Retrogaming! Games,consoles,setups,displays,modding and emulation! Up to PS2 Era

[porkbun]

Got a break from changing my newborn's diapers and played through Robo Army on NeoGeo Arcade Archives.  Decent but shallow beat em up with the hook that you can turn into a car and run over robots.

Also completed my Tiny Arcade set by finding Galaxian at Toys R Us.

[ThePhantomBlot]

The PSP is legit, and I love that it's still possible to find games brand new on amazon for decent prices ($30 or so for Persona 1? Nice). I went with the PSP Go back when it came out and thought I was so cool for "future proofing" my collection by going digital, but I hate that fact that so many games were never released on PSN, like the Final Fantasy I and II remakes or Crisis Core.

(It is worth it for hooking up to a TV and linking to a dualshock 3, though.  )

All that said, I went back a few years ago and snagged a PSP-3000 and I've been content ever since.

Some random tidbits:
-Retro USB's "AVS" NES/famicom clone system is my jam. I highly recommend the console for any lazy/cheap slobs like myself who are too cheap to get an Analogue NT mini, but still want those old games in HD. I haven't tried the wireless controller for it, though.

-On the topic of clone consoles, has anyone here tried Cyber Gadget's "Retro Freak" multi-console? The fansite tinycartridge had some nice coverage for it, and from reviews on youtube it seems pretty cool. Moreso than a Retron 5, anyway.

[AdmiralViscen]

I'm pretty sure I have digital FF1&2 on my PSP

[ThePhantomBlot]

Do you mean via the Final Fantasy Origins PS1 compilation or the full remakes?  I know the remakes are up on the European PSN, but they aren’t up in the US for whatever reason. Or were they up and then delisted?

[bork]

The PSP Go would have been total garbage, but with CFW it's awesome...no need to worry about what's on PSN when you can just download and install all the games yourself. 

Haven't played mine in a few years already, though.  Especially now with the GPD WIN out there.  That has become my one-stop emulation machine.  Actually have been thinking about getting a GPD XD as well, since there's a few emulators that work better on Android and I know I'm going to inevitably get rid of the WIN when the WIN 2 is out in a year or so.

[Rich!]

If the switch gets blown wide open, I don't think I'd need anything else for a retro emulator setup

Apart from a joycon with a dpad

[AdmiralViscen]

Do you mean via the Final Fantasy Origins PS1 compilation or the full remakes?  I know the remakes are up on the European PSN, but they aren’t up in the US for whatever reason. Or were they up and then delisted?

Now that you mention it, it's probably origins. I forgot what a mess squares re releases are

[Rusty Shackleford]

Play the FF PSP remakes for better graphics and easy easy easy mode (introduction of MP, gold/exp significantly increased, EXP table values halved, auto re-target). Play Origins for the old school challenge (still retains D&D style spell charges, almost as much grinding as NES versions, original EXP level tables).

[AdmiralViscen]

Just play DQ3 instead

[paprikastaude]

I got a PSP recently with a relatively cheap Dracula X Chronicles. Been a little off-put by SotN being displayed in a frame in the already small PSP screen, especially since SotN physcial was my main reason for getting it. Luckily, Rondo of Blood is pretty ace.
Also got Breath of Fire 3 and Valkyrie Profile. Not sure whether I continue the former, it seems a little too slow and time consuming compared to BoF4. VP seems like Vagrant Story, as in you need a guide to make sense of any of the mechanics, which I'm not too fond of. But since VP was one of the main reasons for getting a PSP, I guess I'll try it again later at some point.

[Rich!]

Right, this is definitely my last big purchase this year.

http://abload.de/img/screenshot_20171101-162sag.png

http://retrorgb.com/ultrahdmi.html

UltraHDMI board for the N64. Came to £135 after shipping which is fine as I can sell my current RGB modded N64 for £100 easy. Gonna be a few months until I get it though.

[kingv]

Been talking to my wife about my Xmas present and it’s between a Super Nintendo mini, or a Apple Pi setup with the intention of just putting retro games on it.

Any advances to the Super Nintendo classic over the PI? I’m assuming emulators in 2017 can now handle all Super fx chips, etc and the emulation is pretty much perfect?

[demi]

Servicable, not perfect

[tiesto]

I got a PSP recently with a relatively cheap Dracula X Chronicles. Been a little off-put by SotN being displayed in a frame in the already small PSP screen, especially since SotN physcial was my main reason for getting it. Luckily, Rondo of Blood is pretty ace.
Also got Breath of Fire 3 and Valkyrie Profile. Not sure whether I continue the former, it seems a little too slow and time consuming compared to BoF4. VP seems like Vagrant Story, as in you need a guide to make sense of any of the mechanics, which I'm not too fond of. But since VP was one of the main reasons for getting a PSP, I guess I'll try it again later at some point.

Slow compared to BOF4? I remember BOF4 had really sluggish controls and was really slow, not to mention the environments were so cramped it was hard to tell where you were going. I've played 1,3,4,5 and think 4 is probably the weakest so far (we'll see once I finally give 2 a shot).

[paprikastaude]

They both have battles that take way too long to load and animate attacks. But at least BoF4's dungeons are only like 2 rooms large and there's no world map, so you can finish it in like 30 hours max. BoF3 just seems completely bloated on top of the slow gameplay, plus I thought the story/presentation in 4 was more engaging.

[demi]

BOF3's only terrible part is when you have to deal with Sunder and Balio the horses. WE ESCAPED! Nevermind now we got caught. WE ESCAPED AGAIN!

Huuuuge sore spot. Once you become an adult I think it gets way better.

[thisismyusername]

BoF3's loading is significantly cut if you're using an overclocked PSP (or emulator), from what I recall I never had an issue with the load times. Just the high encounter rate.

I started 4 when it was put up on PSN but I never finished it.

[Rufus]

BoF 4 is my 2nd favourite among the ones I've played (3, 4, and 5). There's just something really appealing about the art.

Timu, did you get far enough to find Nina's sister?

[paprikastaude]

I played a little bit after the child chapters until I saw in a guide that I'm not even 20% through or something and bailed out.

[porkbun]

Playing around with the Wii in my son's nursery and I still had some Wii points.  I used them for Fighting Street.  Why oh why?  The game is horrible.  I'm surprised it ever actually got a sequel and spawned one of the biggest game series ever.

[samfish]

Been talking to my wife about my Xmas present and it’s between a Super Nintendo mini, or a Apple Pi setup with the intention of just putting retro games on it.

Any advances to the Super Nintendo classic over the PI? I’m assuming emulators in 2017 can now handle all Super fx chips, etc and the emulation is pretty much perfect?

I did exactly this project over the weekend. Got the SNES Pi case, 2 8BitDo wireless controllers and everything.

The games all play fine. I haven’t noticed anything too glaringly wrong, but I also probably have low standards.

Things I don’t like are how the system doesn’t ever turn off. There is no way to power it down or put it to sleep without buying a special switch. I also don’t feel comfortable not having a keyboard hooked up to it yet. I keep having to go in and tweak settings, but hopefully that won’t happen much longer. Like last night for some reason my system volume was turned all the way down somehow and I couldn’t exit out of the config screen with just the controller so I had to hook the keyboard back up.
I also don’t like how the select button acts as your hot key. How the fuck am I supposed to switch monkeys in DKC? Assigning it to something else didn’t seem to make it work at all.

I also don’t like how if your controller has analog sticks, you can’t use them in place of the d-pad. I think you can custom configure the controls for every game, but that’s a bit of a pain.

It’s alright, overall. I suspect the SNES Classic is an overall better user experience.

[paprikastaude]

Playing around with the Wii in my son's nursery and I still had some Wii points.  I used them for Fighting Street.  Why oh why?  The game is horrible.  I'm surprised it ever actually got a sequel and spawned one of the biggest game series ever.

I wonder if I should still go through the hassle of getting Wii Points before the shop dies... got Chrono Trigger on DS and Rondo of Blood on PSP, so I think I should be good on the VC front? Maybe I'll get these Wiiware Final Fantasy spinoffs (unless I'm too lazy).

[benjipwns]

Playing around with the Wii in my son's nursery and I still had some Wii points.  I used them for Fighting Street.  Why oh why?  The game is horrible.  I'm surprised it ever actually got a sequel and spawned one of the biggest game series ever.

With the PC Engine only having two buttons you played something a lot closer to this version of the arcade game:




IIRC, Final Fight's arcade success led them to re-evaluate fighting games and with it Street Fighter's one-on-one aspect.

[porkbun]

Playing around with the Wii in my son's nursery and I still had some Wii points.  I used them for Fighting Street.  Why oh why?  The game is horrible.  I'm surprised it ever actually got a sequel and spawned one of the biggest game series ever.

I wonder if I should still go through the hassle of getting Wii Points before the shop dies... got Chrono Trigger on DS and Rondo of Blood on PSP, so I think I should be good on the VC front? Maybe I'll get these Wiiware Final Fantasy spinoffs (unless I'm too lazy).

I was honestly surprised that the Wii Shop still works.  Apparently they're keeping it up until the end of January 2019 (!) so they must still be making some money off of it.  It was incredibly slow to download but that my be my Wifi.

IIRC, Final Fight's arcade success led them to re-evaluate fighting games and with it Street Fighter's one-on-one aspect.

I think the original concept of the side scrolling beat em up Street Fighter was eventually used on Street Fighter 2020 on NES.

[demi]

If you dont have a hacked/pirated Wii then make sure you buy some of the more exclusive WiiShop games like Castlevania Rebirth, etc

[HardcoreRetro]

I wonder if I should still go through the hassle of getting Wii Points before the shop dies... got Chrono Trigger on DS and Rondo of Blood on PSP, so I think I should be good on the VC front? Maybe I'll get these Wiiware Final Fantasy spinoffs (unless I'm too lazy).

The first ActRaiser is pretty cool.

[paprikastaude]

I had Contra Rebirth which was really good and not a remake of anything. Too bad they didn't bother ever bringing it out elsewhere.

[Positive Touch]

can you play wiiware games on dolphin or do they only work on a real system?

[altright]

WiiWare is supported in dolphin.

[Positive Touch]

cool fuck the real wii then

[Joe Molotov]

I bought a thing today. 

[Positive Touch]

*weeps softly*

[LurkinMerkin]

This is fantastic. I’m not sure what the age range of the average bore poster is but as a borderline elderly individual yelling at clouds and frightened and confused by the modern world, retro games hit me in the nostalgia particularly hard.

I have a SNES, PS1, fat PS2, Genesis and even an old Atari 5200. But other than the ancient Atari cartridges  I have next to no games. I want to kick myself thinking of all the stuff I unloaded at Funcoland I The late 90s/early 00s. The thing that kills me most is somehow, loaning to friends and losing track, my Turbografx got lost as they can be a bit expensive to pick up and recap. (Especially if you want a TurboDuo.) Double regrets traced back to high school when I sold my Master System at a tag sale to buy the TurboGrafx. Why oh why was I so poor and dumb as a kid?

I hope to get some everdrives for the SNES and Genesis, but part of me wonders if that is just some unnecessary purist impulse. I have all the emulators and they mostly work very well. I’d also love to pick up a CRT from eBay or a tag sale but space is a bit tight in my current apartment.

As for what I’ve been actually playing recently, my brother was kind enough to loan me his Dreamcast (I bartered mine away to my roommate to settle a debt regarding our bills) so that I could play Shenmue I & II before III comes out. I’ve been having a lot of fun with Dolphin too, recently.

Speaking of the borderline elderly, there are some dorky middle aged guys with dad jokes that do a decent series on YouTube chronicling all kinds of retro systems and games, Game Sack. I’d recommend it. They are a bit corny and maybe even bland but I love it, especially when they get into lesser known stuff like the Sharp X68000.


Joe that SoM copy is gorgeous!

[Positive Touch]

most of my stuff from before Playstation got lost/sold/stole (had TWO copies of secret of mana that got snatched...), so I've tried to hold on extra tight to games I love since then. i don't have money or desire to get a crt and all that, but it's fun to bust out some classics every once in a while and remember why they're so good.

don't kick yourself too much using emulators; classic games are overpriced and some of them look or run better on pc anyways. plus it's easy to play all those great games that never initially got released here.

[LurkinMerkin]

don't kick yourself too much using emulators; classic games are overpriced and some of them look or run better on pc anyways. plus it's easy to play all those great games that never initially got released here.

True. That’s my main reasoning that if I do buy more retro stuff, it’ll be an everdrive or two first and foremost. But in the meantime I’ve indulged my inner digital hoarder with gigs upon gigs of roms.

[demi]

Buy and hack a NES/SNES Classic they rule

I went to the record store today and found a virgin fresh copy of FF7, its getting difficult to find good games, all you see at shops are garbo games. Its very tempting to just go on ebay and buy stuff instead.

[LurkinMerkin]

Buy and hack a NES/SNES Classic they rule

I went to the record store today and found a virgin fresh copy of FF7, its getting difficult to find good games, all you see at shops are garbo games. Its very tempting to just go on ebay and buy stuff instead.

B-but my SNES and Genesis. Banished to the closet for years  :'(

It is getting expensive for sure. But the basic everdrive is only $5 more, no hacking required.
http://www.stoneagegamer.com/super-everdrive-basic.html
Also the SNES classic is sold out right now. Cheapest scalper I see is $140, and they jump up quickly to $200, $500 and even $1000. It does have the HDMI built in, but my TV and projector have composite jacks. In any event it’s emulators for now, and the handful of games I do have.

[Trent Dole]

Gamesack

[Rich!]

I'm actually looking to sell my Super Everdrive if anyone is interested as I'm ready to move to the SD2SNES. It's got a DSP chip installed so it supports Super Mario Kart and Pilotwings. And Ballz 3D

[Sho Nuff]

Rocking through the N64 lineup at the moment on an Everdrive 64 on a Sony PVM I picked up at the Portland retro expo. Whenever I go deep I usually do things via the emulation route, but Nintendo 64 emulation has never seemed to work so great for me.

What a fucking weird system this was, the architecture had a lot of great decisions that were countered by catastrophically bad ones. 

[tiesto]

This is fantastic. I’m not sure what the age range of the average bore poster is but as a borderline elderly individual yelling at clouds and frightened and confused by the modern world, retro games hit me in the nostalgia particularly hard.

I have a SNES, PS1, fat PS2, Genesis and even an old Atari 5200. But other than the ancient Atari cartridges  I have next to no games. I want to kick myself thinking of all the stuff I unloaded at Funcoland I The late 90s/early 00s. The thing that kills me most is somehow, loaning to friends and losing track, my Turbografx got lost as they can be a bit expensive to pick up and recap. (Especially if you want a TurboDuo.) Double regrets traced back to high school when I sold my Master System at a tag sale to buy the TurboGrafx. Why oh why was I so poor and dumb as a kid?

I hope to get some everdrives for the SNES and Genesis, but part of me wonders if that is just some unnecessary purist impulse. I have all the emulators and they mostly work very well. I’d also love to pick up a CRT from eBay or a tag sale but space is a bit tight in my current apartment.

As for what I’ve been actually playing recently, my brother was kind enough to loan me his Dreamcast (I bartered mine away to my roommate to settle a debt regarding our bills) so that I could play Shenmue I & II before III comes out. I’ve been having a lot of fun with Dolphin too, recently.

Speaking of the borderline elderly, there are some dorky middle aged guys with dad jokes that do a decent series on YouTube chronicling all kinds of retro systems and games, Game Sack. I’d recommend it. They are a bit corny and maybe even bland but I love it, especially when they get into lesser known stuff like the Sharp X68000.


Joe that SoM copy is gorgeous!

Game Sack X68000 episode is legit one of my favorite things on Youtube. Love love love that machine...

[Great Rumbler]

Local used game [and other stuff] place was doing a buy-2-get-1 sale the other day, so I grabbed some OG Xbox games that my collection was missing:

[porkbun]

Miss those oldschool compilations that would get you 30 games for $20.

[tiesto]

Miss those oldschool compilations that would get you 30 games for $20.

Only problem is that the emulation usually was shitty low-quality emulation from Digital Eclipse. Though paying $20 for Taito Legends 2 and its 49 games was still amazing.

[a slime appears]

I finished setting up my game room, my entire second floor bonus room is for my gaming stuff.

I have three TVs (HD, CRT, PVM) with 20 consoles/handhelds playable on them.

[BisMarckie]

Local used game [and other stuff] place was doing a buy-2-get-1 sale the other day, so I grabbed some OG Xbox games that my collection was missing:

(Image removed from quote.)

I've been buying PS2/GC/Xbox games left and right lately since they are extremely cheap. Still looking for  Outrun 2006 on the cheap.
I really want a Virtual Boy,though. Always wanted to see that trainwreck first hand. But actually finding one is a huge pain in the ass.

[paprikastaude]

Has anybody experience with Space Invaders Extreme? I've come across this when I've checked what I could get for my new PSP, but there's also a DS version with even higher reviews - which one should you get?

[demi]

I've been buying PS2/GC/Xbox games left and right lately since they are extremely cheap. Still looking for  Outrun 2006 on the cheap.
I really want a Virtual Boy,though. Always wanted to see that trainwreck first hand. But actually finding one is a huge pain in the ass.

I have two of them, and about 90% of the US library. They are fragile as shit and will eventually crap out and require a fix by someone who knows what to do with it. I'm probably going to ask someone on /r/VirtualBoy to do the visor fix on my other unit.

They went up in price, a shitty game like 3D Tetris fetches upwards to $80 for cart only.

[Positive Touch]

the worst thing about playing virtual boy isn't the red on black or the cruddy 3d, but the way it gives you a headache when you play for more than 10 minutes at a time.

[BisMarckie]

I have two of them, and about 90% of the US library. They are fragile as shit and will eventually crap out and require a fix by someone who knows what to do with it. I'm probably going to ask someone on /r/VirtualBoy to do the visor fix on my other unit.

They went up in price, a shitty game like 3D Tetris fetches upwards to $80 for cart only.

The thing is that the VB didn't sell at all so there is virtually no chance to stumble across one in a yard sale and you have to pay through the nose at enthusiast stores. I once thought it was a neat idea to collect systems that were utter failures like the 3do, CDi or the Jaguar and the VB would fit in perfectly.

[demi]

I found all mine on CraigsList, but they definitely arent something you will find often. I woudlnt be surprised if people just threw it away after it crapped out on them

Even individual parts go for some money, since its so difficult to find. Stuff like Battery Holders, not-broken stands (these break super easily), etc

I've had one since I bought it when it first released back in 1995 as a wee youngin

[paprikastaude]

How was Virtual Boy VC not a thing on 3DS, or at least a coloured Wario Land remake.

[a slime appears]

Demi gave me my Virtual Boy!

First one he sent didn’t work, like he said they are built like shit. So Demi sent me ANOTHER unit like priority express and that one worked!

Man what a great guy.

[Shuri]

so today I got my Pseudo Saturn Kai ramcart for the Sega Saturn! 

It's a modified action replay cart that allows you to play imports AND backups! No need to disc swap, just put the disc in and enjoy. The only drawback over the regular Action Replay is that you can't manage saved games and you cant use the action replay stuff. It's no big deal.

There are more advanced carts out there with SD adapters that allow you to run games straight out of it, but it's not super compatible so far.

Since my saturn is the japanese version, its going to be great to be able to pick up american versions of games!

  and finally get to try Elevator Action Returns without selling a kidney

[benjipwns]

the worst thing about playing virtual boy isn't the red on black or the cruddy 3d, but the way it gives you a headache when you play for more than 10 minutes at a time.

i think it's probably the games on it actually

[Sho Nuff]

so today I got my Pseudo Saturn Kai ramcart for the Sega Saturn! 

It's a modified action replay cart that allows you to play imports AND backups! No need to disc swap, just put the disc in and enjoy. The only drawback over the regular Action Replay is that you can't manage saved games and you cant use the action replay stuff. It's no big deal.

There are more advanced carts out there with SD adapters that allow you to run games straight out of it, but it's not super compatible so far.

Since my saturn is the japanese version, its going to be great to be able to pick up american versions of games!

  and finally get to try Elevator Action Returns without selling a kidney

I got a PS Kai at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo last year. It's fucking incredible. I bought a stack of 200 CD-Rs and burned almost all of them with Saturn shit I never thought I'd be able to play. DYNAMITE

[benjipwns]

Local used game [and other stuff] place was doing a buy-2-get-1 sale the other day, so I grabbed some OG Xbox games that my collection was missing:

I've been buying PS2/GC/Xbox games left and right lately since they are extremely cheap. Still looking for  Outrun 2006 on the cheap.

All my local places seemed to shift over to 360/PS3 a couple years ago and that stuff somehow disappeared overnight

I feel like even the Wii wasn't around for long, I should probably go up to the north side of town to the semi-hub of three or four independent places all in a set of strip malls along a few miles (that seem to exist to exist for their friends, not to make profit and be an actual business like the ones on my end), also that "antique mall" that at one point was half actual antiques half people renting the booths to sell comics, Magic cards, Warhammer figures, modern video games, etc.

Back in like 2006-2008 I had a great time raiding this one particular GameStop's bins of PS1 (?!?), PS2 and Xbox games. Multiple times the checkout dude was like "aww man I was hoping nobody saw that until I clocked out" and it was my sweet sweet revenge against him trying to sell me Game Informer subscriptions and carding me every single time for M rated games, something not even Wal-Mart has ever done.

Most of the time it was just him being semi-bummed than legit mad, except for the time I set the copy of Zone of the Enders I found (it had been badly hidden, but I was used to looking through their crap because they never organized it in any manner and often put the games the wrong way in one bin so you couldn't just stand there and see the labels but had to flip through them) for $4 on the counter and he was all "yo, can you check this guy out I need to hit the john" to the only other employee who was ever there in those days.

benji 1 - GameStop Employee who's probably a CEO of a bank now 0

[a slime appears]

so today I got my Pseudo Saturn Kai ramcart for the Sega Saturn! 

It's a modified action replay cart that allows you to play imports AND backups! No need to disc swap, just put the disc in and enjoy. The only drawback over the regular Action Replay is that you can't manage saved games and you cant use the action replay stuff. It's no big deal.

There are more advanced carts out there with SD adapters that allow you to run games straight out of it, but it's not super compatible so far.

Since my saturn is the japanese version, its going to be great to be able to pick up american versions of games!

  and finally get to try Elevator Action Returns without selling a kidney

I got a PS Kai at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo last year. It's fucking incredible. I bought a stack of 200 CD-Rs and burned almost all of them with Saturn shit I never thought I'd be able to play. DYNAMITE

Piracy? tsk tsk

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[DCharlieJP]

The Saturn was a System I ignored in the UK because it was expensive and the PlayStation was a known factor

But hot damn, when I picked one up for 10 quid with 20 games and played it I really liked its gimpy nature - something about the feel of it that I liked.

[porkbun]

Miss those oldschool compilations that would get you 30 games for $20.

Only problem is that the emulation usually was shitty low-quality emulation from Digital Eclipse. Though paying $20 for Taito Legends 2 and its 49 games was still amazing.

I just paid $8 for the Arcade Archives version of Elevator Action