I’ve been considering my options for a living room, couch gaming/emulation system for a while. I want something with a mid tier GPU for anything remotely modern that I might want to play there… My criteria for couch gaming vs desktop is whether it’s easier/better to play the game with a controller… One example would be driving/flight sims, the analog controls are generally better than mouse/kb… The only way desktop wins in that scenario is if you own a driving sim wheel/hotas for your desktop, otherwise, gamepad is generally better for the fine controls.
I don’t generally play a lot of driving/flight sims, but it’s a good example.
Anyways. The primary focus is on console exclusive games via emulation, specifically retro stuff. SNES/N64/Genesis/etc. Maybe to stuff as new as the Wii? IDK. But being able to play other PC titles would be helpful.
I’m thinking about a fair high clock speed, fairly recent CPU with a fair amount of memory. IMO, clock speed is more important so the reaction times of the emulation is minimized. I don’t think emulators can really take good advantage of multi threading.
My main issue is that any systems that fit the bill are super expensive. Something small/compact, with a high clock CPU, and something for graphics better than integrated… It’s not easy to find something like that for cheap.
It’s not something I would use all the time, so it’s not really very high on my priority list.
You can get a knock off dock for about $25, and a non-OLED deck is $400. Minimal setup to get. Emulators running, and the whole thing is portable if you want to relocate to a different room / a buddy’s house / a projector in the backyard.
I’ve been considering my options for a living room, couch gaming/emulation system for a while. I want something with a mid tier GPU for anything remotely modern that I might want to play there… My criteria for couch gaming vs desktop is whether it’s easier/better to play the game with a controller… One example would be driving/flight sims, the analog controls are generally better than mouse/kb… The only way desktop wins in that scenario is if you own a driving sim wheel/hotas for your desktop, otherwise, gamepad is generally better for the fine controls.
I don’t generally play a lot of driving/flight sims, but it’s a good example.
Anyways. The primary focus is on console exclusive games via emulation, specifically retro stuff. SNES/N64/Genesis/etc. Maybe to stuff as new as the Wii? IDK. But being able to play other PC titles would be helpful.
I’m thinking about a fair high clock speed, fairly recent CPU with a fair amount of memory. IMO, clock speed is more important so the reaction times of the emulation is minimized. I don’t think emulators can really take good advantage of multi threading.
My main issue is that any systems that fit the bill are super expensive. Something small/compact, with a high clock CPU, and something for graphics better than integrated… It’s not easy to find something like that for cheap.
It’s not something I would use all the time, so it’s not really very high on my priority list.
Steam Deck + Docking station.
You can get a knock off dock for about $25, and a non-OLED deck is $400. Minimal setup to get. Emulators running, and the whole thing is portable if you want to relocate to a different room / a buddy’s house / a projector in the backyard.