RARusk

I will be doing another FAQ Writing panel at San Japan (anime/gaming convention) this weekend. It will be held in Room 210 at the Convention Center on Saturday at 10 AM when the con opens. Unfortunately, I was not able to submit the Godzilla in gaming panel because Matt is doing another con in another state the same weekend. I will do another round of PAX South submissions when the window opens later in the year.

I believe it was custom. If it was some kind of standard then it would be easy to create third party digital-to-component video (or RGB and HDMI) cables and not bother with Nintendo's over priced first party brand.

Or, at the bare minimum, glue a couple of pieces of plastic to the sides to ensure that it can't move sideways when plugged in. If I had the device myself that would be the first thing I would do after I make sure that it worked.

The late Radio Shack had a device that you could hook to the back of the TV that could convert HDMI into Component. Don't know of anybody else that made a similar device.

You don't need an adapter - if you have the security screw bit then open up the N64 and remove the tabs inside the cartridge slot in the top of the case with a knife or Dremel.

Where to begin..... The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay and Assault on Dark Athena are well done games if just a little easy. The fact that Vin Diesel and multiple name actors lend their voices to them make this even better. Although I haven't read the comic books I also liked The Darkness. BTW, all three of these games were made by the same studio, Starbreeze Studios, and I liked these games enough to write text guides on them for GameFAQs. Turok 2: Seeds of Evil I felt was not only the single best looking game on the N64 I also thought it was one of the best. Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion was also pretty good. And let's not forget Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. A little surprised that Goldeneye didn't get a mention but maybe you wanted to focus on games other than that since GE is probably the most famous of the licensed titles. Going further back there is also Red Storm Rising, based on the late Tom Clancy's book, for the Commodore 64. MicroProse kicked some serious ass back in the day and that is probably their best work. BTW, they held a contest called the Red Storm Rising Ultimate Challenge back in 1988 and I finished eighth overall. My copies of the battle disks are hosted here on AtariAge somewhere. And this old blog post goes into detail into several licensed games I felt were good.

Game Over Videogames is probably your best bet. There are three locations down here.

Regarding the end of the video where MJ talks about having a similar device for the Xbox: The reason the GC device works so well is because it uses the digital port and the signal remains digital all throughout the process to HDMI. However, the Xbox does not have a similar port, it only has the analog video port. A plug-and-play device would have to convert the analog Component Video into HDMI and there are many devices that do this but they are not to the level that the new GC device is. To do digital to digital you would have to install a board that would tap into the raw digital signals off of the motherboard and install an HDMI port in the back. Thankfully there is plenty of room inside an Xbox if such a device could be made. And, while we're on the topic of "Xbox device wish lists" I would like a device that would allow me to use the Xbox One controller on both the original Xbox and the X360 (and one to use my PS4 controller on the PS1, 2, and 3).

The fact that it is also Twin Peaks in vidgame form adds to its appeal. It also has a very fascinating development history and worth checking out. I have played through the X360 version, the PS3 Director's Cut version, and the PS3 import version (Red Seeds Profile).

Here's an interesting question. Many of these utility discs offer game save compression and decompression. FMCB and related folder cannot be seen by the cheat discs so you can't just copy them over which is why we have all these different methods to create these special MCs. Is it possible to compress FMCB and folder into something that these programs, like GameShark, will recognize? Basically the idea goes like this: --Compress FMCB and folder on PC side. --Transfer programs to USB drive. --Run GameShark on PS2 side. --Put in USB drive. --Find compressed files and transfer them over to Memory Card. --Uncompress files on MC which should cause compressed files to disappear and leave you with a "blank" card (the programs should be there but GameShark can't see them). --Remove disc and reboot PS2 which should cause FMCB to come up. Of course, the biggest question is what kind of algorithm did these companies use to compress game saves. If this question can be answered and a small program can be made to use this information to make "crushed" PS2 game save files that GameShark can recognize and "uncrush" then it would greatly simplify being able to make FMCB cards.

If you come to the south Texas area we have the excellent Game Over video game store chain.

GEOS 2.0

Very interesting. I do have a bunch of OG Xbox games so I will be keeping an eye on this. When they did this on the 360 it was very hit and miss so hopefully they will do a much better job this time. Another key question is will you be able to transfer your old game saves from the OG Xbox to the Xbox One? And will you be able to transfer locked saves such as the ones for most of the Tecmo games like DOA 3?

Dude, this was the Game Boy of the seventies. Had a couple of them myself.

This topic needs more popcorn:

Dodo, GTA III.

I'm sorry - I misread you. Hmmmm......it's possible that those who created these programs never considered that someone would want to transfer PS1 saves this way and didn't program it to recognize the PS1 formatting. That's my guess anyway.

I don't think you can just "copy and paste" the program. I believe there is an install program that comes with the package that you have to run in order to install to another MC. Mind you, it's been a long time since I messed with FMCB so I could be wrong.

Yes, you can put your modded memory stick into any PSP and it should work fine as long as it has the same system firmware as the previous unit.

True but monitor technology is improving steadily. I think the next step is to introduce RGB interface boards for these flat screen arcade monitors that allow you to do gradient scanlining and filtering to allow you to create a more old school look. Once they get the kinks out of OLED and make then more affordable plus the addition of Quantum Dot technology we may see flat screen monitors that not only meet but exceed CRT standards at some point in the near future.

Isn't the data layer made of aluminum or some other metal? If so is it possible to run the disc through a small magnetic field and read the minor fluctuations for the ones and zeros to at least make an archival copy to later put onto SD Cards and the like? Or would scratches in the plastic interfere with that too?