Retro Gaming Megathread: Disconnect from the present, and Go back to the nineties.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Retro Gaming Megathread: Disconnect from the present, and Go back to the nineties.

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Ofecks: May 4, 2009; A portly feline wizard waddles forth, muttering something about conjured food.

I've been enjoying Jeremy Parish's chrontendo-like series. It'll be 2050 by the time he finishes all 3 systems, but I really like the mostly no-nonsense and in-depth approach.

# ? Aug 19, 2017 00:02

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# ? May 9, 2024 07:45

Beve Stuscemi: Jun 6, 2001

Gamesack dad jokes are one of life's greatest pleasures

# ? Aug 19, 2017 00:38

Pretty good: Apr 16, 2007

Ofecks posted:

I've been enjoying Jeremy Parish's chrontendo-like series. It'll be 2050 by the time he finishes all 3 systems, but I really like the mostly no-nonsense and in-depth approach.

I can't fault him for his super slick presentation and the level of detail he goes into but I just find the Chrontendo guy more likeable. poo poo I think I actually prefer the comparatively lo-fi style Chrontendo has in general, although maybe I'm just habituated to it after 50 episodes or whatever

# ? Aug 19, 2017 03:34

falz: Jan 29, 2005; 01100110 01100001 01101100 01111010

Uncle at Nintendo posted:

Also I just learned the Dreamcast actually sold less units than the Saturn

Globally or in a specific region? There's no way the Saturn sold better than Dreamcast in the USA.

# ? Aug 19, 2017 13:58

epsilon: Oct 31, 2001

Ptarmigans posted:

Pretty sure you go down a room after beating the mini boss.
E: Oh, upon reading again you already have the slingshot. Can you get to the other side of the minecart track by going to the start of the dungeon and heading a screen to the right, then up three screens and right again and taking the stairs?

This worked. You're a boss. Thanks man.

# ? Aug 19, 2017 20:08

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

Uncle at Nintendo posted:

Also I just learned the Dreamcast actually sold less units than the Saturn

The Saturn did relatively well in Japan while the Dreamcast didn't. US sales of Dreamcast were better than US sales of the Saturn.

Whoops, beaten.

# ? Aug 19, 2017 20:22

univbee: Jun 3, 2004

https://twitter.com/ParisHilton/status/898630662810480640

# ? Aug 19, 2017 23:57

Queen_Combat: Jan 15, 2011

I worked in a call center 2006-7 and we all had multiple pictochat rooms going at once because there were so many of us.

# ? Aug 20, 2017 12:25

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008; Can't post for 33 hours!

Where can I get a pc engine duo-r without paying a fortune?

# ? Aug 20, 2017 14:44

Rirse: May 7, 2006; by R. Guyovich

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

Where can I get a pc engine duo-r without paying a fortune?

Monitor Burn was offering a RGB modded one for around 350 which is a good price for a modded PC Engine Duo that isn't cover in silly string inside. He need to import the unit in first through.

# ? Aug 20, 2017 14:48

Sir Tonk: Apr 18, 2006; Young Orc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B7nXuSfvZ4

# ? Aug 20, 2017 15:11

Medullah: Aug 14, 2003; FEAR MY SHARK ROCKET IT REALLY SUCKS AND BLOWS

Sir Tonk posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B7nXuSfvZ4

250 feet is more than an entire football field away? #FakeNews!

# ? Aug 20, 2017 15:28

falz: Jan 29, 2005; 01100110 01100001 01101100 01111010

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

Where can I get a pc engine duo-r without paying a fortune?

1998 when turbo zone direct was still selling new old stock

# ? Aug 20, 2017 15:41

Stan Taylor: Oct 13, 2013; Touched Fuzzy, Got Dizzy

univbee posted:

https://twitter.com/ParisHilton/status/898630662810480640

This owns, and if I remember right Paris is a ham radio enthusiast so it tracks pretty well too.

# ? Aug 20, 2017 15:46

Ofecks: May 4, 2009; A portly feline wizard waddles forth, muttering something about conjured food.

falz posted:

1998 when turbo zone direct was still selling new old stock

They only sold US models, at least when I bought my Duo in 2002. The R and RX were JP-only. The guy I talked to on the phone said there weren't many left. I recall looking at the site after a little while and they were sold out. It came with a weird controller - a TurboPad hacked with a Duo-compatible cable. It came with the Gate of Thunder 3-in-1 CD but not Ys or the random HuCard as in the retail package. They must have taken those items out to sell separately. I was never able to get any CDRs to work on it. Tried a bunch of different brands of blank media but it was probably the burner I had at the time.

I had it modded for RGB + a region switch and sold it to someone in France just a few years later. I assume they had it recapped at some point if they kept it.

# ? Aug 20, 2017 17:32

Xenomrph: Dec 9, 2005; AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill

I finally got around to testing my gscart switchbox and it works great.

However in testing it, I've learned that my SNES isn't reading carts properly. :saddowns:

# ? Aug 20, 2017 17:59

Turbinosamente: May 29, 2013; Lights on, Lights off

This time on things you never find in the wild:

Though I'll probably never own a Vectrex unless some one mistakes it for a CRT and sells it as such. At least the Scramble logo is nice to look at?

# ? Aug 20, 2017 18:20

falz: Jan 29, 2005; 01100110 01100001 01101100 01111010

Ofecks posted:

They only sold US models, at least when I bought my Duo in 2002. The R and RX were JP-only. The guy I talked to on the phone said there weren't many left. I recall looking at the site after a little while and they were sold out. It came with a weird controller - a TurboPad hacked with a Duo-compatible cable. It came with the Gate of Thunder 3-in-1 CD but not Ys or the random HuCard as in the retail package. They must have taken those items out to sell separately. I was never able to get any CDRs to work on it. Tried a bunch of different brands of blank media but it was probably the burner I had at the time.

I had it modded for RGB + a region switch and sold it to someone in France just a few years later. I assume they had it recapped at some point if they kept it.

Yeah I guess they only had us stuff. I gone mine in 98 or so and it had ys and what not.

Burned CDs of better quality should work, I asked that same question in here like a year ago and there was one brand recommend which I can't remember except maybe it sounded Japanese.

Turbo zone direct still has an ebay store but it's just random poo poo.

# ? Aug 20, 2017 19:51

univbee: Jun 3, 2004

falz posted:

Burned CDs of better quality should work, I asked that same question in here like a year ago and there was one brand recommend which I can't remember except maybe it sounded Japanese.

Taiyo Yuden

# ? Aug 20, 2017 19:55

Harlock: Jan 15, 2006; Tap "A" to drink!!!

Ofecks posted:

I've been enjoying Jeremy Parish's chrontendo-like series. It'll be 2050 by the time he finishes all 3 systems, but I really like the mostly no-nonsense and in-depth approach.

I enjoy(ed) his Gameboy series as I think that's a library that doesn't get talked about much. For better or worse.

# ? Aug 20, 2017 20:14

BigRed0427: Mar 23, 2007; There's no one I'd rather be than me.

So my first attempt at making a Plug and play fight stick failed. My first attempt to drill the button hole the drill bit I was using missed the guide hole and now the lid to the plastic is all hosed up. Maybe I should go with a wooden box? THe bit wasn't drilling that well either, basically shaving it. I guess I bought the wrong ones for this.

# ? Aug 20, 2017 22:27

Zand: Jul 9, 2003; ~ i'll take you for a ride ~ ride on a meteorite ~

BigRed0427 posted:

So my first attempt at making a Plug and play fight stick failed. My first attempt to drill the button hole the drill bit I was using missed the guide hole and now the lid to the plastic is all hosed up. Maybe I should go with a wooden box? THe bit wasn't drilling that well either, basically shaving it. I guess I bought the wrong ones for this.

theres this http://www.tek-innovations.com/arthobbies/?loc=products&cat=12

and also the Makestick

# ? Aug 20, 2017 23:13

RodShaft: Jul 31, 2003; Like an evil horny Santa Claus.

BigRed0427 posted:

So my first attempt at making a Plug and play fight stick failed. My first attempt to drill the button hole the drill bit I was using missed the guide hole and now the lid to the plastic is all hosed up. Maybe I should go with a wooden box? THe bit wasn't drilling that well either, basically shaving it. I guess I bought the wrong ones for this.

Are you using paddle bits? You should really use a hole saw.

# ? Aug 20, 2017 23:14

Kthulhu5000: Jul 25, 2006; by R. Guyovich

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

Where can I get a pc engine duo-r without paying a fortune?

Define "a fortune".

If you live in Australia, as I'm assuming from your avatar, then your cheapest option would probably be to get a Buyee account and browse the Yahoo! Japan auctions through there. Just be aware you will be paying a small amount of site fees and a lot of money for shipping.

Also note that unless you RGB-mod the console yourself (or have someone you know locally/in-country who can do it), it's going to be composite video only.

# ? Aug 20, 2017 23:30

Mak0rz: Aug 2, 2008; 😎🐗🚬

https://twitter.com/theshyduck/status/898965897338953728

# ? Aug 21, 2017 00:46

Code Jockey: Jan 24, 2006; 69420 basic bytes free

Mak0rz posted:

https://twitter.com/theshyduck/status/898965897338953728

lmao this is amazing

# ? Aug 21, 2017 00:56

fishmech: Jul 16, 2006; by VideoGames; Salad Prong

falz posted:

Yeah I guess they only had us stuff. I gone mine in 98 or so and it had ys and what not.

Burned CDs of better quality should work, I asked that same question in here like a year ago and there was one brand recommend which I can't remember except maybe it sounded Japanese.

It's not really about better quality, it's about different ink formulations having different reflectivity properties (often the kind of reflection properties you need for an old console won't correlate with longevity of the burned disc etc).

Old CD reading equipment was often manufactured to just work well with standard discs, where the pressed aluminum reflecting layer has a very high reflectivity. Since over time the actual laser gets weaker and the reading components can often get less sensitive, this will mean higher reflectivity is required to successfully read data, until the point where the laser and reading components effectively can't distinguish data at all.

With pressed normal discs, you can expect to have about 80-90% of the laser's light reflected at the wavelength CD readers used. CD-R ink formulations will usually have their disc designed to reflect about 40-70% of the light depending on how they're made. CD-RW discs, because of how you need to change the materials to allow for re-writing the disc, will only reflect 10-30% (and thus flat out won't work in many of the oldest systems). (this is because on a pressed disc you physically indent the "pits" to contrast against the plain "lands", causing a difference in light reflected, on CD-R and CD-RW the dye or alloy instead is changed in its opaqueness versus a thin reflecting layer to simulate the changes in light response)

The tolerances at manufacture time even on the oldest systems usually could work with reflectivity down to like 50% or so and still be able to recognize the difference between what would be pits and lands on a pressed disc, thus being able to read most CD-Rs. But over time the ability to distinguish the light can get worse and worse until you can use only the highest reflectivity media. Newer hardware tends to start with reading ability that's intentionally specced to work with even CD-RWs when brand new, so they're far more tolerant even with laser and reader degradation.

# ? Aug 21, 2017 02:19

Sir Tonk: Apr 18, 2006; Young Orc

fishmech posted:

It's not really about better quality, it's about different ink formulations having different reflectivity properties (often the kind of reflection properties you need for an old console won't correlate with longevity of the burned disc etc).

Old CD reading equipment was often manufactured to just work well with standard discs, where the pressed aluminum reflecting layer has a very high reflectivity. Since over time the actual laser gets weaker and the reading components can often get less sensitive, this will mean higher reflectivity is required to successfully read data, until the point where the laser and reading components effectively can't distinguish data at all.

With pressed normal discs, you can expect to have about 80-90% of the laser's light reflected at the wavelength CD readers used. CD-R ink formulations will usually have their disc designed to reflect about 40-70% of the light depending on how they're made. CD-RW discs, because of how you need to change the materials to allow for re-writing the disc, will only reflect 10-30% (and thus flat out won't work in many of the oldest systems). (this is because on a pressed disc you physically indent the "pits" to contrast against the plain "lands", causing a difference in light reflected, on CD-R and CD-RW the dye or alloy instead is changed in its opaqueness versus a thin reflecting layer to simulate the changes in light response)

The tolerances at manufacture time even on the oldest systems usually could work with reflectivity down to like 50% or so and still be able to recognize the difference between what would be pits and lands on a pressed disc, thus being able to read most CD-Rs. But over time the ability to distinguish the light can get worse and worse until you can use only the highest reflectivity media. Newer hardware tends to start with reading ability that's intentionally specced to work with even CD-RWs when brand new, so they're far more tolerant even with laser and reader degradation.

This is the most fishmech post I've seen in years.

# ? Aug 21, 2017 02:40

Pokemon OH SNAP!: Oct 17, 2004

fishmech posted:

It's not really about better quality, it's about different ink formulations having different reflectivity properties (often the kind of reflection properties you need for an old console won't correlate with longevity of the burned disc etc).

Old CD reading equipment was often manufactured to just work well with standard discs, where the pressed aluminum reflecting layer has a very high reflectivity. Since over time the actual laser gets weaker and the reading components can often get less sensitive, this will mean higher reflectivity is required to successfully read data, until the point where the laser and reading components effectively can't distinguish data at all.

With pressed normal discs, you can expect to have about 80-90% of the laser's light reflected at the wavelength CD readers used. CD-R ink formulations will usually have their disc designed to reflect about 40-70% of the light depending on how they're made. CD-RW discs, because of how you need to change the materials to allow for re-writing the disc, will only reflect 10-30% (and thus flat out won't work in many of the oldest systems). (this is because on a pressed disc you physically indent the "pits" to contrast against the plain "lands", causing a difference in light reflected, on CD-R and CD-RW the dye or alloy instead is changed in its opaqueness versus a thin reflecting layer to simulate the changes in light response)

The tolerances at manufacture time even on the oldest systems usually could work with reflectivity down to like 50% or so and still be able to recognize the difference between what would be pits and lands on a pressed disc, thus being able to read most CD-Rs. But over time the ability to distinguish the light can get worse and worse until you can use only the highest reflectivity media. Newer hardware tends to start with reading ability that's intentionally specced to work with even CD-RWs when brand new, so they're far more tolerant even with laser and reader degradation.

Another complicating factor is that legit PCE CD games are on 650MB discs and the drives in the TGCD and IFU in particular are really crappy at tracking on 700MB discs in my experience.

I did normal CD-Rs from a local store and had less than half the burns playable with music cutting out all the time. Then I bought a spindle of Taiyo Yuden discs on internet recommendation and my burns were almost all playable but the music still cut out or the game would play for a while and then freeze on loading the next level or w/e. Finally I bought a spindle of 650MB Taiyo Yuden discs on eBay and they've been perfect.

# ? Aug 21, 2017 04:20

Beve Stuscemi: Jun 6, 2001

I think I've found my new go-to 3rd party N64 controller. I happened across an Interact Superpad 64 Plus at a retro game shop this weekend, reviews said "good stick", so I picked it up, as I'm always looking for something to replace the Nintendo controllers crappy joysticks.

"Why dont you put one of those gamecube sticks from eBay in your N64 controller and be done with it?" I hear you asking. Well, that would be too easy, plus I hear that their motion sensitivity is not linear, something I care about, for reasons I'll explain below. Hence my constant hunt for good 3rd party controllers.

As mentioned, I read the stick is good, but I didnt know the stick would be as good as it is. Its really smooth and linear, not jumpy at all, and they fix my biggest gripe with the official N64 controllers, namely that it is very difficult to make small precise movements with the sticks.

Lets get his out of the way. There is a downside. The downside is you have to be able to get down with the shape:

I get that right off the bat, the shape will disqualify the controller for some. Personally? I kind of like it. It lets you keep both hands on the controller and gives access to all buttons all the time

Why is it so good? Probably because the guts of the stick are super beefy, and flanked with gigantic analog potentiometers. They even have screw down bases, so I'd imagine you could replace the pots if you had to. The plastic is thick, the springs are beefy, and most everything is assembled with real metal hardware. I've been in a lot of controllers and this is quite overengineered (a good thing) in the joystick specifically.

Is it perfect? No. The buttons are clicky, which I'm not a fan of, but I know some people prefer. The wiring (obviously) leaves something to be desired, overall though, it delivers on the one thing I want most, fine motion control from the stick, and it delivers that in spades.

Here is the stick in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2gV2j9EnSw

Here is how it stacks up against my other Nintendo controllers:

This one isnt too bad, doesnt quite hit all the corners, but does OK for what it is. It reads some fairly different numbers at the extremes as you can see

This one is better, numbers are more normalized and closer at the extremes

This one is the Superpad. As you can see it goes a bit beyond what a normal N64 controller would do. I think this is what makes it smooth. For a given sweep, left to right, up to down, etc, this controller registers more data points than the stock one. Thats my theory anyway

So how does it play? I tried it mainly with San Francisco Rush, for a couple of reasons:

1) This is my all time favorite N64 game, I've spent hundreds of hours with it and am very familiar with it
2) This is the game I notice bad joysticks on the most. Once you lose fine directional control, Rush plays noticeably worse, and the game really relies on small movements to keep the cars settled

Here is a video of me trying to demonstrate how tiny movements are easily possible with the Superpad 64 Plus on Rush. I dont know if it completely conveys it, but those small steering inputs that I'm using to just change lanes are pretty tough to do accurately on Nintendo controllers. Not impossible, but not THIS easy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DU0-3urZW8

Overall, highly recommended!!

PROS:
Buttery smooth, extremely linear and accurate stick
Big beefy (maybe replaceable or adjustable) pots doing the reading of the stick position
Extremely beefy stick components
Clicky buttons
The shape
Turbo buttons, if that matters to you. I havent even tried them

CONS:
The shape
Clicky buttons

Beve Stuscemi fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Aug 21, 2017

# ? Aug 21, 2017 05:19

Motorola 68000: Apr 25, 2014; "Don't be nice. Be good."

I got my akklaim turbo duo wireless ir controllers today for my genesis. Hooked them up and they work OK. The connection is super finicky, you have to have them in just the right position. Can't beat $13 though so I can't complain. If anyone knows any way to improve the connection that would be great.

# ? Aug 21, 2017 05:49

DEEP STATE PLOT: Aug 13, 2008; Yes...Ha ha ha...YES!

Jim Silly-Balls posted:

So how does it play? I tried it mainly with San Francisco Rush, for a couple of reasons:

1) This is my all time favorite N64 game, I've spent hundreds of hours with it and am very familiar with it
2) This is the game I notice bad joysticks on the most. Once you lose fine directional control, Rush plays noticeably worse, and the game really relies on small movements to keep the cars settled

Here is a video of me trying to demonstrate how tiny movements are easily possible with the Superpad 64 Plus on Rush. I dont know if it completely conveys it, but those small steering inputs that I'm using to just change lanes are pretty tough to do accurately on Nintendo controllers. Not impossible, but not THIS easy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DU0-3urZW8

Overall, highly recommended!!

whaddup fellow san francisco rush superfan :hf:

though i personally prefer rush 2 and 2049 to the original

# ? Aug 21, 2017 05:50

Discount Viscount: Jul 9, 2010; FIND THE FISH!

All of my current N64 controllers are Superpads I found at thrift stores years ago and one is the Superpad Plus. Holding a normal-shaped 1st party controller feels off now.

# ? Aug 21, 2017 05:54

Code Jockey: Jan 24, 2006; 69420 basic bytes free

Oh hey we have the same tile backsplash :respek:

Thanks for the teardown, that's an interesting joystick mechanism.

# ? Aug 21, 2017 07:09

Beve Stuscemi: Jun 6, 2001

financially racist posted:

whaddup fellow san francisco rush superfan

though i personally prefer rush 2 and 2049 to the original

the original will always be my favorite because I spent so much time in the arcade with it. The others are great too but I just have a special place in my heart for the first one.

Code Jockey posted:

Oh hey we have the same tile backsplash

a good gamin' backsplash

# ? Aug 21, 2017 12:02

Xenomrph: Dec 9, 2005; AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill

Jim Silly-Balls posted:

I think I've found my new go-to 3rd party N64 controller. I happened across an Interact Superpad 64 Plus at a retro game shop this weekend, reviews said "good stick", so I picked it up, as I'm always looking for something to replace the Nintendo controllers crappy joysticks.

"Why dont you put one of those gamecube sticks from eBay in your N64 controller and be done with it?" I hear you asking. Well, that would be too easy, plus I hear that their motion sensitivity is not linear, something I care about, for reasons I'll explain below. Hence my constant hunt for good 3rd party controllers.

As mentioned, I read the stick is good, but I didnt know the stick would be as good as it is. Its really smooth and linear, not jumpy at all, and they fix my biggest gripe with the official N64 controllers, namely that it is very difficult to make small precise movements with the sticks.

Lets get his out of the way. There is a downside. The downside is you have to be able to get down with the shape:

I get that right off the bat, the shape will disqualify the controller for some. Personally? I kind of like it. It lets you keep both hands on the controller and gives access to all buttons all the time

Oh poo poo, I've got one of those as well, I like it quite a bit. I'm glad you like it!

# ? Aug 21, 2017 13:23

DMorbid: Jan 6, 2011; With our special guest star, RUSH! YAYYYYYYYYY

I have the MakoPad 64, which as far as I can tell is the exact same controller but translucent instead of black. It's pretty nice for most games, even though you can't really use Goldeneye's Solitaire control scheme on it and the sensitivity of the stick makes aiming in Majora's Mask even more awkward than usual.

# ? Aug 21, 2017 13:32

George RR Fartin: Apr 16, 2003

Wizgot posted:

I got my akklaim turbo duo wireless ir controllers today for my genesis. Hooked them up and they work OK. The connection is super finicky, you have to have them in just the right position. Can't beat $13 though so I can't complain. If anyone knows any way to improve the connection that would be great.

I had these back in the day, and the IR on them is moderately finicky. You just really need a super clear shot from controller to the receiver, and I recall the distance being kinda short too; we'd always play on the floor, like 4 feet from the system. I recall sitting in the chair across the room (maybe 8 feet away) made the connection much less reliable, and you had to intently point the controller at the receiver. They were great controllers though; I am afraid to see what the basement might've done to them.

# ? Aug 21, 2017 15:12

Beve Stuscemi: Jun 6, 2001

Does anyone make 3rd party backlit GBA screens? I'd like to convert an OG GBA, but I don't want to destroy an SP-101 to do it. :smith:

# ? Aug 21, 2017 15:56

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# ? May 9, 2024 07:45

wa27: Jan 15, 2007

Jim Silly-Balls posted:

I think I've found my new go-to 3rd party N64 controller. I happened across an Interact Superpad 64 Plus at a retro game shop this weekend, reviews said "good stick", so I picked it up, as I'm always looking for something to replace the Nintendo controllers crappy joysticks.

"Why dont you put one of those gamecube sticks from eBay in your N64 controller and be done with it?" I hear you asking. Well, that would be too easy, plus I hear that their motion sensitivity is not linear, something I care about, for reasons I'll explain below. Hence my constant hunt for good 3rd party controllers.

As mentioned, I read the stick is good, but I didnt know the stick would be as good as it is. Its really smooth and linear, not jumpy at all, and they fix my biggest gripe with the official N64 controllers, namely that it is very difficult to make small precise movements with the sticks.

Lets get his out of the way. There is a downside. The downside is you have to be able to get down with the shape:

I had one of these as a kid as my 4th controller. Everybody hated using it, but that's probably because it was super uncomfortable for tiny child hands. As an adult, that wasn't really an issue anymore.

The stick was nice, but I ran into a different issue with it. In NFL Blitz 2001, it was TOO sensitive. It felt like there was no deadzone at all, which made navigating menus pretty bad sometimes. So I would go to select a play in Blitz, but when I released the stick, the "snap back" would jump the cursor one space in the other direction. A real pain when you're hiding your cursor from the other player.

Ultimately that annoyance caused me to sell it on SA-Mart years ago.

# ? Aug 21, 2017 16:04

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Retro Gaming Megathread: Disconnect from the present, and Go back to the nineties.

«‹›448 »