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So a couple years back I bought an ebay lot of six "broken" Sega Genesis' for like $40.The four original models worked right out of the box and so did one of the model 2s, but the other model 2 had a fried voltage regulator. It was also really scuffed up. I'd sat on it until now when I decided to use it for my newest project: The Sega MegaGear. It's my childhood Gamegear consolized inside of a Genesis 2 shell with a GGTV mod (from the NESRGB guy) and controller ports. It takes standard Master System or Genesis controllers, with the reset button working as the "start" button. The controllers are wired up like Master System controllers, which is why the start button won't work. I did turn one standard three button Genesis controller into a special "MegaGear" controller by wiring it's start button to the select logic line and cutting the trace to it, then running that line to "start," which is great for those Gamegear games that use start as a third button. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the LED windows are colored like the Geargear logo. Also, my homemade Holy Diver and Magical Doropie repros are back there photobombing us. Anyway, I gave it S-Video, and a Framemeister RGB port:  As you can see the shell was really beat up, I've tried to clean it up a bit by buffing some of the worst scratches out but it's still pretty ugly. Anyway, video on my CRT looks like this:  The borders are a little distracting, but there isn't anything that can be done about them. The Gamegear's native resolution is too small to fill the 240p area. I don't have a Mastergear converter, or an EverdriveGG yet, but I have it wired so that Master System games will display fullscreen. Either way, through RGB with the Framemeister's zoom it looks beautiful:  Never thought I'd be playing my childhood gamegear on a 32" LCD Monitor in the TYOOL 2016 but here we are. ANYWAY this was a hell of a project, definitely one of the hardest mods I've ever done. The worst part was desoldering the cart connector, reshaping the pins, then mounting that to the top of the Genesis shell and wiring each pin back to the Gamegear. Also the solder points for the GGTV are tiny, and before you can do anything you have to completely recap the stupid thing with it's 15 or so surface mount caps. But there doesn't seem to be anything like it out there and despite it looking a little ugly I'm pretty proud of it. Now that I know how to do it, I'm considering maybe making a couple for resell someday and do them up right. Have to save up a bit and get a EverdriveGG to make sure the master system functionality works right...maybe even try adding a master system port with FM sound, like one mod that I saw. But after 12+ hours of work on this thing I just want to play some games dammit. Polly Toodle fucked around with this message at 07:44 on Aug 2, 2016 |
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Aug 2, 2016 07:36
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Thanks for the kind words about my project! It was actually a lot of fun to do it, albeit a little tiring.My Lovely Horse posted:Sonic & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles & Knuckles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GEmLnaFC38 quote:Hey, how hard is it to replace the batteries in NES and SNeS cartridges? I figure you get a New Battery, wire up some leads to it, alligator clip to cart, replace old battery on cart, all to prevent the memory from wiping. It's actually simpler than that, you just need a soldering iron to heat the tabs on the old battery, pull it out, heat the points again, and slide in the new battery. On gameboy carts this is stupid idiot proof simple and on NES/SNES/Genesis whatall it's a tad harder because the battery is through hole, and while it isn't necessary it's a lot easier if you have a $5 plastic solder sucker to remove the solder first. Or be crazy like me and buy a vacuum desolder station and make the whole thing effortless. https://console5.com/store/panasonic-cr2032-3v-lithium-battery-with-solder-tabs-pins.html EDIT: I just realized you were talking about replacing a battery while keeping the internal memory from dumping. I've never tried it that way before, but I can't think of a reason that wouldn't work. I will say that occasionally I'll swap a battery out the cart and the memory will survive the process. Another weird save battery event- I installed an English translation eprom into a Super Famicom copy of Dragon Quest 5 and the Japanese save data survived the event, complete with now garbage character names. Polly Toodle fucked around with this message at 15:41 on Aug 2, 2016 |
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Aug 2, 2016 14:18
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The 32X is useful as it's an easy way to improve the video quality out of a stock genesis 1. It adds a splash of color and gets rid of the rainbow banding.
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Aug 2, 2016 16:40
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It's a lot easier to read the words "attack", "exit", "yes", or "save" or whatnot in order to navigate Japanese game menus than it is to read a Japanese book. This is actually something I've been meaning to learn for awhile, just need the time. I doubt I'll ever learn enough Japanese to play an RPG but I'd love to at least be able to read the two easier scripts. Awesome post al-azad!
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Aug 3, 2016 02:37
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I doubt it actually requires that much but yeah, any JAMMA power supply would do that. I think arcade boards exaggarate a bit on required amperage, the Neo Geo MV-1F supposedly needs 5 amps but you only really need like 2.
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Aug 4, 2016 01:57
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Only for the SNES mini. The full size onechips don't need a mod for RGB or S-Video.
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Aug 5, 2016 06:40
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I have the USB-GDROM I got from SAG and it works great. If I were ordering today though I'd probably just check the GDEMU guy's blog until he reopens preorders, as he comes across as the more reliable of the two. That's how I got a Rhea - just checked daily for a few months, got my request in and then it showed up a couple months after. I wish the USB-GDROM guy wasn't so...sketchy. I'd like to get his 3DO ODE but don't feel like going through the hassle and risk. If SAG restocked them I'd order from them but I think they're done with him. Also the GDEMU guy is working on a PC-Engine ODE so that's cool. And the upcoming Jaguar flashcart from that AtariAge guy supposedly can play CD games. Now if we could just get a Sega CD replacement we could do away with optical media...
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Aug 7, 2016 15:57
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I've been building my own repros. It's fun and for less than $12 I can have a physical copy of just about any game out there. The games I use as donors are usually either Japanese copies of the game I'm making, in which case I preserve the original maskrom, completely unloved or unwanted sports games, or newly manufactored Pcbs. I've made repros for Famicom, Genesis, Jaguar, and SNES. Made about 30 total at this point. I did kill a stunt race fx to make Star Fox 2 and felt no shame in doing so. It is literally the only way at this time to play it on original hardware and is time consuming to do. I doubt that hobbyists could ever build SF2 at a rate that would effect the world supply of it. Why bother with this when I could play most of these games on a flash cart? It's fun challenge. When I'm done I have a physical copy of the game that I can customize to my liking. Also, I'm much more likely to play it! Flashcarts give me a "paralysis of choice" type feeling. I find myself now playing games on everdrive and thinking "hey, this game is cool...I should build a copy." And if I built it, I'm going to play it! I do find it a bit irksome when people do something like murder a copy of Batman: Return of the Joker to build Mr. Gimmick. There are newly manufactured, affordable, and actually easier to build methods that don't use original parts, why kill an actually good game to do it?
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Aug 19, 2016 19:32
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I love to hear the cries of Madden 95 and PGA Golf Tour as I rip their brains out and heatgun their labels off.Instant Sunrise posted:I thought the N8 worked with VRC7/Lagrange Point? Nope, it can't emulate the FM chip and krikkz has no plans to do so. I plan to make one myself as soon as I get my copy from Japan.
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Aug 19, 2016 21:50
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Repros as a whole are stupidly overpriced, I can literally make 95% of the SNES library for less than $15, in about 30 minutes of work. Genesis games for less than $10 and they're even easier to put together. Part of what you're paying for is the skill required to do it, but there are very few games that should cost more than about $35. That's including a case and label and everything. Obvious exceptions are games like Star Ocean that not only require a more expensive donor but also intricate wiring. I probably spent about two hours on that one. But those games are few and far between and I think most repro makers are skinning the proverbial fat hog. Polly Toodle fucked around with this message at 22:21 on Aug 19, 2016 |
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Aug 19, 2016 22:15
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flyboi posted:Oh hey you don't have PMs but I've got a copy I tried to convert to English but was sold bad roms. Would you be able to burn that and one other NES game for me so I can finally finish those two projects? The other one is Just Breed. Sure, email me at chortleatjokersboner@gmail.com and I'll see if I can help, if you don't mind waiting for me to get my copy from Yamatoku-Classic's "rowboat across the Pacific" first so I can make sure it works.
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Aug 19, 2016 22:38
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Random Stranger posted:I've kind of wanted to get into making carts like that because it sounds like fun. How much did the equipment cost you? There are two main expenses, assuming you already have a decent soldering iron. The first is a rom programmer, this is the one I have (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Top...608.0.92.90pToJ) and it costs around 110 depending on where you buy it. The other is a vacuum desoldering station, as I absolutely would not try to make more than one or two without one. I have this one: (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KQ6PR6K/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . If you just want to Star Fox 2 or something you can get by without it, especially as it has a surface mount chip. But it's one of the best purchases I ever made for this hobby. I bought mine after I struggled to install an NESRGB and wanted to avoid such problems in the future. This way, you can remove the donor maskroms fairly easily, as well as remove an eprom if it doesn't work. After that you just need the eproms, which are usually between $0.50-2.00 a piece depending on the type you need. For SNES, I've found it easier to just purchase newly manufactured PCBs from this guy: http://www.retrostage.net/. And for all you folks crying for slain Madden 95s, it's guys like the retrostage guy who have made it possible to make quality repros without original hardware. I myself only cannibalized the sports games I had acquired because it was convenient and I really could care less. It's only slightly more expensive to use newly manufactured parts and it's what I'm doing now that I've used up most of my sports games. It's actually much easier than using donors on the SNES, especially for games over 2MB. I'm not doing this for profit, I've only sold one repro to a friend who wanted one, and that was basically at cost. To me it's all about the puzzle of figuring out how it all works, the shelf candy, and the counter to my game ADD. An interesting sidenote to this conversation is the fact that we don't know how long the maskroms or ic chips or capacitors in 80's and 90's cart based games will last. No data storage medium is eternal, and it's entirely possible that in the year 2095, one hundred years after Madden 95 was released, that all copies of it will have ceased to work anyway. May as well use'em for something that brings joy while we can. An example of this is Pokemon Yellow for the Gameboy. I'm in possession of about 12 copies of it in which all of the sprites are black squares. I've done everything I can think of to fix this. The problem resides in the maskrom because I've been able to make the problem move between boards by swapping the maskrom. This is ONLY for Pokemon Yellow, I've never seen this in any of the other Pokemon games. Something about the way the Pokemon Yellow maskroms were manufactured made them susceptible to this problem. Will it happen to all copies over time? Probably not. But let's not assume that our antiques will be working when they actually are antiques.
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Aug 20, 2016 01:12
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There's a pretty big distinction between a reproduction and a counterfeit. A counterfeit is something intended to maliciously pass off as an original, a reproduction is meant to be a known copy. That's the reason people who make fake cash for movie use don't go to jail. I'm completely against making a repro so authentic that it could pass as an original.
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Aug 20, 2016 01:56
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I got my Japanese copy of La Grange Point yesterday. I can see why flyboi had trouble getting it converted to english, I ended up having to burn the eprom three times to get it to work. You have to run the .nes file through famirom first, even though the whole rom is the .prg. Just stripping the header off didn't work, not sure why. Anyway, now that I know what I'm doing hit me up and I'll see if I can't get a properly burned 27c040 off to you.
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Aug 25, 2016 19:41
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Asbrandt posted:I happen to need one of these, are you able to do any other games too or is Lagrange Point the only one you're familiar with so far? I can do most other games. Lagrange Point is just an easy one since you only need one 27c040 and it doesn't need any rewiring.
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Aug 25, 2016 20:42
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Asbrandt posted:Yeah I can handle rewiring without issue, I just don't have an actual programmer to get the rom chips done. Do you use new chips or used ones? My 27c040s are all new-old-stock I bought in bulk from China.
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Aug 26, 2016 07:15
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Asbrandt posted:Well hit me with a quote for translated Lagrange Point + PRG+CHR for Just Breed then. (JB's CHR is 256K but doubling it and using a 27c040 will work just fine.) Send an email to chortleatjokersboner@gmail.com and we'll work it out. Anyone else who might want a eprom of a game or two, let me know. Sorry, I don't have any 27c080.
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Aug 28, 2016 18:25
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I'm hoping that guy who used a combination of a raspberry pi , an led and a wiimote to make classic lightguns work with modern TVs actually starts producing kits because I would not mind parting with my trinitron in that case. While I like the classic look of the CRT I'd rather play with my framemeister on a 55" LED. But I keep the old beast around because I love my old lightguns.
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Sep 2, 2016 16:23
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Do not even ask posted:Has anyone here replaced their voltage regulator in their NES top loader with a switching voltage regulator? I was playing River City Ransom and before I knew it, it was two hours later and my NES felt like an oven, so I'm wondering if it would be a good way to cut down on heat. I replaced the voltage regular in my AV Famicom with this: http://www.ezsbc.com/index.php/psu2-5.html Seems to work fine and there's no heat generated.
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Sep 11, 2016 05:08
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Grevlek posted:Does anyone know anything or have any resources on circuit board repair? My copy of Ogre Battle SNES was damaged about 10 years ago, and I finally got around to opening it up. On one of the corners, about a cm of the board chipped off. It looks like it split one small blue circle on one side, and two maybe one smaller circles on the opposite side. It all depends on if any componants or traces were on the broken section. Broken traces can be fixed with wires. The broken "circles" are probably capaciters and are easy to replace. Post a picture and I'm sure we can tell you how likely a repair is. Polly Toodle fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Sep 11, 2016 |
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Sep 11, 2016 20:36
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Grevlek posted:Here you go. As you can see, it didn't break clean it kind of 'shredded' off like cheese. I'm hoping the large amount of brown board means I can just glue it together. I pieced it together and it seemed to line up okay. There isn't anything important on that piece. Should be fine with or without it. Have you tested the game? EDIT: While you've got it out give the connector pins a good cleaning, they look like they need it. Polly Toodle fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Sep 11, 2016 |
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Sep 11, 2016 21:23
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Grevlek posted:I did test it after removing that part. It didn't work. I noticed that it looks like the board got pushed in or something, and I've updated that link with some more pictures. The board doesn't feel loose but I didn't really put any pressure on the weakened board. I'm seeing what appears to be a decent size crack on the rear of the board below the battery. Am I right? If so that's a pretty big deal, you probably have multiple bad traces.
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Sep 11, 2016 22:12
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Grevlek posted:Yeah that's what I'm thinking to. I noticed they sell repro circuit boards, is it reasonable to think one could unmount the chips and other pieces and get them put on a repro board? Don't bother with a repro board if you're doing that, import a cheap japanese game with the same PCB and swap the maskroms over.
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Sep 11, 2016 22:20
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Grevlek posted:So it looks like I can get the same PCB stateside, and its a sports game so I'll be hunting the pawnshops for NBA Live 96. As long as NBA Live 96 has the same amount of SRAM you only need to swap the two maskrom chips. And from a collection perspective, I wouldn't look at it any different than changing a battery. As long as it's the same PCB, and the chips are moved over with no damage, who really cares?
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Sep 12, 2016 00:16
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Yes, they're the chips marked "U1 P0" and "U2 P1". What kind of equipment do you have? Be advised that swapping not one but two through hole chips like this is a nightmare without decent equipment. I have experience working with these types of boards and can say that they aren't impossible to do with just a solder sucker, but it is really tedious. If you know anyone who has access to a vacuum station you can make short work of it.
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Sep 12, 2016 02:05
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A new 7805 voltage regulator is like 99 cents and is really easy to change, but yeah I wouldn't go through much more effort than that for a Genesis 2.
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Sep 14, 2016 15:44
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xamphear posted:Who else in here is a PSIO owner? There are a few of us who have managed to get one, right? Well, turns out there's been a wee bit of a situation over on the psxdev forums. I ordered one of the July 26 batch, they haven't shipped it yet. Hope they still fulfill existing orders, as even in it's current state I'd still like to try it out.
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Oct 14, 2016 03:51
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So with all the hubbub surrounding Nintendo's new console, I decided it was time to finally pick up a Wii-U, as I always tend to stay at least one generation behind on gaming. I had no idea this thing's gamepad was so awesome for playing Gameboy Advance games on. It's more ergonomic than a 3DS XL, and it has a huge screen compared to anything else. Also, as of right now all firmwares are exploitable, so Virtual Console injects are really easy to get running. I mean, sure, you can't be more than 10-15 feet from the console, but some games just feel better on a handheld form factor. I was excited to play some of the Wii-U games I'd been missing, but all I seem to be doing on this thing is playing Metroid Zero Mission.
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Oct 24, 2016 02:40
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The Wii-U's library has reminded me about some of what I missed growing up as a Sega kid, and thought it would be fun to share some retrogaming confessions. I've never beaten an NES/SNES Mario game. The only Final Fantasy game I ever beat was Final Fantasy 8, which I liked, up until this year when I played through 6. Haven't so much as booted any others. The only Deus Ex game I've played is Invisible War. I also liked it but I think I'm the only person on the internet who did. I've never played a Zelda game longer than half an hour or so. This is the one I'd most like to remedy, as Breath of the Wild looks like something I'd enjoy. Where in the series is best to start? I'm thinking Zelda DX for GBC looks like a good place personally. What are your confessions?
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Oct 24, 2016 22:18
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Thanks for the all the Zelda advice! Just to give it a fair shake I think I'll give the first NES title an hour or so of playtime first, then unless it's really grabbed me move on. I'll start in earnest with Link's Awakening and then move onto Link to the Past, followed by the N64 games. I really do like Mario and have played the heck out of the original Gameboy titles, which was the only Nintendo system I had growing up. I just never got around to playing the originals all the way through, something I plan to fix someday. It's kind of funny, as my wife had the exact opposite childhood and played all the games I missed, while never even hearing of the titles I played on my Sega systems. It's an interesting byproduct of all the console exclusivity of the 80s and 90s, something that I don't think exists at the same level for kids growing up today. Random Stranger posted:you're not missing much by not playing Final Fantasy, especially if you're older than 15. I was in highschool when I played through FFVIII, and I think I was their target demographic. I really did like VI though, and if I do play another Final Fantasy it'll probably be the PSP version of IV.
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Oct 25, 2016 01:50
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Neddy Seagoon posted:Wait, you married someone who was a Sega kid in the 90's? You have disgraced the Retrogames thread and your honor as a Nintendo Warrior. Turn in your powerglove and leave the thread in disgrace! Haha, actually I'm the Sega kid, I didn't own a Nintendo system besides a Gameboy until I picked up an N64 right at the end of its run. Didn't own an NES or SNES (or Playstation) until I got married. Now I get to explore the libraries I missed as a kid, which is actually pretty awesome. She was also a Marvel fan but I grew up DC, so we're some sort of nerd marriage alliance.
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Oct 25, 2016 05:06
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Monitor Burn posted:Pretty sure someone else asked about this a few weeks ago; I picked up a copy of Lagrange Point and I'd like to install an EPROM with the English translation. Is there anyone who sells flashed EPROMs themselves, or anyone here with a programmer that could make one? I'm not quite ready to drop a couple hundred bucks on a programming setup myself. I can program one for you, email me at chortleatjokersboner@gmail.com if you want it. I think I charged the last guy $6, shipping included.
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Nov 2, 2016 00:38
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GAME POKEMON cock version 5.79 on aliexpress TONIGHT ONLY.
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Nov 12, 2016 05:14
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Speaking of Darksoft's CPS2 flash cart I just got mine in the mail today. I'm still waiting for the Hispanic X-Men vs Streetfighter A+B board set I ordered from Mexico to show up before I can do anything with it. You do have to murder a B board to use it and I'm a little ambivelent about doing that, but it isn't like dead boards can be easily found either now that they can be phoenixed. I also ordered an Atomiswave. My hardware addiction must be sated. EDIT: The 138 in 1 is the superior MVS flashcart once you get rid of the daughterboard and fill in the missing caps on the sound board. That plus a Neo Geo CD and you're set. The 161 has utter garbage build quality and mine died a few months after I got it. Polly Toodle fucked around with this message at 08:09 on Nov 29, 2016 |
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Nov 29, 2016 08:05
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I gave up on trying to find a dead CPS2 B board, that's why I ordered the Hispanic Xmen vs Street Fighter. Hispanic B boards are in less demand than US or Japanese ones as they only work with Hispanic A boards. Since I'll be installing the Darksoft kit I don't need to worry about that. I got it today and it's even more filthy than I was expecting, I'll have my work cut out for me refurbishing it. I plan to consolize it with an RGB out and DB15 Neo Geo controller ports. I'm hoping to avoid soldering anything to the JAMMA edge so it would still work in a cab. I have similar plans for the Atomiswave.
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Nov 30, 2016 02:04
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eshock posted:Sorry for my idiocy, but you're pairing the hispanic B board with a US A board? For some reason I'd thought the donor carts needed to match region even with Darksoft's kit. No, I ordered a hispanic A+B set. I normally wouldn't have done that because the A board can't play US or Japanese games but since I'll be installing the Darksoft kit into the B board it won't matter as it'll have all the games anyway. I paid $120 for the set from Mexico and it looks like hell but I'm not picky.
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Nov 30, 2016 11:21
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With my cursor hovering dangerously close to the buy-it-now button of a Sega Naomi I paused and reminded myself that on this path there be dragons. This is the path that leads to me owning an Apple Pippin. I do not need a Naomi and I definitely do not need a Pippin.
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Dec 1, 2016 04:50
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One of the things I like about retrogaming is that the prices are relatively stable. When I bought my Amiga CD32 for $300 I didn't set that money on fire or lose it on something consumable. Instead of having $300 in cash I have a console that's worth roughly $300 if I need to resell it at some point when I'm strapped for cash or lose interest in it. Sure, the price may go down over time (which I think is likely as the current crop of collectors ages out of it) but it'll never be worth $0. It's not an investment and it certainly is no substitute for saving , but it's a better store of wealth than some other hobbies. You don't have that so much with modern systems - if I spent $300 on new retail price PS4 games I feel like I'd be hard pressed to ever recoup that much value 10 years down the road unless I kept them all sealed and maybe not even then. EDIT: That's how I justify my collection, anyway. I could be just crazy and like wasting money. Polly Toodle fucked around with this message at 04:41 on Dec 5, 2016 |
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Dec 5, 2016 04:38
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For what it's worth, I have less than $100 in my consolized Neo Geo MV-1F. That model already has controller ports so all you need is a power supply and to build an rgb video/audio out port. If you need composite or Svideo, a cheap circuit can be built fairly easily that'll handle that. Mine is in a clear plastic storage box with holes cut into it though, not nearly as cool as that omega case.
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Dec 7, 2016 03:36
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 07:48 |
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In the case of the MV-1F it's easier than a supergun because all you need is like eight wires and a video jack. While you could solder directly to the jamma edge it is better not to, there are other points you can tap the signals. If you need to build the rgb to ntsc circuit or controller ports for an MVS that doesn't have them then yeah a supergun is probably easier, but I also like having a console instead of a pcb so I'm just weird that way.
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Dec 7, 2016 04:43
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