TheC64 Mini
This machine, which is an emulator-in-a-box, runs a version of the Vice emulator (the best C64 emulator around, so that's a good choice) on a Linux build. The approach, especially at first sight, strongly mimics Nintendo's offerings, by offering a very cute looking small version of the C64 "breadbin" design and a joystick resembling the Competition Pro, often used on the real machines back in the day. The plastic mold of the joystick has the exact same size as the Commodore 64DTV, which had its entire board housed in such a joystick. It comes with 64 games built in.
Unlike Nintendo's offerings, the controller connectors are regular USB ones (2 of them). This also means you can use the joystick on your pc.
When TheC64 Mini first came out there were some sharp critics, especially on the controls.
- There was clearly noticeable input lag
- While looking like a Competition Pro, the joystick is an obviously cheaper build lacking the microswitches the original joystick it was based on had. Note that this is no different from the C64DTV (but that, being a SOC, had no input lag).
- While it was possible to load games from an USB stick, the process was a hassle.
- Additionally, some people dislike the fact the mini keyboard isn't real, but I find it a moot point since you can hook up any usb keyboard. It would be way too small to type on anyway.
The Mini has 2 very good features however:
- Pheripheral support via USB (including USB hubs allowing you to hook up multiple joysticks, a keyboard and a thumb drive at the same time)
- Software updates which made it a much better product over time.
The software support has been pretty good; the lag issue was resolved and loading games from an USB stick is now easy. It supports other joysticks too and I successfully hooked up a Retro Link Atari 2600 USB joystick and an actual new Competition Pro USB (recently released 25th anniversary edition, with microswitches).
Additionally, since mine is a PAL region version, when your monitor / tv supports 50hz it will produce the smooth scrolling you'd expect from a C64. Not all pc monitors support this (in which case it runs 25fps at 60hz) but this is a limitation of monitors rather than the device itself.
It also has a number of scaling options (scanlines, aspect ratio, blur level, etc).
By all means this device is way beyond the C64DTV (especially in the sound department), and as of yet there's not been an FPGA design that can rival Vice (someone is trying to make an FPGA SID chip though, but that's more a project to be able to replace the now ageing original chips). With the USB pheripheral support you can use the Mini like you'd use a real C64 including programming in Basic or running other non-game applications.
While probably obvious, what the Mini doesn't do is supporting original C64 peripherals. If e.g. you want to use your original tapes, the closest you can do is convert them to T64 and use those.
Default joystick aside, I find TheC64Mini more impressive than most of its rivals because of the more open approach and ability to use it as an actual computer. It's case design is as good as Nintendo's offerings (taste aside of course, maybe you never liked how the original looked). That it supports smooth 50hz scrolling when possible is a welcome addition as this is often a thing that can be hard to do on a pc.
The manufacturer plans to release a full-sized version as well, with working keyboard, so that might be even better.
I think other improvements would be to add actual DB9 connectors so you could hook up original joysticks and perhaps an SD card slot, so there's less need for using an USB hub.