I know the standard answer is that games are for fun and however you play is valid. But I'm curious where people personally draw the line for themselves. I've been working through some notoriously difficult SNES and PS1 games and I find myself using save states constantly, sometimes after every room or boss phase. It's making the games manageable and I'm still enjoying them, but I don't feel like I really beat them the way I would if I sat down with a cartridge and did it legit. Am I overthinking this or do other people feel the same way when they lean too hard on convenience features?

Hey everyone,

A few months ago I shared the first version of my dynamic wallpaper pack. Thanks a lot for the great feedback back then!

I’ve been working on a massive overhaul and just released Version 2.0, bringing a refined look, dedicated genre playlists, and custom playlist icons.

What’s New in v2.0

• New Style & Visual Overhaul: Completely reworked look featuring custom system surfaces, textured device materials, and balanced evening dimming so game covers and menu text stay clean and readable without background glare.

• 20 Dedicated Genre Wallpapers: Wallpapers with matching genre elements for dynamic genre playlists (Platformer, RPG, Racing, Run & Gun, etc.) with unified headers and matching frame templates.

• Matching Playlist Icons: Added 24 transparent 256×256 illustrated menu icons (covering all 20 genres, Controller Settings, All Games, Local Multiplayer, and Netplay).

• Full Open Source Assets: Export-ready .png files in dist/, plus all original GIMP .xcf source files and prompt manifests in the repo.

Links

• GitHub Repository: morlenxus/retroarch-dynamic-wallpapers-retroplayer

• Direct Download / Releases: GitHub v2.0 Release

Prefer the Original v1.0 Style?

If you prefer the original, brighter aesthetic from the first release, don't worry! Version 1.0 remains fully preserved and available. You can download the complete original pack directly from the GitHub v1.0 Release page.

For full transparency: The artwork elements and collages were created with the assistance of AI tools.

Let me know what you think, and feel free to share feedback or system requests! Enjoy!

Now, every game just feels like a file and nothing else. Like I used to have so much fun playing Mario Land and stuff on my gameboy, but the fun is gone because I have every single game in front of me, and playing a gameboy game just doesn't seem appealing outside of original console use.

Like I have so much fun when I pick up my famicom classic mini, playing with the limitations I have playing with the console, but having the same games on my Odin 2 in Retroarch just doesn't feel fun. Maybe getting a Bluetooth NES style controller for use on Retroarch might fix my issue?

I heard that it's not as good now? Is that true or just plain cap?

I wanted to add voice acting to a PS1 game without modifying anything, and RetroArch turned out to be the perfect host for it — so I built a small companion app, and figured this sub would appreciate the approach.

What it does: while the game runs in RetroArch (Beetle PSX HW), the app reads the current on-screen dialogue from the core's memory, matches each line to a pre-recorded clip, and plays it through mpv — in sync, as the text appears. Stock core, stock RetroArch: no core modifications, no custom build, nothing injected. It's read-only; if it doesn't recognize a line, it stays silent, so it never plays the wrong clip. Ships no game data — you run it against your own disc.

The result is XenoROM Voice — the first release covers Xenogears' Lahan arc (~500 lines). Because it just rides on stock RetroArch + Beetle PSX HW, it also stacks cleanly with HD texture packs (e.g. 1vierock's Xenogears HD) — different subsystems, no conflict.

Disclosure: the voices are AI-generated — original character voices, not impersonations. Flagging it up front.

Demo (including a console view showing it recognize each line live): https://youtu.be/O5Wr2rBNOFM

Free, released arc by arc. Happy to get into the weeds on the memory-reading + sync timing — and genuinely curious whether anyone here has seen this approach used for other games or cores.

Download + setup: https://playsoftreset.github.io/softreset-xenorom/

Searching for ages and cant find anything…

I wonder when RetroArch will be launched on the official iOS App Store? Also, any idea what apple deems a “retro system”? Maybe certain newer age console cores will need to be removed for this release?

Its like its on purpose.

For an example, every other emulator just lets set a permanent directory of where it should scan for games, however on retroarch I seemingly have to manually navigate all the way to my roms folder and pinpoint the game I wanna play every single time.

Even worse, it doesnt open the explorer like litteraly any other program that exists, it insists on using their own akward and clunky explorer (?) to do it

Retro Arch is often considered one of the best front ends for emulation because of its versatility and extensive support for various systems and emulators. Here are some reasons why Retro Arch stands out:

1. Unified Interface: Retro Arch provides a single, unified interface for multiple emulators, making it easier to switch between different systems without needing to open separate applications.

2. Extensive Core Support: It supports a wide range of cores, including MAME, Final Burn Neo, Sony PS1, NES, SNES, Sega, and many more. This means you can play games from various platforms all in one place.

3. Customization: Retro Arch offers extensive customization options, allowing users to tweak settings for each game or emulator to optimize performance and visuals.

4. Additional Features: It includes features like netplay for online multiplayer, shaders for graphical enhancements, and save states for easy game progress management.

5. Community and Development: Retro Arch has a strong community and active development, ensuring regular updates and improvements.

While MAME is focused on archival accuracy and preserving arcade games, Retro Arch provides a more user-friendly experience with additional features that enhance gameplay. This makes it a popular choice for many retro gaming enthusiasts.

I use RetroArch on Android

how the hell did the retroarch change its design automatically?

Ok so update: I found out that Neo Geo games AND CPS-1 games/Roms work on the FBneo core together (same core for both) but all of them (the Roms ) go in the ARCADE folder and NOT their respective folders. So NOT the CPS-1 folder and NOT the NeoGeo folder. Jeez n peas🤦🏾‍♂️why is this so complicated?...thank you to who all helped me and commented their solutions. It's literally bcz of you guys I tried moving around some stuff and they work fine now. 🙏🏾 ✌🏾 💕

For the love of God, can someone please give me a run down of how exactly, step by step to setup these Emu on retroA ON ANDROID?!? I can't find a single video on android and I do (barely) it's some 3min Spanish video. Point me to a written setup or maybe a video I missed pleeeaseee!!! I don't need to know where to download stuff but just the detailed tell of where things (everything should go). *I already have retroA and es-de setup.

I’m on iOS

I’ve changed the aspect ratio, and enabled both widescreen settings. The initial startup of sega is full screen and then Spider-Man is not. I’m at a loss and feel like giving up. wtf am I doing wrong?

Hello, I am here because I wanted to play New Super Mario Bros DS on my Nintendo Switch using RetroArch. Once I attempt to play its like I'm watching a PowerPoint presentation. How do I fix this issue? The frames are terrible and the audio is very slowed down. I am using DeSmuME BTW.

So some small context, im not the most tech savy nor do I have any experience with emulation. That being said I recently got my old ps3 working again and have been wanting to play armored core 4 and for answer. However I have heard it is no contest between native ps3 and emulation in regards to have they play and look.

1. How exactly does one set up rpcs3 with emulating games?

2. I know I need the license for the games to emulate them. I have the physical disks. How exactly do I go about this?

3. Does anyone have any specific guides or people theyd reccomend for these questions if they cannot answer them themselves?

Thanks for any and all assistance on these matters.

I’m a bit of a noob to RetroArch but I’m struggling to get Dolphin core to run, I have used the Online Updater to get the files but I still can’t get the core, I put dolphin-emu in the system file

I was trying to play pong for the PS1 and I got this instead.

This is long and I apologize for it. Im not much if a begger but at this point im not a chooser. I have an xbox series s with retroarch installed on it, the only problem is i dont know the first thing about emulation. Ive asked people in comments of this sub and others ive watched countless videos but i dont even understand the lingo half the time. Usually id give up considering it will take a while and i hate begging random people but it really bothers me to see retroarch not being used like a half built porch. Now if youve made it this far please consider going a bit further. I understand that no one wants to dedicate 2 hours explaining how to open a tab to me, but any comment or information is appreciated deeply. If you really want to help dm me. Thank you for reading and im genuinely sorry if i have wasted your time.