First stable version of Dolphin (GC) Emulator Released

[stefcep2]

Or you can buy a Gamecube for about $20..I know, I know its fun to emulate, but really for all the work and money needed to get a PC to run GC games...

BTW I hooked up my GC with component cables to my Panasonic 42 inch plasma in 16:9 progressive scan (and Dolby 5.1), and the graphics looked amazing. F-Zero GX looks next gen. Some GREAT (multiplayer especially) games on this system:

FZeroGX, Metroid 1 and 2, Mario Kart, Mario Power Tennis Mario football, Zelda Windwaker, Twighlight princess, 4 swords, Resident Evil 4 (Game of the year 2005), Waverace, 1080, Sanity's Requiem, Pikmin 2, Mario Sunshine, Star Wars (including Lego), Star Fox 1 and 2, Mario PArty, Warioware, and then you have all the EA franchises, like SSX, FIFA, Need for Speed, Maddern, Tiger Woods, Burnout.

Very under-rated the purple lunch box was!! Especially if you have a few REAL human friends that do REAL human things like physically visiting you in your home to kill some time

[tero]

finally i found a drive reading gc discs, and ripped mariokart today...
i must admit that i was a little impressed, it's looking much better then on my old tv. and runs with 95-100% of speed in 45-50fps with default settings, for other games performance tweak's are possible.
sadly controlls are better on the real thing, i wasn't able to finish first
so for a friendship's conquest i suggest the real thing...
but still a nice toy to play with, wind waker comes next
thereafter i'll try some wii games

[Arnie]

@tero

What is the make of that drive ?.

[tero]

Originally Posted by Arnie

@tero

What is the make of that drive ?.

it's a ricoh dvd/cd-rw combi drive, and an old one(>6 years).
it doesn't burn anymore, but reading disc's is still working

if you want to know the exactly name i need to connect it again,
but i guess, because of the age, it's not buyable any more
i assume the compatibility list of known working drives on the dolphin forum is well known?

[seuden]

Originally Posted by stefcep2

Especially if you have a few REAL human friends that do REAL human things like physically visiting you in your home to kill some time

I don't get what you mean.

[NewDeli]

For me, playing PS1 games on a PS2 makes the PS2 worth owning for "console retro-gaming" (let's call it that way). Buying a GC just to play those few (admit it, its catalog is far from covering every genre) titles alone in my 'computer room" is not something I would be inclined to do (at least, not until the wii or its successor offers similar backward compatibility, if you get my point).

After some more unsuccessful testing, I am under the impression Dophin devs won't pull out another big update for quite some time. What I mean by that : they don't seem to focus on such or such game in particular, which would justify having Dolphin users grab every little update to see if their requested game works better.

In other words, I am not really frustrated about the numerous poorly emulated GC games, although some seem truly great. I prefer PCSX2 approach : A blunt error msg for games with predictably 1-10 fps.

For one, with just a little more work, Super Mario Sunshine could have been so much better on the real thing. Nintendo if you read that, do what you want but don't blow your flagship product again !

About the controllers, I found out about a N64 / PC adapter :
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-...r-70-3d9o.html
May be the same stuff exists for GC ones ?

Someone has any luck with Beyond Good or Evil (the cutscenes play slooooow here) btw ?

[killergorilla]

Originally Posted by NewDeli

Not until the wii or its successor offers similar backward compatibility

Not sure what you mean.

[NewDeli]

I am hoping for Nintendo's next console to allow seamless playing of a few more GC titles (something probably made difficult because of the sole use of cartridges). Also, they should make use of their past mistakes by allowing Mario64-style 360° freedom in as many 3D games as possible (freedom in Mario Galaxy is kinda fake).

I am not familiar with the wii virtual console, it is for older 2D games, right ?

[TCD]

Originally Posted by NewDeli

I am not familiar with the wii virtual console, it is for older 2D games, right ?

It's what it says : A virtual console. Too bad you don't use Wikipedia, because otherwise you would've noticed that it supports N64 games aswell (which means 3D games).

[NewDeli]

I am more comfortable at discussing consoles native capabilites in terms of polygons count. Also I am certain "homebrew" limitations can be very intricate to determine.

Now, apart from this nice initiative (which provides a stamp of approval to retro gaming in a way since its "pay per view") the piece of hardware that I find remarkable is the classic controller (it's possible to get a normal one in stores & pro version imported from Japan). Definitely a step in the right direction.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by NewDeli

I am more comfortable at discussing consoles native capabilites in terms of polygons count. Also I am certain "homebrew" limitations can be very intricate to determine.

No, they're not 'intricate to determine'. Again, if you have no idea, best to shut it IMHO If you're going for 'capabilites in terms of polygons count' the Wii is certainly the wrong tree to bark at

[NewDeli]

I was merely trying to sound a bit nerdish . In a sense, it's good news that I don't quite succeed at it ! OK no more posts until
a. I manage to play / capture a few more Dolphin videos
b. I get suddenly enlightened about what people find so enticing about playing platformers / survival horror games with a remote control (closest thing to "games" played this way goes back to Philips CDI !)

[TCD]

Originally Posted by NewDeli

b. I get suddenly enlightened about what people find so enticing about playing platformers / survival horror games with a remote control (closest thing to "games" played this way goes back to Philips CDI !)

Ah, you're just into trying the latest emulators (which isn't really 'retrogaming' btw), rather than just going for the retro kick on the Wii (which is rather pointless since you're using an emulator anyway ). Using an emulator to try games that are native to the platform, but are available in a 'better' version for another platform doesn't make any sense, no

[killergorilla]

Originally Posted by NewDeli

I am hoping for Nintendo's next console to allow seamless playing of a few more GC titles (something probably made difficult because of the sole use of cartridges). Also, they should make use of their past mistakes by allowing Mario64-style 360° freedom in as many 3D games as possible (freedom in Mario Galaxy is kinda fake).

I am not familiar with the wii virtual console, it is for older 2D games, right ?

what?

which console uses cartridges?

and what don't you like about the wii being able to play gc games?

[NewDeli]

Originally Posted by killergorilla

which console uses cartridges?

The GC drive reads non-ISO-compliant miniDVDs, doesn't it ?

Originally Posted by killergorilla

what don't you like about the wii being able to play gc games?

My first assumption is that the PS2 DVD drive can take most if not all of the PS1 CDs without a hitch whereas it would be more hit & miss with the wii / GC pair.
From noticing how such "simple" games such as Mario Tennis are hardly rendered by Dolphin, I assume that that "thing" in the wii which allows to play GC games must not be in a much more advanced phase.
I mean, if it was the case, Dolphin team would use the supplementental routines to improve their code right away, wouldn't they ?
As pointed out TCD, this is speculative meandering, I never saw a wii in action.

@arnie
Some discussion on afterdawn about PC drives that would read GC discs.

[tero]

Originally Posted by NewDeli

The GC drive reads non-ISO-compliant miniDVDs, doesn't it ?

non-standard dvd's are still dvd's, and my ricoh drive is older then the gc - so i guess it's not that different (or nintendo recycled an old format)

[TCD]

Originally Posted by NewDeli

From noticing how such "simple" games such as Mario Tennis are hardly rendered by Dolphin, I assume that that "thing" in the wii which allows to play GC games must not be in a much more advanced phase.
I mean, if it was the case, Dolphin team would use the supplementental routines to improve their code right away, wouldn't they ?

, just

[NewDeli]

I know TCD, I've overcome myself once more !

@tero
I might create a separate thread to discuss PCSX2 benefits and shortcomings. Thanx for the valuable info & testing in this one.

[Hewitson]

NewDeli, you are a moron. Firstly, the Wii plays Gamecube games absolutely perfectly.

Secondly, how could they use the routines? The Wii firmware isn't open source, you know.

As someone else pointed out you can buy a GC for $20. Why bother with a shitty emulator, anyway..

[killergorilla]

@Del

I'm astounded.

The Wii does indeed play gc games perfectly.

And I still have no idea why you mentioned 'sole use of cartridges'