SNES PowerPak vs. Buying Games

[BacteriaInfection]

hello everyone!

After several months of lurking I figured it was time I register. It's good to be at a place where other people appreciate the best type of gaming: classic gaming.

So recently I've been considering buying the snes powerpak but I'm not sure if I should dish out $140+ for the thing!

On the one hand, it'll allow me to play almost any game(excluding the special chips ones), but it's a hefty price to pay.

I really would like to own the actual game cartridges, but that has a negative as well. The games I really want to own are Mega man 7, X2, and X3...all rare games and quite expensive too!

So basically I just need some advice or general words of wisdom regarding my situation. Note, I'm not made of money so both options are not viable. Which one should I purchase? Anyone know if the powerpak will drop in price anytime soon?

thanks!

[JimmyDean]

Classic gaming is the best! Anyway, the powerpak won't support x2 or x3 because they had coprocessors on board... However, it will support DPS-1 games such as Mario Kart.

[BacteriaInfection]

thanks jimmy!

I didn't even know it doesn't support those Mega man games. That changes the balance of where I'm leaning.

I guess the other reason I wanted to get the powerpak is to try rpg's...yet another category where the carts are expensive.

I'm not too knowledgeable when it comes to all the specs and chips, but I'm assuming games like Lufia, Earthbound, BOF, Secret of Mana etc ARE compatible with the powerpak. But that thing is so damn expensive.

[bartre]

as far as RPGs go, the only one that i know of that it might not support would be Star Ocean.
imo, if you were gonna get a powerpak, i'd just recommend you get an original xbox, and mod it, most likely cheaper, plus it would support all the games.

[badinsults]

Star Ocean is supported if you use the patch that expands the graphics and removes the need for the SDD-1.

Really, if all you care about is playing games, but want to ensure that the games play properly, you should really give the emulator bsnes a try. Bsnes is designed to emulate snes hardware almost identically. The powerpak is also a good choice if you want to play on a real system, and the vast majority of games should work. I would say that the xbox is only just adequate, as the emulators that are compatible with it are not perfect (I've notices some sound issues, for instance).

[shopkins]

If you're going to emulate, just emulate. I don't see the need for this expensive extra step.

[Eyedunno]

If you're going to emulate, just emulate. I don't see the need for this expensive extra step.

The SNES is not powerful enough to emulate itself. What you get from the PowerPak is the games running completely natively.

Anyway, as for RPGs, Super Mario RPG is not supported. Star Ocean is only supported through neviksti's 96 meg ROM hacks. It's a fine hack though. Also, I believe one of the Dai Kaijuu Monogatari games has a real-time clock, and is thus not supported. That's all I can think of off the top of my head; other RPGs should work.

Edit: I should add that RPGs (and other games that save) are the chief reason I bought my PowerPak. It doesn't use a battery, so saves should stick around indefinitely and be easily backed up as well. I bought a Mash-Mods programmer as well to back up my surviving saves, so now I have no worries about losing anything.

[BetaWolf47]

PowerPak is good for being able to play imports, hacks, fan translations, and homebrew games too. It's either that or making a repro.

[fahlim003]

PowerPak is good for being able to play hacks, fan translations, and homebrew games too.

Fixed. This is a good reason to own it I suppose, and to try some more expensive games out before buying them. It's good it has DSP-1 support but not crucial since most games with that chip are cheap/domestic.

[shopkins]

PowerPak is good for being able to play imports, hacks, fan translations, and homebrew games too. It's either that or making a repro.

You can play those on your computer, too, though, right? If you're not actually going to collect it, I just don't see the point of buying a device like this. It can't be just to play it on a TV, there are lots of easier, cheaper ways to do that including just picking up a few bucks of RadioShack hardware.

[BetaWolf47]

You can play those on your computer, too, though, right? If you're not actually going to collect it, I just don't see the point of buying a device like this. It can't be just to play it on a TV, there are lots of easier, cheaper ways to do that including just picking up a few bucks of RadioShack hardware.

Connecting it to your TV may be cheaper, but then you're still stuck with the inherent flaws of emulation. Not to mention, for it to be comparable, you also have to track down a quality PC gamepad.

[Steven]

I might have to hunt down a PowerPak eventually. How does it work transferring your files to the PowerPak? I'm very unsavvy with these things, lol. Do you just put the flash card in your PC and click on some buttons? Is it as simple as it sounds?

[BacteriaInfection]

Yeah, I used to emulate also, but there's just something special about playing it on my old snes that makes the experience more enjoyable. I dunno, maybe I'm being picky or weird. I mean, I'm definitely not one of these purists, but I just can't do emulators.

I guess the powerpak is a form of emulation also, but the fact that I can play it on my snes and hold the game cart somehow makes it acceptable.

Are all games rare now? Or am I having bad luck selecting games? Seems like every game I want to play is rare and priced up the ying yang. R-type 3, Mega Man 7, X2, X3, Earthbound...etc etc

damnit. I just realized that I'm going to have to drop tons of $$$ to play these games. Seems like there's no way around it.

[OldSchoolGamer]

You can play those on your computer, too, though, right? If you're not actually going to collect it, I just don't see the point of buying a device like this. It can't be just to play it on a TV, there are lots of easier, cheaper ways to do that including just picking up a few bucks of RadioShack hardware.

Well obviously some of us do see the point. For me it is simply using the original hardware which I prefer but I do not necessarily like to take the time to track down all the cartridges. Also just convenience of having all the titles for readily available on a single cart saving room as well as I like just only needing the one cart and saving wear and tear on the cart slot. These as well as the other points mentioned. The may seem insignificant to you or not worth the price for what they do but many of do obviously enjoy these products. I have one for Colecovision, Atari and plan on getting the one for Atari 5200, megacart for Vic 20 etc. Love the convenience and ease of use. No one is looking to change your mind or sell it to you but hey it is simply different strokes for different folks here.

[Steven]

just convenience of having all the titles for readily available on a single cart saving room as well as I like just only needing the one cart and saving wear and tear on the cart slot.

The (future) wife would appreciate that greatly, especially if you're like me and have over 500 carts lying around, !

[jperryss]

You'll never convince me that the PowerPak is a good choice over a modded XBOX. If you just want access to a ton of games easily, mod an XBOX.

The PowerPak is a ripoff. It's priced high because it can be, there isn't exactly a ton of competition in the SNES flash cart market. If a bunch of other guys started making/selling them, you'd see the price drop. Remember how expensive GBA and DS flashcarts were a few years ago? They can be had for peanuts now.

You really need to decide if you are more collector or gamer. If you just want to play (and cheat ) it's hard to beat a softmodded original XBOX. I'm sure a working XBOX with a controller or two (and probably a couple games) can be had on CL for under $50. The softmodding process can be done in an afternoon (maybe less depending on which version) and then some time tinkering and you're good to go. Pretty much the entire pre-N64 library at your fingertips (N64 and PS1 emulation is sketchy) with full GG/AR functionality, save/load state, etc.

If you want to collect and play, well start saving your pennies. I pieced my collection together over the course of about 3 years (NES, SNES, TG/PCE). Some games were bought in bulk eBay or Craigslist lots (then extras were sold-off/relisted), some were bought/traded here on DP, and a small portion were bought individually. If I knew I'd have invested as much as I finally did, I probably never would've started. But the 'hunt' for games was a lot of fun.

If you don't go the XBOX route, you can always try-before-you-buy with any PC emulator.


As funny as this sounds, I'm not too big a fan of emulation nowadays, but emulation is what got me BACK INTO collecting carts after many years.

[Bugbear]

...but hey it is simply different strokes for different folks here.

The stroke's the word.

I cannot begin to imagine the value of a SNES powerpak for convenience purposes. I refuse to play some games on emulators, but I can't expect to afford all of the rare titles that I'm after.
I would really want the carts, because the games mean a lot to me, but to have all of them, expensive or not, when it makes me cry to see the total of the games I'd like, I'm willing to improvise. They're getting very expensive, and because they're good, sought after games.

[ibeenew2]

The PowerPak is a ripoff. It's priced high because it can be, there isn't exactly a ton of competition in the SNES flash cart market. If a bunch of other guys started making/selling them, you'd see the price drop. Remember how expensive GBA and DS flashcarts were a few years ago? They can be had for peanuts now.

You may not be interested in buying one, but you apparently don't even understand the market. There are currently at least 4 different SNES flash carts in production (Mash Mods, Tototek, Neoflash, RetroZone). The PowerPak is high priced because its damn complicated and uses expensive components, and is still cheaper than the chinese neoflash cart. The other 2 are the cheapest, but do not use memory cards. The PowerPak price is right in line or cheaper than flash carts for every other retro system.

DS flash carts are cheap because they are simple and made by the MILLIONS by chinese companies. The production volume for retro carts just doesn't exist for huge discounts.

[Jorpho]

The games I really want to own are Mega man 7, X2, and X3...all rare games and quite expensive too!

If those are principally what you're after, you do realize that you should be able to pick up the Mega Man and Mega Man X compilations released for the last gen fairly easily, right?

[Eyedunno]

I might have to hunt down a PowerPak eventually. How does it work transferring your files to the PowerPak? I'm very unsavvy with these things, lol. Do you just put the flash card in your PC and click on some buttons? Is it as simple as it sounds?

Well, basically yes. It's at least far less complicated than any of the other mentioned alternatives, and you can store far more games. Basically just have a CF card formatted to FAT32, copy the files however you like, put in some save files for the games that need them (you can make blank save files by just opening each ROM for a second in an emulator), and you're good to go.

A few caveats though:

• Some people have had issues with certain CF cards/certain SNESes (particularly modded SNESes, where moving the cartridge slot apparently creates timing issues). But compatibility has improved, and I'm not one of those anymore (my Super Famicom Jr. now works), so I can't speak much about it.
• Files on the drive will not appear sorted on the PowerPak (as they do on flashcarts for more powerful systems), so unless you use a sorting app, they will appear in the order you added them. This is for your benefit, to speed up menu loading. There are free applications available to organize FAT drives; I use DriveSort for Windows.
• If you have a lot of ROMs on the card, it's to your advantage to sort them into folders to speed up navigation. :P Personally, I have fewer than 50 games (I only put three ROMs on that I don't actually own), and I sort them into directories called ROMS_A-M and ROMS_N-Z. If you plan to add your 500, you will have an easier time with a lot more folders. :P
• Saving is a little weird. The SRAM is not battery-backed and the reset button functions normally for the most part (for games where you might need it). To save, you have to HOLD the reset button for five seconds, then when you release it, you will be back at the PowerPak menu with a prompt to move data to CF. I actually love this system though - batteries are finicky, and I've played through several RPGs from beginning to end on the PowerPak.

As I said before, I originally got my PowerPak because of battery save worries (not to mention actual data loss), but now I think I love it as much for the ability to have almost all of my games (aside from Star Fox and Street Fighter Zero 2) in one place. Most of the convenience of emulation with none of the setbacks, gotta love it!