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Mac Mini as a Nintendo (and as everything else, too).

T

Toccata81

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 25, 2011
49
0
I'd like an AppleTV and I imagine I'll want to jailbreak it. But am I right in assuming I won't be able to play Nintendo on it?

When the AppleTV gets video streaming from your other computer (which holds the content), it can only play the stuff its meant to play, not mirror the monitor from that other computer, right? So if I wanted to play game console emulators on my HDTV, I'd need a Mac Mini, yes? Controllers with USB connectors are available that can connect to the Mini. So, that would be great. The Mini could have NES, Super Nintendo, plus every single game ever made taking up no space on it, oh and it plays movies and does all the other stuff a full computer does (except no iSight but who cares).

Has anyone tried this? Does it work?

So as of today, what is the drawback to having a Mini instead of an AppleTV again? There's no more Front Row in OSX? That really bites. Is there a 3rd party program that can be run in OSX that mimics Front Row (and launches with remote control)?

What can a jailbroken AppleTV do that a Mini can't do? Just want to be clear before I make a purchase. Also, is the $800 Mini significantly better for TV purposes over the $600 model?

(Oh and then there's the purported iTV. Maybe now's not the best time to buy all this crap if Apple is going to make an all-in-one product. But that is for another thread.)
 
philipma1957 said:
For what you want you should wait. If they make an iTv it seems like the exact thing you need.
Click to expand...

Maybe, because I'm also browsing for my first HDTV. I'm not a big TV watcher anymore. I've been hooking up my jailbroken iPod touch to my CRT TV and using the TV as a stereo. So, I really just want a better "stereo" that can use AirPlay, or some Front-Row-like thing because I'm tired of hooking up the iTouch. Plus, I'll get better speakers.
 
Well, I use a USB Logitech controller. Doesn't necessarily say OSX compatibility, but works fine. Both wired and wireless models. Haven't gotten back into too many emulators, though. Just MAME, occasionally.

Hope you know the rules surrounding game ROMs.

I've been very happy with the decision to go Mini instead of lesser setups. Far more useful.
 
Just get a 35$ Raspberry Pi. A Mini is overkill as NES emulator.

JAT said:
Hope you know the rules surrounding game ROMs.
Click to expand...

There are none (when you talk about a universel set of rules), but you usually break some copyright rules that nobody will pay attention too as most should be abandon ware by now (some weird companies like Nintendo do indefenite recylcling of their games though). The unwritten rule is that if you don't sell ROMs, your pretty much trouble free (don't blame me if you are in a electronic-IP-razzia nation like Brittain or France and they shut down your internet for downloading some).
 
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Why don't you try Mac Mini + ATV? You can get Airparrot to mirror the display even if you don't have the latest generation of mini.
You can install Plex as your HTPC software, it's more capable than Front Row anyway.
I have 2 USB controllers connected to mini to play SNES games and other stuff. The only thing I don't use is streaming to ATV but seems that with Airparrot it should be no problem.
 
comatory said:
Why don't you try Mac Mini + ATV? You can get Airparrot to mirror the display even if you don't have the latest generation of mini.
Click to expand...


In that case I would only need the ATV, right? Because I already have a couple of Macs. Can I just run emulators on my Macbook, connect the controller to it and have ATV mirror to the television?

What about audio? If I play an emulator while using AirParrot will I get the sound from the video game on my HDTV?

I was playing around with Plex last night and I noticed that while it does a great job with movie art, none of the music album art shows up. Its all generic music notes. Is there a way to fix that?
 
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Toccata81 said:
Can I just run emulators on my Macbook, connect the controller to it and have ATV mirror to the television?

What about audio? If I play an emulator while using AirParrot will I get the sound from the video game on my HDTV?
Click to expand...
Interested about this as well!
 
Toccata81 said:
What about audio? If I play an emulator while using AirParrot will I get the sound from the video game on my HDTV?
Click to expand...

According to the AirParrot website, their FAQ page states that yes there is now stereo audio going to the ATV.

Toccata81 said:
I was playing around with Plex last night and I noticed that while it does a great job with movie art, none of the music album art shows up. Its all generic music notes. Is there a way to fix that?
Click to expand...

The metadata seems hit-or-miss probably because the directory I've selected as the music source is on another machine in my home network.
 
I dont know abou the album art as I have it already present in my iTunes library. Plex allows you to use iTunes library as the source so in that case everything should work seamlessly.

You might try to use different database in Plex settings for recovering album art data,I think they use lasst.fm which is pretty good but doesn't contain less known albums,try discogs.com.

Maybe you should tag your music library properly,it might have hard time recognizing the album. Use MusicBrainz or TuneUp (http://www.tuneupmedia.com/).

And yes I believe Airport transmits audio via ATV. You might also consider wireless controllers if your mini will be further from your screen (I believe there is a hack for PS3/Xbox controllers,I even saw bluetooth SNES replica somewhere) since ATV works wirelessly and you can set up apple remote to launch Plex on host computer by pressing menu button (you can also remotely put computer to sleep via Plex.
 
Toccata81 said:
No. What are they?
Click to expand...

blanka gave some points.

Basically, it's illegal to have them unless you own the original game. So, reputable app writers will NOT give/sell them to you. You'll have to find them on your own. It's not usually difficult and probably nobody will come after you, but it's the seedier areas of the internet that will have such things, so know what you are doing.
 
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