General Retro Discussion

Happenstance · May 17, 2017

Have you played Tech Romancer on the Dreamcast? That's a great mech beat-em-up.

Nope, don't think I ever tried that one.

Hero-of-Time · May 17, 2017

Nope, don't think I ever tried that one.

It's a great game. It was one of the many fighters that Capcom put out on the console. Most just remember Capcoms Dreamcast output being stuff like Alpha 3, Rival Schools, Code Veronica or Power Stone. Both Tech Romancer and Plasma Sword are quite the hidden gems on the console.

Happenstance · May 17, 2017

I always wanted GB to carry on doing more console specific streams. I hope this Saturn one is a return to that. They had a great SNES one years ago and it was their 3DO stream that convinced me to track one down.

Grazza · May 17, 2017

In some ways it actually was though. Sure, the idea of a standardised console that was manufactured by lots of different companies didn't pan out, but the idea of a console being a multimedia hub certainly did. Also the idea of a console being largely driven by western 3rd parties, in conparison to first party studios and Japanese developers on other platforms, was surprisingly prophetic!

Oh, I still like the idea of common tech standards. Shame about the last part though. :heh:

Just watched Jeff play X-Men vs Streetfighter. Man, the Capcom 2D fighters on the Saturn were amazing. I remember being stuck with the PSOne versions of the games as I couldn't afford to get my Saturn modded or import the VS series from Japan.

I actually did have a Saturn with a 60Hz switch. Marvel Super Heroes looked spectacular in full frame (I didn't have the memory expansion though) and Street Fighter Alpha 2 is one of the Street Fighters I've enjoyed the most. Gorgeous visuals, both of them.

killthenet · June 1, 2017

I'm looking into buying a new TV and the one I have my eye on doesn't have any component inputs, just HDMI, Scart and Composite. I've been enjoying playing my Gamecube games via my Wii on component cables, the picture is so much better than running through scart or composite so I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with devices like the Wii2HDMI converter. I am not interested in upscaling the image, I just want to know if the picture is as clear through the Wii2HDMI as it is through component, or at least noticeably better than it is through other connections.

EDIT: I couldn't find many accounts of the image quality of the Wii2HDMI online, most of the comments are in reference to its lack of upscaling rather than anything to do with the quality of the picture compared to component. I did find a couple of comments that said it was comparable to component in quality and it was only £6 on eBay so I decided to get one. I'll make another post in here about the quality of it when I've tried it out.

Edited June 1, 2017 by killthenet

Hero-of-Time · June 5, 2017

Eurogamer have put up a cracking article about the Mean Machines magazine.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-06-04-the-story-of-mean-machines-magazine

**Ike** · June 27, 2017

NERG is coming up this weekend, are you going @Hero-of-Time? I know you said you were disappointed last year.

Also got my Framemeister yesterday so going to need to spend some time playing with the settings.

Happenstance · June 27, 2017

NERG?

**Ike** · June 28, 2017

On 2017-6-27 at 7:37 PM, Happenstance said:

NERG?

http://www.northeastretrogaming.com

Mostly stalls selling retro games, but they have consoles and arcade games setup as well.

Happenstance · June 28, 2017

3 minutes ago, Ike said:

http://www.northeastretrogaming.com

Mostly stalls selling retro games, but they have consoles and arcade games setup as well.

Aw....that's too far away for me to go at such short notice

Hero-of-Time · July 31, 2017

On 6/27/2017 at 7:12 PM, Ike said:

NERG is coming up this weekend, are you going @Hero-of-Time? I know you said you were disappointed last year.

Also got my Framemeister yesterday so going to need to spend some time playing with the settings.

Apologies for the late reply. I took a break from this place and i'm just playing catch up at the moment.

Did you end up going? I didn't bother due to me not enjoying last years event. I heard this year there were less stalls setup, which is what I went for anyway, rather than the arcades.

**Ike** · July 31, 2017

10 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Apologies for the late reply. I took a break from this place and i'm just playing catch up at the moment.

Did you end up going? I didn't bother due to me not enjoying last years event. I heard this year there were less stalls setup, which is what I went for anyway, rather than the arcades.

Yeah, I went. I thought there was roughly the same, or maybe more since there some stalls down the middle isles. I felt there didn't seem to as much their though, last year, one of the stalls had a mountain of console boxes along the wall (I'm sure you saw), but there was nothing like that this time. I imagine that's a pain to setup and take down.

There was a stall selling some Limited Run games, not sure if it was them or just someone reselling them, they seemed pretty expensive (about £50 if I remember right).

One stall did some Fire Emblem fan art which I was tempted to buy, but didn't in the end.

In the end I only managed to snag a copy of Dragon Quest V for the PS2 and Dragon Quest Monsters 2 on the GBC (the box was pretty beaten up but it didn't cost much so not that bothered).

Looking back on some pictures I took last year, I spotted one of the DQ spin off games for the PS2 I hadn't seen at the time, was hoping to find it this year, but no luck.

Was thinking about picking up some Super Famicom games, but in the end I decided I wasn't really that bothered.

One stall was selling Metroid II for £50, decided I'd rather stick with the VC version of the original and buy the remake. The box looked pretty good condition though.

One kinda annoying thing was that they left the side doors open so you could just walk in without paying the entrance fee.

Hero-of-Time · July 31, 2017

Yup, I remember all those consoles on the back wall. It looked great.

Yeah, the Limited Run games are pricey. Some of their early releases go for over £100 now.

At least you managed to get a couple of pick ups.

Helmsly · September 25, 2017

Chris Scullion ( a games journalist that used to work for CVG and Nintendo official magazine) has started a project to digitise the various VHS tapes that came out in they 90's to promote video games. Although a lot of these have been uploaded to youtube already, they're not in the best quality so he's gone out of his way to get the best he can out of these old tapes. He also uploads a video straight after with a commentary by himself where he talks about the interesting things you see in the background, such as pointing out things that changed between what we are seeing on the tape and final game and other details.

I find it very interesting as I had most of the tapes he is converting and in the case of the Nintendo ones, I would rewatch them over and over again when I was looking forward to a particular game. I probably watched the Donkey Kong Country tape 100 times leading up to Christmas 1994.

Another thing I found out recently this year (and Chris mentions this on the commentary version) is that the American version of this tape had an extra scene teasing Killer Instinct for the snes at the end, which you can see here; https://youtu.be/Rv_YCSbWP78?t=12m40s

I think its pretty cool someone is doing this and its kind great seeing how games were promoted in the 90's compared to today.

Edited September 25, 2017 by Helmsly

Hero-of-Time · September 25, 2017

That pic of all of those videos takes me right back to my youth. *sigh* It was a happier and simpler time.

Dcubed · September 25, 2017

I remember having this one VHS about Super Mario All Stars, with Craig Charles presenting it. Used to watch it over and over as a kid! Then when I got into Red Dwarf, I was like,"Oh! That's the guy from the SNES video! OMG!" (no doubt he would've killed my younger self for using that frame of reference for him :laughing: )

Helmsly · September 25, 2017

41 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

I remember having this one VHS about Super Mario All Stars, with Craig Charles presenting it. Used to watch it over and over as a kid! Then when I got into Red Dwarf, I was like,"Oh! That's the guy from the SNES video! OMG!" (no doubt he would've killed my younger self for using that frame of reference for him )

I never saw that one originally but I watched through it this morning by chance, its the first tape the guy I mentioned uploaded a few days ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEbF-653nTU

Funniest part for me is when a guy that couldn't possibly sound more bored, is talking about Nigel Mansell's World Championship for the snes, while they slide repeated blue tinted video of him from right to left at the bottom ( around the 8:11 mark ) :laughing:

Edited September 25, 2017 by Helmsly

martinist · September 26, 2017

Anyone know a good place to buy SNES carts besides eBay?

Either loose or boxed are fine.

I picked up a SNES in town this afternoon but I don't have a damn thing to stick in it right now.

Happenstance · September 26, 2017

There are retro based sites that will sell them but they all tend to mark the price up. Personally I would just recommend sticking to ebay and car boot sales to try and find deals.

**Ike** · September 26, 2017

CEX sell them as well, though they are probably marked up.

S.C.G · September 26, 2017

41 minutes ago, Ike said:

CEX sell them as well, though they are probably marked up.

Yeah, I've been noticing a lot of stuff that CEX sell in their Retro section.

There's a new CEX store which opened close by to me and I've been getting into the habit of taking in all the old PS2 games and the like that I don't want, after comparing prices with eBay of course, for the ones which aren't too much price difference I just exchange about two bags full for store credit in the hope that I can find something decent in their retro section, so long as it's labelled as "Mint" because while there is quite a price different between just boxed and Mint, apparently if anything arrives and you don't like the look of it, you can just take it back to any CEX store for a full refund.

As for SNES carts, I have definitely seen two in my local CEX shop window, one was Mega Man X... which sadly was worse for wear as it had a different cartridge back on it, the label was faded and there was corrosion on the screws... so yeah, no deal on that one but they also had an unboxed copy of Super Metroid... I don't need it but if anyone else does then let me know and I'll pick it up on Monday when I next go in there, if it's still there and in good condition of course.

But yeah, it's probably not a bad way to get some retro stuff, I've got an eye on the Game & Watch titles as well, they don't come in often, at all or boxed, though sometimes they do and if this happens and I've got enough credit then I might just go for one as a collectable plus it would be an investment as well.

martinist · September 26, 2017

The closesed CEX to me is in Carlisle. If i'm not doing much I might hop on the train and take a wonder in to see what they have.

As for now I'll just stick to eBay.

S.C.G · September 26, 2017

6 minutes ago, martinist said:

The closesed CEX to me is in Carlisle. If i'm not doing much I might hop on the train and take a wonder in to see what they have.

As for now I'll just stick to eBay.

Do you have any titles in mind and what kind of price you'd want to pay for them? If you do then I could always keep an eye out for them.

Are you mostly just after cart only?

martinist · September 26, 2017

2 minutes ago, S.C.G said:

Do you have any titles in mind and what kind of price you'd want to pay for them? If you do then I could always keep an eye out for them.

Are you mostly just after cart only?

Mostly cart only, boxed would just push the price up.

If you can keep an eye out for a copy of NBA Jam or Mario All Stars then great.

As long as it's not stupid expensive I'd buy it off you.

Maybe around £25 at the very most for just the cart.

I don't want ot bother with the popular stuff yet since it's mostly just gonna be on the mini.