CatPix
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Posts posted by CatPix
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Apparently, in the Miyama Textile company in Japan, a 40 years old Sharp MZ-80 is still used... to create punch cards for looms.
(the MZ-80 appears only in the first 2 minutes)
(oh, last post in 2016. Ne wonder why it took me a while to find this thread back
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FOMO for me only come in play with homebrews, if they interest me. Most of the time physical releases will only be made once due to the high cost so once the original run stops you're out of luck to get one.
Commercial games? Retro games? There is no running out of them, and there's always emulation and Everdrives.
And, yes, you nca have those for homebrews too but at least when I buy from a homebrewer I know my money goes to someone directly.
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Unless I missed it, I realized there is one major game that wasn't yet named here... I guess because most of the later games didn't mentionned her ever.
Alone in the Dark let you choose between Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood.
Emily Hartwood may be the first 3D playable character. Or at least the first playable one outside of arcade games (but I don't think there were that many 3D arcade games in 1991 with playable human protagonists)
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I can't hurt to replace caps especially if your system is know to ahve failing ones. At least replace, for older machines, the power supply caps and any tantalum ones (the ones that looks orange droplets - usually more found in IMB-PC clones and used near RAM)
A cap that fail on the logic board may just cause glitches, but a failing cap on the power supply may cause power instability bad enough to fry part of your system.
When possible, replace electrochemical caps with non-electrochemical ones as those can last decades (I have seen Mikado caps from the 1920's that are still within their original building specs) and more importantly, won't leak out when left unnattended.
So, replace in the PSU, replace the one that you know will fail (such as the Xbox clock ones).
Normally you only need to replace the electrochemical and tantalum ones, every other type is more robust - if you wonder why they aren't used more, it's mostly because of cost, capacity and size - Electrochemical caps are usually cheaper, available in more capacities and smaller that ceramic and other types.
For replacement being junk, well just order caps from reputable brands. Even "super good" caps (electrolytics ones at least) shouldn't cost you more than 2$ a pop, except maybe for beefy PSU ones (and even then, with a few exception like the boomstick in a PET power supply, they are still under 10$). Usually I recommand NOT to buy "cap kits" as they tend to have mediocre quality parts for very high prices.
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I never seen a TV set made after the early 60's with a rotactor for frequencies. Tho I guess the French market was odd on that point.
The screen shows channel 36 but it could be "ghosting" and the main picture could indeed be on the VHF range.
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Your Videosphere should be perfect! This system is most likely B/W anyway ^^
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Or use a VCR tuner.
But yeah, CRT made after 2000 in Europe usually have a very hard time picking up console signals.
Also, those consoles were almost never pre-tuned to a defined canal so you should also try to use fine tuning as it's unlikely the signal is precisely on canal 36.
I suppose you tried to tune the signal on the system itself?
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1 hour ago, Tanooki said:
The game centers now around combining mario party mechanics of playing the game along with taking out a good chunk of the swing/control mechanics where's it's almost like a 1-2 tap auto play party title. Just aim and press the button weeeeeee...who needs to have another tap for precision or better aiming and control right?
I can see your argument but on the other hand, if those games were still like that they would not be played, or not the same.
All of those games for me are multiplayer games only. Sure maybe it's because without those RPG elements they are rather shallow and repetitive experience, but on the other hand, if I play on my own then invite friends at home that do not own the game, then I'm playing a character with 20 XP when they play a 1XP character each time.
Many of those games still require a knowledge and experience of the gameplay to be played fully. You can easily tell a beginner from a skilled player even without all of those mechanisms in most cases, be it Mario Kart or Mario Tennis. Arguably Mario Golf is the easiest to master quickly.
If those games hadn't evolved they would just not be good multiplayer games in the modern world (a world where Mario Tennis is no longer the main game everyone plays at home and with friends daily), and it has nothing to do with "dumbing down".
The current Super Mario Kart or Smash player will crush any beginner to a pulp, yet those games doesn't have upgrade or XP systems.
Skills are still a requirement.
I do get the point that those games would be better enjoyed solo with a XP system but they are mostly focused on multiplayer experience.
And on the dumbing down, I remember the era where Silent Hill and Resident evil came with an auto-aiming function. Not assisted aim, auto-aim. The ennemy is behind you? Press R1 and your character flips back; press R2 and you're dead center in the target. I remember survival horror games with infinite inventory space, ammo that piled up because ennemies were slow and weak so you could smash them with a melee weapon; items that blinks, sparkle, glow or your character stare at them if he is close enough.
In Zelda games, there are NPC to give you clues and even reminders since at least Zelda Ocarina of Time.
If there is a dumbing down in game, it's been going for at least 25 years.
On the other hand, you have now 200$ game controllers with over 35 buttons for FARMING simulators.
Games like Factorio or Satisfactory gather millions of players, people are excited for City Skylines 2.
All kinds of games that get more and more complex as time goes.
Some licences do get dumbed down, and there are simple dumb games out there. But it's certainly not a general trend that drag all games and gamers down.
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This always amuses me when I read that "Mario was able to do tennis, racing, etc..." but that's the opposite : The impressive thing is that Nintendo managed several times to release good and funny games in various genres, and "upmarket" them by filling them with their Mario (and later other franchises) characters.
Mario tried educationnal games and they were a burning disaster.
If Sonic failed to branch into other genres, it's not because Sonic wasn't made for them or because people didn't held Sonic in high esteem, it's because the games were bad, period. If you had put Mario characters in Sonic R and call it Mario R, it would have bombed too.
Mario, or a mascot, do sells games, sure, but it's just part of a wider formula. Many other company mascots have tried to show up in unrelated games and most failed, not because people don't like their mascot to do something else, but because the editor though that dropping a mascot in a mediocre game would still sell. It doesn't work that way.
Yet having Mario in his games is important because each character from the Nintendoverse have their characteristics that allow for gameplay variations that may not work so well with "generic" characters.
But the point is : Mario didn't succeeded in appearing in a plethora of game because or despite he is the hero of one game. It's because he was put in a series of decent-to-good games in a consistent manner.
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Talking about Japan, The Maze of Galious on MSX
Let you play either Popolon or Aphrodite.
One of the earliest game I remember playing with a female protagonist was Jill of the Jungle, on PC.
A nice lil platformer. I think it's free on GOG.com.
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Interesting topic. I tried to read it all but lots of answers came up. I think someone touched an important thing of what may make our current culture feel so bland, repetitive and overwhelming; That we make more culture.
But it's hard to even start to fathom HOW MUCH.
For the book industry, for example, more books have been printed between 1950 and now than between 1950 and 1450.
For the media industry; France has a public service of sort, called INA (National Institute of Audiovisual); their main mission is to record every movie, video and music released in France (and for the past 20 years, video games. And if I recall right they ponder about saving French Youtuber video content as well).
In 2010, they said that at this point, after 60 years of French television archives, they had accumulated the equivalent of 100 YEARS of continuous (24/7, that is) video archives.
And this is only for video broadcast in France.
Now imagine how much centuries of video, music and reading is produced every year. (not even counting Youtube and streaming).
This is plain amazing. It's hard to even wrap your head around.
And yes, most of that is garbage. It make sense; the reason we produce so much media is that today it cost almost nothing. More stuff in the hands of more people, which in turn lead people hoping to make it. More fresh meat for the industry to toss in the grinder... and kick out once they start to get famous and ask for more money.
But on the other hand, it mean there's a treasure trove of stuff to discover over Internet.
I have played more indie games in the past 5 years than in the past 15 years since I herd of indie studios.
Getting in touch with people from all over the world made me find about different medias, music, cartoons. Many old, some recent.
Culture has never been so rich and so accessible... but as roots.genoa said, it requires you to do mroe than just sit in your random cinema megaplex and complain about always being served the same stale soup.
I'm probably missing about lots of stuff that would tickly my fancy. I barely started recently to read mangas. I hardly watch animes. There's no time for everything. Yet if I wait for culture to get served to me without looking for it, yes, that's like going in a city I never been to :
- Either I go to names I recognize like McDonald's and complain about them serving the same selection
- Or I got in the city, losing some time to look for restaurants until I try one. I may be dissapointed; but I also found some great dishes made by a talented chef.
It is a choice ;one that is not wrong either. If you like McDo, if you like the current pop culture, enjoy it. But if you don't like it... There is something for you out there. It just require you to look for it.
So many things that even 15 years ago wouldn't be available, or perhaps on some cultural channel at 3 am.
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Yes, in theory. You can't plug a model 1 power supply in a model 2 as the barrel diameter is different (enoguh for you to see it on the picture) but the only thing preventing to plug a model 2 psu into a model 1 is the diameter of the inner pin, and especially on aftermarket power supplies, the difference is much thinner and manufacturers tend to use the same design, so it is possible to do it. Not with every PSU (not with Sega originals at least) but I have done it with generic ones.
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On 2/23/2023 at 10:10 PM, DJ Clae said:
Game Gear uses the same AC adapter as the Genesis 2 and Nomad.
In the US apparently, elsewhere it use the Megadrive1/SMS form factor.
So be careful when dealing with potentially imported GG.
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It's a topic for another thread but apparently the 700$ price was only in a few stores, in most places it was available for 650$ (still a steep price) and the price fell down to 600$ and less in the following months.
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On 1/27/2023 at 7:42 PM, JamesD said:
The TurboR was introduced in 1990/1. Pretty sure they weren't produced until 98. I doubt it was even around by the time the Laser PC5 came out.
You're right, by all accounts, in 1993, Panasonic shelved the whole MSX line (Turbo-R and the never to be MSX3) in favor of manufacturing the 3DO.
Noooooooooooot sure it was a wise move
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Your comment makes me realize that the boss design in Mega Man 2 (and the NES Megaman series) is borderline genius.
Bosses have a reason to exist : they showcase your future weapons; they are also introduced in the story, they are part of the plot, they aren't just random "big ennemy". It's brilliant in that the game pit your against an ennemy with a brand new and dangerous weapon... That become yours.
Then, second genius realization : since you can select your levels, it mean that you are encouraged to experiment redoing the game with your new weapons, giving a sense of exploration to the game that most platformers of the era didn't had.
Then, (at least in Megaman 2, can't recall if the othes does this) there is the "boss rush". Usually tedious, but since you can choose, again, your opponent, AND the game feature a password system so you can redo it at will, the developers reward you with a fast and easy way to try a boss' weapon against others to see which ones are the strongests (or the easiest for you to use).
This is BRILLIANT.
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OpenTTD looks like it's from 1995 but the size of some maps and the support of 900 vehicles (500 road vehicles + 100 boats/planes/trains (trains themselves being made of distincts engines, cars and wagons) mean that it won't run on older systems, even if the executable run on Win9X.
I tried to run OpenTTD on a computer from 1998 and the title screen ran at negative FPS
That being said any decent computer made in the past 10 years will do. You may notice FPS drops when dezooming on large maps (more than 1024 tiles) and long loading times.
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If the son grew up and is ready to tackle more transportation games, I can suggest OpenTTD; (and if we wanna keep in the old consoles theme, his spiritual parent, Transport Tycoon on Playstation 1 and PC)
(checking more, the PS1 port may be a PAL exclusive...)
OpenTTD will require a decently recent PC, but it's free and heavily customisable :
In fact, it require the use to pick up and download mods (called NewGRF in game) to tailor your experience : antique British steam trains, heavy-freight US trains, Japanese metric gauge trains, etc... And road vehicles, and planes!
There's also Unrailed :
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1016920/Unrailed/
Which is more about co-op play (but it can be played alone with the help of a NPC).
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Someone should bother comparing if there are really more topics on tech, rather than computer forums having the same number of "games" topic but much more tech topics.
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Not much to add here, but on a personal level, I like bosses that add something to the story rather than being mere roadblocks, especially for games that focus more on story than fight.
Big boss in a shooter or a beat-m'up? Fair, the game is all about combat technique after all.
For example, a few bosses in the first Silent Hill feels like they are here because they needed a boss.
Some ARE significant to the story but others are... Even delving into symbolism, I really can't see the point of the poisonous giant butterfly on the rooftop (tho this whole part of the game is really short, I wouldn't be surprised that they cut a good chunk of game here).
By comparison, bosses in Silent Hill 2 does have a more clear and meaningful reason to be there. And even better : sometime, there are no boss. Which, for such a game, is deliciously tipping you off.
You fear to open the last door of the building... Because you don't know what abomination awaits... And then... Nothing. Not even a simple ennemy or a last puzzle. Just... freedom to go deeper in the nightmare. That's actually brilliant.
And it's really important because in those games (survival-horror in general) the focus isn't on combat, which mean that you have no special technique to defeat bosses, usually just filling them with a lead hail until saturnism kicks in. So "a boss because we need a boss here" is really a bother since it doesn't bring anything significant to the game experience, it just slows you down and puts you low in ammo and health packs (which I assume is the point, but it also screams of lazy development since it mean that they couldn't balance the difficulty before)
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Indeed. Well I'm glad I brough it here so I know have the right information.
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I think because historically those groups were always separated. There is a clear divide in my retrogaming club about people that played on 8/16 bits computers and people that played on 8/16 bits consoles : they rarely go to the other's platforms (well less so for modern computers and from computer to console but that's becaus we're all grown adults).
Also there is a really different mindset on technological level :
Console gamers are usually more adamant in preserving their hardware "as is" with the exception of A/V -HDMI mods.
Computer games are usually very happy to upgrade their machines (to ridiculous levels sometime if you consider the Amiga scene).
The divide is also probably historical :
Retrogaming history was first/mostly written about the Atari 2600 and the Krach of 83. And people that were there and lived through it, and wrote about it, did not went to play computer games.
Thus the legend was born that "video games almost died" (when in reality, at least the C64 had a spike in sales in the US).
This mean that newcomers in the retrogaming scenes are first dragged toward consoles, and computers are in a sort of "nerd guetto" where people spent more time tinkering with their hardware and writing shoddy BASIC programs and demos than playing, making those machines unnappealing.
There's also probably the fact that the PC/console war since the 90's is all about PC being superior in power to consoles, which wasn't true in the 80's, so new retrogamers come in expecting the C64 to just crush the NES graphic-wise... Which it doesn't (especially with original games. Less so with homebrews)
This is especially aggravating in Europe since computer steamrolled consoles up to 1990 yet today if you listen to "gaming historians", the Atari 2600 then the NES were the queens of the gaming field (with the Master System, that shared the European market 40/60 with the NES, mostly forgotten).
(on a side note it also mean that computers are also an exception, with PAL being the dominant format for the most popular platforms since most games come from Europe)
I could add (so many little differences) at least in Europe, the computer scene had many "local" games, made by local people and focused on very local things.
One example : French singer Renaud was hugely popular in the 80's, and he got at least one video game based on his songs.
This is somethign you may have seen on the 2600 but was completely gone on the NES.
I think that also, the hardware being one generation ahead also made them hard to classify at first.
The 16 bits computers arrived in 1985, before the NES came out! And they petered out in the 90's, replaced by the IBM PC, as the 16 bits console came.
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On 6/3/2022 at 4:24 PM, Metal Jesus said:
I released a video today about that cool / weird Pitfall! game that only came out on iOS back in 2012 but was abandoned around 2017 and is now nearly impossible to play. Should these mobile games be preserved and archived for future generations? I figured there would be quite a few Pitfall! fans here on AtariAge. Do you remember playing this?
In France, the BNF (National Library) has set a goal in the past 15 years to archive any video game made available in France in any way shape and form.
And one of their issues are precisely digital-only games, as unlike books and regular video games, download-only games don't have a physical copy to be shipped to the BNF.
They try to get them by asking the publisher. Some complies, some don't.
Games are preserved regardless of interest or quality.
But it seems that this IOS game didn't made it (yet).
And if you wonder, yes, you can go to the BnF building and ask to have (free) access to a computer where you can play all the games in the catalogue... provided said game is playable, which most of them are, being available with an emulator when required.
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Heh thanks. There is ALOT of misinformation around on the Internet. I recall reading this informations several times (most likely because someone made it and other sites copied it).
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Composite Video Mod AY-3-8610
in Classic Console Discussion
Posted
Or you can just leave the sound going to the speaker
Perhaps adding a volume slider.