Messages

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Ah, that's just as well, you did the right thing to take it off the streets! One of my best friends overdosed on that stuff, it's incredibly destructive, it had ruined his life for well over a decade... He tried a methadone clinic for a few years to ween off of it but got addicted to that also...

Since I was the family contact to his aunt who coincidentally called me as he was dying on that stuff (mixing it with alcohol), I had to break the news to her when I saw police and ambulance arrive at his house... I walked in as the medics were giving up resuscitation telling me it's over for him... :/

That's terrible! My best friend's wife is hooked on opioid pain killers but is still in denial even though she has tried to get... street alternatives. I have no doubt she feels real pain, but I'm sure it's amplified by withdrawal. It causes daily conflict with my friend and is ruining his marriage so I hope she gets help soon.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Wasn't "today" but the police wouldn't let me say too much when I found it a couple weeks ago:

You made the news here in Chicago.  Saw the story on TV.

This one? http://wgntv.com/2018/04/16/drugs-found-inside-video-game-cartridges/

Being a superstation, WGN Chicago is inadvertently national news.

A CNN guy contacted me and marketed it to the CNN affiliates but I don't think that means HLN or CNN proper. I've seen his package show up on local stations like this:
http://www.wwlp.com/world/video-games-stuffed-with-suspected-drugs/1126067504

Pretty exciting!

Wow, I almost missed your story, that's wild!

Were the drugs identified, was that reported somewhere already ?

They didn't test it during their visit and the police report only gives a physical description (NY Post quotes the police report). Newnan PD passed it on to Carrollton PD and Carrollton never contacted us. Of the people reaching out to me who would know, they unanimously say it's some kind of heroin.

I've been told that the street value of heroin is typically $20 per 100mg, which is $22,600 (!) for the 4oz we found. Since it appears to be pure/uncut, it could be significantly more valuable.

Yeah, it definitely made the rounds. On 4-20 (hurr hurr!) Jimmy Fallon even made a pot joke out of it:

(Jump to 3:11)

It isn't the first time I found something cool inside an NES game while recording video (Xexyz prototype) but it's going to be hard to top that one.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Maybe your case is what inspired customs to do this Recently happened too

In the unlisted "full police visit" video (linked in the description, you can hear us lament about exactly that.

We voiced concern that this might increase scrutiny for other innocent collectors who already have horror stories about new/sealed stuff being opened for inspection.

Sucks!

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Lol, that's pretty nuts.  I've found weed in a PS2 before (expansion in the back), but what you found it probably the stuff that gets you a stint in pound you in the ass prison if you got caught selling it.  Good on you for contacting the cops ASAP though.  Any idea when you'll get the games back?

Got a lot of flak for that but even if I were the type to do something else with it, I considered it necessary. Why? Because the discovery was shared live on social media. If we didn't demonstrate that the police had it then we'd likely have druggies and dealers figuring out where we lived and beating our door down. If not them, we'd probably have police asking what we did with it if anyone believed it at all. Who wouldn't convince themselves that it's just an April Fools prank if we didn't take the next step of making a police report?

NY Post never talked to us but they did independently obtain and confirm the police report, adding a lot of credibility that was missing before (regardless of their reputation). There are still a lot of skeptics but now I can point them there.

Before even taking them the police asked if we were OK with them throwing it all away and we assured them that it was OK with us. We likely won't see any part of them again.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

You've even made it into Heise News:
https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Konsolen-Mod-Spielesammler-findet-Rauschgift-in-alten-Nintendo-Cartridges-4024475.html

They also claim:

In addition to the ongoing debate about the addictive potential of video games, a modern reissue of the classic Nintendo console - the Nintendo Classic Mini - has significantly reduced the risk of inadvertent drug trafficking through pre-installed games.

(Google translate)

!!!

My brother is supposed to be going on some radio station to talk about it tonight. I'll be at work. A couple podcasts have reached out too. Been wondering if Pat and Ian will say anything about it on the CUPodcast but they don't do the guest/interview thing.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Wasn't "today" but the police wouldn't let me say too much when I found it a couple weeks ago:

You made the news here in Chicago.  Saw the story on TV.

This one? http://wgntv.com/2018/04/16/drugs-found-inside-video-game-cartridges/

Being a superstation, WGN Chicago is inadvertently national news.

A CNN guy contacted me and marketed it to the CNN affiliates but I don't think that means HLN or CNN proper. I've seen his package show up on local stations like this:
http://www.wwlp.com/world/video-games-stuffed-with-suspected-drugs/1126067504

Pretty exciting!

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Wasn't "today" but the police wouldn't let me say too much when I found it a couple weeks ago:

Was just reading the thread on NA, had no idea you were in here too

Heh heh... I just can't resist posting that to all the "show us what you found recently" kind of threads in all the gaming forums where I have an account. Just seems like a missed opportunity for some lulz if I don't!

Shock value!

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Dafuq?  Is that Hoganja's Alley or Cheebaman II?

NES Golf [Special Double-Bogey Edition], NTSC
Isolated Warrior [Tactically Disguised as Rollergames PAL B FRA Edition], also PAL

Isolated Warrior PAL was broken. Thinking about demanding my money back. ;)

NOT AN APRIL FOOLS PRANK: Found something inside suspiciously heavy NES games.

Most likely heroin.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Wasn't "today" but the police wouldn't let me say too much when I found it a couple weeks ago:

[Off-Topic / Re: What are YOU watching on YouTube.com?]

Re-watching my own video and cringing at all the mistakes:

Cat's out of the bag. Too many news articles linking to it to re-up.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Repurpose your original TG-16 PSU]

Always found it interesting that there's matching serial ##'s on the TG16 AC power brick. Not even the TG16 CD AC has a ## stamped on it, and that's coming from a console CIB that has something like 6 matching serial numbers

Never knew this. Going to have to see if mine matches. Almost certainly does since mine was found in the wild with the original pack-in game as if the previous owner never even played anything else.

Good read, thanks.

I personally don't recommend using the old, original, unregulated AC adapters with the basic design of 1 dry transformer, 4 diodes for DC conversion, 1 smoothing capacitor and a one-time fuse if you're lucky.

Since my experience with thesteve, our resident EE, I prefer buying new regulated adapters that are the bare minimum of what's needed to take the load off the internal 5 Volt regulator and extend its lifespan.

This usually means a regulated adapter about 1 Volt higher than the most the motherboard needs, usually 5 Volts, but with say a Turbo Duo and its 8 Volt need for the CD motor area, a 9VDC adapter will be needed.

I like the idea of most of the step down regulators being on the outside and generating their heat there instead of the internal 5VDC regulators doing most of the work and generating extra, avoidable heat on the PCB/motherboard.

I like having a small 6VDC regulated adapter for my TurboExpress over the huge unregulated brick that was the original. New adapters are better, safer, so ultimately I see no reason to subject this old hardware to unregulated power abuse by retro adapters.

You're right, but I'm routinely horrified at what I find in typical USB chargers and other modern regulated switching PSUs I find around. There are some very good comparisons and tear downs on YouTube and elsewhere. Most of the name brands have serious issues. While I'm sure there are plenty of decent ones, the only great ones I know off hand are Apple and old HP Touchpad chargers. Because there are a ridiculous number of counterfeit Apple chargers that are even more horrifying.

The other issue with modern regulated PSUs is that they can introduce noise for old analog devices, like our retro game consoles. It's not usually a big deal with shielded cables and the original voltage regulator but if you bypass it then we're really asking for it. I'll keep the original voltage regulator as a bit of a secondary buffer against external voltage spikes. For this reason it was actually a bit of a relief to find that mine was a 9/10/11v console instead of a 5v console. I feel like it's a waste to just pack it up when I don't have an original NEO-POW3 adapter for my AES and the TG-16 suits it perfectly, but I would totally buy a regulated PSU if I didn't have this.

Speaking of crappy 5v regulated USB PSUs, I actually did buy a regulated 5v 3A PSU before I knew if the AES was a 5v unit or not. It had never been opened and I needed to test it without opening it to see if it was a 5v or 9/10/11v unit. I adapted microUSB to standard 5.5x2.1mm center positive then I reversed the polarity to determine that it was a 9/10/11v unit. I used an MK-1602 Sega Genesis adapter to finish testing it, but I got exactly one other use for that $13 5v 3A USB charger before it gave up the ghost. I used that same unit to power an NeoGeo MVS MV-1FZ  arcade PCB and a GBS-8200 CGA/VGA converter. The next time I needed it, it was completely dead. I can't recall the brand but it was sold in Microcenter's maker section (Arduino, rPi, 3D printers, etc) right next to an identical-looking 2.5A PSU (both in bags). Anecdotal, I know, but I'd avoid if I were you. I made a bunch of other connection adapters for it too and planned to use it as my go-to 5v PSU for troubleshooting/testing.

Gee, mister, you sure have a lot of exciting things to say about power supplies. Here I was just using a meter and specs to match everything when I could have simply used an encyclopedic knowledge of cross compatible OEM units.

*shrug* Not saying you gotta memorize it. Just gotta put it out there somewhere for whoever might want to refer to it. Doing my part.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Repurpose your original TG-16 PSU]

The Turbo-CD dock replaces your original AC adapter for powering the console and repurposes it as the drive's AC adapter for use as a stand-alone portable CD player. I doubt anyone these days is using it as a portable CD player. Heck, it strains the definition of "portable" simply by not having a battery power option.

So, what are you using your old TG-16 adapter for? It's actually surprisingly versatile... like the Sega Genesis/Megadrive MK-1602.

Yeah, it's rated 10.5v but most ~9v systems will tolerate it just fine and the voltage regulator will just put out a little extra heat. Simple AC adapters were generally linear/unregulated back then so the voltage was variable depending on load (higher when unloaded) and the systems were designed to take it. Japan was notorious for not including AC adapters with consumer electronics that require them so they were usually designed to tolerate each other's PSUs. Super Famicom expected you to use the Famicom PSU but you could also use Sega Master System, PC Engine, Megadrive Model 1, Sega CD (both models), etc. EU/AU got a taste of this when Nintendo left the charger out of the DSi XL and the rest of us encountered this with the NN3DSXL worldwide.

Even early Turbo-CD drives and CD-ROM² drives can be identical inside, though one is marked as "9v" and the other as "10.5v" simply because of the different PSUs used between North America and Japan. Clearly, it can take both.

Most old Japanese consoles were center negative polarity where most electronics today with the same 5.5x2.1mm barrel connector are center positive. That makes the TG-16 adapter useful for Master System/Mark III, Genesis/Megadrive, Famicom, NES-001/101 (OEM is AC-AC so reverse isn't true), some Neo Geo AES, Super Famicom, Atari Jaguar, and more.

I'm using mine with a Neo Geo AES that SNK originally sold with NEO-POW3 10v or 11v adapter. 10.5v lands right in the middle but if you need one for your AES make sure yours is not one of the ones that requires regulated 5v. Those will also fit your TG-16 plug or 10/11v SNK NEO-POW3 but they will fry! Stupid SNK. Supposedly you can't trust the label on the bottom so you have to either open it up or try a 5v center negative supply first. Dim, blocky patterns with 5v usually indicate a that you have a system that needs more voltage. Easiest source of a regulated 5v is to adapt a 1A USB charger.

Just figured I'd throw this out there in case your original is hanging around as dead weight while you have another console that could use it.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / UperGrafx PC Engine 720p DVI Widget]

I was under the impression there isn't a menu system.

Unless it regressed from the UGX-01, there is, but I have no idea what it's like. I suggest exploring their website with Google Translate.

Hopefully it's better than the UGX-01's 2016 menu:

(17:15)

Of course, that menu was for use as a video-only device.

[General Gaming / Re: Super Nt]

You are a twin as well?

Neat o

I have a twin sister.

It's 36 years later and she still thinks she is the boss. Even though she is the "younger" sister.

YUP. Still argue with my brother daily.

Shared hobby means shared collection for us. Is your sister a gamer?

[General Gaming / Super Nt]

If you're a fan of real hardware, then why are you using an Nt?

Im also a picture quality whore.   I did the Hi Def NES mod and it's phenomenal.  When I heard this was coming at an economical price point (IMO) I knew I would get it.  This is the only "clone" system I have but for me, it's similar to the Everdrive in that it's an elegant form of emulation.  Been playing it almost exclusively since it arrived.

Zeta's right about these things just accumulating.  I never thought I would end up with all these systems.  I never planned to get them and I keep saying that's the last one. 

When are you getting your 3DO?

Growing up no one had a game console hooked to a TV permanently. Many families even kept their VCRs stored away until use.

Other than freaks like me, only the richest kids had their own TVs until the 16-bit generation and even then it wasn't common.

I had my own tv in my room at the age of 12.

Granted it was a old Sony tv maybe 12 inch screen. With knobs for the Chanel's and volume. Granted the knobs fell off the channel and I used a pair of pliers.

And it only took rf.

 It it was my tv gosh darn it.

Mine was black and white. Played NES, Atari, and some SNES that way before finding a color TV that lasted a few months. The. It was back to the K-Mart brand B&W set (rebranded Samsung) until 1994 when I got a color TV from an old hospital (electrically controllers dial for changing channels).

Actually, that B&W TV was my family's only TV but my mom didn't watch TV so it was essentially mine... and my twin brother's.

[General Gaming / Super Nt]

The only market for this device I can see is that you for some reason only have a modern tv with HDMI to play on.

You can't see two posts above you?

I have a tough time justifying this if you already have a decent CRT and own the original system.

Not me. Very satisfied with my purchase despite having a collection of very high-end CRTs and a SNES/SFC consoles of nearly every revision. The Super Nt is get's [sic] a coveted spot next to the PS4 Pro on the big HT LCD rather than being relegated to the CRTs like the SNES consoles.

Did you consider that some people want it on a larger screen to share with friends and family? What about streamers with 60FPS 1080p HDMI-only capture devices?

[General Gaming / Re: Super Nt]

I have a tough time justifying this if you already have a decent CRT and own the original system.

Not me. Very satisfied with my purchase despite having a collection of very high-end CRTs and a SNES/SFC consoles of nearly every revision. The Super Nt is get's a coveted spot next to the PS4 Pro on the big HT LCD rather than being relegated to the CRTs like the SNES consoles.

[General Gaming / Re: Super Nt]

SNES + OSSC is notorious for not being compatible with every TV. This is because of the SNES' 60.09 refresh rate and the OSSC not being equipped to correct it. The Super Nt deals with this using a frame buffer or by changing the speed of the SNES for exactly 60.00hz output (user's option). The SNES in particular needed something like this and Kevtris/Analogue gave it to us.

At the expense of lag. I know its not a big deal, but a deal nevertheless.

I'm sure the Super Nt is a banging machine, just wanted to point out the $30 shipping shock that I'm sure will catch potential buyers off guard, plus mention an alternative.

Thankfully, I've not experienced any issues with any of my tvs/monitors and the OSSC/SNES combo, even on 5X.

Yes, but the lag in most modes ranges from none to 1 frame, averaging a half a frame. When it drops a frame latency resets to zero. In the default 60hz mode there shouldn't be any additional latency because it does not have to buffer frames. No dropped frames or torn frames either.

To save on shipping my brother and I ordered together and I think it went just over $50. Problem is, we used Bank of America Visa debit card as payment and got hit with a ~$16 "foreign transaction fee." Totally wiped out any savings.

Bank of America is obviously a US bank. Analogue does not identify as a foreign company and claims to be based in Seattle WA, USA. There is no indication on their site that there will be a foreign transaction. Because we were the first to see/report this, there was literally no way to avoid it. Of course, the bank can't do anything about it because it genuinely was a foreign transaction (Causeway Bay, Hong Kong). Analogue really needs to tell future customers that payments are processed by a Hong Kong office so that they can chose their payment properly and avoid fees.

That said, I'm loving the Super Nt. Don't regret it for a second!

[General Gaming / Re: Super Nt]

Thanks for the heads up on that controller fix! I just got one and kept having problems with Super Ghouls n Ghosts.

No problem.

With more use it's becoming increasingly clear that mine still isn't 100% as good as an original SNES D-pad but it's definitely a huge improvement. You can shim it with a piece of tape or adhesive paper label if it's still not good enough for you.

[General Gaming / Re: Super Nt]

Anyone having trouble with unintended diagonal inputs on the matching 8bitdo controllers, it's caused by the pivot nub under the D-Pad being slightly too small. It's the same problem the NES Classic Edition had, so the fix is the same too:

My twin brother clearly knows how to stress a D-pad with Panel de Pon / Tetris Attack.

It's still not perfect but it's MUCH closer to an original SNES controller and most will consider this a total fix.

Remember:
Nintendo couldn't get this right with the NES Classic Edition and the SNES ASCII Pad had the same issue way back in the day, so let's not act like 8bitdo needs to be held to a higher standard than Nintendo themselves (or their licensees). It's a nit-pick-fix.

Another thing I haven't thought about to much is that a GBA player with HDMI is bound tk be made as well.

Already exists. There are multiple GameCube HDMI solutions now that convert directly from digital RGB (no analog). Plug and play HDMI cables/dongles exist for the DOL-001 GameCubes but DOL-101 requires an internal modification.

Unfortunately, the GB Player Start Up disc is not adequate so you will need a way to boot GB Interface instead. You can do that using hard or soft-modded 'cube or you can just buy a Datel SD Media Launcher.

Yes, you can soft-mod a 'cube using an Action Replay if you have some way to write to a memory card, like a hacked Wii or another GC. Some setups require a 3rd party memory card to install the loader due to protections.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Why a "Run" button?]

Super Nt menu has the option to "Run Cartridge."

[General Gaming / Re: Super Nt]

SNES + OSSC is notorious for not being compatible with every TV. This is because of the SNES' 60.09 refresh rate and the OSSC not being equipped to correct it. The Super Nt deals with this using a frame buffer or by changing the speed of the SNES for exactly 60.00hz output (user's option). The SNES in particular needed something like this and Kevtris/Analogue gave it to us.

At the expense of lag. I know its not a big deal, but a deal nevertheless.

I'm sure the Super Nt is a banging machine, just wanted to point out the $30 shipping shock that I'm sure will catch potential buyers off guard, plus mention an alternative.

Thankfully, I've not experienced any issues with any of my tvs/monitors and the OSSC/SNES combo, even on 5X.

"At the expense of lag..."
...or perfect speed. By running it at exactly 60hz instead it doesn't have to buffer a frame but the entire game will run about 0.085% slower. Inputs will still be detected with frame-accuracy and rendered just as fast, barring your display's latency.

I have a Retron 5 and the Snes game that play in it have lag. 

I'd be up for buying one of these systems and a flash/everdrive cart to go with it, but I'm concerned that if I dropped all that money, would I get the same lag experience as the Retron5?

Has anyone noticed any lag just using the flash/everdrive cart on the original hardware?

With an original game and controller the only lag will be up to 1 frame (full frame buffer) and whatever your TV introduces. Even with the laggiest frame buffer setting it will average a half-frame of lag, max out at 1 frame, and spend as much time at 0 frames of lag (not even a partial frame). It's safe to say that it beats the pants off an emulator box where an OS has to read your controller inputs and then software has to translate it for emulation that is processed in batches.

When you consider the Hi Def NES kit is $125 and you have to install it yourself, this is a pretty good deal.  It's the same FPGA programmed by the same guy.  For an extra $65, they are giving you a pretty well made console, product support, returns if necessary, and you don't have to install it. 

I think they have hit a sweet spot with this console that will give them the capital they need to make more consoles in the future.  I wouldn't be surprised if they already have a Genesis in the works.

The company has made comment of blast processing in their tweets.

As has Kevtris being sega fan and his desire for blast processing.


Yes they have hit a sweet spot IMO.

Not cheaply made kit

Not overly expensive kit

Right in the middle

It is my assertion Analouge will

Re-entroduce their CMVS as a FPGA with HDMI options.

Re-entroduce the Nt mini with plastic shell

I'd like to see a Genesis FPGA with interval 32X to avoid that gaudy attachment. And Sega CD support as either an external attachment cd drive or to be read off a sd card.

Kevin didn't sound too keen on Sega CD in a recent stream/interview.

A few days ago I was also wondering about an FPGA AES/MVS from Analogue and it got me thinking about the logistics of handling that many pins from that many busses that go through the cartridge connector. My guess it that it would probably take multiple FPGAs or FPGA + Z80 and other chips (Z80 is used for sound and it's ROM addresses are not addressable by the main CPU at all). That said, Kevtris already uses an FPGA to replace a Z80 in a medical product that he gets paid royalties for, so I take it that Analogue isn't going to find a bunch or originals around anyway. Back to the multi FPGA concept then!

If any device can justify more than one $50 component, it's an FPGA AES or Analogue MVS. Because they've already done CMVS systems I'd like to see an AES or dual MVS/AES. AES is more marketable than ever now that flash carts exist, Nt something tells me that an FPGA Neo Geo from Analogue wouldn't need it anyway. ;)

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Everdrive Fail]

Sandisk Ultra, 8GB actually.  Formatted it on my Win10 machine though my Mac is my primary. 
Says FAT32, 54.5MB Capacity.

Sounds like the partition structure was messed up in the past somehow. It can happen from imaging to it, using it with something that accesses it raw, or even just sticking it into some phones that use a secure partition (Windows Phone 8, for example).

Try this guide to restore the full capacity:
https://www.google.com/amp/www.instructables.com/id/How-to-format-your-SD-card-back-to-the-original-si/%3famp_page=true

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Everdrive Fail]

I did indeed get it to work.  You win the $5.  I saw region button, saw the button on the top, thought that was it.  Couldn't even see the switch on the actual side at first but then I found it and feel like an idiot.

Now the next problem is when formatting the SD card to the format the ED demands it only allows for like 56MB of the 2GB to be used.  Sure I'm missing something again I'm not complaining just have to look into it more

It should work with the standard FAT/FAT32 formatting that most SD cards come preformatted to. Windows doesn't like to format large drives to FAT but anything reasonable for this should work. What OS and SD card are you using?

[General Gaming / Re: Super Nt]

Still bothers me that these guys are charging $30 for shipping this little unit. Add to that the cost of the controller (if you decide to go that way), and we are talking about 260 bucks.

For that, you can buy a non 1chip with an RGB cable and an OSSC, which will also allow you to use a Genesis, Saturn, Neo Geo, PSX, PS2, etc. through HDMI, out of the box. If you already have a SNES, it makes even less sense to go through this as opposed to just spending the money on the OSSC and an RGB cable. Not to mention you are playing the real thing and not have to deal with the growing pains of something that was reverse engineered, regardless of how accurate.

SNES + OSSC is notorious for not being compatible with every TV. This is because of the SNES' 60.09 refresh rate and the OSSC not being equipped to correct it. The Super Nt deals with this using a frame buffer or by changing the speed of the SNES for exactly 60.00hz output (user's option). The SNES in particular needed something like this and Kevtris/Analogue gave it to us.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Everdrive Fail]

$5 on its user error.

He disappeared from Krikzz forum after asking too...

http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=6843.0

Hopefully he's just busy playing the heck out of it.

Wish he would have actually checked back before implying that he wasn't getting any help elsewhere.

[General Gaming / Re: Super Nt]

It's definitely a nice improvement over a Retron, but for $200+ it's really high. Then again the NT Mini was $450.

I dunno... unless you got it 2nd-hand, $200 is pretty much what we all payed for a SNES in the first place isn't it.

I could only afford the Control Set and even then I had to save over a year to get it in early 1994. Had to sell my NES with SMB/DH and SMB3 too. Luckily, Nintendo extended the free by mail SMA*S promo so I got those games back, and then some.

Somehow, I was still the first in my neighborhood to have one.

[General Gaming / Super Nt]

Some people preordered in January and got theirs yesterday. I preordered before then and tracking says it's going to be another week. I'm domestic too!

Edit: I wonder if it's because I ordered two. Did that because shipping was so outrageous if you didn't.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Super SD System 3]

I'd agree except that most of us already have a Turbo ED that functions as a Super System Card.

Most of us already have a Duo or IFU, TED, Arcade Card, and/or RGB mod and upscaler too, so what's your point?  I seriously doubt that most people buying these things are new to PCE or have been using only a base system for years.

That is my point. The cost of a buying another Turbo Everdrive is irrelevant for someone who already has a Turbo Everdrive which brings the UGX-02 a bit closer to the SSDSys3 with that crowd and makes DVI/HDMI the deciding factor by an even larger margin.

The SNK fighters and Majong games constitute more than half of the Arcade Card exclusives and there are superior platforms for that stuff anyway.

The SNK games are just under half of the Arcade Card library (5 out of 12, and 1 of those 5 is the sole mahjong game), and there's no such thing as a "superior platform" to the PCE. 

Good point. PCE obviously does it better! ;)


Was accidentally inflating the mahjong count with some of the Arcade Card enhanced titles that don't actually require it:
Mahjong Sword Princess Quest Gaiden
Sexy Idol Mahjong Fashion Monogatari
Super Real Mahjong P II & III Custom
Super Real Mahjong P V Custom

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Super SD System 3]

I still feel the same,

Let the kinks get worked out of the SS3 then grab it for the up-scaling / Everdrive built in one.  I agree with NEcro there seem to be other options out there for what the UG gives you. It's a really nice option if you want to go that route, but I'll let the SS3 work itself out into a better device and pick up one of those.

Ride my PVM plasma till it dies.

To be clear, the UGX is not an scaling analog RGB. It get's digital and maintains digital for its DVI/HDMI output. It has more in common with, say, an UltraHDMI N64 than a OSSC RGB N64.

The upper grafx is unpolished and lazily engineered. I mean WTF?

I'm still waiting for the GDEmu guy's version of the CD hardware emulator.

you get a USB port, but it's treated like a serial port

Universal Serial Bus.

He never updated after expressing a tiny bit of interest years ago. No reason to think he's actually working on it. Even if he was, the market is probably too crowded to support a third player. He'd likely abandon it or release his project files or something.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Super SD System 3]

Has there been any compatibility tests of the new UpperGrafx? The SSDS3 has been tested with 100% game compatibility.

The DVI output is nice, but it mentions 1 frame of lag. Add that to whatever you TV has and that might be noticeable.

Also, the UpperGrafx still requires you to have all the system cards for whatever stuff you are playing. Actually, I don't think it emulates any Hucard system cards or games at all? The SSDS3 has that all built in. Supports all HU and CD stuffs.

And the instruction on the UpperGrafx website are cryptic as hell about what all features it has and what image formats it supports. It seems like you have to use their special tool to create the cd images.

Plus the thing is butt ugly compared to the Super SD System 3. But that's IMHO.

In my eyes, the only redeeming thing the UpperGrafx has is the DVI video output.



I would like to see a really good review on the UpperGrafx though. I looked and haven't seen anything yet.

Hey, man. Did you ever make a video about SSDSys3? I've been waiting for it to pop up but haven't seen it even though I have seen vague references to "Todd's review."

Anyway, there isn't much of any English info for UGX-02. GameTechUS has a UGX-01 back in 2016 and didn't even mention that it was expected to be able to be an optical drive emulator (the makers long claimed UGX-01 had everything it needed but they weren't sure about enabling the feature). Can't even tell in the GameTechUS review if it had an SD card slot. UGX-02 has it enabled with an SD cart slot. Reading their machine-translated Japanese site, it may be that the only real difference is that the SD card slot is populated on the PCB, though their English section says that all components were populated for the feature on the original version (seems contradictory).

It looks like the SD card is accessed RAW without FAT or a standard file system so their tool is as much about reading and writing the SD cards as it is about adapting CD images. It probably isn't too different than the tool used to prep ROMs for NeoSD.

It does support dumping HuCards though they claim that this functionality is unofficial. They probably don't want to get in legal trouble (what are Japans laws regarding this?). Another thing it does that SSDSys3 does not is save digital snapshots/screen grabs.

For almost anyone with a Turbo Everdrive, the lack of HuCard and System Card functions isn't such a big deal. Turbo ED can do any HuCard game and replicate all the system cards except the Arcade Card for those 8 or so titles. Most anyone who cares about them probably already has an Arcade Card or a better system for playing the same games... mostly SNK fighters and a couple Majong games, so just screw Majong and get a NeoGeo. ;) The SSDSys3 definitely gets a value advantage for anyone who doesn't have a TurboED since that's another $70+. Keeping my TurboED for the Turbo Express anyway so it might as well continue serving double duty as a Super System Card.

The single frame of lag thing is referring to a frame buffer that is used to maintain 60hz sync on a console that does not output exactly 60hz. You get the same issues with an SNES and an OSSC (some TVs won't tolerate it). If it's properly designed like the Analogue Super NT at original speed then it's "up to" one frame of lag where it starts at 0ms latency and ever so slightly increases each frame until the system gets a full frame out of sync. From there, it drops back to 0ms and starts all over. That means it would average a half-frame of latency with a single frame maximum. My understanding is that the existing multi-out continues to work fine much like UltraHDMI. That means you can have the best of both worlds for capturing high-quality DVI/HDMI while playing with zero latency from analog outputs or existing RGB mods.

Yes, the only redeeming thing the UpperGrafx has in direct comparison is DVI/HDMI unless you're some weirdo who decides based on the screenshot and HuCard dumping features, but that's because DVI/HDMI is the primary feature. The UGX-01 didn't do ODE at all though it supposedly is capable with some presumably small alteration (they entertained the idea of converting existing units but have not decided). Unfortunately for Terra Onion, more people are concerned with video quality than they were counting on and they gave it a huge boon by initially ignoring that aspect. Hopefully the revision fixes all of this, though I still think DVI/HDMI could be compelling.

The compatibility info regarding the UGX-02 doesn't seem to have changed since before the SSDSys3 was even announced. I would hope that it has improved since they reported ~80% of CD titles worked several months ago. It definitely doesn't sound as good as SSDSys3 in that regard.

I thought that the big problem with the Upper Grafx is that it essentially drops a frame?

So does the 60hz display. To avoid this you'd have to speed up or slow down the entire system to match when using DVI/HDMI because the display interface does not support out of spec or variable refresh rates. That's how AVS, Hi-Def NES, Nt Mini, and Super Nt deal with it. An attachment can't speed up or slow down the system. It can display the frames as they are generated. If they come too fast it will have to start buffering the next frame which will add a fraction of a frame of latency that increases with each frame all the way up to one frame of latency. At that point, it drops a frame and returns to zero latency. The only other way to avoid this on an original system running at original speed without adding adding that average half-frame of lag is to allow screen tearing.

The Analogue Super Nt, for example, has all three options: run system at exactly 60hz (0.08hz slower), drop a frame every 750 frames, or allow screen tearing. They may even offer a fourth option: analog adapter for CRTs at 60.08hz. I'm not sure what options UGX has, but dropping 1 frame every whatever frames would average to a half-frame of lag and would not be a deal-killer for me, especially if the other analog outputs continue working at zero latency.

How are people feeling about this device now with that 2nd version of the UpperGrafx out recently?  It seems aside from hucards you have the same basic feature set but comes in clean clear modern HDMI.

The price of the UperGrafx is too high.  If you factor in the cost of an Arcade Card and Everdrive (and DVI to HDMI adapter if you really want HDMI) to get the same capabilities already built-in to a SSD3, you could buy a SSD3 and nice upscaler and have a more compact system and an upscaler to use with other devices.

I'd agree except that most of us already have a Turbo ED that functions as a Super System Card. The SNK fighters and Majong games constitute more than half of the Arcade Card exclusives and there are superior platforms for that stuff anyway.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: UperGrafx PC Engine 720p DVI Widget]

Well I certainly think that partnering with the NeoGeo forums is a PR disaster.

I will 3rd this.

Hahaha!!!! Well, I can't argue otherwise... Not just the over modding, I was also turned off by NeoSD being thin-skinned about this Japanese competitor product right here.

My post was deleted to prevent other PCE fans from finding out about UperGrafx in his thread when somebody asked about digital HDMI output.. I can understand arguments for the protectionism, but I was a little surprised they wanted to quickly squash any compare/contrast detour for those hoping for HDMI options some day... Way too sensitive for me.

If I'm gonna shill, it's gonna be for ALL PCE fans to know all options on the table before spending cash and not just help him maximize sales for a video analog-only output model. You can find his post to me, how defensive he got, dismissing this device as a "dream" and boasting how much better his is, etc.

For me, I'm more excited about a HDMI model and it tripling the resolution to 720p. I've thrown out or donated to friends most of my old CRT boob tubes. I'm still keeping my 32" Panasonic with YPbPr, but I'm very happy with LG 4K panels, love what they're doing, and I think this device is better future-proofing for US gamers.

SSD3 didn't go for that final touch to supply YPbPr/Component output for most US TV sets, it's geared to Europe in the RGB regard. Even then, a % of YPbPr TV sets need you to double the resolution to 480p or it won't work and you'll have to switch down to crappy Composite (they always still take 240p in Composite jack).

Anyway, they're both great products and I look forward to seeing how much these teams advance. Just making my preference known.

Thanks. After I stumbled on their Japanese page and noticed this back in December I've been trying to spread the word. People need to know that there is a video purist option!

FWIW, 720p will integer-scale to 4K. If you disable your TV's image processing (overscan simulation, motion interpolation, etc) you should get perfectly sharp pixels with no in-betweeners!

I've been doing Hi-Def NES and UltraHDMI installs and 720p is the recommended setting for 4K televisions.

Can you point me to a good place where I can see the 720P/4k with no in-betweeners. I've been looking for different options for my systems.

I don't have a 4K set but I walked someone through this with a Hi-Def NES as he exchanged close-ups of his display via email I'll see if I can dig those up.

FWIW, 720p will integer-scale to 4K. If you disable your TV's image processing (overscan simulation, motion interpolation, etc) you should get perfectly sharp pixels with no in-betweeners!

I've been doing Hi-Def NES and UltraHDMI installs and 720p is the recommended setting for 4K televisions.

If you're using scanlines, then yeah 720p with better scanlines would be the way to go, but if you're not using scanlines I would say 1080p.  1080p is a 2x integer scale to 4k theoretically it should result in less time processing the image from 720p but that will probably depend from set to set.

One of the nice things about 4k sets is that both 720p and 1080 are integer scales to it.  (1280 x 720 x 3 =  3,840 x 2,160 and 1920 x 1080 x 2 = 3,840 x 2,160)

Plus for those 4k sets that soften the image when they upscale them, you should see less of a softening when going from 1080p vs 720p. 


For those wanting component out of the SD3 thing, the HDRetrovision Genesis model 2 cables will do the trick.

The problem is that 1080p is a 4.5x (non-integer) scale of 240p. This will either result in rows of blended pixels or alternate rows being thicker than the others. It's the same reason scanlines look bad on 1080p: varying thickness means alternating scanline density. A 5x integer scale of 240p is perfect because it results in 1200p (these displays exist) or cropped 1080p. Don't worry about missing 120 lines because that only translates to 24px of the original 240p image, 12px top and bottom (similar to original CRT overscan). The problem with 5x is that many similar devices don't support it, like Hi-Def NES, for example. Even if it does support it, it may produce 1200p which will not scale perfectly to 4K.

The extra time it takes to scale with a non-integer scale is spent creating blended/interpolated detail instead of just doubling, tripling, quadrupling, etc. It has to assemble, create, and output entire frames at a time to do that which means it needs to buffer. When integer scaling it's possible to duplicate pixels and line-double on the fly without buffering frames. A proper scaling algorithm should scale 720p to 4K with no more delay than 1080p since you're literally just multiplying by 3 instead of 4 with the same frame rate. If the 4K set is cropping the image slightly as most do without digging through hidden/obfuscated settings, you aren't getting an integer scale anyway.

HD Retrovision cables will do nicely for the revised SSDSys3, assuming they actually fix the RGB issues that prompted the recall. They seem to resent anyone who even cares about it though, and they already got it wrong once despite publicly expressed concerns before launch, so I wouldn't assume.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / TurboRip v1.41: The PC Engine/TG-16 CDROM ISO/WAV/CUE Ripper [10/15/2016]!]

That happened to me with security essentials. I added an exception for the folder where I keep the program. security essentials would delete it so fast I could never read why it was deleting it. Nor could I go back into virus history to find out why either. Not a big deal. problem solved.

Same problem I had. I had to disable real-time protection because it would just delete it. Well, the notice I described earlier didn't name the supposed threat or even the filename it was talking about but did say "Click for more info." Clicking would just take me to Windows Defender where it would say everything is hunky-dory with no activity or threat log or prompt for action. Switching back to the folder I extracted Turbo-Rip to would reveal that it deleted my executable.

Grrrr...

Microsoft doesn't even conform to their own user interface and program design guidelines. It makes sense that they'd botch this.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: TurboRip v1.41: The PC Engine/TG-16 CDROM ISO/WAV/CUE Ripper [10/15/2016]!]

Did PayPal report this as a virus or something? Windows Defender kept blocking it. Maybe some incorrect flag in an industry database of undesirable software is what got it on their radar in the first place. TurboRip isn't BSA-friendly! ;)

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Everdrive Fail]

Also for those of you in the US you know you can get Krikzz stuff from Stoneage gamer in the US, and have regular shipping and get it in a few days instead of waiting over two months.  The price is the same (though maybe he doesn't do the black friday sale, but I guess to me its worth it not to wait almost 2 1/2 months).

The 2 months is because of the backorder, excessive demand on Black Friday, holiday shipping delays, winter storms, international shipping, etc. All of these things are affecting Stone Age Gamer too (where do you think he gets them ? ;)). In fact, they're still backordered even now and Ryan (SAG owner) isn't going to get them to you any faster when they aren't in stock (extra step, in fact). Krikzz has been including a free shell and label at a price comparable to SAG's PCB only price and this year they started including nice boxes with fitted foam inserts. Not as nice as SAG's cases, but nice none-the-less.



They're good guys at SAG, but during the Black Friday sales Krikzz is the easy choice. The people talking about 2 month shipping are all from that period late Nov-Dec and SAG has been backordered just as long.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Everdrive Fail]

So after waiting 9 weeks I finally got my Turbo Everdrive.  Andddd it doesn't work.  I just get the white screen.  US Duo not modded, formatted the sd card and everything, just doesn't work.  Very dissappointed as it appears now I'll have to send it back to the other side of the world.

I also swore I saw that it supported ALL games which would include CD ISOs but now I'm reading it doesn't?

Wasn't there another similar thing out there somewhere that supports everything?  I remember it wasn't cheap but maybe I'll get that instead.

That "similar thing" didn't exist 9 weeks ago.

UpperGrafx UGX-02 and Super SD System 3 just launched and those are the only two devices with Optical Drive Emulation.

It sounds like you ordered yours during the week or so they were on sale after Black Friday. I only just finally got mine a few days ago and, yes, both of those products were announced/released in the mean time. I was also in the middle of building a working CD-ROM^2 setup so it was more than a little frustrating for me. In the end, I'm still glad that I went this route, not just because of the SSDSys3 debacle, but because the TurboED is still good for my Turbo Express and works as a Super System Card for my CD-ROM^2/TurboGrafx-CD.

As others have said, the TurboED has a small switch on the side to set the region and it will give you a white screen with the wrong region set. You also have to have the system files on a compatible micro SD card (just ROMs won't work; not all SD cards work).

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: UperGrafx PC Engine 720p DVI Widget]

Well I certainly think that partnering with the NeoGeo forums is a PR disaster.

I will 3rd this.

Hahaha!!!! Well, I can't argue otherwise... Not just the over modding, I was also turned off by NeoSD being thin-skinned about this Japanese competitor product right here.

My post was deleted to prevent other PCE fans from finding out about UperGrafx in his thread when somebody asked about digital HDMI output.. I can understand arguments for the protectionism, but I was a little surprised they wanted to quickly squash any compare/contrast detour for those hoping for HDMI options some day... Way too sensitive for me.

If I'm gonna shill, it's gonna be for ALL PCE fans to know all options on the table before spending cash and not just help him maximize sales for a video analog-only output model. You can find his post to me, how defensive he got, dismissing this device as a "dream" and boasting how much better his is, etc.

For me, I'm more excited about a HDMI model and it tripling the resolution to 720p. I've thrown out or donated to friends most of my old CRT boob tubes. I'm still keeping my 32" Panasonic with YPbPr, but I'm very happy with LG 4K panels, love what they're doing, and I think this device is better future-proofing for US gamers.

SSD3 didn't go for that final touch to supply YPbPr/Component output for most US TV sets, it's geared to Europe in the RGB regard. Even then, a % of YPbPr TV sets need you to double the resolution to 480p or it won't work and you'll have to switch down to crappy Composite (they always still take 240p in Composite jack).

Anyway, they're both great products and I look forward to seeing how much these teams advance. Just making my preference known.

Thanks. After I stumbled on their Japanese page and noticed this back in December I've been trying to spread the word. People need to know that there is a video purist option!

FWIW, 720p will integer-scale to 4K. If you disable your TV's image processing (overscan simulation, motion interpolation, etc) you should get perfectly sharp pixels with no in-betweeners!

I've been doing Hi-Def NES and UltraHDMI installs and 720p is the recommended setting for 4K televisions.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / UperGrafx PC Engine 720p DVI Widget]

yeah, I responded before you edited some stuff around.  I agree with your edit version more than the original.  I also didn't mean to say he directly said to his audience that "This is bad"  but he did say "you guys know this may have problems"  That's paraphrased of course.

What I was getting at is what you're saying that the forum post was then easily turned around as the TO guys felt they were being attacked even though that wasn't the case.

I feel that yes you are right that they were not 100% professional about the situation in that regard, but I do feel that are at least better off than a lot of other items/games/projects I've seen and it's not fair to say CrackTiger is some sort of crazy person for suggesting that they are in fact handling some aspects well. (although I agree with you and NecroPhile's post in saying that they were not 100 upfront on it, and to some degree believed that the issues were not their fault)

Grudge is probably strong . . . I am saying that this all boils down to internet drama for me, the guys at TO will fix the stuff and RBG will move on. and it may be worth buying one after it all sorts out.

Thanks.

Considering that Bob was talking from the perspective of an RGB purist to an audience of RGB purists about predictable RGB purist concerns, I have to say that it's pretty unfair to fault him for saying "that there may be problems..." especially when he was absolutely right. Actually, it's more accurate to paraphrase it as him saying "we don't know" about certain predictable concerns dealing with Gen/MD2 cables. If anything, he had a duty to remind them of those concerns and seek/share further details. That's exactly what he did while remaining supportive and encouraging anyone who didn't care about that to buy it.

They were concerns that were so predictable that I was already wondering about them before Bob ever said a word... likely even before he was aware that it existed. His statements were not negative and only made things better for everyone, including Terra Onion (fewer of the RGB purist buyers they resent rushing to buy/return it). Bob was specific about what kind of problems there might be and he hit the nail on the head. If it weren't for him then an even bigger portion of their initial buyers would be upset.

They accuse him of criticizing it without having one or knowing anything about it but, as I explained above, that wasn't what he was doing at all. He pointed out what we needed to know first and cautioned us to wait for details. He reached out for those details and he shared the details he had as they came through. There's absolutely no way that saying "we don't know yet" counts as unfairly criticizing it without seeing it. Explaining the concerns with the details we did receive is entirely fair. Everything was full-disclosure.

It ultimately had exactly the problems he and his audience would be concerned with, completely vindicating any words of caution. It would be wrong of him to be aware of those concerns/potential problems/details relevant to that audience and NOT to mention them when sharing the news. They don't seem to realize that his audience was already one of picky RGB purists before their product existed and that his comments did not suddenly make them care. They already cared. He's not some figurehead that turned everyone against them.

I wasn't implying that CrackTiger lives on another planet to think what he thought so I wasn't calling him a "crazy person." The "other planet" comment was one of two options and it was used to strongly imply the other one: that he got that impression from TerraOnion's current echo chamber on NGF, which is where he was inviting me to read. I wanted him to know just how thoroughly I dug into that so he would realize that there is a lot more to it than what you find there. There is a reason you'd have that impression if that was your primary source of info on this drama.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / UperGrafx PC Engine 720p DVI Widget]

Not that I am condemning you, but your whole reasoning for boycotting a project is because a Youtube personality was attacked wrongly in your opinion?   He was criticizing their product . . . of course there is a large area here where misunderstandings could enter the equation.

If only that was all there was to it. No, Bob got thrown under the bus so that they could dismiss EVERYONE who cared about it and turn their supporters against anyone who even mentioned video concerns even though those weren't the only concerns. Just look at the hate being spewed there toward anyone who has any problem what-so-ever. Just look at what happens to anyone who actually tries to correct the record. People are being PUNISHED for having problems with it. I get that they needed a launch partner for the NeoSD but they REALLY need their own support forums. NGF is just too protective and hostile to newcomers and that's exactly what a support forum will bring.

Now, you say that Bob was criticizing their product. I ask you to please take 30 minutes of your time to look through the weekly podcasts from Dec and Jan. Bob runs a channel and website focused on RGB and he commented on the RGB concerns his audience would have while remaining supportive the entire time.

If your such a fan of bob as you stated, than should you not like him should realize this and continue to support the project and understand these thing happen????   It is not a matter of absolving the team of wrong doing but rather of understanding, and accepting that humans are imperfect.  holding them accountable is one thing and a good thing! But holding grudges doesn't seem like a healthy lifestyle.

Sorry, just seemed a bit hypocritical and maybe I am being a bit dense?

Resume back to the normal drama filled posts.

It's not that I'm a "fan of Bob." I watch for the community news and I don't even have an RGB-capable display. Bob doesn't tell me what to think. I'm a first-hand witness to Bob's horrible mistreatment from the community at the hands of Terra Onion and their followers. I'd say that Terra Onion are only responsible for their own actions except that they definitely fanned these flames. Provoked it. Every post there condemning Bob and accusing anyone with concerns of being Bob's minion is 100% their doing even when it was posted by someone else.

It's premature to say that Bob continues to support it after their attack because he hasn't made an update since they acknowledged the issues and blamed him. I'd get right back on board if they made an apology or at least dialed it back ("maybe we were wrong"). I don't see that happening if you aren't even allowed to tell them that borrowing for reviews is routine and the Bob never called it a "disaster." GadgetUK tried to tell them about the misunderstanding and even he fell on deaf ears (anyone else would have been banned).

"Grudge?" I'm serious that I'd still buy one if they apologized. I remain excited for the future products Terra Onion has hinted at but I will not join the "oh how PROFESSIONAL of them" bandwagon when it's the exact opposite. SSDSys3 is not the only game in town, as this thread demonstrates.

...That's right: They lost my business AFTER acknowledging the problem and agreeing to resolve it. Not before

Congrats

Also, that's a LOT of words to say, "I don't really know what I am talking about and I don't have one, nor am I buying one and I don't even have an RGB monitor"

I know exactly what I'm talking about and read every word of every post on NGF. I went further and listened to every word uttered by RetroRGB on the subject. I followed up every tweet linked. I read the entire Shmups thread where they are present as "NeoSD." I communicated directly with another owner/technician and knew exactly what was wrong before they announced it (using a digital ground plane for analog outputs). I know the situation inside and out.

My point about RGB is that my decision has nothing to do with it and everything to do with what they did to concerned people who only wanted to help (Bob and countless people banned from NGF). It seems that even that was lost on you.

You don't have to do all the work I did. Just watch those few RetroRGB segments yourself. Try to find where Bob called is a "disaster." Try to find where Bob encouraged angry users to demand refunds. Try to find where Bob did any of the things they accuse him of doing. They fabricated this story so that they could mischaracterize anyone who comes to them with a problem as being one of Bob's minions so that they can dismiss them. Attacking him for selling his own NeoSD after he lost is job is just despicable. After you watch those videos, skim through the statement thread on NeoSD again and tell me that the reactions to RetroRGB aren't over the top and entirely inexcusable.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / UperGrafx PC Engine 720p DVI Widget]

NEU!!!!!!!
http://www.upergrafx.com/ugx02_ja

I want this, especially now that the Super SD System 3 creators and supporters consider video purists to be pariahs and express disdain for anyone who cares about it.

If you sign up to the neo-geo.com forums you can read their statement about video/audio in the dedicated thread in their dedicated section. They apologized and completely agree with the video purists and worked with some of the experts who understood the situation better than most of the people complaining as well as Terra Onion themselves. They've fixed the RGB and audio and the new model will work perfectly with a standard Genesis csync cable.

They're recalling the shipped units and the new model is now the standard.

No reason to punish yourself because of random thread out of context.

Oh, I read every word of it along with every word prior and every word following. If you did too then I must say that either you believed everything they said without looking into it or you must live on a different planet. I can't actually blame you because the moderation there will not allow anyone to tell you the reality of the situation.

Here's the thing: I actually didn't care about the RGB issues and would have bought it with or without them acknowledging the problem and offering to fix it but I can't possibly do that after seeing what they did/said AFTER their statement and proposed resolution. That's right: They lost my business AFTER acknowledging the problem and agreeing to resolve it. Not before.

Why ? Because they continued to place the blame for the entire debacle on a Good Samaritan and relentlessly rallied everyone against a completely innocent man. Not only was this man completely blameless, but he was willing to help and could have saved them thousands of Euros if they had responded differently. He had nothing to do with the resulting debacle. He is their scapegoat.

I implore you to actually look at the three or four RetroRGB weekly updates where Bob discusses SSDSys3. Time codes are in the descriptions.
Bob never called it a disaster.
He never told people to demand refunds.
He never asked for a free unit.

They made all these claims repeatedly and continue spreading these lies. Meanwhile, on Planet Earth (reality):
Bob was supportive.
Bob was enthusiastic.
Bob was sympathetic.

Even when confronted with a screenshot clearly showing that he only asked to borrow one, they doubled-down on the claim and further riled up the community against it. They claimed that "borrowed" was code for "free" because no one borrows a review unit and companies can't use he returned units, ignoring that reviewers and producers actually do this all the time. Not only has Bob done this numerous times, he went on to arrange it with another member here who enthusiastically ordered it within 15 minutes of it going on sale.

Voultar is the one they thanked for helping even though MobiusStripTech tried to help too. But get this: Bob was offering the exact same help as Voultar before release. They are closely associated, you know. Bob has been nothing but supportive and sympathetic to their project. They viciously continued attacking him and blaming him and even had the nerve to complain that he sold his own personal NeoSD without reviewing it. News flash: People are allowed to sell their stuff. He paid for that with his own money and planned to get another for a future comparison. He had no obligation and it wasn't even related to his field of expertise (video).

Even GadgetUK had to bite his tongue when calling them out in this. Unless Terra Onion admits that they were wrong to attack him and apologize, I will not buy a SSDSys3.

What they did is the exact opposite of gracefully acknowledging the problem and offering a resolution and yet people keep talking about how "professional" they're being. I must live on a different planet.

I'm no RGB purist. I don't even have an RGB-capable display (yet), but as soon as I saw Terra Onion and GadgetUK's videos on YouTube in December even I immediately had questions about the Gen/MD 2 cable because I knew that the consoles did not output standard RGB and that you needed different cables depending on your mod.

Making it to spec with whatever cables they had around does not surprise me. Again, I planned to buy it anyway. My issue is with them taking an upstanding community member and taking him over the coals unjustly.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / UperGrafx PC Engine 720p DVI Widget]

NEU!!!!!!!

http://www.upergrafx.com/ugx02_ja

I want this, especially now that the Super SD System 3 creators and supporters consider video purists to be pariahs and express disdain for anyone who cares about it.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Modding/building an arcade stick for PCE and SFC]

Ah, I don't have a Neo Geo and thought it was the same. I probably shouldn't have quoted it in my post. I used VGA-type DSUB ports for mine.

I also use a cheap SNES-to-USB adapter with that padhacked SNES box so I can play PC emulators.

If you switch to the two-row DSUB 15 then your setup would also work on superguns and some native arcade boards with no extra adapter (many MVS games have controller ports)! Another reason: many other DIY controller projects use the Neo-Geo pinout... like this one:

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Modding/building an arcade stick for PCE and SFC]

Many people make them with Neo-Geo style Dsub 15 connectors wired straight and the adapt at the other end. This allows them to be used for JAMMA and Neo-Geo too, especially since many superguns have Neo-Geo ports.

I padhacked controllers for NES, SNES, TG, and GEN using the DSUB15 method and just stuck each PCB in a little project box. It was tough to find a proper cable since most VGA cables don't have all 15 pins wired.  I have a thick Monoprice one that works fine, but it's not very flexible.

Yeah, that's essentially the same thing except those boards replicate the controllers and the TG16/PCE one also replicates a 2P controller tap.

Should probably avoid VGA cables though. VGA is a very different DSUB15 than Neo-Geo (three rows of 5 pins versus two rows of 8 and 7 pins). Neo-Geo uses the same one as Famicom EXT and fits PC game ports. You can get the connectors and wire them for cheap without splicing up an existing cable and hoping it uses all the wires. Heck, you can even get IDC versions that don't require soldering (clamp onto ribbon cable):
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F231583196640

Neo-Geo and Famicom have deeper connectors than most DSUBs but they work with the other style just fine. That's most DIY arcade projects use the standard off-the-shelf DSUB15.

Console5 and GameDoctorHK have the "deep" style extension cables and cables with one end unfinished.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Modding/building an arcade stick for PCE and SFC]

Many people make them with Neo-Geo style Dsub 15 connectors wired straight and the adapt at the other end. This allows them to be used for JAMMA and Neo-Geo too, especially since many superguns have Neo-Geo ports.

You can use this board to adapt two sticks to PC Engine:
https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/5BpBrxA5

You won't even need a 2p tap or multitap! The author also has a 1P version.

Here is the board you would use for NES/SNES:
https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/7r2HOceb

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: “Junk” PC Engine CD-ROM^2]

SUCCESS!

I finally got my replacement TurboED to use as a System Card. Noticed that the patched BIOS you use affects a bit more than the Backup RAM manager and load screen though.

Next up: Test CD-Rs and tweak if necessary. Gotta order Verbatim AZO or Taiyo Yuden discs first. I know counterfeit discs are so prolific that it can be hard to ensure you're getting real ones. Wish me luck!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Official PCE games that are 80-100% in english and no/little japanese required]

Quick question:
Can I share this list in the AtariAge TG16 thread? Someone's asking me for it. I'll give credit.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Yamatoku-Classic Combined Shipping]

Yeah I've had multiple shipments over $200 and never been taxed either.

It also depends on how it was classified on the form. "Gifts" and personal shipments are not the same as items marked "merchandise." "Wholesale" is also different. If you ordered a 10 pack of SCART cables then your supplier may mark it wholesale regardless of your intentions.

The US Customs and Border Protection site says: "Note: Most personal shipments worth up to $800, and gift packages worth up to $100, will pass duty-free as long as the recipient does not receive multiple packages in a single day whose cumulative value is more than these amounts."

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/126/~/mail---goods-requiring-duty

What that tells us is that there are still thresholds for the other types as well even though you are significantly less-likely to cross them.

I've made personal orders before and had them arrive marked "gift" or with a mis-stated value without me requesting that, so what matters isn't so much what you spent. It's more what value the sender declared and how. A high-volume seller like Yamatoku can't risk their business with illegitimate customs declarations, so they came up with this.

I got a Core Grafx II setup with some games shipped out a the end of last year, arrived here earlier this year and it was a $150 shipped bundle and no fee there.  I imagine if there is a threshold it has to be probably notably higher doing a quick glance here and google.  Maybe $500-1000 or more.  Not really sure, but it sucks balls paying $14 on a 3oz GB game or a loose HuCard.

And that's not even getting into this guy having a couple shill bidding accounts too which is well known and documented on many gaming sites pissed at the seller.  I was watching 3 games and a controller yesterday that ended and each one were low for awhile and all them got bid from the same user account kicking it up to a heftier value.

In all honesty, that's how my bid behavior would appear when I am building up an order over a couple weeks. I watch all the upcoming items I'm interested in and attempt to win them with bid-sniping. Because I'm trying to pad my order with stuff that's only worth it to me after the shipping discount, I'm generally not bidding high enough to win all of them.

Most recently I was getting a lot of the cheap non-Charcoal N64s for UltraHDMI (had a lot of kits to install an sell) and I added a bunch of NeoGeo stuff including duplicate titles for testing a Junk AES that I was fixing up. The second copies of Fatal Fury Special and SamSho II will be used with DiagROM and I also needed a shell for my flash cart. Only afterwards did I realize that I don't need a shell for my DiagROM companion cart (only need one board from it too). I did not detect any kind of shill bidding as I got several of them for less than they were worth. Based on your description, I can see how someone interested in the same things but bold enough to bid earlier and offer more might assume my bids were Yamatoku shill bids.

They have a generous period to accrue items before payment so I spend a lot at once. This is why I only place orders with them every few years.

The past allegations regarding bid retractions to feel out your max bid and second-chance offers from suspicious accounts that outbid you seem pretty damning but, again, I haven't encountered it with Yamatoku myself. It's very possible that they were doing this for a time and stopped or that they only do it for particular items I haven't bid on. Perhaps eBay put a stop to it but didn't ban them. Giving one of their big long-term sellers some leeway when they might claim ignorance of the rules is something I can imagine them doing. They might have even invoked the "sorry-we didn't know-we'll stop" defense, bolstered by a language barrier.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Official PCE games that are 80-100% in english and no/little japanese required]

sorry guys but the list lists Fatal Fury special as having english options under the options menu but how is it accessed as I can't see it when I go there?

I saw it in a YouTube video but now I can't find it. I see the "Option" menu in most videos but no none picks it. The "Config" menu seems to be for key assignments. I only see "Config" for Fatal Fury 2 but Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury Special have both menus. I did find a video showing the setting in Art of Fighting:

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Anyone made their own DIY multi tap? 6-button controller?]

Damn that idea is cool.

DO IIITTTTTTTTTTT.

I think I recall a link to a multi tap schematic here a long long time ago . . I'll let you know if I find it.

Thanks! It's a thrift store find and I'm still trying to figure out how to get it home. They'll only hold it for me so long. Even if I can borrow a pickup truck I'm going to have to take it apart. It's built so sturdy that even that is going the be a problem.

The rim is welded and the platforms are suspended on steel pipes with flanges that are bolted to each. The middle platform has four holes so that the top set of steel pipes thread into the bottom ones. It's a sturdy beast but I think it's perfect for housing a supergun, a Sony Trinitron HD KV-32HS510, and all my 4:3 consoles. The wheels will let me move the whole thing around in the man cave, since it will undoubtedly find itself in the way when we are doing something else. I'm seriously wondering if it's even possible to get that TV up there since lifting it onto the ledge where it is now took everything from three people and we didn't have to reach like we would here. I guess the 304 pound KV-40XBR800 is definitely out of the question.

Mocking up the joystick positions with three NeoGeo and two 6-button arcade-style sticks:

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Anyone made their own DIY multi tap? 6-button controller?]

You can't afford a multitap but you can build multiple six button arcade panels? Isn't a multitap like $20?

You misunderstand. I can afford a multitap. I can't justify it with a single controller for a second player and I'm not about to buy two standard controllers, two Avenue 6 controllers, a multitap, and two PCE to TurboGrafx converters. I already have a solution for two players (OSHPark PCB and two NeoGeo sticks). My curiosity can only justify so much. My sticks are multi-purpose and adapted for use on various consoles. They are EASILY justified, and most of them already exist.

The tap is $40-$60 and the pad is $35-$45. Spending $75 minimum to add only one player does not appeal to me. Being able to make my own multitap to use controllers I have does. Being able to share that with others appeals to me as well. Heck, I have 8 NeoGeo sticks and a dual 6-button stick ready to go. Only reason I'm interested in building another is to go with this:



I want to load it up with consoles on all sides and have a large rotating CRT on top. There's Room to position five sticks around one corner, spilling onto two sides.