Gam3B0x, the Hyperspin Console.

[SkyHighGam3r]

UPDATE - 4/5/16: - I have updated the system from what was previously shown here, various themes, wheel structures, etc. Most importantly I have the Sega Saturn and Sega Dreamcast wheels fully functional.

Particularly proud of the Saturn JP/US hybrid wheel.

 Check it out in my new video:

UPDATED: I wasn't happy with my long winded introduction, so I've updated this with more relevant info.

Hey guys!

I wanna show you my custom console, the Gam3B0x!



This is Hyperspin running on the following specs in a console sized PC case.

CPU: Intel i7-4790k 4.4ghz
RAM: 16gb DDR3
GPU: AMD R9 390X 8gb 1.5ghz

I know this is vastly overpowered for emulation purposes, but I also wanted to integrate some modern (and classic) PC games into the wheels.

It's worth noting that this entire program functions keyboard/mouse free (With the exception of certain PC games like Diablo) It's primarily desgined to run on Sega Saturn and Xbox controllers (needed something for analogue sticks) However, any USB controller will immediately work once an Xpadder profile has been setup.

Here's the Xpadder setup I use across every controller on every system:

Xbox Pads ( This is the standard profile )

 

 

Sega Saturn

 

 

This is talked about in depth further below in another post on this thread.

Lastly, I have created a video showing all of my wheels and how gameplay functions.
I apologize for the bad sound quality, I have a crap microphone and I am sick as well lol.

Hopefully you guys like what you see, let me know if you have any questions or anything.

In particular I LOVE FEEDBACK, good or bad, I like to know what people think of my projects.

Thanks guys!

(Big thanks to all of you who consistently provide support for me and others around the forums. I know I couldn't do it without you!!!)

[JoyStickKilla]

Sorry man, too much to read lol

[SkyHighGam3r]

Ok, so to start off, let's take a look at the actual Hardware that was used to create this project.

As I said, my intention was always to have a console at the end of this project. This went through some various stages, starting from a concept of using a tiny PC that I bought for 25 bucks at my work that I was going to bondo some flair onto then sand and repaint, to a custom built PC inside an original Xbox case, to a Lenova Yoga 2 11" 2-in-1 laptop. During these preliminary stages I was only going to go as far as emulating the N64/Original Playstation.

However, what I finally ended up using turned out to be so so very much better...

What I now have is a custom PC built into a console sized case that is only marginally larger than an Xbox One. While I realize that's rather large, given the performance provided, it's well worth it.

SO, without further adieu... the Gam3B0x:

 

 

 

Now, your initial thoughts are going to be that this is vastly overpowered, however stick with me because there's a point here.

CPU: Intel i7-4790k 4.4GHZ

Internal HDD: 1TB 7200 RPM
RAM: 16GB DDR3
Video Card: AMD R9 390X 8GB 1GHZ
The case itself comes from Sabrent (The logo is still on the front at this time) I chose it for it's very console like shape.

I got a fantastic deal on parts which was the main reason I went this route. However, the reason I chose such overpowered parts it's because of 2 things.

1.) I now, for the first time in my life, can play high-powered PC games.
Due to this, I have created a custom PC Games weel with what I personally feel are some of the more iconic PC games, as well as some personal favorites. (More on this when I touch on wheels later on)

2.) I knew that with better parts and performance comes the ability to play newer and newer emulators. Now, the highest fully functional emulator I am aware of is the PS2, however I happened to see that on the horizon was a 3DS, Wii U, X360, PS3... and MOST importantly... XQEMU for the original Xbox (Major fan of that system) So I figured... What the hell, let's future proof this beast.

Now, as you may notice, there are 3 controllers in the picture. I have assembled these as best I could to represent Players 1 or 2. On the side you will see the Sega Saturn Pads. Now, these are RetroBit USB pads, which I sadly learned are not able to take the OEM buttons... (This is AFTER I bought 3 broken saturn pads on ebay...) However, I did manage to make the Start on P1 red and blue on P2. Better than nothing, eh? While the X360 pads I did something more special.

The one pictured is the Player one pad, and as you see it matches the console itself. I took a solid black and old white one and threw them together to create the color scheme. On the backside I've got a black battery pack, and the bumpers and triggers are black as well. While not pictured, the Player 2 controller is the opposite in terms of color.

Off to the side is the external HDD I have my games on. I'm trying to imagine a way I can convert it to LOOK like some kind of cartridge, but honestly that's quite low on the list of things to do.

Let me know what you think, if you'd like more info, or perhaps some other pictures.

Next up I will take some pictures of the themes I created, including (hopefully... gotta figure out videos) the intro video and HS in motion.

[SkyHighGam3r]

Sorry man, too much to read lol

Lol can't say I blame you. I put a LOT on there. Pictures to come, which are much easier to digest. Especially if I can figure out how to do a video lol

[SkyHighGam3r]

Ooookay! Thanks to Open Broadcast Software I have succesfully recorded my first ever video for youtube! GO ME!

Anyway lol, here is a video of the main menu theme I created:

EDIT: Ok... clearly I have no clue how to get a youtube video to pull up here so I apologize, but here is the link for it lol. PLEASE take the time to like and/or comment on it. It is my first video EVER online! =D

EDIT EDIT: OK, nevermind I guess you just copy/paste hahaha
 

RIGHT off the bat, the first thing you will notice is the long intro video that is nothing but Channel 03 static! It took FOREVER to get a stock video of static that looked good (video quality may not be the best) and even then I had to figure out how to add in the audio of static using Windows Movie Maker. You'll also notice a seperate static video is used in place of a couple of the system videos that I have yet to get for certain systems like the PSP or the PC games.

I took a lot of time to get the logos in this just right (thank you photoshop) so I hope you can appreciate them, particularly the Genesis one which I am quite proud of. Though I am by no means the original creator of all that you see on display. Google images was a great resource for me.

 

The colorful pixel part of the background was yanked off google (and edited quite some), but I created the bevel effect on the left using photoshop, as well as the black box the videos are playing in on the right.
The rest of the themes follow this basic pattern, but I think some images will suffice for that.

Please let me know what you think. Good and bad, all criticism is welcomed.
 

[sandman7793]

Nice. I barely come here and post anymore, but I figured I would once I seen this. Couple things. I read it all. Lol. Good job by the way. What's the temps on that thing playing PC games at high res or unbuffered frames? You have the pc games loading from that passport 3.0 USB? SSDs are getting so cheap, you plan on stacking then in there? By the way, ever thought of adding a nvidia card so you can stream to a gear vr from that thing to? Future proof it. Happy gaming.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[SkyHighGam3r]

So heat is an interesting factor with the case design. I usually run the fans at 80 to 100 when playing high-end PC games, but the highest I've seen the temps go under those circumstances is 80F with the fan only turned up to 80%.

Not sure what unbuffered frames are to be perfectly honest, somewhat new to PC gaming as I was always running on old hardware lol.

I actually have the PC games running from the internal drive, with all the roms/isos on the external drive.

I've only got room for 2 more HDD drives on the inside, but with air flow being a commodity in their I might just upgrade the 1tb to a 4tb at some point. I've never used an SSD but I've never been unsatisfied with the speed of a 7200rpm drive either. Unfortunately given the large size of the AMD video card and the small size of the case I don't have enough space to add a second video card. I figured it would be a few years at least before I invest in VR, so it wasn't a major concern with it.

However, I am HUGE on Stereoscopic 3D, and as such was the main reason I chose an AMD card because I knew it was compatible with TriDef. If nothing else, being able to play Ghostbusters in 3D has been one of the best gaming experiences of my entire life lol. (I'm a major ghostbusters fan though... like... seriously... MAJOR fan... )

I didn't show it in the photo but when I got the computer I got a 50" Sony 3D tv too lol. It's all so beautiful.

[SkyHighGam3r]

Alright guys!

Here we go with a peek inside the actual system wheels. Now, keep in mind, as I've said this isn't 100% yet so you will notice a few holes. Still the games all work with the controls shown.

1. Sega Master System
The Background here is a simple color edit of the same one you will see in the Genesis wheel below.

 

 

2. Nintendo NES
Google Art

 

 

3.) Turbo Duo
Google art, minor contrast/brightness change

Sega Genesis
Google Art, color edited to be more like  the original genesis boxes.

 

Super Nintendo

more google art,the background was 4 differant colored stripes. I also considered going with the 4 primary colors as with the non-us controllers.

 

 

Neo Geo
Edited from the same original as above in SNES. made to look more like the arcade cabinets they used

 

 

3DO
I really struggled to think of something that would work here... lol what I ended up using (at least for now)... if you will notice, that is the old solo cup print, but with the hue/saturation altered lol.

 

 

Saturn
Another google image "Brushed Metal" was the keyword I used.
As you can see, I still need to find decent box art and videos for this system.
 

 

 

Nintendo 64

COMPLETELY original! I made 4 idential sections, filled them with the primary colors, threw a light focus in the middle then blurred outwards in a circular pattern.
Here you will also see the first Rom-Hack I have implemented. Right now I am toying with a few ideas concerning 'box' art for these titles. Either a generic hack-box for each system, a copy of the original with HACK overlaid on it, or a completely custom box.

 

PSX
Google image "Silver Tiles", slightly cropped to keep the square shape.
Again, still need a couple boxes here, but mostly videos. You can also see I grabbed a fan-made box for Chrono Trigger. No "Final Fantasy Chronicles" crap here lol

 

 

Dreamcast

I took a super-sized orange swirl from their logo and just placed it on a black background.

 

 

 

Gamecube

Google image, heavily altered. Rotated, saturated, brightness/contrast changed, hue changed.
Had to use some interesting ideas for the controls as Dolphin won't let you click the analogue triggers on a X360 pad by pulling all the way. So I seperated them
You can also see that the Z-trigger has been moved to the R3 position. Unorthodox.. but it works.

 

 

PS2
Google image, it's REALLY hard to see with this size image, but the little specs are actually playstation button symbols.
I edited the hue on this one.

Still working on box art, mostly videos I need here.

 

 

Wii
Google image
Played with hue/saturation untill I got this mixture.

I have no videos or box art here lol This was a LATE addition to the system once I was able to hook up a wiimote to my PC.
You'll notice there is no controller art here. The reason is that I intend to have this pop up on a per-game basis. So if a game uses the wii-mote you will see a picture of that, if it's the wii-mote plus nunchuck and motion plus, that. If gamecube, the same image from the gamecube wheel will show.
 

 

 

PC
Google image, but no changes necessary.

Again, there is no controller art here. This is because each of these games is so differant regarding that so I haven't decided EXACTLY how to approach it yet.

 

 

PSP

Google image, "XMB Wallpaper" was the keyword, I inverted it and played with the brightness/contrast/lightness untill I got the grey I wanted.
Again, box art and videos.

 

 

DS
Google image, slightly cropped to remove the DS title from the bottom right. Had to stretch the very top and bottom to compensate.

Box art and videos.....

 

 

Neo Geo Pocket/Color
Google image "Carbon Fiber" This is cut from the center of a MUCH larger image.

 

 

 

 

Game Boy
Google image, can't recall what I searched for to find this. Played with the saturation and hue.
I felt the green was good for the original, and the purple for the advance. seemed fitting.

 

 

Game Gear
Google image "blue grid" HEAVY HEAVY Alteration, pushed the perspective of the grid into going into the background, blurred the edges, then mirrored the whole thing on the top.

 

 

 

One last detail I'm sure some of you will notice, is the controller layouts for the 2D games don't reference the select button.
This is because in order to fit the select button onto the controller, It had to be tied to a special combo. I am hoping to use the fade screen to display a list of the combos I have setup (There are a lot) but I haven't been able to make fade do anything but fade to black yet.

Next up I will show you guys how I setup the controls to make it so universal as well as some of the controller combos that I think are really really cool.

[THK]

Sorry man, too much to read lol

 

It's called skimming & scanning i.e. speed reading. Scan over it quickly and read back the parts that you're most interested in. A lot of information in decent sentence building can be neglected. They are necessary for nice fluent sentences, but essentially only a few key words are needed for you to understand what is said.

 

Not that I'm particularly good at this, but it helps a lot

[THK]

Off to the side is the external HDD I have my games on. I'm trying to imagine a way I can convert it to LOOK like some kind of cartridge, but honestly that's quite low on the list of things to do.

 

I have a docking station where you can put 3.5' or 2.5' hdd's in. USB 3.0 so fast enough. There are several brands and models of course, so if you wound want you could pick something that suits your machine.

 

I personally have this one, to use old spare drives that don't fit in my system anymore as backups or to move stuff when upgrading a drive

 

There also are hdd sleeves that can be used with these docking stations to protect the drives. So you could of course customize the sleeves for the systems on it for instance.

So if you really wanted to, you could buy a batch of 2.5" hdds and customize them to resemble cartridges as much as possible. Too bad SSD's are still way too expensive for this as their size & weight is way more suitable to disguise them as carts

[SkyHighGam3r]

Hm, I hadn't thought of using a docking station, that's pretty legit actually. Especially the sleeves idea. It would be super easy to put a system logo or w/e art on there. I'm going to have to keep this in mind when I get to making the adjustments on the case. I plan to remove the Sabrent logo from the front and possibly sand down the bit on the top as well.

Plus I want to add the logo you can see in my avatar image. I'll probably just do a sticker for that though haha.

[SkyHighGam3r]

Controller time!!!!!

Ok, so this was really hard to try to explain without pictures, so I put images of my setup below.

Here is the general concept... First of all, everything runs through Xpadder.
I use 2 standard sets of keymappings (One for P1, another for P2) I'm still working on P3 & 4 but it's not a priority for me.

Using these standard maps, I can apply them across ALL controllers that I plug into my system.

Then, inside RetroArch and any other emulators, you just set the controls up using the keyboard and sticking to the outlines set here.

 

This allows you to (mid-game even) Unplug say your xbox controller, and switch to an NES controller.

This will work with ANY controller that attaches to the computer.

 

Xbox 360 - Player 1

This is the standard map that get's used more than any.
You may notice some special blue keys on Select and R3, but I will touch on that further below.

 

 

 

 

Xbox 360 - Player 2
Secondary master map for the controls
Also notice that there are NO special blue keys here.

 

 

 

 

Saturn - Player 1
This is the Standard Map from Xbox-P1 applied to a Sega Saturn Controller.
Again, notice the blue key on start.

 

 

 

 

Saturn - Player 2

Same map from Xbox-P2 applied to a saturn pad.
However, here you WILL see a special blue key on Start
 

 

 

 

NES - Player 1

This is how the map would apply to an NES pad.
Please take note that the A and B buttons are NOT switched here.
(A on left, B on right) This is opposite of the physical controller. (more below)
(I haven't setup the special keys yet)

 

 

 

 

Super Nintendo - Player 1
P1 map applied to an SFC controller
Again you will see that the ABXY buttons are not reversed.
The reason for this is that via RetroArch each system has it's controls setup uniquely.
This makes it so you don't have flip-flopped controls on other systems.
It's seamless.

(I haven't setup the special keys yet)

 

 

 

 

Xbox - Special Combo Keys

Remember the special blue keys?
Well, for some of the function I thought it'd be great to make it simple, what you do here is hold SELECT+(Insertkey)
This is admittedly a little messy as I required some Alt emulators in certain cases.

F4 - Load State
F2 - Save State
Esc - Back to Hyperspin
Backspace - Rewind
Tilde - Fast Forward (Admittedly I can NOT get this to work through the controller, may switch the key)
Tab - Reset game
F5 - Save State (For Fusion, which DeCap-Attack needed)
F8 - Load State (same as above)
F1 - Load State (Visual Boy Advance)
Shift - Used with F1 to Save State (Visual Boy Advance)
 

 

 

 

Saturn - Special Combo Keys
Now, for the most part you will see the same as above.
HOWEVER, there is one key that really needed to be mentioned here, and that is SELECT!
See, because Sega Saturn doesn't have a select key (and for the life of me I can't find one like it that does...) I had to get clever.
Basically, to push Select you have to HOLD start and press A.
I may change this in the future and just have it set to an unused button on a per-system basis.

 

 

 

 

BONUS!!!
Xbox - Music Controls

Ok, so here is something fun I decided to try out =D
I don't know about you guys but I LOVE listening to my music while playing games.
So, I setup WinAmp with some hotkeys!
To use these, you'd hold R3

Ctrl+[ - Previous Song
Ctrl+] - Next Song

Ctrl+/ - Play/Pause

Ctrl+- - Volume Down

Ctrl+= - Volume Up
 

 

 

What do you guys think? Do you think this was a good way to setup controllers? Have I Frankenstein-ed this thing!? IS IT RUBBISH???
Let me know what you think!

[JoyStickKilla]

It's called skimming & scanning i.e. speed reading. Scan over it quickly and read back the parts that you're most interested in. A lot of information in decent sentence building can be neglected. They are necessary for nice fluent sentences, but essentially only a few key words are needed for you to understand what is said.

 

Not that I'm particularly good at this, but it helps a lot

I started to skim and realized he is just making a pc with hyperspin on it. Not anything new or really exciting which is why I kinda didn't see what reading so much info was going to lead to.

[SkyHighGam3r]

I started to skim and realized he is just making a pc with hyperspin on it. Not anything new or really exciting which is why I kinda didn't see what reading so much info was going to lead to.

This is completely true, however, what is every game console ever if not a specialized and dedicated gaming pc?

The whole concept though is to make it like a console, and not a PC that sits on a desk, or an HTPC either.

The entire way you will interact with this is STRICTLY through a controller. Plug in and go, just like a console.

As for what the intial post led to, was meant to be an understanding of what I wanted to accomplish here. How and Why I chose a lot of unconventional methods for this.

Maybe I've missed something, but aside from some retropie builds in an NES case and the like, I have not seen anyone do anything quite like this. This has been my baby. I've raised it from nothing but scraps of software and ideas over 2 years.

As I said at the outset, please forgive me for the length here, I'm just excited to share this with everyone who helped me put it all together.

[sandman7793]

Nice and clean. I like it. I might have the wii images your looking for. I converted a few thousand for my setup a long time ago and created an XML from scratch (which might be available now or not) I haven't touched my system in a couple years. I'll look when I get home. Once I finished over 115 systems I was bored with it. (Only took a year lol)

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[JoyStickKilla]

This is completely true, however, what is every game console ever if not a specialized and dedicated gaming pc?

The whole concept though is to make it like a console, and not a PC that sits on a desk, or an HTPC either.

The entire way%

[JoyStickKilla]

This is completely true, however, what is every game console ever if not a specialized and dedicated gaming pc?

The whole concept though is to make it like a console, and not a PC that sits on a desk, or an HTPC either.

The entire way you will interact with this is STRICTLY through a controller. Plug in and go, just like a console.

As for what the intial post led to, was meant to be an understanding of what I wanted to accomplish here. How and Why I chose a lot of unconventional methods for this.

Maybe I've missed something, but aside from some retropie builds in an NES case and the like, I have not seen anyone do anything quite like this. This has been my baby. I've raised it from nothing but scraps of software and ideas over 2 years.

As I said at the outset, please forgive me for the length here, I'm just excited to share this with everyone who helped me put it all together.

 

Still not sure where you are going? What is "console" about this or "different"? Many people are running a dedicated PC that auto starts to Hyperspin and everything is controlled via the controller, that is actually the whole purpose of a HTPC.

&nbs

[SkyHighGam3r]

Well let me ask you, what are these home-made arcade cabinets if not just a PC in a wooden box with an arcade stick attached?

It's all about the experience. People build these cabinets to re-create the feeling of going to the arcades. My goal was to re-create the feeling of coming home from school and turning on the Genesis hooked up to your bedroom TV. Something I was amazed to find wasn't an experience being replicated often at all here.

I'd also argue that an HTPC holds different value as an experience as well, as those are usually designed with multi-media such as music and movies in mind as well, which by nature would require a keyboard in some instances.

I just wanted to make something that you could put in a backpack, take to a friends or w/e, hook up to any (modern) tv, attach some controllers and go. When was the last time you saw someone do that with their HTPC build, and have it be that simple?

As far as on the functional end, things that are different are my entire lack of any arcade wheels, the way I setup my XMLs are majorly different than anything I've seen on here. The universal controller aspect doesn't seem to be talked about much either (as most are using arcade controls or just a wireless X360/PS3 controller) With mine though, you can plug in any USB controller (NES, SNES, GEN, N64, etc) and it will just work on any system (as long as there are enough buttons)

Though, you make a good point, perhaps I am not communicating the idea of this well enough...
 

[SkyHighGam3r]

Nice and clean. I like it. I might have the wii images your looking for. I converted a few thousand for my setup a long time ago and created an XML from scratch (which might be available now or not) I haven't touched my system in a couple years. I'll look when I get home. Once I finished over 115 systems I was bored with it. (Only took a year lol)

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

WOW that's a lot of systems lol. So you have a set of the Wii boxes online somewhere? I'm not sure if I spotted any at EmuMovies, the Wii was a late addition to the system because of the controller.

[sandman7793]

Crap, sorry man, forgot to check. Got caught up in a 10 security camera install. I'll try and check tonight. All I did was pull down the images from wiitdb and rename every single one. Only problem is there not large in size because the wii system isn't HD.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

[SkyHighGam3r]

Crap, sorry man, forgot to check. Got caught up in a 10 security camera install. I'll try and check tonight. All I did was pull down the images from wiitdb and rename every single one. Only problem is there not large in size because the wii system isn't HD.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

Whoa, I just checked out that site, I had never heard of it.

No worries man, I always have to rename every single box, video, rom/iso, and XML as it is. I use custom naming schemes so it throws default XMLS all to hell haha. I have started just making them from scratch in my spare time. The Wii & DS ones I actually wrote up in my downtime at work.

Just the resource on that site alone is a godsend. Thanks man, I'm gonna check out their downloads as soon as I get home haha.

[phulshof]

Where'd you buy the Syber case? I only found it as part of an overpriced Steam machine.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[SkyHighGam3r]

I bought it directly from them on a crazy Halloween sale. They used to only make Linux based Steam-machines, but they started making these PC builds a while back in them. I upgraded the video card to an extreme level lol it's an AMD R9 390X and the processor to that Intel i7-4790k because of it's single thread performance.

The crazy card though results in a LOT of heat getting trapped in the case, and I had to make some alterations to allow more air-flow. You can't see it in the picture, but the bottom half of the case was removed, I also removed one of the grates under the GPU, then I boosted it up on some wooden feet I made to allow more air-flow. These detach via velcro when necessary.

It's really only a problem when I start running the card at max power. Like if I run Fallout 4 or the new Hitman (beta) on Ultra graphics, but at that point I just flip it on it's side like a 360 and there's plenty of airflow.

Of course, it's also of note that I control the fans manually. I found that the automatic fan control really didn't kick in fast or high enough.

So, to quit rambling, you could buy a fairly cheap build from them that is Windows based and still get the necessary performance for the kinds of things we do here. I just went WAY over the top because I saw an opportunity to be able to play some modern PC games as well.

[lqlegit]

I bought it directly from them on a crazy Halloween sale. They used to only make Linux based Steam-machines, but they started making these PC builds a while back in them. I upgraded the video card to an extreme level lol it's an AMD R9 390X and the processor to that Intel i7-4790k because of it's single thread performance.

The crazy card though results in a LOT of heat getting trapped in the case, and I had to make some alterations to allow more air-flow. You can't see it in the picture, but the bottom half of the case was removed, I also removed one of the grates under the GPU, then I boosted it up on some wooden feet I made to allow more air-flow. These detach via velcro when necessary.

It's really only a problem when I start running the card at max power. Like if I run Fallout 4 or the new Hitman (beta) on Ultra graphics, but at that point I just flip it on it's side like a 360 and there's plenty of airflow.

Of course, it's also of note that I control the fans manually. I found that the automatic fan control really didn't kick in fast or high enough.

So, to quit rambling, you could buy a fairly cheap build from them that is Windows based and still get the necessary performance for the kinds of things we do here. I just went WAY over the top because I saw an opportunity to be able to play some modern PC games as well.

 

So did you just buy a steam machine and use that (with upgrades) The reason I am asking is because I finally got hyperspin and roms to work on my computer and now I need a new computer for a htpc with KODI and HyperSpin for the living room. I have been trying to find a small computer to fit in the entertainment center (that's not a tower) that can act as a htpc and HyperSpin machine. I don't need any current pc games newer than PS2 for the most part (figured I would upgrade if I ever change my mind). 

 

I basically want something like yours for older games and KODI, so I may go that route if I can buy a steam machine computer for that. I really don't want to build one piece by piece with my small amount of skill. 

[SkyHighGam3r]

So did you just buy a steam machine and use that (with upgrades) The reason I am asking is because I finally got hyperspin and roms to work on my computer and now I need a new computer for a htpc with KODI and HyperSpin for the living room. I have been trying to find a small computer to fit in the entertainment center (that's not a tower) that can act as a htpc and HyperSpin machine. I don't need any current pc games newer than PS2 for the most part (figured I would upgrade if I ever change my mind). 

 

I basically want something like yours for older games and KODI, so I may go that route if I can buy a steam machine computer for that. I really don't want to build one piece by piece with my small amount of skill. 

Oh yeah, absolutely. I figured it was easier to go with a base build and then upgrade then start from scratch for something like this. I feel the 'steam machines' are perfect for this use.

Though Steam machine is a bit of a misnomer in this context. Generally "Steam Machines" use a linux based OS so make sure anything you get has windows. Syber in particular has them separated into 2 sections for the kind I ordered. They were the cheapest I could find, and also offered some of the more low-end specs if you want to go that route.

That being said, they are great little gaming oriented PCs if you aren't trying to do anything crazy.

I DO recommend you take into consideration what kind of GPU you use if you get the same case as me however, as mine is massive and generates a lot of heat. The case really isn't designed to handle it hahaha. Shop around though, check websites for manufacturers that sell steam machines and look for the windows based ones, you'll find something that fits your needs.