PSP gets incredibly slow Dreamcast emulator
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Jul 28th 2008 at 10:42PM }
The PSP homebrew scene continues to expand to new, uncharted territories. This time, it appears drkIIRaziel of DCEmu has created a Dreamcast emulator for the PSP. Considering how powerful the hardware is, this seems like a rather futile effort, as evidenced by the first footage (seen above). While it will unlikely prove to be fruitful, this exercise shows the incredible skill and talent found in the community.
[Via Joystiq]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Roundhouse Dude @ Jul 28th 2008 10:53PM
oh my, headless Ryu!
cafecito @ Jul 28th 2008 11:04PM
Heh, "incredibly slow" is an understatement. But, IMO it's great the thing even runs! To my knowledge, the DC is pretty similar in power to the PSP, so making the thing run is a great deed in itself.
anarkhy @ Jul 28th 2008 11:21PM
Nah, Dc is much more power than psp. Wish we had a portable dc, the games would look fantastic.
Why are people spending time with this? I want a decent working MAME for psp.
cafecito @ Jul 28th 2008 11:42PM
Well the DC has a 200 Mhz CPU and 100 Mhz GPU, so that's why I said they're "kinda" similar.
Anyway, a MAME would be great. A 100% SNES emu too!
Extinction @ Jul 29th 2008 12:07AM
Actually PSP is more powerful than the Dreamcast.
Whoever said DC is much more powerful knows nothing about either system.
Christopher @ Jul 29th 2008 9:20AM
Extinction, you should show ignorance with such bliss. You make yourself look like an idiot. Anybody who knows technology should know that the CPU speed is only ONE component of how a console performs.
I'm not saying that you're wrong, but making the statement you did so flatly automatically drives me to conclude that you don't know for sure.
Jtenma @ Jul 29th 2008 9:49AM
ok, im confused now...
(i'm new to this...) So the DC IS stronger right? I mean it's a fukken console!
Also, say a computer with a 1.8ghz (dual core) were to try to run this...would this (old) computer have trouble running an application like this? Obviously this computer is WAY more powerful than the DC right?
Not that I would try this...
Lars @ Jul 29th 2008 2:34PM
"So the DC IS stronger right? I mean it's a fukken console!"
That has little to do with it. They are right that pure clock speed isn't the only thing that makes a system. The PSP has a more powerful processor, but whether it has a better video processor, more memory, faster bus speeds, etc. I don't know. I would guess more likely than not though.
The fact that it's a console vs handheld doesn't mean much when they were created years apart. The hardware of the PS1 can fit on one chip the size of your pinky nail now.
But also, emulation is a tricky business. The hardware for which these games were originally designed could be less powerful, but also unique enough to make emulation impossible. With PC's it's definitely easier because it's just a question of brute force rather than elegance.
Danny F. @ Jul 28th 2008 11:50PM
That guy is a monster... his coding on the dreamcast scene has been heavy duty since way back. Can't believe this was even possible, its like he defies nature or something...o_O
Maverick Saturn @ Jul 28th 2008 11:57PM
PAINFULL, wonder how long it would take to complete the game :) At least they can boast longest play time in history :)
omgitsthepope @ Jul 29th 2008 12:38AM
the dreamcast was weaker then the ps2 right? so how exactly is the psp stronger then it?
Dreadhead541 @ Jul 29th 2008 12:41AM
ps2>psp>dreamcast
at least on paper anyways
BLee @ Jul 29th 2008 1:32AM
I wonder if the n64 emulator works well now.. I remember it was really slow and buggy when I tried it a while back..
Jeremy @ Jul 29th 2008 2:16AM
The thing with the DC though, is you had some full budget games on it. On the PSP, though, almost all games, even PSP only ones, are done on the cheap.
Also, the DC had built in texture compression, so actually generally had really nice looking textures in games. The PSP doesn't and doesn't have much video memory, so a lot of textures are dithered.
The PSP is probably more powerful, but a lot of DC games just looked better.
bryanson @ Jul 29th 2008 3:12AM
ps2>psp>dreamcast
that is correct, the psp is closer to the ps2 then the dreamcast the ps2 was a weak system xbox>gamecube>ps2>dreamcast so the psp is not that far off the dreamcast was considered outdated in its own generation.
Dr Haisook @ Jul 29th 2008 5:09AM
Very interesting. However, I wonder how efficient it can get. The game I'm interested in is 'Virtua Striker' which heavily lags on Chankast, an emulator on the PC. I think the DC is pretty difficult to emulate.
Alien @ Jul 29th 2008 8:30AM
The thing is that people debate here nothing .... yeah nothing . Why ? Because you cant tell which one is more powerfull : the PS2 , PSP or DC . Most coders would probably agree that the PS2 has a slight advantage over the other two , but then the DC and PSP are built on such different technology that its hard to compare them ....
Christopher @ Jul 29th 2008 9:33AM
That's true. The PSP will certainly never be able to run DC games at a playable speed. Too much CPU power being taken up by the emulation.
It DOES make one wonder if a DC emulator will run successfully on PS3. I say this blissfully unaware if there is a project going or not. I just haven't checked.
The Dreamcast was an amazing system and I have to smile when people here say the PS2 was better since "better" is an opinion. Somebody else mentioned about the texture compression. That's what made the DC a thing of beauty. The games just -looked- better. I remember looking at DC and PS2 side by side and thinking there was no way I was going to buy a PS2 at the time with DC games looking as nice as they did.
A lot of people blame Sony for killing the Dreamcast. I actually think that Sega killed the Dreamcast. The SegaCD and then the Saturn just ruined their credibility.
anarkhy @ Jul 29th 2008 10:03AM
DC games is much more fluid and have better look than PSP.
PSP have a higher clock but in the system specifications DC hardware is superior.
Sony should at least had put some antialiasing in their system so the games wont have the look of saturn or ps1 games.
Anyway i heard SEGA is planning to launch DC 2 in 2012.
gurbinder @ Jul 29th 2008 1:23PM
Is that true? or just a false rumor? I really want a system other than from nintendo, microsoft, and sony. They have all dissapointed me. PSP could be good in homebrew scene...
cafecito @ Jul 29th 2008 1:56PM
Well I do remember games looked "cleaner" on the DC, and at the time, game developers criticized the difficult programming PS2 required. GD-Rom and its low capacity played a role on the DC's demise too, IMO
mE @ Jul 29th 2008 1:29PM
ITs not the hardware.
I mean yes the system needs to have more power than the one its emulating, but hey take a look.
The Xbox Could hardly make PSone games run, but its N64 emulator worked perfectly.
Same goes for psp, look psp has already got a DC emulator working on such a "weak" system, I never heard of a DC emulator for Xbox who had the most powerful processor of the last gen consoles.
Anyway i heard SEGA is planning to launch DC 2 in 2012.
Where?
popozao @ Jul 29th 2008 3:37PM
Perhaps a good analogy would be to think of the systems as countries. Country A may have more population, so in theory could be more productive, but country B has more educated citizens and so is able to do more with less. In general, the DC is very powerful, and very nice to program for; it has some really cool rendering techniques (hidden surface removal etc.) The PS2 compared to DC is exceptionally powerful, like comparing super nintendo to n64 (# of triangles, bus bandwidth etc) the PSP is comparable to PS2, and thus is more technically capable than DC. But is it easier to use? thats the key.
xelaalex @ Oct 25th 2008 8:31AM
So what you're saying is, if a new portable console was created with similar specs and hardware as the Dreamcast and the same power as the PSP, it would be able to run the Dreamcast emulator well, but not work so well with other emulators?