• 2 Posts
  • 17 Comments
Joined 2 days ago
cake
Cake day: August 27th, 2025

help-circle
  • Proton must have come along in leaps and bounds since I last used it in that case.

    What front end does Bazzite use? I understood it to have Steam baked in; most of my games are from other sources, like GoG.

    I think once Steam kills support for Win 10 (probs in a year or two, based on history) the smart move is going to be something like Bazzite.


  • SuspciousCarrot78@lemmy.worldOPtoRetroGaming@lemmy.worldMy SuperPretendo5
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    16 hours ago

    The hours of tinkering, troubleshooting, and configuring were mine - not AI. The “Super Pretendo 5” exists because I built it, not because of a mockup Sega attack ad from 1993.

    If the fun wrapper offends you, that’s your hang-up, not mine. If your big move is policing how I shared my joy, congrats - you win the 'hall monitor of fake internet points" retroachivement.





  • SuspciousCarrot78@lemmy.worldOPtoRetroGaming@lemmy.worldMy SuperPretendo5
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    23 hours ago

    Windows sucks…but the M93p is old and Windows has bespoke drivers for it to coax the most out of the iGPU. The m93p really is tiny (1L case) and presents no real possibility for plugging in a GPU.

    I’ve also had really shitty luck getting stuff to run under Proton.

    Don’t worry. It’s the only thing in the house running windows. We’re all about the penguin here (Raspbian, Zorin, PopOS and a few others)

    Besides which, there’s a peverse pleasure in torturing Windows into doing what you want :)





  • SuspciousCarrot78@lemmy.worldOPtoRetroGaming@lemmy.worldMy SuperPretendo5
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    24 hours ago

    So! I have a pi4 acting as my Jellyfin, Radarr, Sonarr etc server. (I’m actually debating adding Immich and Synchthing, as well as home CCTV to it’s list of duties).

    IME, emulation on the pi is weirdly hit or miss. For example, Dreamcast (Redream) is pretty good! N64 tanks it. Zero chance for PS2 etc… but then it plays Half life and Doom 3 just fine.

    I lucked out when I got it - for what you pay for a Pi now, you’d get a lot more out of a NUC or a thinclient. Case in point: a barebones pi5 costs around $150 AUD near me. Literally just the board - no case, no power supply.

    For a $150, you could replicate the machine I got, which is orders of magnitude more powerful, with 120gb SSD, power supply etc. And only slightly more power hungry than the pi.

    I love my Pi, but that thing is like a box full of angry cats. Something about the Argon 40 case messes with it. You breath too hard near it, it drops wifi. It spontaneously decided “no RealVNC access for you - come back one year”.

    I really need to strip it back to parts and start again, but that’s a job I keep putting off, because it works well enough for what it does.

    Wouldn’t want to game on it tho; I actually think even the Google Chromecast outperforms for some stuff.



  • SuspciousCarrot78@lemmy.worldOPtoRetroGaming@lemmy.worldMy SuperPretendo5
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    2 days ago

    I’m toying around with the idea of 3D printing a case for this, in classic console style. If i can just figure out how I can incorporate some IR LEDs into the front (so that the Wiimotes work without wii light bar) and the Xbox 360 USB dongle, I’m I’m business. As with all retro projects, one thing inevitably leads to the next…


  • SuspciousCarrot78@lemmy.worldOPtoRetroGaming@lemmy.worldMy SuperPretendo5
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    2 days ago

    It had Batocera on it :)

    Batocera is wonderful, until you want to mix and match it with PC games or steam stuff. Then it makes your life more difficult than you’d expect.

    (Weirdly, I find some of the standalone emulators legitimately work better in Windows that Bato.

    Dolphin, PCSX2, PPSSPP etc are much more performant).

    Some other perks: In windows, one neat thing is being able to run multiple instances of same emulator, slightly differently.

    For example, Dolphin doesn’t allow you to enable / disable Vsync per game.

    Which means, you can have some games upscaled (but with screen tearing) or native resolution (but no screen tear)…but not both within same emulator. Think Rogue squadron etc.

    No big deal if you’re emulating on something with grunt, but when you’re using office refuse from a decade ago, every little bit helps.

    In Windows, I just create c:/dolphin1 and c:/dolphin 2, and tweak each game as needed.

    TL: DR: i’m using win 8.1 for the OS, stripped to the bone, and replaced Explorer.exe with Playnite. I genuinely think it’s a touch faster than Batocera and more maliable to PC stuff.

    PS: I also had RetroBat for a while but it was doing something or other that made a few games less performant.


  • Yeah, there’s less gold than we remember… but there is some.

    I just cannot stand to play a lot of the PS1/N64 era of games these days. Modern shooters etc have rewired my brain too much for something like Metroid Prime or TimeSplitters.

    Still, some classic do hold up, especially if you missed them the first time round and/or you can emulate them for quality of life improvements.


  • You’re not wrong about “freedom within limits” when it comes to gaming imho. Having access to everything means you/they will play nothing. Witness my Steam library :/

    But introducing artifical scarcity means you can curate the experience with them. Something small, bespoke and meaningful that you can bond over.

    As the saying goes, you can never step in the same river twice, but you can point out the best spot for others.


  • SuspciousCarrot78@lemmy.worldOPtoRetroGaming@lemmy.worldMy SuperPretendo5
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    edit-2
    2 days ago

    Made the following along the lines of the old SEGA ads back in the day, then ran it thru ChatGPT for formatting help.

    Hope this ok to share; just fun / not trying to AI spam / posting here for enjoyment.

    Super Pretendo 5 — Retro Reinvented

    Front of Box

    Logo: Super Pretendo 5™ Tagline: Don’t spend $80 to play Mario Kart. Do more with less.

    Hero art: Rico parachuting in JC2 + Mario Kart Wii chaos.

    Badges:

    1. Xbox 360, PS4 and Wiimote Ready
    2. Playnite Console UI
    3. Optimized for Wii / GC / PS2 4.PC Prestige Collection

    Back of Box

    Headline: Your old games. New life. One tiny box.

    Features:

    🎮 Console Feel – Couch-ready, controller-first, TV-native.

    🧠 Smart Power – i7-4785T + Intel HD 4600 wrung dry for HD.

    📦 Backlog Optimized & Upscaled – Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart, Shadow of the Colossus, Fallout 3, Just Cause 2 … and many more

    ✨ Switch Modes:

    • Crunchy Mode → Wii-like smoothness @ 60 FPS.

    • Cinematic Mode → 1366p sharper fidelity.

    🔧 Thrift Engineered – A$200 (~US$130) total build cost → complete console-like system.

    ≈ 3× cheaper than PS5 / Xbox Series X (~A$800).


    The Prestige Collection™

    PC Ports Tested & Couch Ready on the Super Pretendo 5

    60 FPS Locked

    • Portal 2

    • Deus Ex: Human Revolution

    • Dead Rising 2

    • Assassin’s Creed II

    • Superhot

    • Firewatch

    • Half-Life 2

    • Mass Effect 2

    30+ FPS

    • Metal Gear Solid V

    • Grand Theft Auto IV

    • Bayonetta

    • Fallout 4

    • Witcher 2

    • Bioshock Infinite

    • Dishonored

    • Prey

    … and many more


    Special Note

    Just Cause 2 → Crunchy Mode: Locked 60 FPS @ 960×540 (VSync on — 84 FPS with VSync off). Cinematic Mode: ~45 FPS @ 1366×768.


    Screenshots Panel

    Mario Kart Wii — native vs. 2× IR

    Just Cause 2 — 60 FPS wingsuit chaos

    Fallout 3 — Remastered & Upscaled, 60 FPS


    Fine Print

    Super Pretendo 5™ is a DIY build. Capable of playing thousands of retro titles + select modern/indie games from the 2015–2025 era, including Superhot, Firewatch, Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, Cult of the Lamb, and more.

    Thousands of 6th gen console classics at 2× upscale. Prestige ports tested for couch play.


    Comparison Chart

    System Cost (AUD)

    • Super Pretendo 5 ~A$200
    • Xbox 360 (2005) ~A$700
    • Nintendo Switch ~A$470
    • PS5 / Series X ~A$800

    Footer Slogan

    “Don’t spend $80 to play Mario Kart again. Do more with less.”