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It's a pretty amazing time to be a retro gamer.

entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
59,968
You have projects like the MisTer, the fantastic ACA collections of games, more and more official releases from companies like Konami, SE, and Capcom. And while Nintendo abandoned the a la carte model of the Virtual Console, they are releasing some rather deep cuts in those services. They still need to be more aggressive and add more platforms.

8bitdo and Retrobit making some really good replica style controllers as well.

Easier options to play legacy hardware on new displays thanks to stuff like RetroTink, which is more user friendly than an OSSC. And more display options coming up out every year.

And for those that can get a pre-order, there are the Analogue products lol. I don't mess with them as I just got fed up, but I'm happy they exist.

Moreover, updates ROM devices like the MegaSD and upgraded Everdrives.
 
StereoVSN

StereoVSN

Member
Nov 1, 2017
13,620
Eastern US
Yep, plus you have all kinds of ODE options, new types of Everdrives, even things like direct HDMI from PS1 (if you are very handy with a soldering iron).

The big downside is of course ridiculous pricing for actual physical retro games.
 
Taco_Human

Taco_Human

Member
Jan 6, 2018
4,225
MA
Another downside is dealing with CRTs if you still own any. I kinda got attached to them and bought more than one, too much space taken for just pretty graphics.
 
zoltek

zoltek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,917
I'm not sure this is functionally true given how expensive "retro" games have become, at least in physical format. It's obscene.
 
EggmaniMN

EggmaniMN

Banned
May 17, 2020
3,465
Seriously now we have stuff we only dreamed of as a child. Like here look at this:

8bitmods.com

MemCard PRO for PlayStation 1 (Smoke Black)

MemCard PRO can store "virtual memory cards" on a standard microSD card of any size. Everything from 1GB to 1TB works! Each gigabyte of storage on your microSD card equals to a whopping 8192 memory cards! Yes you've read that right! A 1GB microSD can store 122,880 blocks of PlayStation 1 game saves!
8bitmods.com 8bitmods.com

Did you ever dream of just needing one singular PS1 memory card and it just fit everything forever? Okay but what if it had a WebUI and could transfer saves over wifi? You could just download saves to it and do whatever you want? It just makes a virtual memory card for every single game you launch on it. And it even interfaces with the xstation to load up whatever memory card for the exact iso you load up!

And we have PixelFX with multiple creators teaming up to create an actual available HDMI kit for N64 so no one has to suffer hoping for an ultraHDMI ever again and it'll just be better anyway.
 
StereoVSN

StereoVSN

Member
Nov 1, 2017
13,620
Eastern US
I do have to say I am pretty happy I got bunch of Dreamcast games including some imports before the crazy price hike last couple years.

Edit: That PS1 memory card is an amazing thing. I now want the same for PS2.
 
Leeway

Leeway

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,414
Vancouver, BC
StereoVSN said:
The big downside is of course ridiculous pricing for actual physical retro games.
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Yeah that's the unfortunate part. The options are numerous in how to play these games and only getting more varied as time goes on which is really wonderful, but there's still a bit of a barrier on the physical end and prices have only soared to ridiculous degrees during the pandemic.

I now have an OSSC for my meager collection as well as an ODE and DCHDMI for my dreamcast. I'd one day like to get a Saturn as I'd never owned one before. It always had games on there that I'd wanted to check out... But those game prices...
 
BriGuy

BriGuy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,275
The best system to release during the last console generation wasn't the PS4 or XB1, it was the Super NT.
 
BasilZero

BasilZero

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
36,343
Omni
Its always been a good time to be a retro gamer especially as time goes by - the library just gets bigger.
 
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entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
59,968
zoltek said:
I'm not sure this is functionally true given how expensive "retro" games have become, at least in physical format. It's obscene.
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But there's also way more way to play retro games legitimately too.

For example, I always wanted to play Seiken Densetsu 3. I finally got that wish with an official localization as Trials of Mana. Unfortunately, the game didn't age well lol. But the remake was great.

Another example are the Saga games. I can now play them pretty easily without having to buy expensive copies online.

Moreover, we also recently got a Panzer Dragoon remaster. Hoping we get Zwei as well.

So even outside of buying original games, it's much easier.

And then there's stuff like Undercover Cops if you want original carts with packaging.
 
Leeway

Leeway

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,414
Vancouver, BC
Probably don't need to share with the crowd coming to this thread but MLiG and DF have done videos recently on ODEs (specifically terraonion Mode) and the MiSTer which are well worth checking out.



 
office life

office life

Member
Nov 5, 2020
86
I think something overlooked is the simplicity these days. My wife and I were on the couch last night and she saw me looking at the Switch Online games. She saw Super Mario world and wanted to play it, and within 5 minutes it was up and running and she was having a blast. It's very streamlined compared to the past.
 
Radarscope1

Radarscope1

Member
Oct 29, 2017
2,702
office life said:
I think something overlooked is the simplicity these days. My wife and I were on the couch last night and she saw me looking at the Switch Online games. She saw Super Mario world and wanted to play it, and within 5 minutes it was up and running and she was having a blast. It's very streamlined compared to the past.
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The Switch in particular is just a retro paradise (and that's even despite the fact that NSO could be so much better). There is so much classic and deep-content on there now and it's so easy to access. And you can play it handheld which is so well suited to many old school games, even if they were on consoles at the time of their release.
 
Caspar

Caspar

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,402
UK
In a world where CRTs and old physical media are becoming rare and prohibitively expensive for most, it's fantastic that there's so many viable options to still experience the actual games themselves, and in a way that's authentic to the original hardware and often quite beautiful on modern displays. It's easy to imagine another timeline where no one gives a shit about video game history and it just fades away into obscurity.
 
zoltek

zoltek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,917
entremet said:
But there's also way more way to play retro games legitimately too.

For example, I always wanted to play Seiken Densetsu 3. I finally got that wish with an official localization as Trials of Mana. Unfortunately, the game didn't age well lol. But the remake was great.

Another example are the Saga games. I can now play them pretty easily without having to buy expensive copies online.

Moreover, we also recently got a Panzer Dragoon remaster. Hoping we get Zwei as well.

So even outside of buying original games, it's much easier.

And then there's stuff like Undercover Cops if you want original carts with packaging.
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i agree. I'm just venting how hard it is to buy older games. Prior to yesterday's announcement, i was looking to get find skyward sword. Holy crap.
 
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entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
59,968
zoltek said:
i agree. I'm just venting how hard it is to buy older games. Prior to yesterday's announcement, i was looking to get find skyward sword. Holy crap.
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I've mostly gone the import route. It helps there. Super Famicom over Super NES, for example. But prices are rising there too.
 
ghostcrew

ghostcrew

The Shrouded Ghost
Administrator
Oct 27, 2017
30,349
entremet said:
I've mostly gone the import route. It helps there. Super Famicom over Super NES, for example. But prices are rising there too.
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You're telling me. I bought Panzer Dragoon Saga when I was last in Japan and it cost me less than £25.

Just need to master the Japanese language now lol
 
Faceless_Caesar

Faceless_Caesar

Member
Jul 1, 2020
6,523
Caspar said:
In a world where CRTs and old physical media are becoming rare and prohibitively expensive for most, it's fantastic that there's so many viable options to still experience the actual games themselves, and in a way that's authentic to the original hardware and often quite beautiful on modern displays. It's easy to imagine another timeline where no one gives a shit about video game history and it just fades away into obscurity.
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One of the reasons to own a CRT was light gun games and now there is a great alternative that works on modern flat panels. https://www.sindenlightgun.com/
 

Deleted member 17210

User-requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
11,569
I have the Aleste Collection coming in the mail right now. I'm excited.

Never knowing if there's going to be noticeable input lag on a modern console is the one thing that's bringing down my enthusiasm for re-releases of old games, though. It's 2021. I don't know the technical problems involved but I feel that issue should have been completely eliminated by now.
 
Man Called Aerodynamics

Man Called Aerodynamics

Member
Oct 29, 2017
7,500
EggmaniMN said:
Seriously now we have stuff we only dreamed of as a child. Like here look at this:

8bitmods.com

MemCard PRO for PlayStation 1 (Smoke Black)

MemCard PRO can store "virtual memory cards" on a standard microSD card of any size. Everything from 1GB to 1TB works! Each gigabyte of storage on your microSD card equals to a whopping 8192 memory cards! Yes you've read that right! A 1GB microSD can store 122,880 blocks of PlayStation 1 game saves!
8bitmods.com 8bitmods.com

Did you ever dream of just needing one singular PS1 memory card and it just fit everything forever? Okay but what if it had a WebUI and could transfer saves over wifi? You could just download saves to it and do whatever you want? It just makes a virtual memory card for every single game you launch on it. And it even interfaces with the xstation to load up whatever memory card for the exact iso you load up!
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Click to shrink...

This is amazing! I had literal piles of memory cards for PSX and PS2, what a hassle.
 
Klotera

Klotera

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,550
As someone who doesn't want to collect, maintain, and store a ton of retro consoles and games, but loves classic games, it's been fantastic having official releases of many of these games in various formats. We're finally getting some games that you couldn't get any other way before, like Castlevania: Bloodlines. Having a lot of these on the Switch is even better, since they're portable. The mini consoles are great, too, to get a quick overview of the libraries. I almost got a TG-16 back in the day, but got a Genesis instead. It was a good choice, but I've always been curious about the library and the TG-16 mini was a great way to get a chance to sample it.

Even better, we're getting some great remasters that are authentic to the originals, but with improved visuals and some quality of life features, such as Wonder Boy: The Dragons Trap, as well as formal sequels that maintain the spirit of those games, like Monster Boy or Streets of Rage 4.
 
Aldo

Aldo

Member
Mar 19, 2019
1,715
Namco ported Pac-Man CE to the Famicom and it's amazing:


It's also great to experience recently discovered betas such as Sonic 1 and Sonic 3 (with PC port music!) and it's great that SEGA doesn't seem to mind.

I still play on a CRT with original Japanese hardware (got in before prices went totally insane) and yeah, I wouldn't recommend it to anybody without very deep pockets. You will still find cheap Japanese games, but prices are rising by the month and it's not pretty.
FPGA solutions are so much more versatile; you should however also consider the price of original controllers + adapters if you truly want an authentic experience. The differences with real hardware, if any, are unnoticeable.
I might sell one console just to get a MiSTer.
 
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entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
59,968
Aldo said:
Namco ported Pac-Man CE to the Famicom and it's amazing:


It's also great to experience recently discovered betas such as Sonic 1 and Sonic 3 (with PC port music!) and it's great that SEGA doesn't seem to mind.

I still play on a CRT with original Japanese hardware (got in before prices went totally insane) and yeah, I wouldn't recommend it to anybody without very deep pockets. You will still find cheap Japanese games, but prices are rising by the month and it's not pretty.
FPGA solutions are so much more versatile; you should however also consider the price of original controllers + adapters if you truly want an authentic experience. The differences with real hardware, if any, are unnoticeable.
I might sell one console just to get a MiSTer.
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My god there's so much stuff like this on Switch that I still haven't bought. I forgot about the NAMCOT collection.
 
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entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
59,968
Macheezmo said:
I want one of the Analogue NT's and Super NT's so bad, but there's no way I'm paying eBay prices and it seems like they're never going to restock them. I'll probably just get the RetroUSB AVS and a Retrotink and s-video cable for my SNES.
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They should restock them - in 5 years lol.

But seriously, I expect restocks of NT mini (plastic shell and cheaper) and the Super NT/Mega SG. But not for a while. Analouge doesn't seem to do to well with multiple products.

Their current focus are the Pocket and TG16 clones.
 
drock5k

drock5k

Member
Aug 3, 2018
407
entremet said:
They should restock them - in 5 years lol.

But seriously, I expect restocks of NT mini (plastic shell and cheaper) and the Super NT/Mega SG. But not for a while. Analouge doesn't seem to do to well with multiple products.

Their current focus are the Pocket and TG16 clones.
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Yeah. There were rumblings about a SuperNT restock last spring that seemed to fizzle away. Hopefully it comes back at some point.
 
mausterhunter

mausterhunter

Member
Feb 1, 2019
1,646
It really is. I love all the little hacked minis providing perfect galleries of ages past. I love having ODEs for systems like Saturn and Dreamcast providing access to otherwise ridiculously expensive rare games, and can easily access awesome shit like fan translated Grandia and someday Shining Force 3 using our original hardware.
 
Macheezmo

Macheezmo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
659
I might wait and keep my fingers crossed for a Super NT restock this year, my SNES is still running pretty strong. My NES is not faring as well so I need to replace that soon.
 
Megadragon15

Megadragon15

Member
Oct 27, 2017
623
Actually, it might be one of the worst considering the prices are spiking through the roof for some of the games.
 
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entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
59,968
Megadragon15 said:
Actually, it might be one of the worst considering the prices are spiking through the roof for some of the games.
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My point wasn't just about buying original second hand games, but accessing those games too.

For example, we're getting NGPC games. That's pretty cool!
 
jimboton

jimboton

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,421
Until we get CRTs back, or some new kind of display tech with CRT like properties, I feel all the Everdrives, SuperNTs and MiSTers of the world are an exercise in (expensive) futility. If you're going to end up playing in a flat panel, why not just fire up RetroArch and be done with it, imo you're not getting a significantly better or more authentic experience with all that retro hardware. In fact, you may be getting a less responsive experience by missing out on features like lookahead for input lag reduction.
 
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entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
59,968
jimboton said:
Until we get CRTs back, or some new kind of display tech with CRT like properties, I feel all the Everdrives, SuperNTs and MiSTers of the world are an exercise in (expensive) futility. If you're going to end up playing in a flat panel, why not just fire up RetroArch and be done with it, imo you're not getting a significantly better or more authentic experience with all that retro hardware. In fact, you may be getting a less responsive experience by missing out on features like lookahead for input lag reduction.
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Are you familar with this channel btw?


Honestly, input lag has been solved for retro system on modern displays. CRTs are nice. I have one. But they're not a requirement anymore.
 
xir

xir

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,548
Los Angeles, CA
if i wnated to get a dreamcast with hdmi and one of those SD Card/Disc drives and 100% didnt want to use ebay, whats the best way?

Also, if things like Portland Retro Con happen again, would people be selling modded consoles or is that too grey market for a convention?
 
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entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
59,968
xir said:
if i wnated to get a dreamcast with hdmi and one of those SD Card/Disc drives and 100% didnt want to use ebay, whats the best way?

Also, if things like Portland Retro Con happen again, would people be selling modded consoles or is that too grey market for a convention?
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You can buy everything separate and then get it serviced by a local retro shop that is reputable. There's also people that do installation like this guy:

 
Taco_Human

Taco_Human

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Jan 6, 2018
4,225
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xir said:
if i wnated to get a dreamcast with hdmi and one of those SD Card/Disc drives and 100% didnt want to use ebay, whats the best way?

Also, if things like Portland Retro Con happen again, would people be selling modded consoles or is that too grey market for a convention?
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Just pay for the HDMI install, when you buy a GDEMU, it'll likely be a clone and you just open it and take out the disc drive and replace it.
 
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