IrishNinja
Member
he does, but fuck those are incredible
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Retro-GAF unite!
- Thread starter IrishNinja
- Start date
blast processed
Member
He looks like the janitor from the Pink Panther cartoons, Miyamoto>fraud
RadarScope1
Member
D.Lo
Member
I definitely think this applies to some aspects of retro gaming. Certainly the lavish reproduction carts of Metroid/Zelda/Earthboand by Rose Coloured Gaming and the like are quite similar to 'deluxe edition vinyl' Beatles records (except, of course, that RCG is actually a premium illegal bootleg, and the original creators get nothing).
Also, part of my approach to retro stuff is a kind of an 'antique' angle - an 80s fetishism is my particular bent. But it's more from an art/engineering/history perspective I think - kind of like enjoying architectural periods or art periods like modernism or cubism. Seeing electrical engineers and artists and designers using the tools of the time to create hardware and software. I really feel like a new generation of antique collector, instead of mid century tables it's late century computing. Add to this a bit of a cultural element with my preference for Japanese design. This certainly fits in with the 'luxury' title, it's like being an antique/art collector, but then all games are luxuries. A PS4 and a few games still costs more than a SNES and a few games (even if you throw in a nice CRT for the SNES!).
There's also no reason not to use original equipment or equivalents in most cases. Super Metroid remains one of the greatest games ever made, and you gain literally nothing playing it on anything except the (by today's standards) primitive original hardware. In fact, playing it with any kind of enhancement could even make it worse, upsetting the design balance. Some other methods of playing it are not worse (eg Wii, emulators with no save states etc I guess), but none are better.
In some ways, it's also sort of like if the only way you could listen to Led Zepplin was vinyl. I have many games that have never been re-released on any download platform. Especially a lot of licensed titles. There's no fetishism involved if I want to play Indiana Jones on N64 - I have to play it on N64. I guess you could say an emulator is the mp3 player equivalent (worse quality than vinyl/original), and upscaled via the emulator is like a flac version (better quality than the original release) but unlike recordings of what were originally analogue sounds, upscaling etc actually changes the result, instead of rendering an analogue original more accurately. In a very strong sense, it's less accurate than the original, it's not a real thing (guitar sound) constrained by the format (vinyl) because the game hardware as originally designed is the format.
RadarScope1
Member
Very well put. I'm with you on the "new gen antique collector" thing. That's part of the reason I'm really picky about the condition of my NES stuff. So I'm guilty of fetishizing a bit. But there really is something about analog stuff (using that term in the spirit if not the true definition since I guess info stored on carts is digital). Just the feel of using a controller that has a thick wire -- a wire! -- connecting to the console. It's a cool feeling. I really feel like it's crossed over from being "retro" to "vintage" in the case of 8 and 16 bit stuff. I do think it's becoming a luxury pastime when you go "all in" though. I mean, hell, it's generally accepted that you need a $300 upscaler imported from Japan as the first basic step to play these things on modern TVs today. Lucky for me I have the funds to make it happen. But it's not something anyone with a little extra cash and a nearby flea market can get into any more. It's gone more upscale, by and large.
StevieWhite
Member
I don't disagree with that sentiment, but I think reasonable minds could differ on what constitutes "better."
I've just found my MD1 whilst cleaning out/sorting through my garage in preparation of moving. Also found a Saturn I'd completely forgotten about. I'm more concerned about the former... what's the consensus on getting a CRT vs. using a combination of scalers and effects boxes to use on a plasma? I'm in Australia, so no idea what would even be the best TV to get should I go down the former route.
Also note that I'm not looking for anything massive. This will be for a small games room. I already have a cheap Panasonic 30cm CRT, but with only a composite input, I suspect that's far from optimal.
Also note that I'm not looking for anything massive. This will be for a small games room. I already have a cheap Panasonic 30cm CRT, but with only a composite input, I suspect that's far from optimal.
blast processed
Member
I have a 20" CRT that I use everyday & it's perfect if you're 4 or 5ft away.
Looks like that Sega Game Gear Appreciation Thread lasted as long as the 6AA batteries used to run the system.
Looks like that Sega Game Gear Appreciation Thread lasted as long as the 6AA batteries used to run the system.
CRT is better.
Didn't Australia got Scart on their 50Hz TVs? If so, use that. Best IQ ever. Countries without Scart seem to have Component instead, and it's easy to convert RGB to YUV without losing picture quality, and is the way to go to game on a consumer CRT TV.
Or you can chase an elusive professional monitor, or fork $300 for a laggy (but beautiful) Framemeister on HDTV.
D.Lo
Member
With very few exceptions (imported niche european brands like Grundig), Australia had no Scart on TVs.
My first RGB-like experience at home was via component. In maybe 2001-ish.
Yep that's my sweet spot too. I have a 21" (53cm) on a desk, and I'm comfortably sitting one meter away. I also have a 29" (74cm) (now in storage) that I wanted to switch to, but it's just too big for that distance. I'll put it in front of the sofa for comfy gaming a bit further away.
14" (36cm) is just too small imo, it's the size of computer screens from the 80s, so you have to sit right in front of it to enjoy it. It's cool for the 8 bit computers but not if you want to get some distance with your gamepad. At least that's how I feel. My Amstrad CPC came with a 14" and I pretty much used it like a computer screen even though it was a 15khz display and I only really mainly gamed on it.
Very interesting write up of why we collect and play retro games D Lo!
I think for me, its all about reliving that childhood. How I had to save all my money, only to be able to buy a magazine to read about games (the games themselves were way out of my league), so while i had an Nes growing up, and could trade games and systems with friends, most of the stuff that came out was things I could only dream about. I think this has led to a desire to go back and finally try out all this stuff, which started with emulation, but I wasnt really satisfied with that, which is why I started to collect some of the stuff, especially for Snes, that I had always wanted - but never gotten. Just look at these magazines we had:
Made all the games look so awesome! I was reading guides about NBA Jam and Mega Man X, but knew nobody who owned them lol.But now I can easily obtain them, play them and have that fun I dreamt about. I remember in particular this huge guide on Willow for the Nes, which was a pretty obscure title even back then, but this guide made the game look amazing with tons of secrets, sidequests and lots to do. I guess the game didnt quite live up to the hype when I finally got it about ten years later
Those magazines would also occasionally write about more obscure stuff, like when they wrote about a swedish-developed game for the snes:
Apparently this was never finished, which is sad as the game looked decent, but yeah, all articles about stuff like this, has made me interested in exploring the obscure, the connections, the stories, and what went on behind game development back then and how that had an impact on the product, so I guess that also plays into it for me. Anyways, while the prices keep climbing, I just love this hobby too much to stop in the near future.
I think for me, its all about reliving that childhood. How I had to save all my money, only to be able to buy a magazine to read about games (the games themselves were way out of my league), so while i had an Nes growing up, and could trade games and systems with friends, most of the stuff that came out was things I could only dream about. I think this has led to a desire to go back and finally try out all this stuff, which started with emulation, but I wasnt really satisfied with that, which is why I started to collect some of the stuff, especially for Snes, that I had always wanted - but never gotten. Just look at these magazines we had:
Made all the games look so awesome! I was reading guides about NBA Jam and Mega Man X, but knew nobody who owned them lol.But now I can easily obtain them, play them and have that fun I dreamt about. I remember in particular this huge guide on Willow for the Nes, which was a pretty obscure title even back then, but this guide made the game look amazing with tons of secrets, sidequests and lots to do. I guess the game didnt quite live up to the hype when I finally got it about ten years later
Those magazines would also occasionally write about more obscure stuff, like when they wrote about a swedish-developed game for the snes:
Apparently this was never finished, which is sad as the game looked decent, but yeah, all articles about stuff like this, has made me interested in exploring the obscure, the connections, the stories, and what went on behind game development back then and how that had an impact on the product, so I guess that also plays into it for me. Anyways, while the prices keep climbing, I just love this hobby too much to stop in the near future.
Very interesting write up of why we collect and play retro games D Lo!
I think for me, its all about reliving that childhood. How I had to save all my money, only to be able to buy a magazine to read about games (the games themselves were way out of my league), so while i had an Nes growing up, and could trade games and systems with friends, most of the stuff that came out was things I could only dream about. I think this has led to a desire to go back and finally try out all this stuff, which started with emulation, but I wasnt really satisfied with that, which is why I started to collect some of the stuff, especially for Snes, that I had always wanted - but never gotten. Just look at these magazines we had:
Made all the games look so awesome! I was reading guides about NBA Jam and Mega Man X, but knew nobody who owned them lol.But now I can easily obtain them, play them and have that fun I dreamt about. I remember in particular this huge guide on Willow for the Nes, which was a pretty obscure title even back then, but this guide made the game look amazing with tons of secrets, sidequests and lots to do. I guess the game didnt quite live up to the hype when I finally got it about ten years later
Those magazines would also occasionally write about more obscure stuff, like when they wrote about a swedish-developed game for the snes:
Apparently this was never finished, which is sad as the game looked decent, but yeah, all articles about stuff like this, has made me interested in exploring the obscure, the connections, the stories, and what went on behind game development back then and how that had an impact on the product, so I guess that also plays into it for me. Anyways, while the prices keep climbing, I just love this hobby too much to stop in the near future.
What game is that robot from?
Its supposed to be from Vortex. That cover definitely ended up better than the game itself.
D.Lo
Member
Yes, there's a certain element of 'premium' retro gaming (RGB monitors, good sound amplifier, dozens of games for a console) that is kind of like recreating what it would be like to be a millionaire in the 80s, with a top shelf setup and buying any games you want at will.
Evetyone whinges about prices, but on the whole, inflation adjusted, these things on average cost vastly less then they did new.
Evetyone whinges about prices, but on the whole, inflation adjusted, these things on average cost vastly less then they did new.
RadarScope1
Member
Is it really fair to characterize the Framemeister as "laggy?" I thought I read it adds about 1.5 ms of lag?
Not saying it's as good as CRT, don't get me wrong.
Very interesting write up of why we collect and play retro games D Lo!
I think for me, its all about reliving that childhood. How I had to save all my money, only to be able to buy a magazine to read about games (the games themselves were way out of my league), so while i had an Nes growing up, and could trade games and systems with friends, most of the stuff that came out was things I could only dream about. I think this has led to a desire to go back and finally try out all this stuff, which started with emulation, but I wasnt really satisfied with that, which is why I started to collect some of the stuff, especially for Snes, that I had always wanted - but never gotten. Just look at these magazines we had:
Made all the games look so awesome! I was reading guides about NBA Jam and Mega Man X, but knew nobody who owned them lol.But now I can easily obtain them, play them and have that fun I dreamt about. I remember in particular this huge guide on Willow for the Nes, which was a pretty obscure title even back then, but this guide made the game look amazing with tons of secrets, sidequests and lots to do. I guess the game didnt quite live up to the hype when I finally got it about ten years later
Those magazines would also occasionally write about more obscure stuff, like when they wrote about a swedish-developed game for the snes:
Apparently this was never finished, which is sad as the game looked decent, but yeah, all articles about stuff like this, has made me interested in exploring the obscure, the connections, the stories, and what went on behind game development back then and how that had an impact on the product, so I guess that also plays into it for me. Anyways, while the prices keep climbing, I just love this hobby too much to stop in the near future.
Haha I have those 2 issues in my pile of old game mags over in the library. I scanned that interview about Dorke and Ymp a while back too. It was released by some guys as a reproduction cart.
Yeah, in truth, retro gaming is also mostly much cheaper than keeping up with the latest and supposedly greatest. This was actually another one of my incentives to start buying old games when I did - since the quality was as good, and the prices much lower than contemporary games. I would much rather pay $60 for a game that is proven to stand the test of time - like Final Fantasy VI - or something the gaming journalists are payed to hype up this month.
One really cool thing about all the premium equipement, is to show off just how freaking amazing those old machines were. I mean, a game like Secret of Mana that I just played, its incredibly beautiful with the clean sprites and bright colours, and sounds good on modern audio systems. I love to let myself be impressed by those games, and show them off to friends that are less into retro than I am.
Really! Are you swedish or norwegian? I have the Vortex one, but the other one, I just borrowed from a friend, so I did read it back in the day, but I dont have it anymore. Always on the lookout for it though
I need to get on to that reproduction cart, just for the sakes of the memories
Really! Are you swedish or norwegian? I have the Vortex one, but the other one, I just borrowed from a friend, so I did read it back in the day, but I dont have it anymore. Always on the lookout for it though
I need to get on to that reproduction cart, just for the sakes of the memories
Norwegian. I kept all my power player (which was really just a translation of the Swedish version of Power Player, which again translated articles of Super Play from the UK) as well as Nintendo Magasinet. Good memories.
They are selling that game here
https://www.pikointeractive.com/store.html#!/Dorke-and-Ymp-SNES/p/53205742/category=14008398
Cool, will check out that site! I kept all my stuff too, but for some reason, I stopped buying Power Player after the third issue
I got a PC
I need to find the middle-ground for that. Smallish TV (say, 20-25inch) that has the right inputs, maybe not hooked up to an amp but at least some decent amplified speakers. I think the SCART thing might be asking a bit much, though :/
So you're a fellow NorwayGAF'er? Where from in the cold forsaken homeland are you at?
Power Player was of much nicer quality and size, but somehow I appreciated Nintendo Magasinet much more. I felt Nintendo Magasinet was a bit more sincere in its tone and design.
Yeah, I disagree, I was really tired of the cartoons, although the manga was slightly better, and i think NM spent too much time on other stuff. I also loved how Power Player tried to cover the whole industry, and not only the Nintendo-bubble (although I loved Nintendo). And Tobias Bjarnabys rpg-section was amazing, and how I discovered stuff like Final Fantasy VI (III at the time), Dragon Quest, Live a Live and the these days often mentioned Secret of Mana. I live in Bergen, what about you?
The RPG sections were mostly direct translations of Super Play's RPG sections. Very few of Power Player's articles and reviews were written by the Scandinavian staff, it was all sourced from either Super Play or Total magazine. Not that it makes it less interesting, but I subscribed to Super Play it always irked me. Man do I miss Super Play, best video game magazine of all time.
I live (d) in Larvik, south of Oslo, but nowadays because of my work I live mostly in Montreal and Seattle.
I know they bought a lot of stuff from Super Play, but at least the rpg-sections felt quite personal since they made it the personal domain of Tobias. Well maybe they just wanted to trick us, if so, that worked fine
Nice to meet a fellow norwegian retro game enthusiast!
I know they bought a lot of stuff from Super Play, but at least the rpg-sections felt quite personal since they made it the personal domain of Tobias. Well maybe they just wanted to trick us, if so, that worked fine
Nice to meet a fellow norwegian retro game enthusiast!
Yes absolutely! Shoot me a Norwegian PM some time and let's talk more retro mags. I wrote for many a mag in the 2000's around the world myself and NM, PP and Super Play were basically my main inspiration.
sixteen-bit
Member
Kinda long-winded video but a neat demo of X68k controller accessories.
http://youtu.be/IV2CDX-aPR8
http://youtu.be/IV2CDX-aPR8
Honestly, you could be sitting much closer to the 20" CRT. At the arcade, you're often standing much much closer to much larger sets and it looks glorious from such close distances.
A standard Neo Geo MVS cabinet has a larger set than 20" and the controls are literally less than 5 inches away from the screen.
RadarScope1
Member
Cross posting from the NES thread so all retro lovers have a chance to see this. This is astounding. Watch the videos to get a feel for it. Talk about turning retro gaming into a luxury item and unique experience .... wow.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015...s-and-just-one-nintendo-entertainment-system/
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015...s-and-just-one-nintendo-entertainment-system/
blast processed
Member
To be fair your only doing that a couple of minutes at a time. Where at home the gaming sessions are much longer.
StevieWhite
Member
What's a good price for a vectrex? Is it worth it at any price?
Idk. Metal Slug games and shmups take quite a while to beat.
blast processed
Member
$150-$200. Shipping, if you order online is usually a killer. I miss my Vectrex
I thinking more arcade style. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Daytona, Fighting games etc..
NormalFish
Banned
$150-$200. Shipping, if you order online is usually a killer. I miss my Vectrex
I thinking more arcade style. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Daytona, Fighting games etc..
shmups aren't arcade style?
IrishNinja
Member
pics or it didnt happen
blast processed
Member
I said etc...
NormalFish
Banned
yeah but he said shmups lol
blast processed
Member
You guys are tough. Y'all know what I meant.
WIll do! Love your avatar btw!
D.Lo
Member
A bit wider and my PVM is on the shelf to the left.
Not pictured: MSX2, Atari VCS, SG1000.
Love the setup. Nicely done D.Lo!
What's to the right of your GCN? Is that a Sega Mark III?
I've never seen that thing on top of it with the ribbon cable. Then again, I've never seen a Sega Mark III in the flesh, period. Is there a reason why you went with that over a Master System?
Sorry for the ton of questions. Master System is still very mysterious to me.
D.Lo
Member
Yes a Mark III. The thing on top is the FM unit.
Well I have a Master System too (PAL, 60Hz modded)
The reasons I use the Mark III instead
1) It looks so awesome. Like a prop from a 70s/80s sci-fi movie
2) FM Audio. Can't like without it once its been experienced with a good amplifier. And like 40 games support it.
3) It's more unique. Everyone asks about it.
4) It's smaller and has controller holders, and along with the Japanese Master System is the most capable model worldwide, with a small converter it can play 99.9% of games worldwide on both card and cart.
5) Mark III controllers are way better than Master System ones, better dpad by far (also compatible so technically can just use those on MS anyway lol)
6) (Almost) all my consoles are Japanese.
Master System is cool looking too, so I keep that one around as well. I love hardware!
I also like to have unique versions. My N64 is an RGB modded Japanese board inside a transparent smoke US shell.
I mean, I also have an SG1000 and an SG1000 II for even more legit Sega fanboyness lol.
IrishNinja
Member
wow, that's legit a gorgeous setup man...so jealous of a lot of that! just really great, i gotta get pics of mine soon
I'm reading through it now. Very cool.