I have a Dualshock PS3 controller, no Xbox since we're a PlayStation household. I have Dolphin working fine, plays the games fine. I've seen some posts mention bluetooth, but I have no idea if my PC has bluetooth, I know I certainly don't own one.
Wouldn't it be great to be able to play on your laptop? ? Between video-game consoles Being that I'm between travels, apartments, and dedication to a specific game console, I decided to get creative with hardware and catch up on the series developed by Nintendo. There are a few other titles that I'm looking forward to this holiday season when goes on sale, such as and but, even though these are also PlayStation 3 titles, I don't own that console anymore either, so I can't play either of them right now. ? The primary reason that I'm going with the over the is that I've owned the previously. — Most of the console games I've played are on the PlayStation platform, and the new consoles have generally enabled playback of each previous consoles' titles through streaming or embedded backwards compatibility. The only other home (non-portable) gaming console that I've dabbled with longterm is the, which I actually in 2006.
? — But, I sold my Wii before I moved in 2011, and then bought a PlayStation 3 in early 2012. Then, I sold that before I moved again in January 2013, and have been consoleless ever since due to traveling. So, what's next? Back to Nintendo? Hmm Because I'd owned the Wii before, I had already played:.
— The initial flagship game of the series for Wii. — Because this was originally released for, it could also be played on the Wii console due to backwards compatibility. A new Zelda game had come out since then, called “,” and I had been dying to play it. The fact that I had been able to play a GameCube game on the Wii was a signal that the two were very similar, hardware-wise. — Soon after, I discovered that there's a software emulator that can perfectly emulate both of these Nintendo consoles on most Macs and PCs! Screenshot of “” running on a console.
Since my is fairly new, I'd hoped that it packed enough processing and graphics power to play. — To try, all I needed was a Wii game, a “Wiimote” controller, and a. But, how was I going to emulate a sensor bar? ? Figuring out how to emulate a “sensor bar” for the Wiimote controller(s) If you have a Nintendo Wii console, you have that wired bar that goes on the top of your TV as a signal to the “Wiimote” controllers of where the TV is. — A friend told me that there are numerous alternatives to this bar, though, such as lighting two candles near your TV (safely! ?), or even. Photo of a Nintendo Wii “sensor bar,” positioned in front of a TV.
I actually did consider building one myself, but luckily realized that there were a USB-powered replicas for less than $5 USD shipped. — Radio Shack was unfortunately charging too much for the spare parts to build it on my own (by comparison), and I figured that a manufactured option could potentially be more durable longterm, anyway. With the sensor bar figured out, I ordered the rest of the supplies through:.
— The “Plus” variant is required to play Skyward Sword. — You'll also need this to control the character. Best perk of buying official Nintendo gear?
It always ships with brand-new batteries in the box. That's one thing you won't need to put on your shopping list, for now!
??? Setup + configuration After a few days, the supplies had arrived, and it was time to test! I first downloaded the from its official website. — Be careful about other websites that may be offering perhaps outdated versions of the software that may come bundled with! ? While you're on their official site, be sure to check out their and to make sure that your computer and setup is compatible with Dolphin. The Nintendo Wii and arriving in a box from.
Getting the Wiimote to pair over with my Mac was a bit tricky. — According to, this latest (at the time of writing) model of the Wiimote controller “ RVL-CNT-01-TR” for the newer console doesn't connect to Macs with the old “hold the 1 and 2 buttons and pair it” method of models prior. The correct way to connect this controller to your computer is not by connecting the device using the Bluetooth menu on your Mac, as you'd connect any other Bluetooth device. — Instead, follow these steps:. Open the on your Mac.
Go to its “Tools” menu. Choose “Real Wiimote” for Wiimote 1 controller (not “Emulated Wiimote”). Click the “ Refresh” button under the “Real Wiimotes” section. Then, immediately press the red “Sync” button on the back of the Wiimote! If you're successful, the controller will stop flashing and you'll feel it vibrate briefly to indicate a successful pairing. — It may even appear as being “connected” in your Mac's Bluetooth menu, as shown below: Screenshot of my Nintendo Wiimote connected via Bluetooth to my Mac. Even if the controller is listed in your Mac's Bluetooth menu, though, you'll still need to repeat the steps above to reinitiate the connection whenever you reconnect it, as experienced at this time of writing.
? “Sensor Bar” alternatives Unfortunately, by the time the controllers and game had arrived, the sensor bar that I'd ordered still hadn't! — However, is emitted elsewhere (such as from the candles I mentioned before ?), so I temporarily just used a bright floor lamp to calibrate the Wiimote when first lauching the game. ? Keep in mind that this “floor lamp trick” probably only works in an otherwise mostly dark room, or at night. ? Since this game supports (and requires), you don't really need the sensor bar once it has calibrated. I occasionally would need to reset it if it became off-target while playing, but I could do so in the “Pause” menu to not adversely affect gameplay. — UPDATE (2013/07/27): I eventually just used a disposable lighter ? to emulate the sensor bar briefly when recalibating the Wiimote: Using a disposable lighter to calibrate a Wiimote without a sensor bar. Anyway, moving on ? Launching game(s) Actually running games in the is easy through options in the software's menus:.
? Open “disk images” of any game discs that you've already created yourself. ? Or, insert an actual Wii game disc into your computer's CD/DVD drive. Once the game is running, you should press “ Command (⌘) + 1” on your keyboard to enable the first controller, and then “ Command(⌘) + F” to make the game fullscreen.
While Wii games are simple to launch, I imagine that there may be a different process for GameCube games given that its discs are than typical CDs/DVDs and therefore might not be safe to insert into your computer's CD drive, especially if it's slot-loading like the MacBook Pro's drives. — For more information on this, check out. Improving performance While actually running Wii games in Dolphin and getting the controllers connected may be “easy,” getting the games to run properly and be responsive is a bit trickier.
This process can vary from game to game. — For “”, I found that my frame-rate (before adjusting settings) was initially just 20 FPS! That is not playable or enjoyable, and I began to investigate options to improve the performance. Dolphin has, but for my particular computer, there were a few things in particular to take into account:. 4 x CPU cores. Insane native display resolution for a portable graphics processor to handle (2880×1800). The high-end has a discrete GPU for high-performance rendering, alongside the basic Intel GPU that's more power-efficient and generally not used when doing anything intensive.
(For this reason, I'm not sure if Dolphin will run well on the 13-inch MacBook Pro or other models with just the Intel GPU.) Even with the game running at a super-high display resolution, I actually found that the graphics settings didn't bottleneck Dolphin's performance very much at all on this machine. Instead, it was primarily the CPU that caused performance concerns during emulation! Recommended settings I recommend changing the following settings from their defaults for “” to get decent playback results and less overall CPU usage on a. First, go to the “Settings” menu in Dolphin, and select the “ Graphics” option:. In the “ General” tab:. “OpenGL” for Backend. The largest native option (15-inch Retina display is 2880 x 1800) for Fullscreen resolution.
Enable “ Hide Mouse Cursor” to prevent distraction. In the “ Enhancements” tab:. “Auto (Window Size)” for Internal resolution, or you may waste system resources doing artificial scaling especially when switching to an external monitor or TV. ?. “None” for Anti-aliasing since you have a.
“16x” for Anisotropic filtering. (I did this for optimal visuals, and haven't notice a performance hit, but you could also try reducing this if you're running into issues.). In the “ Hacks” tab: (This is where things can get interesting).
Enabling “ Skip EFB Access from CPU” gave me a huge performance boost, but may cause glitches in some games. (I recommend enabling it unless it causes significant issues for you.). Definitely enable “ OpenMP Texture Decoder” on the newer MacBook Pro computers, as they have multiple CPU cores and this offers a huge performance boost. After this, hit “ OK”, and then go back to Dolphin's “Settings” menu, and choose the “ DSP Settings” option:. I enabled the “ DSP LLE on Thread” option here, and haven't had any issues. (This is said to boost performance, and it worked well for me.) See how these work for you. ?? In the future, pay attention to!
Some games require certain settings for optimal appearance, but individual settings may actually hinder or enhance performance on particular computers or games. — Perhaps, find settings that work for one title, and then see which other games also agree with these settings for optimum playability and enjoyability? Tip: Also, don't put your computer somewhere where it's poorly ventilated! Various materials or things can block its vents (such as carpets, blankets/bedsheets, papers on a desk, etc.), and will increase the computer's temperature and throttle performance. ? Gameplay vs. Visual glitches Just a heads-up, because the games are being emulated using reverse-engineered code, you may encounter a glitch or two due to evolving algorithms and compatibility in the Dolphin software.
? The only issue that I've encountered in “” so far is that certain climbable vines that are supposed to be shown on cliffs aren't visible, and instead it was only rendering shadows of them. ? — The first time I ran into this, I luckily noticed the shadows and was able to keep playing but without having noticed them, I'd have been stuck at that point in the game with no path forward. ? This glitch may in fact be solely caused by my specific system configuration and settings (mentioned above), but your results will most-likely vary between various computers and versions of the Dolphin software.
Tip: As mentioned, pay attention to, and watch out for other issues like this. — The experience is not perfect, but it's not bad either! Results It works!
? — I played “” entirely from start-to-finish: A screenshot of the game running beautifully in resolution. Here's the classic, unforgettable “treasure chest opening” sound and experience and yes, “ #zeldatreasurechest” was an actual hashtag on before I posted this: ?. Bonus: Play on a TV! Since the latest MacBook Pro has a built-in HDMI output, why not hook it up to the TV and play there, instead? ? You might even get better performance, since a 1080p TV is lower resolution than the latest 15-inch MacBook Pro's display panel! ?? If you want the game's sound to output through the HDMI port (to the TV) as well instead of your Mac's speakers or headphone output, press and hold “ Option (⌥)” on your keyboard, click the “volume” icon in your Mac's menu bar, and then choose the TV from the menu that appears: Select the TV as your Mac's audio output from this menu while playing.
? Wrapping up So, now I have a working Wii setup on my Mac! ? It suits my console gaming needs for the time being until the goes on sale this holiday season, and I'm definitely looking forward to purchasing some new games and consoles from Nintendo in the future, as well. ? Tags:. ◄ Newer Post. Next Post ► Popular Posts ★. ⋯ Comments.
I’ve been experimenting with the marvellous recently. It’s an open source project that allows us to play Nintendo Gamecube and Wii games on modern hardware. Dolphin is available for Windows, OS X and Linux. I have a wireless Xbox 360 controller for Windows at my disposal, but the only Windows hardware I have is the first generation Surface Pro. While the controller connects without issues, the Surface sadly just isn’t fast enough to run Dolphin. My more powerful hardware is Mac based, and Dolphin runs great on my Mac Mini. But I had no idea how to connect my Xbox controller to it.
Turns out it’s actually a breeze to setup: let me show you how it worked for me on OS X El Capitan. Which Xbox Controller am I referring to here Before we start, let’s clear up a small misunderstanding that may arise with Xbox controllers. The Xbox 360 came with wireless controllers that used to hook up directly to the console. Those are great, but traditionally there was no way to connect them to anything else (they don’t use standard Bluetooth). To alleviate this, Microsoft have released two versions of this controller for PC gamers: the Xbox 360 Controller for Windows (wired, USB cable attached), and a more elegant version called the Wireless Xbox 360 Controller for Windows (same controller as the one that came with the Xbox 360, plus a wireless USB dongle). Either controller will work fine, here’s a picture of the one I’m using: Installing the Xbox 360 controller’s driver No official Mac drivers are available for the Xbox controllers, but developed one back in 2005.
The project was forked and, where you can find the latest version. Head over to the Releases section and download an installable DMG archive.
After installing the driver, you’ll find a new item under System Preferences called Xbox 360 Controllers: Plug in your wireless USB dongle now and press the big X button to connect the controller to the dongle (I’m assuming it’s already been paired). Wired controllers simply plugin to the USB port and are connected immediately. Open the preference pane to verify this: when connected, your controller should show up in the list. The driver will read the controller’s input, but it won’t map anything you do to what a game might expect (for example, press the space bar to jump in a platform game). To use the controller with anything other than Dolphin, you’ll need a small utility that will interpret controller input and translate it to keyboard and mouse movements, such as or (both available from the App Store).
However, the Dolphin Emulator has such a mapping option built in, so there’s no need for such tools. Let’s see how to map that Xbox controller so that it behaves just like an old Gamecube controller. Configuring Dolphin for use with the Xbox 360 Controller Open Dolphin and head over to GCPad. If you don’t see this option, it will read “Controllers”. That’s an indication that Dolphin can’t see a gamepad, probably because the driver isn’t installed, or it’s disabled. If Dolphin was open while you installed the driver, restart your system.
Click on GCPad and select your Xbox controller under device. By default the button mapping looks like this: I didn’t quite understand how to change this, but it’s remarkably easy and only takes 30 seconds: Take a look at the left box entitled Buttons. You’ll see a column of controller buttons (A, B, X, Y, Z, etc) that correspond to the buttons on the original Gamecube controller. By default they’re mapped to keyboard shortcuts you can see in the right column (for example, the Gamecube controller’s A button is mapped to your Mac keyboard’s X button). To change this, simply click on the mapped shortcut. Turns out the right column in each section is made up of buttons (I didn’t get that at first). Click one and Dolphin will wait a few seconds for you to press what you’d like to map to this button instead (it shows “waiting”).
If you’re not fast enough, it’ll revert back to the previous value. So to setup our controller, simply press the button next to A, then press the corresponding button on your Xbox controller.
Do this with every item on the menu, and within less than a minute, you’ll have a fully functional gamepad setup. My results look like this: You can store this setup if you like: type a suitable name in the Profile field at the top right and hit Save. Dolphin will also remember your setup even if you don’t though. Configuring DeadZones See that my C-Stick in the screenshot above is pointing diagonally downwards? This can happen when an analogue stick is moved and then snaps back into the middle. The “middle” isn’t always exactly the same, so every time it snaps back, the controller will deliver a slightly different value.
When we come to launch a game, it may happen that this is interpreted as the stick being pushed into this direction, leading to an annoying in-game experience. If your stick is fair and square in the middle (like my left one), you have nothing to worry about.
But if you see something like I have on the right, here’s how to fix it. When connected to a console, game pads usually calibrate themselves every time you launch a game.
But because we’re dealing with different software here, we may have to configure Dead Zones to alleviate such issues. Dead Zones are areas around the middle of the stick that are regarded as “the stick is now in the middle, no matter what feedback we get”.
While Dolphin supports this feature, it’s much more visible and easy to understand by opening up the Xbox Controller preference pane again. Head over to the Advanced tab and use the little slider to draw a small square around the middle of each stick’s position.
Anything inside that little square is now seen as “the stick is in the middle”, even if it’s off by just a fraction. Once adjusted, head back to the Dolphin GCPad configuration and map your sticks again (if you had this issue obviously, otherwise ignore my ramblings). Enjoy Gamecube on your Mac! That’s really all there’s to it: grab a ROM, select it and start playing.
Your Xbox 360 controller will henceforth behave just as if it was a Gamecube controller, and your Mac will behave as if it was a Gamecube (or Wii – although I haven’t figured out how to connect a Wii Remote yet. Watch this space). Not all games will run particularly well, so this isn’t a complete replacement for a games console – but it’s enough for several afternoons of retro gaming fun. To give you an idea of performance: My dual core i7 MacBook Pro only has an Intel HD3000 graphics card, and it’s struggling. But my quad core i7 MacMini with its Intel HD4000 card plays Pikmin just fine – however it’s still not enough to enjoy Super Mario Sunshine.
If you hook up your Mac to a big screen TV, help your graphics card by switching the output to 720p rather than the default 1080p. It’ll mean less work for your card and a smoother gaming experience, (under System Preferences – Displays – select Scaled and pick a resolution). As always, enjoy!