spoonman
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Posts posted by spoonman
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On 8/4/2020 at 9:53 AM, jamon1567 said:My order was #54548, and that was at 8 after. I think I was prob one of the last ones *phew* from what everyone is saying.
My order is #54409. I checked out at 11:01AM and it was stuck for several minutes on the shipping calculation screen. At around 5 minutes in I opened a remote desktop window on a second PC and hit F5 + Ctrl a few times and it finally went through on that one, while the other remained stuck.
I was expecting $40+ shipping, so that was a decent surprise.
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8 minutes ago, SlCKB0Y said:The wholesale price of the screen is around $50 because of its stupidly high specs.
Where did you see that? If that's true then they should have gone with a lower res. Most games will be 240p and less. You can get lower res screens for around $4 ea in bulk (1,000+)
The higher resolution is the hardware equivalent to an emulator's bilinear smoothing filter. You are losing the natural dot pixel style of the original handheld's display matrix. If they are going for authenticity, they should try to match the original resolution as closely as possible.
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2 minutes ago, XtraSmiley said:I'm really interested in the Pocket and want it to do very well, but I'm passing for these reasons:
1. Pay now, get it in a year, maybe?
2. Probably a cool limited edition coming, they did it with all the other systems.
3. How does the plastic feel? Not so important on a console, but very important on a handheld. We only have their consoles to go by so far.
4. How do the d-pad and buttons feel? See #3 above.
5. Does the screen really perform as they claim? It's easy to claim it, but I need some actual hands on reviews first.
6. Orientation does suck worse than horizontal, but I made due with the GB and TurboExpress, I can make do here, but again, need a review first.
7. Price. Actually, I think the price is good for what you get!
I think I want one, but I'm not willing to pay now to get something mid-next year. I'll wait, I'm sure if it's popular, they will do a second run. Probably fix a lot of the bugs (hardware wise) if there are any.
To those of you pre-ordering, GOOD LUCK ON MONDAY! AND, I'm jealous, I hope it's as awesome as it looks, enjoy it when you get it! I'm not a hater, I want it to be great!
Good points, and it's not a bad idea to wait. I'm curious to see the reviews on it, and if they actually make enough cart adapters this time.
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If you zoom in you see that the Pocket GBA filter is quite a bit different from how games looked on an original GBA. Some day they will get there, but not yet.
Are more people buying the Analogue Pocket to play GB/GBC games, or GBA games? I would guess the latter, because GB/GBC emulation has been perfected for years, where as GBA, not so much. Even the PSP struggled with GBA emulation. Going with the 3:2 aspect ratio would give it a full screen image without any black borders on the top/bottom.
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4 minutes ago, NE146 said:Yep I USED to say the SP-101 was the way to go for GB/GBC/GBA, but now I prefer the original unit specifically for the form factor and AA batteries.
I put a ben heck freckleshack screen in my GBC, and a SP-101 screen in my GBA. The newer IPS stuff looks pretty nice, but I'm pretty much done with them as they look and play fine enough.
Well isn't that one of the neat things about the Analogue Pocket is that its resolution is high enough that it can emulate some of the look of the original systems? e.g. gaps in pixels of GB games. I'd imagine it'd be able to replicate GBA's screen as well. I'm definitely going to try and get one.
e.g. https://twitter.com/analogue/status/1287764756741292032?s=20
The filters look pretty good, but never quite like the original experience. Which may be a good thing when it comes to the DMG-01. It mainly comes down to comfort while handling it. Had they gone with the GBA style instead of the GB Pocket I would have considered getting it. I am also in my 40's and screen size is becoming more of an issue. If I'm going to buy a new handheld, it needs to be bigger than 3.5". I just can't justify spending $450 on this. Which is what it would cost since I would want the dock ($100), cart adapters ($90), and shipping (probably $50). Then I'd likely miss out on the cart adapters, like I did with the Mega Sg and regret the entire purchase.
11 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:What LCD screen are you using? AGS 101 or IPS? Also, what Super Mario Land game is that on the bottom left? Color Hack?
It's an AGS-101. The IPS are higher resolution and lose the dot pixel pattern.
SML on bottom left is from the Goomba emulator on the GBA, with the wide screen enabled + a preset SML palette.
Here's what Super Mario Land DX color hack looks like:
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4 hours ago, SegaSnatcher said:At least the Gameboy Pocket's LCD was bigger than the DMG and it didn't have as bad motion while scrolling. So just that was a pretty nice improvement even though it still wasn't front/backlit, well at least not the EU/NA version. I believe the Gameboy Pocket Light was limited to Japan correct?
BTW, here's my IPS modded GBA that will arrive soon. Can't wait. Should hold me over until Pocket arrives.
.thumb.jpg.50610acfbd565172d849f34ab42a4782.jpg)
Careful..You are going to spoil yourself with that.
The GBA AGB-001 model with modified screen is a great setup. It's another reason I'm skipping on the Analogue Pocket. I don't like how GBA games look in ultra high resolution. It loses it's original style, sort of like playing 240p games without scanlines. If you were used to playing them like that then it will seem off.The other big thing for me is the ergonomics of the GBA vs the GB Pocket. The latter cramps my hands up within a short amount of time. The more comfortable portables are definitely the GG, NGPC, Lynx, PSP, and Vita. Nintendo later reverted back to this orientation after the SP, thankfully.
I bought this for $75 a couple of years ago, and while I still prefer playing on a large display, I have enjoyed it much more than playing on the SP. It's also nice to be able to use AA rechargeable batteries. I don't like the idea of keeping old Lithium Ion batteries in these systems for years and years.
Has Analogue released any photos of the Pocket displaying GBA games?
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On 6/15/2020 at 3:16 AM, Slipard said:Knowing Kevtris and based on previous experiences, once Kevtris is done with the next hardware and before he begins work on another one, there will be updates.
That seems to the biggest issue. Analogue keeps moving onto something else, leaving little time for support on previously released systems.
I was going to order the Analogue Pocket, but I am going to hold off because I'm not sure if I'd be able to get the cart adapters to go along with it. I bought the Mega Sg to play original games that I own: The Game Gear, Sega My Card, and SG-1000. I waited a year for the adapters, and then missed out on them because I didn't get the notification until after they had already sold out.
I think they should bring out new systems on a more relaxed schedule. Allowing for more features and bugs to be sorted before moving on. I think it's important if they wish to keep up with the competition (MiSTer, PolyMega, etc.).
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It seems like something like this could be a "killer app" for the Amico. There is literally something for everyone here. Even my non-videogaming girlfriend is interested in playing it.
51 varied games at a budget price. It also makes full use of touch controls (air hockey, cards, Uno, Connect-Four, checkers, chess, dominos, and motion controls (bowling, darts, golf, tennis, baseball, ping pong, etc.). It includes local couch co-op, as well as online co-op. Easy to play and amily friendly type stuff seems right at home here. They get around paying licensing for things like UNO and Connect-Four, by calling them something different.
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13 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:Has there been any word on a cart dump function for the Mega Sg aside from this?
https://github.com/SmokeMonsterPacks/Mega-Sg-Jailbreak/issues/44
Ironic that the pre-2011 home console that I have the most games for is the only one whose games I can't dump (aside from the pending arrival of the Nt Mini so I can dump the only game that I have ever owned for that system, which is Fire Emblem). Time to get the Retrode, I think.
The ability to dump roms and battery saves would actually be useful to many. Then maybe I'd pack this away in storage.
One last FW release which fixes some bugs + GENCopy would be an excellent way to leave the Mega Sg. Also make the cart adapters available for pre-order. The ability to run and dump original carts would set it apart from the MiSTer.
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10 hours ago, schnuth said:You can always jailbreak your console to play Game Gear games if you don’t have an adapter. Sure you can’t use real carts, but neither can the MiSTer.
They really seemed to underestimate demand on these. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s another run at some point.
Both my Mega Sg and Super Nt are both jailbroken, but I still bought these to play physical games on. IMO it's part of the original experience.
The MiSTer is more powerful, and can play many more cores, but I purchased the Mega Sg with intentions of playing my physical game collection on it.
Analogue announced a second manufacturing months ago, but they rarely give updates on anymore. It would have opened orders to those of us who purchased a Mega Sg a few hours before opening them up to the public/bots.
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*sigh* what are the chances Analogue will 1. Release more of the Mega Sg cartridge adapters in 2020, and 2. Release enough for both scalpers and people who legitimately want to play their original games on the Mega Sg?
Had I known I'd still not be able to play my Game Gear carts on the Mega Sg over a year later I'd likely have bought the MiSTer instead.
It's sad to see people paying $250+ on them.
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On 5/15/2020 at 11:22 AM, Sneakyturtleegg said:The Colecovision core on the MegaSG seems to be a bit more refined and updated than the NT Mini's. As to be expected since it was release a few years later. The MSG CV core does support Super Game Module games and more homebrew releases. The NT Mini CV core is still great though and I never had any problems with the retail releases I played.
The SGM support was a nice addition, but having audio glitching on official retail releases (the 2 Sam games, Squish 'em Sam and Sewer Sam), is still a little disappointing. Those both work perfectly in the CV Phoenix FPGA system. I probably wouldn't care as much but both of those games were extremely impressive for the very fact that you had very clear audio voice samples on stock ColecoVision hardware. And while I realize it's more or less a bonus core for the Mega Sg it would be nice to say it has perfect ColecoVision playback.
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21 hours ago, Atariboy said:There's an official Sega Master System game (Desert Strike) that doesn't even play on the Mega Sg, but sadly it seems like bug corrections stopped shortly after launch. So despite Analogue's promise of "total accuracy" and full compatibility with the Genesis and Master System libraries, they're still not quite there. That said, I think we should not lose sight that 99.9% of their supported libraries do play accurately.
For another issue, I don't think the bug with the last Super Nt patch with retaining your video settings has ever been rectified as well. You still have to go into the video settings upon bootup to get your saved settings to take effect, instead of it being automatic like it's supposed to be.
Hopefully someday when Kevtris gets a breather he'll tackle some of the remaining issues with these two. They're tantalizing close to perfection and I'm sure he has a list of what he wants to fix on both, but I imagine it's time to go back to them to implement his changes that he's lacking.
Following this scene though makes me feel safe to say he's a perfectionist, so I bet you he'll give them the once over at least one more time before they're truly done with firmware updates.
Ahh. I didn't know about that one. Well hopefully Analogue will realize how important it is to have these systems with "total accuracy" work with everything that the original hardware is capable of. I wish they would slow down with the releases and give ample time to get these systems as close to perfection as possible.
Does anyone know if Kevtris' ColecoVision core for the Nt Mini works better than the one for the Mega Sg? Or does that also have trouble playing digitized audio samples?
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Is Kevin still working on bug fixes on the Mega Sg at this point, or has it been moved on from?
I recall there being some issues with sound accuracy on Master System FM sound.
Also, I was just reminded that Sewer Sam and Squish 'em Sam on the Sg (ColecoVision core) do not play the audio samples at all.
It should sound like this
but the samples don't play correctly. I realize it's more or less a "bonus" core included with the jailbreak firmware, but it would be nice to have these games work as they do on real hardware, and on the Coleco Phoenix FPGA console. I still remember playing Squish 'Em Sam on my ColecoVision back in the day and I was really impressed when hearing actual digitized voices..."Squish em!" "Money money money!" "Wow", and "whoops", from a home gaming console..all without the need for an add-on voice synthesis module, as previous console required.
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14 hours ago, jamon1567 said:I only mention the Pocket because by the time it comes out, it will be far more than a year or so removed from their last console. Basically just saying the yearly cadence isn't necessarily what we should expect going forward, so after they release the Pocket (presumably sometime this year) they'll have plenty of time to work on a PS1, N64, whatever. Now if they plan on making a PS1, I could see some utility to releasing a PCE that supports CD games so they can kinda cut their teeth at building something like that in anticipation for a much more in demand PS1 coming after.
Would many people buy an FPGA based PS1? It's one of my personal favorite consoles, but I wouldn't spend $200-400 on an FPGA clone of one when the original has no issues. I bought an HD Retrovision component cable and run it through a RetroTink. You could also buy a cheap PS2 or PS3 and run PS1 on them.
I think a Neo•Geo FPGA console would be in higher demand. The Neo is personal for Chris (Taber) as it's directly tied to Analogue's success.
You also have to remember that many Neo•Geo fans are a pretty diehard bunch. It may be considered a niche system, but that's mainly due to it's prohibitive costs. I know quite a few Neo enthusiasts who have ultimate Neo setups who would buy one just to get a minimal upgrade in A/V quality. I think an Analogue Neo•Geo with an AES slot, (+MVS & NGPC adapters), along with the option to play NGCDs from any USB optical drive (which currently sell for around $20) would be worthy. An "All in one Neo•Geo console" (except for maybe the Hyper Neo•Geo 64), one that could also play all of those games from an SDcard (via JB) could be worthy to many. Anyway, niche is sort of their thing. They are looking to sell millions of these systems.. Just thousands.
That being said I think it's time for Analogue/Kevtris to consider working on releasing the Zimba-3000. The Pocket is a step in the right direction, but with no cart/joystick adapters for the mainstream systems (NES/SNES/SMS/GEN/Atari 2600/7800/ColecoVision, etc) it's not what I'm looking for.
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8 hours ago, Slipard said:I ask them PC Engine.
Then N64.
Then Neo-Geo.
Then, I am full.
A consumer priced FPGA capable of running N64 games is likely several years away. Maybe by then It'll actually be worth it. N64 systems are still cheap to buy.
It's also one of the few consoles which benefits more from increased texture resolution via software emulation. Even an UltraHMDI modded N64 can't come close to looking as good as one with HD upscaled textures.
As a side note I don't think any emulator or hardware creator would even consider touching the leaked N64 Verilog source. It would be an instant lawsuit from Nintendo with very pricey consequences.
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17 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:If it works on real hardware it should work on the Mega Sg. Make a video, send it to them, and maybe also report it here
https://github.com/SmokeMonsterPacks/Mega-Sg-Jailbreak/issues
Actually, about that "all controllers work" thing... has anyone here tried the Sega Action Chair with the Mega Sg?
He's on v4.7 of the official Analogue firmware and it tested OK on an original model 1 Genesis.
Has anyone actually tested a Model 3 Genesis controller on the Mega Sg? I have a model 3, but it's currently in storage so I can't test it. Analogue seems pretty sure of themselves that the Mega Sg "Works will all 1st and 3rd party games and accessories", so it would be interesting if this didn't work with it. And perhaps, if true, it could be fixed if bugs are still being addressed.
For reference, this is the controller in question.
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7 minutes ago, CZroe said:20 minutes ago, spoonman said:Interesting. I thought Kevtris had to ignore all involvement with jailbreaking FW.
They gave it away (I assume) to get an edge over the AVS. It gave many people the extra value to justify the steep price. They haven't released any of the 8-bit cores for the Super Nt despite a lot of begging for them on here, Facebook, and Twitter, especially the NES core.
The 8-bit Sega cores, and ColecoVision were released for the Mega Sg of course, but still none of the others. Only those which made sense (and ColecoVision.. I'm not complaining of course.. It's what I play the most of!), but again none of the other 8-bit cores were ever made available. I think they're going to do the same with the new Nt Mini Ver. 2. It would make more business sense to withhold all of the 8-bit cores for the "Analogue 8", which I still think will be many of those cores + cart adapters.
Yeah. Kevtris was public about the jailbreak on Nt Mini but went silent regarding Super Nt and Mega Sg where the jailbreak can't be directly tied to him or Analogue. My guess is that they can't have it seen as an official selling point so they won't draw the ire of certain big companies. Either way, Analogue themselves had nothing to do with it and doesn't discuss it.
I'd still like to get CopyGEN cart dumping added to the Sg. I have a few rare Asian bootleg carts which are too large for my Super Magic Drive to handle. I believe a few rare, undumped roms were located and dumped using the Super Nt, so the same might happen with this as well. I also don't think you can copy Genesis/Mega Drive SRAM saves from the Sg to the cart, or vice versa – could be handy for some.
So, CopyGEN, a ColecoVision cart adapter, and Atari 2600 core (since they can be played on a CV Expansion Module #1), would round out my 3 wishes for the Mega Sg.
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41 minutes ago, CZroe said:
Well, they gave it away before and Drunk_Caterpillar here already confirmed that Kevtris promised a Mini V2 jailbreak on Discord:Interesting. I thought Kevtris had to ignore all involvement with jailbreaking FW.
They gave it away (I assume) to get an edge over the AVS. It gave many people the extra value to justify the steep price. They haven't released any of the 8-bit cores for the Super Nt despite a lot of begging for them on here, Facebook, and Twitter, especially the NES core.
The 8-bit Sega cores, and ColecoVision were released for the Mega Sg of course, but still none of the others. Only those which made sense (and ColecoVision.. I'm not complaining of course.. It's what I play the most of!), but again none of the other 8-bit cores were ever made available. I think they're going to do the same with the new Nt Mini Ver. 2. It would make more business sense to withhold all of the 8-bit cores for the "Analogue 8", which I still think will be many of those cores + cart adapters.
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15 hours ago, MrBeefy said:It was good at being interesting enough to want to see more. That's why I'm a little disappointed it didn't come out last month like it was suppose to.
😥
I was disappointed that it was only a half minute long demo. It should have at least been one full level. It made me want to play Moon Patrol (which I suppose is what they want), so I played the best version...on the Vectrex!
But seriously if anyone here owns a Vectrex or plans on buying one you owe it to yourself to grabbing Kristof Tuts' Vector Patrol. I've been playing the Vectrex since 1983, and can honestly say that this is by far the best looking, sounding, and playing game on it. It totally captures everything in the arcade original, and adds so much more (including a chiptune of The Police's "Walking on the Moon"... get it? Haha
Even the packaging is top notch. The color overlay even looks 100% authentic to those from the 80's.
Obviously vector monitors look 100x better in person, but this is still very impressive.
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1 hour ago, Intense.Mark said:Spoonman, Analogue or Chris Taber has never provided any jailbroken firmware
Yes I know. Where did I say otherwise?
1 hour ago, Steven Pendleton said:The M30 2.4g is the only one of my 5 8BitDo controllers that isn't pure crap. Not only is is not pure crap, it's actually very good! Too bad it isn't actually shaped like the controller that it's supposed to replace, but I think I can overlook that since it's the official controller for the Mega Sg, it works very well, and has the menu button. My first 8BitDo controller was the SF30 Pro and it rarely connects to the Switch and has the single worst d-pad I have ever used. It's basically trash and I'd rather use the Intellivision controller if I could. My SN30 and SF30 have slightly better d-pads, but unless I turn on the controllers before the Super Nt, they absolutely do not connect to the receivers at all and I have to pair them again or turn off both the system and the controllers. Maybe I should try my real SFC to see what happens. I also have the N30 Pro 2. It's okay, but the analog sticks are constantly registering directions, usually right or up. Works well when it doesn't happen, but it shouldn't happen at all. Also has connection issues sometimes, but is generally better. D-pad is still not great, but better than the rest, save the M30 2.4g. Not buying any more 8BitDo controllers.
I really hope the new N30 2.4g isn't trash like almost everything else that 8BitDo makes, but I guess I'll see when I get the Nt mini.
I like the shape of the M30 2.4g. It's very ergonomic and comfortable for long play sessions.
I wish they could have used the original N30 design, but I guess Nintendo wasn't happy about that.
Also, if you replace the dpad with that of an original NES dpad it will fix the issues with the touchy diagonals.
I do like how they went to the new button layout with the turbo buttons above the B A buttons. The diamond button pattern is great for SNES games, but I've only ever used them with the SNES (using the SNES Retro Receivers), but the L/R buttons weren't ideal.
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I think those who are buying the Nt Mini ver.2.0 for all of the 8-bit jailbroken cores are taking a bit of a chance by buying it. I haven't seen any guarantee of them working, or a planned jailbroken firmware w/ all 20ish cores included. Taber said it's the same Nt you know and love, or something to that effect, but he never comments on the jailbreaks. As far as he's (legally) concerned they don't exist. It may have them, but who knows for sure? (Besides Kevin and Chris of course). Perhaps they will hold those 8-bit cores to their Analogue 8 system. Why give them away when they can be sold?
23 hours ago, Andromeda Stardust said:Arkanoid? 🕹
I love Arkanoid and Arkanoid II on the NES/FC! I bought 2 VAUS spinner controllers once I made sure they both worked on the AVS, to 2 player simultaneous Arkanoid play. There are also some great Arkanoid hacks, as well as a few other games that work with the VAUS spinners. Chase H.Q. for one.
Someone has dumped the AtGames Atari Flashback roms. As we know, the first version of the flashback, and many other "Plug & Play TV Games" were run on a FOAC (Famicom-on-a-chip) to save money. I wonder how hard it would be to get some of the VCS paddle games working with the NES VAUS spinner. Playing Warlords, Super BreakOut!, Kaboom!, etc might be fun.
And speaking of controllers, those 8Bitdo 2.4g controllers are available for pre-order (out in June). $24.99 w/dongle receiver included, same as the M30's. They are available for both NES (N30) & SNES (SN30) legacy hardware. I really hope that 8Bitdo fixed the dpads, especially on the N30's.
Looking at the photos of it, it appears the dpads are extremely glossy.. I hope they make them a little grippy like their M30 pads.
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1 hour ago, Steven Pendleton said:So is that Moon Patrol demo fun/good? No smartphone, so I can't play it.
28 seconds long. It's hard to really judge it by that, but it seems good. I still prefer the original Irem arcade version or excellent Vectrex version though. It's a game much better played with physical buttons too. You can play it using an Android emulator, such as Bluestacks.
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On 2/28/2020 at 6:13 PM, MrBeefy said:I think motion has place especially for games like bowling. I loved Animaniacs Ten Pin Alley which doesn't use motion, but I think Wii Bowling is slightly more fun due to the controls.
Every game? No, but some will be appropriate and more fun.
Correct, it's good for bowling, golf (Everybody's Golf VR AKA Hot Shots Golf) is excellent by the way, tennis, and maybe baseball. So basically Wii Sports.
Has any motion sports collection been as good as Wii Sports? Aside from perhaps Wii Sports Club (Wii U).
And yeah, Ten Pin Alley was a blaston the PS1. It hasn't aged well though, but for it's time was very good. My favorite bowling game is still League Bowling on the Neo•Geo (currently available for the Switch, PS4, etc..). It was one of the first games I bought for the Neo at launch and I still play it often. Give it a try if you enjoy arcade style bowling.
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FPGA Based Videogame System
in Classic Console Discussion
Posted
Which settings do you prefer on the SNES to make scanlines look best, while filling more of the screen?