[HN Gopher] Odroid-Go Super: $80 Games Console That Looks Like a...
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Odroid-Go Super: $80 Games Console That Looks Like a Switch, but
Runs Ubuntu
Author : boramalper
Score : 141 points
Date : 2021-01-15 08:07 UTC (14 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (forum.odroid.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (forum.odroid.com)
| rjsw wrote:
| I have a GP2X [1], which is a similar form factor.
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GP2X
| rootsudo wrote:
| Wow, I can't believe it first came out 15 years ago. How is it
| holding up?
| kchr wrote:
| Same here, love it!
| 5560675260 wrote:
| This looks really interesting.
|
| What would be the best way to get notified about Odroid's
| release? Besides monitoring their forums.
| schmappel wrote:
| I just went ahead and set up a Google Alert:
| https://www.google.com/alerts
| yboris wrote:
| Slightly related, _PiStation_ : Looks Like PS2, runs Raspberry Pi
|
| https://www.tomshardware.com/news/raspberry-pi-playstation-2...
| intsunny wrote:
| I wish these systems would have six action buttons on the right
| hand side. Perfect for N64 emulation.
| kop316 wrote:
| In a nostolgic way, it reminds me of my Playstation Portable I
| had. This was before I could afford a smart phone, and I was able
| to run homebrew on it.
|
| I actually really miss that. Aside from playing games, I could
| check email, use a web browser, play music, basically most things
| you would want to do with a smart phone. I also was in school
| that was blanketed with WiFi, so I effectively never lost access
| to the internet with it.
| nknealk wrote:
| I remember my first introduction to the hacking scene was
| installing custom firmware on the PSP. It allowed over clocking
| the processor to 333mhz which made god of war run smoothly
| kop316 wrote:
| Maybe I should buy one again. I sold that one (I think I made
| money on it too...) When I got a smart phone because I could
| do everything that the PSP could do on a smartphone. But...I
| do miss having it.
| imtringued wrote:
| The hardware looks impressive but it worries me that the first
| photo is basically just showing off a bunch of emulators. Why not
| show off more legitimate ways of playing games on it? I
| personally have never used steam big picture mode but it feels
| like it would be a good fit.
| manyxcxi wrote:
| I couldn't find the exact specs in the post, but it's most
| likely unable to run Steam because of the processor in use. If
| you're not familiar the screen shots are of a very popular
| emulation front-end called Emulation Station.
|
| Related, a few years back I got in the hobby of building
| Raspberry Pi (Zero, 3, and 4) into Gameboy (original gen 1)
| shells. Economies of scale sure are nice, because even the raw
| materials for building one cost me more than $80.
|
| EDIT: I found the specs (or someone quoting specs) and it looks
| like it is comparable to Raspberry Pi Zero and does not have
| wireless. That would make things like Steamlink a non-starter.
| CameronNemo wrote:
| I am pretty sure it is not comparable to the RPI zero. The
| SoC this is based on is Rockchip rk3326. Dual core A35 @ 1GHz
| each, g31 (bifrost) GPU. RPI zero uses the older arm11 cores.
| [deleted]
| sneak wrote:
| Emulation is legitimate.
| DCKing wrote:
| > Why not show off more legitimate ways of playing games on it?
|
| While emulation gets a bad rap because of rampant piracy
| involved with it for most people, it's the piracy that makes it
| illegitimate and not emulation itself. There's nothing about
| emulation that requires piracy - e.g. Nintendo Switch Online
| has NES and SNES emulation without piracy. You _can_ also dump
| cartridges [1] or buy legal ROMs [2] to play on this Odroid
| [3].
|
| I understand the confusion, but please do be careful to speak
| about piracy when you mean to speak about piracy. Emulation is
| a technically interesting exercise that allows for the
| preservation and transformation of old video games.
|
| [1]: https://www.retrode.org/about/
|
| [2]: e.g. https://lesateliersphv.ca/en/extracting-roms-from-
| sega-mega-...
|
| [3]: You might argue: "but few people actually do this". And
| you'd be right. Piracy for old game systems is just far more
| convenient. But that still makes piracy piracy and emulation
| emulation.
| mikepurvis wrote:
| An excellent video on this subject from YouTube commenter
| Nerrel, who also highlights Sega's decision to sell legal
| ROMs through Steam:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj9Gk84jRiE
|
| And related from the same author, is the effect that the
| emulation modding/patching community has on how we view low
| effort re-releases such as the recent 3D All Stars:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0d82ZJ4sd4
| timw4mail wrote:
| At $80, and likely an ARM processor, emulators have a larger
| game library. Wine doesn't work on ARM, and there are
| relatively few open-source games that stand out.
| francis_t_catte wrote:
| Steamlink, however, does work on ARM. :)
| goda90 wrote:
| Actually, it only works on Raspberry Pi or Android, not
| other Linux ARM systems. I've been frustrated by how closed
| off it is because I'd like to use it on my PineBook Pro.
| manyxcxi wrote:
| I've never tried Odroid but Steamlink, even on a Pi4 is not
| without flaws. Pi3B+ wired has been mostly unsatisfactory
| for me and Pi Zero W/Pi3 wireless have been nearly
| inoperable.
|
| Have you had a different experience? If so- what have I
| been doing so wrong? I'd love to get it to work on a Pi.
| francis_t_catte wrote:
| I used a USB AC-wifi dongle on my Odroid-Go Advance, and
| the performance/latency was about the same as my genuine
| SteamLink on a gigabit wired connection. The main problem
| with the Odroid-Go Advance was the screen resolution and
| size making most UIs unreadable or a chore to use. The
| screen resolution increase on the Super might help with
| that though; I plan on getting one once they release, so
| I guess I'll find out.
| manyxcxi wrote:
| Screen resolution problems make a lot of sense. I've
| built a few Raspberry Pi gameboys lately with a 3.5"
| 640x480 screen and they look great but text is _tough_.
| DCKing wrote:
| > Wine doesn't work on ARM.
|
| You'll be delighted to hear that that's not entirely true -
| there is a Linux x86-on-ARM emulator Box86 [1] that allows
| you to run Wine apps [2]. While your expectations should be
| realistic, it's made to defer as much as possible to platform
| native implementations so there's a bunch of things you can
| run!
|
| [1]: https://github.com/ptitSeb/box86
|
| [2]: e.g. here's Warcraft 3 on a Raspberry Pi 4:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85bfzDSWHNQ
| mikepurvis wrote:
| I agree-- I have a PowKiddy RGB10 (knockoff of the previous
| generation, Odroid Go Advance), and it's wildly capable
| hardware, but the only native ports are either games that have
| been open sourced (Quake, Doom series) or have modern SDL
| recreations. Even running DOSBox is dubious because so much
| software of that era (even stuff like point and click
| adventures) just assumed a keyboard would be present for
| occasional but critically-needed use such as inputting the name
| of your save file. It wasn't until Steam Big Picture that there
| was any serious expectation of PC games being solely
| controllable from a gamepad. Basically you're stuck making up
| per-title keyboard mappings, and that sucks.
|
| Anyway, the marketplace issue is a bootstrapping problem. None
| of the companies making these are set up to support an
| ecosystem of legitimate software delivery, and now the culture
| that's built up around them treats the availability of
| thousands of classic game ROMs as being part of the value
| proposition. So even if you were to try to start, it would be a
| challenge to break out of that and persuade owners of them not
| to pirate your lovingly ported indie games when they can play
| the entire SNES, Genesis, and GBA libraries for "free".
|
| One final barrier is that although some do, many of these
| devices don't include internal wifi, I assume due to
| certification hassles. Instead a USB host port is included into
| which you plug a compact dongle. So this further complicates
| any delivery/DRM schemes, if you have to provide a system image
| with support for many possible wireless dongles, and perhaps
| some kind of offline-transfer scheme for those without a dongle
| or who don't want to use one.
|
| All in all, it's a tough nut to crack; I'm not surprised no one
| has tried. The closest thing is probably Panic's Playdate, and
| they went with their own hardware, with much-reduced specs and
| a gimmicky crank, but at least having end-to-end control.
| boramalper wrote:
| I copied the title from OMG! Ubuntu!, whose coverage[0] I enjoyed
| more but thought that the crowd might be more interested in the
| original announcement.
|
| [0] https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2020/12/odroid-go-super-
| ubuntu-h...
| Relys wrote:
| Get this working with Moonlight or Steam Link.
| mariuz wrote:
| ETA PRIME video : Odroid Go Super First Look, Test & Teardown
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN-FjshTM1c
| Splognosticus wrote:
| That guy's channel is great if you're in the market for a
| handheld or SFF PC for emulation or PC gaming. He does in-depth
| reviews like this of pretty much all of them that come out.
| ethanpil wrote:
| Even at $100 more, i'd love to see one of these as a mobile
| device with a pop-out keyboard and Wifi/SIM slot. I think that's
| what's been missing in the open phone community. Something
| decently priced and decently designed.
| CameronNemo wrote:
| Unfortunately mainline support on this hardware seems to be
| lagging. I guess it is less important because of the limited use
| case of the device, but it is lame that getting modern mesa
| (which does support the GPU!) running would be a PITA.
| dfxm12 wrote:
| I guess in the strictest dictionary definition, this is a
| _console_ that could play _games_ , but is a general purpose
| computing device really what we colloquially call a "game
| console"?
|
| After all, we don't call our PCs game consoles...
| torginus wrote:
| I mean, hardware-wise, aren't most recent consoles general
| purpose computing devices, with game-optimized hardware
| controls anyway? For example, the Switch is a modified Nvidia
| tablet chip.
| majewsky wrote:
| The Switch is a game console not because of the form factor
| or because of any particular piece of hardware. It's a game
| console because I can just take it out of the box, put a game
| cartridge in and start playing. It's not a BOM thing, it's a
| UX thing.
| dfxm12 wrote:
| Exactly. There's more to a game console (or any computer)
| than its hardware. And further, a Switch is not a general
| purpose computer because the system, both hardware and
| software, is designed to be locked into certain uses.
| timw4mail wrote:
| The PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series _ are even closer to
| the average computer with x86 hardware.
| corin_ wrote:
| If you set up your PC with a joystick and no keyboard/mouse...
| Splognosticus wrote:
| Eh, it's splitting hairs. Is the Pippin a game console? Is the
| CD-I? Is the OUYA? Is a PS2 still a game console if you boot
| Linux? Is a Gameboy with the Workboy keyboard still a game
| console?
|
| All consoles are at the end of the day general-purpose
| computers. You're just arbitrarily locked out of using the
| machine you bought and paid for to run whatever you like.
| Triv888 wrote:
| Is your phone a game console?
| 1MachineElf wrote:
| Looks like a nice Ubuntu device. I wonder how OpenMW performs on
| it.
| simmons wrote:
| A number of devices in this category seem to have popped up
| recently. I picked up an RG351P a few weeks ago, which I'm
| guessing is similar to this device. It really is a lot of fun
| playing around with it, and it's hackable like a Raspberry Pi.
| rootsudo wrote:
| RG351P does look nice.
|
| In the end, I just fall victim to no time for emulation, though
| picking up a Vita would be nice...
| AstroJetson wrote:
| Wonder if they will come out later with a version with more
| memory on it. Switch has 4GB.
|
| The ability to get to the Linux core is a pretty cool deal, this
| would make a great controller for robotics rather than using
| people's phones.
| k__ wrote:
| Half-OT:
|
| Can someone recommend a hand held console that runs
| NES/SNES/GB/GBA/DS games and has a good battery life or maybe
| even a replaceable battery?
|
| I always get ads for such consoles, but the reviews are all bad.
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| I don't know, I think this is it.
|
| I've played with a Raspberry Pi running RetroPie emulator that
| emulates most (all?) of the above. I could add batteries, a
| small display, build in controllers ... but you would have the
| Odroid essentially.
| jtolds wrote:
| This? https://www.experimentalpi.com/PiBoy-DMG--Full-
| Kit_p_18.html
|
| Or this? https://www.tomshardware.com/news/piboy-cm4x-srx-
| compute-mod...
| vollmond wrote:
| IDK about DS, but a classic PSP (1000/2000/3000) with a modded
| firmware handles the others just fine, along with PSP/PS1
| games. Think I might have played n64 on mine?
|
| Has a replaceable battery, too.
| reasonabl_human wrote:
| Poor N64 support for the most part, buggy audio and frame
| drops... almost beat SM64 on it but there were a bunch of
| caveats, would rather play on something else for N64..
|
| Perfect for GBA games though!
| kop316 wrote:
| +1 on the PSP. It looks like you can also put an SD card in
| there now, which is neat!
| DCKing wrote:
| For that list of systems, the Nintendo New 2/3DS models are
| probably the best choice. They require some softmodding [1],
| but after that can natively play DS [2] and GBA [3] [4]. The
| New 3DS also has great emulators available for NES, SNES and
| Game Boy [5], and has native ports of a few Nintendo 64 games.
| Being mass market devices, their build quality and QA are much
| superior to cheap Chinese devices or DIY Korean ones, and
| they're also widely and cheaply available on the second hand
| market in most western countries.
|
| [1]: https://3ds.hacks.guide
|
| [2]: Directly from the cartridge slot or using Twilight Menu
| https://github.com/DS-Homebrew/TWiLightMenu
|
| [3]: Using "Virtual Console injects", see:
| https://3ds.eiphax.tech/nsui . Virtual Console injects for the
| other systems on your list will also work, they will then run
| in Nintendo's own emulators for those systems.
|
| [4]: Just be sure to hold start/select when launching DS or GBA
| games to avoid bad quality upscaling and run them at pixel
| accurate native resolution.
|
| [5]: bubble2k16's emulators can play pretty much anything on
| >New< 3DS models, use mGBA for Game Boy:
| https://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/List_of_3DS_homebrew_emulators
| cgb223 wrote:
| Also, are we in a place where there are solid handhelds that
| can play n64 games well?
|
| I remember Goldeneye always seemed to be a problem on them
| grawprog wrote:
| It's not quite what you're asking for, but I looked into
| something like that for a while and didn't really find any I
| liked and wanted to carry around with me, so I ended up just
| installing retroarch on my phone and bringing along an 8bitdo
| sn30 controller.
|
| I don't have a high end phone or anything but it's capable of
| playing everything up to the DS pretty well. I even got metroid
| prime to boot up on dolphin...though the framerate was far too
| low to play.
|
| The sn30's pretty light and easy to carry around and feels
| pretty darn close to an actual snes controller. Battery life's
| pretty decent too.
| bronikowski wrote:
| I have an older Bitt Boy in GB-like shell and it works quite
| well, it struggles a little with SNES. The battery is swappable
| but you'll get few hours out of it. Charges from micro USB.
|
| https://bittboy.com/
| Soupy wrote:
| I have a RG350M and have been extremely happy with it. if it's
| too expensive, then the plastic-cased version of the same
| console is the 350P
| shorts_theory wrote:
| The 3DS (especially if you can pick up a used one) is actually
| an excellent choice for access to almost all of Nintendo's
| handheld library after installing the custom firmware hack. DS
| and 3DS games are supported via cartridges and the rest can be
| found by installing the .cia files. I haven't tried NES and
| SNES games, but it runs GBA and GB games great.
| colejohnson66 wrote:
| The 3DS _is_ an excellent choice due to it's hackability and
| pretty decent processor(s). However, OP also asked for a
| replaceable battery. I'm assuming that means something like
| AA like the OG Gameboy had. Does anything come that way
| anymore?
| shorts_theory wrote:
| No, I don't think single use batteries have been on
| handheld consoles since the OG GBA :-) But the 3DS/XL's Li-
| ion battery is pretty easy to replace with a screwdriver.
| bentcorner wrote:
| I take OP's statement to mean a battery that can be easily
| replaced without taking the device apart.
|
| I'm pretty sure you can replace the battery on (most? all?)
| 3DS models. At least on my New 3DS it's user serviceable.
| sb057 wrote:
| An inexpensive and/or used Android phone paired with an
| attachable or BT gamepad.
| kidfiji wrote:
| I'd suggest checking out /r/SBCGaming/ (Single Board Computer
| Gaming) on Reddit to do some research:
|
| https://www.reddit.com/r/SBCGaming/
| kixiQu wrote:
| I got the rg280v because it's incredibly portable. I'm not sure
| about the battery life because I never want to play for more
| than a few hours at a time, but I haven't had problems. I would
| expect, though, that they're all built for you to go in with
| solder if you want to replace a battery.
| https://maya.land/rg280v/
| haunter wrote:
| (a good enough newish) Android phone, I'd say Poco M3 is the
| best budget choice ($130) and it's a perfect emulator
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=318&v=3rHHikNnjYQ&feature=yo...
|
| Retroarch and Citra
|
| Xbox wireless controller
|
| Optionally this holder: https://www.amazon.com/PowerA-Moga-
| Mobile-Gaming-Wireless-Co...
|
| I use a setup like this and can play everything perfectly
| pretty much
| bko wrote:
| I just bought a retroid and I like it. The hardware feels nice
| to hold and buttons works well. The software is just android 6,
| but I ready it can be upgraded to android 8. It comes with an
| app that, if you install, it runs an app on startup w/ many
| emulators and roms loaded. Its a bit underpowered for
| playstation but it could run games. It has a good community too
|
| It's Chinese to security may be a concern, but you can run
| offline.
|
| https://www.goretroid.com/
| npongratz wrote:
| DS Lite, with something like a SuperCard [0] (or whatever is
| being sold these days).
|
| DS Lite directly supports both DS and GBA cartridges, has great
| battery life, and its battery can be easily replaced. And I
| love its form factor, folds nicely compact.
|
| A micro SD card mounted in the SuperCard can be loaded with
| good emulators for NES, SNES, GB, Sega, and probably others.
| It's plug-and-play, no hacking of the DS Lite necessary.
|
| [0] http://www.eng.supercard.sc
| Tepix wrote:
| The PS Vita is by far the best hardware for this if you can
| find a good used one.
| rayrag wrote:
| Check Taki Udon (https://www.youtube.com/c/TakiUdon/videos),
| it's a YT channel that reviews all those retro consoles.
| progforlyfe wrote:
| Quick note: NDS will be tough to emulate on these low power
| hand helds, plus the dual screen to 1 screen will be awkward
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