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Cobra Kai

If you haven't seen it yet.. you need to.

It brings back a lot of the original Karate Kid.

Episodes 1 and 2 are on youtube.  The rest are on Youtube Red.
If you are savvy enough you can find them elsewhere.

Can't wait for season 2 

I just watched the two free episodes last night.  I enjoyed it enough that I will probably use my free trial of Red to watch the rest.

Funny thing is that I re-watched the original movie on Prime the other night completely randomly.  I was not aware of this new show and I didn't find out about the show until the day after watching the movie.  So by some strange coincidence, I was super excited to start watching the new series.

It's very close to what I would be looking for, but ultimately too small.

I guess it doesn't matter.  I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a consolized MVS yesterday with a 161 in 1 multi cart, with the plans to eventually upgrade that to a NeoSD in the future.

That looks like the outline of a table-top arcade machine to me.

Never trust the outline of the package.

I'm not sure off the top of my head.  As I said before, I didn't actually order the mod.  It just came with it when I bought it.  I only remember pot adjustments for R, B and sync, but maybe I missed something else.  I will take a picture of the board this weekend.  It probably won't be until Sunday because Saturday is my son's birthday.

Can you do a similar measurement on another source to verify your measurement? This should be either with a DVOM in AC mode or with a scope, just to be clear.

I can verify that I was using my volt meter in AC mode.  Although I will admit that my knowledge on this type of stuff is pretty limited. 

I'll try to take another measurement on something else sometime this weekend.  I was about to head to bed before I heard my email notification.  Any particular source that would be best, or just anything running component?   

Thanks again.

That switch is a massive pro grade beast. It's going to have all kinds of buffereing and circuit protection and gain control and shit. That's probably what's fucking it. A modded PCE is about three steps down the ladder of legit-ness. They weren't made for each other.

What is the exact model number of the switch? There are many Extron Crosspoint matrix switchers.

EDIT: documentation says it's unity gain. Check the PCE's output is between the specified .5 to 1.5V (peak to peak). If you have a solid mono image that's good and sync isn't an issue. Color comes from the other two signals and comparing them to the mono version.

CrossPoint 300 168 HVA
I'm getting less than .3V on each output. 
If I plug or unplug the red and blue plugs while the system is on, I get a short flash of that color on the screen for a split second before it goes back to black and white. 

Also, I noticed that the output voltage drops even lower when the original composite video cord is plugged into the back.  However, even with it removed entirely, I still get the black and white signal while running through the switch box. 

Is there any way to boost the signal before it gets to the switch box, or am I just talking out of my ass?

Thanks for you input.

The sync signal from a pc engine sometimes has issues with switch boxes. No one knows why or how to fix it other than getting a different switch box. This is also the case with some RGB switch boxes as well.

Is your switch box digital or analog? Analog would probably be best.

I think it's analog, but I guess I'm not sure.  It's an Extron Crosspoint matrix switcher.  It's also a pass through switcher, in that it doesn't offer any type of upscalling or anything like that.  However, it does have the ability to send the output video and audio signal to multiple sources at the same time.  With my current setup, I actually send my video signals to two TVs at the same time.  Both TVs are giving me the black and white image, and both TVs are working correctly with the component signals from the consoles I listed above. 

I have another component switch box that I could test with to see if I could duplicate the black and white image.  But even if it works, it's still an issue because the whole reason I bought a 16 input switch box was to run everything through it and avoid multiple switch boxes.

A few years ago I bought a PC Engine Duo R.  I got a pretty good deal on it since it included an Arcade Card along with a six button pad.  It also included a component out mod.  I didn't care that much about the mod at the time.  In fact, I would have preferred that it didn't have the mod.  But for the price, I didn't care that much as long as the system worked with the original outputs.  For the past few years, I've been using it through composite video with no issues.  Recently, after getting my new switch box with extra component inputs, I've been working on getting as many of my systems running through component as possible.  I tried hooking up the Duo with component and I got a very green screen.  After reading about the pot adjustments on the component board, I adjusted everything until I had a proper color on my TV.  At that time, for testing purposes, I was running component from my Duo directly to the TV.

This is where my issues start.  Last night I tried to run the component through my Extron Matrix switcher.  When doing this, I'm getting a black and white image on my TV.  Everything else works fine.  All of my other component systems looked correct.  I also tried to change out different component cables including ones that I've confirmed work properly with other systems.  I also tried to run the Duo's component cables through different inputs on the switcher including the same inputs that I confirmed worked with my other systems.  I cannot understand why I'm getting a black and white image through my switch box when it works perfectly when plugged directly into the TV. 

For the record, the following systems are running component through my switch box with no issues:
SNES
Wii
Master System
Genesis/CD/32x
Saturn
PS1
PS2
Xbox
Jaguar

My TV is a 32" Sony Trinitron
My switch box is an Extron CrossPoint Matrix Switcher 16x8

The PC Engine Duo R is the only system giving me this issue, and only when running through the switch box. Any ideas?  Anything would be helpful.  I wish I had taken a picture of the component board when I was adjusting it, but I can take it apart again and take pictures if that helps. 

Thanks for your help.

They've never done a Lynx episode.  However, they have reviewed 4 different Lynx games during 4 different episodes.

Im almost at the conclusion that the most economical solution is just stick with a tv that was around when the console was still in stores (probably towards the end of the console's life or just after).  For me, this means 3 TVs

I know exactly what you mean, and at one time, I actually had 3 different TVs for that purpose, although only 2 were ever hooked up at once.  Unfortunately, I simply can't justify the space for that much stuff, so I got rid of one of the TVs and I've been using my 2 TV setup ever since. 

Sometimes I wish I had the room for the third TV, and sometimes I wish for the simplicity of having only 1 TV.  It just depends on my mood, but more often than not, I'm happy with the 2 that I have.

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

Everyone is different.


I bought it for the co via ve if travel and playing with friends who don't have a crt. I have a crt. And a PVM. Can't really take it while on the go. Or my expansive snes library.

For now, I'm sticking with my original SNES and CRT, but I'm glad something like this exists.  Everyday I give more thought to dropping the two TV game room setup in favor of converting all systems to be compatible with my HD TV.  Some of the smaller and more obscure systems might not ever get there, but it's nice knowing that I have some options for my favorite older gaming systems.  I'm not ready yet, but I can see myself one day retiring my original systems for something like the NT as long as the new systems do what they claim to do.  You won't ever see me using those cheap clone systems.  We are at the point now where all Nintendo systems have some reasonable way of outputting HDMI to newer TVs.  Hopefully we can get there with some of the other systems as well.

If no one else wants it, I'll take it.  There are a few things I don't have, and the ones that are doubles, I will donate to a friend of mine in a different country that likes US stuff. 

schweaty can have the Sonic game if you don't mind splitting them up.  Maybe you can drop them off on the same day.

What would a Game Sack episode of unreleased console even consist of? The only reason they can do "Unreleased games" is because of leaked roms. Would it just be an episode of going over specs of unreleased consoles or showing pictures of prototypes?

They could play any game ROM that works on an SD2SNES as long as it's in an SNES 101 inside a Jaguar shell.

I have had buyers remorse from Craigslist purchases a few times. Typically because of condition.

I bought a PS3 super slim for like $60. The guy handed it to me in a plastic bag. I didn't realize it until my drive home but it smelled so bad with cigarettes that I had to roll the windows down in my car. I started cleaning it as soon as I got home. It almost went in the trash like 50 times. Also, I didn't realize that there was a version without a HDD. Anyway, I made it work and I'm happy with it now. Although, I wouldn't do it again.

That happened to me once.  I met the guy outside and the smell wasn't as noticeable.  However, on the way home, I really started to notice it.  I never could completely get the smell out and I resold everything with the smoke smell fully disclosed.  They guy who bought it from me didn't care.

The 12 GB flash PS3 still has the space to add an HDD later.  However, it's my understanding that if you format an HDD in that model, you will lose the 12 GB of flash memory.  I remember thinking that the only reason I could come up with for someone buying that unit was they had a non working PS3 with a salvageable HDD that they wanted to transfer over.

Someone beat me to it, but stick with the Everdrive.  Games like Kolibri, Knuckles, Tempo and Blackthorne are a lot of fun, but not worth the price.  I was lucky enough to get mine when they were still cheap, but I wouldn't pay today's prices.

The GoldenEye remake looks shamefully uninspired to me. I've played the demo and had a look at a Youtube longplay, and I can't get me to like it.

I enjoyed GoldenEye Reloaded on the PS3, but I have a hard time calling it a remake.  To me, it's more of a modern FPS that was inspired by the original.   Fun game, but hard to compare to the original.

I definitely agree with the comment about using a different controller.  That was the biggest thing that kept me from enjoying Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes.  The GameCube controller does not work well for that type of game. 

Speaking of which, the Metal Gear HD remakes aren't too bad either and they tend to come with a lot of games packed together for a decent price.

Ico and SOTC were already mentioned, but they are so good, it's worth mentioning again. 

The Tomb Raider Trilogy is also a nice set which includes HD remasters of Legend and Anniversary along with Underworld all on one disc (and usually for under $20).

If you are a God of War fan, God of War Saga includes HD remasters of 1 & 2 on one disc along with 3 on a second disc.  It also includes download codes for HD remasters of both PSP games.  Another big set for usually under $20.

SD2SNES is on my wishlist as well, but since apparently the design is open source it can be had much cheaper than purchasing through Krikzz if you look around.  If only the NeoSD or the CPS2 Multi was 20% off on Black Friday.

Stone Age Gamer typically has Black Friday sales on their flash carts as well.  I'm not sure if they will include the NeoSD or not.  Unless I'm mixed up on my dates, won't this be the first Black Friday since it was released? 


And yes, SD2SNES is open source, but the quality from other manufacturers can vary.  Krikzz is known for supporting his products, but obviously, he only supports the SD2SNES units that he made. 

I own the SD2SNES, but I rarely use the extra features that it has over the standard Super Everdrive.  In fact, the only feature that I use is the MSU1 support for the unique sound on some SNES games.  It's a cool feature, but ultimately, I still prefer the original sound.  If I was doing to do it again, I would probably just buy the Super Everdrive and save the money for something else.  My only suggestion to anyone looking at the SN2SNES is to make sure they understand what the extra features are and think about whether or not you plan to use them.  I certainly knew what I was buying, but I figured I would use those features more often than I really do.

I currently own all of Krikzz's stuff, so I have no need for this year's sale, but I purchases several of my flash carts through those sales over the years.  It's the best way to get a deal since used ones tend to hold their value pretty well, plus there is higher risk of getting a fake when buying used.

The only rule we had was with the original NES which was no games on school nights.  My parents  enforced that rule to the point of packing the NES back into its original box during the week and we got it back out on Friday after school.

My ride:


"...a guy with a cool bike get laid aaaaall summer long."

After 25 years of running, my knees have forced me to switch over to biking (another one of my rides is behind it).

Back on topic:

Why is the regular version of Ys and the collectors edition the same price for PS Vita??

I saw that yesterday and was confused as well.  I appears to be corrected now.

I guess what I meant was that doing a 24 hour pre order period seems like the bare minimum (or maximum I guess) they could do in this situation so that they could still keep their "Limited" approach to everything.

The way I see it, they can keep their "limited" approach by keeping the CE limited (which they are).  Make as many RE as needed and keep the CE limited.  I can't imagine HOW people could complain about that, despite the fact that I know the WILL.

There is literally nothing they can do that will make everyone happy. 24 hours is more than enough time to get a pre-order in.  The only argument I can see for a longer window would be for people who don't know about it until it's too late.  But I have trouble believing that anyone who is truly interested in this game doesn't already know about the LRG release.

I sat in on a panel with Dough from LRG on Sunday.  They are working on ways better estimate demand and possibly increase runs while still keeping the total number "limited."

Also, ESRB ratings are coming to all games soon.  It's a little ironic that Night Trap will be one of the last LRG offerings to be released without an ESRB logo.

How the hell does a person keep track of their Legos by set? Are we collectarding that shit now too?

I was referring to a "set" as the box and everything that came with it when it was new.  I never mixed up my Legos as a kid.  I would build all of my sets at once and play with them for a week or so, and take them apart and put them back in the box until the next time I wanted to play with them.  It payed off too because most of my sets sold for 4 or 5 times what they cost new (and I didn't pay for them anyway because I was a damn kid). 

That's...so fucking depressing. I'm surprised you told that to anyone outside of maybe group therapy for collectards.

"No, I never learned how to do anything except follow instructions. I did this all the way to the point of selling them for profit decades later. I'm a good boy" [vapes own piss]

I'm so sorry for making you feel sad.  But if I have a choice between being a "Lego collectard" (didn't even know they existed before today) and an ass hole who makes fun of kids who enjoy playing with Legos, I will choose to be the "collectard" every time.  I hope the rest of your day is less depressing. 

Are we collectarding that shit now too?

It already is.  (Sets in the lego world generally mean the different models/all models in a given play world.)

The general although not always correct rule followed in that world is that legos are worth at minimum what they cost to buy new in store, so they never really lose value.

https://www.brickpicker.com/  <- for your viewing pleasure

That's a pretty cool site.  I might have to look through that later and see what I remember.

How the hell does a person keep track of their Legos by set? Are we collectarding that shit now too?

I was referring to a "set" as the box and everything that came with it when it was new.  I never mixed up my Legos as a kid.  I would build all of my sets at once and play with them for a week or so, and take them apart and put them back in the box until the next time I wanted to play with them.  It payed off too because most of my sets sold for 4 or 5 times what they cost new (and I didn't pay for them anyway because I was a damn kid).

I sold all of my old Lego sets a while ago.  I had planned on keeping one set, which was the oldest, and  meant something to me.  I was also sort of valuable because of its age.  When I sold the last of my sets, I was down to the smaller stuff that was difficult to sell individually, so I sold it off as a lot to one guy.  I forgot that the set I planned on keeping was in the box and now it's gone forever.  He got a pretty good deal too, because it was priced for the smaller less valuable sets. 

I hated the hang glider in the SMS Sonic games so much when I played them.  It didn't seem to fit Sonic at all.

Anyone ever play Mortal Kombat on SMS?  I have considered buying them a bunch of times, but have never pulled the trigger.

The music on MK for SMS is very painful on the ears.  The sprites are ok, but moves are very hard to pull off due to button shortage...

I agree.  I've played them on the Everdrive just because it sounded fun to play MK on SMS.  But I wouldn't recommend buying them unless you are a collector.

There's no "inventory management", you have infinite item space, you pickup items by walking on them and you use keys / interact with objects/doors by walking into them. Puzzles are very easy and don't really qualify as puzzles, you'll usually be in a place with two doors, one is locked but has its key immediately behind the second, open door. The emphasis is on shooting, the adventure aspect is very thin.

It's a good lightgun shooter, not sure why people on the internet tend to bash it.

Hmm.  I'm not sure what I'm confusing it with them.  I was certain it had the traditional inventory management that most RE games have.

Does Dead Aim have an inventory management system?  I believe that's the game I was thinking about.

There's no "inventory management", you have infinite item space, you pickup items by walking on them and you use keys / interact with objects/doors by walking into them. Puzzles are very easy and don't really qualify as puzzles, you'll usually be in a place with two doors, one is locked but has its key immediately behind the second, open door. The emphasis is on shooting, the adventure aspect is very thin.

It's a good lightgun shooter, not sure why people on the internet tend to bash it.

Hmm.  I'm not sure what I'm confusing it with them.  I was certain it had the traditional inventory management that most RE games have.

There is a ridiculous amount of Brazil exclusive SMS ports of Genesis games.  Earthworm Jim is one that comes to mind.  It definitely doesn't play as well a the 16 bit versions, but it's still fun if you have a flash cart to try it out.

I also love Typing of the Dead.  It's not a light gun game, but it is obviously based on one.  It's my favorite Dreamcast game. 

And speaking of Typing of the Dead, there is also Rock of the Dead for the PS3.  If you haven't heard of it, it's like Typing of the Dead, but using a Guitar Hero guitar instead of a keyboard.

that sounds about right.
I just think it's fun cuz it's so different from most other light gun games.
don't get me wrong, as I love the arcadey titles like time crisis, but it's nice to have something different once in a while.

I love the idea of these games, but in practice it's too much for me.  RE Survivor is an amazing concept, but the thought of handling the traditional RE item management with the light gun controls gives me a headache.

Anyone played Dino Stalker on PS2?
It's supposedly a spinoff of Dino crisis.
the game is particularly interesting to me because you use the D-Pad on the Guncon to move around normally, a la FPS and then shoot on screen like a proper light gun game.
It's a more functional Resident Evil Survivor, basically

I have that game.  It was enjoyable, but ultimately I still prefer the more traditional light gun games.  When I'm playing a light gun game, I just want to shoot.  I don't want to do the other stuff (same reason whey I can't get into RE Survivor).

[Oceanhorn looks like a poor man's windwaker.]

Oceanhorn looks like a poor man's windwaker. Considering that game is 14 years old, I played it on the gamecube and the Wii u remaster, I'm going to pass

I was thinking the same.  I'm probably going to pass on Oceanhorn, but Plague Road looks pretty fun.  I've passed on all games the past two weeks, but I see a few coming up that I'm interested in.

I don't think I've removed mine since I put it in.  Action Replay cheats, RAM expansion, extra save memory, region unlocking.  No reason to ever remove the thing. 

It can't directly save to the cartridge from within a game for one thing. If you have KoF or back in the day wanted to use the netlink there was another. Try playing Panzer Dragoon Saga US with that thing in.

So far none of those things have required me to take the cart out, especially the netlink adapter.  In the past 5 years, I've needed that a total of zero times.

Or just get an Action Replay cart. I agree, though, HotD is a great game, and the Japanese version is the way to go.

Just remember, Saturn cartridge slot reliability is like that of a grade A egg after playing catch using a slingtshot at 30 yards away.

I just leave mine in there at all times. No need to remove it, and I've never had any issues.

I don't think I've removed mine since I put it in.  Action Replay cheats, RAM expansion, extra save memory, region unlocking.  No reason to ever remove the thing.

I enjoyed this episode.  I used to play Die Hard Trilogy on PS1 for hours on end.  I probably enjoyed the light gun portion of the game more than anything else, although the driving portion of part 3 was also fun as it was the closest thing to an open world game that I had ever seen back then.

I love how they call it "The Final Challengers."  Almost like saying, this is the last time we are going to come out with a new version of SFII........ seriously......... we promise this time....... pinky swear....... please buy our game again.

Mario Kart 8 had like 70% attach rate with WiiU. I'm fairly sure we will see more enchanced WiiU ports. A slate of quality software that relative few people got to experience.

Although with less than 15 million Wii Us sold, that 70% attach rate still leaves MK8 as the 3rd worst selling Mario Kart game (behind Super Circuit and Double Dash!!).  I think that's the main reason why Nintendo can get away with releasing a Deluxe version of MK8 instead of an all new game....... for the majority of gamers out there, it is an all new game.

It's not a hidden gem or anything, but Link's Crossbow training is pretty fun. 

I paid 45 cents for it at Gamestop, CIB.  And that was before my power rewards discount. 

Exploring the shovelware is it's own joy entirely too. Lots of sub $3 games that are oddly playable.

Boom Blox Bash Party is one of those strange but fun shovel ware titles.

I think a lot of 'em got started collecting before LRG, back when the entire US library was ~120 titles and most were easy to find and relatively cheap.  That's a pretty dumb primary reason to get a full set, I guess, and now with LRG (and others) it's got one heck of a lot more tedious and expensive.

I'm seeing the same thing happen with the Wii U.  Since the library is so small (around 150) people see an opportunity to get a full set without spending the kind of money that it takes to get something like a full NES set.  I've seen people get super excited to find out a Wii U game has been canceled because it's one less game they have to get.

Same goes for LRG.  I know some people only care about the full set.  While I doubt anyone would admit it openly, I guarantee you that there are a few people who secretly want LRG to fold and out out of business so that there will be no future releases, and they full set can become "official."   

I would keep it since you aren't going to get much for it anyways.  Games for the Wii are super cheap right now, so it's the time to pickup some of the really fun games for the system.  While the Wii has arguably the worst ratio of shovelware to total game library of any home console, it still has some great stand out titles.  Plus it's the cheapest way to play GameCube games through component.

Nintendo seems to support a small community of people who's full time job is finding new stock of their products and then selling them on the grey market. This always seemed to be the case but became very apparent with those skills, then the new classic, and now the switch. Personally I think it's very humanitarian of them

Creating jobs wherever they can.

But, not to brag or anything, I have more than one monitor in my house.