FujiSkunk

Wow, that thing must be fast!

Well, if Kosmic sees the same thing when using the actual cartridge on a emulator clone, then it probably isn't the dumpers' fault, and the ROM out there is "correct" at least as far as preserving the cartridge image is concerned. Something about Gauntlet messes up too, and it's amusing that it messes up the same way on both the NES Classic and most NoaC clones. I can confirm that glitch also happens with actual cartridges on not-actual NES hardware.

I've been having fun loading up the NES Classic with games this evening. I've got it up to 67 counting the original 30, and I think that's where I'm going to stop, at least for now. For those who are as anal as me about games being named and ordered correctly, I've noticed a few things: At least with the current tools, you can't rename or change any other info about the original 30 games. So, if you want added sequels to order properly with the on-board games, you'll have to follow the naming conventions of the on-board games. That means using names like "DOUBLE DRAGON III: The Sacred Stones" (caps before the colon, Roman numeral III), "Castlevania III Dracula's Curse" (no colon, Roman numeral III), and "MEGA MAN™ 3" (all caps, TM symbol, number 3). Oddly the Mega Man sequels still won't show "4", "5", or "6" (I think I might know why; more on that below), but at least they'll order correctly with Mega Man 2 this way. Along the same lines, if you want the games to list properly when ordered by publisher, you have to use the names of the current companies that own these games. For Nintendo, Capcom and Konami, the names are the same, but for both Taito and Square, you have to use "Square Enix", for Bandai and Namco you have to use "Bandai Namco", and for Tecmo you have to use "Koei Tecmo". Other companies like Tengen and Mindspring that didn't have any on-board games, you can use what you want. For whatever odd reason, it seems capital letter X and all numbers except 2 and 3 will not show up in game titles. Xevious becomes "evious", KLAX becomes "KLA", 1942 becomes "2", and so on. Fortunately the games will still load, but OCD'ers be warned. Other observations: Extra-audio games appear to be a no-go, sadly. The list of supported mappers seems to be set in stone, and if I understand things correctly, MMC5 is the only supported mapper that offers extra audio. The U.S. version of Castlevania III uses MMC5 and so it will load, but the music was purposefully gimped since U.S. NES's can't play the extra channels. There is a small handful of MMC5 games that use extra audio, but apparently they don't use it much, and I didn't hear anything dramatically different when I tried one of them (JustBreed). Unlicensed games aren't necessarily a problem, and I've loaded several Tengen titles on mine. Unfortunately a lot of Tengen games use unsupported mappers, so I have to do without certain favorites like Road Runner. The good news is some Tengen titles had Japanese releases that used different mappers. That's how I got KLAX... excuse me, "KLA" to play. The demo mode seems to select only on-board games, even as it scrolls through the full list. Mario is an absolute dick to Luigi in the screen saver.

Yes, it's been suggested there isn't necessarily an upper limit enforced by software, but after a while games and save states start competing for space. I think it was on the GBATemp forum where I read if you put 90 games on the system you have room for only about 16 save states. I plan on capping mine at 60 to 70, at least for this first go-round.

I haven't tried it yet myself, but they might work. The GBATemp forum thread states the emulator supports mappers 0 (NROM), 1 (MMC1), 2 (UxROM), 3 (CNROM), 4 (MMC3), 5 (MMC5), 7 (AxROM), 9 (MMC2) and 10 (MMC4). MMC5 boasts extra sound channels, so it's worth a shot. The VRC6 used in some Famicom games apparently isn't supported, so Castlevania III may be off the table. Either way, once I'm back home I'll give it a shot just for giggles. I did try some other Famicom exclusives like Dig Dug and Galaxian, and they worked fine. Granted those don't exactly demand a lot of resources, but it's nice to see there isn't any kind of internal region filtering going on. I did notice some games end up with mangled names for some reason, even after using the utility from GBATemp to change the name. Xevious became Evious and the 4th, 5th and 6th Mega Mans became simply Mega Man. Mega Man 3 kept its full title for whatever reason.

It's... BEAUTIFUL!!

Not exactly a Flash app, but someone has developed a one-stop-shop app now (scroll down to the "easy way" section of the article).

A slight tangent, if I may... You ain't kiddin'. For a while back in the '90s, my roommate's computer was one of those beige monstrosities, a huge tower that sat on the floor. I forget the specs, but by the time I saw it, it was probably two or three years old, and so not the greatest thing on the block. Even so, whenever anyone saw it, the first thing they'd say was, "Wow, your computer must be fast!"

Yes.

Pre-made ones on eBay will likely get shut down the moment someone complains. And people will complain. I've got one and I'm looking long and hard at this hack. At the very least, I believe I'll get it to where my XP box can read the Classic's file system. Then I'll decide if I'm brave enough to muck with the file system. I don't have any desire to go hog wild with adding new games, but just a few more and this system really will be the perfect nostalgia engine. Contra, Tetris, Battletoads, Popeye, Kung Fu, maybe the remaining Mega Man, Castlevania, Double Dragon and black-label launch titles... my needs are small.

Edited bump. All recently added Game Cube titles are now sold. A loose "Greatest Hits" disc of Spyro the Dragon for the PlayStation. The disc has some noticeable scratches, but nothing that looks seirous. Of course I will test the disc before selling it. Asking $5. Sold! Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the Game Cube. The case is a little worse for wear, with scuffing, stickers and sticker residue, but it is also fully intact and still snaps shut. The manual is in good shape, and the disc has just a few minor scratches. Asking $15. Sold! Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix for the Wii. The case and manual have some minor wear, and the disc has a few minor scratches. Asking $8. Sold!

Oooohhh...

I'm kind of in between. At least for my little history project, I'm interested in getting the best video a system has to offer with the original hardware. For 8-bit and 16-bit systems, that usually means S-video, though a couple only offer composite at best, while a few others actually support RGB. Anything greater than that requires swapping out some innards, and I'm not as interested in pursuing that. I will admit to buying a component-enabled NES, because I thought that would be fun to have for playing on the big screen.

Oh you don't have to sell me on the system. I mentioned before that I wasn't willing to put up with or subject anyone else to the holiday mess that surrounded the release, but I was interested in it. After my mother surprised me with one, I played the heck out of Bubble Bobble and Dr. Mario during my Christmas break. It's a fine little box, and I've enjoyed it more than I thought I would. If I have any complaint at all, it's that I think they should have included Contra instead of Super C. But Super C is good too, so that's a minor nitpick.

Funny little coincidence. I checked my NES cartridge collection and discovered I have 1, 3, 4 and 6 of the Mega Man series. The NES Classic offers Mega Man 2. I'm one step closer to the complete set, in one form or another!

Atari 2600 consoles can be modded for stereo, because the board has discrete circuits for each of the two audio channels. Once upon a time the 2600 was even planned to be a stereo console, and a small handful of the earliest games, including Combat, were programmed with this in mind. So it's not too terribly outrageous to ask if a 2600 emulator or modern-day remake supports stereo. I think I'd be surprised if any of the Flashbacks did support stereo, but not jaw-droppingly so.

Tombstone offered a good deal a game I'd been seeking for a while. I couldn't have asked for a better transaction. Many thanks!

Many thanks to Tombstone for offering Tomcat. That's one more game off the list! This was the last of the Activision/Absolute Three yet to be collected, and now I can boast having all 48 games published by Activision and Absolute in the United States! Since Activision was by far the most prolific publisher for the Atari 2600 outside of Atari itself, I do believe this is the largest complete company/region collection I have for any console. I've posted a picture of this collection here, the first of a collection gallery that I'll hopefully add to Real Soon Now. In the meantime, it's time to shine the light on another fugitive... Just like with California Games, I played Apple II Lode Runner extensively while growing up, but I never have actually owned it in the legal/collector's sense. I intend to fix that!

Usually. This is not the case with the XBox 360 and its frequent RROD's in the first round of machines.

Picture of Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage now available: The disc and manual are in good shape. Asking $12. Also be sure to check out the latest thrift-store bump for details on my January shipping sale!

Edited bump. Another chance at a complete Mario Kart Wii with steering wheel! The disc has some minor scratches, while the packaging is in good shape. Asking $20. Sold! New Super Marios Bros Wii. with its original red case. The disc has a few minor scratches and the cover insert has some minor fading along the upper edge. The manual isn't here, but all the rest of the original paperwork is here. Asking $10. Sold!