Rather than dive into an emulator specific forum-

My wife likes SNES, N64, and Gamecube Mario games. I know I can get an emulator that runs on my PC for her to play, but I'd really prefer to let her hook something up to the TV. Short of building a small PC, is there a better option? Would a Rasberry Pi or similar option work? Ouya?

Requirements: some kind of USB/wireless controller. HDMI/VGA/Component output for older LCD TV. Cheap.

Ouya.

Wii?

Wii?

Wii...or Ebay?

Cheapest and easiest: Used Wii. Prices should be tumbling about right now.

I've seen some machines that are supposedly loaded with ROMS that hook up to a TV on craigslist. I think they were modded xboxes with a bunch of ROMS or something similar.

Cool. I'll check out Wii prices and craiglist for ROM devices.

http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/android-sticks/cx-919-android-mini-pc.aspx

If your looking for a great portable device this is your answer. Already pre-rooted, just download sixaxis and grab a PS3 controller and download your emulators via the play store and your set! Whole setup should be less than 120$ even cheaper if you already have a PS3 controller laying around.

The virtual console is half the reason I have a Wii U, the other reason being kids.

[This message has been edited by Ag CPA (edited 12/24/2013 2:03p).]

I did a raspberry pi and got 2 snes controllers with a usb connection. I think in total it cost me about 50 bucks. But i can basically put any snes or nes game on it (all of them if i want really, i've got a 16 gb flash in it)

Took an afternoon to figure it out, but I could walk you through it in less than an hour.

I know if it was my wife and she wanted to play NES, SNES or N64 games... and i gave her a ghetto rig, i would be in deep crap.

get a Wii or Wii U and call it done...

Rasberry Pi sounds more fun than the other suggestions (for me at least).

Full disclosure, we had a Wii and ended up giving it away. She doesn't know that she wants an emulator yet so she has zero expectations for a good device vs. a hackbox.

You can download an image for the Wii that has all the old games/cheats on it and use that. I can't imagine the original Wii would be very expensive at this point and obviously the image would be free if you find it online.

I never did that to my Wii but my friend did it to his and he had every old game on his box.

Laptop + HDMI + USB controller

I run them on Ouya, and would highly recommend it. It has a nice looking design and a form factor that is highly portable (about the size of a rubix cube). It's simple to set up - just plug in power and HDMI then walk through the setup. Emulators are right in the Ouya store for download, and you can add ROMs with a USB drive or install drop box and upload them wirelessly from anywhere.

Plus it allows you to download and play a bunch of other games and it is a great little XBMC box. We really love ours. It's great for what it is.

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Laptop + HDMI + USB controller

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This, also for MAME.

Broke SNES out for 4 year old yesterday and we are currently working our way thru Mario World. Image not great on HDTV which is a whole other issue and most of my games didn't work . Lead me back to emulator on Imac, which worked great. Just ordered a device to be able to plug SNES controller into mac

I enjoyed playing the old games on Wii console but it just wasn't the same without the actual controller.

Have considered getting a Wii U just for Mario/Zelda titles and playing the old games

Broke SNES out for 4 year old yesterday and we are currently working our way thru Mario World. Image not great on HDTV which is a whole other issue and most of my games didn't work . Lead me back to emulator on Imac, which worked great. Just ordered a device to be able to plug SNES controller into mac

I enjoyed playing the old games on Wii console but it just wasn't the same without the actual controller.

Have considered getting a Wii U just for Mario/Zelda titles and playing the old games

I've got a modded x-box with a 320 gig hard drive and 3,600+ games I picked up on ebay as is. There is most of the games from NES, SNES, SEGA (all of them), N64, Game Gear, older pc games, linx, atari, PS1, a few Xbox games and a few other random systems. It pretty cool, but I don't play it much because newer games are better to me and I don't play that much anyway. The kids love it though.

easiest path forward is the OUYA imo

Is it still easy to find ROMS? I haven't looked in years, but I wondered if Nintendo started clamping down on them once they got their virtual console set up on the Wii.

absolutely

Any links for the wii approach?

Use a laptop running an emulator and an HDMI cable.

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Any links for the wii approach?

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http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu/downloads/virtual-console/

where's the best place to get a raspberry pi?

I have a couple of SNES controllers that hook to my laptop and a wireless hdmi to my TV. Works for me.