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System Shock 2 takes place on the star ship named ...:

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Topic Summary

Posted by: JDoran
« on: 22. July 2024, 12:10:58 »

Quote by sarge945:
... but you're playing Halo, no version is good, so who cares).

 :stroke:

*Breaths into a paper bag*

Some Halo games are really good. The thing I really do hate about Halo, though, is how it managed to infect such a large part of the first person genre with the "Let's have a weapon carrying limit" stupidity. I could stand that in the Halo games, as it was part of their gameplay, but I wish later (non-Halo) games didn't adopt it.

Halo also did the same thing with re-charging health/shields, which I'm also not a fan of, but at least I don't hate that even a thousandth of how much I hate weapon carrying limits. Unless the game is going for genuine realism (which Halo certainly was not) then a weapon carrying limit should not exist.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 22. July 2024, 11:23:06 »

why any man does anything - because they can.

this isn't supposed to be a practical solution, it is supposed to be an insane solution.
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 22. July 2024, 02:17:01 »

Quote by voodoo47:
heeey, remember this thing?
it's actually still alive, and still just dumb;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxi4nrKobwI

but it plays gameboy roms now so if you want a really bad gb emulator console with a screen that sucks and has the worst aspect ratio for gb emulation, and have spare 200 bucks laying around, the playdate people can help you out.

I avoided this like the plague after seeing the original advertisement for it, because it ticked every box of pointless kickstarter junk advertisements, right down to the snarky/annoying narrator and the "it's so innovative and will change the world!!!" lingo over the top of sappy corporate music.

Good to feel vindicated by not purchasing crap.

Quote by voodoo47:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sfGVIWtkzI
so, an android phone with active cooling (wait, what?) that can emulate a windows pc, so it can run windows builds of emulators to emulate ps3/xbox360/wii and more.

now that's insane. I like it.

We heard you like emulators, so we put emulators in your emulators so you can emulate while you emulate.

Why would you run the Windows version of an emulator when most emulators have Android versions anyway?

Also, while emulating like this on a phone is a very cool idea, phones (even high end ones) really aren't cut out for high-end gaming even in the best case. They will do it, but it will be a bad experience. In this video he has to jump through so many hoops just to get things running and set up in the first place. If you're going to spend $1000+ USD on a phone that's good enough, why not just get a Steam Deck or something instead, which will cost far less and deliver a better experience? Emulating an x86 on ARM is....rough, to say the least, and running so many layers of emulation (arm to x86 Linux, with QEMU running Windows, Windows running XBOX Emulator), I'm sure the performance is horrendous since each layer adds more complexity and reduces performance - I've noticed all his test games are somewhat old (at least a couple of years), are on lowest settings, and still run like ass. HALO's performance is absolutely abysmal given how old it is, the irony of course being he could just run the PC version of HALO and skip the Xbox emulation entirely, which would probably deliver a better overall experience, even if the Xbox version is considered "better" (but you're playing Halo, no version is good, so who cares).

I guess if someone was already going to buy a $1000 USD phone, being able to emulate on it is nice, but only morons spend that much on a phone in the first place.

This could be marginally useful for people who ONLY want to take a phone with them when they go places, but it sort of defeats the purpose when this sort of gaming is going to utterly kill the battery life, so you will probably need 2 phones anyway. Embrace the travel backpack lifestyle!

TL:DR this video creator is an idiot and this video is fake news
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 21. July 2024, 23:03:10 »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sfGVIWtkzI
so, an android phone with active cooling (wait, what?) that can emulate a windows pc, so it can run windows builds of emulators to emulate ps3/xbox360/wii and more.

now that's insane. I like it.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 17. July 2024, 08:21:44 »

maybe, but 200 bucks, come on. a switch lite is 10 dollars cheaper.
Posted by: Briareos H
« on: 17. July 2024, 07:53:46 »

I really wanted one at the time, I definitely felt the appeal of a whole season of games that owners would be playing at the same time, but I gave up as the concept of waiting tiers didn't sit right with me (everyone should have gotten it at the same time) and pricing was a bit too steep. As far as I understand, not many season 1 games ultimately lived up to be interesting. Now that there's a storefront where everyone can release games, the appeal isn't as strong but I still find it neat.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 15. July 2024, 18:54:42 »

heeey, remember this thing?
Quote by Kolya:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdF3CnFvxg4

https://play.date/

it's actually still alive, and still just dumb;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxi4nrKobwI

but it plays gameboy roms now so if you want a really bad gb emulator console with a screen that sucks and has the worst aspect ratio for gb emulation, and have spare 200 bucks laying around, the playdate people can help you out.
Posted by: Join2
« on: 09. June 2024, 10:21:24 »

Sounds awesome 👌 Yup I like the Onimusha games but I only consider Dawn of Dreams to be close to greatness.

Quote by voodoo47:
lost vikings

Ah, my bad. Sleepy.
Posted by: icemann
« on: 09. June 2024, 09:56:46 »

Quote by Join2:
Good picks. Didn't even know onimusha tactics was a thing though.

Very much in the same vein as FF Tactics minus the level scaling, and less fantasy, more demonic with the medieval samurai Japan angle. Highly recommended if your a fan of the mainline entries on the PS2.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 09. June 2024, 08:08:00 »

Quote by Join2:
Sounds good, but what is the game's name?
Quote by Join2:
Lost Vikings
also yes, FF series on the GBA, that doesn't even need to be mentioned.
Posted by: Join2
« on: 09. June 2024, 03:13:06 »

Quote by icemann:
Some goodies on the GBA:

*All of the Castlevania on there
*Astroboy: Omega Factor
*Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
*Metroid: Fusion
*Metroid: Zero Mission
*Ninja Five O (also known as Ninja Cop)
*Onimusha Tactics

Good picks. Didn't even know onimusha tactics was a thing though.
Posted by: Join2
« on: 09. June 2024, 03:11:47 »

Quote by voodoo47:
a puzzle platformer where you have multiple characters, each having different capabilities, and all are needed to solve the level. played it to death as a kid, and can much recommend it to anyone, doesn't matter whether you are a parent, its kid (or a ghoul that has given up on life and is withering away in the basement), it's fun and there aren't nearly enough games out there that can develop (a kid's) problem solving capabilities.

Sounds good, but what is the game's name?
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 08. June 2024, 08:25:16 »

a puzzle platformer where you have multiple characters, each having different capabilities, and all are needed to solve the level. played it to death as a kid, and can much recommend it to anyone, doesn't matter whether you are a parent, its kid (or a ghoul that has given up on life and is withering away in the basement), it's fun and there aren't nearly enough games out there that can develop (a kid's) problem solving capabilities.

make sure to get the SNES version if you want to play the second installment, they tried some pseudo 3D graphics in the PS1 version and the result is.. questionable.

also the Turrican series is good, whatever (emulated) platform you fancy. Probotector, Burai Figher..
Posted by: icemann
« on: 08. June 2024, 08:21:19 »

Some goodies on the GBA:

*All of the Castlevania on there
*Astroboy: Omega Factor
*Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
*Metroid: Fusion
*Metroid: Zero Mission
*Ninja Five O (also known as Ninja Cop)
*Onimusha Tactics
Posted by: Join2
« on: 08. June 2024, 05:40:00 »

Chrono Trigger is just Final Fantasy with much of the intelligence, depth and true soul stripped out. Same developer and everything, just multiply the value by 0.2. I would strongly recommend checking out (some of) the classic games in the series, particularly 5 and 6 since they are on GBA.

Lost Vikings I've not even heard of. I will check them out.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 07. June 2024, 19:53:21 »

playing GB/GBC/GBA on a real piece of hardware is part of the experience, I'd argue.

yeah, the Marioland/Warioland series were pretty good, then Chrono Trigger, Lost Vikings 1/2..
Posted by: Join2
« on: 07. June 2024, 18:28:40 »

Quote by voodoo47:
I'm mostly GB/GBC/GBA

Got a top 5 or something? Here's mine:

1. Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening (1993 - GB, or get the DX version on GBC)
2. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (2001 - GBA)
3. James Bond 007 (1998 - GB)
4. Warioland (1994 - GB)
5. Pokemon Crystal (2000 - GBC)

Quote by sarge945:
I really love my Steam Deck, but overall handhelds as a concept are kind of garbage. Gaming at that small a form factor really ruins the experience most of the time.

I wouldn't go that far! But most certainly inferior to PC or classic console gaming. There was definitely the rare gem game made that justifies their existence, but otherwise it's mostly for kids/travelling/emergency gaming yeah. I rinsed the absolute hell out of handhelds as a kid (as I did most platforms) and have no regrets here. Not like I do with all those garbage 2000s-era FPS I played for example.
Posted by: icemann
« on: 07. June 2024, 14:58:27 »

Quote by Join2:
Play anything good? I had a PSP for a while but just found game after game to be inferior rehashes of PS1 & 2 games, Still really impressive to have that technology in super lightweight format though. Anyway, I didn't explore the library to a great extent and there must be gems to share.

Had a PSP since not long after release back whenever that was (early 00's I think). Played the heck out of that thing. Combination of what few games I had, I majorly enjoyed, that you could jailbreak it then gain access to emulators (which back then was the 1st to give you the option to play several consoles games on the go) and it allowed you to watch video files on the go. 1st again there. Via that, was watching Battlestar Galactica during lunch breaks at work. Fun times.

Currently going through the entire (not counting Japan only games) game library via emulation. Depending on what sorts of games your into, there is some goodies. Much better system than the Nintendo DS, but again comes down to what your into.

The Dungeon Maker games are my all time favourite franchise on there, as it blends action RPG, with level editor style dungeon making. Total hidden gems.
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 07. June 2024, 13:16:22 »

Quote by Join2:
I see no point in handhelds these days either. They were great as a kid for long car rides, boring-ass family gatherings, playing in my bed at night when I was supposed to be sleeping for school the next day etc. None of that is relevant/an option anymore.
Worst case scenario (e.g long plane flight) I will emulate some old turn-based game on my phone. Screw going on the mobile gaming stores. I may have missed a rare gem that way but a man must have principles.

I am curious, why do you game on handhelds @voodoo47? Lots of travelling for work?

I am not voodoo, but my experience is similar to yours. I have owned a 3DS and a switch, and in both cases the library hasn't really been compelling enough to use them. Even with games ported from PC like Doom 2016 and such, it's just such an inferior experience on the Switch.

I really love my Steam Deck, but overall handhelds as a concept are kind of garbage. Gaming at that small a form factor really ruins the experience most of the time.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 07. June 2024, 08:36:06 »

I'm mostly GB/GBC/GBA, bits of PS1, hence, the cheap junk that can be hacked with linux.
Posted by: Join2
« on: 07. June 2024, 01:05:11 »

Play anything good? I had a PSP for a while but just found game after game to be inferior rehashes of PS1 & 2 games, Still really impressive to have that technology in super lightweight format though. Anyway, I didn't explore the library to a great extent and there must be gems to share.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 04. June 2024, 22:00:46 »

no, that would be normal, and I don't do normal.

I play the old stuff on a retro handheld while sitting behind my pc, I kid you not. why? because I can.
Posted by: Join2
« on: 04. June 2024, 21:40:32 »

I see no point in handhelds these days either. They were great as a kid for long car rides, boring-ass family gatherings, playing in my bed at night when I was supposed to be sleeping for school the next day etc. None of that is relevant/an option anymore.
Worst case scenario (e.g long plane flight) I will emulate some old turn-based game on my phone. Screw going on the mobile gaming stores. I may have missed a rare gem that way but a man must have principles.

I am curious, why do you game on handhelds @voodoo47? Lots of travelling for work?
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 04. June 2024, 21:26:34 »

almost forgot to mention - if you are into emulation but not liking it on the pc for some reason (controls, portability, whatever), then 60$ handhelds are starting to run Dreamcast/PSP games pretty well. not a bad deal.
Posted by: Join2
« on: 03. June 2024, 16:44:15 »

* Final Fantasy Tactics - One of the best, if not the best strategy RPGs of all time.

Great game, but so goddamn slow. There is a modern SRPG/Turn-based Tactics game that outclasses it imo, and that is heavily modded XCOM2 WOTC. FFTactics doesn't really do anything for me any more as great as it is, it's the kind of genre where you only need one game. This might change for me if some smart romhacker makes a big improvement to the game. Actually, there is a website specifically for hacking it, maybe I should take a closer look: https://ffhacktics.com/
However I have interacted with a romhacker of the game before whom mentioned he couldn't up the speed in particular. Not sure if that is a skill issue or actual technical roadblock however.

* Syphon Filter 1-3 - Great Metal Gear Solid inspired games.

Good, but not good enough to recommend in the initial line-up due to old school control, lock-on aiming-based combat (even if nuanced and executed well). I would recommend them (excluding 3, it kinda sucked), but as like the 40th PS1 game to try.
Also, MGS-inspired? It came out half a year after MGS, so would have had a lot of development overlap.

* Vagrant Story - Great Square (at their prime) action RPG. Gothic setting and good game mechanics.

I was debating listing this, but excluded it. 15th game to try. Still, good agreeable pick for sure.

* Wild Arms - JRPG with a cowboy western angle. Damn fine cinematics.

This one I need to try.

* Xenogears - Mix of Mech and on foot turn based RPG. Great story.

Awful gameplay though and the second disc is largely a visual novel. Guess they realized their game was shit and gave up all false pretenses. Not worthy of Squaresoft's best of lineup. Great soundtrack though.

* Gran Turismo 1 & 2 - Outstanding racing RPG games.

A lot of genres declined in the next generation with the PS2 (and further still with the generation after that), but racing imo is not one of them. Still, I never got into GT in particular so that may not be the case here. I view sports & racing sim as two genres that only got better. They're realism-oriented, so kinda hard to fuck up just copying reality with a thin layer of game design on top.
Posted by: icemann
« on: 03. June 2024, 08:50:27 »

I would add to that list:

* Alundra - A better top down action RPG than even Zelda a Link to the Past IMO. Very nice 2.5D graphics.
* Azure Dreams - Total hidden gem on the system. Mix of JRPG, Pokemon style creature raising, City Builder and romance sim. One of a kind game.
* Final Fantasy Tactics - One of the best, if not the best strategy RPGs of all time.
* Grandia - Great JRPG. Good music.
* Gran Turismo 1 & 2 - Outstanding racing RPG games.
* Syphon Filter 1-3 - Great Metal Gear Solid inspired games.
* Vagrant Story - Great Square (at their prime) action RPG. Gothic setting and good game mechanics.
* Wild Arms - JRPG with a cowboy western angle. Damn fine cinematics.
* Xenogears - Mix of Mech and on foot turn based RPG. Great story.
Posted by: Join2
« on: 03. June 2024, 07:57:07 »

I will exclude PC ports as this is a PC-centric site and mods often make them redundant. I will also only focus on singleplayer quality. Lastly, I will exclude games with awkward control by modern standards. The only exception here will be Tomb Raider as they're simply undeniable must-plays. Adapt.

-Castlevania: SotN is an absolute classic, everyone should have already played this. If not you live under a gaming rock.
-Tomb Raider 1 & 2 are a masterclass in nuanced early 3D design. 
-Final Fantasy forget what you may have heard or possibly presume based on marketing material. These are still legendary games. And hardcore romhacks exist to make them even more legendary on replays.
-Resident Evil is still solid, and also worth pointing out that it is cinematic gaming actually done right, imagine that! Don't bother with the remakes they're all inferior.
-Silent Hill is a psychological horror trip like no other, at least twice as scary as System Shock 2. The gameplay is not the best (though competent nonetheless), but the cumulative experience is quite something. Much better than all the sequels.
-Brahma Force is like a middle ground between Doom and System Shock, well worth checking out if you're an FPS enthusiast. Disclaimer: No mouselook/stick support. Old school, baby. Despite this it controls like a dream (e.g like Doom did). Here's footage of me playing it
-Parasite Eve 1 & 2 are simply charming, engaging games. Further proving that Squaresoft were the quality leaders of the Japanese console market in the 90s. Too bad that was soon to change.
-Spyro The Dragon (original only) is absolutely full of charm and great design (particularly the large-scale level design to be conquered), but it's kiddie-themed. If you go for it nonetheless you will be rewarded with an awesome game.

It's utter horseshit to exclude so many great games, but these rules exist to serve you a solid introduction to the majesty of PS1 with game design most palatable to modern convention.
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 03. June 2024, 01:41:16 »

Quote by Join2:
PS1 easily has the greatest library of all the consoles. Easily. Absolutely no competition. No comment from anyone that hasn't adequately explored it please.

Can I comment to ask for recommendations?
Posted by: icemann
« on: 02. June 2024, 15:25:55 »

Fair enough. Just like the PS1, it was very easy to get mod chipped. Had several DVD holder bags worth of burned games at one point. Video stores back then had good libraries of games for very cheap prices, and updated their games often.
Posted by: fox
« on: 02. June 2024, 12:50:04 »

I guess the PS2 was a decent successor but it came out at a time when other things in my life took over and money was constantly running low. I was fine without it.
Posted by: icemann
« on: 02. June 2024, 11:12:42 »

Now there's a loaded sentence :P. I absolutely adored the PS1, and played the heck out of it back on release, but only for specific types of games. For example for the SNES style 2D and 2.5D JRPGs, 2D platformers, Survival horrors and racing games sure. Rest no.

PS2 had everything. Whatever you liked it had it, and lots of it. PS3 on the other hand, had good games sure, and the PS Home was great, but on the overall whole. No. Does not hold a candle. After that, don't even bother. Go to PC, do not pass go, do not collect $200, from then on.
Posted by: Join2
« on: 01. June 2024, 19:16:57 »

PS1 easily has the greatest library of all the consoles. Easily. Absolutely no competition. No comment from anyone that hasn't adequately explored it please.
Posted by: fox
« on: 01. June 2024, 14:24:54 »

Atari 7800 was my first and a modded PS1 the last console that I truely rocked. After that, I only ever possessed a XBox 360 which I mainly bought for Red Dead Redemption. I did play and enjoy some more games on it but never felt much passion for any console after PS1.
Posted by: icemann
« on: 01. June 2024, 13:56:20 »

Quote by Join2:
Emulation really is the true game changer in going full PC. No true gamer can just abandon the other half of the gaming classics. If I had to decide what's better, PC gaming collective library or consoles, I could not in fairness answer, even with as legendary games as Deus Ex and System Shock 2 on offer. If not for emulation I would sadly still be clinging to all those old machines, discs, cartridges, cables everywhere. Yuck.

Runner up reason is mods and romhacks. Never would have thought back in the 90s I'd be playing improved versions of these already incredible games made by randoms.

Agreed 110%. Speaking up to ps3 era: From Atari to the PS3 there was A LOT of really damn good console games specific to those, that I will forever love. And on PC end, there was absolutely amazing games there at those points in time that never went to consoles, and would have royally sucked if they had even attempted it. Imagine Zork (as in text only Zork) attempted on a console. No. Full Throttle? Hell no. And on the flip-side Super Mario World, Rock Band (best house party game ever imo), or Goldeneye on PC. No. But then you add in emulation and the console end mostly works fine, with a controller.

Romhacks wise - Earliest I recall that made emulation a complete must-have on PC was for translation romhacks. And that was very late 90's. First one I remember trying out was the Seiken Densetsu 3 (aka Sword of Mana) English translation, which to me was essentially Secret of Mana 2 (a SNES JRPG I was obsessed with back then). Not really played many of the more traditional romhacks which add/change levels or completely change the gameplay. Translation patches for me for the most part. Via that got to play MANY games that even to this day never got official English releases.

And then you have save states, which was a complete game changer. I've had PC upgrades with the specific aim in getting better emulation of specific systems. The PS2 and PS3 emulators in particular used to have very high PC spec requirements.

3rd being a combination of game preservation even on the PC-end via Dosbox (which is the only possible way to play some old PC games nowadays, unless you have an old PC lying around), and being able to play systems and games that you otherwise would have zero chance of ever being able to experience. Even Flash games, which I used to spend countless hours playing, only work on emulators now.
Posted by: Join2
« on: 01. June 2024, 03:18:19 »

Emulation really is the true game changer in going full PC. No true gamer can just abandon the other half of the gaming classics. If I had to decide what's better, PC gaming collective library or consoles, I could not in fairness answer, even with as legendary games as Deus Ex and System Shock 2 on offer. If not for emulation I would sadly still be clinging to all those old machines, discs, cartridges, cables everywhere. Yuck.

Runner up reason is mods and romhacks. Never would have thought back in the 90s I'd be playing improved versions of these already incredible games made by randoms.
Posted by: icemann
« on: 31. May 2024, 17:15:57 »

Besides some games on the Switch, there is very little in the way of difference between them now. Up to about the PS2 era, there was a very clear difference in the types of games you'd get.

Now it's all the same, and you can emulate most systems up to ps3 level (as Voodoo mentioned), so I really don't see the point in going with modern consoles at all anymore.

Growing up, there WAS a difference. Massive one. PC was RTS, flight sims, strategy, FPS and Western RPGs. Consoles were mainly racing, JRPGs, Puzzle games, 2D and later 3D platformers and survival horrors (ps1 era onward). Now you can get all of them on PC.

Fourth factor is that there's just not that many good games coming out anymore. Just me there? Sure we get the occasional good Metroidvania or RPG, but where we used to get a sea of great games, it's more here and there now.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 31. May 2024, 07:33:36 »

not mentioning the average pc can emulate anything up to (and including) ps3. yeah, consoles were done the moment they switched to the "here's a cut down pc with a streamlined os, make an account and you will own nothing" model as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by: Join2
« on: 31. May 2024, 06:24:11 »

Anyone still primarily gaming on consoles these days is extremely suspect, given there is ZERO observable benefit to consoles from a consumer standpoint. There used to be many. Even the mere fact that PCs in the 90s used to take ten years to boot up while consoles were instant was a big pro. But all the many advantages I could list, it's all redundant now. PC gaming for lyfe m8.
Posted by: icemann
« on: 17. November 2022, 14:05:55 »

Love Game Sack :). Very comprehensive show and some good humour. Long videos too.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 17. November 2022, 10:54:04 »

this one flew under my radar - the Saturn now has an ultimate plug and play (everything) solution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueLPPKb2fQQ
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 18. June 2022, 09:28:12 »

sounds good - thanks (even the smell test, heh). if you mean games that can really push the console/emulator, then iirc, Shadow of The Colossus on ps2, and Shenmue2 on Dreamcast would be good examples.
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 18. June 2022, 05:19:40 »

voodoo47 can you recommend some Dreamcast/PS2 games? I can give you a performance review for each of them.

I didn't really grow up with many consoles so I missed most of the "must plays" of each generation. While I don't feel I'm missing much, surely there's some good in there.
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 18. June 2022, 05:13:14 »

My apologies, have been super busy with work so haven't had the most time to play with it.

Here's my experience with it so far:

Ergonomics and Build Quality:

overall the handheld feels pretty decent. The device doesn't wabble and bend like a lot of cheap handheld, it's solidly heavy, and has a very nice screen. The buttons are clicky and have good travel, don't get stuck, etc.

I got the full package including a dock, protective plastic shell, and carrying case. The dock is quite nice, and includes a lot of extra inputs, fast charging etc.

The carrying case is also perfectly acceptable, it's not falling apart at the seams, and doesn't stink with that horrible smell that a lot of cheap carrying cases etc smell of.

The worst aspect is probably the protective shell. It uses a very flimsy hinge mechanism, that I feel could come apart at any time and cause the device to fall out, not making it very protective. Worse, the dock isn't thick enough to accommodate the device with the shell, so you'll have to be constantly taking it out of the shell to charge it (if you're not just using a standard USB C cable, they work totally fine wth the shell, it's just the dock). Because the shell has very cheap plastic that clicks together, I'm pretty likely to break it just by clicking it open and taking the device out too many times. It would likely break after a single drop, but would likely protect the device as well in such a case, so I guess it's technically fit for purpose, but I have to say the protective shell is a huge step down from the rest of the device in terms of build quality and design.

As for ergonomics, the buttons are clicky and feel nice to use. The joysticks are the standard "joycon style" sunk ones. They work but I don't particularly like them. I haven't noticed any drift, but it's not like I've been using this thing nonstop for a year, so I might have to update this after a while if I start to notice drift. That seems to be mostly a Nintendo problem, though, since Nintendo products are usually garbage.

I can't really comment on the dpad. I'm not an expert on dpads. I don't play lots of platformers or dpad heavy games. I know it can't be too bad because it's not a mushy mess like the one on the Xbox 360 controller, but it might not be the most fine-tuned, expert level dpad either.

Performance:

I got the "standard" model, I can't talk about the Pro or Lite. So far I've played dos games, some Nintendo 64 games, and a few other titbits (like Quake). So far everything runs good. I've noticed some slowdown with certain N64 games like Perfect Dark, but I'm not sure if that's a problem with the device or with the emulator accurately recreating the horrible choppy "original" console experience.

Overall though I'm happy with the performance. I know certain games can sometimes run like crap under dosbox on various devices, but in this case all the games i tried - Doom, the lost Vikings and commander keen - all worked perfectly fine.

Software:
This is both the weakest and strongest part of the device.

Strengths: it has a nice custom launcher so you can hide the native android interface quite easily. This is good if you want a nice "handheld console" feeling, while still being able to jump back to the basic android UI easily for maintenance tasks or installing stuff, etc.

They also have software to translate screen regions to controller inputs, for games that don't have controller support. I haven't used it so I can't comment on it.

The weakest part of this device is navigating with the controllers. It doesn't work in most apps and is very inconsistent. It does have a touch screen, so you can put your gross grubby hands all over the screen, but it feels like a step back when doing things like changing android settings.

The strongest part is that it runs RetroArch, which supports it's controller completely. So you can basically rebind everything for most games on a per game basis. Using the Quake core, I was able to play Quake with what is essentially a "modern" dual-stick control scheme. Although this is admittedly still not perfect. Many games obviously still give keyboard or specific controller glyphs, and sometimes RetroArch would have some strange input problems. It also doesn't support the reverse buttons on the device, which I don't use anyway.

I haven't used the device for standard Android gaming because most android gaming is very very much not worth wasting time on, although I'm open to some good suggestions for Android native games to try.

Final Thoughts:
Reasonable battery life (I got 4 or so hours playing Quake), decent build quality and an overall good experience is worth it, if you're willing to wrestle with android settings and RetroArch oddities from time to time. I had to completely set up my controller configs for every game the first time, nothing just worked out of the box. But I consider it worth the price, despite the issues, because they are mostly minor problems and can be solved pretty quickly upfront, then you're free to enjoy whatever game.

It's a pretty good device.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 11. June 2022, 18:48:28 »

@sarge945 review now.
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 24. May 2022, 10:43:41 »

oh nice - yeah, go ahead, I'm fairly interested. apart from the active cooling, this does sound like the perfect emulator handheld console - assuming you did not overpay, the price seems to sit fairly high right now (I'm actually considering the Lite for a relative as a moved-into-your-own-house gift, its price should sit right under 200$, it has passive cooling and should still do very good Dreamcast and PS2 emulation).
Posted by: sarge945
« on: 24. May 2022, 09:43:39 »

My Odin Base just arrived. I will give a review of it after a week or so, unless I forget
Posted by: fox
« on: 14. April 2022, 18:45:13 »

Maybe of interest here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy8zSYKkczI
Posted by: voodoo47
« on: 03. April 2022, 09:46:02 »

not an emulator, but I still enjoy this kind of stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03OUvRBwjwM
Posted by: vurt
« on: 03. April 2022, 03:13:02 »

fox
oh, that one cool tracker... the GAS is on :happyjoy:
Posted by: fox
« on: 31. March 2022, 19:25:58 »

Probably doesn't run games out of the box but the Dirtywave M8 is a handheld that I'm lusting after now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMxDGkXlb0k
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