NES/SNES emulator on a big screen

[slag]

I'm going to be stuck home with my two oldest boys, 7 and 10, tomorrow due to school being snowed out. I'd like to fire up some old classics and play them on the 62 inch tv via an emulator on my htpc. What emulators will have the best graphics when displayed at a higher resolution on the big screen, or should I just keep it the standard resolution and blow it up big?

It will probably be games like mario, zelda, etc.. stuff like that.

 

[darkewaffle]

Aside from some antialiasing and texture tricks they don't really change much. It varies game by game, but personally I like the original look in many titles as the texture enhancements usually are overpowering and lack depth. It's easy to turn on and off though, so no harm giving it a try.

Also ZSNES or snes9x have pretty much always been the premier SNES emulators, NES has a bit more of a selection but they really don't differ all that much.

 

[Anubis]

i always used snes9x for SNES games and jNES for NES games

there are lots of others

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_game_console_emulators


anyway there is only so much that can be done to make them look alright on a 1080p screen

 

[LumbergTech]

the right version of zsnes with the right filter on and it will look great

 

[lord_emperor]

Another vote for SNES9X, you can choose a fairly high resolution and apply a lot of image processing effects which really improve things.

 

[Barfo]

Don't forget to enable scanlines for that retro look.

 

[slag]

Thanks. Was stuck at home not only with a 2nd and 4th grader, but my 3 year old was sick, so I held him nearly all day. Didn't get a chance to play nintendo games, but will try this weekend some.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I have to say that the biggest thing to make the experience enjoyable is to have good quality controllers for the PC. There are several USB based systems which let you even connect the original NES and SNES controllers. Can't get more authentic feel than that....

Personally, I just connect my original NES or SNES up to play the games. I use the upscaller in my pre-processor, and it still looks good on the 46" TV I have.

 

[Throckmorton]

I use SNES9X. Play with the image modes until you find one that looks good. Of course, you should keep it at the right aspect ratio instead of stretching to the wide screen ratio.

 

[Nizology]

I have to say that the biggest thing to make the experience enjoyable is to have good quality controllers for the PC. There are several USB based systems which let you even connect the original NES and SNES controllers. Can't get more authentic feel than that....

Personally, I just connect my original NES or SNES up to play the games. I use the upscaller in my pre-processor, and it still looks good on the 46" TV I have.

Speaking of...RetroUSB is the source for this. Great site for either buying usb modded original controllers or buying the chip/cord kit and modding your own controller. In my case, I wanted a challenge so I went the retrokit route. As long you have some basic soldering skills (there's even a great video tutorial by a hottie on there) and a controller you want to mod (I purchased an authentic NES one off ebay for $7), this is an easy and satisfyingly fun project. Planning on doing this with my original Super Advantage as well.

 

[Throckmorton]

For SNES I use a Wii Classic controller with a Mayflash USB adapter

http://www.amazon.com/Wii-Classic-Co.../dp/B003711698

 

[lord_emperor]

I use a "modded" Xbox (original) controller. The hack-ish mod that involves splicing it to a normal USB cable.

Still the most comfortable controller I've found.

 

[slag]

I use a "modded" Xbox (original) controller. The hack-ish mod that involves splicing it to a normal USB cable.

Still the most comfortable controller I've found.

I have a ton of extra xbox controllers.. well, like 8 total, so i will probably do that. have a link?

 

[MentalIlness]

The only controller I use for emulation is the Afterglow 360 Controller. Works perfect so far for all the NES / SNES / Genesis games I have played. And that list contains about 75 games.

Works just as good as the original controllers would on a television.

 

[lord_emperor]

I have a ton of extra xbox controllers.. well, like 8 total, so i will probably do that. have a link?

http://fury-tech.com/en/Guides/Xbox-Controller-Pc-Conversion-Mod/

 

[BlueWeasel]

The only controller I use for emulation is the Afterglow 360 Controller. Works perfect so far for all the NES / SNES / Genesis games I have played. And that list contains about 75 games.

Works just as good as the original controllers would on a television.

But don't you have to use Xpadder or Joy2key for the 360 controller to work in the emulators?

 

[Soundmanred]

But don't you have to use Xpadder or Joy2key for the 360 controller to work in the emulators?

None of them I use need additional software, most have joystick/pad support.

 

[MentalIlness]

But don't you have to use Xpadder or Joy2key for the 360 controller to work in the emulators?

Nope. Only thing I use is the controller driver from Microsoft to get the Afterglow controller to work. Well, be recognized.

It just "works"

I have read about xpadder before though. But dont use it. Its basically plug and play.

 

[Soundmanred]

Xpadder isn't free anymore either...

 

[MentalIlness]

Its ok. They can keep it.

For anyone that is interested, Jnes06 and Snes9x the Xbox 360 "Afterglow" controller dont need it. It works fine. So I am assuming the regular 360 controller does as well.

Latest for both programs.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I use a PS2 USB adapter. Works great for anything I want to use a controller for. Personally never cared for the Xbox style controllers. PS2 is close enough to the NES/SNES for me

 

[Pia]

Low res graphics look best on a HDTV if you scale up by the largest possible integer factor and then apply fake scanlines. You should look for an emulator that allows these two things.

The various filters (other than fake scanline) only make things worse when you have proper scaling. They might marginally help if you are stretching the picture to fullscreen, but that doesn't make sense unless the display is incredibly small.

 

[Throckmorton]

Here's another gamepad option. The layout is like the PS3, so the dpad is right where you want it for SNES/NES

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/gaming/controllers/devices/7360

 

[MentalIlness]

 

[BlueWeasel]

Its ok. They can keep it.

For anyone that is interested, Jnes06 and Snes9x the Xbox 360 "Afterglow" controller dont need it. It works fine. So I am assuming the regular 360 controller does as well.

Latest for both programs.

Thanks for the info. I had no idea that the 360 controller could be used in these programs. I thought they were still using the older DirectInput instead of the newer XInput that the 360 gamepad uses.