darkchylde28

I don't think it's a trackball due to how big the round area is shown to be and the fact that it's not deep enough to be able to hold a ball that would be of that size/circumference. Plus, it has plugs for both ports, which leads me to believe that it's an IR receiver for wireless controllers, most likely with a dark, smoked plastic over the ball portion, with the rest being glossy so as to reflect up at it, in case of a bad angle. Not sure who made it, though, as the only "big time" wireless controllers I remember seeing back in the day were the Acclaim ones (single and double), and then the Camerica ones, but both of those featured totally different IR receivers.

I'm pretty certain that's not a mouse, as it doesn't have a ball on the bottom to be able to provide the movement data that a mouse would have (or, if it's not vintage, an optical sensor to do the same thing). It really looks like one, but it absolutely cannot be. However, it does appear to be an IR receiver for a pair of some sort of wireless controllers. I can't say which for sure, but it doesn't match up to the ones that Acclaim came out with, nor Camerica, as I've got both of those, and their receivers are different. Definitely a neat find, though!

KFC? I recall that you're abroad, but not sure where. The Double Down is definitely slated for a US re-release (starting 3/6), and possibly a Canadian one (most like the same day, if it's happening in both countries), but I'm not so sure it's available elsewhere. With that being said, regular KFC locations do keep all of the ingredients required to make one in the store at all times, as they're used to make various other offerings, so should you be able to get to a KFC and they don't offer it, you can always ask them to customize a similar sandwich (and hopefully they'll comply, unlike my local restaurant back before it was brought back).

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention for everybody who's interested in the Double Down. Apparently KFC will be releasing both a regular, "original recipe" version that's true to the original (what I had in my above post), as well as a "spicy" version that they didn't have previously. I do intend to try the spicy version as well at some point, but figured I'd let everybody know so that they were aware ahead of time. In my experience, spicy chicken sandwiches can be hit and miss, with only a few actually having an actually spicy fillet (Bojangles, Wednesday), while everybody else just uses their normal fillet but slathers it with some sort of not-great spicy sauce (Burger King, Chik-fil-A, Popeyes, McDonald's, etc.). If you're only going to give the Double Down one shot, I'd recommend going with the regular/original version, as it's fantastic as-is, to folks who love spice as well as those who hate it, whereas the spicy version is, at least for the moment, an unknown to our small circle. Should I get a chance to try out the spicy version pre-Double Down Throwdown, I'll record my thoughts and share them as requested.

Got chosen as one of only 2,014 allowed to preorder, and got mine in today (Sunday)! The Double Down Drop was all I'd hoped!

Leisure Suit Larry, followed soon after by Leisure Suit Larry 3, then eventually by "Softporn II" which I couldn't get into as a kid, as I didn't know what numbers it wanted when it asked for a woman's measurements and thought that it was some sort of age-based protection that I just didn't understand yet, similar to the historical questions that the Larry series asked. I did, eventually, get into the third game, once I was old enough to understand what woman's measurements were, and actually be interested in women versus the idea of getting into a "naughty" video game to see what was so taboo. I still chuckle inwardly at all the times I'd wait until nobody was home but my mother and I, sneaking out that "Softporn II" disk, then endlessly getting the message "IF YOU WANT A FREAK SHOW, GO TO THE CIRCUS!" because I'd enter numbers up and over 100, or down below 20 for each measurement every time, not having a clue what was going on (and thus proving I wasn't actually mature enough to play that particular game). I did eventually also play stuff like Mortal Kombat, the GTA games, and all the sort of stuff that most folks did at one point or another, but my starting off point with titles intended for an older audience started right toward the beginning of games of that type coming into existence, and my Dad (and his circle of work friends who would either pool money to buy a game then copy it for everyone or just share whatever they'd bought) figuring that I either wouldn't figure out how to get into them or wouldn't be able to understand enough of what was going on for any real harm to come of it (which he was pretty spot on about).

Well folks, when I got up this morning and got logged into my email, I discovered this: Then, when I attempted to use the link after all the local stores opened at 11, I was disappointed, as it kept going to a page that said something along the lines of, "Oops, this store doesn't offer this item, please select something else from our menu," which was fairly infuriating. I kept at it, though, and either KFC's folks finally updated their website to work correctly with the link they provided, or I simply managed to figure out exactly what order I had to do things on the site (sign in, tell it I wanted to place an order for pick up, select a local store), but I finally got it to go to the page for the long lost Double Down, with "Secret Recipe Fries" listed below it as an option. It turns out that the link couldn't get the KFC app to ever load, instead going to the "Oops" page every time, so I ended up duplicating my desktop results in the browser on my phone so I'd be able to get my order placed when it was time. I ordered pizza for everybody else, then rushed out to get it, picked it up, rushed home, got everybody settled, then set off for my quest. Since my brother had been involved the last time I had tried to pick up such a sandwich, I gave him a ring, woke him from a sound sleep, then asked him if he wanted me to order one for him as well, since the page allowed me to bump the quantity I wanted to order past 1. As soon as he understood what I was asking, he came fully awake, gave me a bleary eye "yes, absolutely," then confirmed that he, too, wanted to give the accompanying fries a shot. Then we ended up talking for like an hour before I managed to get off the phone and place the order. But it got placed! The website said it would be ready in about 5 minutes, but I took my time driving across town. By the time I got to the restaurant, something closer to 15 minutes had passed. I could hardly wait! So, I pulled into the entrance, noticed the parking lot was half full (at nearly 2:00 PM on a Sunday), but the drive thru was empty. "This should be quick," I thought. I pulled up, was promptly greeted, then advised that I was there to pick up an online order. "The Double Downs?" 'Yep, that's me,' I confirmed. "Please pull ahead," I was advised. So I did. When I pulled up to the window, the lady running drive thru popped open the window to tell me that it would be about 5 minutes or so, as they were having to get the bacon out and get it prepped and asked that I pull forward so they could bring it out to me when it was ready. I advised that I would, then did so. Approximately 5 minutes later, the same woman came to up to my window, but alas, her hands were empty. "It's actually going to be about another 15 minutes, we don't even have the patties, but I've got someone pulling them right now. Will that be ok?" Well, what choice did I have? I got picked as a participant in KFC's promotional "contest" specifically so I could get a shot at the Double Down early, so I was kind of held hostage. I let her know that was fine and advised I had a couple of other things I needed to do, so I'd do that and come back. I pulled away, a bit disappointed, but still determined. I pulled out onto the highway, then drove three doors down to a gas station, then went inside and picked up a couple of 2-liters that my brother had requested I grab and bring along with me, hopped back in car, then made my way three doors down the other way and parked in the back of KFC's lot. I shut off the car, set a timer for 10 minutes (the rest of the time I'd been advised to wait), and sat back and enjoyed all the sunshine and warm weather. When the timer went off, I backed out, headed back to the drive thru, and repeated the first part of my previous encounter. "Oh, we've only just dropped your patties, it'll be another 12 minutes or so." Oh boy. So this is how the day was going to go. "Is it ok if I just pull around the building and park in the "Quick Pickup" spot while waiting for you to bring it out" I asked. "Absolutely" the cashier confirmed. So I let off the brakes, swung the car a little further out from the building (since I was going to be doing a 180 through the turnaround just in front of it) and started down past the drive thru again. "Hey honey, wait!" I heard as I passed, so I hit the brakes and backed up. It was the same lady that I'd talked to twice before, and had assumed I'd talked to on the box just moments before. She called back to someone inside, "Is that the Double Downs?" I assume she received an affirmative response, as she was handed a plastic bag, then turned to me to apologize and advise that the woman running the drive thru radio didn't realize there had been a previous online order (mine) or that it was ready. She then handed the bag over, and recited the normal parting drive thru pleasantries. I thanked her and was on my way! It only took about 5 minutes to drive to my brother's house, and less than another to make it up the steps and into the house. Another couple of minutes had us settled, drinks poured, and ready for me to pass out the bounty which had been so long awaited. I paused to take a couple of pictures, and tried a few fries (fantastic, compared to the potato wedges they normally served, and paired wonderfully with the Double Down, as I would soon discover), while my brother unwrapped his and tried to figure out how to hold it without making a total mess. This was somewhat of a feat, as the warm mayo had been so generously applied that it oozed out of the rear and toward the back of both sides of each sandwich, stopping only because of the thin, wax-paperish wrapper that they were packed in inside their foil baggies. I picked up my sandwich, folded up the corners of the wrapper in order to hold back any spilled sauce, and lifted it up. We both ended up taking our first bite or two at pretty much the same time, and I can only assume that the look of satisfaction on my face matched the one I saw on my brother's. The flavor was everything I remembered. A few more bites in, and we began to talk about it as we ate. I pointed out that whatever cheese was used paired perfectly with the chicken, as one enhanced the flavor of the other, and I wasn't sure which was doing it, but they paired perfectly. The bacon was good, and it was there, but when the chicken and cheese came through together, it was forgotten about more or less completely. Surprisingly, with skillful use of the wrapper, it wasn't very messy to eat at all, save for what bits of sauce kept getting stuck in the edge of my mustache and upper lip just below it, and the handful of napkins KFC provided proved more than worthy of the task. We both savored the experience, and, unlike most fast food fare, we both took our time before finishing, and then moved on to our fries. As it turned out, they weren't really necessary, as neither of us was really hungry after the Double Down, but the fries proved to be great, so we each enjoyed our small box while chatting some more about the experience. My brother thought it could be improved by serving it with ripe tomato inside as well, and perhaps lettuce, then changed his thought to wrapping it in a large lettuce leaf, so as to both provide the flavor and experience that non-shredded lettuce lends to a sandwich as well as make for an easier grip. I thought that it was fine as-is, but thought that tomatoes wouldn't a bad addition at all for folks who liked them, recalling our previous experience with our custom Bojangles Double Down clones. By the time our fries were done (boxes somewhere in between the size of a small and medium at McDonald's), we were both completely full, and both noting a feeling of utter satisfaction and contentment about the meal. It was the first thing that we'd eaten for the day, so it wasn't terribly surprising that it was filling, and sated our hunger. However, I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon and evening over there, only heading home around 11:00 PM. I got home, took care of a few things that needed doing, then sat down to try to get in my post before the clock slipped over from Sunday into Monday. I've obviously failed, as looking at the clock on my PC, it now says it's nearly 12:30 AM. However, I'm still completely sated, and not hungry in the least. For folks worrying about eating a Double Down and then eating a ton of other calories for the day, I urge them to give it a shot, as they may very well just not need or want anything else the rest of the day, circumventing any worries about or dangers of seriously overeating for the day. Another thing to note is that while I felt completely full, I didn't feel stuffed like one does at times during big meals like Thanksgiving, and subsequently lacked any sort of grogginess, drowsiness, or "food coma" that can occur after such experiences. To those folks who have signed up for the Double Down Throwdown, I believe you will absolutely enjoy it, and am really looking forward to doing this again with all of you. For those folks who are on the fence, I urge you to give it a shot, even if it's just once. I think most who haven't tried it but generally enjoy KFC's fare will thoroughly enjoy it and not regret the experience, save perhaps the feeling of needing to go back and get another one. For the curious, it turned out that, at least in my neck of the woods (in between TN & VA), the Double Down was not, in fact, a $5 sandwich as the lady I spoke to in corporate had suggested, but retails at $8.99. The order of "Secret Recipe" Fries ran $2.98 a serving. So, depending on what taxes look like in your area, probably expect to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $10-11 for the sandwich, or $13-14 for the "meal" (although they are supposed to be offering the two together with a drink as a combo once it officially launches tomorrow/Monday 3/6). Not really cheap, but if most folks have the same reaction that I do from the Double Down, it's not much for so satisfying a meal that ends up leaving you sated for the whole day.

Then the problem becomes all the fuzziness, jail bars, etc., which come from the RF output of the top loader. Paying someone to do an AV/RGB out on one would more than likely end up costing similar to what getting a scalper-priced Blinking Light Win would right now. At the moment, I believe the most practical course for OP would be to try to fix the existing connector again (try boiling first, then re-bending pins), followed closely by getting an OEM connector and replacing what's already inside. I would have put getting a BLW at the top of the list but for the fact that they're out of stock for an undetermined amount of time and scalper prices are absolutely insane. If the choice comes down to spending a couple of hundred on a system plus another hundred or two (or three) getting it modified to be able to provide the same quality output as the toaster, I would recommend just buying a second-hand AVS at that point and being done with it.

...where? ...when?

I concur about boiling the connector and giving that a shot before replacing any parts or even the whole system. If all you've been doing is cleaning everything, it's most likely the connector just getting too loose to be reliable. You can also carefully bend each pin up again with a pick, but it's not easy to get each pin to bend up the exact same amount without bending something too far (which will cause any cleaning kit to catch in the connector, ask me how I know), so it's really best to go with the boiling trick first since it works every time where the connector is the issue. Those are decent systems, but if someone is wanting to play NES cartridges, you just create a delicate, unstable mess when using adapters on toploaders, similar to the Sega Gensis "tower of power." A great idea for Famicom games or if a Famicom Everdrive were being employed, but personally I'd vote against it with NES cartridges involved, even though you can technically make it work.

No they didn't. Supposedly the iphone 15 will use it, but that's still all rumors and speculation. I believe there was a lawsuit in Europe to force Apple to make the switch, but I can't recall if that concluded yet or if it did, if Apple lost. Regardless, if you have, or have had a USB-C iPhone already, it's very likely custom modified or a knockoff.

I started doing so when the patches were first released (finding the right ROM version for some of those was rough), and continue to do so today. There are other solutions available as well, like using a Raspberry Pi and/or Arduino linked up with a Wiimote, etc., but those are far less elegant and mostly only developed to the proof-of-concept phase, sadly. The LCDMod folks have released a revision or two of each of the games they got working since the first ones came out, so you might want to go take a look if it's been a while and see if the versions you've been running are current or not. The Tomee does work better than an original Zapper overall, but in a lower light, non-reflective environment, both will do the job pretty well. The Sinden Light Gun was funded via Kickstarter and is actually a fully LCD compatible light gun which works with a ton of computer emulators as well as the PS1 and PS2. Supposedly, the company behind it are still working on figuring out solutions to bring compatibility of the tech to other original consoles. I've also heard of mods/tweaks that can be done to the original 3DO light gun to get it to recognize targets on an LCD. Technology to get the job done is out there in various ways, but for the moment, it's really only being created and further developed by hobbyists, making progress slow at best. Here's hoping that more inclusive solutions come to light sooner rather than later.

I agree with everything you said, save this, and this is with a caveat. With a super high end CRT (most likely a large, low hour, perfectly dialed in PVM), I'd say CRTs may pull ahead. However, with the right combo of TV and low-/no-latency upscaler, it's possible to have the vast majority of older games that came out in the era of CRTs look just as good, if not better, on a modern display. The only real issue that hasn't been universally conquered in this arena to date is light gun games, and even there, some folks have done work to get them working for certain games or certain systems. I don't begrudge folks their personal preference of a CRT over an LCD, but I definitely don't appreciate all the "elitsts" who can't or won't accept how good an unmodified image from an NES or SNES can look on a modern LCD using the proper gear (RetroTink 2x products, RAD2X cables, Framemeister, etc.) and do nothing but argue with anybody who does. I've got a sub-$300 off-the-shelf TV I bought at Walmart which doesn't have a game mode. And yet playing all of my childhood favorites via real consoles plugged in via HDMI through the appropriate upscaler (RetroTink 2x mini or Pro for anything using composite, s-video, or component, RAD2X cable for anything Nintendo using a multi-out), everything looks and feels as good as it ever did on a CRT. And I have CRTs in the house to verify against. In this case, I personally vote for the "convenience" of having a much larger, much more easily stored/displayed TV, even if it comes with the "inconvenience" of having to have additional, specialized gear to get the same effect. My CRTs will perish one day, but for the foreseeable future, I can always buy another HDMI compatible LCD and hook everything up to that.

Plug a USB 2.0 keyboard/mouse receiver in next to a USB 3.0 device and when your input devices start randomly stuttering and cutting out, tell me again about how far wireless has come. It has come a long way, but it's far from perfect, with most of it realistically falling into the "good enough" category versus any sort of high quality/high fidelity performance.

It's you. Nintendo did release some copies of SMB/DH with epoxy blobs versus chips, although they're not as plentiful. No harm in not knowing, as it's not extremely commonly known in the community. I'm aware of this discussion happening at least once, if not twice before on here. That stuff he bought was definitely not "refurbished" in any way, shape, or form, perhaps beyond them slapping a replacement lid on the NES, as they clearly didn't clean any of it.

I'm with you for the most part, although I admit that I will generally only play my handheld consoles "wired" when the batteries are low/dead, as dealing with the cord being in the way annoys the daylights out of me. I like having the option to go wireless if I need to with some things (laptop for traveling, ear buds for mowing the lawn with hearing protection on, etc.), but I've had enough "convenient" wireless devices die off on me unexpectedly and at just the wrong moment to not really trust them enough to embrace them the way I do things that are plugged in. Heck, at times, I'd even prefer something akin to an old landline phone when calling someone, as at least the cords on those were very soft and very flexible and designed not to constantly break, unlike virtually every phone charging cable in existence; plus, handsets on home phones were usually made to be ergonomic so you could easily and comfortably wedge it between your head and shoulder, whereas modern cell phones will nearly always go flying if you try that.

The additional graphics look like they're the same ones as the ones easily seen in the eBay auction I linked but not in the AtariAge photos. I would guess that it's the "Mario riding a motorcycle" graphic that's quasi-visible behind the "Mario driving a car" graphic. The one that can be quasi-seen through the one next to the car graphic is most likely the other half of the "Mario pulling up a turnip" graphic that we can see, just folded under. Most likely both bolts were manufactured by the same people using the same graphics, but with slightly different sizing and arrangements. Here is another, different bit of fabric using the same graphics, but different styling. This one features an additional figure of Mario wielding a hammer/mallet, like in Donkey Kong. The "new" graphic isn't seen on the cloth in the eBay link I provided, but I'd be willing to bet that's what's on the reverse side underneath the "Mario jumping with a mushroom" graphic. That one would be technically different, as it's not on the eBay listing, but the art style is still the same and correct for the era.

So does this mean we should count you in for the forthcoming "event?" I could see that interpretation, and looking at it that way, I think they completely succeeded. As far as non-homemade versions of the dish are concerned, KFC's blew everyone else out of the water, IMO.

I disagree, as while you might get quicker sales and a larger number of interested parties by cutting it up and offering it piecemeal, you also ruin the chances of anyone wanting to try to do any sort of project with it. As is, the whole thing would make at least one decent set of curtains for a small to medium sized window, but if you chop it into 1 yard sections, that becomes difficult or potentially impossible due to the crafter having to piece the material back together before they can even start (and even then, they'll still be left with unnecessary stitches and seams which would take away from such a piece). Just my $0.02, but I also do some sewing crafts now and then and am speaking from that point of view. In regard to pricing, yeah, I think $25 is still a bit too high for it to go anywhere immediately, just given that similar fabric with the same graphics on it has yet to sell at that price. I don't really think that it's truly collectible, but I do think it would be of interest to someone who crafts but also collects or someone who crafts things specifically for the collector community. Sadly, I think the days of every kid wanting Mario splattered all over their room (like many displays in 80s winter/Christmas catalogs protrayed) are long past, with this sort of thing being really niche at this point. I'm pretty certain it's folded in half, as there's one jagged edge and then one perfectly smooth one, indicative of a fold, and typically how such material is/was folded when purchased.

Hey, I also pointed out what your doctor did, that splurging every once in a while wasn't the end of the world, it just couldn't be a common thing. And that's how you got to be able to eat normal Thanksgiving every year.

Or you could do what I did the last time I dieted to lose weight--figure out the caloric rate that extra stuff you have to do anyway works out to and factor that in as positive calories. I went for like 6 months straight, dropped around 50lbs, and didn't have a single cheat day. If I got to the point where I felt I NEEDED something else, I'd go figure out something that needed doing and work at it (go mow a lawn, hand wash a bunch of dishes, etc.).

Damn, son, you started all the way at the bottom with dieting versus working your way down, didn't you?

No formal or suggested date yet. I initially was going to suggest Saturday, since it was Game Night, then realized my error in suggesting a date that was 2 days before wide-release, lol. Maybe the following Game Night (3/18/2023)?

...what? Thanks to Gloves, we're basically having a family reunion. Everybody gets together, eats chicken, and shoots the breeze. Except in this case, instead of everybody getting together to visit one another and happening to all bring fried chicken (seriously, both sides of my wife's family were notorious for this), we're all getting fried chicken and getting together because of the chicken. You know you want to be part of Double Down Throwdown 2023!

Thanks man. It would only be 200% if you ate like normal day-of, then ate a Double Down in addition to everything else. Once we get a game plan together on getting together, so long as we're all mindful of what we're eating, we could potentially all stay at or under the recommended sodium for the day, which is ~2300-2500mg. Still, totally blowing it for a single day (minus any serious health issues) shouldn't be so bad.