Retro gaming

[Suits]

I always liked the design of the Game Boy Pocket. Looks really nice in clear plastic as well!

That also looks like a particularly well kept copy of Duck Tales! Great little game that.

I'm going home to visit my Mum at the weekend and this is making me want to dig out my Game Gear...

Yeah, the pocket is great, although suffers from ghosting quite a bit I find.

I have a few GB Colours too but I just love form factor and look of that pocket - so it stays out .

That Duck Tales is probably one of my best condition GB games, my Metroid 2 runs it pretty close mind.

I booted up my Game Gear a few weeks back in fact when I pulled my Sega stuff from the loft to look for something. I think the screen still holds up pretty well, it's just those damn batteries it goes through !!

Good luck with the home hunt, let us know how it goes .

[Craig]

So, I was talking to a colleague of mine in work the other day about toys we had as kids and generally reminiscing.

He was telling me about a game that he used to have on his original GameBoy but couldn’t remember the name of.

After he explained a couple of key elements about it, I quickly came to the conclusion that it was probably Duck Tales.

After a Google image search, it was settled, that was it and we continued our found discussion about the game, its levels and how it handled. The cane jump mainly .

I didn’t let on that I had it at home, so I brought this in today.

The look on peoples faces when they see these sort of things and the want to touch the GameBoy is worth it every time.

It’s not the GameBoy he had but is my test unit and much easier to grab than getting one of my originals out of the box.

Wonderful story! I imagine you're like a Willy Wonka kind of figure at work now.

Well, without all the creepiness and forced labour.

[Michiel K]

Lovely.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

Continuing on the Gameboy trail...

I got home from Japan yesterday morning after three weeks there, and I recovered enough to unpack the goods.

Of all things that caught my eye, there was one thing I saw sitting on the shelf in Surugaya in Kokura that I had never seen before, or was even aware existed.

And that was Gameboy game tins:



I picked up the one on the right from Kokura, and the one on the left back in Akiba.

It's not an item that is super rare or even of high resale value, but I had to buy it because they are so damn charming. After a little Google search I saw a PC Kid/Bonk one was also somewhere out there in the secondhand ether.

Is this something that anyone else has come across before?

[Suits]

Is this something that anyone else has come across before?

Yeah man, these are cool.

Great collectors items.

I've not seen these exact ones before but I have come across the Wii ones quite a bit.

There's ones for New Super Mario Bros and Mario Galaxy, which double as money banks that have little slots in the top of them.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

Is this something that anyone else has come across before?

Yeah man, these are cool.

Great collectors items.

I've not seen these exact ones before but I have come across the Wii ones quite a bit.

There's ones for New Super Mario Bros and Mario Galaxy, which double as money banks that have little slots in the top of them.

I hope Nintendo continue to release little collectable tins like these. It could easily be done with Switch carts... imagine a Breathe of the Wild version...

[Craig]

I've seen those tin games before, they're marvelous! I haven't seen the Bomberman ones, but I saw some Momotaro game and even one of the Gameboy Wars (which led to Advance wars.)

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

The good people at Read Only Memory have announced their latest book - Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works.

The kickstarter campaign has already started and passed its goal but I'd encourage anyone with an interest and affection in Dreamcast to get involved. ROM's books are of exceptional quality both in content and production. I have their previous effort - Mega Drive: Collected Works and it's just wonderful.

They've also published works focussed on history of Sensible Software, Britsoft, and the Bitmap Brothers, and all can still be purchased from their website:

https://readonlymemory.vg/

The Kickstarter for the Dreamcast book can be found here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/da ... cted-works

[Suits]

Good shout, I have a few of the Bitmap Nintendo books on my shelf and I have seen this one flying about Twitter and must be honest - was tempted by it.

[Suits]

I've come into a CRT Monitor that I don't have any use for.

It's a 15" - 750 Line - 50/60hz PAL/NTSC unit.

The case is in really good condition, it has a little screen burn but isn't noticeable when in use.

It has BNC input, that will take a composite connection and gives a nice rich display. Excellent blacks.

Perfect, compact, tidy little unit for anyone wanting something for their old consoles. Great for a desk as it's 15". Pic's don't really do it justice but it's hard to snap.

It won't set the world alight but is a great starter unit and is bound to bring someone some memories.

Free to any C&R member if they're willing to collect from Essex .

[KSubzero1000]

I have nothing to add, but I'd very much like to voice my approval for the Rogue Leader screenshots and their Wavebird companion.

[Suits]

Yeah man, season of the GameCube in my house at the moment .

[Suits]

I have recently been digging around in my spares bin and managed to put tother a Wii a for a lady in work who wanted to get her 5 year old boy a console for his birthday to try.

While I was going though bits I decided to get my old Wii out of its box and set it up on my PVM, something I've never done previously. I ordered a RGB Scart cable and set the bad boy up with the inbox composite cables.

Out of the box the Wii favours a PAL (576i) or NTSC (480i) resolution at (4:3) and simply has an option for Widescreen (16:9) making it perrrrfect for an analogue CRT .

There is also an option for those nasty EDTV panels that I'm not really a fan of. Neither here nor there in my experience.

Originally, before my RVL-013 arrived I hooked it up via composite cable using a BNC adapter, whilst it looked good on my 800 line PVM, it wasn't great really and set a very low bar for the soon to come full RGB experience to beat.

Well, once I had the proper cable, as soon as I turned it on the jump in quality was vast. Whites were improved dramatically, blues vivid, reds burning and the borders were that much sharper, you'd think it was something much more drastic than just a RGB SCART cable. The Wii pointer looks like a decal stuck to the outside of the screen it looks that vivid.

This I think is the biggest jump in quality Ive seen on any of the retro consoles I've messed with - certainly Nintendo.

Mario Galaxy 2, especially the animated cut scenes look unreal, in most cases better than any HD upscaler can produce I think.

Combined with the scanlines, phosphor glow and drowning blacks that quality CTR's can deliver, the Wii truly shines on a CRT.

I look back on my time with the console and wonder how I would have perceived it graphically alongside my 720p Xbox 360 if I'd had it plugged into a CRT and not an LCD.

Camera phone pictures do it no justice at all, although even my wife looks at it, then back at me and says, "That looks good doesn't it." as she passes by

I'm currently having another good go at Galaxy 2 and have a few of the boys coming round for a good old smash up with my House of the Dead hand cannons and a few of the light gun games.

Stuff for the Wii is currently cheap and plentiful. I'd encourage anyone that wanted another dip into this, or perhaps a first taste, to take the plunge.

If you have an old CRT knocking about - I'd insist.

[Stanshall]

Those descriptions got me salivating! Sounds fantastic.

[KSubzero1000]

I simply don't have enough space for another TV, let alone a bulky CRT, but I can certainly appreciate their unique picture quality and how great of a fit they are when paired with pre-HD consoles. Suits' lady knows what's up!

[Joshihatsumitsu]

After a second attempt, I managed to get a Japanese version of Dodonpachi (PCB):



The first attempt was from the same seller. I put down my money (gulp!), and waited for it to be posted out. On the day prior to that board being posted, I got two email: one from Paypal stating that my money had been refunded in full, and the second email from the seller, stating that when the first tested the board it was fine, but they tested again before sending out, and there were problems, so they apologised for the inconvenience and refunded everything.

Of course, it was disappointing at the time, but I really appreciated that honesty. They could have just posted it anyway then blamed me for my cabinet set-up (after all, these were built for businesses, not consumers), but they did the right thing, and I respected that.

So after a few weeks the same seller emailed saying they tracked another one down. Again, I parted with my money (gulp!), and this time it got sent out. It arrived yesterday, and I've tested it, and it runs perfectly. Sooooooo relieved. Plus, I have a good seller I can trust.

It did cost a lot of money (I won't disclose, but a little research so give you a ballpark figure). However, its about choices. This purchase pushes back a Switch purchase well into next year (I'll get there eventually), and I have not invested at all into Mircosoft's current generation Xbox One/X environment, and I'm not really drawn to it (apart from Cuphead).

So here's a question to throw out: in the realms of vintage/retro purchases, has anyone developed good relationship with certain sellers? And has anyone else had a really good positive, or negative, experience with tracking down a game that means a lot to you?

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Great find! Supposed to be a brilliant game. Have always considered getting the Saturn port but it ain’t cheap and as I’ve said before I’m a bit sucky at shmups so can’t really justify spending hefty prices on them.

Good that you’ve found a trustworthy supplier as well. I’ve got a couple of eBay sellers I follow and have been back to as the quality of their items has been consistently good.

I’d been looking for Enemy Zero for a long time at a reasonable price in good condition and actually bought it a couple of times only to find it not as described - cardboard outer in tatters, broken disc holders inside cases - but I eventually found a lovely example from a really helpful guy who answered my questions honestly and took extra pictures to allay my fears. Have bought from him again since and never disappointed.

[ratsoalbion]

I really like Dodonpachi Resurrection on 360 (also on Steam and iOS/Android).

[Joshihatsumitsu]

I really like Dodonpachi Resurrection on 360 (also on Steam and iOS/Android).

The biggest upside to the 360 ports: if there is any difference at all to the arcade versions, I struggle to see it. If I never track down a PCB for later Cave titles, then I don't mind, because those 360 versions are so spot on.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

I really like Dodonpachi Resurrection on 360 (also on Steam and iOS/Android).

The biggest upside to the 360 ports: if there is any difference at all to the arcade versions, I struggle to see it. If I never track down a PCB for later Cave titles, then I don't mind, because those 360 versions are so spot on.

Great find! Supposed to be a brilliant game. Have always considered getting the Saturn port but it ain’t cheap and as I’ve said before I’m a bit sucky at shmups so can’t really justify spending hefty prices on them.

I'm a bit garbage at shmups too, but the upside of Dodonpachi is that it doesn't really matter if you do: it's a ridiculously fun series. But yeah, you have to be comfortable with parting with your hard earned cash.