There are quite a few good PS1 games, just not nearly as many as most people think.
I'll definitely take that. When I was populating my PSOne Mini, I ended up with about 75 games I quite fancied playing (not an indication they're good) before I ran out of things worth bothering with.
Meanwhile the PS2 has basically no good games.
Well now. 
This is a hell of a hot take. PS2 had one of the widest, most varied libraries of any console; to say that none of them is good is a massive stretch.
Off the top of my head: GTAIII, Okami, Guitar Hero, Shadow of the Colossus, Timesplitters 2, Bully, Final Fantasy XII (fight me, Gambits are great), Disgaea if you're into that, Rogue Galaxy… not all exclusives, but if you had a PS2 you were not hurting for stuff to play.
Yeah, I know it's a hot take. It's mine alone, and I know people love the PS2… but… GTA3 (all 3d GTAs) were much better on PC because of mouse and keyboard. Okami wasn't really interesting to me. Bully was boring as heck. All FF games are mediocre at best and is the 99% story, 1% gameplay I dislike. Shadow of the Colossus… no idea how people got into that one. The controls were horrible and it was a repetitious, tedious game. Guitar Hero is fun enough but gets old fast unless you had the PC GH3 version that you could mod with any song people came up with, or the later GH-like clones that have tons of songs to play. And so on. It just got into the whole style over substance type of game I don't care for, and if you like them, more power to you, I'm glad you had fun with it. I didn't. As I said, the only game I played for it that I felt like I was really enjoying myself and have no problem replaying even now are the Katamari games.
And don't get me wrong. I didn't care for the XBox or the Gamecube either. Last console I really cared for was Dreamcast.
I'd also add God of War 1 & 2, Splinter Cell, Beyond Good & Evil, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. Again, not all exclusives, but you're just mad if you think there's nothing good on that machine.
Sly Cooper, Gregory Horror Show, Ico, Outrun 2, SSX Tricky, Burnout 2 and 3…
I'm not trying to convince d0k, but yeah the PS2 was a beast.
I'm not trying to convince any of you, either. Clearly there are a lot of games you all enjoyed, and that's fine.
I just didn't have a good time with it. And anything that was on PC as well, there's really no point of buying it again when it played the same or better on PC (gameplay-wise). It was just the time that I really lost faith in a lot of modern gaming and especially consoles when every game I tried had some issue that I couldn't stand, like wonky 3d controls, way too much story, and so on. This is why I really consider PS2 not retro at all, despite how old it is. It is in the same league as games are these days. I can at least half-consider PS1's generation (okay, not the N64… yeah… sorry… um, Mario Kart 64 was pretty good, but really nothing else to me) as well as the Dreamcast "retro" because there were still a good number of fun games for them.
SSX Tricky
That was one of the few games I had for Gamecube that I enjoyed to a point. It kind of got old fast but at least it was pretty fun to a point.
I've just rebought a bunch of EA Sports BIG titles for my GameCube: picked up SSX Tricky, which I always adored, plus Def Jam Vendetta and Def Jam: Fight For New York. Also got NBA Street on the way.
Ahhh, DJ:FFNY… 10/10 game, purely because you can have Danny Trejo throw Sean Paul under a moving train.
The PS2 best feature was being the stand for your Dreamcast…
I've just rebought a bunch of EA Sports BIG titles for my GameCube
Oh great, now I have the EA Sports Big intro in my head now from a forgotten memory.
Pokemon Pinball GBC came in today and I tried it on the Analog Pockey and holy shit that console is made for GBC games, like GBA looks nice but this was super vibrant. Too bad I have only one GBC game I really want (Metal Gear)
GBC Mr Driller is pretty much perfect.
Oooh, not too expensive
Anyone got recommendations for a good PSOne emulator that isn't RetroArch? I've tried two on my arcade machine recently - ePSXe and PCSX Reloaded - but neither worked, instead just either crashing every time or not even loading anything. Sadly, the wrapper I use - Maximus Arcade - says ePSXe is the one to use, but everything crashes.
RetroArch would seem obvious, but I've never got on with how complicated it is and I suspect my arcade wrapper won't play nicely with it. Maybe DuckStation?
Duckstation even over Retroarch tbh
Grabbed it. Works perfectly on my laptop. Now to see if the same can be said on the arcade PC…
It didn't work, lots of errors. Then I bit the bullet and updated the PC - I had it offline to deliberately avoid updates, because I was petrified something would stop working, so it hadn't been updated for five years. Now it works! Standalone, at least. Through the arcade wrapper, the games won't start, even though it can see them and puts them all on a list. Grrrr.
M2 emulator also works (need this for my lightguns!), but only standalone and not through the wrapper. WinKawaks for CPS1/2 only recognises a tiny fraction of the ROMs and crashes a lot. MAME works, but then doesn't when I try to divert the NEOGEO stuff into a separate area. Grrrrr.
Why does emulation have to be such a pain in the arse?
I just use RetroArch by itself. It takes a good minute to get one's head wrapped around how it does things and it's very particular about which BIOS files it accepts (look at the docs for each core to see exactly which one or ones it needs), but after getting it all set up, it just works and runs every emulator I really care about, and you can create a nice little list of games for each system to browse through (given your ROMs aren't some weird variant that it doesn't recognize). I've never been able to deal with external ROM launchers because they're so convoluted and require so much manual setup that they're not worth it.
I don't think I'm tech minded enough for RetroArch, sadly. Right now, the issue I'm having is finding the right ROMs for the right things - MAME being so particular is a pain, although I have a bunch of games which work. Trouble is, I moved from one arcade wrapper to an upgraded version of the same one that supports more formats (PS2, Sega Model 2, a few others) and now even though the games and folders are the same, it only thinks I have four games. There must be a rogue game list file somewhere that's causing trouble. I need to find time to make a duplicate folder and try again… I don't want to mess with what I already have set up, because that works with the older wrapper.
Currently, everything works great bar some issues with MAME and Model 2 missing some games, N64 deciding my ROMs aren't good (but I think I've fixed this) and a couple of emulators looking fine in a full screen window but then having flickering visuals if it's true fullscreen. Plus, FBNeo seems to want me to set up every game's key bindings manually (ugh) and the PC in general likes reassigning my controllers. It's going to take time, I need to make a list because I keep making no progress, but I'll get there. It's close!
MAME continually updates itself whenever someone finds an improved ROMset or dump of an arcade game, so old MAME ROMs will not work with current MAME. You will need to look for a ROMset that is as close to the latest version of MAME that is possible. Try searching archive.org for current ROMs for pretty much everything. It's also best to look for "merged" ROMs, these are ROMs that include every single alternative version of a game (other regions, hacked versions, etc) so you won't have to figure out what the "main" one is. Some ROMs also depend on other ROMs to run, for example, Neo-Geo games need the neogeo.zip ROM. Some, like the Game & Watch ROMs, need an overlay to make sense of what's going on. And then there's the games that need a CHD, which is a separate file that goes in a directory with the same base name of the ROM (e.g. Killer Instinct needs kinst.zip as the main ROM, a subdirectory in your ROM directory called kinst, and a file kinst.chd that goes in that directory) that represents a HDD or optical disk that holds the bulk of its data. It's a little confusing until you get your head wrapped around it.
If you use RetroArch, it's better to use Final Burn Neo for the bulk of old games, because that's what it recommends and the extensive number of games MAME supports is just a mess when a ton of them are unplayable things like the display (only) for a pinball or mechanical game, and just simply games that won't work at all. FBNeo pares this down to things that at least work, and if you want to run games FBNeo doesn't support and MAME does, you can add them one at a time for MAME and just run those.
There are so many alternative dumps/rips of games for other consoles that it's impossible for a game list to recognize them all, which is why you only see a few of all of the ROMs you have. RetroArch has two ways to select games that aren't "standard": either add them to a playlist manually, or directly browse to the ROM location on your system and load it (which is why it's a good idea to organize your filesystem by system).
RetroArch also detects and preconfigures your controller in a way that every single system and every single game uses a standard layout, and you can customize this for either the entire emulator or just a single game (e.g. I like to use shoulder buttons for middle attacks on SF-like fighting games when the shoulder buttons usually default to the strongest attacks, so I have to set up a game-specific setting for it – you'll still have to do that for each game you want to configure but at least it will remember it; meanwhile, I don't like the order of buttons RA uses for a 6-button Genesis/MegaDrive controller, so I do a core setting for that).
Yeah, I really like RA. I used to not because it does have a bit of a learning curve, and it used to be a lot buggier and problematic. There are a few systems where you really want to use external emulation, and PS2 is one of those, unfortunately, so you might have issues there if you want it all combined on a single interface. The PS2 emulator core in RA isn't nearly as good as pcsx2, but it'll run a few things. Dolphin (the Gamecube and Wii emulator) also has a lot more options and specific configurations for how especially Wii does things that make the standalone more flexible than its RA core unless you're just running some simple games in it. RA isn't perfect and if you need some of these things in a launcher, it might be an issue. You can, however, run games via a commandline like it shows here and it might be possible to run things in a separate frontend.
I know all about needing the right ROM sets, the extra files, etc. I've already diverted to Final Burn Neo for CPS1/2/3 and NeoGeo, it works a treat. This part though:
There are so many alternative dumps/rips of games for other consoles that it's impossible for a game list to recognize them all, which is why you only see a few of all of the ROMs you have.
No, this isn't my problem. I have a setup where 2.09 of the wrapper has MAME 0.155b and all the games I want working. I moved to 2.10 of the wrapper and set up the exact same folder paths, ROMs, executable, but it only shows four games. It's definitely, absolutely something the wrapper is doing by trying to read a game list.xml file somewhere, because the bootup sequence tells me that. I'll work it out. But yeah, in parallel I'm also hunting for a merged ROMset download… if I find something, I'll move to the newest MAME build because 0.155b is sooooooooo old.
Yep, MAME 0.155b is ancient. Latest is 0.269. And I guarantee 99.9% of the games that ran on 0.155b won't work on 0.269. And that's not much of an exaggeration. Even very old games' ROMsets you'd think wouldn't have changed… yeah, they have.
To be honest, I was/am literally only sticking to it because the games I wanted all worked. One of those 'why fix what ain't broke' things… if I can happily play WrestleFest and Rainbow Islands, why upgrade? I'll find a way to fix it. At worst, it just means regressing back to 2.09 for Maximus Arcade… not the end of the world, just makes a few little things like Model 2 harder to integrate.
I've found the latest merged ROM set. 950GB for the CHD files alone. I think I'll go through the game list and be a bit selective… I really don't want everything.
I've found the latest merged ROM set. 950GB for the CHD files alone.
Yeah, I don't bother with the tons of CHD stuff. I don't need 500 variants of DDR and other rhythm games plus every laughable laserdisk game ever made back in the late 80s/early 90s which is a large chunk of that 950GB.
Progress! On my laptop, at least.
Still a few issues and a fair way to go… the arcade wrapper seems to think the latest MAME isn't valid? Keeps saying the chosen folders aren't usable locations. Hmm. I also need to put in the lightguns software, then move everything from the laptop to the PC in the cabinet. Then it's a matter of checking it all works and adding media files for the game selection process.
I really hope I can get everything working through Maximus Arcade. It was discontinued ages ago, but the thought of swapping to something like LaunchBox doesn't appeal since I'd effectively be starting over with setup and theme creation. We'll see!
Additional: god, there's so much shit on MAME. I sat scanning through the Arcade Database for three separate nights, from the top of the list to the bottom (53 pages with 200 games per page), moving zip files from one folder to another every time I spotted something I wanted to play. Never mind the clones of existing titles or really crap fighters, platformers, etc… why on earth would anyone play a porn game in a public space? Honestly, I despair…
why on earth would anyone play a porn game in a public space?
Japan. Less stigma there.
Don't forget about the seemingly thousands of pinball display ROMs in MAME whose only function is to run the display part of a pinball game. MAME's primary function is to document through code every single piece of entertainment-related hardware ever released, and if that result is playable as an actual game, then that's just a fortunate side effect.
Don't forget MAME can play consoles, too. There's not a whole lot that actually work well, but most of the really old stuff works. Stuff proper ROMs into subdirectories with the MAME short name of the console as ZIP files and something like mame nes smb3 works. Or just something like mame nes -cart /path/to/whatever.nes.
MAME is amazing, frightening, horrifying, and a treasure all at the same time.
Anyone play a Saturn game called Bulk Slash? You can swap your mech between air and land modes and its fully 3D, it's awesome!
Playing Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, a Gamecube game, on the Tram thanks to the Odin 2 Mini. It's basically now a console Fire Emblem with the portability of the handheld Fire Emblem games, pretty nuts.
I just swapped Fire Emblem: Path of Residence and a couple of other Wii games at CEX for an Anbernic RG35XX H.
Which would be great, but I can't get the bloody thing to charge.
*ETA: it is now charging!
I don't want to jinx it, but having moved the lot to the arcade machine, everything… WORKS?!
Good grief. Still one minor bugbear: despite having the ROMs, Virtua Cop 2 and Virtua Fighter 2 don't show up on the game list in the wrapper. They're there and they work, so I dunno... I'll work it out. Plus, the Model 2 emulator flickers in full screen but is fine when it's windowed. Again... dunno. Solved the first, might have cracked the second through the joy of customisable scripts… maybe.
Now to configure controllers and finish up with screenshots to illustrate each game on the list, before trying to tackle the lightguns. Getting there!
(I also added new ambient music, so you get Ave Maria and Moonlight Sonata while you browse the games, classy)
Spent my last day off setting up the controls for all the CPS and Neo Geo games today. When I was at uni, I distinctly remember Neo Geo carts costing minimum £150 a pop from my local import shop… having played a bunch of the games today, I can't believe how. Almost all the games are utter shite.
Speakingo f Neo Geo, I was playing Metal Slug last night because of the Tactics game, the animations on those games are amazing.
Spent my last day off setting up the controls for all the CPS and Neo Geo games today. When I was at uni, I distinctly remember Neo Geo carts costing minimum £150 a pop from my local import shop… having played a bunch of the games today, I can't believe how. Almost all the games are utter shite.
Yeah, it is quite amazing isn't it? They're the kind of thing you'd play for five minutes in an arcade, having been sucked in by the graphics, but would realise that there's no depth to the gameplay.
Maybe it's just Nintendo's half-arsed attempt at their own back catalogue on Switch, but I'm constantly surprised by how good emulation on my phone is. We had this chat a few months ago in this thread, and I decided to stick with my phone (+ clip-on controller) over a Retroid Pocket.
I've just played through Twilight Princess, which blew my mind. I can remember struggling to emulate N64 on an actual gaming PC, so the fact that Gamecube now runs flawlessly on a phone is crazy.
I've just started exploring N64, using M64Plus, and it's also brilliant. It widescreens (to your phone's full screen, no matter the ratio), creates authentic N64 blur (if you want it) to hide the UI jaggies, gives you a lovely CRT glow… it's just fantastic. Banjo Kazooie and Tooie even have 60fps modes, with the tap of a button.
Admittedly the screenshot below probably looks crap on a big screen, but it's a little bit magic in motion on my phone. Click on it to expand, and zoom in on the fake CRT goodness.
It's like holding a 90s TV in your hands.
It's like holding a 90s TV in your hands.
I can't think of anything more uncomfortable.
The Playdate thread reminds me, has anyone heard of or tried the Pico-8? I know some of us will definitely know it but for those who don't: it's a made up console where people make games for it and they can't exceed a certain file size so they're all tiny. You buy the license once and you can play as many as you want for free, from decades of popular games and interpretations of games…like Poom. Most notably I believe Celeste came from here?
I wanna' try it but I don't know if I have any good consoles for it, but you can try them out on the website at least.