If you're looking for authenticity then I'd recommend picking up a MiSTer.
With the addition of the recent Groovy MiSTer core, this is probably the best bet if you want to play on a CRT screen since you'll also get access to games / systems not available on the MiSTer.
For those not in the know: Groovy MiSTer allows one to route the video and sound from an emulator on a regular PC through the MiSTer hooked up to a CRT. It is essentially replacing the need to use an old and modified GPU for analog video output.
MiSTer looks like crap though on a flat panel TV... I don't have space for a big CRT.
It looks fine if you use the digital output rather than analog.
If the purity of the analog signal is important, you can run it through a retrotink or OSSC. Although that's another expensive addition to the setup.
Get some decent CRT shaders and spend some time calibrating your display and setting them up correctly - it makes a massive difference IMO. Personally, I'm a big fan of the "Megatron Death To Pixels" shaders, check out this video on how to set it up properly.
My goal is to eventually have a “pick up and play” setup
For that, I'd highly recommend switching to a gaming/emulation-oriented Linux distro, such as Bazzite with Emudeck, ChimeraOS, Batocera, Lakka etc. I personally prefer Bazzite due to it's Steam-first approach and excellent compatibility with various controllers and proprietary drivers (nVidia), but Lakka might be better if you've got an Intel iGPU or an AMD card, and want to stick purely to retro gaming - it's the official distro for RetroArch afterall, so it's very polished in that regard, and very lightweight.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Megatron Death To Pixels
Thanks I'll check that out!
Also I'm currently running Big Box as my windows "shell" because I wanted to be able to do Steam Games as well. I've been curious about all the Linux distors, is there one you'd recommend?
Ah, if you're interested in Steam games as well then look no further than Bazzite - it's got all the optimisations that Valve put into SteamOS + more (like more recent kernel and drivers). But before you switch though, you might want to check whether your Steam games are compatible using this website: https://www.protondb.com/
Very good infos here, thank you!
A jailbroken Playstation 3
I don't know if it's the "most authentic" experience, but for a "pick up and play" setup, you might want to look into Emudeck (www.emudeck.com). It was originally made for Steam Deck, but has a desktop version now and it pretty much automagically handles setting up all your emulators. Plus, it integrates with Steam. Russ with Retro Game Corps has a installation guide on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05dunYi6hkY&t=1s
An arcade sick for arcade games?
I haven't dove too much into the world of Arcade games but would love to do this. I have also been trying to think of a way to do virtual "quarters", possibly donating to charity or something, because infinite quarters takes a lot of the fun out of the games.
If you can read french romstation.fr basically has everything you'll ever want. You can even play with friends online.
I found an SNES mini with nearly every system and a complete collection of ROMS (up to and including a few PS1 and N64) on eBay. It was like $200+ but, I just plug it in and it works, which is worth it for me.
They are still out there and I can tell you who I got it from if you'd like.
Vintage gaming community.
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