Andromeda Stardust

Holy effing cow! Another one appears in the wild...

Nice. I'd love to see this cleaned up and working. I refurbed a roach feces covered Panic Restaurant once... http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=10&threadid=100979

My glitch exploit stage, Walk on spikes Too, has been removed by Nintendo... Looks like they have patched the "walk on spikes" exploit... I had to revert to older version with invincibility stars. I made it easier for Mario to grab the star at the beginning. Here's the new course ID Walk on Spikes v3: 3358-0000-00D7-395D

Probably way too much info, but here goes... Since the original Famicom model had hard wired controllers, most Famicom games supported use of auxillary controllers via the Player 1 and Player 2 D1 inputs. Some special 3 or 4 player Famicom games also used the auxillary controllers for additional players. The D1 inputs are present on the Famicom's 15-pin Dsub expansion port but are not accessible on the NES controller ports. Standard NES controllers use the D0 input on the controller port and non-standard accessory controllers generally use the D3 and D4 inputs on player 2 control port. Because the D1 inputs are not available on NES controller ports, Nintendo needed to create a new method of connecting 4 players to the NES, so they created the Four Score. Why they did not simply create a multitap that used Player 2's D3 and D4 inputs for the extra controllers, I have no idea. Instead, the Four Score multiplexes Players 1 and 3 through the D0 input on Player 1 control port, and players 2 and 4 are multiplexed through the D0 input on the Player 2 control port. If that sounds complicated, it is. Read on... Most games should operate properly with the four score enabled or disabled. Standard NES controllers only send 8 bits to the NES and most games only request 8 bits from the controller. The Four Score sends back a total of 24 bits. The 1st and 2nd player inputs on bits 1 through 8 (0 through 7 if using zero based indexing) and 3rd and 4th player inputs on bits 9 through 16 (8 through 15 if using zero based indexing) and uses a key code for bits 17-24 for error correction and proper detection. If a game is requesting more than 8 bits from the controller ports for whatever reason, then a Four Score or other non-standard controller device that uses the D0 pin (including an SNES pad if using a NES/SNES patched extension cable) could potentially send an unexpected input signal to the game resulting in problematic behavior. It's why Nintendo included a 2P mode switch on the Four Score and why any new HD NES machine should provide either a menu option or physical switch to disable it. If the designer is smart, the machine could be additionally configured to enable D1 inputs on P3 and P4 controller ports when Four Score is disabled. This will allow full compatability with 4 player Famicom games that used the Expansion connector for additional players or auxillary controllers without requiring the end user to wire custom adapters for it. RetroUSB's upcoming AVS system will use a pre-game menu option to select between Four Score or auxillary input for controller ports 3 and 4. Additionally, the controller ports are spaced properly so that you can connect an external Four Score. The Analogue NT has a selector switch on the back which performs the same function. 4P - US 2P 4P - JP Unfortunately, the controller ports on the Analogue are spaced too far apart so that an external Four Score cannot be used. Regardless, anybody who wants to play NES or Famicom 4-player games can do so, in addition to strictly 2 player games that might not behave well with a 4-score or auxillary controller input. If the Four Score is causing compatability problems with any game, then this switch should be set to the 2P position. Oops! Someone forgot to read the manual... I might also add, that the Analogue NT with Game Tech / Kevtris HDMI output board is $500 and uses recycled chips. The RetroUSB AVS is "under $200 with controller" (final price TBA) and uses all new parts. The Kevtris HDMI option should also be available in the near future on premodded NES and Famicom systems, or send in your own system for upgrade. I have no idea what Game Tech will charge for this service. Due to the expertise required to install the mod, standalone kits will only be made available to dealers, not to end consumers.

Quoted for truth.

No. What he said. 7800 PCBs have 8 additional pins in the form of two fingers to either side of the 24-pin connector. These PCBs would be physically impossible to insert into a 2600, and even if they were, the boot-loader would likely not be compatible.

There's never any placeholders in the AA store. A couple times in the past Albert had the titles visible but no links (I started with the most recently added store item and added 1 to the item number in the url) and I discovered the list of games based on the page titles even though they weren't available for viewing. I posted about my discoveries and then the entries were changed to "no games for you." I think it's public info at this point what games are coming out. We just have to sit tight and wait. New Pacman obviously isn't quite done yet until Dintar816 adds a final coat of polish to the ROM.

Okay now that it's over, where is my $10 Paypal refund?

Won't work. Licensing is too expensive compared to the relative market. Most people already have PCs or Raspberry πs stuffed into MAME cabs and you also have the issue that MAME cannot be distributed commercially as per contract.

I made a post in the New Pacman Atari thread a few days ago: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/229152-new-pacman-for-atari-2600/?p=3355400 My inquiry was how the New Pacman homebrew added white dots to the strawberries in Pacman 8k. I first noticed the sprite after doing the resistor mod to enhance the saturation on my 4-switch woody. Turns out the white dots were actually non existent black voids, but sure as heck showed up as white on my mom's CRT. It's got great contrast and black level but the beam is too fuzzy to show scanlines in detail. My smaller bedroom CRT shows off scanlines and the large RF only Zenit CRT I have packed away in the garage is immaculate. I'll need to check some other sources including the LCD in the living room to see if they all do this. Compare this real life macro shot of my mom's bedroom CRT, to this Stella screenshot (composite filter) of the exact same ROM: The VCS should be clearly outputting black pixels but they show up as white little dots on the strawberry stage on my mom's CRT. There is no multicolor or multisprite usage going on as Pacman lives are displayed independently on the same scanlines and no midscan manipulation is taking place in this portion of the display kernel. Even looking only at the red phosphors in the macro photograph, there is absolutely no dimming of the red color at all, only brightening of the green and blue phosphors making them appear as white when zoomed out. Assuming the luminosity and saturation components drop during the strawberry sprite to account for the change from red to black, and the individual components were somehow shifted, shoudn't there be some regional dimming of the red phosphors? I can't see any. What is the exact mechanism that produces the effect of white dots on read instead of black? Curious about the nature of the effect. To do: Photograph the strawberry sprite effect using the composite output of my Best AV7800, and compare the Woody RF to the 7800 AV on the LCD and my other CRT set. Also any other recommended games to test the RF/Phosphor effects with? My Harmony is fully loaded...

Nice find and looks like a legit proto! Are there gameplay differences to the Imagic release?

Poll is unnecessary IMO. Vector games have a distinct feel and niche, seeing as how they were quickly overtaken by rastor based games. Aside from a few classics like Tempest and Asteroids, a lot of the vector games are forgettable or could easily have been made using rastors. I am not saying that vectors aren't cool (I would love to own a Vex someday) but arguing that women would be attracted to them more or less than men would be folley. Sure cutesy platformers and casual puzzlers were always aimed at women, but anyone can have fun with them. I see more women playing smartphone games or simple PC games and more men playing console games or complex PC games. My 70+ mom loves Bejeweled on the minimac but would totally fail at games that make you grind against the clock like Tetris Attack or Columbs. But those type games get my adrenaline flowing, not to mention platformers and especially whacky Japanese SHMUPs. But if a woman wants to play street fighter or modern FPS and a dude wants to play smart phone games, who am I to judge? Men are more left-brain dominant while women are more right-brained. This has been documented many times over. So naturally men gravitate towards activities that target analytical thinking as well as adrenaline pumping, while women tend to gravitate towards social activities or those that invoke an emotional response. Hense the stereotype of men craving "core" games and women craving "casual" games. But it is really all about personal preference. Everyone is different and should play the things they like. Just like we have male nurses and female engineers, not everyone fits into any stereotype and it would be folly to push them to accept said roles, especially as children. But statistically, more males than females will gravitate towards gaming / collecting games whereas more females than males will gravitate towards art and craft type hobbies. True men and women both collect stuff but they tend to be different things. But like I said, everyone is different. I enjoy art/craft style hobbies as well and have even fabricated some of my own fanart to decorate with. Hell I have a collection of video game themed plushies! So a woman games or a man knits. Let them enjoy it but by all means don't make a scene out of it. Female gamers want to be accepted as equals by their brethren, not treated like rare unicorns.

If Mike hasn't learned his lesson yet, he probably never will. I'm concerned that this negative publicity will wreck any chances of future projects getting off the ground. Gamegavel and Retro mag were great ideas even if the final product was a bit underwhelming. I've searched games on the Gavel a few times but there's so little stuff up for sale I hardly ever find what I'm looking for. And my 2nd year subscription Retro mags have been mostly sitting unread so I probably won't renew. And I've only gotten like two or three issues out of the six they promised so far.

Yeah make sure you're playing with the Tempest control style. The four quadrants style of control sucks ass. Great hidden gem for the NES. I need to play it more. I heard if you input the Konami code "esrever ni," you'll get a boat-load of extra lives.

D3/D4 lines are pass-through. The Four Score does not have these pins internally wired. Also 8-bit Xmas 2011 (brilliant Warlords clone) supports up to four Vaus controllers using specially modified Four Score hardware that adds in the extra data lines. There will be a menu selection to enable or disable Four Score support. When disabled, the player 3 and player 4 ports will be logically wired to D1 inputs and function as expansion controllers for four player Famicom games. The AVS also has a 15-pin expansion port that will work with the Famicom Keyboard and any other Japanese accessories.

Looks like I'll be getting my $10 back soon... Time to bury this dead horse: http://crowdcharts.com/campaign/retro-vgs/daily

This post pretty much summarizes the situation at RetroVGS: "The shit hath hit the fan, and it stinks..."

Konami has all but dropped out of the console development business. I haven't heard anything newsworthy from Capcom in years, and most newer Sonic games are lackluster at best. None of these mega corps will give two craps about the retroVGS. Maybe indie developers if the RetroVGS becomes a reality, but then it's just an Ouya with carts and no online.

AVS uses an FPGA and works with flash carts. 100% compatible with PAL and NTSC software, sans zapper games...

LOL, you guys...

Yeah but Brian figures everyone already has an NES with SD outputs. Last 10 posts are by us. LOL!

AVS has no analog outputs. They don't even have a separate audio feed. HDMI only.

To use a lightgun, you need either RF or composite. S/video or RGB would also work. Thing is you need a realtime display that races the beam as it is streamed to the screen. IE a CRT tube. All HD sets use a frame buffer causing lag and do not strobe the beam.

Regarding the Blinking Light Win and complete lack of updates: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/113891498/blinking-light-win-resurrecting-your-nes/updates