Jagasian

OK, I figured out what your problem was with SonSon, and it has nothing to do with Nintendulator. Your ROM is bad, or more specifically, you ROM's header is bad as it has mirroring set to horizontal, which is incorrect. Note that GoodNES does not check to make sure that your ROM's header is correct. Here is a thread that I started over at NES Dev, where the author of Nintendulator himself remarked on the header being the problem: http://nesdev.parodius.com/bbs/viewtopic.p...der=asc&start=0 Note that if you fix the header by setting it to vertical mirroring, then the game is emulated perfectly. The state of emulation has changed to the point where problems are almost always due to a bad ROM or bad ROM header, as opposed to the old days, when it was bugs in emulation, lack of mapper support, or some other emulation inaccuracies. The reason why Nestopia plays it correctly is because it notices the error in the header and automatically corrects it by comparing it to an internal ROM database built-into Nestopia. Note that if Nestopia does not have an entry in its database for a certain game, it will be forced to rely on the ROM's header. So it is ideal to fix a header when it is bad, as opposed to relying on an emulator's built-in database, as many emulators lack such a database, and those that include such a database have an incomplete database. The best solution would be to create a new database to replace GoodNES. This database would check not just the ROM but also its header. Until then, you will have to manually fix the header.

Accuracy of emulation is the most important part of an emulator. Just because you only appreciate a few stereotypical NES games, does not mean that crappy emulation isn't a problem. It is just not a problem for you. Whenever people ask for "the best" NES emulator, you will always hear, at least, the following 3 emulators: 1. FCE Ultra 2. Nintendulator 3. Nestopia Why? Because they are the most accurate NES emulators. You don't have to worry about playing a game for hours only to have everything glitch out when you are fighting the end boss... because your emulator happens to not correctly emulate the NES hardware or the game's cartridge circuit board. To further prove that you are wrong with your claim that emulation accuracy is mute, just look at the state of NES emulation and development. The developers are constantly striving to improve the accuracy of their emulators. So the developers would disagree with you and many gamers would disagree with you. For some reason, some people take it personally when somebody points out that their emulator has game incompatibilities, inaccurate audio, inaccurate video, etc. This is stupid. Yes high accuracy means higher system requirements, but most modern PCs have no problems with one of the 3 aforementioned emulators.

Doesn't pass the Sonson test either... So far only Nestopia will play it properly (meanwhile I have 6 NES emulators tested) Greetings, Manuel 955330[/snapback] How does it emulate Sonson incorrectly? Have you compared the emulation side-by-side with a real NES? If there is a problem with the emulation, then please, submit a bug report. The Nintendulator author prides himself on the accuracy of his emulator.

The most important aspect of an emulator is accuracy of emulation and game compatibility. That way you get exactly the same gaming experience that you would playing the actual game on a real NES. The audio and video will be the same as a real NES, and you can play any game you want to play. Hands down, the most accurate NES emulator is Nintendulator. However, it has very high system requirements because it emulates the NES at the circuit-level. http://qmt.ath.cx/~nes/nintendulator/ I am hoping that it gets ported to the Xbox 360, just as FCE Ultra was ported to the original Xbox.

Damn, I never considered ebony for the black parts of the case. I think that is a better idea: use the same ebony wood used in pianos, but for the black parts of the 2600 case. For the wood grained face plate, I am still trying to find the best match for wood. Maybe chestnut? http://www.woodfinder.com/woods/chestnut.php Here is a library of woods to compare: http://www.woodfinder.com/woods/woodindex.php What would be the best way to do the switch labels and the Atari logo? Engraving, painting, or both?

I sure don't have a CAD diagram for the case. Does anybody else have one, or the skills to draw one up? A chromed aluminum chassis would look cool, but I think wood would be easier to work with, less expensive, and more faithful to the Heavy-Sixer's original look. I figured that a tool like the one Ben Heck uses to machine the cases for his portable systems would work... but then I have never used one. Maybe we could get Ben Heck to make some cases? http://www.classicgaming.com/vcsp/SNESp5.htm I am sure others would be interested in a slightly more sophisticated looking Heavy-Sixer.

Silver plated? Nah, if I were to pay that much money for such a good-looking console, I'd want it to stay good looking as long as possible even if it became my regular "player". Make the switch handles polished stainless, please! 916717[/snapback] Well, it is feasible for somebody to hand carve a new 2600 chasis, but unless the switches are of some standard type, machining stainless steal versions would be difficult. I still am eager to see somebody that is good with would to simply clone the Heavy-Sixer chasis and reuse all of the other parts of the Heavy-Sixer. These guys make custom computer cases out of wood, but I am not sure if it is solid wood or just wood panels. They also have wood face plates for mobile phones. I wonder how much it would cost to commission work from a wood worker like this one. Maybe somebody knows an Amish guy that would do it for less money? BTW, what kind of wood does the Heavy-Sixer try to fake? Red Oak? Just imagine the clash of old school electronics and even older world woodwork It would also stress the nature versus technology aspect too.

There have been several Atari 2600 mods, but has anybody ever made a clone of the Atari 2600 Heavy-Sixer case entirely out of high-quality wood? Imagine how cool the system would look if the wood was carved to the exact shape of a heavy sixer out of wood that looks exactly like the original heavy sixer's fake wood grain. It could be polished, laquered, finished, and painted to match the colors exactly. I think that the end result could look even better than the original, as the fake wood grain would be replaced by real wood grain and the entire chasis could be carved out of one solid piece of hardwood. While we are at it, the internal shielding could be replaced with a thick lead sheilding on the inside. So it would not only look nicer than a Heavy-Sixer, but it could be called "Heaviest-Sixer". It would be a very interesting mod for the Flashback 2.0, and would allow for a more professional looking cart slot on the FB2 than simply cutting a hole in the system's plastic case. Making a new plastic case is expensive, as it requires a large volume of total units to justify the cost, but a wood case would be cheaper for smaller numbers of units... and the end result would be nicer. I am not sure if it would be possible to replace the FB2's buttons with 6-switches... but then again, any 2600 system's internals could be used. The point is that the Heavy-Sixer is the best looking of all the systems. So who is good with wood? I'd pay good money for such a Roles Royce of 2600s. I got the idea from the Franklin Mint version of the board game Monopoly, which has a hardwood playboard with build in drawers and silver and gold plated game pieces. Maybe Franklin Mint would make a $600 hardwood Heavy-Sixer replacement chasis with 6 silver plated switches

The CC2 is awesome looking, but I never owned a 7800. I've only owned 2600 systems. The 2600 was my first console... and I am talking about at an age of 4 years old or so back in 1983! It has importance because of that. I realize that the 7800 is backwards compatible with most 2600 games... but to me an Atari 2600 is a 6 switch wood grained video game console and anything else is mearly an imitation. Though I've never owned a heavy sixer, so maybe I am missing out on the true 2600 system I've been toying around with buying a heavy sixer, as it looks like the Atari 2600 that I know, that I started gaming with. SpiceWare, have you released the source code for your OSX command line tool? Strongly consider doing so, as it will help keep the 2600, the Krokcart, and your program alive. Long after you no longer care for it, somebody else will need it, want to improve it, etc. Once I get a Krokcart, I'll look at porting it to Linux.

Do any of the aforementioned carts have Linux support?

Is there a place that compares each Atari 2600 flash cart? Which one is best? 1. Krokodile Cartridge 2. A26 Maxicart 3. Cuttle Cart Looking at the specs, it seems as if the Krokodile Cart is the best, as it supports more bankswitch modes. Is this right? Whatever the most compatible cart is, which games does it still not support with full features? Pitfall 2? What else?

If I was going to go out and buy a 2600 just to S-video/stereo mod, which one should I get? I currently only have a 6-switch Atari 2600. Is a 4 switch 2600 better for S-video modding? Also, any chance that you guys will start selling pre-modded systems? You'd make money off of parts and labor. ...looking at the tutorial, I never realized that the 6-switch 2600 had some thick and heavy shielding! I guess that explains allot

I'm interested in modding my 2600 to have S-video, and I want to know about the 8bitDomain mod: http://www.8bitdomain.com/products.php?id=3 1. What exactly does the mod come with? 2. What other tools and supplies will I need? 3. Where does the S-video and audio ports come out of the system? What does it look like? I think that it would be best for 8bitdomain to put a pictorial guide for modding the 2600, from a closed system, unscrewing it, removing the shielding, etc... all the way to screwing everything back together.

I'll buy one even if it doesn't have a cart port. The fact that it can store every game internally on flash memory is great... assuming it can use Atari peripherials.

If they meant that, they would have included a cartridge port. 912328[/snapback] But why when you can have the whole collection on the unit? 912330[/snapback] There is something nice about being able to play your own carts, dump/rip your own carts, etc. Also, any game that is made for the 2600 and uses a special on cart chip, sometime in the future, will not work on a system without a cart port. A cart port should be included to truely be the end all be all 2600.

Next time, they should just include a cart port and claim that it does not work, it is not supported, etc, etc, etc. That way they don't have to support it, and Atari fans will know that it does work assuming your carts are in good condition.

The GB-Micro is perfect for those who want to keep a portable gaming system in their pocket at all times. The GBA SP is just a bit too large to have in your pocket all the time. Combine it with a 2Gb flash cart, so that you don't have to lug around multiple carts, and you have the ultimate portable gaming system. Lets keep our fingers crossed that they keep GBC support. That would make the Gameboy the console platform with the longest official continuous production run. I also have a few 64Mb GBC flash carts, so I want to be able to use them with the Micro. With regards to screen size. Yes it is physically smaller, but logically, it is the same resolution. That is, the number of pixels is the same, so the visual quality will not be diminished, it will just be physically smaller. I bet it gets better battery life just because of this. With regards to the size being too small to play games on... as stated, it might actually be easier to play games on than the SP because the Micro is wider, even though it is smaller overall. Nintendo just needs to price is a bit lower than the current SP price, and they will have a killer portable on their hands. You just can't put a DS or PSP in your pocket, and then there is the battery life issue. If you were stuck on a desert island, the Micro might be the best console gaming system to be stuck with.

Rumor has it that there is another Mother sequal in the works. Does anybody know anymore?

So the 2600 had a CD add-on before the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo?

You could also use a SNES to USB adapter, as I assume Star Fox 2 was designed to use a SNES controller. Or even better, you can make your own Star Fox 2 cart as described here: http://snesdev.romhack.de/sf2.htm That will give you the perfect experience on the real thing.

People who don't like Earthbound, take their video games far too seriously. Of course, you should only take that remark with a grain of salt because it is coming from somebody as anal about the accuracy of emulation as me Again, the joy of Earthbound is its humor. It is very enjoyable for its parody of the console RPG genre and of pop culture. I just want to add to the most accurate software NES emulator: it is Nintendulator by far, yes, it is far more accurate than Nestopia. It emulates such games as Micro Machines and Dizzy the Adventurer for the Aladdin Deck Enhancer perfectly. Micro Machines might run in some emulators but its menus are corrupted, and Dizzy (Deck Enhancer version) runs but also has serious graphical bugs. I could list other games that every software emulator except Nintendulator has problems with, but I don't have the time right now. The problem with Nintendulator is that it is Windows only and requires very powerful PC hardware, so you won't be able to easily wrap this puppy up in a small case and put it next to your TV, without it destroying the ambience of your theater room with its vacuum cleaner sounding fans. With regards to the video scaling, it is necessary unless the video dimensions of your TV-out mode can be set to a perfect multiple of the console's resolution. Again, if it is not set to a perfect multiple of the console's native resolution, then scaling will cause noticable aliasing of pixels resulting in graphics that look more pixellated than the real thing. For the NES, this means a TV-out resolution of 256 x 192, 512 x 384, etc. If you can't do a perfect multiple, then the next best thing is to use anti-aliasing, which causes blur. Even if you get past the resolution differences, scaling, and aliasing problems, you still won't necessarily have the same overscan as the real console. On the NES, this means that you will either be seeing side borders of the screen that were never meant to be displayed, which means that you will see ugly distorted graphics in those areas of the screen. Or you will have too much overscan and not be able to see the necessary parts of the screen. Then there are the aspect ratio settings. After all that, you will still have to put up with the fact that the analog component of most PC video cards is vastly different from the NES's. So you will have to compensate by changing video settings in your video card's TV-out configuration or the TV, but then everything on the TV will be distorted if you choose that route. Again, if you don't think these are all that bad, then just take some digital camera photos of the real thing and PC emulation of it on the same TV. If there are noticable differences in a still photo, then it is not 99% accuratly emulated. Now, there is something that is emulating the NES at such a low-level, that it is identical to the real thing, that is, circuit-level emulation as seen in the FPGA NES: http://tripoint.org/kevtris/Projects/console/ ...which is exactly like the real thing, with the exception that you can load games off of SD flash cards and you have more options for video: composite, s-video, RGB, and VGA. Now that is definitely somewhere between 99% and 100% Once the FPGA NES is released, I want an emulator shoot-out, with side-by-side pics of the top emulators hooked up to a real TV... along with a real NES for comparison. Pictures don't lie.

What are the part numbers for the replacement NES and SNES pads? I am trying to find them, but their search engine sucks. With regards to refurbing an NES. Typically people have dirty corroded game carts and bent out of shape, dirty and corroded NES pin connectors. You can't just replace the connector. You also have to clean every cart, until their contacts are golden. You also have to clean the contacts on the NES board until they are golden. THEN you can replace the pin connector, but I would suggest using a little stabilant 22a on the internal console contacts to which the pin connector fits.

To have a little fun, compare your Famiclone's sound to a real NES. I heard that even deaf people can tell the difference.

I own Messiah's wireless SNES controller. Everything about the controller is great except the D-pad. Useless is a pretty good description of the D-pad. Hopefully they consider using the traditional "plus" D-pad in a future revision as I liked the 2.4Ghz wireless with its no lag, long range, and great battery life. With regards to the use of a crappy Neofami NES-on-a-chip, all I have to ask is: why bother? You would be better off with a good software emulator, as far as accuracy of audio, video, and game compatibility goes. It will be interesting to see how many games are not compatible with Messiah's NES. Hopefully they use a more accurate NES-on-a-chip than the one in the Neofamis. In the long run, you are still best off with an inexpensive refurbished toaster NES or an AV Famicom. I just pulled my toaster NES out of the closet it was in for the past few years, and before putting a game in, I just dipped a cotton swab in rubbing alcohol and "brushed the teeth" of my game cart until they were golden. The game worked on the first try after that, and my NES is still using its original 72-pin connector with no refurbishing. Solution: Avoid crappy clones and just clean your carts. Yes they do get dirty after 20 years. Tell me how well an uncleaned PC would run in 20 years?

Many people think emulation is far better than it really is. Seriously, when is the last time you hooked up emulation next to the real thing? I have hooked up my PC and still have hooked up my Xbox with the best emulators for the NES and SNES, and compared them to the real thing. The differences are in colors, bluriness of the video, and audio. Some games have bugs under emulation, and some games don't even run correctly or run at all. Why is the video more blury? Well, most PCs and all Xboxs can't output the native resolutions and aspect ratio of the NES or SNES, and hence the video has to be scaled and to get fullscreen with the correct aspect ratio. That causes aliasing of pixels, which must be corrected for, but anti-aliasing causes the video to be blured. The colors are very different. Not much to say there. It probably has more to do with the analog aspect of the consoles' DACs and the PC and Xbox's DAC. Anyway, in any game for NES and SNES I could tell the difference in a taste test via video alone. The audio is very different on both systems too, but I am tone deaf, so it has to be pretty bad emulation of the audio for me to tell the difference right off the bat. Most Famiclones are so bad I can tell the difference within seconds. Oh, and my SNES doesn't take half a minute to boot and doesn't sound like a vacuum cleaner. Then there are the peripherials. You can get adapters so that you can use the original game controllers, but they don't support all peripherials. Even then, the cost of adapters could have been spent on buying a copier or a copy of the game you want to play. Furthermore, most NES emulators are not 99% accurate. The best ones are probably FCE Ultra and Nintendulator. I would say that Nintendulator is 99% accurate, but no other emulator is close to Nintendulator and Nintendulator requires a very fast PC to be able to run at full speed. Your average NES emulator is more like 75% accurate. I just got done playing Lolo on my toaster NES, and I can tell a huge difference between it and the FCE Ultra on the Xbox emulation of it. Most people don't remember what the real consoles are like and even think these recent crappy Famiclones are accurate. Then you show them a list of games that don't run or don't run correctly. Then there are the slight timing differences in the controls, even when using controller adapters. It has to do with the fact that the OS you run your emulators on is not a real-time OS and the fact that USB devices are not synchronized with the emulator. I have a great link to an article detailing the inaccuracies of SNES emulation... but I can't find it right now. I will post it if I can find it. Anyway, when you can get a SNES copier or flash cart for cheap, why not just play games on a real SNES as opposed to getting an extra expensive PC capable of running the most accurate NES and SNES emulators on your TV? It is cheaper and the games run better. If you don't believe me, then hook up emulation and the real thing side-by-side and take pictures using a digital camera. Then compare and see the difference, and realize that if still pictures can capture a difference, then there must be a pretty big difference.