If I want XBMC & retro emulation is Ouya my best bet?

[SenVilan]

In my experience emulators have been ok, unless you're using PS1 and N64. PS1 can't really be displayed using high-level settings/rendering, whereas the N64's graphical and compatibility abilities are not great (not to mention the N64's notorious control mapping). I've found that in some cases (with the n64, gba and ps1) that the officially available emulators at the Discover shop weren't that great, so I sideloaded a different app or even the same app in its stock Android form. Also, great emulators like the DraStic (DS) emulator HAVE to be sideloaded (and need a mouse to use the only version that won't enact DRM) until an official version comes out.

XBMC is OK, if you are ok with using only one external drive to play saved content from (the Ouya, unlike other Android devices, only supports one external memory destination), stream SD content (even with my fast online connection, HD streams buffer too long) and low resolution playback of saved files (SPMC definitely can't playback 1080p/HD video files without a big, rainbow mess exploding onto the screen after about ten minutes). Also, addons, such as Icefilms are not as up to date as the websites that they are leeching from (meaning you might need to use a browser to find content).

If you want to sideload and fiddle with your Ouya, using MX Player will fix your HD playback problem. You'll need to either find a modded version of XBMC that uses MX Player ) and also sideload MX Player, plus the codecs) or just sideload MX Player and (after exiting XBMC), use a file browser to find your HD video and play it (MX Player's GUI usually crashes if you just click on the icon, but it wool work fine if it is used when switching a video file via another app).

Which PSX emulator are you using? I've heard several people say that they were able to use OpenGL with ePSXe and still get a consistent 30 fps on the OUYA. I haven't tried it myself, but then I really don't care about making the graphics look better. I just want them to look similar to the way they did back on the original, with smooth frames -- which I'm able to get easily using the ePSXe. Aside from N64 and higher, the OUYA performs emulation perfectly from my experience, and the convenience of the interface, native PS3 pad support, and free emulators are a big part of the reason I decided to sell my Nvidia Shield after switching to it. The extra power just wasn't worth it in the end.

I'm with you on the Discover PSX emulator being pretty poor, but Broglia's GBA emulator is one of the best I've ever used. What don't you like about it?

[dpure]

You can set your computer up for streaming to xbmc but sounds like you don't need to do this. Just depends on how many devices you want to have to switch between. Es file explorer allows transferring files over a LAN as well as many other things. Comes in handy since I have a powered HDD so it's kind of a pain to move around.

Already having your TV and ps3 for local content are you mostly lookin for internet streaming for your OUYA? On top of emulation.

Yes. I dont need any local streaming just internet and emulation is a bonus. Originally I was just looking for a box that would give me xbmc.

UPDATE:
ordered the anthracite version off amazon along with the rii i8 mini keyboard and 4 port usb hub!

[Paul Laimal-Convoy]

Which PSX emulator are you using? I've heard several people say that they were able to use OpenGL with ePSXe and still get a consistent 30 fps on the OUYA. I haven't tried it myself, but then I really don't care about making the graphics look better. I just want them to look similar to the way they did back on the original, with smooth frames -- which I'm able to get easily using the ePSXe. Aside from N64 and higher, the OUYA performs emulation perfectly from my experience, and the convenience of the interface, native PS3 pad support, and free emulators are a big part of the reason I decided to sell my Nvidia Shield after switching to it. The extra power just wasn't worth it in the end.

The GBA emu at Ouya is OK, but it wouldn't play some games well, so I sideloaded an additional Android version to complement it. (Gameboid). I replaced the crummy Ouya PS1 emu (after accidentally paying for it) with a sideloaded version of ePSXe, which is far more stable and gets fairly regular updates. N64 hasn't really emulated well, so far, but that's to be expected.

As for multiple USB storage, it simply isn't an option on a non-rooted Ouya. File browsers simply won't read them as the Ouya itself won't recognise additonal drives.

DraStic though, is brilliant.

I'm with you on the Discover PSX emulator being pretty poor, but Broglia's GBA emulator is one of the best I've ever used. What don't you like about it?[/QUOTE]

[Nitrogen_Widget]

the only real issues i've had with N64 is some games just don't emulate properly.
but I have ran mario3d & smash bros with the highres textures (at 640x480) pretty good.
it just takes manual tweaking for each game which becomes real annoying real fast.

[Pat1986]

thats a general problem. N64 emulation is still in its early stages.

[flamepanther]

thats a general problem. N64 emulation is still in its early stages.

It's kind of not, actually. The first working N64 emulator was designed to run N64 games at full (or nearly full) speed on an original Pentium II. That's only two steps up from a 486. This was 15 years ago. The problem isn't that N64 emulation is young. It's that the hardware is just really difficult to emulate with speed and accuracy at the same time. Getting up to full speed means taking some shortcuts, and that means certain games will be buggy or not work at all. Try too hard for accuracy, and you'll get something the host hardware can't handle anymore. This is especially true on Android, where some recent devices can't even handle SNES emulation with current standards of accuracy. So what we get is a variety of different cores and plugins that all handle the compromise in different ways, like a Swiss Army knife of workarounds. It will get better when the hardware does.

[SenVilan]

It's kind of not, actually. The first working N64 emulator was designed to run N64 games at full (or nearly full) speed on an original Pentium II. That's only two steps up from a 486. This was 15 years ago. The problem isn't that N64 emulation is young. It's that the hardware is just really difficult to emulate with speed and accuracy at the same time. Getting up to full speed means taking some shortcuts, and that means certain games will be buggy or not work at all. Try too hard for accuracy, and you'll get something the host hardware can't handle anymore. This is especially true on Android, where some recent devices can't even handle SNES emulation with current standards of accuracy. So what we get is a variety of different cores and plugins that all handle the compromise in different ways, like a Swiss Army knife of workarounds. It will get better when the hardware does.

This is true. N64 emulation on my Nvidia Shield (solely using Retroarch's Mupen core) is pretty much flawless -- at least as far as speed goes. The extra horsepower of the Tegra 4 really made a difference there; it can even run Reicast at near perfect speed on many of the DC games I tried.

[Pat1986]

hmm ok...i have to admit i wasnt interested in N64 emulation for a long time anymore, but the last time it still was pretty nasty. especially with all the different plugins etc.. i dont like that. i just want one accurate emulator without the need for plugins.

[SenVilan]

hmm ok...i have to admit i wasnt interested in N64 emulation for a long time anymore, but the last time it still was pretty nasty. especially with all the different plugins etc.. i dont like that. i just want one accurate emulator without the need for plugins.

Heh, that's actually the reason that I only used Retroarch for N64 emulation -- it did all the plugin selection and tweaking automatically. Occasionally, I still needed to change stuff manually, but for the most part, it was just "set it and forget it", at least on the Shield. I'm with you on the standalone mupen emulator though; it's a total pita to have to fiddle with settings for practically every game you play on it.

[Ant]

OP I basically just use my ouya for netflix, xbmc and emulation and I love it. Like the others have said though the 3d stuff (playstation/n64) are kind of hit or miss. That said a ton of great games play perfectly. And honestly it plays mario 64 flawlessly and thats more than enough to make me happy