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Best Secondary and Tertiary Retro Game Purchase/Upgrades?


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Administrator · Posted

I've been working slowly on making a little retro game corner in my bedroom, with a little (tiny - 8") JVC monitor and all of my consoles from PS2 back plugged into it. I've got it all hooked up nice with a switch that lets me have everything plugged in at once which is nice, and I have some speakers coming in (the monitor itself only has mono output).

I was wondering - is there anything ELSE that I might be missing which could make the whole setup EVEN BETTER? I'm not sure off the top of my head what I'm even looking for here, so I'm putting the question out to you all. 

Beyond the basic setup of TV/monitor, speakers, and a switch to plug it all in at once - is there anything else that could make a retro gaming setup just that much more enjoyable?

Administrator · Posted
5 hours ago, GPX said:

Hard to add suggestions when it’s hard to visualise your current setup. So I’m going to chuck in generic answers:

- Mini consoles

- Arcade sticks

- retro posters

Here's a photo of the current setup:

IMG_20200531_152709.jpg

  • Like 1

To make things more enjoyable, I’d suggest creating a truly nostalgic environment - old posters and extra merchandises of your favorite games/characters. Basically add stuff to make you feel pumped even before pressing the “on” button!

  • Like 1
Administrator · Posted
6 minutes ago, GPX said:

To make things more enjoyable, I’d suggest creating a truly nostalgic environment - old posters and extra merchandises of your favorite games/characters. Basically add stuff to make you feel pumped even before pressing the “on” button!

That's a really good point/idea. I should hang some stuff up! Right now yeah it's feeling a little bit all function no flare.

God I wish I had a neon Nintendo sign or something.

  • Like 1

I like working on the ambience of my game room. Merchandise, posters, LED lights, and generally cool gaming related stuff. My family knows I collect games so I have a bunch of stuff they have given me which is cool as well. 

On 5/31/2020 at 6:04 AM, Gloves said:

is there anything ELSE that I might be missing which could make the whole setup EVEN BETTER?

I'd hate to state the obvious - but something a little bigger than 8" might be pleasant. 🙂

Also, with all the consoles hooked up, are they running on the best output they can? Of the ones pictured I wouldn't accept composite video from anything outside of the NES (and even for that, an RGB mod is so much worth it).
As far as I recall from your posts in the Discord chat, your JVC monitor only accepts composite input, which is unfortunate, considering what a great series of monitors that is.

  • Like 1

Lots of great suggestions here, posters and alike.

I'll also go with Sumez' call on trying to upgrade your output signals through mods and perhaps a TV with at least S-Video. Even a PVM if possible 😀

Yeah, though RGB is of course "the ideal", I know Gloves is in the US where that isn't necessarily as viable without another broadcast monitor. S-Video and component video are both completely adequate, and a huge step up from composite mush. 🙂 Personally, I'm not a video perfectionist at all, I just enjoy games that don't look like a complete mess. 😛 

Edited by Sumez

I’m going to throw headphones out there. With that tight setup, I’m not sure where your speakers are going to go. If they are on the ground, that might make for a awkward sound situation if you are scooted up close to the monitor.

A nice set of vintage or retro styled headphones could add both nostalgia and increased game playing enjoyment.

Administrator · Posted
41 minutes ago, LostLevel83 said:

I’m going to throw headphones out there. With that tight setup, I’m not sure where your speakers are going to go. If they are on the ground, that might make for a awkward sound situation if you are scooted up close to the monitor.

A nice set of vintage or retro styled headphones could add both nostalgia and increased game playing enjoyment.

For reference:

image.png

(the computer monitor has been removed)

Administrator · Posted
26 minutes ago, LostLevel83 said:

Oh nice. That’s similar to my setup, except I’ve got a turntable where the switch box is.

Looking good!

I'm still considering getting a turntable but man I am so lost on that shit.

Administrator · Posted
36 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I'm sure your $8,000/month highrise Toronto studio can squeeze that in somewhere

Lmao I live in a $1400/month basement.

Editorials Team · Posted
9 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Lmao I live in a $1400/month basement.

Must be saving a quadrillion dollars then.  I look forward to hearing about retiring at 40 and buying land out in Saskatchewan.

Administrator · Posted
3 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Must be saving a quadrillion dollars then.  I look forward to hearing about retiring at 40 and buying land out in Saskatchewan.

xD

Yes I look forward to doing just that lol.

Administrator · Posted

To be clear, I'm not against "upgrading" the television, but to be honest I do actually like it as-is quite a bit. 8" is a nice little size for the corner of my room, and I do sit pretty darn close to it. I'm not dedicating a whole room to this, it's literally my bedroom which I share with my wife. I'm just video-game-ifying my own little corner of the room. 

Biggest I might go is like 14" TOPS, and even that I don't think would quite fit, I'd have to do measurements. It has to be able to fit nicely on top of my half-sized Billy Bookshelf (from IKEA). I might consider a PVM if the RGB etc. is really THAT big a difference, but it's SUPER rough getting one out here for under $500, if any are ever available at all. And the whole covid thing has me not really all that capable of doing pickups. So could be quite some time before I can get another TV. 

4 minutes ago, Gloves said:

To be clear, I'm not against "upgrading" the television, but to be honest I do actually like it as-is quite a bit. 8" is a nice little size for the corner of my room, and I do sit pretty darn close to it. I'm not dedicating a whole room to this, it's literally my bedroom which I share with my wife. I'm just video-game-ifying my own little corner of the room. 

Biggest I might go is like 14" TOPS, and even that I don't think would quite fit, I'd have to do measurements. It has to be able to fit nicely on top of my half-sized Billy Bookshelf (from IKEA). I might consider a PVM if the RGB etc. is really THAT big a difference, but it's SUPER rough getting one out here for under $500, if any are ever available at all. And the whole covid thing has me not really all that capable of doing pickups. So could be quite some time before I can get another TV. 

I had an 8" PVM and a 20" for a short while.  The 20 failed after a week and I shipped it back through eBay.  After that I just went back to trinitrons and other CRTs.  Sure PVMs are the best for CRTs but it felt like I was getting 80-90% of the experience for 10% of the price with quality consumer TV's.  This was with RGB modded consoles or HDRetrovision cables.

Edited by zeppelin03

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