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Sega Genesis/MegaDrive Appreciation Thread: Alien Storm > Golden Axe

Teknoman

Member
^man i will not be joining your SCART camp! ill just pay my debts, save up again & get a proper XRGB one day, heh


totally agree with this, and yeah id be down! i wanna say i 1CC'd Strider in the day (with rapid fire) but no way could i pull that off now.

Heh Saturn Scart+RCA audio just arrived today, so now i'm good on higher grade video forever (just sticking with composite for NES and PCengine/TG16 since they look just fine like that).

I'm thinking about getting Strider at some point, but I think i'm good on new games for now. As for score stuff, I guess we could start with Shoot em ups, or 1CC beat em ups/how far you can get with a single set of lives on hard action games (take a picture of your location with final life).

I dunno if we could do prizes (small stuff) or if there would be enough interest.

On that note, Joe and Mac just arrived.
 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
Aren't SCART and RGB the same?

Or technically the same?

Why would one want a XRGB as opposed to a SCART to Component adapter?
 
Aren't SCART and RGB the same?

Or technically the same?

Why would one want a XRGB as opposed to a SCART to Component adapter?

Not at all. SCART is a type of connector. RGB is a color space.
There are composite SCART video cables, for example.

RGB is commonly delivered through SCART cables, but there are other types of cables that carry RGB like BNC, and D-Terminal
 
Oh for those on the SCART -> Component converter fence:

imha27yloUrja.gif


*Made from a Game Sack video.

dem RF memories, as a child it never really bothered me much because it's what I was used too along with the tv coming into the home the same way and not owning a pc until I was about 12, but I always liked how it made cross hatching look like a real transparency (the waterfall) and sonic's shield looked better in those modes.

One of the megadrive magazines at the time had screenshots to compare scart and RF, blew my mind but I never bought a scart cable for my megadrive.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Aren't SCART and RGB the same?

Or technically the same?

Why would one want a XRGB as opposed to a SCART to Component adapter?

You only need an XRGB if you are playing on an HDTV. It's an upscaler that makes games look great on an HD set.
 
Aren't SCART and RGB the same?

Or technically the same?
SCART is a cable that can carry several different video signals, including composite, S-Video and RGB. It is for this last one that it is still of relevance to nostalgic gamers (considering we already have perfectly-fine cables for the other two).

RGB is just a video signal: three channels, one for red, one for green, one for blue. They get combined on your TV to produce all the various colors of the screen. Most signals do not; they opt for a luminance channel (how bright/dark it is) of some sort. Composite sends it and chrominance (the color to display) along the same wire, which is why it gets so muddied (signal interference). S-Video separates those two into separate pins, which is why it looks so much better, but still has all chrominance/color information in one wire. Component separates the color information into two channels; basically, it's the red channel minus luminance and the blue channel minus luminance, and the green channel can be derived from some mathematical calculations involving those three data sets. Since the color information is now spread out so much more, it looks even better than S-Video does, but because it's getting the red, blue and green based on what luminance was, it's still not quite perfect; RGB just flat out gives the red, blue and green values, and as such is the best you could hope for.

Why would one want a XRGB as opposed to a SCART to Component adapter?
A SCART to Component adapter does not upscale the signal at all, and your HDTV's upscaler might be utter shit, producing several visual artifacts or introducing absurd amounts of input lag. An XRGB is an upscaler that is known to have minimal issues of either kind (input lag is like a frame, at worst). That said, XRGBs are costly, so if your HDTV's upscaler is not shit, then feel free to go with that.

Also, many TVs don't support 240p over component for some stupid reason, so the SCART-to-Component adapter might not work. Caveat emptor.
 

sibarraz

Banned
I've always wondered why sega never releases outrun on their genesis collection, the game never mentions ferrari so I don't think is a licensing issue, same with afterburner
 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
SCART is a cable that can carry several different video signals, including composite, S-Video and RGB. It is for this last one that it is still of relevance to nostalgic gamers (considering we already have perfectly-fine cables for the other two).

So when people say things like "hey I bought a SCART cable", it actually means shit, right?

It could be a SCART SVideo cable for all we know? What one would need (as there are usually no RGB outputs on videogames) is a SCART RGB output cable?

Since I don't live in Europe, there's no way in hell that I can buy a TV that has either a SCART Input OR RGB support. In that case, I can buy a SCART->Component adapter, which would create a component signal... at whatever resolution the Console spits out, correct?

Then, if my tv has either a shitty scaler, or a scaler that doesn't like the specific resolution the console is spitting it's RGB singal out, i'd be better buying a XRGB, which will get that RGB Signal (being piped through a RGB SCART cable) and upscale it to.... what? 720? 1080?

Is there any benefit to piping either a composite or s-video signal do XRGB? Because I saw that it accepts those, but it sounds like a fools errand to me.
 

Teknoman

Member
I've always wondered why sega never releases outrun on their genesis collection, the game never mentions ferrari so I don't think is a licensing issue, same with afterburner

Actually I believe thats why the HD Arcade download was removed from XBLA and PSN.

At any rate, after messing around in Coast to Coast, I think im a fan.
 
So when people say things like "hey I bought a SCART cable", it actually means shit, right?

It could be a SCART SVideo cable for all we know? What one would need (as there are usually no RGB outputs on videogames) is a SCART RGB output cable?
Basically, but generally in this scene, if somebody says they bought a SCART cable, they probably mean SCART RGB. It'd be foolish to buy anything less.

Since I don't live in Europe, there's no way in hell that I can buy a TV that has either a SCART Input OR RGB support. In that case, I can buy a SCART->Component adapter, which would create a component signal... at whatever resolution the Console spits out, correct?
Correct

Then, if my tv has either a shitty scaler, or a scaler that doesn't like the specific resolution the console is spitting it's RGB singal out, i'd be better buying a XRGB, which will get that RGB Signal (being piped through a RGB SCART cable) and upscale it to.... what? 720? 1080?
720p for certain (3x 240). I think you can do 1080p - I forget which of the XRGB3 or Framemeister support this - but it won't be a perfectly scaled image. It also gives you scanlines, if you're one of those folk who can't live without 'em, although from what I recall, the 1080p ones look like ass.

Is there any benefit to piping either a composite or s-video signal do XRGB? Because I saw that it accepts those, but it sounds like a fools errand to me.
It would eliminate ringing issues, aggressive deinterlacing, blurriness and such, that are generally introduced by the upscalers included in most stock HDTVs, even for a lesser video signal. It would not magically make the input signal better, however; just prevent it from getting further degraded.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
So when people say things like "hey I bought a SCART cable", it actually means shit, right?

Well, it does likely mean they got an RGB SCART cable. People aren't bragging about their composite SCART unless they are misinformed.

Since I don't live in Europe, there's no way in hell that I can buy a TV that has either a SCART Input OR RGB support.

RGB isn't its own type of input in

All RGB cables are SCART cables, but not all SCART cables are RGB cables.

(Actually there is RGB through Japanese 21 pin, but that's just a re-wired variant of SCART)

Edit: well now that I think about it... yes, RGB is its own input on professional monitors.... but when people talk about "getting your consoles in RGB" they mean through a SCART cable in some way. Those monitors require a converter from the SCART cable.

Then, if my tv has either a shitty scaler, or a scaler that doesn't like the specific resolution the console is spitting it's RGB singal out, i'd be better buying a XRGB, which will get that RGB Signal (being piped through a RGB SCART cable) and upscale it to.... what? 720? 1080?

If you are using an HDTV..... it DOES have a shitty scaler. Bet on it. You can see how it looks right now by plugging the Genesis in through composite. Yes, composite is dirty, but aside from that, look at how bad the pixels look on it.... It would look the same even in RGB.

720p is what most with XRGB minis use if they want scanlines. If you don't want scanlines 1080 works great... but it's hardly noticeably different from 720p anyway.

Is there any benefit to piping either a composite or s-video signal do XRGB? Because I saw that it accepts those, but it sounds like a fools errand to me.

Because the XRGB accepts RGB SCART, yes, you might as well use that.

But actually S-video is not terrible through XRGB at all.

And for some consoles (NES) RGB is incredibly hard to get modded, so you can input composite and it looks as good as it can look.
 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
Because the XRGB accepts RGB SCART, yes, you might as well use that.

But actually S-video is not terrible through XRGB at all.

And for some consoles (NES) RGB is incredibly hard to get modded, so you can input composite and it looks as good as it can look.

IMO, If you're going to plug either a Composite or S-Video cable signal to a XRGB, you might as well plug it directly to the TV - that's how I do it.

But then again, I have a Panasonic Plasma that does not have a shitty scaler.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
IMO, If you're going to plug either a Composite or S-Video cable signal to a XRGB, you might as well plug it directly to the TV - that's how I do it.

But then again, I have a Panasonic Plasma that does not have a shitty scaler.

I would beg to differ. The point of the XRGB is not mainly to be an RGB converter. The point is to upscale nicely, and it will upscale composite nicely in the same way.

Also I have a Panasonic Plasma and the scaler for 240P content is ass. Unplayably fuzzy and wierd. Perhaps you have a better model, but I don't see how it's a better scaler than the XRGB mini.

Really the only thing that doesn't need to go through the scaler is 720p+ content.... and 480p content is only marginally improved. Anything 480i and under? XRGB it for sure. (and I do 480p anyway)
 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
I would beg to differ. The point of the XRGB is not mainly to be an RGB converter. The point is to upscale nicely, and it will upscale composite nicely in the same way.

Also I have a Panasonic Plasma and the scaler for 240P content is ass. Unplayably fuzzy and wierd. Perhaps you have a better model, but I don't see how it's a better scaler than the XRGB mini.

Oh, it most certainly isn't.

It's good enough.

However, Composite through a XRGB sounds like a "good enough" solution to me as well, when there's a better option available (RGB through the XRGB).

Semantics, really.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Oh, it most certainly isn't.

It's good enough.

It's not even on the same planet as "good enough" on my plasma. It's bad enough that a lay person would say "what's wrong with that picture?". That's probably true for most people's HDTVs too.
 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
It's not even on the same planet as "good enough" on my plasma. It's bad enough that a lay person would say "what's wrong with that picture?". That's probably true for most people's HDTVs too.

I played my Genesis on my TV through the Composite cable without any issues (until a capacitor blew up in it and video is all messed up).

My Saturn plays beautifully in it (through SVideo) and so does my SNES (composite).

I do have a 2009 model 1080p model though.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I played my Genesis on my TV through the Composite cable without any issues (until a capacitor blew up in it and video is all messed up).

My Saturn plays beautifully in it (through SVideo) and so does my SNES (composite).

I do have a 2009 model 1080p model though.

Maybe they phased out legacy support to save costs. My 2011 plasma has no s-video input, for example. Maybe they started putting in a dirt-cheap scaler that can't do 240p justice at all.
 

alf717

Member
Going from RF to s-video was such a huge improvement it got me to want to play so many of the older games I own all over again just to see all the clarity. Funny how RF didn't bother me when I was younger but than again it was all we had or used.

Call me crazy, but I like the RF more than the rest.

image.php


Sorry had to do it. :D
 

woodypop

Member
I love this thread.

Hopefully I convinced a couple of people to check out Fire Shark, and now I have to investigate Truxton!
I find Truxton dreadfully plodding in its pace. I also think the sprites are too big, and I don't care for the ship designs at all. They just seem like various blob shapes, at least silhouette-wise.

On the upside, I realized I have a (cart-only) copy of Fire Shark that I haven't spent much time with. Will pop it in between bouts of Lightening Force, another one I haven't put time into until recently.
 

RiZ III

Member
So today I searched through some boxes at my parents place and was able to find my Genesis along with some games. Also stopped by a Disc Replay and picked up Desert Strike, Road Rash 2, Sonic Spinball, and some WWF game.

Hooked up the Genesis to my 720 plasma and it actually looks much better than I thought. I tried out several games and I have to say they have aged pretty well.

The system itself seems to have some problems as it doesn't always boot up the game. I have to fenangle with the cartridge a bit to get it to work.

Mortal Kombat - I grew up on this game so I have many fond memories of it. Having recently played the arcade releases on PSN, I can see that obviously the visuals aren't the same, but my goodness it is soooo much easier. I can actually get past the first guy unlike the arcade version. I was at the third guy when it crashed for the second time so I gave up.

Sonic Spinball didn't work T_T

Desert Strike - So awesome!! When I put it on I was pretty sure this game wasn't as fun as I remembered, but I was wrong as this was still a lot of fun. Really hard though. I finally got a hang of it after restarting like 5 times, but just as I was about to beat the first level, the power cable got loose and the system shut off ...

WWF Game - Clearly not the one I thought I was getting. This only had like 8 characters. Boink the clown (who looked creepy as fuck), the undertaker, and some others.

Road Rash 2 - At first it kind of strained my eyes, but then I got used to it and was have a good time. Not something I can go back and play over and over again though, it hasn't aged as well as the other games.
 

Noahd42

Banned
I've definitely got Fire Shark on my list now. What do you guys know about Hellfire?

I picked up Bio-Hazard Battle today and gave it a whirl. Not a bad little shooter. I like the charge mechanic but the enemies are kind of boring and the music is brutal. There are a lot of enemies on screen, I think in terms of scale, say compared to Truxton.
 

IrishNinja

Member
speaking of Lightening Force, ive seen it called Thunder Force IV...aren't they 2 separate games?
still wishing i knew if a PAL Trouble Shooter would work for me, but i might just wait on a better deal.

Are there any HDTVs like that? :p

But then again, I have a Panasonic Plasma that does not have a shitty scaler.

+1. i see what boco's saying, but my genny over s-video looks good enough for now..i do fully intend to acquire an XRGB later this year though, i'm hoping the combination of the two will produce something fantastic

I've always wondered why sega never releases outrun on their genesis collection, the game never mentions ferrari so I don't think is a licensing issue, same with afterburner

i'm not really sure why the genesis Outrun doesn't show up on much, perhaps its the ferrari likeness they're wary of? i recall hearing the saturn Sega Ages collection had a definitive arcade port, though.

me, im just glad i bought it on XBLA before it left, it's gorgeous. i totally missed the window it had on EU PSN.
 
It's not even on the same planet as "good enough" on my plasma. It's bad enough that a lay person would say "what's wrong with that picture?". That's probably true for most people's HDTVs too.
Nope. There are definitely problems out there with most HDTVs, but they're typically subtle enough that lay people won't notice them until they're pointed out to them. If a lay person can tell, then, well, you've got a legendarily bad set for this kind of area, I guess. I mean, remember that we all thought Genesis on RF was the bee's knees for the longest time!

(I dunno, I have a Panasonic TC-P50ST30, but I've never tried hooking any console older than the Wii up to it. Doesn't help that it lacks an S-Video input.)
 

IrishNinja

Member
man $15+ for a loose cart of Alisia Dragoon is some ol' bullshit, you can get it with a case for just over $20 people...waiting on best offers or better deals for days now

...oh wait, $12 for a ginourmous label on the front of it, gorgeous

Same game. Lightening Force is only the US name, I believe.

ah, fuck me! never knew that, awesome cant wait till it gets here
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Nope. There are definitely problems out there with most HDTVs, but they're typically subtle enough that lay people won't notice them until they're pointed out to them. If a lay person can tell, then, well, you've got a legendarily bad set for this kind of area, I guess. I mean, remember that we all thought Genesis on RF was the bee's knees for the longest time!

I don't think you understand. The picture is far worse than it is on an old TV.

Lay people do notice it because it's almost like your eyes are out of focus or something.

(I dunno, I have a Panasonic TC-P50ST30, but I've never tried hooking any console older than the Wii up to it. Doesn't help that it lacks an S-Video input.)

You need to try 240p content on it and get back to me.

480p doesn't look that bad (Wii), 480i looks okay (PS2). It's the 8 and 16 bit consoles that look like ass.


edit: If you have an 8 or 16-bit VC game on your Wii, set the Wii to 480i. The Wii will actually switch to 240p when you load a NES, SNES, Genesis or TG16 game. Try it out...
 
I play retro games on my personal HDTV fairly frequently (it's some Insignia TV; didn't get a choice in this one as it was a gift, unlike the Panasonic which was paid out of my own pocket, but at least it has S-Video). It looks more like when you turn on "filtered" on an emulator, with some ringing present if you really look hard for it. Not optimal, but nowhere near as bad as you're making it out to be.

I do want to try that 240p video test Sega CD homebrew at some point with the TV, though, just to see what specific negative quirks the upscaler has.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I play retro games on my personal HDTV fairly frequently (it's some Insignia TV; didn't get a choice in this one as it was a gift, unlike the Panasonic which was paid out of my own pocket, but at least it has S-Video). It looks more like when you turn on "filtered" on an emulator, with some ringing present if you really look hard for it. Not optimal, but nowhere near as bad as you're making it out to be.

I do want to try that 240p video test Sega CD homebrew at some point with the TV, though, just to see what specific negative quirks the upscaler has.

I just tried taking some photos of it, and while the unbearable fuzziness was staring me right in the face when I looked at it with my own eyes, it didn't photograph well.

Perhaps certain things about the picture do bother me more than others, I'll just put it this way: I'd use a CRT with RF input any day of the week before I used an HDTV with even S-video. The scaling issue is so much bigger of a problem than the cable quality issue, IMO.

Thank god for the XRGB mini, in any case.
 
man $15+ for a loose cart of Alisia Dragoon is some ol' bullshit, you can get it with a case for just over $20 people...waiting on best offers or better deals for days now

...oh wait, $12 for a ginourmous label on the front of it, gorgeous

Be patient. I got a CIB one at auction for ~11 shipped. Great game too!
 

Dave Long

Banned
I just tried taking some photos of it, and while the unbearable fuzziness was staring me right in the face when I looked at it with my own eyes, it didn't photograph well.

Perhaps certain things about the picture do bother me more than others, I'll just put it this way: I'd use a CRT with RF input any day of the week before I used an HDTV with even S-video. The scaling issue is so much bigger of a problem than the cable quality issue, IMO.

Thank god for the XRGB mini, in any case.
No man... you are 100% right. The folks who think it's ok haven't played on a real tube TV in so long they have no idea how bad it is on an HDTV today.

I hooked my old systems up to HDTVs a few times in the past and everything is such a mess. Timing is off. Blurry, fuzzy picutre. Sound can be screwed up. It's very, very bad.

You want either a television from the era (or the era right before HDTV) or you have to get into all these scaling solutions. There is a massive difference. Modern televisions are just awful with retro consoles.
 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
No man... you are 100% right. The folks who think it's ok haven't played on a real tube TV in so long they have no idea how bad it is on an HDTV today.

I hooked my old systems up to HDTVs a few times in the past and everything is such a mess. Timing is off. Blurry, fuzzy picutre. Sound can be screwed up. It's very, very bad.

You want either a television from the era (or the era right before HDTV) or you have to get into all these scaling solutions. There is a massive difference. Modern televisions are just awful with retro consoles.

You people are either crazy or have the worst goddamn budget Radioshack-branded TVs in existence.

Yeah, I never played my Genesis, my Master System, my NES Close, my Super Nintendo, my Dreamcast on a Tube TV, I clearly don't know what I'm talking about.

Sure.
 

Dave Long

Banned
You people are either crazy or have the worst goddamn budget Radioshack-branded TVs in existence.

Yeah, I never played my Genesis, my Master System, my NES Close, my Super Nintendo, my Dreamcast on a Tube TV, I clearly don't know what I'm talking about.

Sure.
There are very few HDTVs that display the old stuff right. It's like... confirmed fact, man!
 

Teknoman

Member
You people are either crazy or have the worst goddamn budget Radioshack-branded TVs in existence.

Yeah, I never played my Genesis, my Master System, my NES Close, my Super Nintendo, my Dreamcast on a Tube TV, I clearly don't know what I'm talking about.

Sure.

Yeah while I enjoy my Wega and all the classic awesomeness, i've never had actual lag problems on the HDTV.
 

IrishNinja

Member
...and i'm just about done with genesis carts too; assuming i hear back from GunstarHeroes on Punisher anyway. Centy can wait, the rest of my list is either shit im just replacing (Shining Force 1) or B/C tier stuff that's plentiful, i'm just being cheap & will end up trading for it one day anyway like Golden Axe, Comix Zone, X-Men and the like. prolly Altered Beast as well, which totally proves to myself that this is a collection thing cause i barely like that game at all.

lemme see the rest of this list: Mutant League Football, General Chaos, Super Off Road, Micro Machines...these are fairly cheap. Strider Returns, i can't even justify this one.

was debating the Monster World IV repro when i went to order Battle Mania 2 & MM Wily Wars, but everything i read says the PSN version i have is superior, and i just noticed it has cute options like scanlines too...this totally wasn't backbone's work, i take it.
 

IrishNinja

Member
ah, should've known...grabbed Super Hang On as well, man i hope they get more arcade ports. the rest of the Alex Kidd/MW ones were mostly genesis ports, yeah? i think Monster Land might be the arcade one, but i heard the SMS port was fairly faithful
 
So much bullshit about HDTVs up in here. IF you disregard scanlines, there are sets out there that will give you a "perfect" image. I have a Panasonic Viera plasma set, and I run all my old systems over SCART->Component without any sort of scaler. There's no lag, no fuzziness, no blurring, no audio sync issues, nothing. It looks like a perfect (doubled) image.

I think a lot of this is just people justifying their expenditures on XRGB-style devices by exaggerating how "impossible" it is to get a quality image out of an HDTV. That, or they own shitty LCD HD sets and they're using stuff like S-Video and Composhit instead of RGB SCART.

Unless you need scanlines, you can get a fantastic image from an HDTV without a scaler. It's just an issue of your connection type and your set's built-in processor.

Next up: a bunch of people telling me that I'm blind.
 

sibarraz

Banned
Guys, 2 questions

1) Which is our opinion on altered beast? it seems that lots of people hate it, at least for me, Always that I play it, I know that the game is stiff and not that good, but there is something in the game that makes me feel good when I transform in a beast

2) How are the steam ports? they had lag? or some other problem?
 

BosSin

Member
Guys, 2 questions

1) Which is our opinion on altered beast? it seems that lots of people hate it, at least for me, Always that I play it, I know that the game is stiff and not that good, but there is something in the game that makes me feel good when I transform in a beast

2) How are the steam ports? they had lag? or some other problem?

You know what, forget the haters, I really enjoy playing Altered Beast. Even if it is a bit simple in its execution, transforming into a beast is really satisfying.

But damn, it's really hard.
 

canocha

Member
Congrats! Both good games, though PS2 is insanely grind-heavy in this version. What are they going for these days? I'm only missing Phantasy Star IV, not sure when I'll get that.

I paid... 30€ for each one!

Yeah i'm also thinking of getting PSIV and PSI (Master System)... but expensive as hell!!
 

Teknoman

Member
So besides the obvious (Sonic games, Phantasy Star 1) what are some good/must have Master System games?

Also were the other Sonic titles (Chaos, Triple Trouble) released for Master System? If so, are the majority of Game Gear releases availible for the Master System as well?
 
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