Video Game History Foundation

https://www.ou.edu/property_control/

@RetroRGB we’re working on bringing compatibility to other pieces of hardware, no promises yet though.

Honestly at this point i'm more interested in the DAC than then Super NT

Oh, very cool @SoH

Which tells me they'll try, but will break spec if it means making a better DAC (edited)

6:54 pm

Which is understandable

6:55 pm

If It does end up with something proprietary I'll just buy 2 and put one on ice for the apocalypse.

6:55 pm

The video game apocalypse.

haha. I have some meh CRTs, but never invested in a PVM or BVM.

6:56 pm

This might help me go on that quest.

I wish i had my early 2000s Sony CRT tv back.

6:57 pm

Keeping an eye on craiglists but no luck yet. Which sucks because a year ago they were on there at least once a week

what size?

I've got a 20" that works and a broken one

and a 14" i lug around for the local game meetup once a month

6:58 pm

PVM, the 2000s tv i had was like 27 inches which i feel is perfect.

6:59 pm

32+ are just so damn heavy and bulky

7:00 pm

Love tinkering with this stuff.

Agreed. I have a feeling I'll be a craigslist regular soon.

I've only done one deal on craiglist in years of scouring it haha. Anything good is always gone by the time i notice

just looked it up and this what popped up first https://images.craigslist.org/00P0P_i5SWZUaErWs_1200x900.jpg

7:07 pm

So... all I might need is a rack and 4 raspberry Pi's and 4 DACs...

hahaha

7:07 pm

if you want to drive to Oklahoma I can tell you where to get one of those for a buck

7:09 pm

ha, nice!

That's wher I found mine. And there were more left. But i did let some other local guy know about it so it may be picked over now.

7:10 pm

I need to go by there again sometime. They had a bunch of CRT Computer Monitors and it might not be ab ad idea to grab one or two of those.

oh nice, you can use that to play all four SMB All Stars games at once

mind blown

sounds like a future Awesome Games Done Quick event

7:14 pm

all 4 SMB All Stars games on 4 mini monitors using 1 controller input

I like where this is going.

Mario games that let you use screen bounds as surfaces (like the no going backwards in SMB, or controlling the forward/backward facing in Mario World) might be simultaneously doable in realtime (ie. no crazy pause trickery)

7:19 pm

Since you could potentially use one to position the other

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COGmRYA-eV4

AuraPuffs

Mega Man X and X2 - Multitask Challenge (Simultaneous Runs, Same Input)

7:21 pm

^ this thing blows my mind

I stopped reading that Super nt review after this:

7:22 pm

“Since the Super Nt uses SNES hardware and cartridges rather than emulation to play its games, the presence of two clearly digital games on the system is a bit strange.”

(unrelated to hardware... ok - I'm back to work)

Tom, yes, this stuff is cool. I wonder if the death pits in mario games are too prevalent to reliably use level surfaces constantly, but would be interesting for someone to try.

7:24 pm

Also Mario 2 USA introduces all sorts of weird other problems

As difficult as it sounds I wouldn't be shocked if someone could do it

8:14 pm

"Make your own track!" (edited)

8:14 pm

Yup

8:14 pm

We were underestimating what Nintendo Labo software offers.

I'm so freaking excited for Nintendo Labo. Nobody brings the childlike joy out of me like Nintendo these days

https://twitter.com/BalrogGameRoom/status/959217848236347392

Balrog (@BalrogGameRoom)

ok hear me out on this one electroplankton Labo set

4

1:43 am

...this idea is GOOD.

Super Nt review taken down

2:39 pm

thank god for Google cache

Wonder why it was taken down

Released too early.

4:49 pm

Embargo

ahh

Yeah, it was pretty much a summary of the systems features and not much of an opinion piece

5:30 pm

Like what was already said, the MLiG impressions are the ones to look out for

https://github.com/gberthou/AdvanceOS

gberthou/AdvanceOS

AdvanceOS - Tiny Operating System to emulate GBA on Raspberry Pi

3:26 am

This is potentially very interesting

https://www.gamejournal.it/driving-the-sid-chip-assembly-language-composition-and-sound-design-for-the-c64/

Marco Benoit Carbone

Driving the SID chip: Assembly language, composition, and sound design for the C64

@Teddy So dedicated solely to the GBA. Could be nice to throw on a Pi Zero and fit into a GBA Shell etc.

There was a cool Kickstarter for something like that... https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1227007236/freeplay-zero-freeplay-cm3-by-freeplaytech/

Ed Mandy

Freeplay Zero / Freeplay CM3 by Freeplaytech

Build it! Customize it! Play it! Handheld Raspberry Pi retro gaming with the styling of your favorite classic videogame console.

i was thinking about this the other day for some reason and googled "snes laser mouse". to my surprise, it exists https://www.amazon.com/Hyperkin-Hyper-Click-Retro-super-nintendo/dp/B0734BCWS1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517843346&sr=8-1&keywords=snes+mouse

3:11 pm

fyi in case anyone wants to play mario paint on their super analogue nt

@izzy (she/her) have you seen their keyboard?

snes keyboard?

3:17 pm

It's for PC...

3:17 pm

It looks....ummm...

lol, okay, i was going to say: what snes game used a keyboard??

I kinda want a USB version of the mouse

to go with that awesome keyboard that you definitely own

XBAND can use a SNES keyboard

https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/5/16965328/analogue-super-nintendo-super-nt-making-of?utm_campaign=polygon.social&utm_content=polygon&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

How Analogue remade the Super Nintendo

Go behind the scenes with the team behind the Super Nt

I wonder what byuu thinks of the way emulation is talked about in that article

6:24 am

https://twitter.com/byuu_san/status/960602847879532544

byuu (@byuu_san)

The marketing hype published by sites like @Polygon for the Analogue Super Nt have regrettably thrown software emulators under the bus. I'd like to set the record straight: FPGAs aren't magic. There's no inherent accuracy advantage to them. Article link: https://t.co/cwtIXtTMqF

Damn

6:51 am

An FPGA core is only as accurate as the implementer makes it

6:51 am

the thing is, Kevtris is really good at it

6:51 am

I recommend watching the RetroRGB interview that was released in the last day

Interesting write up from byuu though

WAtching a bit of that interview

7:27 am

Though the base price for the unit is fine..I don’t get why they don’t have cheaper shipping options.

7:27 am

Especially for someone not living in the US it’s still a big investment if you add shipping and customs fees.

Yeah, it’s painful. I had to ship my original NT back for a repair too, from the UK - ouch. They did cover that in the end though. (edited)

It's an interesting write up from byuu. Byuu seems to think though that it was taber who suggested zsnes and project 64 as examples. You cannot draw that conclusion from the polygon story though. And Kevin seems pretty respectful to the work that people put into emulators. (edited)

Be upset that emulation is not presented in a totally fair way? Sure, Byuu has a point there. That could've been put out more nuanced. Sure, you can put out fpga cores and source code for free and publish info on pulling together hardware to make a DIY console. In the end people have to put bread on the table though. A lot of people do things related to video game/history preservation as a labor of love, including a lot of the people here in this discord. But having the possibility to dedicate a lot of time and effort into something does speed up things. And I don't get the feeling that the knowledge gained is not shared with the community. Like Byuu says..they do share knowledge and information.

I'd think FPGA emulation has an advantage that can be done more easily: You can access the cartridge directly the intended way

I have no idea if something like that would be possible with soft emulation which does not require dumping.

Well

10:51 am

...remember about PolyMega? (edited)

no?

That thing that claims to do "hybrid emulation"

oooh

10:52 am

right

Entirely software but does access the cartridge in real time

is that thing still going?

kind of?

10:55 am

They announced more cores later on

no public statements after the start of october

But yeah

10:55 am

Silent since

http://polymega.com/forums/topic/we-need-an-update-on-the-project/

Gmaster23

We need an update on the project | POLYMEGA

BACK TO FORUM LIST › COMMUNITY › GENERAL This topic contains 6 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by 1 week, 3 days ago. Viewing 7 posts - 1 through 7 (of 7 total) Author Posts 2018-01-20 at 1:25 PM #21120 Gmaster2316-bit There hasn’t been a single piece of news or an update …

10:56 am

apparently not totally

oh

11:00 am

I think they're more about keeping a low profile until they have some real news to show

Polymega is just software emulation though, unfortunately

11:39 am

The hybrid emulation aspect appears to be bull

They already said before that Star Fox only works with the real cart

11:41 am

Super GameBoy should also be working

11:41 am

and that's not as easy because I believe there's no access to the GB slot through the SNES (edited)

11:42 am

I'm willing to give this a shot but they do still have to prove themselves

That's fine, but the CPU and chipset emulation is done in software, which is where latency is an issue

11:43 am

It'll be fine, don't get me wrong

11:43 am

If it ever manifests

how are they funding development?

they were supposed to do a kickstarter

11:49 am

but it has yet to happen

http://polymega.com/forums/topic/kickstarter/

Kickstarter? | POLYMEGA

BACK TO FORUM LIST › COMMUNITY › GENERAL This topic contains 2 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by 7 months, 2 weeks ago. Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total) Author Posts 2017-06-26 at 10:15 AM #13404 Steel16-bit The Kickstarter campaign was to start in April. Is there a …

11:51 am

apparently they have some investors

IIRC, the main guy is an ex game dev?

1:08 pm

Ah yeah, ex-Insomniac

There's also one of the original Xbox designers as the enginner

1:08 pm

Lots of veterans IIRC

So did the Coleco Chameleon

1:11 pm

is just playing devils advocate

That one is more of an exception

1:11 pm

And how the guy is simply an incompetent person

1:12 pm

and a liar

1:12 pm

Impressed on Atari Age for finding out all the bullshit

Including how a freaking capture card inside a transparent console was even recognized

1:13 pm

It's all a reminder that a person in charge of managing the whole thing is super important

1:13 pm

If that person is not competent

1:13 pm

Nothing's going to happen properly (edited)

https://twitter.com/colecochameleon?lang=en

Coleco Chameleon Fun (@colecochameleon)

Cornering the Market on #RETROGaming #coleco #Parody #colecogate

Tweets

176

Followers

493

1:14 pm

Haha, didn't see this parody account before

It makes bootleg console clones feel legit in comparison (edited)

1:16 pm

because they actually work

1:17 pm

even though it's probably a horrible circuit design (edited)

I have wondered that myself honestly with what Byuu and Libretro have said. Will the Super NT have any accuracy advantage over Higan?

1:33 pm

But as you guys said since someone as skilled as Kevtris is designing it the answer is likely yes.

1:33 pm

or not likely yes... just equal

Kevtris and byuu helped each other

That's awesome. I just look at it as what you personally want when you play your old SNES games.

1:34 pm

Each have benefits and negatives.

Higan is not so userfriendly to use. On a mac its pretty hard to get running. I just use OpenEmu now, but its higan core is not up to date. And the Super Nt is a product that should just work.

Use bsnes-plus

this? https://github.com/devinacker/bsnes-plus

devinacker/bsnes-plus

bsnes-plus - debug-oriented fork of bsnes v073

yes

does it have a UI?

3:04 pm

GUI

yes

3:25 pm

sorry taking sometime to respond

No worries, I don't expect immediate answers

I have a very good reason why I take a while

3:26 pm

https://i.imgur.com/HbtB7BD.png

translation progressing nicely?

editor is fully translated.

3:27 pm

That was about a day's work

3:27 pm

The main thing that will take the most time is this Open World mode

Looks like analogue opened another pre-order round

yeah, byuu's response puts my feelings back into perspective I think. It's not that I inherently like FPGAs better, it's that I specifically want Kevin Horton breaking down video game hardware

also I love emulation for like, research work, but not for immersive play. when an OS process visibly affects my game I'm sucked out of it

6:13 pm

like if it drops a couple frames because some background process ate up CPU cycles etc.

I feel that the distractions of playing on a pc pull me out more easily too. (edited)

6:14 pm

I like having things that just do one thing

as far as I know FPGA solutions are the best we have right now for playing these older games in a dedicated way that isn't vintage hardware (edited)

Who is going to develop the mythical specifically made for emulation only os?

I'd imagine a linux distro could get you most of the way there, like one of those groovymame specific ones

there's that guy making a GBA OS for Raspberry Pi

6:25 pm

no overhead of a generic OS, literally just emulation for it

6:25 pm

Could be interesting.

6:25 pm

I mean

6:25 pm

There are stuff that doe multi boot

6:26 pm

You could do something that works really fast for kernel based emulators (edited)

6:26 pm

Could potentially remove input lag in the process

6:27 pm

While keeping the easier software coding over hardware coding

I'd be very happy to ditch all of my hardware for one box that does everything accurately through "close to the metal" software emulation, we're just not there yet

7:05 pm

so until we are, I'm excited as shit about stuff like super nt

Yeah in my experience Linux seems to have much better stability with emulation.

7:20 pm

No "Windows Updates" notifications randomly booting your ass out

well my thinking was that a custom linux distro can kill unnecessary processes. like if all you're doing is launching retroarch or whatever it can be customized to only do things retroarch needs

Yeah I think you're right. Retropie and Lakka have been rock solid for me

like a linux distro for them?

Lakka is kinda already that in a way.

7:24 pm

just drops you right into retroarch ready to go

7:26 pm

I wish there was something as pretty as Launchbox for Linux. He supposedly considering it

7:27 pm

Though emulationstation via retropie can look pretty nice.

when I was looking at this a couple years ago I was thinking of building a machine for GroovyArcade

7:29 pm

but maybe it's been surpassed

Maybe Attract-Mode?

7:37 pm

Kinda like Hyperspin, but probably not as buggy

is that crt-based?

Ah not sure on that.

yeah groovymame is specifically for lag reduction and "super resolutions" for CRTs (like 1920x240 or whatever)

Ahhh

7:51 pm

I doubt Attract Mode can then due how detailed it looks

I empathize with byuu's frustration. This has all been an uphill battle for them that is largely thankless, and even then people constantly get this stuff wrong.

10:19 pm

"But while software solutions like ZSNES or Project64 might deliver the platforming perils of Mario or the beast blasting of Metroid basically as well as you remember, no matter how hard the developers try, the games will never be exactly the same as the browning lump of plastic in your closet. Slight imperfections mar even the best emulators: the audio will bleep out for a second, or a sprite will flicker when it should fade." (edited)

10:19 pm

Pretty easy to see why a person who has dedicated more than a decade of their life doing exactly that would be pretty annoyed.

10:20 pm

With a $400 patreon

10:20 pm

Isn't exactly for the wealth and glory or anything.

Noticed on the SNT pre-orders being reopened: (edited)

10:42 pm


All pre-orders placed after Feb 5th ship March 1st.
All pre-orders placed before Feb 5th ship on Feb 7th.

10:42 pm

That is quite a turn around. I wonder what their pipeline is looking like for this one

10:48 pm

Looks like they are using a fulfillment service of some sort out of Nevada, as well, wonder if they are able to maintain some sort of stock.

Yeah I empathize with him too. I think I prefer emulation over even FGPA when it's done as well as he's done it just due to flexibility and other benefits. But very few emulators are as well written as his.

10:51 pm

Sounds like Analogue is getting their process more and more refined which is awesome.

byuu's work towards ultimate accuracy is also not particularly viable as you go up in complexity either (i.e. beyond 16-bit hardware)

10:52 pm

Not sure how viable/affordable FPGAs will be either as they go up in complexity either tbh

If the trend of using x86 hardware in consoles continues, thinks might get easier. PS3 really the last big thing to use a very unique hardware approach/architecture?

10:56 pm

Once you get to systems and games that are made with input lag in mind lag it isn’t that much of an issue either? (edited)

re: x86 -- that might be the case, and it might not. I can't claim to know that with any certainty. What I can point to is the general problems there have been for a long time with creating an emulator for the original Xbox.

10:58 pm

IIRC, it basically used a custom Celeron CPU and custom Geforce3

10:59 pm

the x86 instruction set is pretty massive even if you don't account for whatever undocumented customizations might have been added to the instruction set (edited)

10:59 pm

and then you have nvidia which doesn't like open sourcing anything

11:00 pm

thankfully AMD is the current predominant provider of GPUs for the last few console gens, but I suspect a lot of customizations are still under the hood in most consoles, and if there's a lack of documentation, it's still difficult. (edited)

11:00 pm

I'm not saying it's hopeless. I'm just pointing out what byuu has already stated himself. Creating cycle-accurate software emuiators for systems more complex than the SNES is a tall order. (edited)

Agreed, feels like the end of this road is the zimba 3000 in some form or another. And that feels like it could be a decade or more removed. Then beyond that? I don't even know. The complexity goes up a whole lot.

is banking on quantum computing :P

I think with the proven popularity of devices like the SNES classic, it is an inevitability before we see one of the bigs try a commercial endeavor with FPGA. I don't know who: Nintendo, Sega, Sony, SNK.... 3DO????

11:02 pm

But that is also a decade or more removed, most likely

Good points, as more recent hardware begins to fail we may have to just accept that some things won't be emulated accurately for awhile.

Cost still seem prohibitive for making a big mass market product now, but maybe a Nintendo and Sony could get costs down by sheer scale.

Not the end of the world, i had a lot of fun playing snes games on ZSNES back in the day

Same

Downloading roms from the internet as a teenager in the 90's will always be the coolest thing that ever happend.

11:04 pm

Always.

Yes

Hahaha so true

Finally being able to play Chrono Trigger after it getting teased and previewed in EU magazines and having it not officially materialize here.

@Wietse van Bruggen And we finally got to play Terranigma over here

Hah

11:07 pm

Still odd that they didn’t do a US release for that.

11:07 pm

I liked Illusion of Time at the time, but Terranigma never really got on my radar.

Uhhh that's Illusion of Gaia bud

11:09 pm

Illusion was my least favorite of the three but still a good game.

11:09 pm

I just very recently replayed Soulblazer.

When did the dejap translation came out for tales of phantasia?

11:10 pm

I played that a lot on zsnes

11:11 pm

I did some work with some people on a Dutch translation. It was finished but there is a game breaking bug somewhere in it that made it unfinishable.

Are there decent efforts for fan translations for the non-EFIGS languages?

11:13 pm

I have no sense of that world, naturally.

Feb 13 2001 it looks like

I have no idea really. Personally I just thought it was interesting to see a bit of how the innards of a game worked at the time.

Smart cookies that figured out how to translate that and Star Ocean

11:18 pm

I remember chatting with Dark Force over ICQ haha, i'd ask him to explain how they were hacking it and it was all way over my head.

I remember that is very user friendly to work on the script. Basically just a big text file you could edit in notepad. They must’ve created great tools during the creation of the translation to get the script into the game.

Yeah likely had to, I can't imagine inputting that massive script manually in hex.

I can't see a Sony or Nintendo caring about FPGA. Software emulation is perfect for 99.9% of the market

12:17 am

A PlayStation classic would be pretty easy right now, they've essentially done it already with the Vita TV

12:17 am

The difficulty would be putting in enough eMMC memory to fit 20-30 classic games

12:17 am

And keeping the price low

agreed, fpga is always going to be enthusiast tech unless somehow it becomes cost effective

12:18 am

like it has to be cheaper than the garbage boards in the nes classic, which will never happen

if it ever happens to be much cheaper

12:19 am

I think its uses would be much of a revolution

even if it does, there honestly has to be enough of a mature open source community for the corporate world to steal from for them to do it

I'd see Arduino or Raspberry Pi alike

nes classic would not have happened if there weren't nes emulators to study, etc.

Feels like people said the same about emu, and then Nintendo dropped VC so I'm making no assumptions with any of this stuff.

12:21 am

I do agree that there is a benefit to value problem

12:21 am

For the average person (edited)

oh wrong channel

I think the cost/benefit of an FPGA PlayStation is quite low

1:03 am

unlike the Z80/6502, which are still used today (edited)

1:03 am

so there's value in sythesizing them in VHDL

1:04 am

the complexity of 32-bit and beyond architectures makes it not really worthwhile if the accuracy of software emulation is "good enough"

1:05 am

one thing I've seen suggested, is sythesizing the surrounding chipsets in FPGA, and emulating the CPU and GPU on an ARM CPU

The only thing we could kind of remake but it's shady and illegal as hell is the N64 RCP.

1:05 am

Just because the verilog code has leaked

1:05 am

which is pretty nuts

@LuigiBlood has it?

I have it.

1:07 am

It's been passed around a bit.

1:07 am

I got it mostly for the 64DD content.

1:08 am

it was really useful

1:08 am

I'm not sure if the verilog code is in full though

1:08 am

I don't understand verilog

1:09 am

In fact there are a lot of suspicions that the angrylion RDP video plugin is actually a translation of that code

@LuigiBlood Any way I can get it?

I'd rather not share, just to be really safe

1:54 am

It's probably the most illegal thing I have

Worth reiterating my suggestion that one of the large companies may put out an FPGA was a decade+ guess.

2:00 am

sets reminder for 2030 to revisit

Well, another thing to factor in, is that at the scale of a Sony or Nintendo, it would probably be cheaper to go with an ASIC solution

2:02 am

design in FPGA, and burn that design to silicon

2:02 am

i.e the SuperFX

2:02 am

this is how it was designed

Good point, I am curious if that will be the next iteration of these

2:02 am

Since that is kind of the whole point in the first place

2:03 am

But imagine the cost/batch size needs to be a certain size to make sense

2:04 am

btw

2:04 am

http://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/classic_to_snes/index.php

2:05 am

Anyone with SNES classic controllers (edited)

2:05 am

Decent odds these will work on super NT, assuming it works on og hardware

I don't see how they wouldn't work

I got a receiver on ali express and a $7 ps3 controller, what could possibly go wrong

You're reminding me of THAT controller you bought.

Yeah, I'd just hate to suggest dropping the money until we know for sure if anyone can't stand to eat that cost

2:07 am

I ordered 2

2:08 am

Odds are slim it doesn't work

2:08 am

This one.

2:08 am

I don't know why I'm reminded.

Someone dig up that MAME cabinet review article

Are you still using that controller?

2:09 am

http://soldmy.org/crapmame/index.html

2:09 am

a classic in internetery

2:12 am

Somewhere there is a meta article on the design choices of this website

I only used it a couple times for Challenge Mario

2:13 am

aka I just made people play super mario world with it

How'd that go?

poorly

2:14 am

I did it at a party where I thought people would be cool, but they weren't cool

2:15 am

I got lucky. I don't have many PC game mags of this era, but they ran it once in VideoGames & Computer Entertainment

2:19 am

wrong channel again wheeeee

No

2:19 am

This lizardman is the most hard ware.

Do we know when the Super Nt embargo is lifting?

2:32 am

(time)

I think the previous were morning-ish

2:38 am

west coast, morning-ish, to be specific. No idea here though.

i think about that fucked up controller a lot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEyF30kenUM&feature=youtu.be

Cinemassacre

Analogue Super Nt - Talk About Games

Hmm. Guy on the right thinks it’s going to have jailbroken firmware and wi support other codes. I’m guessing he has no way to really know that for sure.

7:27 am

Ehh..buffered video modes fix slowdown? o.O

7:27 am

I’m going to wait for better qualified reviewers

I mean, these guys are pretty reputable

7:45 am

but I wouldn't call them knowledgable, exactly

7:46 am

They're big enough to have inside info though

7:46 am

easily the biggest youtubers I've seen that would have a unit

I guess they broke the embargo?

7:47 am

Expecting things to hit in 13 minutes

Depends on how strict the embargo was

7:56 am

I think the MLiG guys are releasing at 10AM EST

7:57 am

also, the Analogue guys aren't so big that they can ignore the reach and demographic of Cinemassacre

The main problem with that video is if your introduction is going to be educating why this matters you need it to be prepared, you can't do it off the cuff.

1:27 pm

It isn't that these guys are ignorant or willingly misleading details, it is that unless you are incredibly well spoken it is easy in "conversation mode" to fill in gaps.

Yay. I think I blew my Twin Famicom.

woah

It still gets a red light and I get a blue screen

1:28 pm

But I don't know if I blew it anyway.

1:28 pm

:/

oh yeah, got to the "the guy who built this built a third party firmware that allows it to mimic other 16-bit consoles" which is just factually incorrect unless revealing something early.

1:34 pm

I lean the former though with all the vague wording around it all. Doesn't strike as particularly in tune with kevtris if we are speaking on "the guy" terms.

Okay actually nvm, it's not blown off

1:46 pm

Or if it is, I didn't do it

https://youtu.be/-2eW-Enj2cA

MetalJesusRocks

Analogue Super Nt - A SNES clone worth $190?!?

Okay so my Twin Famicom is working

4:20 pm

My father improvised a 7.5V AC adapter to test it and it worked

https://youtu.be/d_OW_t9RXEM

RGB310 :: Super Nt (w/ Kevtris) - MY LIFE IN GAMING

there we go

6:01 pm

ignoring everything else and watching this and only this

cool. nothing new here, works as advertised

6:22 pm

I actually suspect that there's more than enough room for a Super Game Boy core

6:22 pm

also I love the transparency blending effect

seeing the customizable led light i've even more bummed i didn't pick the transparent model lol

oh I'm the total opposite!

6:29 pm

I want my consoles to not even exist, so I go for black

Didn’t preorder?

6:29 pm

I haven’t gotten shipping confirmation yet

6:29 pm

And yeah, works as advertised

good point, it's probably really distracting in practice (i used to have a pc tower with lots of lights that would keep me awake at night)

6:30 pm

i preordered the classic SNES model (with purple buttons) which is probably the least cool looking lol

Man, that does look attractive. And I suppose I could use something that that with all these SNES carts that have been piling up

6:42 pm

because I keep intending to pick up a good CRT

6:42 pm

and heep putting it off because I'll never have room for one

something that's got my head kinda spinning is the bit where kev says he basically built something like a framemeister right in there

6:43 pm

I feel like at this point he probably has enough to actually make a new scaler

That would be interesting. Maybe a line doubler and a buffered mode in one.

6:45 pm

To increase compatibility, which I still find a downside to an OSSC

6:45 pm

Telling someone to buy a specific tv that works well with it...is just not gonna fly for a mass audience product

I wonder if selling that would actually go against analogue's interests

6:45 pm

they don't want you to use old hardware, they want you to replace it with theirs

I guess it’s also a product less appealing to a mass audience. More niche..which analogue seems to be sorta moving away from. Super Nt is still a premium product though to me.

Is there a reason the super game boy would be preferable to using the GB/GBC cores directly?

if you like the borders

I like playing with borders. I tried GB games scaled to fit the entire display vertically. But it’s just too big for my taste.

for a real good time play the game king as big as you can

If you like borders

7:39 pm

Or if you wanna make use of the SGB only features

7:39 pm

of a few games

7:39 pm

There are a few games that have SNES music in them

7:40 pm

The best way to play Donkey Kong '94 is on Super Game Boy

7:41 pm

more colors and I thought the credits song being SNES styled was a nice touch

plus the vocal samples

I miss that kind of game

7:41 pm

I wish Mario VS Donkey Kong didn't become a Lemmings-like

isn't there also a space invaders game that has a separate snes version built into it or something if you play it on super game boy?

yes

7:43 pm

The only game that does that.

7:43 pm

I've heard Arkanoid was supposed to have a similar thing going on

7:43 pm

but that didn't happen

It’s a pretty magical thing with space invaders!

I do own that game.

9:48 pm

And experienced the SGB only watered down SNES version legit (edited)

"Oh yeah, there's plenty of extra space on the FPGA which is nice. On the NT Mini I ran out of space"

1:16 am

Interesting little tidbit from kevtris from the MLiG review.

1:17 am

As well confirming PSX and Neo Geo are the upper limits

1:19 am

Nice. Just got my shipping notice.

I live in Seattle, where Analogue is located. No shipping notice, nothing.

1:24 am

I should get some locals together and we go make our demands in person.

They are shipping out of Vegas

1:26 am

And fwiw I didn't get anything from them directly yet, apparently I signed up for the UPS notice thing at some point as I got an email from UPS directly (edited)

no shipping notice here either

Well I finally got C64 emulated in a way I'm happy. Just not the route i expected... the good ol' Xbox

2:01 am

I cannot get Vice or C64SC to look right with scanlines etc.

2:02 am

But the Xbox handles it like a champ. And on the games I've tried so far the joystick is setup already in an intuitive fashion.

no shipping notice for me either

Me either whomp whomp, I think SoH and i ordered about th same time

@SoH I wonder if the saturn would be doable

2:07 am

Also this sounds like the way I'd like to experience the pc engine, but if they're already antsy about the cost of analog out, then what is a disc drive going to tack on to the total

2:07 am

never mind that a lot of disc-based games are more enjoyable in emulation just due to cutting out disc read times.

Here is the timestamp: https://youtu.be/d_OW_t9RXEM?t=1410

RGB310 :: Super Nt (w/ Kevtris) - MY LIFE IN GAMING

2:13 am

Doesn't mention Saturn, but does make it sound like N64 is not happening anytime soon.

2:13 am

Which all sounds about right. If we even just got PSX out of this whole arc I'd be jazzed.

Though I'm still uncertain about optical media solutions in devices such as this, particularly the disc reader part.

2:22 am

Feels like the most fragile element no matter what

It would have to support disk images too, IMO

2:51 am

modern disk drives should be pretty reliable

2:51 am

and if they use an off-the-shelf part, they could have it be relatively user replaceable

2:52 am

Perhaps they could just have it work with external disk drives

True, if it uses an external disc drive that's one way to skirt the edges of perception on it being a piracy device

3:03 am

you're intended to use an external disc drive, but nothing's stopping you from using an external hdd

3:06 am

Another problem is that 2D games gain nearly nothing from improved hardware

3:07 am

But 3D, especially poorly optimized 3D from, let's say, 1995-2004, can gain a lot from a kick up in resolution

3:08 am

So it's not going to be quite as one-size-fits-all as a pocket SNES

and scanlines really shine with 3D

checks..no shipping info yet..

Seems like there might be a disconnect between the fulfillment center and updating the status because I still haven't received any notice, order status has not changed, and the time on UPS shows it shipped midday yesterday (more than 12 hours ago) (edited)

2:01 pm

So had UPS not had their service to inform boxes coming your way I'd still be none the wiser. Seems DHL doesn't have the equivalent so it might be on the way?

Could be. I get notifications from DHL if something is coming, but thats usually when its already some way into the process.

2:21 pm

Got a good chuckle out of this

All the reviews seem to agree its doing a fine job. I thought the gamespot video review was nicely done too, showing some games that did not work flawlessly when they receiver the unit, and I can't remember which one it was but they found one game that just didn't work.

2:28 pm

I think it would've been nice to state how much is charged for shipping. I mean, I like that (hopefully) it'll arrive fast but the shipping cost was pretty steep. Slower, less costly shipping options would've been nice.

I don't have any issues with outsourcing fine detail accuracy. They are a small team. They could spend a year being entirely dedicated to rooting that stuff out and still, something would be missed.

2:28 pm

It is the following up and fixing when found part that is important in that relationship.

Yeah, and they did manage that there was a really quick turn-around to notifying them about the problem and getting it fixed really fast.

2:30 pm

AVS shipping wasn;t cheap eithr but with that one I had a choice of different shipping options. I can understand that logistically its harder to get it out quickly of you have to deal with different shipping options, but 50$ for shipping still feels kinda...wrong?

Shipping update. Expected delivery moved from today to tomorrow.

3:46 pm

It did seem a little optimistic for ground

https://twitter.com/analogue_co/status/961635506676051968

https://twitter.com/analogue_co/status/961683620237725697

All pre-orders have been shipped but our logistics / shipping partner is currently having some issues with some tracking #'s being sent.

1

As long as I get mine before @SoH does...

https://tcrf.net/Controller_Test_Cartridge

SF Super Nt's are sold out (2nd round pre-orders).

7:31 pm

I'm genuinely curious how large the second batch was

7:33 pm

I could see it being a very small quick turn around run

Probably quite a bit

9:13 pm

Still waiting on any tracking info

Me too - it’s a UK order, which probably doesn’t make much difference. My NT took 5 days, so some time next week I guess.

I “complained” and voila a few minutes later it appeared

9:41 pm

Ah. My order is getting shipped with UPS even though EU order.

Ah - DHL for me

Next week delivery - Tuesday.

9:43 pm

Apparently they had some issues with some addresses not getting accepted by DHL.

9:43 pm

Odd.

I don't ship internationally often but I have run into similar and they are pretty pushy about if they are not able to deliver to the address then that is probably the end of it.

9:53 pm

I've "accepted the risk" and it is gone fine so far, but I'm sure it is a big enough problem that they bother to pass the nuisance on to the customer.

I was just thinking about how the 8bitdo adapter accepts bluetooth controllers, and was like hey, there are probably good bluetooth sticks now

I've been seriously considering either cracking open one of their controllers and building my own wireless stick, OR

11:29 pm

Part swapping the one they put out

11:29 pm

Need to find some innards info about their stick though

Wii U Pro is still my favorite. Mainly for the insane battery life and decent dpad

oh, I immediately assumed arcade stick, now I am not so sure.

1:12 am

I ordered an extra Wii U pro new and have left it in the box. I like it as well and assume they will basically be non-existant immediately.

1:13 am

Though I really need to get a better feel on the whole leaving a battery long term thing, it seems like all info contradicts.

1:14 am

You should leave it both empty, full and also somewhere in between, and also it doesn't matter except it does.

Yeah I've never been sure on that myself

Also Wii U Pro controllers have really jumped in price. It kinda sucks

2:32 pm

New ExoDOS pack is nice, switched to Launchbox for the frontend.

still haven't got any shipping information from analogue

Me either

Contacting/complaining on Twitter seemed to help

4:14 pm

Quickly got a tracking code after that

Ah nice i'll try that

i tweeted at them yesterday and never got a reply. meh, whatever, it's not like having the tracking number will make it arrive any faster. but i'm not thrilled that i paid $38 for this

Mine got shipped with UPS instead of DHL Express...which means slower delivery

Yeah UPS is slow.

4:18 pm

I just want to know if I need to wait around the house for it or not since I'm off today.

4:18 pm

Wasn't sure if it needed to be signed for.

Mine needs signing

4:19 pm

Yeah, paying that much for shipping does raise expectations..

Yeah shipping prices have been odd, heard a lot of complaints.

4:20 pm

I just think with this stuff you just have to deal with it. Similar to having to pay VAT for the Super SD System 3 even though i'm in the US.

4:20 pm

Sucks but what can you do, and whatever... it's not the end of the world for an awesome flash solution for PC Engine.

From all the anecdotal notes I've seen it seems to be a flip from my own experience. My local DHL has delivered every single package they've brought to the wrong door, and it always takes them eons to deliver.

4:21 pm

And it isn't even the same wrong door or anything

Hahaha

4:22 pm

Randomly the UPS drive hangs my packages from the gate in a bag... I HATE when they do that.

4:22 pm

So easy for someone to just drive up and grab it.

4:22 pm

Also ground always seems to take 4-5 days instead of 2-3 like USPS.

I had an FDS game delivered by the local post today. Got notified it was delivered...but they failed to mention where because I wasn’t home. 2 neighbors later I got it

That's always fun

4:24 pm

i had to go to our local usps once time and convince them they had my package in the back, that was a pain

4:24 pm

i had accidently lost the slip they leave

4:25 pm

and my address had recently changed and wasn't on my license...

That sounds like pain yeah

ok, i emailed their customer support and got a tracking number. expected by end of day today!

Nice

yeah, i just tweeted at them and my order page updated with a tracking number immediately. should be here today

What is the first game everyone is jamming in?

i picked up an SD2SNES on black friday so i guess my answer is all of them lol

5:06 pm

(but realistically, probably Kirby Super Star)

Yeah, I feel like SMW or whatever is too cliched

5:10 pm

and I don't own Bubsy so, sorry VGHF

and unfortunately there was no gex for snes

looks like mine will probably be mario paint because the only cartridges i can find right now are that, super scope 6, and clue

oh, mario paint is high on my list too

5:15 pm

i def bought that hyperkin laser mouse

Mine is slated for...the 13th

Anyone know of a good inputs test rom? I can't find much, and unclear of the quality of what I do find.

5:17 pm

5:17 pm

It would be nice if it gave you a scroll of inputs, like the fighting games do, for example

All stars SMB1 or SMB3 will let you test diagonals

5:58 pm

Sliding under blocks

Yeah, I can test for stuff like that in game, but I want to be able to see every input individually displayed (and ideally logged) to check for phantom inputs and clean execution. (edited)

that official controller test is probably going to do it, I know the NES version does

Cool, will give it a look

I forget which test cart it is, but one of the SNES tests does a graphics test, and the bank it uses is from an early version of Super Mario World

6:13 pm

with a super ugly yoshi that looks like someone removed his dentures

6:13 pm

wait no, sorry, that was from some show. there's still an early smw bank in a test somewhere though

6:14 pm

https://tcrf.net/SNES_Test_Program there we go

SNES Test Program

6:16 pm

(also this one is worth looking at for its controller test too)

(edited)

Ugh... was fighting with dosbox on my tv all morning not being able to make the video settings to work and realized I had it set to 16:9 on my TV instead of Original... Doh! That solved my issue.

6:22 pm

Uneven scanlines = nails on a chalkboard

you know what's kinda fun is doing scanlines on VGA games

6:22 pm

since natively it just linedoubled I'm pretty sure? so it's a look that shouldn't exist

Yeah I think you're right, I don't know why but I love scanlines, even on stuff it wasn't intended for.

but EGA had the scanlines!

6:23 pm

and there's no scanline mode in scummvm or whatever

that's how I should play Loom next time

6:24 pm

on my PVM

6:25 pm

problem I had last time I did that is that I couldn't compensate for the overscan enough

6:25 pm

this is when I was doing 480p VGA through an Emotia scan converter

6:26 pm

I'm guessing the drivers that are specifically for 240p from Windows probably have modes for this

Ahhhh I bet that would present issues. I bet it would look slick though if you got it

6:26 pm

Dosbox via Raspberry Pi and Retrotink on a PVM... hmmmm

6:27 pm

wonder if that could work somehow

fwiw the games look great

6:27 pm

the EGA versions were actually supposed to have the scanlines

6:28 pm

so for stuff like monkey island and loom where mark ferrarri was really good at dithering, you get even more magic colors

I'm gonna have to load up some EGA classics

MT-32 emulation has evolved a ton in recent years too

6:30 pm

so get Loom working with the MT-32 patch, turn off the lights, make some tea or something, and have some Me Time for a couple hours

hahaha sounds like a good use of a Friday

so mt-32 support was a patch disk you had to mail in for

6:33 pm

it adds an intro that I love a lot

6:33 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi9BbyAeGeI

TM Windows95

Loom Roland MT-32 Intro [HQ]

6:33 pm

just two minutes of a black screen saying "OVERTURE" and an intense rendition of Swan Lake by The Fat Man

Super NT got

6:35 pm

2

1

anyway if you play loom, you have to sit through the overture in silence before you play

6:36 pm

it's required

heads up that the micro usb cable the super nt comes with to power it is apparenty pretty short

7:41 pm

plan ahead if your setup won't allow this

How short is short?

dunno

7:43 pm

7:48 pm

just got it, I'd call it 3 ft

Bad USB cables are the bane of my existence. I want to throw out everything except for like 3 cables, but I know I'll run into something that needs a very specific cable.

8:11 pm

So I just have a million of the stupid things

8:11 pm

Might as well be SE Lain over here

8:13 pm

I thought USB-C was going to solve it all, but then it didn't

cables in general are the bane of my existence. i used to horde them and then at one point there was a great culling where i tossed nearly all my VGA and standard three-prong power cables (so i only had like one or two of each left)

8:33 pm

and then of course, i needed both of those cables for something and couldn't find the ones i kept anywhere

hiccup I did not anticipate: I don't know where my SD2SNES is. I know where my Super Powerpak is, but I don't know where my CF card is.

9:13 pm

but hey at least I can play super turrican

Great

9:21 pm

I’m so happy with analogue f’ing up their shipping

9:21 pm

Now it’s in Germany

I can't tell if that is sarcasm or not

don't forget to update firmware! https://support.analogue.co/hc/en-us/articles/360000557452-Super-Nt-Firmware-Update-v3-9

Super Nt: Firmware Update v3.9

Please upgrade your Super Nt to the latest firmware for the best possible experience. You will need a small SD card to upgrade the firmware on your Super Nt. v3.9 notes:- Fixed several formatting i...

2:24 am

annoyingly the *.bin needs to be alone on the card, so I had to temporarily wipe one of mine

No Super NT today and no shipping update

I just ordered mine this week

I did on launch day and e-mailed and tweeted at them. No response. So guess it might be Monday for me!

Did some execution testing in SFII, if curious

3:04 am

3:05 am

Each set is out of 10

3:05 am

Quarter circles are notably more difficult to execute cleanly

3:05 am

8bitdo vs. original snes controller

3:07 am

shoryuken z motion is pretty solid, didn't have nearly as much trouble, but still worse

I think it's that d-pad

3:56 am

My wife can't use it at all

Definitely

3:59 am

Which is a shame, it is pretty great except for that one flaw

3:59 am

Not a problem for some genres, at least

3:59 am

And if I end up playing a hundreds hour RPG then wireless is nice (edited)

Hah what's funny is with non original controls I have more trouble doing Shoryuken but I can hit Hurricane Kicks no problem.

4:02 am

So I've always thought it must be something I'm doing wrong.

shoryuken is the z-motion so not that unusual, it is a strange motion to make unless practiced

4:04 am

Unless you're thinking hadoken?

Oh yep that's it

4:05 am

which i dunno, maybe i'm just more comfortable going backwards for whatever reason.

4:05 am

Have the same issue on the mame cabinet too.

Yeah, having a direction bias is common, gotta work on both sides quite a bit to break it

I do have a better time with it on the 8bitdo vs wii u pro controller for what that's wroth

4:06 am

Ahhh didn't realize that was a thing. Interesting

4:06 am

I like fighting games but I've never been very good at them.

4:08 am

Nice got my super nt notification just a few minutes ago, will be here Monday.

1

Nuts. It doesn't support exFAT

The Super NT?

yeah

4:25 am

So don't get a big card if picking one up

Ah good to know.

Don’t really see a problem. Snes library fits nicely on a Fat32 formatted sd card.

4:27 am

If it ever does support a ‘jailbreak’

Problem if Amazon won't ship same day on anything less than $35 making the smallest card to qualify 64 gb

4:28 am

I guess I'll find a use for it

What kind of nerd are you? Not having SD Cards on hand

There are these things called stores

A nerd with a Super NT... which I am jealous of

Go into a store? Like some kind of caveman??

@Wietse van Bruggen must be an old fogey...

4:29 am

We got the internet pops!

I will probably go snag one tomorrow. Too late now

Caveman didn’t have stores probably

smh... you haven't seen the Flintstones?

4:30 am

very historically accurate.

rewrites Wikipedia entry on humanity based on flintstones as primary source

1

Alright I'm off to bed to watch Seinfeld, have a good night!

slap bass

The Summer of Hubz

“What’s up with all these devices not supporting exfat?” - Jerry Seinfeld (edited)

HAHAHA you guys are too quick witted.

We’re available to hire for parties and events.

I'll report on how my solution works (Ali Express retro receiver plus knockoff PS3 controller)

I've been trying to spend time with oddball stuff that was likely not to be tested extensively

4:45 am

Such as SNES Space Ace

4:45 am

Which I own for.. whatever reason these things happen

4:46 am

Throwing in the classic

4:46 am

FACEBALL 2000

4:46 am

hit me with that 3d, video game

got my super nt, found my cartridges, and my earthbound save still works

4:48 am

but there was no save file in mario paint which was kind of disappointing

yeah this 8bitdo d-pad is not great

Rendering Ranger R2 boots even though mine is a filthy repro

5:32 am

It will fail at the splash screen sometimes though and go into a black screen. Soft reboot (up+select) fixes it (edited)

5:33 am

I'll go ahead and assume that is something on my end until people with real carts speak up

(I saw mention it was causing problems, but those mentions were also repros)

the randomized bootup sequence is super good

anyone else try to update the firmware on the 8bitdo pad? website says the latest is 4.02 but the update reports my controller having v4.10

6:23 am

seems like it might be a typo or something? previous version available on site is 4.01 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Here I am. Still playing on an old 2chip Super Famicom. Part of the non FPGA pleb.

HDMI is the future Old Man!

Did a bunch of tests this morning with my Rendering Ranger R2 repro between original hardware and SNT

and?

Sorry got pulled away immediately after writing that

4:54 pm

My cart is definitely acting up

4:54 pm

However it acts up differently between original hardware and the SNT

4:55 pm

I hope someone with a real cart does some confirmation

4:56 pm

Going to crack open the cart in a moment and see if any wires are loose

4:58 pm

Would be happy to send it to kevtris as well if it is helpful. It is like a $20 repro I got from someone years ago.

i think i managed to lock up Scooby Doo Mystery (on SD2SNES) last night, not sure if it was an actual issue or if i did something weird

Turns out my third party SNES AC plug is very slightly over voltage

6:00 pm

So frequent power cycles causes a bit of a load problem and it will fail to start

6:01 pm

I guess I never noticed because turning my system off and on 20 times in a row was not a thing I did

6:01 pm

Long story short. Rendering Ranger works flawlessly on original hardware, and locks up constantly on Super NT.

I wonder how PAL compatibility is.

6:03 pm

I have not played PAL SNES games in years.

6:04 pm

I’m guessing that PAL has not had as thorough testing

fwiw regarding upgrading super nt firmware: the instructions saying that the firmware has to be the only file on the SD card are incorrect; it just has to be in the root directory. confirmed by kevtris: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/242970-fpga-based-videogame-system/?p=3956874

FPGA Based Videogame System - Page 252 - Classic Gaming General

AtariAge Forums

"If you have 2 or more files on there, it probably won't load the one you are expecting"

7:01 pm

Might be what Frank ran into

starts a quiz

7:02 pm

Is it Super NT or not?

7:03 pm

This is totally a CRT /s

7:05 pm

is not diagonal actually

7:05 pm

It's the illusion when the image is smaller

It’s not a CRT

7:08 pm

Scanlines look fine here. Image does show them a bit odd

7:08 pm

It’s 720p

@SoH someone on the atari age forums said they had trouble with a starfox 2 repro

7:34 pm

oh with the "it has to be the only file" thing, that's the official instructions on the analogue site

Cool. I'm sure kevtris will tackle it, just want to confirm as much as possible before sending it his way

8:46 pm

http://junkerhq.net/xrgb/index.php?title=240p_test_suite

Index.php?title=240p test suite

8:46 pm

This looks useful, also mentioned on AA

yeah I use this on my PVM sometimes for things like convergence

rom loading when, kevtris, my man. Don't let me down.

8:55 pm

Even just barebones for stuff like this will be super useful

8:55 pm

(Assuming it doesn't use anything fancy in the SNES version)

I came around to not caring about SNES rom loading too much because I don't think he's going to support the chips

8:55 pm

I'm at peace with a flash cart being in this thing permanently

I'd just like to avoid dropping $200 on a flashcart

8:56 pm

If I already had one, agreed, no big deal

8:56 pm

I do really want cart dumping, though

8:57 pm

Backing up the save, in particular

8:58 pm

I can get a dedicated device, but again, always looking to consolidate with this stuff

8:59 pm

For example, I discovered all the leaderboard chasing my roomate and I did in Uniracers 20 years ago. Which is dumb, it isn't the end of the world if I lost it, but was a fun discovery.

The stat tracking in Uniracers in general is kind of crazy for the time

9:16 pm

Apparently I did 971 races

Investing in an everdrive instead of sd2snes is an option you know. Sd2snes has some added support for some chips, but you have to consider for yourself whether you think the added cost is worth it for those few extra games.

9:19 pm

A super Everdrive is easily half of what an sd2snes will cost you.

9:19 pm

I mean, I love my sd2snes but you have to ask yourself if you REALLY need it.

9:20 pm

Ps everyone was wrong with the quiz

9:21 pm

Unmodified 2chip Super Famicom through Framemeister

MSU-1 is my only reason for coveting a sd2snes.

It’s nice but I personally barely use it for MSU-1

9:22 pm

The only great thing is the bs zelda recreation stuff

I'm just a Mega Man X junky.

Yeah, if I am going to bother putting any money down I'd rather just go all the way with it. But I don't mind waiting to see how things shake out.

I have enough carts where I'm okay waiting until the Black Friday sale.

9:23 pm

And maybe we'll know one way or the other by then.

9:23 pm

Even if there's a jailbreak, I still might get one.

(until it is announced no ROM loading and sd2snes sells out immediately and then impossible to get for months/years. THEN I'll be salty.)

Hmm great point.

even if they never do ROM loading i doubt it would be announced... they'd probably just continue to say nothing

it also loads ROMs faster than the internal Super NT loader loads super turrican fwiw

Really? Haha

it's a fairly insignificant load time but still

9:25 pm

(it seems like it's way faster after firmware update)

It would be nice to have the cores that are on the nt mini

9:27 pm

I would be surprised if kevtris would/is legally allowed to put the nes core on the Super nt

Why for?

what does legality have to do with it?

9:32 pm

there's no copyright violation in that core, and if there was, it would be no different than how he did it on the mini

Does analogue not own the rights to the core?

9:33 pm

And why would you undermine another product you sell? (If the nt mini is ever sold again)

If they were willing to let him upload it to an internet forum, I'd doubt it would be a major concern now. Strictly for a core rights concern.

9:33 pm

Undermine product, who knows

9:34 pm

It is hard to root out their business plan, tbh

kevin owns his cores and he releases them unofficially but with a wink and nod from analogue, I don't know why they'd change that now

I didn’t know he owned them

Yeah I mean he wrote them starting in like 2005? The implementation in Analogue products is all unofficial

10:14 pm

No idea if he owns SNES but he did the others on his own

kevtris commented on the possibility of 60.09 fps over HDMI for monitors that support it:

3:13 am

"I cannot output a 60.09fps hdmi signal if that's what people are asking. I can't lock the two PLLs together (system and video) so it's a non starter. Also, I don't want incompatibility issues with monitors that cause it to not work. i.e. someone turns that mode on, without knowing what it does, then after that, the monitor goes dead and they get no video any more."

3:14 am

PLL is definitely where FPGAs go over my head, and I am sure he is right, though I wish I understood a little better what that means.

3:17 am

Or at the very least I wish I understood better what sort of lock would be implied between 60.09 but not for 60.00

Wth

11:05 am

The intro of the Digital Foundry review of the Super nt treats it like it’s something holy....It’s an FPGA console, not the resurrection of Christ.

11:09 am

Nice comparison though with Higan!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOSQgBEf5ac

DigitalFoundry

DF Retro: Analogue Super Nt Review - a 21st Century SNES!

11:51 am

I dunno he did say afterwards that it all comes down to code quality

11:51 am

and at least he still says it's an emulator

It was a nicely put together comparison. You do feel that Byuu’s comments had impact on these videos

12:24 pm

Love it. The bug on display in the DF video is already fixed with a just released firmware update

The MLiG guys said in their discord that byuu's blog post lead them to alter the script

"I just want to throw this out here - yes, the intro stuff is intentionally flashy. Why? I got a new camera and I'm trying to work on improving my editing skills. That's it. That's is THE reason why I made it this way. I need to have fun with editing these videos and I DID have fun making it."

2:13 pm

Heh, I can respect that

I can respect that too. I kinda think it sets a wrong tone, considering he’s very thorough and not worshipping at the altar of FPGA as the only pure option at all, but hey it’s his video

This has been my favorite commentary on the Super Nt...

3:14 pm

Hah, indeed

4:01 pm

I think that is part of the reason the 'classic' version (North American model) doesn't quite look right

4:01 pm

Though it does look better in person

byuu specifically called out BlastEm, but I've never used it

4:22 pm

https://www.retrodev.com/blastem/

4:22 pm

"But absent from the article was any mention of software emulators that are serious about emulation: projects like higan (SNES), BlastEm (Genesis), gambatte (Game Boy Color), mGBA (Game Boy Advance), etc"

I had previously thought Genesis Plus GX was highly accurate but maybe not.

4:28 pm

Never heard of BlastEm

4:30 pm

I thought PUNes was also very accurate. And SameBoy was better than Gambatte

4:33 pm

"Generally my focus with this release was on removing the accuracy and completeness gaps compared to Genesis Plus GX so that I can credibly claim to have the most accurate Genesis/MD emulator. Previously there were areas in which I exceeded it, but there were also some significant gaps (SSG-EG and CSM mode probably being the most important ones). While there are probably some minor areas where Genesis Plus GX is superior accuracy-wise, I think I've succeeded in general. Compatibility is also substantially improved (big shoutout to my two newest testers Sasha and lol-frank who tested a huge number of games against the nightly builds). Genesis Plus GX still has the edge here (still need to implement the Pier Solar mapper, add a few more EEPROM games to the db and probably a few other odds and ends), but the gap is pretty small. There's still a pretty big gap in peripheral support though (light guns, multitaps and the XE-1 AP are still absent)."

I still just use kega fusion so I am probably the greatest monster of them all

I'm sure it plays 99% of all games fine honestly

4:37 pm

I'm all for emulator authors increasing accuracy like Byuu but I'm not going to sweat it. If I'm playing a game that seems to run just as well as it does on a console and I can't tell I a difference I don't personally worry about it.

4:37 pm

Love that Higan is integrated into Libretro though.

4:41 pm

Man I haven't messed with dreamcast emulation in a minute. I remember it being painful though!

4:44 pm

Yeah I just remember trying to get Power Stone to run well and look right and gave up

4:44 pm

bought the USB-GDROM and called it good heh

4:45 pm

hahaha

4:46 pm

At least Saturn emulation is coming along

https://i.imgur.com/VEcHPcxl.jpg (edited)

6:04 pm

Hybrid scanlines are pretty interesting

6:04 pm

(Open big)

6:04 pm

And note the white and yellow of the text/ui, compared to the off-white of the flowers and the other colors (edited)

6:05 pm

720p, 3x, interpolation disabled, gamma boost on

6:06 pm

It does a sort of sample and approximation of luminosity to adjust the thickness, sort of like a CRT would

My current vicious cycle:

2:38 pm

1. oh, maybe I'll just pick up a few SNES games for my SNT, why not.

2:39 pm

2. well, if I am going to spend any money... might as well just pick up the SD2SNES

2:39 pm

3. wellll, if anything is going to happen with a jailbreak it will probably be in the next couple weeks, so might as well wait.

2:39 pm

4. do a lap around the bowl like a gold fish and return to step 1

@SoH welcome to the club, please take a seat

2:41 pm

I picked up one game

2:41 pm

and I'm going to stick with that for now

2:42 pm

I don't see a way for them to not release a jailbreak

2:42 pm

all coverage of the thing mention the Nt mini's jailbreak

2:42 pm

and a lot of people appear to be buying it on the faith that there will be a jailbreak

Yeah, that is unfortunate. I do think if kevtris had no plans it would have been in good faith to say so from the get go.

2:54 pm

I am perfectly happy with the device as is, and purchased with that in mind.

2:55 pm

But at this point I just see the angry internet men lashing out if it happens.

"For A LOT of people that reason is to play roms. While not commenting on it is not misleading them the fact is if Analogue were not releasing a jailbreak they would have no reason to keep silent about it because people will still feel misled if they hurry up and pre-order the system and put faith in them only to have Analogue not live up to their past amazing standards after refusing to say anything about it."

3:02 pm

Case in point

3:03 pm

This is all bunk because it was never Analogue doing any of this. It was kevtris dropping it on an internet forum.

3:04 pm

"their past amazing standards" is irrelevant.

3:05 pm

(Presumably with their blessing, but that was likely the extent of it)

I mean, it was in Analogue's interest for that jailbreak to come out

3:17 pm

and I don't doubt that they either actively supported Kevtris releasing it, or paid him to

3:17 pm

I wouldn't have bought an Nt mini without it

3:18 pm

I just think they wanted to distance themselves from it as much as possible as to not attract the ire of Nintendo

I think the biggest thing standing in the way of one for the Super NT is just which of the special chips Kevtris has programmed.

3:19 pm

I guess he could release without that support though

I'm pretty sure he's reverse engineered the SA-1

3:20 pm

if SuperFX, and some of the more exotic/unique chips are too complex, I wonder if it'd be possible to use a donor cart

3:20 pm

plug in Yoshi's Island if you want to play DOOM

3:20 pm

etc.

I remember investigating that a while back and the answer appeared to be no, but can't recall specifics atm (edited)

Probably depends on the chip, and if they communicate with the SNES over their own bus

3:23 pm

Ideal scenario for me is, support for all expansion chips (except for SuperFX) and MSU1 audio

3:23 pm

then it'd basically be an internal SD2SNES

3:24 pm

There's so few SuperFX games, and they're so reasonably-priced, I wouldn't mind having to pick up the 2-3 games I'd bother playing

We know some form of romloading is already in there with turrican, unless there are effectively 2 game rom chips on the board, but I'd doubt that.

3:26 pm

He mentioned in the MLiG stream that his focus is squashing bugs atm

3:26 pm

And also the complexity is easily 10x the NES core

Yeah, I personally wouldn't expect a jailbreak until March at the earliest

So 10x the potential issues, using bad dev math

probably when the second shipments are done

3:27 pm

especially now that the masses are getting their systems this week

I suspect the issue number to go up a lot this week, yeah

3:27 pm

Most don't even have their units yet

I swung working from home tomorrow

3:28 pm

It's going to be sweet

3:30 pm

I wonder how the SD2SNES clones are

3:30 pm

I've heard people say they're great, and others say not so much

I'm very much of the school of thought where anything I plan to use regularly I want the one with highest confidence.

3:32 pm

That doesn't necessarily mean "the good/most expensive one" though, as people regularly fall into that trap.

3:33 pm

I do think I am going to pick up a few more carts because being able to validate assumptions on the real deal is valuable to me

3:33 pm

But.. which.. ones... hm.

3:34 pm

For example I don't know if I have a single game that does the highres blending

3:35 pm

Does Yoshi's Island do it anywhere?

Only ones I know of are Kirby's Dream Land 3 and Jurassic Park

3:36 pm

I think maybe Contra 3

JP probably being the cheapest of the bunch

3:37 pm

There is a retro used game store down the street, maybe I'll pay patronage

3:37 pm

Pick up a few carts on the cheap

3:37 pm

Nothing crazy

I was in Nagoya today, was tough to not start picking up stuff

3:37 pm

Super Game Boy 2, cheap pads, cheap loose carts

When we are old and retired our form of vegas "loosest slots on the strip" is gonna be the cheapest loose carts. (edited)

3:39 pm

I got this loose jurrasic park, 0.00000026739 bitcoins, come on guy, come oooon

I'm curious to how the market will play out in general

Certain Super FX Carts lack something others do. I know you can only make Starfox 2 repros with specific carts. Stunt Race FX is one.

it seems that new collectors are starting on N64/PS1 these days

3:40 pm

which makes sense when you think of people coming to an age where they have disposable income

3:40 pm

so I wonder if 8/16-bit will be in less demand

Hubz, yeah I recall something along the lines of it being a two way street, where as the NES mappers are more of a black box?

3:41 pm

So unless someone modified that black box (hence the dozens of mapper mods) they are somewhat more interchangeable with the rom

I know there's two versions of Super FX

3:41 pm

Star Fox 2 was supposed to be on Super FX 2

(Vague memories pulling from here so take that as nothing more)

I think it would be hard to use a donor cart for SFX without having the rom on the cart, but definitely don't have the knowledge to answer that definitivly. Didn't SFX do all the processing to fill a framebuffer which then gets transferred to the snes? (edited)

3:44 pm

And Starfox 2: I saw videos where people tried the game with both SFX and SFX2 and came to conclusion that it runs in exactly the same way/speed.

Yeah, I think it is even more involved than that. If you flashed the ROM from one SFX game to another it still won't necessarily work

I made a few Starfox2 Repros for guys at the local meetup and they are a pain, you have to get the SMC off their and rewire a new one and it's a mess.

Yeah, apparently Star Fox 2 is SFX2, but uses zero of it's features, so it will work on either

After making 3 I said I'm done heh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HF8yfhWJJM

qwertymodo

Star Fox 2 GSU-1 vs. GSU-2 comparison

You can make a Star Fox 2 repro from DOOM, but sacrifice saving

ah interesting, thanks

NES Mapper hacks are where it's at.

Yoshi's Island doesn't have a large enough ROM to fit the game apparently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgInD9vAZcM

Zarradeth99

Starfox 2 GSU Comparison

That's quite a difference

If Kevtris somehow got SuperFX into the FPGA core

3:47 pm

it would be great to overclock

He said there is a lot of room left, which I still think is curious

3:47 pm

If they were trying to drive down costs I would think they would go as thin as possible, but maybe that was the smallest they could while still fitting everything else

Another interesting thing to try: make a picture of the cart and console with flash while Starfox is playing on an SNES.

3:54 pm

I did that once and the thing froze.

https://youtu.be/d_OW_t9RXEM?t=1355

RGB310 :: Super Nt (w/ Kevtris) - MY LIFE IN GAMING

3:58 pm

Where he mentions extra space

3:59 pm

Would be nice if MLiG dropped the unedited interview to get more context from some of these soundbites

Heading out to the game shop in a bit, if there is anything likely cheap that commonly has problems in emulators that I should keep an eye out for let me know.

https://i.imgur.com/1AwSGqu.jpg

7:56 pm

Filthy, but cheap

7:56 pm

Tried to pick up stuff unlikely to be run through the paces

No Bubsy

I am only mortal!

7:58 pm

They had Dracula X for a steal at $180

You can buy a Super Nt for that price

if you're trying to hammer on unlikely things I'd look at anything that sd2snes has problems with, since that's what kevin used for testing

Speedy Gonzales was confirmd to work correctly in the DF retro video.

Yeah, that one is for my own sanity checks, although it is towards the end of the game so that might be tricky

8:00 pm

Same with RPM

8:00 pm

They didn't have ASP unfortunately

8:00 pm

Or Jurrasic Park, or Kirby

8:01 pm

Might just ebay, I dunno

I'm gonna try my old PAL games. I figure PAL games and PAL mode was not as rigorously tested by the reviewers. I don't think anyone that reviewed the unit before release lived outside of the US. (edited)

RPM Racing, Phalanx, Speed Gonzales GunForce, Skulljagger, Wings 2 Darius Twin, HyperZone, Fatal Fury 2

8:02 pm

If any of the titles are hard to read

8:03 pm

And as a shmup fan it is time I finally sitdown and seriously play one of the most famous, worst shmups

8:03 pm

Phalanx

8:03 pm

Because it has a clever cover, and nothing else

Was that the farmer guy cover?

Correct

8:03 pm

It was $4

can't go wrong for 4

8:05 pm

Well, DF Retro resides outside of the US but I don't think he tried a lot of PAL games.

8:07 pm

Has anyone managed to 'dump' Super Turrican Directors Cut yet?

I keep meaning to ask about that, also curious

8:08 pm

I imagine it is pretty hard to get to

I mean, why else provide a box with the console for the game that would perfectly match a nice repro?

I haven't opened my envelope yet

8:09 pm

Because I don't care about boxes at all

8:09 pm

But

8:09 pm

Leaving it "sealed" feels even weirder. I don't know what to do with it.

8:10 pm

I must destroy it to relieve me of its burden.

Free it from its envelope

8:10 pm

Release it

8:10 pm

It's the right thing to do

I'm gonna look at it, unfold it, put it back in and shove it somewhere and forget it exists

8:10 pm

This is exactly what will happen

I still have a mighty no 9 box somewhere

8:11 pm

don't ask me where though

maybe I'll put the sealed turrican box on the bookshelf next to my sealed thimbleweed park and broken age

Hmm..I opened up Broken Age

I still haven't played the second half

It's slightly more challenging. Still, I didn't mind the difficulty or lack there of in the first part.

Yeah, the last section ramps up the ahem classic adventure puzzle design ethos quite bit

8:24 pm

Nothing too excessive though (edited)

8:26 pm

Hard thing with confirming old carts is can't be too sure if the cart itself is just being a butt

I nver got too into it, not sure why

The documentary was worth the price anyway

but thimbleweed park felt like the game I backed with broken age at least

Fatal Fury 2 failed to boot first time. Soft resets didn't help. Did a hard reset and has booted every single time. I'll keep an eye on it.

2

1

8:31 pm

Changed nothing between

8:31 pm

Didn't even pull out the cart

8:34 pm

aha, I found it

8:34 pm

Seems to be particularly sensitive to wobbling the cart

8:34 pm

Will confirm on a SNES, most likely fine.

Skulljagger is a... thing.

8:55 pm

Gives me a TG16 vibe, can't exactly say why

If you need something to test sprite flicker on the SNES, GunForce has got your back

9:08 pm

Not surprising considering the source

9:09 pm

Interesting, still get it with with 64 sprite tiles enabled

haha, wait a min, is this right

9:23 pm

Let me see if I can find a screenshot

9:23 pm

oh, huh, interesting

9:24 pm

Random youtube longplay video, so take it for what its worth

what about it?

(uploading)

9:26 pm

https://i.imgur.com/CdToAtT.jpg

9:26 pm

Note the cropping/offcenter

9:26 pm

On SNT

9:26 pm

Double checking my settings

oh interestinng

9:26 pm

I thought you were interested in "The Merry Go Round Broke Down" and I was about to tell you about that song

I am interested in that too, sure!

9:27 pm

Cropping is all 0's

that's the song that they used as the Looney Tunes theme

Going to go put it in the SNES and confirm

minus the lyrics obviously

9:28 pm

Oh, the Merry-Go-Round broke down
And we went round and round
Each time t'would miss, we'd steal a kiss
And the Merry-Go-Round went
"Um-pah-pah, um-pah-pah
Um-pah! Um-pah! Um-pah-pah-pah! '

9:28 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbp9WXQjZy8

warholsoup100

Shep Fields Orchestra Bob Goday - The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down 1937

huh

9:30 pm

Funny I was able to vocalize the lyrics in my head, mildly disturbing even

if you're interested in music that we associate with cartoons even though they weren't meant for them, I highly recommend Raymond Scott https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfDqR4fqIWE

VideosTimes2

Raymond Scott Quintette - Powerhouse - Hit Parade

9:31 pm

super experimental guy, Carl Stalling (the Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies composer) really liked his stuff

9:33 pm

in the 50s he started experimenting with electronic music, and is kind of a pioneer in that regard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNY8t4-aX6g

Mei Clover

Raymond Scott- Melon Ball Bounce (Sprite Commercial Instrumental)

Well this is interesting

9:33 pm

https://i.imgur.com/2ujjzvV.jpg

9:33 pm

SNES

9:34 pm

Maybe I have an original and it was revised?

9:34 pm

It is in the first two seconds of boot up, think someone would spot it, but I guess timelines and all

I'm wondering if higan treats it differently than whatever the video used

9:36 pm

oh and then to bring that music back to video games, Freezepop (a band closely affiliated with Harmonix) covered Mellonball Bounce https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCCVpFTYMKQ

TwilightPrincess1993

Sprite-Freezepop

no-into rev 1 of speedy gonzales shows the same behavior in higan

9:43 pm

non revision shows it correctly,

I can test both revs on super nt over sd2snes

rev 1 adds more screens to the boot so seems like in adding them they introduced that bug

9:44 pm

Complete guess, of course

9:44 pm

So

9:45 pm

Now I wonder

9:45 pm

If the button bug towards the end of the game is in both revisions, or not

9:46 pm

ie. was DF Retro's test conclusive that it isn't present

9:46 pm

Maybe I can game genie my way there or something. Stepping away will dig in more when I get back

yeah, rev 1 seems like maybe acclaim started distributing it?

Played through to 6-1 of rev 1 Speedy Gonzales

1:08 am

Got to the button

1:08 am

Game locked up on Super Nt

whoa

It appears DF's confirmation is not accurate

1:09 am

Unless the game genie is interfering

1:09 am

Got a video

oh you're using game genie, did you update firmware on the nt?

1:09 am

first firmware update had a game genie fix of some kind

Yes, I had to enable that to get it working

1:11 am

I recorded the video vertical, I have let you all down

1:11 am

I have let myself down

1:12 am

In my defense I had to hold the controller

1:15 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGSCz134Yyw

SoH

Super NT Speedy Gonzales 6-1 button lock up

Does higan do action replay codes? There is a level skip

1:28 am

But only for action replay

@SoH you need to replicate it at least 12 times to come to a definite conclusion

1

This game has so many blind jumps it makes me angry

1:37 am

It does have some tiny neat little adventure gamey bits but they last all of one or two screens

1:37 am

And I can't seem to figure out Higan's cheat editor

https://higan.readthedocs.io/en/latest/interface/higan-tools/#cheat-code-formats

1:45 am

aha

1:49 am

You have to set the address to 06 when the red screen with the mice swinging in the cage showing the first level name comes up. Anything else looks to crash it

1:49 am

7E0098=06

It doesn't let you through the first door you need to hit up to enter

1:57 am

Maybe the level skip messing with it

1:57 am

If I am going to play through from start again I'm gonna do it on real hardware

you should probably test it on the previous super nt firmware too... just in case

UPS finally dropped off my Super NT! But it's too damn late for me to play it

Nice

4:26 am

MIne is en route

4:27 am

Apparently SmokeMonster is working on a Super Nt jailbreak pack

oh?

Maybe they're doing a "no special chips" SNES set assuming that a ROM loader is coming

Seems like he's just pre-emptively getting it ready, just in case

7:57 am

I expect it to probably be a fork of his SD2SNES pack

7:57 am

No sign of my Super Nt yet

Mine went through customs proceedings, so I’m expecting having to pay up

Same here, but it does that regardless of whatever I order

8:05 am

Only two things I've been hit with are the Vive and Nt mini

8:05 am

everything else comes through cleanly, but I often pre-pay with Amazon.com etc.

It arrived, no import fees

It would be neat if you could save multple profiles on the Super Nt

9:26 am

with game specific configurations

Mine has arrived too. They marked it has having a 10 dollar value.

10:38 am

So no import fees

Same here densy - $10, no duty. Good thing it didn't get lost, I guess!

Yeah. Pity UPS is slow, they don't seem to do anything in weekends. Arrived in Cologne friday night and spent a nice weekend there.

Yeah UPS doesn't work weekends as far as I know on Ground shipments.

"It would be neat if you could save multple profiles on the Super Nt" < someone asked kevtris in the MLiG stream for that exact thing and he made it sound like it'd be a pain (edited)

3:17 pm

Do you have to do anything special to charge the 8bitdo SN30 controller? Mine is almost dead and when I plug it in to a powered USB it blinks a green light a few times and shuts off, anyone know?

Not that I know of. I just plug it in and it charges.

Does it stay a solid green light?

3:18 pm

While charging

I'm not sure really. I don't recall.

https://support.analogue.co/hc/en-us/articles/360000557452-Super-Nt-Firmware-Update-v4-1

Super Nt: Firmware Update v4.1

Please upgrade your Super Nt to the latest firmware for the best possible experience. You will need a small SD card to upgrade the firmware on your Super Nt. v4.1 notes:- Fixed issues with certain ...

3:23 pm

- Fixed issues with certain games reading controllers incorrectly 
- Earthworm Jim 2 PAL audio fixed (must run game in fully buffered or single buffer)
- Enabled PAL zero delay buffer mode

3:23 pm

Interesting, didn't realize PAL didn't have zero delay

No review mentioned it.

3:23 pm

Like I said earlier..PAL was probably not as thoroughly tested

I thought mine was set to zero delay out of the box, but I only had about 10 minutes with it before I had to leave

I'll bet there are a lot of undocumented revision differences in PAL games

it's kind of annoying that you lose your settings every time you upgrade the firmware. i know he said there's no real way to prevent that, but i wonder if it would be possible to fake it by letting you put a file on the sd card that contains the settings you want and then have it check for and apply those after a firmware update, or something like that

Yeah, my modern dev brain is all.. just dump it out to json what's the big deal, but I'm sure it is in no way that simple

4:04 pm

We know it has immediate read access to the SD though since it evokes the firmware update immediately on boot

Wow. What’s really impressing me with the super nt is the audio quality

It is quite good

yeah same

6:48 pm

also just an fyi/reminder, you can get retro receivers cheap https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r230556582

初出任天堂ゲームボーイカセット開発段階 2... - ヤフオク!

初出任天堂ゲームボーイカセット開発段階 2点マリオランド2 ヨッシーのクッキー Nintendo 時代物アンティークレトロ希少!!格安!!商品説明【商品説明】任天堂のゲームボーイカセット「マリオランド2」と「ヨッシーのクッキー」です。2点とも開発段階のカセットです。入手することはできないとても希少なお品ではないでしょうか。マリオランド2は横に「⑯」という表記があります。修正の回数でしょうか。ヨッシーのクッキーには「DMGクッキー最終　開発1部 92年10月19日要返却」とあります。このゲ

6:49 pm

oh sorry that is the wrong link

6:49 pm

that is an auction I want to bid on

6:49 pm

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-8Bitdo-Bluetooth-Retro-Receiver-for-SNES-SFC-Compatible-with-NES30-SFC30-NES-Pro-PS3-PS4/32802757879.html

Original 8Bitdo Bluetooth Retro Receiver for SNES/ SFC NES30/ SFC30/ NES Pro/ PS3/ PS4, Wii, Wii U game controllers-in Gamepads from Consumer Electronics on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

6:49 pm

there you go

I'm also waiting on those raphnet cables for the SNES mini controllers to come in, will report how I like them on the SNT

My pal repro of Mario rpg seems to work fine in NTSC mode. That one would not work on Super Famicom

I’m starting to agree with having gamma boost on all the time like DF retro mentioned. That does look more like how I think it should look.

Tintin in Tibet seems to work fine when using PAL settings. That game that does not run correctly with visual problems in NTSC mode. Instills a bit more confidence in me that the PAL mode is pretty good.

Impression so far: looks sharp. It’s not so mind blowing if you are used to good upscaling, but it definitely is great with sharpness. The image seems a bit too dim to me by default, enabling gamma boost improves it. The sound might actually the thing that impresses the most. I do wish there was an easier mode to switch the console from PAL mode and NTSC mode including resolution. Now you have to remember to change both hardware mode and video resolution.

8:15 pm

Pseudo hi res looks great with Kirby’s Dreamland 3

8:16 pm

I also hope they will enable an option to hide the turrican games from the main menu. I mean, it’s great that they are on there but it just gets in the way of the settings menu too.

it's funny that people think the gamma boost looks better, to me the colors look a little washed out by default and it looks worse with gamma boost

8:39 pm

it just doesn't look as vibrant to me

8:40 pm

I also acknowledge that this doesn't actually make sense since the SNES has actual RGB values so who the heck knows

I seem to have a different opinion depending on the game.

8:40 pm

Default colors without gamma boost looks totally off to me with secret of mana.

8:41 pm

With gamma boost it looks better.

I'm doing 720p hybrid scanlines with gamma boost right now

Kirby Super Star looks way too dark, but nice with gamma boost. And with popping collors.

I also had to boost the scanline depth because man, those bright colors make them disappear completely and it looks wrong to me

The colors might actually pop too much with that game actually

but all in all those hybrid scanlies are great

i agree that the gamma boost looks washed out; some of it to me looks a little washed out even with gamma boost off (i mainly notice this in the button icons of the super nt's menu; it hasn't really stood out to me in-game)

Need to try them. 720p does look quite a bit less sharp than 1080p to me on my screen.

8:45 pm

I’m just thinking: how come no review touched on this?

8:45 pm

Only one was DF Retro

okay so it's not just me

No

8:46 pm

It’s pretty blatant

it's been years since i saw what these games looked like on real hardware, so i can't be sure that the washed-out look isn't what it actually looked like and i just got used to seeing it wrong in emulators

no I meant the washed out colors

8:48 pm

720p of course looks less sharp than 1080p, it's not as many pixels!

8:48 pm

that's all display dependent

i'm mainly just looking at the colors on the button prompts and thinking "that yellow button prompt looks a lot paler than the color on the actual button"

I'm mainly just going off my memory of how it looks on my PVM but I haven't done side by side or anything

8:50 pm

I do have exactly one SNES cartridge I could use to test that I suppose!

8:50 pm

I've got an SD2SNES and I've got Goof Troop

I just changed the HDMI blackness level setting from auto to normal and that definitely is making the image look better.

oh I should look at that too. I'm 90% sure I killed all of the auto garbage the day we got the TV but maybe I missed something

Okay. That definitely improved things a lot

8:57 pm

Looks much better now with gamma boost off.

9:00 pm

I’ve also not have a single game crash on me when changing resolution with a game running.

Me either, but I am nervous every single time

9:01 pm

I'd never risk it on lost progress however

9:01 pm

Also agreed on the colors looking a bit blown out, but I was also going off memory and haven't done a side by side yet either

Well, this tv setting I just changed made it look a lot better.

it's not just us, it's real http://atariage.com/forums/topic/242970-fpga-based-videogame-system/page-279#entry3960981

FPGA Based Videogame System - Page 279 - Classic Gaming General

AtariAge Forums

9:10 pm

sorry I thought that would go to a post, scroll down to screen comparisons

9:10 pm

9:11 pm

poster is using Higan as a shortcut because when they've captured stock SNES RGB in the past they got a 100% RGB value match using Higan

in that post, higan looks too bright to me. but kevtris says higan looked darker than his snes, so i have no idea what to think

really? every color looks darker to me

9:12 pm

the darker brown dirt looks brighter to you?

i see the difference mostly in the floor in super metroid, and the center bush in super mario world... those look way brighter in higan

9:13 pm

the dirt looks more saturated but not really brighter

maybe darker isn't the word but higan definitely has more saturation, which is what my eyes are detecting as missing when I play

I looking at Super Mario World right now and with the tv setting I changed I think it looks pretty good now?

9:14 pm

Gonna try Secret of Mana again and go to Kakara. That definitely looked wrong with my first try.

9:18 pm

Hmm..it still looks a bit off to me

i don't think i have enough of a discerning eye; i doubt i'd be able to tell the difference without looking at them side by side

9:20 pm

what does the rgb 709/limited refer to? that's just a setting on the capture equipment, not a difference in what the super nt is outputting, right?

Not a setting on the nt

9:29 pm

Super Game Boy looks nice

9:29 pm

9:34 pm

Interestingly the led inside the SGB2 immediately turns on when you plug it in, even before you use the run cartridge option.

9:37 pm

Some brightness weirdness with the square soft logo when you start Secret of Mana

I think something is wrong with the super nt colors

Donut Secret 1 in SMW has a weird stutter effect

9:50 pm

It doesn’t happen in other levels

9:52 pm

It seems to happen in 5x mode only

9:52 pm

The effect happens in other levels 2, just more pronounced in that specific level.

9:53 pm

Hmm. Still happens in 4.5 too

that level ran pretty poorly on original hardware iirc

9:55 pm

oh wait, that's not the level i'm thinking of

I don’t recall it being this profound at all

9:57 pm

Gonna check on SFC

this 1) exists! 2) works on the super nt https://www.retrocircuits.com/product/super-fx-all-in-one/

Retro Circuits Admin

Super FX All In One

Dang

9:59 pm

It does happen on original hardware too!

oh good... maybe my memory isn't as bad as i thought

I had just never noticed it until now, and I’ve played this game to bits o.O

i remember it being pretty bad in the level with the torpedo teds

It happens in other levels too just not as frequently

My repro of the old beta version of Starfox 2 ran just fine btw on the nt

he fixed something that might be related to that in latest FW, don't know when you last updated

I got the unit today and immediately updated to latest (edited)

i should probably invest in a sd2snes... but i guess i should wait a little longer to see if a jailbreak happens first

Super FX All In One

10:23 pm

I doubt that's legal lol

well yeah obviously

$155 also

10:23 pm

ouch

right. but compare $155 to buying Yoshi's Island, StarFox, and a StarFox 2 repro, and it starts to feel like it might not be so bad

actually none of their stuff is legal

10:25 pm

I doubt for the ROM hacks they sell they actually asked about it

of course not

10:26 pm

lots of people are bootlegging this stuff now. go to any con these days and there's at least one table selling rom hacks on carts

oh man, that soul blazer/terranigma/illusion of gaia combo is kind of appealing

also they only sell US shell carts

at this point I don't really care about the lost profits of companies on games they don't really sell anymore, but selling rom hacks is very much pooping in your own pool

they sell BS Super Mario USA

10:28 pm

...what's the point

10:28 pm

without the audio it's not even fun

yeah, i don't understand why there is a market for that crap

Also selling BS Zelda Ancient Stone Tablets

I think some of these carts are practical (no flash cart does these) and some are for collector-types (I want to own a "real" cart of this game)

Which got a MSU1 hack recently

10:29 pm

And it is the definitive edition on how to play it

10:29 pm

But yeah for Super FX games or SA-1 games

10:29 pm

I kinda get the appeal

10:30 pm

since sd2snes cannot deal with those games, yet

10:30 pm

(or ever)

I just got mostly JP carts for those.

10:38 pm

For the titles that I wanted to play.

I cleaned all those carts I picked up yesterday and I have cracked open dozens of NES carts and even the most filthy among them the board inside "beyond the lip" is always in great condition

11:53 pm

Seems the SNES might not have as good of a seal because most of the insides of these were also filthy, one even had glitter?

11:54 pm

Also, the part where the cart meets the board is deteriorating on nearly all of them and I have never seen that on a single NES board, even ones in incredibly bad shape

11:55 pm

https://i.imgur.com/6dBNC81.jpg

11:56 pm

Green coating a mm or two above the contacts? Where the numbers are: 55, 50, 45 (edited)

11:57 pm

Should be purely green, you even see traces of the green on the grey plastic of the cart

11:57 pm

They play fine, but might be problematic very long term.

12:00 am

I'm no EE, not sure if that stuff can just be painted back on

12:00 am

I assume it has qualities like static resistence

I think if we get to March without a jailbreak announcement, I'll order an SD2SNES

Well

3:50 am

Now

3:50 am

This is pretty damn interesting

3:51 am

Rev 1 Speedy Gonzales, locks in Higan

3:51 am

Original does not.

3:52 am

Meaning there is a distinct possibility the Rev 1 version of Speedy Gonzales is also broken on the original SNES

ok, now I am just confused

4:06 am

I have been able to get it to lock and work perfectly fine, in higan, using the exact same method with both versions.

4:06 am

https://i.imgur.com/gKSYkhD.png

4:06 am

^ Softlock, Higan, vanilla version

4:06 am

https://i.imgur.com/GULTjkA.png

4:07 am

Same method, same version, fine

4:07 am

Has to be a timing thing

Hmm, according to the GitHub readme, that's a jailbreak, not just a rom pack.

11:19 am

Also of interest that he explicitly lists the cores, as if already assuming more will be available.

11:26 am

I'm off to work, but super curious to see how this goes for eager testers. Love the work Smoke Monster does but not sure how I feel about loading firmware from someone other than the Analogue team.

11:27 am

At least, not this early. :)

11:29 am

Yeah, definitely possible. Well, I don't think it's just a SM thing. I know he collaborated with someone on the GitHub pack generator thing after he stopped hosting his packs. But who knows!

Hahah very clever way to get that out!

I think I'll hold off a bit until it is a little better understood, but good to see! (edited)

1:59 pm

For example will Analogue confirm this also doesn't void warranty or say nothing?

1:59 pm

(as they did the former with nt mini)

If you can reflash it with official firmware I don’t see the risk

Yeah, it is almost certainly legit but I've waited this long, I can hold off a tiny bit longer.

2:04 pm

Also a concern, did this roll all the fixes up to 4.1 of the official firmware? Or is it branched earlier/missing things, and if so what?

2:04 pm

AND WHAT OF SPEEDY GONZALES?

2:04 pm

the most important question of all

We do not speak of speedy gonzales

2:05 pm

I want the firmware to break any Bubsy title

Randomly sprite swaps bubsy into other games

When you load bubsy it’ll show a photoshopped image of steamroller mario crushing bubsy carts

Saw it suggested that the official firmware might have the features built in and all kevtris would have to do is "leak" what hexcode to flip in the binary

WTF

2:10 pm

SmokeMonster jailbroke the firmware?

Not too different from how the phones did it for awhile

His stream from yesterday makes sense

Not at my computer so can't do a compare atm

Cores Supported
SNES/SFC

2:14 pm

Looks like no expansion chips

2:46 pm

Which I am totally fine with

Not even DSP1/2/3/4?

Not sure, just what this guy said..

2:51 pm

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/242970-fpga-based-videogame-system/?p=3962299

FPGA Based Videogame System - Page 288 - Classic Gaming General

AtariAge Forums

2:52 pm

Post by gojira54 if it doesn't link to the right spot

2:52 pm

No expansion chip support
yet

No DSP1

3:02 pm

Just confirmed

Well DSP1 is technically an expansion chip

Yeah I know

3:04 pm

But it's probably the most basic

3:04 pm

And just wanted to verify it's not supported

3:04 pm

Sounds like they will be in the future though

3:04 pm

As well as other cores

3:05 pm

Can you give a sense of the menu layout? Are the folders just listed off the main menu?

3:06 pm

Next to Turrican

aha, cool

3:08 pm

Firmware seems to roll up at least v3.9

3:08 pm

It's v6.4 though which is strange

3:08 pm

Satellaview works

The versioning on the NT mini JB was weird too

S-RTC chip games work

3:10 pm

Star Ocean SSD-1 Patched works

3:10 pm

Or...maybe not

More expansion chips will be nice, but all I really want now is cart dumping and I am set.

Super System games load

Or at the very least let me get to the sram and I am good.

3:24 pm

fist pumps and victory music

anybody have a cartridge copy of soul blazer they could check something on?

As an FYI blasting saturation on the TV almost corrects the colors

7:16 pm

Those hybrid scanlines really fall apart on bright games though, check out the Wild Guns title for an example

7:16 pm

The scanlines somehow brighten the colors even more?

Yes, it is odd. I started noticing more and more strange things under different scenarios so I disabled them.

7:24 pm

I'd have to go double check as I've messed with a dozen different things since then, but I believe the shadows on indoor areas in LttP were doing some odd stuff. The shadows are particularly dark but the rest of the room is very bright and it was doing a strange contrast or something (edited)

7:24 pm

I'd have to double check

7:25 pm

I think the scanline itself was brighter than the actual pixel color? It was odd. (edited)

Yes that absolutely happens

7:41 pm

Turn off screen dimming in the system menu so you can see it in real-time

7:42 pm

I think color space and hybrid scanlines are both broken

7:43 pm

It's kinda horrifying that MLiG recommends always having gamma boost on considering it makes an existing problem worse

Fortunately boring old int scaling works perfectly well so I'll default back to that, but I do hope the second pass on scanline settings improves things.

7:59 pm

And interpolation from the distance of my couch on the big screen is pretty solid do might even just do that when I settle down to play for real

8:00 pm

As 4x leaves a decent chunk of black around the whole thing

8:00 pm

Might just do 5x and deal with the cropping not sure

Right now I'm doing 720p 4x vertical interpolation off with normal scanlines set pretty low

8:02 pm

And saturation boosted on my TV which doesn't FIX the colors but makes them better

None of my screens do native 720p and the built in scaler is pretty bad so I had to give up on that (well, not baad, but if I am going to do that I'd rather just use interpolation) (edited)

9:19 pm

Frank, any thoughts about how the JB was released? I know we've discussed in the past you doubt litigation is why Analogue doesn't just do this stuff as first class features in the official firmware, seems even more of a smoke screen has been raised here, can't really find the motivation. (edited)

DKC has some audio glitches. Rare/Nintendo seems to have a weird cut off. And one of the second world levels has weird audio pops after a section where a vulture throws stones.

9:28 pm

Millstone Mayhem

Try the -3 db option in the audio menu (forget where exactly)

9:36 pm

kevtris mentioned the volume is pretty wildly different between games so it is hard for some not to get blown out while others too quiet.

It doesn’t happen everywhere. I can only sometimes reproduce it at a specific part of that level.

i was getting some weird audio distortion in the title sequence of soul blazer (right at the beginning as the word "soul" scrolls across the screen, it was like the audio slowed down for a second or two, then went back to normal). but that was loading it from a rom

Man the PSX overclocking that Libretro has coming looks really slick.

10:33 pm

The games flow so much better...

10:34 pm

And loading content on subsystems, and the 2nd player having the ability to control one of the subsystems.

smokemonster confirms he's not the author of the super nt jailbreak: https://twitter.com/SmokeMonsterTWI/status/963904459783966721

https://store.retrofixes.com/products/snes-oem-original-controller

@Raycommend I got a few hours in this morning! I can only say that it's not by me. I'm just the torch bearer :D

12:57 am

who could it be?!

3

It is almost certainly kevtris or someone directly related that he trusts to take up that duty

1:13 am

The jailbreak must be a signed validly and the idea that someone cracked it within a week and isn't boasting about it would be too much.

1:14 am

Question is why the opaqueness.

1:19 am

I lean that way as well but I recall Frank suggesting something other than litigation but I've forgotten now

I think it's less about litigation and more about PR and relationships with other publishers.

1:47 am

Keeping it truly 'unofficial' prevents every blog and YouTube review from praising this as a box that can play (almost) every SNES game ever via SD.

1:49 am

I personally think it keeps it positioned as a premium product that doesn't leverage emulation and not some new alternative to a Raspberry Pi.

Good point. Every single review said something along the lines of 'kevtris releases...'

1:55 am

In reference to JB

Not even Retron officially supports ROMs

4:46 am

and those guys are shady as fuck

4:48 am

Problem Reporting
The custom firmware is not coded by SmokeMonsterPacks or frederic-mahe, but please do report problems here at Github for support.

4:48 am

added a few hours ago

It's pretty obvious it's Kevin

6:35 am

The only way it isn't Kevin is if Kevin is feeding code to someone else

6:35 am

In which case it's still Kevin

@Frank Cifaldi follow the money

Kevin in the pocket of BIG EMULATION. Paying the anti-software lobbies in a secret war against byuu.

3:39 pm

It has been right in front of our eyes the whole time.

3:41 pm

I'm still going to stick with official for the time being if only because I'm still experimenting with various issues and don't want to introduce more possibilities.

3:41 pm

When the save stuff is fixed I'll probably drop it in and mess with it a bit

Because I already have an sd2snes I don’t feel the need for it either. Once it supports other cores I’ll be much more inclined.

anyone have any issues with the wireless controllers on the smokemonster firmware? i could barely keep them connected when playing with it last night

3:53 pm

this is also the first time i've tried it at my apt (was playing at my mom's house over the weekend) so maybe it's just the environment in general

3:53 pm

(still seems insane that the connection would be that sensitive tho)

Unless the JB is interfering with the power being supplied to the port I can't think of any way it would interfere with the bluetooth signal so I would also guess environment.

i have had some issues but i don't think it's firmware-related, just the signal seems kinda weak overall

yeah i probably have like a dozen bluetooth devices in my apartment but wow, i've never had issues with any of them like this

5:21 pm

glad i kept a original wired controller i guess

Doesn’t Bluetooth operate on the usually very crowded 2.4Ghz band?

Yes, and even though the range is rated at something ridiculously high I find unless you live in a tomb the range drop off is pretty severe.

Are there any good third party wired SNES controllers?

6:04 pm

Never had a problem with the iBuffalo USB pads, but curious if there's a respected brand of wired controllers. https://www.amazon.com/Buffalo-iBuffalo-Classic-Gamepad-BSGP815GY/dp/B06XWD8QQJ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518717843&sr=8-1&keywords=i-buffalo

SFC pads are cheap. Just make sure to get an extension cord...because they have bloody short cords by default

i have a dumb question.... the 8bitdo receiver that came with the sf30 pad has a micro-USB input on it... what is this for? i thought it would let you charge the controller, but the included cable doesn't have the right connectors for that. is it just for updating firmware on the receiver?

i think it's just for firmware updates

ok, thanks

6:56 pm

after looking at the super nt's picture some more, i'm less convinced of the problem with the color... what i'm getting on my TV looks very different (and better) from the captured images in that higan comparison

It would be nice if there was a wired option for the retro receiver, would probably need to switch to USB-C for it to fit the same footprint.

7:01 pm

Though I am unclear if the switch on consoles like the PS4 has made any appreciable difference

7:01 pm

Or if it is just the no wireless stuff in tournaments thing

I guess if you care enough for a wired solution you'll just get an original controller, but they will only get hard to find.

7:19 pm

Having the option would be nice, particularly for noisey setups

7:22 pm

Super Nintendo Original Controller Tested & Working

Original Controller. Please note, this item is pre-owned and in good condition. Each controller is tested before shipment. Please allow 2-3 days for shipment

7:22 pm

Waiting for one of these to arrive. Will share my thoughts once it gets here if anyone is curious

7:23 pm

I like that they have a "go ahead and send a beat up one, it is fine" option for cheaper (edited)

it's not just for firmware updates, it's also for some syncing stuff

7:24 pm

to sync it with a ps3 controller you have to have it and the controller both in a windows pc over usb and run a tool

ah

ah, yeah, good point. The syncing stuff gets pretty bananas going outside of their stuff.

Odd. I’m doing some of the test with the 240p test suite. And it’s almost like there are some gamma adjustment when you activate the lag test and then quit out of it. And I’m not sure if it’s my tv or not. I definitely never noticed it through the Framemeister

7:44 pm

Nope, it’s my tv doing brightness adjustments.

7:48 pm

Hitting sub 1 frame lag on the manual test a lot, though that is of course quit an inaccurate method (edited)

Yeah, if it is greater than 2-3 frames I would be extremely surprised.

7:56 pm

Because I don't feel that whatsoever doing side-by-side tests, but I could be getting ooooold.

My 4K tv also does not seem to doing be doing integer scaling of 720p. Doesn’t scroll great if I disable horizontal interpolation.

7:59 pm

Hmm. Vertical interpolation off does look good with nice for vertical scrolling

8:01 pm

Aaah

8:01 pm

Smh

8:01 pm

Nevermind, should never have disabled horizontal interpolation

8:04 pm

Horizontal scrolling with interpolation does look way better in 1080p than 720p.

I'd dig around and see if there is a way to improve the 720p scaling, one of the nicest things about 4k, unless it is using one of the weird resolutions

8:05 pm

But I am an int or nothing type

Take the walls in the castle at the start of alttp. Right where you get the stuff from your uncle.

8:06 pm

The bricks in the vertical walls. 1080p it’s smooth scrolling. 720p it’s messy scrolling

What w/h were you using for 720p?

4:3 for 16:9

ah yeah, try 1024x720

That scrolls nicely but way too overstretched horizontally for my liking

8:10 pm

Then again, I have not looked at a crt in years

It is probably slightly wider, yeah, but is max int for 720, let me double check what MLiG recommended for what they modeled

8:16 pm

Going to need interpolation for anything else regardless

It’s a bit wider than a crt after checking some off screen footage of alttp

8:17 pm

Horizontal interpolation yes

1365x1149, hm, let me try it

8:19 pm

1080p, obv

8:19 pm

(MLiG's recommend)

I read that the AVS might get an update with horizontal interpolation too.

8:22 pm

That looks pretty nice actually with this settings

8:23 pm

Yeah, it is about 5% thinner from max int 1080p, by my rough calc

8:26 pm

I would probably use this over using the crummy 720p -> 1080p scaler in my TV as I think the interpolation in SNT does a better job

8:27 pm

But if scanlines get fixed up I'd drop it immediately

Scanlines are not aligned perfectly with this

8:27 pm

720p is good. But there definitely some added sharpness with 1080p. Could be very tv dependent too.

8:28 pm

I dunno. 720p looks great on the AVS. With the Super Nt I see a noticeable difference between 720p and 1080p

max int on 1080p would be 1536x1200, though it crops a slight bit of the top/bottom.

8:29 pm

It is what I am going with for now, Until I rip it apart again tomorrow and hate it

8:29 pm

Can do 1280x960 as well

I've been using MLiG's recommendation at 1080p with interpolation on and I'm quite happy with it

1080 with H interpolation for no scanlines, 720 with scanlines

8:46 pm

Keep V at exact height (1080 or 720) and turn V interpolation off, set H at 4:3 and keep H interpolation active. Live with the extremely mild softening

Never

There ain't enough pixels in 1080p to do it right, SNES is basically a 4k system

(Interpolation is fine, quite good here even) (edited)

8:48 pm

I wonder if anyone out there is adamantly sticking to square pixels.

I guess people that are just only used to playing old emulators with 1:1 modes?

8:49 pm

I dunno...worse are those that feel the need to stretch it to completely fill a 16:9 screen

Oh, monsters. You are talking about living monsters. Yes. I've heard of them.

8:51 pm

Eat toenails and live under beds.

8:51 pm

Immediately set width to 1920

8:51 pm

All checks out.

I respect Nintendo for not even making that possible on the classic line

They'll just do it on their TV anyway

8:53 pm

The evil knows no bounds.

8:56 pm

Seeing a high res game was also pretty interesting if looking for stuff to experiment with, throw in RPM Racing

The blend mode for pseudo hi res looks nice too. With Dreamland 3 and Jurassic Park.

I have a JP cart on the way. I wanted at least one original I could check and compare against and Dreamland 3 prices....

9:08 pm

If I stumble across an Air Strike Patrol cart for cheap I'll nab it and I'm probably set to never buy an SNES cart again

JAP version is not expensive

Yeah, might go that route if I find a need for it. JP was $8 shipped FWIW

9:09 pm

oops wrong channel, moving

9:09 pm

well I'll keep it here too

I don’t think Dreamland 3 is a particularly great Kirby game though. You’re not missing out really.

for the longest time i just could not understand why they would follow up Kirby Super Star with Dreamland 3 of all things...on paper it just looks like such a downgrade

9:13 pm

but then i actually sat down and played it start to finish a few years back and i really liked it

Yeah, it is mostly to confirm things as 100% as possible. If I am going to sit down and play it for real I'd most likely just do it off JB or pick up a flashcart

Dreamland 3 feels a bit clumsy to me.

9:15 pm

Music isn’t particularly catchy

i'll have to play it again, it's been too long lol

We played a decent chunk of Goof Troop. Funny to see passwords for progress still holding strong.

9:17 pm

I wonder if Capcom was the longest hold out

Wow. Just started RPM. It’s just odd to see such a high res image on an snes

Yep, it really is

9:19 pm

I know some games flip to it for certain screens, but it is really pronounced there

I'm being swayed to the dark arts of interpolation

3:25 am

I'm seeing the light that is 256 * 8/7

I wonder how long it will be until Ben Heck makes a Portable SuperNt

He hasn’t been doing much console stuff lately

Didn’t he just finish one?

7:58 pm

Oh, that was a Pi, nevermind

7:59 pm

I’ve been tempted to turn my first gen full hardware BC PS3 into a laptop, but I’m concerned about injuring it since they’re not terribly common.

Uses USB power and has digital signal already, probably wouldn't be that bad considering some of the mad science projects he has done. (edited)

9:18 pm

Also installed the jailbreak and have been messing with the 240p test tool

9:18 pm

And... I might be converted to interpolation

It’s done really well

At 4k it will probably be entirely imperceptible unless you are right up on the screen.

9:24 pm

at 5x on 1080p I have to focus pretty hard to notice it

9:24 pm

From my couch

9:25 pm

Also got sub 1 frame average on 8bitdo using the lag test so it is fairly low if any lag is there

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/analogue-super-nt-hack-snes-mini

The Analogue Super NT Has Been Hacked Just Like the SNES Mini

Monkey see, monkey do.

12:37 am

What a lame article.

12:38 am

Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy US Gamer.

12:39 am

Probably another reason why keeping the jb as loosely and distantly affiliated with Kevtris and Analogue as possible is a solid PR move for them.

It's unclear if games booted through a SD card due to this firmware hack will also upscale the games into HD.

2

12:46 am

That sounds exactly like someone who is writing an article based on reading a few things here or there.

12:47 am

And yes, attributing it to the vague "hackers" is probably much more preferable, I can see it.

12:48 am

I'm actually really baffled by that sentence. I've read it a few times.

12:51 am

We should note that this is a hack, and not very legal so you risk looking into this subject deeper at your own risk.

12:52 am

HAHAHA

12:53 am

Yeah i have a migraine due to that now... thanks

It is late on a Friday, I guess, I'll give a pass as this was probably slapped out with barely a look.

Going to the local game meetup tonight. See what random crap I can talk myself into buying.

12:58 am

Think i'll take the Super NT since it's easy to haul around

Wow this article

1:03 am

This is obviously an inexperienced writer but, damn

1:05 am

I know it's a niche subject but you don't outright attribute this to hackers without being able to back that up

I have been trying to think of what a good attribution would be if they want to keep it vague.

1:16 am

Codesmith

1:17 am

"The Keebler Elves that makes..."

Oh you never will believe where that cool ROM loader comes from

1:31 am

jailbreak is going well

1:31 am

(dimmed because I had to pause. Colors aren't that bad.)

Introduced Sonic to my niece. First she has seen it. "This is like really weird Mario"

5:23 am

Your millennial update.

5:24 am

(post-millennial? Have they been assigned a name yet...)

the last generation

Gen T, T for Terminal

Super NT was a hit last night, think I should get commissions for the future sales

2:41 pm

Also talked about the Mini NT, and more than one person was like "I want that just to downsize."

2:42 pm

I feel like that's a major selling point that maybe isn't said a lot (at least outside of this chat)

Super NT cartridge cleaning time..

3:21 pm

Good game choice

Played a bunch with the GF tonight

4:09 pm

Jailbreak really is a game changer

4:09 pm

even found a bug I think

I made a slow motion recording with my iPhone with the led set to centre pixel, and recorded it with a flickering screen (Starfox 2 repro seems to be a bit on in the fritz so it keeps blanking between a black and purplish a screen). I should be able to precisely assess the amount of lag my screen generates right?

4:35 pm

Video: https://densy.stackstorage.com/s/OuwARep0Eh5tJLE

You have to clean pretty thoroughly it seems. Super Nt definitely more picky than a regular snes/sfc

This game still has a great rocky soundtrack, even though the game itself is so simple.

6:55 pm

Yeah I love the final boss battle music

6:58 pm

If it hadn't been labeled Final Fantasy I think it would be more fondly remembered.

Over here it wasn’t labeled as final fantasy

Ahhh just noticed that

7:19 pm

Square and their whacky naming schemes

Square hasn't ever made any mistakes as a company...ever

I kinda regret spending half a day on this but ah well it's done! https://archive.org/details/AkumajouDensetsuManual

Akumajou Densetsu (Castlevania 3) Manual, Box, Cart Scans : Konami : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive

600dpi scans of Akumajou Densetsu (Castlevania 3) Manual Box and Cart Scans for the Nintendo Famicom

1

8:50 pm

man that's fun

8:51 pm

I should figure out how comic book people do this

Hahaha looking sharp!

9:32 pm

different approach

Edges are smoother

at the expense of some line detail

1:23 am

why does turning on scanlines give me these weird outlines where the scanlines don't draw?

1:24 am

with scanlines off that's just a solid grey background

I don't know but I'm convinced he does a gamma boost with both scanlines even if you have gamma off

1:26 am

Is it the same for regular and hybrid?

yeah, they both do that

1:27 am

only on 720p though, it seems?

1:27 am

could it be something with my TV upscaling?

Any good places to buy retro receivers other than Amazon? 24.99 a piece from 3rd party sellers. Too steep.

4:03 am

$15-20 on eBay and aliexpress, but I'm kind of worried about quality. Maybe.

It'll likely be the exact same thing

4:13 am

except it'll take up to a month to arrive

4:16 am

I don't mind the wait.

My raphnet cables for Snes classic (Wii plug) to snes arrived but have family in town so probably won't have a chance to test them much until next week.

4:32 am

If you have snes classic controllers lying around though should be another decent alternative

30 second assessment: Plug is a little tight in the Super NT, otherwise works perfectly.

Do they add a decent bit of length?

1.5 meters

5:21 am

Not bad

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-02-09-the-retro-gaming-industry-could-be-killing-video-game-preservation

The retro gaming industry could be killing video game preservation

There's arguably never been a better time to play older games. Companies like Nintendo and Sega are reconnecting players with their heritage via products su…

4:19 pm

Super long, didn't get through it all yet.

4:20 pm

Better than the US Gamer article I shared the other night. ;)

oooof, didn't even realize this conversation is happening in #general ^^

nbd, probably better suited over here. To piggyback what I said there..

5:40 pm

The writing around this stuff isn't too shocking to me, someone like Analogue can probably be considered fairly successful and still we are talking in the range of thousands of units.

5:41 pm

It'll improve as it grows..... Probably???

Samurai Shodown crashes on the Super nt?

6:43 pm

Hmmm

6:43 pm

And now it doesnt

Man that article is long

6:48 pm

I'm glad it was written though

Bug in Saturday Night slam Master on the Super nt

6:54 pm

7:00 pm

On original console:

7:00 pm

Is it the crowd sprites? (edited)

7:12 pm

Are they not randomized?

The top line of pixels is missing from the “0” and “start” text

aha

7:13 pm

And no cropping enabled, I assume

Yop

7:13 pm

Tried with interpolation as well

7:13 pm

No difference

7:14 pm

On original hardware the top line flickers a bit but is always visible

7:15 pm

Changing buffer mode doesn’t change anything either

7:15 pm

Or resolution

7:16 pm

Disabling pseudo hi res doesn’t change it either

I wonder if it technically falls in the "Danger Zone"

7:20 pm

It shouldn’t

7:20 pm

Game does not fill the screen fully vertically

I'd assume Capcom would have that all down, yeah

7:21 pm

Is it PAL?

NTSC

7:23 pm

Another one in the Shadow

7:23 pm

nice

Sprite isn’t always that way but sometimes hits that state

7:25 pm

Okay. Reproduced it to make it sure it wasn’t something on my end

7:25 pm

It happens after the first batch of enemies

7:26 pm

I think they identified the issue with the colors too

7:27 pm

coincidentally I accidentally identified it too

7:27 pm

the device should identify itself as "computer" instead of "video," which I guess is part of the HDMI standard

7:27 pm

if it does that, displays will automatically give it the correct RGB space

7:28 pm

I didn't know any of this, but I set my display to "computer" and got perfect colors

Huh

so I guess I forced it to interpret the Super NT correctly

Actually it’s not a bug

7:28 pm

It happens on original hardware too

isn't the shadow unreleased?

I dunno. I’m just going through games from top to bottom on my sd2snes to see what shows up with short 5 minutes plays

pretty sure that's a prototype dump

7:30 pm

which could explain it

7:30 pm

On original hardware:

7:31 pm

Hmm

7:31 pm

So if I force my tv to recognize the super nt as a computer it should fix it?

7:32 pm

Doesn’t that increase lag though?

7:32 pm

Won’t be in game mode then

I saw someone had a different issue with that solution, but not clear if it is something on their TV. They've confirmed all the ambient light sensors sort of features are disabled.

7:34 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xaj9XN1afuo

85herooftheday

Super NT and PC Mode on Samsung KS8000

7:34 pm

(It will get progressively dim over time)

I have that model tv

I can't imagine the Super NT doing that natively

7:38 pm

also: I have my TV set to Picture Mode: Game and Color Temperature: Computer

7:39 pm

dunno what the equivalent would be on any other set, but that's what works on whatever Vizio I inherited by getting married to its owner

The dimming behavior does not happen on my KS8000 in pc mode

So I can detect a slight change in color in pc mode?

7:49 pm

Still had to adjust blackness level setting when I put it in pc mode

7:49 pm

Auto does not set it correctly imo

oh, I don't do auto anything so idk

Auto sets blackness level to “low”

yeah no

Normal is what looks normal to me

you should have true blacks

7:50 pm

I set all auto everything off on my tv

7:50 pm

and max out the backlight

Already have

7:52 pm

I find it really hard to tell, but overall I get the impression that the image is slightly more saturated in pc mode.

yeah, because your blacks are black and your whites are white

7:53 pm

which makes the colors pop more

Yeah I just did another test and I see the difference more clearly now

7:54 pm

Valley of Bowser 2

7:55 pm

The yellowish moving part of the level

7:55 pm

Very clear difference between game mode and pc mode

anyway kevin is making it report to the tv as "computer" in the next FW update, so it might give you the right color space in game mode

Yeah. I honestly don’t think there is much lag difference between pc and game mode, but that would be nice

7:57 pm

Let’s see if this fixes how Kakara looks in SoM

7:58 pm

Oh yes

7:58 pm

Big difference

yup. problem solved.

That’s the one that really made me think something was wrong with the color

might be crushing blacks somewhere but I'm fine with it for now

7:59 pm

can probably fix that with brightness

I should probably pay attention to all this stuff for when I eventually get a fancy new TV

It’s just always mess to make it look right.

My primary display for SNT is a Sony TV from 2005

yeah my model is maybe 5-6 years old too

8:01 pm

well I mean it's not comparable but

8:01 pm

point is I don't think TVs have evolved all that much

Mine is from 2016. By default it’s horrible. Low lag though, and the best I could seemingly get without splurging on OLED

my display before this was a Sony DLP from 2006 so I relate

Ooh you will notice a remarkable difference I think

8:02 pm

At least I did

8:02 pm

Before I had a philips from around 2006 I think

I've got it chilling in the background while I work on my laptop, any recommended attract mode games to keep looping? got super metroid right now

Someone needs to make a compilation rom that is nothing but like 200 attract screens that cycle

8:05 pm

I know there are youtube videos, but need it to run on hardware

Super Metroid is great because it has to many different areas in the attract mode. Can’t really think of one that is similar

yeah I might just keep it going

8:05 pm

the music isn't jarring or distracting either

SFII attract is a classic, but I'd assume you've heard that one a million times

Still hitting around 1 frame of lag in manual lag test in pc mode

I don't even know what "pc mode" is but intuitively I'd think it's zero latency so that using a mouse feels okay

Well, it definitely limits the options you can change. At least on my tv

8:08 pm

From what I gathered it differed from tv to tv what it actually entails and what it does with processing.

My copy of Jurassic Park arrived. Toggling the high-res transparency on and off, particularly with those big dialog overlays, it is pretty intense how big the difference is

8:11 pm

Not that the interlace was meant to be a good solution, granted

You can definitely see a shift in the blended parts too

8:12 pm

Shift in pixel position

To be honest even on a CRT I could see in between the pixels

Shifts to the left

I own that game

https://twitter.com/AndrewElmore/status/965104387411533824

Andrew Elmore (@AndrewElmore)

I'm running the Super NT into a Denon AVR-S930H via HDMI, which detected and decoded the Dolby Surround from Fatal Fury Special. I can't even describe how weird and cool it is to hear SNES games in actual surround. It's bananas. Highly recommended.

8:13 pm

oh yeah, need to try this too

The audio is still the most impressive thing

Jurassic Park supports Surround

Yeah

8:14 pm

Other reason I got it

it even supports the mouse

hah, I still have my mario paint mouse...... some...where...

I have never finished it

You have to plug the mouse on port 2

noted

You play the game like mouse and joypad

8:14 pm

in FPS sections

8:15 pm

It's kinda odd

Did Doom support the mouse?

Probably

Ooh, definitely can notice the surround setting in JP

8:15 pm

Just turned it on

man that blending in JP is great

Doom does support the mouse

It really is

8:16 pm

I almost want to pick up Doom just to try it, hah

8:17 pm

Wasn't there a laser mouse released recently?

Hyperkin did yeah

okay. JP’s music is super nice in surround

Huh, Tales of Phantasia crashes in the sound menu when you change the output option

8:30 pm

It does sound really interesting in surround though

8:32 pm

Very clear separation into different channels

8:35 pm

Crash only happens on the translated rom

8:35 pm

Oooh wait

8:35 pm

No it happens on the original rom too

8:39 pm

Try Seiken Densetsu 3 with wide stereo settings too.

Well scratch tales of phantasia from the bug list because it crashes on original hardware as well

8:48 pm

Now I wonder whether it’s actually an sd2snes bug.

8:49 pm

Who wants to check what happens on jailbroken firmware?

Everdrive pack just finished so I can, give me a few

9:07 pm

What specifically do you need to do to produce it?

Load tales of phantasia

9:07 pm

On the start screen go to the sound menu

9:07 pm

Switch sound mode to surround

9:08 pm

Wait and see it it crashes. Move the cursor from options vertically

9:08 pm

Original or translated doesn’t really matter: it happens on both

9:09 pm

On sd2snes it crashes both on Super nt and original hardware

wow, this is an intense sound menu

Deep options

A minute into THE DREAM WILL NEVER DIE

9:13 pm

On surround

9:13 pm

So far

No crash huh

This isn't MSU, is it?

9:14 pm

How am I getting vocals

9:14 pm

What is happening

9:14 pm

What is this video game

Happens after a few seconds in sd2snes

9:14 pm

It’s a nice action rpg

wow that cursor moves really fast

What happens if you go down the menu options vertically

9:16 pm

The intro song is quite distinctive yeah

switching sound mode to surround didn't crash for me either (japanese rom from the smokemonster pack on jailbroken firmware)

Went up and down the menu from Play Button to Pitch a few times

Okay

9:22 pm

So it’s an sd2snes bug

I don't really know much about MSU1, is there anything that would prevent it from being done in the jailbreak?

9:25 pm

Kind of the last thing I am curious about with getting an SD2SNES

I wouldn’t know

MSU1 is all streaming from storage

9:26 pm

So therefore any storage management going on is done under the hood

9:26 pm

The SNES does not deal with that

9:27 pm

SNES just askes for 32-bit byte address for generic data

9:27 pm

or an audio track

9:27 pm

MSU1 will be busy for a bit buffering everything

9:28 pm

and then you can either load a byte (which then goes to the next one)

9:28 pm

or you can just play the audio track

9:28 pm

it's stupidly simple

9:28 pm

and if a sd2snes can do this

So definitely something jailbreak can do

I don't think it's impossible either on jailbreak firmware

I'll hold off then

it just needs a MSU1 core

9:29 pm

which does the SD card management under the hood and should be good

Tales of Phantasia is not msu-1 though.

9:29 pm

Curious why it crashes on the sound menu on sd2sneS

oh

I would like to be able to flip between original hardware and SNT, so an sd2snes would be good for that, but I haven't found a strong enough case to drop $200

Tales of Phantasia's song with lyrics or something?

ah, yeah, sorry, didn't mean to confuse. I was just thinking about it

That song? (edited)

No, it crashes in the sound menu

9:30 pm

When you change sound output

9:30 pm

On Super nt and original hardware

Might wanna tell that to ikari

9:31 pm

because that's like super important

The game itself runs fine, it even remembers that it’s in surround mode after it crashes and you reset.

Maybe the lyrics are just cleverly used voice samples? But this video game is singing at me, I can say that much.

What the best place to post this bug?

Try this? https://github.com/mrehkopf/sd2snes/issues

mrehkopf/sd2snes

sd2snes - SD card based multi-purpose cartridge for the SNES

9:33 pm

I could also bring this up to ikari myself

9:33 pm

but just to keep track of that

9:33 pm

Suggesting putting it as issue

Will do

just told ikari about it

9:35 pm

dunno if he's on though

I've added the issue

9:46 pm

It actually just crashes no matter what you do after a few seconds.

9:48 pm

I reported the other issue with saturday night slam masters on twitter..dunno if thats the best place to alert them to it.

9:48 pm

It's a tiny issue, but a bug nonetheless

Disable in-game hooks to fix the issue

12:06 am

@Wietse van Bruggen

Will try

What would "in-game hooks" be referring to?

3:27 pm

or rather what would disabling them do as far as the sd2snes is concerned

3:27 pm

(More a curiosity, no worries if it isn't simple to explain)

sd2snes has some button combinations you can use in game for certain functions. Pressing L+R+select+x at the same time for example resets the sd2snes back to its menu. (edited)

ah, that makes sense

3:30 pm

I believe kevtris mentioned a similar implementation for how the SNT system menu can be called up while a game is running, I wonder what is different between the two

3:30 pm

I suppose doing it at the system level rather than cart is pretty big

well, you can't load the menu on top of running a game with sd2snes unlike the Super Nt. You go out of the game if you use the combination to go to the menu. Though enabling/disabling cheats does work while keeping the game running. (edited)

i just noticed an odd bug in super mario all-stars... i would guess it happens on original hardware too, but can anybody confirm? it's in smb3's world 8 map, when you go across the bridge and get grabbed by a hand, the jingle for selecting a level from the map plays twice

Vanilla all-stars or all-stars + world?

vanilla

Yep heard it on SNT, will try original hw

Does it on original

4:28 pm

Just to be clear we are talking about this sound, correct?

4:28 pm

https://youtu.be/7i9omPUt9iQ?t=412 (edited)

World of Longplays

NES Longplay [052] Super Mario Bros. 3

4:31 pm

hm, if you skip to about 2:06:45 in that video it doesn't do it here, but player is messing with power ups so not sure if that is overriding. (edited)

4:32 pm

But it played twice on original as small mario

yes, that sound

4:39 pm

ah, it does it in this video around 2:26:54: https://youtu.be/R_KycP25oP8?t=2h26m51s

World of Longplays

SNES Longplay [033] Super Mario All-Stars - Super Mario Bros. 3

Yep, that is the exact delay of it as well.

i guess it's an all-stars bug, not a super nt bug or mario 3 bug

Sound - 1-2 seconds - Repeats

4:41 pm

It probably repeats immediately just the tail end of the audio descending pretty low giving it a bit of a delayed feel, but anyway, yeah, that is exactly what I got

cool, thanks for checking

Disabling in-game hook does indeed fix the problem with tales of phantasia

Libretro Update... lot of cool new features - https://www.libretro.com/index.php/retroarch-1-7-1-released/

12:43 am

Really curious about the OG Xbox update. Might tinker with that later on in the week. If it has recent cores on it that makes the OG Xbox even more useful.

12:44 am

Could potentially make it much easier to play emulators via component. And likely more oomph than the Raspberry Pi 3.

Fired up NES on it last night and it worked just like you'd expect it to. I didn't dig too deeply though and it looks like no shader support yet but i bet it's coming.

1:06 pm

ugh just looked at the weather and we needed rain badly but it looks like it's going to turn to freezing rain and sleet by tonight. I hate driving on that shit.

1:07 pm

lol it just started hailing... wtf

I was in Austin a few years ago and was amazed that people went apeshit over a tiny bit of hail/wet snow that fell on one day

Yeah us okies are not good at driving in it, not used to it at all.

1:09 pm

Plus we aren't great about clearing the roads

1:10 pm

I got in a wreck in a huge pileup in a blizzard about 10 years ago and it's always kinda freaked me out since then.

Yeah, i can understand that. And I guess a place in Texas would not be as prepared for something like this.

Yeah Austin is pretty far south.

1:12 pm

FUN town though.

Yes. Been a few times. One of the few us cities that I’ve visited that I could see myself living in.

I can't believe how much it's blown up.

Yeah. It’s been interesting seeing it grow over the years. Still doesn’t feel too big though.

I wonder if home prices have gone insane there yet.

1:15 pm

Do you live in a pretty good sized city?

No. Town of about 30.000 people. Cities are not far away. Though I guess nothing is really far in such a small country

Kinda nice!

Austin prices are insane

2:33 pm

even the old red lined neighborhoods have begun to get gentrified to the point of starting to decline again

Areas of OKC are like that. Parts of it that were slums 15 years ago are the new hip spots.

3:16 pm

Recently was talking toa guy that bought a lot for $8000 around then and just sold it for $500k. NUTS

my n-gage is supposed to (finally) arrive today

4:43 pm

i've had my copy of tony hawk sitting on my desk taunting me for a month

Do these OG Xbox emulators do 240p yet? Last I looked (like, 13 years ago) they were doing 480i

Hmmm good question. I'll have to check it out and see.

5:02 pm

@Steve Lin Was it you that was looking for one of these? Or did you find one? https://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/vgm/d/fire-escape-by-mech-tronic/6500678603.html

@Hubz the OG Xbox doesn’t really have shaders, so I doubt it will get support

5:50 pm

There’s some limited programmability in the gpu, but it’s not even on par with shader model 1

@Hubz Thanks! I found one a few weeks ago and put it in the office.

https://twitter.com/stevenplin/status/965298833155538945

Steve Lin (@stevenplin)

Another perk of working @discordapp? Playing a super rare arcade game whenever you want. Fire Escape in the house! https://t.co/w4xudAGFsv

Likes

132

Xbox hardware doesnt output 240p

6:03 pm

There were thoughts that it could be added since the source code is in some hands, but there wasn't progress last I heard.

6:04 pm

There was some emulator that supposedly supports 240p (ZSNES), but Im not sure about the details.

6:05 pm

"And yes when using the HD pack it does default to "480P" only I hookered the 480P so its rez is actually 224P. 480P back buffer, 224P paint over. And sadly after some testing by some guys over at Eletorlado weve come to the conclusion that this only works on HD TVs, it comes out crappy on CRT Evil or Very Mad On a CRT it remains interlaced where as on an HD TV it gets displayed progressive (TV upscaling)" So doesnt seem like real 240p?

Curious: What is the benefit of using an xbox nowadays? Isn’t a Pi way past the specs already of an original Xbox? I understand the appeal of a simpler plug and play solution tbough, if that’s what Xbox can bring to the table.

Yeah, pretty sure a PI3 is much faster than the 733Mhz Pentium3 based celeron that’s in the xbox

6:24 pm

Not sure what the point is really, it’s fairly slow, has a primitive gpu, it’s big, power hungry, and doesn’t have digital HD support

It can also play Xbox games, so I guess if you wanted one that could do all that, it would be it

7:28 pm

But yeah, I dont get why you would want it for emulation or media only use

I just still see a lot of people using it for that purpose.

@Steve Lin Ah nice congrats! I just remembered some tweet about you either looking or finding one since it was something you played as your childhood, and it rang a bell when I saw that today.

7:40 pm

It's very easy to setup and just fire up and play I think is a big reason.

7:41 pm

Didn't realize that on 240p though, that's disappointing

7:42 pm

But after trying various ways to do C64 emulation I settled for the OG Xbox. It was easiest and I could make it look nice with scanlines. Which I couldn't do with even PC Emulations

7:42 pm

*emulators

7:43 pm

Tried it with Pi 3 and it was buggy. Though that may have improved

Should try it some time. I haven't touched my original xbox in yeeeeaaars

Wii can output 240p right?

7:45 pm

Major advantage for it, but not sure it emulates as well.

I believe it can

7:46 pm

No idea. I only use it for GameCube games really.

Same, i dabbled in it when it all started but wasn't impressed compared to the Xbox at the time.

Nintendont is just really handy to force widescreen/progressive ouput

7:48 pm

And not having to deal with physical memory cards

Or a GC Component Cable

Absolutely.

7:48 pm

Wii component looks fine to me.

Same here

And I just find Nintendont much quicker and easier to deal with than Swiss

Yeah Nintendont was such a life saver when it came out

I still need to pick up another Wii. Mine is a launch model and it has the "black dots" problem because the GPU has overheating issues.

I'm not familiar with the black dots problem. Is it only launch models?

I'm not totally sure but I think so, something that is fixed with later revisions and firmware updates.

So... duh. You can use RetroArch on Wii. 240p output

8:11 pm

Sadly that just clicked in my head

Wow, nice thread on just that - https://forums.libretro.com/t/recommendations-for-optimal-video-settings/1097/9

Recommendations for optimal video settings

Which methods do you use to figure out overscan? I have one of those hybrid 4:3 CRT EDTV's with a flat screen and component input. Just wondering how many pixels I'm losing to overscan so I can do some calculations u suggested.

oh man, someone else with the black dots problem

dun dun duuuuuunnn

i had that soon after getting my wii but i just sent it to nintendo to fix it

I'm not sure this is covered under warranty any more

9:25 pm

got it in 2006

yeah, iirc, when i sent mine in, they said they couldn't replicate the problem but just replaced it with a new one

It's really apparent in GC paper mario with some of the bosses.

9:30 pm

Or battles with lots of characters on display.

9:30 pm

I guess its also more obvious on a modern display. I still had a crt at that time.

the future is now...or maybe in another 45 minutes https://twitter.com/donkeyspaceman/status/966146602166640640

eric 'slow moe crow' neuhaus (@donkeyspaceman)

finally got my N-Gage today it’s been formatting this 1GB memory card for about an hour and a half now

at one point in my life i was very strongly considering buying an ngage for its unique elder scrolls games

3:17 am

I'm past that point now

i think you're a bigger person for it

Tony Hawk on N-Gage was pretty good

5:52 am

SSX wasn't bad either

Good ol' Symbian

I'm not n-gaged for it (edited)

"N-gage" - bald space captain

2

i played tony hawk a bit last night and it was good

3:26 pm

my memory card, even after formatting, comes up corrupted tho. works fine on my computer :/

Wow. We have a picard reaction

10:17 pm

If you sign up for Discord's fancy schmancy accounts you can use emoji from any server. I've been trying it out, dunno if I'll stick with it.

10:19 pm

10:19 pm

ok, I'm done spamming.

thanks for posting all the good ones so we can just add them to this server

Well then we are missing the most vital of them all

10:22 pm

10:23 pm

I like our assortment, though we still need a sanic

and gex

10:25 pm

10:25 pm

Too clean for the likes of mario

10:39 pm

eh, could do for some more clean up

10:39 pm

But yobby is a good soul

"terror-instinct" (edited)

I finally got a game to crash during a resolution change on the Super nt.

mazel tov

11:01 pm

Which game?

Super Castlevania 4

I'm so proud of you

The mythical resolution crash confirmed. Finally we can rest in peace

cart, flashcart, or jailbreak?

Flashcart

I'd be real curious to find out the source of the crash, I would think it is all in the frame buffer so I don't even see how the game would be any the wiser, but obviously something happens.

11:10 pm

Did it lock up to a black screen, or what?

The Super Nt does not crash

11:10 pm

It’s the game

11:10 pm

Black screen

11:10 pm

Could reset with the controller

Still get music or sound of any kind?

I don’t recall. Not really listening to the music (edited)

11:11 pm

Which might be odd because castlevania 4

i really can’t believe how many different boot up things the super nt has

11:19 pm

i feel like i see a new one almost every time

It’s random

I hope the have a bunch more and they drop a new one with each firmware, just to add to the randomness.

11:20 pm

I definitely still catch new ones here or there and I've booted the stupid thing so many times.

yeah, i wonder if they’ve added some

I disabled it fairly quickly

I probably will in the long run, but not sick of it yet

i don’t always turn my tv on before the system so i don’t mind the bit of buffer time

11:22 pm

(and it’s cool when i do watch it)

11:22 pm

i’ve also been playing super mario rpg a few hours at a time so it’s not like i’m seeing it more than once or twice a day

There should be like a 1:1000000 chance of a sega styled one to show up

I keep it on but boot straight to sd2snes

yeah, i boot straight to cart after

I kinda want to make a custom sd2snes menu that just looks like the super nt

11:23 pm

okay I've satisfied whatever that was by just saying it out loud

haha

You need a bubsy theme

i’d like that too, hope someone makes it (haven’t seen any good themes otherwise)

11:25 pm

tbh i did pop a bubsy image into the theme maker web tool

11:25 pm

didn’t get past that point tho

Bubsy has that effect as a motivational force

Got my Ultra HDMI in today! Kinda nervous about doing it myself but going to give it a shot.

I heard it was very tough to get with slow production?

9:01 am

New super nt firmware is out, should fix colors without having to force pc mode on your tv (edited)

Seems to be fine now. Sets the tv in the right mode. Make sure blackness levels are set at “auto” so it uses the setting sent by the super nt if you use a Samsung display.

The issue I found with Saturday night slam masters is fixed too. (edited)

Yeah it took about 6 months to arrive. Nice! Is the jailbroken firmware updated?

Not that I know of

@Hubz let us know how that installation goes!

4:45 pm

I can't justify the cost when you add in pro installation.

How much is it?

When it's in stock I've seen it $200-350. Big range.

Yikes

the super nt colors on the new firmware with limited range turned off are the same as i was getting before, but turning it on makes it look horrible. so i guess my tv was just dealing with it correctly before

I guess so! I could only get it to display correctly in pc mode before this.

it also seems to have fixed the weird "halo" effect i was getting with the scanlines in 720p

Hmm. Can’t say I’ve noticed something that would make me thing of a halo

it was this. the scanlines would disappear near a high-contrast edge or something. i think it was my TV's upscaling causing the problem, but the new firmware seems to have stopped it from doing that

Odd. Yeah, the notes suggest some added flags set to disable as much tv processing as possible.

8:25 pm

I would love to do an accurate lag test, but I'm consistently below 1 frame on the manual lag test..

finally getting around to the snes version of my usual flash cart routine: unzipping the Good* set and manually deleting all the garbage ROMs through file name searching

literally over 13GB of super mario world hacks

ugh, I hate that

2:48 am

Zelda's a horrible offender too

now what are you going to do when your mother comes over, and asks about the complete history of racist mario hacks?

Well worked most the day on the Ultra HDMI Mod. I got it installed and working and it is showing no wiring issues but the picture does not seem much better and arguably worse than RGB, especially Star Fox. I'm sure something is wrong but not sure what. Wondering if it could be my HDMI cable but I don't have a spare Micro HDMI to test with.

3:15 am

Not an easy mod for sure, if I had to do it again I'd probably have sent it to someone to install.

3:16 am

Soooo easy to have bridges or shorts. Took multiple retries before I got no errors.

Ahhhh got it figured out! The gamma boost by default is set high for some reason. Makes games like Starfox look terribly and noisy. Turned that off and turned on scanlines and it's much better.

3:30 am

Overscan needed to be adjusted too. Could see black dots along the edges of Mario 64.

3:30 am

I'll play with it more tomorrow and compare it with RGB, wish I had Voultar's Mod to compare.

I picked up an Everdrive 64 last Black Friday. Been dreaming about modding my console ever since.

I'll be able to give a better opinion tomorrow but yeah currently... for the price and ease of install not to mention just getting ahold of one. I'd go RGB.

Sounds good.

Played around some more with it today. I think if you play without scanlines the deblur is far more noticeable and beneficial, but with scanlines it's hard for me to notice honestly. I just may not have great eyes for it though.

3:59 pm

I prefer scanlines personally so it's not a vast improvement over RGB to me.

I do a lot of video capture with a HDMI only capture device, so I'm partially interested for that.

Still a very cool piece of kit, but with RGB being a much more affordable and simpler solution it makes it a harder sale.

Just for ease of connecting everything.

Ahhhhh that would be handy for you then.

Have you tried the double combo deblur whammy yet? Hardware deblur of the ultrahdmi and AA-disable patches through a flashcart?

No not yet, I'll look into that! Didn't realize that was a thing

The AA disable patches are pretty neat. Certainly an improvement with a lot of games if you connect through s-video with Framemeister like I do.

I need to rgb mod my 64 so I can feed it to the OSSC

6:51 pm

Still need to get a scart switch too

Here's my highly unscientific comparison between super nt on the latest firmware and super famicom 2chip through framemeister

7:18 pm

Colors seem to be really spot on now

so, the lives counter should be actual white

7:19 pm

you've got a blue hue going

I blame my iphone's camera

oh okay, I thought it was capture

doesn't have a blue hue in RL

7:19 pm

no

7:21 pm

the background on the super famicom seems to be liiiiitle bit brighter but this could very well be due to my personal settings on the framemeister.

7:21 pm

yeah framemeister is not a way to test colors

7:21 pm

it does color space conversion, adds noise, etc.

7:22 pm

it's one of the main advantages of ossc, it just passes the colors through

The noise is especially really noticeable after having used the super nt

7:23 pm

anyway, I would conclude that the super nt is basically accurate now with colors.

@Shinohara RGB mod is pretty painless, especially with Voultar's Mod.

doesn't the rgb mod also include the same deblur function now that the ultrahdmi is doing?

Sounds like the chip he uses has the ability to disabling some of the softening. Not sure if that is the same thing as the deblurring? Could be!

I'm surprised UltraHDMI seems to be the only option on the market - anything else like it?

http://etim.net.au/n64rgb/

8:52 pm

"Boards sold after 27/12/2016 now come with software v1.1 which includes an optional 'de-blur' feature. This gives the video a pleasing sharp pixel look. The feature is disabled by default but can be enabled by connecting the the pad labelled A to the pad labelled G (for ground). If you use it I recommend a connecting a switch as few games don't look good while de-blur is enabled. This feature comes courtesy of Borti4938, who has written alternate software for the N64RGB."

Forgot about his board, nice!

8:55 pm

That's the way to go then for sure, you get most of the benefits of Ultra HDMI with a much easier install and much better availability (If you already have an RGB Setup)

its about 35 dollar, 28 euro. Has to be shipped from australia, but still very affordable. Does require a rgb setup yeah.

I've got a spare N64 I might try that on just to see, then maybe sell the HDMI N64.

http://www.oldskoolconsoles.com/product-page/rgb-modded-n64-grey-ntsc-t-w-n64rgb-with-deblur

oldskoolconsoles | HD NES RGB NES

HD NES Console For Sale | RGB NES Console For Sale | HD NES Upgrade Service | RGB NES Upgrade Service

9:00 pm

hmm..this seems fairly nicely priced..

Edit for @Hubz: "...then maybe sell the HDMI N64 to @Tom."

Because FPGA on later consoles would be challenging and time-consuming, I wonder if Analogue would ever move in the direction of creating a more affordable and easier to obtain Framemeister as a half step while R&D is happening.

Speaking of which, if anyone is in the market for a pristine Everdrive 64, hit me up. The thing works great, but I'm actually looking to upgrade to the latest v3 revision, with the USB port for development/debugging. (edited)

I think NT, Super NT, DAC, Framemeister alternative would be a very nice product line for them.

@Tom Hahaha maybe!

half kidding.

@Wietse van Bruggen Yeah that doesn't seem like a bad price

@Breaky Boy i may be interested

is the usb port the only thing your version is lacking? i could likely live without it

also: i have an OSSC 1.6 i'm looking to unload if anyone's in the market for that

well the v3 has a few other features: http://krikzz.com/pub/support/var/comparison/everdrive-64-v3-vs-everdrive-64-v2.5.png

10:46 pm

if you're ok with holding reset before powering off to ensure your saves work, and are ok with not having an RTC for a few games that require it, then it should be fine for everything you need (edited)

10:46 pm

I haven't used it in a while, so I'll double check everything with my N64/everdrive and let you know

1

I have 2.5 and the saving has never been an issue.

in my experience, the only official/retail game I had trouble with was Pokemon Stadium 2, which does require the v3 cart as far as I know.

10:48 pm

oh and Animal Forest (Crossing)

Which is just the GameCube game but in Japanese more or less

right

@izzy (she/her) Does that version of the OSSC have HDMI?

2:04 am

I've got one of the last DVI models

@Shinohara yep, it has hdmi

Hmm

3:59 am

I'll get back to you

1

@SoH any more feedback on the raphnet cables you picked up a few weeks ago? I'm thinking about getting a pair. My 8bitdo receiver order was Aliexpress was just super delayed.

So I emailed the NeoSD guys about putting my SSDS3 preorder on hold, whilst I move country and can update my address at a later date

12:59 am

No reply after 1 week, so I email saying if I don't hear back I might be forced to do a chargeback

12:59 am

Guy flies off the handle

Hahaha yeah... that's been a messy deal.

1:01 am

That Neo Geo Forum is ruthless.

1:02 am

Especially that Rot guy... jesus.

1:04 am

But i'm looking forward to getting it with proper RGB output, even if it's taking awhile.

Yeah as soon as I understood that I wasn't going to get a faulty one I stopped reading anything

Hahaha same though I did check back last week just to see the status of things and nothing really new it looks like.

He ended up cancelling my order and refunding me (edited)

1:19 am

out of some sort of spite

1:19 am

I guess it works out, because that $300 will come in handy for my move across the world

He's not the type to take any sort of criticism well apparently.

Hi,

I just found out I'm going to be moving country in about 1 month. Would it be possible to put my shipping on hold, until I can provide you with an updated shipping address?

I will be moving from Japan to the UK.

Kind regards

5:16 am

Hi,

Can I get an update on this, as I will be forced to file a chargeback if I do not hear back.

Regards

5:17 am

Chris,


You send an email telling you are going to move to a different country but without giving any acurate information, what kind of answer were you expecting with such email ?

Now you send another email threatening with a chargeback. Again, what kind of answer are you expecting with such emails ?



Can´t you send an email giving acurate info so we can give you an answer ? one like that :

Hey, i am going to move to China, or Russia, or whatever you want to move to. Could you please change my shipping address to X and hold the shipment N days ?



We have no problem about holding a shipment back, or change the shipment address, but we can´t just wait for you to know where are you going to move at.





Thanks

2

5:17 am

There was a week between my two emails

5:17 am

with no response

and I know a chargeback is kinda shitty for the seller, but not my problem if he chose not to reply.

Jeez. Some people should know they are not the type to handle customer support.

Yeah, my response was pretty much just "What the f*** dude?"

7:27 am

and he just cancelled and refunded me

7:27 am

I refuse to support them at this point, I was actually considering picking up an AES this weekend and buying their NeoSD

Yeah that's pretty bad.

1:11 pm

Like @Wietse van Bruggen said this guy should not be the PR or customer service side of the things.

1:12 pm

Honestly with the early part of the drama I wondered if it was just a culture thing I wasn't aware of or something. But the more this goes on I think he's just not good with people at all.

I don't get how you not knowing your own situation because you obviously are in a bit of a chaotic moment somehow makes his response ok.

2:27 pm

It's not like their volume is going to be so high that they can't just put it on a shelf with a note.

It's just the NG forums guys feeding his ego (edited)

dunno if it's any good but there's an official discord for the analogue stuff now https://discordapp.com/invite/EX57xnF

anybody know if there's a place in the bay area where i could take my snes carts to get the batteries replaced? (i know i could do it myself, but i don't have a soldering iron and i'm afraid of botching it)

oh man, I suppose my chrono trigger battery has died by now

3:11 am

RIP the vaguely racist party of the guy who sold that cart to Funcoland

it might not have. some of mine still work

I'd call Phoenix Games and see if they do it maybe?

thanks

3:26 am

hmm, the website says they do it for various game boys, but no mention of snes. weird. but i'll call and check

Phoenix games the horrible PS2 games creator?

@Crouton Zircon I'll double check if i have some battery holders, if I do I'll do it for you free of charge as it's an easy job.

6:02 pm

I have some carts of my own i'm needing to do that to as well.

seriously? that would be great. phoenix games doesn't do it

they suggested that i play the cartridges on a retron 5

The horror

well I never said they were great

11:15 pm

but they're the last one that exists

11:15 pm

unless you can drive to 4jays

@Crouton Zircon I'm out but i'll order some more. They're dirt cheap but it may take a couple weeks to get them from China.

whoa, new super nt firmware w/ a built in cheat menu https://twitter.com/analogue_co/status/970169821739466752

http://retrousb.com/downloads/AVS-v1.30b5.bin

Super Nt v4.4 Firmware update released. Added cheat codes/game genie functionality and many other things: https://t.co/AkaEab0W8k

5:36 am

i wish i had this a week ago, i might have finished super mario rpg

NTT datapad is interesting.

5:43 am

This happens on original hardware too.

5:44 am

And I like the soft/hard reset. I hope this makes it easier to switch to another game if you use an everdrive with the SGB.

Oh neat, that was the feature I requested

SGB still boots last game loaded with the hard reset though. Alas

6:29 pm

In other news, I never knew you could press l+r together to enter castles already finished in SMW again until today

I knew that from I think Nintendo Power?

Now you know. And knowing is half the battle.

The other half is violence

1

@Tom haven't spent a ton of time with them yet, but no complaints so far.

4:22 am

Page claims it introduces a max of 4ms of lag, and that checks out from my experience.

4:24 am

Unfortunately had someone close to me pass away so have been taking a break from things. Just getting back into the swing of it all, as you do.

4:25 am

Saw the new JB dropped. Haven't messed with it yet, but looking good.

@SoH my condolences.

4:29 am

I ended up ordering a pair of those cables. In transit.

Appreciated

4:34 am

Second set of cables I have gotten from them. No issues so far.

4:35 am

I did crack open the classic controller and compared it to the oem snes controller

4:36 am

They are not identical, ie can't board swap them, but they are very close.

4:36 am

And they improved the start/select design? Of all things.

4:37 am

There is a second contact on them so if you smash really far on just the corner of the button it should still catch and register.

4:37 am

The d-pad is also slightly redesigned, but haven't had any issues with it.

1

The horizontal interpolation on the AVS beta firmware can look really nicely in motion. Vertical bars still visible on the latest beta though..the interpolation seems to change colors a bit leading to vertical lines.

oh does AVS have new firware??

It's beta firmware. Check the nintendoage thread

8:14 pm

8:15 pm

vertical bars show up with interpolation on.

Looks like the latest beta version corrects this issue. So, horizontal interpolation on the AVS is a thing now! (edited)

Just tried it. Vertical bars issue with interpolation on is fixed now.

Nice

7:50 pm

AVS is a great piece of tech that gets overlooked now

Totally is. Great price (though those custom duties still hurt) and just works fine without any hassle.

Since it's my b-day this coming month I'm probably gonna get one or two flashcarts. I'm thinking of getting the GBC and/or the GBA ones. If you had to get one which would you get?

I think there's more great games on GBA but I play b&w GB stuff more for some reason

I think you're probably right, GBA is definitely one of my all time favorites, but I do find myself somewhat drawn to the GBC as well.

9:33 pm

Also there's like 4 times as many translations for GB/GBC games

I find the GBC and the GBA are both a lot harder to "channel surf"

9:33 pm

the garbage-to-games ratio is way worse on those two

That's certainly true

whereas most regular GB games are at least interesting

With the GBA it's at least usually pretty easy to spot a garbage game. But yeah, curation would need to happen to remove landmines

9:36 pm

I suppose I could potentially grab any of them, which would mean N8, SD2SNES, and 64Drive are all on the table. Which is a very hard decision. I love all those systems so much

yeah you've really just got to decide which one you play most

9:37 pm

maybe save any others for black friday

9:37 pm

that's the only time he discounts them

That's a good point...

9:42 pm

I'll probably go GBA, and if I have enough I'll get GB/GBC too. Handheld systems are easy on my chronic fatigue because I don't have to be in any specifc place or position to play them. Waiting for black friday on the rest is smart, I had forgoten Krikzz does that and I appreciate you reminding me.

oh I didn't realized you suffered from that, is that part of your disability?

Yeah, it's the main symptom of all the stuff I have going on really, just really crippling chronic fatigue.

alternative if you're trying to save money: R4 cards for the DS are $10 on Ali Express

9:44 pm

I'd think DS would be good for you since all you have to do is close the lid

That's a solid point. I didn't realize it had gotten that cheap now. I do have a card for the ds but it's like super ancient and beat up now, getting a newer one is probably a good idea.

they start at $10, I guess the super deluxe ones are a wallet-slimming $17

Haha, well that seems a worthy investment. Grabing that and an FDSstick next month would be smart low-level purchases.

I need to get the newest fds stick

9:47 pm

I have the one that only holds four images

Oh wow! That sounds like a pain

well it's just a different way of using a flash cart, you know? I put Otocky and Zelda on there and played through them both instead of exploring

9:51 pm

but yeah I should swap it and just not have to deal with the files anymore

9:52 pm

my favorite flash cart situation was when I had the DS card in slot one of a DS Lite, and one of those "3-in-1" carts that was really small and sat flush on the bottom of the DS (3 in 1 did GBA ROMs, DS rumble, and DS extra RAM)

9:52 pm

I liked having this really nicely designed handheld that played games from two different libraries without anything sticking out of it

Oooooh satisfying.

9:53 pm

I forget, is the DS' GBA compatiblity emulation or is the DS just built up GBA hardware? (edited)

it's hardware

9:54 pm

DS uses actual GBA hardware but adds more on top of it

9:54 pm

when you boot a GBA game it just shuts everything else off and plays in pure GBA mode

9:54 pm

it's why there's no OS or anything

Ah ok, that's what I thought. Like the Wii and Wii U

yeah

It doesn't make for giant leaps but it's really smart

9:56 pm

I mean, how could you get rid of something with as cool a name as Emotion Engine

Emo Engine

10:02 pm

I find myself playing old GB games more compared to GBC and GBA for the exact same reason (edited)

oh it's not just me

10:03 pm

bad games on GB were still at least charming, GBC and GBA is full of shovelware that has no heart at all

I’d probably play GBC a bit more if the super game boy had support for it, but there is still a lot that just doesn’t have any interest to me.

10:05 pm

And GBI is great but it is a bit of a hassle to get started. Boot action replay, load gbi, set options. First world problems but it’s not grab and play for me.

once you're in I think you can reset back to the menu, right?

Yeah

10:08 pm

DS lite is nice way to play GBA games. Screen does suffer from ghosting though.

10:13 pm

Yes

Also, and this may be taboo to ask here, but what should I be looking for? goodset, no-intro, tosec? (edited)

no intro's great if all you want is commercial games

Ain’t got no clue. I just stuck smokemonster packs on it.

yeah get that

10:16 pm

was about to say goodsets have everything, but that's not a good thing

It’s preorganized. For GBA I would recommend grabbing JP pack as well.

no-intro documents game cartridges, goodsets document digital files

If only for kuru kuru kururin 2

I actually own both kururin games anyway lol!

there's a ROM in GoodNES for North & South that is from me in the late 90s playing with NESTicle and going "how does this tile editor work?" and corrupting a random tile

Haha holy shit.

10:18 pm

So no-intro or whatever this smokemonster business is are the recommended thingies

smokemonster is a curated pack for flash carts that tries to have a full set of regular games and recommended hacks/translations

oh interesting.

10:19 pm

That almost seems less ideal because it'd have to update more often

I usually get the Good set and eliminate garbage by doing windows file searches

I rarely update it. Have only updated them once during the December vacation time. Not feeling like I’m missing out. Can always add stuff manually that I find interesting

~"*[b

10:22 pm

that's the windows file search for anything with [b

10:22 pm

so I run that in the set and delete everything, and that gets rid of all bad dumps

10:22 pm

etc. etc.

That commands reminds me: I need to clean up my fdsstick because I just stuck everything on it but you can’t display the full file name..which is annoying with multiple versions of the same game..

Good to know! Looks like I need to invest in some microsd cards too. Though for GBA/GBC/GB I guess I don't need huge ones.

I have GBC/GB and GBA on one sd card

So you just switch it between the two drives?

Yeah

10:28 pm

32gb card with room to spare (edited)

Nice!

10:45 pm

Good call

My second SNT arrived. SD card swapping works perfectly, as you would expect. So I can take all my games and saves between rooms on something the size of a postage stamp. Childhood me would be mind blown on multiple levels.

10:51 pm

I'm banking on the cores getting released, I suppose. If it doesn't happen I'll be a bit bummed but I'll get over it.

I'm kinda thinking they won't at this point

10:52 pm

I don't know, this weird situation where kevin isn't on record as working on the unofficial firmware for super nt

10:52 pm

and won't say one way or another

Yeah, real hard to tell what the next few weeks/months look like. Has work on the DAC completely stopped with the bug fixing, for example

that's not something I anticipated so I don't know what to think

I still don't have a good grasp how big Analogue is at this point. Seems like they are still very small but hard to tell if they will ramp up at all

I think it’s quite small.

It is just kevtris a CEO and a bunch of automatons

They do know how to make hardware that just works pretty hassle free.

Yes. And I've noticed, and this could just be me entirely reading into things but I've worked with enough engineers over the years to pick up things, but I've noticed kevtris lately saying a lot to any requests something along the lines of "nearly anything is possible just a matter of finding the time" (edited)

10:59 pm

Which

11:00 pm

Can be an early sign of burnout in my experience (edited)

11:00 pm

Evaluating everything on possibility space of timelines

11:02 pm

He could also just be tired from shipping, can't exactly analyze these things from comments over the internet

If I was him I would keep my head away from all kinds of people demanding and wanting stuff, but I can also imagine he has a found away to deal with that after having done it a few times already.

Hopefully Analogue has decent vacation benefits

https://i.imgur.com/mbBGc6j.jpg

12:58 am

Just pile em on

12:58 am

Mount Vid Gom

Black looks nice

1:14 pm

Latest Beta firmware for avs doesn’t seem to like some pal games? RC Pro Am is pretty broken on original cart and on Everdrive.

Mmm Sega Champagne

Not that there was any reason to doubt, but I've been able to move save files from SNES classic to Super Nt, and back to emulators and so on. Everything seems to be pretty friendly if ever need to move them around/test something.

4:15 pm

At most has just needed a rename so far.

4:15 pm

And no corruption, so far

4:15 pm

Seems the new jailbreak fixed it all.

4:16 pm

I'm not exactly going to dive into a 100+ hour RPG or anything any time soon.

I just got two shipping notices for two different orders of the Super SSD3, maybe I accidentally bought two?

3:21 pm

Yep. Been there.

3:22 pm

btw, if anyone knows a PAL snes game that utilizes the full 288p res, or even anything beyond 240p rather than just letterboxing let me know. On the hunt and coming up short.

What about high res mode? Isn't there an Interplay game that does 480i?

Yeah, RPM Racing, experimenting with that now

3:26 pm

Trying to figure out if the SNT displays the full 288p buffer or if it crops assuming nothing uses the full thing.. but can't find a good test subject

3:26 pm

Even the PAL 240p test tool doesn't have a way to output a 288p frame

3:27 pm

(And it might be a safe assumption, as there might not be anything that actually does, I don't know)

3:30 pm

https://i.imgur.com/BhiRQGr.png

3:30 pm

Here is the full frame reduced so it definitely does non-240p

3:31 pm

But 480 is just double so who knows how versatile it is

I'm curious about PAL games in general maybe having higher resolutions. I thought I saw that Metroid Prime does 576p but I can't find anything confirming that now

Nothing on pal GC does 576p

But I'm wondering if there might be higher res 3D games in that era

3:33 pm

Ah you can't even force it?

You can force certain pal games into PAL60 mode.

3:35 pm

You could force it with Nintendont of Swiss, but it doesn’t work on everything.

3:36 pm

Metroid Prime 2 doesn’t even have a regular PAL mode, it always works in PAL60.

3:36 pm

Which meant older crt’s that didn’t support PAL60 couldn’t display the game.

http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=36734

NA » Complete list of SNES Pal Exclusives?

NintendoAge.com is dedicated to Nintendo collecting, gaming, homebrews and and peer-to-peer collaboration.

3:40 pm

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (incl. Guide) 
Super Metroid (incl. Guide)

3:40 pm

Guide?

3:40 pm

Is there some sort of in game help thing?

No. I thinks it’s a physical guide.

ah, exclusive to that release, I see

Never seen it for PAL SMW2 though

So game is likely identical in terms of res

3:41 pm

I might just have to download a big PAL pack and go through everything one by one. Not seeing an alternative here.

Yeah. SMW2 is well optimized for PAL. Have to run it in 50hz mode for it to scroll well on the Super nt.

3:42 pm

My pal super Metroid did not have a guide. Regular box.

3:42 pm

It actually has German and French subtitles for the cutscenes

(edited)

3:44 pm

What would you typically be looking for in terms of languages? English? Or is German common in the Netherlands?

English. German is not common.

3:58 pm

It does have a Dutch language manual.

3:58 pm

Odd thing is that you can’t disable the subtitles.

Super Mario World PAL uses Overscan mode

Is Higan doing some funny business then?

4:01 pm

https://i.imgur.com/wh2XsHd.png

4:01 pm

left NTSC, right PAL

You downloaded the wrong version

4:16 pm

PAL 1.1 or Rev B

4:16 pm

is what you want

Bingo!

4:18 pm

You are a hero, thank you

4:20 pm

https://i.imgur.com/mzWE6jZ.png

4:22 pm

It maxes at 240 so doesn't go over, but at least it is something

4:24 pm

Maybe nothing does go over, not even sure if you can address the extra lines on the snes

ok, figured it out

7:05 pm

Been trying to figure out why the overscan in PAL Mario Kart was off..

7:06 pm

7:07 pm

Turns out, weirdly enough, it starts drawing the frame in Overscan, but keeps the letterboxing leaving a big space at the bottom

7:07 pm

(Note the bottom on the right)

7:08 pm

(Side note: expansion chip games are KIND of a pain in the ass to load in higan)

Hmm.

7:10 pm

I just popped in pal Mario kart. In NTSC mode the game runs fine but it shows the same thing

7:10 pm

That is cart or SD2SNES?

Cart

7:11 pm

If I change to 50hz resolution and set hardware to pal it’s even more severe

Same actually

I get the same junk pattern in the bottom in some cases too

What a strange thing, I wonder if it is a bug or if they intentionally wanted it up higher in the screen

No junk pixels on Super nt

7:13 pm

No it should be in view

7:13 pm

I don’t have a pal SNES hooked so I can’t check what it’s doing on real hardware, but it should be in view

7:13 pm

Oh wait

7:14 pm

That pattern at the bottom does show up

The bottom of that picture you posted has the junk pixels, I think it just ends up being a random sprite in some cases, not sure why

7:14 pm

yeah

How odd

I would suspect that means back in the day, playing this on a CRT in europe you would see that junk on the screen whenever it comes up

7:15 pm

Considering the 288p

I can’t recall

7:15 pm

Sounds like a bug worth reporting though

Nah, this is all on Mario Kart

7:16 pm

Super NT is handling it perfectly as far as I can tell

7:16 pm

At least Higan shows identical behavior

Changing image height does get the top part back on view

7:16 pm

Nintendo just did something weird here for unclear reasons

I've heard PAL version handles physics way differently

So, it it’s drawing 288 lines, the width and height I was using was geared at a 240p image?

7:19 pm

I dunno, I’m haven’t played the pal version in a long time

Nah, it is using 240p mode, but then also doing letterboxing (like most PAL games did) however instead of centering vertically, it justifies to the top of the screen

7:19 pm

I've gone through a whole bunch of PAL games and only one I've seen so far to do so

The game requires PAL mode. Visual glitches during gameplay when in NTSC mode

Unrelated but I must talk about it

7:23 pm

The amount of references to Nintendo hardware in there.

7:23 pm

Top right also

I'm nearly positive you cannot address lines out in 288, you can either use 224 or 240, and then the PAL PPU just pads the signal, but I'm not SNES dev so just going off what I can figure out looking at dev sites.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was just necessary for all the "mode seven" stuff to start at scanline 0

that Sharp Super Famicom TV lol

but I am not an engineer even a little bit so don't listen to me

Nah you can change modes however you want any time

Physics don’t feel different. I’m still winning (and the rubber banding AI still is so bad :P)

Luigi, is that to me or Frank?

to Frank

Gotcha

but you also, I guess.

Any idea about drawing beyond overscan in PAL? Beyond the 240 lines up into 288?

You probably can't

Seems it, yeah

7:28 pm

So I'd suspect Super Nt has a 240 and 480 frame, simple as that.

7:30 pm

Mario Kart being weird threw me off for a bit.

7:30 pm

Also it doesn't start on scanline 0, either, looks to start on scanline 3 (4th down)

7:31 pm

I'd love to know the story behind it but that seems like an impossible question to get answered.

I had a good laugh at the region message in DKC. Almost as if it’s going to explode.

7:33 pm

7:36 pm

So, what I think would happen with PAL SMK on a CRT that there would be quite a big chance the top part getting cut off, depending on how a tv handled overscan. But I don’t recall seeing a cutoff back in the day on what I played on.

I don't recall that either

I believe it should have shown the whole thing since it is drawing into the overscan of a 240p signal. Also should have shown all the junk at the bottom I THINK, but I have no idea.

And oh boy DKC really requires 720p and scanlines to look okay

I wonder if I can find off screen capture of a PAL TV playing mario kart...

7:38 pm

hmm

7:38 pm

Don't let me down, Youtube

7:40 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG9nVgAY4Us

Sami Cetin

Super Mario Kart Time Trial PAL Mario Circuit 1 World Record 0'57"...

7:40 pm

Nice

7:40 pm

Yep, it is all there

7:41 pm

I guess the junk at the bottom seems to always match the map background so you may not even notice unless looking for it

But it doesn’t look like the image is aligned to the top but the center?

Yeah, it is because the junk data

7:42 pm

If we could find similar off screen that shows where there is no junk, like some maps did... for example

7:42 pm

7:43 pm

When in 2 player, no garbage

There are some weird very slight visual glitches with DKC in the first snow world level

7:43 pm

PAL DKC (edited)

Here we go..

7:46 pm

https://youtu.be/BAI1EupffsA?t=35

gameantique

Super Mario Kart Intro Super Nintendo SNES PAL Version

7:46 pm

Look at that big old black border on the bottom

A bit more than at the top

7:47 pm

Image looks so squeezed

7:50 pm

Hmm. I should check what NTSC DKC does. There are definitely visual glitches in the snow levels.

Scratch that, forgot that I had switched it to ntsc speed. No glitches when at PAL speed.

you're just confused, he said the virtual boy in general was hopeless

Oh, my snes mini to regular SNES controller coverting thingie has shipped (edited)

1

8:08 pm

http://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/classic_to_snes/index.php

raphnet technologies - Classic controller to SNES adapter

An adapter to use Classic controller (and NES/SNES Classic edition controllers) on an original SNES

@Wietse van Bruggen I picked up 2 of those after @SoH mentioned them! Positive experiences so far.

A quarter of a frame of lag tops shouldn’t be really noticeable I guess

I haven't played any games yet where I felt crippled. It'll be like 8 weeks until Aliexpress gets some 8bitdo receivers my way. Even then, I typically prefer wired over wireless everything.

8:15 pm

So, I haven't messed w/ jailbreak at all yet. Haven't felt a huge desire to and I heard saving can be glitchy, or... a process.

Oh that difference is definitely more feelable to me

saving with the jailbreak is usable now. it's a little dicey if you need to go into the settings a lot and get careless, but if you have everything configured the way you want it and you're just loading different roms, it's fine

I was able to get a 0.80 in the manual lag test on random in the 240p tool using the raphnet adapter so the half a frame lag is definitely within adjustable for me, personally

Now that I’ve been playing wired again after a few months of wireless I can sense a bit more immediacy. It’s pretty subtle though

8:20 pm

I still wanna try a lag test using the led on the super nt and slow motion video

i'm just using my original snes controllers. i have an 8bitdo but the d-pad was bothering me too much and i'm not far enough away from the tv to need wireless

I've been rotating to try and get a feel how much I actually feel the d-pad issue on the 8bitdo and it definitely stands out. I am probably going to give the tape fix a try.

8:21 pm

Rotating -> 8bitdo, snes classic, oem

i think i need to open up my snes controller and clean it, the start/select buttons are kinda finicky. but i've never done that before and i'm afraid i won't be able to put it back together

It is pretty painless and foolproof over all.

8:24 pm

My start/select was also acting up

8:24 pm

No problems since I cleaned it

what kind of screwdriver do you need?

you could always do my fix too: use a ps3 controller with the 8bitdo receiver

8:24 pm

in fact I've gotten used to a $7 ali express ps3 controller with it

8:24 pm

and heavily prefer it to the 8bitdo pad

oem uses just a phillips, nothing too crazy

8:25 pm

Frank, reminds me I need to give the Wii U Pro controller a shot with it. Has been recommended multiple times so I got one and... it is still sitting in the box, haha

i don't like playstation d-pads

8:26 pm

though i guess it probably would still be better than the 8bitdo

I am strongly considering putting together an arcade stick with the mc cthulhu though, it would be my go to for anything demanding

8:26 pm

https://i.imgur.com/zmdTLy4.jpg

8:26 pm

A real dumb image I made

it has an Impact

1

4

whoa

8:28 pm

oh yes, bubsy is the right reaction, I'll do that too

i was using the 8bitdo and playing this one rpg and my character kept walking in unexpected directions. i was all ready to blame the 8bitdo, but it turned out that apparently this game accepts inputs from either controller port, and i had the wired controller plugged into the other one and was sitting on it

hah

PAL Pixel Aspect Ratio compared to NTSC

3:07 pm

https://i.imgur.com/rSAZjBq.png

3:07 pm

https://i.imgur.com/0bszqH0.png

3:08 pm

PAL had some chubby squashed pixels

This is why you had a lot of mod services offered in the first half of the 90’s for PAL snes consoles

3:12 pm

Over here

3:12 pm

That promised to stretch up the image, remove black bars

Because the SNT produces a 240p frame no matter what I believe using NTSC PAR on all PAL games will work, but going to run through more scenarios. I just know the morph ball is one of the big ones.

3:15 pm

I'll have to try the Rev 1 Super Mario World PAL that uses all 240 lines next.

3:18 pm

I suppose the question really is if any developer bothered adjusting for PAL's PAR, and I seriously doubt any did, but I'll run through exclusives too as those would be the most likely.

(Another fun fact, you can adjust the PAR in photoshop to get non-square pixels, which is incredibly useful for this exact testing)

3:27 pm

I'm thinking about putting together a resource of user-submitted Super NT A/V and controller preferences! I'll probably post as an article on Medium. Would love some feedback... A) Is this survey too long? B) If not, care to take it??

3:55 pm

https://tom263.typeform.com/to/rmlmK7

New typeform

Turn data collection into an experience with Typeform. Create beautiful online forms, surveys, quizzes, and so much more. Try it for FREE.

It's super short, everyone go take it

Awesome! I'm mostly just curious, but I think a roundup post would be useful to plenty of people.

4:15 pm

I'll drop it into the Analogue discord then, too.

Will do!

1

Done!

1

Got a Sony KV-27FS300 locally for $15 today from Craiglist whoo!

$15! That's amazing.

Yeah going to try the RGB mod to it if i can find one on Shmup

1:41 am

Though the retrotink via component will scratch my itch if not

Do you have alerts set up for that stuff?

No honestly I just check it daily if I am bored at work and have time with a sony crt search.

1:46 am

And it happened to hit today and was close

1:47 am

Was frustrating because when i was living with mother in law for a few months while our house was being built like... 5 or 6 came up then nothing when i finally had the space until now.

1:47 am

But the 27 inch is the perfect size to me, and FS300 seems to be a good version.

1:48 am

you wouldn't think 32 inches would make a difference but it adds a lot of weight

1:49 am

I think i'm about to spend $140 on a supposed near mint barely used Apple IIGS monitor and I'm not sure why... other then I don't know if I'll have another opportunity like this again. Via Atari Age.

1:50 am

I just feel like 10 years from now I'll kick myself as monitors will be even harder to get by then, especially in good shape.

Unrelated, but every time I see new Nintendo Labo stuff I'm totally awestruck. I'm so excited.

I'm pumped for it too! I just don't know if I"ll pay the starting price you know?

Yeah, it's a little pricy. Luckily for me it's coming out a few days after my birthday haha.

Nice!

Feels a little more approriate to splurge on cardboard around then

Hahaha

Did you see the Nintendo Labo garage thing that just got put up on youtube?

No, I've been out of the loop on things due to work the past couple weeks, got a link?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DleXxy_QJvM&t=0s

Nintendo

Nintendo Labo - Invent New Ways To Play With Toy-Con Garage - Part 1

Wow people will come up with some cool stuff with that for sure.

Yeah!

2:02 am

They just keep letting more info out and it keeps looking cooler and cooler

Man I'd love to be 14ish again with all that's available now.

2:03 am

Back in my day we only had ZZT

2:03 am

But seriously... the newest version of RPG Maker etc. Game Maker Studio

2:03 am

The world is your oyster.

2:03 am

Such powerful tools

Yup! It's cool as heck. I hope one day to have enough energy to take advantage of it all.

2:09 am

Right now I'm really curious about learning Inform7

It's funny because when I was about to go to college I wanted so badly to go into Game Design but it didn't work out. Tried mobile gaming pre-Iphone and it flopped spectacularly.

2:11 am

So I went into IT and the rest is history, but now due to the tools mentioned above and many others I can fufill my younger dreams if I want to put the time and effort into them just for myself.

2:11 am

And if other people like them, that's great! But I have the ability for cheap to try and create something I wanted to as a kid now.

2:12 am

Life, uh... finds a way

Indeed it does. Follow your dreams (within reason) no need to cast your life to the wind now.

and honestly with the state of mobile games i'm kinda glad it didn't pan out

2:13 am

to me the indie pc gaming scene is keeping it all alive.

For sure. I agree

otherwise it's call of duty whatever... and that's fine it makes money and the studios have to take big risks.

2:13 am

It's just the state of things now, games are big business.

2:14 am

Not exactly how it was when we enjoyed the games as kids and teenagers growing up in the 80s and 90s

2:14 am

Sorry I've had a few beers and finally have free time so i'm rambly

I think that's why a lot of us love old game so much. It's not dusty uncritical nostalgia, it's appreciation of a very realy creative energy that seems liking from a lot of the gamescape now.

2:15 am

Obviously that's a big huge generalization, but you get me.

Nah totally, I agree.

People were figuring shit out and it was more experimental, and critically, smaller in scope

2:15 am

So indie and retro have got it going on (edited)

There's still obviously great games coming out, i mean i work with younger guys and they're crazy about the stuff i'm shrugging at. But they're making memories with the current gen just like I did in the past.

2:15 am

Can't judge that harshly, that's dickish. Just because it's not my thing.

Yeah, I mean a lot of great work by talented and driven people goes into these big games.

Like I'm playing Final Fantasy XV finally just the past couple weeks and it's a beautiful game, I know a ton of work and care went into it.

They just so rarely speak to me. The only new non-indie games that do anything for me are JRPGs (hit and miss) and Nintendo (90% hit)

But sadly... I just enjoy walking around aimlessly in the environment haha

2:17 am

Yeah Nintendo... man they just don't lose their core audience, and they continue to attract non gamers.

2:17 am

There's a reason they've stayed in the game this long.

Yup. They're the only purveyor of whimsy around.

2:18 am

We need whimsy, I need whimsy. Whimsy and beauty without a shred of angst or western gritty realism in sight.

2:18 am

I mean COLORS, give me colors!

And silliness

and cuteness

If i need grit and darkness and rough stories I'll go drink at a hole in the wall and talk to strangers.

I'm fine with that stuff in games but it's not my ideal.

2:20 am

All my favorite games are whimsical, offbeat, humorous, and colorful.

2:20 am

Let me see if I can conjure up a top of my head list while I'm thinking about it.

Yeah I'm with you. It's not bad, it's just not what I want at this point my life. But my 19 year old co workers loves it and he is totally entitled to. He should

In no particular order, FF IX, Jumping Flash 1 & 2, Wonder Project J2, Katamari series, Chulip, stuff like that.

2:21 am

When I want grim and grit I want Kentucky Route Zero and stuff like it generally

i just want to drop a goddamned banana peel and fuck up my wife's day when we're about to cross the finish line in mario kart

lol

I need to far around with the Wonder Project series someday.

2:22 am

fart

2:22 am

it looks cool! I just haven't given it time.

They're truly wonderful. J2 in particular feels like it did the Ghibli Movie Come to Life thing better and before Ni No Kuni

I messed with around 100 PAL exclusive/focused games and only found one example of the assets being adjust for PAL's pixel aspect ratio. A golf game.

2:25 am

https://i.imgur.com/T96ehmV.png

2:25 am

^ PAL

2:25 am

https://i.imgur.com/GJczizx.png

2:25 am

^ NTSC

2:26 am

I never want to play a rugby or cricket game again in my life.

Hahaha

2:30 am

I recently cleaned up box art for that title oddly enough.

2:30 am

Good PAL Exclusive box scans are tough to come by

I'm curious if this is just some lucky chance by how the picture was captured/made, or if someone actually sat down and stretched it in... photoshop 1.0 or whatever they were using.

2:31 am

The rest of the game's assets are not adjusted. Just this title screen picture.

2:31 am

Or I guess shrunk it is more accurate

That is kinda odd

2:34 am

same art as the box for sure, so could've been an early photoshop?

This is what basically all the games looked like, for comparison:

2:34 am

https://i.imgur.com/EA1LSt6.png

2:34 am

And NTSC:

2:35 am

So that title screen above for World Masters immediately stood out

They went the extra mile

2:35 am

That's really interesting, i don't think i've ever read about anybody else noticing that.

If that PVM you got is PAL and you have a way to get that game loaded on it I'd love to see a picture. Super curious and not even going to bother trying to google for a TV shot.

2:38 am

(Or any PAL CRT, fwiw for anyone out there)

I only have NTSC

2:39 am

There's gotta be somebody in the chat with a PAL set though

Probably too late over there. I'll ask again in the morning.

Yeah I need to head to bed myself, goodnight!

I'm pretty sure PVMs accept PAL generally. Don't quote me on that though.

3:30 am

I think mine does, at least

3:33 am

If you're using RGB, anyway.

I think it would need to be coming out of a PAL SNES though

3:37 am

Unless you can get NTSC to spit out all 288 lines, but I'd doubt it.

3:38 am

I assume the PPU was customized for that region

3:42 am

(Full disclosure: I've never touched anything PAL until a few days ago so this has all been a learning experience for me)

But does it display the image the same way a PAL consumer CRT would display it? (edited)

I would assume it would maintain aspect ratio, but I've never messed with a PVM

Music playback seems to be unaffected by switching between PAL/NTSC? (edited)

8:06 pm

I was checking out the PAL version of Addams Family, and the intro music doesn’t sync up nicely with the animation like the NTSC version or when I play the game at NTSC speed.

8:07 pm

Game feels sooo slow when the Super Nt is in PAL mode

Looking at all the art in the PAL releases I could easily believe little to no work was put into them beyond localizing and fixing small problems

8:09 pm

Unless you're thinking something is up in the SNT? (edited)

No, I don’t think so. Just curious because I just haven’t played PAL games in a looooong time.

8:11 pm

When I load the NTSC version at PAL speeds the animation and music don’t sync up either.

8:11 pm

In exactly the same way.

Yeah, just check in higan

8:14 pm

Like when the music goes on full with the title screen? Stuff like that?

8:14 pm

After Thing does its.... thing

Yeah, when you go “through the box”

8:15 pm

Doesn’t play out like that on the pal version. Fanfare thing kicks off before you go through the box.

Right, yep

8:16 pm

Sorry PAL... ahem... pals. You guys really got the short end of the stick with this stuff.

We just didn’t know any better

I am curious if anyone has a particular affinity for some of PAL's quirks. Like the very squat pixels.

the only tiny consolation is that sometimes you got later builds with bug fixes?

Gotta be at least one guy out there

you got the best ICO?

I guess..we probably just didn’t know we got a better version of something though

Revision 1 of PAL Super Mario World also seems to have correct speed for a PAL console. And it glitches like crazy in NTSC mode

It does seem they put some genuine effort in Rev 1, wonder what the story was there

8:39 pm

Looks like it came out in 92 in Eu

8:39 pm

Wonder when the Rev happened

The version in all stars + smw seems to be based on that Rev 1

Any idea if SMW was a pack-in over there?

8:43 pm

It was

8:43 pm

I got it with my snes back in the day

8:44 pm

I’m guessing mine was not the rev 1 version

8:45 pm

Huh

8:45 pm

Actually

8:45 pm

It is

8:46 pm

8:47 pm

Guess I got mine in 92 then

8:48 pm

8:50 pm

Still has Club Nintendo subscription card in it. Have not looked in this box for over a decade

8:50 pm

hm, the Rev must've happened pretty quick then.

I guess so

Could’ve been UK only, or whatever region in Europe it got released in first

8:59 pm

And at the point it released here in the Netherlands the pack in was already rev 1

ah, good point

9:01 pm

You know what

9:01 pm

I just check the original and rev 1 no-intro roms and neight of those have the 1993 copyright

9:01 pm

From the pic you posted

9:02 pm

so

9:02 pm

Could even be a rev 2

The 1993 copyright shows on the all stars with Mario world included version

ah

9:02 pm

Let me take a look

9:04 pm

Yep, I see it. It is definitely an update though. I wonder if anything else is different about it or if they just updated the date.

9:06 pm

Can't just hex compare the roms since they'd be quite different over all

9:07 pm

Well i've found one thing already I think

9:09 pm

Looks like Rev 1/All-stars breaks the fire animation in the first little mini level

9:09 pm

Mind confirming on your cart if you have a chance?

9:09 pm

https://tcrf.net/Super_Mario_World_(SNES)/Version_Differences

Version Differences

I do not have the cart for the all stars + smw version, just sd2snes

Fire place should animate?

9:10 pm

It doesn’t on my rev 1 cart

Yep

oh I guess this doesn't go into PAL revisions

Nothing ever does

heh, it is kind of what has piqued my interest

Super Nt definitely made me revisit my old pal carts

https://i.imgur.com/yTYB4cz.gifv

9:12 pm

NTSC

9:13 pm

And original PAL animates

can you eat the dolphins?

I’ll be darned

9:14 pm

I thought the dolphin eating was SFC only?

I should probably stop saying NTSC and instead US. Checking JP now

I think the original release actually has corrected speed for pal too. Feels too fast on NTSC speed

Yeah, JP animates too, so something specific to the PAL Rev 1

There doesn’t seem to be any JP revisions

US either, afaik

The Super System version has animated fireplace as well

I'm sure the original PAL version is pretty much NTSC version for PAL

9:20 pm

barely any changes, I assume

Speed seems adjusted. Too fast on NTSC

I assume it checks for 50 frames instead of 60

9:21 pm

That said my copy of SMW comes with a french and dutch manual and stuff

Maybe they wanted to get to market while they were still working to fix things up, so original has the bare minimum to get it working.

And it's the second revision

Well, I don’t think it’s exactly the same as NTSC. When I play the US rom at pal speeds the game is definitely far too slow.

Well the bare minimum, is what I said

9:22 pm

Checking for 50 instead of 60 frames a second isn't hard to do

Pity Ocean didn’t adjust speed for Addams Family...not even a European developer bothered to do it

btw, in trying out PAL stuff

9:26 pm

Despite what the internet says

9:27 pm

The SNES mouse absolutely works with Cannon Fodder, and that seems like a perfectly good way to play that game.

9:27 pm

http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_SNES_Mouse-compatible_video_games

List of SNES Mouse-compatible video games

This is a list of games for the Super Nintendo that are compatible with the SNES Mouse, organized alphabetically by name. A Acme Animation Factory, Alice Paint Adventure (Japan Only), Arkanoid...

9:28 pm

Do not believe their lies. I'm going to try out more tonight.

9:29 pm

+As a guy who never owned an Amiga, that is

Bought one of these to try out with the KV-27FV300 I got yesterday - http://www.ani-av.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=220

11:37 pm

The more I read about doing an RGB mod to consumer tv's the less I felt confident in doing it.

11:37 pm

It's pretty grey area right now it seems, and some people have had good success while others not so much.

11:38 pm

And it sounds like Component with a converter gets you just about as nice of a picture. Probably very hard to notice.

Got a PAL friend to take a picture, confirmed. World Masters Golf title screen is the only PAL game (I've found, so far) to adjust.

7:25 pm

check some of the pics I posted in #general today. You can see the more squeezed image in those too (edited)

Ah, will do, thanks!

7:36 pm

To be honest, I pictured the black bars being more pronounced. I mean they are there for sure, but I guess overscan accounts for way more than I pictured. (edited)

It just depends on the tv how much. I don't recall ever having a problem with it, but I also just didn't know any better

7:38 pm

Both these images are from 1992 (edited)

figuring out artist-intended aspect ratio between PAL and NTSC gets super messy with Amiga

how so?

oh it's just obvious that some games are meant to be pal ratio and some are meant to be ntsc, but in a ton of other cases you just have to make an educated guess

7:41 pm

since there were so many PAL developers on the Amiga a lot of the games were drawn to look right on a 50hz monitor

Right

I think the conclusion I've come to is a lot of decisions were prioritized by level of care. The classic example of the Mario World square is because the artists probably though through as much as "I need to make a square. I'll draw equal pixels horizontal and vertical." If the thought that it might come out a bit wide came up it was probably dismissed as "eh, big deal"

7:53 pm

Where as the Chrono Trigger moon? Someone sat down and really worked on it because they cared as much.

it also depends on developer and tools

Which leads to the obvious conclusion, who is this mysterious person who cared so deeply about a golf ball?

capcom pixel art was drawn on custom graph paper that adjusted for the pixel aspect ratio

Right

well that's the thing, I think that they were just drawing with PAL output

7:54 pm

isn't it actually wrong on NTSC?

It is, BUT

7:54 pm

The rest of the game is NTSC

7:54 pm

Just the title screen is adjusted

7:54 pm

Maybe it was a contractor

Maybe it's maybelline

Here is that same TV with other assets..

I'll see myself out

1

7:56 pm

Hard to tell if the photo in the background is adjusted, but obviously the logo is wide.

7:56 pm

And the rest of the game is like that.

You know, I wonder if the text was produced in 3d

8:03 pm

It does have a pretty impressive curve to it to be done by hand

8:04 pm

And maybe the software it was produced in made it easier to produce the proper frame (edited)

8:05 pm

I think this came out around 95

what game is it?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Masters_Golf

World Masters Golf

World Masters Golf is a golf simulation video game for the Super NES released exclusively in Europe.

this looks like cd-i golf game territory

http://www.mobygames.com/game/snes/world-masters-golf

World Masters Golf for SNES (1995) - MobyGames

World Masters Golf is a golf game featuring four gouraud-shaded courses. Modes of gameplay are Tournament, Match Play and Practice. Up to eight players are allowed to compete. Players can either use existing golfers or create and customize their ...

8:06 pm

heh Moby has it at the improper ratio. Completely understandable considering.

8:06 pm

Almost certainly taken in an emulator

easy to tell.

Square image

Note the Circle on this screen at square pixels

8:07 pm

It'd look stretched PAL

Need to figure out a good widthxheight setting that emulates a PAL screen

Gotcha covered, moment

8:08 pm

hah, that was the entire goal of this wild goose chase. Is to come up with the ratios.

8:08 pm

We all have weird hobbies.

1080p?

Thats my preferred super nt resolution

sec

8:10 pm

          Internal Res          720p (3x)              1080p (4x)              1080p (5x)
Width:    355                   3 * 355 = 1064         4 * 355 = 1420          5 * 355 = 1774
Height:   240                   3 * 240 = 720          4 * 240 = 960           5 * 240 = 1200

8:10 pm

5x will crop a bit, but should look fine in most cases. Rev 1 Mario World being the exception.

8:11 pm

H interpolation on, V off

8:11 pm

(^ really wish SNT would remove the double negative of those settings. Gets confusing)

8:12 pm

Throw on World Masters Golf though at that and you should get a perfectly round ball in the title screen.

8:12 pm

Enjoy the 7 whole seconds of it!!!

It’ll be glorious

8:15 pm

1420x960 for 4x?

8:15 pm

Looks way too wide for rev 1 smw

Hey, take it up with Nintendo and PAL!

8:15 pm

It is accurate

8:15 pm

(Should just play in NTSC to be honest)

8:16 pm

Most games are just 224p NTSC versions with minor adjustments, in basically every case I looked at.

8:16 pm

The PAL PPU just adds 24 lines top and bottom

8:17 pm

Here it is running on an NTSC CRT..

8:18 pm

Wouldn’t 1152 height be more correct for 4x

8:18 pm

288x4

Nah, SNT doesn't actually output the full 288, it only does 240

8:18 pm

Even in PAL

Ah, so it would always squeeze

Yep, which is what made finding the ratio tougher to confirm. If you want it to look like a PAL CRT? Use those values above. I don't think you should but they should be accurate.

8:24 pm

Comparing with that frame from 1992

8:25 pm

Check the controller

8:25 pm

Looks quite similar yeah

hot dog bun ratio

Yep, poor PAL. You have my heart. Nintendo didn't treat you right.

There’s also a lot of junk at the top of the screen

8:26 pm

Not in this part of the demo though

8:28 pm

Hmmm..super nt doesn’t like pal pilotwings a lot. Could be sd2snes issue. Checking original cart to be sure.

whatcha gonna do with all that junk

8:29 pm

all that junk in overscan

Bad boy overscan

8:32 pm

Happens on original cart too, at least for this part

8:32 pm

Now if you take your PAL cart and adjust the settings to 1462x1200

8:35 pm

Then load up the US version of the game.

8:35 pm

I'd bet they look identical.

Oh I’m sure they do (edited)

(And if you did the equivalent steps of NTSC/PAL SNES carts and consoles and so on it would as well) (edited)

8:36 pm

It is pretty interesting to me

8:36 pm

As of like a week ago I had never touched anything PAL except maybe loading up Terranigma one time because it was supposed to be an alright PAL exclusive RPG. (edited)

8:37 pm

I didn't think I'd be calculating its PAR and doing CRT comparisons, to be completely honest. (edited)

8:38 pm

Oh and Mr. Gimmick, I suppose. Played plenty of that guy.

Hmm, can’t reproduce the second visual glitching on original cart

8:38 pm

Welll, what’s nice about the super nt is that PAL users can actually “correct” a lot of stuff for their original carts

Yeah, you basically get NTSC conversion for free. Pretty neat.

8:40 pm

I'm working on a write up to explain this all out, btw, should be easier reference than a bunch of rambling in a discord

8:40 pm

Just wanted to confirm everything first before sitting down and putting it all together.

Does the latest Super NT Jailbreak take like 10 minutes? I've had it going for that and it's still just blinking red lights 4 times then nothing then 3 times.

I loaded it up and it was just flashing red for about four minutes then it booted up.

11:44 pm

That was a few nights ago, so unless version was updated since...

Feels like the JB always takes like 2 minutes longer than I expect, every single time.

is there a new jb?

Nah, still 6.5

11:54 pm

Also, to answer a question from way back.

11:54 pm

It appears "jailbreaker" is the term of anonymity being used.

11:54 pm

For anyone who had placed bets.

11:54 pm

The Jailbreaker

"capcom pixel art was drawn on custom graph paper that adjusted for the pixel aspect ratio"

1:15 am

btw @Frank Cifaldi meant to ask, are their scans or anything of this?

1:15 am

If the most obvious answer is "Pick up SF collection" that works too, hah

@Hubz that sounds like an error. kevtris mentioned before that 4 blinks followed by 2 blinks means the update file is the wrong size. not sure what 4-3 means but it's likely something similar. maybe check your firmware file on the sd card and make sure it has the right checksum

I have scans of some of the line art but not the graph paper, I think it was in the video with akiman

3:02 am

the graph paper I mean

4:00 am

4:05 am

Very cool, only part I'm slightly confused about is the ratio seems to be going the wrong way but maybe he wasn't too concerned about that for these sketches in particular

4:08 am

Or maybe 2 boxes = 1 pixel

4:12 am

oh, this would be for CPS, that makes more sense

4:12 am

No idea what the ratio was on there

4:18 am

Well now I'm curious what the sprites differences are between arcade and snes, if any.

4:19 am

Not enough to open mame, but curious.

4:22 am

And considering it is Third Strike and all

@Crouton Zircon Ah got it after redownloading the file and copying it. Weird must have had some corruption somewhere on the original copy

11:33 am

Raphnet adapter already arrived. Good length cable.

Loving those cables ^

12:28 pm

the length extension is perfect from TV to couch in my living room.

12:29 pm

I also found one of these while digging through old stuff - https://images10.newegg.com/productimage/A0FU_1_20120418_3284399.jpg

12:29 pm

should be compatible, haven't tested.

Yeah the length is good. About as much cable as this 3rd party extension cable I used on my Super Famicom controllers

I haven’t used the mini controllers much. Checking different games now. What’s the verdict on its d-pad?

12:53 pm

Diagonals seem pretty good to me

1:00 pm

Consistent hadokens

Wow. Busters Busts Loose is the most broken game I’ve encountered yet on Super Nt

oh? I have the cart. What in particular?

Sometimes won’t load level. After you finish the first level the music and sound effects slow down a lot.

3:47 pm

I played from cart.

3:47 pm

A bug had already been reported, but the issue is bigger than the original poster explained.

3:49 pm

Oh and PAL Sim City does not like NTSC mode

Resolution, or system switch in the menu?

System switch

4:03 pm

Map does not display correctly in ntsc mode

Ah, yeah, that is another very under-documented aspect of PAL.

4:04 pm

What games work and do not work, and if they do not work, what is wrong with them

4:05 pm

You can read romhack notes sometimes, but not always

4:05 pm

A lot of them are just "NTSC FIX!"

And of course twice now I haven’t been able to reproduce the buster busts loose issue. But it definitely happened (and I’m not the only one :P)

4:15 pm

Also, after all these years that train section still sucks

The Hampton mini-game..moving up and down is reversed?

4:23 pm

Aaah there’s the slow down again

4:24 pm

Alas. The nunchuck does not work with the super nt through the raphnet adapter

8:27 pm

Should try Wii motion plus

8:42 pm

And Gondor

You know it is time to take a break from a technical write up when even you don't give a crap about the level of specifics you are getting into.

12:48 am

Hello.

12:49 am

Article is at 7 pages so far and maybe half way done. Going to be some tough editing.

12:49 am

And I started talking about record players. Might be time for dinner.

Huh, that was odd. Got my Super NT this week, hooked it up yesterday, plopped a game in it and it played fine. Went back later in the evening to play again and it just black screened when I launched the cart. Didn’t try it with a lot of carts, but it happened with two, including the one that had worked earlier in the day.

I had to clean quite a few of my carts. I’ve had that happen too

I flashed to the jailbreak, and I’m going to give the carts a good cleaning later.

Just don't use brasso! bubsy

4:07 pm

Also this is why I am an advocate for ease of dumping, good rom loading, and keeping the hardware parts of these setups fresh. Entropy will get us all, all we can do is keep it fresh.

I use brasso

4:07 pm

but i always clean it off with alcohol afterwards

I only use alcohol

4:08 pm

Some good q-tip cleaning and some alcohol

Unless you are doing a professional chemical bath there will be traces left over. Molecules are real jerks. It will very likely be fine but it is introducing an unnecessary polisher. Makes it look nice, but isn't actually helping conductivity.

4:09 pm

(I'm not here to tell people what to do with their carts, mind)

4:09 pm

BUT, solid rom loading is necessary. These carts will not last forever. Whether it is the brasso, or just good old fashion entropy.

4:10 pm

Rot is rot.

The one thing I appreciate about US carts

4:11 pm

Are the dust covers (edited)

4:13 pm

I managed to get a sticker from a PAL boxed copy of sim city with just little bits of alcohol

4:14 pm

4:15 pm

It was a classic label sticker put on the box, over the Super Nintendo logo

Marker that has set into the plastic is my biggest bane. There is no way to actually remove it you essentially have to sand it down when it has gotten that deep.

Yeah, I couldn’t get rid of the bit of yellow stuff on the Tiny Toons cartridge

I've had good luck pouring alcohol on the marker and letting it sit for awhile. It gets it off sometimes, though most the time like you said there's still faint traces.

@Crouton Zircon I got those battery holders if you still need your Chrono Trigger cart battery replaced.

I don't have Chrono Trigger, but I do have a few other carts that need it

I need to find time to clean all my hardware and get it connected again

My Intellivision in particular looks like it came out of New Mexico with the ET carts

I don’t have anything that only has RF output. How do you have that connected?

I use this, but it used to be a lot cheaper https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F202220567624

SONY TU-1040 TV Tuner Unit AC120V 50/60Hz DC12V 10W 112W MAX. Vid...

For sale is aSONY TU-1040 TV Tuner Unit AC120V 50/60Hz DC12V 10W 112W MAX. Video Audio. Great used condition. Unit only no other accessories included. We promise we can make you happy if you give us a fair chance. | eBay!

10:59 pm

You can use any VCR

@Wietse van Bruggen I don't, it's still boxed up from when I got it

2:35 am

My Vizio in the living room takes RF in, but it looks like crap, it does not handle 240p very well

2:36 am

Haven't had a chance to hook up my famicom yet either

@Crouton Zircon Ah my bad, it was you that wanted a battery replaced in a cart right?

Sounds like the next SNT firmware is going to be quite a big update for compatability. kev has found and fixed some big ones including Rendering Ranger R2, which seemed hopeless just a couple weeks back. (edited)

2:10 pm

https://www.fastcompany.com/40529429/meet-the-hardware-artisans-keeping-classic-video-games-alive

Meet The Hardware Artisans Keeping Classic Video Games Alive

For companies like Analogue, retro gaming is about more than nostalgia.

2:45 pm

interesting bits in this article, which tells you something about how big some of the community around this stuff is.

2:45 pm

"Markus Hiienkari has seen similar success with Open Source Scan Converter, a crude-looking device that converts SCART input to HDMI output with no distinguishable lag from the game controller. (Incidentally, Hiienkari accomplished this using Field Programmable Gate Arrays.) Hiienkari, who started working on the idea in his spare time in 2013, estimates sales of at least 4,000 units since they started shipping in 2016."

2:47 pm

"Yet a cottage industry does exist to make those things happen. A Florida-based shop called Retro Access, for instance, is in the business of making and shipping SCART cables and related accessories. Rachel Seleski, a classic gaming enthusiast who’s originally from the U.K., started selling the cables as a hobby about seven years ago, and it’s since exploded into a full-time job. Over the last year, she estimates having shipped about 6,000 cables, and plans to hire more employees to keep up with demand, especially after her husband graduates from college and can no longer chip in with manufacturing."

It is funny how scale works with things like this

2:48 pm

Compared to someone operating in a small community on a forum who would make cobble together 50-100 units for members of said community?

2:48 pm

And often those burnout relatively quickly because that is a lot for a single person to manage.

2:49 pm

So these larger projects like OSSC or Super Nt seems absolutely massive in comparison, and they are.

2:49 pm

But then we are talking a few thousand units. Which is essentially nothing compared to a Sony or Microsoft

2:49 pm

Production is hard.

I wonder how many framemeisters have been sold. I wonder if that number might be smaller than one might be led to think.

2:50 pm

I find it hard to judge the size of the market.

2:51 pm

6000 seems much, but considering that a lot of their customers will buy multiple cables the amount of customers will be smaller.

2:51 pm

If sales on retrogamingcables.co.uk would be around the same amount you are talking about a community of around 10.000?

2:52 pm

And yeah, burning out on this stuff is a realistic thing that will and has happened.

Following order numbers (which isn't accurate but gives a range) it looks likely the Super Nt sold around 10k units so far. Give or take.

2:57 pm

Which looks to be Analogue's most successful product, but then also considering the popularity of the SNES across the gaming sphere seems like nothing.

2:57 pm

Lots of factors could be to why, of course

190 bucks to play snes games is still a tough sell.

Yes

2:58 pm

And needing carts in a world where people are used to looking at these devices as "Includes 27 games, waoooh!"

2:58 pm

Even if it is fundamentally a different thing, people just see a SNES box you plug in your TV

Hard to blame them. It's not easy to explain the difference I find.

And I'd bet they are very happy with where it is at

3:00 pm

Look at the shipping woes they had trying to scale to this size

3:00 pm

If they had to ship 500k units that could sink them

Yeah.

3:01 pm

I would estimate AVS sales at a 1000, maybe a bit more. (edited)

3:02 pm

Hardly ever see people mention it, which is too bad. Great device.

Interpolation was added, yeah?

Yes. Works nicely.

3:04 pm

A bit more fine grained control over the width and height would be nice, and some more palette options. But its a fine product as is.

Yeah, focused products like that will be a very good thing on-going, though naturally will appeal to a smaller crowd. Analogue's approach seems to be having a flagship box with a primary focus, and then move on.

3:06 pm

They don't sell their neo-geo anymore, they don't sell the original Nt, unlikely they will do another run of Nt Mini

At this point a cheaper version of the nt mini makes sense. I'd probably get one.

If the NES core and the DAC released for analog output would you still be interested?

3:08 pm

For SNT, that is

I don't have any interest in the analog output really. If they would release the NES core that runs on the SNT probably not. But I don't see the logic in releasing a new nt mini and then undermine sales of it by also by having the core available to run on the SNT.

3:10 pm

I would love for it to happen though

I see it as an inverse problem

3:12 pm

They have one primary engineer, kevtris. His time can be dedicated to working on supporting their primary product (SNT), or maybe the next thing (Mega Drive? who knows), going back to redesign the nt mini board is an option, for sure, but how much interest is there compared to those other two.

3:13 pm

(That last bit is rhetorical. The answer is for Analogue to decide.)

3:18 pm

Personally I still put a lot of stock in cartridge support, so that is what would hurt the most constantly moving forward with a flagship box and a suite of cores on the downlow

3:19 pm

Maybe we'll get those converters, who knows

3:20 pm

Perfect example..

3:20 pm

Say the NES core drops

3:21 pm

You can only play roms. Frank gets a hold of the Sim City board? He can dump it and play it, sure, but he'd never find that discrepancy he found between the board and the rom playing on the nt mini.

Cartridge support would be a non negotiable feature for me. A device would have to have cartridge support. If it wouldn't have one it would be a no buy for me. But for a lot of people..I don't think they'd care much.

Yeah, we will probably be squeezed out sooner or later

3:24 pm

Which is fine, probably, in the long run. But not in these early days. It is essential for easy comparison and confirmation.

3:25 pm

I'm not going to pull out my NES every other day for this stuff. I will if I need to be sure.

I'm thinking of removing the lid from the AVS. It's the one design decision thats a bit meh. Having a NES cart stick out from the top like the Nt Mini also isn't a great solution. It's just hard to put the thing in a cabinet

3:31 pm

oh lordy, cartridge cleaning is a hot topic @SoH

3:31 pm

it brings out the nerd rage

Yeah

And that is how you deal with that situation. Adjust course slightly, haha.

Haha yes.

3:45 pm

And bad jokes

(We're chatting in the analogue discord. Sorry to be oblique.)

Look

4:04 pm

You knew this was a summer fling

4:05 pm

You had to

We can still be friends

I can't be pinned down to just video game history. I gotta be out there among the people. Fighting over chemical residue. Yelling over aspect ratios. You understand.

pssst..it for real was my first discord channel

Real talk though, I am on way way way too many discord servers. I don't even check in on half of them, easily. I need to clean house.

You lot are my fave discord server. My people!

(edited)

VGHF is one of the few I don't mute the server as a whole. Big sign of respect as far as my discord usage goes.

4:14 pm

Also, cool if this goes somewhere..

4:14 pm

https://twitter.com/SmokeMonsterTWI/status/975205964658987008

https://youtu.be/89wq5EoXy-0

Super Nintendo: PityOnU is coding SuperFX implementation in Verilog. It will be interesting to see where this leads. FPGA SNES SFX core support? The Super NT's firmware is coded in Verilog after all https://t.co/SDi00cgM97 https://t.co/uR5gAkl...

4:15 pm

This is also why cart loading is important. If this leads to a flashcart with SFX support

I looked at the code of that and I didn’t understand any of it. So alas, my philips cd-I in FPGA form project is now officially cancelled.

And the dozen fanboys weep openly

You will have to resort to inaccurate hotel Mario emulation

My Hotel Mario speedrun career is effectively dead

4:19 pm

I should burn an afternoon and get a little more familiar with verilog

4:20 pm

Parts of its syntax look straightforward, and then you run into like..

4:20 pm

    always @( * )
    begin
        g = x & y;
        p = x ^ y;
        z = x ^ y ^ c;
    end

4:20 pm

Is that a loop? What are we looking at here.

4:25 pm

oh, that is how you describe logic gates. Interesting.

M.

Hahah same here, way too many discord channels to keep up with... Which is a shame because there's a lot of cool ones but this one is the only one I make sure I read all the convos.

11:22 pm

Also the world needs CDI FGPA. Don't let us down @Wietse van Bruggen !

I aim to disappoint

No thats from the cartoon

12:47 pm

That were part of the smb super show

Time for this super fx classic on the super nt

10:03 pm

The intro is still quite impressive looking for an SFX game

10:06 pm

It’s one of the more smoother playing SFX games.

Interesting. Apparently the visual style and the intro is inspired by a Norwegian demoscene group.

10:35 pm

RetroDemoScene

Spaceballs - State of the Art - Amiga Demo (HD 50fps)

10:36 pm

https://youtu.be/4IMCpUCby2U

Attract Mode

Winter Gold Intro

10:38 pm

What’s also interesting to me is that the intro music was made by a Dutch creator.

Ah I need to purchase that game eventually to scan the box art.

12:22 am

I've been able to find some high res PAL exclusive box scans but not all.

Got my shipping notice for my Super SD System 3

Very cool, let me know how you like it

2:40 pm

I only have something like half a dozen TG16 games, and all hu-cards

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Silver-Analogue-Nt-Mini-System-Out-of-Production-and-VERY-RARE-Extra-s/183110337539?hash=item2aa23a0403:g:-rwAAOSwxEtanWxx

9:12 pm

what?

9:12 pm

Even with the everdrive this is bonkers

good lord

I wonder what the smallest run Analogue could do

Yeah they are going nuts, I sold mine for $900 a few months back. Mistake in hindsight!

9:22 pm

also at that time i thought they would be producing more... whoops

I think I'd be shocked if they didn't release a new NT that's HDMI only and two controller inputs.

9:38 pm

And same build material as Super NT.

9:39 pm

It'd be a smart business move since at this point it'd be a Kevtris-less effort, probably.

9:40 pm

At least, partly Kevtris-less.

I hope they just sell the cores on the Super NT too. I'd like to avoid having to have anymore systems hooked up.

3:36 pm

The Ultimate 64's are going up for Pre-Order throughout the day. I grabbed one about an hour ago. https://ultimate64.com/Main_products

Category | Ultimate 64

what is it?

C64 FGPA

awesome

Honestly it's not that much more than finding an actual C64 with a working power supply.

I ordered one those C64 mini things..dunno if they're going to be any good. But at least its a hassle free way to explore C64 a bit more. Have very little experience with the system.

Yeah those look cool, will be nice if they can load roms as well.

oh gee this is small as heck

It's kind of a pain in the ass to get a nice working C64 setup so this FGPA solution will be handy.

You can load roms through usb

3:43 pm

stick in an usb stick

3:43 pm

the keyboard on the mini is just decorative, have to plug one in through usb

Nice

https://support.analogue.co/hc/en-us/articles/360000557452-Super-Nt-Firmware-Update-v4-5

Super Nt: Firmware Update v4.5

Please upgrade your Super Nt to the latest firmware for the best possible experience. You will need a small SD card to upgrade the firmware on your Super Nt. v4.5 notes:

Fixed Rendering Ranger R...

Great amount of fixes

Got the Component to RGB converter to the 27" Late Trinitron I picked up the other week. It looks okay but the TV itself looks like it's been heavily used and likely needs recapping before I can really judge it. Not sure if I want to go to all that trouble.

2:33 pm

I doubt there's a cap kit list and the SOB is so heavy I'd rather not have to lug it back downstairs and up again.

2:34 pm

I don't know how people deal with 32"+ inch tubes. They must be a lot stronger than me!

I remember my friend's parent got a 36" and remember thinking it was the most ridiculous monster ever

2:39 pm

And now people have 70+ panels, slightly different being flat sure, but funny how our brains work here.

Hahaha i know, my buddy just bought a 75" and i thought it was silly.

2:53 pm

Gotta sit pretty far back for the ideal viewing on that.

optimal viewing seating arrangements are a lot closer than most people generally expect

6:23 pm

and now with 4k it's actually become even closer (edited)

6:25 pm

I have a 65" wall-mounted TV, with a couch about 5 1/2 feet away. It works out fine because of the layout of my apartment

6:25 pm

in the sense that it actually works out to have the couch square in the middle, leaving walking room in front and behind it for access to the balcony

6:26 pm

but most people who come by and visit usually remark about how close it is. And then if they hang out and watch/play something they invariably tell me "oh, this is actually nice"

I was curious so I measured the picture from the super nt properly adjusted for 4:3 on my TV and it would be like having a 44" CRT back in the day.

8:04 pm

I am pretty sure the biggest TV we ever owned was like 27"

8:04 pm

I guess you could say I've moved up in the world since mario world.....

Ah true didn't consider the 4k resolution changing things.

Cart dumping coming in the super nt jailbreak, dropping very soon

https://github.com/SmokeMonsterPacks/Super-NT-Jailbreak/releases/tag/v6.6

SmokeMonsterPacks/Super-NT-Jailbreak

Super-NT-Jailbreak - Custom "Jailbreak" firmware for the Analogue Super NT

i dumped all my carts and it feels great

Yeah, really loving that feature.

6:35 pm

It’s also an easy way to check if the snt reads a cart or not. Had to do quite a thorough pin clean to get the Rockman x2 and x3 carts to run that arrived today.

6:35 pm

And special chips game so far have all dumped

Is there any benefit to playing your dumped copy vs say, the no-intro rom?

I would guess no.

Not belittling the feature. I think it's awesome, just curious.

Nice to back up saves though. Wonder if it’s ever going to be possible to write them back.

6:37 pm

Yeah, it’s a novelty for most. But a nice one

There is a very small possibility of undocumented revisions still being out there. Not likely, but the more people dumping their carts the more likely for it to be found.

7:10 pm

But if it produces the same hash they are literally identical data, so just becomes an ethical thing.

7:11 pm

I do like having a folder of all my roms just because it makes discussing this stuff in public forums that have a harsh roms = piracy policy easier. (edited)

7:11 pm

I just switch to discussing those specifically.

7:12 pm

(Although there is nothing stopping you from copying the roms from no-intro for all the carts you have and renaming them something. haha)

Yeah, it’s nice that there are more devices that can dump things out there. I’m guessing that especially on pal country there might be some revisions not backed up. Or versions for different regions within PAL territory.

True, the more I learn of PAL the more I am convinced it is largely overlooked. (edited)

7:15 pm

There is almost definitely someone in new zealand sitting on something nobody has

First time that I’m running the jb firmware now. Pity you can’t change hardware region when loading from sd card

7:17 pm

After the game has loaded

Why not?

How can you enter the video menu? Because the game stops when you back out of the sd browser you can’t change the region and thus the speed after the game has already loaded. Some pal games won’t run when you start them in ntsc mode

oh, is it the settings thing?

7:18 pm

Yeah, the latest jb somehow does even a worse job explaining

7:19 pm

ctrl+down to bring up the sd menu. Start to go to settings from there.

Aaaah

UX leaves... a lot to be desired.

This is odd. I’ve dumped fifa 97

7:27 pm

And both on cart and from the rom I can’t get back to the snt menu with the button combinations

7:28 pm

The game runs though.

That happens with some games under some scenarios. Haven't figured out what the magic combo is.

7:31 pm

I believe the SNT is doing a sort of fake interrupt on the game's behalf to read the inputs, and sometimes that doesn't work 100%.

7:32 pm

99.999% yeah, but there is a weird edge case in there somewhere. Wait like 20 seconds and try it again and it will magically work. It is strange.

It’s the raphnet adapter

oh? Interesting. I had not considered that.

7:39 pm

Able to replicate every time, with and without, consistent?

Everytime

7:49 pm

From cart, from sd in super nt, from sd2snes

7:49 pm

It works fine with original controller though

7:49 pm

It’s specific to the raphnet adapter it seems

7:50 pm

Odd. F-Zero has SRAM?

It does

8:01 pm

Has some basic stat tracking

Starfox has SRAM too

so if you dump carts with special chips, I'm assuming they won't run w/o the cart, right?

8:46 pm

Still need those chips.

it wont run at all

Right.

it cant use the chips from the cart with a rom from sd

Right, it'd play off the cart.

special chips can only be run from cart

So the value in dumping your special chip carts is really just preservation.

retrode couldn't dump special chip games, either, so a nice little upgrade from that device too

it is for me. Nice to have save games from games with old batteries backed up

It would be wild if you could have a ROM tap into a different cart's special chips...

8:49 pm

Like if you had Mega Man X2, you could pop that in and play Mega Man X3 off the SD and somehow miraculously it could utilize the CX4 chip and anything else it needed (provided it was on the cart.)

8:50 pm

^ this is all just crazy talk

afaik thats mostly not a possibility

Pop in Kirby's Super Star, play Super Mario RPG

but you could go this route and just get rockman x3

haha, I'm sure it's impossible... or at the very least possible but not worth the effort

8:52 pm

got these in today from japan. sure as hell a lot cheaper than US/PAL carts of those

My understanding is the rom and the enhancement chip are connected at the hip, in that you could potentially use the rom + a loaner cart thing, but only if the loaner cart is that same game...

10:21 pm

And if you have the cart for that game already... then...

10:25 pm

Can read a bit about higan tackles it, I still don't completely understand it if I am being perfectly honest.

10:25 pm

https://byuu.org/emulation/higan/firmware

10:26 pm

You have to concat the binaries into a single file..

10:26 pm

copy /b sbl2.sfc + dsp1.program.rom + dsp1.data.rom

10:27 pm

Go ahead and try and load the no-intro version of mario kart in higan. Have fun.

10:28 pm

https://higan.readthedocs.io/en/stable/guides/import/

Hahaha

11:49 pm

Big plus of Retroarch there, makes Higan just work.

Well I just bought a Philips CDI Console from Ebay... am I now forsaken?

Depends. Is it just for shelf decoration? (edited)

1:54 am

Or are you one of those people that needs every Zelda game?

I need every Hotel Mario game.

2:03 am

It's always been a curiosity to me, and price seem to be sadly rising for it so i figured i better try now

i compared the hashes of the dumps of all my cartridges to the ones in no-intro, and they all matched except for super metroid. apparently my dump just has an extra 1MB of padding on the end. but i'm not clear on whether there's something weird about my cart, or copysnes is detecting the size incorrectly and padding it out, or whether it always dumps that way and somebody just manually removed the padding for no-intro, or what

6:38 am

without the padding it's identical, so i guess it doesn't really matter, but it's annoying me

https://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=7451.0

gsu (superfx) support [work in progress]

10:16 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vuDBvGyn2o

orion4096

2018 03 25 21 14 40

10:16 am

Star Fox is working (buggy) on sd2snes

Seems to be running quite slow

Cool. Seems to be moving along faster than how complex people talked about the chip being.

1:29 pm

https://twitter.com/SmokeMonsterTWI/status/978862820761751554

https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B01L2JB18M/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522264875&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=deoxit+d5&dpPl=1&dpID=41P--3rf2sL&ref=plSrch

Day one of CopySNES's reveal on the Super NT Jailbreak v6.6 and there are already 2 never before seen ROMs out by @idcAvalaunch King Arthur's World (USA) (Beta) Super SWIV (Japan) (En) (Beta) SS exists nowhere & No-Intro's KAW is full of refe...

1:30 pm

Not too surprising being betas, but it is nice it is easier to dump stuff now.

1:31 pm

Easier isn't the right word. (edited)

1:32 pm

Nice that it is more accessible being in a device likely to reach a wider audience than a specific piece of hardware like the retrode. Which isn't even available anymore.

just in hopes that y'all can extract some joy from my pain: i mentioned a while ago that i got an n-gage and was offered a free sim card w/ a month of service

4:19 pm

basically everything that could go wrong did: the memory card i ordered was corrupted and my entire state is a deadzone so i couldn't activate the phone

4:20 pm

i went on a trip last week and was excited to be in another state with service so i could finally activate it

4:20 pm

but when i turned it on, i had something known as the "white screen of death", rendering it totally useless

4:21 pm

to add insult to injury, when i got back from the trip, the replacement memory card i ordered a month ago had arrived ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So does that mean the N-Gage is dead?

Pretty much, Nokia was able to reflash them but as far as I know the software hasnt leaked

5:18 pm

Mine did the same thing

yeah, i did some searching on old forum posts and it sounds like i could build some sort of cable to reflash it but i would also need that software

I have some hardware which might work for certain units anyway, although the pins are all screwy so Im not sure they function properly. I think they are for reflashing anyway

What was that stuff called that you use to clean cartridge pins again @SoH ?

7:15 pm

Wanna try it on my x2 and x3 carts. Cleaned them with alcohol but they still won’t boot all the time.

7:15 pm

See if that stuff helps

deoxit d5

7:16 pm

I picked up some erasers, though my understanding is it strips layers of the contacts so I only plan to use it in extreme cases. (edited)

7:16 pm

But I couldn't argue with these results:

7:17 pm

Click through for album

Neat

7:18 pm

How do you apply the deoxit stuff effectively?

It should have a little red hose to do point sprays. I do a couple hits across the contacts then scrub with q-tip.

With an opened up cart?

Yeah, it is pretty much impossible to do a full solid clean keeping the shell closed.

K

Basically I start with iso alcohol move up to deoxit if it is particularly troublesome, and might move up to plastic eraser if the previous two haven't done the job.

7:21 pm

I have a handful of carts that despite loads of cleaning are still pretty bad. They were abused.

7:22 pm

So I'll probably sacrifice one or two as the plastic eraser prototype.

Is this the right stuff?

7:23 pm

That's the stuff

1

7:26 pm

It seems they have a new one "DN5" that has "no dripping action" hah, whatever that means. I've just had a can around for a while for various uses.

7:29 pm

And to return to the brasso thing briefly:

7:29 pm

https://twitter.com/Voultar/status/977733869695852544

Voultar (@Voultar)

I was watching one of @AdamKoralik's legendary video's where Windex is endorsed as a cleaner for contacts. @MrMario2011 asked about IPA in the comments section and @retrogamingarts mentions Brasso. Both Windex and Brasso are HUGE no no's. http...

7:30 pm

FWIW I have never met an electrical engineer who would recommend touching anything electrical in nature with brasso or windex. But maybe I need to socialize more.

Just ordered a can. See if this makes these carts boot more reliably.

7:31 pm

Also bless the retrousb nes controller having turbo buttons. Gun.smoke arrived today. That game kills fingers.

They tried to deliver my Super SD System 3 today! That arrived faster than I thought via Correos. WIll be able to grab it at the post office tomorrow. Can't wait

11:47 pm

I'm now ashamed i used brasso for so long

11:53 pm

I had one disappear for like 3 months from here to Austria when I was sending a Picno card to get dumped heh

11:54 pm

I figured it was lost but FINALLY arrived.

11:54 pm

The worst case of that was Byuu's PAL SNES carts that were almost lost by USPS

11:54 pm

Yeah never want to lose that kind of stuff

11:55 pm

Alright off to a concert. Electric Six

Alright!

3:14 pm

The biggest challenge in trying to explain geometry and aspect ratios and analog signal isn't understanding the underlying math, science, and technology. (edited)

3:14 pm

It is trying to do it using fewer words than the freaking old testament.

3:16 pm

(783k, if curious, I guess I'm doing okay by that metric, but still, nobody is going to read two thousand five hundred words about rectangles.)

It can be both

True. I think my actual hope here is that it finds a small audience who finds it useful/interesting, and then some youtuber makes a fancy video of it all and doesn't butcher the details too much.

4:47 pm

If I could stand editing video I'd maybe do it myself, but after effects hates me on a personal level.

i'd read it

https://twitter.com/AbusedGames/status/979383946487136257

Abused Games (@AbusedGames)

Star Fox 64 (Nintendo 64, 1997) TESTED & WORKS Condition:Acceptable

Retweets

670

Likes

1498

3

https://gph.is/2tX1Vs9 (edited)

6:27 pm

Crouton, I'll drop a link in here before I release it to the wild. Not like I have an editor or anything so any early feedback would be appreciated.

1

Wish desktop discord let you specify if a gif loops endlessly or not.

6:41 pm

Mobile version has it right.

I busted out loud laughing at the Abused Games account and my coworkers got concerned https://twitter.com/AbusedGames/status/961484279346851840 (edited)

Abused Games (@AbusedGames)

Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64, 1997) Lot 003 Item condition:Good

Retweets

1181

Likes

3191

Haha.

7:39 pm

Love it

7:39 pm

This deoxit stuff is great so far @SoH. Rockman x2 and x3 seem to boot reliably

1

9:55 am

Bubsy too btw..

Is the commodore 64’s joystick supposed to be awful. Have never played with one..but the c64 mini joystick is not a joy to play with..

Plugged in PS4 controller..much more enjoyable, though support for other controllers is pretty buggy

I've never used the c64 joystick but I could easily believe it isn't the hottest piece of hardware ever constructed.

Even on a flat surface I find it kinda hard to use

First joystick I ever used was the IBM PCjr, I wonder how it feels, I have only foggy memories

2:27 pm

At first playing with the PS4 controls work fine but after a much minute or so something goes wrong and the joystick input gets confused. Doesn’t control smoothly anymore which makes games unplayable

Using an emulator or some sort of adapter?

2:34 pm

Runs a version of VICE I believe

what c64 joystick are we talking about? i had a couple of different kinds with mine and i'm not sure what was the "official" one

The one bundled with the mini

3:11 pm

yikes, i dunno, that's not like anything i ever used

3:13 pm

i thought you meant the original hardware

https://thec64.com

site-admin

THEC64 Mini Computer

is that thing any good? i wouldn't mind an hdmi-capable c64

Just got it. Not able to judge it yet besides I don’t like the joystick at all and usb controller support is very buggy.

3:16 pm

It’s an emulator box. 64 pre installled games. Ability to load your own stuff.

3:16 pm

UI is very much nes/snes mini inspired

do you get the bios?

If by that you mean it runs the basic prompt then yes

3:19 pm

The keyboard on the console is not functional. They implemented a nice virtual keyboard solution, or you can plug in a usb keyboard.

i guess that's kinda cool... but what i really want is the super nt of c64 (edited)

C64 is just an almost complete blind spot for me. I know it was popular, but I have no feel for it and experience. Figured it’s a way to get a bit of a feel for it.

3:22 pm

i still have my original hardware but it's really rough on a modern tv

3:24 pm

and the floppy drive is finicky

Anything in particular that you think I should play to get an idea on what made the system stand out for you?

off the top of my head... games that i remember playing a lot... pole position, ghostbusters, impossible mission, tapper, carmen sandiego, burger time, dig dug, pengo, zaxxon, wizard of wor, gridrunner.... a lot of the games were ports but they were usually pretty good versions

I remember liking Test Drive, and Kickman was the first game I ever played

3:31 pm

I think it also had a port of Bionic Commando?

california/summer/winter games were ok

Looks like it did

potty pigeon

Title alone is a winner on that one

there was some weird text adventure called "asylum" that i mostly remember for having a scary title screen

Yeah, that's right! Tim Follin did the music for it too

but i never really figured out how to play it

3:34 pm

oh yeah, murder on the mississippi is good

Thanks for the tips!

@Wietse van Bruggen I enjoyed Great Giana Sisters and Alice in Wonderland. You might check those out.

So this is neat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=_qys9sdzJKI

Tyler Loch

RetroArch Run-Ahead - Less input lag than real hardware!

I’m wary of everything published this weekend

it's real, the discussions go back almost three weeks

Anybody else have a Super SD System 3 yet? I tried loading my Castlevania Rondo of Blood translated image but it fails. Other games work fine.

https://twitter.com/LuigiBlood/status/981232979711315969/photo/1

LuigiBlood (@LuigiBlood)

I'm weak.

Repro or sd2snes?

sd2snes

6:17 pm

beta firmware is out

Gonna try it out later tonight. Yeah I saw

also I found out that the game does not like the Super Scope (edited)

6:18 pm

And tells me it's not compatible

Creator is on the Analogue discord (edited)

yeah I know

6:18 pm

So, as a result, just to see: I removed the region free patch

6:18 pm

by curiosity

6:19 pm

and yeah, the game complains

6:19 pm

Playing on my PAL SNES on a CRT (because it's the only thing plugged)

Region lockout message?

My CRT has a vertical zoom thing to remove the inherent black borders

6:19 pm

Yeah

I played some stuff on crt yesterday for the first time in like 10 years. Almost got me thinking to get a CRT again. Almost.

I needed one for the Super Scope

6:26 pm

So I didn't have a choice there

It was fun to play duck hunt again, but I was also like “this was nice to play again but am I really going to play this a lot?”

Also I think it's much easier to make a Super Scope compatible with LCDs than the Zapper

How so? (edited)

Super Scope uses CRT timing rather than checking almost every frame what it is aiming

6:40 pm

As in the Super Scope knows which pixel is being drawn

6:40 pm

rather than using white blocks

6:42 pm

The calibration is also there to correct problems with each CRT

6:42 pm

I thought of doing like a strobe light in front of the Super Scope

6:43 pm

But the timing of the strobe shifts slightly depending on where you aim

6:43 pm

But the Super Scope does not tell where it is aiming, specifically

6:44 pm

When the signal is sent (let's say you pressed fire and Super Scope found a light)

6:45 pm

What the receiver does is telling the SNES this: "Hey, which pixel are you drawing right now? Put that in a register."

6:45 pm

Game reads the register to get X and Y

6:45 pm

and corrects with the calibration data

6:45 pm

done

Aha

6:46 pm

So the problem is how to compensate for display lag? Or could that be a manageable margin?

that's why the game asks every time to shoot the center

6:47 pm

when you boot it

6:48 pm

But it doesn't work for LCD because it updates the screen way faster than CRTs

6:49 pm

The problem is to let the Super Scope detect light with the right timing

6:49 pm

LCDs don't do that

6:49 pm

Unless you do have one that updates the screen live (which exists, but incredibly rare) (edited)

6:50 pm

That's why I thought of a strobe light

6:50 pm

Which lights up every 1/60

6:50 pm

once a frame

6:51 pm

but the timing of it tells where the pixel is

6:51 pm

No one has done it.

6:51 pm

as far as I know

I know that someone created a working method for zapper games, but that tech works differently like you said

Zapper games does not work the same

6:53 pm

indeed

6:53 pm

Super Scope is a way better Zapper

Trying out the sfx implementation for sd2snes too now..pretty impressive so far!

7:08 pm

Got to the black hole fine

7:08 pm

I just tried out the Alpha Star Fox 2 ROMs

7:33 pm

they work somehow lol

So, speed is definitely off a little bit.

8:05 pm

Depends on the section and how much stuff has to be drawn, but it’s definitely a bit faster than on a real cart.

I think it's slightly faster than on SNES Mini

8:10 pm

Even though I played on a PAL SNES (edited)

Starfox 1 is faster

8:11 pm

I don’t have enough experience on Starfox 2 to definitively tell, but i would say it is faster

But I think it's like, in between

The raphnet snes mini controller adapter has the same issue with Starfox 2 as a few other games. You can’t get into the super nt’s menus with the key combinations

faster but could be a lot slower also

Hmmm...and now the shortcut keys do work again

8:17 pm

Odd

Thanks for commenting on that, Frank. That server is looking more and more like a lurk spot, if even that. Disappointing.

sigh.

yeah

he's not an employee, it's a community-run thing, but that was definitely not clear to me since the company participates there (maybe started it?)

I was trying to find if they tweeted it

It is a bit unclear

I don't remember where I got the link, but I was under the assumption it was the official discord

I believe it spun out of the Atari Age forum, but not entirely certain.

2:58 pm

Google points most to reddit though

2:58 pm

Could just be their SEO (edited)

I think the jailbreak readme file originally referred to the Discord as "official" but it doesn't anyone.

iirc that kevin lee guy just started it on his own and posted a link in the atariage thread, but it was never very clear. either way, what the fuck

I believe we discussed this earlier and I am revisiting because of some curiosity around early NES mapper history. Since I didn't really have a sense of how it came together.

11:56 pm

Referencing from here, but I'll pull out the applicable parts: https://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/Cartridge_and_mappers'_history

11:57 pm

1985 June 21st
Konami's "Hyper Olympic Gentaiban!" is the first game to use hardware other than ROMs (not counting Family BASIC). The cartridge was made by Konami and uses some circuitry to allow 16 KB of CHR ROM, switching between two 8 KiB banks. Mappers were born.

(edited)

11:57 pm

Cart: http://bootgod.dyndns.org:7777/profile.php?id=4678

11:57 pm

1985 September 27th
Jaleco released "City Connection", which uses the same circuit as Konami's above-mentioned CHR banking.

11:58 pm

Cart: http://bootgod.dyndns.org:7777/profile.php?id=3006

11:58 pm

1986 April
Bandai, Konami and Nintendo appear to start producing CNROM games almost simultaneously. It's an improvement over Konami's circuit that uses only one chip instead of two, at the cost of having bus conflicts.

11:59 pm

Cart: http://bootgod.dyndns.org:7777/profile.php?id=1569 (edited)

12:03 am

Gradius seems to be one of, if not the earliest iNES mapper 3 carts (edited)

12:04 am

Anyway, what I find interesting here beyond just general chronology of this stuff. Is how you can tell the ines mapper table approached this from a wildly different approach than chronological.

12:05 am

It goes 87 -> 3 (edited)

12:05 am

Not that approaching it chronologically would make any sense, mind

12:08 am

1986 April 17th
Sunsoft's "Atlantis no Nazo" appears to be the first cartridge that uses a dedicated mapper chip (as opposed to 74 series logic chips). Other companies follow this trend promptly.

12:08 am

Cart: http://bootgod.dyndns.org:7777/profile.php?id=1544

12:08 am

Worth mention, as well

12:15 am

1987 April 14th
Seta's "Morita Shougi" appears to be the first game to use the Nintendo MMC1 mapper. It's also the first game cartridge with 8 KiB of PRG RAM and battery backup.

12:15 am

Cart: http://bootgod.dyndns.org:7777/profile.php?id=3479

12:15 am

And the big one, MMC1, didn't hit until the famicom was 4 years old

12:16 am

iNES mapper 1

12:17 am

Used by ~678 games, according to the cartridge database

12:17 am

Anyway, I'll stop spamming, but this has been your mapper history minute.

Oh wow. I never saw that original notification from the analogue discord. That’s...just wow

12:18 pm

Also, the mapper info was neat! Never delved much into it

I might put something slightly cleaner together for my own reference. The nesdev wiki is nice but something that slightly more clearly explains than "uses some circuitry to allow 16 KB of CHR ROM" (edited)

2:08 pm

I thought that stuff was all bank switching, but not entirely sure here, will have to dig more.

Realize this is couple days old now but first I am seeing it: https://www.vg247.com/2018/04/06/super-nt-nt-mini-analogue-hd-interview/

Alex Donaldson

The battle for retro perfection with Analogue's Super Nt: a SNES f...

Analogue is on a mission to revitalize the way fans play classic games. The Super Nt is the latest step in that battle.

“The price tag that we placed on the Nt Mini wasn’t just because it was in an aluminium shell – we had to charge that amount of money because that’s how much it took to be able to sustain ourselves as a business after investing that time, effort and money into producing something totally proprietary.”

2:59 pm

R&D the oft forgotten cost sink of these sorts of projects.

Felt so nice leaving that Discord server. Thank you all for not being another toxic corner of the internet.

2

it would be kinda weird if we attracted that sort of thing here, but if we did it would be gone

Oh yeah, for sure. This is different, and Patreon still a requirement to join, right? It's just that's not the first Discord server I've left that seemed fine for a bit and then a bulk of users revealed some ugly stuff I don't care to associate with.

I just left too, I checked in and the conversation is basically "this is just how it is shrug you should see IRC"

7:37 pm

like I wasn't on IRC 15+ years ago being a shithead

I have zero tolerance for "everyone is PC, society is too soft" argument.

7:42 pm

Don't want to beat a dead horse though, just wanted to share a quick thanks for this being a solid place to talk games/history/preservation.

Atari 2600: is it worth to go original hardware route or just get something like this flashback consoles. I did kinda fall in love with the look of the original model again last week and the way the joystick felt..

CRT or HDTV?

Hdtv

Best option to run software by far is the NT Mini, but you'd have to build an adapter or something for the stick (and I don't even know if it can do paddle) (edited)

Plus I would have to fork out a lot of cash

I also think the Framemeister lag might be too high for paddle games but I haven't tried

8:30 pm

Anyway I like playing my original a lot, don't know much about the clones

8:31 pm

I roll with a Sunnyvale "heavy sixer," I read those earliest models have the best video out. I run it un-modded through a TV tuner to convert RF to composite

I dunno if an early model like that would’ve made its way to Europe back in the day

At least one of the clones was "real hardware," I'm imagining it's got clean composite out too

8:40 pm

Games built in but you can attach a cart port

8:40 pm

Flashback 2 maybe?

I'd probably give it at least a few more weeks too, just because I think the cores for the snt are still not entirely out of the question.

True

Yeah. Guess I’ll wait for a bit

9:22 pm

Dealing with RF just seems very annoying to me. I’m sure my tv could it but I’d rather want to unplug /plug the coax cable just to get it running.

Finally ordered another Everdrive! Decided to go with GBA instead of GB/C or both. Very excited. Now to twiddle my thumbs and wait.

Has anyone in the U.S. ordered an Everdrive from Stone Age Gamer? Seems like you get the same product you'd get it if you ordered direct.

11:34 pm

They print Krikzz on the label, too.

Yeah pretty much

11:36 pm

Only main difference is you'd get it sooner since it would be a more local shipment

Yeah. I'm thinking about getting the GBA Everdrive as well and don't feel like waiting until the Black Friday sale. Seems like Stone Age Gamer would make more sense.

The ones I've ordered, I d also liked the fact they give the option for sd cards and , subjectively, I like their labels and shells more

11:38 pm

One downside I've had with them is they don't always communicate if the Everdrive you want is in stock. Took them almost a month to send me an N64 one

Good to know, thanks! Maybe I'll message them beforehand.

Perhaps I should have thought of that before I ordered haha. Well, it'll be here at the end of the month probably.

I'm extremely ready to do a GBA library deep dive.

here's the trick for the GBA:

Same! Keep me posted if you find any gems. I did the backlight screen mod on an original GBA a few months ago. Ripped through whatever carts I had laying around.

sometimes licensed games are actually good

I'm always open to stuff that looks like it might be garbage at first glance, which is an asset with the GBA I'm sure lol

Like the first Pirates of the Caribbean game is... weird. And has nothing to do with the movie

1:01 am

and I don't mean in a "These characters only show up for ten minutes in the movie"

1:02 am

I mean they bought a nearly complete game with pirates in it, and changed the title screen

1:02 am

and the second Pirates of the Caribbean game is a knockoff IGAvania

That's hilarious.

One of the games I have is Disney's Chicken Little. It's... not awful.

also one of the Shaman King games is literally Castlevania

Yeah I'm really ready. I know it's got a bad shovelware reputation but I've always been a big GBA fan and there are quite a few excellent games on it

GBA turned out to be the best video game introduction for my 4 1/2 yr old since there's only two buttons and a lot of licensed games he sort of recognizes.

GBA would be my second favorite portable system if not for how bad the sound is

1:04 am

for years I didn't even notice

1:04 am

but then I heard the "fixed" versions of pokemon songs

1:04 am

and now I can't unhear it

I like the way the GBA sounds actually, though the speakers are definitely tinny. Tempted to get one of the original GBAs so I can use headphones.

Get a backlit modded original GBA. The best.

GBA 1 did have a good design

2:39 am

but if there any good reason to use an OG GBA over a DSlite?

2:40 am

I hope the batter on my DSlite never explodes. That system was the first time I held a piece of technology in my hands and thought "This feels really nice"

2:41 am

Saturn was the first time I thought a console looked good (it looks like a gundam) but DSlite was the one where everything came together

2:41 am

especially after the grotesque monstrosity of the DS

DS scales in a pretty poor way, though you can play it back in native res, ends up fairly small due to the higher DPI though. And the sound is worse.

2:43 am

Even still I picked up that game boy macro mod. pretty cool

2:44 am

https://i.imgur.com/ZnTXUyR.jpg

... you monster

2:45 am

I still don't understand why they never implimented a system level button swap for the X&Y buttons while playing GBA games on DS

2:45 am

although I guess the answer is just ~Nintendo~

2:46 am

no reason to make playing GBA games any more pleasant (edited)

Nintendo will make 9 incredible decisions, and then 1 that makes you scratch your head.

2:47 am

It is the only constant I believe in, in this world

I'll have to look into the backlight modded OG GBA. I love my AGS-101 SP tho.

SP is good, yeah, though I believe a bit more washed out than a good modded backlight? Can't remember.

2:55 am

Tiny shame that every GBA revision comes with a bit of a trade off.

I'm legitimately excited about how many Yugioh games I havent' played are on GBA.

did you ever play Dungeon Dice Monsters? that one was really interesting

would you buy a screenless FPGA GBA player that was HDMI out with 8bitdo controller support?

No! I'm curious about it though

If the price was right, of course.

I don't think so. It's a handheld after all!

I'm just thinking about what @SoH said about the tradeoffs.

2:59 am

digital video + audio out... could be nice.

i would too

It'd be ideal for streaming and video capture.

Since there is not a hardware solution with perfect output for GBA that exists yet, this would be a much-appreciated product

CPU is a 32bit ARM chip so probably way too complex for FPGA any time in the near future. Although there has to be a ton of perfectly good units with trashed screens, destroyed battery, etc...

6:11 pm

Maybe we see a repurpose like the original Analogue nt (edited)

6:11 pm

Using real hardware

!!! lemme go light up a kickstarter with no proof of concept and no technical skills.

6:12 pm

seems to work for most people.

Buy buy buy

SoH: 32 bit arm7 isn't that complicated actually, the chip in the SuperNT might be beefy enough to handle GBA

6:15 pm

before the ARM9 era, ARM chips were fairly simple

whoa... http://stephens-projects.com/projects/gbahdmi/

smwilliams614

Game Boy Advance HDMI Adapter

Someone was working on a VGA adapter too for SPs

interesting...

6:21 pm

maybe something to do with my non-backlit SP

SNES controller input too

6:21 pm

ooo I think I came across this before but it wasn't available yet.

https://bennvenn.myshopify.com/products/vgamite-vga-out-for-gba-sp

VGAmite (VGA out for GBA SP)

Beta units, may contain bugs! Check FB for full details, Assembled PCB and ribbon ONLY. Soldering required. Ask all questions before purchasing. Assembly may be delayed, estimated 3 - 4 weeks, maybe sooner. To complete the mod, you will need a...

6:22 pm

Not finished yet

"To complete the mod, you will need a SNES controller (original or repro), a GBA SP, some fine wire."

HDMI would be wonderful though. My IS-AGB-Capture is S-Video at best

I initially glanced at that as ... "...some fine wine."

6:23 pm

...oh, it's that kind of mod.

Ohh that person has a project for Game Gear and made a consolized NGPC

6:24 pm

One of each, please!

nice

6:24 pm

I still need a GG and NGPC for my collection

6:24 pm

and a TG16

I was so thrilled to see GG support in the NT Mini since getting a modded system was pretty much next in line for me

GG games can be converted to run on a mega drive/genesis through a flash cart. Dunno of this applies to the full GG library.

It is a very manual process, and the end result is often glitchy and inevitably has a reduced color palette

6:10 pm

The GG has way more colors than the SMS

If anyone feels like reading my rough draft of nearly FIVE THOUSAND words on pixels and geometry and maths and analog signals, let me know.

I'm not entirely sure if this works, I've never used medium before. I still need to make a few more editing passes, not entirely happy with the flow of passages

4:30 am

And please don't share link, etc, etc..

4:30 am

https://medium.com/@smiteofhand/aspect-ratio-and-the-foolish-pursuit-of-accurate-geometry-530d6ed4a779

Aspect Ratio and the Foolish Pursuit of Accurate Geometry

A definitive guide or something like it

4:33 am

It's a lot. I'm sorry. If I could find fewer words I would.

Cool

1:56 pm

I tried to strike a balance from hyper technically specific, while not going full Carmack.

1:56 pm

Never go full Carmack.

I don't know I can honestly claim I succeeded with 5,000 words, but I'll keep trying to simplify. It is a lot of ground to cover.

2:36 pm

In any case I'll give FBX a run for their money in the extremely long and hyper specifics on video of video game articles category. (edited)

@SoH A lot of it went over my head but I enjoyed reading it!

Would you say it is more the overwhelming density of it all, or does the writing itself not explain things as clearly as it possibly could? (edited)

Overwhelming density. I think you do about as good a job as you can explaining it and leaving the formulas

4:03 pm

But you're digging into the nitty gritty of it so that's to be expected.

My hope is some youtube channel like MLiG will take it and make a more directed explanation.

4:04 pm

Having the benefit of "if you want to know more, read here:"

4:04 pm

Where if I try to do that you are reading BT.601 spec docs, and who wants to do that?

4:04 pm

Nobody, that's who.

4:04 pm

Except weirdos like me.

Hahaha

I think it would benefit a lot from having a summary at the top.

6:03 pm

Before diving in to the deep end.

6:03 pm

People should be able to read the intro, recommendation, and opening summary, and be able to walk away satisfied, I think.

6:04 pm

The rest will be there for the types who insist 256x224 is all that matters.

I'm definitely going to dig into that article tonight.

8:40 pm

So, it's hard for me to justify buying anything directly from Krikzz again when my Stone Age Gamer GBA Everdrive arrived two days after ordering.

(black friday)

truth.

8:42 pm

^ statement redacted. Wonder if Stone Age Gamer does a decent Black Friday promo.

In otter news the later version of SFX support for sd2snes seems to make it quite solid.

8:44 pm

Anything official seems to work fine. Still a little big too fast but not overtly so.

8:45 pm

Any hacked/fan project for SFX games do not load properly. Most of those are probably relying on emulator quirks to work I’m guessing.

uses the 1080p settings from @SoH ‘a article

7:26 pm

So, scanlines on the snt, what’s wrong with them? I’d say that on 1080p they are quite thin

7:27 pm

In levels with lots of vertical scrolling they tend to not be very visible

7:29 pm

Same applies to 720p though

7:32 pm

I’m also under the impression that the scanlines depth setting just doesn’t do anything

The scaling formula I use keeps the vertical int, so not so much a problem in this case.

12:14 am

@Wietse van Bruggen That is the main problem. It has a 4:1 ratio. 4 pixels for the picture, 1 blanked for the darkened line. Which is weird. Also the depth slider is either buggy or finicky under certain criteria. (edited)

12:15 am

720p you end up with a 2:1 ratio which is a better balance, but even then I'm not a huge fan of how the depth slider samples. Just my own taste there, of course.

12:16 am

Being able to set the ratio would be huge. 3:2 would look pretty good at 1080p I think.

12:17 am

With a slight bit of softening so it isn't pure black.

With 720p and the more softer image I like scanlines for games with pre-rendered graphics. They still tend to get lost though whenever the game has lots of vertical scrolling.

Yeah, that is why I have a hard time recommending it at all. I don't have a native 720p or 4k TV so I can't tell how much softening is coming from the TV upscaler

I’m guessing my tv might have something to do with it, but not sure.

1080 or 4k?

There is quite some difference between 720p and 1080p in regard to sharpness of the image

12:21 am

4k

12:21 am

1080p from Snt is noticeably sharper than 720p from snt

12:21 am

Yet 720p from the AVS feels sharper than 720p from Snt

4k TVs are supposed to upscale 720p signal nearly perfectly, so that is interesting, yeah

Having played with a few crts again the past few weeks in general I would say scanlines from either systems don’t make the image more crt like really. It’s pretty far removed from it.

12:25 am

Scanlines are thicker though on the AVS, overall I’d say they look better than Snt

12:30 am

They might look better on a smaller hdtv to get closer to the look, or when the distance from the display is bigger.

I think we are still a pretty far away from a true CRT shader. Even at 4k it is pretty tight to make a convincing scanline, shadow mask, luminescence, etc.. but people are wizards, who knows.

12:32 am

I do think if the snt let you set the ratio so you could do X;Y;Z so you could do something like:

12:32 am

3;1;1; picture;opacity;blank

12:33 am

You could get pretty close to this from a meter or two away

12:33 am

Or you could do 4;0;1 and have it as the snt does it currently. It would be really flexible.

So, I was playing a turbografx 16 on a crt yesterday. I’d say a late 90’s/early 2000’s crt. And when I compare that look with this BVM image the scanlines on the bvm are so much more pronounced. They are clearly there where on that crt from yesterday they were barely visible.

Yeah, the line is a literal line, it is kind of crazy

12:37 am

I mean it was on a consumer CRT as well, but the mask makes it look way more spread.

12:37 am

In my made up ratio system above these would be 3;2;0

12:37 am

No blank line at all

That’s closer if I compare to what I saw yesterday. Still, the line is more pronounced and I guess it stands out more if you play on a big new display.

I got the Tim N64 Deblur RGB mod on an N64 and was playing it earlier today.

12:40 am

Looks just as good as the HDMI mod to me, but seeing it on CRT vs OLED it just seems like it will never look quite right on a non-CRT

12:41 am

IMO OLED + 4k libretro crt-royale shader looks the best. I even prefer it over a CRT

12:41 am

because those perfect colors... omg

12:41 am

but at the end of the day, it's all a matter of taste

Getting the snt made me realize I have spent way too much time looking and thinking of this stuff on modern displays from a meter away because pc+monitor.

12:44 am

Couch distance changes things quite a bit

12:44 am

You can get a way with a lot more

Very much so

Now I’m curious what it looks like if I like slice your 1080p resolution numbers in half

Set the height to whatever and then go to width and hit start until you get 4:3 for 16:9

12:47 am

Set it to your heart's desire, it'll be the same formula

Heh, snt’s resolution slider doesn’t let you go back far enough on width and height to half it

I know!

12:49 am

I wish it would let you go all the way

12:49 am

It does have a 480p option, no? I wonder what it gives for that

12:50 am

Assuming the display supports it

It does. Tv accept it but it’s pretty blurry

yeah

12:51 am

It took me a while to confirm the native frame is actually 256x240

12:52 am

There is a weird glitch you can do to force the frame to display green for a moment, I forget how I did it exactly

12:52 am

Shows the full frame though, briefly.

Hmmm...it’s definitely annoying that the resolution sliders are limited

12:55 am

1169x960 seems to work. Scanlines still look uniform with 1080p output

oh

12:56 am

You might be running into the vertical thing. Forgot about that, the other problem

12:57 am

Try putting it back to 1462x1200 and then adjust the vertical (forget what the setting is called, I think it is above or below the height slider)

12:57 am

Shoving it down or up a few pixels should line the scanlines up

Oooh, yeah I did notice it was a bit off with the default vertical setting

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

12:58 am

kevtris is very talented but we all have our faults!

Hmm. I’m kinda liking this 1169x960 image

Wwooooooow

1:11 am

My tv really sucks at 480p

1:15 am

The interpolation seems to not work so well in 480p mode

ain't enough pixels to interpolate with

Yeah, and then your TV is doing whatever dark business it does to get it up to 4k

Very dark business

1:25 am

It’s a bit better in PC mode than in game mode actually

yeah I turned PC mode on and never looked back

1:26 am

I think it's "use the colors it tells you to use" mode

Game mode is fine on my tv for anything above 480p, colors included. My tv has some weird bug though where it doesn’t display the full image with SD content in game mode. I guess it’s trying to compensate for overscan or something. In pc mode it does just display the full image.

Trying out the Hyperkin snes mouse

6:27 pm

6:30 pm

It’s pretty big. Heavier than original mouse

@SoH Lemmings 2 is odd. It used the top portion of the screen so with the 1420 settings quite a large portion of offscreen

6:46 pm

Need a Bubsy drawn. Stat

You don’t want that

7:30 pm

Using the mouse also makes me want the Super Nt to accept shortcuts to the menu and actual control of the menu from a controller plugged into port 2. sd2snes does let you do this, so I had to set the Super Nt to boot straight to cartridge to be able to run things.

Ahhh

@Wietse van Bruggen is that PAL?

10:20 pm

If so it looks likely it is doing the same thing PAL Mario Kart does. Which is bizarre, I wonder why people did it.

10:21 pm

Nintendo shifted the tiles for Mario Kart PAL up one row so it starts that the top, but didn't add any tiles to the bottom, so you just end up with a bigger border on the bottom. Looking at the bottom of your pic looks to be the same.

10:25 pm

10:27 pm

Nope, it is just shifted high across both regions, weird. (edited)

10:27 pm

Lower the vertical position down as many pixels as you can and you should be good.

New prototype in the collection. SNES QSound controller.

12:18 am

Found the Genesis and NES versions a few years ago https://twitter.com/stevenplin/status/359848784039137280

Steve Lin (@stevenplin)

Newest acquisition: Prototype QSound NES & Genesis controllers and software!

How the hell do you even begin trying to use that SNES controller haha

Nice!!

Did you win the one on Ebay @Steve Lin ? With the paperwork and boards

Yeah. Going to scan the paperwork and take a look at what I can get working over the next few weekends.

I forgot about it, I know we thought about bidding on it

12:48 am

Not sure if anyone did

12:48 am

Same with the Guitar Hero prototypes that were up

I forgot about it until I got the notification that it was ending. At least now all three controllers can be united

I thought someone else had others, but I couldnt remember where I saw them

12:49 am

It all blurs together now.

12:49 am

Glad they went to you if not us

At least they are safe. (edited)

I have a theory how that snes controller might be held but I find it absolutely impossible to describe

1:51 am

Non-euclidean ergonomics.

1:53 am

Slip the skinny part between the speaker and controller between your index and middle fingers?

1:55 am

So your hands get... ears.

1:55 am

Speaker ears.

1:55 am

How did the QSound not make it to market. Boggles the mind.

Yeah, I was playing the US version @SoH. Odd that they chose to position it that way. It’s only an issue on those pre level screens. During the level the image fits quite well.

I find it interesting that lots of people who like cheap clone consoles find it acceptable that the sound is off. Sure, its a cheaper product but if you bought a cheap blu-ray player you wouldn't find it acceptable if the sound playback on that was off and had serious flaws you would return it. Why would it be acceptable for a game console? (edited)

Really starting to lean towards an Xbox One X with the BC stuff going on there

1:53 pm

never played Red Dead Redemption

It’s the only rockstar game I’ve ever finished.

1:57 pm

The story could’ve used streamlining. The animation of the characters and the performances are still outstanding.

1:58 pm

Compare it to something from that same time like Alan Wake..the difference is huge. There are moments in RDR that are so memorable.

@Wietse van Bruggen after doing the pepsi challenge with people using 96kbps mp3s and lossless and them shrugging and saying "I dunno, they both just sound like Mariah Carey to me" I just assume for a lot of people something has to be literally incomprehensible before audio/video flaws means anything. (edited)

2:30 am

I still can't decide if this stuff is inherent or learned, though. The endless question of nature versus nurture with noticing extreme jpeg compression. The battle rages on.

I was reacting based on people that actually know that the sound is wrong and then say “well it’s only 40/50 bucks so it’s acceptable, we shouldn’t expect it to be good” which just blows my mind. So it’s coming from people that are actually able to notice the difference in Mariah Carey quality

ahh, yeah

2:36 am

I think we are getting close, uh.. talking big picture timeline here, to accuracy being cheap. So this will likely (hopefully) be a non-issue in a decade or two.

2:39 am

Although people will always find a way to do something weird with source material.

2:40 am

Super Eagles of the world.

This is impressive as hell - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd7egCi0R6I

trebor's stuff

Atari 2600 Mappy (Beta 1) (20171222)

https://i.imgur.com/9pvR0yS.jpg

5:03 pm

???????????

5:05 pm

For some reason uses PS/2 plug

I like that it has the windows key

1:41 pm

btw @Wietse van Bruggen re: SNES mouse. This has been the best and most complete list I have found.

1:41 pm

https://wiki.superfamicom.org/controllers#toc-mouse-supporting-games (edited)

1:43 pm

There are several that expect the mouse to be plugged into 1P, though, so kind of a pain in the ass with the Super Nt.

It is. Have to set it to boot straight to cart

1:44 pm

Sd2snes does accept controller input from port 2 luckily

If you are feeling particularly bored this is the only game I've found that has the bios but as far as I can tell does not work with the mouse in any way

1:45 pm

Honke Hanafuda (Japan)

I remember Jurassic Park using like

1:15 am

Joypad + Mouse at the same time

1:15 am

Joypad just being a keyboard equivalent

1:15 am

while Mouse handles aiming

1:15 am

I need to check the manual

For the 3d DOOM-like areas, yeah? That does sound right.

Well, the c64 mini is a disappointment to me. A quite substantial amount of lag makes games that require quick reactions and precision hard, and c64 games seem to require this a lot.

12:41 pm

The joystick feels imprecise, the stick is a little loose when in neutral position. Third party controller support is extremely buggy to the point where it is unusable.

12:42 pm

I’m basically unable to really get into the flow of a game because of this. Would not recommend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr6KgNXXRxs

KarbuncleX

Super Nt Settings for the Obsessive Compulsive

2:05 pm

FBX settings are on point.

https://paradisearcadeshop.com/home/electrical/control-pcbs/fgc-console-joystick/1828_toodles-mc-cthulhu

2:09 pm

I was going to sit down and build a universal console stick, starting with SNES and branching out from there, and the mc cthulhu is sold out and unlikely to be restocked anytime soon.

2:09 pm

Bummer.

2:11 pm

Suppose I could cannibalize an snes controller but I'd rather not.

Yeah, it is a good setup. I hope more are produced.

2:51 pm

You can wire it up to an RJ45 port (ethernet) and then just make patch cables for whatever system you need.

2:51 pm

2:52 pm

SNES, NES, PCE, etc.. port on one end of the cable, ethernet on the other. Pretty simple to wire up, just gotta match up the pins.

2:55 pm

Squaregate definitely has an adjustment period if never used, but I love it

2:55 pm

I'll probably pick up an oct gate for this stick though just because "sticky" cardinal and diagonals for more traditional console games is useful.

2:58 pm

Not sure what would have made it down your way, but in NA 90's arcades round gates were pretty common

3:02 pm

And if a modern fightstick like madcatz, hori, etc.. nearly all of those come stock with a square

3:07 pm

Tap execution games like MK are definitely more approachable. I think the biggest revelation people have with something like SF execution is riding the gate (grinding against the edges) to do motions is a bad instinct.

3:08 pm

That's why the square gate is so popular. It makes the cardinal directions a soft edge you can skim off easily, and the corners as sticky traps to get stuck in.

3:08 pm

It is a weird way to think about input but when you wrap your head around it is pretty cool.

3:09 pm

But people have won Evo on a pad so it isn't like anything is better than anything else. Just how your brain clicks with all the options out there.

3:10 pm

I don't believe we've had a hitbox champ yet though

3:10 pm

One day!

I don't think that has been the case for some time, but I could be mistaken?

3:23 pm

I definitely see people walking around the floor with them, but maybe they are just playing side tourneys?

Does anyone here have good experience with backlight modded GBAs? If so, do you have a service you recommend/is it an easy mod?

5:13 pm

My SP cramps the hell out of my hands sometimes.

I bought one from a random seller on Ebay a year or two back, I love it.

Found a bug in a tiny niche japanese title on the super nt, but considering reporting that stuff the past few weeks has been treated more like a burden I'm a little apprehensive to report it.

9:28 pm

I only have the rom though, if anyone has a flash cart and feels like confirming.

9:28 pm

Mahjong Club (Japan).sfc

9:28 pm

You just have to hit start twice to get through the first menu and it will sometimes lock up at a black screen. Seems similar to the Rendering Ranger R2 bug, only happens sometimes. Never happens on higan though.

Can’t reproduce on sd2snes

Tried multiple times?

Yup

If you have JB installed mind trying through there just to confirm it happens?

Dumped game to SD. No problems with about 10 tries.

9:50 pm

From JB menu

9:50 pm

Cart header does not seem to have a name btw, or at least not something the super nt will display.

9:51 pm

9:54 pm

Game loads fine after dumping though. Usually when using the copysnes feature the lack of a name is a signal it’s not reading the cartridge well.

9:57 pm

I see on Twitter that the SFX sd2snes core has become more accurate to real cartridge concerning speed?

Super Gameboy 2 looks great on Snt with 1280x1200 setting. Super crisp

10:22 pm

I still think the audio from a super game boy sounds better on a real snes/sfc.

I'm guessing a digital signal does the GB no faboes

10:23 pm

Favors

It sounds a bit more..muffled? (edited)

I didn't realize you could dump from the sd2snes but I suppose that makes sense

11:30 pm

And you were just doing a soft reboot? select+up?

That seems to be it, if I do a full boot it always loads up no issues. If I do a soft boot I get no music and it hangs after the first menu. Some memory must be carrying over.

I was doing soft reboots. I made sure to try to both hard and soft reboots.

https://youtu.be/hcELpDyUjsk

SoH

Mahjong Club - Black Screen/No Music Super Nt

2:00 pm

Interesting because it is consistent for me

2:00 pm

First boot always goes fine, then notice after the first soft reboot no music and it locks

2:01 pm

Mahjong Club (Japan).sfc
MD5  : 047ce8f19fb1ecb34ad35d94b35dfb9c
SHA1 : cebb6dea616a0e2af1bb937650f86170d37efe08

2:03 pm

 no-intro
MD5:    047CE8F19FB1ECB34AD35D94B35DFB9C  
SHA-1:    CEBB6DEA616A0E2AF1BB937650F86170D37EFE08

(edited)

2:44 pm

Was fun while it lasted

Yeah I’m glad i got that cheap last year

3:15 pm

You could dm me the file, but I highly suspect I’m running the same thing

3:18 pm

I recall it was a struggle finding the right keywords in Japanese to make them pop up in search results

3:27 pm

Anyone run into this trying to import a game from one of the proxy services?

this has never been a problem for me

Seems like most stuff wouldn't ship, yeah

I buy through there all the time (edited)

First I've ever seen the message

3:28 pm

https://www.fromjapan.co.jp/en/title/serviceRule#regulations

Terms and Conditions | Proxy bidding and ordering service for Japa...

FROM JAPAN Terms and Conditions. Please read this before using our services. FROM JAPAN is a proxy bidding and ordering service for Japanese auction and shopping sites.

Sometimes a seller will just have some kind of generic message in their description that triggers it

3:28 pm

I have never received a cartridge that had its battery removed.

Ordering through the proxies is always fun. At some point you have to just clap your hands and hope for the best.

3:43 pm

Picked up the Bullet Proof Software second Go game because I like Go, but also it is SA-1

3:44 pm

Surprisingly difficult to find despite going for cheap when it does show up.

Its been very reliable for me. Bullet proof as in hank Rogers bulletproof software?

The very same

3:45 pm

Their Go games are very good too, if into that sort of thing.

3:45 pm

The first uses no chips

3:46 pm

https://www.giantbomb.com/taikyoku-igo-goliath/3030-46457/

3:46 pm

https://www.giantbomb.com/taikyoku-igo-idaten/3030-55334/

3:47 pm

There is another SA-1 Go game, but it is even harder to find because it was only some magazine or special release or something.

Wowwww NTT Data controllers went way up

Nice deal for anyone wanting an SD System 3 - https://atariage.com/forums/topic/278293-super-sd-system3-for-the-tg-16pc-engine/

Super SD System3 for the TG-16/PC Engine - Marketplace

AtariAge Forums

ooh, I just picked up a TG-16 last week

on that note, is it totally clear what cable I need to get? is it just MD2?

going to try making a controller for it this weekend since it didn't come with one, and repalcements on ebay are like $40-50

I got the revision, not the first run

yes, MD2 RGB cable

Frank:Yup

great

just make sure it doesn't use composite sync

6:02 pm

unless you fix the caps

I need to order another 1 or two of those, a second PS1/2 cable, and a Saturn cable

6:02 pm

and then wait impatiently for gscartswlite orders to open

i need to clean the pc engine controls i got, they aren't responding well

6:03 pm

gscartswlite is pricey but man... it just works.

yeah, I've heard nothing but good things

6:03 pm

and I think I'm fine with just one for now

6:03 pm

at least until I mod a few systems

Still sticking to Bandridge manual switch

I think I have 6 RGB capable systems at the moment...

6:04 pm

7 if I count the dreamcast, but that can do 480p, so I don't really need to feed it to the OSSC

I have a spare one in box for if I ever add more (edited)

handy

I like scart switches but not that much that I’m willing to pay more for the luxury of not having to get off my butt to change inputs

6:06 pm

Pssh... exercise. Who needs it

yeah I get that, for me I think I spend almost all of my disposable income on quality of life improvements

hmm, maybe I should look into a basic manual switch for now

so it's worth it to me

just to get everything set up

6:07 pm

will look into it after I move

I don't really like, buy media very much

Same here. I tinker too damn much though.

Finally beginning to take the plunge of selling off a big chunk of my game collection pre-6th Gen and replacing it with everdrives and disc drive emulators.

7:34 pm

Full of both loss and relief tbh.

I hear that

Been gearing up to sell of board games at scale. Going to be sad but necessary.

The shelf space increase would be nice I imagine, considering how huge board games are these days

Picked up a Genesis. Don’t see those around much here in the Netherlands. Amazing how much cleaner the image is compared to my region modded PAL Mega Drive.

3:29 pm

Jailbars are far less of an issue to the point where I really need to get close to see a few faint ones.

Nah, it's not even the shelf space. I want to have a game collection I can use in class that illustrate the possibility space of games. All I really need is maybe 25 games for this. For variance i'd like 100. The other games are mostly pointless but would be fun for others to have.

I'm definitely curious what 25 you're gonna narrow it down to.

https://twitter.com/bmf54123/status/992878692102586368

a tired moogle (@bmf54123)

oh my GOD. my roommates bought one of those terrible dreamGEAR Retro Controllers at Walgreens and game #96 is one of my old ROM hacks from 2001

Retweets

259

Likes

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Imagine someone's bucket list to have "Have my ROM hack published on a plug & play console."

it's happened before on actual pirate carts but I think having it be something you can buy at a huge chain drugstore is pretty new

closest i've gotten was someone using part of a sprite sheet i made and slapping it on the back of a bootleg cart (edited)

Is there some kinda newsletter I can join to get notified of when Gscartw switchers go on sale? I really wanna upgrade, but I never catch these thigns that go on sale suddenly.

3:11 am

Alternatively, have people had good experiences with the Hydra switchers?

Not that I know of. A new version of the hydra was released recently.

https://www.analogue.co/pages/store/

Analogue - Store

"The Analogue Nt is to the original NES what a Porsche 911 is to a Hot Wheels race car."

Fast Company

2:29 pm

SNT pre-orders are up for the next run

2:29 pm

Black ships immediately since they technically never went out of stock

have I missed any interesting firmware stuff?

Dont think so

cart dumping was last I saw

Yeah but thats like a month ago.

I still lurk that other discord. Kevtris rarely chats any more. Either he's moved on to something else or working on the DAC (edited)

thank you for your sacrifice

Got a chipped pal ps2...annoyingly it’s displays NTSC ps1 games a little bit squeezed..

7:00 pm

This is already vertical stretched to the max on framemeister

Fixed

7:16 pm

I tried to use the whole network adapter/loading from hard drive but I could just not get it to work properly. Such outdated tools for it.

Yeah I had a lot of trouble with that. Can't remember what I did to finally get it working but it's cumbersome to say the least.

7:28 pm

Basically not letting go of my PS2 games anytime soon

Can’t get ps1 games that output properly through component. Rgb scart works fine though. Odd.

Can't wait for my PSIO to arrive, ordered it in Sept

there really isn't a mature hdd solution for ps2, huh?

Not that I'm aware of

Well..some people are able to get it to work but the documentation is scarce and obtuse, and the tools are from 10 years ago without updates.

Yeah I have some program I load from the PS2... i think OpenPS2Loader? or something like that. Anyway after fighting it for awhile i got it to finally see my NAS with ISO images and it will load them but some you have to configure with specific parameters before hand. Also they have to be named in a specific way

7:39 pm

I had to piece together information from multiple places to even get that far. Wild there's not an easier way yet.

OpenPS2Loader actually does a pretty good job

Also didn't realize it was working initially because the loading screen can take a bit and looks like it's not doing any thing.

The PS1-HDD support for PS2 isn't great because it uses an emulator that was hacked up from a Japanese BB release iirc

Ahhhh interesting

The modded pal ps2 seems to output a clean RGB signal. Always had to toy with sync level settings on modded ps1 to get it display properly.

7:42 pm

Looking forward to get back into this one again after another ps1 disc drive died on me.

7:42 pm

"Bishi Bashi Stepchamp 3 (actually a severely cut version of it with only 3 minigames) is the only known PS1 game using an emulator and installed onto the PS2 HDD. Developed by SCEI and published by KOEI, it was offered to Japanese BB Unit owners, as a DLC, thru the Konami PSBB Channel years ago. It uses an PS1 emulator, originally locked out to work only with its bundled PS1 game and protected with DNAS (content binded to the hard drive and PS2 console at same time, making it work only on that specific PS2 unit it was installed to originally). It most likely emulates the original Playstation through software emulation. The official Title ID of the package was “SLBB-00001”, and the original partition name was “PP.SLBB-00001” (128MB sized)."

Why an emulator? There is ps1 hardware in it?

Wouldnt be able to access the HDD that way I imagine

Yeah that kinda thing is often a challenge.

7:45 pm

For a long time everyone thought playing GC games off HDD or SD on a Wii would be impossible.

7:46 pm

And playing DS games from SD on 3DS is still super messy.

That works really well now.

7:46 pm

Nintendont on Wii is great for GC stuff

7:46 pm

Now..lets see how it handles pal ps1

7:46 pm

I'm well aware! Just saying, that for a long time you couldn't do it.

PAL games seem to load quicker on the modded ps2

7:47 pm

Takes a while for imports to start

7:47 pm

No ps1 boot logo too

7:49 pm

I love MGS1’s look. This is ps1 3D that still works for me.

Also forgot to mention the support by the Behar Bros for the Toro is excellent. My ribbon cable that ran from mine to the DC was going out, e-mailed them to ask if i could order a replacement and they sent me one free of charge. (edited)

They did that for me too, except my original didnt work. I just forgot about it until I reached out months later and they sent it no problem

Good folks

So there are half decent solutions for 6th gen stuff, but it's not as put together as the stuff for previous generations, is that about right? I didn't even consider selling that part of my game collection because I didn't really know of any good solutions.

Depends on the console.

9:22 pm

GameCube has great solutions.

9:23 pm

PS2 is quite finicky to get working in my experience.

9:23 pm

My guess would that xbox has pretty solid solutions, but not much first hand experience.

As in, running the games without discs?

Ye

Gamecube you just need a Wii or WiiU with homebrew, trivial really.

Dolphin is a great emu if no console as well. Though it's been ages since I looked.

Dolphin is indeed fantastic but requires a pretty decent PC.

You can do it on GC properly, but Wii is definitely the easiest and cheapest way to do it.

I do think I have an ancient hacked wii lying around somewhere.

The best way for PS2 requires you to have a fat console, a network adapter, and an IDE HDD.

9:25 pm

Works decently well, though a handful games have issues running them like that.

I have all of those but could not get it to work properly at all

9:26 pm

Gave up frustrated..then decided it wasn't worth my frustration

It's been forever since I set it up but I had no problems with it.

9:26 pm

Granted, that was at a time where I could just plug the IDE HDD into my PC and copy over the games that way.

Its the tools that are problematic. Can hardly get them to run on a modern os.

Ah.

I imagine 10 or so years down the line PS2 will probably have a better solution

9:27 pm

Somewhere in there, I mean

I haven't messed around on Xbox but from what I understand you can just install games to the built-in HDD once you have homebrew running.

thats what I understand as well.

9:28 pm

I should plug in my old xbox again sometime, hardware modded cheap second hand thing.

9:29 pm

Though I must say I'm tempted to buy a cheap xbox one somewhere in the future for the backwards compatibility stuff.

I guess the biggest issue once you get to 5th and 6th gen is that you have to start being reallllly selective with games because of the astronomical size large collections get up to.

Yeah that's true.

9:30 pm

But really, can you name over 100 GC or PS2 games you'd want to play?

It is pretty amazing how small the slim ps2 is.

Probably, haha

there are well over 100 games I want to channel-surf like it's a flash cart, yes

GC probably hard. PS2 has such a giant library you might get to that number

Especially since I love checking out weird obscure stuff that may or may not actually be "good"

Fair!

Gamecube has a great library but it's definitely smaller than PS2

9:31 pm

PS2 has what, 8000 some odd games right? Maybe closer to 9 or 10

9:32 pm

I could definitely see whittling 7 or so thousand off that list

that seems a bit high to me, but I dont know the exact number. (edited)

If you count games released in multiple regions as separate titles it's over 10,000 apparently.

9:33 pm

so I guess probably closer to 4 or 5 without doing that

redump.org has 6876 known PS2 games, it looks like.

It's A Lot

But there's probably a lot of regional variants.

I imagine you're probably killing at least half that to regional variants

That's 16.5 TB, which is kinda ridiculous when you think about it.

So it's somewhere in the 2ish to 4ish thousand range.

9:36 pm

Even if it were 1000 that's still a huge number of games for a system

9:36 pm

Gamecube has a bit over 600 or so

9:38 pm

The Wii even has less than the PS2 as far as I can tell which is insane.

9:38 pm

Anyway, definitely looking at a few hundred gigs just for the games I'd find interesting on any given 6th gen system. (edited)

It probably has a higher releases-per-time, but the PS2 was supported for so long.

True true. Till 2009 right? Ridiculous

Later

9:40 pm

Mostly sports titles.

9:40 pm

FIFA and PES got releases for it until a few years ago

Oh wow

9:41 pm

Yeah, 2014 seems to be when the last game was released for it

9:41 pm

14 years!!!

9:44 pm

Semi-related, but selling a good chunk of my collection has been going well. Hoping to get drives and disc drive emulators for everything I can. Selling faster than I thought on ebay, but still slower than I'd like.

9:44 pm

Can finally be free from a decent chunk of my entropy stress

feels good man

9:46 pm

I did this all the way back in maybe 2002?

9:46 pm

I got a table at classic gaming expo and blew it all out

Nice. Yeah, I'm glad y'all convinced me to do it. It's felt really good to let stuff go.

I think what I will eventually slim down to is a sort of "sanity check" collection. I am not sure exactly what that list is yet, but just a short list of games I can plug into various device that dumps or plays or whatever, that are good candidates for checking things out.

And channel surfing has been great. Since I struggle with chronic fatigue comitting to a game, especially once the game gets hard/frustrating, is really difficult, so being able to just jump around is a wonderful way to occupy my time while not exhausting myself.

Otherwise I have no particular attachment to any plastic

I still have two shelves with games I like having on shelves

I'm excited to focus more on collecting the things surrounding games. And buying very select games I adore

Well you gotta have a place for the stuff that matters like Apple II games, I mean, of course.

A lot of the games I own aren't worth enough to really get rid of too so I'll probably hold on to those/maybe donate them as was mentioned a few days ago

9:51 pm

To be worth getting rid of on ebay anyway.

I think what I realized is that with several games I own, particularly old games, what I am actually attached to is my save file. For example I have like a decades worth of scores tracked in Uniracers because it has an insane amount of stat tracking for a SNES game. (edited)

9:55 pm

My personal attachment isn't to the physical game, per se, it is the data.

9:55 pm

(Link the meta-data shirt...)

I guess you could invest in something to dump that data right?

super nt!

Yup, that is why copysnes was a big feature for me

9:56 pm

I can unload my SNES games now

Nice. Dumping cherished data is neat.

9:58 pm

I helped a friend back up is Shining Force Resurrection of the Dark Dragon save file once because he had the world record for number of stars in that game for quite a long while. At least as far as could be found in the English speaking Shining Force community.

7:08 pm

BPS SA-1 Go game arrived. Looks brand spankin' new.

That does look incredibly pristine!

I am curious if that beefy SA-1 chip makes a big impact to the Go algorithms it is running. I might not be a good enough Go player to test the limits!

That box looks so pristine..it’s worth scanning

Happy to a bit later, is there a preferred resource to upload to?

If you want high quality out there you could send it to Hubz. Mobygames worth uploading too for reference/where high quality display is not that aim. Wonder if the game is in their db at all. (edited)

7:15 pm

Has this game been dumped even?

Yeah, just difficult to emulate considering the chip. And was impossible to compare original, higan, and super nt without the real cart.

7:17 pm

Hence why I scooped it up. It doesn't go for very much since it is a sufami Go game, not exactly a lot of demand. Just doesn't show up often.

7:18 pm

Also I think it has mouse support

What is the game’s actual name? (edited)

Taikyoku Igo - Idaten

7:19 pm

Taikyoku Igo - Goliath < Goliath is the first game and they get mixed up constantly

7:20 pm

対局囲碁 < gave the best results but still they get mixed up

Moby games does not seem to have it in their db (edited)

7:21 pm

http://www.mobygames.com/company/bullet-proof-software-inc

Bullet-Proof Software, Inc. - MobyGames

GB does, moment

7:22 pm

https://www.giantbomb.com/taikyoku-igo-idaten/3030-55334/

Taikyoku Igo: Idaten (Game) - Giant Bomb

A Go game for the Super Famicom. Part of Bullet Proof Software's Taikyoku Igo series.

7:22 pm

Green cover is the give away

7:22 pm

https://www.giantbomb.com/taikyoku-igo-goliath/3030-46457/

Taikyoku Igo: Goliath (Game) - Giant Bomb

A traditional Igo (Go) game from Bullet-Proof Software, based on Goliath software. It is the predecessor to Takyoku Igo: Idaten.

7:22 pm

^ First game (Goliath) is brownish

I see.

7:23 pm

They have a pretty nice scan of the front, but nothing for the rest of the box, manual front and back and cartridge itself.

@MonsterDunk GB, the premier Super Famicom Go Database Repository, #1 on the internet. Congrats, guys. You've made it.

And it only took us 10 years to get here!

7:28 pm

Contacts tell the real story, heh

Pins look..a bit meh

Will give it a scrub and scans and better lit photos and etc tonight

1:53 am

So how do you deal with the curve blurring on a super famicom cart? Try to balance, do 3 scans and stitch them together?

Sounds like a plan to me

1:56 am

I never found a solution

1:56 am

short of peeling it

3DS XL looks to be weighty enough to hold down the end

1:58 am

#protips

I wonder if a high res photo would be any better with a dslr.

2:07 am

dslr would probably be pretty solid, yeah

2:10 am

Also I have no idea what the person who handled this cart did to the contact but it looks almost like they took sandpaper to it. Plays fine, but I didn't want to push cleaning it too hard.

2:11 am

2:14 am

1

Nice!

Curve blurring has never been a problem with my scanner, but it looks like you got it figured out ^^

I descreened it in Photoshop:

9:17 am

Odd, you can see slight blurriness at the bottom of your cart scan (the label itself is pristine, so who cares anyways :P)

9:37 am

I never have this issue with my scanner, wonder whats causing it (and what my scanner is doing to not let it happen?)

9:37 am

9:38 am

Your scan is more even regarding the cartridge color.

@Wietse van Bruggen We have the same scanner right? I've forgotten the name of the feature but was told to buy this model if I wanted to get good cart scans.

3:07 pm

BTW Cool scans @SoH

Yeah, I got this one on your recommendation.

I have front and back cover scans as well but they are like 30 mb all didn't want to just drop them on discord

1

The blurriness seems to be a lot less? You can see some blurriness starting to happen in the deeper cutout/slot in the lower half of the cartridge.

3:15 pm

Neat!

Also not home. I'll find a place to put them when I get back

Awesome. Thanks!

3:40 pm

Looks like the discord size limit is bigger than I expected

8mb for free users

3:41 pm

50 for paying

aha my fancy subscription paying off finally

3:42 pm

Once you remove the shiny plastic you can see a bit more of the wear and tear on the cardboard. Still in good shape.

It looks great.

3:43 pm

Don't have many SFC boxes that looks this nice.

3:43 pm

Though they do tend to look nicer than old US or PAL boxes

3:43 pm

Just seem to be more well taken car of

3:47 pm

Descreened versions (and slight cropped with extra bits cut off ^^)

3:47 pm

Back: https://densy.stackstorage.com/s/a58eVwyZgswJXPo

3:47 pm

Front: https://densy.stackstorage.com/s/NALFHLp6kIcVaAb

3:48 pm

Cart: https://densy.stackstorage.com/s/ai597gGQmObHVAf

1

This is an Famicom/FDS Go game from BPS in the same series?: (edited)

5:29 pm

http://www.mobygames.com/game/microgo1

Microgo1 for BBC Micro (1984) - MobyGames

Microgo1 is an early computer adaption of the classic Chinese board game known best under the name Go. The board comes in a smaller 9x9 layout instead of the normal 19x19 layout. You can choose from playing against a computer or against another h...

5:29 pm

http://www.mobygames.com/game/microgo1/cover-art

Microgo1 (1984) BBC Micro box cover art - MobyGames

Cover art for Microgo1 (BBC Micro) database containing game description & game shots, credits, groups, press, forums, reviews, release dates and more.

5:29 pm

Released as cart and fds

Oh, that's interesting. I wonder why they would bother getting a go license for a Japanese product. This is presumably the go game that Rogers used to get in with Nintendo.

Impressive ending prices on NT minis: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Analogue-Nt-Mini-Black-Complete-with-extras-Near-Mint/202306082916?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

Analogue Nt Mini Black Complete with extras! Near Mint

Near Mint. Includes NT Mini Console Complete in box with extras below. | eBay!

Dang, I hope the cores get released at the very least so people don't have to resort to this if interested.

4:04 am

+for SNT

4:05 am

@Wietse van Bruggen yes, I ran into this a lot in my searches.

4:06 am

https://www.ebay.com/itm/xa2205-Taikyoku-Igo-Idaten-BOX-SNES-Super-Famicom-Japan-J4U/312128102718

xa2205 Taikyoku Igo Idaten BOX SNES Super Famicom Japan J4U

xa2205 Taikyoku Igo Idaten BOX SNES Super Famicom Japan J4U | Video Games & Consoles, Video Game Merchandise | eBay!

4:06 am

Apparently someone is trying to sell the box, by itself, for $50. Good luck. (edited)

New Everdrive N8 firmware:

8:06 am

http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=7811.0

EDN8 OS v20-BETA. Large update incoming

8:11 am

Looks like there are still some things to work out before I’ll upgrade to it

Anyone ever had issues with NESRGB and an OSSC? Mine syncs up fine to my CRT but the OSSC keeps dropping the sound and video every few seconds. But the display on the OSSC acts like it has proper sync.

Picked up RDR for PS3 and wow that game runs so much worse compared to the 360 version. How extensive is the backward compatibility stuff? Thinking of picking a cheap Xbox one now..

8:12 pm

The game still impresses me though. High bar to follow up with a sequel..so far the story bits from the trailer have not been a positive sign for me

I don't know how extensive BC is but I know that RDR is pretty much the showcase game for it

8:44 pm

runs at 4k, framerate improved, etc.

I remember the ending of that game well. It almost felt like you had a choice where to end it. Just end it where Marston ended up at the farm with his family and not go for the real ending.

I haven't followed the BC stuff super closely, but if specifically looking for fancy features like 4k up-res I think that requires an Xbox One X.

2:08 am

I could be mistaken.

Yeah I was thinking of the regular model, which people seem to be ditching from upgrading.

@Gus Lanzetta I just got an X

1:02 pm

Been playing through Gears of War 2 at 4K

1:02 pm

Kinda crazy how good it looks

1:02 pm

The 16x AF really helps smooth it out too

1:02 pm

Ah

1:02 pm

I just bought an OLED

1:02 pm

is now poor

1:03 pm

Yeah, love the one I got

1:03 pm

got last year's B7

1:03 pm

55" for £1400 which wasn't bad

1:04 pm

I need to get a new office setup too

1:04 pm

and I really want a 4K freesync monitor for the Xbox

1:04 pm

and switch my PC GPU to AMD so I can use it there too

1:05 pm

I remember you saying you wanted to get a 1440p monitor for the OSSC?

1:07 pm

Yeah, 1440p is still the sweet spot

1:07 pm

even the next slew of GPUs won't be ideal for 4K

1:08 pm

Hard to beat 4K though, with 200% scaling on a 27" monitor though

1:08 pm

so sharp

1:09 pm

Oh, I mean Windows Desktop scaling

1:09 pm

just for general desktop use

1:10 pm

On a 4K display, it makes the UI appear at the same size as a 1080p display, but maintaining the sharpness of 4K

1:10 pm

4K at 27 inches with 100% scaling, everything is tiny

1:11 pm

Yeah, f-that

1:11 pm

I was looking at Amigas over the weekend

1:12 pm

Have my eyes on one of those FPGA Vampire accelerators

1:12 pm

I just want FPGA everything

1:13 pm

I have the Amiga core running on MiSTer, but the vampire stuff is on another level

1:13 pm

but yeah, the accelerator alone is 300 euro

1:14 pm

FYI, https://ultimate64.com/Ultimate-64

Ultimate-64 | Ultimate 64

1:14 pm

should be available again soon

I'm tempted to pick up some SID chips actually

1:28 pm

they're getting harder and harder to find

I couldn't care less about the old hardware

1:35 pm

but there's something about re-implemented old hardware that really gets me going

I have mood swings, right now I'm back to "actually, having everything on the same computer I do work at is really nice"

6:44 pm

but I know I'll be back on my bullshit the next time I actually use the CRT

CRTs I don't care about

7:14 pm

What I would care about though, is a 4:3 OLED with a built in OSSC

3

7:16 pm

someone should kickstart that

Pretty pumped about this purchase - https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mitsubishi-Diamond-Scan-70m-CRT-monitor-17/282860811309?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160727114228%26meid%3D76e893b11ead4f44822b0ac9b027a509%26pid%3D100290%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D282860811309%26itm%3D282860811309&_trksid=p2060778.c100290.m3507

Mitsubishi Diamond Scan 70m - CRT monitor 17"

DIAMOND SCAN 70M CRT Monitor - model SD7740CM. Display Type CRT monitor / CRT. CRT Type Shadow mask. Model 70M. Type CRT monitor. Product Line Mitsubishi Diamond Scan. Length 5 ft. Included Qty 1. | eBay!

11:36 pm

I think it can do every freq i could want. and he said he was a doctor that used it for specialized software and maybe had it on 20 or so times so it's like new.

11:36 pm

I just hope he ships it properly...

Wow!!

Hoping I can use it for PC, PC98, PC88 etc.

11:43 pm

we shall see

ega games with scanlines

Gotta have em

2:33 am

Overscan on this TV is pretty intense even by back in the day standards

2:34 am

I still would love nothing more than a huge database of high resolution pictures of various CRTs and games.

2:34 am

Just an impossible task, unfortunately

2:36 am

I half considered hitting up every thrift store within 50 miles and seeing if the manager would be willing to let me plug in an NES and take a few pictures on each TV, but I figured they'd just call me a weirdo and run me out. (edited)

2:37 am

Maybe if I made an official looking VGHF badge and said it was for a.. journalism... project.......

2:38 am

rolls for charisma

I saw that on Reddit, makes sense now

Also, worth pointing out

4:20 pm

That sky color is hella blue

4:20 pm

Way more than any other CRT I can recall, assuming the flash isn't shifting too much

I used to own a TV very similar to that, and yeah it had nasty overscan

5:34 pm

and you could pump the saturation up to cartoonish levels

You know how crazy animal people end up with 20 cats or dogs because they cant stand to see them homeless? Yeah, that's me with CRTs

You are in good company, friend. Nobody will judge you here. Have a seat, grab a coffee.

And a cat or 5

We even have cat 5 laying around, as well. All welcome. All welcome.

1

I found a 27 inch samsung 1080i tube today... it's like half a mile away and it's $15 and i don't need it... but i can't stop thinking about it

6:49 pm

"Maybe i'll wanna play 1080i xbox on a tube someday..."

6:50 pm

Also just modded my CD-I for RGB today. So i'm obviously a bad person.

A few months back someone was moving out of the apartments next to work, and they put their TV on the street

6:56 pm

it was a 6-foot-tall monster of a television

6:56 pm

probably weighed a literal ton

6:56 pm

would have liked to own that, but it would have taken up half of my living space

I have to mess with my RGB CD-i (native output afaik), the CD-i syncs weirdly to capture cards (in that it doesnt like to sync to all of them). Ive had trouble with that on different types of units over the years

So must be a PAL unit then?

Yeah

Our games were slow but at least they looked pristine

Most CDi games will play on both NTSC and PAL. I think my player even has dual voltages

At least Philips was forward thinking in that aspect of the system

"We won't have any content people want, but they can curse our name all around the world!"

1

7:35 pm

-Anonymous Philips Executive (probably)

if you guys somehow find the unreleased Donkey Kong CD-i game

1:10 am

let me know lol

If you haven’t updated GBI in a while..highly recommended. Amazing how that piece of software has developed. It’s ridiculous how sharp I can get GBA and GBC stuff looking with it now compared to the old version I had installed.

What's new with it?

It now has versions optimized for OSSC and Framemeister. Coupled with Firebrandx’s settings and profiles for them they look much sharper than what I was able to get out of GBI before.

Looking at the feature list, cart dumping is new for me

Only works for GBA games

And whatever this network stuff is?

Dunno

10:16 pm

Does not dump original game boy games unfortunately

Cart dumping has been around for a while I think

10:50 pm

I havent messed with mine since sometime last year, and it did it

For GB/GBC/GBA dumping, im a fan of this little guy https://bennvenn.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/reader-writer-gen2

Reader/Writer Gen3 - The joey-joebags

Next batch due to ship late May Two new designs are now available, A semi-translucent with internal LED's to show read and write activity, and a Mini Joey, half the size of a standard with the same functionality. Standards will be printed in Cle...

Yummy colors

5:03 pm

I’m gonna try dumping it..with an N64 transfer pak

5:04 pm

https://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=1548.0

[lib] libgbpak - a Transfer Pak beta library and dumping-tool v0.63.2

Haha, that's neat, never considered repurposing that thing.

I never had one so bought one for cheap. Not gonna splurge on a dedicated dumper yet if I just want to dump one thing.

Dumping GBA is easiest to just do with a DS and a DS flashcard these days, but yeah GB/C is more difficult to come by.

I tried the dumping feature with a GBA game. It seemed to work, didn’t check yet if it was an accurate dump

5:08 pm

Took a while to dump. Could have to do with writing speeds of the memory card slot

The N64 controller pak port definitely doesn't have a great transfer rate, I remember it taking a very long time for the initial load when playing GB Pokémon games in the Stadiums with the 'pre-load all data' option, though I don't have numbers.

Well, a GB game shouldn’t be that big compared to a GBA game

Right, and it still took a while.

5:11 pm

I wonder though, GB/C and GBA cartridges use different voltages, right?

Wrong person to ask ^^

So I'm surprised you can even dump GBA with that thing.

Ooooh

5:12 pm

No I didn’t dump that with the transfer pak

5:12 pm

I dumped that using the game boy player and GBI

Ah! Okay.

5:13 pm

Yeah that sounds like it should work, though I haven't tried that either.

5:15 pm

If someone codes that up dumping GB/C with a Game Boy Player might be a pretty accessible option, though you probably still need some kind of memory card <-> SD adapter.

Well, it dumped to an sd card for me. I load GBI with an action replay and memory card sd adapter.

Other than that, I think the Retrode can dump GB/C as well with a cartridge adapter.

I asked the GBI developer, only supports GBA dumping now. Didn’t seem all that interested in adding GB/GBC

That's a shame.

Platforms - NS, 3DS, PS4, ...

5:47 pm

NS?
I thought NSW was the official Switch abbreviation.

5:47 pm

I had not thought about this at all and now I am mad it has been brought to my attention.

5:47 pm

I hate language.

I bought the Joey a while back, really great device

6:45 pm

Used it for this: https://twitter.com/Borman18/status/987814230853341184

Looks like the product code for Switch is HAC

11:59 pm

So Nintendo's no help

12:00 am

not like how they let us politely remind everyone that, no, it's not the NGC, it's the GCN.

12:00 am

For GameCube Network.

Didn't realize it was HAC

7:23 pm

"Handheld And Console"?

7:25 pm

of all the product codes, seems like the most opaque

7:25 pm

the others were easier to infer

I was under the impression GCN was used because NGC was already used to abbreviate the NeoGeo Pocket Color?

haha because of course Nintendo was afraid of SNK

12:04 am

originally the gamecube was supposed to have a big online component

12:05 am

A continuation of Randnet stuff, probably

12:05 am

but then none of that came together

12:05 am

and we got all 4 games that used the network adaptor

12:05 am

3 of which were Phantasy Star

Actually, I wonder if there are any early gamecube interviews, probably japanese only, that documented what they were planning on doing with internet compatibility

2:55 am

based on Giftopia it was pobably intended to be a news/mail system, like Square's Playonline

An NES/SNES/C64 mini type thing?

7:54 pm

Sceptical. Awaiting message on launch of IntelliCoin cryptocurrency..

7:56 pm

https://venturebeat.com/2018/05/29/intellivsion-lives-tommy-tallarico-will-relaunch-1980s-console/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Very interesting. I would have thought Tallarico was pretty busy. I didn't know he was actually involved with the Intellivision stuff though I did see he knew Keith Robinson.

I'm sure he's just president of the board, not like, an employee who works every day

miss you, g4tv

And the rasperry boxes get better all the time.

ha

10:59 pm

this is something we sometimes joke about doing in the office with the colecovision, since it has a complete video passthrough mode

11:00 pm

just putting resident evil or something on a colecovision cartridge

are super nt firmware updates just over?

Who knows

I've got one, and enjoy it as a convenient SNES to play with my kids on the living room TV since I don't have to set up the whole SCART/OSSC rig to use it

3:29 pm

I do hope it get's support for more cores at some point though

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/06/21/atari_interview_in_full/

Atari accuses El Reg of professional trolling and making stuff up....

We're so very sorry that we found the MP3. Sad

I just came here to post this!

1

uhhhhh

5:14 pm

I decided to Do The Math and this Atari campaign sure isn't adding up

They have almost 3 million from crowdfunding? I wonder if they have any other investors because it seems preeeetty impossible to me launch a platform on that basis..

I'm still working on this but by my account they've got almost $3 million raised with only 137 consoles sold

5:17 pm

sorry 198

You guys didnt spend 60k on an Atari like I did?

and they have multiple daily pledges of $406, which is not an amount that gets you anything

okay that's the console plus shipping, got it

I wouldn’t be surprised if they just stuck in cheap Pi like hardware

okay maybe the math adds up, I guess they sold out of 6,000 special edition units, and the page doesn't show that anymore since you can't buy it

still

6:58 pm

it doesn't seem like a lot of units.

6:58 pm

i just don't see how this is going to make a dent in the market

Does it have any aesthetics of its own? Seems like the successors to the Ouya philosophy have banked on their limitations.

7:06 pm

lo fi by design

Yeesh that interview, makes my red flags radar go on high alert.

It has AMD. And Linux. Also everything will be okay again like when you were little.

https://news.clickhole.com/you-asked-for-it-and-you-got-it-hulu-is-bringing-back-1825122727

You Asked For It And You Got It! Hulu Is Bringing Back Circuit City

Fans rejoice! Circuit City has found a new home.

1

Almost got me.

So the new atari is the new Ouya and it'll only be sold at the new Kaybee Circuit'r City Toys shops being opened by Elon Musk in 2019?

Also, it will feature Blast Processing

but upgraded

6:07 pm

Blast Processing Mode 7

YES!!!

In HDR?

Looks like SA-1 is going to happen on sd2snes

11:53 am

https://youtu.be/5qHMnT5aOcg

orion4096

test

Wow!

Still waiting for my China-made SD2SNES to show up, hoping for this week

Got this in the mail, works great so far

nice

8:42 pm

you got the new version too (edited)

Yeah

8:43 pm

Need to have a pc-engine addon made

I didn't know those were available yet

He had listed one so I hopped on it quick

Cartridge dumper

https://sd2snes.de/blog/archives/980

Firmware v1.8.0 released

3

Anyone have any experience with chip burners?

2:02 pm

I picked a Silent Scope arcade cabinet, and it's got the fairly common dead RTC issue, was investigating picking up a burner to both fix it, and give myself the ability to burn EEPROMs for arcade repairs or cartridge work later on

2:03 pm

Anyone have any programmers they particularly like? Especially Mac compatible ones

I've used the GQ-4x4 for years and it's served me well. Not sure if it's mac compatible though.

same x2

Cool, I’ll look into those, thanks!

Atypical of the sorts of devices brought up here, but I have been on the lookout for a good tiny mixer for a while and this is coming in today. Will report back how I like it if there is any interest. (edited)

4:46 pm

http://makerhart.com/product_d.php?lang=en&tb=2&id=25&cid=3

4:46 pm

3 stereo channels w/ gain, can be operated on battery, and about the size of a big cellphone

wow, that is significantly smaller than my smallest behringer

Yeah, it is tough to find good stuff in this size class so hoping it is solid. $40 on amazon too so not bad at all. (edited)

4:50 pm

I'll use it for a number of things, but to tie it somewhat back to games it will be nice to be able to mix in something like a podcast into headphones. Might pick up one of those little bluetooth receivers too just to maximize options.

4:51 pm

Too bad Switch makes that a pain, but with the gain can make use of standard audio out of a number of devices.

Tape Baker 1000 is doing it's thing

@SoH Please do report back on that mixer. I actually had the same idea regarding mixing podcasts/audiobooks w/ gameplay for my commute.

11:23 pm

Or hell sometimes even at home. It has to be better than lowering the volume to minimum on my HT setup and blasting a podcast off of a bluetooth speaker.

On occasion I've resorted to putting ear buds in the cans of my over ear headphones. It is a struggle!

3:22 am

Came in and been messing with it. Happy so far. Even smaller than the pictures made it appear, about the size of a credit card though obviously much thicker.

3:23 am

Super tiny though, perfect size.

3:25 am

Range seems pretty solid for $40 of hardware. Can't complain at all. And it has a clipping light so that is nice. (edited)

3:26 am

No noticeable buzz or distortion using USB power. Haven't tried battery yet, can't imagine it would introduce any.

3:29 am

And the USB power is 5V 1A so likely can power it on the usually under powered sources like TV USB power or car outlet (edited)

I could stand for the max master to output louder, but probably better for my hearing where it cuts.

3:57 am

Not quiet by any means.

3:57 am

@Breaky Boy ^^^

Baked tape currently imaging

I'll have mine medium rare.

Nice and dry, just how you wanted it.

Make it bloody

Dont jinx it

Thanks @SoH!

First tape was a success. Hard to say if it was a complete success, but 35gb vs 0 is pretty nice.

Second tape went well

1:50 am

Third tape is currently in there, and its doing wonderfully. It had critical errors when I first tried, and sounded like it was going to explode in the drive. Up to nearly 100gb saved so far.

What is it exactly? Never quite got that

Data tapes

1:55 am

From Climax UK

1:55 am

They moved studios, brought in recyclers, and managed to save some of it.

nice

Are the everdrives worth it?

3:49 pm

Thinking about getting the NES one and getting rid of my other carts.

I like it

3:52 pm

It just works. I dunno what else to say about it

Right, I mean, I don't know what else to say about it. It is indistinguishable from real carts for the majority of the legit library

It’s only fringe stuff like Famicom Disk System audio that isn’t perfect (but being worked on I understand). Stuff like Lagrange Point is not perfect in its audio reproduction but good enough.

Yeah for FDS you get an FDS Stick and play on a Famicom

3:57 pm

But I'm guessing you're trying to downsize a bunch of normal NES carts, and ED is great for that

I've been quite happy with my GB, GBA, Genesis, and N64 Everdrives

3:57 pm

been thinking about getting the SD2SNES now that it does SuperFX

3:57 pm

the GB and GBA ones are particularly nice since you can easily have an entire library on the go

Still waiting for mine to come from the beginning of last month They said they shipped it that week, but they only really shipped it at the end of the month

order from Krikzz, or SAG?

I ordered from China, since its open source. Figured Id get my money back since its from Ebay if it doesnt work.

I found an etsy shop with reasonable prices and high reviews.

4:01 pm

thinking about going this route

Ooh, I'd avoid the knock offs myself

They arent knockoffs with SD2SNES though

https://www.etsy.com/listing/508562778/everdrive-n8-nintendo-nes-8-gb-sd-card

Everdrive N8 Nintendo NES + 8 gb Sd Card (Made in China)

EVERDRIVE N8 FOR THE NINTENDO (MADE IN CHINA), ALREADY CONFIGURED, NO SETUP REQUIRED THIS IS NOT A KRIKZZ, DO NOT UPDATE THE OS UNIVERSAL CARTRIDGE, COMPATIBLE WITH ALL PAL AND NTSC systems 8 GB SD CARD INCLUDED IN PACKAGE EVERDDRIVE-N8 FEATURES: Famicom, NES, and Twin ...

but I understand budget issues

Everdrives are a different case

I have them all, it's a Black Friday tradition for me. That includes SMS and Game Gear that I never used because NT Mini jailbreak happened

I wish we'd get more cores for Jailbreak SNT, I lack the funds to pick up an NT Mini without my wife killing me

“Do not update the os”

4:04 pm

Hmm...I’d personally avoid

yeah. that was a warning flag for me.

4:05 pm

weird stuff on etsy in the game world.

4:05 pm

https://www.etsy.com/listing/582686375/super-mario-cereal-amiibo-and-display?ref=hp_opfy-2

Super Mario Cereal Amiibo and Display Stand

This is a custom amiibo for the new Super Mario Cereal. This is a working amiibo that has the actual chip of the cereal box inside. It is an exact replica of the cereal box so that you can display it in your collection while making it very convenient to scan to use in the gam...

It’s also not that more cheaper than an official one

I just wait for Black Friday, that's when I picked up my GB and GBA

4:05 pm

will probably do SD2SNES and maybe NES and Fami this year

ah, i guess i can wait.

I should probably fix my NES, I think the cart edge connector has crapped out

back in stock: https://www.adafruit.com/product/2881

A/V and RCA (Composite Video, Audio) Cable for Raspberry Pi

This A/V RCA Cable for Raspberry Pi is a great way to turn your Pi 3, 2, A+ or B+'s output into a full on composite video and audio device. Simply connect the cable to your ...

6:15 pm

super cheap and lazy way to hook up your Pi to something that isn't HDMI or RGB (w/ something like retrotink)

6:16 pm

I have this cheap tiny 4:3 primitive LCD TV that I prefer over a HDMI display.

My China sd2snes came

9:30 pm

Neat. So SFX works on it

Yep that was one of the big tests for me. Will try MSU this weekend

Anything unique to the China model?

Shouldn't be

9:36 pm

Sd2snes is open source so it's not like the everdrive is

Msu works

https://paradisearcadeshop.com/home/electrical/control-pcbs/fgc-console-joystick/1828_toodles-mc-cthulhu

Toodles MC Cthulhu, the standard in multiconsole control is back!

Cthulhu, MC, Toodles, playstation, xbox, dreamcast, turbo grafix

2:03 pm

mc cthulhu's are back in stock. Going to finally take the plunge and build a universal stick with RJ45 out

2:06 pm

Probably just make NES and SNES cables for now since I'd primarily use it with nt mini and super nt.

Hmm, I do need some controls for my TG16...

these are kinda cool https://shop.8bitdo.com

8BitDo Store

3:54 am

https://shop.8bitdo.com/products/mod-kit-for-snes-classic-controller

8BitDo Mod Kit for SNES Classic Controller

8BitDo Mod Kit for SNES Classic Controller Introducing 8Bitdo DIY. A new line, featuring do it yourself mod kits for your favorite original retro game controllers. Easily modify your original wired SNES controller

Whoa those are, just need a receiver for the Genesis and i'll be all over that.

Not to get all rumor/conspiracy, but 8bitdo has no genesis/MD products on their page, but apparently has that board swap. (edited)

6:09 pm

Which you could infer... means they have something in the works but maybe not a shell together. (edited)

6:10 pm

In any case, it isn't like you just slap a board together so

I could see that.

8:47 pm

Not too tinfoil hat

I suppose where I stopped short was therefore: analogue mega drive confirmed.

Why can’t I just have my precious retron intellivision

They don't have a good retroarch core they can steal

I suppose this is where I can talk about mmx collection but, comparing closely with mmx running on my sfc thru ossc, the one thing that I notice is that it's got a fair bit of input lag

11:23 am

on the switch

11:24 am

i dont really have a way to compare when it comes to mmx4 but it feels less laggy in comparison? (edited)

11:26 am

X1-3 definitely were not what I got the collection for though, unlike a lot of people im more interested in the latter half

11:31 am

also I finally got myself a 4k OLED and the ossc with 5x modes looks really great on it. Scanlines are nice and even as well

11:31 am

only downside is that now I have to sort of just deal with the fact that my sfc isn't 1chip

11:31 am

signal will always be a bit blurry

Not surprised that its the case with the switch.

12:05 pm

I was never disappointed with how non-1chip consoles looked. Sure, there's a difference but its not ugly.

There are some rgb bypass mods. Was contemplating it for my super famicom

yea it's not ugly at all

12:34 pm

and coupled with scanlines it's also not much of a problem

I just got russian dude's dreamcast hard drive adapter

oh and past me already got the latest dreamcast TOSEC set

9:18 pm

thanks past me

nice!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abLx79fEXKs

humaldo plays!

Mega Man X Legacy Collection (Switch) - Input Lag Test

10:56 am

ofc this isnt comparing with the original console, just with emulation machines

10:57 am

but it's also about the only test video I've seen of the input lag difference. Difference between SNES and the X collection I'm sure would be even more significant

10:59 am

oh I guess Super NT isn't an emulation machine sorry

it doesnt seem excessive. Most people wont notice.

It's very noticeable

11:01 am

you're right in that most people will not notice, but like, thats true even with much higher amnts of lag (edited)

11:04 am

like, I felt the input lag almost immediately when playing MMX1 which is why I compared it to my SFC running the same game

11:05 am

I've read that the PS4 has it worse than the switch however

11:05 am

which isnt all that surprising

11:07 am

I'd just write it off as inherent console lag but legacy collection actually has less lag, so that's not it.

11:12 am

actually sorry if this is in the wrong channel im done talking about this

no worries, just busy

it's just, frustrating I guess because input lag is very important to the feel of these games specifically

11:13 am

when I start up like, megaman x2 and think "geez this feels really heavy" there's something wrong

11:14 am

and I mean im not even super sensitive, I can deal just fine with 1 frame or so of extra lag

There's only really one device where I found lag to be problematic and that was with the C64 mini. That really made things hard to enjoy. I should check if they've done any updates that might remedy it bit.

idk I find that any extra lag is problematic but when it comes to modern consoles some of it has to kind of be overlooked at least when it comes to inherent lag (edited)

11:16 am

but I think this collection crosses that line

11:17 am

and I hope it's possible for the internal team at capcom to do something about it

11:18 am

one funny thing is some guy in yt comments going "wow cant believe they didn't keep the original 8:7 aspect ratio"

11:19 am

and thats a good thing they actually present it in 4:3, though with no way to switch to a "pixel perfect" mode (edited)

11:19 am

and with a 16:9 option so all the people who love stretchy megaman can get their fill

Whatever makes people happy

I think its a good thing these collections exist, especially with the prices of the original copies of these games going pretty crazy. It's always going to be tough to get this "right" for everyone now with TV's/monitor having different amounts of inherent lag, no control over the settings people choose on their tv. Compared to how it used to be when the games were originally released, where lag was not an inherent issue at all. I'm guessing the biggest improvements could be made with tv manufacturers but its such a niche market they'll probably never consider doing the R&D for it to optimize for it. There's only so much you can do as a developer if you have little control over the hardware it plays on and the displays their games are displayed on.

I mean of course I'm all for games being preserved properly and kept in circulation, but i'm also saying that in this case it's got lag that's above whatever the console causes

11:27 am

and thats the whole problem

11:28 am

120ms is kind of ridiculous when it comes to fast action games

Would a new player who has never played these games before on real hardware be able to not finish MMX on this collection?

That's of course not the point. Anyone could finish any game regardless of input lag. That point is that, there'll be an amount of lag that was not present at all in the original release, so they'll be experiencing something that's different. They'll have to predict things that wasn't meant to have to be predicted, the controls will have a 'heaviness' to them that is not present in the original release.

11:34 am

of course this would be the case even if it didnt have this much lag

11:34 am

but like I've said there's an amnt that we sort of have to excuse due to what's in between you and the console, and the console itself

11:34 am

it hurts accuracy, which is the point of these collections

It's a chain that adds

It would be interesting to hear from developers what they set as a target beforehand.

I'd like it if they could push it down somehow

11:38 am

like, I find the original X games pretty much unplayable

11:38 am

this is partly because I have direct access to the originals on the SNES though

11:39 am

and the OSSC linedoubling and creating almost no extra lag

I never had trouble with them through the framemeister. I also never had much experience with them back in the day

yea I mean regardless it's probably fine as long as it's upscaled and I think the framemeister wouldnt introduce too much

11:41 am

1 frame of lag isn't a lot

Wonder if that retrotink thing is something to recommend to people who don't really want to tinker and andjust just want a solution that works. The lack of scart is a bit meh for us here in PAL land.

yea i'm norwegian so I know that struggle

As far as I understand it just basically works. And its at a price point where people less invested or interested might not just walk away from you when you mention the price. Which is always the toughest part of telling them about solutions

yeah. I mean I love my OSSC but it's not low cost

11:43 am

I personally would say it's worth every penny

11:43 am

buuuuuut people less into it like I am would probably balk at it (edited)

And the added downside for the general audience of "yeah you'll have to check if it works really well with your tv please scroll through this 50 page forum thread to find out if someone has checked it" is still a tough selling point

yea exactly haha

11:44 am

I didn't pick up my LG 4K OLED until I had checked if it supported 5x and most strange resolutions

11:45 am

and it does! It even supports 5x in 1600x1200 mode

I'm guessing there are lots of households where the concept of having to buy a new tv just to get this device to work properly is going to be a tough sell

yea really

11:51 am

my TV does introduce like 21ms which is a little over 1f of lag

11:51 am

but thats at the level where even I wouldnt notice until I compared with a lower lag display directly

11:52 am

and is actually almost at the lowest input lag thats common on TVs now

11:53 am

chains on chains on chains

Fleetwood Mac - The Chain

11:53 am

In other news, looks like PSIO will start to go out in august/september

ooo

11:53 am

I was considering one but then I quickly remembered I have no soldering skills

I'm just gonna let someone else do it

I still have an early model ps1 lying around which I would use this with

11:58 am

looks like you can also send in the mainboard and get them to do it for you

Yeah..I'm not gonna send one to Australia

haha, I think no matter where you live outside of australia it's gonna be a fair amnt of postage

12:00 pm

wow this is actually kinda cheap

12:00 pm

the service

12:01 pm

14.95 AUD

I might actually do this after I get a PSIO

12:16 pm

no way do I trust myself to learn soldering and for my first project going in on the ps1 mainboard

12:16 pm

my first soldering project will probably be 60hz modding my saturn if anything

I think I may pick up a second PS1 to install the PSIO on, kinda want to leave the one I've had since release untouched

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Arcade-1Up-Street-Fighter-2-Machine-4ft/994342377

Arcade 1Up Street Fighter 2 Machine, 4ft - Walmart.com

Free 2-day shipping. Buy Arcade 1Up Street Fighter 2 Machine, 4ft at Walmart.com

1:02 pm

walmart is listing at $300. Hmmmm.

1:03 pm

That is almost guttin' worthy pricing.

Is there any reason why a snes classic couldn’t have its hdmi signal converted to component with the right hardware?

Nope. Just adding some latency Im sure on top of it

Hmm. Must just be this converter

I'm considering a retrotink for my bedroom TV

9:50 am

since it accepts s-video it'll be great for my N64 that I haven't RGB-modded

What was the consensus on the 8bitdo wireless controllers that were compatible with the SNES? Close to pulling the trigger

I find that the d-pad is not completely perfect for diagonals, but for most games it’s fine imo. Use it quite a bit.

Id like to pick up one of the Pro ones for the Switch too, the d-pad has to be better than the Switch pro controller, I did terribly playing Megaman X with that last night

I find it hard to say how they compare. Haven’t played a lot of titles on switch with the pro controller that would make me able to do a comparison.

I just need something with a not-bad d-pad on the Switch. Id like the joycons with a dpad too, but that is different

It’s a pity the hori joycon isn’t full featured.

I really want a cheap wired Hori pad that is USB-C that I can plug directly into the Switch (not the dock.)

5:18 pm

I almost never play docked.

With a revision of the switch they really should think about moving the usb-c connector, but it’s hard to see where they could put. Putting it on top isn’t optimal either.

My hori dpad joycon should arrive soon. Happy to share impression if anyone is interested.

I would!

I suspect it will be: yep, its a dpad.

3:05 pm

But that will be a good thing

I've heard the 8bitdo wireless recievers have some lag, like most wireless controllers

5:48 am

not a lot tho

5:49 am

I wish I could find a single SNES pad that didnt have mushy buttons or other issues

5:49 am

the one I have is fine but it still has sort of mushy buttons

5:50 am

other ones had start and select buttons that I had to press really hard to get to register

5:51 am

idk if the sorta soft buttons is just part of the original quality of the controllers since it's been a long time since last I owned an SNES (edited)

5:51 am

(I sold mine so I could afford an N64 way back in the day)

I'm using the SNES Classic controllers with Raphnet adapters and it's been really nice. https://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/classic_to_snes/index.php

raphnet technologies - Classic controller to SNES adapter

An adapter to use Classic controller (and NES/SNES Classic edition controllers) on an original SNES

Same. They even improved the design a bit, though nothing dramatic. The start/select buttons have 2 contacts each so even pressing on the extreme edge will register

1:34 pm

Almost makes it worth picking up the classic even if not interested just for 2 fresh controllers.

Did they ever sell those separately for the snes Classic?

5:03 pm

Been using that raphnet adapter too

I don't believe so

10:21 pm

hori joycon attempted delivery but was not home. Rats.

Checking out the beta firmware for sd2snes with SA-1 support

Played about 40 minutes of marvelous. Pretty solid so far to my eyes..but I have little experience with the game to know if something is off (edited)

Nice

yep, its a d-pad

4:43 pm

Solid all around. I'd recommend waiting for the western release though. Since it is supposed to fix the battery drain problem.

4:44 pm

Also worth being aware it does not have the full joycon functionally, so no wireless, has to be connected to the system, etc..

4:44 pm

Fair trade off for me, personally, for a good d-pad, but worth knowing.

Yeah thats a bit if a pity

4:48 pm

Would like to use it with the flipgrip

I'll keep that in mind. My younger brother just got a d-pad mod on his joycon, so I'm curious how it compares

they announced that they'll fix the battery drain problem?

Yeah, hardware problem so not coming to this first batch of japanese releases unfortunately

4:49 pm

Just gotta remember to yank it out when I'm not playing. Minor nuisance but I'll live

I'd pay extra for a full featured one

I'm not sure what the story is there. Nintendo not playing ball with third party hardware or something?

Well

Or maybe the cost is a problem

I think there are third party pro-like controllers that are wireless?

4:51 pm

the hori joycon is pretty cheap

Yeah, I wonder if they are nervous about the joycons since that was the vector for the hack, no?

I have no idea

All of the companies are pretty cagey with sharing their wireless secrets

https://twitter.com/fail0verflow/status/988445232445378561

fail0verflow (@fail0verflow)

Introducing our new, revolutionary technology for Nintendo Switch modification. Welcome to SwitchX PRO. Coming soon.

Retweets

690

Likes

1719

4:52 pm

Yeah, this thing

if only Switch did wireless audio..

That goes on the Switch itself though

its the one thing in my life that doesnt support bluetooth audio

4:52 pm

the only thing

Yeah, not sure. Might just be a cost thing. They ran the math to include the full feature set and that number came back as #NOPE

well, then we'll have to get Nintendo to just put a proper d-pad on their joycons

Maybe the small batteries for wireless? has anyone done a breakdown to figure out why Nintendo charges so damned much? Gotta be something in there.

I'm pretty sure it can be done

4:54 pm

I mean

4:55 pm

you can connect the 8bitdo controllers with the switch

4:55 pm

and there's loads of third party wireless controllers on amazon

4:55 pm

https://www.amazon.com/DinoFire-Controller-Nintendo-Bluetooth-Somatosensory-Wireless/dp/B07BN7TYVJ/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1533315269&sr=8-5&keywords=switch+controller+wireless

I dont know that they are officially licensed though?

most likely not

3

4:56 pm

Get a load of that thing

https://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-Switch-HORIPAD-Controller-Officially-Licensed/dp/B01NAUATSM/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1533315269&sr=8-17&keywords=switch+controller+wireless

4:57 pm

eehh

Do people like disc d-pads? Has a fanbase formed around that?

4:57 pm

Wouldn't be surprised after the popularity of the 360

4:57 pm

Never ran into anyone personally (edited)

I barely ever touched the dpad on my 360

The 360 dpad was bad.

so

4:58 pm

judging by the descriptions of all these controllers

4:58 pm

Nintendo apparently blocks out unlicensed third party stuff

4:59 pm

and third party unlicensed makers have to upgrade the firmware of their controllers to circumvent any issues

5:00 pm

https://www.amazon.com/BEBONCOOL-Controller-Nintendo-Adjustable-Vibration/dp/B07D9G35MZ/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1533315269&sr=8-18&keywords=switch+controller+wireless

5:00 pm

oh lordy

5:00 pm

BEBONCOOL

I think that's a engrish-style misspelling, it should be BEUNCOOL

hmm, I got the toro vga box for my dc, and when hooking it up to the OSSC with both my vga cable and the scart cable, the image ends up going darker than it should

8:15 am

remove scart, it goes back to regular brightness

8:15 am

weird stuff

8:17 am

or not that weird but a little annoying

It could be the even/odd scanline switch

7:42 pm

try switching that around and see if it helps, it did on mine

whelp this was over a week ago, but I just caught up:

5:49 pm

@Wietse van Bruggen I joined a kickstarter for this thing, which will hopefully solve the lack of bluetooth audio for the Switch: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/humanthings/genki-bluetooth-audio-for-the-nintendo-switch

Human Things

GENKI: Bluetooth Audio for the Nintendo Switch

Connect your favorite headphones to the Switch with a premium USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5, aptX Low Latency, multi-pairing audio adapter.

5:49 pm

It's a kickstarter, so that means I'll be lucky to receive it this year

5:50 pm

but if/when I do, I'll try to remember to speak up in here if it's great/terrible

5:52 pm

So..is it impossible to get Bluetooth audio from a switch ever without this thing?

5:52 pm

Just so odd that it’s not a feature by default

5:53 pm

In docked mode it’s not a problem, I can connect to my tv. But it would seem a logical feature to have for handheld mode

I don't know at all if there are hardware reasons behind it.

5:55 pm

At a guess, I would guess it is possible for Nintendo to add the feature in a firmware update.

5:55 pm

I'm assuming that they're basically using an off-the-shelf bluetooth solution in the Switch, which should allow them to handle bluetooth audio along with pairing everything else (i.e. all the controllers) they need too.

Yeah that’s why I find it surprising. Bluetooth is thoroughly used to let the switch function. Why not have audio capabilities?

But there are limitations depending on the bluetooth implementation they're using, so maybe they're worried about quality, or compatibility, or having to sacrifice a pair of potential controllers to accommodate the audio stream.

5:57 pm

Or it's all easily possible, and Nintendo is just being Nintendo

5:57 pm

I haven't worked with the bluetooth stack in any interesting way, ever, so this is all guesswork.

Heh. I appreciate that there’s a regular jack connector but I find it hard to switch back now. Not getting stuff tangled or connectors/cables crapping up is a nice thing.

yeah it was the signal being split bc it sends the signal thru both cables

10:18 am

(for the toro vga box)

10:18 am

but I switched to SCART only and I havent looked back

10:19 am

480P thru SCART looks just as good as VGA, and I can just switch for those games that don't support VGA

10:19 am

means I can just ditch the vga cable completely

So just scart only now? No box needed? Running it directly into tv or through upscaler?

no thru the toro box

10:20 am

one of the most interesting features on it is that the toro will do 480P thru RGB Scart

10:21 am

and I've got it plugged into the OSSC at 2x, into an OLED 4k TV (edited)

Pity nothing just outputs 480p through scary straight from the console

I think the PS2 could?

10:22 am

or if that was component required

10:23 am

either way, not natively

Requires component

I also bought a 3 meter long shielded thick as hell scart cable

10:29 am

along w the toro

10:29 am

and I wasn't prepared for how beefy it is

10:29 am

just a long thick snake of a scart cable

10:30 am

at least it's properly shielded I guess

3 meters? That’s pretty long

11:21 am

Yeah those thick cables are quite something.

https://twitter.com/zzr40092/status/1028966943447965701?s=19

zzr40092 (@zzr40092)

”ワールドアイ“で「餓狼スペ」OPクラウザーさんド迫力ヽ(´▽｀)/ https://t.co/jmYbnA577M

Retweets

2329

Likes

5782

5:25 pm

I'd love to play games on this thing even though I know it's impractical

i want one so bad

World Eye is an incredible name for a product too.

that looks... so strange

def going to get one of these and make a game for it

Preliminary findings on FDS sound improvement on Everdrive N8 with new firmware (edited)

5:20 pm

Zelda 1 sword blast now sounds a lot more like real hardware, but its inconsistent

5:20 pm

Sword blast on FDS:

5:20 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11DFHWX6N7k&feature=youtu.be

dododub

Sword blast on FDS hardware

5:20 pm

Sword blast on Everdrive

5:20 pm

https://youtu.be/sMXkj6EHq4A

dododub

Sword blast on Everdrive n8 v20 RC1

5:21 pm

Everdrive n8 v20 RC1 on an AVS

Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa...is a little more off

6:24 pm

Sounds awful

Weird hardware question: I got a PS2 Slim in hopes of streaming PS1 games easier, but it outputs PS1 games in only 30hz (over component), making my capture card not be able to pick up the signal. What up with that?

Odd. Cant say I ever noticed that (though I never capture either) (edited)

8:06 pm

Have it connected through RGB scart atm though

Is it a 240p issue?

8:07 pm

If the games are outputting 240p and your capture card doesnt like it, that could be the problem.

Sounds like the opposite problem if it's 30hz

8:39 pm

But it wouldn't make sense for a capture card to not understand 480i so maybe don't listen to me

It really depends on if its actually trying to do 30hz, or if the capture card is completely missing the signal (except for probably a quick blip). Ive had that issue with 240p, where the capture card both doesn't support 240p proper and also doesn't support converting it to a 480i signal as many do.

8:41 pm

So something like an SNES also wouldnt work. Happens with my Intensity Pro, for instance.

8:41 pm

A lot of cards just dont know what to do with 240p signals.

Other 240p/480i signals are fine. The reason I guess it's the 30hz issue is that the card has pass-through to the TV, and the TV displays fine, but the little "info" graphic displays 480p/30hz instead of the usual 60.

That's odd.

Only on PS1 games, because SONY

Is it a late model slim?

Interestingly, sometimes things like intro videos and the PS1 logo show up, then it changes resolution (?) and goes blank.

10:13 pm

Not sure about the model.

The late ones do some weird things iirc

Definitely sounds like 480p, I’d try running them on a PS3, natively upscale but it’ll be HDMI compliant at least

I currently run them on PS3, but my capture card is analog, and I have to switch the output from HDMI all the time. I got the PS2 slim so that I can have it set to analog output all the time and avoid switching.

It very well may be the fact that its a slim or late slim. I dont recall ever having issues with a phat

There are definitely work-arounds and ways to avoid it, but I was just curious if someone ran into it before or had insight into why it would do that (output 30hz). Thanks.

also it wouldn't be 480p unless he told his PS2 to output 480p

And even that is on a per-game basis. It should be outputting 240p no problem based on most guides (other than the handful that have 480i modes).

1:37 pm

I guess I'm hoarding CRTs now

1:38 pm

The last one of these on eBay went for over twice this price

That thing looks like a beast

It is, we already have one just like it

2:17 pm

I bought it in 2005 for $50

Wasnt sure if that was the same model as the one you had or not, I knew you had a large monitor though

Yeah this used to be considered the gold standard for rgb game consoles, I think the BVM kinda is now but only if you prefer really pronounced scanlines

Yeah Im content with the 14 inch BVM I have, along with the 37 inch plasma I picked up recently. I cant imagine what even that 25 inch weighs

I can't carry it by myself

6:38 pm

I mean I can do small things like taking it off of its cart and putting it on the floor, etc.

6:38 pm

but walking around with it is very dangerous

altera usb blaster is the one I hear about all the time, I always assumed it was the "industry standard"

For those interested in the the new Everdrive firmware release candidates that add proper FDS sound support and additional mappers

7:39 am

1. FDS sound has improved a lot with the latest RC releases, no in your face faults anymore. At least to my ears ^^ (edited)

7:40 am

2. It does not work well in PAL mode at all. Switched the AVS into PAL mode and found it be mostly broken.

7:41 am

3. Some games crash. Gimmick crashes hard on level 2 the latest RC's on the AVS. It does not crash on RC5, so something happened with RC6 that introduces the crash.

7:42 am

4. FDS games that before were listed as not working properly on the Everdrive N8 seem to still be broken. Not done extensive testing but at least Gall Force and Ultraman club are still broken to the point of being unplayable.

7:43 am

Conclusion: it still needs work to be stable. I wouldnt put in my everdrive right now.

Hm..PAL support might have something to do with the AVS specifically as well. I downgraded to v16 and the menu is still really garbled in PAL mode

8:00 am

8:06 am

Reflashing the firmware doesn't fix it either. It also happens on v16 now in PAL mode (edited)

It's yet another emulator for people who think the ROMs in cartridges are different than the ones on the internet, but afaik it's actually a good one

6:31 pm

If you're going to do hardware that plays old media again, they're doing it right imo

6:32 pm

They're also actually developing or licensing emulators and should be applauded for it

Ooh, thats neat and a nice turn compared to what other companies have been doing

Yeah

6:33 pm

For me personally I see this and I see someone rubbing a VHS tape on their PlayStation to make it play on Netflix

Nice! Glad they're doing it the legit way.

But! This might be an interesting path I hadn't considered toward a digital storefront

It’s not working Frank

6:36 pm

No no, it has to be a PS One, it can't be any old PS model you have lying around the house (edited)

That's exciting. That's the opposite of what I was expecting from one of these devices.

I'm particularly curious about that part. It would be nice to have a backup option for my saturn.

now the site is a wordpress login

9:10 pm

but the concept looks neat

I like the CD thing (edited)

9:17 am

really cool that they're developing/licensing emulators

9:18 am

the modules thing is interesting

9:20 am

I really like the idea of a single box that has a library of games for older consoles, that makes it a lot more available to the general public (edited)

9:21 am

just, dont like the execution of most of those consoles

2

Apparently the fully loaded polymega bundle is $599

4:34 pm

https://i.imgur.com/kfy6FWR.jpg

4:35 pm

Site is crashing hard though, can't confirm

4:35 pm

$459 for just the base + all modules

4:35 pm

https://i.imgur.com/twZ6Vje.jpg

I guess the site had the details for a moment, then crashed, and came back up with pre-orders at 11 am PST, so sneak peak I guess

the faq says the famicom is pure fpga, so I guess there are three commercial fpga consoles for that now

4:59 pm

all with different authors I'd presume (any insight @bunnyboy ?)

is there a link that works?

I guess the faq was up for a little while and someone copy-pasted it on the atari age forums

Looks like all the info should drop in an hour so not too bad

The team at Playmaji has spent a good amount of effort on a piece of technology called Active Cartridge Reading, an experimental subset of Hybrid Emulation that allows you to use any games or peripherals that work on a real classic console using a live blend of software-based emulation and memory mapped hardware. This technology, while it exists, is not yet fast enough for some of Polymega’s supported systems, and would result in a degraded overall experience if launched prematurely.

 
Now, support for game cartridges with on board DSP chips such as Everdrives, Starfox, or live-reading of devices like Game Genies is blended.
 
First, we’ve licensed standard DSP-compatible emulators for systems with those types of cartridges, which will allow games with special chips to be played via software emulation.  That means you can now play backed up games such as StarFox and others regardless of whether you have the cartridge inserted, a convenience that most gamers will appreciate. We’ve also added a software-based Game Genie and Pro Action Replay as a reward level for supporting the console beyond its initial funding goals. The Super Game Boy is no longer compatible with the EM02 SNES SFC module, however, we have set up a GB / GBC / GBA module as an additional reward tier if reached.

5:02 pm

Second, certain systems are going to be FPGA based. The first example of this is going to be the dedicated Famicom module, which will be released after the launch of the system. Famicom is particularly important to be implemented in this manner as it included accessories such as the Famicom Disk System (FDS), which was a critical part of its library and one that we will not be creating a dedicated module for. The tech to support FPGA modules is built in to the launch version of the Polymega™ Base Unit, and we may continue to release other FPGA modules in the future. FPGA modules will have a slightly higher price point than standard modules.
 
This decision / change overall has freed up our team to focus on matters that more factually push the needle in terms of overall system compatibility, as evidenced by our recently-announced support for the Sega Saturn, adding over one thousand new compatible games to Polymega™. What made this possible is that by removing the larger size FPGA from the base unit, we were able to opt for a higher clock-speed dual core chip rather than a slower quad-core chip for the main CPU, which now opens up the door to more demanding systems like Saturn, N64, Dreamcast, and more — which is what many people have expressed to us that they want

"One Module (TG16\PCE in this case) - 59.99$"

5:04 pm

Person who grabbed the info said that price for the TG16 module. Wonder what NES will be (edited)

my guess is mednafen

in other words hybrid emulation is BS like everyone who knows the tech said it would be

for saturn I mean

That was confirmed, I think? Let me fine

and when playing famicom, the base unit is just a very expensive power/video pass through

mednafen

mednafen is the only creator-owned saturn emulator that's viable afaik

The official Polymega twitter tweeted this earlier (but it looks like they have since deleted the tweet):
"We'll release some videos soon but it's full speed thanks to our pal Ryphecha who implemented it."

This is referring to the Saturn emulator. Ryphecha is the lead for Mednafen, so it suggests that they use that emulator for all the systems that they support.

5:06 pm

I didn't see the tweet personally so I guess we'll see, but seems likely

we contract the author at digital eclipse too

5:07 pm

it's been their nes sound code since mmlc

I'm glad people are trying different approaches to this stuff and hope it is viable, even if this particular unit may not be for me? Will see though once more details are readily available.

will be interesting to see how they get around the bios copyright problem

that's my thinking too

5:10 pm

I think this is probably going to be a really solid product, but it's too casual for us hardcore types and too expensive for the casual crowd

3

5:10 pm

but it's also probably the best multi-console thing out there, so maybe there's a solid market for that?

5:12 pm

I think it's more for people who only think they don't like emulation

Yeah, if the cost was right for an individual module I could maybe see it but it is apparently going to be $250 for just the base without a module. Even the Super Nt comes in under that.

I think there's a sizable amount of people who think "emulation" means weird bootleg version but that somehow using original media fixes it

Do you think trying to encourage adopting a new term for marketing purposes alone would be worthwhile, or just a waste of everyone's time?

this is a very weird thing. it's emulation wrapped up as a legit looking console. it's some cool smoke and mirrors to convince folks that emulation is okay.

I think at least 90% of their audience just sees a box that plays their old games and thinks that's great

A $300+ retron

like I said, it's an emulator for people who think the roms in cartridges are better, who don't want to figure out how to download them, who just want to play the stuff they still have from the old days, or for the Legal Angels who find themselves absolved of sin if they buy third-party antiques

5:18 pm

I'd think the collector market is more hardware purist but maybe I'm wrong

haha. because paying some rando money that never gets back to the ip owner is better than just not paying anoyone... it looks cool, but I've already got a pc and a raspberry pi. They're going to have to pitch a far more reasonable price point.

The "installed games" (read: rom dumper) are going to be encrypted too so can't take them elsewhere

that's a bummer. I could almost justify it as a rom dumper if not for that.

Have any of the bigs gone after rom dumpers in any real way?

how could they? on what grounds?

Analogue seems similarly squeamish to this feature, just seems odd

does ebay count as a big?

oh does ebay not allow those?

they have shut down stuff like copynes and retrode before

do they also shut down dual cassette decks

5:20 pm

because it's kind of the same thing

haha

5:20 pm

so true.

hah, ebay, release the ghettoblasters

how about disk drives

5:21 pm

are they going to get rid of cd-rom drives because I can use them to copy commercial CDs

5:21 pm

public perception of how we maintain cartridge media is so broken

I'd guess they settle for the argument it has other purposes too, and those purposes are its primary marketed feature?

5:22 pm

Retrode on the other hand

5:22 pm

True, it seems self imposed by the companies in that case. Can't see why though

I guess ebay has always had its weird blanket rules

5:23 pm

like you can't sell prototype game cartridges technically, because they don't allow anything that's on rewritable media

5:24 pm

which, again

5:24 pm

any cassette tape?

They force you to glue the read-only tab in for 3.5" floppies

and cassettes!

dont even think of listing whiteboard erasers

yeah you might use it to write out the words from a copyrighted novel

no game manuals. who knows what copyrighted comments you might put in pencil in the hint section in the back.

If I were an abhorrent nihilist troll I would master the art of removing single, vital plot point pages from books from the binding so it is completely undetectable and the second hand reader believes the author to be a hack.

5:28 pm

Books with page numbers would be tricky, but I believe in myself.

oh I actually kinda forgot about this

1

5:29 pm

haha

5:29 pm

Frank

no wonder you have been shilling it

so we're setting up a specific grant that all the proceeds are earmarked toward that goes toward projects that preserve video game history

That is very cool

money comes to us, we dole it out

That's really cool.

so we kind of curate where it goes but don't take any of it

are there enough of those projects where money is the limit?

guess we'll find out!

5:34 pm

but it's also grant money, in theory that could be like, an emulation author wanting to accomplish something new

5:34 pm

I'm sure there's more than enough

polymega is the official console of the VGHF cause it lets you play all the bubsys in one box

1

That's a great idea

okay I just talked to the polymega guy again to make sure I remembered it right, and that's really the gist of it. they want to give back to the open source emulator community

5:41 pm

but that doesn't mean all money goes specifically toward that

still, incredibly cool.

meanwhile I'm still trying to find out the best way to play PS1 comfortably that's not thru PC emulation or pi3

7:26 pm

I guess it COULD be through pi3 but generally the ps1 emulation on that is.... not always great

Currently using a modded PS2 slim.

I do have a modded ps2 slim just lying around, but the laser on that is kind of dying and also I dislike burning CDs all the time

7:28 pm

latter is probably a reason it's dying

Aaaah. I haven't used it burned things. Just for PS2 and PS1 imports.

weellll see most of my games are PAL

7:28 pm

the ones I own that is

7:28 pm

on ps1 a lot of those stayed in 50hz-land

7:29 pm

actually all of them are PAL

7:29 pm

come to think of it

7:30 pm

I guess best way WOULD be a pi3 tbh

7:30 pm

or a psio

7:30 pm

if I got my hands on one

pi3 over pc because of price/size?

Yeah, mostly just want something that's not PC big

got it

7:31 pm

yeah I dunno I hooked up an older gaming tower to the TV about 8 months ago and haven't turned on a console since

I've found the emulation on pi3 to be pretty solid.

mostly I found I much prefer gaming on my couch vs playing on my desktop

7:32 pm

and that's easier to make happen with pi3 and the like

and yeah - PC in the corner hooked up to the tv is the way to go. I just use the pi3 on the road.

without moving my whole setup

those tiny little mouse/keyboard remotes are like $15 now

7:33 pm

it's pretty cool to just turn on the thing that does everything I want on the tv

I recommend a long hdmi cable and a usb extension, and you can play pretty much anywhere in the room.

plus it's a console that has steam sales

hehe

I have been wanting to play my PC games on my new 4k TV as well

7:34 pm

well, if my old 970 can handle that

7:34 pm

either way it's just a really nice display

7:34 pm

but mostly I just doubt it'll be all that pleasant

7:36 pm

I just find the experience of playing old console games on my desktop really unnatural in a sense

same here, that's why it's an older desktop that does nothing but act as a console

7:36 pm

and then what I use on my actual desk is a laptop now

a good usb controller makes the difference for me.

I really love the xbox one controller for that

right, we got xbox one wireless pads (well, I took one home from work but bought a second one)

I have a separate logitech one for directinput

7:37 pm

but the xbone pad takes pretty much anything

we got eight extra ones from an old idarb 8-player display at a show, microsoft told us to take them home

nice

so, yoink, mine

I mean there's more where those came from I guess

I've been enjoying the ibuffalo snes controller and the 8bitdo bluetooth controller. the dpad input on the ibuffalo feels really good.

I should get the ibuffalo sometime (edited)

ooh I should look, my wife can't do the 8bitdo d-pad

8bitdo d-pad

7:38 pm

yea

7:38 pm

sort of too stiff for me?

7:39 pm

I also found the wiiu pro controller to be a great pi3 pad

7:39 pm

which is awesome bc my wiiu is bricked

7:40 pm

just, didnt play on it for ages, tried removing the external HDD for other purposes, and it died trying to download a game to the internal storage

7:40 pm

"internal storage corrupted"

oh geez

I mean I did softmod it so it might have been it corrupting one of.. those files

7:41 pm

but a brick is a brick

that's okay I bricked a softmodded wii but forgetting to turn off auto-updates

7:41 pm

*by forgetting

oof

7:42 pm

wii is at least a bit less expensive than a wiiu

I got a replacement for $10

7:42 pm

at a store that had a giant stack of them

also I'd freely admit if I softmodded the wiiu for piracy but really I just wanted the ability to install all my games to my HDD

2

7:42 pm

oops

oh yeah it's weird I didn't even think to use my modded wii to pirate stuff, I don't think?

It's great for GameCube games with Nintendont.

I installed all my games and put some homebrew on it

definitely use my wii for piracy but that things still alive

7:44 pm

nintendont is awesome

the 8bitdo is better for ps1 games than a lot of 8/16 bit stuff, oddly enough, but the ibuffalo is like magic.

I mean I'm no angel, did plenty of pirating on gba and ds, but even then I would pirate shovelware more or less

I have a wii i set aside to turn into an f-Zero AX machine, but haven't had the time yet.

like, the japanese ds game where you're a donut rolling around and jumping, or The Bible Game on GBA

yeah

Kuru Kuru Kururin 2

I just got fed up with the euro delay on pretty much everything, and a lot of games never making it here

yeah, poor europe got the short console straw.

unless you count that amstrad thing

that looks really cool.

what amstrad thing

apparently did not do too hot.

7:48 pm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_GX4000

Amstrad GX4000

The GX4000 is a video game console that was manufactured by Amstrad. It was the company's short-lived attempt to enter the games console market. The console was released in Europe in 1990 and was an upgraded design based on the then still-popular CPC technology. The GX4000 sh...

7:48 pm

I am just now learning about this.

oh wow that looks so.... (edited)

7:48 pm

idk video game console plastic-y

there's a lot of bumps and grooves that would have made 10 year old me very excited about how cool it looks.

I was 4 years old when that came out lol

7:49 pm

yea thats sort of what I mean haha

I was 5, but most of my console experiences were a few years late.

a retro nerd friend of mine often said "I'd like to lick the plastic of that console"

7:50 pm

as a joke

7:50 pm

but mostly it's like, an appreciation for those kinds of designs

7:51 pm

he said that about the pippin

7:52 pm

my videogame experiences p much started when I was like 4 or 5 I think

mmm, I get the meaning. there are some good looking consoles that did not do great.

NES had been out about that long and my brother got one for his bday and I played that and I got messed up for life

I played Zelda on my aunt and uncle's NES. Navigating that world with hand drawn notes and maps from my uncle was a life changing experience. That and doing the same thing on Ax Battler and Myst years later locked me in for life.

I never played the original zelda until I played it on emulators many many years later

7:54 pm

in my teens

7:54 pm

I'm pretty sure I played it in nesticle hahaha

7:55 pm

I still to this day have never finished that game

I only played it last year

7:56 pm

just spent a nice saturday with it on a crt. managed to beat it without looking anything up, it's like I just absorbed knowledge over the years subconsciously

7:56 pm

or maybe later games taught me where to look for things

I think it really cemented my love for games that give me a real feeling of being in a place.

I'm bad at sticking with it when it comes to that game and zelda 2

7:57 pm

I blame it partly on not having anything I can play it comfortably on? I guess

7:58 pm

maybe I should get an NES mini or something

there was a game that got shut down with a c&d - Zelda Online. After the C&D it changed to Graal and had a pretty robust editor and scripting system. it's where I first got a taste for game design and programming.

although I hear the emulator's not Great on that thing

7:58 pm

oh I remember graal hell yea

i only played it a bit, but I spent countless hours in the editor.

I actually forgot about it for a long time but I guess I still had it stored

I still have the old zelda online versions and a version of graal with a server program (version 1.28, before the scripting got really good in 1.41).

semi-ot but it's really weird to me that there's been no romhack for playing fds zelda in english with the real audio

yeah, honestly now that you mention it

8:01 pm

I guess there's just no interest in it somehow?

is there really not?

8:02 pm

that seems insane to me considering there's an entire book on the differences between the zelda 1 versions.

There really hasn't? that is surprising.

8:02 pm

There's definitely one for Zelda 2 (edited)

8:03 pm

Zelda no Densetsu - The Hyrule Fantasy (J) T+Eng v1.1 Jordiway73.fds

oooh. I'll have to hunt that down.

I do have an older Q6600 PC lying around

8:13 pm

I might use that and install lakka on it

8:14 pm

intel core 2...

Text is English in this one but it doesn't seem to be just the US/PAL text

ooooh, that looks like a nice little distro. I haven't see that one before.

FAQ is sort of loading for me, have a copy

9:48 pm

@bunnyboy

9:48 pm

HOW ARE BIOS FILES SUPPORTED ON POLYMEGA™ ?

Polymega™ features integrated HLE BIOS functionality for CD-based emulators, which provides coverage for the vast majority of games. You can optionally override HLE BIOS by placing alternative BIOS files on a USB Thumb Drive and importing them to the system using the BIOS override option in the Settings>Game & Interface screen. A list indicating compatible BIOS files will be provided prior to delivery of Polymega™, but the files themselves must be sourced elsewhere.

"must be sourced elsewhere" hehe

WILL I BE ABLE TO DUMP MY ROMS ON POLYMEGA™ AND PLAY THEM?

While the direct importing of ROMs will not be supported, you can bet we want to find alternative, legal ways to bring classic gaming into your living room and respect the copyrights of publishers. In the interest of preservation and reducing wear and tear on your classic games, Polymega™ does allow you to backup cartridge and disc games you own from your personal collection via the console itself. You can play them without having to insert the games or matching module once installed.

9:55 pm

See what gets me is they walk on eggshells for stuff like this, but then they use prominently displayed game art all over marketing material which I doubt is used with permission and I'd assume capcom could easily C&D if they felt like bothering.

9:55 pm

Sony lost to Bleem, where Bleem could use screenshots of PlayStation games on their packaging

9:56 pm

Similar?

Any idea if it was Sony owned games?

9:58 pm

I just imagine a DVD player plastering Mickey Mouse cartoons all over and that not going well for them at all

Gran Turismo had its own bleempack, I imagine that had a screenshot or two

9:58 pm

Yep uses an image of one of the cars

9:59 pm

The difference being that was making a comparison

Yet again, fair use is slippery and hard to define

10:00 pm

I don't mind it, to be clear, I just don't feel like I can get a grip on some of the decision making with these things.

Was just trying to think through some of their potential thought process.

semi off topic but one of my favorite thrift store finds is a sealed Virtual Game Station for Mac that has a copy of PS1 Space Jam included for free inside of a cutout in the box

Thats neat!

that sounds amazing.

also it's the greatest hits version

10:01 pm

also there was a greatest hits version of space jam

I remember having some fun with that somehow. Until my cousin broke our rental store's copy. That was the end of that.

IS POLYMEGA™ 100% EMULATION?

For now, standard modules use standard emulation with low latency controller inputs. Certain modules in the future will release with an embedded FPGA that will allow extended compatibility with hardware accessories.

10:02 pm

with hardware accessories, hm

10:02 pm

I wonder if that means something they will produce or like.. jamming in a 32x or whatever

10:04 pm

oh, I guess the genesis module has 32x already so I don't know what that would be referring to then if not add-ons

10:04 pm

lightgun?

Didnt it say that Super Gameboy isnt supported now?

The Super Game Boy is no longer compatible with the EM02 SNES SFC module, however, we have set up a GB / GBC / GBA module as an additional reward tier if reached.

10:05 pm

So that would be its own module and not "extended compatibility with hardware accessories."

The whole thing is odd.

it's pretty wild.

Launching a product is super hard. I am completely willing to give them all the time and benefit of the doubt at this point.

yeah. they just put things up.

10:07 pm

what I really want to (but never will) see is some publisher support - basically this with an online romstore that you can get new roms from the actual ip owners.

10:07 pm

basically, I want the sega genesis collection for steam in a console.

They said 5 games come built in, right? Did I fever dream that?

10:08 pm

Not sure if any more details other than a number

yeah I'm guessing stuff that piko owns

10:08 pm

super noah's ark 3d, legend, stuff like that

heh.

10:10 pm

I'm curious how it all turns out. Like you were talking about earlier in here - is it too casual for the hardcore, and too spendy for the casual? or will it maybe find a nice niche? Either way, the requirement for original hardware certainly makes it more trouble that it's worth for me.

showing game art on their ads isnt a problem since they are showing the cart, and not trying to make it look like the console is made by the same people

10:39 pm

"this dvd player plays disney disks" vs "this dvd player is made by disney"

"The Super Game Boy is no longer compatible with the EM02 SNES SFC module, however, we have set up a GB / GBC / GBA module as an additional reward tier if reached."

11:07 pm

Well I think this is really sketchy now

11:07 pm

The whole reason of this being exciting was the compatibility

11:07 pm

The so called Hybrid Emulation

11:07 pm

and now it's gone?

its not gone, it never existed

hell yes, found a spare power cable and a mini-HDMI adapter for my old computer that's just sitting around

8:45 am

as well as some SATA and power cables for the drive (edited)

8:45 am

so I can realistically turn this thing into an emulation machine

2

I decided to ditch it, mostly bc I noticed how nasty it looked next to my TV

there isn't anywhere you can tuck it out of sight?

nah

1:30 pm

also I gotta set it up further bc the hdmi-out only works if the drivers are installed properly and ughhhh

1:30 pm

too much work

1:32 pm

I guess I'll just try harder at setting up my pi3 or something

I just went with the retro pi distro. it's been really solid for me. if you go for something different, let me know. I'm curious if there's even better stuff out there.

I already have retropi on mine

1:51 pm

it's sort of why I'm hoping theres something better lol

1:51 pm

bc from what I've tried ps1 is sort of shaky

1:51 pm

on whatever emu core they're using

1:51 pm

I think it's pcsx-rearmed or something

1:51 pm

since the pi3 just isn't powerful enough for beetle

there's a lot of settings you can control within the core. might be something that makes it smoother for you.

yea maybe

I was planning on fiddling with my pi3 in the next few days anyways - if you have a specific game you're trying to get going smoothly, let me know and I can potentially take a stab at it too.

I think mostly it was chrono cross

1:55 pm

that had issues

1:56 pm

especially when entering battle and such, it will slow down along with the music

1:56 pm

I assume thanks to framebuffer effects

i'll see if I can sneak some time later tonight to poke at it.

1:56 pm

I have a couple projects due by the end of the month, so no promises, I'm afraid.

yea I might end up putting lakka on it instead

1:57 pm

and test out some settings

I am very curious about lakka.

since I dont really dig retropie's love for pulling out your keyboard for even simple settings

true, true.

like, right now for some reason I have underscan in 1080P, and for that I need to go and edit a .ini file or something

1:58 pm

and im like "wait why"

gross.

"why isn't this just a regular setting with a slider or somesuch"

2:00 pm

I don't 100% mind using a kb during setup but when it becomes a requirement just to tweak display settings it's like ugh

yeah. that's a bit much.

lakka has a way more boring UI though since it's just the retroarch UI

hoo, I managed to fix the underscan issue

3:59 pm

SSH'd into retropi and edited the config.txt from there (edited)

haha. nice.

3:59 pm

that's the way to do it.

yea, sadly that is exactly the way to do it

4:06 pm

which is why it annoys me when people are shitting on others for getting an easy ready-made box like the NES classic instead of setting up retropi

I think those systems are brilliant. They just suffer from their incredibly limited game library. But I'm sure not going to think less of folks for preferring an option with 0 setup. I got the retro pi over those as much for the easy portable linux box as for the large game library options, which most folks aren't into.

yea, I just see the elitism with people who are like "heh why not just get a pi loll"

4:15 pm

and they're so far up their own ass they dont realize most people dont have spare keyboards lying around or an afternoon to set it up

4:15 pm

or even know how to download roms that work right with the emulator cores

4:18 pm

and even then if you want like, the pi itself, and maybe a shell and a keyboard of some kind that will work with it, it ends up costing more than just grabbing an NES or SNES classic or something with, yeah limited libraries, but also instant access

I wouldn't say it's hard, but it certainly takes time, and I write code for work, so I'm a bad judge of how hard it is.

yea I mean thats what I mean, a lot of these people have spent their whole lives tinkering with tech stuff and the like

and yeah, if you want it to look nice (I got a cute SNES shell for mine), it definitely tips the price.

and like, that includes me

4:20 pm

I def dont have a solid grasp of how much harder it is for a "regular" person to set it all up

2

it's an undertaking, and it's totally cool if people don't want to undertake it, especially when there's a 0 effort, legit alternative.

yea, right

4:22 pm

honestly the older I get I start to understand the appeal of just, hooking up some thing thats already set up

4:22 pm

and just play

amen. I put a lot of time into my retro pi when I first set it up so that it's now able to do that. Heck, that's the reason I use emulation on my PC instead of playing PS1/PS2 a lot of the time - I don't have to physically set up and put away consoles when I have set up emulators.

UX is easily the biggest miss with a lot of these solutions, and the thing people constantly forget is setup is part of the user experience.

it's almost like you're saying putting important values in obscure text files is not the best way to be welcoming to your users?

5:32 pm

Just SSH into it grandma, come on, it isn't that hard.

@bunnyboy do you have a preferred place to mention bugs/issues with the AVS?

send email to the support guy, he is more organized and on fewer surgery drugs than me

Hah! Thanks! Hope you'll be able to ditch the surgery drugs soon

last time was ~5 days

1:43 pm

i could definitely tell my brain power was gone when trying to do nes programming

Yikes. Heavy stuff huh?

yup hydrocodone, makes me very spacey but not sleep well

2:04 pm

i watch lots of youtube then realize i have no idea what was said for the last 10 mins

So the same effect as when I've been staring at 6502 for too long. Neat!

it was very weird to know some programming thing should be easy, but completely unable to figure it out

5:59 pm

Didn't realize multi taps for ps1/2 were a thing. Was it used for much?

http://www.mobygames.com/attribute/sheet/attributeId,476/p,7/

6:10 pm

Quite a few

I would imagine a lot of sports games

6:16 pm

I mostly remember playing with it for soccer games

I like that this unit has slots for 4 memory cards as well. I want to meet the crew that fully decked out something like this in the regular

I can't believe I'm actually getting sold on this polymega snakeoil

oh?

It looks great, and its a thing I want, I just

6:40 am

I don't believe it

They're going about it in a legit way, which is nice.

6:41 am

I just wish it wasn't locked to things you already have the physical media for.

I can see a space for a thing that does that in my library

6:42 am

I've just seen this exact pitch

6:42 am

so many times

6:42 am

and its never pans out

6:43 am

companies that go dark for a year, before emailing everyone asking for $100k because they didn't realise how expensive shipping/storage/rent was going to be (edited)

yeah... there's definitely a precedent for this kind of thing.

https://twitter.com/kapuccinoheck/status/1042260716105998336?s=21

kapu | the Gay. (@KapuccinoHeck)

good lord #NintendoSwitchOnline's NES games are plain .nes files GUI appears to be entirely LUA much like the S/NES Classic so people are gonna be able to go to town on this The "database" file that contains a listing of all valid games is plaintext,-

Likes

191

https://youtu.be/ts5rfZA-hNg

Zen Studios

Williams Pinball: Trick Shots & Spot-On Physics - Machine & Pinbal...

11:48 pm

Guess this makes sense in hardware, sure.

11:49 pm

Most promising I've seen out of them yet. I'm glad they are taking feedback about the physics seriously. Not really preserving the tables if you don't capture that part too.

I still haven't seen a digital arcade game that replicates the pinball jumping up and hitting the glass

https://twitter.com/dyxlesci/status/1046533132801986560

Shank (@dyxlesci)

The KillMii is finished! It's a fully functional Wii portable inside an actual Altoids tin. It runs hot, has a 10 minute battery life, and awful controls, but it's a real Wii inside (not an emulator.) It's the worst thing ever.

Likes

173

"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should."

I hate it

4

given the name, they clearly knew what they were doing going in.

oh god the tiny buttons

1:06 pm

are those 3ds analogs????? (edited)

Anyone have suggestions for bags/boxes for JP FC/SFC/GB cases?

can't speak for archival quality but in terms of protection from wear and tear, http://www.videogameboxprotectors.com/

videogameboxprotectors

Something I haven't seen discussed, but that I do worry about, is mold on paper

12:45 am

since moving back to the bay area I've seen things grow mold I would not have expected

I'd assume that most consumer paper products are so cheaply made that the half-life on them in general has to be fairly short?

3:04 am

I wonder if any sort of study has been done to determine how long the average paper product is expected to survive under normal conditions. That seems like a thing someone would have done.

3:05 am

Paper Waste
Based on volume, paper the largest element in American landfills. Normally, it takes 2-6 weeks for landfills to get completely decomposed. If we recycle paper items, we can easily save a lot of landfill space, while reducing the energy and virgin material requirements of making non-recycled paper.

3:05 am

Not very long if in a landfill, I guess.

3:09 am

https://www.quora.com/Archives-and-Archiving-How-long-will-paper-documents-last

Archives and Archiving: How long will paper documents last? - Quora

To sum up: Paper can last centuries. Electronic records currently last about 10-20 years unless they are migrated to new formats/media. [Above: a closeup of a page from a Gutenberg Bible, about 550 years old and still going strong.] Paper can la...

3:10 am

This is more from the perspective of if properly taken care of

3:11 am

And I get the jab at digital formats having a life of 10-20 years, but I think something like the PDF has become too ubiquitous to just die without a fairly simple conversion.

3:13 am

The most concise I've found:

Generally speaking, good quality paper stored in good conditions (cooler temperatures; 30-40% relative humidity) are able to last a long time -- even hundreds of years.

3:13 am

https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/deterioratebrochure.html

3:14 am

So most of the paper based stuff around us will likely be gone within a few hundred years unless properly taken care of. (edited)

yeah, but that's 30% humidity

Huge revelation, I realize, but was trying to avoid assumptions.

I don't live in the desert anymore

3:16 am

I live surrounded by water on 3 sides

Right, so even if you are quite careful it will likely be gone within a lifetime, maybe two.

3:16 am

Embrace entropy!

I'll embrace entropy in books, which are still usable as they degrade

3:17 am

but videogame packaging is supposed to look nice

I wonder how effective a dehumidifier would be

3:21 am

https://www.loc.gov/preservation/outreach/

3:22 am

huh, cool. LOC has some training programs.

3:28 am

Might sound a little odd at first but I'd bet there is more overlap in preservation of musical instruments and electronics than people would realize. It is all complex mechanisms that are easily prone to breaking down if not cared for.

3:28 am

https://www.loc.gov/preservation/outreach/tops/music/index.html

3:29 am

And apparently glass flutes are a thing? My fun fact of the day to learn.

3:30 am

Just ordered a RetroTINK 2X. Pretty excited to check it out - especially with my un-modded N64 w/ RetroTINK's smoothing mode. (edited)

1:52 pm

I'd love to see a TV manufacturer or an ambitious kickstarter/start-up create a modern display that has retro-friendly inputs and a premium internal upscaler built-in.

1:54 pm

Especially with some extra features like a scan line generator. I think the market would embrace a product like that.

I'm pretty set on getting a retrotink myself

3:02 pm

as I have an unmodded N64

3:03 pm

but an S-video cable

So, got a cheap third party zapper gun in, hooked it with the AVS and loaded the patched zapper games.

8:32 pm

Works great!

8:33 pm

It’s fairly sensitive to reflections, so it works best in a dimmed setting. (edited)

Duck Hunt does randomly hang though after a hit for some reason. No clue why.

hanging aside, that sounds really amazing.

Wild Gunman and Hogan’s alley work well. Have not run into the issue there

Well. I can’t figure out why it’s happening or not. Been playing for 13 rounds now without any issue.

I wonder if such a solution is possible for the Master System?

Greetings fellow retro gamers. I'm contacting you because you put your
name down to be notified when the RetroTINK 2X was made available (if
you didn't, or if you've changed your mind, please notify me right away
so I can remove your name from the list, GDPR and all that).

I've got good news. There's definitely a unit available for you in our
first batch, that's 100% guaranteed, an invitation will be coming your
way within the next couple of weeks and you will definitely be able to
buy a unit from us.

10:41 am

hell yes.

@miriam I got the opposite email

oh dang. I'm sorry

11:55 am

maybe next time?

It's not a big deal, I don't have any composite sources currently

11:56 am

I would like to pick up a C64 though

11:57 am

although I have a MiSTer which plays nice with my OSSC as it is

I've been thinking of getting one of gcvideo gamecube dongles for some pristine looking gba games, but I just can't find anyone selling it in Europe.

1:26 pm

Would like to avoid customs charges

What's your budget?

2:31 pm

There's some on eBay via GSP that are around $150 all in @Wietse van Bruggen

Preferably something sub 100

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HDMy-Cube-Pro-Nintendo-Gamecube-HDMI-adapter-No-Lag-GCHD-GCPlug-Most-affordable/123365140643?hash=item1cb922a8a3:m:mvzfqtCx9Pdn36sYTIuXsEg:rk:3:pf:0

HDMy Cube Pro Nintendo Gamecube HDMI adapter No-Lag GCHD GCPlug Mo...

The HDMy Cube HDMI adapter. Only 1 HDMy Cube Pro adapter is included with your order. Gold plated mini HDMI to HDMI cable. IR remote for changing GCVideo settings. A few popular titles that support progressive scan. | eBay!

That one ships from the US

Yeah, but you pay VAT etc. upfront

Just checked in with the gbi developer to see if the recent 2.4b version of gcvideo is really a necessity in their opionion. Apparently there's a slight color shift in 2.4a. Will check first if this is 2.4b.

Isn't that just the firmware though?

It is.

2:58 pm

I'm double cross lefthanded for now when it comes to soldering

Ah

2:59 pm

These things really need an SD card slot for upgrading firmware

That would be great. Adds some cost, but parts itself should be cheap.

3:02 pm

Hmm. Or just get a properly shielded cable. Lines show up in some colors like reds and yellows with the current rgb scart that I'm using.

@Wietse van Bruggen do you have an official SCART cable?

No, comes from retro gaming cables.

I want to pick up a GC soon

3:47 pm

and an RGB modded N64

3:47 pm

although wondering if I should get an UltraHDMI modded N64

3:48 pm

I'm pretty happy with s-video out of my n64. I so rarely play it.

3:48 pm

A GC with a game boy player and GBI would be my advice on what to get first

Can do 240p from the GBA Player?

With GBI you can

Oh yeah, that's the third party software

3:49 pm

load it via SD card?

3:50 pm

I picked up a second RGB Famicom on Yahoo Auctions

Yeah, action replay and sd loader through the second memory card slot

got a pretty good deal on it, so will hopefully be able to resell it pretty easily

There's something like that coming out for Wii right?

I've set it up to auto load GBI with certain settings that'll look the most crisp with a framemeister.

3:52 pm

Yeah, but I'm pretty happy with how component looks on the Wii.

I sold my Framemeister before I left Japan

3:54 pm

actually thinking of reaquiring one now

3:54 pm

unless I can get my hands on a RetroTink

RetroTink seems nice. Wish it had scart so it would a no-brain recommend to people who don’t want to tinker and get a better image on their screen.

Sorry someone waltzed into my cubicle as i sent that, isn't there something for the Wii being developed for HDMI and maybe RGB?

Did you alt-tab into your elaborate spreadsheet on time?

I'm a quick clicker

Yes

@Teddy Rather use the Framemeister than the OSSC?

Composite sources and HDMI passthrough would be very handy

4:13 pm

also, alot of research has been done on optimal platform profiles etc.

4:14 pm

I'm being a little loose with my extra finances over the next couple of months to pick up all the original hardware and everdrives I'll possibly ever want

4:14 pm

then come January, get sensible time

Yeah i do miss HDMI passthrough

4:22 pm

Managed to get someone to sell me a C64 for $50 shipped to put my Ultimate 64 in. Cannot believe what those cost now.

if I did N64 I'd do the HDMI one

That was the most difficult install I've ever done.

4:57 pm

But very nice for those without RGB setups

the best selling computer of all time is now an expensive antique

Yep

4:58 pm

i understand people are buying up everything retro but didn't think C64 would be in such demand

correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the n64 doing digital first that converts to analogue?

4:58 pm

and the hdmi thing taps into digital and bypasses the conversion?

Not sure to be honest! But that makes a lot of sense.

yeah I think that's why I'd do HDMI, I'd want to get as close to the source as I could

4:59 pm

could always convert the 480p back to analogue if I wanted RGB, I figure

N64 is a weird case of it imo looking better kinda fuzzy.

I wonder if I'd feel that way too

4:59 pm

I feel that way about VCS

Yeah, like S-Video is ideal imo on N64. I have it in RGB but... it's too sharp

5:00 pm

but it's a matter of taste

I have a sunnyvale heavy sixer with the original TIA that I put through a nicer old Sony digital tuner to convert RF to composite

Hah very nice, so you prefer it like that?

5:01 pm

I just acquired a 2600 again, haven't decided how I want to connect it. I'll likely go RGB to OSSC though, but if I grab a Retrotink could do that. (edited)

yeah I think I prefer that, but also I haven't touched the thing since NT Mini came out

5:02 pm

convenience usually wins

I don't think the filter is specifically a result of the analog conversion. It's something done in the system.

oh yeah I'm not saying the filter is part of that, I'm just saying that for a system like that intuitively I'd want the digital signal. but I don't really know that system so well so it might not really make a difference

I prepare for the slaughter, but I think sharp pixels on the N64 look like garbage. Every time I see it in MLiG I hate it.

I actually dont find the RGB n64 to be that sharp, so I dont mind it. Still a blur fest

grabs the pitchforks

Hahahaha

5:37 pm

I'm sad that when the great scanline war happens @Wietse van Bruggen will become my bitter enemy.

I think I'm a fake scanline guy

I just want a toggle so I can match my mood (or the preferences of folks that care more than me).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igiVHfBzX8w

Introducing MiSTer FPGA Multi Console

I believe in the miracle of FPGA. I still have the vain hope that people will start using it to emulate/simulate TTL arcade games.

I really hope MiSTer takes off

6:29 pm

had my setup since pretty much day one

6:29 pm

it's amazing

Just pulled the trigger on one.

Nice!

6:31 pm

Just the DE-10 Nano (edited)

6:31 pm

or a full setup?

Yeah, i guess i'll wait til the guy you mentioned has the sd-ram and io board's available and grab one then

I'm thinking of grabbing one of his AIO IO boards (edited)

6:33 pm

he has one that has the integrated RAM, guaranteed to run at 167mhz

seems like too much work to make my own boards. (edited)

6:33 pm

Are those available?

Not sure

6:34 pm

I'll ask him

I feel slightly conflicted with how the original MiST was replaced by the MiSTer and what that means for the general attitude of open source contribution with this stuff

6:39 pm

While at the same time glad there are multiple avenues for fpga coming about? (edited)

It's a double edged sword really

6:40 pm

MiSTer is an off-the-shelf board

6:40 pm

where they've pretty much said they've stopped making the MiST

6:41 pm

but then you have basically a reset with each platform change

6:42 pm

although, MiST and MiSTer are largely source compatible, some small tweaks required

They stopped specifically because the MiSTer if I am not mistaken?

Perhaps, but I don't think it was selling well anyway

6:43 pm

and the hardware was starting to reach it's limit

6:43 pm

I think Sorgelig just got frustrated with the limitations

6:47 pm

Man, if they get PCE-CD or Mega CD support working

6:47 pm

it could be huge

I thought I remembered Kevtris saying that this price is due to the fact that it's really intended as an educational thing and heavily discounted due to that.

Yeah, the FPGA on the DE10-Nano is a $250 FPGA, no volume discounts

6:52 pm

they're subsidized for board makers like Terasic, who yeah, create these development boards for universities etc.

6:53 pm

That's the downside of MiSTer, for mass market, they need to streamline the product, create a single board solution, but with the price of the chip itself, it'll be a $500+ solution

So if the cores get well developed on MiSTer, would they be easily portable to something else?

Theoretically

6:58 pm

the problem is, is that once you're developing for a 110k+ LE FPGA

6:59 pm

you will probably need to keep using 110k+ LE FPGAs

6:59 pm

so it's not like there's cheaper options right now

6:59 pm

but maybe in a few years

Yeah that's what I was thinking, this could be useful as it's cheap and accessible, people are taking interest, so hopefully the cores will only improve and be able to used on something more mass market down the road.

7:34 pm

Really really want Analogue to do a NT Mini in a cheap palstic shell

1

At the end of the day, the most valuable thing is the fact that it's open source.

7:34 pm

both the hardware and software

Yep

HDMI-only NT Mini with cheaper plastic shell would be very awesome. Especially considering the DAC might solve the conversion.

7:39 pm

I recall seeing this a while back... https://twitter.com/analogue/status/1019114054126727169

Modded NES Zapper working for LED TV with Duck Hunt

@jay_are5 we'll have an update on the DAC soon- it's been put on the back burner for now, but development has been nearly complete for some time.

7:39 pm

development nearly complete... makes me thing there's a marketing/packaging play somewhere/somehow.

Launching the DAC alongside a cheap Nt Mini could be sweet

That was July.

7:40 pm

Even just offering it as an add-on would make sense

7:40 pm

They'll sell a ton off the bat + any Super NT players who still want one.

7:42 pm

8bitdo has a ton of new Fall 2018 products. It'd be smart to try to get some packages online and ready to ship before the holidays.

Plus the likely effect of tarriffs. I think I remember them being delayed on stuff once due to a shipment from China.

7:44 pm

part of why i pulled the trigger on the mister sooner rather than later.

That's why I'm trying to get all the hardware I can now, before Brexit -_-

I do want to see Analogue tackle Sega in some form.

I think they'll do Neo Geo or PC Engine next

Nice thing is the recent developments on the PC Engine and Genesis Cores.

On the MiSTer, yeah

7:49 pm

I still actually need to try the updates

7:49 pm

looking forward to Smokemonster's pack

i shot him a link someone had shared with me of some sharp mz roms and other early Japanese computers, figured they'll be best preserved by his packs.

This will never happen... but I think my dream product is a FPGA HDMI-out screenless Gameboy Advance top-loader the size of a SNES Classic. Support for wired SNES controllers + 8bitdo wireless.

7:59 pm

I'm fascinated by this: http://stephens-projects.com/projects/gbahdmi/

I've followed this. Sounds like he hasn't gotten any closer to a final product?

8:02 pm

I fear that if this comes, combined with AGS-101 mods, original GBAs will be rare as hell

Hmmmm so the Tomee Zapper plugs doesn't fit snugly in my AV Famicom at all.

12:05 am

In fact when I wiggle it then it acted like the zapper was firing and would hit the ducks every time.

12:05 am

Pulled my original zapper and the Tomee one apart and the LED is way more involved in the old model, not a straightforward swap

12:07 am

Could probably figure it out but i'll let someone else do the legwork and then copy them

i considered doing a console GBA but couldnt find a place to get the chips, not willing to rip apart systems

12:18 am

i could do gb/gbc on fpga but gba is one step too far for me

Yeah. I was considering that the complexity might be a bit too much.

12:21 am

It'd be a fun thing to own and market though!

i thought there were good clones but could only see ones that were missing gb/gbc

Ah found the video that shows what he did - https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=142&v=BITbAYULs3w

N1c3Flag

@bunnyboy is there something with the AVS pal mode on 1.30 and an Everdrive? I just cannot get the Everdrive to boot properly in PAL mode on all kinds of Everdrive firmware anymore.

did i break something?

Possibly

4:32 pm

In NTSC mode it’s fine, pal...won’t get past OS Init message anymore

@Teddy Got my Mister today! Now just need to order the IO and RAM from somewhere.

@Hubz let me see if I can hook you up

@Hubz Ricardo from retroshop.pt is waiting to hear back from a guy who has one reserved in the most recent batch which has sold out. If he hasn't heard back from him by Monday, he said you can have it

10:36 pm

he makes the best IO boards out there, they have the SDRAM integrated, and are full length so it's more solid fit.

10:36 pm

€59.99 + shipping as far as I know

@Teddy Awesome, I'll take it if it's available then.

Are there any easy Atari rom dumpers? Mostly for the 2600?

3:01 pm

Well that's confusing

Well Frisco isn't the first one to call themselves the NVM either.

Wait, there’s a permanent games museum in Nottingham

3:52 pm

Unless it shut down

3:53 pm

It is indeed closed

3:53 pm

Never mind

It will reopen, they say.

Its the same organization it seems

oh I didn't mean to put this in hardware, oh well

Should I buy an RGB-modded Super Famicom Jr

This looks interesting https://twitter.com/LimitedRunGames/status/1052197963047538688?s=19

Limited Run Games (@LimitedRunGames)

We're proud to announce that we're teaming up with Pound Technology to be the exclusive preorder destination for their new PlayStation 1 & 2 HDMI cable. Relive the complete PS1 and PS2 library in stunning clarity on modern displays - get yours now at https://t.co/rZI6STrUi...

Twitter is having some fun in the comments on that one.

Yeah, sounds like this is just passing RGB through, which is convenient! But it's not the digital out the PS2 really needs.

AND then Analague announces the Mega Sg. What a day this will be.

3:08 pm

http://www.analogue.co

3:08 pm

site is down

3:09 pm

https://twitter.com/analogue/status/1052212620705509376

wow https://twitter.com/analogue/status/1052212961786224641

Introducing Mega Sg. A reimagining of the underdog that led a 16-bit revolution. Engineered completely in FPGA. Compatible with the 2,180+ Sega Genesis, Mega Drive and Master System game cartridge library. Pre-order yours now at https://t.co/AHl6AiJr5Y https://t.co/weJPN...

https://www.polygon.com/2018/10/16/17979024/sega-genesis-mega-drive-mega-sg-release-date-analogue-super-nt

And it is compatible with your original Sega CD & Mega CD. Welcome to the next level. Sega CD in HD.

so rad.

wish i had kept my sega cd when i sold my genesis

Mega Sg is designed to play just about every pre-Saturn Sega game including Mega Drive, Master System, Game Gear, Mark III, SG1000, SC-3000 and more. The Mega Sg ships with a Master System adapter but the older machines will require a separate adapter which will be sold separately.

3:31 pm

Bringing back the adapters. Interesting

3:33 pm

Harsh

Much easier than trying to fix up an original Genesis. Still want my Analog out though

Considering the Super Nt still has a handful of accuracy bugs I wouldn't exactly beat that drum too hard, Analogue. Only gonna build ill will for the hyper specific minutia nerds.

and would be neat if they made the SNES core something you could purchase for this and vice versa. though i guess controls could be tricky.

Yeah unfortunately it feels like Kevtris becoming more actively involved means the end of the all in one dream

3:37 pm

But maybe one day after they've exhausted all the product releases?

@Frank Cifaldi Yeah I think you're unfortunately correct.

I wonder if they plan to approach the cores as platform stacks like this. All the Sega stuff in a single box. Nintendo..

3:37 pm

Don't know what that means for all the tiny platforms though

Yeah like his INTV core is already done

I don't blame them, but at the same time we all know ideally they would just release something like the NT Mini with multiple cores, plastic shell that was cheaper, and with cart/controller adapters.

3:39 pm

Sell the cores and adapters seperately.

3:39 pm

So it is almost certainly using the same board

3:39 pm

And very similar shell? I think the angle has been tweaked slightly

3:40 pm

Renders, of course, but I assume the models were used for molds so will be very close.

3:41 pm

Big internet points to whoever posts the first tower of sonic

3:41 pm

Bonus points if grainy mid-aughts digital camera quality

hahaha

3:42 pm

Soooo PC Engine/Turbografx next?

Man, I don't even know where they go from here

3:43 pm

Maybe, but is the audience big enough?

3:43 pm

Bring the Neo Geo box back as an FPGA maybe?

3:44 pm

3:45 pm

Adapters look nice

Hopefully it has a jailbroken version

3:47 pm

I'm probably wrong but Genesis doesn't have too many tricky cartridges to run right? So maybe if jailbroken it could run most if not all games from ROMs.

Considering both NT Mini and Super NT has a jailbreak version going

Yeah, I think there are almost no special chips. Sega went the route of add-ons rather than putting stuff in the carts.

3:50 pm

And yeah, I would guess kevtris implements rom loading as part of his testing/debugging anyway so I wouldn't think it is a ton of extra work on top besides making a slightly more approachable interface.

They didn't say if 32X works on this

Confirmed it doesn't

oh

There was a comment though, let me find

3:51 pm

3:51 pm

“So what we want to do — and no promises on this; very critically, no promises on this — but ideally what I would love to do is just implement the fucking 32X in FPGA and then you don’t have to ever even use the 32X. You can use one of our simple cartridge adapters, you know, they don’t have any hardware and everything just runs in the Mega SG.

But it’s not that simple. “It takes a lot of time to do those systems from scratch,” Taber explains. “32X is a whole other level. So we’d have to sink a big chunk of time into just doing that one. And it would have to be a balance of how many people are really interested in it versus how much time it’s going to take.”

3:52 pm

I think it is really funny that Taber pretty consistently drops f-bombs in press interviews.

3:54 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_TC20cBZLA

Analogue

Analogue Mega Sg - Gunstar Heroes, Sega Genesis & Mega Drive - FPG...

3:54 pm

Naturally you drop Gunstar Heroes. Of course you do.

3:54 pm

I'd have to pull out my system but that bass does sound pretty grimey

I wonder if it's jailbroken if it could load Sega CD ISOs? so many questions.

How complicated is the hardware in the sega cd? Just a data loader or does it do any real processing?

4:19 pm

If the former probably room on the FPGA to do the loading itself, if the latter, who knows

I “think” there’s more to it than that but don’t quote me on it

"think"

4:19 pm

You quoted yourself, you played yourself.

Yeah if they get 32x going too... wow it's a massive space saver. Especially on the power strip

Dammit

hahaha

Do any flash carts do iso loading? sd2snes has the whole msu loader thing so seems in the realm of possibility

4:21 pm

But maybe the cart is the bottleneck there

I’m not a big fan of this lets-spew-nasty out over our competitors attitude Analogue is showing.

Me either honestly, let your product speak for itself.

Yeah, I think they are trying to evoke a little fun chest beating alas the console wars days but nah, just don't

It makes you look childish and the type of crowd I don’t need to hang out with

I don't love the tone, but I get the intent. They need to communicate the difference to a wider consumer audience that knows nothing about this stuff and thinks their cousin's raspberry pi or a Sega at Urban Outfitters is better because it's cheaper.

I’m not sure if that statement works for that communication goal.

We know the difference. I don't think we're the intended audience for that kind of messaging. But agreed, it's a bit off, and probably doesn't do its job.

4:25 pm

Oh yeah, I'm just suggesting what I think is the intent there.

4:26 pm

Not suggesting it's effective marketing / messaging.

I mean that's fine for general emulation, but to specifically call out "hybrid emulation" and call it "bullshit" is a direct target on polymega

4:26 pm

no one else uses "hybrid emulation" as a term

Yeah, it is odd

Yeah. It's definitely a direct hit on Polymega, or a general "no matter how you want to spin it, emulation is still emulation" jab.

t-minus to byuu tweet storm

hahaha

this line in the email they sent out is kinda weird too

4:31 pm

Mega Sg is not a plug n' play toy. Compatible with the 2,180+ Sega Genesis, Mega Drive and Master System game cartridge libary.

lol, my personal feeling is that I experience enough harsh polarization in my internet travels. Playing off "the console wars" + calling out emulation is little much for me.

I get what they mean, it's not the same as the stuff you can buy at walmart or whatever, but I always equate "plug & play" with "it just works"

4:32 pm

which is exactly what they're selling

Exactly

4:32 pm

Elitist bull*

I guess they are leaning on toy being the operating word there? I dunno

4:33 pm

I get they feel the need to differentiate themselves, but there are better ways than antagonism.

Maybe they are just really trying to embody that aggressive 90s "Sega Does What Emulation-Toys Don't" vibe.

4:37 pm

Some deep psychological tactic to get us to tap into that "Sega = the brash cool kid in the schoolyard" memories we all have deep down inside.

4:37 pm

Or not... just some bad copywriting. haha.

They were doing when the Super Nt dropped too so I think they just have a general hostile attitude to anything considered lesser

Sure, that’ll help bring in a larger crowd..

I wonder if they outsource marketing or PR. I'm in digital marketing full-time in software-as-a-service. It's really hard to get an manager all the big media hits they get.

I think the problem is that it's not!

I’m not under the impression that they outsource it

I guess I gotta get this

so in the same way I got a Super NT hoping that all the NT Mini cores would come over, I'm going to get this and very naively hope that the jailbreak will support Sega CD ISO loading (it won't)

4:51 pm

BUT if the jailbreak follows the Super NT trajectory, it should Just Work because the Genesis doesn't have many (any?) complicated mappers

Yeah

I still feel like I will enjoy this as a Mega Drive, for sure, but also I am ultimately funding the all box each step at a time, whatever that looks like in the end. I would be very disappointed if all of kevtris' work lived and died on the nt mini, that is for sure.

Only Virtua Racing would probably not work

I'm not going to be one of those loud mouths shouting for the core store raaaah

I'm holding off on purchasing for now.

4:52 pm

@Teddy Especially since I just bought the Mister haha

also this might have more advanced/bugfixed cores from NT Mini for the Sega systems

Well, it’s hard to purchase it right now anyway

But I do hope to see that stuff more easily available

it shouldn't end up being limited down the road like the NT Mini, so i'll wait and see how it shakes out.

Just drop $1500 on ebay. It's so easy.

Really preserving hardware with that approach yeah

I'm guessing kevtris owns his cores and that maybe in a few years making a Zimba is going to be cheap & easy with all this Analogue experience (edited)

That would be a nice prospect

Do we know the actual relationship with the cores he develops for analogue? Does he own the SNES core and just license it or is there potential weirdness down the road there?

I'm excited for this weird hybrid period of video game accessibility to be over, I see devices like this and it's the equivalent to me of there being like a VHS adapter on my PS4

4:57 pm

we don't know

Yeah, I do believe there is enough attention on this stuff that it will be majority solved in the long run. I'm trying not to get too fussy on the details in the meantime, and trying to support the stuff that I see as doing good work here. (edited)

5:00 pm

I've been supporting byuu's patreon for a while now with no expectations what-so-ever, just because I also think software approaches are still vital here as well

1

exactly, same

SoH: I don't know of any "flash carts" that handle ISO's, but I've got a dealie for my TG-16 that handles ISO, PCE images, and RGB out

Sold my Nt mini and Super Nt for twice what I paid

5:06 pm

Might take this opportunity to pick up the Super Nt again

5:07 pm

I'm hoping for a plastic Nt mini at some point

5:07 pm

The Mega Sg doesn't look that great IMO though, the design

5:10 pm

Re: core ownership, I doubt Analogue is paying Kevtris enough for him to give up ownership. I imagine they probably have several years of exclusivity, at which point he's free to do whatever. Ideally open source them

Yeah I really hope MiSTer continues to attract people.

I need to pick one of those up soon

5:11 pm

both to use, and to experiment with development

@Teddy What's the best USB hub solution for them BTW? Do they support bluetooth for the 8BitDo controllers?

Looks like analogue’s site is online again

5:54 pm

Just ordered mine

Excellent

not working for me still

Same

Went for EU/MD version

5:59 pm

Guess they didn’t dare to do a transparent one again huh

1

Do you folks think I should grab one of these and an GG adapter when it comes out, or stick to modding my original GG handheld for TV out?

This seems easier IMO.

yeah. I've already bought the hardware for the GG mod... maybe I'll just risk doing it myself instead of shelling out for someone to do it and buy this thing.

Hearing it’s down again yeah. I was just lucky to get in I guess.

6:09 pm

50 dollar shipping again to Europe

I forgot how high the shipping costs were.

6:09 pm

I'm def. pre-ordering this, but might wait a bit for the dust to settle.

And if you haven't gotten anything from them since the first wave of shipping on the super nt then be ready to pay duties as they are no longer marking the price down

6:12 pm

Friend in canada got hit with a $50 fee at the door

Up again

6:15 pm

Yeah I heard that yeah from some second round buyers

6:16 pm

Pity

6:18 pm

The adapters aren’t sold yet?

6:21 pm

So these overlapping colors make it look like there’s depth..could just be my eyes

6:21 pm

Like the white looks like it’s in “front”

the design is pretty terrible on the site.

and yeah, no adapters yet. I may do the GG mod for now, since I want to submit some GG runs for next SGDQ and need a way to run them.

Forbidden Mega Drives

The controllers are sold through amazon. Hoping they’ll pop up in European stores later on. Only on .com right now

6:28 pm

There seem to be a few additional buttons on it

6:28 pm

6:29 pm

It also has shoulder buttons..so it can pretty much act like a Saturn controller? (edited)

I noticed that too, I wonder if it is just to keep it more in line with other systems you could use it on

One of them is probably for setting the controller in three button mode for those games that don’t work correctly with the 6 button

But then again they are using 2.4g again for whatever reason so it isn't compatible with any of their others so.. nevermind then

Looks like they want it to work on the Switch honestly.

Aaaah

I don't think it will work with Switch? Did the 2.4ghz SNES classic work?

6:33 pm

http://www.8bitdo.com/sn30-sf30-2_4g-for-snes-and-sfc-classic-edition/

SN30 2.4G and SF30 2.4G for SNES and SFC Classic Edition | 8BitDo

6:33 pm

nay

They sell a separate adapter for switch to get their controllers to connect

Not the 2.4ghz, just the bluetooth

6:34 pm

http://www.8bitdo.com/wireless-usb-adapter/

6:34 pm

"8BitDo controllers and arcade sticks (excluding 2.4G controllers)"

Ooooh

Yeah, it is curious

6:36 pm

Unless they release an updated adapter, who knows

6:36 pm

Is there a latency improvement or something with 2.4g over bluetooth?

6:40 pm

Site is available if you use your phone's data, rather than wifi

6:40 pm

People were saying so I tried it and yep, ordered

aaah

6:41 pm

well I did order it on my phone

https://www.analogue.co/ site working for me now

Analogue.

me too, ordered

Obligatory

No volume slider though

love it

7:48 pm

Yeah. Need that sleek slider.

Orders the EU myself

9:25 pm

best one IMO

Same

I wonder if the lack of a transparent option is to do with them discontinuing the transparent Super Nt

9:26 pm

I know they got a lot of stick over it not really being transparent

9:27 pm

Also, they must be bringing the Nt Mini back at some point

9:28 pm

they've updated the site 2-3 times and it's still heavily featured

9:30 pm

also, the new 8BitDo branding is ugly as fuck

9:33 pm

Also, interesting - the black Nt Mini price has changed

I got me the JPN one!

I went europe because I've got a nice thing going where all my hdmi consoles are black

9:51 pm

I've expressed this before but I want all these single-use boxes to disappear and I want to be able to just access all the games on my TV, but until that happens I'll settle for at least making them blend in with the furniture

And chances are if they do a TG/PCE or NG, they'll both be black

9:55 pm

Are there any pictures of it attached to a Mega CD?

9:56 pm

I wonder if it looks better with the model 1 or 2

9:56 pm

I imagine it's a bit small for the model 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AbSSFk2sdE

Arcade Jason

vector AND raster from one monitor?

So now we need a ODE for the SegaCD that can plug in to the accessory port on a Genesis/Megadrive or Mega SG. (edited)

I can't think of a reason why the Mega Sg wouldn't be able to play ISOs directly

7:11 pm

but yeah, an ODE would be great for original hardware folk

7:12 pm

I believe there's something being worked on

7:12 pm

https://twitter.com/AshEvans81/status/992085258098106368

ElectronAsh (@AshEvans81)

Spent a bit more time on the Mega CD FPGA thingy last night, but mainly just debugging, and figuring out the boot code etc. Next step, to implement more of the Gen / MD side control stuff. Then, start implementing registers. There are quite a few... :o https://t.co/vOnu...

7:12 pm

Also, the PSIO guys have hinted at something similar

1

I think if kevtris felt the need to build out ISO loading as part of debugging then we'll see it if a jailbreak happens. If not and it is additional work on top, it'll be added to the growing list of possible/would be nice.

https://twitter.com/benjedwards/status/1052584276133339136?s=19

Benj Edwards (@benjedwards)

If I can get 50 pre-orders of my BX-110 Super NES for $100 a piece, I'll make lots of them. Hand-built in USA Possibly the world's best SNES stick Sanwa arcade stick/buttons, weighted. Add $10 for US shipping, $30 for international. Delivery in Jan 2019 https://t.co/Keh...

7:49 pm

I don't know if I have the money for that right now, but that looks like a sweet custom SNES controller

Neat project. I've been sitting on a mc cthulhu + undamned decoder project for a bit to make a universal arcade stick converter.

8:05 pm

Something along the lines of this box..

8:05 pm

https://i.imgur.com/fRlBHpI.jpg

So Revenant (bsnes-plus developer and stuff) just cracked the mystery of the Satellaview EXT port

8:28 pm

This port https://i.imgur.com/mt4vw88.jpg

What’s the mystery

We knew it was for a hard drive according to a patent

8:29 pm

But we didn't know how we could use it

8:29 pm

But the answer was right in the pinout

8:29 pm

http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=14493&start=90

8:29 pm

It's an 8-bit Parallel ATA / IDE port.

8:30 pm

Nintendo released the SNES CD all along: We just have to supply our own CD drive

8:30 pm

or HDD

So, the potential use case for this was storing satellaview games on some sort of ?hdd

yeah pretty much I'm sure

8:32 pm

but you can literally make an IDE to EXT port converter

8:32 pm

It would just rewire

8:32 pm

and it would potentially work

@Eris Co $130 is a big ask, but it looks good

@Hubz proper scaling working on MiSTer now

10:15 pm

Sweet! I ordered my I/O stuff yesterday thanks to your help!

Speaking of PSIO, looks like mine is finally shipping

2:32 pm

hopefully to the right address... I moved after ordering it and they have my address correct in my account, but wrong on the email they sent me.

Mine supposedly started shipping on the 8th of october but I'm guessing the only thing they have done so far is make a label for the box (edited)

2:33 pm

the DHL page hasn't updated since then.

Mine technically just reported as being prepared, nothing about shipping yet

ooooh

2:34 pm

it took a week or two before the status changed to shipped for me

2:34 pm

and then I got a track&trace code...but little actual movement

I need to hunt down a second PS1, don't really want to do a solder job on the one I've had since '97

I haven't looked but I hope they haven't done any improvements since I got mine forever ago, I don't wanna buy another one

I can sympathize, I got the last batch of OSSCs before they added standard HDMI

yea I got from the same batch I think

5:14 pm

literally right after, they integrated the digital audio upgrade board and added HDMI (edited)

Man, good guys Analogue

5:40 pm

Super Nt just rolled in

5:40 pm

they marked it down on the customs document

5:40 pm

$18.99

nice

Saved me about 32% in fees

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VOLUOIwbP4

Shank Mods

Kill Mii: Portable Wii in an Altoids Tin

6:03 pm

Might be the craziest one of these I've seen

o.O

6:03 pm

Man, and I thought the portable PS2 complete with DVD drive on the back was crazy

Oooh, that’s nice.

10-15 minute battery life

6:04 pm

takes several hours to charge

6:07 pm

This looks far more practical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s94CXYSSGjU

Jackson Snowden

The Wii SP - New Wii Portable Gameplay Demo

6:07 pm

almost looks like a Wii U prototype

That's neat

6:07 pm

after I hacked my PS3 I began considering a laptop conversion for it

I imagine you could make something relatively portable with a super-slim

6:10 pm

I'd like to see a proper laptop, with keyboard that runs Linux on the PS3

I've got a first gen fully-BC PS3 that I wouldn't mind making portable

I dont know that shrinking one of those down is a good idea, they run hot anyway and arent that reliable

I don't quite get all the technical details, but this is an interesting thread https://twitter.com/xkeepah/status/1052980552544866305?s=19

Ex (@xkeepah)

Got a copy of the ROMs bundled in Animal Forest (AC 64) and ... um.

That is fascinating.

8:39 pm

I'm curious what those roms would do on hardware.

Potentially some spicy things about to go down in the MiSTer community

them github updates be furious

A small group are planning a fork

Ooh drama

Dun dun dun

Yeah, mixed reactions tbh

https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/21/18005904/slack-on-a-snes-satellaview-bs-x-nintendo

Slack engineer figures out way to load messages into a 1995 SNES game

Slack is a relatively simple chat application with a powerfully complex set of capabilities. Case in point: Bertrand Fan’s "Slack on a SNES" project, in which the Slack engineer figured out how to load messages from a custom channel into a 1995 Nintendo game by way of a spo...

9:51 am

Fun quick read. I guess not really "hardware" but it'd be cool if it was.

That moment my own software (SatellaWave) is mentioned on the media (edited)

Here you are on a Dutch site, though it fails to mention your tool

1:28 pm

https://tweakers.net/geek/144797/ontwikkelaar-laadt-slack-chats-in-snes-spel.html

Ontwikkelaar laadt Slack-chats in SNES-spel

Slack heeft ongeveer dezelfde functies als andere communicatieplatforms, zoals WhatsApp, Discord en Skype. Maar het blijkt ook mogelijk om Slack-conversaties te openen in een SNES-game. Dat is een van de software-ontwikkelaars van de app in ieder geval gelukt.

https://gigazine.net/amp/20181022-nintendo-satellaview-slack

4:26 pm

Japan

It does make me think of some cool ideas for an exhibit

The full info is up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xokUnn1lBGA

Intellivision

Intellivision® Amico™ - Reveal Trailer (2018)

the features they're mentioning certainly seem interesting but i'm a bit puzzled as to why they're sticking to the "TV remote" controller form factor.

11:46 pm

Hopefully the disc and buttons are fairly well tuned - the Colecovision I played with this weekend was fairly keen on giving me hand cramps

11:47 pm

it's still a couple years out though so plenty of time for them to give the design a refactor if it doesn't work out well

Intellivision remotes are a bit peaner, or rounder, or both? I haven't had as much issue with Int vs the Cool.

Admittedly I've only spent about 3 minutes with a real Intv controller, playing Desert Bus, at that. Strangely the machine on deck at the PRGE arcade was always taken (though I couldn't tell if it was actually being played, or just being used by someone in need of a chair)

Wow, it's like they took an investor pitch deck and animated it for four minutes

2:07 am

Even down to the name-dropping thing you always do at the end

I was waiting for someone to not have 100/100 on every person's team stat.

2:10 am

the controller reminds me of the LG chocolate.

Wow, it's like they took an investor pitch deck and animated it for four minutes - now that i think of it that reminds me of the "famous" Duke Nukem Critical Mass trailer

2:17 am

that's just, like, 3 solid minutes of the same target-render of Duke being pushed around the screen with lens flares

why is there so much shakey cam in the video?

I guess they wanted their video renderer to have something interesting to do?

was there a price range?

2:27 am

lots of tech in that gamepad adds up fast

i don't think they announced a price, only a release date (10/10/2020)

Yeah there's a price range in there

2:33 am

Yeah there's a price range in there

2:34 am

I think it was like $140-180?

That's...pretty heavily lowballing something like this, unless they're using budget-priced components wherever they can

Also all of the games are console exclusive, no DLC, rated E, and have to be priced less than I think $9

2:35 am

Sooooooo

2:35 am

Unless the install base is phenomenal I'm not sure how any dev can possibly make money

I can't imagine they'll be able to retain features like the ambient lighting or touchscreens unless they're just going with Halloween-decoration-tier RGB lighting and resistive, low-res touchscreens

2:36 am

bearing in mind the closest thing price-wise on the market is the Nintendo 3DS

No, the closest thing price-wise on the market is the PS3

2:38 am

which you can also buy $9 games for

2:38 am

well, let's say $15

(shrug) alright

mandating console exclusivity seems like a knee jerk reaction to what happened to the Ouya

2:40 am

but, yeah, good luck convincing anyone to fall on their sword for Intellevision, of all brands (edited)

my knee-jerk analysis of the Trinity of early-80s brand comebacks: the Coleco Chameleon was an effective no-show, the Intellivision Amico seems like it's aiming a little too high for what it is...and we're still waiting for the Ataribox to show its hand

2:50 am

I sort of wonder when we'll see the Bally Astrocade 2020, the Fairchild Channel G, or Philips-Magnavox pushing the Odyssey2*10^3

2:51 am

though Philips said something about there being demand for a CD-i Classic Mini or something to that effect, so who really knows anymore

CD-i classic mini comes out promising to bring back the experience of watching all your CD-i format movies (edited)

2:56 am

and its just a DVD player

2:56 am

its just a DVD player

it's kinda funny to think about how the common DVD player is more powerful than the CD-i

3:03 am

maybe a bit less capable of doing things in real-time, but it's not like you couldn't do games on it at all, going by what Digital Leisure put out

In fairness, the average smart light bulb is probably more powerful than the CD-i

So is my watch

12:25 pm

Actually that’s not fair, my watch is probably somewhere between a PS2 and PS3

My life for the Intellivision!

@Shinohara I was going to say watch too, but I thought that'd be unfair

I wonder if the Apple Watch can emulate ps3

Nah

1:54 pm

Not even the iPhone Xs could

It could probably emulate the PS1

3:24 pm

I have definitely not been bored enough to try though

It’s al hypothetical because Apple’s App Store guidelines prevent emulators from being released on it

I should go dig around internal docs and see what’s actually in this new one

3:26 pm

That doesn’t preclude devs from side loading things themselves

3:26 pm

See https://github.com/Provenance-Emu/Provenance/wiki

Provenance-Emu/Provenance

iOS & tvOS multi-emulator frontend, supporting various Atari, Bandai, Sega, NEC, Nintendo, SNK and Sony and systems. Get Started: https://git.io/vxA4Q | - Provenance-Emu/Provenance

3:26 pm

Semi-port of OpenEmu to iOS

Sure, you can do that. It limits the amount of people being able to run it quite heavily though

Hmm..so it looks like side loading things has become more easily..

3:38 pm

It only works for a week without a paid developer account?

It's worth noting, PS1 emulates very smoothly on my Samsung Galaxy s7. I have to imagine it would be perfect on a newer iOS device if someone has ported a decent emulator.

Yeah, we loosened up some of the developer requirements awhile back, you can now develop on device for free, but the certs are only good for a week

6:57 pm

paid developer certs are good for at least a year

6:57 pm

OpenEmu has PS1 support and it's pretty solid now

6:57 pm

they've got the mednafen core

6:58 pm

I also run PPSSPP and ScummVM on my iPhone

6:58 pm

Riven in ScummVM is a much more pleasant experience than the iOS native port

oooh, I didn't even think about running Myst on my phone in ScummVM. I don't want to play realMyst, but that's the only one on Android.

Retrorinks are up for ordering

10:18 pm

https://www.videogameperfection.com/products/retrotink-2x/

RetroTINK 2X

Sales are now open to those who put their name down on the reserve list. Please only order if you …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsEvaFi3-sA

Arcooda

3D Arcooda Pinball Arcade Exclusively on Arcooda Video Pinball Cab...

3:23 pm

2D screen with a Kinect

WiiDual Kits are out for pre-order but looks like a tricky install similar to N64 HDMI

Does it upscale? I haven't kept up with it

it linedoubles 240p or 480i

4:20 pm

probably bob interlacing?

4:21 pm

a question I have about it is whether gamecube's slightly-better video output over wii is now irrelevant with this

4:21 pm

it would be nice to consolidate and be done with component gamecube forever

Yep agreed.

4:24 pm

Geez the install looks tough though.

4:24 pm

just finished watching the whole thing, don't know if i want to try it myself.

They were really pushing those GCHD kits at the expo this year, I wonder how they stand up against this

are there any reviews we're waiting for on this?

@Corwin "weasel" Brence This kinda seems like the ultimate solution.

4:28 pm

@Frank Cifaldi https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=m6MVe4tuJXE

RetroRGB

A True HDMI Solution for the Wii - Wii Dual

I'm so mad at this green shell

But it's so rad.

I'm about 8 minutes in and just realized that I watched this and completely forgot

Forgot you are watching it while you were watching it?

4:40 pm

Because that's happened to me before

no I mean I watched it for 8 minutes before realizing that I had watched it a couple weeks ago

Ah.

You've just had a few other things going on

Cuz I mean, I've put on stuff like Techmoan on my other screen and by the time it's over I realize I haven't actually been watching anything

4:43 pm

I guess his voice is comforting in such a way that I don't really care what he's talking about.

yeah I was right about it doing bob deinterlacing (edited)

I mean, the biggest benefit to keeping a gamecube around is for GBA support

yeah that's what my pal one is for

5:19 pm

I have a pal one hooked to a crt with rgb and an ntsc one to the hdtv with component

Ah forgot about the cheaper PAL model with RGB

I've got an everdrive in there and it auto-boots to GBI

5:20 pm

so it's basically a giant game boy

I really need to get a decent CRT into my setup

I got so lucky I posted a wtb on nintendoage for a loose pal gamecube in the u.s. and someone actually had one

having to make do with a OSSC for now

I think I paid like $20?

and Retrotink when it arrives

That's basically how I got my Saturn

Nice

I should do that instead of messing around with my TDEV with its USB port.

I've got a GBPlayer, but no disc

I went into a Gamestop in 2002 and asked hey do you guys still sell Saturns? and the guy said Yeah I'll get one delivered to the store, it'll take a month.

5:22 pm

I called back a month later and the guy I talked to said "No, we don't do that, but I have a Saturn I was going to sell if you want it for $50" (edited)

Wow

5:23 pm

I got mine off someone in the local retrogaming group here in Pittsburgh last year

5:23 pm

Think mine was closer to $100

Libretro is making some nice strides in Saturn emulation

man, I thought Saturn emulation had finally been solved

5:27 pm

But maybe it was, like, ZSNES in 2004 solved, and not BSNES in 2018 solved

pretty sure saturn was very high level until maybe mednafen?

@Lainer I'd say it's somewhere between the two haha but I love the comparison

https://shop.insidegadgets.com/product/wireless-gameboy-controller/

Wireless Gameboy Controller

6:08 pm

Timely discussion

thats a cool idea

That's brilliant, need a GBA version too

I suppose it'd be nice to have in a smaller form factor, but it really is only a problem for the GBA Micro and (3)DS lines? It does work with the original GBA and the SP line.

10:47 pm

In any case, thanks for the heads up Teddy. I ordered one.

I imagine you'd need a GBA version if you wanted support for the shoulder buttons

11:35 pm

Otherwise all those will do is adjust the aspect ratio of the screen

Yeah, I believe shoulder buttons won't work if you're using it on a GBA

So, unsure if this is the place for it but I'm in the market for something that can play Super Famicom games. Is it worth dealing with the third party clones, or should I go for an original Japanese model off eBay?

1:58 am

Currently my only SNES is an FC Twin, it has the region "protection" tabs and I don't really feel like snapping those

Do you want it for use with a CRT (i.e. analog video), or do you plan on using it with a modern (HD)TV?

1:59 am

if it's the latter, and it's not out of your price range, the Analogue Super NT is worth it IMO.

Either one really, I have the hardware to support both of those. I'm not really picky about video quality

the Super NT is HDMI only at the moment

1:59 am

there is supposed to be an adaptor for analog video outputs soon, but who knows if it ever comes

Super NT is definitely worthwhile if you're okay with HDMI out.

https://www.analogue.co/super-nt/

Analogue.

That one's real cartridges only right? No side loading ROMs?

you can do both

2:00 am

but the rom thing requires a "jailbreak" firmware

2:00 am

the official firmware out of the box is cart only

I'd hesitate to jailbreak something that expensive

FWIW, it's almost a 100% certainty that the "unofficial" jailbreak firmware is written by the same guy who wrote the official firmware

2:01 am

it's just that he / Analogue can't support it officially

I'm seeing SFCs on eBay for around 50 bucks but the condition of those is iffy (I've seen a few described as having flaky power switches, and I'm not much good at electronics to fix it)

also, I'll point out that ordering one now doesn't mean they'll get it to you immediately. I dunno if they have stock on hand or not, so if you want one ASAP, I'd email them, or ask them on Twitter or something.

2:04 am

As for other third party clones, I've not really heard good things about any of them. If it's not the Super NT, I'd probably stick to an official Japanese SFC

I briefly looked into a Supaboy but reviews are, uh, unkind

yeah, that's what I was thinking of, and I've probably heard the same things you have

Screen aspect ratio is wrong, games glitch and crash due to cartridge slot not fitting well, some reports of dead pixels

2:06 am

I've got a couple eBay listings for SFCs saved, at least

2:07 am

Will have more time to look this weekend.

I got my Super NT in 4 days, so they at least -had- stock this week.

Super Famicoms tend to be cheap..them being under 50 bucks is not surprising or indicative of them being in a bad condition imo (edited)

https://ebay.us/BXzPlK - this looks like a good deal honestly

Nintendo Super Famicom Video Games Console +5 Games official Japan...

SUPER DONKEY KONG 1,2,3. SUPER BOMBER MAN3. SUPER MARIO YOSSY ILAND. Sierra Leone,Solomon,Sudan,Tanzania. New zealand,Nepal,Pakistan,Philippines,Russia. Gabon,Gibraltar,India,Kenya,Liberia,Madagascar,Maldives,Myanmar. | eBay!

6:50 am

the games are very good (and importantly, playable without language barrier, i'd basically only be missing out on hint text in any of them), it has all the cables (in box even, in the case of the AC cable), and the shipping is free

yeah...fuck it, i bought it

7:00 am

this'll be the second-ever Japan-region console I've owned (the other being my grey-and-blue Saturn that I love very much)

yeah, I got a super famicom and bought SUPER MARIO YOSSY ISLAND

10:53 am

that was a while ago so before superFX and SA-1 was a possibility with SD2SNES

10:53 am

still nice to have the cart

Somewhat off topic, but picked up the iPhone XR for my partner today

5:31 pm

Reading around on some reviews, one of the chief complaints is that the lightning port is not aligned properly

5:31 pm

People are upset that the lightning port isn't perfectly inline with the speaker grills and screws

5:31 pm

-_-

Can’t unsee

5:33 pm

so it turns out what i should have been shopping for - maybe at a later date - is a better NES clone

5:53 pm

the ol' FC Twin has always had some trouble with the NES slot, it's a bit loose so the game tends to crash if the cart gets nudged slightly (or if its ultra-light case gets tugged a bit by the controller...)

I like my AVS, though hdmi only

I might not mind that, I'd just want something my stuff will work reliably on

It’s my main nes/fc system

How's the aspect ratio? Corrected to 4:3 or is it square pixels?

Correct of square, your choice

Ah nice.

5:57 pm

Looks like a worthwhile investment. Certainly cheaper than the Analogue Nt. (I don't quite understand why that's $450?)

It’s a good price, though I wish I could avoid expensive shipping and customs charges. I’m in Europe.

If Steve Jobs were alive, he would have all the designers killed

6:00 pm

Maybe their families too (edited)

6:00 pm

Just to be sure

Or he'd have them close off all possible openings and vents and mandate wireless charging.

6:01 pm

Having learned absolutely nothing from the Apple III.

^^This

(Still one of my favorite retro design blunders.)

6:02 pm

How do we improve the Apple II for enterprises? Add more memory, speed up the CPU, integrate the monitor, seal it in a near-airtight aluminum coffin (edited)

Sounds legit

according to popular legend, the thing would run so hot the chips would unseat themselves inside the case, and because it was such a pain to get it open, phone support would recommend that users lift the machine up about six inches from the desk and drop it in the hopes that'd jostle the chips back into place

The lid is fine mostly, only scenario where it just barely fits in my cabinet is when using the FDS

6:04 pm

Being able to easily take the lid off completely would be a great design improvement..

Where is the Famicom slot on this? Is it in that black band towards the rear?

Rear horizontal slot is nes

6:06 pm

Famicom slot places the games vertically

Oh, oh I see it, it's aimed upwards towards the front. Every picture on the website, save for one, has it covered by an NES cartridge inserted in the other slot

@bunnyboy can tell you all about it. He makes it

Well then, my compliments, I've literally only seen it in pictures and it already looks more solid than my FC Twin.

6:09 pm

Actually I do have a question regarding that - has anybody tested any of the Mindscape games on it?

6:10 pm

Because there's a strange glitch wherein none of Mindscape's games will read controller input on the Twin. I assume it's something to do with how they translate the SNES controller ports to drive the NES games

6:11 pm

Neither Paperboy nor Infiltrator will accept controller input for some reason, and they're the only games I've observed this with

Don’t think I’ve ever played any of their games on it.

Probably a moot point with the AVS, since that uses actual NES controller ports instead

@Corwin "weasel" Brence there’s an Apple 3 podcast called “drop three inches” that story is not apocryphal

10:19 pm

I wonder if we still have the internal support documents about that somewhere, I’ll have to dig around

gamepad on paperboy not working is a well known problem (that does not affect AVS), its relying on electrical weirdness that is easy to disrupt

ah, good to know then

11:04 pm

I don't think I still have my Paperboy cart but I kept Infiltrator

Since when did Heavy Sixers get so pricy

They were expensive when I got mine like two years ago

8:09 pm

I think I ended up spending something like $120 to get a Sunnyvale sixer

Seem to be around $300 on eBay now

8:26 pm

Although, they seem to sell for $150-ish I guess

Are you specifying Sunnyvale too? Those first run TIAs are the best

wow its gone up quite a bit

9:23 pm

I'd like to get a sunnyvale, but I've already got a taiwan h6 and a vader, and that'd take me perilously close to collecting every version

Any difference between the Sears TG & VCS?

Sears had a few versions, but I believe they were just rebranded versions of the equiv atari model

9:42 pm

(not counting weird stuff like the 2800)

when I was a kid I thought the tele-games cartridges were weird knockoff things

I might be wrong but I think the only major variations are the number of switches and the quality of the video out

I wish the kee 2600 had been produced, I love that case

Oh wow

10:01 pm

gaudy

oh huh, I just went and checked and the sixer on the shelf is actually a light, I coulda swore I had a heavy. Maybe in the repair box in the workshop

Anyone happen to know any good resources for restoring the pin connections on Jamma PCBs? I hauled out some old boards (Joe & Mac, Shadow Warriors [EU Ninja Gaiden], and Final Fight) that I had forgotten I bought second hand like 5 years back and realized that some idiot (probably 20 years ago) had actually soldered the output connection wires directly onto the pins instead of using a harness :/ I'm no electronics wizard but I've so far managed to desolder much of that abomination and my next step is to get some copper wick (easier said than done in Johannesburg!) to try and clean the rest of the solder off of the pins. Two of the boards seem to use nickel or similar for the connectors, and they seem in good conditions as I have removed the solder, but one uses gold it looks like and the direct soldering has removed the gold where the solder made contact, and in one case the connecting pin has even come loose :/ So yeah, just hacking my way through to this point with Googling and YT, and would love any additional input or direction towards resources so I can properly restore and preserve these guys

do you have pics of the bad edge?

7:46 am

if its wrecked, solder in an edge connector, and then stick a male/male fingerboard in that

ah a writeup of that method: http://www.therealbobroberts.net/pace.html

7:58 am

if you want to keep the look original, copper trace tape

8:00 am

or even make it pretty: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEE1EE3CF96A9D290

Atari Edge Connector Repair - YouTube

8:05 am

(I've never had to repair an edge connector using bitslicer's method but it looks solid)

Thanks for the advice; I'll check it out :) Here's a pic (see the 3rd pin from the left that I've lifted up a bit more to exaggerate the disconnect); the contact is still connecting to the PCB fully it seems. It's just come loose from the edge of the connector, and likely won't survive being slotted into a harness. I'm tempted to KISS and just stick the end back down with some adhesive TBH as it looks like that may actually work just fine. Hopefully the stripped gold on the pins will still be sufficiently conductive and not require a full re-playing job :/

8:55 am

Can you smooth out the solder by heating it and spreading it across the pins?

12:37 pm

That lifted one though... yuck not sure what to do about that.

oh thats not too bad, just unsightly

7:08 pm

glue that lifted pin down with high temp epoxy

7:08 pm

are the melty pcb bits between the teeth in the middle from soldering/desoldering?

Yeah, there's still too much solder there that wouldn't come off nicely with the pump, which is why I want to try some copper wick next to clean it up properly and get it smoothed out. And yup, there was some melty plastic already from the original solder hack job but I added to it somewhat with the de-soldering. There was a lot of flux runoff still around the old solder so as I was heating up the solder to remove it, the flux would heat up quickly and burn off, which I think transferred too much heat to the PCB and ended up melting it some more around the pin edges. Thanks for the epoxy tip!

or just heat up the solder and wipe it with a rag you dont intend to keep

1

8:05 pm

thatll get rid of the bigger clumps, and then as long as whatever remains is smoothed out, you're good. Main thing to watch out for (also with the lifted piece) is that everything ends up even and flat so that full contact is made and plugs it slides into arent overly stressed

my retrotink 2X got shipped today, can't wait to see what it does for my N64

Nice! I'm also waiting on mine. I also got a S-Video cable on eBay, specifically for testing N64 w/ Retrotink.

be careful, some brands of nintendo s-video are really really bad

4:52 pm

the one I got from gamestop back in the day for gamecube added a weird checkerboard pattern somehow

Yeah. I'm hoping it's okay, but who knows. I followed a link from http://retrorgb.com/n64.html

justin

N64

oh yeah as long as you got a recommended one and not a rando one you're probably fine

4:54 pm

Still might be wonky. But at least it acknowledges crappy cables and claims to not be one.

4:54 pm

I'll be running it through Retrotink -> Elgato HD60 for capture, so we'll see what happens.

yeah I think you're fine

hmm, might need to grab one of those

Late to the soldering discussion but I have a Hakko FR-300 desoldering tool. It's expensive but changed my life when it comes to repairs/recapping monitors.

1

is that the kind that sucks the solder out as it heats?

Yeah, it has a built in vacuum

I got to play with one at my friend miguel's house, they're pretty fun to use

The ones with composite video as well typically are the worst

So, I devised Q-Tip solder removal technique today which let me turn this:

5:50 pm

Into this:

5:50 pm

wow, what the heck was the technique?

So the gold plated edge connector from yesterday is now looking much better:

5:57 pm

5:58 pm

Next step is to expoy that damn bent pin...

@Steve Lin Same here, those are so so so worth it if you're doing to be doing any decent amount of soldering.

Hah! I just heated up the solder good so that all of it on the pin was molten (kept moving the pen up and down to keep it from hardening) , then did a quick swipe downwards from the pin-top with the QT and the solder pen, with the solder in the middle. Basically just took Chris's suggestion from above about using a cloth to wipe the solder off and substituted a QT because I thought it would be easier to get in there next to the hot pen, and still have the ability to apply enough force with the QT stick so that it could cover the whole contact as it wiped away. I was worried that it might result in cotton fibers getting stuck, but that didn't seem to be the case.

re: recapping monitors. My CRT is very likely in need with the problems it is exhibiting. If I am a doofus with the training of a high school electronics class is that something I can likely work out myself with proper respect for the terrifying aspects of a CRT or am I going to just send myself to the ER?

Judging by youtube videos it seems like discharging confidently is the worst part.

Yeah that's my least favorite part haha

6:37 pm

but once you do it, you're safe.

@Steve Lin yes! If any of ya do a fair amount of soldering work, get a desoldering gun, makes chip removal almost fun. I like Hakko too, my old 808 is still running strong

7:23 pm

@Luke Lamothe great work!

1

Must resist... I don't need this but I want to make it into an Emubox for... reasons - https://www.dellrefurbished.com/desktop-computers/dell-optiplex-3020m-162031.html

10:33 pm

45% off with a code today too

I don't think an i3 is going to take you very far

Yeah I wondered if it could to 1x GC and Wii

10:49 pm

thought it wasn't a bad price for a Raspberry Pi replacement. But I barely play the one I have now.

An i3 is the low end, sure, but also that's a fourth gen model, so from around maybe 2013 or so

11:15 pm

It'll have the feature set for optimizing stuff like PCSX2 but it'll stutter

Yeah has decent single core speed but the GPU sucks. But for the price i think it's a great alternative to a raspberry pi.

12:01 am

comes with an ssd too

Damn that's pretty good

That generation's Intel HD Graphics is pretty capable too

12:42 am

I have a laptop with an i5 of that series and it's good enough to run Doom 3

12:43 am

Also regarding the cores, for emulation, you will get more benefit from single core than multi core speed

12:44 am

Very few emulators are optimized for multi core because the whole point of multi core is that the cores can operate independently without needing to be in sync with each other

12:45 am

Whereas emulating a lot of hardware accurately tends to require all the chips etc to be perfectly synchronized in order for the results to be the same as on a real machine

12:46 am

And, as I've been told, syncing the cores together ends up performing worse overall than just running it all on one core

12:47 am

I'm unsure about specific emulator use cases, but GZDoom technically does support multi core...it runs all the game logic on the first core and the second is dedicated to sound output, and that's it

12:47 am

Doom being an engine that is extremely sync dependent

12:48 am

Anyway. Rambling. Point is, your chip is likely better than you might expect it to be.

Especially in such a small form factor with low energy use.

12:52 am

looks around for crap to ebay so I wouldn't feel guilty for purchase

@Teddy Got my IO Board today!

9:37 pm

Now to start really tinkering with the MiSTer

Nice one

What's the proper way to power it off btw?

Man this thing is really cool, such potential.

@Hubz I got a extension cable for the power supply with a built in switch

7:48 am

Like https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.DKYw55XSSXmHS2QKnEQNNgHaFj%26pid%3D15.1&f=1

7:48 am

Otherwise you have to plug it out every time

7:49 am

When I get back on a computer, Rysha has don't some nearest neighbour scaling changes to some of the cores

7:49 am

I'll send you a link

7:51 am

https://github.com/Kitrinx/MiSTer_NN/tree/master/

Kitrinx/MiSTer_NN

Unofficial builds of popular MiSTer cores built using Nearest Neighbor scaling for HDMI. - Kitrinx/MiSTer_NN

Oh nice!

RGB N64 w/ OSSC or N64 w/ UltraHDMI?

ultrahdmi

6:09 pm

taps into the digital signal directly

big price difference though

6:10 pm

just curious if it's worth it

I can't make that decision for you!!

6:11 pm

but in terms of purest output or whatever the choice is clear IMO, the only reason you'd do the other is either to save money or because you specifically only want to play on a 15khz crt

Reasonable advice

I stuck with the rgb mod because my set up already had an ossc.

6:37 pm

The HDMI mod looks fantastic

@Gus Lanzetta Haha, nice

6:43 pm

didn't know that was a thing

6:44 pm

I wonder if I should save some of my more expensive hardware purchases for when I'm in the US and don't have to pay crazy shipping or import duty.

6:44 pm

$400 N64 quickly becomes $600

@Teddy IMO if you already have an RGB setup the RGB mod is a great way to go.

6:54 pm

Tim's boards for it even have deblur.

@Hubz yeah, I was looking at buying a pre-modded Timmy board

I'm not that impressed with my rgb mod 64. It's better, but not a huge improvement.

@Borman do you have the deblur mod?

No mine is an older mod, just straight RGB

I've got gay RGB, everything is just rainbow-colored

3

Literally homosexual

lol

But how do you pronounce it?

"gallagher"

I have the Centipede one, it's not bad

5:55 pm

though my trackball sticks in the Y axis and I need to get it replaced

I think MiSTer is going to make some leaps and bounds very soon

6:14 pm

I feel like I've been pimping it for so long, feels nice to see it finally get some spotlight

6:14 pm

@Hubz how is yours doing? (edited)

Good! I've not gotten to tinker with it as much as I'd like to yet. You tried the new NES core with FDS support?

6:16 pm

I was on the fence until it did seem like the tides were turning with its popularity and now it seems to have drawn enough interest to really go places.

needs more arcade cores

6:21 pm

I'm going to have to pick one up soon

yeah I feel like it hit a tipping point for me

6:27 pm

my hesitation was always that I didn't think it was popular enough for there to be enough support/"market" pressure to make the cores perfect, but I think smokemonster's pimping has done a lot lately

There's a new completely open source scaler coming soon

6:29 pm

I believe it's going to offer options to rival Kevtris's work

Yeah before it seems like it was only sorgelig doing most the work but now he's getting a fair amount of help

And I've also heard rumblings of PCE-CD, Sega CD etc.

6:30 pm

http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=117&t=34564&start=25#p357342

I'll likely always keep my original hardware since I've spent so much money and effort, but I would love to replace it all with something like Mister for 90% of the time.

Sorgelig is going ahead with the new scaler it seems

1

I need to try the analog out

People are also lifting the mappers from the EverDrive N8 code too

Sweet

I really want a pair of Retrotinks sometime, would be fun for capturing DS stuff

oh thanks for reminding me, I wanted to get one to capture some composite-only plug and plays that aren't dumped

Speaking of, I have a Bee casino plug and play that I'll need to pop apart and give some TLC, when I got it the batteries had corroded, I got the compartment cleaned up but it only works a little bit

9:26 pm

It's the most blatant NOAC I've had, there's no additional hardware for anything extra, literally just an NES in there

9:26 pm

I rank it Cheesier Than Vegas Dream

I have a pretty good collection now of legal NES clones with unique games

9:43 pm

since we bought a bunch for the PRGE museum

9:43 pm

bought and borrowed, I mean

I also have one of those MyArcade handhelds from Walgreens. All original games, I suspect it's NES hardware inside but it's got one of the worst screens and no outputs

I'm mostly interested in those mid-2000s ones

9:51 pm

I've got Intellivision, Atari Flashback, Konami Arcade Advanced, one of the early DreamGear ones

9:52 pm

oh, Coleco Head-To-Head

9:52 pm

I know I'm missing a casino one (probably what you have) and Strawberry Shortcake Dance Dance Revolution

Yo what, I heard cutsey DDR and I'm all in.

9:55 pm

Err... cutesy

9:55 pm

that's an NES

Neat!

might technically be Konami's last NES game

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/912d9DuRsBL._SX425_.jpg yeah this is the one I found

9:58 pm

From Techno Source

9:58 pm

Mine is in a blue casing instead of grey though. I don't imagine it makes much difference

10:00 pm

The problem I've had with it is that 90% of the time the power switch just does nothing, sometimes it powers on but then switches back off if jostled. Batteries are as firmly inserted as they get, so I wonder if there's not some problem deeper inside

10:01 pm

Loose capacitors, loose chips maybe

10:02 pm

Hopefully it's nothing too awful. I guess it'd make a decent first-time deal if I have to learn how to solder or use a multimeter

yeah watching video, that's NES for sure

10:04 pm

also different than the one I was thinking of:

I almost swear I spotted one of those at a goodwill years ago before I started having the money to buy any

10:05 pm

Except I recall it being black and probably not having the golden nugget endorsement

10:06 pm

It's Majesco though so that wouldn't surprise me if they had a brandless fallback

it also wouldn't surprise me if they made six of these and none are documented online

I've got a Golden Tee Golf one that's by Farsight Studios, the software is almost identical to one of those motion sensing golf club ones, just adapted to use a trackball. It isn't based on any existing Golden Tee game.

yeah that one I'm pretty sure isn't NoaC

Wouldn't surprise me if it's ARM based

god there's so many

10:10 pm

https://www.amazon.com/PlayVision-Plug-Play-Casino-System/dp/B000658LYQ/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_23_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=HD63EK7TTGD7H32R79D7

10:11 pm

this looks like a 15-in-1 version of your bee one

10:11 pm

but then image #2 shows a version of the intellivision plug and play I've never seen, rebranded

Whoa. This one says it has Solitaire and Freecell on it.

10:12 pm

(wishlist)

10:16 pm

that's kind of nice

10:16 pm

but also sad

1

I always wondered what the market for these was, since it's not nostalgia if the games are new, and it's not kids if they're casino and golf games

oh sure, they're toys

The only people I ever knew that owned the little LCD poker games were people in their forties that would have had trouble hooking these up to their TVs

oh I knew a lot of adults who had those

10:19 pm

but I grew up in vegas so maybe that skews results

They can't have been for big spenders who would have bought more of them, because they were priced to be more affordable than consoles with interchangeable games and it's more of a pain to swap entire systems

10:21 pm

It'd be nice to have market data for these but I don't recall NPD keeping track of them

man this is a weird and interesting rabbit hole

10:36 pm

I can't find any good screens or video yet but

10:36 pm

this might be the official New York Times-branded NES

god I keep finding more https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqnbfiy11aI

rescuehero942

TV Games Reviews #94: Techno Source Crayola Electronic Coloring Book

10:50 pm

@bunnyboy you thought you were the second person to write a coloring book for the NES, turns out YOU WERE THE THIRD

mine doesnt even have those amazing sounds

My RetroTink showed up a few days ago, still waiting for the mini-HDMi cable though

1:40 am

Think I may use it to try out my 3DO

nice. I'm waiting for my RetroTink now. My 3rd party N64 S-Video cable showed up and no checkerboarding or weirdness after testing.

nice, I need to get some S-video cabling

My hope is to have better Elgato capture w/o modding my N64.

all of my consoles are currently either natively RGB capable and I have the appropriate cables, or composite, with a couple of exceptions where I have component like the PS2

my budget is so limited right now. But I hope to get there, too.

And here I am getting by decently enough with a $35 composite to HDMI upscaler.

those are actually pretty good!

Though I'm not the type to notice about input lag

My composite to HDMI upscaler is not bad at all, too. Especially bringing it into OBS via Elgato HD60.

oh I wasn't looking for lag because I was splitting the signal and playing on a crt while capturing with hdmi

Same. I split the composite and play on an old monitor.

I forget what brand, if it had one

But I find the S-Video cable makes everything a little sharper, especially text.

Got it on Amazon solely to hook up stuff to my StarTech PEXHDCAP

on N64 at least.

this is from the cheap RGB to HDMI scaler on amazon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2MUhmNKWxA

Frank Cifaldi

ozma wars play

Right now everything that's composite goes into that upscaler via a $15 VCR

1:54 am

(I have a side gig of digitizing my parents' home movies)

so is this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4VKSrje1WI

Frank Cifaldi

Sasuke Test - Board Capture

1:55 am

I guess now that all the titles are announced it's not a big deal to share the reference videos we made

Come to think of it, is there software better than amarectv for really long recording

1:56 am

I can't remember if I tried OBS Studio or not

1:56 am

Would just prefer to avoid Streamcatcher

OBS usually works okay.

1:59 am

Easy to use for on-the-fly compression so you dont kill your disk space

Probably ideal for these VHS gigs then

...there are 15 plug & plays in my ebay cart

When/if anyone asks, "Why should I support VGHF on Patreon?" ...I'll send over this screenshot.

2:42 am

1

This reminds me of when, in search of LCD solitaire, I bought somebody's lot of 8 LCD games

2:47 am

I only wanted one of them, the rest sit in a drawer now

2:47 am

I might dig out Tiger Lights Out if I need to wake somebody up in the rudest way possible

2:47 am

That thing is LOUD

@Tom It may be in my head but I think S-Video gets you 80% of the way there in N64

S-video is pretty decent

It's pretty nice. I'm fascinated with Ultra HDMI and how it taps directly into the digital signal. But...

.

It's almost too sharp to my eyes, one of those rare cases imo that you could make a case for S-Video almost looking better. ducks for spouting blasphemy

6:54 pm

But ultimately everybody has to decide what they like best.

Agreed. I do want an experience similar to what it was like playing as younger person.

I get it, that's how I am with Atari 2600

So connected to a TV that doubles as a piece of furniture?

I've never played a 2600

9:29 pm

but I have a compulsion to get one

I haven't plugged mine in since the nt mini jailbreak fwiw, it's just a system to "channel surf" on, it's not a sit down and play thing

9:32 pm

like I think it was just yesterday I played River Raid for maybe ten minutes

Yeah, that's all I would expect really

9:33 pm

but it's just a huge blindspot for me in terms of my gaming history

9:33 pm

would be nice to have some context

I don't think I played many games for more than 10 minutes even when it was the only console I owned

9:34 pm

I think I'm going to have to get myself a MistER, just to offset not having an NT Mini

As always

9:35 pm

I can highly recommend the MiSTer

9:35 pm

I think it won't be too long before it's as good if not better than the Nt mini

it's my next purchase once I'm back to wanting to go back to "retro hardware" as a hobby

9:36 pm

I'm extremely preoccupied by actual modern games right now

Hmm, I could have sworn ETA Prime had a video with a link to a cheaper place to buy them, but it seems to be gone

9:36 pm

wonder if the store in question fixed the discount

smokemonster had one

oh, that was it

9:36 pm

They've both been on the MistER hype train recently

db-electronics, voultar and electronash are also working on it

9:38 pm

and I believe Furrtek is looking into porting his Neo Geo stuff

heh, that site is out of stock now

then there's that guy in Japan who's porting his SNES core

9:38 pm

and people are already looking into porting some PS1 FPGA stuff to it

9:38 pm

in the hopes of a fully working core

that's what I want to poke at

9:39 pm

I've been looking for an excuse to learn more FPGA stuff anyways, figure I might work on a MIPS core

nice

9:39 pm

the only downside of the MiSTer getting more and more popular

9:39 pm

is the availability of addon boards

god, youtube from work is so weird...

right, could I right now actually get all the stuff I'd want?

something in our network seems to occasionally route traffic to Brazil

9:40 pm

Portuguese youtube ads are hilarious

@Frank Cifaldi probably, with a bit of a wait

9:41 pm

I have some connections, so if you have any trouble, just let me know and I can ask around

is it much more than add-on ram?

IO board and addon RAM give you full coverage

there's a couple of boards, though the RAM seems to be the primary one needed

IO board is only required for one core right now

there's some new boards on the horizon though

but it gives you analog video etc.

I should see how involved it would be to have a run of ram boards done and assemble them myself

there's been talks of someone organizing a large run preassmbled in China

Teddy hooked me up with someone that made me one that works great.

oh yeah if I can pay someone to just deliver everything I need and it's done, I will do that

^

okay so we already have two for this bulk order to the bay area

Yeah I saw what went into building your own and thought "Nah... i'll pay someone."

lol

10:02 pm

MSX is getting the NN scaler

how is the msx core? does it do all the expanded audio stuff

@Frank Cifaldi near perfect as far as I'm aware

10:03 pm

and yeah, Yamaha, SCC etc.

10:04 pm

MSX/MSX2+/Turbo-R

Yeah that core alone makes it worth the cost imo.

10:06 pm

@Hubz wait until the X68000 core gets done

I agree, I would pay like $200 for Analogue MSX or whatever with an SD slot

@Teddy That would be nice, I've been told there are FGPA's being worked on for a lot of various Japanese computers by Japanese devs. Would be awesome if they could be adapted for this.

PC-88/98, FM Towns could be great

I just look at my broken X68000 and feel overwhelmed anytime I think about starting to repair it.

whats broken in it?

10:09 pm

I just pulled my IBM P70 out to do some writing on, and one of the monitor hinges is bad, need to dig into it and figure out the mech

Power supply for sure, needs recapped. and who knows what else

ooh an excuse to get that desoldering gun!

i bought the caps but I'm still unsure on how to really handle the power supply

10:12 pm

then i need a keyboard, and the dollar signs just start going way up

10:12 pm

it's just a very expensive system to maintain and get into and I don't know that I want to do it. kinda like a pinball machine!

@Frank Cifaldi @Steve Lin If you're interested in some MISTer addon boards, I have a guy who can hook you up

I did a ground up restoration of one pinball machine. It was a fun project, but took an entire summer

10:14 pm

could just be something you chip at from time to time

@Teddy at least right now I don't even want to think about it unless I can get it all preassembled, but I'll hit you up once I have the brain space to figure it out

It'll be preassmbled, and he's in the US too

10:17 pm

can get the DE10 Nano from Amazon, and slap these two boards on - done

oh, in that case, yeah let's do it

10:18 pm

christmas break project for me. I'll use my annual "everdrive black friday" funds on this instead

PM'd you an email address

10:19 pm

I'm considering a bunch of Everdrives soon

10:19 pm

I guess yeah, black friday sale - I heard delivery can take months though

@Chris A I just wish I hadn't started with a broken one, bit off more than I could chew. But yeah maybe down the road I'll mess with it.

it can take months indeed, but you save a lot!

sometimes its best to call it a loss, maybe sell it off and pick up a working one if you can

10:21 pm

I need to get some everdrives too

I wonder if he marks down the packages - VAT/duties would probably wipe out any savings

@Teddy Do you know if the MSX core is based off the 1chip fgpa and that's why it's so good?

@Hubz it is

10:23 pm

was a commercial FPGA core that was open sourced

Wow yeah... that's alone makes it worth it.

Send MISTers to Rochester, thx ❤ mario

I should have stocked up on boards a few months ago

10:25 pm

any tom dick and harry could get them off Atari forums

10:25 pm

But no, Smokemonster had to go and ruin the party

Man I'm torn, should I buck out for an SD2SNES or an AVS

What's your NES situation like?

I've got an FC Twin, it's not perfect but about half my library works okay

RGB?

The rest, probably just need a good cleaning

10:27 pm

Composite, I'm okay with that though

I think the SD2SNES would be more fun in that case

Maybe so. Would certainly love to play some of these great hacks and fan translations on real hardware.

wait for the black friday sale and get an SD2SNES and EverDrive N8?

Krikzz does black Friday? Ooooh.

20% off I believe in the past

10:30 pm

like I mentioned above, it can take 4-8 weeks for the stuff to arrive due to demand

10:30 pm

depending on location/when you order I guess

To be expected, aren't they made on demand?

I think so

10:32 pm

I'm tempted to pick up a couple of his Mega Drive controllers for the Mega Sg

10:34 pm

150 hour battery life

Whoa

Uses standard Nokia batteries

10:34 pm

less than $3 for a replacement

That's why i love my Wii U Pro Controller for use on the PC. I think it goes 60-80 hours?

Yeah, it's nice for sure

10:43 pm

speaking of

10:43 pm

does anyone happen to have any recent experience with IKEA rechargeable batteries?

10:44 pm

I rememeber a while back they were basically rebranded eneloop pros for a fraction of the cost, not sure if that's still the case (edited)

I've had pretty good results with Amazon's

@Chris A are they 2450mAh? If so, they're probably Eneloop Pros

Well, I ordered a batch of 10 MiSTer SDRAM boards, so depending on how many I ruin during soldering attempts (haven't done fine pitched parts in a long time) I may have some spares to sell in a month or so

3:23 pm

Maybe at some point the designs will settle down enough that we can engineer a single board replacement for the DE-10 nano and the add-ons that gets rid of unneeded hardware from the devkit

3:24 pm

Hmm, that wasn't bad, $5 for 10 ram boards

3:24 pm

another $16 in shipping... but still

so here's an unusual question: retro computer desks, anybody looked into those?

6:05 pm

cuz a while back Nostalgia Nerd had a video about how he basically grabbed an old computer desk from a school that was getting rid of them and i'm sort of interested in having something like that for my IBM

my parents have the same computer desk they've owned since it housed an XT clone

6:08 pm

They've got a 21" iMac in it now which fits hilariously poorly

what makes it a computer desk?

i think the biggest challenge of picking a desk for it is it's a "pizza box"-style case, which is very long and designed to have a monitor on top of it. which doesn't make for a lot of room to put a keyboard and mouse in front of it unless it's shifted to the side, which isn't comfortable for lengthy sessions

6:10 pm

for example, this was the battlestation before i gave this desk back to mom

6:10 pm

there is just no room for a keyboard on this, i had to use it on my lap

it has a keyboard tray that slides out with a closing front that covers it when not in use

7:56 pm

I'll have to try and get a photo of it some time

7:57 pm

I don't even have a desk at home anymore, my desktop gaming rig is in the garage in storage, I got a newer gaming laptop that gets occasional use

@Gus Lanzetta unfortunately that'll probably never happen, at least for the next 3-5 years I'd say

@Teddy I dont have them handy but yeah, I remember reading that about the amazon batteries (and I wish discord had slack style threading for old replies like this)

9:31 pm

@Corwin "weasel" Brence find a used office supply warehouse in your area, they generally clean out closing businesses and then resell the pieces. There are a couple here that have big warehouses you can wander through to find stuff (we get our steelcase leaps that way), and if there are old desks like that you could probably get em cheap

Good advice, appeals greatly to my thrifty side

good way to get high end chairs for cheap, too :]

Hmm, I think there’s one of those in one of Pittsburgh’s southern suburbs. This bears investigating

got my retrotink 2x in today. I like that I can power it with my TV's USB ports

2:26 pm

not like I'd want to use it when the TV is off anyway

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-11-08-weve-played-the-playstation-classic-and-its-a-disappointment

We've played the PlayStation Classic, and it's underwhelming

I first heard of it through a playground rumour; whisperings there was a machine that could run Ridge Racer, the game that had been wowing us all over the s…

2:50 pm

ah.

2:52 pm

that really sucks

https://kotaku.com/playstation-classic-plays-fine-but-it-s-a-bare-bones-e-1830294616

2:58 pm

Apparently there are PAL versions?

2:58 pm

Oddly, many of the games on the PlayStation Classic were the European versions. When I booted up Final Fantasy VII, for example, I got the classic “Licensed By Sony Computer Entertainment of America” splash screen. But when I ran Battle Arena Toshinden, Grand Theft Auto, or Tekken 3, the screen said “Licensed By Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.”

what? why?

3:02 pm

why the PAL version of BAT? (edited)

3:02 pm

or T3

3:02 pm

like, yes I sure want to play these games where frame timing matters at ~50fps (edited)

It'll just make me even happier that my PSIO is due soon

4:03 pm

It has USB controllers, wonder if you'll be able to plug a Dual Shock 3 or 4 into it for games that supported Dual Shock

It's using PCSX

wash your mouth out

No I'm serious, it is

why wouldn't it just be running their existing emulator that's in the PSP, Vita, and PS3?

Specifically PCSX ReARMed

Since it appears to just be PSTV hardware

If you can connect a DS3/4 and iso loading is hacked in I might pick one up, but also yeah, I might as well get a loader for my actual PSX. I just haven't taken the plunge on an OSSC or the likes yet.

4:08 pm

Also I wonder how much storage space there is

I need to sell my OSSC and buy a newer one

4:08 pm

I bought the last batch that had DVI instead of integrated HDMI+Audio

The reset button throws you out of any particular game and into the PlayStation Classic's main menu, while the eject button is used to change discs in games that are split across several CD-ROMs, such as Final Fantasy 7.

4:10 pm

That's a cute detail

4:16 pm

Ultimately, I wish this were just a thing I was downloading on my PS4? I understand that's not the appeal of a mini console though

What sort of license does the pcsx version they’ve used have?

4:21 pm

GPLv2

4:21 pm

So Sony has to make source available if they did modifications right?

They have an open source hub sort of thing don't they?

4:23 pm

https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/ I guess it is open devices

4:24 pm

But even Nintendo has an open source site

Speaking of Nintendo, I should see if there's any Switch stuff on their dev site yet, or if it still just wants to show me a dead console and a half-dead handheld

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/support/oss/#switch

Hmm, nope still only see WiiU and 3DS when I sign in to developer.nintendo.com, sad

Looks like you have to get NDI and get the SDK from there?

4:30 pm

Although strange it isn't specific on there, yeah

4:31 pm

https://insights.dice.com/2017/01/16/develop-nintendo-switch/ < last section

http://oss.sony.net/Products/Linux/common/search.html

Sony Global - Source Code Distribution Service

Source code download

4:39 pm

My new online identity. Thank you.

I can’t find anything PlayStation related on it

Isn't nintendo dev just unity these days?

Nah, Octopath is UE4

4:46 pm

There's a native C++ SDK

hmmm, my PAL N64 shows a discolored image through the retrotink2x with S-Video cables

4:50 pm

that's weird

4:54 pm

work fine on their own through the scart input (edited)

4:58 pm

ugh, maybe it's time to invest in ultraHDMI

5:04 pm

it's clearly an incompatibility with the cables and the retrotink, considering the test image shows up with all colors intact

I'm honestly disappointed that when they pulled those classics open they weren't just repurposed vita tvs

At this point it was probably cheaper to roll out something built on readily available commodity parts than their own custom system that they stopped making.

Is there anyone who could possibly help me understand Memory Management Chips in NES games? Punch-Out used the MMC2 Chip, but I'm trying to write up a simple explanation for how the chip actually worked

any basic bank switching chip works in the same way

5:51 pm

the console has a small address range that points to the ROM cart, say 8KB

5:52 pm

since it's rom, the system generally only needs to read from those addresses as writing does nothing

5:52 pm

a memory mapper basically has more memory behind it than the console can directly read. for this example let's say it has 32KB of game rom, 4 banks of 8KB each

5:53 pm

by writing to an address in the rom's range, the memory mapper can interpret that as a command, and will switch which of the 4 internal banks it shows to the console

5:53 pm

think of it like a switch

5:53 pm

when the program asks it to, the MMC can switch which of it's internal chunks of memory the game can read

5:54 pm

NES gets more complicated as there's separate ranges of memory for graphics and game code, but it all essentially works the same way

ah, interesting. So my write up simply says "The MMC2 Chip allowed the console to cycle through memory more quickly, allowing the game to render larger sprites"

5:55 pm

would you say that is accurate?

no, speed has nothing to do with it

5:55 pm

it let's the console access more memory than it normally can, giving room for more, or larger sprites

I see. so perhaps "The MMC2 Chip allowed the console to access more memory, allowing the game to render larger sprites"

yup, that's a correct statement

wonderful! Thanks for your help @Shinohara !

no problem

think of it like adding pages to a book, you get more text (memory) without the cover dimensions changing

Yeah it's not that the big sprites weren't possible before MMC2, it's that there just wasn't room on the ROM to fit them alongside everything else, so more often than not the big stuff got cut first if they needed room

6:49 pm

It's more like the difference between conventional memory and extended, in DOS terms

if anyone is looking for a psio, small markup here but all proceeds go toward MISTer core development https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=63556&p=1341133&sid=d287f092974a00c93777b28213b4d4a8

7:00 pm

$200 plus shipping, it's a markup but literally all of it goes into fpga dev, so

I'd been on the mailing list for when psio got back in stock...I could have afforded it even, but what stopped me was the thing still needs an internal mod to even work, and I'm not capable of such mod

yeah I made them do it

you'll probably get it faster this way than through PSIO directly. Their shipping service is horrible.

it was pretty painless, and easy to ship because the ps1 board is so small

7:01 pm

it's also a delight to take apart! what a cool board design, it's so simple and clean

Correct me if I am wrong but don't you need a ps1 with a special port that is not extremely common? At least that is what it seemed from my 5 mins of research when I was considering one

You do

7:02 pm

But its not very uncommon

7:03 pm

Easy to find.

I might have gotten lucky but the ps1 I grabbed from a thrift randomly for $7 had one so I used that

7:03 pm

I don't even know if the cd drive works, I never bothered testing it

Ok good to know. I'll have to check if mine has one

I've seen people refer to those as "1995 models" but they were sold a lot longer than that, I think the models without the io port became common several years down the line

Yeah, after the Dual Shock came out I think

Mine's got the port and we came to own it in mid 1997

the parallel port was there almost to the end of the fat PS1 run

7:21 pm

I got one of the dual-shock pack-in systems and they were still there

7:21 pm

what did go away early was the built-in RCA audio/video jacks

Generally is also the model that doesn't have the AV breakout ports, only the multi out jack like on later PlayStations

dunno when mine came out. Going to get it installed in a 7502 I picked up from a friend.

I need to pick up a second PS1, kinda want to avoid physically modifying my original one

Wiki[edia says 1997

Hmm. Actually since there's experts in here, was there ever a PlayStation controller where the d pad was segmented into individual buttons, or was it always a single piece with the cross gate over it?

That parallel port cover is also very hard to open

I did a PSIO mod to an early one with RCA jacks and a 7501 i think? 7501 wasn't too bad to do.

I knew someone from church who had a launch window ps1 and I swear the d pad was separated into individual buttons

7:24 pm

It felt remarkably weird to me, but it could be my memory tricking me because I would have been 8 at the time

Wonder if I should got this unit modded to get rid of disc region lock as well.

doesn't psio take care of that?

Its unmodified right now, laser seemed in pretty pristine condition. Better than any of the other units I own

7:27 pm

Not for physical discs

oh sorry I thought it bypassed that if you loaded CD from the psio bios

I don't believe it does.

That sucks

well that's just from disc, you can still put any region game on the SD card and run it

True

7:31 pm

What size sd card to get? Any advice?

i had a 64gb that worked fine

not really, it's as many games as you want on there at a time. for the way I play 16 or even 8 is fine, I have a couple on there that I actually mean to play and then offload a new batch of experiments to channel surf through once in a while

7:33 pm

if a hard drive solution doesn't happen in the next year or two I might go to my weird old plan of having a binder full of SD cards

7:33 pm

you can use coin pages for SD cards

They would fit. At this point a 256 or even a 512 gb sd card is not terribly expensive. Wonder how much of the library that would cover. W

7:34 pm

The lack of folder functionality on the PS-IO is a bit of a bummer to make that a workable way of doing things though.

Get a bunch of super-cheap 8-32 gig cards and separate games alphabetically, or by genre or what not

all of the redump sets 7-zipped is over 2TB

7:38 pm

god knows what that is extracted

ai caramba

that's every worldwide SKU though

7:39 pm

just U.S. is 456GB

ooh

7:39 pm

thats workable

again, 7-zipped

I've got the US set but not the worldwides

7:39 pm

hmm, I got a "processing for shipping" email from PSIO on the 18th of October but nothing since...

@Shinohara I had the same and it took more than three weeks for the thing to get moving.

I should swing by my old place on the way home and make sure it didn't get shipped there

7:40 pm

ah, good to know

I have them all because something we were working on that kinda fell by the wayside is building a database from the data from every worldwide PS1 retail game so that when we're quickly ripping hundreds of prototype discs we can programmatically guess what game they are and how much earlier they are than retail

I seriously believe they are just making shipping labels and then not actually shipping the thing for weeks..

I moved after ordering, updated my address with them, but it still listed the old address in that last email

I'm very interested in sending in my PAL ps1 and getting it modded for PSIO

Emailing them seems the quickest way to get in contact with them.

7:41 pm

I'm getting a local guy to do it for me.

my best option is to ship it off to australia

Surely you can find someone more close by to do it?

unsure

7:43 pm

they'd have to be EU to be worthwhile for me

I'm in the EU

sending it to aus isnt that expensive, the only issue is that it takes a bit

surely you can find someone close by to do it for you

havent found anyone yet

I'm going to get it installed by this guy:

7:44 pm

https://twitter.com/rawrDennis

Dennis van den Broek (@rawrDennis)

In my spare time, I fix game consoles & handhelds. Also Senior Designer at Guerrilla Games (Horizon Zero Dawn). Loves everything Sony!

Tweets

27853

Followers

2120

definitely interested in giving my old ps1 some use again

I should get an s-video cable for my PS1, will be easier to use that with the retrotink until I replace my OSSC with an HDMI model

I've kept it in a box for a very long time

7:46 pm

I'll just use my PS2 RGB cable I thing

7:46 pm

think*

@Wietse van Bruggen that's funny, I have a friend who's a designer at Guerilla too

currently I'm using component cables for my ps2, so I have the RGB cables just lying about

just realized I don't recall his real name though

7:47 pm

I've got RGB and component, and have used the RGB+OSSC with the PS1 before, it's just a bit of a pain since I have to feed it through a DVI to HDMI converter and it's flakey as hell

ah. I just got a DVI-HDMI cable

7:49 pm

no issues at all

can that loop the audio in?

yeah audio goes thru it

7:49 pm

somehow

huh

yea I mean i was surprised too

7:50 pm

but nope, definitely sending audio through the DVI-HDMI cable

7:50 pm

I got my OSSC with the audio upgrade board so that probably had something to do w it (edited)

7:51 pm

"Upgrade your OSSC with a digital audio board. This allows you to send both digital audio and video down the DVI connector (or HDMI with a suitable passive adapter). Cheaper and tidier than an external audio integrator and great for TVs that have no analogue audio input."

7:51 pm

yea thats why that works then

7:51 pm

just surprised that it actually works

incidentally I set my wii+ossc up with optimal timings today and i'm very pleased that the moon in castlevania the adventure rebirth is now perfectly circular (edited)

2

8:08 pm

I think at least 3 stages have the moon as a prominent background feature and it annoyed me how it was squished vertically on default ossc settings

8:10 pm

once it's set up correctly for each system the ossc really is awesome

8:10 pm

I've had one for like a year or so at this point and yeah

8:10 pm

no idea what I'd do without it

Just got the amount I have to pay for customs charges with the PSIO (edited)

8:11 pm

22.15 euro

8:11 pm

Thats not too bad, I was expecting more.

@miriam Ah, I don't have the audio upgrade

ah ok, I guess you do need that adapter then

8:19 pm

shame it's so flaky for you

I wonder if the PSX Libretro Raspberry Pi emulator ever got CHD support.

8:30 pm

Never understood why it didn't have it since the normal PC one does.

8:30 pm

but it's been awhile since i've checked

I've always been surprised more emulators don't support the PSP/PSN packages since they provide multi-disc games in a convenient format

8:34 pm

I think mednafen can read them

Yeah I did that for a bit but there would be compatibility issues on some titles I think. But CHD has worked great and had major space savings.

cool

You do miss the easy multidisc stuff though

8:48 pm

.m3u files make it not too bad though

I end up having to make those for Provenance anyways

9:38 pm

Unfortunately no port for me :\

so much for the suprerior gameshark hardware

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-PlayStation-Launch-Edition-Gray-Console-Only/283221506548?epid=113745929&hash=item41f15139f4:g:pq8AAOSwtxlbzKab:rk:40:pf:0&LH_BIN=1 I'll bet if you message this seller and say you need one with the port you get one for $20 shipped

Sony PlayStation Launch Edition Gray Console Only

Console works great! At Outer Heaven Games we strive to provide classic and modern video games to our customers. We offer international shipping through ebay's global shipping program. Buy with confidence! | eBay!

9:41 pm

or here's a guaranteed one for $22

9:41 pm

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SONY-PLAYSTATION-1-PS1-SCPH-7001-CONSOLE-ONLY-SYSTEM-ONLY-TESTED-WORKING-3891/264026934964?epid=240649569&hash=item3d793b4eb4%3Ag%3ArFIAAOSwRNtb4dh6%3Asc%3AUSPSPriorityMailPaddedFlatRateEnvelope%2194609%21US%21-1&LH_BIN=1

SONY PLAYSTATION 1 PS1 SCPH-7001 CONSOLE ONLY SYSTEM ONLY TESTED W...

Has been cleaned and tested working condition. The item in the photo is the one you will receive. Actual item pictured. | eBay!

9:42 pm

they're really not hard to find, or worth more than non-port models

Yeah, I might swap it at some point. At the same time it seems likely to have the most stuff happening over the next few years in terms of solutions such as an FPGA or what have you so I'll probably just sit on it for now.

9:46 pm

Compared to the other stuff from this time.

Another weird question: does anybody emulate on their phone? Any recommendations for controller attachments? Ideally ones that fit in my pocket

1:53 am

I have big pockets but not big enough to fit a dualshock 4

Someone at PRGE sold me a Moga Pocket that fit my (6 inch) phone but it turns out that model has non-existent support, it requires an app that isn't available and the alternative is another app that doesn't work

2:08 am

Fortunately it only cost me a buck

I so want a modern-ish phone with hardware controls

It's the only thing I miss about my old Xperia Play

2:12 am

Almost nothing supported those buttons but when they did, man

yeah, one of those with new guts would be great

@Corwin "weasel" Brence emu on my phone is probably 75% of my game time these days. I either struggle with the onscreen buttons, or use my 8bitdo sfc pro controller. Screen is fine for RPGs, but isn't really survivable for lttp rando.

An 8bitdo did come to mind, but do you somehow attach it to your device or do you use a stand and a tabletop?

4:36 am

Though I guess the times in which I'd actually need to play games like that, I'd have some kind of surface to set the phone on, so maybe I should just buy a popsocket again or something

I have a pop socket, which seems to work well for leaning it on a table and playing.

My quibble used to be that I'd want to play on the bus, and the bus doesn't have any surfaces I could set a phone on, but my bus travel time is minimal these days while work downtime is massive

I think they make a thing that clips your phone to your 8bitdo that makes it a bit more gba sp ish, but I generally have a place to set it if I'm playing something that needs a controller.

4:38 am

Save jrpgs for the bus and action for work.

I mean, I've tried playing Fire Emblem with touchscreen controls. It was unpleasant.

You get used to it. I'm starting to get okay with on screen controls for lttp, but it's still very frustrating. I've gotten to the point where RPGs feel just fine.

4:44 am

I just checked, there's various phone+ controller clips for 8bitdo depending what controller you get.

@Corwin "weasel" Brence iPhone or Android?

Android

Ah, no idea then

4:55 am

I use a GameVice on my iPhone

4:55 am

Works nicely with Provenance and PPSSPP

4:56 am

Wow, Mister SDRAM pcbs shipped already

I'm rocking retroarch on Android.

4:58 am

I'm using a older version, but I can look up the version or even just send you the apk if you need it.

I could probably figure that bit out, just in the market for an input device, heh

@Frank Cifaldi happy to see you discovering the CPC464. My first machine :D

1:14 pm

Haul

And flowers

1:15 pm

those dogbones look really fresh

One of them is yellowed a bit

1:16 pm

two look brand new

1:16 pm

Both Famicoms are RGB modded

1:17 pm

and the SNES is a 1CHIP-03

Hmm. Never occurred to me what differences there might be between SFCs. I got one coming in the mail, is there an appreciable difference I should look out for?

The later models consolidated the multiple chips into one (edited)

5:53 pm

resulting in better image quality

5:54 pm

I think you'd know you're getting a 1CHIP, unless you get lucky

5:54 pm

@Corwin "weasel" Brence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k2HVB9S8CA

RGB204 :: Getting the Best Picture from your Super Nintendo / MY L...

Hm. Alright then, that'll be some breakfast viewing for me then, must educate myself

...weeeellll since i'm just gonna be hooking it up via composite anyway i guess this isn't really anything to worry about anyway

Also non-1chip looks fine and is arguably truer to intent

Agreed. The difference in sharpness is noticeable but it’s not like you’re looking at something terrible if it’s not a 1chip

i mean, there's a similar debate over how the genesis sounds between model revisions, i've never really been aware of the differences and am largely alright with my model 2 machine

I guess a lot of that has to do with what you’ve always been used to, but the difference in how those systems can sound from each other is pretty astonishing. Just one of that systems quirks, must not have been a big issue on the quality control checklist for Sega at that time.

I like the little bit of blur on my non-1chip SFC

7:38 pm

like, it prevents a more "digital" look (edited)

7:38 pm

when ran thru the OSSC

7:39 pm

not sure I'd ever want to get a 1chip bc it's not bothersome or anything and it's still very sharp

yeah my criteria is pretty much "can i still read onscreen text?" and most of the time that's true, at least of my FC Twin it is

7:54 pm

the other quibble i have is more with my TV than with the system itself, i don't know if there's a way i can adjust the overscan on this thing and some games go off screen pretty badly

7:55 pm

blurr-o-vision photo of Vegas Stakes as an example

7:55 pm

the TV's a Panasonic from around 2003, i forget the model number, would have to do some blind photography to get a good shot of the sticker that says it

Yeah, 1CHIP being better is entirely subjective

8:04 pm

and certain models of the 1CHIP have their own issues

https://twitter.com/RubyEclipse/status/1060989403042988033?s=19

Aaron Webber (@RubyEclipse)

Photos from the SEGA archive. We dug through boxes layered with 20+ years of dust and animal droppings, but what we found was amazing. Inside were factory sealed, never touched originals dating all the way back to the Saturn and Genesis days.

Retweets

2003

Likes

6877

Hope they find 30 cases of panzer dragoon and flood the market

man if only

12:44 am

Good sale at BB

10 TB

12:46 am

cool, you might be able to fit a full MAME set on that

12:47 am

1

@Borman picked up one of those yesterday, setting up as the new parity drive on my unraid box as I type this

This is going to Max out by 8 bay Synology

12:57 am

So I'm excited

wonder if the 8tb drives will go on sale for the holiday (edited)

Yeah that's what I have in there, these are the Black Friday sale so i didn't want to count on it

yeah, I wouldnt be surprised if bb adds a new round of things just to get everyone frenzied again

I'm good until I build a new redundant backup next year

my existing drives are all 4tb so I'll eventually swap em all out

I'm considering upgrading my Synology to the new DS1019+

12:30 pm

My current ARM based unit is starting to show its age, get a new one with a couple of NVMe cache drives and 16 GB RAM

12:30 pm

I just finished my 2nd NAS last week. I uh... have a problem.

3:56 pm

I kinda went cheap and went for an Atom motherboard that had enough SATA ports. But honestly it runs fine as far as I can tell.

3:57 pm

i'm not going to do transcoding on it so, it should be fine for a simple file server with FreeNAS i figure.

@Hubz nice

4:49 pm

I'm a sucker for Synology

4:49 pm

their app ecosystem is nice

4:50 pm

and it's helping me move away from Google services thankfully

Yeah I'd like to get away from everything Google. What apps do you use of theres?

Synology is nice, and for scratch built systems I'm a big fan of unraid

I’ve got a nice Synology 1815+ with 5x8tb in running in raid-6, might pick up a few more drives if the 8tb easystores have a good sale though

7:27 pm

I have a little dell 1u dual-quad core server I picked up on the cheap last year than handles all of my Plex hosting and other cpu heavy duties

@Hubz VideoStation, AudioStation, DownloadStation & PhotoStation

7:44 pm

or at least, looking at migrating over to them at least

7:44 pm

going to switch from Google Drive to Backblaze B2 for my important files

7:49 pm

@Chris A yeah, Unraid is nice, but I'm all about my fire and forget solutions these days

I almost went with Unraid but went with FreeNAS since I am used to it. Big thing I hate about FreeNAS is it's a pita to increase your storage.

What is the best starter storage solution, buying a small synololgy box?

That or any of the similar products are good. Im happy with my Synology.

11:15 pm

I wouldnt go with Drobo though, bad stuff seems to happen with them

I highly vouch for Synology, I got hit with an issue on my DS1815 and they just replaced the whole unit no questions asked

Atom CPU issue, or something else? Mine is supposedly the updated model, still holding my breath a bit

if you want easy but more expensive, buy something like a synology. If you want cheap and have pc hardware to spare, Unraid is a good choicew

Yeah, it was one of the Atoms with a known issue

Also factor in the cost of an Unraid license

9:19 am

for basic usage, it'll be hard to build something as compact, or easy to setup as a 4-bay ARM based Synology

9:19 am

I have the DS416j, which is a pretty basic model but has served me well for 3 years

9:19 am

looking at upgrading to an Intel based model though

yep!

9:43 am

also depends on use, too, whether you simply need something to store data, or if you want to run docker and/or vm setups, etc

or video transcoding

12:41 pm

which might be a more maintstream use case

even the higher end consumer Synology's are pretty underpowered for video transcoding

3:18 pm

my 1815+ could just barely handle one stream of 1080p, but it struggled if it was a full-rate blu-ray rip

I read that newer gen I3's and Pentiums could be used on server motherboards for ECC.

3:35 pm

those could easily transcode most stuff.

3:35 pm

I almost went that route but didn't want to spend the money for something I would rarely use.

3:35 pm

Or of course a Xeon

I got a decomissioned dual-xeon 1u server for like $140 shipped

3:37 pm

32GB of ram even

3:37 pm

stuck a couple of spare drives in it, installed Ubuntu server and it's handling a host of duties now

3:38 pm

plex, cloud backups of the Synology, and it's a VM host for doing development

Wow! Great deal

3:41 pm

I went the Mini-ITX route too which in hindsight was dumb as it really limited me.

3:42 pm

But it does fit nicely on the shelf at least.

hm. i've still got a random old mini itx lying around, it doesn't currently have a power supply or storage, but i have it in a half-done project box with a huge pinball button on the front

4:25 pm

iirc it's an 800 mhz via chipset, it's in a box somewhere and i've always wondered if there was anything i could do with that

Windows 98 mini gaming rig

well that's certainly a thought

When we moved to our new place there's a nice spacious utility room downstairs just off the garage, and the bedrooms and living room are all wired with cat-5 that runs to a breakout in the garage

5:02 pm

so I bought a pair of cheap Ikea Lack tables, bolted one on top of the other, and the 1u server fits perfectly between the legs

5:02 pm

so that and my synology live there, and have a cable routing through the wall into the garage where my main network switch lives

5:03 pm

keep our networked laserjet on top the table stack

5:03 pm

and then have hard wiring running from the modem and router to that central switch which then runs to the server stack and the game consoles in my bedroom

5:04 pm

the PS4 has horribly awful wi-fi, I can get perfectly solid speeds on all my other devices from my bedroom, but the PS4 couldn't even stream low-res youtube reliably until I ran ethernet to it

Yeah, original ps4 only has 2.4 WiFi and it’s awful

I get made fun of by my co-workers but i hate the unreliability of wifi and hard wired every room in my house.

5:07 pm

at least 2 ethernet ports in every room

5:08 pm

crucial mistake i made was not making the conduit bigger in my foamed in walls... and the hdmi i have running through it isn't a good enough quality cable for 4k at 60hz. Not a major issue yet but down the road likely could be.

that's one of many reasons I kindof want to design a house and have it built instead of buying an existing place

My marriage survived it since I let her handle picking everything out

5:38 pm

My only advice like everyone else's - Run more wire than you think you need.

5:38 pm

Better to feel silly than regret not running enough. (edited)

Well, my MiSTer SDRAM PCB's arrive today, and I have the ram chips and one of the connectors, still waiting on the other connectors via aliexpress, and the caps were backordered

Oh building it yourself eh?

Yup

7:35 pm

ordered 10 PCB's and parts to populate them

7:35 pm

gives me plenty of spares to screw up on

7:35 pm

any successful extras I'll probably offer up in here

You shouldn't have a problem selling them.

7:48 pm

It really has me considering selling my MSX2+ and flash cart. But I dunno...

7:49 pm

I really need to try out the analog output.

7:15 am

my project for the night. Fixing the hinges on an IBM P70 luggable

7:22 am

the springs in this thing that push directly again fragile plastic are very strong.. no wonder 99% of these have broken hinges

Very cool!

Im not confident that the plastics will hold up, if/when they snap again I'll have to model and print a replacement

11:30 pm

but we'll see

@Teddy http://atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=34730

6:26 pm

Exciting

@Hubz it sure is

Also wow this - https://github.com/srg320/FpgaSnes

srg320/FpgaSnes

SNES FPGA Emulator. Contribute to srg320/FpgaSnes development by creating an account on GitHub.

8:11 pm

Smokermonster just posted about it

8:11 pm

MiSTer is about to blow up if they can port that.

Yeah, saw that going around in the Smokemonster discord

8:17 pm

MiSTer has already blown up

His Discord free or you have to sign up for his patreon?

Patreon

8:18 pm

also http://retrorgb.com/mister-altair-8800-core-released.html

MiSTer Altair 8800 Core Released

Hah nice

8:26 pm

Busy day in MiSTer land

For sure

8:28 pm

just got a 128GB card for mine finally

ooh

9:02 pm

how's that SNES FPGA core working?

Hasn't been ported yet

9:07 pm

AFAIK

Yeah looks like it's being worked on though luckily.

so is there an overview of MiSTer around somewhere?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igiVHfBzX8w

Introducing MiSTer FPGA Multi Console

perfect thx

Also: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main_MiSTer/wiki

MiSTer-devel/Main_MiSTer

Main MiSTer binary and Wiki. Contribute to MiSTer-devel/Main_MiSTer development by creating an account on GitHub.

I've got two Irem Madonna cabinets, they'd be a nice enclosure for one of those

is mister at a level where it would be good for someone looking for a hobbyist project to tinker with but who doesn't know a huge amount about hardware?

Seems like there are a few kinks to figure out, at least for what I want

3:42 pm

Exciting to see they have a SNES core up and running though

@Crouton Zircon I think so, I've had fun just messing around with it.

I'm almost definitely going to be buying a Gameboy Player for Gamecube and startup disc from eBay soon– just in case anyone here has one they wanted to get rid of.

9:30 pm

One of the things I want to test w/ RetroTink 2X.

You’d getter a better image out of if using the homebrew GBI software for the game boy player than Nintendo’s software

9:31 pm

The image quality difference is quite dramatic

Yeah? So source the player w/o the disc?

You’d need a way to run homebrew on a GameCube. An Action Replay with an SD reader that goes into the memory card slot will do the trick

Nice. Without modding the actual console?

The players sell for significantly cheaper without the disc

9:33 pm

Yup

Yeah, I've noticed.

9:34 pm

Okay great - I'm glad I brought it up.

You need an old 2gb sd card as well, pre sdhc

9:35 pm

Dunno if there’s a place more local for you that sells the required software, but if all else fails you can get it here

9:35 pm

https://www.codejunkies.com/Products/SD-Media-Launcher__EF000580V.aspx

http://retrorgb.com/gameboyinterface.html

justin

Game Boy Interface

9:37 pm

reading up now

9:37 pm

I have a stash of old SD cards that might do the trick.

I think it’s the software from code junkies that is the culprit actually. The reader itself is perfectly capable of working with newer sd cards

9:38 pm

You don’t a need a big one, just needs to have GBI on it

https://twitter.com/Insurrection33/status/1062553728752979968

Insurrection Industries (@Insurrection33)

3) We are officially announcing our upcoming gamecube component cable featuring our metal connector, molded shell and high quality 75ohm coaxial cable terminated with BNC connectors (RCA adapters included). Our analog audio cable will compliment this perfectly! More to com...

Likes

107

9:39 pm

Hopefully some high-quality more affordable component cables to use, too.

@Tom in the same boat myself

10:56 pm

OSSC just added support for some additional GBI modes too

GBI is so good and worth the effort

11:08 pm

Anyone see GCHD is doing a 2.0 version with dual digital and analog output?

That looks super nice.

Took a week but all expanded

Nice!

3:05 am

I've been tinkering with switching my arcade cab to launchbox all weekend. Just about got it done.

3:05 am

Hyperspin is just too damn buggy.

alriiiight, both boxes of my SFC have arrived, packed with Japanese newspapers

5:04 am

the cover story of which is apparently the results of the GII Ladies All Stars boat race

5:05 am

the shrink wrapping on these is immaculate, it almost feels brand new even though i doubt that's necessarily the case

all hooked up

Interesting. Of the five games, only Donkey Kong actually boots. The rest probably need cleaning, and Super Donkey Kong 3 feels loose inside.

5:29 am

Still gotta test the one game I already had, though: New 3D Golf Simulation ~~Waialae Country Club~~ Pebble Beach Golf Links.

(edited)

5:31 am

Huh. that one doesn't quite work either

5:31 am

I'm unsure it's the SFC's fault, since SDK works fine no matter what I do.

5:31 am

Probably just need to put 'em through standard procedure, i.e. Q-tips and IPA

5:32 am

(and break out the Bootleg Buddy)

SFC's are generally pretty hearty, and I've noticed that a LOT of the FC/SFC games that I end up cleaning can take far more time than you'd expect.

6:09 am

It's still very uncommon for them to actually be broken though, so at least there's that.

yeah these carts are in magnificent physical shape for what it's worth

6:29 am

none of them are yellowed at all

running count: 4 games successfully booted out of 6, pebble beach required the most actual cleaning

I think Amarec has a built in screenshot button, no? Might save you some time (unless you're doing it on purpose :P)

it does, i dunno why i'm Greenshotting it instead

Hah okay

(Greenshot's my favorite app atm anyway)

4:33 pm

and having proven that, yes, I still suck at golf, let's see if i can get super bomberman 3 running

4:34 pm

yup

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dsdc938VAAA5uIo.jpg:large there is nothing quite so surreal as seeing not just other peoples' save files, but other peoples' save files from a different region

Aside from not having to reset to save, is the Mega Everdrive X7 worth the extra money over the X5?

4:07 pm

Might as well pick one up this week on the cheap before the Mega Sg ships next year.

4:08 pm

Whoops I meant X5 over X3

4:09 pm

X7 is definitely overkill for me personally.

the only two things i anticipate being a problem if you go with the X3, is it doesn't act as a RAM cart (not a huge deal unless you want to play all the way through Shining Force CD to play the bonus chapter, which requires save files on both Books and won't fit in backup RAM) and there's no SMS pause button (which means some games like Zillion would be made, uh, very difficult)

4:29 pm

if you're not into Shining Force or, like, half of the SMS library, you're fine

Thanks! Think there might be concerns on how Mega SG handles resets? I'm not home and can't recall how Super NT handles resets with with SD2SNES. Does it reset the active ROM or reset to the main menu?

Reset on sd2snes just takes you back to the frontend

1

I'm not sure how the saving works on Megas, I have the EDMDv3 which...kinda just crashes if I reset it, but the SRAMs save fine if I power it off and back on and load any other game

Does the sd2snes menu not let you do resets within? Although that may not work either.

If I recall correctly, there are controller input combinations you can do in sd2snes to reset to menu or reset game.

I'm not 100% sure what the technical underlying reasons, but isn't it something like reseting the game while the memory is in such a state is what causes or is used in most of those cases?

4:42 pm

So long as it doesn't tinker with memory, which I wouldn't think it would, I'd guess it would work?

4:44 pm

Although there is probably some electrical surge business that is above my head.

4:45 pm

That simply repopulating the rom wouldn't invoke.

Yeah. That's what I'm thinking – the actual "reset to save" is something I do on my N64 with the ED64 2.5, but that's on native hardware. The technical "reset" function on the Mega SG and how it interacts with the flash cart... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ way above my head and I guess unknown to most.

4:47 pm

I'll go X5 for peace of mind. Thanks, everyone!

this might be my first black friday where I've got nothing to buy from krikzz

I'm still catching up. I hope he discounts his Amazon store listings, too. Faster shipping.

4:49 pm

https://twitter.com/krikzz/status/1000431197267296256

https://twitter.com/krikzz/status/1065409068880338944?s=21

Now we selling on amazon https://t.co/tzfCTv127w

Likes

260

@Tom I heard he is, but the prices are a little higher there I believe

I wonder if his wireless Genesis controllers are better/worse than 8bitdo

They certainly are far more expensive

I've always been happy with 8bitdo's quality.

The Krikkz controllers have 150 hour battery life which is nuts

8:23 pm

2ms latency IIRC

8:24 pm

They use standard Nokia l-ion batteries that are like $2 on eBay

8:25 pm

$65 is a bit of a crazy ask though

8:25 pm

I have two of the 8bitdo controllers preordered for that

How's the dpad compare to 8bitdo?

150? Hot damn

Haven't tried @SoH

8:32 pm

thinking of ordering a pair on Black Friday if the price is right

8:33 pm

but even at 20% off, still pricy

8:33 pm

I'd nearly get them just to support Krikkz, as they do seem like the purest of passion projects for him

If you get a chance to compare I'd be interested

For sure, unfortunately the 8bitdo pads aren't out until next year as far as I know

8:36 pm

god, I hate their new branding

Krikzz's black Friday deals are already live

11:54 pm

Looks like Amazon is not included

11:55 pm

Is the GBA Everdrive worthwhile or do I want to get a different brand?

11:59 pm

Would be using on either the GB Player or my DS Lite

I use my GBA Everdrive a ton. But I've not tried any other brands to compare it to.

God I hope I didn't just order two of these

12:27 am

The first order was declined because my credit card wanted to make sure it was me making the purchase

12:27 am

The only option I found to make it try again was "reorder"

12:27 am

But now that's a separate order

12:27 am

And I can't find a way to cancel the first one...or contact him

Ugh it took me a while to find the Contact form but I've explained the situation and hopefully I won't get charged twice

Well that was fast, they've already gotten back to me and corrected the problem

12:46 am

Sooner is the day I shall finally behold ~~Hong Kong 97~~ Seiken Densetsu 3 on real hardware.

Has he rebranded the Super Everdrive?

SD2SNES is what you want for SNES (edited)

8:35 am

much better compatibility

8:36 am

oh I guess they just removed the super everdrive

8:37 am

so not a rebranding

SD2SNES*

I know, I placed a large order

9:03 am

9:04 am

Discount was more like 30% with the wholesale discounts figured in

https://www.codejunkies.com/Products/SD-Media-Launcher__EF000580V.aspx

Super #EverDrive series was just updated. New Super-ED X5 already available for order at https://t.co/eIkI80XsCQ

that said SD2SNES is always better than Super Everdrive

For sure, ordered one this morning

2:12 pm

looking forward to see what the X7 brings though

Might get Everdrive GB X7, or at least a new model with lower power consumption

2:21 pm

Pretty sure the old Everdrive GB fried my modded GBA in some way. (edited)

Oh really?

2:28 pm

was that a known issue?

Well, the newer X series has significantly lower power consumption. Could be a combination of the increased power needs of the lit screen and the increased power needs of the old Everdrive GB over a regular cart. (edited)

2:33 pm

The everdrive GB still works fine in an SGB2 or Game Boy Player, but the modded GBA wont work properly anymore. (edited)

2:33 pm

Sound plays with an original cart in it, but display shows nothing.

2:34 pm

GBA games wont boot at all on it.

2:37 pm

I might send it of together with the PS1 that needs to be modded for PSIO to the guy thats going to do it for me. He might be able to fix it.

2:38 pm

I miss that backlit GBA screen...the ghosting is so much less compared to a DS lite.

I'm about to order one tonight

2:58 pm

along with a GBC-101

2:58 pm

my GF agreed to get me them for Christmas

I almost considered getting the everdrive GB yesterday, to use on my SGB, but then I realized, I've been putting off playing any GBA games at all because I don't like not playing them on real hardware

3:14 pm

and yet, "real hardware" in my case is gonna be a DS Lite, more likely than not.

3:15 pm

Though I'll confess I keep eyeballing GBA SPs...but is it true what I heard about most of those not having headphone ports?

Its a custom port

3:16 pm

At this point a modded original GBA with a backlit is going to be cheaper

Well that's weird as hell. I wonder why I didn't hear much backlash about that back in the day.

Apple not inventing something for the first time again

I got a modded original gba model that has a backlit screen and rechargeable battery slot. Best console mod I've ever gotten done

3:20 pm

My hands are just too big for the SP models

If you have the ability to solder it's really not a hard mod to do.

3:22 pm

I'm awful with soldering and I managed not to mess it up.

Same

Maybe someday I'll make a splurge and buy one of those "designer" GBAs, with the custom cases and preinstalled light mods

Yeah, the SP is too cramped for me too.

Because owning an original GBA stylized to look like an original GB, is exactly the kind of retro-meta I live for.

1

My GBA ED just lives in a Gamecube hooked to a CRT next to the actual 16-bit stuff, it's like a console from an alternate reality

The GB Player is magnificent but I kinda wish I didn't need to run it interlaced, as I understand there's ways around that though

Oh yeah, just action replay and an SD card adapter

Theres homebrew software that is great

4:07 pm

Yep

yeah, this GBI I'm reading about sounds amazing

4:08 pm

Probably expensive to get the parts though nowadays

I have it set to auto-boot to GBI, it's really easy

4:08 pm

SD card readers were cheap on eBay last I looked

The action replays vary but you can get a reasonably priced one

yeah i'm seeing prices between 3-10 for the adapter but 30-60 for the action replay

4:09 pm

$20 for all you need

Ooh. (wishlists)

Their adapter is garbage but it works for GBI

4:10 pm

Oh and you need an actual SD card, not SDHC or SDXC. Like an old 1GB one

Yeah I'm fairly sure I have, like, a 128 MB one lying around from an ancient digicam

If you want to also load GC games from SD you need to replace their adapter

it'd be nice, but one thing at a time, i'd think

Bonus: if you do RGB like me you can find a PAL GC and buy the PAL Action Replay

there's a PVM on the shelf at Surplus Gizmos, has been there for months, they want $100 for the thing

4:12 pm

I keep almost wanting to buy it

That's actually what my setup is, it boots in PAL at first, but after the 30 seconds or so it takes to boot into GBI I'm in proper 240p RGB

Theres also the new GCHD HDMI adapter that's out in 2 weeks that does dual HDMI and RGB/component out

There you go

This guy - I think that's a PVM

4:13 pm

I don't have a pic of the backside

PVM is Sony

oh, that's a Sony-specific term?

Yeah

4:15 pm

I've never heard of Bosch and I'm not seeing Google results for a Bosch monitor with RGB

cursory googling doesn't get me much beyond someone's Reddit post that has a different model

4:16 pm

https://www.reddit.com/r/crtgaming/comments/93lhhl/first_dive_into_the_pvm_life_17_bosch_ltc_291791/ - this post specifically

r/crtgaming - First dive into the PVM life . 17" Bosch LTC 2917/91...

8 votes and 9 comments so far on Reddit

OSSCs on sale, just ordered one

Oh dang

They’re moving their business from the UK to Ireland

5:08 pm

https://www.videogameperfection.com/2018/11/22/change-here-videogameperfection/

Yay

10:01 pm

I bought the gameboy and gba everdrive

1

I ended up getting the Mega Everdrive X5, but from Stone Age Gamer because I had store credit.

8:41 pm

And now I'm debating getting HD Retrovision component cables to play w/ until the Analogue jawn is released.

8:43 pm

...whenever I feel like this hobby is getting too expensive, I remind myself how much my brother-in-law invests in golf.

What else do you need then a club, balls an outfit and a decked out golf cart?

So I thought, too. Weekend trips w/ friends. Annual club memberships.

Enjoy that nine iron, I'm gonna buy all these scart cables

8:47 pm

And put the 240p suite on all my flash carts

Mario Golf: Advance Tour in stunning RGB – no annual dues required.

I hadn't seen this posted here yet but this is so cool http://retrorgb.com/dreamport-sega-dreamcast-bluetooth-power-supply-upgrade.html

DreamPort: Sega Dreamcast Bluetooth & Power Supply Upgrade

8:51 pm

makes it run cooler, adds bluetooth support for all four ports for their bluetooth controller mod, lets you turn on the system with one of those controllers, and if I remember right it does a virtual VMU thing that syncs with the controller after you turn it on

remote on and off is such a nice little feature that I take for granted.

The amount of money I've spent on new game hardware this month alone, is only one fifth the price of a "decent" AR-15 platform, never mind accessories or ammo. And unlike the AR, it's far less likely to get banned by name, and contrary to the beliefs of certain circles, isn't going to hurt anybody.

9:00 pm

I might be oddly proud of the deck of cards that I put a 9mm hole through, but yeah I don't need to spend that kind of money (my Nerf wall is enough haha)

I need to pick up a few everdrives

9:21 pm

current game hardware funds are going into getting arcade cabs up and running... maybe next black friday

My big purchase was an extron video switcher

9:46 pm

8 in 4 out, which is nice

Are there HDMI switchers that don't require power

9:48 pm

I have this cheap GE one that takes USB power, and it kinda generates some nasty interference on the audio from my similarly cheap composite to HDMI upscaler

I have one but its garbage

9:49 pm

I'm looking up one right now to replace

I probably just have too damn much stuff plugged in around my desk

I have one that is a 3x1 that doesnt use power

9:50 pm

I use it on my TV, nothing fancy.

Man I have an extron i need to give away, I got it for like $30 and ended up going the GSCART route.

@Hubz nice, I'm currently deciding between Hydra and GSCART

4:36 pm

I'll probably go Hydra as it's a little cheaper, and it's a little easier to get here

4:37 pm

https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=207

Lotharek.pl - W-Hydra2

16-input to 2-output automatic switch

4:37 pm

❤

4:38 pm

Look at that weapon

Hahaha holy crap, good luck hiding that.

I actually happened to have an old madcatz SCART switch that actually got decent reviews

5:37 pm

I've had it since the PS2 was the popular console

5:37 pm

from when I first got an RGB cable

5:39 pm

https://www.videogameperfection.com/2014/06/28/universal-system-selector/

5:39 pm

here's a review on vgp actually

5:39 pm

looks like this

5:40 pm

I've used that thing on and off for I think at least 12 years and it still works just as well as ever, and doesn't deteriorate the signal noticeably thru the OSSC

5:41 pm

if it ever starts failing or if I need more inputs tho, I'd def go for the hydra

@Hubz I'll probably just get the regular one

5:41 pm

8-in 2-out

5:41 pm

@miriam does that thing support auto selection?

hell no lol

5:41 pm

it's a single sliding switch

are the inputs even isolated?

5:41 pm

ah

they are

@Teddy I was a goober and got my gscart and ossc power supplies confused for each other and screwed up both. Was able to fix the OSSC myself but had to send the GSCART back in for repairs

dang

5:42 pm

from the review on vgp: "Isolation test:- Passed, zero crosstalk from other inputs."

5:42 pm

so yeah, isolated

@Hubz ouch

5:43 pm

Hydra is USB powered I believe

Nice

can the hydra recieve power from the usb port on a TV for example

5:45 pm

or does it usually not supply enough power

Depends on the amperage I guess

5:49 pm

5v 1A apparently suffices

5:49 pm

which I imagine most TVs can deliver

any of ya ever hacked up an original kindle?

1:14 am

I still love that form factor best of all the kindles

I have a hydra and its great

Oh dear

6:28 pm

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2018-playstation-classic-emulation-first-look

PlayStation Classic mixes PAL and NTSC games - and the results dis...

Something's up with the Sony PlayStation Classic - what should be a celebration of a truly iconic console is compromised by an uneven selection of games, su…

PSC, made by atgames?

So the only hope of it being a useful device is if iso loading is hacked in because out of the box isn't all that compelling

6:55 pm

And even that is pretty limited depending on how good the emulator ends up being as well the controller

7:01 pm

I wonder if it will still sell well enough considering the impulse buy nature of these things

7:01 pm

I can't imagine average person in a Best buy will know what a PAL version even means

The vast majority of people won’t see the difference

I think to me it's just kinda disappointing when they had the example on how to do it well with Nintendo's NES and SNES classic.

Sony's never been very good at...things

Those frame time graphs look disgusting.

10:17 pm

Sad.

I just do not understand why they did that

9:15 am

like, who really wants to play a version of tekken 3 that runs slower

9:15 am

and jumping flash except even worse framerate

9:16 am

Moving onto the PAL titles, the situation worsens. Tekken 3 does indeed run at 83.3 per cent of its intended speed, but more than that is the fact that a 50Hz gameplay is dropped into the Classic's 60Hz output, giving obvious judder. Looking at raw video captures, every sixth frame is a duplicate - there isn't even the rudimentary frame-blending used in PAL PS2 Classics running on PlayStation 4. In fact, Tekken 3 also includes regular 50ms frame-time spikes - two dropped frames in succession, something that shouldn't happen.

9:16 am

geez

I saw someone suggest it was due to language options

Wonder if all of this was rooted in some insane pressure to get it out by the holidays. No real resources or QA allocated to the build.

@Tom I think it's more of a case that it's a $100 product, that 90% of people won't even notice

Yeah. I can agree to that.

considering most of the world is/was PAL, 50hz Tekken (judder aside) is what I'm used to (edited)

The average consumer is probably likely to not notice the technicalities behind everything, but a stuttering Tekken for example isn't going to help them fall in love with the product. Many of these titles aren't going to age well for people, even with 100% perfect emulation.

I kinda just want it to display on a shelf

10:38 am

I also believe the thing will be blown wide open within a week to allow you to load your own bin/cue files

10:39 am

also interestingly. This possibly might be the only official way to buy PS1 BIOS files?

10:40 am

as they're using PCSX Rearmed, I imagine the BIOS files are stored as files on there (edited)

Got my Shield TV in and I'm pretty impressed by it for emulation purposes.

6:33 pm

the nvidia gamestream ability is blowing me away too

6:33 pm

i'm sure there's input lag but I haven't really felt it yet.

I find it bizarre that Sony's using PCSX when they already have what seems to be a solid PS1 emulator that they used on PSP, PS3, and Vita

6:54 pm

I ended up canceling my preorder, I can always pick one up later if it gets hacked and someone gets a better build of PCSX onto it

I dunno about the PS3 emulators, but I believe the PSP and Vita ones abuse the fact that the PSP and Vita both have CPUs that can run MIPS instructions.

Vita is ARM

6:55 pm

and PS3 is PowerPC

6:55 pm

they've already ported that emulator across 3 architectures

Sure, but the Vita's PSX emulator just uses the PSP backcompat layer. (edited)

6:56 pm

But yeah presumably the PS3 emulator at least could be reused.

partially, though it has at least some native portions since it supports the touch screen to act as L2/R2 and such

6:56 pm

just seems weird that the thing isn't some custom shrunk version of the PSTV or something

Mhm.

although that probably would have cost more than whatever cheap off he shelf ARM SOC they're using

6:57 pm

the whole thing just comes off as very odd

They would need to port the PS3 emulator to ARM I guess

7:06 pm

and there's no telling how much that emulator is optimized for the SPUs

7:06 pm

I assume it wouldn't be a simple port job

Wait, didn't they also have downloadable PSX classics on their Sony phones for a while?

7:06 pm

Those are probably ARM.

7:10 pm

Either way, I don't think the problem with this thing is that they used an open source emulator instead of their own.

That isn't a problem so much as my first hint that this thing was weird and may suck

7:39 pm

I wonder if they outsourced it

I just don't think they think people will care that much

7:47 pm

and they're probably right

Agreed

Also, people forget that PAL was a much larger region, and we got pretty used to playing games at 50hz (edited)

7:49 pm

and I don't think Sony wanted to make separate models for NTSC and PAL regions

Got in the 2nd round lottery to buy a GBA consolizer

8:02 pm

undecided

What's the cost?

If you don't like it i'm sure you could resell it likely even at a profit.

pretty sure PAL doesn't have more playstations than NTSC and NTSC-J

8:22 pm

Looks like PAL regions and North America are just about matched for overall PS1 sales, but asia adds another 50% to NTSC numbers

Its $100

8:22 pm

For the gba consolizer

That's not bad if you have a compatible GBA already.

It's $135

8:44 pm

@Shinohara where are you getting those figures out of interest?

8:47 pm

Most of Asia is PAL, so I include that 50% includes those regions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles_by_region

List of best-selling game consoles by region

This is a list of best-selling game consoles by region. This page consists of countries in Asia, North America, Europe, and other PAL regions. PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is a colour encoding system for analogue television used in broadcast television systems in mo...

9:10 pm

although who knows how accurate that is

interesting

I just bought this:

Spicy

It's PAL too

50xSpicy

8:46 pm

Or...uhhh.... .8333~xSpicy

8:47 pm

That joke Hertz.

8:47 pm

I'll see myself out now.

Also comes with these:

8:49 pm

PAL GC can do 60hz

8:49 pm

and it has native RGB output unlike NTSC

Oh for real? That's neat.

yeah, it cost me £150, but it's a curiosity, Spice Orange was only released in Japan

8:51 pm

and not a bad deal considering the condition, and the fact it has the GB player disc, which is nearly $100 at this point

Not in the least. Is the serial for a PAL unit? Or did someone just do a gut swap?

It's a gut swap

8:53 pm

not some weird prototype

My Char GC was that too. Didn't know at the time, but meant it turned into my main one. The internals swap is pretty easy on the GC isn't it?

That reminds me, I need to get homebrew working on my GC so I can run the third party GB Player software

9:31 pm

I cheaped out and bought mine sans-disc and have yet to use it

that orange is beautiful

it is

8:36 am

doesn't really fit in with the rest of the my systems, but it's nice

Secretly it’s showing your support for the Netherlands football team

OH NO

9:16 am

I forgot it's the color of protestantism

9:16 am

FUCK

9:16 am

My grandmother will be spinning in her grave

Orange is a good color, except for burnt orange...

(edited)

Oh man, just got an email from Analogue advertising a colab limited white consoles and OH MAN the white text on the light grey background hurts to read. @_@

I thought their CSS was busted at first

Cancelled my PS1 Classic, ordered PSIO instead

mine is slowly working its way here

10:33 pm

shipped like 2 weeks ago and it's finally made it to California

https://youtu.be/yNtAUwz8fqw

RETRO GAMING ARTS

HOW TO ACCESS THE PS1 CLASSIC EMULATOR SETTINGS

3:38 am

(spoilers: plug in USB keyboard. Hit esc.)

1

lol

People are saying you can flip the Region from Auto to NTSC in stuff like Tekken 3 and it will run in 60hz, but unless the PAL version respects the toggle I imagine it is just a 50hz game running at 60, like many emulators will do, and can be buggy.

Whether it works fine or not would be a game by game thing I guess

Also apparently only very specific keyboards can access the menu.

Debating picking one up to toy with but needing to track down a specific keyboard model is more effort than I am interested in (edited)

4:06 pm

9:42 pm

It appears the cable length can be increased by simply plugging in a longer cable

oh wow

I don't know where to drop this so I will put it here.

11:56 pm

~~M2's accuracy testing rig~~ https://twitter.com/sshin/status/1068161840436281345 (edited)

sshin(HIN) (@sshin)

何も調整していないでそのままGoProで撮った物、広角なので丸くなっちゃってる。左側:基板->フレームマイスター->モニタ右側:PS4版->モニタ基板のバージョンが古い方なので新しい方を借りたい https://t....

Retweets

107

Likes

158

11:57 pm

Inputs to PS4 and PCB, presumably looking for desync.

11:57 pm

You can see the inputs light up on the little arduino or whatever the heck that device is

12:02 am

http://hin.hateblo.jp/entry/2018/12/03/224920

12:04 am

Sorry, machine translation is hard, it looks like this might be some enthusiast rig and not M2 themselves.

https://twitter.com/frankcifaldi/status/1070339963525332992?s=19

Frank Cifaldi (@frankcifaldi)

"Soulja Boy is buying cheap emulator boxes off Ali Express and reselling them as his official console" is not the news I expected to wake up to https://t.co/bonb11QLH2

3:40 pm

Does it actually have pokemon roms and such on it or just knock offs?

3:41 pm

Because I have so much popcorn for a Soulja Boy v. Nintendo battle

A small part of me is tempted to buy one to see if it has branded packaging

I co-sign my VGHF funds for the cause.

Oh WOW. Yeah I want to see this legal battle go down.

Bubsy version when?

it won't have the full intended effect unless it comes in a casing in the shape of bubsy's face and it has two buttons arranged in the shape of an exclamation point

4:41 pm

or it'd look like the Cool Eye King I guess https://www.snupps.com/ashens/item/13174290--the-cool-eye-king

The Cool Eye King

Check this out on Snupps! It's a great app for organizing and sharing the stuff you own and love

My tweet is outperforming his and I'm so happy

2

Just ordered an RGB modded N64

8:31 pm

my tower of RGB is growing at an exponential rate

8:32 pm

sending my Core Grafx off to the same guy to be modded

But when will you add the souljaboy

@Wietse van Bruggen composite only unfortunately

Rgb mod it

I wonder if Voultar will offer RGB modding services

8:33 pm

Also, ordered a Hydra 2 today

Welcome to the dark side

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76r1erSP9ms

Pat Hartl

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 on the PlayStation Classic

3:04 pm

Coming along pretty quick. Looks like Sony made the bonehead move of signing with the public key

Lol

beautiful

curious about the overclock comment. Did they purposefully limit processor speed based on compatibility with games?

Do we know what operating system it's running underneath?

Pretty sure it is Android

7:07 pm

And I am not familiar at all with overclocking arm but I'd guess it is similar to other processors that it is a bit of luck?

@SoH apparently the SoC they're using supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

heh, sure, why not

7:10 pm

Though I wonder if the chip manufacturer could axe those to reduce cost?

7:15 pm

Also, as funny as the never shut up about retro pi article is, it does feel like these are getting closer and closer to just being that?

7:15 pm

Apparently the interface is barely even modified, though finding pcsx rearmed interface footage is proving tricky

7:16 pm

Because it is also apparently using an older version than what is in retroarch, plus that has its own crazy interface (edited)

7:18 pm

In any case, the interface for the nes/snes classic was so solid I could see the argument for that alone for folks.

I thought PCSX Rearmed was primary a libretro core

Working off a rough translation of this thread so certainly possible, I'm definitely not informed on pcsx https://twitter.com/Zetsuboushitta/status/1069924696647454722

絶望 -- わっしょい！ (@Zetsuboushitta)

On fait le point sur la PlayStation Classic Mini & son architecture (+ quelques easter eggs trouvés ces derniers jours dans mon équipe, désormais aussi partiellement révélés par d'autres personnes à ce jour).

7:39 pm

The emulator is indeed PCSX-reArmed slightly modified but on a very old base, very badly optimized and badly implemented likely due to a lack of time

7:39 pm

Maybe base is better said as core?

I'd imagine it means codebase

Yeah, I guess the mild confusion I would have there is you'd assume they would just grab the latest if it is all the same but I don't know (edited)

I wonder why they'd go with an older release

yeah

perhaps it was a bit less complex or something

7:41 pm

or they went with an older release that had a less restrictive license?

I would think they would ideally want something divorced from libretro entirely just to make it easier to run without the dependency so I assumed an older pre-version.

from a quick look at the code, libretro is essentially a build target from what I can tell

Licensing is not the issue I think

7:42 pm

its all under gplv2

7:44 pm

PSCX rearmed hasn't been updated for over a year (edited)

7:44 pm

https://github.com/notaz/pcsx_rearmed

notaz/pcsx_rearmed

ARM optimized PCSX fork. Contribute to notaz/pcsx_rearmed development by creating an account on GitHub.

7:44 pm

"Latest commit bebe989 on Oct 17, 2017"

7:47 pm

if I'm reading this correctly the latest release was 3 years ago

7:49 pm

https://github.com/notaz/pcsx_rearmed/releases

notaz/pcsx_rearmed

ARM optimized PCSX fork. Contribute to notaz/pcsx_rearmed development by creating an account on GitHub.

@Wietse van Bruggen GPLv2 would prevent Sony from using it

7:55 pm

unless Sony was willing to open source their derivative

which they did

Did they?

I know they published the source for classic

7:55 pm

I don't know if that means it's open source?

Hmm, Google tells me the source code "leaked"?

7:56 pm

There's a diff with PCSX up on Github

https://doc.dl.playstation.net/doc/psclassic-oss I know there is this, but not sure about the source itself

sorry yeah I might have misunderstood a tweet

7:57 pm

leaked though, I find that unlikely?

The thing is, in my googling, PCSX-ReARMed existed before the earliest revision on Github

7:57 pm

it was originally for the Canoo

https://doc.dl.playstation.net/doc/content/dam/corporate/eula/psclassic-oss/pcsx_rearmed_custom.zip

so perhaps Sony got a copy of the source before it was GPLd?

7:58 pm

Ah, consider myself corrected

I leaked it

Silly Sony, uploading their source code to a CDN

According to the readme it is r22 (2015-02-05)

7:59 pm

So not sure if the person tweeting was assuming old just looking at the date, but that lines up to the github (edited)

r22 is the latest release

Right

8:00 pm

There were further commits after 2015, but no idea how pertinent any of them were

Not too much was changed after then

I dunno, Teddy, loading 2 GB files seems pretty important to me!!!

8:00 pm

I'm actually trying to figure out the use case?

hacked multi-disc games to not require disc changing?

maybe a high res texture mod or something along those lines

Suppose so, wonder why 2GB and not 4GB as that is usually the file size limit you see run into, but whatever.. why try to puzzle out commit messages haha

Where do you see the 2GB thing?

https://github.com/notaz/pcsx_rearmed/commit/cc3768145667aef20eab35da0908755d5bd395ab

large file support · notaz/pcsx_rearmed@cc37681

not tested if it actually reads over 2GB

8:04 pm

i guess it's actually up to 2GB

8:04 pm

(maybe)

Yeah guess the wording there is a bit odd

8:05 pm

Not sure if it means it has supported 2GB and larger was added but then not tested? (edited)

8:05 pm

Or if larger support was added and only up to 2GB was bothered testing

https://www.reddit.com/r/miniSNESmods/comments/7nx6z3/guide_how_to_convert_psx_multiple_discs_game_in/

r/miniSNESmods - [GUIDE] How to convert PSX multiple discs game in...

26 votes and 39 comments so far on Reddit

I realize this is a big tangent but I am kind of curious about all this

8:06 pm

Does the game even show the insert disc screen anymore or is it hacked to jump to the routine

No, it's a RetroArch thing it seems

8:07 pm

from that link:

Changing disc (video here if needed):

    When the game asks you to change disc, open Retroarch menu (start+select) then go to Quick Menu > Disk Control.

    Click once on Disk Cycle Tray Status to simulate the opening of the CD drive, then select the correct disc in Disk Index, and finally click once again on Disk Cycle Tray Status to close the virtual CD drive.

    Go back to Quick Menu and select Resume, the correct disc should now load :)

huh

8:08 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmyWgbp35mM&feature=youtu.be

bslenul

SNESC - PS1 change disc

I suppose I am still a little confused why it would be necessary but I completely believe people wouldn't go through all the bother unless it was. Maybe something about how file loading works on the snes classic not able to swap.

is the snes classic strong enough to emulate PSX?

8:19 pm

also, how did they add the storage space required for four discs of FF8

@Admiral Curtiss you can use USB storage on the NES/SNES classic

huh, neat

Oh, got my first Krikkz package from Black Friday btw, sooner than expected

I should check my tracknumbers

@Corwin "weasel" Brence the package I got, still says it's in the Ukraine

Looks like its based on the r22 release then

and the tracking number isn't trackable on the local postal service

Do you use Informed Delivery?

Informed Delivery?

USPS has a service where you verify that you live at your address and they email you a digest of everything you're getting in the mail today

Ah, I'm in the UK

Oh okay

I have a concierge who takes care of all that for me

8:37 pm

I get emailed and SMS'd a digest of my days mail

Sounds about right then

but that's only on arrival

Informed Delivery includes scanned images of anything that goes through their mail scanner (Though there's an upper limit on how big the item can be)

Sounds good

...though, yeah, they don't have an arrival date on my two krikzz purchases either

8:41 pm

I'm not gonna start worrying about that until about this time next week though

8:41 pm

I know shipping from Ukraine takes a while, it did with my last two

Apparently last year, US took up to like, 5-8 weeks (edited)

PCSX has CHD support on some Retroarch versionsas well. That could be cool to have on this.

9:36 pm

or maybe it was Beetle PSX, the one on Raspberry Pi doen'st have it

Doing more digging I believe that original tweet was talking about how Sony didn't bother to update the rearmed code with the changes that have continued in reloaded

12:23 am

Which is a strange bone to pick, imo, but it is the best sense I can make

12:23 am

https://github.com/iCatButler/pcsxr/commits/master

iCatButler/pcsxr

https://pcsxr.svn.codeplex.com/svn/pcsxr. Contribute to iCatButler/pcsxr development by creating an account on GitHub.

12:24 am

There has been fairly regular work since 2015 on

Aha, here it is, I didn't realize libretro kept a total repo of its own

12:31 am

https://github.com/libretro/pcsx_rearmed

libretro/pcsx_rearmed

ARM optimized PCSX fork. Contribute to libretro/pcsx_rearmed development by creating an account on GitHub.

Again, not an arm guru

12:52 am

But the most significant change here looks to be their dynarec system which assuming the classic could take advantage of could give a pretty big bump to performance (edited)

12:53 am

Also assuming the bottleneck in the original THPS2 video was cpu

12:54 am

I have no idea if this is of any interest to anyone else, but I am just curious

12:57 am

zlib was added fairly early on as well which does pretty decent speedy compression so that could save a decent chunk of space if Sony didn't bother doing it themselves

12:58 am

So yes, when the hackers have their way with the system this is probably the one to use

3:10 pm

Replace with bubsy 3d

3

I'm not saying much, but i'm really appreciating your tracking/research/breakdown of what's up with the ps classic. it's some really fascinating stuff. Thanks for sharing it here!

I try to use these as an opportunity to check in on the state of things with these types of devices? (edited)

6:38 pm

Even if they are not exactly my cup of tea that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the work that largely goes unappreciated, you know?

yeah. the emulation scene and making it accessible to average folks in the form of various classic consoles is something I'm really into. I'm a giant sega saturn fan and emulation is the only chance most of those games have of getting played by new folks.

I would not be nearly as learned of a gamer as I am, if it weren't for emulation being accessible

6:51 pm

So even if the Classic Mini stuff isn't so well received, I'm at least glad that stuff exists even if it's more of a catalyst for people to learn how to do it "right" than a direct way of playing and experiencing

https://github.com/justMaku/gpghax

justMaku/gpghax

Contribute to justMaku/gpghax development by creating an account on GitHub.

6:52 pm

PS classic hack is out

I'm genuinely surprised it took this long.

I just think a whole lot of people who buy that thing do not know or care. They might not be able to pinpoint out what is wrong or off and just assume its always been that way. And thats a shame, that's why it needs to be good.

It's still in a better spot than some of the older retro compilations

6:54 pm

Sega Smash Pack for Dreamcast, for example

6:55 pm

Never did figure out exactly how the music got so messed up, but man, it sure sounded weird

Apparently that hack is still quite raw and doesn't take many precautions but they are working on it making backups and such so use at own risk if you use it and etc etc

I still want to pick up a genesis flashback console first and fiddle with the stuff on there. I haven't been giving my sega roots enough love lately.

Heads up for anybody has an SSD3 they want the RGB fixed on - https://mobiusstriptechnologies.com/product/ssds3-fu-rgb/?attribute_fu-rgb-installation=No+Installation&attribute_fbx-audio-installation=No+Installation

Super SD System 3 FU-RGB Board

The FU-RGB bypass board is the culmination of hundreds of hours of research by our team and Voultar LLC. It is designed to properly drive both composite video and RGBS in the Super SD System 3. Thi…

@Hubz thanks. Just sent off my PCE to be RGB modded/jailbar fixed

Very kind of him to make the boards and sell them basically at cost along with Voultar putting in the work to figure out the solution to the RGB fiasco

oh man they actually fixed it

I'm probably never going to buy a terraonion product again after all this

6:23 pm

handled very poorly imo

6:29 pm

Just watched the install video, doesn't seem too bad

I think I'll hold out for the PCE ODE from the GDEMU guy

Yay, my back ordered SMD caps arrived, now I can assemble my MiSTer RAM boards once my new soldering iron arrives

1:20 am

I guess next up after that will be fixing my SSD3

1:20 am

It’s impossible to buy anything from the GDEmu/Rhea/Phoebe guy

I'm lucky I managed to get a Rhea out of him. Insane how quickly they go

They always seem to go up in the middle of the night for me

It's only gotten worse with their popularity too

Got a GDEMU it seems

10:48 am

shipping first week of January

Fresh batch of scart (?) ports, straight out of the oven

lol

2:42 pm

10 to be exact

2:43 pm

Looking into power strips now

2:43 pm

considering getting a UPS for the conditioning element

I did that, I think it's worth it when you're spending so much money on an RGB setup

Very nice

@Hubz I just got the AV Famicom set up with the EDN8

5:02 pm

a lot of electrical interference in the audio

Really? I haven't noticed it on mine yet.

5:02 pm

Just like a soft buzz or something?

Yeah, like an electrical hum

5:03 pm

especially noticeable in the menu

5:03 pm

but it's also in game

Shielded RGB cables?

Yeah, Packapunch

5:03 pm

although, I am using a third party Mega Drive PSU

Ahhhh honestly i did notice horrible audio with a third party power supply before

5:04 pm

and static on the screen

What PSU do you have now?

Genesis Model 1 i believe. Whatever the compatible sega one is

Genesis Model 1 PSUs are actually pretty pricy as of late

5:05 pm

probably because they can be used on pretty much anything

Yeah

It'll almost be better for me to buy systems on eBay just for the power supply

Wow you aren't kidding they are up

5:08 pm

I think the last one i got was $12 shipped (edited)

I think it can be used on PC Engine, Neo Geo, Famicom and Super Famicom

5:09 pm

anyone importing those systems are probably buying up the supply

5:09 pm

probably moreso here in Europe, where you can't use the 100v adapters without a stepdown

You're right, you could probably buy a system with games and a power supply and save money after reselling it

@Hubz https://www.amazon.co.uk/APC-Back-UPS-BE700G-UK-Uninterruptible-protected/dp/B002RXED6A/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1544549417&sr=8-3&keywords=apc+ups

Ouch those are pricey over there!

https://youtu.be/ePKGLnjlXl4

Jeremy S Cook

Ultimate Rotary Input Device [Encoder Arduino]

Neat

Man, these Joyzz feel amazing

6:34 pm

apart from the weight and texture, I probably couldn't tell the difference between them and a official 6 button controller

That's Krizz's controllers right?

yeah

I'm not a big enough Genesis fan to spend the money but they do look sweet, good to know they're worth it!

Yeah, I kinda got them as a catch all

7:28 pm

Mega Sg, MiSTer, Master System

Is the Mega SG controller out?

Nah

7:28 pm

I have two of those on preorder too

Looking forward to your review

They're out in February I think

7:29 pm

Although they look more like Saturn controllers if I'm not mistaken?

I finally got 4 Wii U Pro Controllers for my emulation setup. The downside is Genesis as that controller just doesn't feel right for it but what do you do.

8bitdo should make a generic retro controller

7:30 pm

6 equally-sized face buttons, SNES d-pad

7:36 pm

@Hubz have you seen the new Saturn controllers coming out?

7:36 pm

http://retro-bit.com/blog/post/retrobit-unveils-first-wave-of-officially-licensed-sega-products/

Retro-Bit® to Unveil First Wave of Officially Licensed SEGA Produ...

Retro-Bit, a premier publisher and manufacturer of classic gaming products, is proud to announce the unveiling of their eagerly awaited SEGA controller lineup, featuring the same great quality as their original hardware counterparts like the original console port, but also wi...

No! But a well done Saturn controller would be a godsend.

Yeah

7:49 pm

FYI, a good reason to get Krikzz Joyzz, is the 150 hour battery life

Oh nice! That's a huge part of why i love wii u pro controls

8:06 pm

160 is bonkers though

8:06 pm

8bitdos are like... 10 or 20?

8:06 pm

and they don't seem to hold a charge well

These are RF

8:21 pm

and they use off the shelf Nokia batteries

8:21 pm

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nokia-BL-4C-Battery-With-6-Months-Warranty-Buy-2-Get-1-Free/323370563772?hash=item4b4a6338bc:g:Wq8AAOSw8CZa2fEs:rk:1:pf:1&frcectupt=true

Nokia BL-4C Battery With 6 Months Warranty Buy 2 Get 1 Free

Battery Model: BL 4C. Long battery life. Cell Type: Double IC protection lithium. | eBay!

8:22 pm

Wireless controllers for SEGA Genesis/Megadrive. Can be used with master system as well
Low power consumption. Up to 150 hours of gameplay at one charge
Power saving mode. Battery discharge time in this mode more than year. If there is no any activity for a few minutes controller switches to power saving mode, after pushing on start or d-pad buttons controller immediately will back to active state.
Quick response, no input lags. Response time around 2.7ms
Special compatibility mode with genesis 3-buttons and SMS controllers. Some games does not work properly with 6-buttons controllers, but joyzz offer compatibility mode to solve this problem
800mAh li-ion battery compatible with Nokia BL-4C series. Such batteries became the standard and they easy to buy and replace in the end of life time
Charging via micro-usb port

8:24 pm

apparently theres a plugin for the Mega Everdrive which shows you signal strength and battery level

Very cool

Huh, an update on the flashcarts' shipping status, but only for one of them

@Corwin "weasel" Brence I wouldn't depend on the tracking at all

9:02 am

I've gotten all my packages, and my tracking still says they're in Kiev

the first one has arrived

beginning This Arduous Process.

Be sure to play some MSU1 games!

oh yeah, i gotta track down some of those

8:40 pm

super road blaster was the big one i know

8:47 pm

oh i forgot that Conker's High Rule Tail hack was MSU1 - yeesh it's a gig and a half

Oh, Mom brought me home another tube TV, I think this one might be a winner. It's very slightly smaller, but has a built-in VCR (haven't tested yet) and a mucher nicer screen with less overscan

9:18 pm

Comparison - this is the TV I've been using, a Panasonic from around 2002/2003. Note how the menu/score/timer in the corner is basically unreadable.

9:18 pm

On the other, another Panasonic that is slightly older, the menu/score/clock is actually readable.

9:19 pm

And yes like a total and utter geek I had the game running simultaneously on both TVs, because I own the real cartridge and hooked up my FC Twin on the other one

Figure out the service menu to adjust them :)

I'm not sure there is one, I wasn't able to find info about it in the service manual I was able to find

@Corwin "weasel" Brence I hightly recommend Smokemonster's everdrive packs

so, atm, this is the setup i'm working with, i like this TV a lot better than the other one, but there is one small hiccup with the setup: it's mono only, and that's the only RCA input it has, on the front

5:19 pm

i do have a stereo receiver that i could plug the audio cables into, but the receiver has no speakers

5:19 pm

there's like, two speakers in that room that i could use but i have no wire for them

5:52 pm

Finally

weasel: I thought for a second that there was a Panasonic Q

6:18 pm

under the Super Famicom

I was actually about to ask if that was a Panasonic Q as well.

Glad Im not the only one who had to look twice

@Corwin "weasel" Brence convert to 3.5mm and use cheap computer speakers

I suppose that's the most cost effective way. I'm almost buried in cheap computer speakers, just need the adapter

Should be cheap and easy

7:02 pm

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=30898&gclid=CjwKCAiAjNjgBRAgEiwAGLlf2sqOJCA9tbD55kvhRfZq6G9RouyrgMw4K8wZLnS5S1O27-FjOARP5BoCwPkQAvD_BwE

Monoprice Onyx Series Auxiliary 3.5mm Stereo Male to RCA Female Ja...

Onyx Series 3.5mm cables connect your smartphone, mp3 player, laptop, or other audio source device to speakers, headphones, mixers, or other devices. This cable has a 3.5 mm stereo male plug on one end and a pair of stereo RCA female jacks on the other, allowing you to connec...

Okay, I have a cable atm that's RCA female to 3.5mm male, just no present way to get that into a pair of speakers (none of mine have a 3.5mm line in, only hard wired line out) (edited)

7:12 pm

This stereo receiver does have a headphone port, that demonstrably works as a speaker out... But then I need two power outlets to make that work

7:13 pm

I almost wonder if dad has any speaker wire stashed anywhere because these would be nice if I could actually hook them to something

Thats what I do for my BVM since it doesnt have built in speakers

Rhea preorder confirmed

2

1

Watched the video on those gcvideo based products from MLIG and I’m still not convinced it’s significantly better compared to GC games through Wii component.

9:07 pm

480p through OSSC in pass through mode looks very nice. 2x is sharp enough if you want it that way for that type of video content

I keep thinking about going down that rabbit hole but I'm with you, i don't think the cost and trouble are worth a marginal upgrade. (edited)

Dad revealed he has another, entirely different set of speakers he's been keeping in the garage for years, that straight up just have RCA inputs on them. Trouble: they're basically home-built, so we have no data on what kind of amplifier they need, and I'm fairly sure my stereo isn't giving them nearly enough juice

10:56 pm

At this rate, gonna declare it an "oh well" and see if there's not a cheap soundbar or something that just has an RCA input built in

@Hubz I need a Gamecube set up for the GBA player, so I'm thinking more in the line of hitting two birds with one stone

7:48 am

From the sounds of it component through the GCHD is better than HDMI though

Yeah that's true, at least you can knock out two systems at once.

@Hubz I'm more interested in seeing the GCHD for GBA vs Woozle's GBA mod

My RetroTINK 2x is arriving today. Nice early Christmas gift to play with during the break.

3:37 pm

Going to start w/ unmodded N64 S-video.

Nice!

3:57 pm

I got retrousb avs that should be here by Monday

3

my other flash cart is hanging out at the USPS distribution center because nobody's home yesterday or today to accept it

4:54 pm

i scheduled a redelivery for tomorrow

Nice! I just went on a bit of a shopping spree for controllers

8:19 pm

Just in the last two days I've obtained a Hori Digital Controller for Gamecube, SGB Commander for SFC, NeGcon and JoGcon for PS1, Virtua Stick for Saturn and probably a few more I'm forgetting about

Nice!

Hori Digital? That's the one shaped like the SNES pad, right?

Yeah

10:10 pm

Glad I got my PSIO order in a few weeks ago

10:10 pm

Metal Jesus Rocks just did a video

hah

10:40 pm

Teddy, i think i read they did a hardware revision recently, do you know about that at all? Mine was shipped march 2017, not sure if mine is old or new.

10:40 pm

or if it matters ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@Matt Clawson no idea, I don't think there'd be any functional difference

My GF and I just exchanged gifts as we're flying tomorrow and thought it'd be a waste to lug them to Portugal and back

6:15 pm

Bright!

That GBA says Gamecube

I was going to ask about that but I thought maybe I'd sound like an idiot

Me too but at this point it wouldn't change much

It's a custom thing

6:44 pm

not factory

I got my GBA Everdrive today, too

beautiful

8:39 pm

and now, yet again, to wait for this

Got my retrousb avs and it looks amazing on a 4k screen

Yeah I really like how the 720p scales.

4:59 pm

On the Super Nt I’m at 1080p because I don’t like the 720p compared to it

5:00 pm

But with the AVS I think it looks great and sharper for some reason compared to the 720p of the Super Nt (edited)

Probably depends on the screen, shouldn't 4x1/pixel doubling look better on pixel art for 1080p vs. 720p on a 4k display?

You’d think. I use a 4K display but find that it does a better job with 1080p on the Super Nt

That's interesting. I'll have to try it out when I'm back in front of my 4k TV. I never even tried it because it just "seemed" like it should be worse

5:04 pm

speaking of scaling, does anyone here have opinions on xrgb mini vs OSSC in 2018? Seems like generally the consensus is to buy an OSSC?

I think both are fine options. I prefer the xrgb for PS2. The OSSC doesn’t even see the signal from my super famicom. Sega Genesis/mega drive looks better on OSSC imo. The Game Boy Player with GBI looks very yummy on the OSSC. PAL resolution games on like PS2 or GC are not very compatible beyond line2x on the OSSC in combination with my tv.

5:07 pm

Want something that always works: XRGB

5:08 pm

Want something that does a great job at line doubling and beyond but might not always be completely compatible with every option with your TV: OSSC

Yeah I'm curious now how the super nt at 720p scales

Yeah I do miss my XRGB for PS2.

xrgb mini alters the colors and introduces noise in ways that I always found kind of unacceptable, but I think it got popular because it was the only viable option. it's also the only scaler that spits out standard 1080p

Hmm, interesting. So maybe they're all just slightly terrible in some way or another? I just can't convince myself to buy a single-console cart-based console like the Super NT when I can use original hardware instead

The noise is quite visible yeah. Totally get why that makes it a no-go area

5:16 pm

If I would have to make the choice now I would go for OSSC

I mean if you're just getting one scaler I think I still recommend xrgb mini because it's the only thing that Just Works but for me I'd rather deal with the OSSC's quirks

doesn't help the xrgb mini's case that it's so expensive.

but yeah I mean if you're even remotely sensitive to noise then you're spending hundreds on something that will make you unhappy

I wouldn’t call the OSSC cheap either, just less expensive

Interesting, thanks all.

Plus, I wish the OSSC would at least do s-video

So many scart cables.

Alas, it doesn’t

does OSSC do the thing that some of the new internal scalers are doing yet, where it multiples to 960p but adds black around the rest so it spits out 1080p?

5:19 pm

I saw that the new Dreamcast internal mod does that, which is pretty great. takes the 480p, doubles it to 960, but also has a mode where it conforms to standard 1080p

I don’t think it does. There’s the 1600x1200 option for line5x with 240p content

Bummer, anything that tricks my TV into doing any scaling that isn't pixel doubling is a sad time

2x 480p works for me, but your mileage may vary depending on your tv for that. Making it conform to 1080p would be great

5:21 pm

I actually kinda like how my tv handles 480p

yeah my tv does a great job with 480p, dreamcast somehow looks sharper over vga than like, modern consoles

With the OSSC in passthrough mode GameCube games look really nice

4k TVs ruining retro gaming for everyone

5:22 pm

LG should just make a 480P OLED.

5:22 pm

solve all my problems

Nah 4K is awesome, scales better than 1080p

that sounds kinda dreamy

I just want a TV with giant, perfectly square pixels.

5:23 pm

one can dream

@Ryan Benno what firmware version is on the AVS now when it’s shipped ?

5:25 pm

If there is no interpolation option you should upgrade it

It was the default but I upgraded it

6:16 pm

The color palette setting is a lot more of what I wanted.

I love my AVS! I should really use it more

Ever since I got my twin famicom i've been playing on that for the novelty aspect (and also because expansion audio + it's hooked up to my 27" Trinitron). (edited)

Is there a trick to getting audio over SCART on an XRGB-mini? I just got my hands on one and I'm trying to run my Saturn through it. Seems to work fine on an OSSC (though the resolution changes the Saturn makes during games like Fighters Megamix is making the whole setup less useful for streaming than I thought it'd be).

Are you running it in directly or through a splitter?

5:37 pm

I e never had any issues with audio through the framemeister

I'm running it direct. Audio seems to be unmuted and all that. I probably need to dig out another console and see if it's everything or just the Saturn.

Could also be the tv. The framemeister has started to have some compatibility issues with more and more TVs

Hmm, thanks, I'll try a different TV just to be sure.

Check the deep color mode setting

6:19 pm

And sync level

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Atari-2600-6-Switch-VCS-Sunnyvale-Heavy-Sixer-Console-Tested-Working/143060668889?hash=item214f1491d9:g:vJoAAOSwtutcHXFb:rk:7:pf:0

Atari 2600 6-Switch VCS Sunnyvale Heavy Sixer Console Tested & Working

Up for sale is an Atari VCS 2600 6-Switch Sunnyvale "Heavy Sixer" console. Serial number is 52920G. I will also include a RF to Coaxial adapter which allows you to avoid using a switch box, and will give you a far better picture quality as well. | eBay!

11:12 pm

decent price Heavy Sixer for those in the US

Yeah I paid $150 and that was like four years ago

11:59 pm

Specifically this is a SUNNYVALE heavy sixer, the best TIA they ever made

I was thinking of nabbing it, but it's $70 shipping

https://youtu.be/GRYOTBBFtbM?t=180

khenzel

Playstation classic with BleemSync v4.1 - loading the entire USA l...

7:59 pm

all 1500+ ps games

8:03 pm

I almost dropped this in the litterbox

:ianmalcolm:

all that bubsy

Lol, that UI

beautiful

11:18 pm

It's still Christmas!

ooh

@Teddy Is that a home made Game Cube Classic

2:55 am

?

no it's the box for an adapter that plugs into the digital port and gives you HDMI output

@Deleted User https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RBgbA8DhM0

RGB316 :: GameCube HDMI, Component & RGB - Plug 'n Play w/ Carby &...

I feel stupid, but for context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klpM8RRyU8w

Nintendrew

Building the GameCube Classic Edition Mini Console - DIY! | Nintendrew

it strikes me that it'd be much easier to just use Wii hardware and strip out unnecessary things like the disc drive

For me, it's about getting high quality video footage of GBA games

no, I mean for making a custom GameCube Mini

Although it seems the Wii's video quality is iinferior to the Gamecube. But its insignificant to most leople

4:38 pm

Ahh

Frank thought you might be interested to know that I've been spending a little time on the Sudoku Plug n Play. A few of my current repair projects are on hiatus while I wait for parts so I did some reading last night.

7:41 pm

Had no idea how well documented the Famiclone hardware is - i guess in part thanks to the fact that the main supplier has put their datasheets online in the open. https://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/VTxx

VTxx

7:43 pm

As I stated previously, it's a bit outside my comfort zone, but I think I know where my blindspots are.

Yeah! Not every VT one made it online but the earlier ones did

Until recently I had no idea that some of those epoxy blobs were literally loose silicon chips with wire and covered with goop.

7:45 pm

i imagined there was still a package in there! but no! in retrospect it makes sense from a cost-saving perspective that it would be like that.

7:46 pm

so, thanks again for turning me on to this curious device. hope i'm able to get somewhere. (edited)

6:04 pm

I joined the PVM club

6:04 pm

Nice!

Congrats!

I've had a craigslist search going for ages, still no luck locally

@Chris A I got it off eBay, collection only. Hired a courier to collect it for me, as it was in Wales, and I'm in London

10:20 am

see a lot of good deals for collection only on there

10:20 am

obviously a bit harder if you're in the US I imagine, unless you get lucky

10:20 am

I paid £166 all in with all the BNC hookups I need

Awesome

2:49 pm

I’m probably going to end up picking up a tv and rgb modding it

5:12 pm

My New Years resolution

YESSSS!!!!!!!!!

5:19 pm

Do you have a commodore 64 Teddy? If you're looking for soldering kit ideas and you own a C64, I suggest you get a Pi1541 kit. There's a seller on ebay (from norway) that sells boards + components for around 30 USD (edited)

5:20 pm

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pi1541-Cycle-exact-Floppy-emulator-for-Commodore-64-with-2-IEC-connectors-KIT/264104488786

Pi1541 Cycle exact Floppy emulator for Commodore 64 with 2 IEC con...

It has all the extra features, like 2pcs IEC DIN connectors, Power LED, activity LED, buzzer that can be disabled with a jumper etc. NOW It even features a OLED connector . You will get a build it yourself PI1541 V1.6 KIT, but without the Raspberry PI, the OLED screen and cab...

I don't have a C64 currently, but that looks like a fun project!

9:28 pm

I'm going to start off with some practice PCBs from Amazon

Aren’t all UK citizens obliged to have one by law?

2

They have some mini kits for through hole and SMD soldering practice

9:28 pm

@Wietse van Bruggen that would be the Spectrum

was about to make that same joke but it was already done

@Teddy there are some fun little kits to practice with, like this https://smile.amazon.com/Velleman-MK191-Classic-Tennis-Analog/dp/B0099SWR7S?sa-no-redirect=1

10:31 pm

I can't stop buying Raphnet cables.

@Tom I think I'll be starting soon...

They are good

I got a raphnet for my gamecube to use a retro USB snes adapter. Its great

10:38 pm

Wave birds be damned

raphnet are the new mayflash?

Finally found one of these bad boys, like new, CIB

7:54 pm

Japanese version which has microswitches instead or rubber membranes

Ooooh nice

Also got in a mess of other stuff

huh how different does it feel with the switches?

8:05 pm

@Chris A it's so much better

nice haul

not mushy like the EU/US one

8:06 pm

especially happy with the deal I got on the GameCube Digital Pad

Awesome lot

8:10 pm

First time I see the Super Game Boy pad

Damn @Teddy where did you get the GC Digital Pad

10:40 pm

I asked in every store I went to on my trip to Tokyo. I must have been unlucky.

10:41 pm

(and if you don't mind sharing, WHAT'D YA PAY!!!?)

Yahoo Auctions

oooh

was in a lot of junk controllers

10:41 pm

and wasn't mentioned in the description

smart.

10:42 pm

i gotta get around to setting up a yahoo auctions account.

it was a bit dirty, but cleaned up really nice, no scratches etc.

yeah controllers are often not so bad to clean up

but I paid $40-ish for the lot of controllers

trick i've heard is to put the silicone pads in very warm water (gives them a bit of their original springiness back) (edited)

10:42 pm

haven't tried it though!

10:43 pm

dumb question...is it easy to set up a Y! Auctions account as a westerner?

No, you have know somebody in Japan or use a proxy shipping service

luckily for me, I do know someone. So you have things sent to a friend, etc? and they'll forward to you?

10:45 pm

i'll have to impose on my friend, worth it.

Yeah, I have to use my friends credit card though

10:46 pm

as they do an address check on the payment method

wow.

If you don't want to impose: https://buyee.jp/yahoo/auction

【Buyee】 "Buyee" Japan Shopping Service | Buy from Yahoo! Buy f...

Buyee - Bid on Yahoo Japan Auctions in Real-Time. Shop on Popular Japanese Websites!

yeah, that second part about payment is a bit too much for me

10:47 pm

thanks, SoH and Teddy (edited)

Yeah, I've used Buyee before too

10:48 pm

depending on what you're buying it can get expensive though

10:48 pm

with their fees + limited shipping options

Is there a window after winning an auction where you get some time to pay? or must you pay immediately

You pay for the item immediately

10:49 pm

then they'll hold it for 30 days

10:49 pm

after which they'll charge you to store it per day

10:49 pm

think they charge 5 or 10% of the purchase price, then up to 500 yen for inspection/insurance.

oh ok, that's for Buyee. I should have specified. If i were to create a Y.A.J. account myself with a friend's info.

There's a window I believe

could i bid / win items and then arrange with my friend for him to log in and pay some short time after winning (within a day)

yeah, your friend can also pay in the konbini

10:50 pm

which is quite standard there

dope

Buyee is good if you're buying a few large items

10:51 pm

as they can consolidate items before shipping

10:52 pm

but for the odd peripheral or game

10:52 pm

eBay works out cheaper

that makes sense. i've only ever used a proxy shipper once before...for buying something from a UK seller who could not ship to US

I've also used From Japan, but it seems broken for me, atm https://www.fromjapan.co.jp/en/

10:53 pm

Fatal error: Call to undefined function smarty_modifier_nl2br()

10:53 pm

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

lol

I have found recently too, a lot of the good quality stuff is making it onto eBay for export now

10:57 pm

locals are realizing they can make more money sending overseas

10:57 pm

and shipping from Japan is quite reasonable too

10:58 pm

not to mention, shipping within Japan can be quite expensive too

I only just stumbled into this today and thought others might find it interesting https://www.retromodding.com/products/ez-flash-omega

EZ-Flash Omega (GBA/NDS Flash Card)

EZ-Flash are back with their latest GBA flash cart model. It's ingenious design allows the PCB to fit inside a Nintendo DS and GBA cartridge shells, both included! No more GBA cart sticking out of your Nintendo DS. Features: GBA game copy and play, no client needed Fast patch...

1:01 am

it's a GBA flash cart that's more or less equivalent to everdrive, but fits in small cases, so you can have it flush with a GBA or even a DS Lite

I'm torn whether or not I want to buy one of those, or just suck it up with an everdrive. My EZ Flash 4 seems to be dead.

I havent heard of this brand before

EZ Flash has been around seemingly forever at this point

Not gonna lie, I love my Everdrive but the way it sticks out of my DS Lite is the one thing that bugs me

I own that one

7:57 am

It works well

7:57 am

And the firmware is open source

7:57 am

which is rare for such a thing

7:57 am

https://github.com/ez-flash/omega-kernel

ez-flash/omega-kernel

EZ-FLASH OMEGA Kernel. Contribute to ez-flash/omega-kernel development by creating an account on GitHub.

wow, just prompted me to grab my gold DS Lite out of a drawer. Has a EZFlash V and acekard 2 in it. I should play some games.

4:30 pm

My EZFlash V theoretically has... rumble? apparently?

4:30 pm

I forgot there even was a DS rumble pak

Still works!

4:40 pm

gbatemp threads peg the ezflash v at about 2007

4:43 pm

The EZFlash V is weird in that it's just ROM - you have to load your games on an SD card and use a flashcart in slot 1, and then you write the rom file to the EZFlash V ROM, and it's just like you're playing with a cart when you load it up.

4:44 pm

so you need to have a slot 1 flashcart to use the ezflash v at all

4:47 pm

(from my fuzzy 10 year old memory, anyway)

yeah I loved this thing back in the day

5:42 pm

does rumble, does extra ram for the browser (and I think nothing else), and does expansion pack stuff like the extra cart they sold for more songs in band brothers

Oh, I was wondering what the RAM was for. I believe that's right though, you jogged my memory there.

5:43 pm

I was trying to figure out what games needed extra memory, with bad memories of coming home with a copy of majora's mask without the N64 expansion pak

Some homebrew also uses the ram (I think there was a port of Descent that requires it)

there you go

I don’t think I’ve ever actually played Descent on a console, should try it sometime, that was my favorite game in high school

I've been told the homebrew Wii port is not bad

7:42 pm

But that the definitive experience is d1x-rebirth in Windows

Guy I worked with worked on the browser for the Wii and the main thing I remember him saying was Nintendo demanding sound feed back for every little thing describing it as "if there is a button it better honk or do something when clicked"

7:55 pm

Something about honking buttons remains funny to me

7:56 pm

I picture a geese sound library

@Frank Cifaldi FWIW, I've heard the EverDrive GBA X7 will be a flush fit

oh nice

2:02 am

hopefully with a DS Lite shell too

2:02 am

I want to just have all the DS and GBA games on one thing that looks nice

3DS XL

no GBA on that!

Can play GBA ROMs though

native or emulated though

emulated, and I think you can use the official emulator

meh

Oh wait

2:04 am

Apparently 3DS includes the ARM7 CPU for the DS mode

2:05 am

so technically GBA games using the official emulator run natively

2:05 am

as they boot into DS mode (edited)

2:05 am

Not sure if this applies to Retroarch though

3DS has a GBA mode with emulated save types embedded into the chip (edited)

8:16 pm

Which means New 3DS supports like

8:16 pm

N3DS, 3DS, DSi, DS, GBA

Yeah, the ambassador GBA titles just access the old ARM7 chip for GBA.

Spanning several gens

I'm not sure if it's 100% accurate across everything but it's pretty good.

which is crazy enough

8:17 pm

but Nintendo somehow designed their hardware for it

With a hacked 3DS you can just inject and play whatever.

8:18 pm

They even support the real time clock of the Gen 3 Pokémon games, for some reason.

yeah they went far

8:18 pm

and somehow

8:19 pm

...They included the unused software based GBA emulator with the ambassador games

You lost me.

8:20 pm

The ambassador games run on hardware.

yes

8:20 pm

...but they still included their GBA software emulator with them.

8:20 pm

unused

8:20 pm

for no actual reason

Oh, didn't know that. Weird!

I didn't realize they had one. My understanding is that it was hard to get GBA emulation running on the 3ds. Maybe if they had gotten their emulator to acceptable performance they would have rather used it instead of the hardware mode because it could support sleep & save states

Presumably.

8:23 pm

I mean, that's probably why they never released them for purchase, right?

seems likely

so are 3DS flash carts at a point where you can run all the way back to GBA on native hardware?

3DS flash cards aren't really a thing

9:21 pm

There were a few early in the 3DS life but they were all kinda garbage.

9:21 pm

Now you just install custom firmware.

oh nice

You'll still need a regular DS flashcard for DS support though, as DS games can't really access the SD card and the games are too large to fit into RAM.

I mean I've got like six of those so I'm good

If you're interested, https://3ds.hacks.guide/ should cover the installation process.

3DS Hacks Guide

A complete guide to 3DS custom firmware, from stock to boot9strap.

this is cool, had no idea where this stuff was

i'm working through this homebrew process right now and i love how ridiculous it is

I have a spare 3ds sitting around, should probably do this.

11:46 pm

I guess this is the night that the VGHF discord collectively hacks their 3dss.

i just finished the process, i recommend it even just to enjoy following a series of very clear and strange instructions

wow these hacks.guide pages are great

in case anyone is planning on doing this but hasn't started yet: https://www.reddit.com/r/3DS/comments/3yr0vb/psa_if_you_have_the_new_3ds_and_a_computer_with/

r/3DS - PSA: If you have the New 3DS and a computer with Windows, ...

576 votes and 111 comments so far on Reddit

12:31 am

i put the cover back on like 3 times only to have to take it back off to get back at the sd card for something, but apparently there's an official method to just transfer files over wifi

Interesting. I may hack my old 3DS

Honestly, now is a really good time since a lot of places are trying to offload their stock

I expect one more big 3rd party RPG to come out for it (no not persona Q2) and then for it to be sent to the elephant graveyard

Also, we are almost at the point where you can run even DS games from software/SD card. There is a compatibility layer called nds-bootstrap which tries to translate cartridge slot calls to SD card calls and sits at around maybe 70-80% compatibility. Can be used on both 3DS and DSi

DSi hacking guide: https://dsi.cfw.guide/

DSi Guide

A complete Nintendo DSi homebrew guide, from stock to HiyaCFW.

11:04 am

And a frontend for the DS games: https://github.com/RocketRobz/TWiLightMenu

RocketRobz/TWiLightMenu

DSi Menu replacement for DS/DSi/3DS/2DS. Contribute to RocketRobz/TWiLightMenu development by creating an account on GitHub.

Also, while we talk hardware, after what seems like an eternity, Pokémon Mini flashcarts are going to be available again. The original creator got out of the community like a decade ago, so one guy decided to make them again! http://www.pokemon-mini.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1058&start=250

Ooh, that hacks,guide site is useful, I need to look into the Vita guide, that's just about my only older system that I don't have hacked or flashcarted

I have an important announcement

10:34 pm

I just bought the last Phantom Lapboard on Amazon

What is that?

Phantom was that "console" that invested a ton of VC back in like 2003/2004

11:08 pm

11:09 pm

it was basically a consolized PC that was going to stream games from the internet, except that it was mostly a scam? look up Infinium Labs

Wasn't it a vapoware?

anyway they actually did release the thing on the right, their "controller"

11:09 pm

yeah it never came out, only the lapboard did

Oh, cool

they were selling the lapboard ahead of selling the actual console

11:09 pm

anyway it's been on amazon just sitting there all this time, and I just bought the last one

11:09 pm

technically my co-worker mike mika bought the last one after I bought the second to last one

I am a bit tempted to not eat for a month and buy this: https://www.sbazar.cz/nekonecny.radim/detail/47768142-ps3-cyberbike-2-cycling-sports-rotoped-hra

PS3 Cyberbike 2 Cycling Sports: rotoped+hra - Plzeň

Zdravím, nabízím ke koupi PS3 Cyberbike 2 - jedná se o fitness videohru, která využívá plnohodnotný magnetický cyklistický rotoped pro Playstation…

1

Dang. I mean, when I linked it I saw there were two remaining

2:48 am

missed my chance to own a peice of history

You can come visit it

"Hey, Cifaldi. Mind if I drop by?" "Sure, did you want to check out some.." "Nah, I just need to cycle"

3:15 am

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Phantom-Entertainment-Wireless-Keyboard-and-Mouse-Set-Phantom-Lapboard-black/223290450295?hash=item33fd25e177:g:BXoAAOSwJFBcGfin:rk:1:pf:0

Phantom Entertainment Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Set (Phantom Lap...

Phantom Lapboard Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo for Internet TV, HTPC and Gaming (Black) The Phantom Wireless Lapboard and The Phantom Wireless Laser Mouse together are a combination wireless keyboard and mouse where the keyboard opens to a hard mousing surface at adjustab...

4:57 am

two available on eBay FYI

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/07/ars-reader-so-a-guy-walks-into-my-shop-with-an-infinium-phantom-console/

Ars reader: So a guy walks into my shop with an Infinium Phantom c...

Photos of what may well be a one-of-a-kind vaporware prototype.

Ooh the black lapboard, I got white

@Frank Cifaldi I think you're going to need both

8:43 am

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3DO-M2-Dev-Kit-Very-Rare-never-released/132876479662?hash=item1ef00e2cae:g:YgMAAOSw9~RcBXSh

3DO M2 Dev Kit - Very Rare - never released!

3DO M2 Dev Kit - Very Rare - never released! | Video Games & Consoles, Other Video Games & Consoles | eBay!

8:44 am

Completely missed this on eBay

8:44 am

Wasn't a terrible sum either, considering how complete the package appears

Yeah, there are a few Phantoms out tehre at this point. None seemingly with their custom software though

it's such a shame what happened to M2

3:57 pm

like, there's no way it could have been a commercial success, but it must be so demoralizing to have your state-of-the-art, brand new video game machine be reduced to a store kiosk thing

3DO's business model was good on paper, but not so much in practice

Yeah the thing about sub licensing your tech should ideally be that there could be a range of models for various price ranges, like how you can get a cheap DVD player or an expensive one that does like, frame zooming and other advanced stuff...

6:39 pm

In 3DO's case, we got "expensive" and "also expensive"

6:40 pm

Probably was just too soon for it though

@Corwin "weasel" Brence Philips pretty much did that with the CD-i

7:11 pm

IIRC, quite early on, 3DO had to basically forfeit the hardware licensing fees so Panasonic and Goldstar could lower prices

7:12 pm

They had very good developer support out of the gate, I think 250 developers or so signed on, for that $3 licensing fee per title

7:13 pm

even AT&T was jumping on the bandwagon

7:13 pm

7:15 pm

Huh, apparently Sega and 3DO were in deep talks, but the price turned Sega off.

7:15 pm

Kinda crazy to think how that could have changed things

7:19 pm

from the sounds of it, they probably should have sat on the 3DO until the M2 was ready

Yeah...the early hype for it, between it having hardware MPEG and rather nice 3D features compared to even N64, sounded like it should have beaten the other systems pretty handily

7:28 pm

Then again even the base 3DO was technically bounds beyond everything on the market including most pcs at the time

7:28 pm

So, yeah, the crux of the argument: too much too soon

The Doom Engine Black Book has appendices in all the console ports, reading the 3DO chapter it sounded like 3DO also suffered from not allowing devs to program directly to the metal for anything besides the CPU. Apparently doom on there could have been comparable to the PC version if not for performance limitations of the SDK itself.

Also time, it was incredibly rushed

Most of the ports were

12:24 am

I need to reread the appendices, I skipped ahead to read them before the rest of the book.

3DO Doom is pretty famous for being a massive rush job yeah

12:32 am

Rebecca Heineman had very little time to do anything on it and pretty much only got a basic port from the jaguar source code (since it was closer than the DOS version to what the 3DO needed)

12:33 am

The folks at Doomworld have been analysing the released 3DO source code and figuring out if it could have been better

The music story is funny, and it's great

https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/103424-optidoom-my-doom-port-for-3do/

OptiDoom, my Doom port for 3DO.

Happy 25th Dooms anniversary! I was working slowly on the original released Doom 3DO code, trying to improve the speed or adding new features, so I thought whats better than setting a deadline for first release before or right on the anniversary day :) The speed up is at the ...

That is pretty cool, but doesn't really add to the debate about if the port could be further optimized - he just turns off some textures to help with speed.

Yeah he's basically just turned it into SNES Doom

i can't wait to dig into GEBB: DOOM

2:19 am

i picked it up a few weeks ago, but when i read the first two chapters and it started referencing the Wolf3D book, I knew I had to buy and read that one first. Almost through it

Are the Black Books the more technical history of the titles? As compared to say, Masters of Doom?

As I understand it they're all about the technical workings and how/why the engine was designed the way it was

1

2:53 am

Haven't read them though

yes. they're vastly more technical than Masters of Doom

3:03 am

but. they're not overwhelmingly so (er, in hindsight maybe i'm biased). If you can code, you'd certainly get something out of reading the entire book (edited)

3:04 am

i've only read half of Wolf3d, but the first half is also interesting to anyone who is technical. there's a lot of history about the PC architecture of the time

3:05 am

however...some of it can get a little deep, so if you're not terribly interested in different VGA modes the associated memory modes, well, you might find yourself skipping a lot

3:05 am

the ebooks are a cheaper way to check them out...or perhaps your local library has it

I'm only partly wondering if I'd be interested in it (I would,) but more would my big Doom fan of a friend be into it - he really enjoyed Masters of Doom, but that may be because he is invested in the personalities as much as the game.

I'm a huge doom nut myself (made tons of mods for it since 2000) but I'm not sure this book is for me

4:36 am

Never really considered myself a programmer really

From what I've seen of the books, they're pretty in-depth

7:03 am

but not in a "here's a program listing" kind of way

Huh, look at that. There’s a firmware update for the Framemeister

2:48 pm

https://twitter.com/micomsoftx/status/1085820171703349248?s=21

micomsoft (@MicomsoftX)

FRAMEMEISTER(XRGB-mini)のβ版ファームウェア2.04J/Eを公開しました！4K対応テレビでの問題改善やスキャンライン機能の追加、PC-8801の表示機能の調整、RGB入力時のドットクロック調整機能の追加など様々です。...

Retweets

120

Likes

144

The GEBB's are definitely very technical, although some of the authors articles on his web site get even more in-depth. He has walkthroughs of the Quake, Doom3 engines, and a bunch of other titles on there http://fabiensanglard.net

https://www.ebay.com/itm/223329076166?ul_noapp=true

Jaguar JN-2000 Nintendo Gameboy Sewing Machine - Super Rare

In great condition. Comes with Yellow Gameboy and Japanese language sewing game cartridge. This is super rare | eBay!

It's a cool novelty and rare, but I don't think this much rare. Guess you could find one in japan much cheaper. But this is the better model they had over there I think, so maybe this one warrants such a price...

@kelslewin ^

Eh for the JN-2000 in that condition that seems about right. I couldn’t even find one for sale on yahoo auctions when I was doing my video But yeah the first model ones are dirt cheap in japan

10:17 pm

My pink one was like $60. Of course it also cost $150 to ship...

thank you for being the person who knows this stuff

Good to know, never really had the money to buy one, so did not dig into the costs, but the machine itself is fascinating.

It’s truly the most useful knowledge

I once read an article, I think it was from a guy who was working on a licensed MP3 addon for GBA, that the future of affordable portable hardware is immense. Basically started talking about the smartphone revolution but with the Game Boy in it's place. And for a while, that seemed like a possibility!

I had the GBA MP3/MP4 player

I think I read that article in my research actually, or at least a very similar one. I agree with it. If it wasn’t for smartphones there would be a hell of a lot more non-gaming things powered by video game systems. Apps kind of killed the last of them.

was impressive at the time

10:24 pm

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nintendo-MP3-Player-German-version/dp/B000INAURW

10:24 pm

quite cheap actually

This is DS era, and official

10:27 pm

That one was even earlier, maybe even had GBC compatibility. He got the license but then lost it or something, there was some drama

It originally launched for the GBA in Japan

10:28 pm

but that would be interesting

https://www.smh.com.au/technology/the-games-song-boys-play-20030313-gdgeze.html

The games song boys play

10:29 pm

This guy, I digged into it a few years back, but then I was just cruising the internet and it didn't even occur to me I could maybe try to talk to these people

10:29 pm

I think there is a story here

@kelslewin I'd be tempted by the auction if that JN-2000 had the embroidery addon, I imagine that part is gonna be hard to find

https://shop.terraonion.com/en/home/14-neosd-pro-aes.html

NeoSD PRO AES - PREORDER

NeoSD PRO, the ultimate Flash/RAM cartridge for Neo Geo AES

If we ever get an fpga neo geo that loads carts for a reasonable price then I will very likely plunk down for one of these as well and disappear into the ether.

12:19 am

The cost for one of those fancy consolized kits was always just a bit too much

That'll be MiSTer, sans carts

In combination

I'm holding out for the cart-less fpga solution that will inevitably exist and oh look there it is I guess

Furrtek's latest patreon post was his Neo Geo core booting on MiSTer

I can't imagine the MiSTer core is all that strong if this requires a dedicated ARM chip? Something had to be cut somewhere, no?

Ash Evans is working on an addon board that has a DB15 input that will work with NeoGeo sticks

12:21 am

@SoH what do you mean?

That neoSD was worth every penny

ARM cortex M4 is a relatively serious chip in that SD cart, I imagine it is needed for something pretty heavy so if MiSTer is implementing rom loading it has to be cutting some corner?

MiSTer also has an ARM chip

oh? First I've heard of that. Is it an add-on board?

No, the DE10-Nano has an ARM on board

12:25 am

the core MiSTer system runs on Linux

Well my obvious next question would be why is the DE10 like $130 bucks then and this is over $500 (edited)

DE10-Nano is heavily subsidized

12:27 am

the FPGA chip alone on the DE10-Nano is $300

12:28 am

The NeoSD is actually a pretty complex design too, multiple PCBs, multiple FPGAs, ARM chip, custom shell, software

12:28 am

and it's made by like, two guys in Spain, versus the DE10-Nano which is made by Intel

The MiSTer is looking better and better every time I check in though the lack of hardware support is a pretty big downer for me

12:34 am

Anyone doing any sort of work into cart adapters or anything?

Not that I currently know of

12:35 am

I don't think there's much interest there

12:36 am

although, not sure it's technically feasible

12:37 am

as most of the GPIO pins are taken up for the SDRAM module

12:38 am

the focus right now seems to be mostly quality-of-life features, better HDMI scaling, controller support etc.

What's the controller support looking like? Dongles?

No, an addon board similar to the USB hub

12:41 am

https://www.retrorgb.com/mister-ll-cool-joy-ultra-low-latency-controller-board-update.html

MiSTer 'LL Cool Joy' Ultra-Low-Latency Controller Board Update

2 RJ45 Ports (MC Cthulhu pinout)

12:43 am

oh wow, that is genuinely surprising

Just connect your MC Cthulhu board with an ethernet cable

There are a few that go above the wiring count but yeah, it is about the closest to a standard input for old hardware

There's some decent cases out there now too

12:46 am

https://www.antoniovillena.es/store/product/mister-addon-boards-kit-and-acrylic-case/

MiSTer addon boards kit and acrylic case - Antonio Villena

The IO board is alternative from the official ones. The …

12:46 am

not a bad deal actually

Really need to get a case to install this spare Cthulhu into. I know a guy who makes the RJ 45 cables and really could use something solid for like all those platforms

I'm still waiting a few more months for the mister stuff to settle.

@Borman it'll be a few years at least

I don't need to wait until the end, I just need a decent balance of getting something I can tinkering with without buying a new a piece every other week

Well, for what it's worth, I haven't had to buy anything for it in 18 months

7:23 pm

since day 1

Ill get one eventually, just want to wrap up my arcade projects first

I'm having trouble finding concrete impressions and wanted to know if anyone has any thoughts on 4 player, wireless NES play? Actual reviews of the NES satellite wireless 4-player adapter are few and far between.

2:49 am

Mostly curious about, interference, battery life, and input lag (the three things most online accounts gloss over...) (edited)

interference - almost none but needs line of sight IR

2:57 am

batt life - bad

2:57 am

input lag - none!

that's all pretty much been my experience. I haven't really used it since I was a kid, but it worked pretty well until the batteries all die

3:07 am

the line of sight is annoying if your living room is laid out funny, as ours was, but the controller cables are long enough that you could generally work around it

@Deleted User i decided to pull mine outta the closet after seeing your message.

3:49 am

in doing so, i discovered the original purchase receipt which i never knew was in its box

3:49 am

so, thank you for that

3:53 am

Wow $40, is that just the receiver?

3:56 am

it's the module and the receiver

3:58 am

i took a closer look at the date line and realized that it's still legible. 3/15/91

Geese... That was $73.73 in today's dollars.

$75 of today's money basically buys you one controller, anymore.

Per wikipedia, the "Challenge Set 2" in 1991 that included the console itself, two controllers, and SMB3 went for $89.99, a little over twice the price of the wireless set up. Still quite a chunk of change.

wow

4:04 am

pretty cool!

4:05 am

FWIW i release all right/claims to the scan of that receipt

4:05 am

i'm not even sure that's something I can do?

4:05 am

seeing as it's "Macy's" receipt or whatever

4:05 am

but yeah....have at it

Seeing the receipt is pretty awesome though - in retrospect, my family bought most of our entertainment up to the N64 on clearance when a store was going out of sale. Still remember picking up a full, unopened Earthbound box from a K-Mart that was closing.

hah wow! that's pretty rad. i remember seeing stories of clearance Earthbounds and feeling like i totally missed out (edited)

4:09 am

so when i saw PS2 controllers being clearanced for 10 each at a Walmart (edited)

4:09 am

i bought 16 of them.

1

4:09 am

no ragrets

I wish 8bitdo would do a dongle for PS1/PS2

6:19 pm

that makes a hell of a lot of sense

Yeah. Good PS2 controllers are getting harder to find. Doesn't help that they have the life span of a hamster, most of the time

1

7:32 pm

What I wouldn't give to have a receiver to which I could connect basically any other kind of pad

https://www.focusattack.com/brook-super-converter-ps3-ps4-to-ps2-ps1-adapter/

Brook Super Converter: PS3/PS4 to PS2/PS1 Adapter

Allows your PS2 controllers to function in PS3 or PS4 - all without need for authorization!

7:38 pm

Brook makes them for nearly everything

7:39 pm

Or at least, for the more popular modern stuff

@Borman wireless, nice. I think 8bitdo could do a cleaner solution though

Those Brook adapters work well, though depending on your ps2 model they may need a little add-on USB cable to provide enough power

it's also really hard to find legit PS3 controllers these days. Try it on eBay, you'll be sifting through clones all day.

10:56 pm

Sweet that the adapter works for PS4 controllers too. I kinda want to try that thing out.

kinda the same with wii u pro controllers unfortunately

I picked up a new one a few days ago

11:06 pm

Dual Shock 3, 20 euro

11:07 pm

Unused. Surprising yeah, I had the same experience before with PS3 controllers

11:08 pm

PS4 controllers work on PS3, though not all games support playing with a PS4 controller correctly

I'm unreasonably annoyed that there isn't a modern wireless solution for the original NES. (edited)

http://www.8bitdo.com/retro-receiver-nes/

Retro Receiver for NES | 8BitDo

Does it work with four connected controllers via the 4play?

Good question! I can't imagine why plugging four of those into a 4play wouldn't work... it's simply transforming wireless signals into electrical ones compatible with the original hardware, but of course that many Bluetooth dongles in one space has the potential for issues.

Sent an email to 8BitDo to confirm all this..

Cool! Can't wait to hear the response! I have one of their "pro" controllers, and it's a nice piece of hardware.

@Deleted User it will work

7:21 am

I've run 4 on the Nt mini

7:21 am

really can't think of any reason why it wouldn't work

RetroUSB's wireless controller will work with it:

8:49 am

https://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=36&products_id=154&osCsid=78719b79d34ba3e4ed6f568b9ada903c

Wireless Gamepad - retroUSB

Wireless Gamepad for NES and AVS consoles Buttons - Using the same layout as the original NES controller (which is the only true layout) the microswitch buttons instead of rubber pads give a consistent feel. Extra attention was put into the dpad to get great diagonals without...

8:49 am

@bunnyboy can tall ya more

@Teddy With the NES Four Score?

2:29 pm

And @Wietse van Bruggen That is good to know! There is so little information out there on these peripherals.

Yeah, from a hardware connectivity perspective it should be indistinguishable from a regular NES controller so can't see any reason it wouldn't work on a Four Score

3:04 pm

Unless the power distribution is weird or something

3:04 pm

I have one but not enough receivers to test, unfortunately

3:10 pm

I've started gravitating to the wii u pro controller with them.

3:10 pm

I was using a dualshock 4 but pairing is just enough of a pain that having a sync button is too handy

My two main concerns were power distribution and interference, though I've had more Bluetooth devices just as close together with no problem, so the first is the major unknown.

100mA (powers directly from the NES controller port)

3:21 pm

If you are able to find out how much power each port can draw when all loaded up there will be your answer

3:22 pm

Assuming 8bitdo doesn't get back to you first

My electronic knowledge is nearly non-existent: wouldn't splitting it off into four ports through an adapter decrease the available power?

Possible, it could also pull 200mA from each port for a total of 400. I'm not exactly sure how the four score works tbh

I didn't have any interference issues on the Nt mini with 4 controllers

9:15 am

but that would totally depend on your own environment I guess

This was my answer from 8BitDuo -

11:52 am

It is a bit nonsensical (at least on its face,) so I asked for clarification.

Before I put on eBay - curious if anyone has a need for this stuff. Random original and after-market GBA parts (no working GBA included.) The black shell has the battery cover filed down for a USB battery mod...

8:35 pm

not asking for $$, just cover the cost of shipping.

8:36 pm

(I'm in the U.S. - for what it's worth)

You only have the glass for the screen but not the electronics, is that right?

8:37 pm

I have a few that I have to repair

The blue (bottom left) has an original screen + original screen cover. But I gave the actual GBA guts the backlit treatment (not shown here.)

I don't think I'll take it since it's in the US (edited)

no worries!

those would make fun project cases

Yay, my Black Friday NES Everdrive is finally arriving today

5:49 pm

the SD2SNES I ordered at the same time arrived within a week or two, but the NES has been sitting stuck somewhere for well over a month

Nice!

I suppose this means I need to fix my NES now....

Does anyone have good recommendations for component switchers that have a lot of inputs? I have an impact acoustic that takes 4 but one of the ports has issues with the red

5:59 pm

Looking at some alternatives

There is an old pelican model with 8 component ports. I have one and it works great

I bought a big Extron switcher

6:06 pm

Used on Ebay.

6:07 pm

Only downside is making the audio connectors since a lot of them dont use RCA plugs for that

6:08 pm

The one I got is like 8 inputs and 8 outputs (i initially ordered one with 4 outputs but it got shipped to someone else and Im pretty sure I ended up with an 8 output. I should check)

6:09 pm

I paid like 40 or 50 bucks for this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Extron-Crosspoint-300-Switcher-8x8-with-Audio-300-88-HVA/113177827996?epid=667938171&hash=item1a59ec9a9c:rk:1:pf:0

Extron Crosspoint 300 Switcher 8x8 with Audio 300 88 HVA

Tested each video input and output - works as designed. Didn't test every possible routing combination. Good condition with a few scratches or scuffs. No other cables or accessories are included. | eBay!

Cool! I've heard about the extron switchers and they seem great. Been a bit hesitant because of all the extra stuff needed for that

There are really two things. One is a BNC to RCA, which are super cheap. The other is the audio. I made my own adapters for like 3 bucks each

6:20 pm

Some I think have RCA audio

6:21 pm

But basically its just wiring the positive, negative, and ground into those blue connectors, which you just screw the wire into. And on the input (I think), you need to bridge two wires.

6:21 pm

Mine didnt come with the blue connectors, so I had to buy those too (or rather, it didnt come with enough). But those were super cheap too.

6:23 pm

So it all comes down to how many inputs and outputs you need really. My primary use was to have one going to my TV (or multiple TVs), and one to my capture card, so the output was just as important. Cheaper and better than splitting the output of a lesser switch

6:23 pm

One of the other popular choices is the gcompsw

6:23 pm

http://www.gretrostuff.com/store/gcompsw-v1-0/

Extron Crosspoint 450 Plus 2412 HV Matrix Switcher With DSVP

gcompsw

Yeah I dont need many component inputs but getting something with a bit of a buffer would be nice

6:27 pm

I thought about the gcomp

Just glad this one wasnt available at the time. Even with the missing button, I probably would have gotten it. A tad overkill. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Extron-Crosspoint-450-Plus-2412-HV-Matrix-Switcher-With-DSVP/122432620712?hash=item1c818d88a8:g:UK0AAOSwTM5Y5PYO:rk:10:pf:0

Model: Crosspoint 450 Plus. P/N:Extron 2412. Defective or Not Described. Then we will. No longer want the item. | eBay!

Or if you want to future proof yourself

6:34 pm

REALLY future proof

sweet jesus

@Shinohara do you know what's wrong with your NES?

9:07 pm

I have a dead toaster (fried CPU). Not sure how technical you are, but if you find yourself needing components, reach out. I don't want to throw it away, but it's not worth my time to try and fix this one (i have a few other consoles), I'd rather just piece it out to folks in need. (edited)

@Ryan Benno there's the Otaku switch

9:20 pm

https://otaku-games.com//index.php?_route_=6-port-rgb-scart-rca-switch.html

6 Port RGB Scart/RCA/Component Switch

This 6 Port RGB Scart/RCA Switch is fully RGB capable and can output via either Euro Scart Out or RCA RGB Out for use with for example PVM/BVM CRT's. Additionally to the regular 6 Port Scart Switch it has RCA RGB inputs on all 6 inputs. It is also usable as a Component Swit...

9:20 pm

It's a manual switch, but does RGB scart and component

9:20 pm

and it's cheap

9:21 pm

(and highly regarded)

9:21 pm

https://www.retrorgb.com/otaku-scart-switch-review.html

Bob

Otaku SCART Switch Review

@Matt Clawson I'm 90% sure it just needs a new cart connector

9:23 pm

It's my original childhood Power Set and it's been sitting in a box for a decade or two

9:23 pm

It powers on at least, but comes up with a black screen

black screen with cart inserted?

I think so

9:24 pm

All of my retro setup got packed when I moved last summer so I haven't looked at it recently

nice. i'd definitely try to salvage/clean your original cart connector when you get around to it

9:24 pm

i think people have mixed feelings about the new ones you can find online.

9:25 pm

i've actually boiled a connector once which did seem to help, but it was not a scientific test by any means.

9:25 pm

toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol is a good first start

I boiled and cleaned a cart connector on an old NES over and over before giving up and getting a blinking light win, which works pretty well

unfortunately those seem out of stock! i am so sad i missed that boat.

9:26 pm

hopefully they'll be back.

9:26 pm

how long have you had it? has it held up?

Yeah, I'll definitely try to rehab what I've got before I replace anything

this conversation is reaffirming for me that ditching all NES and going purely AV Famicom was the right move

@Frank Cifaldi I'm still holding out hope that we'll get a revamped Analogue NT eventually that's in line with the Super and Mega

I have this really rad custom mod someone did for me where I've got NESRGB installed, but I have a switch on the back that puts it back to stock AV mode

9:28 pm

just in case I need to be "authentic" for some reason (also great for quick comparisons)

If Banggood ever ships my soldering station to me I've got a couple of GameBoys to install backlights in and a PSIO switch to install

9:29 pm

Even went and bought a second PS1 so I could leave my original intact

I feel you Frank! I went Twin Famicom for the same reason.

9:33 pm

i really like my PSIO, shame they're getting cloned now.

I still need to look into modding my Famicom and seeing if the FDS I bought works

if you can't get the FDS working , keep the adapter and pick up an FDS Stick

It was pretty much inevitable

or, get it working and still get FDS Stick

I'll probably get an FDS stick anyways

9:33 pm

Yup

retire the drive

9:34 pm

literally no reason to use it unless you just need that tactile sensation or whatever

I just haven't bothered yet since I haven't had time to get the Famicom up and running

9:34 pm

I'll probably try it once or twice just for the experience and then go to a stick

yeah. i bought a copy of SMB2 just to have it. but i literally never use it.

9:34 pm

it's fun to bring out for friends

I think I've just got Golf and some SD Gundam game I found at a local shop

floppy drive emulators for other systems often support piezo buzzers (edited)

9:35 pm

just to make the sound

9:35 pm

hmm, I don't see one on my BMOW Floppy Emu

9:36 pm

need to try it out sometime

Gotek-based ones support it, and i think maybe the Pi1541

9:37 pm

FlashFloppy project is pretty amazing and still active. one guy!

9:37 pm

worth checkin out!

I need to get a floppy emulator for my C64, the only computer virtual disk I have at the moment is this FloppyEmu for my Macintosh Classic and Apple //c

if you want to test out your new soldering station, Pi1541 kits are sold on ebay. mostly (if not all) through-hole.

9:38 pm

not sure your experience level, but kits like that are a great way to level up!

Well, it's been a couple of decades, but I built one of these from a kit once: http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=563

9:40 pm

I've got a SparkFun Simon Says kit to put together for my kiddo as a practice run, and a couple of Adafruit PiGirl kits

9:40 pm

I figure I'll refresh my skills on those before I crack open a GB or PS1 and do some fine pitch modding

@Matt Clawson I wonder how viable the clones are

9:42 pm

last I heard PSIO is pretty much weeks away from being readily available

they don't come with shells, lol. or a switch board.

and it's even a bit cheaper

i hope they are able to release soon. it's been a veryyy long time.

I have mine preordered since November or so

9:43 pm

seems like it's on track for February/March

9:43 pm

need to obtain a PS1

1

9:43 pm

I still think I have my original in Ireland, but not sure

9:46 pm

Think I'm going to go for a 5502

I still like the RCA jacks on the backs of earlier SKUs for flexibility, but perhaps they're useless to you

The nice thing is that PS1s are dirt cheap, as are the PSIO switch boards. (edited)

Any word on what board is the easiest install?

that i don't know. they're all kind of annoying. but with a steady, careful hand, cutting the traces isn't so bad.

9:50 pm

that's the worst part i think

So far it’s held up well, I’ve had it about a year? I mostly play on the av fami since I got the ever drive though

1

@Matt Clawson might be the first actual mod I attempt myself

FDS Stick is amazing. The tactile sense of the actual drive is nice but this is just so... reliable

mostly because of the cheap systems and mod PCBs, like you said

9:53 pm

the cutting I'm not too concerned about, but the scraping off the solder mask I think I'll have trouble with

And I mean I love Mario but I am not spending 500 bucks on all night nippon when I can play it on there for 15 bucks

heck yeah @Kevin "ubersaurus" Bunch

9:55 pm

@Teddy scraping off solder mask, you might be able to get by with a fiberglass scratch pen. might take you a while but since it goes slower, you run less risk of going too far

9:55 pm

that said, a sharp hobby knife is what i used and it was OK!

9:55 pm

the fact that you're doubtful at all is a sign that you probably won't rush it. i think you'll be OK

@Matt Clawson I see you pushing the RCA output PS1, I assume it's just a convenience thing for lightguns, versus using the official adapter?

yeah, convenience for lightguns and also maybe you want to record audio or route audio to a different device

10:07 pm

really no great reasons except for specific use-cases

I see other people say that the 1001 is the best audio output as they changed the DAC in Rev C of the hardware

10:08 pm

downside is that the 1001 was never released here

10:08 pm

only the 1002, which can be Rev B or Rev C

ahhh yeah i've heard the audio quality rationale before but didn't realize there were different revisions.

10:09 pm

for me it's a non-issue because i use TV speakers for my retro stuff

10:09 pm

maybe one day i'll be able to upgrade the audio for my retro setup.

I use a mono PVM speaker

10:09 pm

I got the official speakers for my 2530 and oh man did it take some ebay patience

Lucky bastard

10:10 pm

beautiful CRT

I have two!

I'm limited to 14" right now

one I bought in 2004, one I bought a few months ago (local pickup-only auction that ended at $250 somehow??)

don't even have the space (or money) for much bigger

10:11 pm

Geez, not bad

not as good as the $50 I paid in 2004 but I'll take it

Better than the $1500 some people are paying

10:15 pm

Kinda hoping by the time my PVM reaches EOL, there'll be readily available "better" options

10:15 pm

like that TCL mod for zero latency, and NN upscaling

Didn’t you have a PVM that was out of order for a while there?

Me?

10:18 pm

FYI: http://www.zisworks.com/

integer scaling monitors!

Has microseconds of lag too, and backlight strobing

10:35 pm

backlight turns completely off between frames

10:35 pm

so zero motion blur

10:35 pm

it's basically a CRT at that point

wtf

Some of these cheaper brands should start adding features like this out of the box

10:39 pm

TCL etc. have kind of made a name for themselves in the low latency space already

10:40 pm

having perfect integer scaling would be a nice cherry on the cake, especially if they support high frequencies at lower resolutions, and backlight strobing

any of you know a source for usb cables without bulky plugs on the ends?

10:45 pm

stuffing a pi in a case and want to minimize the space the usb cables are taking up

maybe you could do L-shaped connectors?

10:52 pm

yeah thats what I've got now, better but still a lot of space taken up

10:53 pm

hmm I guess they dont get too small https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ftdi/UMFT201XB-WE/768-1294-ND/6173762&?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6OvXvIqU4AIVwiCtBh0kfw3pEAQYASABEgLITPD_BwE

UMFT201XB-WE FTDI, Future Technology Devices International Ltd | D...

FT201X USB 2.0 to I²C Bridge (Slave) Interface Evaluation Board

Desolder the connectors, clip the cable ends, and solder them to the board? How permanent is this designed to be?

yeah, I was considering that, but the negative there is that the team can't build/change out new devices on the fly

2:30 am

probably better to just extend the case some

2:32 am

hmm tho I could make my own cables

I've been meaning to circle back around as I finally picked up an SD2SNES. I was apprehensive with the jailbroken super nt and dropping $200, but I am surprised how much it feels like it completes the package.

2:45 pm

The two main things for me it does that I'll likely never go back to jb fw, except for testing/confirming things, is that the SRAM is polled for changes and dumped to the SD card automatically.

2:45 pm

It seems a small convenience but not needing to remember to open the system menu is just so nice.

2:46 pm

The other is being able to check out the growing romhacks for the full chipset since they are all supported now.

2:47 pm

Which you could do on an emulator, but the differences there are well discussed.

2:48 pm

In any case I've started playing kaizo mario games so that is how my 2019 is shaping up.

2:48 pm

Thanks, SD2SNES?

When you say chipset, you mean the MSU-1?

Nah, stuff like expanding the rom to support SA-1. People have been experimenting with it for a while but now that you can easily do it on real hardware it is picking up steam.

3:55 pm

https://youtu.be/rLDmn2XLF14

VitorSuperMarioWorld

SA-1 3D Object/Polygon System

3:56 pm

Mostly tech demos out there with pixel rotation and polygon stuff but you could use it for all sorts of stuff

4:03 pm

https://www.smwcentral.net/?p=section&a=details&id=15116

4:03 pm

Increases the maximum amount of sprites *on screen* to 22.
Increases the maximum amount of sprites *per level* to 255.
Moves the sprite processing code to SA-1, making all sprites gets processed 4 times as normally
Optimizes some routines to make the level loading faster.
Moves almost all non standard sprites, such as shooters, generators, cluster, extended, minor extended, bounce, score and smoke to SA-1 CPU.
Moves the block/map16 handling to SA-1 CPU.
Moves almost all overworld code to SA-1 side, leaving minimal CPU usage on overworld.
All other SA-1 features like 6 and 8MB support, 10.74 MHz CPU, Character Conversion DMA, fast RAM, etc.

4:03 pm

Even just those first 2 line items being able to do on real hardware is nice

4:03 pm

As that is something usually limited to emulators artificially increasing limits

I know of two games that effectively got remade and rereleased with SA1 chips just for graphical boosts

5:40 pm

Perhaps not surprising anybody: they're both golf games

5:42 pm

Pebble Beach Golf Links and Harukanaru Augusta both got "New" editions that used the chip to make the course render faster, in full screen instead of in a window, and with some nice additional texturing.

5:42 pm

Though there were other changes, like changing the swing meter and menu systems...

5:43 pm

Neither left Japan, though, because that was roughly the time that the 32 bit remakes were also launching (for Saturn and 3DO)

I like that the SA1 is basically two SNES tapped together

7:05 pm

Nintendo up to their tricks even then

7:06 pm

got this to keep experimenting with 240p composite capture

7:06 pm

hopefully it has a good comb filter

Japanese VHS to DVD software?

hardware

@Frank Cifaldi have you looked into Datapath capture cards?

I have not!

https://www.datapath.co.uk/datapath-products/video-capture-cards/visionav-range/visionav-hd

VisionAV-HD | HD Video Capture by Datapath

The VisionAV-HD captures 2 HD channels of DVI video and one SD channel of composite video. Amazing HD Video Capture

8:30 pm

Their RGB card is currently the pinnacle of 240p capture cards

8:30 pm

I haven't heard anything about their composite card, but I assume it's good

8:31 pm

Ha, just looked and it's currently on eBay for $800

hooray!!!

The RGB card goes for $150-ish

8:31 pm

retailed for $1000+

8:31 pm

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Datapath-DGC139A-Vision-RGB-E1S-Capture-Card-VisionRGB-E1S/113421636962?hash=item1a6874d562:g:W7wAAOSwtQNcBfxI:rk:3:pf:1&frcectupt=true

Datapath DGC139A Vision RGB-E1S Capture Card VisionRGB-E1S

Datapath DGC139A Vision RGB-E1S Capture Card VisionRGB-E1S | Computers/Tablets & Networking, Computer Components & Parts, Interface/Add-On Cards | eBay!

8:32 pm

http://speedrun.evilash25.com/2017/11/perfect-analog-capture-with-datapath.html

Perfect Analog Capture with the Datapath Vision RGB E1s

The search is finally over, for anyone looking for analog RGB capture direct from retro consoles (no upscaler required), this card is what ...

I was hoping the retrotink would solve this for me but it doesn't have a good comb filter

Neither does the Framemeister in my experience

I can't stand the color noise of framemeister

Oh, the one you got is the one I see recommended most for composite 240p capture

8:36 pm

apparently popular in the speedrunning community

I have a usb3hdcap (branded version of micomsoft's usb capture) and it worked pretty well but you had to do custom unsigned drivers for 240p, and it went from crashing my computer sometimes to, eventually, literally making my computer instantly blue screen as soon as I plug it in

Ah

8:40 pm

I need to get a Retrotink at some point for 3DO and FM Towns Marty

it does great with s-video

8:40 pm

let me show you the comb filter problem

8:41 pm

^usb3hdcap

8:41 pm

retrotink

8:42 pm

actually here, you can flip back and forth https://twitter.com/frankcifaldi/status/1080169926315323393

Frank Cifaldi (@frankcifaldi)

@retrotink2 hey Mike, I've got a question...my retrotink 2x is giving me significantly blurrier results through my Xcapture-1 HDMI than I'm getting just doing straight composite, is this an expected result or is something wrong?

Ah, that's nasty

Huh,that is a LOT blurrier

the bleeeeeeeed

as mike says, the device just doesn't have a good composite comb filter, but it shines on s-video and component

Still serviceable for most end users I guess

8:47 pm

FYI, JagSD preorders are just around the corner it seems

We have the USB3CAP thing from Startech here at the museum, when it works its fine, but like you Ive had a ton of issues

Seems like the kind of thing you need a dedicated Windows 7 machine for or something

I don't entirely trust my method of getting 240p from it

9:46 pm

which is capturing 480i at 30fps and deinterlacing with amrectv. it produces something that genuinely appears to be 240p 60fps, but like I said I just don't trust it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNAwMmWLFTs

domesday 86

Domesday Duplicator and ld-decode (rev4) demonstration

10:01 pm

Apparently someone came up with a method for perfect laserdisc preservation

yes, and the comparison images are mindblowing

10:02 pm

wow

10:03 pm

Hopefully the Daphne guys get some

Wow!

10:15 pm

This guy has been doing some really cool remasters for Daphne - http://www.emuline.org/topic/1290-arcade-pc-cliff-hanger-ac-brd-remastered-laserdisc/

[Arcade PC] CLIFF HANGER AC - BRD REMASTERED (Laserdisc)

[ARCADE PC] CLIFF HANGER AC - BLU-RAY DISC REMASTERED (Laserdisc) Hello folks, I’m back with a story that is quite nuts… after the up...

I’m hoping the Laseractive games can finally get dumped with that tech

Fingers crossed

oohhh!

I plan on spending part of the small budget I have buying the hardware to do it.

2:08 pm

Doesnt help everyone else, but it's something hah

having copies backed up somewhere is better than nowhere!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8tw70XIRx8

DIYGameModz

playstation PSone Cd-rom and psio co-exist，ps1

6:41 pm

I kinda wish China would focus their efforts on developing new hardware

so whats a reasonable price to expect to pay for a PVM these days?

Upgraded SD2SNES coming soon https://twitter.com/krikzz/status/1091876756477394944

We going to release new generation #SD2SNES PRO soon this month. Device got massive hardware update and it opens perspective to new features. Most powerful SNES cart become even more powerful now!

Do they say how it has been upgraded?

2:21 am

Better SD-1 support?

Better FPGA by the look of things, so more possibilities

Dammit and I just bought one

I am in no way trying to troll, but am curious why "new" classic system hardware is a thing compared to just running an emulator? This and the Analogue NT are maybe one step away from software emulation (if that) as they are just FPGA's that reimplement the original specs.

well, if you're talking about why FPGA over emulation, it's accuracy, consistency, and a little bit of shiny and newness

6:03 am

if you mean why dedicated systems over running emulation, it's some of the above alongside perceived/actual ease of use, collectability, etc

https://twitter.com/krikzz/status/1091880177154568192 - potentially what to expect

US $129.0 |OSSC HDMI Converter Kit for Retro Game Console for Play...

@XC_3730C This is what ikari_01 lists as one of possible features. Also he said that with increased fpga power will be possible to implement fully functional save states included with audio chips state and turbo mode for SFX. Work in progress and i guess that ikari will gi...

6:55 am

in all honesty it sounds amazing but i don't personally need those things

6:56 am

it would likely be cheaper for me to get a GB Everdrive to use on my actual SGB

To give an idea currently: SA-1 is not implemented entirely

10:13 am

And it fills the entire FPGA

There are also a handful of single use chips that are also not supported. Think it amounts to seven freight games excluding ones that use SA-1?

All games that use SA-1 works IIRC

12:51 pm

It's just that the games does not use all the features

12:51 pm

it's very easy to break SA-1 with homebrew on sd2snes (edited)

@Deleted User FPGA solutions also claim to have much lower input latency compared to software emulators. I have not measured this myself but it seems plausible.

6:45 pm

I have a RetroUSB AVS (love it) and i can't sense any input latency (was just playing it actually)

I'm all for the "whatever way you think is fine to play is fine by me" line of thinking ^^ (edited)

2

i also play on original fami/nes hardware on my crt, so i have experience with both.

6:47 pm

agreed, i acknowledge you were asking earnestly, Romper, but you certainly understand that there are plenty of people who get way bent out of shape over how other people chose to game or how they try to do it

6:48 pm

i will never understand why folks get legit-angry over these things. for instance, take HD Retrovision cables: go onto certain forums and you'll see people frothing at the mouth over how "overpriced" the cables are and how anyone who owns them is a dummy. it's so sad/strange to see. (edited)

i go by original hardware solely because emulation always comes with weird quirks - even if it's 100% Accurate, there's little things about the experience that don't quite happen

1

6:49 pm

but I'm not opposed to emulating at all

yep. i have a mix of both

"I stopped buying this cable because some dude on the internet with a lot of spare time told me i was a dummy" - nobody ever

6:49 pm

SNES was a sticking point for a while - it was both the best-emulated platform for a while, and the worst, because the games ZSNES ran well, it ran very well - but there was always something just slightly "off"

6:50 pm

maybe a sound wasn't playing right, or the aspect ratio was too narrow, or i'd just get tired of approximating the SNES controller with my Logitech WingMan Rumblepad

yeah. i feel like there's plenty of people who played on original hardware back in the day, so playing on anything else just feels foreign. i'm certainly in that camp.

and then the games that just Wouldn't Work for one reason or another

I've played a lot of chrono trigger with a keyboard in the late 90's. It was just the first way for me to be able to play that game that was never released here. I didn't mind.

yep, same! except i just didn't have my own SNES for a long time. had to play on a friend's

granted most of the time that was due to bizarre one-off chips that only one game ever used (Top Gear 3000's DSP4), but occasionally it was some weirdness in how the emulator worked by definition (Shin Megami Tensei would freeze on command after the name entry sequence)

6:53 pm

SNES emulation has improved by leaps and bounds even very recently, but I still bought an SD2SNES because, honestly, it's just awesome to me

6:53 pm

like, i bought a used Super Famicom around the same time, it's way cooler than putting the cartridge in my Yobo FC Twin.

6:54 pm

(Since I haven't owned a real US SNES since...2008?)

They are ugly anyways

6:54 pm

runs from tomatoes ;-)

you're not wrong lol.

I sold mine to someone with a copy of Earthbound. I didn't charge him nearly enough for them.

6:55 pm

Think I got all of $65 for the lot. I was desperate at the time, sure, but man. Still kicking myself on that.

6:56 pm

Lately though my justifications have been what I'm calling the Kitsch Factor.

6:56 pm

I bought a Famicom cartridge of Golf at PRGE last year, for a dollar, solely so I could test the cartridge slot on a Famiclone I got at Goodwill for 7 bucks half a decade ago.

vintage antiquities

The thing sucks. But it works. The signal clarity is sub-RF despite being composite output (probably just cheap components inside), the controller is a horrible lightweight PlayStation mold, and yet, the thing is just awful enough that it gains its own charm.

6:58 pm

And of course it's one of the only consoles I kept the whole box for, on purpose, because where could I go wrong with a console called GameFillip

I like to give @Wietse van Bruggen hell about it for fun about scanlines

but yeah there's really not wrong way to enjoy this stuff, it's all a matter of taste.

7:27 pm

i have a lot of the original hardware but usually just emulate out of convienience.

This was shared in another channel, would save money: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/OSSC-HDMI-Converter-Kit-for-Retro-Game-Console-for-PlayStation-2-PS2-for-Atari-Jaguar-for/32969633292.html (edited)

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

4:08 pm

Might have to try one sometime

that's pretty low! i was actually looking into getting a kit for the OSSC from vgperfection but it was tough to get an idea for total price for kit+components

Does anyone have a spare retrode? :\

yes, but it probably has custom firmware and i dont remember how they update

also I think you gave me your spare

i think i have more spares

nice

I didn't even realize there was custom firmware for it hah

I have a few protos to dump and they are out of stock everywhere

stock firmware on retrode chokes on like, most protos, fyi

9:53 pm

unless that has changed in recent years

oh

or if this custom firware fixes that

I put an order for an INLretro but it seems it's not perfect yet either

Yeah I mentioned that to Drac, it didn't work for my one SNES prototype. Worked on Genesis though.

I don't know how my Super Wild Card handles Super Famicom and SNES protos

9:56 pm

I'll try to fiddle with it this weekend

custom firmware is stuff i wrote to force it to use a certain size/mapper for snes

9:58 pm

when i was using it to flash repro boards

9:59 pm

aka waste of a few years

i've heard some negative things about the kyroflux people

As have I

https://webstore.kryoflux.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=63

7:49 pm

i've been watching the FPGA SID project since I have a C64 with no sound. was concerned to see them distributed by the KF store.

7:50 pm

was wondering if anyone has any insight into why they are criticized

There was a fellow on Twitter I follow that said they'd cancelled his order for a KF device because...something about how they didn't think he was buying it for a good cause, or something

man, an FPGA project that replaces the custom chips in the bally astrocade would be a boon though, I tell you what

1

https://twitter.com/textfiles/status/1057997038154121216 ah here we are

Jason Scott (@textfiles)

I need people to understand this. KRYOFLUX REJECTS SALES OF THEIR TOOL UNLESS THEY PAY USURIOUS AMOUNTS. Support disk reading technologies that treat everyone equally. Hell, let them charge consulting fees if they want. But this is why I refuse to support this team. https:...

ah i should have known to check Jason's feed. that's probably where i heard it

7:54 pm

i wonder if there's some connection between whoever's behind the FPGA SID and the KF team

7:58 pm

@Kevin "ubersaurus" Bunch is the astrocade known to have high failure rates

7:59 pm

idk much about the system, what're the chips that commonly die?

I would love to not have to use the Kryoflux but other solutions weren't quite there during my last survey of technology

8:11 pm

Our biggest cost for our floppy disk project was the license to go with everything

it is. The astrocade has poor heat management so pretty much from day one you had the three custom chips in there going bad. And of course 40 years on, some units have issues with the built in power supplies that can lead to the chips getting damaged too, so

thanks for sharing. i know nothing about the system, just curious

there are some things you can do to help reduce the heat issue but ultimately it's still something owners have to contend with, and there are a healthy number of consoles with at least one of the ICs that have gone bad

Wow I didn't know about that. I bought a Kryoflux cause I didn't know of a better alternative but it sucks

8:38 pm

(Not the Kryoflux itself, this whole situation)

Someone needs to get in touch with that guy in europe who owns a Galaxian³ and get clean rips of his LD's with that domesday hardware

Kryoflux was co-created by GPS, wonder if there is a possible way to work with them on a more open device

What?

10:09 pm

I was not aware of that

10:11 pm

Don't you mean SPS? (edited)

No, Redon's GPS in japan

11:34 pm

He is a board member on SPS too I think

he's also in here sometimes if you want to tag him

Dunno about the politics, I guess he has just a lot to do in Japan

11:35 pm

And back when SPS started there weren't really any similar efforts

11:36 pm

Obviously, they try to dissociate a bit from the warez grown scene mentality which many dating projects sprung up from

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1247448559/next-gen-dreamcast-controller

Retro Fighters

Next Gen Dreamcast Controller

Creating a modern and ergonomic designed Dreamcast Controller

6:36 pm

I have their N64 controller. It's not bad! This seems like a much more ambitious project.

The Dreamcast has badly needed a better controller solution and I'm glad that's being worked on. I own an adapter that lets it accept PS2 controllers but that's not quite a perfect thing because it has difficulty with memory cards

https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art15.html

Edge of Emulation: Soul Doll Adapter

Emulating the unknown: Proto-Amiibos for the GBA

2:03 pm

I didn't understand all of the technical talk, but it's really cool the author was able to emulate this weird hardware

@Borman thx for the tip last week(-ish) about the OSSC on aliexpress. i ordered one not long after you posted it - i just got a shipping notification!!!

5:30 pm

i thought i'd be waiting AT LEAST another week due to chinese new year.

Let me know how it is

1

i'm excited to hook up my amiga 500 to it

I just hope it works and I havent led you down a bad path hah

5:41 pm

Id like to buy two at some point, so if I can save some money by ordering from China, great.

5:42 pm

Thats like 140$ savings potentially.

5:43 pm

I need some Retrotinks too, no clones of those that Ive heard of. Those are more for DS capturing, OSSC is more for convenience of everything else hah

I don't expect to have any issues, and if I did, I certainly wouldn't blame you in any capacity! It was my decision to buy and mine alone

7:21 pm

I knew it was a tiny bit risky ordering from a new seller, but the price wasn't too good to be true. just really good. (edited)

I have an OSSC and it's fantastic

9:02 pm

I want to get a Framemeister again at some point

9:03 pm

It's more compatible, and I like having some scaling options

I wish my Samsung tv was more compatibel with PAL line doubling

@Wietse van Bruggen it'd need a 4K TV right?

2:45 pm

or at least, >1080p

2:45 pm

(assuming 576p content) (edited)

I dunno. I guess they could something like the 1600x something resolution mode

5:47 pm

Can’t even do 2x now yeah, tv won’t accept the resolution

5:47 pm

Yeah, 576p content

5:48 pm

1600x1200 I think

5:48 pm

I can use more modes if I have the OSSC use that resolution for 240p content

https://twitter.com/benjedwards/status/1096143073346756608

Benj Edwards (@benjedwards)

Introducing the BX-70 Micro Decimator Compact size, full arcade power. Genuine Sanwa stick and button, weighted body. Can make left-handed or 4-way For Atari 2600/800/ST and Commodore 64/VIC-20/Amiga Intro price is $80 + $10 US shipping. Who will claim serial #1? DM to ...

1:16 am

He's having a special for $120 for two today plus $13 shipping.

1:16 am

I jumped on it

huh cute

It’s a good option. I might try one of those impending Brook genesis converters

I've got so many atari 8 bit controllers

2:14 am

we had a bunch growing up, and then a friend of the family gave us his atari 800 and accessories, which basically doubled it

Yeah i don't have a good 2600 joystick so this will be nice, talking to him about possibly adding a second button and making it work with a MSX too.

I'd like to get another XEGS and get those both in top shape, and use them as my primary atari 8bit sticks, cause I dig the grey

5:24 am

but comp pros are my favorite atm, or maybe slik sticks

I'm cleaning out a room at my grandmother's house and there is a giant flatbed scanner here. Is this good for archival uses or just junk?

You'll have to test it to see.

11:22 pm

The product on Amazon says it has all the necessary things, but you need to test if there's a DPI difference or if it's scaling.

Okay. I don't have time to test it today, but I'll keep that in mind

11:29 pm

Theres also a vintage Space Wars cabinet

Wait what.

11:30 pm

In your grandma's house?

Yes. My uncle got it a million years ago

Document it! Serial numbers, paperwork, insides!

I have no idea where the key is to open the front. Does it use a universal key?

Got absolutely no clue.

11:33 pm

I wanna know what the Sky Skipper guys used for scanning that cabinet artwork. Every arcade cabinet should be scanned like that.

Oh my god. I have never gotten to actually play one of those machines, have you tested it yet?

I tried plugging it in, but it didn't turn on sadly

what kind of locks are on the cabinet?

1:19 am

looks like a tubular lock on the front there, same thing on the back of the cabinet?

1:26 am

if you can't find the keys, arcade locks are pretty easy to pick even if you dont have a set of picks

1:26 am

a) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh2kkK0YHxo

FozzTexx

How to open an arcade or pinball coin door when you don't have the key

1:26 am

or

1:26 am

b) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egtn7swD_Jg

AintBigAintClever

How to pick a tubular/circular/round lock with just a pen

I'll give that a try

worth a shot before drilling them out

Moved into a new place and setting up my consoles. Also got a new PVM 20L5. Geometry isnt perfect but the picture looks great

Hi gorgeous

My first retrotink should be here today, excited to give it a go

I've been a bit disappointed with my RetroTINK.

5:45 pm

But it's mostly my own darn fault because I didn't read the full product description closely.

5:46 pm

I didn't realize it only accepts 480i signals.

5:49 pm

I fully understand why it doesn't. Kind of hoped I could plug a 480p signal and just have it pass through.

My use is actually for 240p and linedoubling that.

5:51 pm

Specifically for the S-video-only devices that I have

Yeah. I'm primarily just using it for S-Video right now.

5:52 pm

But I had wishful thinking that I could plug a Wii or Gamecube component cables into it.

Geez, speaking of s video, I still gotta get around to testing the output on my Win 98 machine.

I figured the OSSC will handle the rest of it when I need it.

Yup. I don't have one.

I've got, I think, a GeForce 4 series in it that has s video output on it, and while I'm sure it'll only put out 480I signals, I'd like to see if it at least tries to upscale lower ones

I dont have an OSSC either, but I have less need for them compared to Retrotink. My primary use is going to be for my IS-Nitro-Capture, which outputs s-video max (unless modded, which I dont want to do).

And for that matter, if clone display output works on non Windows programs

It's been a long time since I used s-video anything on a PC

Neither of those were true of the composite output on my HP crap top

5:56 pm

Mostly my use case is going to be using it to record footage of really questionable acting and cutscene direction to a VHS tape

5:56 pm

So it getting actually high quality is of little concern

5:57 pm

Considering the other stuff on said VHS tape so far is stuff like N64 cutscenes and Japanese vitamin drink commercials off youtube

Looks good to me (retrotink in 2x mode, svideo with crappy cable).

oh yeah that does look nice

It is switching the red and blue in 240p mode though, so Ill need to look closer

10:48 pm

Could just be my capture device doing something odd with it

10:48 pm

Not my primary use regardless

retroTINK with my n64 using s-video just discolors the image (edited)

6:08 am

idk why

6:09 am

so it's just getting dusty atm

6:10 am

still dont really have an answer other than it might be the s-video cable

6:14 am

am using a cable i got from consolegoods.uk thats specifically for pal systems (my console is pal)

6:14 am

so maybe i should try the ntsc version

6:15 am

depending on what capture device you're using i think i might have seen that too - i run a Startech PEXHDCAP (a rebranded Micomsoft, apparently?), and used to have my PS2 hooked up with a component cable, but when it ran certain PS1 games (not all of them, weirdly) it'd flip the red and blue channels

Woah! Someone added a LCD and Christmas lights to an NES cartridge...

3:49 pm

https://youtu.be/Ta7g4jsCaq0

retroMog

retroUSB 8 bit xmas 2017 multicart LCD screen label demo

"somebody" lol

That would be @bunnyboy

Yeah I love this thing

Oh! I didn't realize he was the mind behind it... Haha. I feel silly.

I've been wondering if this idea would be adapted to a flashcart showing the cartridge art for the game it is playing, but I imagine it is slightly more complicated than dropping a jpg on an sd card and displaying it. (edited)

plus it'd only work well on machines where the cartridge is visible

Are there many that envelope the cart? NES and TG16 are what immediately come to mind, but I am sure I am forgetting more.

4:00 pm

And obviously doesn't apply to top loading NES

Most portables as well, and if we wanna get real technical, the N64 partially does as well

4:00 pm

and kinda the genesis

astrocade and channel f mostly engulf the carts

best part is the lcd image data is bigger than any of the games

5:03 pm

could be added to a flash cart but will quickly run into power supply problems

I was curious about that @bunnyboy Specifically how is the LCD and lights powered and how did you manage to fit all of the previous year's multicarts into one release?

everything is powered from the nes, but is close to the max draw so everything gets pretty hot

5:33 pm

flash carts are also power hungry, so flash cart + lcd is going to be too much for many systems

5:34 pm

making a multicart is pretty simple since memory is crazy cheap now

You just throw higher capacity ROM chips at it?

5:43 pm

And I guess for whatever reason, my assumption was that NES carts were more.. Passive? Power wise.

normal carts are, but flash carts need processor/fpga/mem card

Are there any technical docs on power draw for NES carts out there?

How serious of a battery would you likely need if you used the power draw as a sort of trickle charger?

6:04 pm

As opposed to powering the screen directly

6:07 pm

And I suppose a little charge port if the ratio is too imbalanced and needed the occasional top off

lcd is ~100mA so a 18650 lipo gets 20-30 hours, but thats too tall to fit in the cart

6:20 pm

ps3 controller batts are ~500mah so thats ~5 hours

And if it were drawing power from the port to help fight the drain? Maybe double?

This is where I wish color e-ink had developed further.

Pour one out for Pebble

leave your console on overnight to charge the cart

ah, @Corwin "weasel" Brence im not using capture software. Just straight thru ossc, or directly into tv. Tried on both my tvs

I haven't tried on a TV at all honestly

for those who've been holding out on an SD2SNES, the SD2SNES Pro just launched at Krikzz's store at $197. The original version is now 15% off. https://krikzz.com/store/

EverDrive Store

Shop powered by PrestaShop

Time to resell my SD2SNES

What the Pro offers over the original is slightly unclear atm but I recall someone saying it'd eventually support Super Game Boy onboard, and it uses a faster FPGA and would eventually support overclocking Super FX games

3:38 pm

Someone else said SA-1 support was new to the Pro, but the original can do that too with a firmware update

It can support MSU-1 and SA-1 at the same time, original can't

Ah, yeah, that'd be a big boon for the homebrew community

I'm sure there's small changes, but the main change is moving to a newer, larger FPGA because the original went out of production

3:39 pm

Which naturally lets it reproduce more complicated hardware

3:40 pm

I think Akari mentioned it can probably handle the smaller of the 2 Shogi coprocessors now

ah, right, because those shogi games were an unattainable before

yup

I mean I'm by no means the target audience for that (my level of boring is "golf games"

) but it's interesting that making just one game work was something they couldn't do without a hardware overhaul

I think ST011 will be supportable now, but ST018 won't as that's a full up 21MHz ARM3

But hey, somebody's gonna benefit from it, and it'll be nice for them

It should also allow save states to support audio correctly

3:42 pm

they can't currently as the APU is effectively a separate black box, so they can't dig in and access it's state

3:43 pm

but the new FPGA is big enough to implement a second APU onboard, and they can save it's state

I believe the primary concern was the FPGA it was originally using is getting harder to source so a major revision was required.

Yup, it was discontinued last year

3:46 pm

Added bonus is the replacement is larger for the same price

Yep

3:47 pm

I tracked down the technical specs when it was announced. Had nearly double the logical units so a pretty good bump, as well.

3:48 pm

Also my understanding is the SA-1 support is very limited currently. This will allow full support, besides the addition of MSU-1 on top.

3:48 pm

So that is nice.

3:48 pm

Romhacks will get good and weird over the next decade.

I should really be following that; the only MSU-specific stuff I have on hand that isn't just a music replacement is Super Road Blaster and Conker's High Rule Tale

I haven't even used my SD2SNES yet, let alone load MSU games on it

I understand the Link to the Past hack also includes the animated video from the Japanese TV commercials? but I don't have it, because (hot take alert) I don't really like Zelda games very much.

MSU is fun to dabble with but the bulk of it is people ripping orchestrated soundtracks or whatever and putting that in, in my experience

3:52 pm

Which can be fun, but I dunno, they are big downloads!

yeah, and the quality of that can vary wildly

I think someone used MSU-1 to try and re-implement some of the Satellaview streaming audio functionality

3:53 pm

which is cool

I think some of the satelliview hacks for Zelda use some recordings from the original broadcasts (or re-recordings or translations), which is a cool use

the Super Metroid one that uses Blake Robinson's orchestral album is pretty solid and consistent, but there's an F-Zero one that pretty much just dumps in F-Zero X's music and it doesn't feel right

Beaten haha

hahaha

Yes, I messed with the satellaview stuff a bit as well. Very, very cool.

I'll also give MSU-1 this much - the Sailor Moon S music hack for it is far better than the original Super Famicom covers

3:54 pm

music from the tv show's cd soundtrack beats the heck out of those flat, limp versions they had there

Oh but there is the Rock n Roll Racing hack that puts in the actual songs in place of the Blizzard cover versions, IMO is an objective improvement to the game (even if it makes Larry very hard to hear)

I prefer the original for RnR Racing

3:55 pm

But that's nostalgia for you

Though I'm half-tempted to look into how to convert audio myself so I can sub in entirely different tracks

NWA Racing

As far as Deep Purple goes, Highway Star has been done, hardly anybody uses Burn.

I did play through nearly all of Super Road Blaster, which is just a bonkers thing to exist across the board.

I would not be opposed to more obscure 80s laserdisc games getting msu-1 ports

just wait till doomsday is done!

msu projects can be a little bit of a mess to follow, as well. I understand they are largely labors of love

4:17 pm

But I just checked in an it appears DKC3 got a fairly decent update two weeks back, but it is still called "1.0" like the previously release so almost didn't notice it.

4:17 pm

https://www.zeldix.net/t1598-donkey-kong-country-3#30016

Donkey Kong Country 3

Patch: http://bszelda.zeldalegends.net/stuff/Con/dkc3_msu1_patch.zip Orchestrated PCM Set by daniloroxette: https://mega.nz/#!MIgCRTjY!GfRKoqtzDTv-GAzE5xBt9wUk

4:18 pm

So I guess I'll just name it "1.0 2019-2-5" or something?

4:19 pm

(also I'm not even a huge fan of the DKC games, but I am interested in messing about with the music?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08g86MAuVvY

Kurrono Kei

Bubsy msu1

4:50 pm

welp

4:50 pm

Is msu1 remix music and part genesis music

4:50 pm

so an abomination on all fronts

4:56 pm

I see Kurrono also did a Shaq-fu msu release

4:56 pm

A person of class, clearly

I wonder if the bigger fpga in the upcoming sd2snes revision make it possible to use compressed audio

5:24 pm

That’ll make it easier to distribute and gather in a collection

S-DD1 does resource compression, no idea how kind it is to working with other chips though

5:26 pm

But that is how Star Ocean and Alpha 2 have been available in spots that don't support it, just do the decompression ahead of time with a much larger rom.

5:27 pm

"The S-DD1 mediates between the Super NES's Ricoh 5A22 CPU and the game's ROM via two buses. However, the controlling 5A22 processor may still request normal, uncompressed data from the game's ROM even if the S-DD1 is already busy with a decompression operation. This form of parallelism allows sprite data to be decompressed while other types of data are quickly passed to the main CPU."

5:28 pm

And no idea if it could be hijacked for audio

Thats exactly how emulators started to be able to support s-dd1

5:28 pm

Well

But yeah, might be possible

Unconpressong beforehand

I think that is the aspect of this stuff I find the most interesting?

5:30 pm

Stuff that was completely possible at the time, just didn't happen because time or budget restrictions, or simply nobody thought to use something a certain way.

5:30 pm

Or a project never completed, etc, etc

the shogi coprocessor games are neat, I had no idea they did that.. are there any go games that do something similar, or was that too early?

8:47 pm

(the earliest nintendo go playing program I know of is for the DS, but I wouldnt be surprised if something existed earlier)

8:48 pm

oh wait Hikaru no Go for the GBA

Yes, BPS put one out that uses the SA-1

huh, wonder how strong it is

I imported the cart and play it from time to time switching between the original cart and sd2snes to see if I can find any bias that might exist in the sd2snes implementation. Nothing noticed so far, but I am also not a world class Go player or anything.

8:50 pm

Taikyoku Igo: Idaten

oooh famicom! https://www.ebay.com/itm/FC-NES-Jang-Doo-Jins-Baduk-Clinic-Korean-Original-Famicom-Game-Ultra-Rare-/171156376433

[FC NES] Jang Doo Jin's Baduk Clinic (Korean Original Famicom Game...

Jang Doo Jin's Baduk Clinic. Genre : Baduk. Platform : Nintendo Famicom (FC, NES). If you have USA NES, You need the converter. Language : Korean. Manufacturer : Golden Bell CO.,LTD. | eBay!

(Not to be confused with Taikyoku Igo: Goliath, the previous game which does not use a coprocessor)

looks like they played something around mid kyu?

8:52 pm

not bad

related, I need to get one of these sets sometime https://www.nintendo.co.jp/others/igo/index.html

囲碁｜Nintendo

囲碁をご紹介します。

Nintendo manufactures Go sets? I suppose I'm not surprised

10:08 pm

I mean I literally imported the Mario Hanafuda this year

10:08 pm

(Maybe someday I'll learn how to play games with it.)

Hanafuda is fun and easy, just need to get friends over

I tried a Klondike variant with them, but it's hard to remember what order the months go in

10:10 pm

I suppose Koi Koi would be easier to handle since the order seems less relevant compared to picture matching and remembering all the special hands

There are a few hanafuda SFC games as well, which I found as I was sorting out various Japanese only categories to find all the Go games. I can't speak to the quality of any of them though as I barely know how to play.

11:13 pm

Gionbana
Hanafuda Ou
Honke Hanafuda
Nichibutsu Collection 1
Super Hanafuda
Super Hanafuda 2

(edited)

I have seen some hanafuda driven visual novel I think, dunno where

I also have a complete list of Mahjong, Shanghai (separated from mahjong proper), Pachi-slot, Shougi, and Sokoban... if uh... anyone ever needed.

11:16 pm

In a salaryman folder

Maybe put it up on SNESCentral, or something

Maybe if I ever got through them all. I was spending a few minutes with them and rating them on stuff like language barrier and overall goodness, but there are a lot of games..

11:20 pm

11:21 pm

There are 66 pachi-slot games alone, with a reasonably decent chance I missed some. (edited)

Oh Japan

the go list would be interesting

Honkakuha Igo - Gosei (Japan).sfc
Igo Club (Japan).sfc
Othello World (Japan).sfc
Rin Kaihou Kudan no Igo Taidou (Japan).sfc
Shinzui Taikyoku Igo - Go Sennin (Japan).sfc
Super Gomoku Narabe - Renju (Japan).sfc
Super Igo - Go Ou (Japan).sfc
Table Game Daishuugou!! (Japan).sfc
Taikyoku Igo - Goliath (Japan).sfc
Taikyoku Igo - Idaten (Japan).sfc
Takemiya Masaki Kudan no Igo Taishou (Japan).sfc

Super Gomoku Narabe would be gomoku, just using the same pieces

11:57 pm

but wow thats a lot

11:58 pm

and Othello World is not related

I forget how I broke down Othello stuff, I thought I separated them, but I guess not?

I wonder if The Path of Go is the only english go console game that's been released

12:01 am

(its neat, too... internal msft project that they built a little game around and released on xbla)

https://www.mobygames.com/game-group/genre-board-game-go-weiqi let's see!

Genre: Board game - Go / Weiqi

oooh

ooh so close, but it's Italian

Go Net is a conversion of the popular board game Go, which allows the player to play online against distant opponents through the game's network service. Unlike most Meganet titles, it ran through Ai-System's independently-run paid service, which continued to be operational well after Sega's own Meganet service was discontinued.

12:04 am

neat

12:05 am

huh and the other Genesis title, Sansan, also had network play!

12:05 am

wonder why that CD-i go game was only released in Italy (edited)

12:05 am

lol

12:07 am

http://www.ricbit.com/mundobizarro/hikaru.php

Nice

looks like that project has been at a standstill for a couple years... nothing new on the repo or romhacking either

12:11 am

http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=27078.0

Hikaru no Go translation (GBA)

Does Moby not have much japanese only stuff listed?

12:13 am

And since we are all the way down the rabbit hole here, I only learned this recently about the whole igo / go thing so might as well share

12:13 am

Well, the main kanji used to refer to the game in Japan is 碁 which is pronounced go. The i- 囲 is a prefix which means "surrounding" and is not just used with the game of Go but is also used with other composite words -- sometimes with the alternate pronunciation kako especially when used as a verb -- such as ijou 囲繞 (surrounding/enclosure), ishou 囲障 (fence), and kakomikiji 囲み記事 (a column in a newspaper). In almost all compound nouns that are Go-related, you only see the go kanji 碁 used. For example, goban 碁盤 (go board), goishi 碁石 (go stones), rengo 連碁 (pair Go), shidougo 指導碁 (teaching Go), and in titles like Gosei 碁聖. They all use go 碁 because that is the name of the game!

hey I read that!

12:14 am

was on /r/baduk I think

Yep. One of those things I always wondered, but never enough to actually find out, and then there is the answer.

yeah, same

12:16 am

makes internet searching rough

12:17 am

I never say baduk, but thats always the word I search with

12:21 am

(its such a good game, if any of ya havent played)

Most of the Japanese exclusive stuff I see on Moby is...uh...PC 98, let's put it that way

yeah.

To the point where it's sometimes easier to get a piece of info from Gamefaqs than from anywhere else

moby is only as good as its contributors, and of the two people who contributed a lot of japanese exclusive games Lynx liked his porn games, and the other one liked being a drama queen who felt like the admins "owed" them something for how much they contributed

@Eris Co howd things go with the Space Wars cabinet?

@Chris A haven't tried it yet. Gonna stop by today and take a closer look

I have good news on the Space Wars machine! We found the key and it turns out it actually does power on

Awesome

The guts look to be in good condition as well

6:05 pm

The only issue now is I don't know how to start a game. Triggering the coin slots doesn't seem to do anything and there no response when I use the keyboard. Not sure if something is broken or if it is a configuration issue

6:06 pm

But it's still cool to see it working. My picture of the screen is blurry but the vector screen still looks great

6:09 pm

I think this is the serial number?

Very cool!!

In case you don't have it - https://www.arcade-museum.com/manuals-videogames/S/Space_Wars_Manual.pdf

7:28 pm

A lot of hand drawn goodness, but I don't think the warranty information will be of any help.

Jesus though... I don't even see any dust on the innards. That is pristine.

@Teddy Hey do you run your mister through your OSSC?

7:43 pm

I'm trying to figure out why i'm not getting a picture on my PVM when I go through the OSSC as i want to dual output to my HDTV and my PVM like my other systems

7:43 pm

it's gotta be something the ossc is doing

I do not

7:43 pm

are you going VGA -> VGA?

Yeah VGA out to VGA in on the OSSC

Hmm, are you using the VGPerfection kit?

i get a picture on my hdtv, but nothing on the PVM.

7:44 pm

Nope what's that?

Oh sorry, I just had a brain fart

7:45 pm

MiSTer!

oh i just might have found the issue...

for some reason that registered as RetroTink in my head

http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=34903

ah

7:49 pm

work?

hmmm no unfortunately

Oh so jealous

8:00 pm

Spacewar is legit one of my favorite games. Even wearing the T-shirt today

For whatever reason, I think a lot of those hand drawn schematics in the manual would make good poster art. (edited)

Wow @Eris Co, that looks beautiful. If Space Wars has a play meter (little mechanical counter near the near on the inside of the cabinet), would be neat to see the numbers

8:25 pm

I love these old manuals

so i remembered (again) today, that the RF modulator I'm using on my TV has an S-Video jack. And then I remembered I haven't tested the S-Video output on my win98 machine's Geforce 5200.

9:56 pm

And uhhhh it works

9:56 pm

It'll even do DOS games! .....up to a point

9:58 pm

DOS text-mode is fine (like the BIOS) but VGA mode X does some interesting things to it

9:59 pm

i'd installed Quake to test on it but that had about the same problem - as soon as it's done ScanDisking (for unrelated reasons), I'm gonna see if a VESA game will work - I've got Duke Atomic queued up

10:00 pm

but apparently it tested so poorly in the ScanDisk that it's having to do a full surface scan - the joys of Win98/Fat32

I used to play emulators out of my windows xp laptop that had s-video all the dang time

10:05 pm

I mean these days I'll die before I play 240p games interpreted as 480i but I didn't know better at the time

The line between good enough convenience and being true to the source material is one I will probably be redrawing until the end of my days, if I were to guess.

duke3d works surprisingly well

10:41 pm

it just needs to be running in a SuperVGA mode

10:42 pm

now ideally I'd have a proper VGA monitor hooked up to this, but the one VGA monitor I've got is nearly missing its red color channel, probably a cable break somewhere, I'm not the kind of guy that can really diagnose it

i also used to use a lot of s-video out back in the day

8:51 pm

goood times

8:51 pm

i also spent inordinate amounts of time learning how to reencode video and making VCDs out of DVD-rips

8:52 pm

in order to watch pirated movies on a real TV instead of a small computer monitor

I'd wager about 75% of the anime I've watched, was watched through s video output on this exact video card, because the colors are so much nicer and it serves to hide the compression artifacts typical of bit torrent DVD rips from ~2006

oh yeah, old stuff on youtube looked so much nicer

10:13 pm

I was doing it on my sony pvm

I can get a similar effect these days hooking up my PS3 by composite and running the YouTube app on it

10:14 pm

Even those really old videos that are 240p-only look quite nice that way

10:15 pm

(That's also the best way to put said videos on VHS, just in case you have some bizarre use case for that

)

I got an extron emotia and the necessary cabling so in theory I can do the cleanest video possible to the PVM, but what I didn't see documented anywhere is that it actually introduces some bizarre color...banding? I don't know the term for it. if you watch a video it looks like it was compressed down to 256 colors or something

Ooh, Amazon shipped the SG30 controller I preordered at the same time as my Anaologue SG

Looks like mine did as well. Still mildly bummed that it is the 2.4G model so no support for the other controllers.

2:34 am

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MSWGSJY/

2:34 am

Looks like they are making a bluetooth receiver though

2:35 am

I still need to look into how meaningful of a difference it makes, if at all.

2:37 am

Lag free!!!

2:37 am

Well with three exclamation marks I am convinced. (edited)

2:37 am

Two I would have had my doubts.

M30 arrived which has lead to the discovery that sadly I think my mega drive is no longer posting video. Will have to do more testing on it.

1:03 am

However, surprised to learn that the d-pad is much closer in style to Saturn

1:04 am

Haven't gotten to spend any real play time with it so wouldn't go as far as calling it genuine or anything but from shoving my thumb around it is in the ballpark (edited)

1:09 am

The japanese style, to be clear. Model 2? I can never remember.

1:11 am

Yes, Model 2. Which now looking side-by-side should have been obvious but I'll be honest and say I didn't look at it very closely.

@SoH I have the M30s preordered

5:33 pm

I'll probably go bluetooth on a pair of retrobit controllers though

I have a wired retrobit, but looks like I am going to have to wait for the SG to come out to put any real work on them, unfortunately.

5:38 pm

The interesting difference is you know how the model 2 style dpad has more of a center swivel feel?

5:39 pm

The 8bitdo is clearly still using cardinal direction contacts and you can feel them make contact, which give it a sort of tactile feel not present in the original.

5:40 pm

I should crack it open and take some pics, I am really curious

5:43 pm

Unfortunately uses an extremely small torx screw that I don't believe I have a bit for

5:48 pm

I think this could be a better avenue for them if only because the nature of the way they make their dpads is more mush oriented, so the disc at least gives it a more natural feel

5:48 pm

Compared to the harsher diagonals of a nintendo dpad

...What was the name of that wireless receiver for PS2 that enables one to use a dual shock 4 on it? I want to buy one

I thought you needed to modify your PS2 to do that?

7:06 pm

7:07 pm

It uses 8bitdo's standard dpad contacts, but also you can't remove the disc itself as it has a swivel point in the center

@Corwin "weasel" Brence http://wololo.net/2014/05/05/your-ds3-and-ds4-can-be-used-to-control-your-ps2/

jankee

Your DS3 And DS4 Can Be Used To Control Your PS2 - Wololo.net

The above picture shows that you can use your DualShock 4 controller on your PS3. What if you could use that same controller on an even older PlayStation console generation? What if, has become...

That works in theory but I have not actually seen any game loader integrate that.

7:47 pm

So it's more of a proof of concept.

7:47 pm

Would be nice though.

I swore I asked the same question in here a month ago, turns out I did and was linked to this: https://www.focusattack.com/brook-super-converter-ps3-ps4-to-ps2-ps1-adapter/

Brook Super Converter: PS3/PS4 to PS2/PS1 Adapter

Allows your PS2 controllers to function in PS3 or PS4 - all without need for authorization!

7:49 pm

Hat tip to Borman

Hah

Uh... Isn't that a PS2 to PS4 as opposed to your question which was the other way around? (edited)

Yeah but they make ones that work in reverse

The link description here seems to indicate it's the other way around, but the description and reviews on the page says it's for using DS3/4 on a PS2 (edited)

Hooked up an original xbox I got at a garage sale 8 years ago but never bothered to turn on until today and this was sitting in it. How much longer do I have left to live?

5:02 pm

1

depends on how much vodka you bought

if the playlist includes bawita you will have seven years of good luck. If the playlist includes nookie you will have seven years of bad luck.

3

2:47 am

if both then you have been selected as the next president of Xbox

From the window, to the wall

@Gus Lanzetta by chance i actually played about an hour or two of Burnout 3 over the weekend

so I'm wandering ebay looking for handheld PCs for some reason, and this came up https://ebay.us/E8sBHj

Christmas offer Vintage MSX AX170 Al Alamiah sakhr صخر rare sak...

MSX AX170 Al Alamiah. Sakhr AX-170 1986 Middle East. So this device is very rare and very valuable. Contains device AX 170 on five programs including 2 - English Writing Program. | eBay!

5:28 am

an Arabic MSX

Middle East was big on MSX

Don't suppose anybody knows someone with a spare Dexter Laserdisc Replacement they would want to sell?

9:52 pm

Have a Dragon's Lair 2 I need it for.

I've been shopping around a bit and probably everdrive x7, but I don't actually own one so I'd wait to hear from more folks than myself

10:17 pm

X7 supports SMS FM sound, which the X5 and X3 do not, though I have no idea how pervasive that particular feature is

i have an x7, it's nice

I am also half considering just picking up the much cheaper X5 and then upgrading a few years from now if another revision happens.

you probably dont neeeeeeed it over an x5 but i like having the big strong one that does all the everything

MD doesn't really have any chips or mappers so I don't know what a revision would do but who knows.

virtua racing

As soon as I get one someone will figure out some mystery pin that allows loading sega cd isos requiring a revision (edited)

they could theoretically put out a revision solely to support virtua racing, but i doubt it

10:22 pm

(even then they could probably just push an update on the x7 that handles it but i dont know anything about how the svp chip works so who knows)

Yeah, I don't get overly concerned with buyer's remorse. I also half expect a jailbreak to come to the mega sg so a flashcart for me is just going to be for the convenience to go back to original hardware so that is more of the factor in deciding how much I want to pay.

10:24 pm

Save states aren't a huge deal for me either, but they can be nice. (edited)

I need to get a new GBA flashcart -_-

I have an X7 and the biggest draw for me is the save states

I hope you all enjoy the Everdrive GBA X7 that is sure to be announced this year since I just ordered the X5

2

any kind of hardware expansions to the genesis would probably be too much for a simple flashcart to handle, honestly

6:34 am

neither the CD nor 32X were exactly one-chip solutions after all

6:34 am

and the only reason the everdrives can run the SMS stuff is because the genesis kinda already has all that hardware in it to start with

6:35 am

that said, the SMS compatibility doesn't include the FM board or some known differences in the VDP that mean it won't run a lot of game gear or sg1000 games correctly, even though it can technically load and play them

6:37 am

which obliges me to post S̰̩̙L͇̜̕Ị͍̰D͘E͉̹͞R̟̟̩ https://i.imgur.com/WlGmsZe.jpg

PS Classic is down to $36.99 today. Is it salvageable via modding? I stopped following the info being released around it. Was curious if anyone here picked one up to experiment...

$40 seems to be the new going price. I saw it at Best Buy for that much this weekend

Even though apparently the SNES Classic runs PS games better than the PS Classic, the latter is now a better deal? (edited)

I would assume you could get a similar if not slightly better level of performance out of the PS classic by using a more up-to-date emulator on that too.

8:40 pm

But really.

8:41 pm

Just use a Raspberry Pi or whatever.

yeah ^ the value here is that you get a decent non-dualshock controller and a form factor that's kind of cool if you like that sort of thing, the guts aren't really doing much for you

I believe it was tricky to find a flash drive that would work, no idea if that improved at all

Thanks! I've talked myself out of it.

8:59 pm

With your assistance, of course.

I think mainly the audience for hacking it is people who still get a kick out of side-loading software onto hardware that wasn't meant for it, I think I'm like 100% over that now unless it's a toaster or whatever

9:01 pm

there's enough game-specific hardware for this sort of thing now that there's no real reason to reuse other things

Agreed, same reason I have yet to pull the trigger. Having a hard time finding a reason I really need to

would rather buy a console I don't have

i only want it because of those controllers

11:07 pm

for that reason i decided the price i'll bite at - if ever - is $20.

On that note...

11:23 pm

Just received today. Feels really solid.

11:23 pm

Haven't tested yet.

https://twitter.com/analogue/status/1106571034197520385

https://twitter.com/PCBrown/status/1106361848239030273

Mega Sg is shipping early. March 25th, 2019. (1/4)

Likes

124

3:41 pm

Launching early

Whoa! That's great news.

The reference manual in that Twitter thread is super robust. I don't recall that for the Super Nt.

Yeah, seems pretty informative. I think snt had a little booklet in the box? Can't remember (edited)

5:34 pm

Maybe that was just in the 8bitdo controller

5:38 pm

Peter Brown (@PCBrown)

Once more, with big brother and the safety mat to account for empty space under the Mega SG.

Likes

121

5:38 pm

Hehe

Does anyone else find their "Engineered with FPGA. No Emulation" tag line disingenuous?

it's playing in to this weird bias that's emerging right now that believes that software emulation is by nature an inferior way of interpreting hardware

6:12 pm

a bias that is gaining so much popularity I'm hearing it inside of Digital Eclipse, the place where our literal business is software emulation

6:13 pm

software emulation on hardware that was built for it with no OS overhead etc. would be practically identical to this minus maybe a frame of input delay

They couldn't really sell that though, especially with all the licenses at play. But it is really sad to hear that bias is starting to take old as software emulation is still nearly identical to the actual system (depending on priorities) plus once all those carts die... It'll be the only reliable way to access the games.

well, no, fpga can still read the software off of other media

Okay - flash cart with FPGA hardware.

don't even need flash cart

6:18 pm

just an sd card is enough on everything so far

At that point, it is literally complete emulation from game to console..

it's just a different type of emulation, but it's one that is a lot more limiting if you want to do much more than just playing the game as intended

you are going to quickly get into the semantics of "emulation" when starting that debate

Plus the "pay to play" price is much higher.

6:20 pm

Good point, Bunnyboy. Sorry.

and it's also IMO exclusively going to be the domain of cart collectors and pirates, which is fine, I pirate the hell out of ROMs

6:21 pm

but you're never going to have "fpga" in a widely adopted commercial platform, I can't imagine like, microsoft putting that hardware into an xbox or whatever

until its part of the intel chipset

I understand their desire to distinguish from like a cheap Android emu box, I just wish they could find a way to market it that doesn't give me the hard side eye

tbh I think this is specifically a dig at polymega

Yeah, which they foolishly tried to bite back, if you saw

I did not

Let me dig it up. It was beyond silly

If you required an expensive FPGA console to play C64, SNES, or whatever games, I wouldn't have gotten preservation at all. Anyway...

6:24 pm

Byuu had a good primer on this very topic, but I can't find it since he purged his website.

https://www.twitter.com/polymegaHQ/status/1105503624128421889?s=19

POLYMEGA

POLYMEGA on Twitter

“@QuartrGuy Get smart, FPGA on its own is fraught with limitations. The makers of the Mega Sg even tried to blame Sega for the technological shortcomings of their "amazing" FPGA system. Wake us up when it's compatible with 32X and 32XCD and don't have to spend an extra $100...

6:27 pm

https://www.twitter.com/polymegaHQ/status/1105524741262065670

POLYMEGA

POLYMEGA on Twitter

“@kuliddar @QuartrGuy True, but they and their gestapo have been on the attack for well over 2 years now and every time we tweet something we have to deal with the fallout of the venom they have put in the well against the very high quality work done by our team. Calling BS...

6:28 pm

Just.. stop. Stop.

oh, jeez

6:29 pm

I'm also in this weird situation with the foundation and these guys. they asked if we'd be willing to take a cut of their profits as a donation and we of course said sure, so now people think we're working directly with them or whatever

6:30 pm

I've never even seen the thing, literally all we said was "sure, we'll accept donations from you"

Polymega?

6:32 pm

They don't seem to even have a product yet.

Tribalism in niche upon niche is going to give me heart disease because I'm too much of a fool to ignore it.

The problem with PolyMega

10:25 pm

it had most of its advertising on hybrid emulation and FPGA

10:25 pm

and then ditches it

10:26 pm

I can understand that stuff changes

10:26 pm

But that was the argument that got people curious

10:27 pm

however way to dig themselves lol

IMO it was kind of a short-sighted idea to try that hybrid approach at all, let alone announce it. it doesn't make sense for the kind of product they're trying to make.

That said PolyMega does have one argument: It does play a lot of systems

10:29 pm

But that's about it

2:29 pm

https://www.retrorgb.com/krikzz-joyzz-vs-8bitdo-m30-2-4g-vs-8bitdo-m30-bluetooth-input-latency-lag-testing.html

Todd Gill

Krikzz Joyzz vs 8bitdo M30 2.4g vs 8bitdo M30 Bluetooth Input Late...

I recently spotted a post by a member of SmokeMonster's Discord by the name of Enforcer that had been doing some input latency (lag) testing on the Krikzz Joyzz 6 button Sega Genesis/Megadrive gamepad. He had just finished testing the 8bitdo M30 2.4g controller when he made a...

2:29 pm

spoilers: about a frame. Checks out from my own non-scientific testing.

To be blunt, does anyone else think the Google Stadia controller is even more insipid than the Steam one?

The Steam controller is actually quite fine, but not for games that have native controller support.

10:03 pm

Super nice for emulating a mouse.

10:03 pm

But if the game has actual controller support just use any of the available 'standard' controllers.

10:04 pm

I mean, right? Most controllers these days are basically the same thing, give or take a small bit. What's even the point of releasing yet another one in the same vein. (edited)

I love the steam controller for even a lot of games that are built for traditional controls. The touch pads + fine tune aiming with gyro support works really well. It just takes effort to actually get it working properly with most games. Either in building your own profile and tweaking it until it's just right, or finding a good community one. I'd be very much on board with a v2 of the steam controller with an increase in build quality. Doubt it'll ever happen, but as it is, I use it quite a bit.

10:11 pm

the problem with the controller really is the same problem gaming in PC has always had: the "works out of the box" experience is really lacking

I should have worded it more concisely: the Steam controller was trying to solve a problem, the Google Stadia one looks more like what you'd find in a high end SoujaBoy console. (edited)

"soujaboy console"

It's not going away, is it? New term

Haha... I was going to say "Famiclone" but thought that'd be funnier!

The irony would be in Soulja Boy going after us for trademark infringement

It's giving me an OUYA vibe, for sure.

I like this design https://www.ebay.com/itm/273691076073

AB Allen-Bradley 6160T53 B T53 Programming Terminal w/ Keyboard 5 ...

Cat No. 6160T53 B. Allen Bradley. Includes keyboard (F2 cap is missing but key still works). A 5D = w/ keyboard. Floppy Drive. Ask us anything. | eBay!

Mega Sg has arrived

2

10:23 am

Still waiting for the controllers, for some reason amazon.de and amazon.co.uk could not sell the M30 to me in the Netherlands..so I bought them from another vendor on amazon.co.uk because the world makes no sense

According to the tracking #, mine should be here Wed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq5eQhCN6Co

RGB317 :: Analogue Mega Sg - The Ultimate Sega Genesis? / MY LIFE ...

Looks like its pretty thorough in covering all of the genesis/mega drive bases weirdness and curiosities

3:52 pm

Game compatibility: great with cartridges, sega cd could use some work.

Does Virtua Racing work

Yes

Cool.

I didn't know they were making cartridge adapters for SMS

So many video options with these consoles... I almost wish there was WiFi enabled and each game had a "use recommended settings" option...

6:29 pm

(also recognizing that many of the settings are very much user preference...)

So, after about 30 minutes of playing with it

7:51 pm

Audio is going to be big factor for people here

7:52 pm

It’s very very clear, and that is what makes a big difference if you’re used to playing through original hardware

7:53 pm

First game I put in was streets of rage 2 and I was completely put off at first from the audio

7:53 pm

It sounded alien to me

I can't wait for tastes to gradually shift away from perfectly clear digital audio to something a little more filtered, the same way that people are starting to kinda maybe sorta not want perfect pixels

7:56 pm

luckily adding a low pass filter over the digital audio is pretty trivial

I enabled the low pass filter and it’s an improvement to my ears

oh it's built in, awesome

It still sounds mixed differently a bit to my ears though

I like the brave wave approach to doing soundtracks too: they record the signal from the stock console and apply those equalizer deltas to a clean digital recording so you get depth without quality loss (edited)

Yeah there are apparently some options to change the audio on it, and possibly some hope of more options in the future?

It’s something I’m hoping some knowledgeable people are going to pour some time in to get nice settings

8:01 pm

Dither mode has been unimpressive so far

8:01 pm

It did not look nice in the club scene in the first stage of streets of rage 2

In terms of sharpness compared to a original console through an OSSC

8:58 pm

The Mega Sg does win, but only just

8:59 pm

Though it’s definitely very distinctive in sonic

8:59 pm

Does anyone have an image of the control panel of a hyper neo geo 64 cab?

Frank, has Brave Wave written or spoken anywhere in detail about their process, or do you just know that because you're you?

9:23 pm

i have most of their releases but admit i haven't read the liner notes on some of them.

I talked with someone on twitter about it who did the work, not privately just some back and forth messaging

neat thx! i've installed FireBrandx's audio amp mod on one of my model 1 Genesis consoles...and to be honest I might just remove it. I did recordings before and after and I prefer the before :/

that's interesting

could be user error? iunno. i meant to reach out to him about it to see what he thought.

9:26 pm

my motivation was to bypass the volume slider / headphone jack. so it's still an improvement overall to have RCA jacks in the back. (edited)

I have one of those RGB cables that just takes audio from the headphone jack

Yeah thats what I used too.

10:11 am

I can understand not liking the change after installing his mod, he seems to be really wanting something clean for audio but thats a personal preference with this system.

It sounded muddier to me, actually. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

5:28 pm

does anyone here know serious arcade collectors. I have a lead on a Nintendo Space Fever Color, in working condition. nyc area.

was told it was very valuable (thousands of US dollars), but now I've been shown some conflicting info https://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=397472

Is it emulated?

i've seen references to dumps online. no idea if this one happens to be a different revision, etc.

10:33 pm

there's a color version of the game and B&W. both are dumped.

Good!

1

https://twitter.com/db_cowan/status/1110949932205305856

sardoose (@db_cowan)

Did you know that URBAN OUTFITTERS made a game console? We managed to get our hands on one, and we're streaming it tonight at 7 pm CT! This thing...is more bizarre than you could possibly imagine. You're seriously not ready for this. https://t.co/vseUtr7m0X

Is it a rebranded Chintendo Vii?

those controllers look like they couldn't decide whether to rip off a wii or a playstation so they just did both

I saw this and idk if it's been discussed, but if M2 is making it I have some faith

12:41 pm

https://twitter.com/SEGA_Europe/status/1111968818203643904

SEGA Europe (@SEGA_Europe)

The iconic SEGA Mega Drive returns September 19, 2019, with our lovingly crafted SEGA Mega Drive Mini for £69.99/€79.99! Simply plug-in and play 40 of the console's legendary titles, 10 of which we're announcing today. Learn more and pre-order today: https://t.co/kdth...

12:43 pm

also seems eerily well-timed based on the discussions in here lol

12:47 pm

https://www.engadget.com/2019/03/30/genesis-mini-release-date-sonic-2/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer_us=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_cs=N6NZaLe4mOmq1gO1fwv5yw

Sega Genesis Mini will launch on September 19th with 40 games

'Sonic 2,' 'Gunstar Heroes' and 'Castlevania Bloodlines' are already confirmed for the Genesis Mini.

Yuzo Koshiro doing the menu music too

4:10 pm

(they should just confirm back for SoR4 while they are at it)

I think it's interesting there are more games in this cheaper collection https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/sega-genesis-classics-switch

SEGA Genesis Classics

Learn more details about SEGA Genesis Classics for Nintendo Switch and take a look at gameplay screenshots and videos.

4:24 pm

Why not just match the volume of games?

M2 emulation is worth the premium I reckon

4:31 pm

I forget who did that collection.

4:33 pm

I'm not saying the price is wrong, you're still getting hardware and a controller. Just interesting they wouldn't bring over game selection parity to something available on most consoles right now.

4:34 pm

Nintendo's mini consoles might not have been as successful if they had game collections readily available.

That colllection is really cruddy emulation

4:39 pm

Its pretty unbelievable how badly things are implemented

4:40 pm

Screen shimmering all over the place

4:40 pm

All screen sizes seem wrong

I imagine, even cheap, hardware adjusts pricing in all sorts of crazy ways too. I'd personally rather just have this as an app I download as well but I get kitschy appeal.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but, to date, every single multi-franchise Genesis bundle has had objectively bad emulation, right?

12:49 am

Like, PS 1-4 got two good releases

12:49 am

Genesis Sonic's had a few good rereleases

12:49 am

but anything that's a grab bag has just been the cheapest emulation they could fund. (edited)

Just about. The only good emulation of genesis stuff really seems to be when m2 does it. Plus if this selection means you get really good stuff like Castlevania bloodlines it’s already worthwhile

Completely speculating, but I expect Bloodlines to be included in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, so Bloodlines may finally have its moment this year

new hardware... https://stoneagegamer.com/blog/say-hello-to-the-sagbox/

Say Hello to the SAG-BOX

We here at Stone Age Gamer are always looking for new, exciting products to help people enjoy the games they love. From EverDrives to BitBoxes, our crack team of engineers has worked around the clock for decades to ensure our products are of the highest quality imaginable. (H...

3:39 pm

spoiler: it's April 1st

I doubt it

8:23 pm

It's about the same timing as the Super NT jailbreak, and it's not promising anything crazy

8:27 pm

Yeah it's so similar to SMS

8:27 pm

Surprised to see SG-1000 didn't make it over

SG-1000 works I think

8:29 pm

at least from an everdrive x7 SG-1000 stuff booted fine on a non jb Sg

On NT Mini jailbreak it's its own core I think

Nice

https://github.com/SmokeMonsterPacks/Mega-Sg-Jailbreak/blob/master/Mega%20Sg%20Unofficial%20Jailbreak%20Supplement%20JBv7.3.pdf

SmokeMonsterPacks/Mega-Sg-Jailbreak

Custom "Jailbreak" firmware for the Analogue Mega Sg - SmokeMonsterPacks/Mega-Sg-Jailbreak

Besides save states you’re getting something on par with the everdrive x7 with the SG now

8:41 pm

Except for save states (edited)

not having a cart sticking out is legitimately worth money to me

The jailbreak can load different Sega CD bioses as well, just like the x7

I had my fingers crossed that Mega CD ISO support would be part of this, but that's probably a lot to ask

From what I understand there is more to it than just a drive

10:04 pm

Yeah

Yeah, the Sega CD has its own processor

Any sign that the core store is still open is good news to me

same, colecovision being on there is a sign from heaven

10:11 pm

a l'il wink

(very) small bit of disappoint it is on the sg and not the snt just because of the pad, but yes, a good sign all the same.

thank you to the anonymous author of this jailbreak who somehow knows enough about kevtris' completely closed architecture to support all of these features like a week after the system came out

10:12 pm

who is this mystery person

May we learn of their identity so we can thank them some day

10:13 pm

Was talking about that wired super controller with the buttons that work for coleco

oh the NT Pad or whatever

The current snes 8bitdo wireless controllers are Bluetooth (edited)

10:14 pm

So they won’t work with the m30 2.4g receiver anyway

I asked benj if he would make an NT joystick and he laughed at me

10:15 pm

er, NTT

10:15 pm

I know that's confusing cause Analogue NT

10:15 pm

I told him I wanted the numbers to be metal telephone buttons

Should’ve asked for a classic phone dial

In locating that picture I found this thing apparently konami put out. Never seen it before.

10:18 pm

programmable button macros?

xbox white/black buttons eat your heart out

10:19 pm

Seems like it, yeah

10:19 pm

Curious what that special button does

10:20 pm

Inputs the konami code perfectly

10:20 pm

Obv

all konami snes games have a hidden feature where the character turns to the camera and gives a thumbs up if you press the special button

I'd believe it

10:21 pm

16-bit psycho mantis appears and yells at you about your Super Castlevania progress

10:22 pm

(I'm not a MGS guy, just not my cup of tea, so I had to look up his name and I typed Metal Gwar Solid into google twice and now I want that game)

Such a shame though, you never were supposed to know it was Gwar in the american version.

10:24 pm

Gwar is just an epilogue in Japan

the thumbs up thing works in MGS but you have to rewire the SNES controller

10:25 pm

since it's CD-ROM they added Snake saying "GOOD." when you do it

Metal Gear Solid 2 is how I learned about Malice Mizer.

I know it is something not many will give a heck about but after some re-organizing I was able to get my SD card to play nice for swapping between JB and everdrive. You have to have BIOS files in two spots but not a big deal.

12:10 am

Now to just wait for someone with way better audio engineering chops than myself to come up with solid audio config, assuming those features have been sorted out now.

I think that's cool!

Just a heads up that the 2P port on the Sg on the latest firmware (official and jailbreak) is stuck in 3 button mode.

11:00 pm

No SF2 for you

Is that new, or did it ship that way?

I flashed back to 4.2, the firmware released shortly after launch, and the problem isn't there so appears to have broken in the latest (edited)

Are there any figures or data out there about battery life differences between the 3DS XL and the New 2DS XL? If the New gets better battery life, I'll want to grab one soon for an impending plane trip

http://www.capcomhomearcade.com/home

CAPCOM HOME ARCADE

Capcom began in Japan in 1979 as a manufacturer and distributor of electronic game machines. In 1983 Capcom Co., Ltd was founded and soon built a reputation for introducing cutting-edge technology and software to the video game market. Now an industry leader in the ...

4:22 pm

"You're just paying for the logo..." has never resonated more.

hey @Borman I'm curious; with the old hardware at the Strong what kind of preventative maintenance do you do? I know some folks are real sticklers about not changing electrolytic caps or similar such things unless they're giving you problems, but I kind of feel that after 30-40 years when dealing with custom or out of production chips that's not the best approach

Arcade games are the most likely to have caps and such changed regularly. We're working on identifying some more common flaws (ie Xbox caps) to do preventative maintenance on though. Either way, we would document when and why a change was done so that there is a log over time.

4:26 pm

For the most part we will keep things as original as possible if there isnt going to be harm done by doing so

4:27 pm

But its something that we're really just starting to think about.

4:27 pm

Things like belts on floppy drives need to be replaced, there just is no way around it.

makes sense. I started doing such a document with all the things I've had worked on after seeing the magfest presentation you were a part of back in January. This just came up for me fairly recently re: caps and voltage regulators, as I think some or all of them in my channel F are starting to go off (and either way, they're like 43 years old, so I'm unsure how much longer their useful life is)

4:30 pm

those Xbox caps are a menace

Yep, Channel F's are fickle. I had one of ours working, but it was a struggle. Intellivision gives me issues too. Part of it is just a manpower thing, Martin our arcade tech is the only one I would trust to do those sorts of things in house, my hand isnt steady enough for proper preservation work. But he has his hands full too.

I get that. It's a short list of people I'm willing to attempt to have work on my gear, and it doesn't include me

4:32 pm

the way intellivisions heat up, I do worry about leaving those things plugged in and running for long

Yeah I try not to leave anything plugged in

4:38 pm

We also pull batteries from as many things as we can, bar those that are sealed up tight (like iPods). Things slip by, but were making an effort for that

very good idea there

I may or may not have just bought one of those Konami Command controllers. Will report back with the hottest info on the Special button

8:31 pm

(though I took a look at the box and unfortunately it appears to be a turbo button)

My limited japanese: これを使うと”連射”や”自動繰り返し”を簡単に登録できるぞ！ "By using this, you can easily input 'rapid fire' or 'automatic repeat'!"

8:56 pm

I was really looking forward to seeing the thumbs up too.

9:01 pm

also I joined the MiSTer fam this week. That thing is rad.

If the direct interrupt input board drops and arcade cores continue/improve I am very likely to hop on the MiSTer bus.

11:00 pm

LL Cool Joy

11:00 pm

I knew it had a good name just was not coming to mind immediately

11:00 pm

And I'll finally build out a universal RJ45 arcade stick

11:01 pm

https://www.retrorgb.com/mister-ll-cool-joy-ultra-low-latency-controller-board-update.html

11:07 pm

I have pretty good solutions for everything else, but arcade hardware is the big one, for me.

11:11 pm

And I would rather contribute to patreons of people doing good work here than buying up arcade PCBs for a personal collection.

that board does look rad. too bad I already bought a prebuilt usb board from someone

5:17 pm

currently using bluetooth 8bitdo stuff and original controllers with cheapo USB adapters. Honestly I haven't had any major latency issues but apparently I'm not that picky (I'm playing on a modern TV too)

Yeah, it is mostly that software emulation already gets the job done for me. If I am going to bother with hardware emulation then might as well have all the advantages it offers.

5:21 pm

Hopefully it comes around.

Totally fair. bsnes is damn close to magic, and other emulators are catching up

5:22 pm

I'm mostly in this as an alternative to the pi as a retro mini-console, since emulation on the pi kinda sucks

5:23 pm

plus, I like to tinker.

5:23 pm

I'll take any excuse I can get to bust out my dremel and soldering iron

I've honestly unhooked my NES, SNES, PC Engine, and Genesis from my setup as I just don't even user them anymore with emulation and the MiSTer able to scratch my itch. Not selling them though.

Yeah, I was going to get an SD2SNES and ossc for my SFC, but the mister is substantially cheaper & more flexible

Yeah the MiSTer has really made some vast improvements in the past year.

I wonder how the analogue guys are feeling as it becomes more accessible.

and i've got a nice emulator frontend setup that looks all pretty, and I really enjoy playing old games and trying to get retroachivements.

5:26 pm

I think they missed a big opportunity with a plastic NT Mini. (edited)

5:31 pm

N64 might be the next console i can put to the side as it seems like emulation is making some good strides there to where it seems like we might get pretty accurate emulation in the next couple years.

5:31 pm

PS1 is nearly there too, closer than N64.

Is N64 emulation actually advancing?

Don't think i'll be unhooking my Dreamcast, PS2 or Phillips CD-I soon though

I was under the impression it was still kinda terrible.

It's a confusing mess for sure. Honestly I'm not even sure what the best way to go about doing it is currently. Depends on your hardware. This was recently accomplished for ARM64 hardware - https://www.bountysource.com/issues/63766562-bounty-write-an-arm64-dynarec

$2,155 Bounty on libretro/parallel-n64

[BOUNTY] Write an ARM64 DYNAREC

5:34 pm

I messed with Parallel N64 with Angrylion awhile back on my PC via Retroarch and I didn't notice bugs on the games I played, but it ran very slow unfortunately.

5:34 pm

i have an older i5 CPU though and it's not overclocked

I'd go mister if I felt the need to tinker..but I don't really want to

(edited)

http://www.lovehulten.com/yesterdayvision.html

yesterdayvision

Y E S T E R D A Y V I S I O N Hardwood monitor with built-in gaming features $2,799.00 (Excl. VAT & shipping)

9:55 am

all that love hulten stuff is gorrrgeous

2:00 pm

https://twitter.com/simoncarless/status/1112749875890925569

Simon Carless (@simoncarless)

Just got a fake Facebook ad (?!) for the Love Hulten R-Kaid-R for only $80, which reminded me how amazing it is. (Spoiler: it's not $80!) https://t.co/w0ZIMoi26m https://t.co/Q8CrKUuHOh

do things like that actually sell well?

I think you make up for volume with price with stuff like that

3:04 pm

It's Art

even if he is milling the brass parts its pretty simple construction

3:06 pm

yeah "sell well" means "sold out" here

There is a certain feeling of incongruous with a box costing several thousand hooked up to a pi.

3:10 pm

Maybe that leans elitist but can't help the feeling (edited)

3:12 pm

But my main concern with that amount of money is my expectation that shaders and resolution are going to increase in pace aging out the screen rapidly. (edited)

@Wietse van Bruggen Yeah it's nice with the Analogue consoles just... turning them on and loading up your roms and... that's it!

3:15 pm

MiSTer has gotten much easier lately though

3:15 pm

Love that you can do analog and hdmi with it.

3:15 pm

(depends if the core supports analog properly though)

ive always wanted a more art based business, but not something that is just putting plastic into a laser cutter like rose colored gaming

Yeah I can see you heading that direction, especially with the metal work you do

it does remind me that i always wanted a full-metal keyboard

3:54 pm

maybe that would be able to take the sheer amount of abuse that my machine gun-like typing doles out

but who is going to pay artwork prices for a 2" tall SMB sprite made with (fake) diamonds?

I do feel like people are pretty into buying more crap that plays old games, maybe you could rebrand the AVS as an artsy desktop OLED NES

i would guess a generic arm+emulator goes into everything like that

4:06 pm

how about a diamond gamepad

@bunnyboy I agree but you could take carts, that's your advantage

Arm, emulator, and an off the shelf retro USB cartridge adaptor

a retrode type device is probably a good idea but plastics is always a problem

5:18 pm

its also extremely boring and not art

Funny that high quality plastic molds are often looked at as a sign of high quality, legitimized hobby projects

5:28 pm

And can be one of the biggest costs depending on the project

5:29 pm

Or whatever category larger kickstarters and the likes fall into

yup software is "free", electronics are "cheap", molds is crazy expensive

Hmm..the switch pro controller just has such a bad d-pad..just like with Celeste Cuphead is not fun with the d-pad on it

8:01 pm

It triggers so many unwanted diagonals (edited)

supposedly you can 'fix' it pretty easily if you're comfortable opening the thing up

I heard that, but it’s not something I should be required to do..

FWIW I tried the tape mod and felt absolutely no difference. Apparently people have had more success with the other one, forget the detail off hand something about lifting the center bit, I think?

9:02 pm

I just got the horipad and play any serious dpad stuff with it.

But that’s portable mode only right

personally I just bought one of those mayflash sticks instead of buying yet another controller with basically the same functionality

9:03 pm

using an xbox one controller on switch feels a bit weird mentally but is not bad at all

Portable only, yeah

9:03 pm

https://i.imgur.com/vGaYxSP.png

I bought the 8bitdo adapter, myself. I had a Wii U Pro controller lying around literally gathering dust. Works perfectly

By the by, probably the best spot to drop this. I've started tracking save state and SRAM issues on the Mega Everdrive X7. I'll be running through batches of testing so it will be slowly updating but if you have one and run into issues let me know and I'll update it.

9:31 pm

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KKhxNsYwGCHhQiCtJm214qf7GNuqHTk-9zy_O7KPut8/edit?usp=sharing

Mega Everdrive X7 Save Reference

Info Icon,Detail Blank means has not been tested. ✅,No issues have been found.

️,Works but issues have been found. See note for further detail.

,Does not work. ❓,Misc issue, read notes.

9:33 pm

Or confirm something is working, likewise let me know.

9:33 pm

I'll probably add more info as it makes sense, like type of save memory it uses seems a useful column.

What are the thoughts of the folks here in regard to best controller to buy for general gaming (mostly for PC / retro gaming?) I was considering buying an Xbox One Elite Controller as it's highly regarded, but I've heard of the shoulder button issue and the weak warranty for what is supposed to be a high end part?

9:26 pm

Not sure if there is anything better out there, or how the PS4 controller compares (especially for durability / feel, but also PC support.)

I’d recommend the basic XBOX One controller and take the money you’ll save from not going with elite and get an 8bitdo SNES controller for retro games

9:32 pm

Cheapest way to get “best of both worlds” cause to me XBOX One controller joystick is choice for modern gaming, but the DPAD sucks, whereas the joystick on the PS4 isn’t great but the DPAD position is better for retro, so I cut the cost with retro by going with 8bitdo (which is a superior product for retro anyways)

I agree and would even go as far as to say that the d-pad is serviceable on xb1

^ true, I think the XBOX 360 dpad Just scarred me

When you both say serviceable, do you mean you can / need to mod it?

9:44 pm

The biggest draw for me of the Elite controller, is the swappable and supposedly really good d-pad.

Nah, meaning it will get you by just fine playing games with it

To me SNES controller is the way to go up until Gen 5, then XBOX One controller from then on

@Deleted User Wii U Pro Controller with a Mayflash adapter gets my vote.

9:58 pm

Good dpad, great battery life, and with the mayflash adapter set in directinput mode you can have 4 players, and if you ever need xinput there's a switch on it you can kick it back over to and just resync one of the controllers.

hard disagree on the d-pad, if you're doing wii u wired do the hori pad

9:59 pm

pro controller has a lot of false reads for me, especially evident playing tetris 99 and having pieces randomly drop like I pressed up

9:59 pm

oh wait

I have that with the Switch Pro but not the Wii U

that's switch lol

Yeah Switch Pro is AWFUL

I've never touched a wii u pro controller

yeah i had the exact same issues with Tetris 99, made it infuriating to play

Oh.. The Wii U Pro Controller? Thought you were referring to the Switch Pro Controller.

I do like the 8bitdo dpads as well. I just hate the battery life.

10:00 pm

but if you're plugging it in via usb it won't matter

Kind of shocked Nintendo dropped the ball on the d-pad for any of it's controllers.

Hah, after two games with Switch Pro Controller on Tetris 99 that was enough for me, went back to joycons

Yeah me too, sucks!

10:01 pm

I find it odd they havent' fixed it yet either...

10:01 pm

you'd think the later ones would have rectified it.

Unusable

As someone complaining about the switch pro d-pad since nearly day one, people not seeing what seemed obvious until Tetris 99 was a valuable lesson in trying to find better ways to communicate what might not be obvious to others.

holy shit... official wii u pro controllers new are EXPENSIVE now

Switch pro controller dpad is garbage

Yeah Tetris 99 made it REALLY stick out

I don’t actually mind the joycon separated buttons as a replacement for a dpad

10:03 pm

Nice and snappy

It feels weird, but it is fully functional, agreed

scratch the wii u pro controller unless you already have one heh... didn't know they cost so much now.

I played through like 90% of celeste using the joycon dpad sooo

10:04 pm

That should tell you how strongly I felt about the switch pro dpad (edited)

hahaha

(The last bit my hori joycon finally showed up, thankfully)

10:06 pm

also, yes, I flip between dpad and d-pad because I can never decide. I am flawed.

We need the scholars in here to verify which one is proper

@Hubz The Wii U Pro Controller isn't worth $70 new even with your high praise? Is it too dicey buying a used one? What else would you suggest or is the whole 8bitdo + Xbox One regular controller the best idea at this point?

I mean i love mine and if you don't mind spending the money you might too

10:09 pm

How important is wireless to you?

10:09 pm

Also i've not used an Xbox One Controller or Elite so those may be fine.l

The d in d-pad is for directional, right? Or did I make that up in my head?

Sounds right to me.

10:10 pm

(but i don't actually know!)

Usually yes. Weirdly I recall a handful of manuals in the 90s - probably Genesis games - calling it the D-Button

10:15 pm

Confused me for a while

Source on wikipedia is this, which is not filling me with loads of confidence: https://www.techopedia.com/definition/31734/directional-pad-d-pad

10:16 pm

(For directional)

I was so used to seeing it as ➕ Control Pad

I don't think I trust this as a source, wikipedia. Just saying.

I actually wondered what the D in D-Pad officially stands for as well, but a cursory search didn't bring up anything even remotely definitive.

10:18 pm

@Kate Willært Need an idea for your next article or video?

heh

No, seriously... I'd say its even more pivotal than conclusively identifying and defining the first Easter Egg.

Random early NES manuals do look like they go with control pad (edited)

10:20 pm

c-pad from now on

10:21 pm

I like that Super Mario Bros. just doesn't even have an answer for what UP does

10:21 pm

here thar be dragons

hahaha

Oh geese...

10:23 pm

It's interesting that they were able to figure out that using UP for jump was a bad idea - so many later games defaulted to it even when it wasn't appropriate.

10:23 pm

But then there would have been an unused button on the NES controller for the flagship title... (edited)

10:26 pm

Control Cross here

CONTROL CROSS

Control Pad is very ubiquitous

10:30 pm

Up to Star Fox SNES even, hmm

10:31 pm

Magazines would be my guess. I have no idea how else I would have heard it

10:32 pm

https://patents.google.com/patent/US4687200

US4687200A - Multi-directional switch

Google Patents

A four-directional switch which can be turned on and off in four directions, which comprises a base plate having a plurality of electrodes formed thereon, a key top having an indication showing predetermined four pressing directions in an identifiable manner, a support member...

10:32 pm

"Multi-directional switch"

10:32 pm

Though I doubt people were reading patents in the 80s

Fate Cross

10:38 pm

Fun fact, Nintendo still hosts the gamecube manual on their site: https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/gcn101_manual_english.pdf

10:44 pm

Nintendo called it the Control Pad up to and including the Wii U.

10:44 pm

Switch, they............

10:44 pm

mm

10:44 pm

switched.

10:44 pm

10:45 pm

I suppose technically a different thing, same purpose though

I remember Iwata calling it a "plus D switch" which sounded like "plasty-switch"

Pro controller they still call it the control pad

10:46 pm

#21

10:47 pm

I'll give it to them for consistency here, at least.

@Andy @PuttyKnife Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash, referred to the NES pad as a "Swedish Cross."

I have like 40 vids in progress, but I’ll add this mystery to the list

Finding the first use will probably be straight-forward enough, at least as far as the normal research effort involved. But if Nintendo didn't popularize the term finding who did might be tricky.

11:02 pm

Or at least why d-pad took off and not the seemingly much more obvious "control pad"

11:02 pm

My own anecdotal experience, of course, but I feel like I have only ever heard of it referred to as d-pad and never anything else.

11:03 pm

Maybe there was a plus pad in there by the weirdo kid on the street

I’m curious who popularized “console”...I remember when they were all “systems”

I recall an old discussion here and I think we roughly (and obviously unofficially) settled that it was probably from stereo equipment?

11:06 pm

11:07 pm

2017. We were just babies.

we were merely freshmen

doo-dah-doo-dah-doo dah doo

Tho that still doesn’t answer what publication must’ve popularized it starting with a certain generation of gamers

Very true

11:12 pm

I want to speak with an official at The Video Games. Who is making this stuff happen.

Maybe it was EGM, Maybe it came later with IGN or something, idk

The odd thing here is you would think if it were a magazine, even a widely distributed one, that there would be large regional differences.

someone please ask nolan bushnell

Like NES/NESS and such

I think EGM is responsible for a lot of modern terminology...some of EG’s terminology was lost after the crash, and what stuck around was kind of EGM’s doing

11:13 pm

Like, we stopped calling levels “playfields”...I think EGM dropped that one

But certain things, appear at least, to reach some universal

I think I agree with you, I credit EGM as the start of the "gamer" dialogue, to me the lineage is EGM > GameFan > Internet

Not GamePro?

11:14 pm

They invented the Pro Tip

11:15 pm

Iirc

11:15 pm

I might be misremembering actually, but I’m pretty sure

GamePro is Pro Tip yes

Another thing I am trying to get better about considering here is Viacom, specifically MTV and Nickelodeon, probably mentioned video games more regularly than I consider, in a very difficult to search way that was nationally syndicated

That would be interesting to see a collection of references to games...tho Nick Arcade would have to be a separate chunk

They had lots of little news, and bumper updates sort of whats going on clips that I just can't even imagine how large when considering decades even short clips must make up

11:21 pm

I mean somewhere out there is Kurt Loder talking about the Nintendo Entertainment System, surely?

Sega did what Nintendididn’t

11:35 pm

d-but

There's always the point when writing documentation where you have to go back and see "Oh, I used 4 different words for the same action."

Hmm, so maybe D-pad isn't for directional, it's just alphabetically next when you have a three button controller, that would be an ironically silly origin of the term

3:28 pm

@Lainer I spent so much time unifying terms when I was writing up specs for the latest feature I was adding to iWork

interesting aftermarket solution to the Perfect 360 joysticks being out of production for nearly 20 years: https://twitter.com/iFixRetro/status/1121839005224636417

iFixRetro (@iFixRetro)

Finally after all these years of the Happ Perfect 360 not being produced anymore, @butteroj came up with a 3D printed adapter to for the iL competition arcade stick to be used @ArcadeParts Magenta stick! We can finally have optical joysticks again without spending an arm a...

oh neat, thats clever

I wonder if you could 3D print better N64 control sticks

7:11 pm

that don't grind themselves into dust

unlikely, most 3d printing materials won't be as strong as the molded OEM part

7:14 pm

Although now I kinda want to try....

That would be the dream. I found an aftermarket control stick that seems to be as responsive as a good n64 OEM part, which I promptly gave plenty of lubricant to try and keep it from falling into dust

Maybe if we print in ABS

7:17 pm

I don't think it'll feel as good though

7:17 pm

is it the stick itself that fails, or the surrounding parts?

Aren't 3d printed plastics generally rougher even after fine grit sanding?

7:19 pm

Just considering the friction aspect here

yes

(I think I've held a 3d printed object once in my life, mind)

although it's more that they're made of layers, the layers themselves can be quite smooth

7:20 pm

I believe its that white ball part that wears down

ah, yeah, that's probably not a great candidate for 3d printing

7:21 pm

would be better off getting a preorder run together and having molds made

this is the one I purchased https://store.kitsch-bent.com/product/n64-joystick-gears

N64 joystick parts

is the part you need sold out, or you need more of a particular piece than we have in stock? make sure to sign up to our email list to get restock...

probably has already happened. Plus it looked like there was more interest in that "two stick" 3rd party N64 pad that just lays out all the buttons like an xbox controller

vaguely related, I just saw this come up and was thinking of getting one or two https://slickdeals.net/f/13043098-8bitdo-sf30-pro-wireless-bluetooth-controller-with-joystick-us-version-35-58-shipped-ac-gearvita (edited)

8Bitdo SF30 Pro Wireless Bluetooth Controller with Joystick US Ver...

GearVita has the 8Bitdo SF30 Pro Wireless Bluetooth controller with joystick on sale for $35.58. Use coupon code: ASF30PUS for the deal. This popular brand of controller is like a SNES controller o ...

HUH

7:24 pm

https://steelsticks64.com/

https://github.com/SmokeMonsterPacks/Mega-Sg-Jailbreak/issues/34

Info

7:24 pm

3 years and they haven't made it yet, seems like

they probably learned how much precision machining costs

I was about to say, these small components seem to only become impossibly difficult to manufacturer as time marches on, but then I think of the insane stuff watchmakers did with metal and reconsider that it will probably be fine.

7:26 pm

And then you drop metal components

7:28 pm

Makes me think of skateboard wheels. Shame if it never happens.

dang, I think my SD2SNES is shot. Boots to black screen now, after crashing during FF4

12:30 pm

any experiences with how easy it is to get a replacement?

Any firmware stuff you can do over USB?

it still reads my SD card

12:44 pm

so I managed to run the diagnostics fw

12:44 pm

and the log ended with "FPGA test DONE is stuck high!"

12:45 pm

I messaged the everdrive store customer service so they'll probably help me get it fixed up

12:47 pm

or give me the info so I can send it back to them and get a new one

12:49 pm

just a bit sad that after owning it for 2 years with on and off playing, it decides to break down the second I'm excited to play something

dumb question... but did you try another SD card? really does seem like a hardware issue, but maybe that's at least worth trying (edited)

I did try that yeah

7:37 pm

no go

7:40 pm

they havent answered me back on customer support yet

I remember having some issues with the broken fat32 implementation on an EverDrive 64, where I had to make sure there were no non-contiguous files across clusters. I also ended up hex editing the fat image and stomping it back over the card to fix one particular thing that was still occurring even when I used their recommended software to write the thing, but I can't find my forum post on that now. I think it had something to do with cluster ordering on top of making sure all the files were contiguous. Pretty sure it was all ED64-specific though.

8:37 pm

But I guess along those lines, you might try a fresh format, then copy all of your material back to the card in one operation to avoid anything happening in the fat that the implementation can't handle.

That sounds just like my recent everdrive n8 experience and sd cards

Well that makes me less excited to buy an sd2snes....

9:01 pm

Guess I’ll stick to SFC original carts and the mister. And bsnes. Just in case I need a third way to play snes games...

For what its worth, my sd2snes has been going fine for a few years now

i really think it's just a hardware fault

yeah. i imagine hardware fault as well. and stego...i really think sd2snes is amazing, especially in conjunction with a cart collection. Nice way to fill in the expensive gaps. i've had one now for several years and really love it.

2:52 am

probably the best flash cart ever made.

2:53 am

that being said, if you're in no hurry, i'd buy one during the black friday sale. as close as you'll come to a guaranteed way to save 20% on the sticker price.

Yup. Don't count on getting one secondhand, nearly everybody that sells them marks them up to ridiculous degrees because they're also selling the SD card containing the entire Smokemonster rom set

2:58 am

Which...I hope this isn't controversial of me to say, I feel like there's a special place for people who do that and it isn't a good one

i dont think it's controversial, selling romsets that are maintained for free is taking advantage of others' work. It's dirty. (edited)

also...selling any roms is bullshit.

yeah

i report each and every listing i find that advertises crap like that. brings me joy.

Anyone here with a Mega Sg and a Sega CD / Mega CD that can/wants to verify a bug that I've ran into?

6:31 pm

Mega Sg on JB7.4 will not load alternative CD bios file, after sav...

Describe the bug A selected alternative bios for the Mega CD does not load again after setting one and saving the system settings of the Mega Sg, and then turning the Mega Sg off and on. Even thoug...

oh update on my SD2SNES i got a mail back, saying basically just "Yes it's broken, send it back"

12:15 pm

along with instructions

12:16 pm

so thats good

\o/

umm, so I started my sd2snes again before sending it off, and all of a sudden it works? (edited)

12:47 pm

I'm confused. I re-added the newest firmware on the SD card and re-inserted and it just boots properly and no longer gives a black screen

12:47 pm

and I did this same thing when it was blackscreening constantly too (edited)

12:47 pm

and now im worried it might have something to do with my SFC

ah, now it's back to booting to black screen

Not sure exactly what you are running into but I had trouble with mine if it is plugged in too far in. If I press it firmly so it is all the way plugged in pretty sure I get a black screen (edited)

4:09 pm

Easing off a tiny bit and boots every time

4:09 pm

Original hardware and super nt

4:09 pm

Same behavior

4:11 pm

I even opened the cart to see if I could reseat it better but no good. I just have to remember when I plug it in not to press too hard

In other news, I installed a DocBrown in my Marty yesterday and it works just as expected.

nice!

4:35 pm

(god i love a good thematic name, haha)

Nice indeed! I've always had a soft spot for the Fujitsu computers aesthetically (edited)

How is software compatibility on the Marty compared to the desktop models? Can you use keyboard, mouse, and a VGA monitor or does it only use controllers and TV connectors?

You can use a mouse/keyboard but unfortunately video out is only composite/s-video.

No RGB mod?

Not as far as I know. I'm just going to leave it at VGHF HQ so that we can test out things on real hardware if we need to.

Or "test" in air quotes

have any of you ever used an old Grid laptop?

7:20 pm

I love the design of them, and the older ones have a full stroke keyboard... might be a fun dedicated-to-writing laptop

7:20 pm

I currently have an IBM P70 for writing, but its a luggable and kind of a pain to use anywhere but my desk

For dedicated writing I sometimes use an Alphasmart Neo 2.

huh those are neat

7:34 pm

an emate is a consideration too

7:35 pm

but I do like the idea of writing on the same hardware that administered the Aliens sentry guns

What I like about the Alphasmart is that it's rugged, has good key travel, and runs FOREVER on a set of AA batteries.

oh wow those neos are dirt cheap

Yeah. I just looked out the window at the view of the valley and just typed away.

I've got a Neo 2 myself, have had the same set of AA batteries in it for months, and it is missing only 3 pixels from the battery bargraph

9:03 pm

they are solid little writing tools

9:04 pm

and Dirt Cheap because if you live almost anywhere in America, there will be a public school or library that will have used them and gotten rid of them, so they're ridiculously common

9:05 pm

I'd think the only way to improve on the Neo design-wise would be if the screen res could be higher (to fit more on screen legibly), make the screen e-paper, and probably make keys mechanical

9:05 pm

but even the e-paper thing would be primarily for looks, because even with the LCD, the thing has a battery measured in months

heh you basically described the Freewrite

oh yeah, these look fantastic

9:07 pm

a great advantage of the alphasmarts too is because you don't have to plug in and find wifi, they're great as distraction-free tools that you can just take wherever, go find a park bench or something

Speaking of the FM Towns, does anyone have experience getting Unz working properly?

I had it working once, but wasn't doing much of note with it, I think I only ran 4D Driving on it

6:24 pm

if it's a CD game you're trying to run, you will want a virtual drive emulator like Daemon Tools Lite or Virtual Clone Drive, it has no ISO loader

Yeah, I've been mounting the CD games and it still refuses to recognize them. I looked over all the documentation I could find and fiddled with the settings a bunch, but I can't seem to get it to work.

6:32 pm

Maybe I need very specifically Daemon Tools, as I've been using WinCDEmu.

6:36 pm

You'd think there'd be more English language info on setting it up properly floating around, but there isn't really

Is the emulator configured to look at the correct CD drive letter? (edited)

Yeah. It's configured to look at E and I'm mounting to E

It's strange because no one else seems to be having this problem. I don't know if something is wrong or if I'm just doing something dumb.

What kind of file is it you're mounting?

7:26 pm

If it includes a .cue sheet, favor that one if possible. If the disc is just in ISO format, that might be an incorrect rip

7:27 pm

in unrelated news, i've received both of my Brook controller converters and they work magnificently

7:28 pm

pairing a PS4 controller to one was as effortless as plugging it in via the included USB port

I've been mounting .cue files

the Dreamcast one has two oddities on it that I don't recall being mentioned: 1. It defaults to arcade stick mode, i.e. the L and R triggers act as buttons Z and C. Holding the Brook button down for about five seconds switches it to support analog triggers instead, for games like Crazy Taxi. 2. For some reason it actually has onboard memory - but only 40 blocks.

the defaulting to stick mode isn't surprising - I think the most common use cases for the converters are for people playing fighting games and shooters

Yeah this is bizarre, I truly don't know why Unz isn't working. What a shame. I guess I could get Daemon Tools Lite again and try that, but I don't really want adware haha

Oh I got it working with Virtual Clone Drive. Which may also have adware or whatever who the hell knows. At least it's working. (edited)

so, neat thing about these Brook adapters: nearly all of them have micro-USB jacks on the front, so that they effectively double as PC controller adapters as well

7:53 pm

one of them (the PS2 one, I think?) came with a splitter cable for this, too, so that a controller plugged into it can work on both the PC and the console at the same time

7:53 pm

atm I have my dualshock 4 connected, and Windows sees it as an xinput controller that works out-of-box

7:53 pm

no fiddling with DS4Windows drivers or Steam profiles or anything

Nice! (edited)

8:12 pm

I really need a Saturn controller to playstation adapter because I don't want to buy another Densha De Go controller. Wonder if that exists

The splitters are also good if you need extra power to run your controller

fortunately these are pretty well designed adapters and power entirely out of their respective controller ports

8:33 pm

i was worried with the ps2 one because the heresay i'd been picking up was that you'd need to power it off the ps2's own USB ports, which seemed a bit silly - turns out that's not the case

8:34 pm

i think the only remaining point of contention is that price... then again, $40 isn't that much more than the $20-30 you'd spend on a Mayflash, and these at least work

8:34 pm

not to put-down the Mayflashes, they function, but they all have weird quirks to them, button ordering or axis centering

Well, it seems hit or miss. I have a ps4 Hori stick I have used on the ps2 through the adapter, and while it’s fine on some consoles others need the usb cable plugged into the ports for the extra juice to read it

i never did figure out why my first Super Joy Box had the Triangle button as button 0

https://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/psx_to_saturn/index.php It's currently sold out, but is this what you were looking for?

raphnet technologies - Playstation controller to Sega Saturn adapter

This adapter makes it possible to use a Playstation controller on a Sega Saturn console.

I would love a ps4 to snes adapter. There are a surprising number of good fighting games and shooters on there that would benefit from a modern day stick

From the sound of it, 8bitdo's retro receivers do that

8:44 pm

the description on the Genesis/MD one they've got says it supports all the major wireless console controllers in addition to their own

8:45 pm

if it's wireless you're good

Nope. Wired

@Nathan-Senpai I need the reverse actually. I have a Saturn DDG controller and need to use it on my Playstation. That's cool though thanks for bringing that to my attention. (edited)

I haven't been able to find any for sale that go the opposite direction, but there are instructions on how to make one if you're comfortable playing with microcontrollers, wiring, and soldering guns http://denki.world3.net/pad_converters.html

Interesting. I'd have to look into it. I don't have experience doing any of that, except soldering. On top of that the Densha De Go controller is non standard. I may just have to break down and buy a PS1 DDG controller, that would be simplest.

yeah your use case is so specific that i'd doubt there are any ready-made tools for it, and economically it'd probably be easier to just buy the ps1 version's controller if you don't already have the electronics skill

Yup you're right. Thanks for the advice though!

10:26 pm

The PS1 DDG controllers aren't that expensive either

10:28 pm

I should have just bought that Plug and Play thing when it was new

If a good adapter can be made, I know there are many people who would love to use Saturn controllers on PS1/2, but specialized controllers don't always get along with converters like that

Yeah.

11:02 pm

I don't know if the DDG controller uses some trickery to make it less complicated than it seems, but considering it's two levers basically and the game has to know what position along their arc the levers are I'd imagine it's more complicated than the standard.

Ok, so. I have at least one Genesis prototype that the Retrode shits the bed on. I think it's hacked together with spit and glue and so the Retrode doesn't know what the ROM size is or something. Game plays fine in a Genesis. What's the best option right now for dumping Genesis? I was hoping that the Mega SG jailbreak firmware would have a dumper, but it does not.

I can't find mine but the Krikzz flasher has worked 100% for me so far

Ok, interesting. What's the best place to get one? It seems like Krikzz doesn't do direct sales anymore...?

Really? I thought it was still on krikzz.com?

It doesn't seem like it - krikzz.com still has product pages but no "buy" links, and it directs you to dealers

12:00 am

Oh, looks like Castlemania Games sells them on eBay

I just picked one up from the DragonBox store, but shipping was a little steep

12:03 am

I'm seeing them on Ebay too now. Swear they weren't there the other day (or I am mentally deficient or both)

Looks like you can get them from Castlemania's website for $58, promo code FROMTHEGRAVE for extra 10% off, free US shipping

12:05 am

so I did that. Thanks!

12:06 am

And we'll hope this thing works.

Is there an SNES equivalent someone can recommend?

The Super NT with jailbreak firmware seems to work wonders for me.

1

12:07 am

Obviously that's not fifty bucks

Anything in the $50-100 range?

Equivalent in what sense, as you can pick up an actual SNES in that price range?

1:00 am

Maybe the better question is what features are you looking for besides a box that plays snes games

I believe they're asking about a ROM dumper

1

Ah, what's a retrode go for these days?

Have a retrode and love it- I just have one SNES prototype it won't dump and I've been procrastinating

Oh sorry I tried to read up but was clearly confused. Retrode had problem dumping some chips as I recall?

1:03 am

If that is the case here then the super nt won't do much better

Thanks for that- I would def be bummed if I dropped $200~ and couldn't get a clean dump with it

yeah somebody would probably have to do it the oldschool way

2:32 am

which...it occurs to me i have very little idea how that tends to go down, the chips on those tend to be socketed, right?

2:32 am

so at the very least one wouldn't have to desolder or decap them

Yeah, I haven't tried, but I imagine they would probably pop off if necessary

and if it's EEPROM(?) you want to make sure any stickers on those chips remain firmly in place

2:35 am

i'm kind of avoiding saying much in detail besides what i'm sure i've heard before, because this is well outside my area of expertise and i don't want to perpetuate any bad info

Yeah, almost assuredly eeproms. Has little white stickers where I imagine the windows are

2:41 am

Actually, I am not so sure now that I have dug it and looked at it again. It's actually a bit different than most I have seen..

2:43 am

It's an early build from Midway classics or something that boots straight into Missile Command. I think it has a little splash screen that's not in the final game (if I remember) and no sound yet. At this point of development, it's really more of a tech demo than a game, probably :)

2:48 am

I got a copy of centipede that is about the same (also pictured). Got these on ebay from safestuff some months or a year ago- they were selling off quite a bit of stuff they supposedly got at some Atari liquidation many years ago. I was able to get centipede dumped with the retrode after forcing the mapper. I have that rom if someone wants it- thought about just sending it to SNESWorld or something?

FWIW I don't see anything special in terms of chips, but I also don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of CIC chips

2:50 am

For comparison here is how the SA1 chip is integrated which I know can be a pain to dump

2:50 am

I haven't been following retrode closely as I don't own one but there have been developments in support over the past few years. Can read up on some of it here and compare to what FW you are currently running:

2:59 am

http://forum.retrode.org/index.php/topic,361.msg2687.html#msg2687

SNES Enhanced Cart Support (FW v0.22)

3:01 am

My first instinct would to be suspicious of the CIC chip fudging things up, though I am not clear how some of these boards get around or interact specifically there.

Anyone know anything in the $200+ price range with the highest likelyhood of successfully dumping all kinds of SNES chips with minimal mapping/configuration? Like if you just had a big ol box of SNES prototypes and 2 days to dump them, what would you go to first? I don't have a big box of SNES prototypes, but let's say that I did

It will play on an actual SNES, but the other one that I got dumped actually won't (but the seller said he tested it on a retron or something, and it worked). Just weird stuff. I am prob going to end up sending this one to someone to take a shot at it

@Baker Super NT for sure

Awesome, thank you. I am going in!

In my experience it will either automatically recognize and do it correctly or it will not recognize it and make a giant data dump that nevertheless contains the correct data inside (someone just has to manually extract it after)

I can work with that

For me, super nt dumped the one proto that retrode could not.

can also confirm I dumped retrode-confused stuff at game informer with the super nt I brought from home

https://twitter.com/citrus3000psi/status/1136362090455810049

Dan Kunz 💨 Too Many Games (@citrus3000psi)

So it is true the USB-GDROM firmware has a timer built in timer that bricks the unit until you update again. This is insane if true.

8:07 pm

I uh... hope this isn't true.

the creator confirmed it, but also confirmed that they're working on an update that turns it off.

wha

https://twitter.com/terraonion/status/1140677480258461696

Terraonion SL (@terraonion)

Press Release: Terraonion is proud to announce the MegaSD. A FPGA Sega CD and flashcart recreation. Read our Official Press Release: https://t.co/dfsg8F4miL

https://twitter.com/SmokeMonsterTWI/status/1140675409593323520

https://twitter.com/retrorgb/status/1140681786323812352?s=21

Holy god. Mega SD by @terraonion DOES:

Sega CD ODE without CD hardware!
Sega CD on Nomad
Genesis flash cart
32X flash cart
SMS games
Genesis games with CD audio, like MSU-1
@FBXGargoyle audio This changes everything. Available for pre-order https://t.co/WGQN...

5:59 pm

So... wow that's amazing.

RetroRGBob @ Too Many Games (@RetroRGB)

Coming soon... https://t.co/hRvWuNwX0G

6:15 pm

Looks like everybody is doing press on it soon. MLIG is also doing something on it

yeah that's ordered.

4:21 am

new project!

4:23 am

dev team

Nintendo Game Play Counselor used Gameboy. Complete with dead verticals!

It's the most authentic experience

are they standard game boys?

5:21 am

aside from probably having a bajillion hours on them :]

Yeah. It was just used in the call center is all

knowing nintendo, does it have any fun stickers or barcodes on it? Or is it just a straight up off-the-shelf unit?

The call center snes hardware is a tiny bit different. Thry moded the slots to make more room for eeproms

Oh cool!

yeah I'd be surprised if they dont have inventory numbers on em or something

5:22 am

gonna fix that one, or keep it as is?

5:23 am

I tried to fix it. Some of the verticals are dead dead. I'd need to replace the screen and I dont want to do that

5:23 am

Rather it be original and broken

5:24 am

Not like a dont have a half dozen working dmgs

5:25 am

And it isnt like there is any value in the provenance aside from intrinsic historical value. So it can stay broken.

Checking out new AVS beta firmware updates

5:23 pm

Hooray! The Everdrive N8 works again with the AVS in PAL mode!

5:23 pm

Gimmick still crashes hard for some reason, and I still don’t know what’s at fault here..the AVS or the N8

5:23 pm

5:27 pm

It used to work!

5:31 pm

Okay, everdrive with AVS in PAL mode works but when I reset through key combination something gets corrupted and I have to do a hard reset

5:31 pm

After hard reset it works again

5:32 pm

https://twitter.com/retrotink2/status/1142648567674228736?s=21

Mike Chi (@retrotink2)

Coming soon... SCART -> component transcoder for systems that don't have a ready made component cable.

Likes

273

6:52 pm

Mike chi does it again

6:54 pm

I really wish my TV had any input other than HDMI. One of the first QLED models from Samsung and it didn’t even include those basic connector cables from the lower end models that came out the same year

This has to be better than using that shinybow

https://twitter.com/krikzz/status/1142970669577179138

https://twitter.com/SmokeMonsterTWI/status/1159726877050732544

New hardware for my loved genesis going to be next large update for #EverDrive range after N8-PRO.

Fun Fact! When you worked in the Nintendo Call Center and you wanted to play your personal games in the office, it was policy to tag your games and equipment as "Personal Copy" followed by your name. This is a Game Play Counselor's personal copy of A Link To The Past!

Anyone have experience with reading audio DAT tapes? I have largely clean reads but there are a few error spots, wonder if there are any tricks out there

11:05 pm

I assume DDS tape knowledge could apply too

11:06 pm

Paging @Borman perhaps?

I haven't really done audio to know how they differ unfortunately, been mostly doing data-dats hah.

11:28 pm

Baking tapes is always an option, probably depends on what's going on though

They're tapes reading 99% beautifully, but then one tiny blip of error at a certain timestamp. Like a floppy with all green sectors but one trouble red one

11:33 pm

As far as data tapes go, can baking be for subtle errors like that, or is it for larger problems?

11:35 pm

That's for like major disaster tapes where you're getting nothing, right? Sticky shed?

Well it depends on whats causing the issue.

1:15 pm

And its not always clear if its a bit of stuck tape or something else

https://www.trademarkia.com/company-analogue-inc-4617390-page-1-2

Super NT SPECIAL CHIPS happen when the new Jailbreaks drop at 12PM ET. I'll premiere an overview video at noon where you can join the live chat as events unfold! https://t.co/PRrJcyRQ9F

ANALOGUE, INC. Trademarks (7) from Trademarkia - page 1

Page 1 of the latest trademarks from ANALOGUE, INC. from Trademarkia, the largest trademark search engine.

11:59 am

Analogue Pocket and Analogue 8

wow

I hope the hardware opens up someday instead of being completely tied to Kevtris

Same

Kevtris. That's a name I keep seeing pop up for some reason. I can't figure out why I know of him

2:57 pm

Maybe some emulation-related thing, since that's what I seem to be finding through google results

He has been doing a lot of the FPGA work on the Analogue systems

DSP1-4, ST010, ST011, and CX4 support added with latest jailbreak

4:15 pm

https://github.com/SmokeMonsterPacks/Super-NT-Jailbreak/blob/master/firmware/snt_firmware_verJB6.9.zip (edited)

SmokeMonsterPacks/Super-NT-Jailbreak

Custom "Jailbreak" firmware for the Analogue Super NT - SmokeMonsterPacks/Super-NT-Jailbreak

4:15 pm

As well as the DAC, SPC player and other stuff from the official

I need to start using mine

6:42 pm

I still have yet to hook my Mega-SG up and power it on

same here for some reason

11:11 pm

all my game playing has been cool cheap stuff on Steam for the past year or so

Got this cheap XP laptop that I'm refurbing. Solid machine, heavy too. Just needs a new keyboard

I use my SNT and MSG regularly though I admit the DAC will be a more of a nice to have that I won't use very often. Not needing to dig out the snes/MD from the closet except in rare instances will be nice.

12:27 am

I need to cap my CRT to make it actually useable again

Staying away from the new firmware for now, seems like there's a good amount of bugs around in it.

if anyone is looking for good composite capture, I'm pretty happy with this kinda cheap I-O Data VG-USB2

1:11 am

I captured this in 240p, which it just does out of the box unlike I think anything else?

1:11 am

and scaled this up nearest neighbor in virtualdub

that does look pretty nice.

there's probably better solutions if you're just doing 480i or whatever but this is the best I've gotten for 240p, I like it better than this massively expensive micomsoft one I got

honestly for 240p that’s the best you’ll ever get out of composite

well sure

1:14 am

but my point is no capture cards actually do 240p

1:14 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc6Pl1UWZxU

The Video Game History Foundation

King Fishing Live NES Demo

1:15 am

bad demo of the capture since this game is ugly

oh yeah true true. you’d have to track down something that purposefully doesn’t stay in spec, like a cheap device

aw coooool this king fishing plug & play I got appears to be a previously unknown game by Hummer

1:31 am

https://bootleggames.fandom.com/wiki/Hummer_Team

Hummer Team

Hummer Team (悍馬小組 ) was a pirate game developer that originated in 1992 after a few members left C&E. They were known for making what many consider decent NES ports of games that were on more...

1:31 am

Hummer is rad, they made Titenic and that Harry Potter brawler and Kart Fighter

1:31 am

and of course Zdog (pictured)

wait is the dog a famiclone

yes!

1:36 am

it's the best video game system

1:36 am

we had it in the prge museum last year

okay this is officially the best cyberpunk reality and i don't care who disagrees

1:37 am

i can't believe i didn't see that there

there was a lot of stuff

1:39 am

nothing as good as zdog but still

But I did take a photo of POWER COLORING so I don't feel like I completely missed out

i love zdog

Zdog was maybe my favorite part of the museum last year Fuck NWC

https://twitter.com/protosphere_/status/1162919549894664192?s=21

claire (@protosphere_)

Today I learnt of the Sega Saturn Address Checker, which is a nearly 3ft long Saturn

Retweets

233

Likes

711

1

kind of as a weird experiment I scaled my composite capture of this game to 4K nearest neighbor, the results are kinda strange but probably about the best you can do https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7kgVFxl2iY

The Video Game History Foundation

Virtual Ping Pong (NES) Plug & Play Playthrough

for the true framemeister enthusiast: https://www.ebay.com/itm/401546359658

Micomsoft XRGB-mini FRAMEMEISTER XRGB-3 XPC-4 SC-512N1-L/DVI Flyer Set

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Micomsoft XRGB-mini FRAMEMEISTER XRGB-3 XPC-4 SC-512N1-L/DVI Flyer Set at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

https://github.com/jotego/jt_gng

jotego/jt_gng

Ghosts'n Goblins, 1942, 1943 arcade hardware accurately replicated on MiST, MiSTer and ZX-UNO - jotego/jt_gng

4:58 pm

New Commando Core by Jotego for the MiST and MiSTer

on the subject of hardware, my pc at home is unzipping the full sega cd set to the mega sd while I'm in the office

5:01 pm

if you're like me and you will be mad if you can't fit literally everything on there, you need a 256GB card

LOL good to know, i'm still waiting on mine to arrive.

5:07 pm

i need to buy a 128GB for my SSD3

5:07 pm

they're so cheap now might as well

no way that fits the whole Japanese library?

5:11 pm

I mean also that's fine, who cares, but it seemed like you're stubborn like me from your reaction

does that include the genesis and 32x games or just sega cd

well it's just sega cd but there's plenty to spare for the rest

excellent

and I don't know what else might be out there but as far as hacks, translations, and homebrew, everything on romhacking.net will easily fit

5:14 pm

I can't exactly remember but I want to say it came out to somewhere around 140GB for the whole no-intro Sega CD set unzipped

I have my roms filtered to the playable english releases so that's all I care about honestly.

yeah you're fine with 128gb then

128GB should fit it i believe. But need to double check

it's 140 for every regional variant of every game

Ah nice

so honestly it's probably less than half that

between this and the neo geo flash cart that runs CD games I am appreciating this new era of flash cart development more than ever

i'm a bit concerned on my Mega SD as it said it was shipped 3 weeks ago but i can't find anything yet on the tracking.

5:16 pm

lot of people are pissed on the forums for the surprise import taxes they're having to pay due to them moving their shipping operations I guess?

5:17 pm

They make very cool hardware but man... the botch some things up that make you wonder why they did that.

yeah, like I'm stuck with that broken first version of the pc engine thing

I'm waiting to take advantage of the SAG trade in since I just got my everdrive earlier in the year.

Recently installed the FURGB in my SSD3 to fix the video.

5:17 pm

Yeah mine is first version too

5:19 pm

going to sell my mega everdrive when i get the mega sd

I'm just waiting for SAG because I am impatient when it comes to things actually shipping and arriving, but not so much for waiting for them to be sold for some reason

I understand that

@Kevin "ubersaurus" Bunch Not a bad move.

my strategy is to buy something as soon as it's available and then forget it exists until it shows up magically

@Frank Cifaldi Also not a bad move!

I am currently debating if I want to take a crack at assembling the GBA consolizer or wait for pre-built to be available again.

the important thing is that you're not paying an obscene amount to run keio flying squadron on your genesis equivalent

whoaaaa didn't realize how much that was going for

also, speaking of specific, uh.. rom footprints?

5:24 pm

I wrote a script to download, patch and clean up all the SMWCentral hacks. The full database comes to just over 3 GB for the patched roms. Nearly 4 GB for all the extras like readme files.

that's a lot of hacks

1161 hacks total but several have multiple IPS files for various things so quite a bit higher though I didn't bother with a lot of language options.

that reminds me of a maybe dumb but maybe not idea I had for scripting rom patches when I put together my custom set for the original gb everdrive: I thought about getting all of the plain text manuals out there and running them through that homebrew that makes text document roms

5:27 pm

and then having the manual as a rom in the same folder as the game

I mean, there are enough games out there that do need manuals to really explain what's happening

and they're all pretty accessible on the other portable devices that you definitely always have with you

mmm, I had to go through this similar thought process with smw and decided to have two main folders. One that is just a flat alphabetical list, and one that is folders for each with the rom + extras in the folder. Obviously a huge duplication, but some hacks can have a lot of extra files so was the cleanest I could think..

5:29 pm

5:30 pm

I keep the cleaned up list on my SD card, and have the full folders on my hard drive. (edited)

btw SAG is having a Labor Dale Sale https://stoneagegamer.com/labor-day-2019.html

12:09 am

I half considered picking up an SD2SNES Pro but going to hold off. My regular one still does a fine enough job.

12:10 am

No TerraOnion, unfortunately

i should doublecheck my wishlist, i'm pretty sure i had something from SAG in there i'd been holding off on

5:21 am

https://stoneagegamer.com/ultra-cd-backup-ram-cart-sega-cd-mega-cd.html oh yeah it was this and i'm still not sure if i'm ready to buck out for it considering i haven't played on it in months

Ultra CD Backup RAM Cart (Sega CD/Mega CD)

SAG has a pretty nice retail space too, I trekked over there with my kids once and found quite a few 3do games for my collection

There is an auction, not on eBay, for 40 Intellivision games, in boxes, some look to still be shrink wrapped. The auction looks like a used video game store closed. Would there be any historic value for these?

2:07 am

https://live.keyauctioneers.com/lots/view/1-2738MF/40-intellivision-games

40 Intellivision Games

2:09 am

My cousins had an Intellivision growing up, but otherwise I don't have a system nor nostalgia for it.

Don't see anything that jumps out as super rare or obscure, but I do see my favorite Intellivision game, Shark! Shark!

2

(I have no desire to get into the game-flipping market...)

If you don't want the stuff, I'm tempted to bid on it...

Please! I shared here for that purpose!

In the unlikely event that I win, I'll double check that everything is already dumped for No-Intro or Good Intellivision

Shark! Shark! is ok but no Dragonfire or Night Stalker? Come on!

Night Stalker is in the back row of the first picture. I think it's even shrink wrapped!

Ack! I missed it!

Shark! Shark! is fantastic! My personal favs are probably Night Stalker, Diner, Frog Bog and Thin ice

@Hubz may be interested in scanning those

Oh nice yeah, those seem to be in good shape. I have some intellivision boxes scanned but they're beat up for hte most part. Night Stalker I scanned in from a shinkwrapped copy though.

https://live.keyauctioneers.com/lots/view/1-2738LP/125-sega-dreamcast-games

125 Sega Dreamcast Games

3:31 pm

poking around that auction, some weird stuff

3:31 pm

https://images-cdn.auctionmobility.com/is3/auctionmobility-static/VFba-1-3JLFZ//119-14.jpg?width=440&height=440&resizeinbox=true&backgroundcolor=EEEEEE

3:31 pm

those are european boxes?

3:31 pm

def a video game store auction with mainly less interesting stuff tho

1

European Dreamcast games used thick jewel cases which are notoriously fragile. http://666kb.com/i/c66sfh1rvzgcd10yi.jpg Those appear to be reproduction cases, there are a few examples of them on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/-/254248434676?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true

Star Wars Jedi Power Battles - Dreamcast - Replacement Case NO GAME

Art is made with premium High gloss paper from High resolution images.

ahh

4:11 pm

yeah i lived in Europe during Dreamcast so i prob should have remembered that

Im pretty sure someone ordered the OSSC from Aliexpress a while back, how is it doing for you? Thinking about grabbing one soon.

They sell them on aliexpress? Hopefully those aren't made badly

It's open source for a reason

They’re probably not quite as nice as the official ones, but should work ok

I'd imagine the official ones, if you want to call it that, are also made in China, but I'm sure some sellers are better than others, which is why I asked :)

any tips on cleaning soft plastic items where the top layer has started to degrade, leaving a sticky residue?

4:34 am

I've had one of those hori ps2 slime controllers for years and years, and its starting to get bad enough where its gross to even pick up

4:35 am

this person says alcohol https://retrogamesuperhyper.com/2017/04/03/is-your-slime-slimy/

retrogamesuperhyper

Is your Slime slimy?

If you have the Dragon Quest Blue Slime controller for PS2 by Hori, released in conjunction with Dragon Quest VIII in 2004, you may have noticed that after 13 years of collecting dust on your shelf…

70% alcohol seems to be the consensus

googone might also work, first scrape off as much as you can

@Chris A It's the safest way to start that I know of, and usually works.

5:21 pm

packaging though you want something that dries faster.

Hadn't really seen this mentioned much yet but this is awesome, the MiSTer Neo Geo Core seems complete? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wizCIMAZvaY&feature=youtu.be

MiSTer Walrus FPGA

MiSTer FPGA - Burning Fight / Neo-Geo

6:00 pm

requires larger RAM for some of the larger games.

Woo, might be getting an Ikegami PVM this evening

2:36 pm

Anyone know if a TM10-19RH is any good?

Man I had a shot at a few of those once but ran out of room in my car. They're good PVMs

2:44 pm

maybe not quite Sony level but honestly I doubt anybody but the pickiest person would notice.

One of my local retro gaming friends linked me to one, the guy can't test it but only wants $35 for it

2:46 pm

I guess it's time to get around to picking up a scart switch and a scart to BNC cable

2:48 pm

Considering the only CRTs I have right now are old computer monitors or one of my arcade cabinets, it should be nice

Going down the expensive rabbit hole

2:51 pm

I bought from this guy - https://www.ebay.com/itm/Female-RGB-Euro-SCART-to-4-BNC-Audio-Cable-BUILT-IN-SYNC-STRIPPER-XM29-PVM-BVM-/202465138868

Female RGB Euro SCART to 4 BNC + Audio Cable BUILT IN SYNC STRIPPE...

BUILT IN LM1881N SYNC STRIPPER for XM29, select PVM & BVM models, etc. You are using a professional grade RGB monitor. Don't cheap out on your cables!

2:52 pm

And i recommend these when he comes up with another batch - http://www.gretrostuff.com/store/gscartsw/

https://youtu.be/3BJU2drrtCM

gscartsw

2:53 pm

that gscartsw is nice because if you decided to go crazy you can use the two outputs one to a pvm and one to your ossc and dual output

I’ve been eyeballing one for that reason

all this stuff is so expensive

2:54 pm

but you can just build it up slowly at a time. hell i just bought a ps1 rgb cable yesterday.

I was obsessed with RGB for a couple years

2:55 pm

2 PVMS and a JVC Multi-format monitor later. I barely touch them.

Sadly that's the same for me too hah

2:56 pm

it was a fun itch to scratch but i still mainly just emulate.

I found my first PVM on gov deals from a college surplus auction. This thing had to be pretty much brand new (model didnt have hour counter) got it for $28

Same here! Bought my PVMS for a buck each at a college surplus sale.

I've already got a few scart outs and an OSSC, I've been eyeing the gscartsw but will probably look for an inexpensive older used switch on ebay for now

The CRT Collective FB group is hardcore

it might motivate me to get my retro space downstairs organized

2:57 pm

yeah, I'm on there

I have never seen so much OCD over CRT';s

They're terrifying

yeah some of that OCD is silly imo but what can you do

I'm just happy to have something with better than composite input

The search for perfect geometry and scanline porn

cough i still secretly think N64 looks best via S-video

It's true

I play my SNES via S-Video on a 2003 Zenith console TV and it looks great

And laserdisc looks best over composite, since that's what's natively encoded on the disc and most laserdisc players have worse comb filters than a newer TV

let me get a pic

i spent a sunday putting the hdmi kit in my n64 and was like "Ehhh i don't like this."

nice, we had one of those when I was a kid

2:59 pm

my grandfather owned a Zenith sales and service shop

2:59 pm

we had a big Zenith console and a 24" set when I was younger, and then sold both and bought a 27" zenith with S-Video that served as my parents TV until maybe 5 years ago when they finally got a flat screen

3:00 pm

close enough. An n64 was hooked at time of pic

Awesome, the one we had was larger, ~30" maybe, but otherwise looked a lot like that

Sweet setup

I want to do a setup like that for my kids when they're a bit older

honestly I mainly use my PVM as part of my video capture setup because it's the right size and shape for my desk. I have RGB scart for a number of systems that natively output it and just run that through a component converter to my normal, commercial grade CRT. I do have a framemeister, though, and being able to capture rgb out of those machines while still playing them on a CRT is my eventual goal. Just not a high priority

really I'd love a little like 13" 80s CRT for running precrash game systems, like the one I had as a kid. That'd be perfect (edited)

i need to see what i can do, capture-wise, with my 486. hooking the vga directly up to my capture device doesn't work as well as i'd like, it loses the signal on any of the weirder resolutions, like 720x350 (in other words, the entire DOS prompt)

3:37 pm

though going by LGR's video on that some months ago, it's a pain either way because there's no single all-encompassing solution for it, there will always be a lot of annnoying resyncing especially when a game happens to change video modes

I've got a few CRTs and have been struggling to decide what to get next. I've got an old Panasonic with fake woodgrain and RF only, which I'll use to hook up my toploading NES and an Atari 2600. There's a 27" Samsung shadow mask TV with S-Video that I'll use for most of the things that can't do SCART or Component, including my VCR and LaserDisc player. I have a 25" Trinitron with RGB, a 32" Trinitron with component, and a 20" PVM that does everything except RF (no huge loss there). Covers most of the pre-HDMI stuff that I have, but I'm on the fence about what to do with my consoles that support 480p and higher. For Dreamcast and Gamecube/Wii, I could just settle for 480i until I find either a BVM or a late Trinitron that supports 480p. But I'm unsure of what I should do for the consoles that do multiple resolutions, like PS2, Xbox, PS3 and X360. Since those can do 720p/1080i, and the latter can manage 1080p, it's tempting to just track down an old plasma 1080p display and call it done, but then 720p and 480i/p wouldn't scale perfectly. I could handle 1080p/720p with a 4K TV, but that still wouldn't be perfect for 480p (not sure if an upscaler could help that). Then again, I've also been tempted to get a 1080i Trinitron for the 6th gen stuff, but I hear those things aren't perfect either. I've got duplicates of a lot of consoles so for things that need 240p/480i, I can hook them to an older CRT, but I'm unsure what is the "best" solution for things that support 480p, 720p, and 1080i and/or 1080p. I want to ask Bob from RetroRGB about it, but am worried that it's already been addressed in one of his old Patreon Q&A videos, which I'm still working my way through. Any advice?

i'm frankly amazed that my modern flatpanel monitor will even try to put out some of the really weird modes though

@Corwin "weasel" Brence sorry for burying your message, I did see something a while back that may help you out, gimme a moment and I'll look for the link

ah no worries, i'm mostly just thinking out loud

This may be helpful although I'm not sure how well it handles changing resolutions. Supports inputs of MDA/Hercules (including green or amber monochrome), CGA, EGA, and (unofficially) TGA, and outputs VGA. Price starts at 59 EUR but can go much higher with bells and whistles https://www.serdashop.com/MCE2VGA

MCE2VGA

CGA/EGA/Hercules/MDA to VGA converter with scanline emulator

$126 with the case and FPGA included. Yipe.

Yeah that's the unfortunate thing. It's like 80 EUR if all you want is the board and a case but I gotta think there will be some bugs or latency issues that could be addressed with patches

those funky 480ish systems I mostly have on a standard old CRT, save for the Dreamcast (which I've got a VGA box outputting to an HDtv and to the older CRT via s-video). Xbox 360 I just have on an HD set because it was clearly designed with HD in mind

3:54 pm

if you can track down one of those EDTVs that do 480p natively then you're probably set

Still would like to get one of those

friend of mine has had one since the late 00s. They're nice because they won't freak out at 480i/240p signals for the games that won't run in 480p

Yeah I had thought about EDTV too. For 6th gen I've got duplicates of everything except Dreamcast, so I'll have some doing 480i to maintain light gun support and look nice on CRTs. And for GC, Wii, and a 2nd DC if I ever get one, I can certainly get away with an EDTV without 720p or higher. But I'm still torn with PS2, Xbox, PS3, and X360. The games that run at 480p would be no problem on an EDTV, but I don't have a dedicated 720p display for the stuff that can't run at 1080 and am unsure how well it would look on a 1080p screen. Surely not awful but after seeing fantastic PVM goodness, it's hard to settle for less than perfect

which is another reason I kind of split off ps3 and 360 from that previous gen - all those Dreamcast, ps2, xbox and gamecube games are basically just "we're whatever resolution the developers decided to throw into the software" rather than the hardware really being specced to run everything in HD

@Nathan-Senpai I see HD CRT's pop up around here fairly often, generally have component and often HDMI, natively support 480p, 720p, and 1080i

4:22 pm

They're pretty big and heavy though

@Shinohara yeah I'd been considering one of those too. I've heard RetroRGB and MLIG complain about them some, mainly for their lackluster 240p support but I think they also mentioned bad latency compared to newer LCDs. Still tempting though. I'll probably be making some tradeoffs no matter which option I go with

the CRTs should have 0 latency with a component or other analog signal

6:08 pm

I can see the HDMI inputs having some depending on how they're implemented

I was told that the analog signals had to be converted to digital internally, and that caused latency because the older converters weren't very fast

on a CRT? I know that's an issue on LCD and plasma sets, but analog HD CRTs should be able to take the component signal and send it directly to the display just like any other CRT

hmm, looks like they can have some depending on resolution, and 240p is generally going to lag

6:24 pm

one more reason to stick to the PVM

Some HDCRTs automatically convert the signal (and some upscale)

yeah it's the lag-free part isn't because it's a CRT, it's because there's nothing digital happening to the signal

Victory

3

With a handle

8:07 am

Perfect in combination with GameCube; GC in one hand, monitor in the other hand

1

The Slow Mo Guys

How a TV Works in Slow Motion - The Slow Mo Guys

1:03 pm

Always like this video

1:04 pm

CRT technology is still very fascinating to me. Electron guns!!!1

Hey folks, I need some help from someone smarter than me. Paging @LuigiBlood if you can help me! I have an N64 prototype that refuses to dump correctly. Tried lots of things that have always worked for me in the past, but no luck so far. I will save you the wall of text (please direct message me if you are interested), but first off, does anyone know if the Sanni cart reader works for prototypes now? Like you think this one would, specifically? https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F254340559177

Sanni Cart Reader / Dumper Super Nintendo, N64, Genesis, Gameboy ...

It has a small OLED screen which contains all the options you need. Can read and write saves(Perfect for backing up your saves).

I cannot vouch if it works for protos

2:07 pm

but

2:07 pm

what do you have?

2:07 pm

what did you use to dump

2:07 pm

well, to try, anyway

Tried the UltraSave (usually pretty fool proof for me) and when that didn't work after 30+ tries, bought an old $100 laptop and tried the GameShark method for the first time. Well, tried it 8 times, actually :) I get files, but they are always inconsistent in the same segments of the file.. as much as 15,000 bytes of differences. Maybe less or more

what proto

Conkers 12 tales. Jk

ultrasave should honestly be fool proof

2:11 pm

Well

2:11 pm

for the most part

Nothing crazy.. but it has some differences, because I have booted it regularly in the N64 a couple of times, and boots straight away into a controller pak warning or something with different text than the retail release

Because I know of one proto that didn't dump correctly because of a certain thing I can't talk about

Hmmm. Interesting

That said that proto is just a regular N64 dev flashcart, I assume

Yeah, I can send you some pictures and stuff. Are you in an American timezone? Can I email you after work?

CEST time for me

2:13 pm

So Europe

2:13 pm

It's 4 PM right now for me

2:13 pm

how does Ultra Save tool react?

2:14 pm

does it recognize the proto or something?

Ah. I will give you all the details- send me an email @ bakercolvert@gmail.com whenever you get a chance. Gotta get started at work, now. Thank you a whole lot, btw. You are like a celebrity to me :)

I can't say I'll get it to work

2:15 pm

but I'm familiar with 64drive

2:15 pm

and commands that also work on UltraSave

2:16 pm

email sent

2:16 pm

I don't have a job so

You are the man!! I am sure no one can afford to pay what you are worth :)

I mean I wouldn't mind Nintendo to pay me to fix their shitty service

Lol

but then I don't wanna stop doing what I'm doing either

We for sure dont want you to stop. Or I know that I don't!

I should say that for the cart I am dealing with now, I don't know if there is anything to be done short of having another dumping tool, so if anyone knows someone with a V64 JR that can dump prototypes, that would be amazing. But I also don't really know how to get the most out of the UltraSave, so we'll see. Oh yeah, also if anyone knows if the Sanni cart reader can dump N64 prototypes now

it should dump protos

1

4:40 pm

Sorry I'm a bit late to respond

4:40 pm

was playing

@LuigiBlood Would you be able to rec. the best rippers for NES, SNES, and GBx systems? I know the 64Drive with attachment is the de facto method for N64, but the others are unknown to me.

For SNES there are several I could recommend

7:47 pm

But for GBx there's only like, two I can somewhat recommend

7:47 pm

That's getting a DS and a flashcart for GBA

Sorry for the larger question, but I've been reading about mods for the sanni reader, comparisons between GBx (Joey, Retrode, and GBxCart) and it's starting to scramble my brain. (edited)

or the Sanni Arduino Cart Dumper

7:47 pm

which supports Game Boy, Color and Advance

7:47 pm

And has the advantage of being open source

7:48 pm

And supports SNES and N64, and Genesis if you have the latest iteration

7:48 pm

(I don't)

Would you suggest the Sanni for those systems as well?

It's nice and fully featured for SNES at least

7:48 pm

N64 relies a bit on heuristics

7:48 pm

but you can make it do a blind dump

Ah... We were looking at a Retrode 2 otherwise for SNES, Genesis, SMS, and Game Gear.

Again though

7:49 pm

it's open source

7:49 pm

And then I remember another dumping hardware

7:50 pm

https://gitlab.com/InfiniteNesLives/INL-retro-progdump

Paul Molloy / INL-retro-progdump

Latest build of INL retro programmer-dumper software & firmware redesigned from the ground up. Made to be compatible with all inlretro/kazzo programmer/dumpers manufactured by Infinite NES Lives.

7:50 pm

this one

7:51 pm

I don't know how it holds up

Ah... Okay.

I do own the Sanni dumper, without the Genesis cart support

7:52 pm

The results were fine but I was using a custom firmware made by the guy who currently manages Retrode 2 firmware updates

From what you know, it goes: Sanni = NES, SNES, GBx, Genesis 64Drive = N64 Retrode 2 = SMS , Game Gear? I'm looking for the "best" method possible, which is I guess raw without any headers or anything.

oh RAW

If it is the best method!

Does Sanni do NES now?

Oh? My mistake.

I don't know about NES

7:53 pm

I genuinely know nothing about how to dump NES games

7:53 pm

But I may as well go over what I know at the very least for SNES and N64

7:53 pm

UltraSave allows dumping at any address

7:54 pm

for N64

7:54 pm

And for SNES, the best dumper is probably the Super Nt

7:54 pm

because of its various settings

7:54 pm

including one that dumps the entire memory map

7:55 pm

Otherwise though I'm sure it's possible to do all of these features on Sanni Cart Reader

7:55 pm

its open source nature allows it

No one has implemented them yet I take it?

I don't think so

7:56 pm

also Sanni Cart Reader does support SA-1 games

7:56 pm

it can avoid triggering the anti piracy

7:58 pm

That's what I think is the best option, I think

7:58 pm

also probably a lot cheaper than an UltraSave + 64drive since you do have to buy both

7:58 pm

and lately 64drive production was kinda put on hold because well, it's a one man project

NES = CopyNES for retail, Kazoo for bootleg / weird mappers SNES = Super NT N64 = UltraSave / 64Drive GBx = Sanni Cart Reader Possible best = Sanni Cart, but lacks the required features (it is capable of) (edited)

That's pretty much what I see to be the best

7:59 pm

And if you wanna do 64DD dumping... if that's ever planned

8:00 pm

the cheaper way is using my homebrew

8:00 pm

but it's not technically "RAW"

8:00 pm

as in not a physical dump

Hahaha... I'd go "crazy" if I had to do 64DD dumping, I think. That is a whole other ball game.

also a 64drive is required

8:00 pm

because Everdrive 64 I just don't trust it

8:01 pm

and some models prevents 64DD access

8:01 pm

it just kinda blocks the bus (edited)

8:01 pm

so I cannot make the dumper work on that

Ah...

8:01 pm

Hmm...

I do wish to make 64DD dumping cheaper

8:02 pm

but yeah

8:02 pm

There was also an attempt at dumping with an Arduino

8:02 pm

it failed but we found out that it was actually working fine

8:02 pm

At least for an entire disk head (edited)

8:02 pm

...we just didn't know how to get the other head

8:03 pm

we do now

8:03 pm

But yeah the reason it's not "RAW" is just that I'm using Nintendo's library to dump the games

8:03 pm

while technically I don't think we're missing important data

8:04 pm

There are disk tracks that are ignored and considered as defects

8:04 pm

except I'm pretty sure it's actually fine lol

8:05 pm

not to mention we don't have the error correction data

8:06 pm

and technically speaking, that's kinda a thing that Nintendo uses for anti piracy

8:06 pm

with tampered C2 data

8:06 pm

so I've heard, anyway

8:07 pm

Also I made a blog post on how to dump Satellaview Memory Packs

8:07 pm

because I felt that was important

8:07 pm

includes a number of ways that I consider fully working

8:08 pm

https://luigiblood.tumblr.com/post/166294029848/how-to-dump-satellaview-memory-packs

LuigiBlood's Blog

How to dump Satellaview Memory Packs

Back in the day, dumping Memory Packs was a huge mess that required mostly unique pieces of hardware and hacky ways to dump them. But lately more ways have been done to facilitate the dumping to...

8:10 pm

Anyway I've gone overboard

8:10 pm

when you only asked what's the best way to dump stuff

CopyNES is the best for nes

if you're dumping standard licensed stuff, if you're having to dump weird pirate stuff that doesn't have a plugin yet kazzo is more supported

I think kazoo can't do certain mappers due to some timing inaccuracy?

9:31 pm

Bootleg mappers tho

9:31 pm

Also Byuu's custom dumper is the best for snes

I'm researching into what would give the best "preservation" quality rip which I guess means raw?

Analogue DAC pre orders up

Really curious why they use FPGA for a DAC.

3:08 pm

Also I’m not really sure what the target audience for this is - just people who want to use analogue consoles on CRTs I guess?

In fairness to them, much more reasonably priced than I would have expected given the tech choice & analogue tax

Yep!

Might be good for a BVM if it supports 480p, I could also see it being useful for someone who has a low hours CRT but doesn't expect their NES/SNES/Genesis to last forever. Or maybe they just don't have the old consoles and like to move their Analogue stuff back and forth between a CRT and a flatscreen

imagine using the nes/snes classics or the switch emulators with a pvm. I think that's who they're targeting as well as their own demographic

Yeah this is for me

I thought the Analogue DAC relied on some special FPGA magic provided only by Analogue consoles, and wasn't going to support just anything over HDMI

Hm, not sure. I don’t see anything saying it’s limited to analogue products, just a note that says it’s “compatible with analogue products” (edited)

I believe the last thing they said is they may have to go off HDMI spec to make it work so it might not be compatible with any old HDMI device

4:21 pm

The beta was out there. Not sure if anyone tried plugging random things in?

Checking some videos now

$100 shipped though eeesh

4:22 pm

wonder if this will allow 32x via the mega sg now

4:22 pm

i've been on the fence on purchasing a mega sg due to that

It will, yeah. I remember that being confirmed

Nice

On the DAC web page, it shows compatibility with Mega Sg, Super Nt, and future Analogue products, no mention of generic HDMI devices or even the Nt Mini

4:24 pm

it seems like it goes out of spec for analogue consoles in order to match the specs of the old consoles specifically, but it is an auto detection thing and should work fine by plugging in any old product into it

I hope that's the case

https://gizmodo.com/only-die-hard-retro-gamers-will-want-this-box-that-lets-1838093943

Only Die-Hard Retro Gamers Will Want This Box That Lets Modern Con...

If there’s one good reason to drop $190 on Analogue’s Mega Sg or Super Nt consoles, it’s that they allow you to play your favorite retro 16-bit games on a modern TV that only supports HDMI. But some nostalgic gamers demand the most authentic retro experience, and for th...

Harder part, assuming it just works, would be getting certain devices to output at 240p/480p

4:26 pm

Do any of the million snes classic hacks do that currently?

@caseytube I saw that article but I only like 80% trust Gizmodo to get details right. Have to wait to hear from someone like MLiG to confirm its real compatibility. I'm hoping it can do BVMs at 480p too

Surely they're going to do a cheaper Nt mini right? right guys?

yeah that’s fair. I wouldn’t take it as gospel either since I saw another article with a similar title that said “their hdmi consoles”

Voultar is not a fan of the shipping charges either heh. https://twitter.com/Voultar/status/1172546443258802176?s=20

Voultar (@Voultar)

I don't care for how this company treats their customers from a consumer standpoint. The shipping charges for ANY of their products are completely unreasonable. IF, and I mean IF they are forwarding the costs of their manufacturing shipping onto the customers, that's so fu...

side note, I just realized I already had a high quality trinitron screen after I purchased a silicon graphics octane from FreeGeek

i was going to do the mega sg and this but they won't let me in one order

I didn’t realize it was a trinitron until I looked it up and saw the crt was manufactured by Sony and the glass curves in a trinitron way

which makes sense in a way but shit... i dunno $40 to ship these two things?

4:29 pm

Nice!

and yeah I fail to understand their shipping costs that’s insane

its one way to stop people from reselling (because it makes their product price lower) but also a huge boost to profit margin

I feel the most for our friends to the south. My understanding is shipping to aus/nz is brutal

5:09 pm

Going entirely off memory but I think a console was $80+ shipping alone? I'm sure you can plug in a random address and find out, too lazy on mobile

yeah that is flat out ridiculous

5:32 pm

i just shipped a box that would fit the DAC easily to Australia for $30

5:33 pm

I'm still holding out hope for a console that the cores can be bought, or buy them for the Super NT or Mega SG

5:33 pm

i don't really want more consoles to have to hook up

If I get some expendable income, I wanna get the polymega

My understanding of the DAC was that the Analogue consoles send not-video data over the HDMI port when in DAC mode.

yeah I mean it’s definitely communicating in an out of spec way, the analogue consoles need a firmware update to take advantage of it

6:03 pm

I’d be interested to see what happens once reviewers like mlig get it

I'll probably get one eventually now that I have a PVM, but it's going to be awhile

I'm getting one for sure, and I'm hoping that emulator authors can figure out how to communicate with it

@Frank Cifaldi That would be sweet

Picked up this neat USB powered screen, seems like it'll come in handy

1

went ahead and pulled the trigger on the Mega SG. holding off on the DAC for now.

@Borman that’s neat, where’d you get it?

eBay, but they have them on Amazon and stuff. Bought this one used, will let you know a model when I get home

going through old floppy disks to see what's on them I'm amazed so few are corrupted

9:07 pm

I found a QBASIC spreadsheet program I clearly wrote in high school

9:07 pm

also my game collection list as of 2004

9:10 pm

oh hey this Buck Rogers IBM game seems to still work

Was hoping my ossc would be here, was curious what it would look like on the screen

GECHIC ON-LAP 1303H screen btw

1

Sooo what's the general consensus on a good hdmi switch?

12:11 am

i want something that preferably automatically switches, and can do all the fancy 4k stuff as i'm hooking it to my oled.

12:12 am

that only has 3... hdmi inputs :/

That’s low!

Monoprice has some good ones

3:23 pm

I've been browsing extron crosspoints the last few days, they're all several times as large as my PVM >_<

I use a rocketfish 4k one from best buy and have never had any problems with it, but it is pricey at $80

Thanks! I'll look into those.

I have a non-HDMI crosspoint that I really like

So I got a wii starlight fun center the other day and I didn't realize it has custom firmware and doesn't have a disc drive...and is also maybe undumped?

5:09 am

whoaa

5:10 am

Starlight wiis and wii u's are really odd so that doesn't surprise me

5:10 am

if i remember correctly, i think the wii u starlights are kiosk wii u's? can't remember the exact model number for those

i have a gamecube one and it's just a normal ass gamecube so i wasn't expecting this

i think they changed when the wii came around since they were in high demand

5:11 am

or something to that effect

5:11 am

but yeah thats a kiosk wii of some sort, since its got the wired coaxial controller port

does it have a home menu? if so then you could probably dump it after letterbombing it, but if not then it might be a trickier process to do

It’s not like the Wii home menu, it’s just a bunch of box art shown one at a time. I’ll try to get a photo tomorrow, I’m home now

I looked it up after I posted that, so I know what you mean. Yeah, it seems like one of those things where you'd have to flash the firmware using some soldered lines or something. Looks like people have been asking for this flash for awhile

well i'm open to do whatever needs to be done, but i am not the smart person to engineer a solution. cross posted a couple places so hopefully someone's got an idea

my fiance took apart the wii, here's some photos. this thing is really interesting

8:10 am

8:11 am

Oh, well since it has a proper HDD it would be easy to dump

sure but it's encrypted, theres an IDE encryption chip on the board

8:38 am

so a raw dump of the hard drive wouldn't be enough i assume

Still a good thing to do, in case something goes wrong

8:47 am

If the HDD fails for some reason you could still put the data on another one

8:49 am

I can't help with the decryption part sadly

8:51 am

You could get in touch with Gerbilsoft, he has a lot of experience with wii devkits and might be of some help if the hardware is similar

I have never heard of a starlight wii, huh. Learn something new all the time

Nice to see a complete one, a bunch of motherboards were sold on Ebay a few years back

1:07 pm

(We have the Fun Center SNES, but that's obviously just a normal SNES)

Got my Super NT and Mega SG hooked up last night and did FirebrandX's settings. I can get scanlines to look pretty good in 720p, but not 1080p... I've got them looking "okay". From what I'm reading the scanline engines changed in recent firmwares. Anybody have any suggested settings for 1080p?

I've been wondering if he will do an updated video. I messed with them and wrote a wrote a very rough basic guide of the settings, let me find, might help

3:22 pm

https://i.imgur.com/TWTYrc7.jpg

3:23 pm

1080p, 5X
Disable V Interpolation

Hybrid Scanlines: ON
Hybrid Depth: 8
Width: 24
Sub-Brightness: 255

If you are going to tweak the Depth / Width make sure there are some pure white pixel clusters as very bright colors will be the most heavily impact in hybrid. Sonic's eye makes a good spot to check while having a variety of bright colors around to compare. You can see how big the difference between the dark brown in the back ground cliff is in terms of thickness compared to the bright greens, blues, and whites. It is a tough balance to walk, adjust to your preference.

Drop Sub-Brightness if you want softer scanlines. 225 will still be dark but give a very slight glow. 180-200 if you want soft. 140-160 if you want extremely soft. Below that is almost pointless, lol

Tweak width if you want them thicker or thinner. 8-16 if you want very thick scanlines. 30-36 for thin.

Turn on advanced mode and go into Color.

Adjust the RGB slider to 1.10 - 1.20 to brighten things up from the darkening effect of the scanlines. Depends on how you adjusted things above.

3:23 pm

Skewed slightly thinner here. Note what it does to Sonic's eye and hand. The greys in the hand look incredibly harsh up close but backing up away from the screen it blends a bit better.

3:23 pm

https://i.imgur.com/wRdBDKM.png

Nice thanks I will try these out! I did notice last night when toying with it looked way better when i stepped back

3:24 pm

Being up close really makes you notice flaws you wouldn't normally on a large display.

Yeah, it is funny how it is almost too precise in some cases.

3:25 pm

3:26 pm

Like here the transition is so harsh up close but when you step back a few it blends relatively well

3:26 pm

I wish I could get a perfect 3:2 ratio with the softness in the 2 but it is tricky (edited)

3:26 pm

Way better than they were before at least

I finally went the Mega SG route due to trying to get my model 1 to play nicely with the ossc

3:30 pm

couldnt' get rid of the jailbars, didn't want to have to mess with the workarounds on the different resolutions. said screw it and ordered one and don't regret it.

3:30 pm

honestly with the dac coming out having a hard time finding reasons to keep my snes and model 1 aronud.

3:31 pm

is it just me or do the 1st and 2nd sliders seem to work against each other? I think i got my best results when turning one completely off.

I forget exactly as it has been some time since I tweaked them, but yeah it is a little odd. One you are adjusting the width of the scanline itself and the other is the strength of the hybrid bleed so they can saturate each other in odd ways?

Yeah 720p it wasn't too hard to get decent ones but with 1080p i couldn't get them to look decent at all until cranking one of those completely off.

3:34 pm

I'm sure it's the wrong way to do it though

3:34 pm

it's fun to play with at least.

3:35 pm

worse comes to worse I think i could potentially use the dac to output to the ossc for nice scanlines?

3:35 pm

haven't thought that one through really though

I've kind of settled into using the big blocky pixels for the more clean colorful art stuff, and flipping on scanlines for the noisy gradient stuff

3:37 pm

Like this benefits almost nothing from scanlines

3:38 pm

MK on the other hand?

That Wii is really interesting @kelslewin . I did some research on the encryption chip. Looks like it uses 168 bit TDES (the specs say 192 but that’s not a thing) which is out of my reach and out of the reach of most people that aren’t a government. That said, it sounds like this thing boots without user input/authentication? Which means the key exists somewhere on the board either on an HSM or an EEPROM (most likely). Someone cleverer than I with hardware probably could dump it just by hooking up an ATA host controller to the output of that X-Wall... but it would not be trivial.

️ This thing was a serious crypto chip in the mid 00s... In any case, dumping the disk itself raw is probably not the answer unless someone has a spare exascale supercomputer or a hot new cryptanalysis on 3TDEA that they’ve been waiting for a good use for...

Any chance you have a close up of the traces on that X-Wall chip? Looks like something might be connected to the serial EEPROM interface which might be what’s loading the key

168-Bit seems like a pretty weird number. At least with 192-Bit you can do 128+64. I wonder why it was designed that way?

For whatever reason the original DES was 56 bit keys, so 3DES which literally just does DES 3 times goes up to 168

‍♂️

Bizarre

It’s a super broken crypto scheme that only actually has 112 bits of security but that’s still enough to put off filthy casuals like me

Wonder how feasible it'd be to pull an original Xbox style hit on it

4:34 pm

Let the machine itself decrypt it and then hot plug it

Exactly.

@stegosaurus I’ll try to crack it back open today and take more photos. I’m willing to straight up mail this thing to a trusted person if I have to as long as I get it back

My Chinese ossc was delivered, will check it out soon

How much was it? Any cheaper than the real deal?

135 bucks

Not bad!

Comes with the remote and everything too

I’m actually really excited to get the retro Tink now, especially because Mike Chi released that scart to component converter

Yeah I saw that. Would be convenient. I still need a second retrotink sometime

8:33 pm

My hope is that I can run a single HDMI cable to my capture card from my splitter instead of the component cable I currently run

Has anyone done a board of the OSSC with composite and S video as options?

Don't think so

8:55 pm

I'm expecting the best

There is no off.

8:55 pm

Obviously

8:56 pm

Or maybe you just have to turn it upside down when you turn it on.

gorgeous

ask for a demonstration

when I was a kid my apartment complex was behind a montgomery ward that had a cd-i kiosk

11:35 pm

I played a lot of the weird zeldas for free

lucky

#humblebrag

they also had separate Genesis and JVC X'Eye kiosks

11:49 pm

so the only Sega CD games I played when the system was alive were Dune and Prize Fighter

That reminds me has the genesis mini been hacked yet?

11:53 pm

Has been out like 12 hours, seems ample time

Legit Love those weird zeldas

Has anybody found a VIS? Always been curious about those

12:25 am

I have a single disc image of software for it, and amazingly it does emulate in Mess

the only time i've ever seen a vis is at the magfest computer museum

But I know almost nothing else about it besides it running some embedded windows

which was also literally the first time i had ever heard of the vis

The disc image in question is, maybe unsurprisingly, the port of Links

if those bad zelda games were on computers dos people would think they were good

No doubt. Then again, the Rozner Labs /HiTech Mega Man games are a thing, and I have not heard of anybody actually liking them regardless of them being for dos

yeah you're probably right

that's not true at all, dos people consider mega man to be a pretty good dos platformer

Would like to meet those people some day face_09

I met anatoly he's nice

I used to own a vis

1:09 am

Ended up donating it and like 50 boxed games to the university of Michigan’s video game archive

1:11 am

I wrote the digital press section about it like 15 years ago, ha. I can say that Links and the shooter on the demo disc are probably the most fun things on there, though Manhole has some great moments

oh I didn't know that! in the physical book?

Actually I was in touch with a guy who used to work at Tandy back then too who spent a few years trying to find some unreleased items. A couple of games and dev tools

1:14 am

Yeah the Advanced book

1:15 am

Dude never did turn up those things unfortunately. I guess they used a disk on windows 3.1 computers that would cause it to emulate the Vis for development. He also said the Kong’s Quest port on there had atrocious load times, like minutelong ones (which is why it got canned)

I want a VIS. I played with one at Radio Shack a bunch, since we bought our first Tandy from there. Computers were weird back then.

You know there’s a store in metro Detroit that I sold my extra one to. Last time I was there in November they still had it

1:43 am

Might be worth calling about it

1:44 am

At this point they’d probably be desperate!

Called Retro Taku if you’re interested in trying

K think I am happy with my 1080p settings on the Analogue systems now. 8 / 23 / 107 are my settings with interpolation on both V and H

5:18 pm

gets me the balance of softness I'm happy with

5:18 pm

while still keeping some of the sharpness of 1080p

5:18 pm

i hate how hybrid scanlines look though so using normal

5:18 pm

the white areas just get a super thin sharp line through them and it looks bad to me

I gave up on sub-4k scanlines completely tbh

Yeah RetroArch with CRT-Royale at 4k is still the best scanlines I think.

Hmmm...someone finally did a solution to recommend to anyone that is not crazy like most of us?

5:48 am

https://youtu.be/DyE85OFGQpM

RetroRGB

Unveiling The RAD2x - GOOD $50 Retro HDMI Cables

5:48 am

Though I wonder why it couldn’t just be a universal device with cables separately..

5:49 am

Probably because profit

I'd prefer a RetroTINK over this, at least on the consoles that don't support RGB. Still, neat design

But this is the kind of device I would potentially recommend to someone who doesn’t even know what scart and rgb is and doesn’t care either.

Good point

also it’s apparently just retrotink tech in an all-in-one package?

Yeah that seems to be basically it. Not as versatile as if you were to take several consoles into a switchbox and then output to a RetroTINK 2X, but the new cables should be simpler

Convenience and hassle free is the selling point here

also 240p-480i switching??? How the heck

6:03 am

this is the first time I’ve seen an hdmi based thing fixing the chrono cross problem

The OSSC does it fast enough in combination with my tv for it to not be annoying, but this definitely beats it it seems in terms of speed.

Pretty slick! Yeah this is an easy solution for people that just want a decent picture on their tv easily.

12:46 pm

I gotta have my scanlines though

Out of curiosity, how hackable are the Arcade 1up counter top machines?

Like, if I wanted to add more games or replace the inside with a RasPi, how much surgery would I need to perform

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=09DQCOr6zQM

ETA PRIME

‪Arcade1UP Raspberry Pi Install Tutorial - RetroPie in an Arcade1UP

I did some curiosity digging around when these were first dropping and I think my ultimate conclusion was the monitor is the biggest anchor. I believe they are ultra lowend laptop chasis monitors that had some negative attribute but I can't recall exactly what it was?

9:08 pm

Maybe super bad response times?

9:09 pm

Though I am curious if the MiSTer cores continue to mature if it will become the "mame" board of choice for these types of projects.

9:10 pm

Nowhere near the library of support, of course.

Hmm. Yeah honestly given I'd be replacing the innards, the screen and controls are the things I'm interested in, and I'm already not hearing great stuff about the controls

oh yeah, joystick and buttons would be a must, imo

If the screen isn't great either then this would be a waste of a couple hundred bucks

Though don't take my opinion alone on these matters since I apparently can't manage to pop out a button without snapping the dang things.

9:13 pm

(In my defense I squeezed VERY gently)

if you're going to gut it, might be better to just build your own

9:52 pm

bartops are small, probably easy to flatpack and ship, so I'm sure there are etsy sellers with kits

9:53 pm

(if you dont have local access to a cnc)

Something at least mostly ready made would be ideal for me, I'm not great at the making aspect

10:10 pm

I mean heck I've got a ps2 arcade stick I've been wanting to do new artwork for, for years, but don't know the slightest thing about doing that

10:10 pm

It's the Tekken 5 one

The cabinet itself is solid enough for what it is. If you do consider it his mods in this video are pretty solid and he has links in the description for most of the weirder stuff.

10:35 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l8nSVZ8vDA

jonyfraze

Arcade1UP Sanwa Control Panel Mod + Raspberry Pi Install

10:36 pm

Stuff like sanwa buttons or sticks can be had at any of the popular arcade shops like focusattack.com or arcadeshock.com

10:37 pm

(On top of the above video by ETA Prime, if that wasn't clear) (edited)

I’m surprised they haven’t yet made a blank cabinet kit for like, $200 or something. Overpriced for what it is, but that’s what I assumed they’d sell it for if they did it

Yeah, cabs are odd. People want them in theory, but they don't want them

10:40 pm

I love this stuff and even I got rid of mine eventually. It is like a less functional couch. Just a massive piece of furniture.

10:40 pm

Once I realized a good fightstick gets you like 80% of the way there I made peace with collecting too many of those now.

10:40 pm

I only have four!

10:41 pm

Don't judge me.

10:41 pm

Wait, crap, five. Just remembered the other one. Ok, you can judge me a little bit.

I just want a nice candy cab

https://www.polygon.com/2019/9/25/20884111/bandai-namco-atgames-lawsuit-ms-pac-man-pac-man-flashback-blast-copyright-infringement

Bandai Namco sues throwback console maker over Ms. Pac-Man mini-ca...

The company alleges AtGames was misrepresenting rights to Namco licenses

Ms Pac-Man being lost in a rights hellhole is the perfect legacy for atgames

The weirdest shady part to me is going directly to Curran/GCC to try to... strong arm their way into the license?

12:28 am

With regard to the Pac-Man Flashback Blast device (a controller and USB dongle), Bandai Namco alleges that AtGames created review units using the original and better-quality arcade game ROM, but for retail the units shipped with the Nintendo Entertainment System port. The discrepancy was so bad reviewers later issued warnings not to buy the device, which Bandai Namco’s lawsuit cites as an example of AtGames harming its business.

12:29 am

And I am not sure if there are many lawsuits that specifically point to reviews as harming their business

12:29 am

Probably came up with Too Human, if I were to guess

I remember this happening!

5:30 am

I think they also have a second print run of those units that isn't NES anymore? Might be misremembering

5:30 am

But yes when you need to save money, NES-on-a-chip is there

what is somewhat depressing: i still see the atgames genesises on sale

3:53 pm

though amusingly this was at an Office Depot

3:53 pm

next to the countertop Arcade1up Space Invaders

I saw one for sale at a Gamestop, used, for $69

I noticed that as well and assumed it was retailers trying to get rid of backlog rather than Sega still pushing it? But I am not entirely sure

Benj posted up the actual complaint that breaks down the rights issue (Namco has all the rights, atgames gets royalties though when Ms Pac-Man does get sold) https://www.dropbox.com/s/3kcg1izqi04krrn/1%20ATGAMES%20-%20Complaint.pdf?dl=0

1 ATGAMES - Complaint.pdf

Shared with Dropbox

https://twitter.com/pinkgorillallc/status/1178426044010790912?s=21

Pink Gorilla (@PinkGorillaLLC)

Just in at the University District location. It’s the Starlight Fun Center. This GameCube kiosk was used in children’s hospitals and is an official Nintendo product.

Likes

205

2:18 am

@kelslewin is embarking on a full collection now, it seems (edited)

I actually bought two of each — they were at the university’s surplus store of all places. But the GameCube one is nothing (technically) special, it’s just a normal GameCube.

Lol I was just in the store looking at that

We’re gonna auction off one of each at PRGE and then I’m holding onto a Wii one until it’s preserved which I admit I have not really been working on at the moment

I cant decide if starlights creep me out or not (edited)

Yeah our SNES one is just a standard SNES

@Borman I talked to someone sort of knowledgable about the Wii Kiosk, and we're thinking it may just be a regular ol' RVT-H or whatever sort of dev unit, which means it may not even be encrypted.

That's certainly possible. I haven't opened my rvth to look at it

8:45 pm

Also hadnt seen anything for the Starlight console other than the motherboard until this set so

https://twitter.com/CedricBiscay/status/1179066067739693056

Cedric Biscay (@CedricBiscay)

Terry Diebold that we have invited several years ago at @MagicMonaco just informed me that he wants to sell his Nintendo PlayStation official prototype. I am very curious to know about the final price for this ! I guess a crazy World Record will happen... #nintendoplaystat...

1:02 pm

just to get that known

I agree that it should go to a museum but also expect that it will not

Seems like the sort of thing that would need a lot of coordination to round up a lot of money to have a chance at getting that in a museum

We will see what happens

What am I missing? AFAIK Terry’s been trying to sell it for years? Hasn’t he turned down several six figure offers?

3:13 pm

He’s been “touring” with it trying to build value since like 2015. This was always his plan

Pretty much. That's why I'm not 100% convinced anything has changed

I forget what he was trying to get for it —- $1 million? A couple million?

Good lord.

I've heard some huge numbers thrown around

It wasn't publicly known, honestly

3:27 pm

I thought it was just collectors trying to cash in

3:27 pm

I had no idea he intended this all along

3:28 pm

That said I can't really blame much for trying to sell this for a million or more

3:28 pm

this is literally the only prototype of this around so far

3:29 pm

At least the SNES CD BIOS ROM was released

3:29 pm

I'm still happy that happened

3:29 pm

I kind of had the honors to do that as I offered webspace even though in retrospect... I could just have told him to put it on archive.org

3:30 pm

lol

3:30 pm

Nowadays that's just something I would tell people to use

Oh I’m not shaming him. Its his, he’s allowed to do whatever he wants with it...it’s just a bummer because his ask is way out of range for any institution.

3:31 pm

I didn’t realize people didn’t know he was trying to sell it though.

I didn't see much shame

3:32 pm

but yeah I didn't know, when I heard about turning down 6 figure offers it felt more like collectors rushing in to get it

3:32 pm

that's how I think most people perceived it

3:32 pm

including myself

Ah, that makes sense

Especially since I'm pretty sure it was stated that it wasn't going to be sold anytime soon

3:33 pm

at least once

3:33 pm

Maybe I'm remembering wrong but I was pretty sure I heard that

3:34 pm

to be honest though they were looking into repairing it

3:34 pm

which is still kinda insane that it now works

Well he’s been enjoying his free conventions (I don’t blame him!) but he’s always been chasing the multi million dollar offer

Afraid it's not happening anytime soon then

3:35 pm

but I guess now that it's actually publicly stated

3:35 pm

Collectors might be more aware of this

Which is the last thing youd want really, but that was inevitable

I don't mind collectors to get it

3:36 pm

I just don't like when collectors don't give a shit

Maybe this is bad but I kind of gave up on it going to an institution years ago

If he wanted it somewhere, it would be there.

It seems so futile that I don’t even feel like trying to fight for it

Thats why I try to temper expectations.

For me it's still insane that a Super Disc BIOS ROM dump is public

3:37 pm

and when it comes to one of a kind Nintendo hardware, I've seen a lot dumped (edited)

3:37 pm

People on twitter are happy to say they’d try to crowdfund but like...there’s no way we could raise over $1 million just to put it in a museum

3:38 pm

@LuigiBlood absolutely! That’s a huge win

Still happy about that US 64DD IPL dump

3:38 pm

now people are actually using it lol

3:38 pm

since I released that custom Zelda disk expansion

Well and the other thing even with crowdfunding, a million could be used for a lot of other preservation efforts.

Yep

yeah

@Hubz 100%

$1 million goes a far way.

I'd rather have a million spent on preserving more things than just a single hardware

Same

which we now have tons of info about

3:40 pm

That hardware went from unknown to "totally known why it's worse than Sega CD" lol (edited)

I personally view these things as things we would love to have, but at the same time, when people want top dollar, it's easy to think about all the other stuff that could be saved.

3:40 pm

Sure, it'

3:40 pm

it's a highlight object. But $1 mil plus is a lot of money

I don’t think it provides nearly $1 million in value to any institution

Exactly. Bragging rights for a press release, then what?

That said is the other prototype still at Sony Museum?

Again, not to say we wouldnt love to have it.

Even if the strong was magically prepared to buy it for $1 million I’d be like uhhh please spend that on something else

because Edge did take a photo of one from there (edited)

Ill avoid talking about where there may or may not be more units

It's known there are more according to that ex-Imagesoft dev

3:42 pm

and there has to be more since the prototype shown in Edge is actually looking pretty different

3:42 pm

and actually more like a final proto

The amount of prototypes and rare artifacts that could be had for a million is pretty mindblowing

http://i.imgur.com/9fip2h.jpg

3:43 pm

like, this looks quite different

3:43 pm

and I wish the original picture of this was available

3:43 pm

I can only find cropped but slightly better quality

3:44 pm

or literally what I just linked which is full but shit quality

3:45 pm

it does make me wonder about it, at least

i sometimes wonder if the prototype controllers were ever actually functional https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--0mW5vSiD--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/18j1i9otdpdh4jpg.jpg

I mostly find amazing that this looks like final build quality

3:45 pm

for some reason

I mean probably not. Industrial designers try lots of things.

(source) https://kotaku.com/the-original-playstation-controllers-looked-stupid-tha-5839192

I would have expected cheaper plastic

The one that was working is the 6 button one, since I owned a prototype of that

there's a handful of others, sitting on stands, none of them have cables attached

the 6 button one aka the one that people thought was for SNES CD

Yeah

but is most likely not

It isnt

it makes no sense why you would make a controller with a different plug like that

It was used with the early target boxes for psx

unless it was for the PS1

That's just Sony developer nonsense. The more final version has the same plig

3:47 pm

Plug

There you go

3:48 pm

The story that I've heard is Ken Kutaragi really wanted to go with that design

If Sony made a SNES CD controller they would have most likely used the SNES plug

But was shot down fairly late in the process, all things considered

We wouldn't call the NES a breadbox if we got this.

Woah thank god that design wasn't the one taken

It's a fairly comfortable controller

I wouldn't trust a rumor like that unless it came from the team direct.

oh wait you meant the controller?

Buttons were pretty mushy

3:49 pm

Yeah

I almost thought you meant the whole thing including the console case lol

I think that case was recycled from some other Sony machine

well that controller seems to be a mix of 6-button Genesis controller and SNES

3:50 pm

I'm most worried about the left most buttons

It felt alright

3:51 pm

Not that I played anything with mind

3:51 pm

Mine

I've heard somebody has one with a copy of Mickey Mania on CD

hi just chiming in, terry quoted me $3 million when I talked to him

4:24 pm

Oh dear

also mickey mania is on sega cd soooooooooo

Could include some of the content that’s missing from the regular snes release

Yeah that’s the number I thought I remembered, too

checks wallet * I got like.. 26 bucks. We can do this.

And then sit on it for a few years to sell again

If I recall correctly when it first blew up he mentioned his father was struggling financially so I don't blame them if this makes the most sense for them.

yeah no judgement here

Obviously my preference would be it ended up with someone like byuu or the likes (edited)

I squashed the only thing that made me uncomfortable, which is that PRGE kept placing him in the museum with us

4:36 pm

I asked that he be put somewhere else because his goals are in direct conflict with ours

Yeah, that seems fair

multi million seems like a pretty massive ask. Like I'm sure there are collectors who would be willing to throw that kind of cash around, but it's a real small list

it's all about exposure and building up mystique, I don't think he's wrong that this can be the record-breaker for video games

oh sure

4:41 pm

and I don't begrudge them trying to get every penny they can, I just would also not expect it to sell for that amount of cash

I didn't see him in this years schedule at all.

6:12 pm

Is possible I just missed it though

6:13 pm

... Yeah, Terry isn't here at all this year according to the schedule. Interesting

Might be common knowledge, but it was new to me!

8:33 pm

8:34 pm

what, just the existence of the glasses?

Yup! I didn't know there was a 3D glasses system for the FDS / Famicom.

Oh, yeah, 3D Hot Rally has support for those

there's an anime themed space harrier that looks like it would be good with these

https://twitter.com/paulrickards/status/1181393819583037440?s=21

Paul Rickards (@paulrickards)

Retr0bright update from 2015 to 2019. The yellow has returned. Kept away from sunlight in a cool place.

2:58 am

an interesting case about retrobriting for those who restore old plastics

huh, I've of that happening, thats unfortunate

not surprising

3:19 am

it's not like the chemical process in the plastic is stopped

Doesn't the retrobrighting also make the plastic more brittle?

thats what people say but again, depends on the plastic

i got an email this morning that pre-orders for this thing had finally opened up to whoever had signed up to be informed of them

4:54 am

the message did say that the website just plain would not display the item to anybody that wasn't previously signed up for it, though - i imagine they'll open it to the public after the initial batch is done

4:55 am

for roughly the equivalent of $100 USD this is far less expensive than seeking out all the NGPC games I actually want

4:55 am

might actually start bringing my NGPC with me again heh

that is tempting

5:28 am

let us know what you think of it once you get yours

Flash cart?

Yup

excellent

Well that was fast

2:02 pm

It being a Pre-order I expected it'd be a few more months

https://twitter.com/analogue/status/1181952715699752965

https://i.imgur.com/xc2ToeA.png

https://t.co/MI79brqFGn

Likes

253

4:26 pm

Feeling like Game Boy?

Or Casio Loppy

Id love to see them announce an obscure system on April 1st, then actually release it

analogue Vita stargoose

Hyperkin did a fake Wonderswan announcement last year

1

4:35 pm

I was hoping they’d actually do it

Aww

4:35 pm

That's a shame

They can't play with you like that

Loopy is due

Dammit Hyperkin, why must you be so cruel?

I would buy a loopy mini.

Analogue announcement day?

Could've sworn I already saw the announcement but now I'm not sure

1:47 pm

ah ok spoilers I guess https://twitter.com/nibellion/status/1184439390380146689?s=21

Nibel (@Nibellion)

Analogue announces Analogue Pocket, a modern handheld that can play every Game Boy title from 1989-2008 Cartridge adapters also allow you to play games from Sega Game Gear, SNK Neo Geo Pocket Colour and Atari Lynx https://t.co/aYvqZeaaQ3

Retweets

658

Likes

2021

Ooh, neat

1:48 pm

Now I wish I'd picked up those NGPC games I saw at one of the local shops a few weeks ago

1:48 pm

their tweet had said 8am pacific today, so a bit over an hour from now

Looks like the article went out early

“* cartridge adapters may never get released based on previous performance”

2:00 pm

No video out on this thing?

OH yeah, have they ever shipped the extra adapters for the Mega SG?

Not yet

2:05 pm

TV out dock

ooh that’s sleek

https://www.fastcompany.com/90417529/this-new-gaming-device-is-like-a-game-boy-for-design-snobs

This new gaming device is like a Game Boy for design snobs

Slick, clean, and plays all your old cartridges . . . on TV!

is this fpga based still?

Would be surprised if it wasn’t

says $199, so $100 shipping to the US?

2:10 pm

1600x1440 screen, clever 10x10 pixels to each gameboy original

2:11 pm

jailbreak that puppy with NES/Genesis/SNES cores and I can start tossing all my crappy portable emulators

I'll bet he's going to put his SID player on the unofficial core

Ooh, that would be neat

2:34 pm

Hmm, now I kinda want to muck about with making a fpga .vgm player, guess I need to get my mister hardware set up for development

I'm curious if the Analogue 8 is just a no show or if that is what the dock is called and has more functionality.

2:38 pm

Guess we'll see in about 20 mins

2:39 pm

ref: https://www.retrorgb.com/analogue-handheld-and-8-bit-trademark-leak.html

20 years from now I'll read a fascinating article from Frank about how the Analogue 8 never made it to market but through an insane sequence of events ended up in a small market in south america.

but the FPGA and code pops up randomly in cheap all-in-one emulation systems with newly written Master System games in 2035

Hmmm yeah still hoping the analogue 8 is a nt mini replacement

Pocket is designed for  development. We added a second dedicated FPGA just for developers to develop & port their own cores.

(edited)

3:01 pm

huh

3:01 pm

huh

Interesting

Interesting L and R button arrangements on the back

3:04 pm

Means it should be able to handle SNES just fine if the core is made available though

3:05 pm

and the screen is high res enough to do some pretty good scanline emulation

i'd pay... a lot of money for just one analogue system with all the cores and maybe controller adapters.

isn’t that what the polymega is promising to be?

3:07 pm

except they’re emulation I guess, not fpga

Yeah

would be cool if they weren’t though

hmm, dock is DAC compatible

3:09 pm

Lynx games on a CRT

I would kill to see a virtual boy adapter made for this thing

3:11 pm

I really like the look of virtual boy games on the TV, especially when they are color converted

3:12 pm

This might be my first analogue purchase tbh

It'll be my third

Guess I dont need to make the crazy money people want for a prebuilt GBA Consolizer. For crazy money, I get this.

I'll probably hold off until it's jailbroken, if it's jailbroken.

3:13 pm

would be shocked if it wasn't though

It shouldn’t need to be jailbroken, it has a developer port and a second FPGA for development of new software

3:14 pm

At least, that’s my understanding of it

Prominent developer likely to be vektris

3:15 pm

But it is an interesting way to open the door to the MiSTer community

I wonder how quickly we'll start seeing all the Mister cores ported over

3:15 pm

yeah, if this ends up being an instant portable mister that community could really take off even more

I imagine it can't be a very powerful chip at the price point, but might be able to get some stuff like NES in there

It must be pretty powerful if it's running GBA, in most ways that's more powerful than the SNES

3:19 pm

that's a full ARM7TDMI on top of the graphics and sound hardware

3:20 pm

I wonder if that's why it's packing two FPGAs, uses both for the GBA, one for the CPU, and one for the rest of the system

That was my assumption, yeah

kinda still confused why people ask for an oled every time a device with a screen is introduced

4:45 pm

oleds are amazing but lcds still are still great picks and not everything has to have a perfect black level imho

Basically the only thing I ever ask of my portable screens is "backlit" and "isn't the one on the PSP-3000"

4:46 pm

Because the scrolling on that one is... Ergh.

4:47 pm

It's true on most actual psp games you won't notice, but run any emulated 2d game in it and those interlacing artifacts pop out clear s day

the fact that the pocket’s screen is 3.5 inches and has more pixels than a 1080p display is just, purely anarchical and overkill and I love it simply because of the extra development kit meaning that their other FPGA stuff can scale very well

4:48 pm

Did the gameboy family have square pixels? I can’t remember

Think so.

4:49 pm

I don't recall any obvious problems of aspect ratio from emulating it on a square pixel screen

4:50 pm

Super Game Boy on the other hand did make things slightly wide

also side note, seems that GBA will be a 6x scale on the screen

A thing I've wanted to try for a while, honestly, is get one of those Supaboy systems, plug the SGB into it, and run the most overdone, unportable Game Boy ever

4:53 pm

But hey. It'd run Space Invaders really nice

plug it into a snes kiosk and then it’s only portable with a dolly and a generator :V

4:55 pm

although, at that point, then you’re getting into regular gameboy kiosk territory

PSP-3000 screen is awful, I dont get people who like it. Its completely noticeable in every game Ive played. PSP Go screen is the best PSP screen though

That resolution is absolutely necessary for screen filters if they're going that route, which surely they are

4:59 pm

The filter on Final Fantasy Adventure on Switch completely changed my opinion on how a Game Boy game should be displayed

what filters?

Screen filters

5:05 pm

My big opinion change is realizing that the palette should be low contrast

5:05 pm

We typically go pure black and pure white but I now think that is very wrong

I haven't seen the FFA Switch filter.

5:18 pm

Now i'm intrigued. Never found a GB filter i've loved.

I don't know that I'd love it in isolation but being able to quickly flip to the other filters made me realize how much the graphics benefit from it

i finally got smart with retroarch and setup hotkey buttons to quickly swap shaders

5:25 pm

like... this week heh

Other nice thing about the insanely high PPI is interpolation should look pretty good even up close

5:28 pm

Will be nice if the other FPGA can be used to do pixel shaders and such so people who care about the nuance in that sort of thing can do the legwork kevtris often isn't interested in

Oh yeah for sure.

5:29 pm

CRT-Royale on a FGPA console

from the bits I've been able to glean it sounds like they plan to do what Apple does on a lot of it's hardware now and oversample. integer scale to larger than the screen, and then filter that down to the actual available pixels

5:37 pm

the plus size iPhones did that, they're 1080x1920 displays but act as a larger @3x screen which is then scaled to the physical resolution

Now my thoughts are mostly shifting to battery life. Any ideas what the typical battery life of say an android phone in this price point?

5:47 pm

I know that isn't a perfect comparison, but can't think of a better until more is known (edited)

What's the price?

5:53 pm

I'm a slight anomaly here because I picked a phone specifically for its battery life, the moto g7 power, it gets about three days of life on one charge and cost me about $280 iirc

$200

2 FPGAs, a battery, and a 1600x1440 screen

6:16 pm

I have a hard time judging where the FPGAs might be in terms of performance because the GBA throws things all out of whack. (edited)

Those both seem to be marketed as low-power designs, I think Switch-esque battery life would probably be ok, 4-5 hours

1

3:41 am

kevtris confirmed the big chip will be available to devs too

3:41 am

so

3:41 am

Most if not all the MiSTer cores can be ported

Awesome

Got home just now to find a packet mailer from Royal Mail.

Surprising nobody, this is the first thing I ran on it.

3:37 am

Huh. Oops. I guess I left the coin cell in here the whole time even though I had the AAs removed.

3:37 am

"SUB BATTERY DEAD. DATA LOSS IMMINENT." Right. Don't suppose this thing'll work without one

3:38 am

Nope. Needs it.

3:38 am

Dang.

3:43 am

fortunately I still have one spare CR2032 - with that inserted, the whole thing Lives!

3:43 am

Now it's time to flash the most obnoxiously rare things I can find.

3:44 am

Seems to work slightly differently from an Everdrive; it has 15 MB of flash on board, but most ROMs are only 512-2048 KB, so it lets you flash multiple things to it (because otherwise it takes a while)

It barely sticks out any more than a regular cartridge, pretty impressive considering this isn't a regular SNK cartridge modified for the SD card slot, it's newly 3D-printed

3:56 am

And here it is running the English release of Pocket Reversi, which the Guinness World Records website claims is the rarest and most sought-after NGPC game, with "less than 1,000 units produced"

3:57 am

Next step: hiring somebody to install a backlight mod for this thing.

Or just wait and run it in the Analogue Pocket

Ooh, that too

4:45 am

but man I would have a hard time giving up the clicky joy-nub

The nub is life

would that I could have a Game Boy with that nub

There's a Facebook page for something called MGSP (Multi Game System Portable), which was a handheld based on the Neo Geo Pocket Color, but using a Raspberry Pi 3. The guy would 3D print his own thumbsticks with microswitches, and then sell it as a kit or pre-assembled. To get one already made was like $300, but after a while he took down his site and now he only runs a Facebook page. These days he mostly just makes a few of them each week with unique shells, and posts pictures, then comments stuff like "I'm not going to make more to sell, stop asking." Makes me mad. Why have a page like that if you aren't going to sell it?? Yesterday he was talking about making the files to 3D print your own parts available, but not sure if he'll go through with it... (edited)

4:59 am

I'd love it if somebody made a clicky thumbstick controller like that though, I've never experienced the NGPC or the original Neo Geo CD gamepad

I love that thumbstick so much

it is certainly an Experience

5:15 am

I'm not sure it would be an absolutely perfect replacement for a D-pad, because I half imagine some things might be harder with one (menus and rapid tapping) but it makes the kind of games the NGPC plays, that much more fun to play

5:16 am

specials and supers in Match of the Millennium? No sweat

I hope that portable analogue thing has a dumper

10:51 pm

would be great to dump game boy protos at shows etc.

I got real excited when their page said that “Now you can preserve video game history too”, but then it was immediately followed by “we added a second FPGA”

11:09 pm

11:10 pm

I think they’re just too scared to have a dumper, cowards

They put dumpers in the unofficial firmware on the consoles, I'm just hoping that happens here too

mega sg dumper when..

1

Someone may remember a few months ago I mentioned a GT64 N64 prototype that refused to dump.. I tried double digit times with the UltraSave, GameShark, and even got a Sanni cart writer and tried it with something else (doesnt work with N64 prototypes and confirmed that with Sanni. Don't try it!) My last ditch effort was looking for a v64 Jr, and after a few months of waiting, one finally showed up on Ebay! I won it and got the m2m parallel port I needed from Amazon today. After a few hours of reading through old forum posts, manuals, finding and burning old software, etc, I finally got a good dump of the rom!! I am very glad, too, because I dont know what to try next if the v64 Jr didn't work. I am really curious as to how the UltraSave failed for this one, as it has worked for everything else I have thrown at it. But in any case, I will probably be posting the rom up somewhere soon

12:05 am

I also (finally) dumped all my Genesis stuff with the Krikzz Flashkit programmer, compared everything to the retrode II dumps, and sent everything non-retail off to be posted somewhere. Should be coming to a hidden palace near you

12:07 am

TLDR- v64 Jr seems to be the best N64 dumping tool if everything else fails

How does the N64 add-on for the retrode compare to other dumpers? (edited)

I would suggest loaning the cart to the ultrasave guy, so he can work out why it fails

Sorry that I couldn't help as much

12:34 pm

But I'm still kind of confident it may be because of the cart slot

The UltraSave failed? Doesn't it have literally 100% compatibility?

I'd like that too, if he's willing

1:27 pm

Sorry was replying to @sCZther

@Drac - I have the retrode N64 attachment, also, but unfortunately it won't dump prototypes. Apparently the big white original bung doctor z64 won't dump prototypes either, but I have never personally tried that one

I was talking about retail carts, sorry

Ah, it works really well for retail carts. I would totally recommend it for that

Sadly I still didn't have to think about dumping N64 prototypes

1:48 pm

Great

1:48 pm

I just bought one since the add-ons are back in stock

@LuigiBlood No worries at all- your theory is still the best that I have, also. I didn't try with the UltraSave anymore since we spoke, since I had already tried so many times and I wanted to try the jr first

1:53 pm

@sCZther @Frank Cifaldi I thought of doing that, also. Marshall never responded to my original email when I was having issues, but if he is interested, I think it would be awesome if he wants to take another look- especially since I am pretty confident the data has been safely backed up

@Deleted User I thought it had 100% compatibility also (and to be sure, it is pretty damn close). LuigiBlood has a theory that it has to do with the connection between the UltraSave and pins of the cart, and to be sure, I think both the board and pins are slightly different than most or maybe any other I have seen. The dumping mechanism of the v64jr is different than the UltraSave as the UltraSave does a direct read of the rom data via some kind of mappings, and if I understand correctly, the Jr introduces the actual N64 into the process and runs the data through it (maybe?) before loading the entire rom into RAM, and finally out to a PC via a m2m parallel port. I think literally 97%+ of the time, the UltraSave will do the job with no issues From all the people I have talked to and prototypes I have dumped. This is the first prototype I have seen to be so stubborn, but I am elated that the Jr could do the job. I will keep everyone updated if I hear more from Marshal, but it anyone has a good relationship and wants to reach out, that would be cool to. I imagine if I follow up and offer to send the cart, he will probably be interested (hope so!)

2:07 pm

*Oh yeah, the UltraSave might take a few tries just depending on cleanliness of the pins, and who knows what else. But it's usually not an issue and works like a champ. I will probably stick to using that first unless I find another strange or stubborn cart

One more funny thing.. I was waiting several months for one of these obscure pieces of ancient hardware to pop up on Ebay (happens once or twice a year, apparently). Amazingly, the dude who listed it on Ebay lives in my neighborhood literally .3 miles from my house. The thing was sitting right next to me the whole time

2:40 pm

Apparently my powers of manifestation are strong. I am just bound to very strict geographical boundaries, unfortunately

Someone contacted me with an arcade machine for sale. It's a puckman machine made for the european market. It's a legit version of pac-man before it got rebranded to pac-man. If you're interested or know anyone that is, just lemme know.

Where's it at?

France

Mind sending me more information @Wietse van Bruggen?

Sure

I'd take it but I don't have the space :\

I know we love Plextors around here, but is there any consensus on the external USB model Plextors?

7:26 pm

I have an opportunity to get one and wasn't sure if those ones have the same good reputation

plextors in general have good reputations but there are certain models that can do deep reading of weirder formats, which is why they're hoarded. some of them do happen to have external models

7:28 pm

but for everyday imaging I don't know that plextors are necessarily superior, I'd love to know though

Gotcha, maybe nevermind in that case

Also, some modern Blu ray drives have the same capabilities, or so I have learned recently

It's all about the firmware on them really. The love of plextors is overrated, like sure you're technically getting more data about the disc, but it isn't necessarily the most useful thing. One of the biggest benefits is consistency really, everyone doing the same thing with the same tools getting the same results.

I've finally just put in my order for all the parts so I can build one arcade stick that works across just about everything.

1:08 am

Supports:

1:08 am

NES | SNES | GC | Wii | Wii U | Switch
Saturn | DC | TG16 | PC
PS1 | PS2 | PS3 | PS4
Xbox | Xbox 360 | Xbox One

1:09 am

Genesis and Neo Geo will require adapters since they are odd balls

1:11 am

Possible via the crazy stacked dual Brook PCB

1:11 am

wow.

I've seen people do crazy multiplatform arcade sticks before that worked with everything imaginable, but they were always DIY. Wish someone would mass produce them with various output cables

The cables are easily the biggest cost sink, or time sink to make your own, but you can buy a big bundle.

1:16 am

Don't ask the price unless you've seen your heart doctor recently.

Is it USB in, rj45 out, with rj45 wired to various pinouts of different controller ports? I saw something like that before that was $10 per adapter but it was less universal

Might be thinking of the MC Cthulhu? You had to wire up some odd config like that there. I considered it for a while

1:21 am

This is just straight RJ45

1:22 am

So splicing cables yourself isn't too bad if pinouts don't scare you

Cthulhu is good but the Brook retro board is pretty much right there too

1:30 am

Personally I think it’s easier just to get the brook genesis adapter than to try and shoehorn it in

It does rank a bit low on the lag scale though, and unlikely to be updated https://inputlag.science/controller/results

inputlag.science | Results

Controller Input Lag - Results

1:31 am

so the retro board is pretty much the go to now, imo

1:32 am

I should figure out the crazy setup needed to test so I can contribute some results when done.

1:33 am

I don't have an arduino or anything though

1:34 am

Also agreed on the adapter.

1:35 am

It just isn't worth trying to build a true universal, one or two adapters is a lot better than 15-20

1:39 am

I don't even have a neo geo either so that is just more being aware of the option if it opens up down the line for me.

brook's neo geo adapters are pretty good, albeit not as universally compatible as I'd like

3:06 am

whenever I bring the console out to events there's always somebody whose stick won't work on the damn things

Cleaning out the wife's storage, and we came across the family Commodore 16 / VIC-20 stuff... wondering if anybody here needs to add to their collection?

2:29 pm

2:30 pm

With the Vicmodem you can get timely, up to date financial information... who doesn't need that?

The equivalent of the iOS stocks app

indeed! assuming you can fit a vic-20 and a monitor in your back pocket...

does anyone actually use the stocks app, and if so, whats wrong with them

i think it's because their parents didn't try hard enough.

Sadly because I’m in Omaha I’m legally required to use ameritrade

You don't say? Here in Minneapolis I have to do all my trading with the Target Cartwheel app....

9:03 pm

It's great for commodities, but...

Hey you’re from Mpls? I might actually be interested in picking up one or both of those from you depending on the price!

excellent!

Ooh. Terra Onion is having a Black Friday sale: https://terraonion.com/en/blog/our-first-black-friday-sale-and-a-megasd-raffle-giveaway/

Todd

Our First Black Friday Sale And a MegaSD Raffle/Giveaway! - Terraonion

This coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday we are having our first Black Friday sale with 16% off of MegaSD, SuperSD System 3 and NeoSD Pro! We are also having a Raffle to giveaway a free MegaSD by following our Twitter account and retweeting the Black Friday sale tweet. TE...

oh man. That megaSD is tempting

Stone Age Gamer is having one too, I think starting tomorrow

7:49 pm

I'm pretty well covered as far as flashcarts go though, The only couple i haven't got are original game boy and NES

I don't really have any portable ones, but at this particular moment the MegaSD is what I'm after. Followed by probably picking up a few more older console and computer ones next year, like the LTO flash or the atarimax ones

If you are like me and have a mega everdrive and debated upgrading krikzz has been experimenting so I'm gonna hold off

4:14 pm

https://mobile.twitter.com/krikzz/status/1199156952993013760

Another update about Mega-CD FPGA core for EverDrive. Not everything is implemented yet, but it already can run games https://t.co/btNOT1WTr2

Likes

490

I’m craving more for an Everdrive N8 that just doesn’t repeatedly crash on me with certain games at repeatable locations and seems extremely finicky with SD cards with recent firmware (edited)

well, https://twitter.com/krikzz/status/1199739759964426241

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2136/

Something is coming... Almost here (:

I love it when I get sold something new

This revision does have a relatively important bump to ROM memory making the crazy massive hacks possible now

7:19 pm

Zelda - The Legend of Link

Various ancient legends have been recorded of a young boy clothed in green, wielding the mythical ma

7:19 pm

Will be able to remove these disclaimers hehe

7:19 pm

Will this work on…? This game will NOT work on the N8 Everdrive, or PowerPak’s. The N8 Everdrive uses 512kb PRG & CHR-ROM. The author contacted the creator, but he wasn’t interested in creating a revision to his product. PowerPak’s are in the same boat. Loopy’s MMC5 patch works on MMC5 games, but, my work is too large for it to handle.

7:20 pm

Finally this can be played on original hardware

7:20 pm

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1657/

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children

It's finally done! After 4 years of work, here it is. This hack changes just about every a

7:21 pm

(There might be some other way to get it on OG hardware, I haven't followed closely)

7:22 pm

I actually would like to check this one out, just out of curiosity

7:22 pm

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2422/

Super Mario All Stars NES

Here is a hack which combines: *Mario Bros., *Super Mario Bros., *Super Mario Bros. 2 JPN (The

been organizing my consoles and cables, and I need to pick up a few cables I'm missing

9:30 pm

are there any standout saturn svideo cables these days, or is something like the retro-bit cable comparable?

Time to make some n64 games

3:19 am

hmm thanks discord for not uploading that twice

CHeck it out y'all; image0.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fs5ujebivwkxs0y/Photo%20Dec%2001%2C%206%2039%2026%20PM.jpg?dl=0

Photo Dec 01, 6 39 26 PM.jpg

Shared with Dropbox

3:20 am

best i can do

Was just writing about a game for the SGI Indy! I didn't realize that was a thing

SGI workstations are really cool but I also don't fully understand their appeal. There aren't many games or other fun programs to run on them to my knowledge, and they're obsolete for anything productive. And yet people still collect them for some reason. I even find myself being drawn to them, although I have know idea what I could do with one. Is it just because they're pretty boxes?

Pretty much, but it's fun if you want to experiment with older obscure software

Are they still useful for homebrew for any other platforms? Like weren't they used for N64 development at some point?

well for indys there are development boards out there that basically have an n64 on a board for emulation and programming on

Oh that's cool. Could you use an EverDrive or load ROMs on them, maybe at higher resolutions?

from what i understand, you can load roms, but i have no idea how to tbh

The N64 devcard for it is extremely rare

9:22 am

Also, cool @caseytube I also just got a few SGI machines

9:22 am

We are synced

9:23 am

I am trying to put up together a game pack for them

9:23 am

Fire any recommendations at me

I've got an O2 i picked up a few years ago but it needs a new cd/DVD drive so I can finish reinstalling IRIX

The sgi community supposedly has some fanc utulity for easily installing irix over a network

4:53 pm

https://github.com/unxmaal/booterizer

unxmaal/booterizer

Ansible-based bootstrap environment for old UNIXes - unxmaal/booterizer

hmm, I'll have to check that out

Finally got around to cracking open my spare PS1 and installing the PS-IO switch board

6:01 am

And happily everything works afterwards. Plugged it in to my little Ikegami via s-video (I still need to get a SCART to BNC solution set up so I can do RGB) and it even works still, at least with discs.

6:01 am

Will have to try the flash cart part tomorrow.

The PSIO isn't too bad to install actually!

i still need to get installed

8:55 pm

not reading very great things about the firmware updates for the psio (edited)

Installing the mod was fine, the PSIO itself on the other hand...

3:03 pm

It started up fine the first time, updated itself, and now it boots up, shows a loading progress screen, and then goes black

joy

I slightly misaligned the cable on my DCHDMI install and I cannot get it to work and i can't really figure out a clean way to redo it ugh

without seeing the work it's tough to make a recommendation. do you have solder braid?

1:01 am

if you have braid and extra flux you should be able to remove the FFC (edited)

1:02 am

you can then clean up the solder work on the IC, clean up the leftover solder on the FFC, and retry. you must keep in mind, though, that the FFC is delicate and if you overheat it you risk damaging it. If you're at all concerned, you should consider getting it to an installer, someone who's already done a few.

1:02 am

dan should be able to point you to someone good.

1:05 am

if you have a small plastic tool or tweezers you could also consider using it as a lever under the cable, working your way down each pin with the iron like a zipper. just don't YANK it hard, thoroughly heat the joints and let them decide when they'll release. you want to avoid ripping off any pads or flinging molten solder around the board.

Yeah I think I could verrrryy carefully do it, thinking i may just buy a magnifier to see where i'm having bridges or whatever

1:26 pm

if i can't get it at that point i may just ship it to an installer

1:26 pm

most of the work is done at least, so maybe they wouldn't charge as much but who knows

Anyone have a source for a good Dreamcast ODE? Looking to experiment a bit.

Just got the laser disc player from the arcade game “Firefox“

1:25 am

Included the game disc, a parts machine, and two of the manuals from the main machine

1:26 am

Apparently the machine was also used by Dragons lair

What an awful game

bad game, but beautiful cabinets

8:00 pm

the upright used the I, Robot cab, the sit down looks like a Cybertruck

oh speaking of cabinets, there's a weird old story that i remember reading on the MAME history. dat file about the DuraMold cabinets

8:25 pm

the cabinets used on Sinistar, Bubbles, etc supposedly had shrinking issues but the history file back in the day had this story about how one DuraMold had shrunk to such a degree that it managed to eject its monitor across the way into a Donkey Kong Jr machine

8:26 pm

Seems obvious as a fake nowadays, but i have to wonder where that story came from

I think that was a Blaster cab in the story

https://www.arcade-history.com/?n=blaster&page=detail&id=274 Oh, yeah, the anecdote is still here (sans Donkey Kong mention)

Blaster, Arcade Video game by Williams Electronics, Inc. (1983)

Information and images for the Arcade Video game: Blaster released by Williams Electronics, Inc. in 1983

10:13 pm

This has been in the database for many years, but i am unsure there's any source for it.

I must have too much free time, I’m in the midst of designing my own remappable arcade stick for use with superguns (neogeo 15-pin connector)

10:29 pm

Though I’m also mulling ideas to make it multi-platform capable by connecting output adapters.

10:30 pm

Slowly dredging up all my EE knowledge that went disused when I ended up in software.

https://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=225091

Williams Duramold issues a myth? - Coin-op Videogame, Arcade, Pinb...

Williams Duramold issues a myth? General Arcade and Videogame Discussions

10:32 pm

Eugene Jarvis himself said he saw this happen (the monitor flying out of the cab).

10:32 pm

The interview is on the Midway Treasures disc for the PS2.

Perhaps i should look into that.

the story is fun apocrypha if nothing else

11:12 pm

I imagine if it were true, none of the duramolds out there would have closing coin doors now

11:13 pm

or maybe it was adjusted for after early runs?

What I'm able to find indicates that not only did Williams make adjustments to the design afterwards to correct for it, but that "by now, the plastic has cured and this won't happen anymore"

11:16 pm

i don't know enough about the science of it to vet that

11:17 pm

but again... not much for sources. Just a lot of info being passed around by word of mouth

Was it ever determined what version of Oregon Trail is running on the little handheld that came out last year?

foone on twitter was messing with that if i remember right?

Yeah, but i recall he ran into the dreaded Epoxy Blob of Doom (edited)

Yeah, it seems like everyone suspected a famiclone on a chip, but there was no Oregon trail for NES

doesn't discount someone programming it freshly for the hardware

Yeah this could be like that MyArcade thing that has the brand new Tetris on it

12:43 am

just since the important bits are entombed in the Unholy Sealant, it shall remain a mystery until someone brave enough comes along

I don't think there's any mystery about the hardware in myarcade, everything including the menu is NES

That's what i mean though, I have my suspicions that the Oregon Trail handheld is at least slightly Famicom based but we don't know what's under that blob

2:57 am

i mean it's primarily a gut feeling, i know too little about hardware to be of use beyond that

I seem to recall there was an article that compared the handheld against all 8-Bit releases of Oregon Trail, and concluded that it must have been a custom or modded version, but was closest to the Apple II version.

of course that's also 6502 based

New toy!! Got my very own WS dumper

3

3

Tis the season for new toys

6:13 pm

https://twitter.com/SmiteOfHand/status/1208808199928696832

SoH (@SmiteOfHand)

Built a universal (NES - PS4) stick. Pretty friggin' pleased with the results.

6:16 pm

Playing NES castlevania with it is both thrilling and ridiculously over the top in the button department.

Nice!!

6:30 pm

Looks great

7:04 pm

Where I file my important documents.

Ooh, nice

I did the same

8:35 pm

Followed by: https://imgur.com/a/2rmt5y2

Nice! Shame about the touchpad but what can you do

@bunnyboy any idea what causes? My Avs has started doing this since a few weeks

3:29 pm

After a few resets it will usually play but sometimes it returns

3:29 pm

Happens with both regular carts and everdrive inserted into nes slot

3:34 pm

And sometimes randomly crashes in game even though everything seemed fine

3:34 pm

reflashed firmware yet?

Not yet

Sorry to cross talk issues but..

6:16 pm

@EvaUnit02 have you tried using Switch with the combo board? I can't seem to get it to recognize it. Curious if you've had any luck here?

6:18 pm

I assume you need to hold start+select+the manual button (1K I think) but no combo seems to kick it in gear

I haven't tried it, no.

@bunnyboy issue persists after reflash

6:49 pm

6:55 pm

Not 100% yet but it doesn’t seem to happen with no cart inserted or using the Famicom slot

6:55 pm

Wonder if the I somehow botched the nes cart slot a bit

Cute seal

7:24 pm

My suspicion is cart connection, I've gotten funky results like that before when the connection wasn't solid

Hope so. Applied some alcohol and deoxit

7:33 pm

Huh, everdrive connector a lot filthier than I had anticipated

7:33 pm

Ugh it’s still happening

7:43 pm

At this I’m wondering if it’s not just the everdrive being crap

does it still happen if you use the older firmware?

I’d have to check later

8:17 pm

Just played some normal carts and they all went fine

can also clean the daughterboard connector

9:31 pm

the seal is on every board i make, its from 4th grade

https://twitter.com/krikzz/status/1210721379529527296

https://twitter.com/krikzz/status/1210999051870703616

I wonder if possible to build solderingless RGB adapter for NES working via cart port? I did made quick test using synchronization technique used in MMC5 and seems i can get everything i need for synchronization listening PPU activity. FPGA listen PPU and outputs image vi...