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I sold Yakuza 3 and 4 just last month. Though they are hardly the only games in my collection that I was unlikely to ever replay, I also had no lasting affection or nostalgia for them either.
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Feb 5, 2017 15:12
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Ah, early stealth gimmicks. I spent far too long trying to be quiet and discreet in Headhunter before realizing their only means of detecting me are eyesight and gunfire. Walking up and doing that glorious one-arm neck-snap is very entertaining  .
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Feb 5, 2017 15:15
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Topolino posted:I have been trying to get a scart cable for the Genesis 2, but retrogaming cables seems to have been out of stock for weeks, and have not seen retro_console_accessories sell them, either. Are there any other recommended sellers of RGB scart cables? Sorry I don't know of another offhand, but retro_console eBay chick seems to have listed herself as "away" on eBay a few weeks ago hence temp setting stock to 0 on everything. Maybe just send her a message and ask?
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Feb 5, 2017 15:47
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What's the opinion on the DC-SD these days? I see they're like $15 and I'm afraid my drive is dying in my current dreamcast
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Feb 5, 2017 16:20
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They're not a good replacement. The load speed on those generally can't keep up with a lot of games. If you're looking for a full drive replacement, USB GDROM and GDEMU are your only real options. Failing that, you can replace the optical pickup, or the whole console.
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Feb 5, 2017 17:40
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The good news is that right now Dreamcasts are plentiful and cheap, and also an extremely modular design. You can pretty easily drop in a new drive and fix your current one when it finally decides to go.
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Feb 5, 2017 18:22
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I'm assuming Solaris Japan is still the best place to (pre)order the Framemeister?
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Feb 5, 2017 18:29
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Neddy Seagoon posted:Ah, early stealth gimmicks. I spent far too long trying to be quiet and discreet in Headhunter before realizing their only means of detecting me are eyesight and gunfire. Walking up and doing that glorious one-arm neck-snap is very entertaining The coolest thing about that neck snap is that there's a mission where you're specifically told not to kill anyone because they're cops on your side technically and you have to sneak out of a shopping mall................but you can still use the neck snap on everyone and it doesn't count as killing them. 
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Feb 5, 2017 18:48
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:What's the opinion on the DC-SD these days? I see they're like $15 and I'm afraid my drive is dying in my current dreamcast GDEmu and the Saturn Rhea/Phoebe optical replacements should be coming back in Stock next month if you wanna burn some cash on that. They look pretty awesome and I can't wait until stuff like the is available on all optical drive consoles.
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Feb 5, 2017 18:54
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Neo Rasa posted:The coolest thing about that neck snap is that there's a mission where you're specifically told not to kill anyone because they're cops on your side technically and you have to sneak out of a shopping mall................but you can still use the neck snap on everyone and it doesn't count as killing them. Kind of reminds me of using the sledgehammer in Postal 2. Most people don't seem to notice you going all Gallagher on someone's head versus using a gun.
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Feb 5, 2017 18:57
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Mr E posted:I'm assuming Solaris Japan is still the best place to (pre)order the Framemeister? Yep. Everyone else seems to be price gouging hard.
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Feb 5, 2017 19:07
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Man, after configuring it, the CRT I have with component looks really drat good now. I can't believe PVM are suppose to even be better then that. So glad I got those HD Retrovision cables, even if the name is a bit of a misleading thing.
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Feb 5, 2017 19:09
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Rirse posted:Man, after configuring it, the CRT I have with component looks really drat good now. I can't believe PVM are suppose to even be better then that. So glad I got those HD Retrovision cables, even if the name is a bit of a misleading thing. A PVM probably isn't a whole lot better; the main advantage is that they can accept RGB natively (so no need to convert the signal from the console, since it can just be adapted) and they can have other desirable niche features (such as signal passthrough, so you can hook up your video source, display it on the PVM, and also output it to another display). If you've already committed to several Retrovision cables, you're probably in a good spot as is and won't see much benefit from a PVM.
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Feb 6, 2017 01:09
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I know 8-Bit Miniboss wanted a trip report on Retroblox, so here goes! The Retroblox mock-up shots:    The prototype is this black box at the back here, and they demonstrated it loading and actively cacheing discs (to reduce the wear on physical optical media, nice).  The gentlemen I spoke with: Bryan (hat) and Eric (goatee).   Both these dudes are ex-Insomniac Games, having worked previously with my brother-in-law on the PS2 Ratchet and Clank titles. Their pedigree is legit. They had at the show one of their modules, the PC Engine:  The concept from a programmer's perspective is to let the cartridge media do what it does, which is why things like Lagrange Point or Akumajou Densetsu would work with all the VRC7/VRC6 goodness that you would expect. For the show, I saw the TG-CD, the PS1, and the Sega CD, but I know more are in the pipe. I asked about the interface, and they told me that they loved Google's menu for things, but hate Android, so they re-coded the whole thing for Debian. If you guys have any questions, I'll do my best to answer from what I remember out of the 30 minutes I talked with Eric.
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Feb 6, 2017 02:05
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Have any of you ever played Vinyl Goddess From Mars on a modern PC? I guess the game is considered abandonware and when I tried looking into running it, all I found was stuff about running it through DOS and avoiding windows entirely and I'm not exactly computer literate and Vinyl doesn't strike me as the kind of game that someone would have made workarounds for to get it running on a modern PC.
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Feb 6, 2017 02:06
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Wise Fwom Yo Gwave posted:I know 8-Bit Miniboss wanted a trip report on Retroblox, so here goes! Neat. Nice to know it's not another Android box.
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Feb 6, 2017 02:09
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FirstAidKite posted:Have any of you ever played Vinyl Goddess From Mars on a modern PC? I guess the game is considered abandonware and when I tried looking into running it, all I found was stuff about running it through DOS and avoiding windows entirely and I'm not exactly computer literate and Vinyl doesn't strike me as the kind of game that someone would have made workarounds for to get it running on a modern PC. That's an obscure enough game that I don't know it, but a quick check tells me that there is no Windows version. You used to have a chance of running DOS games in a native Windows environment but those days are long gone. So DOSBox is your option for it. I'm curious: nostalgia or are you just poking around mid-90's shareware platformers? Random Stranger fucked around with this message at 02:22 on Feb 6, 2017 |
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Feb 6, 2017 02:19
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8-bit Miniboss posted:Neat. Nice to know it's not another Android box. It's definitely not. With the modular design, they're looking to cut down any and all latency. Out of the gate, they're easily better than Retropie in this regard. But they have room to improve.
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Feb 6, 2017 02:24
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Random Stranger posted:I'm curious: nostalgia or are you just poking around mid-90's shareware platformers? I'm curious about playing a Jill of the Jungle game but the only money I've got is steam money and they're not on steam, only GOG, and from a few reviews I've seen of Vinyl, it was a Jill game that got sold off to another company, rebranded, released, and then forgotten about, but is otherwise on par with the other Jill games.
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Feb 6, 2017 02:31
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FirstAidKite posted:Have any of you ever played Vinyl Goddess From Mars on a modern PC? I guess the game is considered abandonware and when I tried looking into running it, all I found was stuff about running it through DOS and avoiding windows entirely and I'm not exactly computer literate and Vinyl doesn't strike me as the kind of game that someone would have made workarounds for to get it running on a modern PC. As Random Stranger said, DOSBox is probably your best bet. I just tried it out and it seems to run well enough on my PC. It's really not that hard to setup or get running, at least not on Windows (Mac or Linux, I don't know).
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Feb 6, 2017 03:09
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FirstAidKite posted:Have any of you ever played Vinyl Goddess From Mars on a modern PC? I guess the game is considered abandonware and when I tried looking into running it, all I found was stuff about running it through DOS and avoiding windows entirely and I'm not exactly computer literate and Vinyl doesn't strike me as the kind of game that someone would have made workarounds for to get it running on a modern PC. I guess I could Google it myself, but it's that in some way related to Leather Goddesses of Phobos? I remember that was THE dirty game back in the day. Edit - Doesn't look like it but no way was that name not inspired by it Medullah fucked around with this message at 03:20 on Feb 6, 2017 |
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Feb 6, 2017 03:17
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Medullah posted:I guess I could Google it myself, but it's that in some way related to Leather Goddesses of Phobos? I remember that was THE dirty game back in the day. Someday I really should play Leather Goddesses of Phobos II. I think that and that hybrid computer game/board game are the only two Infocom games I haven't played.
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Feb 6, 2017 03:34
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Kthulhu5000 posted:As Random Stranger said, DOSBox is probably your best bet. I just tried it out and it seems to run well enough on my PC. It's really not that hard to setup or get running, at least not on Windows (Mac or Linux, I don't know). Well thank you  Sorry, I thought dosbox was a lot harder to get up and running than it ended up being, so now I've got it working fine and the game runs well enough! Thanks!
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Feb 6, 2017 04:43
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Think I might got CRT configured right for sure after using the 240 test suite and also using my NES Classic to compare colors to see how off it was. Now the NES Classic and the CRT look almost exact, but when I switch to the Genesis it not a complete exact match. It about 95% match to screenshots I seen online for test games Sonic and Vectorman, mostly with the skys not being the exact color compare to everything else. Is this just due to the Gens screenshots not being exact compared to actual hardware? https://twitter.com/Rirse/status/828465464871419904 And here how the Genesis looks with the same color settings from the NES. https://twitter.com/Rirse/status/828465700406718464 Rirse fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Feb 6, 2017 |
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Feb 6, 2017 05:32
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:What's the opinion on the DC-SD these days? I see they're like $15 and I'm afraid my drive is dying in my current dreamcast If you're gonna order sketch parts from China for your DC you can pick up a replacement laser for like ~80RMB.
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Feb 6, 2017 10:05
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Rirse posted:Think I might got CRT configured right for sure after using the 240 test suite and also using my NES Classic to compare colors to see how off it was. Now the NES Classic and the CRT look almost exact, but when I switch to the Genesis it not a complete exact match. It about 95% match to screenshots I seen online for test games Sonic and Vectorman, mostly with the skys not being the exact color compare to everything else. dude you really should not worry about things like this too much e: and please stop linking your own twitter in the thread it's a bad look e2: also using the nes classic as the basis for comparison against a real NES is wrong as it's palette is a simulation (unless your NES is RGB modded in which case it's palette is also a simulation). the emulated image is not some perfect ideal of what the game should look like, in fact it's the opposite of that. just calibrate your screen correctly and accept what the real hardware spits out d0s fucked around with this message at 10:30 on Feb 6, 2017 |
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Feb 6, 2017 10:23
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Not to mention the color balance and/or screen geometry will sometimes be off depending on what console you use. Just try to get a good set of "general" settings, you'll be much happier if you won't be OCD enough to tweak them whenever you switch consoles (or even games). Earlier there was talk about component vs PVM screen quality. I used RGB scart on a CRT for a while before getting a PVM and you could still notice the difference very clearly. The PVM image is so vibrant and sharp it's crazy. However this doesn't mean that one NEEDS a PVM, I would say that a good consumer level CRT is a really good choice most of the time (although this is from the euro side where our consumer TV's had mostly RGB scart connections).
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Feb 6, 2017 10:47
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TeaJay posted:Not to mention the color balance and/or screen geometry will sometimes be off depending on what console you use. Just try to get a good set of "general" settings, you'll be much happier if you won't be OCD enough to tweak them whenever you switch consoles (or even games). Was your consumer CRT a Trinitron? I notice my consumer Trinitron is a lot closer to what you get with a PVM (although still not quite as good) while my Toshiba with component looks a lot more like what you expect a consumer TV to look like (and sometimes that's actually desirable for me, sometimes I want a look closer to what I remember)
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Feb 6, 2017 12:44
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I've had a few different CRT's, the best I had was actually a Thomson which bested a few Trinitrons I owned. They all had great picture quality but still not quite as good as a PVM. Different, though, and like d0s said someone might like that kind of image more.
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Feb 6, 2017 13:27
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Just a reminder, college/university surplus sales are great places to get high quality displays. Some of them even have permanent stores to go to, so you don't have to wait for the auctions.
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Feb 6, 2017 13:34
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I don't even know what color the sky is in SMB.
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Feb 6, 2017 14:51
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It might also be worth mentioning that the Genesis has some color quirks, like not being able to display white. As in, the whitest white is slightly grey IIRC.
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Feb 6, 2017 15:05
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Linking your own twitter is fine but serious question: why are you using the nes classic as a frame of reference for color? It's an emulator and thus not going to be accurate. Just go with what you think looks good.
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Feb 6, 2017 15:06
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You're not really going to enjoy trying to color calibrate anything with the NES and it's absolutely not going to show up well in a photograph. If you want to get super picky, run the 240p test suite on your Genesis/SCD and use the SMPTE bars as your calibration screen. Probably the better option is to just play with it until it looks nice to you, you're playing video games not color grading video files.
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Feb 6, 2017 15:08
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Elliotw2 posted:If you want to get super picky, run the 240p test suite on your Genesis/SCD and use the SMPTE bars as your calibration screen. This is the gold standard for "accurate" color calibration and is what video professionals use, to the point where back in the analog days they'd use specially-made Betacam tapes costing several hundred dollars that were good for a few dozen uses and then replaced. But again as mentioned, literally no one in video games was working under this OCD level of color grading back in those days. Hell, pretty much no one was even using anything better than RF prior to the PS1, and even in the PS1 days no one was going beyond composite; the official Sony S-Video cable's existence was borderline theoretical in those days (I tracked one down but it took several hours in a city of 3 million people, and they only had one). It's worth keeping in mind that "purists" in terms of AV quality are rare enough that they aren't worth catering to outside of things like post-production facilities, and a lot of the products which do cater to people wanting "the best quality" are often snake oil products. I used to chase the best picture quality and best sound quality for movies and the like, but I've sort-of reached a point where I've realized that even DVD quality is largely good enough/acceptable, and like 99% of the population is in the same boat, especially when you consider that products which exploit newer home media formats to the fullest are a LOT more expensive than what you need for DVD-level quality and few people think that's worth the added expense.
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Feb 6, 2017 15:53
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GutBomb posted:Linking your own twitter is fine but serious question: why are you using the nes classic as a frame of reference for color? It's an emulator and thus not going to be accurate. Just go with what you think looks good. There are tons of emulators out there that are as perfectly color accurate as the output from the consoles will be. Not saying the NES Mini specifically is, but it's hardly impossible for emulators in general. You'll have a much bigger problem from the inherent color inaccuracy or wrong color space in most monitors and TVs, then from the emulators.
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Feb 6, 2017 16:10
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univbee posted:the official Sony S-Video cable's existence was borderline theoretical in those days (I tracked one down but it took several hours in a city of 3 million people, and they only had one) This doesn't really match my memories, when PSX came out s-video was pretty well known to me and my friends already from using it with the SNES and the PSX cable was easily found a few weeks after the system's launch. It wasn't a big mainstream thing but wasn't some strange unknown either, though we called it an S-VHS cable for some reason, probably because it was very closely associated with the S-VHS tape standard. It was also covered pretty well in game mags as "hey get this to improve video quality", even before the PSX. e: fishmech posted:There are tons of emulators out there that are as perfectly color accurate as the output from the consoles will be. Not saying the NES Mini specifically is, but it's hardly impossible for emulators in general. It's more that he's doing it at all than a question of how accurate the specific emulator is. Trying to match the output of the real console on a CRT TV with a simulation on an LCD or computer monitor is backwards. You calibrate the display independently, not try to match it with something on an entirely different display with different technology and calibration parameters. NES emulation in particular is notoriously color-inaccurate compared to the real thing anyway and isn't as cut and dry as other systems, see how much arguing there is over what the "real" NES palette is. d0s fucked around with this message at 16:34 on Feb 6, 2017 |
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Feb 6, 2017 16:24
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d0s posted:This doesn't really match my memories, when PSX came out s-video was pretty well known to me and my friends already from using it with the SNES and the PSX cable was easily found a few weeks after the system's launch. It wasn't a big mainstream thing but wasn't some strange unknown either, though we called it an S-VHS cable for some reason, probably because it was very closely associated with the S-VHS tape standard. It was also covered pretty well in game mags as "hey get this to improve video quality", even before the PSX. If memory serves there may have been a cheaper third-party S-Video cable that was easier to find. This also might be a Canadian thing more than anything else. My saga of tracking down the official Sony one is from 2000, fwiw.
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Feb 6, 2017 16:26
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S-Video ports on TVs were often explicitly marked as "S-VHS" whether on the TV itself or in the manual, and the cables themselves would be frequently sold as "S-VHS" instead of S-Video. Some people also used the S-VHS name to indicate it was the standard S-video connector, because there were a few other connectors you might see for the same signaling standard.
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Feb 6, 2017 16:28
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UnhandledException posted:http://www.retrocollect.com/News/backlit-game-boy-color-handhelds-hit-chinese-auction-site-taobao.html Having been fairly frequent on taobao recently importing some arcade hardware I gave this a shot. They don't offer the consolidated shipping option so you can't really order one outside of China.
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