Best emulation device to connect to the TV?

[User4703]

Ideally I'd like to be able to emulate upto Dreamcast games nice and smoothly on the TV with a proper controller. Any suggestions folks? Thanks

 

[salaxi54]

Well, it all depends on a few factors, probably mostly on finance. If you're low on budget, a Pi 3 could emulate a Dreamcast not exactly perfectly, but still on a playable level, and you're set with a few days' salary worth. Only reason i'd choose a Pi3 is low energy demands, and portability, but it's still not that powerful..
I'd personally go with a low - to -mid-end pc which would cover lots of emulation "needs".
Something like say a mini pc with a Ryzen cpu, and add an Xbox controller or something like a Logitech rumblepad. That would take running PS2 and maybe even PS3 emulation nice n'smooth, but for around 300-350 Euros. On the other hand, if you already own say, a Core2Duo, you could still cover pretty much of an emulation range, and of course MAME would be great on it. Here's a cheap example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrP8d4naRF8

 

[Sardine]

bud.. go for an nvidia shield tv

just look here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWueSCxd5Bs

► Dolphin (GameCube) - https://dolphin-emu.org/download/
► Reicast (Dreamcast) - http://builds.reicast.com/
► Mupen64Plus FZ (N64) - https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...
► Yaba Sanshiro (Saturn) - https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...
► PPSSPP (PSP) - https://www.ppsspp.org/downloads.html

 

[-Acid-]

A PC... emulates everything properly you can use wireless mice, kb, controllers and use a small form factor so it's only the size of a console.

 

[TheCorfiot]

Softmodded Wii

 

[moggsie]

Amazon Fire TV ideally with root access.

 

[User4703]

I'll take one of each please! Seeing as I don't like PC/Windoze and all of the faff it entails it kind of puts a crimp on that side of things as all the emulators seem to be based on that but WOW at the Shield. I had no idea that tiny box had so much grunt, the DC emulation looks absolutely amazing.

For those wondering, having been a PC nerd since the days of creating many different startup DOS parameters to squeeze the most out of that 640Kb base with the optimal XMS/EMS config up until Windows 95 I simply couldn't stand what came after as it was so crap and switched to Mac where, surprise, everything just works and have no inclination to look back.

Must be a maturity thing as I just CBA to tinker with things any more, fiddle with endless amounts of settings and tweak the tweakables instead of just plugging and playing

I've already got a modded Wii U (which is a must have if you enjoy games in general) and its a corker as it handles virtually every single Nintendo platform perfectly and is well worth the price of entry. If you've been holding off I'd pick one up now because you need to download a game from the eShop to hack it (one off thing) and that may not be possible in a few so dive in now as the mod is super simple.



Thanks for the input folks.