Phredreeke

Not every day you get a reply to a 4.5 year old forum post Maybe what we need is a generation between the 2nd and 3rd? I think we're stuck at the current numbering though. Example Generation 2: Fairchild VES/Channel F, RCA Studio II, Atari 2600, Magnavox Odyssey 2, 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System and clones, Bally Astrocade, Intellivision Generation 2.5: Colecovision, Atari 5200, Vectrex, Arcadia 2001, the Intellivision III would end up here had it actually been finished and released Generation 3: NES, Master System, Atari 7800

the virtual machine is not doing the translation (if it did it would be an emulator, not just a virtual machine), the translation is done on Microsoft's end, which is why you need to make an initial download for each game before you can play them. even ignoring xbox games running in kernel mode (the virtualization layer could make up for that I would think) there's the issue of differing GPUs. (it's 2015 and there's still little progress on emulating the original Xbox on PC)

As said previously, your best shot for emulators are getting Linux versions (no problem for most systems. Saturn may be as the best emulator is closed source and Windows only. Similarly you'll be limited to Mupen64 for N64 emulation, which may prevent you from playing some games that only runs on Project64) Wine (a compatibility layer for Windows software) may be an option for some emulators and games that does not have Linux versions available.

It won't, the original Xbox was nowhere as successful as the Xbox 360, in addition to being an additional generation behind. (BC is beneficial as it lets people trade in their old systems to pay for the new one, while still being able to keep their existing games) In addition, the original Xbox used an nVidia GPU as opposed to the AMD GPU in the Xbone (and unlike a PC, where games access the GPU through an API, 1st gen Xbox games would access the GPU directly) as well as running games in kernel mode. (bad for security, although the Xbone virtualization model may be able to deal with it) The Xbox 360 emulator for Xbox One isn't really an emulator in the sense we think of it either, it's more akin to the iOS simulator used for iOS development. The Xbone does not run PPC code, it downloads an x86 version of each game instead.

That's arguable. Since the emulator Hyperkin stole used is known we can tell what games have problems at least for SNES. The libretro wiki lists 15 problem titles. Admittedly that's pretty good considering the SNES has something like 3000 games for it.

I'm looking at it from the opposite perspective, as it may discourage future emulator developers to making their source code public. Personally I'm not against paid emulation as long as the emulator itself have been legitimately acquired (although I would prefer an enhanced port, as with Sonic 2 on Android) SNES9X have been developed by so many people over the years that it is just not feasible. The other options are ZSNES but then you have to use x86 hardware (not to mention the emulation quality is worse) and higan but then hardware requirements shoots in the roof (this is by no means a criticism of byuu's work, accuracy naturally demands more of the host system)

Just because you're not charging for the emulators does not mean it is not considered commercial use. The GPL only applies when distributing software, so unless your users are also distributors they are off the hook.

They can't. ZSNES is written in x86 assembly, while Retron 5 has an ARM CPU.

Nah, it's more like someone asking for money behind her back, when she would have done it for free.

and you're assuming a chipset and an emulator are the same? AFAIK no one owns the "rights" to the NOAC chip, meaning any factory can produce one, and any company can use it in their product. An emulator is owned by its developer(s). Depending on the license, a manufacturer may or may not be allowed to use it in their product. For example, FCEU and VBA-M are licensed under GPL, meaning Hyperkin would have been perfectly fine to use them as long as they provide source code. (they would also have to include source code for their frontend, as it would have been considered part of the same work) SNES9X and Genesis Plus GX have non-commercial licenses. You can't bundle them with your product, even if it's included "for free".

Exactly. You don't write an emulator in a day, much less five. You can find emulators for most systems that are licensed under GPL (requires releasing modified source code and including the license, but allows for commercial use) SNES is problematic though, because the SNES9X license does not allow for commercial use, ZSNES is licensed under GPL but is coded in x86 assembly so it's not an option on the ARM-based CPU used in the Retron 5 (and its emulation is subpar compared to SNES9X and Higan) and Higan is licensed under GPLv3 but has too high system requirements for a cheap SoC as the one used in Retron 5. The best (legal) choice would be licensing SuperGNES I think. There's a similar problem with the SEGA systems, as Genesis Plus GX has a license that doesn't allow for commercial use, as with SNES9X.

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?52092-looking-for-Retron-5-hack-to-play-Roms&p=772664&viewfull=1#post772664 It seems that Hyperkin have stolen at least one of the emulators used by the console.

Actually, the Wii's component video is supposedely inferior to that of the GameCube.

As with previous handheld generation, Sony decided to compete on specs, while Nintendo decided to sell their handheld on a gimmick. Here's the thing, the evolution of mobile chipsets have gone crazy fast (Apple's A7 SoC is close to twice as powerful as the previous generation) so PS Vita is no longer the powerhouse it once was.

Here's the thing, PS4 and Xbox One aren't sold on what they offer right now, but on their future potential.