Why use MESS ?

[GimmeClassics]

i've just setup MAME for my arcade / classic cabinet games.

Now i would like to setup GameEx for console games.
For NES-games using the nestopia-emulator would be an option.
For SNES-games this would be ZSNES.

I've also been reading what MAME is for arcade games, MESS is for console-games. Is this true? Is using MESS to be preferred above using individual emulators? Would love to hear the advantages!

Thanks !

[hansolo77]

It requires a bit of research. I only use MESS on consoles that don't have their own stand alone emulators. Using a stand alone give you better emulation most of the time because its dedicated for that system alone, and is (usually) updated by a communtiy that shares in that dedication.

[GimmeClassics]

Hi hansolo, could you perhaps tell me for which consoles you use MESS?

Of course others are also welcome to give there experience with MESS...

Thanks!

[Draco1962]

I would recommend looking at some of the MESS forums and documentation to see exactly what level of compatibility they are for the systems you are interested in emulating. Otherwise, while this post (thanks to fRequUenCy) deals mostly with wrappers, etc., it is also a good reference for systems and the more common emulators used.

I think you will find that some users will use multiple emulators to run the same system's ROMs as some may be coimpatible with games that the other is not and vice-versa.

[fRequEnCy]

I always look at NonMESS as a resource. Also I tend to look at emulator sites and see which ones are ranked highest by the emulation community. As far as emulators, I look to MESS, then Mednafen, then standalone. All depending on features I need for that system. So it's really a matter of preference.

[gamepimp]

I use MESS (UME actually which is a combo of MESS/MAME) for several reasons. First off, the scanline filter that is available for this emulator is hands down the best looking scanline effect that I have seen of all the emulators I've tried. I have a rather large LCD monitor in my "showcase" style cabinet, and the scanlines on most other emulators are too thick to look realistic. The second reason I prefer this emulator over others is the fact that I only have to update one emulator as opposed to trying to keep up with dozens. The third reason for using MESS is the fact that I can manipulate the screen size very easily. For handheld systems, I tend to shrink the screen size so that the games aren't so pixelated that they're unplayable. While it's true that MESS doesn't always emulate some systems as well as other system-specific emulators, it does emulate the more popular systems (NES, SNES, Genesis, TG-16, etc.) almost perfectly. And for the systems that have them available, the cheats are very easy to use. I highly recommend MESS if the features I've listed above are also important for ur setup.