There's a new update out now with Native Code Execution (NCE). This is huge news for switch emulation as the CPU now runs the game entirely natively. Only the GPU remains emulated which means a lot of games will have a huge performance bump!
I really want to see Steam come up with some way to leverage these types of handhelds other than steam link, whether it be an android app or something that works well in ARM linux builds. I feel like this could really open up the industry and make these handhelds even more popular.
@elektromagnetik2786 Yes, good point. That actually might be the catalyst. Maybe Valve will partner with Apple for a 5" iPad with controls built-in 😅 seems strange to think about but you never know how these things will go.
@@elektromagnetik2786android already has a lot of work going on with exagear, box86/64, cassia and other projects, it would be beautiful if valve use some of that stuff (that is mostly open source) to make a proton extension on android, with seamless launching pc games (even if they're old) on the mobile steam app
This honestly makes me wish we had a WiiU emulator of android. I feel a well optimized WiiU emulator would be VERY easy for SD8 gen1 & gen2 CPUs. Perhaps Yuzu will just get optimized enough for us to just rely on switch ports.
YT has videos showing the sd8gen2 working with Winlator, and it looks *very* promising, to say the least. Maybe not so much for the Odin2 base model, but Pro and Max should do very well.
If anyone is wondering why totk crashes the ram monitor. I've actually done some testing with the game, currently on Yuzu it will just eat any amount of RAM that you throw at it. However full speed floats around 8-10gb from what I can tell. But if your device has 20, 30, or even 40gb of ram it will devour all of it and shutdown all background activity even your home screen whi h is typically exempt.
Another great video, Russ! I appreciate you showing the RAM utilization to determine what might be playable on the base. It’s good to know some games will run on it!
@@LordRaydenTube you know, I never even thought of that, however that's actually a valid question, but no, in my experience, I haven't had issues with Switch games running in docked mode, on handhelds (Android phones, Android handheld & Windows handheld consoles) & texts/HUDs coming out smaller.
Thank you Russ! This video answers my question from the first impressions video 😁 What i see here is a nice list of fully playable switch games and it's probably the challenge Ayn wants to win. I don't know how much yuzu emulator can push emulation further, if zelda games will be more smooth and how many playable games will be added. It's already a win. The fun part is that emulation below switch on this device will be smooth and the game list available to play is endless.
Fantastic video as always. ARM processors have come such a long way and they're great for portable devices like this one. I hope we start seeing more support for emulators on android, or even a linux distro that can run on this hardware. It would unlock a lot of capabilitirs for devices like this.
Thanks again Russ! Waking up and seeing an RGC video in my notifications makes me so happy, I enjoy it with my coffee routine 😅 Looking forward to seeing the Odin 2 PS2 video, please test Ratchet Deadlocked/Gladiator🥺
Dude, I HIGHLY recommend using the Turnip graphics driver with the Yuzu Android emulator. If I could run Sea of Stars and Persona 5 Royal on an 8GB SD 865 with next to no rendering problems then I'm sure running them on an 12 GB 8 Gen 2 should not be a problem. I had the exact same graphics issues you went through when trying to run Sea of Stars without it.
Russ said he was using Turnip drivers at the beginning of the video.The problem is most likely the 8 Gen 2, apparently Turnip drivers aren't as mature for the Gen 2.
@@aru3 Oh, I must've missed that. Well, I guess that really shows what good drivers for the appropriate systems can really contribute in terms of performance.
Honestly if I wanted to play Switch games its recent enough that I'll just use my Switch, but I am thoroughly impressed with the device's performance! Biggest I'll go is to the Gamecube/PS2, but it makes me giddy to think that I have all this extra headroom meaning that it'll probably handle anything I throw at it with relative ease (shader compilation slowdowns notwithstanding). Definitely going to get me one of these when I can spare the $500+AUD
It's funny how fast emulation progress is,just 3 months ago botw was not playable at sub 20FPS @ 720P/Handheld mode but now few people have already finished botw on odin 2 using NCE+Turnip drivers pretty much making the game playable at 720P locked 30FPS with very few crashes here and there. With 5 minutes of setting up,one can completely paly through zelda botw without any issues on powerful chips like snapdragon 8 gen 2 or 8 gen 1+ Ofcourse using custom drivers also crashes some games but overall compatibility has improved a lot,in a year 90% of the switch games will be playable without using any custom drivers.
I'm glad the base 8gb ram model will still be powerful enough to run most switch games, because the 12gb is just too close to the Steam Deck in terms of price.
That's how I feel, other than those two big "Z" ones, I really feel like the 8GB one should be fine. Obviously having that little extra wiggle room is nice, but I can't see a practical reason other than possible future proofing if they come out with other system emulation down line (PS3, XBOX/ 360). The 8GB would be at 75% for most worst cases here. Am I missing something?
It would be really cool to do a complete emulation setup video for this device, just like the one you made for the Retroid consoles. I think that this is a special one, and not just because I picked one also a couple of hours ago 😂. In my opinion, the only thing that it lacks, is a higher refresh rate screen.
Between emulation and streaming (Moonlight, GamePass, GFN) and I have high hopes to get the Odin 2 to act as an "all in one" device. I've got a Switch, but am really psyched to be able to play a decent selection of Switch games on the Odin to be able to travel with a single device.
Great video and exciting to see switch emulation improve with such hardware. You noted that you were unable to get Yuzu to work with an external controller. Did you try using the Odin software to disable the built in controls?
Great video Russ, much needed for all enthusiasts! Have you already checked the possibility of using part of storage space as extra RAM in Odin 2, to make harder games run smoother maybe? It'll ve worthy for most of us getting an Odin 2 soon to see this extension in action.
Really happy with the Switch alternatives we have right now, but also sad to see how poorly Nintendo has done with hardware this generation, the Switch is subpar in nearly every way.
Hey Russ, just want to point out that legally speaking, it doesn't matter if you have the physical game but got the rom through "other means" that is still considered piracy...the only way you're not legally liable is if you actually extract the roms off of YOUR physical game(s)...this is the grey area many people get confused by. There are many articles covering this where they interviewed copywrite lawyers confirming this... not to mention linus tech tips has a video on it where he showed how to actually extract a rom from a cartridge, (Not an easy thing to do). Showing a physical game while getting the rom online simply serves as a "placebo effect", and if Nintendo really wanted to they could come after you (or anyone doing the same) anyway and force you to prove that you extracted those roms from your own games... that's IF they wanted to.... i just wanted to make that clear for others that think it's "ok as long as you have the physical game."
Would love to see someone test non-exclusive games on the Switch that might take more ram, GPU, or processor capability like Dark Souls Remastered or Skyrim.
I love that disclaimer for the Nintendo emulation because you're right it's a touchy subject but it is a compliment to have other modern devices to upscale it. Enjoying our favorite games in an easier way but still aiding the developers etc. I wish Nintendo cared to preserve it's rich history of games and memories but they don't do that.
Appreciated the clarity at the top of the video. You may have covered your perspective on Switch emulation in the past, but I'm relatively new to the channel and found it reassuring to hear that you're supporting hard-working devs.
Honestly i got the 8gb ram spec and i think for the catalog i play that will be more than enough.... i expected the ram usage to get close to 8gb in some games and that's ok i have a Nintendo switch if i want to play those games natively... more happy with this purchase after watching this. Great video russ as always!
Hey Russ, you are a lifesaver as always. Great in depth content, i really appreciate it. On some android phones, there is an option that you can select a portion of the internal storage to act as an additional ram. I wonder if this option is present in Odin 2, and if so, would it be beneficial to incerase the Switch performance of the base model that has 8 gb of ram. I am on the fence of ordering between the base and the pro, and the 75$ difference is a meaningful amount of money for my budget. 😅
I got an retroid pocket 3 plus and this was my first emulation handheld. I am really looking forward to the GC and PS2 tests. And I really want to buy this device 😅
This is such a great channel. Just good content, covers what I want to know about the devices, no trying to sell me garbage, no politics. Keep it up man.
Very promising, maybe in 5 year from now, we will get a 8 gen 8 playing all switch game in docked mode with a beautiful 6 inch 2k oled display, but right now I'm keeping my switch lite
Ram utilization is always tricky to measure because processors like to use more ram that necessary. Meaning that 50% usage on the pro might not necessarily mean 6 gb of ram used on the base version. You can see this with how most games will use 30-40% ram even if they are lighter and probably only need a fraction of that. I wouldn’t expect that to mean there is hope to run a game like TOTK on the base version. But it’s something to consider especially for those games that are around 7 gb on the pro version.
First off, great list of switch games, I have around 40+ physical games and even more on digital. I already own ayn odin 1 pro so the only advantage I see to getting these models is better switch emulation and possibly better gamecube, wii and ps2 emulation. I also have my steam deck as well as a PC should I ever wanna use Yuzu, though in the case of the steam deck it’s not quite as travel friendly as any Odin handheld. I do have plans to switching to an Android phone in the future, probably to a Redmagic 8s pro since those have the same chipset and memory as the highest end Odin 2 model. Either way, awesome video as I always enjoy seeing switch games running on other devices
@@81684hnxv I don’t think so as some ps2 and gamecube you may have to lower the resolution but aside from that most if not all of them should run great. To answer your question, it’s a ps2/gamecube friendly device but not a flawless one as far as I know
@retrogamecorps Hey man. Was just looking at a vid from 10 months ago you did re 'Android Update for RG353' devices. People in comments saying that update now bricks their machines. Just thought I'd let you know as you seem like a good guy who'd care about that. Cheers!
Agreed on the question of Switch emulation-my original model Switch (hacked) is still alive and kicking, but sometimes I want the bigger screen of my Steam Deck or 4K upscaling on my gaming rig. And as you mention, I feel it’s a necessity to rip all of my games (online especially) given the potential ephemeral nature of their availability.
Iirc resolution wise, the Switch and Steam Deck are both 720p In fact, I think the Steam Deck might have a slightly lower resolution because of letterboxing
@@regis_c resolution isn’t the reason I reach for the Deck over the Switch at times, it’s literally the larger screen size for these aging eyes. And remember, I’m not used to an OLED Switch, the screen on my Deck (with tweaks) is comparable to my first revision Switch screen in terms of vibrancy and such. I can run many of my favorite games (with hacks) in a 16 by 10 aspect ratio, filling the screen, and for those that are “stuck” in 16:9, the bump in screen size is still a deal maker for me. It’s 0.8” bigger-6.2” versus 7”-and even letterboxed it’s still meaningfully more legible for me. That said, I still love my Switch and pick it up to play from time to time (the battery life is still pretty impressive all these years later) but I also like having options.
Especially when you start to factor in battery degradation. What is the steam deck going to look like in 2 years with that kind of battery life fresh out of the box? What good is a handheld device if i'm tethered to the wall anyway.
Idk why people like transparent ones so much. To me it just looks cheaper idk. I like the one color ones...just more simple and sleek. But yeah everyone has their own preference. Whats important is the games on it. Enjoy!
@@Dalmatinac3 For me, NOSTALGIA. Russ and I grew up with that being the HOT version on the playground. Though, back then, TRANSPARENT was also a feat in and of itself. So, a handheld I'm using almost exclusively for retro-emulation, want to have an equally nostalgic vibe.
I just want GameCube and ps2 games on that Odin. Specifically mariokart double dash and dragon ball Z BUDOKAI TENKAICHI 2. If it can run those two games I’m sold
Russ, will you be posting an Odin 2 guide to your website soon? Or updating the original to include the 2? I’d love to have my memory card ready for when it arrives.
It feels like this thing can push systems we don't even have emulators for yet. I won't hold my breath for PS3 on Android but Wii U and Xbox 360 certainly seem possible on spec.
I'm pretty sure it could work a ps3 emulator very well. The power is definitely there, the number of cores is perfect... the only thing missing seems to be the emulator. 🤷 My hopes are for the Android version of Emudeck to bring some movement to the scenery. They are working especially with the Odin 2, as the devs announced a few days ago.
And an Android port of Xenia was already announced, but then drawn back for not enough capable processors being around As this obviously changes these days I'd imagine that Xbox 360 emulation could be a thing rather soon and likely be the first of the "missing" consoles to appear on Android.
I hope you're right. I did back it after all, for the fact that there's a lot of headroom with the SOC. The fact that it's emulating a very current machine like the Switch bodes well.
Thanks a lot for battery life usage, was asking everyone about it! If possible, could you try at least some games with Box64 or Winlator to try running pc games? This chip should be possible to run Oblivion or Fallout 3. Thx.
My Switch collection is gonna get bigger since Best Buy's $50 membership does B2G1 free on all Switch games. So more fodder for the Odin or Steam Deck.
Wonderful standalone video! Please do an update vid in a couple months when Yuzu make significant headway (eg controller support, docked mode improvements) Sláinte 🇮🇪
For all the hoops you have to jump through for Switch emulation, my personal preference would be to play on actual hardware. However, since my kids often have the family Switch squirreled away in their rooms somewhere, this would be a nice fallback option. Also, one of my goals for the Odin 2 is an ultimate Animal Crossing device, it's annoying to switch between so many devices to stay somewhat current on all my saves (my OG savefile is close to 20 years by now!) So even though it is a more lightweight game, I'd love to see some footage from New Horizons.
Long story, but I am originally from WA state, but my dad's side are transplants from MN so I do carry that upper-midwest twinge despite never living there. I've also lived in Hawaii off and on since 2001, and my wife is from here, so I annunciate every syllable (very common trait here in Hawaii), and I have some vocal tone patterns that reflect Hawaii's pidgin. So I'm all over the place :D
@@RetroGameCorps Us midwesterners can hear our own. LOL. It is weird how we adopt our parents' accents. I'm Romanian by birth, adopted by an Illinois (Chicago) couple and have a thick NORHTERN (not CHICAGO) IL accent.
Google for "helpful information - Odin 2 All Models" - There are some .SH scripts for creating a swap file (virtual ram) to boot games on the Odin Base. They have to be enabled each boot, but will work wonders until the OTA update in december. The Odin 2 (base) doesn't have a vRAM ^ cache setup by default (it's an oversight). You need the .SH scripts to fix this - that way when games lean into more than 8GB of RAM they're able to use the internal SSD as extra RAM.
I don't emulate switch. I have an OLED and switch lite and I love owning and playing physical games. But I'm not going to judge people who do. Just support what you can. This thing is about the size of a switch lite (cept thicker/heavier) so that's nice. But the actual switch lite is the most comfortable gaming device I've ever held.
It is pretty cool to see this but yeah man I wont be using it for Switch games. I have my OLED to play switch stuff and my modded switch for travel that way if it does get lost or stolen i dont lose my physical game in addition to the console.
Ive never really owned Nintendo games growing up, but I relate to your sentiment with the Nintendo e-store in regards to my Steam Library. Which is why I'm considering pirating the ones I already bought as a backup.
Can you play with other people with the emulated games? Like usethis to play with Switch users? As well can you play Android games with other Android gamers?
