Hey all,
My daughter desperately wants a gameboy for Christmas and I don't have much time left to act! I don't mind her having such a device, but it seems a terrible waste to pay all that money for a dedicated handheld device + expensive software that will not help her in any other aspect of her life.
So...what I am considering is buying her a CXX0 clamshell model and using it along with a game emulator. I've heard this works VERY well with these models , however the only thing I've ever tried to get an emulator running on was a SL-5500 and I only had a marginal success with that project.
Before anyone says "do a search before posting" - I did. I've spent hours reading, but from my previous experience there is a HUGE difference between an emulator that "works" and one that "works well" or most importantly "works the BEST". I need to know a few things, and I need to know them quickly as it will be hard to both buy and get the emulater and roms setup for her before Christmas Day and my search results are super-ambigous and contradictory.
Here's the questions I need answered:
Bear in mind that I'm most interested in Nintendo/Snes/Gameboy and/or Gameboy Color games. We own over 60 Nintendo/Snes games already and I'm willing to buy used Gameboy games from Ebay etc. if we find games we like but don't have to keep myself legal, so I'm not trying to do anything illegal etc. (My opinion on this sort of thing is very well known. I'm dedicated to the free software concept, but pirating software/roms/code and not paying for the license is NOT the way to acheive our goals!)
1. What is the best and the most compatible (video and sound and playability) emulator available for the above games? Please include what ROM's it will run on.
2. Is there a real difference (in terms of Emulator performance) when choosing to buy a Clamshell Model? Does the C860 really play the games better/easier or would it be pointless to pay the extra instead of getting a C750/760 etc?
3. Is there a real difference in the terms of ROMS when choosing a platform to run the emulator on? pdaXrom? Cacko? Stock Sharp? please also include release versions.
4. What is the EASIEST emulator to get up and running for the average Joe? (Please include a value of 1 - 10 with !0 being the easiest to indicate how easy it is to get it up and running.)
5. Can you please provide a specific link to the emulator of your choice? Can you please provide a link to a "How-To" to setup and install this emulator?
6. Can you please provide me with a link to where I may download the Game Roms? (This would not be a copyright infringement in my case since I already own the games I'm interested in for the "snes/nes" and will buy any of the gameboy games etc. needed to keep me legal if you doubt me, you have an open inviation to come to my house and check.) If you're not comfortable with posting that info here please PM me or email me.
Also as an alternate, is there a way I can pull the rom code from the game cartridges I have? what hardware would I need to do that etc?
THIS WAS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM I HAD BEFORE- finding and downloading the actual ROM's for the games.
7. Should I broaden my scope of Game sources for the emulator? What other gaming platforms have you found that work well emulated on the clamshells?
Please do NOT be afraid to inject your OPINIONS! I WANT your opinions. I realize I will probably get a variety of answers, but your opinions are what I'm after- the facts have failed me already! =)
Please feel free to ramble on including any other info you wish to include that may help me achieve my goal. My problem here is not in finding information on emulaters and their performance/use on the clamshells, rather, the problem is that I'M DROWNING IN IT! Anything you can do to help me pare it down and come up with a timely solution is welcomed.
Thank you in advance!
-NeuroShock
dan@n0spamdanzweb.com
(remove the 'n0spam' before emailing please!)
PS- I posted this here because of the questions concerning which CXX0 to purchase/use. I have also posted in "software'. If anyone becomes offended because of "crossposting" issues MODERATOR please feel free to delete this post and accept my sincere apologies- I simply want to put it in front of the most amount of Forum readers in the least amount of time and it clearly crosses two Forum Topic areas. If I posted only here, our Software Guru's may never see it- likewise if I posted it only there no CXX0 owners may never have seen it. Thank you for your understanding.