General Retro Discussion

[S.C.G]

4 minutes ago, Ike said:

https://mobile.twitter.com/analogue/status/1052212620705509376

Want. Site is down though.

Also want.

I'll keep a tab open and refresh it periodically, will post here if I get through to pre-order but it's not looking likely.

[Ike]

I got in. Don't have my cards with me. 

Comes to $240 after shipping.

 

Edit: Doesn't include a controller...

[S.C.G]

I just managed to order one!

I know it's a fair amount to pay but... the price of them will only go up once they sell out and then I'll be wishing I'd bought one, just like with the Super NT SFC colour version...

...which was also back in stock so I ordered one of those as well, while they are still available again.

I'm just going to hide my credit card somewhere now I think and cancel a few non-essential game pre-orders.

[killthenet]

Ha, you madman! I didn't have a Sega console until the Dreamcast so don't have any reason to shell out for this but I hope they sell well, I'd love for Analog to make more FPGA systems. 

Did they mention anything about 32X working with it?

[S.C.G]

16 minutes ago, killthenet said:

Ha, you madman! I didn't have a Sega console until the Dreamcast so don't have any reason to shell out for this but I hope they sell well, I'd love for Analog to make more FPGA systems. 

Did they mention anything about 32X working with it?

I know... I'm certain it will be worth it though.

I grew up owning a Sega Mega Drive, so there wasn't really anything which would stop me from buying this.

They have stated that they will be working to see if they can get the 32X to work with the hardware but they aren't making any promises although they also stated that they would love to make an entire FGPA solution for the 32X but there is a good chance that the Polymega will work well enough out of the box with 32X carts, so that system is an option as well as it supports a lot of consoles... even if it is mostly emulation based.

Other cheap to purchase adapters will be made available for other cartridge-based Sega consoles in the future such as Game Gear and Mark III etc, so there's that and as an added bonus, each consoles comes with a Master System adapter at launch plus it seems that the machine can support Mega-CD as well, which is pretty amazing.

[Ike]

2 hours ago, S.C.G said:

I just managed to order one!

I know it's a fair amount to pay but... the price of them will only go up once they sell out and then I'll be wishing I'd bought one, just like with the Super NT SFC colour version...

...which was also back in stock so I ordered one of those as well, while they are still available again.

I'm just going to hide my credit card somewhere now I think and cancel a few non-essential game pre-orders.

Which style did you go for? I went for the Japanese colours.

Might pick up an Everdrive now in the Black Friday sales they usually do.

I looked up the  prices for Phantasy Star and it's pretty expensive. 

[S.C.G]

9 minutes ago, Ike said:

Which style did you go for? I went for the Japanese colours.

Might pick up an Everdrive now in the Black Friday sales they usually do.

I looked up the  prices for Phantasy Star and it's pretty expensive. 

European model of course. (it's the closest to the MD that I remember)

I thought about the Everdrive for the MD but... I heard that there are voltage issues with using them for certain consoles. (not an issue with N64 and GBA ones apparently)

Phantasy Star is indeed expensive... which game are you talking about btw? (The original MS title or all of the MD ones, Phantasy Star IV is very expensive now)

I'm pretty sure I must have got Phantasy Star I, II, III & IV when they were at least half the price they are now, I've even got some JP variants as well, I love Phantasy Star.

[killthenet]

Growing up I loved playing F-Zero X on the N64 but never really played F-Zero GX on the Gamecube so finally took the plunge and have been playing it over the last few days. I had heard that it was a pretty tough game so at first I was totally out of my depth, I managed to win the first GP on Standard mode but couldn't even finish the second GP on Novice let alone win it. I was playing it on an old memory card of my brothers so everything was already unlocked when I launched the game so I, somewhat foolishly, started the Story Mode when I had only dipped my toe in the water of the GP mode so for the first couple of days it was very much a case of me banging my head against the wall and making baby steps learning from each failure.

Eventually though I got the hang of things and won all the Grand Prix' in Novice mode while somehow managing to work my way up to Chapter 7 of the Story Mode where I hit a Black Bull shaped wall. I looked up some tips online and persevered, eventually getting used to the constant barrage of obstacles I began slowly creeping towards winning the race - I did so last night at the umpteenth attempt and managed Chapter 8 without too much trouble but Chapter 9 really tested my patience. At first I couldn't even make it past the first tight bend, it took me a while to get a reliable strategy for it and although I was always ahead of the ghost I couldn't quite reach the finish. I spent probably 1 1/2 hours earlier attempting to do it, there were a couple of runs where I was so close to finishing it but oversteered on one of the final turns or did something bizarrely moronic like turning during a straight, but after a bit I had done it! I was a bit underwhelmed by how segmented the story mode was, it was a shame to be kicked out into the menu after each chapter and the dialogue and story were pretty awful but it was suitably over the top and the song that plays over the end credits about Captain Falcon is absolutely batshit - exactly the kind of thing you would hope for from something set in the F-Zero world. After that going back to the GP's and working my way to winning each one in Standard mode was a cakewalk, I'll probably call it quits with the game now (I can't imagine wanting to 100% it) but I'm really impressed by the depth of the mechanics and the really stable performance - I certainly prefer X still because of nostalgia and the amount of time I put into it when I was younger but I can definitely see why people rate this game so highly. 

I mentioned to my brother that I was playing it and finding it pretty tough and he texted me a day or so later to say he'd watched an AGDQ speed run of the Story Mode from 2014 that had some pretty outlandish strategies in it so I made sure to watch it tonight after I was done with the story mode. It is awe inspiring stuff, it really is incredible the things people can pull off when they master the mechanics of a game but it definitely made me feel pretty inadequate seeing someone complete in 25 minutes a mode that took me several hours to get through.

 

[Ike]

18 hours ago, S.C.G said:

European model of course. (it's the closest to the MD that I remember)

I thought about the Everdrive for the MD but... I heard that there are voltage issues with using them for certain consoles. (not an issue with N64 and GBA ones apparently)

Phantasy Star is indeed expensive... which game are you talking about btw? (The original MS title or all of the MD ones, Phantasy Star IV is very expensive now)

I'm pretty sure I must have got Phantasy Star I, II, III & IV when they were at least half the price they are now, I've even got some JP variants as well, I love Phantasy Star.

Yeah, the first game. Luckily I already have Phantasy Star III & IV. Got them from Gamestation... 8-ish years ago? They were selling them as a bundle, the cashier mentioned looking up the prices on eBay, although I have no interest in selling them. Wasn't sure if I should or not but the next time I was in the area, the store had closed, so I'm glad I did in the end. Maybe they were keeping that store open. 

[killthenet]

Played through Star Fox Assault over the last couple of nights, another GC game that I always wanted to play but missed out on growing up. It's a pretty weird game, story wise it's probably the best Star Fox has ever been but the inclusion of so many on foot missions drags it down a bit too much. It doesn't help that the controls for the on foot and Landmaster sections are really confusing at first, I got used to them eventually but even towards the end of the game I was making mistakes. The Arwing battles are generally really good though, feel a bit unbalanced with brake being on the R button and barrel roll on the L button and some of the collision detection is weird but the levels progress in a really satisfying way and its great to have a Star Fox game that doesn't just follow the usual route. I found the on-foot stuff too frustrating to really warrant playing through the missions again to try and earn the medals but I had a much better time with this than I did with Adventures or Zero. 

[Hero-of-Time]

I love Starfox Assault. It's a little rough around the edges but the core gameplay is pretty solid. I wouldn't mind them tidying up the concept and revisiting it at some point. 

[Helmsly]

Gamesmaster Magazine and GamesTM are both going to end next month:

https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/19/gamesmaster-and-gamestm-magazines-to-close-next-month-8055130/

[Hero-of-Time]

9 minutes ago, Helmsly said:

Gamesmaster Magazine and GamesTM are both going to end next month:

https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/19/gamesmaster-and-gamestm-magazines-to-close-next-month-8055130/

I never read GamesTM but so have fond memories of Gamesmaster magazine. That and CVG were my go to multiformat magazines as a kid. This is just another nail in the coffin that is my childhood. Screw progress.  

[Helmsly]

35 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I never read GamesTM but so have fond memories of Gamesmaster magazine. That and CVG were my go to multiformat magazines as a kid. This is just another nail in the coffin that is my childhood. Screw progress.  

yeah same here. As much as I hate to say it, i am surprised any Video game magazines are still going at all when we can just turn on twitter on our phones and find everything out for free. Gamesmaster magazine is £5 an issue.

That said, the real loss here is the personality that a lot of UK magazines had, its pretty much nonexistent in the big gaming sites out there. I would love them to continue GM as a website but then CVG attempted that and eventually it closed down too.

[Ike]

Gamesmaster was my first magazine, which I mostly bought for the tips & cheats section.  I stopped buying it in favour of the speciality magazines. It's a shame to see it go. I've seen some people claim it's down to Future's poor management, so it's maybe not entirely the Internet's fault.

Speaking of Phantasy Star, I popped into Cex last night and they had  a copy of PSIII. If only it was PS1 or 2. They had King of the Fighters Collection on PS2 selling for £95, it is really worth that much?! And a Mega CD 1 for £135 or something! 

[Goafer]

How much was Phantasy Star? I've got 1 to 4 and in always surprised by how much they go for now. I swear I never paid more than £40 for any of them.

[Ike]

5 minutes ago, Goafer said:

How much was Phantasy Star? I've got 1 to 4 and in always surprised by how much they go for now. I swear I never paid more than £40 for any of them.

There was no price on it, but it goes for £45 - £60 with a box on the website.

[Eenuh]

On 8/25/2018 at 7:34 PM, Fierce_LiNk said:

We're clearing out @Eenuh's old room in Belgium and she has a stack of NGC and N64 magazines. Some of them are in Dutch. Man, I've had a flick through them and it's been very fun reminiscing about that little period of time where the N64 was coming to its end and the Cube was on the horizon. Seeing screenshots, impressions and news for Luigi's Mansion, Xtreme G3 (what a game, laaaads) and Star Wars Rogue Leader has been great.

Also, the magazines have got some excellent previews for Kameo and apparently Perfect Dark 2 has just been announced. Can't wait to see what they're like on the GC!!

So I decided to bring my old N64 and NGC magazines back to the UK (they are heavy!) as I need to clear out my old room at mom's house. I kind of plan to sell them here (if that is something people even buy anymore?), but I am not sure what the best place is to sell them at.

Should I put them on ebay? Or is there a better place? Never used ebay much to sell so am a bit hesitant to use it heh.

[S.C.G]

49 minutes ago, Eenuh said:

So I decided to bring my old N64 and NGC magazines back to the UK (they are heavy!) as I need to clear out my old room at mom's house. I kind of plan to sell them here (if that is something people even buy anymore?), but I am not sure what the best place is to sell them at.

Should I put them on ebay? Or is there a better place? Never used ebay much to sell so am a bit hesitant to use it heh.

I just had a quick look on eBay for you, some of the N64 magazines are going for £3 - £6 on average per issue but it seems to depend on what games are featured or issue number.

I have a feeling that I have most of the NGC magazines from back in the day, but N64 magazine... I don't have quite as many of those so I would be potentially interested.

How many magazines are we talking here in total? I know that around 25 - 50 magazines can be rather weighty as I had to store some of mine in the loft.

But I think both sets of magazines are great pieces of reference material so depending on how many we're talking here, I'd probably buy some or all of the N64 mags from you.

I would expect postage to be around £12 - £15 for starters if it's a lot of issues, so that's agiven but if you were to be posting certain issues seperately on eBay it would be a lot more.

That's not so much of a problem as buyer would be paying postage but it just depends on if you were looking to sell a load in one lot or not.

Anyway, if you have any pictures of the magazines please or just know which issues you've got of both magazine types then I'd be happy to see if we could work out a deal.

Just looking at a few more listings, some of them which have around five magzines have gone for £10 plus £5 postage... but it very much depends on condition really.

If you have any of the free gifts which came with some of the magazines, then that would definitely add more value to them.

[bob]

Just looking at a few more listings, some of them which have around five magzines have gone for £10 plus £5 postage... but it very much depends on condition really.
If you have any of the free gifts which came with some of the magazines, then that would definitely add more value to them. [emoji3]

Damn that's a lot of money! I don't suppose I could have mine back, I've had a change of heart?

[S.C.G]

16 minutes ago, bob said:

Damn that's a lot of money! I don't suppose I could have mine back, I've had a change of heart?

I thought it was just the free gifts I bought off you and not the magazines?

Either way, some of the free gifts do go for a pound or two here and there. (I wanted them more for the guides though)

But if you do want any of them back then I don't mind.

[bob]

I thought it was just the free gifts I bought off you and not the magazines? [emoji14]
Either way, some of the free gifts do go for a pound or two here and there. (I wanted them more for the guides though)
But if you do want any of them back then I don't mind.

Ah yes, that's true. Nah, I only go for the big bucks.

[Hero-of-Time]

I just finished reading this fantastic translated interview about Mario Kart 64.

http://shmuplations.com/mariokart64/

It was originally printed in the Japanese guide for the game and it's well worth a read. @RedShell with you being our biggest Mario Kart fan you'd probably enjoy reading it, that is if you haven't read it already.

[Glen-i]

1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I just finished reading this fantastic translated interview about Mario Kart 64.

http://shmuplations.com/mariokart64/

It was originally printed in the Japanese guide for the game and it's well worth a read. @RedShell with you being our biggest Mario Kart fan you'd probably enjoy reading it, that is if you haven't read it already.

It's funny how Miyamoto was talking about what could be possible with larger cartridges, only for them to be ditched on the next console in favour of discs.

[RedShell]

14 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I just finished reading this fantastic translated interview about Mario Kart 64.

http://shmuplations.com/mariokart64/

It was originally printed in the Japanese guide for the game and it's well worth a read. @RedShell with you being our biggest Mario Kart fan you'd probably enjoy reading it, that is if you haven't read it already.

I hadn’t read that before, no. Thanks for posting it.  

Very interesting and entertaining read. Miyamoto just cracks me up, you can tell there were many tea tables getting upended in those days! (laughs)