Amiga CD32... it's alive, it's ALIVE!

[Amiga CD32... it's alive, it's ALIVE!]

Yesterday, I was puttering around on another forum, and found a thread which made a passing mention to the Amiga CD32. I remembered that I actually owned one of these consoles, but that I couldn't actually USE it due to its weird AC adapter port. Last year's attempt to use a PC power supply as a substitute failed, so I just stuffed the Amiga CD32 in my closet and left it there to gather dust.

 

On a whim, I decided to dig through my closet for the system and the power supply and give the mod another shot. Careful examination of the DIN plug that I used revealed that I had soldered the wires incorrectly. I fixed the issue, then plugged the other end of the adapter to a Molex cable inside my desktop, since I couldn't find a way to turn on my spare power supply. I fired up the computer, then flipped the switch on the back of the CD32 while crossing the fingers on my free hand.

 

And then... success! The CD32 finally came to life, displaying a shiny compact disc floating over the Aurora Borealis. Sadly, without games for the system, that was as much excitement as I was going to get. Nevertheless, it's a relief to finally feel like the purchase was justified. I just need to find a convenient way to play games on this thing! Is there a way to run classic Amiga games on the CD32 without the use of an SX-1 unit or a mouse? I'd like to just pop a disc into the unit and play video games like I would with all my other systems. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

It's been on my "to buy" list for a few years being one of the few North American released consoles post the crash that I don't own.

[Different versions of console RPGs]

There are multiple versions of some RPG titles in my collection. I was just curious which variants people would choose as the one to play.

 

Dragon Warrior 1, 2, and 3 = Original NES or GBC port?

 

Final Fantasy 1 = Original NES, Easier PS1 version, Even easier GBA version, or PSP version?

 

Final Fantasy IV = Original SNES (FF2), PS1 version (japanese Hard version), or GBA version? Or wait for the DS port?

 

Final Fantasy V = PS1 version or GBA version?

 

Final Fantasy VI = Original SNES (FF3), PS1 version, or GBA version?

 

Phantasy Star 2 = port on the GBA, PS2, or PSP?

 

Ogre Battle = Original SNES cart or PS1 port?

 

Dragon Warrior, the original NES versions have more charm and the Olde English localization.

 

Final Fantasy 1 is better on GBA

Final Fantasy IV is best on GBA due to lack of loading times compared to the PS1 version.

Final Fantasy V is also better on GBA for the same reason

Final Fantasy VI is the same

Phantasy Star 2 is fine on any one of the three platforms.

Ogre Battle is fine on either as well, the PS1 port does not have a major issue with load times like the aforementioned Final Fantasy ports which were done (quite poorly) by Tose for Square.

[Joust for NES?]

I remember it being a reasonably decent port and very easy to control with the NES pad.

[SEGA CD ON THE FRITZ!]

my sega cd it wierd! it was just fine until a little while ago when it froze and so i turned it off, then it wouldnt read anything. i let it sit, then it worked for a while before it did the same thing again. WHATS WRONG!!!!!?????

 

Which Sega CD model, 1 or 2?

2

 

Take an erased and make sure the contacts are completely clean. Also make sure you are using the ORIGINAL AC adapter and not a third party one.

[Have you ever pre-ordered for a freebee?]

You just blew my mind.

 

My mind is blown.

 

I am on so many gaming related forums, particularly for classic stuff, I run into people from other forums everywhere.

[Have you ever pre-ordered for a freebee?]

Yeah, I remember your updates.. Wasn't Dirk from DragonsLair your avatar? Crap.. if it was, I had a conversation with you YEARS ago asking who it was.

 

Yep, Dirk was my avatar.

[Have you ever pre-ordered for a freebee?]

I used to do that all the time, from Soundtrack discs, to T-shirts, too limited editions of games. Since it's a lot less common to get quality preorder incentives I do so a lot less.

 

I haven't seen that screenname in YEARS, did you used to post on LunarNET?

 

Yep, going back to Lunarnet.simplenet.com in 1998 or so. I'm still a member of the current Lunar Threads but I rarely post.

 

 

Haha, wow! Imagine seeing you here..

 

I didn't post all _that_ much, but I was actually DragonmasterMike, I knew Rick(nallwdrgn) and GhaleonOne quite well.. (Talked to Rick regularly up until last year.)

 

Yeah, I've known G1 for years.

I haven't talked to NallWDragn in quite some time. I used to work on Lunar-net back when it was a news site before it morphed into GamesAreFun and then Lunar-Net went back into being a Lunar site.

[Have you ever pre-ordered for a freebee?]

I used to do that all the time, from Soundtrack discs, to T-shirts, too limited editions of games. Since it's a lot less common to get quality preorder incentives I do so a lot less.

 

I haven't seen that screenname in YEARS, did you used to post on LunarNET?

 

Yep, going back to Lunarnet.simplenet.com in 1998 or so. I'm still a member of the current Lunar Threads but I rarely post.

[Have you ever pre-ordered for a freebee?]

I used to do that all the time, from Soundtrack discs, to T-shirts, too limited editions of games. Since it's a lot less common to get quality preorder incentives I do so a lot less.

[SEGA CD ON THE FRITZ!]

my sega cd it wierd! it was just fine until a little while ago when it froze and so i turned it off, then it wouldnt read anything. i let it sit, then it worked for a while before it did the same thing again. WHATS WRONG!!!!!?????

 

Which Sega CD model, 1 or 2?

[Socrates?]

There's a bare VTech Socrates sitting at one of my Goodwills. Does this system have any value in the marketplace? I have no interest in it, but perhaps it'd be worth picking up for trade?

 

Not really, it's considered more of an edutainment toy than a game system. The same goes with other V-tech products. The only reason anyone even still owns a Pico for example was that it was made by Sega. Typically educational software and hardware are basically valueless.

[FC Game Console and Famicom games.]

I've read in numerous locations that it's possible to play Famicom games on the FC Game Console (by Yobo?) But I tried inserting my game into the slot and it wouldn't fit. Is there something I'm doing wrong here?

 

(And no insults or remarks about owning an FC Game Console!)

 

Is it an actual FC Game Console? The standard one should be a famiclone and they are usually packaged with an NES convertor in the US. Is this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:FC_Game_Console.jpg what your system looks like? There are newer US only FC/Neo Fami's that have a US NES only slot and do not play Famicom games natively.

[For the first time I saw a Hyperscan in the wild, in fact several]

For the first time ever I saw a Hyperscan that wasn't the one I bought online from Circuit City, in my current adventure of attempting to find discounted GBA titles I came across 6 or so systems and a number of games at a Toys R us. the system was 19.99 and the games were 9.99, there were also extra controllers and booster packs for 5.00 each.

 

I wonder how many are still out there?

[Good Game Cube games?]

Mario Sunshine, Zelda Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4, Metroid Prime II, Ikaruga, Pikmin I and II, Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes (if you haven't played MGS already), Fire Emblem Path of Radiance, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year door. It depends what kind of games you like.

[Refurbed 6 switch]

look closer. at the corners. say... just under and to the right of the atari logo. notice the rounded corners on the heavy sixer? notice how the corners on your light sixer are much sharper? notice the u-shaped heavy duty super thick black plastic molding?

 

...yours doesnt have that

 

Yeah, I see the difference in the corner sharpness. I guess because of the darkness of the last picture, I didn't see the difference in thickness of the plastic.

 

Thanks

[Refurbed 6 switch]

Light. Here's a pic of a heavy:

 

 

I just looked at mine from the same angle, I don't see much of a difference. What am I looking for, the plastic looks just as thick on the side.

[Refurbed 6 switch]

Here is mine, can anyone tell? It says manufactured in Sunnyvale. So maybe it's a heavy?

[Refurbed 6 switch]

I have a six switch, I know it was at one point refurbished. How do I determine if it's a heavy sixer. Like should I weigh it? Is there something in particular I should notice. I don't have another six switch to compare it to

[R-Type Delta]

It's uncommon but that's way too high, I paid around 30.00 for it used but complete in excellent shape.

[Colecovision- controls unresponsive, and it's not in the controller?]

I've seen this problem with other systems, make sure the pins on the system controller connector are as straight as possible. A bent pin is often the culprit.

[Mario, is that you?]

As some may already know,Mario was named after Mr.Mario Segali,a janitor at N.O.A headquarters.I didnt know that till just recently.Pretty cool trivia!

 

He wasn't a janitor, but rather the landlord of the Nintendo of America warehouse where many unsold copies of Radar Scope were kept.

[Does the classic gaming community hate open source?]

I saw that Kevtris alert thread just today, and wondered about something. Does the classic videogaming community dislike open source? It seems that any home brew game made(regardless of the format it's on) becomes a quick capitalism race to sell it or eBay it, with a naturally limited run.

 

Do closed-source limited-edition homebrew games(regardless of console) heavily outnumber any open source, freeware offerings?

 

Just a thought. There seems to be more capitalism than expected when it comes to new, completed homebrew games. Then the secondhand market for the games quickly becomes an eBay bonanza. Yes, you too with some programming knowledge and some equipment make instant collector's items!

 

I think you need to look at it in a few different ways. A lot of developers use Open Source tools to develop with. A lot of developers love the idea and use of modern open source software. But games are usually a bit different and are a lot less likely to be open source as end products.

 

I could go on a LONG rant about game engines and how games using the same (or similar) engines far too often wind up with games that are too similar and that this is something that is hurting innovation in the industry in general. But since this topic is mostly regarding classic games where that sort of thing is irrelevant it's not really worth bringing up.

[Dex Drive Question? Video did It Work?]

I have a PSone Dex Drive, I actually use it on an old windows 98 running laptop though admittedly, I haven't used it in ages. That software sucks and most modern PCs lack serial ports.

[Question about SMS power supply]

I can't distinguish my power supply for my SMS from the one for my Genesis 1. I think they're the same.

[8th Gen Game System Predictions?]

With all due respect, Nintendo would be crazy to adopt that attitude. Pushing a dated system is exactly what hurt them when they made the jump from the NES to the SNES. The NES was clearly nearing the end of its useful life, yet it was going toe-to-toe against the Genesis. It was even worse in Japan, where people had become accustomed to using their Famicoms for banking and such. Nintendo couldn't kill the NES, and for a while, they took the attitude of "Why push ahead when we're already #1?" This led them to delay the SNES, lose marketshare to the Genesis, and ultimately wind up with a 50/50 split. I'd suggest that, had Nintendo moved the SNES to market in 1991, or even 1990, they would have mopped the floor with Sega.

 

The SNES DID come to the Market in 1991 and in Japan in 1990. Also, the market share globally was far less than 50/50 for the Genesis at the end of the 16-bit era. Nintendo's push towards the Super Famicom had as much to do with the success of the PC Engine/ Turbo Grafx as it did with the Genesis/Mega Drive. Sega made their big stride in 1991 when Sonic was released (and the Super NES had just hit the market) not when Nintendo was planning it.