Retro games and emulation - Discuss retro shit in case you're stuck in the past or a hipster

[big pauper]

Dreamcast cope, in addition to "muh piracy", also has a lot of "muh innovation"...but almost all of it was gimmicky trash that wouldn't hold up. The modem was too slow to handle a lot of modern games, the system had no high-speed port, so anything like "but what if they created a DVD player/RAM expansion" was out the window, the only peripheral they had prototyped was a Zip disk drive, which in practicality would probably just let you easily copy save files and send them over through computers and their Internet but probably no actual game functionality, and probably nothing that would benefit from using it on the computer, like custom textures to user-edited levels.

The Dreamcast's issues with hardware might not've mattered, as the Sega Genesis was generally an inferior piece of hardware as well but competed effectively with the SNES partially on excellent advertising and an extremely solid library that played to the strengths the SNES didn't, but they were competing with the Super NES and the TurboGrafx-16, not three strong systems.

the expansion port could theoretically do 40 but probably more likely could only achieve like 10mbps. More than enough for broadband and to load data, zip drives and dvd drives are ~2mbps at base speed. The bigger issue with DVDs is that the dreamcast doesn't have an MPEG-2 decoder and used a ludicrously high end yamaha audio processor for no good reason, and had like 4mb of dedicated audio ram to work with. which was baller as fuck if you're trying to keep the console running at 60 fps with a constant stream of CD quality samples and audio clips. It's actually significantly more powerful than the audio chips they put into every other console in that generation, but it doesn't matter because it was a monotasker worthless at decoding mpeg-2

it's funny because the ps2 had a much worse sound chip. Could only do 48 channels instead of 64, and didn't have an integrated DSP. But it could decode mpeg 2 natively. Gamecube didn't need to but it too had a programmable DSP that could in theory if you really wanted to? and of course the xbox had an absolutely insane nvidia audio chip in it. And out of all of them the ps2 was the only one that came with digital audio straight out of the box

 

[Calandrino]

Does anyone else realize the fact that the N64 has very few shoot ‘em ups? I don’t mean FPSs. Here’s a list of the ones that I know of.

- Star Fox 64
- Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth
- Sin & Punishment
- Aero Fighters Assault
- Dezaemon 3D (more of a shmup maker but it includes a few built-in ones as samples)
- Knife Edge: Nose Gunner
- Viewpoint 2064 (unreleased)

Robotron, Bangai-O

it did pioneer analog triggers which is basically the only saving grace on the console.

Worthless, godforsaken things that slightly improve certain racing games and ruin anything else

 

[Gamepads]

it did pioneer analog triggers which is basically the only saving grace on the console. also lacking a select button is just kind of odd and im surprised they didn't put six face buttons on it.

I mentioned it in the past, the devs actually asked for the 4 face button layout and Sega somehow took it as getting rid of 2 buttons altogether instead of relocating them elsewhere. Far too many oddities in general with the thing. It's got a Hall effect stick, but only the one and in spite of that it's kinda sloppy due to the mechanism that returns it to center.

 

[Captain Quazar]

Robotron, Bangai-O

Oh yeah, and I also almost forgot about Space Invaders and Asteroids Hyper 64 as well.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

More accurately, SGI built workstations to do offline rendering of 3D graphics, and had never done much advanced real-time 3D rendering.

The workstations weren't really made to do the offline rendering, they were made to create the things that was going to be rendered. They were workstations, you use them to work. Their 3D accelerators were made to visualize what was being worked on in things like Alias, SoftImage or Autocad and that was realtime 3D with all the fancy OpenGL features we now take for granted. OpenGL was even started by SGI.

Poor, poor PC users of that era... Quake 1 needed a decent computer to run at 320x240@60 with software rendering, now imagine the rendering time when turning on light+textures(filtered) for the real-time rendered view of a complex model in a 3D program just to see that things are lined up. There were accelerators cards and all the bullshit that came with them and... SGI was top dog for a reason.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

The workstations weren't really made to do the offline rendering, they were made to create the things that was going to be rendered. They were workstations, you use them to work. Their 3D accelerators were made to visualize what was being worked on in things like Alias, SoftImage or Autocad and that was realtime 3D with all the fancy OpenGL features we now take for granted. OpenGL was even started by SGI.

Poor, poor PC users of that era... Quake 1 needed a decent computer to run at 320x240@60 with software rendering, now imagine the rendering time when turning on light+textures(filtered) for the real-time rendered view of a complex model in a 3D program just to see that things are lined up. There were accelerators cards and all the bullshit that came with them and... SGI was top dog for a reason.

Rendering was done on clusters of the workstations, that was why SGI became so huge, you could set up shop using their gear and not have to splash out on a supercomputer to render.

Most animation rendering was just queued up for overnight and weekends, when the workstations were usually idle, but it was on the same machines. I used to have the 1996 brochures and had a great chat with an engineer from SGI who was part of the team that worked on the N64 during the Magic Bus tour that summer.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

Quest 64 is rather doo doo from what I’ve heard.

Quest 64 was a THQ product, which has never been known for quality output. Most of their library is licensed games.

The GoldenEye suggestion was utter retardation, if true.

The whole of GoldenEye was something extremely unusual, a licensed game made by Nintendo with their full backing as any first party title would get, and had realistic guns shooting realistic people.

If Miyamoto had more influence in the company as he did in the Wii and Wii U era he would've had the project killed.

 

[Captain Quazar]

Quest 64 was a THQ product, which has never been known for quality output. Most of their library is licensed games.

THQ did have a couple winners though, like the Sonic Advance trilogy and Battles for the GBA.

 

[Retarded Weeb]

Quest 64 was a THQ product, which has never been known for quality output. Most of their library is licensed games.

It was published by THQ in America (and Konami in Europe), but it was originally made by Imagineer (and self-published in Japan). That said, Imagineer is a pretty low-tier Japanese developer/publisher and they put out a lot of shovelware-y stuff outside the Medabot franchise.

 

[Captain Quazar]

It was published by THQ in America (and Konami in Europe), but it was originally made by Imagineer (and self-published in Japan). That said, Imagineer is a pretty low-tier Japanese developer/publisher and they put out a lot of shovelware-y stuff outside the Medabot franchise.

I remember reading somewhere that someone mentioned how Bandai is often referred to as the LJN of Japan. I haven't really played many of their titles to confirm this for myself, though. They did apparently publish a really technically impressive Neon Genesis Evangelion game for the N64 that pushes it to its limits. Might have to import it one day.

 

[Retarded Weeb]

I remember reading somewhere that someone mentioned how Bandai is often referred to as the LJN of Japan. I haven't really played many of their titles to confirm this for myself, though. They did apparently publish a really technically impressive Neon Genesis Evangelion game for the N64 that pushes it to its limits. Might have to import it one day.

Bandai was primarily a toy + anime merch company and most of the games they published were anime licensed games, which probably explains the comparison. I would say their average quality is better than LJN since they put out some good games mainly from Gundam, Dragon Ball, Digimon, and Super Robot Wars, but they also put out a lot of shovelware. I think their games based off tokusatsu like Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and Super Sentai in particular tended to be shitty for some reason.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

I remember reading somewhere that someone mentioned how Bandai is often referred to as the LJN of Japan. I haven't really played many of their titles to confirm this for myself, though. They did apparently publish a really technically impressive Neon Genesis Evangelion game for the N64 that pushes it to its limits. Might have to import it one day.

Probably more like Banpresto, the branch of Bandai that does nothing but licensed games, and had a quality record a little better than Acclaim/LJN.

 

[Captain Quazar]

Probably more like Banpresto, the branch of Bandai that does nothing but licensed games, and had a quality record a little better than Acclaim/LJN.

Yeah, they published a couple good titles, like Super Puyo Puyo for the SFC as well as the Mazinger Z and Sailor Moon arcade games (the Mazinger one even got rereleased by Hamster via ACA a few years ago).

 

[Xarpho's Return]

I remember reading somewhere that someone mentioned how Bandai is often referred to as the LJN of Japan. I haven't really played many of their titles to confirm this for myself, though. They did apparently publish a really technically impressive Neon Genesis Evangelion game for the N64 that pushes it to its limits. Might have to import it one day.

It was Bandai that did the Jekyll and Hyde game for the NES and also some licensed games for movies that underperformed in box offices like Dick Tracy or The Rocketeer.

They were the ones that came up with the "Family Fun Fitness" pad before Nintendo bought it and renamed it the Power Pad and they came up with a lot of innovative stuff over the years from Tamagotchi to the WonderSwan (with Gunpei Yokoi) but their output as a video game publisher ranges from unimpressive to abysmal.

 

[Lone MacReady II]

With the justified meltdowns I've been seeing around steamdeck/gabecube prices lately, I hope you all have your PCs kitted out ready for a long while, cause prices for everything are only going to get more retarded, they really want you owning nothing.

Thank god for emulation. A backlog that is both free and limitless. Leave the $500 - 1000+ "consoles" to the goyim. You're gonna need those shekels for food.

 

[Baraka Obama]

With the justified meltdowns I've been seeing around steamdeck/gabecube prices lately, I hope you all have your PCs kitted out ready for a long while, cause prices for everything are only going to get more retarded, they really want you owning nothing.

Thank god for emulation. A backlog that is both free and limitless. Leave the $500 - 1000+ "consoles" to the goyim. You're gonna need those shekels for food.

The price of every game console and buying a new PCs are (literally) unacceptable. I'm very OK to dig into my pile-of-shame.

Good news is if you want to build something nonstandard some component prices are in the toilet. Have an existing PC but want a new case? Half the price it should be. Have some DDR4 and want retrofit a NAS kitted out? Used X99 motherboards are cheaper than ever. Just need the cost of a nice OLED monitor to go down and I'll be all set.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

I mentioned it in the past, the devs actually asked for the 4 face button layout and Sega somehow took it as getting rid of 2 buttons altogether instead of relocating them elsewhere. Far too many oddities in general with the thing. It's got a Hall effect stick, but only the one and in spite of that it's kinda sloppy due to the mechanism that returns it to center.

Don't forget the resistors on each controller port that would self-destruct if you used a third-party controller, even licensed ones, and could potentially take out all four ports from one controller being plugged in.

Said resistors were so critical that you could bridge blown ones out with wires and everything worked perfectly fine forevermore.

SEGA were the kings of fucky hardware.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

Yeah, they published a couple good titles, like Super Puyo Puyo for the SFC as well as the Mazinger Z and Sailor Moon arcade games (the Mazinger one even got rereleased by Hamster via ACA a few years ago).

They went from about the same hit rate as Acclaim in the 8-bit days to almost 50\50 in the PS2 era, but by then their rep was so shitty in Japan that they decided to kill the brand since Bandai had bought full ownership in Banpresto sometime during the PS1 era.

 

[Baraka Obama]

They went form about the same hit rate as Acclaim in the 8-bit days to almost 50\50 in the PS2 era, but by then their rep was so shitty in Japan that they decided to kill the brand since Bandai had bought full ownership in Banpresto sometime during the PS1 era.

Banpresto went through different periods, occasionally they put out very good console games (Summon Night for ex), and of course spent a while as Bandai's downmarket brand.

If you've heard of D3 Publisher, Bandai Namco now uses that brand for games they think aren't very good and otomo games (lol).

 

[Julius Caesar The 187th]

While the Farms was under another DDOS attack, I found this: