Analogue Pocket

[Leon Retro]

The work that Nintendo would need to do just to get N64 emulation running at a minimum 720p/30fps on SoC hardware is precisely why they won't do it, imo.

If they were able to just put the NES/SNES Mini hardware into an N64 shell, they would surely have done it by now, no? The fact that they haven't is kind of telling imo.

The original Wii has perfect emulation of most of Nintendo's first party N64 games, so maybe Nintendo's N64 emulator is so rock solid that it would run well on the SNES Mini hardware. I think the reason N64 emulation doesn't run well on something like a Pi 3B is because the emulators aren't very refined. So I think it might be all about having a solid emulator, rather than really powerful hardware. Badly made emulators are always overly demanding.

[Baseley09]

Yeah I think it's down to the individual games, you could run Mario 64 in some crusty N64 emulator (HLE? I forget) very well on a 1ghz pc in the early 2000s, but other games struggled. Being Nintendo imagine they would want it perfect, and fair enough.

[Leon Retro]

Being Nintendo imagine they would want it perfect, and fair enough.

They could just bung all their first party games on a N64 Mini and they'd save money, as well as not having to worry about third party games having technical issues on their emulator. I'd be happy with that approach.

[Arashikage]

I heard that each N64 game on Virtual Console has its own bespoke emulator rather than one that suited all games. An N64 Mini would surely have to cater to all these nuances to make each game work. Maybe it’s too much work for Nintendo to undertake when all they’d really need to release are those Mario remasters. There is a Mini replacement if ever I saw one.

[Leon Retro]

I heard that each N64 game on Virtual Console has its own bespoke emulator rather than one that suited all games.

Even if that's the case -- they were all running perfectly on the Wii. So with that in mind, it would just be a case of having hardware that can run those emulated games as well as a Wii does. And we don't know how much of the Wii's power they were using. Even less powerful hardware might be able to run Nintendo's emulated N64 games well, simply because Nintendo got the emulation spot on.

[Nu-Eclipse]

I heard that each N64 game on Virtual Console has its own bespoke emulator rather than one that suited all games. An N64 Mini would surely have to cater to all these nuances to make each game work.

This appears to be the case, and makes the whole "but the Wii can emulate N64 perfectly" argument totally irrelevant. The Wii is emulating every single VC game via custom software specification off of much more powerful hardware than the Classic Mini hardware, which is a limited SoC.

Also, N64 homebrew emulation on the Wii definitely doesn't run perfectly from the off, which is a telltale sign that Nintendo obviously did far more work on the Virtual Console software than people realise and probably explains why they eventually killed the concept off.

[Leon Retro]

This appears to be the case, and makes the whole "but the Wii can emulate N64 perfectly" argument totally irrelevant. The Wii is emulating every single VC game via custom software specification off of much more powerful hardware than the Classic Mini hardware, which is a limited SoC.

But we don't know how much of the Wii's CPU power emulated N64 games are using. It could be a small amount.

Nintendo simply tailored their N64 emulator's settings for each game, but that doesn't mean it's more demanding on the Wii hardware. No, it's just the best way to emulate N64 games.

I just feel that knowing Nintendo got their N64 library running perfectly on the original Wii, it gives me faith that they could use that knowledge and software to create an N64 mini. If we were talking about Nintendo having to build N64 emulation from scratch, then I'd understand why they might feel it's too much bother. But they can look back and know they had N64 emulation spot on ages ago.

Maybe their emulator would be too demanding for Pi 3/4 type of hardware, but we can only speculate.

[speedlolita]

Tomorrow at 4pm... Still uncertain.

[Cepp]

It's happening for me. Don't think I need the dock though and I'm going to hold out on any adapters in the hope that ROM support is added at a later date (I only have Nintendo & Sony handhelds anyway). I feel like the white model will discolour easier so I'm going for the black model.

[speedlolita]

I think if I do it'll be the black unit, dock, case and screen protector... Had a quick look on their site for a rough shipping estimate and a Mega Sg comes to about $50 so hopefully around that for shipping too. Customs will be a bitch but idk, I think it could be worth it.

[Cepp]

I'm just going to assume the worst when it comes to customs. I usually get hit these days

What I don't want, is to hold out like I did with the NT and then find out they're no longer available.

[speedlolita]

That's kinda the reason I plan to just get everything that I could see myself maybe wanting in the future. No interest in the stuff besides GB/GBA so I've no need for the cart adapters, hopefully release jailbreak firmware immediately for loading those anyway too.

[teddymeow]

Even if they could, is it even worth the hassle to make one? It's not quite NES/SNES levels of popularity and nostalgia so the market would be smaller.

Amazing!!

[Cepp]

35 minutes until pre-orders go up.

-edit-
Purchased after a slight issue with the shipping calculator. I picked up the screen protector as well.

[speedlolita]

Yeah I had to refresh on the calculator. Got the black unit, dock, screen protector, case and link cable.

$35 shipping seems reasonable.