CatPix

The joystick wouldn't even need to be analog, most AVPS games don't make use of that function. The only one I can think of (that also make use of the fact the joystick are not auto-centering) is Bowling. For the sprites, may late 1292 games came with carts having their own RAM, allowing for "more complex" display.

The on-screen graphics are eerily similar to every 1292 clone out there, and the buttons on the console are consistant with a 1292. Te joystick as mentionned may be a photoshoot arrangement because the controllers weren't provided with the console or lost. Or the manufacturer released the console with an Atari -compatible connector and only sold games that only used the 4 directions + 1 button action, of which there are more than a few in the 1292 game library.

French SCV uses a 9V power supply. From what I can tell from pictures (of the insides), both Japanese and French market machines are identical, save for the video output part. So you should be fine.

I should look on reviews from the era to see if people noticed the screen. Franckly if you put a DMG GB and a Supervision side by side, the screen quality isn't too different. It's worse, but not "unplayable worse". I feel like most people who say that never played a DMG GB for hours, or a GG, or a Lynx. Or they forgot The Supervision failure is simple : the Game Boy steamrolled everything. Sega, with the whole Master System library potentially portable on it and colours, could barely make a dent in the handheld market. Also, while the prices were favourable for the Supervision at first, Nintendo did agressive price cuts. I read that at some point, you could buy either a Game Boy or a Supervision for the same price. What would you chose? Hardware wise, the Supervision is basically a GB : same CPU, same amount of RAM. Resolution is slightly superior (160*160 VS 160*144). Sound chips have the same capacity (the GB may be able to read digitized samples better, but I did heard Supervision games with digitized voices, like the title screen for Ssssnake) video is the weaker point (compared to the GB). Still, the issue with the Supervision is mostly that it only received a handful of weak games, with utter trash from Bon Treasure and even nameless companies. The best Supervision games are from Sachen/Thin Chen, and the British studio B.I.T.S. (Sssnake, Olympic '92, Chimera). In an alternate reality where Nintendo decided against the GB in favour of a colour handheld or nothing, the Supervision might have gained some traction... But Nintendo released the GB and the rest is history

I mean, there are decent, honest titles on the Supervision. Nothing that will keep you playing at night, sure, but it does the job. Chimera is probably the most impressive title, and it's impressive indeed they bothered to port sur a complex game on the Supervision. Super Kong delivers an early 80's arcade game experience : It does make the issues with poor programming (rather than poor hardware) apparent : (The only "Bon Treasure" title that isn't completely trash to play, BTW)

I'm impressed this game exists on the SNES. It's a port of a PC game. The original PC game is not much more nervous, but as the duel part point out, there was an opponent.

I like the continuous dedication Is there a picture of that earlier model? Or Am I just not finding it on your site? About that, I think that the GB-2000 design is the earlier one, but I may be wrong. (saying this as you display the 9205 first in the model list) The GB-2000 is the most common in France... but that could be explained either by a late distribution making the GB 2000 model more common, or a lack of success leading Audiosonic to discontinue the Supervision and thus making the 9205 rarer (but I have seen over the years two 9600 for sale here so...) what make me think this is that Audiosonic distributed the 9205 as the GB-2002. Also, the games I see the most have those "digital artwork" labels, instead of the "I asked my 6 years old brother" artwork. Were those earlier games, or were those because AudioSonic found those stickers too atrocious to be taken seriously? (350FF in may of 1992) (for comparison, a Game Boy was sold for 990FF (at release) and a GB game for between 190FF and 250 FF) Also, just a silly question, but is there a reason you called the European version PAL-B? I won't discuss the use of PAL here, but PAL-A and B were distinctions created by Nintendo to distinguish which European countries had either Mattel (PAL-A) or Bandai (PAL-B) as distributors before they took over, and has no root in any geographical or legislative framework.

With the sole exception of my Sony Bravia LCD from 2007, RGB looks infinitel better on a LCD than crapposite. THose pictures are precious. It seems like it use the same chips than a regular CDi or their equivalent from other brands so a RGB mod should be feasible using mods for regular Philips CD-i. https://8bitplus.co.uk/your-consoles/philips-cdi-450-rgb-mod/ BT9107 video encoder. Bingo! " With this part of the schematic it was discovered that the video encoders could be switched from s-video Y/C to RGB by pin 14. With pin 14 is lifted while connected to 5v (through a 1k ohm resistor) RGB mode is enabled. This applies to both BT9106 and BT9107 video encoders and they have the same pin-out. These encoders can be found in different CDi units. The RGB signal can be taken from pins 4,8,6. Sync can be taken from either pin 2 of the BT9106 or from the composite video socket" And you need to add a generic RGB amplifier as well. So, it seems quite simple and non destructive. The encoder may even already be in RGB mod since the unit only have composite out. Either way a RGB mod would be invisible; the only issue would be the video out. I'd recommand to use a mini-DIN plug like on a Megadrive 2 that wouldn't look out of place on the back of a CDi.

I mean anything CD-i related is rare at this point... and RGB modding isn't destructive on the CD-i machines I know.

Seems to be a rare non-Philips model, and meant for industrial use, cool! More pics and infos welcome. Answer for your question is "Most likely yes" but we wouldn't know until opening it and check what's inside.

That sticker is amazing

Retro gaming is the first thing I spend money on that I pull the plug on if money get tight. I buy to keep, not to resell, so I try to be money wise on that part, always waiting and looking for the cheaper price. I have sold a few things here and there but it's not something I do commonly as, since I try to only buy what I want, I have very little in term of spares, and I very much favor offering or trading my extra stuff with friends than just selling over Internet.

Hell, you don't need to LIKE a topic to appreciate and document it : historians are usually very passionnate about their topic (s), but I can't think of major historians that are specialised in... say, World War ONE, that actually likes war. Appreciation/fascination =/= adoration

Or at least, consider it as it was. It's like comparing machines like the V-smile or the Mattel Hyperscan to a Playstation 3 : sure, all those are console sold around the same time, but their price bracket and market were so different the comparison makes as much sense as comparing a "My first computer" to a last-gen gaming rig. Of course it doesn't mean that you can't point issues at those machines, but you have to remember the goal and building of those machines. For example, you can argue that the CD-i, as a multimedia machine, didn't needed more than two action buttons. But... Let's see about the 3DO, that was sold as both a console and a multimedia machine. Especially the gamepad : So, the gamepad double as a media controller, something that is familiar to later generations of consoles as well. If we remove the "game buttons", we're left with the D-pad and Play/Pause. Like the CD-i. BUT... Here's something you rarely see in video about the CD-i controllers : Yes, all CD-i IR controllers feature at least 8 buttons in addition to the D-pad and Two action buttons! (if you are unfamiliar with the CD-i, on those remotes, Button 1 is mirrored. On the Megadrive-like pads, there is a Third button but it works by pressing button I and II at the same time) Let's not forget either that on the CD-i, for the multimedia side, the D-pad is dedicaced to moving the pointer on screen, it isn't used to fast forward or anything. Let's say that it does, in fact; that's 6 buttons off, but that leaves us with 2 extra buttons. One of them is a CDi/TV switch, so let's remove this one. It's still one extra button! The CD-i could have featured one more action button (but really, that's more like 7 extra buttons!). And that is, regardless of the machine's power and original planned use, a serious shortcoming.

Yes, I mentionned it before but didn't mentionned it again for the earliest one that works like a memory card, as despite being older than the Neo Geo Memory card, it isn't a memory card in the traditionnal sense. It isn't so convoluted once you understand that the Ten No Koe Bank doesn't copy your gave saves, but simply makes a dump of the CD-ROM (Or the Ten No Koe PC-Engine back attachement) whole memory. AKA It's more like a memory card copier than a memory card itself.

For local curiosities, I took pics of the French "big box" releases. Which are not the US longboxes (I have asked and that format seems to have never been released in Europe in general... At least not enough to have left memories of such a thing) Anyway; it seems that the French branch of Philips Media tried to release CD-i games in big boxes, maybe to make the systems looks even more "computer" than it was perceived? From what I could find, only 7 titles were released in that format (I do not own them all). As you can see from the LBA box, it's pretty much PC standard. Also yes, there is even at least one "third party" title, as the 7st Guest is also the CD-i version. Once inside, the "real" CD is a standard European version : So overall it's a fancier extra case for a regular CD-i software, with an added, "better" instruction manual in French only, and sometime goodies (like here, an envelope with game codes. Still sealed )

The Neo Geo AES was released in 1991, the VIS in 1992. So at least the Neo Geo AES beat it to it. It's pretty much a memory card : play your game, it will seamlessly save on it. No need to do tricks or use a save data explorer outside of a game.

It feels like Sweden got a rich, lively history with video games in the 80's. Or maybe it's just that you report it widely here.

I meant two version as in, two mouldings, one for the Megadrive I and the Megadrive II as it was the topic board revisions are different. It may be to reduce interference, to make the assembly easier, to use less or cheaper components, etc.

At least in Europe this accessory was popular enough to grant a second version existing; plus, the first version came out with the first Megadrive. The 32X was a last ditch effort to keep the Megadrive alive, so they didn't bothered making two versions. However they bothered changing the name and logo for all regions for some reason...

Usually I open it as the "smell" is equally inside. I clean the most I can, then I leave everything at the sun, as the UV degrades most organic molecules that cause most smells. Then I put those devices in my gaming room or in the house, exposed, so it get my household "smell"

I found a PS4 in a trahsbin. Lacking the top part, loosened screws. Picking it up, I plugged it in, and it booted, only to stop after warning it got too hot. After checking, it seems that whoever tried to clean it (it was awfully dusty) didn't looked very long : the top part was missing but a part was broken and stayed on the console. Two sticky caches for the bottom shell were missing, but a third one was still there, untouched. The top metallic plate was bend, because it is held by two screws from the bottom so they couldn't remove it fully. After cleaning it, and reseating all parts alright.... It's been running smoothly for the past 4 hours, so I guess... Easy fix, free console?

Yeah I probably mixed the Mega CD and the Saturn memory carts I guess cost was a factor, especially in 1994. Writing speeds might have been a factor, Flash RAM could have been too slow for some games or due to hardware issues, causing save data corruption. This would explain why some games can only save on the console internal memory (OFC discounting games requiring an expansion cart).

So I popped open a Saturn memory card and it was Flsh inside, no battery. But there was a capacitor inside that may be prone to leakage. I can't conclude that all carts uses Flash, but that's good to know.

She's a playable chanracter in the PC-E version too, tho as you need to find her to unlock her, it's not quite a "main character". However she's kind of a cheat code, given how overpowered she is