What have you learned this year that might be useful to others?

[Austin]

2015 has been a busy year for me when it comes to gaming, and in it I've experienced a lot of new things. For some of us, we've been gaming for so long that sometimes we assume we already know everything when it comes to older platforms. However, we can find ourselves surprised every now and then if we open our minds and experiment a bit. That said, I thought it would be useful to start a thread where people can post things they learned this year (or any year to come). Little things or big things, obvious or not, if you recently discovered something that you think may be useful to the enjoyment of the classic videogame hobby for someone else, feel free to post it here! Just try to keep it positive.

 

Here are some things I learned over this year. If I can think of more, I'll post them as I remember them:

 

1. Saturn 3D Control Pad compatibility for games that released before the 3D Control pad existed!

I assumed that only games that were released after the 3D Control Pad's availability were compatibile with the analog functions. However, I found recently I was wrong. Many early Sega Saturn games that support either the Sega Arcade Racer or the flight stick are actually compatible with the 3D Control Pad's analog functions! Sega Rally, Cyber Speedway (Gran Chaser), F1 Challenge, and a bunch of others I tried worked. In some cases (like with Sega Rally), you have to reboot the system with the controller in the analog setting, but with many you can flip the switch on the fly and the game will recognize the change without needing to power cycle (in the case of Cyber Speedway). This makes the 3D Control Pad a much more interesting asset to the Saturn than I once gave it credit for.

 

2. The 3DO version of Wolfenstein 3D has the original six-episode PC levels in it (making for 90 levels total)!

I always had the impression that Wolfenstein 3D on the 3DO only had the basic 30 trimmed down and modified level set (dubbed "The Original Encounter") that the Jaguar version had. However, I found just recently that the six episodes you can choose outside of that are recreations of the original six episodes featured in the computer versions of the game. This makes for about three times as much game as I originally thought there was. I know this sounds obvious to some, but I always thought the six episodes you could pick were just checkpoints of some kind for the "Original Encounter".

[7800fan]

Don't fall for eBay bidding war. When you have a set price, stick with it. Don't try to re-bid just because you lost, you might end up playing more than you intended in the end.

 

Old LCD can be replaced easily. We got easy to use new Lynx and GG LCD.

Edited December 31, 2015 by 7800fan

[+thegoldenband]

1. The GDI-700M model of CD-i, made by LG, works like a dream.

 

I read up on which model of CD-i to get, and this seemed like a clear winner. There's almost nothing out there about this unit, and one of the few sources to talk about it hints that some games are incompatible, but I haven't had a single issue. It reads CDRs perfectly (at least Taiyo Yudens), has a built-in DVC, can output both PAL and NTSC, and has a user-replaceable Timekeeper battery.

 

2. Some games offer passwords you can't really use -- if you want the best ending.

 

Examples include Marsupilami (Genesis) and Shamus (Game Boy Color). Beat them in one sitting or you'll get a bad ending!

 

3. Jimmy Connors Tennis is buggy on multiple platforms.

 

The ending of the SNES version tells you to play on a higher difficulty, even if you've played on the highest difficulty, while the Game Boy game reverses your name with the CPU's and makes it look like the CPU won!

 

4. You don't actually have to find the Holy Grail to beat Tower of Doom's Grail Quest (on the Intellivision).

 

More in the Tower of Doom thread here.

 

5. If you get stuck in Seaman (Dreamcast), try turning up the lights.

 

Our playthrough came to a screeching halt, late in the game, until I randomly tried turning the lights up to the brightest setting (which Seaman normally dislikes). Boom, he could suddenly see the object we needed his help with.

[Hyperboy]

When storing a human head in the refrigerator you should always use the crisper.

[mbd30]

After getting my NES and playing lots of games on real hardware, I've learned that what everyone says about lag is true. Games where I could barely make progress playing on PC on an emulator e.g. "NInja Gaiden III" and "Jackal" I've been able to conquer on a real NES on a CRT, and I've gotten further in "Battletoads" than I ever thought I would. "Ninja Gaiden III" in particular is unplayable with a high degree of input lag. Split second reaction times are required.

[omegadot]

Maybe it's obvious but I found out I can move my saves over from the Wii SNES emulator to the SD2SNES and they are detected. I was happy since I didn't really feel like redoing the first 5 hours of Chrono Trigger.

[Austin]

1. The GDI-700M model of CD-i, made by LG, works like a dream.

 

I read up on which model of CD-i to get, and this seemed like a clear winner. There's almost nothing out there about this unit, and one of the few sources to talk about it hints that some games are incompatible, but I haven't had a single issue. It reads CDRs perfectly (at least Taiyo Yudens), has a built-in DVC, can output both PAL and NTSC, and has a user-replaceable Timekeeper battery.

 

Is the GDI-700M one of the portable models? Oh, wait.. Actually, I think I know which one you are talking about. I recall those popping up relatively infrequently. I'd like to have another CD-i on hand for streaming, so I'll have to keep an eye out for that model. My 450 was nearly unusable due to the Time Keeper issue.

 

[78001987]

5. If you get stuck in Seaman

EWW,

[jfitzenr]

1. Old Tech may be unreliable but CHEAP new-tech is worse

 

This is probably obvious to most but.... Seriously.

 

I've always played, bought and sold, etc. NES with original controllers (or the Advantage). They go sticky and bad, and I've replaced plenty of squishy doofers in my time, but this year I bought some third-party new NES knockoff repro controllers, a few cheapo power supplies...

 

What a complete and utter disaster most of those purchases were. I mean I've had better luck with a broken NES spending 10 minutes with a toothbrush and tweezers fixing a 30 year old 72 Pin Connector than I have with any of the cheap replacements that are ostensibly brand new. What the french, toast? I'm sure there are high-quality modern-manufactured thangs, but wow. Don't buy the cheapo stuff.

 

2. I'm extremely bad at Donkey Kong. Like really bad.

 

I seem to realize this every year, but this year was extra special because I managed to play the original DK in the wild at a few different places over the course of the year and holy hell, how can anybody be good at this game? I realize this is not useful to others but I need to express it because I generally consider myself above-average at video games, and very good at some. But DK is fricking hard to the Nth degree and I don't get it and why can't I do it? Damn monkey.

 

3. If you're going to Save State, learn to Save State

 

I finally decided to give Kaizo Mario World a real go last year. I didn't finish it yet but made some solid progress... generally I have only used save-states to say, pause a game in new spots, etc and this was my first go at really using/abusing them. I want to stress to anybody that's playing ANYTHING; Save States are a skill too. If you're not careful and don't think things through you will at best cost yourself time and frustration, and at worst (flashbacks to those old adventure games on PC) ruin your game and cost yourself tons of progress. Save States in a very real sense are 'cheating,' but if you're going to use and abuse them for any reason, this is a style of cheating you're going to have to practice at, or else it's going to make you throw controllers.

 

4. Some of these stupid little games we play are timeless.

 

I am a musician and teacher. I have a guitar student that was super-stoked that he got an NES and Megaman 2 for Christmas. He's 12. He was trying to figure out the Metal Man tune by ear. When he was BORN, the game was 15 years old. He's 12. Another high-school aged student got an Atari Flashback for Christmas. These games, their graphics, music, vibe, etc. can still captivate people of all ages and that's incredible.

 

5. A lot of these stupid little games we play are just stupid

 

Seriously. Try getting anywhere in Donkey Kong. That f**ing game.

[+thegoldenband]

EWW,

 

You know, I tried to find a fireproof way of phrasing that, but I guess it's just an impossible task.

 

 

Is the GDI-700M one of the portable models? Oh, wait.. Actually, I think I know which one you are talking about. I recall those popping up relatively infrequently. I'd like to have another CD-i on hand for streaming, so I'll have to keep an eye out for that model. My 450 was nearly unusable due to the Time Keeper issue.

 

That's the one! I bid for one on Ebay that went for over $100, but then a second one showed up and the bidding didn't go nearly as high. I think both were remaindered from an educational institution or something similar. They're fairly hard to find, and almost no one talks about them, but mine runs like a dream.