CatPix

Issues with controls (and video connection) usually come from broken solder joints on the SMS. The SMS is easy to work on, especially the first model. You can easily open it and reflow all the solder joints. If it keep not working, the traces might have been broken; thanksfully all the traces to the pad ports have really nearby solder points on resistors so adding jumpwires is easy to do (if very annoying and boring). I greatly recommande the FM board, installation is easy enough and the improvement on some games (including the unnofficial patch for Sonic 1 are really game changers.

And were the graphisms up to PC-Engine specs? There were knock-off consoles of early 80's systems with rather gigantic carts with bright colors and dubious quality, but you wouldn't mistake the graphics with PC-Engine (or even Colecovision) ones for a second. (it doesn't looks like it, but the console was probably designed for kids and is absolutely oversized, the cartridges are a bit larger than NES ones, and twice the thickness) On an unrelated note :

They aren't common here and kiiinda priced but I can look for one. Well I do own one but... It's mine

What intrigues me is the cart thing. AFAIK NEC never used any kidn of carts, beingthat Hu-Cards are based on BeeCards. I would help if we knew where (country) that was, too. PC-engine clones were rare, but they existed in Asia. A clone outside of Asia would be quite an oddity. Also, I don't recall that "prototypes" of the TG-16 included turning the Hu-cards into cartridges, but that can't be ruled off (and if they prototyped it with having Hu-card hapazardly tapped in a plastic shell, that probably explain the poor quality of the contact). Clones of PC-Engine Hucards also looked like small carts, but with the PCB juttign out to be used in real PC-Engine. https://www.facebook.com/SuperEngine2/posts/2213806705366808/ Found that page, maybe you'll find your console in them?

It's straight wiring. The cable linked seems to be quite thick which is important : thinner wire may be more sensitive to EM interferences and may break if you plug nd unplug it more often. Really for audio cable, that's all you may want from it.

There are adapters to tap out sound from SCART, some multitaps have sound out, or you can use the jack output of your TV. a B&O may even have RCA out for your to tap out the sound (usually on the back).

We're pretty much on an Aladdin 16 bits game comparison, then? Interesting. It make sense to change the game due to limitations between hardware (NES having much less RAM overall, but the carts at this point included mappers with their own RAM, and possibly bigger ROM size? MSX games could use the keyboard in addition to the gamepads to provide shortcuts for items, etc... )but "making it different" is a weird idea. For the other game, if I recall, the second NES game was developped without even any input from the second MSX game so they are obviously going to be even more different.

Well, that's the opposite for me, and the reason why BOTW didn't pleased me as much as it should... gone were the puzzles in the temples. Though, honestly, the puzzles in OOT aren't so complex and between Saria and Navi, the game just lead you by the hand, all the time. I can understand it's not for everyone but for me it's part of the experience.

Personnally I'm the opposite. You can work out with cluncky 3D.. and frankly OOT works rather well on that part, but broken motion controls get in your way every time. Do you wanna know how I fought and won the last fight with SS boss? the one where you must have precise moves? I took the controller in my left hand (because I hurt my right wrist trying to do that battle for 10 minutes) and I just pounded it on the floor, like I was grinding flour. And it worked. REALISTIC MOTION CONTROL HERE. That being said, IMO Skyward Sword still pales compared to previous opus. The main area feel small, the other areas feel small as well, travelling between them takes so much "void" time (because let's be honest, flying doesn't feel like sailing and even less like horse-riding, or wolf-running...) That being said I liked SS, the graphics are very nice (sadly without enough drawing distance IMO) and a absolutely LOVED the mechanism that reverted time locally, I was brilliant and very easy to use in game. But really, Skyward Sword feels more like an early GameCube title, compared to the larger scope of Twilight Princess or the Wind Waker. As if it was a late N64/early Gamecube title they shelved, and dusted out years later, making it feel much "smaller".

It's interesting because BOTW was created in being a pure "classic" Zelda, that is, being a vast overworld where you explore at your leisure. They could'nt do that as well with the NES limitations, but that was the idea all along. So in a way, BOWT is more classic than the Zelda we grew to love and play. Though, yeah, I really missed the classic temples. They could had easily made, with the tabled thing, a "temporary" weapon that only activate in temples. Maybe for BOTW II? Anyay, it was a fresh breath after the clumsy and awkward Skyward Sword. At for OOT reading about it made me pull the N64 and play it again... I mean I played it on the 3DS when it "came out" but even on the XL version, it's still a big screen game squished on a tiny screen. And what can I say, the magic is working again. The game does have issues, yes... but it's fair for it's time 😛

Really? I though it had been out for quite a few months already. Maybe I'm mixing up with the discovery that WB's refusal of the origianl game was so late in the N64 version developpement that the game as originally planned is still present in the original carts.

In Europe usually those were Atari types with both buttons being wired to the same wire (so they are amidextrous). A few ones were made for specific system, usually indicated with a sticker or switch to change between modes. The plug on yours is interesting. The Amstrad CPC supporter two joystick with such a "dual connector" system. Either you scored a very rare (for North America) Amstrad CPC joystick, or other systems in the US also used that "one connector two joystick system. The Colecovision seems more likely tho. For the Colecovision, may you need to daisy chain the original stick on that connector?

From what I recall, the reason why there are different Tetris and why there were infight over the copyright is that Tetris leaked out of the Soviet Union from two ways : The first one is the official Elorg-to-Nintendo one we all know, in 1989 for the Game Boy. The second one is from a British game publisher, Andromeda Software, during a visit in Hungary in 1986; they were looking for games, and the Hungarian game publisher Novotrade (later Appaloosa Games) had Tetris in their catalogue. From there, the game was sold to other Western publishers to be developped for IBM PC, ZX Spectrum and other platforms (all of them computers). The famous copyright battle happened when Tengen acquired the rights to Tetris and ported it to Nintendo consoles, while Nintendo had acquired the exclusive right to consoles... The problem happening here is that the Novotrade/Andromeda rights were only covering computers; also Andromeda software has started selling the right to Tetris before the contracts with Elorg had been finalized, meaning that the "exclusive to computer" clause may not have been know to Tengen at the time. (the real story is even more complex but you get the general gist) So to answer you Carlsson, Mirrorsoft was probably here before Tengen and Nintendo (If I recall, Mirrorsoft was the European distributor of Tetris after acquiring the licence rights from Andromeda Software).

After getting a fresh spool of solder, I could tacle on the fixing required on a Sega Saturn that I was given "If you can fix it or for parts". As I suspected, it was only the power supply. I scavenger one from a working Saturn. The two were slightly different so I had to change the connection to the console and the mains : After testing it, my video cable gave me two bad surprises; first, the composite video wire broke, then, my older CRT TV didn't displayed anything right. A common occurence on older TV when the ground isn't soldered, and it's always the case on those 3€ Chinese cables. So, since I had to resolder a wire, I may as well add jumper cables for the ground! Well now I'll have to get a bypass cartridge to play my PAL games since this is a NTSC Asia unit...

Yes. You can see this with the "Original" MS-DOS version programmed by Vadim Gerasimov (and for International version, featuring the Elorg copyright) the control scheme is quite awkward, tho it's probably meant to work on a variety of not very standardized computer layout (probably more common in USSR than in the West; to have non-standard keyboard I mean). You can read about it on Gerasimov's own site and download the MS-DOS version too : https://vadim.oversigma.com/Tetris.htm

I have it on Famicom. The awkward controls make it very annoying to play, even more than the MS-DOS version.

Makes me think I should seek out who here has worn-out discs I could buy so I could have one intact and one open to see how it looks like. I've looked several time but never saw one of the supposed existing UK-released players.

At least they don't pretend for this console to do more than what it's supposed to do, at least on the game system level.

There is a difference between the character in itself and the derived works. The Popeye video games can't be freely distributed or used, but it doesn't mean Namco could sue someone for using Popeye in another video game. As for the trademark, it's... complex. Some seems to think that it wouldn't hold much water since the name is part of the character, other seems to think it would be basically barring anyone form using Popeye (but still agrees that you could slap a picture of Popey on your product). It also probably depends on where this would take place. In France, a series of characters created in the 1910's fell in public domain, and the grand-son of the original creator started to draw new adventures of the characters with their names. The copyright holder of the rights to later use of the character sued... and lost, the Court settling that the characters and their names were public domain. However, only the design of the original 1910 characters could be used, not the most well-know 1934 redesign by a later artist that are still under copyright. Tho in that case, I'm not sure that the name of the comic was trademarked or not.

I was goign to say that Popeye may make it, but he is still under copyright until 2025 in the US. He's no longer copyrighted elsewhere in the world so Nintendo could offer Popeye as a character in Smash in Europea and Japan, and to stay in topic, make a Popeye -themed G&W and/or include their Popeye games without paying royalties. Though, I can't say about Japan, but Popeye isn't a very well know character in Europe (I mean most people know Popeye and his spinach, it's just that it's not really a character that will draw attention) so it's unlikely that Nintendo would bother doing so.

It's a pleasure to read you and your informations About the bit where I mention is being probably a N64 board, I was goign fro mthe website, and you'll notice that on their site, they say several time "clone console" before you go down at the end of the page and reveal that it's not a clone but a N64 board. I admit I didn't scrolled that down because I felt it was suspicious. About the original consoles, is there a way to disable the VI blurring? what you mention kiiiinda remidns of the 3DO doing it, and it is possible on 3DO to force the console in 240p mod (apparently some early Japanese models even have a switch for that). Is there a way to force the N64 in that or is that all in the chip and totally impossible?

Is there any video game with a badger as a main hero?

Retro consoles and even most modern ones run a very little amount of power. I'm more worried to see, in people's houses with old wiring, to see that they run the microwave oven, blender and coffee maker from the same circuit. Wouldn't he believe you if you added up the console power (even tho they do'nt run together at the same time anyway?) and show that your 15 consoles don't even reach up the amount of power needed to power his microwave oven? If he objects that the power you give is "low voltage" then you can use the "water pipe" analogy to explain that in electricity, watts (not watt/hours) is a constant unit. To compare water and electricity : watts are litres (or gallons ) amps are water pressure voltage is pipe diameter. if your console use 15 watts, it's always 15 watts. That your console use a power brick doesn't matter. 15 watts is like 15 gallons : it's the same amount of power, regardless of the pressure (amps) or pipe diameter (voltage) But they are all linked, the wider the pipe is, the less pressure you have, it's why power lines outside of your house use very high voltages : you can carry the same amount of power on a wire that is barely bigger than the ones in your own walls; or on the opposite, that's why battery wires are insanely large : lots of power in low voltage. And this is where the pipe analogy crumble since in electricity, more voltage mean smaller or same-size wire, unlike water pipes ). Another thing is to have him touch the power strip plug and ask him if it feels hot. Unless the wiring in the house is wholly inadequate, electricity fire mostly start at outlets. And there's no mystery : fire start because there is heat. Though this may not be a good idea if you offer him to do that while you have old-style power brinks on the power strip because he may touch them, find them hot and be scared of it.

Well there could be a difficulty if the N64 has an onboard ROM. ROM is software, and unlike the hardware itself, ROM is copyrighted for 90 years. And taking a "white room" approach might take years.

Well I think the trouble is more that we European would find us with unuseable PAL games. (and I'm pretty sure US games are as expensive as PAL games) Though if this system is a N64 with a HDMI converter then I assume (I never looked into N64 import) that any solution used BITD would work as it did in the past. TV is very rarely a problem, plus since it's an HDMI system this isn't a problem at all.