I wanna get a low end emulator for my younger sis. All I nwwd is up to GBA, enough for some pokemon and Mario games, maybe Kirby too.

I’m fine with pre loaded ROMs and those shitty “(insert number) in one” type devices

Budget is as cheap as possible.

What can I get?

  • Essence_of_Meh@kayb.ee
    3·
    9 months ago

    I probably can’t help with the hardware part but want to clarify just in case:

    • are you looking for an officially licensed one or just anything? I’m guessing the latter based on the “cheap” requirement?
    • are you looking for a gift or just a way for her to play those games?
    • if it’s the latter, does she have a smartphone? any budget phone will easily handle this kind of emulation so she could just use that
    • sleepybisexual@beehaw.orgOP
      3·
      9 months ago

      Literally any device. Mainly as a gift, she has a phone but that phone is very restricted. I wanna get her a device that will be less restricted

    • Corroded@leminal.spaceEnglish
      1·
      9 months ago

      I feel like the Miyoo Mini is a bit overhyped at this point. The original had a nice size and feel to it, solid custom firmware with GarlicOS, and lots of fan made physical add-ons like stickers and 3D printed cases to personalize your device but you can’t really buy it anymore and while there is the Plus variant that added WiFi that sounds a bit overkill for what OP wants.

  • raptir@lemdro.idEnglish
    2·
    9 months ago

    Are you talking about something you hook up to the TV? A raspberry pi is a great option but you need to provide your own games. It’s just going to be the most flexible for playing whatever game you want. There are a couple distros for it that are easy to use once setup (retropi, recalbox). An RPi 3 or newer will do anything lighter than N64.

  • DosDude👾@retrolemmy.com
    2·
    9 months ago

    There’s loads of options. All depending on your budget

    Abernic RG351V is currently a nice low price, for a 351 device. It can play up to psx flawlessly and handheld it could play up to DS, but it is not recommended for obvious reasons.

    Other abernic devices might also work. I have the RG351MP myself, and am very happy with the build quality.

    Take a look at this video for some recommendations released last year from first had experience from a guy who plays on a lot of these devices. His channel should be your go-to stop for any retro handheld devices.

  • Corroded@leminal.spaceEnglish
    2·
    9 months ago

    !sbcgaming@retrolemmy.com and !sbcgaming@lemmy.ml are communities that would be great for this kind of thing.

    YouTuber RetroGamesCorp is pretty popular in the community and he’s got a video with his favorite devices of 2023 that has a section for budget handhelds. He recommends the R36S. It will get you up to PSX smoothly.

    In may of last year people were talking about a device called the DataFrog SF2000 which was incredibly cheap at $25. It has screen tearing and slow down for GBA games. I haven’t heard anything about it in a while so I don’t know if a custom firmware was ever released to fix some of these issues.

    One other thing you might want to look into is picking up something like a DS Lite and flashcart because at that point you can play all NES, GBA, and DS games.

    I would 100% steer clear of any of those 100 in 1 devices. Most of the time they are limited to NES games. Once you are tired of the few games they can play it’s basically E-waste. At least with these other devices you can add games.

    • sleepybisexual@beehaw.orgOP
      2·
      9 months ago

      Oh. I thought the datafrog could run GBA :c

      I’m not looking for anything good cos I have a retroid pocket 4 pro on the way. Just was considering somsthting for my lil sis

      • sleepybisexual@beehaw.orgOP
        2·
        9 months ago

        I remember I used to have one of those 400 in own famiclones it kidna sucked. But my sis liked it lol.

        Hmm, maybe I should get a powkiddy thing

        • Corroded@leminal.spaceEnglish
          1·
          9 months ago

          I think it depends on how long you think she’d actually use it. If it’s for a couple months you could go for something like the Powkiddy V90 (the device people call a GBA SP clone) but if she’s not shutting it off properly it can corrupt the SD card. You could still get the Datafrog and it might be good enough especially for Pokemon.

          Anything is better than those 100 in 1 devices.

          • sleepybisexual@beehaw.orgOP
            1·
            9 months ago

            Yea, she’s probably corrupt it in minutes, that or fond a way to break it.

            Also of I got a v90 I’d wind up keeping it.

            Datafrog or just an app on her phone seems like the best idea