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jrb363

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 17, 2011
43
0
How well do the new MacBook Air laptops run emulators, specifically Dolphin? (Gamecube and Wii games)

What's the highest playable (~20FPS) resolution it can run games at? Thanks!:confused:
 
I'm interested in this as well.

What emulators are there on Mac for Game Boy Colour, Game Boy Advance and Game Gear? Haven't heard of any emulator except for Dolphin.
 
Any specific games you wanted tested? I can try this out for you on my 2013 13" i5/8GB Air.
 
Any specific games you wanted tested? I can try this out for you on my 2013 13" i5/8GB Air.

interested also. if you have the time.. would appreciate you testing out the pcsx2 (ps2 emu), as i would love to revisit final fantasy 12. with my hd 3000 mba, it lags a lot.
 
Just tried Super Smash Bros. Melee on Dolphin 3.5 and it runs amazing! Almost a solid 60fps the entire game running fullscreen at 1440x900.


Also tried Luigi's Mansion. Runs at a steady 30fps, seems to be capped? Some scenes are straight 60fps while most of the game runs at 30fps. It's smooth for sure.


Running a tick or two above 50% brightness, I got expected battery life of around 3 hours.

interested also. if you have the time.. would appreciate you testing out the pcsx2 (ps2 emu), as i would love to revisit final fantasy 12. with my hd 3000 mba, it lags a lot.
Yeah, I can definitely try that for you. Give me a bit to get the emulator and the game and I'll post the results!

Edit: actually, I'm having trouble getting pcsx2 to work. I have it and X11 and the graphics plugin installed, but when I choose a BIOS (any BIOS, I've tried a bunch) it just kind of becomes really slow. Have you gotten this to work under OS X? I do plan on installing Windows through Boot Camp eventually but haven't done it yet.
 
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Yeah, I can definitely try that for you. Give me a bit to get the emulator and the game and I'll post the results!

Edit: actually, I'm having trouble getting pcsx2 to work. I have it and X11 and the graphics plugin installed, but when I choose a BIOS (any BIOS, I've tried a bunch) it just kind of becomes really slow. Have you gotten this to work under OS X? I do plan on installing Windows through Boot Camp eventually but haven't done it yet.

sorry, forgot to mention that i do indeed have it running via bootcamp, since i figured it'd be more optimized with windows. i don't think the mac version has been updated in a while. i believe it's still in alpha

are you guys using gamepads/controllers to play these games?

yes. i use an xbox 360 controller since it's plug and play when it comes to most pc games. with my logitech, i had to install an additional software. you could also use a ps3 controller with the motioninjoy or xpadder software.
 
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yes it'll work. i have an older version, and that worked well.

this is what i use now. works real well, comfortable, and got it for $14 at toys r us:

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Mini-Pro-Controller-Wired/dp/B005761CFO

thanks for the info.

I actually ended up going with the Xbox USB receiver (it's $20 on Amazon and a knock off but apparently it works well with Macs and Mountain Lion). I'd rather use wireless and I have two wireless xbox controllers that have been collecting dust for the last three years since my xbox died.

Can't wait!
 
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wow! didn't know we can run emulators!

will be getting a joystick soon!

Are all joysticks plug and play? Or only those made for the xbox?
 
MacBook Air running emulators

Here's my experience. Keep in mind that Windows performance is always much better, so consider playing on Boot Camp instead.

Dolphin - The OS X version does not support mouse input properly. Good luck getting past the main menu in Super Mario Galaxy. SMG2 runs at 50-60 fps under Windows and that is considered to be one of the most demanding Wii games.

MAME - hilariously there's no well-maintained MAME frontend. Apparently the OpenEmu guys are trying to get it working (current dev releases arent usable) but it is shocking that theres no decent MAME client anywhere.
 
Here's my experience. Keep in mind that Windows performance is always much better, so consider playing on Boot Camp instead.

Dolphin - The OS X version does not support mouse input properly. Good luck getting past the main menu in Super Mario Galaxy. SMG2 runs at 50-60 fps under Windows and that is considered to be one of the most demanding Wii games.

MAME - hilariously there's no well-maintained MAME frontend. Apparently the OpenEmu guys are trying to get it working (current dev releases arent usable) but it is shocking that theres no decent MAME client anywhere.

I suspected this and am installing Windows because of this post :)
 
Thanks for this thread. I intended to do some light Gamecube gaming, great to see it'll probably work just great for my needs/expectations!

I read that Haswell had a great boost in IPC processing, which drives Dolphin for a great part. Awesome.
 
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