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

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I mean, I didn’t really pay attention to emulation stuff back then as I preferred using original hardware. I still prefer it, but emulation is certainly very nice to have, especially for systems that are expensive and/or relatively obscure.
Original hardware is just clutter and ticking time bombs, and I say that as a man who has a ColecoVision and a large library for it in storage.

Coincidentally, I can confirm that the Atarisoft release of Centipede did, in fact get released to that one Toys R Us in Anaheim, California.
 
Isn’t Genesis emulation shoddy at best? I know there’s a bunch of emulators out there, but I don’t know which one is perceived to be the most accurate.
*Born long after Sega Genesis was discontinued*
*Doesn't own a Sega Genesis and likely has never played one*
*Doesn't emulate Sega Genesis out of fear his experience will not be authentic*

Get a fucking Mister, for christ sake's lol
 
*Born long after Sega Genesis was discontinued*
*Doesn't own a Sega Genesis and likely has never played one*
*Doesn't emulate Sega Genesis out of fear his experience will not be authentic*

Get a fucking Mister, for christ sake's lol
He doesn't even need a MiSTer. If he can post on here, he's got something that can emulate a Genesis perfectly.
 
He doesn't even need a MiSTer. If he can post on here, he's got something that can emulate a Genesis perfectly.
Like, I get being a middle aged man trying to collect systems from your childhood out of nostalgia, because that's what I am. I really don't get someone who was born in the 2000s lighting money on fire to collect retro systems from the 90s they've never even played. It'd be like me not emulating an Atari 400 out of fear of it not being an authentic experience when I've never even seen an Atari 400 in person. Wait...
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Like, I get being a middle aged man trying to collect systems from your childhood out of nostalgia, because that's what I am. I really don't get someone who was born in the 2000s lighting money on fire to collect retro systems from the 90s they've never even played. It'd be like me not emulating an Atari 400 out of fear of it not being an authentic experience when I've never even seen and Atari 400 in person. Wait...
Ver archivo adjunto 9127856
Yeah, for me emulation is just easier and of course cheaper, and I have a pretty big collection of PS2 and PS3 stuff on top of my ColecoVision.

With the hassles involved with connecting old systems to modern TVs, or finding and maintaining old displays, and the issues inherent in aging hardware breaking down, original hardware is just too much to deal with unless you are just a shelf collector, and as far as THAT goes, I have my action figure collection for that.

The only retro hardware I am interested in right now is the new NeoGeo, because I always wanted one and the new system is reasonably priced and works with the flash carts for the original, but I would probably just end up using my Mac and my arcade sticks for NeoGeo and be perfectly happy that way, with the advantage of not needing a second garage to house it all.
 
With the hassles involved with connecting old systems to modern TVs, or finding and maintaining old displays, and the issues inherent in aging hardware breaking down, original hardware is just too much to deal with unless you are just a shelf collector, and as far as THAT goes, I have my action figure collection for that.
Actually- and everything else about it is within the realm of rumor atm- I heard ModRetro is working on a sort of CRT replacement. We don’t know anything about it other than that if it’s possible, it would be a long way off. I’m also not sure how much each one would cost, since CRTs arent exactly high demand or low cost items. But at this point, it’s within the realm of possibility.
 
Actually- and everything else about it is within the realm of rumor atm- I heard ModRetro is working on a sort of CRT replacement. We don’t know anything about it other than that if it’s possible, it would be a long way off. I’m also not sure how much each one would cost, since CRTs arent exactly high demand or low cost items. But at this point, it’s within the realm of possibility.
The biggest issue with making a CRT today is the inside of the screen is lined with lead, which runs afoul of modern environmental standards. Maybe you could manufacture an ultra low latency oled that projects the image onto a screen one line at a time to simulate a CRT?
 
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Actually- and everything else about it is within the realm of rumor atm- I heard ModRetro is working on a sort of CRT replacement. We don’t know anything about it other than that if it’s possible, it would be a long way off. I’m also not sure how much each one would cost, since CRTs arent exactly high demand or low cost items. But at this point, it’s within the realm of possibility.
Possibly an SED display, which was awesome tech Sony brought out in one model back around 2003, but was too expensive at the time for large sizes. With Palmer Luckey being so much of a tech genius, he probably knows about it and by now it wouldn't be as difficult to produce at scale.

Basically, it was an HD display tech that had the best aspects of CRT, but was thin and lightweight and used very little power. The model Sony brought out was a 14-inch that had a screen that was paper-thin and had a base that looked more like a lamp than a TV.
 
The biggest issue with making a CRT today is the inside of the screen is lined with lead, which runs afoul of modern environmental standards. Maybe you could manufacture an ultra low latency oled that projects the image onto a screen one line at a time to simulate a CRT?
The CEO said in a Reddit AMA:
I am 100% sure Palmer will continue asking me to do it until it fully exists. We have materials and basic prototypes laying around the office, but we need to do a custom phosphor backed glass with a different chemical makeup than CRT phosphor glass so that it will be excited by a different wavelength of light. basically it is a long and horrible project, but we want to see a CRT like display with official VHS re-releases.
So it wouldn’t be a CRT exactly but a new technology that would achieve a similar result. I’ve heard the term “quantum ray tube” (QRT) thrown around.
 
Where would I get one?
The best place these days is probably the Qmtech clones from Aliexpress.

Taki Udon also makes a very well received unit called the SuperStation that has analogue outputs. The worst part about the SuperStation is it doesn't support Snac adaptors out of the box, so you need to get the dock to use an authentic controller for anything other than PS1.

There are actually also very good clones on the market of both SNES and Genesis made by companies like Hyperkin and Retrobit which do a reasonably good job of recreating the original hardware and can be hooked up to a CRT or modern TV. When paired with a flash cart, you can get a pretty authentic experience on the cheap. Stay far away from the NES clones, though. The modern clone chips they use don't faithfully recreate the NES' sound.

I think the M64 coming out this summer will also be a good option. It's open source, so it's only a matter of time before the Mister cores are ported. It seems there are some kinks with the N64 core, but I think they'll have them worked out fairly close to release. The owner is pretty committed to the product line.

Analogue also makes a handheld product called the Analogue Pocket which has some FPGA cores. It apparently does 8 & 16-bit + GBA pretty well, but anything more powerful than that like PS1 or N64 is either spotty or a no go. Like all Analogue products, they do the whole artificial scarcity thing, so it can be hard to get your hands on one. It's not as good as a Mister, but in terms of an all in one handheld FPGA solution, it's probably the best one.

There's also a stripped down operating system for Raspberry Pi called Replay OS which amazingly has managed to come close to an FPGA in terms of input latency, with only a frame of delay.

There are also many boutique FPGA products that do a single system very well like the Analogue 3D and the Modretro Chromatic, but I wouldn't recommend any of these unless you already have a cart collection you want to play.

*Edit*
I almost forget. Don't forget to consider the humble New 3DS. A hacked 3DS plays GBA - 3DS natively, that includes ports of many of the best first party SNES and N64 games as well as many RPGs from the SNES and PS1 era. There are some homebrew ports like a native SM64 port that runs at 60fps. There are native ports of a bunch of Sega games. Once hacked, the 3DS has a beast of a library of games it can play natively. It also emulates GB/GBC and NES pretty well, but once you get into later systems, things are touch and go.

My point here is unless you owned the older systems back in the day, you're never going to have a truly authentic experience with them anyway and the idea you can is an absolute fucking grift. There are many options today that offer a way to run a lot of these old games without the tradeoffs traditionally associated with emulation.
 
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Like, I get being a middle aged man trying to collect systems from your childhood out of nostalgia, because that's what I am.
Same. I only own an IntelliVision because a friend also has one, and we played Triple Action and a few other games on it a few times, but mostly Triple Action — easily my favorite game from the era. Also had a C64 because I played a few times on one in my childhood — I gave it to said friend later, he only had a Plus/4 as a kid, so it was an improvement for him. lol

I really don't get why people would want to buy something older than themselves that they don't even know at all. Those old things aren't exactly great, they provide a very basic experience, have a lot of flaws and issues stemming from bad architecture and high age. Old PSUs aren't just ticking time bombs with PCs, and tapes wear out with use. And while you can get some new, you simply cannot get a new CRT. I hope that quantum thing will become reality one day. Make it 4:3 26 inches (25 viewable), and 180Hz (or more), and I'm bought.

@Curry Teafag when you agreed with my post about buying an Atari 400, you meant you agree I should buy an Atari 400 so I can play Rescue on Fractalus! authentically, right? I think you're right. I think I should just take the plunge.
Nah, don't do it. Buy an Atari 800 instead. Those have a proper keyboard, at least.
 
Like, I get being a middle aged man trying to collect systems from your childhood out of nostalgia, because that's what I am. I really don't get someone who was born in the 2000s lighting money on fire to collect retro systems from the 90s they've never even played. It'd be like me not emulating an Atari 400 out of fear of it not being an authentic experience when I've never even seen an Atari 400 in person. Wait...
Ver archivo adjunto 9127856
I have no interest in an Atari 400 but I own an MSX made in 1983 with a flash cart. So yeah I get it.
 
Isn’t Genesis emulation shoddy at best?
Genecyst was notoriously quirky. Gens resolved a bunch of those quirks, but added its own. Kind of the Snes9x of Genesis. Steve Snake brought KGen into the mix around the same timeline, and from that time on, Genesis emulation was a lot more reliable than say SNES until Byuu's autism kicked in and created BSNES. But again, KGen also had a few quirks and those evolved into Kega. But yeah. "Shoddy" is a weird way to characterize it. Sega's design was a LOT less quirky than Nintendo's, and the components are mostly better documented.
 
Like, I get being a middle aged man trying to collect systems from your childhood out of nostalgia, because that's what I am. I really don't get someone who was born in the 2000s lighting money on fire to collect retro systems from the 90s they've never even played. It'd be like me not emulating an Atari 400 out of fear of it not being an authentic experience when I've never even seen an Atari 400 in person. Wait...
Ver archivo adjunto 9127856
I wish you had mentioned this earlier, I would have sent you one. I grew up with Commodore 64 so when my Uncle died and I inherited his computer stuff I sold off all the Ataris.
I just got a straight-up DE10-nano Terastic and built from there.
My build is coming along nicely. I'm at about year number 5. I'm finally happy with the control PCB and just need to mill it and solder it up. I think the front slot cover design is done too.
I'm building it in a Checkmate A1500 case. It will have a MiSTer, a LattePanda x86 SBC to act as the file server and maybe do a bit of gaming, a control board with a Pico that manages power switching, fan speeds and the USB switch, a home built USB switch to allow all the devices connected to the MiSTer USB hub to be used for MiSTer, the SBC or an external USB device like a PC, a small LCD front panel display for showing status and game logos, the usual MiSTER colored lights and buttons.

Here's a bit of the interior. Pardon the wiring.
2026-06-10_16-56b.png
The weird black thing that looks like a rear panel is the rear panel.
 
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He doesn't even need a MiSTer. If he can post on here, he's got something that can emulate a Genesis perfectly.
Even older Raspberry Pis can do older consoles pretty well. You don't even need the ones with lots of ram. A 4gb should be plenty.

They can do playstation good too, but my brother complains his overheats after an hour or two of PS1.

In terms of accuracy issues, the only stuff I could think of being a problem are only for the most autistic of die hards. But by that point you're getting into "play it on a real CRT" territory. Just an off the shelf emulator like Gens is more than enough to be "perfect" for 99.9% of people. So just use whatever emulator is most popular right now and you'll be fine.

Same goes for GBA if you don't want to go down the flashcart rout. There's a bunch of chinese emulation consoles that are well reviewed, and were fairly cheap. I don't know if the RAM crisis has wiped them out yet, but they might another option.
 
Genecyst was notoriously quirky. Gens resolved a bunch of those quirks, but added its own. Kind of the Snes9x of Genesis. Steve Snake brought KGen into the mix around the same timeline, and from that time on, Genesis emulation was a lot more reliable than say SNES until Byuu's autism kicked in and created BSNES. But again, KGen also had a few quirks and those evolved into Kega. But yeah. "Shoddy" is a weird way to characterize it. Sega's design was a LOT less quirky than Nintendo's, and the components are mostly better documented.
I use GensGS for the simple fact that the audio on that emulator comes out crystal clear and crisp. I tried using something new like ARES, and the audio sounds too muffled... even fiddling with the plugins don't do shit to fix it. With GensGS, it's loud and at 44Hz... that's all I ask for.
 
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