Retro gaming

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
User avatar
Simonsloth
Member
Posts: 1639
Joined: November 22nd, 2017, 7:17 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Simonsloth »

Suits wrote: May 12th, 2019, 9:39 am It is hard to find value in the wild nowadays but that's just the way it is now, it has been for a few years now I feel. It's not going to change, it's only going to get worse sadly.

That said, it's the community around it that still makes it fun.

Sometimes we go out, don't even see anything at all and still have a good time. We still have breakfast, a few coffees and a few laughs as we walk about and drive from car boot to charity shop.

I picked up Wonder Boy 3 on the Master System, boxed for £6 the other day - at a convention. You've just got to keep at it, you've not always going to score big.

If I'm out and see a game I already have, thats cheap, I'll pick it up. I won't pass over it, or leave it. I'll either upgrade my current copy or bits of it then offer it to the boys, then if no-one wants it, I'll usually trade it in at my mates Retro Game shop for credit.

The way I see it, is you're doing the scene a favour and getting a game back into the eco-system.
You’re making me feel bad.

Next to Diddy Kong racing were a couple of PsOne games I already own but could have helped get back into the hands of people who would love them. Only £1 each:(

They were Moho, a random puzzle game where your character rolls around on a ball and Winky the little bear.

Was going to make a joke about Winky but I don’t really need to and yes I do have Winky the little bear in my collection.
User avatar
Michiel K
Moderator
Posts: 1295
Joined: October 13th, 2015, 9:37 pm

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Michiel K »

Suits wrote: May 9th, 2019, 8:49 pm Sounds rad man, I'll get in touch a bot closer to the time and we can see what works.
Let's make it happen!
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Flabyo »

One of the charity shops in Guildford will sometimes print out an eBay listing they’ve found and put it next to an item to demonstrate that they know what’s its worth so that’s why they’re asking what they’re asking for it.
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Suits »

Huh, that’s unique.

I hope it’s a completed sale, not something Brian from Stoke has had on there at “RARE !! Buy it Now - £89.99” for the last 5 months.
User avatar
Michiel K
Moderator
Posts: 1295
Joined: October 13th, 2015, 9:37 pm

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Michiel K »

I came across a (PAL) copy of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door in a local charity stop the other day. All their non-FIFA GC games are priced 3,50 EUR, including that one. I already have the game, but is anyone else interested to add it to their collection (not for reselling purposes)? If so, I'll go and grab it, pretty sure it's still there.

Note: the disc might not be in the greatest condition and the packaging and manual will most probably in Dutch language.
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Retro gaming

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Michiel K wrote: May 17th, 2019, 7:29 am I came across a (PAL) copy of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door in a local charity stop the other day. All their non-FIFA GC games are priced 3,50 EUR, including that one. I already have the game, but is anyone else interested to add it to their collection (not for reselling purposes)? If so, I'll go and grab it, pretty sure it's still there.

Note: the disc might not be in the greatest condition and the packaging and manual will most probably in Dutch language.
...Yes, please! :o

One of the very few GCN games I'm still looking for so I'd love to get my talons on that if possible.
User avatar
Michiel K
Moderator
Posts: 1295
Joined: October 13th, 2015, 9:37 pm

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Michiel K »

Just went and it was gone, along with any other decent GC game they had. :'(

Sorry for getting you excited for nothing. I genuinely though the stuff was sitting there for a while already. Will probably show up on eBay as **ULTRA RARE 150 EURO!!!** very soon.

Knowing this, I will keep an eye out for you, however.
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Retro gaming

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Oh, well that's too bad. Thanks a lot for checking, however. :)

I've never had much luck with this one as the prices it's going for tend to be ever so slightly higher than I'm willing to pay, especially when in good condition.

One day!
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Flabyo »

Hey Suits, question for you.

I’ve picked up some Isopropanol to clean some problematic carts, and I’m wondering... when you use it do you dilute it? Cause it seems pretty damn potent to be using neat.
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Suits »

Flabyo wrote: May 21st, 2019, 7:11 pm I’ve picked up some Isopropanol to clean some problematic carts, and I’m wondering... when you use it do you dilute it?
I don't dilute it no, but I use it sparingly.

My method involves dipping a cotton bud into the Isopropanol then tapping it on the inside of the bottle neck so that its not sopping.

It sounds daft but that's the best way to describe how I control how much I use.

I'll then use that method for one side of a Mega Drive board, then a fresh dip for the other.

Really stubborn marks or oils may take a little more (that Killer Instinct cart took about twenty passes and many vigorous polishes with the fibreglass pen before anything sparked).

Also, you really should it in well ventilated areas - but now I just use it in my office freely.

Some people I follow use Isopropanol baths for entire boards !!!!
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Flabyo »

Yeah, it’s all the ‘for gods sake man, open a window at least!’ Warnings on the bottle that made me ask :)
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Suits »

Flabyo wrote: May 21st, 2019, 7:37 pm Yeah, it’s all the ‘for gods sake man, open a window at least!’ Warnings on the bottle that made me ask :)
Yeah, it will evaporate pretty quick in the quantities you'll want to be using it in but you'll be fine just being mindful of it.

It can get dodgy using it in large quantities, like if you were cleaning a floor tile or something like that.

There are WEL values for all this stuff but using it like this is fine.
User avatar
ratsoalbion
Admin
Posts: 7918
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:41 am
Location: Brighton, England
Contact:

Re: Retro gaming

Post by ratsoalbion »

Excellent.

There’s also a cool new DF Retro with our man John looking at the Castlevania Collection.
User avatar
ratsoalbion
Admin
Posts: 7918
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:41 am
Location: Brighton, England
Contact:

Re: Retro gaming

Post by ratsoalbion »

Excellent.

There’s also a cool new DF Retro with our man John looking at the Castlevania Collection.
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Suits »

ratsoalbion wrote: May 28th, 2019, 5:18 pm There’s also a cool new DF Retro with our man John looking at the Castlevania Collection.
That’s queued up for tonight’s viewing that is.

Been waiting for this.

I’m on a bit of a Castlevania surge at the moment.
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Suits »

Image left is a Sony PVM, image right is a LG OLED.

Pretty good comparison image.

Image
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8423
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Alex79 »

No I always turn scan lines off and any kind of graphic filter for old games or emulation. Hate that smudgy smooth smear over the crisp, perfect pixels.
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Suits »

clippa wrote: May 29th, 2019, 10:33 am I don't like emulated scanlines, I always turn off that hideous bilinear filtering that softens the image too for example Yes, mate No, mate I like everything to be crisp and clean, but I remember some guy on a forum explaining to me that graphics back then were made with the scanlines in mind and showed me a few examples and they did look way better.
I still always turn scanlines off though, am I a bad son?

There's folk who buy scanline generator boxes for older hardware so it looks more like a crt on their modern lcd displays. You seen those?

It's hard on modern panels to replicate the full CRT effect.

Some fabricated scanlines can look good, the recent Flashback re-master on the Switch has some great options, it even had skew and bow options to curve the image corners that gave a very good effect.

Personally though, if I'm playing on a modern panel, I just leave everything off and run a crisp, overly sharp image (I don't often play this way if I can help it mind).

The attraction to a fuzzy, glowing CRT image is the blending and shading that you get in areas that have been clearly considered by the designers when creating the sprites.

Axle's arm muscles above are a good example of that, where I feel that the CRT image gives a much better representation of an arm, than the raw pixels of the OLED.

Of course, the scanlines play a big part in that with spacing and softening of an image.

In that case, fabricated scanlines can help to make things look a bit easier on the eye.

OSSC's have a myriad of wonderful options to get things looking better/worse depending on your preference but you can spend ages tweaking things to what you think looks better.

Ultimately there's no wrong or right answer and personal mileage very much varies per application I find.

I just thought the SoR2 image was a good representation of the two displays so thought I'd share.
User avatar
ratsoalbion
Admin
Posts: 7918
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:41 am
Location: Brighton, England
Contact:

Re: Retro gaming

Post by ratsoalbion »

There are some great CRT/scanline emulations, and some terrible ones - and everything in between. Very much a case by case basis.

What I will say is that having played a hundred odd old original cabs at the weekend, while it was absolutely delightful to see those games running on their rightful hardware with screen burn, warping, magnetisation and all, most of these games look way prettier to me when running on modern hardware and via my Sony 4K LCD.

That may be sacrilege to some and lord knows I adore those coin-ops, but Bomb Jack, Contra, Time Pilot et al pop vividly on their Hamster Arcade Archive editions, compared to the real vintage deal.
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Retro gaming

Post by Suits »

clippa wrote: May 29th, 2019, 11:35 am Yeah man, very interesting. Thanks for that. I'll have to look up one of the examples that guy posted, it was like a night and day difference. I'll never be able to find it.

edit: Oh, here we go, my google-fu is strong!

scanlines
no scanlines for you, baby
Huh, wow, yeah.

At quick glance though, there’s more going on there than meets the eye I think.

The colour range and sync look well off.

First one looks like RF signal and the second component.
Post Reply