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Framemeister questions! I have been wanting to do a retro gaming set up for ages now, and while hunting down a BVM/PVM sounds tempting I may just end up going with an XRGB mini. I have a few questions ... I will primarily use it to play Playstation 1 and 2 games, as well as SNES/SFC. I live in Japan and have both a SNES and SFC, but the only Playstation hardware I currently have is a Japanese PS3. I own quite a few PS1/2 classics on PSN, but they mostly look like garbage on my 1080p plasma. What I am wondering is: If I connect my PS3 to the Framemeister through HDMI (Or RGB 21, if there is a difference), and set the classics to output at 480p, what kind of image quality can I expect? Does anyone have experience doing this? Since PS2s are region locked I would have to order a used North American PS2 online and then actually track down games. Not even mentioning the clutter of having so many game consoles in a small Japanese apartment (It's already pretty bad), the fact that I already own most of the PS1/PS2 era games I want to play on PSN would make this solution a lot easier for me. I'm assuming that PS3 games that render at 720p will also look a bit cleaner through the Framemeister. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Oct 16, 2016 03:19
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8-bit Miniboss posted:If your PS3 can't make your PS1 games look good because of your TV, the Framemeister isn't going to help. The PS1 games look fine, I was referring more to the PS2 Classics that look like garbage. Would something like an XPC-4 be more suited for this?
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Oct 16, 2016 03:53
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8-bit Miniboss posted:Then I'm not sure. I don't own any PS2 classics so I don't know to what extent of work developers have done to make it work on a PS3 visually. I see! Good to know about the HDMI. For reference the PS2 Classics have a few options for using the PS3 for upscaling, but these can all be turned off which I assume means the PS3 outputs at 480. They look muddy as hell at the best of times on any of the settings. Assuming I just use the PS3 for these classics, what would the disadvantage to using JP21 cables be?
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Oct 16, 2016 04:07
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I don't worry too much about scanlines, I love the clean pixelated look on retro games. I swear I read somewhere that the mini could do 720 up to 1080 over HDMi but I'm not sure. Regarding the PS2 classics, it sounds like it would be fine over JP21...but won't know for sure until I try it. I'm travelling to Canada this year and could grab a used PS2 with a few of the games I'm looking to play, but was hoping someone would have experience running the classics on a PS3. Flyboi since you are running this set up any chance you own a PS2 classic?
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Oct 16, 2016 04:43
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flyboi posted:It can pass up to 1080p but if you want it to do any processing it has to be sending out a 480p signal. Ah, ok. Thanks. I was looking into modding a used PS2 as well when I go back to Toronto this year. Back in the day I used the disc swap method but eventually the PS2 broke down. The other option is emulating but I don't have a PC capable of this right now and when I last tried there were still some quirks and visual effects that didn't emulate well.
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Oct 16, 2016 05:25
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Elliotw2 posted:Are you sure that the problem isn't just that PS2 games really are blurry messes instead of a problem with the PS3 classics? There is a possibility there is less of a visible difference than I am expecting. My issue isn't with the handling of the PS2 Classics themselves since you can output them at the original resolution, but rather my TVs ability to deal with displaying a 480i signal. I have a Panasonic Plasma, Japanese model, from around 2010 or so. It is probably doing a better job than a lot of other displays, but I would rather display content at its native resolution where possible. Even playing PS3 games rendering at 720p on my 1080p display kind of bothers me with the blurry text, etc.
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Oct 17, 2016 04:51
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Not sure if this counts as reasonably priced but Ever Drive makes a GBA cart and their products tend to be very highly regarded. Edit: Too slow. For my DS stuff I have a Japanese DSi LL with a Supercard DSTwo in it. It can technically emulate GBA and SNES stuff but the results are nothing like using original hardware. I will eventually pick up a GB Micro (Or Macro) and an Ever Drive for the long haul.
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Oct 26, 2016 00:46
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Djarum posted:So my copies of Yoshi's Island and Mario RPG arrived from the Land of the Rising Sun tonight. I swapped the boards for my SNES copies and now I have no reason to ever break out my SNES again. Is this easy to do? I have a 1CHIP SFC and want an EverDrive, but I replay Super Mario RPG once every year or two, and Yoshi's Island is also pretty essential. Assuming you just take the boards out of the SNES carts and tuck them inside Japanese ones? I need to open my SNES ones up to replace the batteries soon anyway.
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Nov 6, 2016 14:00
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A few pages late, but about Japanese game prices: I live in Nagasaki and yeah, SNES prices are a totally different ball game here. RPGs are dirt cheap, usually under 5$ for a working cart. My local Hard Off has Chrono Trigger and Mario RPG both CIB for about 10$ each. R-Type 3, cart only, is about 50$ though. I've been collecting lots of good stuff on Yahoo Auctions.
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Nov 25, 2016 05:24
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checksin posted:i met nicholas picholas at a bar once and watched his entire body sigh when someone asked him if that was his real name That's awesome! I got to be on the show when I was a kid around 1995. My dad worked vaguely in the TV industry and had a hook up. We were playing Donkey Kong Land but for some reason my Gameboy player was defective and they had to make it look like I was playing when they edited the episode. My dad complained though and they gave me a free copy of Kirby's Dreamland 2 which I played the poo poo out of. I should look for the tape of the episode when I'm home for Christmas.
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Nov 26, 2016 02:01
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How long is the EverDrive sale on for?
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Nov 29, 2016 05:41
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8-bit Miniboss posted:Could be gone any moment now. So if you were deciding. Do it soon. Cheers. My credit card is messed right now and would take a few days to sort so, might wait until next year I guess.
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Nov 29, 2016 06:59
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Solaris still has it listed at the normal price (I think) with an expected shipping date of about two months from now.
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Dec 6, 2016 07:13
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I recently picked up a modded PSOne SCPH-101 on ebay. It is cosmetically in amazing condition, and the seller apparently calibrated the laser to better read backups. Not sure how much that calibration helped because some games seem to take a lot longer to load than they should...anyway some issues I am having: In a few instances the consoles freezes after the PS splash screen on boot up. I have also had issues of memory cards causing the controller to lock up, the console not booting properly as described above, and the memory card utility to freeze. I have tried a total of 3 different memory cards. I have cleaned the contacts on all of them. It seems that if a certain memory card is inserted into slot 2, some of the issues flare up. It seems like an easy work around just to leave only one memory card plugged in, but are these common problems or is something loose inside?
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Dec 7, 2016 01:41
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Ofecks posted:Are you using 3rd party memory cards? Those were notorious back in the day for causing all kinds of weird issues. But honestly, it sounds damaged/defective and I would send it back for a refund. They are first party memory cards. Yeah, I will email the seller and see what they say.
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Dec 7, 2016 05:39
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RE: The recent GBA chat: Has anyone ordered one of these BTO GBAs? It looks like a pretty convenient way to get a back lit AGB-001 without doing the modding yourself. I'm wondering if the screens used here are newly made or if they are salvaged AGS-101 screens. Not necessarily against the idea of a new screen but the 101 screens were awesome and I wouldn't want a step down.
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Dec 20, 2016 07:59
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Quick question, anybody use the new Wii U Smash Bros GCN controllers on actual GCN/Wii hardware? I feel like that's probably the best option for getting a new GCN controller on paper, but I'm wondering if they have any disadvantages in quality/feel over an OG GCN controller.
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Mar 1, 2017 00:47
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Spoderman posted:They are perfect and probably the last chance you'll ever get to get a brand new GameCube controller for a sensible price My thinking about the price yeah．Glad to hear they don't have like, shittier analogue sticks or something! Thanks for the replies dudes!
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Mar 1, 2017 01:50
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What do you guys think the chances of the SNES Classic being 1080p instead of 720p like the NES Classic?
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Jun 27, 2017 04:48
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Shadow Hog posted:Won't lie, I kind of want an AGB-001 with AGS-101 screen atm. Preferably a green one. Only reason I haven't bitten on an eBay auction for one is curiosity about brightness, brightness switches, and all that jazz. I ordered a BTO one from retromodding. I have one with a brightness switch, but there is basically no reason to ever set it to the lower setting. The brightness level is fine, but be aware that a real SP with an AGS-101 screen will go brighter than an AGB unit, even with the new screen installed. It looks great, crisp, but is not really that bright when playing in a well lit room. Like, compared to a DSi XL it is noticeably dimmer. It's the best way to play in the AGB form factor, for sure, and the screen itself is beautiful. I think I read somewhere that you can tweak some voltage pots or something if you take apart the unit, and get more brightness that way, but things can get pretty unstable so ymmv. Also, the BTO ones from Retromodding use 3rd party shells, so it won't feel quite as tight/quality as a real AGB. If you are going to buy one on ebay, try to find out if it's a genuine salvaged AGS-101 screen or a reproduction, and if the shell used is a genuine AGB or a 3rd party one like mine. All said in done though I definitely love mine paired with the GBA Everdrive.
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Jul 12, 2017 03:53
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Shadow Hog posted:I mean, I don't think there were ever genuine Jungle Green GBA shells (in fact the only green non-SP GBA was a Japan-only limited-edition Celebi Green, according to Wikipedia), so that bit's probably moot. The genuine screen is a big question mark, though; only green one I saw that insisted they were using salvaged screens also had weird blue buttons, and ehhhh Ah yeah missed that part about you wanting a jungle green one. The retromodding one is a bit more expensive, but you are guaranteed a genuine screen and "new" 3rd party parts, plus the glass screen protector etc. Also his customer support and service, communication etc. is top notch. If you find an ebay listing that ticks all the boxes you want then go for it though. It's definitely an awesome thing to have in the collection whichever way you go. Keep that brightness thing in mind though! If you aren't married to the AGB body type and can live with using a headphone adapter, you may want to look into just getting a used SP AGS 101 for cheaper.
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Jul 12, 2017 05:26
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. Of course, so are the ones on eBay, but they're like $50-70 cheaper, too...
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I use eneloops as well and get probably 20 hours or so. Enough that I don't even think about the last time I charged it. Managed to beat Zero Mission on then continue playing off and on for a month before I charged up again.
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Jul 13, 2017 01:34
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Monopthalmus posted:Thanks for the battery info, that really pushed my over the edge on it. Really remarkable that that system can get so much life out of some AAs. If you get some high capacity rechargable AAs you will hardly ever think about charging it. I have a set of four and just rotate but with the infrequency that I actually have to charge them, I am never really stuck without a charge.
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Jul 13, 2017 03:23
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I have a 1Chip SFC and will be getting an SD2SNES hopefully with the black friday sale later this year. I know all the non-compatible games and have collected Japanese copies of the ones I want to play like Yoshi's Island and Kirby Superstar/DL3, but the one that is driving me crazy is Super Mario RPG. I loved that game as a kid and actually still own a NA copy, but the battery needs to be replaced and I don't want to go to the trouble of getting an NA SNES (especially if I'm looking for a 1-chip, also I live in Japan so I would be looking at ebay), and buying a 50-60 dollar slot converter thing seems ridiculous just to play this one game. Any suggestions? I'm thinking since we are talking about only one game that is eluding me I should just swap the PCB into an SFC case. Has anyone done this? I also want to replace the battery on it like I said but have no soldering skills or tools.
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Jul 20, 2017 03:10
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Martytoof posted:
Yeah I figure since this is the only game I want to play that I can't either play in Japanese or through an SD2SNES, I shouldn't spend a lot of money doing a workaround. Used copies of SMRPG are cheap here, like I've seen one at my local hard off for 20$ in box. I live way out in the country so it might be a long shot, but we do have one local retro gaming shop. I'll call the guy today and ask him if he or anyone he knows can do a battery swap/cartridge swap for me. The closest big city is Fukuoka which would probably have something too but its' about a 2 hour drive.
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Jul 20, 2017 03:51
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Djarum posted:So I actually did exactly this last year. I got cart only copies of Yoshi's Island and Super Mario RPG and just swapped the boards. It took about 2 minutes and cost a ton less than any of the cart converters that would actually support any of those games would cost. I think I got both shipped from Japan for under Nice! It would be nice to have a copy of Yoshi's Island in English to swap in, even though that game isn't story heavy the translation of level names etc. has some undeniable charm. So there is no issues with the special pin connectors not fitting into the SFC shell? I don't have both in front of me right now to look and make sure the width is the same but I imagine it's identical right? I may order the screwdriver and batter holders but seems like a lot of trouble just for one or two games. I may have access to soldering irons at work but not sure. EDIT: Found a mail-in service in Osaka where you send them your carts and they replace the battery for 500 yen. May just go with that option if it's only one or two games I end up wanting to play. Pegnose Pete fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Jul 20, 2017 |
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Jul 20, 2017 06:53
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Kind of a random/niche question but I live in Japan and want to order an SD2SNES when they go on sale on Black Friday. My issue is that flashcarts were made illegal a few years back after Nintendo pushed a case through. I think at first it was just prohibiting the sale of flashcarts because of shops in Akihabara, but was extended to include importing from overseas as well. Never heard of anyone getting personally nailed for something like this, but I've heard horror stories of customs letting contraband through and waiting until the recipient signs for the package to be delivered and punishing them after. Anyone have any experience with this? Am I worrying too much? Might ship it to my folks in Canada and just wait until I go home and visit in a year or two.
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Sep 25, 2017 01:42
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XtraSmiley posted:I actually order 2 every year during BF myself! I'd be happy to bring it to you as I come to Tokyo for work (from Hawaii) or mail it to you if you like. You'd have to cover all the costs/shipping, but if it helps you out I'd be happy to do it. That is very kind, I may take you up on that! You mean you order 2 into Japan every year? I actually ordered one of those custom back lit GBAs with an Everdrive when I didn't know the laws here. It made it through fine and I'm still a free man, so I assume they aren't checking for old stuff too carefully. Even the DS cart thing was about 4 or 5 years ago so I bet they are more concerned with 3DS ones now.
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Sep 25, 2017 05:00
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Kthulhu5000 posted:If I had to venture a guess (putting aside the obvious likelihood that Japanese customs officials aren't prioritizing them that much), I imagine they might look at packages coming from near countries in east Asia for that sort of thing, rather than packages from Ukraine or the US or some other plausible doubt country of origin. Yeah I have heard packages coming in from China get inspected far more than other countries. My GBA/Everdrive came from Montreal. No idea where Ukraine ranks on the sketch charts though.
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Sep 25, 2017 07:19
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I would blow Dane Cook posted:I did six months in a Japanese Penal Camp for importing a Flash cart, ask me anything. Can you use chopsticks?
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Sep 26, 2017 13:07
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DSi XL boy chiming in. It's a wonderful system and the hardware feels better built and more solid than the 3DS imo. Also the screens were very consistent from what I remember. DS lite had lots of bottom screens with the white balance set to yellow. Can't speak for the non XL DSi though.
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Sep 27, 2017 03:11
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I have a 29" Trinitron with built in RGB (Japanese) and its' amazing. I have a 14" older PVM as well but the picture is really inconsistent, got it for 20 yen so can't complain, but I definitely play everything on my Trinitron.
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Sep 29, 2017 05:22
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Just ordered an SD2SNES! Goddamn the conversion from USD into Canadian dollarydoos, plus the insanely high sales tax in Ontario killed me. I would have waited for Black Friday but circumstances mean I have to order it now or wait a long time. I'm gonna be happy with this thing right?
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Oct 11, 2017 02:21
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Tree Dude posted:I just got mine and I'm really happy with it! I am all in with a 14" PVM (needs to be replaced) and a Trinitron with RGB input (Japanese). 1Chip SFC, modded PS1 and PS2 all hooked in over RGB. Also I've got Mario RPG (US) and Yoshi's Island (JP) with fresh new batteries, and can get Kirby Superstar (JP) from a local guy here pretty cheap if I want to. What I could use is more free time.
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Oct 11, 2017 05:26
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Sir Tonk posted:
Nice set up dude! Now throw some Everdrives in there! 
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Oct 13, 2017 05:05
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I live in a small town in Western Japan and went out for drinks with a friend’s landlord last night, and he brought along a friend who turned out to be a relatively big deal music producer who works for our city. I eventually asked if he had any friends in the TV business and turns out he knows the president of our prefectures biggest TV station. I’ve seen their crews using 6” PVMs before on location shoots as recent as a few months ago, so he said he would send out some emails and see if anyone has unused P/BVMs kicking around that I can take a look at. Fingers crossed I get lucky!
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Oct 13, 2017 05:47
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