Blaze Sega consoles....

See now I can't play PC based emulation, it just doesn't seem right.... I play on my Neogeo X even though there are cheaper ways to do it because it seems more correct.

A Sega version would have the same effect on me I reckon.

 

Why? The NeoGeo X is just another emulator. It's not a SoC.

 

-_- oh man, it's mostly to do with the fact that -for example- I wouldn't want to play say, a Dreamcast game on a PSP; it doesn't feel right, the d-pad and analog aren't designed for those sort of games and it can get quite cumbersome playing emulation on those kinds of devices....

The Neo Geo X is just an example of how (as close to) the original control method and hardware make a difference to how I play a system, I'm sure there are many gamers like this (albeit, none on this forum) I was just referring to this as a reference point, I'd like to see a Sega emulated system (exclusive to Sega games past and present) on an Android based platform with a half-way point controller like say, the Saturn 3D pad that would be good for 2D games (Sonic, SOR ect) and good for 3D games too (JSR, PSO et al) it would, of course be an emulation system but hopefully be able to do it more competently than other systems in the same category.

I guess the Ouya is the based example of the vision I'm thinking of, think this but licensed by Sega to play JUST Sega games from a dedicated marketplace where you could download Master System, Game Gear, Mega Drive, Dreamcast and even Sega phone titles and contemporary efforts like Sonic 4.

 

Like I said not in this lifetime will we see Saturn emulation on an ARM based device, which I think would ruin the whole theme

Also you gotta think about not just Sega but all the developers over the years, you need their permission too! SNK had most if not all of their games first party so they can have all of the games on that device with no hassle.

 

Regarding the "emulators don't feel like the real thing" argument, I do agree, but I think it's only noticeable to someone who's very experienced with the original systems. I mean, the machines I'm really used to do feel different to me under emulation (though I'm not saying that's not just in my mind), but with machines that I never owned, but played on my friend's versions back in the day (i.e. the SNES and the Megadrive), I don't 'feel' or see any difference to what I remember being produced on their (my friends) real consoles. And when emulating a system who's real hardware I've never used, then of course I have nothing to compare the emulation to, so to me the question is moot.

 

I'm super experienced with the Sega Genesis and I have to say the emulator I run (Kega Fusion) is pretty much spot on. It emulates pretty much every console up through the Genesis/ CD/ 32X era. It can even run a physical CD game from the CD drive if PC is so equipped. I love it. Another good one is Gens. I use the modified one for my TAS stuff. (Tool Assisted Speed-run) Haven't done that in forever...

If the creator of the emulator knows what they're doing then the emulation can be spot on. Kega Fusion has been around since the days of DOS and has been refined so much I don't think much is left to improve on it. I've never had any sort of compatibility issues with it. It can even record game play videos straight from the video feed out of the emulated CPU. (Or maybe it comes from the emulated video encoder chip. The RGB out lines of the Sony video chip perhaps?) Video will play back in Windows if you install the included video codec for the type that it records in.

I'd use it more if not for the fact I have a shitload of Sega Genesis sitting around with an Everdrive MD cart for the games.

Now for something to emulate the Sega CD drive system for using game images on it...

 

So you prefer to use the Megadrive with your Everdrive cart?

 

I use Kega Fusion. Great emulator. You get great resolutions and many options for configuring the screen and graphics setup. I use an x-arcade stick setup but you can buy genesis pc clone controllers. Of course you are working with roms, so it's a meta based system without a physical connection, which means you only focus on the gameplay and lose a portion of the retro experience. For example, the Lynx emulator for the PSP is great, but cannot match the retro Lynx screen with it's antiquated lcd screen which actually works well with the graphics of that era.

Kega Fusion brings out the best in the 32x games by scaling them to higher resolutions and faster frame rate. Beats playing emulators on the dreamcast.

 

I'm rather limited on space so that is the better option for the games. Not to mention I like playing many of the hacked games I have on real hardware. More nostalgic for me. After all, I grew up on the Genesis so...

 

I think you can't beat playing as close to the original format as possible, I'd sooner use a Blaze Megadrive if I had no access to a Sega version than use a PC.

 

I'm going to have to call you extremely wrong on the "never in this lifetime" in regards to ARM devices - they're the fastest developing chips in computing, rapidly moving into Intel's desktop territory, never mind the territory of systems a few years back which were already capable of running SSF. I suspect we'll see ARM chips capable of running a Saturn emu within 5 years, considering the improvements which have been made already.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/546?vs=453

There's a very brief comparison between single threaded performance of a phone from 3 years ago to a chip that isn't even the best on the market anymore. And that new chip comes in quad core flavours, too.

 

But the Saturn was an inherently inefficient design that was overly complicated, while ARM CPUs tend to not even have half the number of transistors of other CPU architectures for the sole purpose of being efficient and power saving and to produce as little heat as possible which is why it has such a good track record on embedded devices, and it's true that ARM is the fastest developing architecture but it's still suited to doing embedded tasks not desktop tasks, much less the emulation of a system with 2 CPUs and 2 VDPs plus a sound chip and a 68K sound controller all with their own separate RAM (Although don't quote me on the Saturn's use of RAM because I'm not entirely sure ).

And I don't think ARM is catching up to x86 at all, maybe they are getting more cores and breaking through the GHz but I'd still say that it wouldn't be up to running something as complex as Windows NT for example, plus the fact that x86 too is always improving.

 

x

 

Windows for ARM is RT which is a different kernel which is optimized for ARM and can use Windows libraries, as opposed to a straight port of NT.

And it is true the x86 development is declining however that is not due to the ARM CPU being superior it's just that the market is shifting more to smartphones and tablets now, all of which use ARM, however the point being made is that x86 is still superior for emulation and I don't believe that ARM is well suited to emulating something like the Saturn for the reasons from my last post.