Tal Shiar Agent
Member
I'm not a fan of emulation so I use real consoles, sometimes modded, with real carts, and a RetroTink 5x Pro.
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Why you need a MiSTer FPGA in 2023; and who has one?
- Thread starter VGEsoterica
- Start date
cartman414
Member
A few weeks old, but a new challenger appears!
TheCoolDave
Neo Member
I do play a lot of Consoles (I have most consoles form 1976 to today), hooking them up one by one to play a game has becoming a PIA (I am working on a project to get them all wired up). So I have been playing more and more with portable emulation on my SteamDeck, with Emudeck (connected my TV via OG controllers via USB, or Xbox One wireless controller), they are testing a new feature to sync saves across devices, so my save works on my Deck will go to Windows, and soon it will be coming to Android, so in time, my Desktop, Deck, and Phone will sync all saves.... I start on one and I could continue my game on another device.
I got to play with a MiSTer (a friend took it over), took a handful of games, played them on a MiSTer, OG consoles with a scaler, and took my SteamDeck with Emudeck on it, the MiSTer and the SteamDeck had the same versions of the roms. NES, SNES games mainly. They were all put through a HDMI switch so we can A/B/C them.
The OG console was the reference, the MiSTer did a pretty good job over all on 4 games we tried, The SteamDeck (using the most current cores), did a great job as well. Both the MiSTer and SteamDeck was as accurate as the OG console, if there was a little off, music was a hair off on the SteamDeck but, doing a A/B/C the audio was not enough to notice especially if you didn't have them side by side. The MiSTer and SteamDeck looked a little better/sharper than the OG console, so nice perk.
The presentation of the Deck (Emulation station on EmuDeck) was far better, nicely laid out, and tons of details on each game. It's just a better experience. On the MiSTer, it felt like I was using a Dos based game selector. I was not impressed.
I really wanted to love the MiSTer but, everything on emulation was very close and gave a better experience. I can't justify the cost of the MiSTer when I will find myself using the Deck more.
I could say 10 years ago, a lot of emulation was not very accurate but, today, it's dam good.....
Glad to see people are happy with it. Maybe it's not for me...
I got to play with a MiSTer (a friend took it over), took a handful of games, played them on a MiSTer, OG consoles with a scaler, and took my SteamDeck with Emudeck on it, the MiSTer and the SteamDeck had the same versions of the roms. NES, SNES games mainly. They were all put through a HDMI switch so we can A/B/C them.
The OG console was the reference, the MiSTer did a pretty good job over all on 4 games we tried, The SteamDeck (using the most current cores), did a great job as well. Both the MiSTer and SteamDeck was as accurate as the OG console, if there was a little off, music was a hair off on the SteamDeck but, doing a A/B/C the audio was not enough to notice especially if you didn't have them side by side. The MiSTer and SteamDeck looked a little better/sharper than the OG console, so nice perk.
The presentation of the Deck (Emulation station on EmuDeck) was far better, nicely laid out, and tons of details on each game. It's just a better experience. On the MiSTer, it felt like I was using a Dos based game selector. I was not impressed.
I really wanted to love the MiSTer but, everything on emulation was very close and gave a better experience. I can't justify the cost of the MiSTer when I will find myself using the Deck more.
I could say 10 years ago, a lot of emulation was not very accurate but, today, it's dam good.....
Glad to see people are happy with it. Maybe it's not for me...
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I set mine up three years ago when the basic board was much less expensive.
The things which I love about it are:
PC Emulators offer far more in the way of enhancements, no doubt. I use WinUAE, Duckstation, PCSX2, etc. all the time. I own most of the old consoles too, albeit not RGB modded. MiSTer is my preferred no-frills, instant gratification, stable go-to for 240p consoles and arcade titles.
The things which I love about it are:
- Stability and performance - all of the popular, mature cores are beyond stable. It feels like a piece of Enterprise datacenter hardware - not a single freeze, crash, frame stutter, hitch, etc. ever. Compared to running emulators on my Wii U or PC, the MiSTer's stability and consistent performance stands out.
- Ease connecting to my CRT when the mood strikes me.
- I prefer the quick, responsive minimalist interface but I understand that's not for everyone.
PC Emulators offer far more in the way of enhancements, no doubt. I use WinUAE, Duckstation, PCSX2, etc. all the time. I own most of the old consoles too, albeit not RGB modded. MiSTer is my preferred no-frills, instant gratification, stable go-to for 240p consoles and arcade titles.
StereoVsn
Gold Member
I must admit that I couldn’t do most PSX games natively anymore with their shimmer and long loading times on RPG actions. Ducksation for the win.
Strangely enough I am fine with most Saturn games natively. Perhaps because most of the stuff I play on there are fighting/arcade games and 2D RPGs.
PS2 properly upscaled in emulation is also amazing, same with GameCube and PSP.
Strangely enough I am fine with most Saturn games natively. Perhaps because most of the stuff I play on there are fighting/arcade games and 2D RPGs.
PS2 properly upscaled in emulation is also amazing, same with GameCube and PSP.