Are you also an OG hardware snob? What are your exceptions?

[BortLicensePlate | 652]

At this point I value convenience above all else. I don’t want to have 20 consoles all hooked up at once or even rotating in and out. I want to have my setup be as lean as possible. 
 

recently purchased a mister fpga which is great because it’s tiny and covers nearly everything prior to N64. The even have a PS1 core now that I need to mess around with still. I’m also using a wii classic controller so I’m not picky about the controller being correct either. 
 

anything newer I’m still trying to figure out the best solution but most of the time it’s original hardware out of necessity. I’m thinking about hacking my wiiu to cover GC and Wii, and my ps3 to cover ps2. with the games saved to the hard disc.

I just want the setup to be streamlined I’m not picky about what system plays what game. I do want as close to accurate emulation as possible though 

[Tanooki | 4,934]

I just can't do that.

I mean I wish I could, but it gets into where if I had one or the other, if I did your @BortLicensePlate type of other I'd just quit playing entirely to be honest.  It's a mental barrier habit thing I guess, but flash kits, hacked mini consoles with a bunch, some pi box bs, or even just an emulator on a computer has zero value and zero appeal to me for actual dedicated use... passive play at best.  There's no $ invested, so my mind won't invest the time into it.

For me, going lean -- staring at a console (or handheld) and trying to remember the last time I used it, or last few times.  I then think, will I regret this?  Will I want to use it again or not?  Would passively giving a damn on a multi-choice I just listed be ok?  Would I be fine not bothering ever again?  Or would I be good with an UNHACKED mini-console?  Depending on the YES and NO to that, something stays or goes, and that's that.

That style of lean has removed PS1-4 and the PSP and Vita all Sony.  It also removed from Sega the SMS, GG, Dreamcast, and some Genesis titles too.  Got rid of my PCE and Duo setup but retained a PCE Mini to not cut it off entirely which helped.  It took out the shitty PiiU and the Wii, cut a few games off from the systems from Nintendo I've largely retained.  I've let go of numerous one off handhelds, tabletop arcades, a couple pinball machines(both full size and toy size each), my modern cocktail arcade, and some other related fluff too.  Currently I'm chewing on if I really really care at all anymore about the NGPC as I last used it over an hour I think in 2021, the lack of lighting is a put off but the price of the kit to fix that is as much so.  I've even dumped a fair number of Switch titles and largely don't bother using it much either until something comes along I must own.

Largely it's just been gameboy family, snes and genesis, some nes too, and lesser so the rest.  I'm even considering dumping at least my 3DS handheld and 10 games for it as the prices on the good ones these days exceed retail and buying the system prices are a joke too, they never fell, just raged up with pandemic abuse.  DS I think I'd retain but that's possible even.

I'd rather slice than halfass it with roms.

Edited September 24, 2022 by Tanooki

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

I prefer the OG hardware 99% of the time, especially for older stuff that basically becomes unplayable with any amount of lag. Having said that, my modded NES mini is a blessing for going to my brothers house for game night. Easy to travel with, instant save/pausing, pick any game from a list, don't have to worry about the games messing up (happens from time to time on my NES), etc. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,533]

On 9/23/2022 at 9:23 AM, DoctorEncore said:

I don't watch old movies on a VCR just because that's what was available when they were released. Give me HDMI output with pixel perfect accuracy on a big ass OLED TV. Good hardware emulators are close enough in accuracy for even most hardcore gamers. I'm a huge proponent of the excellent (albeit pricey) Analogue FGPA emulators. I've also got a PolyMega on preorder for disc based games and (hopefully) N64.

Yeah but old movies were also available on film back then!

[Estil | 1,265]

I thought the whole point of Everdrives is that you have the convivence emulation has of choosing games off a menu and not having to switch out cartridges but since you're using the original system/controllers it's virtually the game as playing the real cartridge?

[CMR | 520]

I like my mister, but that's about as far from OG hardware I want to get.

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

I prefer original hardware, for sure but I don't think I'm a snob about it. I'm not against running a ROM from a power pack or w.e to play a game I've been eyeballing or just piqued my interest. However, I don't have any emulators I really use outside of a molded 3DS, but that plays a most of handheld games natively. 

I had a couple flash carts tho. One for NES, N64 and Gameboy although I rarely use em. 

I'm the same way about CIB vs cart only / disc only. I'll accept a cart only but I always shoot to get a game CIB. I'll play an emulated game or use a PC or w.e if I really have to but I prefer to game on original hardware w original games which rest in their original boxes and cases. 

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

22 hours ago, Estil said:

I thought the whole point of Everdrives is that you have the convivence emulation has of choosing games off a menu and not having to switch out cartridges but since you're using the original system/controllers it's virtually the game as playing the real cartridge?

Yeah, that's a huge factor, not having to constantly swap out carts from your system (or, depending on how you collect, unbox your box, then unbox your cart, while doing the reverse with the game you just pulled out of your system).  Another is being able to play games that you don't actually own on real hardware without having to buy them.  And once you've started up whatever ROM you've chosen, it's not virtually that game, it is that game, as the flash cart loads the exact same ROM data into the system that a real cart would--just from a backed up ROM file stored on flash media versus a physical ROM chip holding only a single game's data.

I'm stumped how anybody beyond folks with a huge hangup about piracy would ever have a bad thing to say about flash carts, even if they themselves choose to use their real carts 100% of the time.  It's basically a quality of life improvement for us old school folks, as well as a way to knock the floor out from under the barrier to entry for folks just discovering the systems/hobby/etc.

[Tanooki | 4,934]

I rarely do it but I'll admit I got guilty of that a couple days ago.  I popped the SD2SNES into my Super Nt and I went through like 4 games, games I own, as I didn't feel like getting up at that moment since it was already in there.  Started on a game I didn't have, then went into some I do.  It runs all the same other than selecting from the menu to start, no harm no foul really, the ROM is the ROM just on a SD card vs a chip, ran all the same on hardware no less.

[Tulpa | 3,501]

I prefer playing the original games on original carts, and most homebrews as well (to support them) but hacks and mods I'll play on an Everdrive. It's the only way I can play Duck Hunt on my HDTV.

[Estil | 1,265]

12 hours ago, darkchylde28 said:

I'm stumped how anybody beyond folks with a huge hangup about piracy would ever have a bad thing to say about flash carts, even if they themselves choose to use their real carts 100% of the time.  It's basically a quality of life improvement for us old school folks, as well as a way to knock the floor out from under the barrier to entry for folks just discovering the systems/hobby/etc.

As Jimbo from South Park would say, this is about preserving history!

[Tanooki | 4,934]

Another appropriate south park reference for those making an intelligent argument against flash carts would be best said by their resident speed demon there on the show.   TIMMAH!

[Estil | 1,265]

On 9/24/2022 at 12:00 PM, BortLicensePlate said:

At this point I value convenience above all else. I don’t want to have 20 consoles all hooked up at once or even rotating in and out. I want to have my setup be as lean as possible. 

I don't exactly want to have a bunch of consoles hooked up at once either but there's no real choice if you want to play them in the best way possible.  And you have to play retro consoles on an old fashioned CRT if you don't want input lag.  After all, what good is a shiny showroom condition vehicle if it doesn't drive/handle quite right?  That is, what good does it do to hook up a retro console to a modern screen that might look better and crisper but the controls will feel "off"?

[Estil | 1,265]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

Another appropriate south park reference for those making an intelligent argument against flash carts would be best said by their resident speed demon there on the show.   TIMMAH!

I meant more to defend software "piracy" if it's the kind of things that can't really be bought in stores anymore so that we preserve history.  I mean who knows how many old computer games/programs might've been lost forever if it weren't for these so called "pirates".

[Estil | 1,265]

On 9/21/2022 at 5:26 PM, a3quit4s said:

I can’t put my Nintendo tapes in the pocket! Plus I’ve played my switch maybe 5 times in 5 years in handheld mode. If I was just starting out and was going to emulate most my life you’d be dead on with pocket + dock but the way I play I can use all my carts. 

Oh that brings back so many memories...when I was a child in the late 80s/early 90s and my school would put letters to Santa (well one of Santa's helpers anyway) on the hallway bulletin board or something, and obviously at or near the top of a lot of those wishlists was a Nintendo and "Nintendo tapes".  Well to be fair Nintendo DID purposely make the NES have a similar look/feel to a VCR.

And you know that 90s VH1 show called "8-track flashback"?  You could just as easily have "8-bit flashback"!  

Edited October 11, 2022 by Estil

[BortLicensePlate | 652]

22 minutes ago, Estil said:

I don't exactly want to have a bunch of consoles hooked up at once either but there's no real choice if you want to play them in the best way possible.  And you have to play retro consoles on an old fashioned CRT if you don't want input lag.  After all, what good is a shiny showroom condition vehicle if it doesn't drive/handle quite right?  That is, what good does it do to hook up a retro console to a modern screen that might look better and crisper but the controls will feel "off"?

Hey man, totally agree with you! However, its just isn't practical for me anymore  

I am 50-50 on the aesthetic of classic CRT with scan lines vs modern display with crisp pixels. I think both can be beautiful under the right circumstances. For me, my Mister FPGA on my 4k gaming monitor looks great and I haven't had any issue with input lag, I'm sure there is some but not enough for me to notice anything. The FPGA was my choice because of the lack of input lag, any lag would be from the display, but my 144hz gaming monitor is pretty good from what I can tell. It's all about choosing the right display and wired controllers.

I would consider a high quality PVM CRT in the future but they are not cheap. Definitely see the allure of classic CRTs.

But I think these days there are lots of options for playing old games with modern tech

[Tanooki | 4,934]

3 hours ago, Estil said:

I meant more to defend software "piracy" if it's the kind of things that can't really be bought in stores anymore so that we preserve history.  I mean who knows how many old computer games/programs might've been lost forever if it weren't for these so called "pirates".

Quite a few, some of it has been documented as much on various websites where stuff is lost and found, and beyond just PC stuff.  Take for instance in the last 5 years someone did a ton of footwork around Japan when someone recalled that a 3rd and 'final' version of Samurai Shodown 5 was made for SNK Neo Geo MVS format.  In working on doing research for another project around the franchise for the SS Neo Geo Collection bundle that came out in the 2000s, they were led to it via Kouji Takaya in an interview as being real not rumored as he worked on it, but it was lost (supposedly).\

It was canned as SNK got pissed he was doing it as SS6 was deep into production so they canned it, the only 1 copy to be made into an on location test.  Tradition was there to not hold onto company property and I guess at SNK was to destroy dead efforts.  The code was long gone, but with bosses looking annoyed (I guess), he went digging and a few days later found the only remaining ROM chip set left with the final working game.  As far as SNK knew, as far as the world knew, it was dead other than a few blurry photos in some Japanese magazines, and a few lucky players brains, and there was it... SNK clearly wasn't furious in this instance, they had a new MVS game to sell in that bundle and so it was.  A supposedly dead, gone, erased and lost game due to an interview and a nervous designer admitting to borderline company theft resurrected the true final Samurai Shodown NeoGeo and NeoGeo MVS game on the spot.

 

These days it's a download (legal), in collections, and some take those MVS files and throw them on legit SNK MVS conversion old boards creating a conversion kit for the game that never made it, until now.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

On 9/25/2022 at 10:01 PM, Reed Rothchild said:

Yeah but old movies were also available on film back then!

Not in your home! But I get your point.

[Estil | 1,265]

1 hour ago, Multiplat Cat said:

Is it true that its hard to find working original SNES hardware anymore because the system chips are dying? I had a user here tell me that the system sends too much voltage to some components because of design flaws and kills the chips over time, not just the capacitors. Just wondering. I'm looking to get a clone to play Super Mario All-Stars, thinking of getting a GamerzTek model as I've had good experiences with them in the past.

I would hope not if we still got computers/electronics from the 60s/70s still fit as a fiddle.  I mean people restore those as well as retro TVs/radios/appliances/etc just as is done with retro vehicles.

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

2 hours ago, Multiplat Cat said:

Is it true that its hard to find working original SNES hardware anymore because the system chips are dying? I had a user here tell me that the system sends too much voltage to some components because of design flaws and kills the chips over time, not just the capacitors. Just wondering. I'm looking to get a clone to play Super Mario All-Stars, thinking of getting a GamerzTek model as I've had good experiences with them in the past.

In 30 years of playing and collecting snes, this is the first time ive ever heard this. 

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

3 hours ago, Multiplat Cat said:

Is it true that its hard to find working original SNES hardware anymore because the system chips are dying? I had a user here tell me that the system sends too much voltage to some components because of design flaws and kills the chips over time, not just the capacitors. Just wondering. I'm looking to get a clone to play Super Mario All-Stars, thinking of getting a GamerzTek model as I've had good experiences with them in the past.

The only thing that should ever need to be replaced in a solid state system like a SNES is the electrolytic capacitors, and that's cheap and easy to do if you know how to solder.  Yeah, any component can fail at any time, but a SNES sitting in storage for fifty years and found in a dead grampa's closet would probably still work without any sort of "restoration."  The chips in your SNES will probably outlive you...

[OptOut | 8,884]

I dunno, I've gone through tons of SFC's over here, before I finally got hold of the Analogue Super NT. In my personal experience, the Super Nintendo is far less reliable than either the NES or the Megadrive.

[Tulpa | 3,501]

6 minutes ago, OptOut said:

I dunno, I've gone through tons of SFC's over here, before I finally got hold of the Analogue Super NT. In my personal experience, the Super Nintendo is far less reliable than either the NES or the Megadrive.

I remember you posted about a couple of them randomly shitting the bed, and how happy you were with your SuperNT.

[AirVillain | 489]

On 10/11/2022 at 7:28 PM, Multiplat Cat said:

Is it true that its hard to find working original SNES hardware anymore because the system chips are dying? I had a user here tell me that the system sends too much voltage to some components because of design flaws and kills the chips over time, not just the capacitors. Just wondering. I'm looking to get a clone to play Super Mario All-Stars, thinking of getting a GamerzTek model as I've had good experiences with them in the past.

Also never heard of this. SNES is always the most reliable for playing games (based purely on keeping the the top load clean, though)...

Go get yourself an OG SNES. You won't be disappointed. 

All the clone systems are shit, especially the controllers. 

[Tanooki | 4,934]

1 hour ago, AirVillain said:

Also never heard of this. SNES is always the most reliable for playing games (based purely on keeping the the top load clean, though)...

Go get yourself an OG SNES. You won't be disappointed. 

All the clone systems are shit, especially the controllers. 

Mostly garbage, the SupaboyS/SFC/Black is accurate which is strange, but if you didn't want an HD solution it's the best out there short of original.  I totally agree you can find maybe enough quality clone system on a chip systems or emulator box junk(retron5 and since) you can found on one hand it's that rare.  And yeah all the controllers are garbage, outside of maybe a buffalo usb snes pad, they're right.