Messages

[Off-Topic / Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime]

Ok, maybe you're confusing me now. Are you saying it has no original track? If so, fuck that release totally. If you mean it lacks the Fox dub, that's to be assumed. Only Discotek spends money rescuing vintage dubs (and bless them for it). Disney isn't going to use a lofi mono dub from 1994 (even if the songs are better and the dad cooler).

It has the original Japanese audio. But the subtitles are closer to dubtitles.

[Off-Topic / Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime]

We still have the DVD version of Totoro.  I wish I'd known they were doing a theater showing of the film as I'd have loved to take my daughter to it, looks like it was back in June apparently. 

I have the Blu-Ray that came in the Miyazaki box set which just has the Disney dub and subs.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: The story behind Keith Courage]

DE is so painfully generic but now when I look at it I wonder if it was more ineptitude or rather some misguided attempt at evoking cubism?  Whether or not the style was intentional, it doesn't get me pumped for exploring dungeons.

I hear the lady who did it went on to do greater things in the art world.

[Off-Topic / Re: The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime]

Nausicaa is my favorite movie ever. Lately my 2.5 year old kid has gotten into it, but only through the soundtracks. He hasn't seen the movie yet but he loves Joe Hisaishi I guess (kind of like a Japanese Vangelis) and he loves the covers of the albums (which were all Miyazaki watercolors back then since there was to "Ghibli staff artist" team to do them). Weird.

In the Summer they were doing digital screenings of various Ghibli movies (Yes, I'm aware Nausicaa is technically a Topcraft production and not Ghibli) and Nausicaa was among them. Any chance you got to see it on the big screen?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: The story behind Keith Courage]

I actually like the Dungeon Explorer box art. It just looks heavily stylized.

Quite frankly it looks like Napoleon Dynamite drew it and left out drawing him looking at a Liger.

It's stylized, but it's not a style I appreciate.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: The story behind Keith Courage]

This explains nothing. So you had to use new art, get another artist. The US has thousands upon thousands of artists. Look at all the record albums and book covers and toys and whatever, sure, almost every one of them is terrible compare to anything involving the graphic arts because Japan is way ahead of everyone on that but the US version of the debut Pink Lady album doesn't look like shit so why do all these video games? There was NOBODY in my 12th grade art classes that would make something like the Mega Man 1 cover.

This is more of a general question of "Where on Earth did they find the people who drew this video game covers in America and who thought these were good ideas for box art?". I suspect people in charge of packaging at a bunch of Video Game publishers said things like "Hey, my son made a great art project. It's on the fridge. I bet he could draw a guy exploring a dungeon" but we'll never know if they simply found the most inept professional illustrators around, or it was the work of family and friends of those in charge.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: The story behind Keith Courage]

Shitty artwork wasn't limited to the TG16 - so we can't really claim victim status on this one.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: The story behind Keith Courage]

The real question is why they went with this game at all.

I don't think licensing issues were a problem. If they were then simply changing the name and leaving all the very recognizable graphics wouldn't be enough to get you out of that problem.

I know at least other publishers have had issues using the actual Japanese art on the outside of the packaging without paying additional royalties. This was at least partly responsible for some of the bizarre and hideous cover arts we saw in the 80s and early 90s.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: The story behind Keith Courage]

They basically turned him into a super hero you see at the dentist or some shit, lol.

Well Captain Colgate is a hard act to follow.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: The story behind Keith Courage]

So really,  who the fuck came up with turning Wataru into Keith Courage?

Does anyone know, or have interviews/stories about it?

I just want to know what prompted them to turn a like 9 year old kid into a 45 year old with a mullet, wearing paintball armor.

They could have done so much better with the naming.

They could have just called it Alphaman, Alphaknight, or anything that sounded cool as fuck.

and then draw him in his full getup instead of a halfassed motocross suit with a toy lightsaber.

Besides Westerners lack of familiarity with Wataru, If they kept it as is there may have been licensing issues from Sunrise. So at least from a packaging perspective they tried to adapt it.

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

Well hands down my favorite fighter is Project Justice, but idk if you'd count that as 2D straight up, it plays kinda 2.5D-ish.

Outside of that, CvS2 is hands down the most FUN to play.

If we're talking 3D on Dreamcast, My favorite is Power Stone

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?]

EA put madden out right? What other major publishers/developers that were not japanese make games for it? LucasArts (loom?)

I think EA licensed Madden to TTI/NEC and they had a Western outside developer port it.

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

Got a copy of Vampire Chroncle: For Matching Service in a trade today.

Been wanting it for a while, especially since I'm riding the 2D fighter train hard lately.

Do you have a nice Dreamcast joystick to go with it?

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

the two wendy's that aren't out of the way for me dropped them somewhat recently.
the one by university dropped em over the summer, and the one by my house dropped them at the start of october.

probably good, don't need wendy's in my diet.

but they do have that sriracha sauce now, so I guess we'll see.

I can confirm my local Wendy's no longer has the spicy nuggets.
 
But.... McRib is back (at least here).

[General Gaming / Re: Got a 32x...]

I have never heard of these!

They're out of stock now but can be found here.
https://shop.hdretrovision.com/collections/component-cables/products/genesis-component-cable?variant=22630695427

[Off-Topic / Re: That TV Series You're Watching]

Late to the party but I'm only near the end of Season 1 of Sons of Anarchy.

By season 4 are they Dads of Anarchy?

[General Gaming / Re: Got a 32x...]

I would definetly be interested in something like that. Would love to see the mushroom at its best.

Dude. Phrasing.

His user ID IS Biggest Shmuck.

[General Gaming / Re: Got a 32x...]

Personally I haven't picked up a cable yet due to being poor and all. I was writing from the perspective of the average Joe who doesn't have access to a PVM. 

The average Joe could buy (when they're in stock at least) those HDRetrovision Component cables and use those too.

[General Gaming / Re: Got a 32x...]

My biggest gripe with the 32X is its video output. Even if you have an S-Video modded Genesis you'll still be stuck with Sega's horrible composite output as your only option. I'll have to ask some of my friends to see what an S-vid mod would entail on the little mushroom.

Why not use RGB?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?]

Rare was doing contract work for Western publishers, companies like Tradewest and LJN along with Nintendo had them making games for them. With the Turbo having so few Western developed games in general it's not surprising.

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

Do your guy's Wendy's still (or ever had) Spicy nuggets? They got rid of them at the nearest to me so I stopped going.

Also, I prefer their honey mustard on the nugs than the bbq, with sweet and sour also beating out bbq. My wife asks for the bbq though, so I try it now and again.

Last I knew they still had them, but I prefer the regular ones. Their honey mustard is lousy compared to other places. The sweet n sour I like, but I prefer the BBQ.

[Off-Topic / Re: That TV Series You're Watching]

Started Stranger Things S2 over the weekend as well, only at Ep 7 or so. 

Once you're finished with the season let us know how disappointed you were.

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

got me some wendys chicken nuggets

But did you get the BBQ sauce?

[General Gaming / Re: Got a 32x...]

I totally forgot about the 32x. Doom sucked on it.

The 32X itself sucked so much my mom used to have me vacuum my room with it as a teenager.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: PC Engine CD backups]

Voultar commented a bit on general use of CDRs on old consoles.

[Off-Topic / Re: NeoGAF explodes...]

I used to visiting Gaming Age, then the forums became more popular than the actual site and the actual site closed creating the Neo Gaming Age Forums. I never really kept up with the mess it became later but there was a lot of good information that leaked from that forum. It's a shame if it is gone.

[General Gaming / Re: Import & Back-Up's - Playstation]

Hey fyi...when you play cdrs or imports using a gameshark or other external method (other than internal mod chip or a Net Yaroze) sometimes games can freeze at random times, not boot, or not play music properly in some instances. Ymmv.

Or when you play regular Playstation discs without a gameshark on an unmodded system.

The original Playstation has an extremely poor laser, and despite replacements, pot repairs, etc. Even the smaller PSones have their issues. There's no perfect solution as PS2s play Playstation games, but can have emulation problems with certain games too.

[General Gaming / Re: The Dangers of using 3.3V Flash Carts in Retro Consoles]

Rename thread to "Kim Jong-Il threatens western gamers with flashcards of mass destruction"

From the grave!

[Off-Topic / Re: That movie you just watched]

I watched this as a "late late night movie" back in the 90's...holy cow, I didn't know what I was in for.



There is a short story that totally ripped off (homage?) this plot, it was in Analog (or something like that...whatever was sold on magazine rack) from late 80's...I remember having a feeling of deja vu when I was watching the movie and then remembering the short story...

This film is in the public domain, so it was widely shown as a late night cable movie.

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

I'm sure they'd get a kick out of that. lol

Speaking of VCR's,
I keep an old VCR around purely for the reason of using it to connect older consoles that only have RF as an available connection.

So basically it's to go from RF to Composite, via the VCR. I have a couple TV's that don't pick up the signal of these old systems. This solves that issue.

An RF Demodulator would have done the same job, but those aren't exactly on the cheap side.

I do the same thing. I hook up Atari 2600, GASP 5200, 7800, Intellivision, Colecovision, Odyssey 2, and others through a VCR that connects to my PVM via composite.

[General Gaming / Re: Quality Genesis Model 2 Scart Cable]

Even the OEM X'Eye power bricks are expensive now.  I remember years ago picking up a handful and repairing them and selling them for a modest profit.  What people are asking for them now is just robbery. 

Yep, if it is just for functionality this is to spec and works great http://www.retrogamecave.com/#/shop/4577155957/psu-sega-jvc-x-eye/10873407

[General Gaming / Re: Quality Genesis Model 2 Scart Cable]

Its a bit off topic from your question but Green....heed my advice. Please. The info im gonna give you is important. Im not sure which power adapter you are using but I also have an X'Eye. **DO NOT**. I repeat....**DO NOT****** use ANY Genesis ac adapter or NES power adapter with the system. It may fit...yea...it may boot the system....but the voltage specs are way off. You will destroy the system. Only a Sega CDX or original JVC(both are identical)have the correct specs. You can also get the correct spec one on ebay or amazon.

The other issue is the CD part. Is it working ok? If the cds don't spin i know what is wrong. Its not the laser(usually).

RetroGameCave sells an aftermarket adapter specifically for the X'eye

[General Gaming / Re: Quality Genesis Model 2 Scart Cable]

im sorry.

using quality and genesis 2 together doesn't work.   stopthat


If you really need it though, that Retro Game Cables UK dude has never fucked me up

He's using an X'eye so there's the quality in the equation. Same pinout.

I only have the Duo cable from mickris and it's quite nice, I didn't know he sold other ones. 

I've heard good stuff about Dan's person as well, and the place BT linked but I haven't used either of them myself.  I need to get some better cables but the cost puts me off since I know I'd just want to buy all of them at one to save on shipping. 

I have a lot of RGB cables and quite a few system specific cables from both sellers.

From Retro_Gaming_Accessories I have SNES/Nintendo Multi-Out cables, Genesis/SMS, Genesis 2/X'eye, CDX/Saturn, PC Engine, Saturn, Playstation, Neo Geo with Stereo output to SCART from the headphone jack, Neo Geo CD with Stereo output to SCART right off the top of my head.

I also have PC Engine, SNES, Jaguar, SCART to BNC with Sync stripper and a PVM 2030 to SCART cable from RetroGamingCables UK.

All of the cables I have are high quality and outperform cheap Chinese SCART cables I've bought for testing, etc.
With that said, I do get that
1. Retro_Consoles_accessories is frequently out of stock and has at times confusingly listed items at strange prices to handle their order flow.
2. The RetroGamingUK cables are just as high of quality.

 So it all depends where you live, what shipping is going to cost and how easy or difficult it is to order a particular cable from the seller.
 RetroUK has a nice easy to access site, whereas dealing with Retro_Consoles_accessories sometimes requires racing to ebay when items are listed before they're out of stock again.  There's pluses and minuses to both

[General Gaming / Re: Quality Genesis Model 2 Scart Cable]

retro_console_accessories on ebay is supposed to be pretty bad and they might wreck a framemeister.

From my understanding that problem was specific to a no longer produced "Boosted sync" cable that they were selling.

[General Gaming / Re: Quality Genesis Model 2 Scart Cable]

Anyone know where I can find a quality Genesis model 2 scart cable?
All the good ones online seem to be sold out and the ones on eBay have bad reviews.

I recently aquired a JVC X'Eye and wanted to use it on my PVM

Wait for these to restock. http://www.ebay.com/itm/161588265542
She usuallly puts up a handful of cables in the morning and when they sell out their sold out until she posts more.

[General Gaming / Re: Ys VIII Lacrimosa of Dana PS4 & Vita]

Good news everyone!

http://www.usgamer.net/articles/nis-america-will-re-edit-ys-viii-lacrimosa-of-danas-localization-amid-complaints

[Off-Topic / Re: AOL DIED.]

Of all the chat programs, AIM was still really good.

YIM took a shit and now it's just wedged into yahoo mail
MSN turned into Windows Live turned into Skype and they fucking messed Skype up as a result
AOL was just the same as it ever was up until HEY LETS KILL IT.


I use LINE now mostly.   

Yahoo! messenger I was actively using up until they just integrated it into Yahoo mail. People I had been chatting with since the 90s were still actively using it, writing and conversing.

AIM turned into a graveyard of inactive accounts. People permanently signed in somewhere on some device, never checking messages or replying while hundreds of accounts sat permanently offline. Occasionally I'd use it but few people would ever write me and if I wrote people it was unlikely that I'd see a reply.

MSN messenger was mostly used to communicate with foreigners. I think the America in America Online Instant Messeger scared off everyone outside of the US.

I don't even think it's worth mentioning why I no longer use ICQ if it's alive at all, but at one point it was a big thing.

[Off-Topic / Re: Spook-tober]

GOONIES NEVER SAY DIEEEEEEEEEEEEE

They do in the German dub

[Off-Topic / Re: Spook-tober]

Lair of the White Worm

Suspiria

Suspiria is on my re-watch list too

[General Gaming / Re: A 100$ fucking SNES SF2 repro]

Yeah, I guess a sequel doesn't count.  Nobody is allowed to like it until it's released and there's at least eight other games.

I wasn't aware a sequel was in the works.

[General Gaming / Re: A 100$ fucking SNES SF2 repro]

You asked 'which franchises have several titles or have big fan bases'.  Last of Us certainly meets the latter.

Go ahead and change your argument to "nothing else compares to Nintendo because nothing else has Mario, Kirby, Metroid, etc." 

I'm more of questioning if one game and a remake of said game is enough to establish it as a consistent franchise. I'm well aware it has a fan base.
 
Like I consider Skies of Arcadia to be a game with a big fan base, and it too has an original game and a slightly upgraded remake. But is it a franchise?

In this context the definition of Franchise is a general title or concept used for creating or marketing a series of products . I'm not sure one product and a slightly improved version of that product constitutes a series.

[General Gaming / Re: A 100$ fucking SNES SF2 repro]

Uncharted and Last of Us are the two big Sony franchises that I think about when exclusives come up. I see where Zeta is coming from now after DragonmasterDan decoded some of the message for me

Uncharted I'll give you.

But The Last of Us?
 I know there's a higher res version on PS4 but are there any other games in the series thus far? Otherwise you have a single game released multiple times. I know there's 4 main Uncharted plus a Vita one (maybe more games).

[General Gaming / Re: A 100$ fucking SNES SF2 repro]

Zeta hates new games, so he probably doesn't pay much attention to them.

I agree with the basic pont here which is that Nintendo develops and cultivates franchises that people come to Nintendo platforms for again and again. Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, Kirby, the list goes on and on. Nintendo has fans in part because their fans of the franchises and properties that Nintendo owns/co-owns and releases on their platforms.

Sony only has a handful of franchises that are regulars or have big fan bases, Gran Turismo, God of War and then what? We haven't seen much of Little Big Planet recently.. Parappa is long gone. Even Microsoft has Halo, Gears of War and some properties that have their own fairly large fan bases.  Sony doesn't have the same identity, it's a big black box you play third party games on.

[Off-Topic / Re: Tom Petty]

Damn watching this tom petty video again makes me sad 

Then watch a happy one

[Off-Topic / Re: Tom Petty]

My yearbook theme in HS was "Running down a dream" so yeah...

RIP Mr. Petty you were awesome.

It's kind of interesting to see how much he impacted culture to where Yearbook designs were Tom Petty themed and a solid 15 years after he first hit it big.

[Off-Topic / Tom Petty]

Sad news here.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tom-petty-legendary-rocker-is-dead-at-66/

I was a fan of his, I got the chance to see him live on the Wildflowers tour in 94. It's a sad day

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

I got arbys and it fucking sucks.

goddamn coupon.

I've never once eaten at Arby's and thought to myself afterwards "I'm glad I went to Arby's."

[General Gaming / Re: NES classic]

I passed a Toys R us on my way to work and about two hours before they opened there was 40ish people lined up. Ugh

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB PC Engine LT loose for $1,000]

Damn, that bootleg Mounds bar looks pretty good.

But is it tastier than bounty paper towels?

[Fighting Street / Re: Coke free-style soda machines...they suck]

You guys see these out at Wendy's, PDQ, and other restaurants?  I hate them.  The soda is so watered down it taste horrible.  I really don't think I need 115 different flavor combinations. 

Not only the taste is bad, but old fucks are totally confused by them.  They have no idea how to operate them and I've seen a few call the cashier out form behind the counter to assist them get their soda...  Then you got the kids who want to put a little of every fucking flavor in the same cup, only to take one sip and spit it out.   

Now Pepsi is starting to get in on the action with them.  I just saw the first Pepsi one at one of those newer personal pan pizza places.  Yeah, the soda out of it is just as watered down as the Coke machine...

I'm at the point now that whenever I see them, I usually just order a water.  Especially in downtown Chicago since they just passed the new beverage tax, which is another rant in and of itself.

When working properly I've noticed the carbonation is a little different than the standard soda fountain formula but it tastes fine. I think in a lot of cases the machines are not properly maintained or particular types of syrup run out.

As a good example I used to visit a Firehouse Subs not too far from your house a few years ago, and it constantly had low syrup warnings when selecting different choices. I suspect a lot of businesses disable the warnings in settings leading to people drinking messed up drinks