I'm wondering the same thing, too. I recently picked up an N64 for the first time (I was out of console gaming from post-SNES until the tail end of PS2, so missed a lot of consoles). I actually got a Trinitron crt from a friend for my classic gaming consoles, but I don't see a *huge* difference between that and my flatscreen (47" LG). I'm not a super videophile for gaming, so maybe it's just me. I actually need to get into the service menu and see if I can adjust the picture a bit on the tv, because it seems to be stretched and slightly off-center. What's the prefered way to hook up an N64, without modding it?
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The Nintendo 64 Appreciation/Collecting/Emulation Thread.
- Thread starter Seik
- Start date
I'm wondering the same thing, too. I recently picked up an N64 for the first time (I was out of console gaming from post-SNES until the tail end of PS2, so missed a lot of consoles). I actually got a Trinitron crt from a friend for my classic gaming consoles, but I don't see a *huge* difference between that and my flatscreen (47" LG). I'm not a super videophile for gaming, so maybe it's just me. I actually need to get into the service menu and see if I can adjust the picture a bit on the tv, because it seems to be stretched and slightly off-center. What's the prefered way to hook up an N64, without modding it?
KDash31987
Member
sixteen-bit
Member
Favorite N64 title right there. So good.
Hori Pad Mini
mightynine
Member
Much obliged for the suggestions, but I think I'll have to go with the former over the latter (it's expensive!).
GRIZZMEISTER
Banned
I took the Ice Blue controller on the left apart and greased the parts of the anaolog stick with ceramic grease. While I had it apart I also washed the shell and all the buttons in scolding hot water that had a little antibacterial soap mixed in.
The grey controller on the right has the new "GameCube style" third-party thumbstick installed. These new thumbsticks work well with most games but are a complete fail with Super Smash Bros. as forward smashes are nearly impossible to pull off consistantly.
sixteen-bit
Member
Oddly enough, Hori beat Gamecube to that "Gamecube style" stick you're mentioning. It's in Hori's Mini controller.
Finally got around to taking a picture of all my games. Sadly some have gone missing over the years...
hahaha. finally, I know what game was sacrificed to make my Everdrive 64!
Awesome collection btw. My PAL collection is around that size, but my NTSC collection is sorely lacking
A Black Falcon
Member
No, multiple games came in blue cases. Others include one of the Tony Hawk games (I forget which is which, but one has a black cart, one has blue, and one has green I believe), and Hydro Thunder.
GRIZZMEISTER
Banned
Two really underappreciated N64 games are Mario Tennis and Mario Golf.
In the UK? Go onto gumtree or ebay, and voila. Thousands, often for free. I got my 29" RGB Sony CRT for £5. My 20" toshiba was free. Yep, I have two:
With very few exceptions, every single CRT made in the 90s/early 2000s in the UK was RGB SCART compatible. I've never, nor my parents, ever had a CRT that didn't support RGB via SCART. Same for Europe and Australia.
My old 14" Bush CRT for £90 back in 1998 supported RGB.
And if you're in the USA? Well, that's going to be harder, if not impossible. They are like gold dust there. Your only bet is either an expensive PVM or a framemeister.
GRIZZMEISTER
Banned
I live in the U.S. and have my N64 connected to a 20 inch CRT TV with S-Video. The picture quality is really very good and more than acceptable for most people.
CRT TV's are very inexpensive here too and you can often get nice ones for free on Craig's List. They're heavy, take up space and use lots of electricity so most people are happy to get rid of them.
CRT TV's are very inexpensive here too and you can often get nice ones for free on Craig's List. They're heavy, take up space and use lots of electricity so most people are happy to get rid of them.
Dice
Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Okay now I have looked into PVMs and the PVM-14M2U or M4U is exactly what I'm looking for but jesus yes they are all scooped up.
S-Video is what I always had those gens, RGB is what I want... but also not a huge CRT in my room.
KDash31987
Member
N64's are technically region free. The only thing keeping you from playing games from other regions are little plastic tabs in the cartridge slot, just like the SNES.
Only for USA/JP games, remember. PAL games will not work on an NTSC console without a converter, and vice versa.
KDash31987
Member
Yeah, I know. I just forgot to put that in there. I was eating dinner and typing from my phone. Hah. PAL games practically always cause problems because of the 50/60 Hz difference.
The only console I can really think of that PAL games normally work fine on any region console is the Genesis/MegaDrive, since most PAL games are literally identical to their U.S. counterparts besides the name on the labels. Most games up until the end of the system's lifespan weren't PAL optimized, so they played quite a bit slower. Bad for people in Europe, good for people looking to import games in English that didn't get released in America. Hah.
D
Deleted member 74300
Unconfirmed Member
So what if I wanted to get Sin and Punishment? Would I have to do anything to it?
flipping the 50/60hz switch on my mega drive whilst playing Sonic never fails to amuse and horrify me in equal measures
got an american console? You can either open up your console and remove the tabs, or use one of these:
Right, I'm aware of that. So why was I able to play Virtual Pro Wrestling 64 then? I hadn't modded my 64, and it was a Japanese game.
Where are the tabs in the cart?
here?
or here?
if it's the latter, then what you are saying is physically impossible unless you have either a modded console (tabs removed from the inside of the console) or an action replay/passthrough cart.
KDash31987
Member
If you have component video ports, then there's always stuff like this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XSSDPO/?tag=neogaf0e-20
A few members around here use them and seem to really like them.
Two really underappreciated N64 games are Mario Tennis and Mario Golf.
Wait, was there connectivity between these N64 and GBC games?
Of course.
Dice
Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Old games on LCD is disgusting.
I found a 20" PVM for free nearby... that didn't have RGB input D=
Even a 20" is still a massive thing and a pain in the ass to have in a room, FYI.
KDash31987
Member
Some CRTs have component. My 27" RCA CRT has component. Component looks great on it.
I don't play any non-HD consoles on anything but CRTs. I don't like how they look on LCDs, I don't like the input delay, and I don't like the lack of lightgun support.
Dice
Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
And most of them are that big. 14" sets with RGB (which is component BTW) are rare.
Is there no way to import from the UK? Majority of the 14" sets here are 60hz compatible, and almost without exception all support RGB SCART (the cables for which are dirt cheap) - and there's thousands of them.
GRIZZMEISTER
Banned
Here's a really fun Japanese baseball game Chou-Kuukan Night Pro Yakyuu King for the N64.
Shadow Hog
Member
No, component is YPbPr. It converts to and from RGB decently enough, but it isn't RGB itself.
So how does everyone store their carts? I've been looking at those Nintendo storage cases but they are ~$50 and only hold 24. Another interesting idea I read about was storing them in old 8 track case since the size of a tape and a cart are fairly similar. Something like this but imagine carts instead:
NipplesAndToes23
Member
I'm going to have to play Majora's Mask again when I go back home.
Even on my RGB modded console, it looks like utter shit. Moreso than almost any other N64 game I've played.
The 3DS version will be announced any day now. Wait it out is my recommendation.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
Don't have a 3DS and I don't mind playing it on my old ass TV back home.
My N64 is connected to the CRT I posted above. Majora's Mask still looks like shit.
but if you don't have a 3DS, it's a moot point anyhow. Play away.
baphomet
Member
As has been stated, rgb is definitely not component.
Hey guys. I rebought an N64 recently, along with some gamecube component cables. As a result I graduated my Gamecube S-video cable to the N64, and I was under the impression that they were cross compatitable. However I'm getting this horrible crosshatching effect. I've looked it up, but no one seems to have a good answer. It's especially weird since the cables did wonders for my 'cube but seem to be failing me when it comes to the N64. Anyone know a solution?
Shadow Hog
Member
I know I've encountered that with my SNES in the past, using an S-Video cable from Racketboy bought around 2011 or so. It was less obvious on certain ports of my S-Video switch than others, though.
Dice
Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
I am seeing that most clearly here with the ALTTP comparisons.
WTF man how is it such a huge jump? I remember doing component for Wii and the difference was pretty big. Here it seems barely any different from S-Video.
sixteen-bit
Member
Like S-video, component (YPbPr) separates signal into chroma and luma. IIRC RGB has better color separation because color information is separated into Red, Green and Blue instead of just chroma (color) and luma (light).
Dice
Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Reading more... so component is basically just HD-capable S-Video and the only advantage it had on my Wii was the fact it bumped to 480p...
*head explodes* I'm so glad we're in the digital age now.