up Contra for the first time and see how crystal clear everything is. The only thing bad I can say about my OUYA, is the controller it comes with isn't the greatest. But it is Bluetooth, so believe it or not a PS3 controller works with it too (I'm sure there are others, I just haven't researched it all that much). And pretty much every emulator for each system gives you the ability to assign the buttons on the controllers so you can set it up how you like (ie the extra buttons on the modern controllers can be used for turbo/saving games/reset/etc)

Rob V

Wish I would have picked up the Ouya when it was $65 on Amazon a few months back!

redbill

aren't a lot of those available for download on Wii or WiiU?

Anubis2005X

For me personally, I prefer to play "legit" copies (either physical or digital) if they are available. Some of the games listed are available on Wii U's or 3DS's Virtual Console, and some (like Zelda: OOT and StarFox 64) were remastered for 3DS.

That can cause roadblocks though if you're looking for old school games that aren't officially available anywhere. I ended up ordering the cartridge for Contra, and the Donkey Kong Country games were pulled from the Virtual Console at one point (not sure why).

If you don't have an issue with using ROMs, the other suggestions are likely better, ha...

starseed1981

Thanks for this feedback. I've been considering getting one just for this very reason.

19K

I actually own over 500 NES cartridges and 3 working NES's (along with a crapload of controllers and accessories). That being said, I'd rather play those games on my OUYA. They really do look 1000% better... and you don't have to waste time getting the stupid cartridge to read, or worry about random freeze-ups (both of which were a problem when the NES was relevant, never mind 30 years later). When I bought my OUYA, I was initially leaning towards the Retron 5 so I could play the actual cartridge. But it got delayed so many times, and I then I read they also have issues with the carts (too tight, not reading, etc), so I'm very happy I went with the OUYA. It works flawlessly 100% of the time.

Another cool thing is there are a lot of homebrew ROMs out there, which work perfectly fine on a OUYA. You can't play them on an actual NES unless you flash them onto a chip and have a donor cart, which is a much more advanced process. Retron 5 doesn't support homebrews at all, I believe.

chuckd21

Seconded. It's a great device.

chess

I use a softmodded Wii, which works pretty well, but Wii doesn't have HDMI, so OUYA is technically better.

One caveat though, with the Wii, all of those Wii Classic Controllers work, and they are pretty great for retro gaming.

mhg83

There's also the benefit of playing Import titles through emulation. Games that never had an American port. This is good for plat formers and action games. there's even classic games that were different than the U.S. version. Mario 3 is much harder in the JP version.
I use a softmodded Wii and it works great.
O

Obi-Wanma

And sometimes you can even find import roms that some really cool person has taken the liberty of translating into English. I played the original versions of Final Fantasy II and III on NES, and V on SNES this way.

chess

Start with Magical Pop'n (Super Famicom), one of the best platformers I've ever played that never got a SNES release in the west.

DVD Josh

Not according to the Amazon review it isn't.

Mike86

I just got my parents a Retro Bit Super Retro Trio for Christmas. It plays all the old NES, SNES, and Genesis. I think its a pretty good console for the most part but the controllers aren't the greatest. I'd much prefer to use the classic controllers personally. The only other gripe I have with it is that the system really likes to hug the cartridges tightly and they're sort of hard to remove. Other than that it seems to work fine and my parents seem to like it pretty well.

joeblow69

if you are willing to put a little more effort into it, you can build a raspberry pi box to run your emulators. Cables, motherboard, case, and controller will run you about $70. It's also an HDMI interface, so it should look pretty nice. Details here:
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-turn-yo...sole-498561192

Rob V

I picked up an Ouya off Ebay last night. I had been leaning on the fence for so long... glad I did it. I have a Mame cabinet, but running this thru the HDTV should be awesome. I'm glad this thread was started.

chess

My only concern with the OUYA is the controllers. First, I hear mixed reviews, and second, I'm not confident that I'll be able to pick up a replacement in 5 years.

RichC2

I built something similar on the Pi, they work well, I need to find a cartridge reader that will work with it -- I know they're out there.