General Retro Discussion

[nekunando]

On 04/12/2018 at 11:24 AM, Hero-of-Time said:

Here's a great rant that I came across the other day. I have to say, I agree with a lot of what Chris has said in this opinion piece. I found myself nodding in agreement when he mentions things like toxicity, Twitch, reaction videos, install sizes, lootboxes, microtransactions and gamers nitpicking things like framerates. 

TiredOldHack

It's well worth a read if you are an older gamer who longs for a return of the simpler times.

Wow.. it almost reads like something I would write

 

[Hero-of-Time]

8 hours ago, S.C.G said:

Just about everything in that article struck a chord with me.

I've always been a fan of Chris Scullion, I know some bits of ONM were questionable at times but I always feel that he comes across as an honest guy who just loves games.

Anyway, especially more recently I've been interested in what he's doing so thank you for bringing the new site design and article to my attention.

I've been subbed to his YouTube channel for a bit and he just posted this which I'm currently enjoying watching...

Seems like it's a long video but for the amount of games covered, it's a genius format really, just talk about and play each game for a minute and then move on to the next.

It gives anyone new just enough information to see if they might be interested in playing these games and it gives anyone who remembers them a good old bit of nostalgia.

His general commentary on the titles is excellent so far.

Yeah, it's crazy how a lot of his thoughts and feelings on the games industry mimics my own. Don't get me wrong, this year has seen some amazing games released and next year looks even better but there is a lot I REALLY dislike about the industry at the moment and where it is heading.

I also watched the Sega Classics review. As you said, it was a bit long but it was an enjoyable and informative watch.

 

7 hours ago, nekunando said:

Wow.. it almost reads like something I would write

 

Wait....you're not Chris Scullion?

[Hero-of-Time]

I didn't realise there is an EON GameCube MKII being released this month. I never did get around to buying the original model so I may dip in with this upgraded version at some point.

[Hero-of-Time]

13 hours ago, Happenstance said:

Ok then you can add 3 more games to the SNES purchases:

Super Soccer
Super Tennis
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Still waiting for Super Castlevania IV, Adventures of Batman & Robin, WWF Raw and the Super Gameboy auctions to end.

I absolutely loved Super Tennis back in the day. Easily one of my favourite tennis games to be released.Me and one of my mates often bring up the awesome tune that played during the change court sequence.

Did you end up winning any of those games once the auctions ended? Isn't that Batman game pretty rare/expensive? You'll have to be careful about it being a repro, unless you aren't really fussed about that and just want to play the game.

[Happenstance]

17 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Did you end up winning any of those games once the auctions ended? Isn't that Batman game pretty rare/expensive? You'll have to be careful about it being a repro, unless you aren't really fussed about that and just want to play the game.

It hasnt finished yet.

I've said before that I have no issue with repro carts, I like the fact that people can get access to these rarer games. What I don't like and have been noticing on this latest binge is when people try to sell repro carts as the original versions. I've basically been skipping a load of auctions because the carts look too clean. Thankfully the Batman one looks dirty enough that I'm pretty certain it's real lol.

[Hero-of-Time]

2 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

It hasnt finished yet.

I've said before that I have no issue with repro carts, I like the fact that people can get access to these rarer games. What I don't like and have been noticing on this latest binge is when people try to sell repro carts as the original versions. I've basically been skipping a load of auctions because the carts look too clean. Thankfully the Batman one looks dirty enough that I'm pretty certain it's real lol.

Yeah, it's a bit scummy when they try to sell them as originals. A sure fire sign if they are repro carts is if there is no box or instructions and, as you said, the carts are pristine. Turtles in Time is a good example of the market being flooded with repro carts but being sold as originals.

I quite like the idea of repro carts when it comes to fan translations. There are a bunch of JRPGs that never got translated for us over here and fans have done the work and then dumped them on to carts for sale. Same goes for some of the Satellaview games. It's a good way to play games that you would never have been able to experience.

[Dcubed]

Worst bit about repro carts is that they're usually made by cannibalizing another game's cartridge to do so...

 

Not only are they pulling a fast one on you, but they're also destroying other game carts to do that too; even worse if it's a cart that uses a special chip (like the Super FX or SA1 chip), because there aren't that many of them out there!

 

At the end of the day, it is what it is, a bootleg.  There's no actual "reproduction" going on here with them, it's just straight up bootlegging (and they're making tons of money off of selling someone else's work too! Even with fan-translations and hacks; the original creator of the hack isn't getting any of that money!).  They are designed to trick people into buying fakes (and they have absolutely completely ruined the market for second hand DS games now!)

 

Doesn't sit right with me at all, for all of these reasons.  Something like the Super NT, or the SD2SNES cart, is absolutely amazing! These "reproduction" carts though? They can sod right off.

Edited December 6, 2018 by Dcubed

[Happenstance]

Well despite me changing my delivery day on the Super NT to Friday DHL decided they would deliver it today. Good on the one hand as it looks like my neighbour was in and accepted it for me, annoying on the other hand as if they hadn't been there I would have to have waited until next Wednesday because they wouldn't have allowed me to select the next day after a failed attempt even though it was their fault.

[Hero-of-Time]

1 hour ago, Dcubed said:

 

At the end of the day, it is what it is, a bootleg.  There's no actual "reproduction" going on here with them, it's just straight up bootlegging (and they're making tons of money off of selling someone else's work too! Even with fan-translations and hacks; the original creator of the hack isn't getting any of that money!).  They are designed to trick people into buying fakes (and they have absolutely completely ruined the market for second hand DS games now!)

I have no issue with the fan translated stuff, not that I own any. Although I have toyed with somehow getting a hold of the translated versions of Shining Force III Scenario 2 and 3. How many people on here have played Mother 3 on their PCs or have a repro cart of it? I bet quite a few because it's the only way to play that game in English. Same goes for a bunch of SNES JRPGs. A lot of fan translated stuff was done for free, with many translators happy to allow others to play for no cost.

[Happenstance]

I need to order some rubbing alcohol next anyway. The contacts on the Tetris/Dr Mario cart I bought are filthy!

[Happenstance]

Well I won the copy of Super Castlevania IV. Glad to finally get that into my collection.

I'm hoping the person I won Final Fantasy II ships it soon, they're taking their time! It's coming from the US as well so it's gonna take enough time as it is.

[Ike]

I follow Chris Scullion on Twitter so saw he post earlier, and I do agree with him. I made the mistake of reading the Tales of Vesperia performance thread on a certain forum. Apparently 30fps on the overworld is enough to not buy the game. Apparently Dragon Quest XI wasn't worth full price because it was released a year earlier in Japan. Never mind the localised version got a number of enhancements, including full voice acting. Everything needs to be 4K/60fps+ these days or it's not worth buying. People don't buy games because there's no English dub or Japanese dub. I know games are expensive, so it's probably just people justifying not buying the game but it probably means they weren't that interested in it in the first place.

I think the whole "no physical no buy" thing is is a bit dumb, especially since series like Ace Attorney which don't sell enough to justify releasing it physical. It's basically digital or nothing. I don't get that people who are fans of the series would rather go with nothing. I get the whole argument for physical.

A lot of communities are really toxic, which includes Pokemon, which is meant to be a series aimed at children. You're not a real fan if you like Let's Go or something dumb. The games are super fun but because it's not a "hardcore" game a lot of people gave the game flak.

It's hard to tell if things would be the same "back in the day" since the Internet wasn't really around or was still in its infancy, there was "console wars" back then but it was limited to magazines and the school yard.

/rant

 

2 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I have no issue with the fan translated stuff, not that I own any. Although I have toyed with somehow getting a hold of the translated versions of Shining Force III Scenario 2 and 3. How many people on here have played Mother 3 on their PCs or have a repro cart of it? I bet quite a few because it's the only way to play that game in English. Same goes for a bunch of SNES JRPGs. A lot of fan translated stuff was done for free, with many translators happy to allow others to play for no cost.

I do have a repro cart of Mother 3, it was a hold over until I got my real cart which I dumped, applied the patch and play on my Everdrive. The repro had some bugs where if you used certain items or moves the game would crash. Was the same for bosses so that added an extra layer of fun.

Videogamesplus sells repro carts and they were quite open about it in the past. I think those include fan hacks.

I think some flash carts use donor carts as well for the casing though so they're not always better. Speaking of flash carts, SD2SNES is getting an update so it can play SDD1 games! Might upgrade my Everdrive later on.

I'm glad you can use your Super Gameboy 2 @S.C.G, that's a nice advantage of the Super Nt. Tempted to get one to go with the MEGA Sg.

[Hero-of-Time]

3 minutes ago, Ike said:

I follow Chris Scullion on Twitter so saw he post earlier, and I do agree with him. I made the mistake of reading the Tales of Vesperia performance thread on a certain forum. Apparently 30fps on the overworld is enough to not buy the game. Apparently Dragon Quest XI wasn't worth full price because it was released a year earlier in Japan. Never mind the localised version got a number of enhancements, including full voice acting. Everything needs to be 4K/60fps+ these days or it's not worth buying. People don't buy games because there's no English dub or Japanese dub. I know games are expensive, so it's probably just people justifying not buying the game but it probably means they weren't that interested in it in the first place.

I think the whole "no physical no buy" thing is is a bit dumb, especially since series like Ace Attorney which don't sell enough to justify releasing it physical. It's basically digital or nothing. I don't get that people who are fans of the series would rather go with nothing. I get the whole argument for physical.

A lot of communities are really toxic, which includes Pokemon, which is meant to be a series aimed at children. You're not a real fan if you like Let's Go or something dumb. The games are super fun but because it's not a "hardcore" game a lot of people gave the game flak.

It's hard to tell if things would be the same "back in the day" since the Internet wasn't really around or was still in its infancy, there was "console wars" back then but it was limited to magazines and the school yard.

/rant

Well said. 

4 minutes ago, Ike said:

Videogamesplus sells repro carts and they were quite open about it in the past. I think those include fan hacks.

Interesting. I never knew they sold those. I used to use VGP all the time back when I wanted to import GBA JRPGs but I haven't used them for years. I'm very reluctant to use them ever since it was reported that a bunch of customer info and CC details were stolen from them. Apparently they haven't got the best security.

[Happenstance]

While it never bothers me personally (I can very rarely tell the difference between 30 and 60fps) I think the fps argument becomes more and more relevant as we carry on and it seems like its important to so many people that it should be taken notice of.

Pokemon Let's Go is a motion control travesty so I can't take that journey with you. I'm too hardcore of a gamer

Being a PC gamer for a lot of my life the need for physical versions of games went out of the window years ago for me. It's just something you get used to.

Obviously it's hard to say for sure as all these complaints are so much more visible these days but I expect that it's not that different from years ago. Just maybe we are a bit more knowledgeable about what we are arguing. I think the return of blast processing exclusive to say the PS5 would end all these complaints.

[Ike]

20 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

Just maybe we are a bit more knowledgeable about what we are arguing. I think the return of blast processing exclusive to say the PS5 would end all these complaints.

Hah, probably. I didn't know PAL games were running at 50hz or that it was slower than other region versions.

[Dcubed]

I honestly have no idea why anyone would get upset about the Tales of Vesperia 60FPS in battles/30FPS out of battles thing on Switch.  That's exactly how it was in the original version  It's not like Tales of Symphonia HD, where they used the inferior PS2 version as a base; where the gameplay was notably worse than the original GCN version.  Here it's a match for the original PS3/360 versions of the game.

 

And there's basically no notable action gameplay outside of battles at all.  You literally just walk around and talk to people, that's it.  It doesn't even have puzzles to solve in the dungeons like in Symphonia!

 

The part that actually really needs to be in 60FPS (the battles), IS in 60FPS.  It is literally getting upset over nothing 

Edited December 6, 2018 by Dcubed

[Hero-of-Time]

Just finished watching this.

Fantastic viewing. 

Funny that this just popped up. Radio Free Nintendo just celebrated their 600th episode and on it they had a special discussion about the Punch-Out!! franchise.

[Happenstance]

Well I'm having an interesting time trying to get my 8bitdo controller working with the Super NT. Just a lot of flashing at the moment.

[Happenstance]

44 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

Well I'm having an interesting time trying to get my 8bitdo controller working with the Super NT. Just a lot of flashing at the moment.

Got the 8bitdo working now by updating the controller and receiver. Now I just need to get the NT to update it's firmware. I'm wondering if it doesn't like mini sd cards.

[Happenstance]

I'm also a bit worried about how many games it is failing to read. Some I know work on other systems.

[S.C.G]

25 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

I'm also a bit worried about how many games it is failing to read. Some I know work on other systems.

Really? I'm surprised at that, every cartridge I've tried in my Super NT works first time.

But then I have only tried three Super Nintendo carts so far, a Super GameBoy 2 and a handful of GameBoy carts.

Which ones wouldn't work?

[Happenstance]

1 minute ago, S.C.G said:

Really? I'm surprised at that, every cartridge I've tried in my Super NT works first time.

But then I have only tried three Super Nintendo carts so far, a Super GameBoy 2 and a handful of GameBoy carts.

Which ones wouldn't work?

I'm going through them again and having a bit more luck this time but my pile at the moment has Super Probotector, Killer Instinct, Super Ghouls n Ghosts and Lost Vikings all just giving me a black screen. Some like Mega Man X work but then everything turns into a glitchy mess a few minutes in.

[Ike]

You gotta blow on the carts.

[Happenstance]

Chrono Trigger gave me a scare. 3 attempts but it finally started working!

[Happenstance]

Already starting to see some progress after cleaning these carts. Killer Instinct now works. Tetris/Dr Mario took 2 cleans and definitely had the most crap come off it but that's finally loading now as well.