jferio

Meh, knockoffs are fine by me if the quality is good, and probably preferred for displaying/playing with. Those commemorative ones were all pretty good. Not only do you have a nice setup, but you surround it with classy gear. Bat'leths and robots. Rock on! I've put some effort into making the room my "inner sanctum", complete with the stuff I like. Most of my posters live on the walls of it. I'm not ready to give up the idea of being childish sometimes, otherwise there's no point in being all grown up. My next goal is to try to get a better solution for all those controllers... preferably that doesn't add a noticeable 'kipple' effect to the look.

The gestalt Transformers are all knockoffs, sadly. Magnus is the commemorative rerelease they sold at Toys R Us, as is Smokescreen in front of him and Tracks off to the side. The Bat'leth on the wall was a gift from my ex-wife, who was at one point in one of the local Klingon groups here.

29" television, lots of game storage, and a less than ideal controller storage solution. For the record, consoles in the pictures: Sega Genesis Model 1, with Sega CD Model 2 and Power Base Converter Nintendo Entertainment System, both models Super Nintendo Entertainment System Atari 7800 Nintendo Gamecube Microsoft Xbox Halo Edition Sony Playstation Two Mattel Intellivision (in the case) Atari Flashback 2 Not pictured: Sega Game Gear Nintendo Gameboy Advance

I still have mine, complete with the battery door. And it still works, although I had to dremel off the crud from a corroded battery that I'd accidentally left inside it.

Most of my issue with SNES saves wasn't that it would erase them outright or prevent saving... it's that from time to time the connection between the game and the particular Genie wasn't very solid. I have lost saves through the use of the Genie on account of that. I've since sworn off using external cheat devices entirely.

<old man voice>Why, when I was your age, kid, we had one button, and we were just plain happy to have that one button. And we didn't have even multicolored sprites, we had a misshapen, blocky, single color hollow duck!</old man voice>

I used the 1/8" Mono Phone Jack, Part # 274-0251. For consistency, I wired the center as positive like the 2600 power supply.

Sounds like it's time for DigitPress to get together with the PTB at Wikipedia, figure out who it is, and go after him themselves for basically getting them blacked out.

When I did mine, I cut the pin on a socket, desoldered the chip, and soldered the socket into its place. Mostly because I didn't feel comfortable damaging the chip itself. Works like a champ.

Commodore 64 Plug 'n' Play Joystick Unit, $3. Glad I listened to my instincts today, that one thrift's been good to me over the years in terms of consoles.

I'll add a third comment on the NES, but that's in part because I spent so much time on the refurbishment of my own toaster here that I won't risk screwing it up by leaving a cart in it. On the other hand, I prefer to keep my games on the media shelf, so I don't have to go hunting for a game I want to play, then smack my forehead because it was in the console the whole time...

Ok I used the wall wart on my other 7800 and it worked fine. So I put Crossbow in and held it in and was able to get it working on the s-video modded 7800. Then I unplugged it and tried another 7800 and it did not work. So again I tried crossbow and this time it did not work. What are those knobs for inside the 7800. They are kind of like the pokey knob in the 5200 but there are two of them labeled R57 and R58. The knobs are typically video adjustment pots, I wouldn't touch those. From the sound of it, the bits of the cart connector that relate to 7800 games may be marginal. I'd get some Blue Shower from an electronics store, hit a common 7800 cart (like Pole Position II) on the connector with it, wiggle it in and out of the 7800's connector, then let it dry. If you only have Crossbow, I'd actually tend to suspect the cart. Give its connector a good cleaning with alcohol and a swab.

The 'wall wart' is the little power pack you plug into the wall (so called because the bulk of it is basically on the wall when you plug it into a regular outlet). Sometimes, they stop delivering the juice they're rated for. The 7800 side of things requires more than the 2600 side, so when it goes marginal, that's the symptom you get. The SVideo mod would likely not be the culprit, but that's my guess.

I had this problem a few months ago. It turned out I'd bumped the switch on the little universal wall wart I use with it (my 7800 is modded to use a standard connector), so it wasn't delivering power at the correct spec. It was giving enough to drive the 2600 portion, but not enough to drive the 7800 stuff. So you might try a different wall wart with it, see if that clears it up.

Oddly, the PBC does work with the Genesis 2, but only after cosmetic surgery to remove part of it that hangs over the back. It's only the Genesis 3 that it won't actually work with regardless, and that's because the 3 uses a variant Z80 that's not really compatible. Yes, I've got one, and it already was altered when I got it. The 2 did have a specific version of the PBC, in the form of a cartridge (basically Game Genie sized), but it was Europe only.

I dunno, I managed to snag one, with power supply, dog bone controller, and RF pack, for under $20 at a thrift out here. Of course, YMMV immensely.

Heh, I've got one of these, I had to 'rebuild' it by installing the guts of a Sony digital stick, the encoding chip in it apparently died on me. It's a good stick otherwise, $6 is a really good price for it. It made playing the fighting games and classic games packages that much more playable to me.

Just grab that mushroom, and pull on it until it pops off the aluminum shaft. That's how I disassembled one for parts for my Space Invaders 7800 stick. It's only held on by friction, but it's quite a LOT of friction the first time.

I'd check your local battery replacement store, like a Batteries Plus. They carry the CR2032 coin cells, and I'm willing to bet they also stock in some solder-in holders that will make it work with the cart board.

Of giving me his old video game stuff as gifts. Last year, it was the Donkey Kong tabletop by Coleco. This year, it was the Galaxian. I think I'm gonna be guessing which one will show up next year.

My guess is, the ROM manufacturing industry has a similar problem to the printing industry. Unless a shop is clear on policy about files, no shop can throw away ANY file/information. (We've had customers come in after TEN YEARS wanting to reorder jobs we had art for.) So it's likely that some exec placed a reorder after the order of ROMs that were changed, without knowing, and requested the old file. Yes, the place could've looked, and seen there was a new file. However, in most cases, if a customer says, "we'd like more of this," you give them more of that, even if there's a more recent file to go with. Of course, I might also be blowing smoke.

At that level, there really isn't a way to get an analog gamepad. The digital gamepad is about as close as you're going to get without prevailing upon a modder with some presented money to make one that works.

If she's used to the gamepad that ships with the Playstation, then it might be better to go for a Genesis or Master System gamepad to start with. Most people I know use what they're used to, unless forced to by gameplay considerations. I know people who prefer to use sticks when they have the option, and others who prefer to use gamepads, and then those who just don't care.

As an additional, cough up the 'piracy fee', so to speak, and get the blue dye audio CDs, since they provide higher contrast. Granted, I didn't have the same problem, but as always, YMMV.

I'll play with emulation if I'm in a hurry, or it's something I don't have. But on the whole, I'm into the ritual. Plugging in the controller, inserting the cart or disc, and finally pressing that big power button or flipping that huge switch. Yes, this means despite the fact that I can play 'em for free in the comfort of my own home, I'll occasionally get together with friends and hit a real, bonafide arcade, where the machines still actually take quarters. Because I need the ritual in my life.