#I play on a snes mini and even with custom save states I was getting too stressed out. it was bad for my health.

[floral-hex]

It’s been a rough couple of weeks. Anxiety run amok. Tried to distract myself by playing through Super Mario Bros, but I’ll be honest, that was stressing me out pretty bad trying to get through some of those levels. Unrelated but coincidentally (tangentially?), after an intense bit of playing, my anxiety flared up majorly. Heart racing, skin painfully prickled, lungs failing me. Oh well. That’s what drugs are for. So instead I started Death Stranding, which my little brother gifted me for Christmas a couple of years back but I just never got around to committing to. Much better choice. It feels like the perfect distraction for me right now. Frankly, I’m lonely. I feel cut off from the world. I’m scared and anxious and I have no idea what the future holds for me, but it feels bleak. So it’s nice to pop into this little world where you’re trying to make connections and explore the world, even if it is just a video game. It’s giving me something positive to focus on right now.

I just thought I’d make a text post. Mention a game I like. Just folded some laundry, I’m on my 3rd bowl of cereal right now, and I’ll do some dishes when I’m done. Trying to keep on moving forward. More bullshit in the tags.

[6ad6ro]

not that anyone besides me cares, but here's a list of all the mini systems i have, some opinions on em, and whether or not they have an eyecatch / demo mode / screensaver that scrolls thru all the games:

NES CLASSIC - really cute eyecatch that shows big sprites from all the games, and has mario n luigi fight over a “? block”. afterwards it scrolls through all of the games and plays a little demo of each. it's amazing. just be aware that if you hack it, it won't play demos of anything besides the base games (same with snes). it'll do this weird thing where it tries to boot up a game demo for the extra games, but it just gets confused n pauses for a second before trying the next game. so if you're using hakchi, and u care about the eyecatch, i'd use the singular "more games" folder option so it only does the pause thing once per game cycle.

it’s cute af tho. would probably be my favorite all around mini system if i didn't happen to like snes games more. btw it (and snes mini) doesn't use usb for the controllers. it uses proprietary ports like wii u (or just wii? i forget) so you have a lot less controller options. and you can't just shove a usb thumbdrive in it for additional space.

SNES CLASSIC - this one is really elaborate. similar to the nes one, but no big sprites or "fighting" before getting to the game demos. instead, luigi sometimes runs out and switches the video modes. seems more basic than nes at first, but it's not. because you can actually CUSTOMIZE the eyecatch! whenever you make a savestate for one of the games, it'll actually play through the last minute of ur inputs on that save as a demo. you can enable or disable this addition to the eyecatch in the settings. it's by far the best eyecatch of any of the mini systems.

the ONLY downside is that the savestates take up a relatively large amount of disc space. so if you hack it (and you should), every new rom you put on there is talking up the space that was set aside for the savestates. and if you try and save states anyhow, it starts having weird errors like removing games and not letting you savestate etc. this kinda stuff can lead to disc corruption. so you have to balance how many extra roms you have on there if you want to use the savestates.

if you're like me and have a ton of extra roms, i'd just disable the custom demo mode (it'll still play through the developer eyecatches!). and rely on in-game saving bc sram takes up wayyy less space. tho you should still leave some space free in case you temporarily want to make a state, or accidentally save one etc (you can delete it later). but all around this is by far my favorite mini system in terms of emulation quality, game selection, hardware, and eyecatches.

PLAYSTATION CLASSIC - it doesn't even have an eyecatch. super disappointing. on the other hand, it's one of the cheapest mini systems to buy, and one of the most powerful? it's probably the BEST system to hack, but you'll want to at least use the usb stick methods. because you'll need the space for all the ps1 isos etc. hacking it also fixes the framerate issues that made these things review so poorly. and tbh, the physical system itself is pretty much just as quality as the other mini systems. it's one of those things that goes from lame to amazing if you hack it. but sadly there's NO eyecatch whatsoever. even the unmodded interface, while perfectly functional (and does a good job mimicking the original ps1 os), is totally boring and lacks the awesome music that other mini systems have.

NEOGEO ARCADE STICK PRO - i know this isn't REALLY a "mini system", but it's functionally the same. in a way, it's just a much better version of the "neogeo mini", so i'm including it. it's sadly very similar to the playstation classic in that it has NO eyecatch/demo/etc. considering it's trying to emulate the neogeo arcade experience (and home versions), you'd think it WOULD have some sort of switching eyecatch? but no. nothing. you can still obviously start each game individually and watch their original eyecatches, but... man. it's just such a missed opportunity.

the interface is even more basic than the ps classics. but when you compare the two (unmodded), the neogeo runs WAY better. the arcade stick itself is genuinely good! considering that it’s a standalone stick as well, the whole package seems worth it. tho much like the ps classic, it only REALLY shines when you mod it. i will warn you that the mod doesn’t have a lot of options (at least it didn’t back when i first modded years ago). but it does the job. gives you pretty much every neo geo game ever made and a buncha other arcade games (cps etc) on top of that. but i couldn’t individually select the games... but beggars can’t be choosers and i’m thankful somebody put all that work into a mod to begin with.

SEGA GENESIS MINI - i’ll be honest, this comes REALLY close to the quality of the nintendo systems. the physical unit itself might even be a bit better? it just has all these little touches to make it super cool. the base game selection is great, tho it’s easy to mod as well (uses hakchi just like nes and snes). the interface is definitely more simple than the nintendo systems, but it’s still cute. and the music is great. you can even change the system language for a different game selection and interface (usa is genesis, japan is megadrive etc etc). the only negative is it seems like the dpad is a touch too sensitive for the menu, but it’s not a big deal. and yes, it has an eyecatch! you have to wait a LONG time on the game selection menu, but it’s there. it doesn’t have the lil animations like the nintendo systems, instead it just switches to the next game after the eyecatch completes. but at the end of the day, it’s still a great eyecatch and i love it. the games play great btw, and the controllers feel good. would def recommend! SO there’s definitely a few mini systems i’m missing, but i did actually order the pc engine mini (turbografx16). i have a strong suspicion that it has an eyecatch as well since it was made by m2 (same ppl who did the genesis mini). from what i’ve seen, everything is even BETTER than the gen? but i guess i’ll have to see when it gets here. i’m also kinda excited for the mega drive mini 2, which seems like it’s pretty much just a mini sega cd. torn if i’ll actually get that one though, due to the fact that localization is up in the air and i have so many as it is? of course if they do it right and it has an eyecatch and usa snatcher etc... i’ll be so tempted. bc these mini systems are such a cute lil display piece.

[hunterbold234]

Emulationstation Nvidia Shield

Retroarch on chromebook. And then I heard that it could be possible with RetroArch. The thing is idk anything about how to set it up fully or if it even is possible. Can I get any help here on how to set it up/use it? My goal is to be able to use RetroArch to play Pokemon DS games on my Chromebook. BTW I have a Samsung Chromebook.

Games Details: Short of an HTPC, the NVIDIA SHIELD TV is the most versatile box you can put in your entertainment console. It supports 4K HDR playback from Netflix and YouTube. You can play games from Google Play Store and stream games from your PC or NVIDIA’s servers. And you can even set up an emulator for retro gaming. 4K HDR Ready Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10. AI-enhanced upscaling for 720p/1080p to 4K up to 30 FPS Up to 4K HDR playback at 60 FPS (H.265/HEVC) Up to 4K playback at 60 FPS (VP8, VP9, H.264, MPEG1/2).

Nvidia Shield Tablet

Nvidia Shield Review

Emulationstation Nvidia Shield Tv

Nvidia Shield Tv

Emulationstation Nvidia Shield Pro

Emulation Station Nvidia Shield Tv

Emulation Station Nvidia Shield

2020-05-11 | RetroX 3 Collections

A new milestone for RetroX! Full announcement here: RetroX 3 Release

2020-01-21 | Groups + fixes v3

New: Added id=”logo” in themes to include Game logo images

New: Multi disk/disc games don’t need to be in individual folders anymore

Fix: Sega CD games crash when using Picodrive and Rewind

Fix: Amiga games are grouped as expected

Fix: Atari800 games controls initialization is working again

Fix: All ScummVM games are recognized again

Fix: Some themes were showing the MAME logo instead of the FBNeo one

Fix: Now the system selector shows the number of unique games (not duplicates)

2020-12-22 | Groups

Duplicated games are now grouped. You will see only one entry per game, and RetroX will display a list of available clones/duplicates to choose from just before starting the game.

2020-06-22 | The Next 64 Bezels

Now N64 is supported by the libretro based Mupen64Plus Next Emulator. This means better compatibility, less glitches and all the features available for RetroArch on RetroX like cheats, live backgrounds and… bezels.

Yes from this version your games can have bezels from the Bezel Project. You only need to select Borders -> Bezels and RetroX will automatically download and install the bezels for you.

Also in this release:

New: No need to restart the app to rescan games

New: Storage space validation on download/uncompressing of files

Fix: Live borders and compatibility with some shaders

Fix: Live borders when using high resolution emulators

Fix: Video transition issues on themes

Fix: No more freezes after saving states in some systems

2020-04-08 | Titan

Sega Saturn improvements:

New: Added Yabause emulator for older devices (GLES2)

New: Save states

Fix: Use HLE BIOS by default (fixes most games)

Fix: Original aspect ratio set to 4:3

Other improvemnts:

New: Separated 4:3 and square pixel (1:1) aspect ratio options

New: Better / seamless game start (no flashing)

New: Option to disable help screen on game start

New: Add Modern gamepad type for FBNeo

New: Game specific fixes for PSX

New: Frameskip setting for mGBA

Fix: PC Engine CD now works again

2020-04-01 | Sega Saturn

New Sega Saturn emulation through the Yaba Sanshiro emulator

New Rewind and Fast Forward feature for RetroArch based systems

Picodrive core for Sega Genesis has been updated

PCSX_rearmed core for Play Station has been updated

RetroArch emulator is now compatible with Android 10

Some notes:

Saturn requires OpenGL ES 3.x and has only been tested with the Nvidia Shield. RetroX will give you a warning if your device doesn’t support that version

Rewind and Fast Forward are disabled by default. You can enable them and select a button combo in Settings -> Emulator Setting

Not all emulators in RetroArch support Rewind and Fast Forward

2020-02-28 | Borders

Added new Static Borders option

Improved Live Borders

New Tonido support for adding games

FB Neo replaces FB Alpha. 12000+ games supported

CHD support for 3DO

Fix PSG audio volume for MSX

2019-12-20 | Automapped controllers

Now you can just pick your favorite controller and start playing, no mapping required!

New: CHD support for PC Engine CD

New: CHD support for Sega CD

New: Multi disc support for Sega CD

Fix: Search with remote controllers using the mobile user interface now waits for the full text

Note 1: If you are using a non-standard controller you can still map the buttons, but there is no need to assign controllers to players anymore.

Note 2: 8bitdo N64 controller is automapped by default for N64 games.

2019-11-15 | The New Deal

This update fixes the infamous “parsing error” on the Nvidia Shield! BOOM! This update also includes:

EmuMovies

New: Select platforms to be sync’d

Fix: Names with extra info (EU, JP, etc) are preserved

Fix: MAME and FBA are now compatible

New: Logs files created for missing artwork

DOS

New: Better display of launch options

New: GOG that use CD images are now supported

Fix: GOG sound card configs are used if available

Iss astronauts. A big thanks to:

Trigger TheHorizon for helping me improve DOS compatibility with standalone and GOG games.

Jay Rott and Fer Per for sending me the info that I needed to fix the “parsing error”

2019-11-07 | EmuMovies

Add EmuMovies sync integration

MAME 2003 with cheats support has been fixed

Added more keys to MSX: 1, 2, F5

A big thanks to: Allan MacDonald and Stuart Law for pushing me to do this EmuMovies integration!

2019-08-12 | Themes for Noobs

New Android TV users will get Themes by default

Video snaps for Themes

Old MAME 2003 has been brought back. No cheats, but it works

New alternative – EmuMovies friendly – artwork locations (see the Artwork Docs)

No more need to rescan for missing MAME/FBA files. Also you can ignore the warning if you have all the files merged.

Storage permissions now requested on startup

Removed obsolete Facebook and Google login

Source preferences (online, local) are now saved

Faster startup

Some users have reported having problems after the latest Nvidia Shield update, receiving a “parsing error” while installing APK files. If that is your case, try uninstalling all RetroX related packages – not only the app – you will find the emulators under System Apps in the Shield. If the problem persists, a factory reset will certainly fix it.

We also have created a special page to get Help for the Themes 4 Noobs release.

2019-07-25 | Online Themes

Now RetroX can download and install extra themes

Artwork is retrieved from the nearest available location (CDN)

More than 40.000 artwork files added

RetroX Collections now can be stored under the NVIDIA_SHIELD/retrox folder on external devices

2019-06-26 | DOS Boss

This update includes several improvements for DOS:

New Virtual Keyboard

New Graphical Button Mapper

Automatic support for games from G.O.G.

20 FPS limit removed

New Video Card selection (fixes Alien Carnage)

DOS UMB enabled by default (fixes Tyrian)

The Atari 800 emulator also receives the new Virtual Keyboard and Button Mapper

2019-03-01 | Mini

Theme engine improvements

NES Mini theme (retrox.tv/themes)

Zoom and fade animations

Vertical system selector

Variable number of items on system selector

Custom system images

CRT Support

Improved RetroX Vintage theme

Added screen test patterns

Added mGBA emulator for GameBoy and GameBoy Color

2019-02-18 | ScummVM for Oreo

ScummVM improvements:

Now it works in Android Oreo

Database updated to v2.0.0

Better audio options for ScummVM http://retrox.tv/scummvm-audio

RetroX Collection fixes:

Now “retrox” folder name can be used

Fixed scan of “3do” folder

2019-01-18 | Cheats

Automatic Cheats support. Details at http://retrox.tv/cheats

Internal MAME menu can be opened with L2+R2 or using the In Game Options menu

Now all MAME versions are available for Intel based devices

2018-12-22 | Soft boot

New option to start RetroX on boot

Better method for random background music

Order recently played list by date

2018-12-20 | Silent Oreo

Fixed Oreo permissions issue that blocked the app to install emulators

Added ENTER, SPACE and BUTTON_2 to default Amiga controls

Added more background music options

2018-12-15 CohoNES

Added NES options

Emulator selection: Nestopia, FCEUmm

Region selection: NTSC, PAL, others

Sprite limit removal

Two Amiga emulator options:

UAE2All emulator (default)

UAE4Droid emulator (required by some games)

Fixes in Themes:

Detection of L and R buttons with some controllers

Fullscreen display on devices with soft buttons

Stop button on downloads

2018-12-13 | Smooth

Enabled access to PlayStation Enhanced Resolution

Recently Played, Favorites and Recommended games in Themes

Now you can hide non used systems in Themes

RetroX Vintage (CRT) Theme

Random background music

Smoother music transitions

2018-12-07 | Themes

Support for themes is now released Details at retrox.tv/blog

2018-04-24 | Forum Requests Update

New: Two emulators available for GBA

New: Two emulators available for Genesis/MegaDrive, Sega Master System and Sega CD

New: Per game original / fullscreen aspect ratio option

New: Info about revision, region, etc now can be hidden from the game name

Fix: Display FPS on N64 only if enabled

More details in this forum post.

2018-03-27 | FBA Update

Updated FBA to v0.2.97.40

2017-02-12 | Independence

New: Defaults to unlimited storage for artwork (faster)

New: German translation (Thanks Alexander Wislogusow)

New: Dutch translation (Thanks Gaston Hayen)

New: SNES Multitap support (Thanks Tim Bushby)

Fix: Dropbox and Google drive are working again

Fix: Random sort option in TV mode

More details in this forum post.

A common task for python and pandas is to automate the process of aggregating data from multiple files and spreadsheets. This article will walk through the basic flow required to parse multiple Excel files, combine the data, clean it up and analyze it. https://hunterbold234.tumblr.com/post/653826375086637056/merge-excel-files-in-python. Example: Merging Cells. This program is an example of merging cells in a worksheet. See the mergerange method for more details. ##### # # A simple example of merging cells with the XlsxWriter Python module. #import numpy as npimport pandas as pdimport glob#### Combine, concatenate, join multiple excel files in a given folder into one dataframe, Each excel files. Pandas merge: Combining Data on Common Columns or Indices. The first technique you’ll learn is merge.You can use merge any time you want to do database-like join operations. It’s the most flexible of the three operations you’ll learn. When you want to combine data objects based on one or more keys in a similar way to a relational database, merge is the tool you need.

Nvidia Shield Tablet

2017-09-06 | 8Bitdo N64

New: Official support for the 8Bitdo N64 controller

Automatic mapping for N64 games by default

START+Z opens the in-game menu

Fix: DPAD on N64 now works

Fix: Green button on the NVIDIA Shield is working again

Fix: PBP games are detected as PlayStation Games

2017-07-08 | Frambu with Cream

This is a special release targeted to Frambu – Raspberry Pi3 – Users, but some new features/fixes apply to Android boxes as well.

2017-07-08 | Frambu with Cream

This is a special release targeted to Frambu – Raspberry Pi3 – Users, but some new features/fixes apply to any Android box as well.

Fix: Support for external USB drives on Frambu

Fix: Bluetooth support on Frambu

New: Now you can use the right mouse button as BACK on Frambu

New: Shutdown or Restart option in RetroX on Frambu

Fix: Bug on systems popups rendering badly on Frambu

Fix: Slow RetroX boot is fixed for slow devices like the RPi

Fix: Use only one instance of RetroX, avoiding restarting the app

New: Direct access to bluetooth settings from RetroX

Fix: Dropbox and Google Drive use the new mandatory auth method

Fix: Error on rating and favoriting games with long names

New: Added more details when reporting erros from NAS

New: Added Chrome as requested by Google Drive and Dropbox

2017-06-30 | Live Background

Live Background for Original 4:3 mode on RetroArch based emulators

Disabled by default

Enable it in Settings -> Display -> Emulators

Better defaults for PSP (auto frameskip up to 9 frames)

Added more info to diagnose NAS issues

2017-06-27 | MSDOS Memories

NAS improvements for password protected shares. This may fix a lot of common issues with NAS

Playstation artwork for 1000+ games is now available

Fixed memory settings for DOS games

Fix: Amiga and MSDOS didn’t local config files (keymaps and others)

Better default buttons for MSDOS

Fix: Crash when using Google Plus login method

Fix: N64 C-buttons not working when using touchscreen controls

Fix: PSP crashing in devices without vibrator

Fix: Pressing OK button to start a game didn’t work when using A/B Buttons for OK/Cancel

Added Nexus Player as a TV capable device

Additional details in the forum release announcement.

2017-06-17 | Obsessive Compulsive

Added option to hide systems without games in Settings -> Display

OK and CANCEL button mapping now is optional and disabled by default

2017-06-15 | Saves Manager

Now you can download or delete your savestates in http://login.retrox.tv

Added more descriptive error messages when necessary

When a gamepad is setup now you can control RetroX with A = OK and B = CANCEL

Added experimental OneDrive support

Fix “Full covers” mode not working

2017-05-29 | 3DO for Helmut Vinaccia

New 3DO support through libretro 4do core

Fixes on gamepad config not closing

2017-04-16 | Wider dreams

Improvements in Dreamcast emulation

Additional controllers are detected

Now you can turn widescreen on and off

Note that not all games are compatible with widescreen.

Also in Sega GT which was used for testing multiple controllers, there is a problem displaying a split screen, making the game unplayable with a second player.

2017-04-14 | Amiga nueva

Enabled compatibility with Hard Disk Files (HDF)

Added support for the Amiga 600 / ECS

2017-04-07 | Persistent dreams

Fixed: Saving progress in Dreamcast VMUs

Fixed: Clock settings on Dreamcast BIOS

2017-04-06 | A dream within a dream

Sega Dreamcast is now supported in RetroX!!!

See additional notes on this release.

2017-03-26 | Golden Eye

New N64 control settings: Original, Inverted and optimized for Golden Eye. See details in our blog entry.

Not available games are now removed / cleaned as expected

Games based on CUE files are now downloaded correctly from networked storages (NAS / Cloud). These are used by CD based systems like Playstation, PC Engine CD and Sega CD.

Final Burn Alpha addon now is compatible with games requiring samples. Provided samples may be not right with some games as I found with Donkey Kong, so if you have a games with samples but no sound please send me a message

Save states related options have been removed from MAME 2001, 2010 and 2014. Only 2003 supports saving states

Size measure of installed games coming from compressed files has been fixed.

2017-02-23 | Ants training

Fixed an error that made some NAS folders unreadable since A-MAME

Removed wrong tip: “FBA only supported in local files”

Added counter when re-scanning games on boot

2017-02-22 | Cover Me

Portuguese Translation thanks to DoRiAnN DaMoN!!

Better MAME and FBA artwork matching based on parent ROMS

Better artwork matching for ROM duplicates on other system

2017-02-20 | A-MAME

New Feature: MAME and FBA will now alert the user about missing ROM files

Fixed: MAME and FBA emulators crashed when additional ROM files were required but stored network/cloud storage

Fixed: Failed downloads/transfers ended in corrupted files, crashing the emulators

Fixed: Missing progress feedback in several network operations

Minor: ES Explorer warning now is shown only in the Manage Folders screen

2017-02-15 | SAN Valentin

NAS fixes / improvements:

Faster scanning

Re-scan now works

Longer timeout for devices that may be slow to awake

Added extra info in case of errors

Fixed keyboard popping up at boot

2017-02-09 | RetroX

From today, RetroBoxTV will be known as RetroX

And yes, this update includes the long awaited NAS support!

2017-01-27 | Wildfire

Support for Final Burn Alpha emulator has been added

Nvidia Shield Review

2016-12-04 | Project Frambu

RetroBoxTV is now compatible with the Raspberry Pi 3

http://retroboxtv.com/frambu

Multi Emulator (RetroArch) shut down has been modified.

It may fix the crash when closing on the NVidia Shield.

2016-11-23 | Intel inside

RetroBoxTV now officially supports most systems on Intel based devices.

Huge performance boost in MS-DOS emulation

More options to fine tune CPU speed in MS-DOS

2016-11-12 | La w** bacán

Added spanish translation

RetroBoxTV ha sido traducido completamente al español.

Hicimos “la prueba chilena”, y creemos que tiene el índice correcto para ser una traducción al español.

Se advierte que aun pueden quedar partes sin traducir.

Prefiero tener reclamos, a tener más esperas… ¡ESO ES!

2016-11-07 | Atari DJ

Atari 800/XL/XE:

Added support for multi disk games

Added primitive keyboard support

2016-10-29 | Heaven in the clouds

BIG UPDATE Openssl cookbook.

Now you can add games from DropBox and Google Drive

We recommend you to check our new Help section in Manage Content -> Help

There you will find some guides to make it easier for you to add games

Some people _may_ have problems with previously added games. If that is your case, try adding the game again. If you think that you need more help, please write to fcatrin at gmail dot com

2016-09-12 | Color me blind

Added an option to choose colors for Gameboy

Mad Catz M.O.J.O. added to the list of supported TV devices

2016-09-05 | Atari trails

Added support for Atari Jaguar

Added support for Atari Lynx

2016-09-02 | Highlights and shades

Emulationstation Nvidia Shield Tv

Fixed scanline shaders for Shield TV

Added a lot of more advanced shaders

Note that this feature is available only for RetroArch based systems

2016-08-31 | Beyond the fence

New 5 days trial mode!

TV user interface now only for trial and activated accounts

2016-08-20 | No, that’s not my hand

Fixed an error when trying to play N64 and DOS games

(the infamous “an application is required to run this game” error)

2016-08-10 | A la carte

MAME support improvements

New game config option to switch to a specific MAME version

New game config option to select button layouts

Fixed default button layout for MAME (3 buttons default)

Fixed server provided config processing for Amiga

This fixes Putty Squad

2016-07-08 | Covers

11000+ covers on our servers ready to be downloaded when needed

No limits for favorites category on front screen (Craig Garside)

Fixed detection of .a52 games as Atari 5200

Out of memory crashes have been reduced

Fixed a delay on fast user browsing

2016-06-27 | On the road to Google Play

New additional method to add single games or folders

Most systems supported

Complex systems like MS-DOS and ScummVM not yet supported

2016-05-20 | God save the states!!

Playstation Multi Disc support

Last played games list now is shared among devices

Added warning if ES Explorer is running

Complete retrobox folder creation and update from Local games folder option

The following is only available for Activated Accounts

Cloud based save states and memory cards. Now you can continue your games in any of your devices

Added new game lists for TV mode

Trending this week

Most popular

Most favorited

2016-04-29 | McDowell

New TV user interface!!

This mode is automatically enabled for Nvidia Shield TV and Amazon Fire TV devices. If you have a different device, go to Settings -> Display -> User Interface to enable it.

Note that this mode will not work right with touchscreen devices, neither with devices that don’t use a TV screen resolution.

2016-04-04 | Amazon

Huge improvement for local games scanning on slow devices

Text entry in the Amazon Fire TV won’t need a mouse anymore

Duplicated ROM NES detection has been fixed

Fixes crash when detecting games with sub folders

Local folders: better detection on complex setups.

Added support for esdfs (Moto G 2014)

2016-03-28 | Misipipi

Now using the standalone PPSSPP emulator for maximum compatibility

Added NTFS support for external drives. Doh!

2016-03-23 | MAME 4 OCD

Covers for unsupported MAME games are downloaded if available

Several small bugfixes

2016-03-20 | Triple Pack

Added support for Atari 2600, Atari 7800 and Game Gear

2016-03-18 | MAME4Stacy

MAME 2014 support

From now on, ALL known and valid MAME games are available to play

Changed the default order in Favorites to alphabetical

Special thanks to Stacy Marriot for his suggestions and enthusiasm that has driven this development to make ALL MAME games available

Nvidia Shield Tv

2016-03-13 | Fire… Exclamation mark

Scanning external drives in Amazon Fire TV devices has been fixed

MUCH faster performance when storing new content data

Faster scanning for local content

Now you can save to Memory Cards even if your device doesn’t allow to write in external drives

Proper support for multitrack Playstation games (1 cue + several bin files)

ScummVM

MT-32 audio is enabled by default

Added game specific options (MT-32/Adlib, FM Quality, Subtitles)

Added extra files needed for some games (Lure, Kyra and others)

MSX

MSX emulator now defaults to MSX 2+

Added game specific options (Machine version, region, FM-PAC)

2016-03-08 | It’s a boy!!

Now you can use the green button in the NVIDIA Controller to open the Options Menu

Massive fix in MAME 2001: All games now have the correct aspect ratio

Fixed some games that were not working in VIP accounts

2016-03-05 | Boom

Sample pack added for MAME games that require samples (Bosconian, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong and others)

2016-02-22 | Free account

More flexibility with user authentication methods

Added support for Atari 5200 Cartridges (.a52)

2016-02-20 | Subscription

Fixed START button handling in RetroArch based emulators. This fixes Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out for NES and some MAME games that didn’t start when used with a gamepad controller

2016-02-07 | Step up

Support up to 2 players in Commodore Amiga

Support up to 4 players in N64

Support for Left & Right triggers for PSX and Amiga (Left/Mouse button)

N64 can use the dpad as the analog stick

New option to re-scan a local folder

Fixed re-scan when a folder or drive doesn’t exists anymore

Fixed zipped SNES rom scanning

Faster loading of game details in directories with a lot of files

Fix for inverted analog control in Atari

Fixed crash of analog control in Atari / Archos Gamepad 2

2016-01-28 | The Poll

Added experimental support for PlayStation Portable (PSP)

2016-01-26 | A cup of tea

Added support for Sega Master System!!

Support for DualShock (Analog Gamepad) in the Playstation emulator

Moved leanback icon to the Games section in AndroidTV devices

Better handling of network connections problems

2016-01-20 | Night Shift

Experimental support for Commodore Amiga on Intel based devices

Fixes permission problem in MS-DOS when using read-only drives

2016-01-11 | The Big Shield

Android TV

Proper Android TV user interface (bigger fonts / dimensions)

Letter selector now can be used with dpad remotes

Leanback icon for direct access

NVidia Shield

SELECT + START is working on all emulators now

Trigger buttons are now visible in the gamepad config window (also Xbox 360 and others)

Automatic button mappings for new users

Local games

Redesigned “Diagnostics -> Local games folder” option

Automatic creation of retrobox file structure for local games

Fixed a problem when scanning Sega CD games

Local games now can be added to Favorites

GoodGen mark removal for cleaner game names (requires re-scan)

Emulators

6 button support for Sega Genesis / Sega 32X / Sega CD

Fixed “wide” aspect ratio in Slap Fight for MAME 2001

2016-01-10 | Don Pepe y los globos

Added multiplayer support in N64

Added multiplayer support in Atari XL/XE

Support up to 4 players where available

Added progress feedback when scanning local games

Fixed digital gamepad mode in N64 (WWF games)

ScummVM permissions problems with config files have gone

2016-01-08 | Retro-RetroBoxTV

Cover browser now supports the old full cover view mode. Go to Settings -> Display Options to activate it

State saving/loading for NES and PSX has been fixed!! The bug was in our version of RetroArch and it may have affected other emulators as well

Added info about the emulators used before downloading them

Fixed some crashes when scanning huge amounts of local games

2016-01-02 | The hangover

Local/SD/USB games caching. No more waiting if you have tons of games!!

Emulationstation Nvidia Shield Pro

This feature needs more testing, but there are many users waiting for it, so here it is.

2016-01-01 | Happy New Year

NES support has been fixed!

Emulation Station Nvidia Shield Tv

Load/Save State for NES and PSX is still broken, but it seems that they share the same problem that ‘should’ be ‘easily’ fixed

2015-12-28 | The newborn

Emulation Station Nvidia Shield

Added new “letter” selector at the bottom

Now you can also click on the bottom bar to jump at any point

Fixed support for Sega 32X local games

Added new extensions for PSX (.img and others)

Changed the way that local covers are processed. It may fix some issues with local covers

New Diagnostics tool -> Device information

Now close this window and start playing!!

[keysharkz-blog]

When Emulation Becomes a Better Alternative Than Going Legit - The Downfall of Nintendo

We’ve all heard Nintendo’s tired insistence that emulation is piracy and they consider it a huge threat to their business, blah blah blah, we’ve probably seen it a million times over. There is a huge crowd against it and I used to actually prefer the legit hardware over emulators for a long time, but over the years I’ve come to learn that emulation actually in most cases (at least for pre-N64 games, but we’ll get to that) emulation is far more practical and better than owning the legit hardware. For those still in the boat of “but emulation is bad!” hear me out here and listen to my argument and perhaps you may change your mind.

1. Nintendo uses emulators and ROMs

It’s probably fairly well known now, but Nintendo has been using emulators and ROMs themselves for years now. Many Wii Virtual Console titles people have dug through the code and proved that Nintendo just downloaded off the net and sold back to you. This has been proven almost beyond any reasonable doubt. Nintendo is using them, despite not inventing said emulators, so why it is not okay for the original creators of said emulators to use them?

2. Emulators are perfectly legal.

Contrary to popular belief, emulators are legal. ROMs are where the grey area comes in. As far as the law is concerned if you own the original game and you use it to say... Dump the data onto your PC into a ROM, it’s technically 100% legal. The illegal part comes where you are downloading games you’ve never purchased. There is no law that states you are obligated to play a piece of software on a specific hardware and no court will uphold such a thing either. Sony attempted this back in the 90s and last miserably.

3. Most people only download games they already own.

It’s been proven most people just download ROMs for games they already own. This is because it’s more convenient than using the original hardware or the hardware is damaged and hard to replace, and many of said games have never been re-released on a modern platform. Backing up your games is perfectly legal and has been a practice on PC for decades. It’s the same principle.

4. Emulation gives you access to games that the original creators clearly were never trying to sell you in the first place.

If you lived in the US chances are you never got to play Mother 3 on your GBA. Nintendo never released it in the US and it’s been almost 15 years later and still no news on if it will ever come out. If it weren’t for fan translations and ROMs the game would have never been seen in the West at all. How is it harming the creators to download something they were never going to sell you in the first place?

5. Emulators are more convenient.

When I can customize my control scheme beyond what the original game allowed, put it on a portable device, an HDMI supporting device, back up my save games, it’s pretty obvious that emulation offers far more convenience. The NES Mini was a perfect example of how people tried to actually support the games legit, for Nintendo to purposefully understock them and then discontinue them after only a few months, fucking over everyone who actually WANTED to support them and forcing them to turn to emulation. The Wii U and the Switch are also examples of how Nintendo drip feeds games onto the virtual console instead of releasing the entire library they have already available. Gabe Newell said it best: “Piracy is a problem with service, the solution? Offer a better service.” When it’s more convenient to emulate a game, it’s a sign that you are doing something wrong.

6. Nintendo violates copyright all the time, why should they not be held to it, but hold you to copyright laws that don’t even exist?

Literally Nintendo has no actual right to take down Let’s play videos of their games or force creators to give them part of their ad revenue. They get away with it because they threaten to drown people in legal fees and a long legal process that would take far longer than it’s worth to combat. Nintendo violates the copyright laws, but expects you to not only follow them, but follow laws that are not even real. Nintendo can’t pick and choose which parts of the law apply. It either all applies, or none of it.

7. Buying physical copies of games in the after market doesn’t aid the original devs at all, and is technically the same as downloading it for free.

Devs don’t get any money when you buy a SNES game at a garage sale. You’re hurting them just as much by buying used games as you are by downloading for free. Actually you’re doing worse because you’re letting someone who is not the creator of the game make a profit off of it. At least with downloading you’re not lining the pockets of Gamestop to continue to rip devs off. So it’s actually morally better to download games than to buy them used.

8. Emulators have preserved games that would have otherwise been lost in time.

Nintendo doesn’t keep old copies of their entire game library around. They often dump and get rid of them. Many games would have been long forgotten had it not been the hard work of emulator makers and ROM dumpers to preserve them. Is it truly better to let those games be lost forever just to avoid making ROMs of them? Emulation has kept many games alive and even made some games popular that would have otherwise never been noticed.

9. Emulation is pretty damn close to looking like the original hardware nowadays.

Anything pre-N64 is basically perfect for most emulators nowadays. It’s a 99.9% accuracy to the point where you can’t even tell the difference. 

Maybe this changed your mind. Maybe it didn’t. Whatever the case, it might be better to stop shaming people for using emulators and start really considering the real problem: why is Nintendo not doing anything to make their service better than emulators and downloading ROMs? Steam proved quite well that a superior service will make people pay for it. PC games have always been some of the easiest to pirate and yet Steam makes tons of money because it’s more convenient to buy the games legit than pirate them. Why get mad at people using a superior service when you could be mad at Nintendo for not trying to make their service worth the money? This shame tactic is just Nintendo getting into your head and telling you to think what they think. Think for yourself for a moment: is it really a good business move to shame people for using the alternative rather than making your product so much better that it’s worth the money?

[zeroviraluniverse-blog]

How I rediscovered the golden era of 2D gaming with the Analogue Super NT

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How I rediscovered the golden era of 2D gaming with the Analogue Super NT

Depending on who you ask, the Kindle is either the best or the worst thing to happen to books in the last century.

Its proponents point to its sheer convenience. “You can carry hundreds of books around!” they exclaim, “and you can download them at the push of a button!”

For others, however, the concept of the ereader represents the very worst way to engage with literature. Without the tactility of a real book, without the feeling of turning the page or the smell of the glue that binds its leaves together, they argue, you’re getting only the smallest sliver of the reading experience. 

It’s a similar story with retro gaming. When the SNES and NES Mini were announced, there were those who simply could not get their heads around why anyone would spend that much money on such a limited piece of hardware, especially when you could pay just a couple of dollars to buy most of the games on one of Nintendo’s numerous Virtual Consoles or even (perish the thought) download an emulator and play them for free.

As far as we’re concerned, the Super Famicom color scheme is the only way to go

In the same way that reading a book on a Kindle isn’t the same as reading a real book (the argument goes) playing A Link to the Past on a laptop’s keyboard is completely different from playing it using a real SNES controller on a dedicated system. 

Clearly there were a lot of people who agreed, and both of Nintendo’s mini retro systems have been selling out almost as quickly as more become available. 

And now there’s a new kid on the block. Manufactured by Analogue, the Super NT doesn’t just want to emulate SNES games, it wants to run them exactly as an original Super Nintendo would. 

If the Virtual Console is a Kindle and the SNES Mini is a paperback book, then the $190 (around £135 or AU$240) Analogue Super NT is a beautiful leather-bound tome – and it makes Nintendo’s first-party retro hardware look like a casual toy in comparison. (It’s available to pre-order now from the Analogue store.)

An analogue experience

This isn’t the first piece of Analogue’s hardware we’ve tried out at TechRadar (the Analogue NT did for the NES what the Super NT does for the SNES), but it’s the first one that I’ve personally gotten my hands on. 

At first glance, the Super NT is very similar to Nintendo’s own SNES Mini. I got mine in a Super Famicom / PAL color configuration (three other, wrong, color options are also available), and while the dimensions are slightly different, squint and you could be looking at Nintendo’s own machine. 

The real genius of the Super NT starts to emerge when you poke your finger into its cartridge slot, which unlike the SNES Mini’s aesthetic strip, actually opens to allow original SNES cartridges to be used with the system. 

Well, I say it ‘allows’ you to use cartridges, but currently this is literally the only way to play games on the machine. While the original Analogue NT eventually had firmware released that allowed ROMs to be loaded from an SD card, it seems that, for the time being at least, the Super NT isn’t destined to get that same functionality. 

The biggest indicator that the Super NT is a little different is that the cartridge slot is completely functional

While using flash-carts (cartridges that allow you to load your own ROMs) is a possibility with the console, I opted to go out retro game-shopping to find some titles for the console, and eventually settled on Super Mario World and Super Metroid to fulfill my retro needs (at £32 – around $45 or $AU55 – a Link to the Past was one cartridge too far). 

With my two carts safety in hand, I plugged in the micro USB cable to provide power and an HDMI cable to provide a signal, pressed the refreshingly clicky power button, synced the included wireless controller (you can use the original console’s wired version if you have one available) and waited for the console to power on. 

A purely retro experience

The Super NT allows itself just a couple of modern flourishes, and I was treated to both as the machine came to life. 

The first is a series of absolutely beautiful pixel art animations co-designed by Fez-creator Phil Fish. No description of mine could possibly do these justice, so just watch them for yourselves… please?

The second flourish is more functional, and consists of a series of menus that you can use to customize everything (and I mean everything) about your console experience. 

There are options for two different kinds of scan-lines at a variety of intensities, three different resolutions, six different scalers, and four different screen sizes.

You can change the console between an NTSC and a PAL mode, you can switch it between 50Hz and 60Hz display modes, and you can even customize the color of the LED on the front of the machine. 

You can do all of this  before you even enable the ‘advanced’ graphical options – and from there things just continue their descent into madness. 

For my part I appreciated their inclusion, but unless you’re a hardcore retro gamer you’re unlikely to need to tweak them too much – and I was too excited to see if my cartridges would actually work to delve deeper than messing with the LED on the front of the machine. 

I pressed my copy of Super Metroid into the cartridge slot until I felt it slide into place, and selected the ‘Run Cartridge’ option from the menu. 

An original SNES, for better or for worse

Technically the Analogue Super NT isn’t an emulator. Technically it’s based around a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), which means it’s functionally more or less exactly the same as the original console. 

Technically this means that the console runs games as a pixel-perfect reproduction of how they would run on the original console. Technically this means the Super NT can run them at up to 1080p without introducing any input lag. 

Technically this is the culmination of almost six years of work, and technically… this is an incredible achievement. 

But really, none of this mattered to me as I started to play through the opening level of Super Metroid. As I got re-acquainted with the controls – they never age quite as badly as I expect them to – and remembered sections of the level that I’d passed through dozens of times before, I wasn’t paying attention to the flawless graphics or noticing the lack of any audio glitches. 

Instead I was playing the same great game that enchanted thousands of people when it was originally released.

You’ll need to either dust off or acquire some original cartridges to play on the machine

Content that everything was working as it should do, I finished the opening section and went to look for a ‘save state’ option. On the SNES Mini this was handled by pressing the console’s reset button, but here that would literally just reset the game. I Googled around, but with the hardware yet to be released there wasn’t anyone online who could help me. 

Eventually it dawned on me. I would have to save my game as though I was playing on an original console.

I found a save point, and saved my game the old-fashioned way. Then, the next day, I booted up the console to find that my save had disappeared, presumably because the 20-year-old battery in the cartridge had died. 

This is basically the same hardware as an original Super Nintendo, after all. 

There are just two ports on the rear, an HDMI socket and a micro USB for power

It was a similar story when it came to Super Mario World. I played through its opening levels, but while I was doing so I wasn’t appreciating the minimal input lag or the pitch-perfect audio reproduction: I was appreciating the single greatest 2D platformer of all time in all its glory. 

Well, I appreciated the game after I managed to get the cartridge seated properly in the slot. The first time it refused to load, presumably because one of the cartridge’s contacts wasn’t properly inserted. 

I took the cartridge out and instinctively did what any child born in the ’90s would have done: I blew on it. Naturally, it worked flawlessly after that.

It’s these little details that really get the nostalgia going. The games are one thing, but putting a second-hand cartridge in the slot and finding the previous owner’s saved games still perfectly preserved on there is another thing entirely. 

An included wireless controller is another convenience afforded by the machine

Authenticity over functionality

The Analogue Super NT mini is by no means the easiest way to play old SNES games. If you want to go cheap and cheerful then there are dozens of SNES games available across Nintendo’s various Virtual Consoles.

Meanwhile, if you want a slightly more authentic experience then the SNES Classic Mini is still your best bet. It’s still based around an emulator, but it’s running inside a great-looking machine, and comes with a pair of Nintendo-manufactured controllers that feel as authentic as you’re going to get without tracking down an original. 

It does save states, and wraps everything up in a phenomenally well thought-out interface that even enables you to rewind your gameplay. 

But if you don’t want those modern conveniences – if you want to plug a real plastic cartridge into a weighty piece of hardware, and force yourself to play games exactly as their creators originally intended you to – then nothing is going to beat the Analogue Super NT in 2018. 

Just don’t say we didn’t warn you about the saves. Those old cartridge batteries can be brutal.