#the sega saturn disk is so pretty and for what

[dracovish]

castlevania symphony of the night (sega saturn)

[replayxvalue]

Player Review-Capcom Generation: Dai 5 Shuu Kakutouka-tachi (1998) Other Titles: Street Fighter Collection 2, Capcom Generation 5, Capcom Generations 5: Street Fighter Collection 2 System(s): Sega Saturn Publisher: Capcom Developer: Capcom Original system(s): Capcom CPS-1 Game total: 3 Games included: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, Street Fighter II′: Champion Edition, Street Fighter II′ Turbo: Hyper Fighting Sound driver: SCSP (1Track) Genre: Compilation, Fighting/Taisen Kakutou, Action Number of players: 1-2

This is the final game in the Capcom Generation series but if you are fiend for nostalgia and a fan of Capcom then don't worry because this series seems to have evolved into the "Capcom Classics Collection" and various other compilations that still continue to be released. Capcom Generation 5 is peculiar because it's actually just Street Fighter Collection 2. What makes no sense is the FIRST Street Fighter Collection actually has BETTER games in the series on it and this one is just 3 different versions of Street Fighter II.

Capcom may have gotten away with this years ago when we didn't really know any better and just bought every installment of the same game over and over but if they were going to make a collection out of it they could have at least put EVERY version of Street Fighter II on the disk. The disk would hold WAY MORE than just the 3 games on it but they all cap out at 3 games for some reason. Street Fighter II is a classic and they added some features like being able to unlock the original CPS soundtracks, but the hidden game modes like "CPU Battle" and "Super Vs. Mode" don't really add much to the gameplay.

THE GOOD -Street Fighter is one of the better games Capcom has produced and Street Fighter II was kind of it's magnum opus so I can understand why this would be attractive to gamers.

THE BAD -Putting 3 versions of the same game especially when it's only the versions with minor tweaks on a collection like this is pretty ridiculous. They could have shown the growth in Street Fighter by offering the best available versions of each Street Fighter game that had come out, at that point. I give this game a, 3.5 out of 10 CAPCOM FANDOM PURPOSES ONLY

[grechtinjuarez]

So yesterday I found an untested Sega Saturn. And another working Dreamcast. (And a Dreamcast keyboard) I opted for the Saturn because I didn’t need 2.5 Dreamcasts, also it’s a Saturn and what are the chances of finding one of those, only 1.6 million were sold in the US so there’s no telling how many still exist nearly 25 years later.

I bought the Saturn, took it to the video game store to buy it some cords, and it wouldn’t spin the disk. They tried cleaning the lens and it wouldn’t spin any of the 3 Saturn games they had for more than a second.

I was heartbroken because there’s only a 3 day return policy on that Saturn and I need to spend this weekend studying for my finals. I don’t have time to operate on a Saturn. I decided that I’d keep it for the night, work on it, and then take it back to the video game store to test it in the morning and if it didn’t work I’d return it.

I then took the Saturn with me to Panda Express because it’s hella cold outside and I’m sure that sitting in my cold ass car for 20 mins couldn’t possibly help the situation.

Once I got it home I popped in my lens cleaning disk and to my surprise the Saturn actually spun the disk.

(I opted to not buy any games, cords, or controllers so I had to use the power cord from a PS1. The Saturn made you set up the date and time every time you plugged it in before it’d play the game which required a controller but the controllers were $30 and I wasn’t about to buy a $30 controller for a console that doesn’t seem to work. Thus there wasn’t much of a point in buying the AV cables)

After that, I worked on cleaning it up. It must have lived next to (or in) a fireplace because there was black dust all over it and in places dust should not logically collect. I also scraped the crud out of the seams and indents which ended up being a lot deeper than I thought. There was just that much crud built up in it.

I opened it up and evacuated a colony of dust bunnies, here’s most of what came out of this thing. Not pictured is everything that went airborne when I hit the insides with compressed air and everything that came off on a damp rag.

The next morning, I took it back to the video game store to test it, and it didn’t work. However, since the person who was helping me this time seemed pretty clueless, I decided to not base my conclusion of whether the Saturn was working or not off these results and decided to just go back after the shifts changed.

In the meantime, I did some homework and watched a repair tutorial. After about an hour of math homework, I got the Saturn out of my car and decided to try the method of tightening an orange screw. After I did that, I threw a CD back in and it spun it for a while (a minute or so) before stopping (most likely because I wasn’t pressing any buttons and just let it sit there) the access light also stopped flashing which is hopefully a good thing.

I took it back to the store, got it hooked up, and this time it worked. All my problems were caused by a tiny orange plastic screw that just needed to be turned 5° to the right.

Ignore the masking tape. I didn’t want to put the screws back in until I knew for sure that it worked.

[elligames]

emulating on the psp: a review

I initially bought a psp because i am obsessed with kingdom hearts, and knew that birth by sleep was an incredible installment. (spoiler alert: I was right. totally worth it to buy the psp just for that.) but when I bought it, i was surprised the psp held it’s value. my friend informed me that it’s because the modding community for the psp is incredibly strong, and emulation is really easy. needless to say, my almonds activated. so, that was a couple of years ago now. and I’ve had a lot of experience with the handheld since then, so i wanna share what I’ve come to know as someone who uses their psp for retro gaming.

The System Itself

whether you’re emulating on the system or not, there’s a couple of things to note about the system. it’s roughly the same size as the largest iPhones, so it is a pretty good size for a handheld. it’s quite thick, and not exactly pocket-sized, but it’s definitely portable. I keep mine in a 3DS case, and you can find those anywhere. the handheld doesn’t fold, so you might want a screen protector. I’m personally a fan of the screen, which is quite large for any emulation needs. it’s 16:9 though, so it can get annoying to have to change emulation settings back to 4:3. fortunately, though, this is usually a 1 time deal, and i think most emulators for any system are going to require tweaking for personal taste. the sound has decent volume scale, and the system includes a headphone jack. 

what weirds me out the most is that it’s kind of difficult to turn completely off. you can put it to sleep with the power slider, and the battery holds pretty well. but i never feel like i’ve turned my system all the way down. it’s also the only handheld i know of that runs games from a disk drive, in case that means anything to you. the SD cards are also not proprietary like the vita’s are, which is nice.

Library

the first thing to understand is what the psp can actually do. it is a smooth ride up to the 32-bit ps1 system. there are emulators for n64 and sega saturn, but i admit i have not tried them. i have heard everything from “it’s sketchy at best” to “it totally runs smoothly!” so i’ve been wary. the psp can sideload ps1 and native psp games, and emulators from the 16-bit era and below have a huge following behind them.

sideloaded psp games run just as smoothly as games running from disks, which is really nice. 

emulators vary in quality. the great thing is, though, if you don’t like an emulator, there’s almost always a different one for the same system. and most of them have been worked on thoroughly. i recommend snes9x tyl, gpSP, and masterboy. i had huge issues with snes9x euphoria, but made the switch like a week ago to tyl and i’m never going back - the sound and game stability are both fantastic. i admit i’m a stupid nintendo fangirl, so that’s what i use the most. i noticed that my genesis emulator doesn’t use the psp’s joystick, and i’m not sure if i avoid sega because i’m uninterested, or if i dislike the controls. more on that in a minute.

to note, i am running on a psp 1000, which is the first model - so really all models are powerful enough for most emulators. (though this might change if you really are going to research n64 emulators)

Setup

holy crap, it’s stupidly easy. and there’s a lot of guides out there. i used one that was literally just like, “alright, you’re going to put these files in this folder on your system” and that was about all it took. and once you have that file system setup, adding new emulators and roms is really just a matter of moving things over whenever you want. it’s fantastic.

i really recommend using a guide that installs a recovery option. for the setup i used, i need to run this recovery option when the system loses battery. it’s not a huge deal, and doesn’t affect the game saves, but it’s like the system forgot about my files or something. 

Controls

okay, this is the part that really surprised me the most. emulation in general takes you away from the native experience, so some difference in controls is to be expected. so i didn’t really ever expect that to bother me. 

but this is the kicker: there’s no dedicated d-pad. the arrows on the left side are all individual buttons, which means the handheld does not support diagonal directions. i didn’t even consider this on purchase. i had heard other gamers talk about how important a good d-pad is, but i kind of brushed it off. for the most part, i still think i am pretty casual gamer, and i think a low-quality d-pad would not bother me. at least it would still be there.

but the setup of the psp kind of requires you to use the joystick for all games, which really takes you out of the moment for GBA and SNES games. it’s also slightly uncomfortable because of the location of the joystick, and the fact that the joystick is a similar rubber-band-y setup to the 3DS, and not a true stick. if you’re looking to emulate games that require lots of precision, this is an even bigger consideration. i don’t play a lot of games like that (i’m mostly doing adventure-style and jrpgs personally, no intense shooters or anything) but i will say, the 15-second game in LTTP is a bitch and a half on this thing. it is immensely easier on a setup with a real d-pad. moving around corners with a time limit is a real pain in the ass with this rubber-band joystick. and, i will also note that when looking at psp models, i personally think the joystick on the psp go looks awkward, but that’s just something to consider.

it’s honestly annoying enough at certain times like that, that i recommend moving save files back and forth. or at least for that one mini game. 

this also means that, like i said, because my genesis emulator doesn’t support the joystick, controlling sonic feels jilted and unnatural. so if i ever develop an interest in sega, i’ll have to post some updates.

for what it’s worth, the psp includes L & R shoulder buttons, the four shape buttons you see on dualshock controllers, and the aforementioned arrow buttons and joystick. so, in theory, there’s plenty of input for the majority of emulation. 

i will say the controls can also be confusing because the psp has opposite controls of nintendo consoles, and switching your brain between the two can take some getting used to. most emulators use the playstation controls in their settings menus, though i remember snes9x euphoria would use the nintendo controls - which i constantly forgot and found confusing, so there’s another point for snes9x tyl. 

Conclusions

even though the psp has held a value, it still remains to be one of the cheapest options for the library available to it and the quality of emulation. it’s got a great screen, great sound, and a community behind the emulators that ensure you’re likely going to find something stable and worth playing. while the controls severely hold the handheld back, i find myself really, really fond of my psp. i notice cheaper emulation options that pop up, and there’s almost always issues reviewers bring up such as screen tearing or poor sound. more expensive options might fix issues the psp has, but i almost always see them at least double the price of what i paid for my psp. 

of course, the value is going to depend on your local retro gaming store, so it might be comparable to other emulation options. and it might not even be worth it if you’ve got a device, such as a tablet or phone, that can do emulation. you might want to consider bluetooth controllers instead! but as a dedicated machine for gaming, i’d recommend it. i have to say that the psp is a very smooth experience and definitely worth checking out. 

[super-zero-time-blog]

Super Light Warrior Changéríon: Episodes 1-3 Review

The year is 1996. Toei Co. Ltd., the penny pinching and merchandise driven imaginative studio that graced the world with anime adaptations of Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball and tokusatsu hero franchises like Kamen Rider and Super Sentai, have found themselves paired up with massive entertainment force Sega (yes, the Sonic the Hedgehog guys) to release a brand new superhero show on the world.  The first idea, a planned follow up to the 1995 Keita Amemiya film Mechanical Violator Hakaider (itself a reimagining of the villain from the 70′s Shotaro Ishinomori classic Android Kikaider) falls through.  A new idea suddenly comes about from Toei producet Yoshikawa Susumu and suit manufacturer Rainbow Co. Ltd: Create a hero suit made primarily out of transparent parts. With that in mind, a cast and crew are soon brought on to create one of the weirdest tokusatsu series of the 1990′s.

So here we are and here I am and it’s Changéríon (yes the accents are how it’s officially written, it’s meant to be French, I don’t know why) time. Sorry for that long build up! Just figured it’d be what all the cool kids do. Super Light Warrior Changéríon is a doozy of a series, one that has held a cult following in Japan for 20 years after its abrupt end in December of 1996. The show featured a staff of producers (such as Shinichiro Shirakura), directors (such as Takao Nagaishi)  and writers (namely head writer Toshiki Inoue) who would go on 4 years later to help revive Kamen Rider for the Heisei era, and in general went on to be remembered for its quirky and surreal nature. Even the show’s star, Takashi Hagino, would go on to be in Kamen Rider (in a very different role as infamous serial killer Takeshi Asakura, a.k.a. Kamen Rider Ouja, in 2002′s Kamen Rider Ryuki) I decided to plunge into this series finally now that English fansubs were out, and I’ve been contemplating how to go about this. For the first installment I figure I’m just going to write up my thoughts briefly on the first three episodes of this 39 episodes series, and I may then expand upon that later and switch the format around a bit at any given time, so here goes!! 

A few things to note ahead of time

1. The head writer of this series (and, to my knowledge, the writer of the first four episodes here) is Toshiki Inoue. Inoue is a man known for his love of drama, strange humor, and plots heavily focused on miscommunication. His best known shows include Chojin Sentai Jetman (1991), Kamen Rider Agito (2001), Kamen Rider 555 (2003) some mess called Kamen Rider Kiva (2008) and oh yeah he’s written for anime, included the Death Note anime in 2005. You have likely seen something he has written if you’ve touched an anime. Or maybe not, I don’t know.

2. The suits in this. They are absolutely gorgeous, but they were infamously dangerous. 

The Changéríon suit alone had two versions, a 100 kg (~ 200 lb) version for close up shots and a 40kg (~ 80 lb) suit for action scenes. Both were terrifying to those in it. Veteran suit actor Jiro Okamoto commented on the suit being absurdly heavy and fearing he would break it, not to mention that it was so heavy that it hurt his neck. This thing supposedly nearly sent suit actors to the hospital! And yet the action is generally decent despite the struggle in these beasts of a set of suits.

3. The opening, “OVER THE TIMES ~ Beyond The Present~” by MISA. It’s just awesome. It’s really awesome. I mean listen to it. It’s super awesome. 

Aww yeah....

SO! Now that I’ve gotten all of that out of the way, on to the reviews! The format is simple. A summary of the plot first, then my thoughts on it. I’ll see how this works and just go from there.

EPISODE 1: “A Hero!! Me?”

Air Date: April 3, 1996

Bumbling detective Akira Suzumura is hired to investigate a series of missing student reports from a local elementary school. After a night of staking the grounds out, he soon finds himself on a new path after a freak accident and an attack by a monster from the inter-dimensional invaders known as the Darkzeid lead him to unwittingly become the warrior of light: Changéríon! But as he struggles to master his new powers and deal with the mysterious SAIDOC organization, the full threat of Darkzeid begins to awaken.

Changéríon starts out about as weird as you can expect a show like this to with a massive hoop spiralling down a flight of stairs to a narrow Tokyo tunnel and having a creepy 90′s CG entity force its soulless face out towards the camera. It only escalates by going to a dramatic sequence of Akira and his assistant Akemi seemingly armed and ready for a shootout....only for the sequence to be a harmless rescue of a local puppy. This is Inoue at his peak weirdness, something which can really be hit or miss, but it’s strangely all a bunch of baffling moments which click oddly well. Akira isn’t much of a hero in many ways: He’s clumsy, he’s a bit lecherous, selfish and lazy. He doesn’t have much cash and doesn’t even pay part-timers like Akemi well. And yet despite all of this he has his heart in the right place and it’s fun to watch him fumble around in the suit at the episode’s end. It even made me chuckle seeing him “free up” time on a completely empty schedule to help the school find their students. While some scenes do feel disjointed and a bit uncomfortable (including a very uncomfortable joke about pedophilia which struck me as more than a little uncalled for in a show aimed at children), everything is really bonkers and pretty exciting here! It all ends with the main villains being awakened and a budding rivalry between Akira and the former, intended Changéríon candidate, Hayami, as the good folks at SAIDOC quietly wonder “What on earth have we gotten ourselves into with this nut?” 

It’s also worth mentioning that this show is a definite turning point for Toei’s production, having been one of their first shows recorded on digital video rather than film, and it’s chock full of now dated CGI and strange, minimalist dark rooms for otherworldy realms. It’s kinda creepy and very uncanny, but I’d say it oddly works in the show’s favor at this point. It’s got an unintentional charm to it. There’s a borderline David Lynch feel to the Darkzeid realm bits, in all honesty. Considering how big of a hit Twin Peaks was during the mid 90′s in Japan, it wouldn’t surprise me if the set designers took at least a smidge of inspiration from the Black Lodge sequences during seasons 1 and 2 of the series. It’s not as traumatic as something you’d see Lynch do, but there’s a similarly sinister atmosphere to it all here with countless bodies wrapped in plastic...like...bags, much like Laura Palmer was.

 The combat itself is a bit strangely edited too. Lots of sped up footage and Changéríon seldom kicks (more often getting kicked around instead), which I will assume is due to that hulking suit. But it also gives us one of the most ridiculou(sly satisfying) attacks ever with the Shining Attack. Which...uh...well...

....okay it’s pretty rad, I won’t lie. That’s pretty great. It is. It’ll get used to death in future episodes, but it’s still cool here.

First impression is a good one. It’s like this episode sets the tone for what is to come quite well.

Episode 2: “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Brain”

Air Date: April 10, 1996

The three generals of Darkzeid awaken and enter the human world, with plans to consume humans to satisfy their ravenous appetites. Meanwhile, SAIDOC Chief Munakata explains to Akira about the threat of Darkzeid and their need for his help, only for him to swiftly turn them down and celebrate his newfound superpowers with an unlimited shopping spree. But in the process he not only angers operatives Hayami and Eri, but finds himself in yet another Darkzeid plot as Akemi and Eri are kidnapped by an otherworld monster using posessed shoes. It’s up to Changéríon to save the missing women before they end up on Darkzeid’s lunch menu!

It’s here that we see Inoue throw in another one of his big tropes with character writing: The reluctant hero. This isn’t the first time he’d written that character archetype (another great example of this is Gai Yuki/Black Condor in Jetman) but it’s something he loves to write quite often. In this case, Akira decides to just go hog wild with loans he can’t afford, and it’s actually pretty funny. Buying out restaurants for the day, loading up on shoes for Akemi, and just being a total snot and a cocky jerk until he’s forced to realize that he put his own employee in danger and team up with Hayami....after a bizarre sequence of both of them sneaking into the same Darkzeid shoe store. In drag. And not recognizing each other. In drag. Before fighting it out in front of onlookers. In drag. This is after a scene with the store owner, the monster of the week (with a literal face full of shoes in his monster form, no less) attempts to feed his kidnapped victims with mysterious goop in high heel shoes. There’s no shortage of surreal visuals here and it does get disjointed at points, yet I feel like the story comes to a more coherent point from here. 

Despite the goofier antics, there’s still that underlying sinister aura to the Darkzeid generals. Their designs are legitimately creepy and their hushed meetings in dimly lit rooms, murmuring about their need to consume humans and how darkness will consume their own world could easily give a kid nightmares. Even I was amazed at how well the monster suits were pulled off in this show. The villains look like villains, and they’re fittingly mysterious.

In terms of action, Changéríon gets his aptly named Gun Laser, a really nifty weapon with a gimmick I love! Y’see, it runs on disks that he summons from his chest. And the discs spin. Go figure that Sega would manufacture all these toys with a disc gimmick. Not only was it the peak of the CD boom, it also made me chuckle thinking about how they had moved into CDs with the Sega Saturn at around the same time. (Plus the Gun Laser just looks really dang cool!)

 We’re getting places now that the initial stage has been set! Slowly but surely, we’re getting places! 

Episode 3: “A Bunch of Brides”

Air Date: April 17, 1996

Brides are mysterious disappearing at the altar! Darkzeid is behind this! Akira plans to counter these objections to holy matrimony with the help of Hayami and Akemi...but time and again things keep going south! Can he save the day and stop these foul occurrences? Meanwhile, in a basement lab, Chief Munakata struggles to develop the sidekicks Akira needs in his battle...

If you haven’t figured out that this series is meant to be goofy at this point, I don’t know what to tell you. This is a pretty fluffy and light episode with some good gags strewn throughout. Perhaps the funniest is Akira’s futile attempt at teaching Hayami how to flirt with women. It’s done with the most 90′s montage imaginable and it killed me with how good it was. The follow up is the sequence in the above shot, which I won’t spoil the full context for, but it also got a laugh out of me. There’s slapstick, there’s snark, there’s a simple but weird vibe to this whole episode and it’s totally fine. We’ve gotten into the groove of the show at this point it feels like, and I look forward to where it goes from here. The most interesting element plotwise is seeing Munakata’s struggle to get a set of mysterious robots up and working for Akira to use. It’s made clear that he and his research are mocked by his superiors, who don’t even think that Darkzeid is real, let alone a threat. Poor guy needs more respect! But we’ll see where things go with these machines in the next episode.

With 36 episodes left to go, Super Light Warrior Changéríon is certainly an odd, yet familiar show to me. I can see the early elements of Heisei Kamen Rider at play here with how it’s shot, the eerier villain designs, the quick cuts and kinetic feel to the action and the quirky humor and characters. It’s like seeing a mix of Metal Hero aesthetics with Super Sentai pacing making something of a hybrid that will have a lingering impact. Next time I’ll cover episodes 4-7, or perhaps change up the pace a bit. Expect some cool new robot buddies next time, but other than that I’m as in the dark as everyone else!

Hopefully my rambling didn’t scare you away by now, and we’ll be ready for more adventures to come, soon!

And remember! SOMEBODY LOVES you. And SOMEBODY NEEDS you. 

[jonathanraychapman]

My Current Gaming Setup

Below are the systems and what I’m using them to play.  Many of these systems/computers can play multiple types/generations of games so I’m listing out some details of what I use these for.

Analogue NT Mini - NES, Famicom Disk System, SG-1000, Sega Master System, Game Gear, Colecovision, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Supervision, Gamate, Game King, Channel F, Arcadia 2001, Creativision, Adventure Vision, Videobrain, Odyssey2, RCA Studio 2.  I use this instead of emulators for pretty much all of those systems.  Very beautiful system and it’s my go-to for quick gaming sessions.

Ouya - Android Games (including some really cool fan-made games), Ouya-Specific Games, emulators (although I prefer using FPGA or actual hardware instead).  This is quick and convenient so I definitely love having it.  I do use the original Ouya controller - although I can plug in a PS3 controller as well.  The system also had the official made-for-android classic game collections like R-Type, Raiden, Double Dragon.  Also routed through framemeister as pass-through (since the Ouya won’t boot unless it’s gets a HDMI signal and so I couldn’t use the auto-switcher).

Nintendo 64 - Nintendo 64, Aleck 64 games (there’s really no good emulation so the real thing is the way to go) .  I had an RGB-modded unit that I was using for a while, but the HDMI-mod is definitely the way to go.  I ended up routing through the Framemeister through the HDMI-pass-through.  I use a controller modded with one of those GameCube-like sticks.

Nintendo GameCube (with Game Boy Advance Player) - Game Cube and Game Boy Advance games.  I have the component cables hooked straight into the TV for convenience and I use this to play GBA games mostly (from a flash-cartridge) - since the GBA Player is actual hardware (there’s all the components of a GBA inside the bottom add-on).  System is US (with orange skin) paired up with JP orange (spice) colored GBA player attachment.

Nvidia Shield Pro - Android-based games (much like the Ouya), PS1 (emulation), PSP (emulation).  I actually use this to play PSP games quite a bit since it’s pretty zippy and the emulation quality is really good.  I also play some PS1 games with this (along with the RPi3) since it’s quite capable.  This also has a feature that lets you play games from a PC with a more-modern Nvidia graphics card.  So I upgraded my upstairs PC and I play games like Redout downstairs using this feature.

PC Engine  - PC Engine / TG-16 (via Everdrive).  I have a binder full of PC Engine games (Hu Cards) that I use with this system.  I use a PS2 controller adapter with this so that I can use an arcade stick to control the shmups.

Pentium 4 PC - This is a project I finished up earlier this year.  I wanted to build the ultimate retro-PC-gaming machine where I put every game under the sun on it (using cracks, disc-emulators, and DRM-free purchases).  I also have a keyboard emulator that lets me control games with a 360 controller.  I have the same machine duplicated a couple of times (there’s one under a desk in the other room that I use for games like Warcraft and Diablo 2 so that I can use a mouse).  I do have a wireless keyboard with touch pad to get things started.  Even though this is an old system, it’s quite capable (up through 360 games) - with a 3.6ghz processor, 4gb ram, GTX low-profile graphics card, etc).  Contains about 6TB worth of disc space (which is pretty much filled up).

RPI3 - Sega CD, Turbo CD, Arcade (Mame/FBA), Virtual Boy (yep that’s emulated), etc.  While the system really emulates a ton of games (which I have on the 2TB drive, I find myself going to the other systems for the most part).

Sega 32X/GEN/CD - Sega Genesis / 32X games (I mostly play the Sega CD via the RPI3).  I also play Sega Master System games (by using the Everdrive) - though I mostly use the Nt Mini for this (see below).   I prefer to play the Sega CD games through the RPI3 out of convience.  Bought a replacement power supply with all three cables (for all three systems) going through one power brick (which makes it a lot easier to power this up).

Sega Saturn (JP/US) - Saturn Games (there’s really no good emulation so the real thing is the way to go).  I have systems from both regions out of convenience more than anything (this way I don’t have to do anything special to play the games).

SNES Mini - SNES games (including with CD audio thanks to SD2SNES).  

Sony PS2 (JP) - I use this system to play import PS1 and PS2 games (actual discs).  I’m also about to soft-mod and play games on this via a 2TB HD (I think that’s the limit).  There are games that won’t work with the HDLoader software like Darkstalkers and Street Fighter Alpha/Zero Anthology.  So I play my Japanese physical copies using the actual hardware.

Sony PS3 - I bought a lot of Digital titles (like Skullgirls, Wipeout, pretty much all Capcom games) and many many more).  Right now I don’t really play a lot of the physical PS3 titles I own via this red unit.  It’s really filled up with digital/indie games and that’s what I use it for.  Contains a 500gb Solid State Drive.

Sony PS Vita TV - I bought a lot of digital games to play on this (about 64gb worth) and that’s what I use it for mostly.  The thing about the Vita/PS3 games is that I have multiple systems I’ve cloned the games to (legally - Sony lets you do this with your account).  So if one of these dies in the future, I still have a backup.  The 360 - on other other hand - doesn’t let you do this.

XBOX 360 - I bought a lot of Digital titles (like HydroThunder Hurricane, Afterburner Climax, Radiant Silvergun, Gunstar Heroes, etc).  Unfortunately those will die one day, but I’m enjoying them from time to time now (hopefully without putting much stress on the system).  I’ll be playing regular Xbox 360 disc games via another unit.  I wish I was able to get the Outrun and TMNT games from the Live Arcade before they went off the store.

[attract-mode-collective]

Love May Dwindle Between Street Fighters, But There Will Always Be Paris

The above is from Bastien Vives, which recently made a reappearance on Twitter (thanks for the heads up @VitaminSteve). Though I’ve known about them for some time now, dating all the way back since 2010, when Eric posted them on GSW!

Anyhow, here are two others in the series…

I’d also end up sharing another illustration of Bastien’s on GSW myself, which was part of another series…

BTW, I’ve been trying to get ahold of Bastien for literally years now, so if anyone could please pass this post along to him, along with the following message, that would be awesome:

“Bastien! I’m a HUGE fan of your work and would love to work together! There’s an art show I’m putting together and would be honored to have you take part! So let’s talk; my email is matt@attractmo.de.”

So what else has been going on? Well, lots of stuff as usual, though for starters, there’s going to be a Papers Please? movie! Well, a short film at least; here’s @dukope with some production shots…

Also, according to Eric at his regular digs, there’s gonna be another Seaman!

Hopefully this one makes it onto US shores, cuz I’m still bummed that the last follow up for the PS2 never arrived here…

As for “actual news”, you know how Trump brought out the best in folks on Twitter this past week? Including those who enjoy making game related gags, and this one might be the my personal fave (via @Nibellion)…

Coming in at a close second we have (via we-love-gaming)…

Speaking of Pokemon; a Blastoise sculpture made out of cheese for whatever reason (via retrogamerblog)…

And here have a more traditional definition of “art”; it’s an oil painting of Marisa Kirisame, and kbnet explains: “Artist is Zarigani Misawa, an art teacher by trade. There was a small exhibition of Touhou art done in traditional media on the 28th where this photo was taken”…

The Verge recently highlighted the work of Matt Anderson, it didn’t so much make me think of what Zelda game on a smart phone could look like but instead a Zelda game in the hands of CAPY…

Here’s a video that’s gotten a surprising amount of attention, though perhaps I shouldn’t be too surprised; The 8-Bit Guy decided to restore a pair of old games that were more than a little rough around the edges, which ended up upsetting classic game and preservationists. And while I understand where they’re coming from, I also love the total DIY route that Dave (aka The 8-Bit Guy’s real first name, I think) employed when replacing the label for Pitfall…

And here’s a video that hardly anyone has seen, which I’m hoping to correct: my buddy Andy Reitano has been showcasing NESpectre, a project by himself and his pal Zachary Johnson, for quite some time now (my first taste was at the last, and I do mean last, IndieCade East).

Basically, it’s a modified NES that allows people to alter various aspect of a given game by logging in via their smart phones. It’s also one of those things in which you need to see it action to understand, so here’s Andy’s talk from SIGNAL last week…

BTW, some may recall another project of Andy’s I mentioned around this parts a whiles ago as well, that being Super Russian Roulette. The following was posted on Twitter; “First official run of @adamgetsawesome's batch programming GUI. Wirelessly flashing 5 NES carts at once (with progress bars!)”

Elsewhere on Twitter, another example of game development, courtesy of @dosnostalgic…

And back to the subject of hardware tricky; am not entire sure what’s going on here, which I spotted over at cf-12’s corner, when looking to see if he’s been up to anything new since last checking in…

All right, enough of the house that Mario built, let’s talk Sega, yet also sticking with hardware innovations… or Innoventions as Disney calls them. Here we have the latest from home movie from My Retro Life, which again proudly flaunts the Esposito family’s affinity for the house that Sonic built, even while vacationing at Disney World…

All I can say is, I would gladly opt for Virtua Formula (that eight player linked Virtua Racing set-up that you might miss if you blink) over that dumbass looking Avatar thing they currently have going on.

And sticking with Sega for just a bit more; some not so funny jokes from a not so funny Sonic joke book (via sonicthehedgeblog). While not directly contributing to them eventually bowing out of the home console business, I still can’t help wonder how little it helped them either…

Remember my mention of an Ulala Figma from a few weeks ago? Well, here it is “in action” (this is mostly just a chance to showcase Good Smile Company’s YouTube page, which I had idea existed until now)…

Do you also recall that unpainted TwinBee toy I posted pics of a few weeks ago also? Well, here it is in color, cuz it’s now available for pre-order (via miki800.com)…

And a reminder of how Konami used to be a fun place to work, as well as how Konami is attached to Frogger (via vgjunk)…

Please enjoy this downpour of Famicom Disk System discs (via gamergunk)…

Also please enjoy this latest reminder of how batsh*t insane Sonic Blast Man is (via obscurevideogames)…

You know that girl that really likes Sega, as evidenced by the Saturn she wears on her head? Well, she’s into SNK as well, as evidenced by the new shirt that our pals at Fangamer recently released…

Speaking of SNK, I finally have a reason to share the marquee for the mini 2slot MVS that were in certain McDonald’s in Japan. Been looking for the perfect time to share this for ages now (via @turfmasta)…

Here’s something that originally aired on Japanese TV and which I stumbled across on YouTube…

I’ve looked high and low and cannot find any hard info, so all I have are observations. So for those of you who don’t feel like watching the 20+ minute long clip: for starters, it’s clearly a show that highlights retro gaming, and one of the hosts is… the creator of Dragon Quest?!?! Actually, one of the hosts simply strikes a very close resemblance to Yuji Horii (I’m pretty sure if he was hosing a show, it would be somewhat common knowledge). Also, everyone’s wearing snazzy THUNDERBOX attire!

I believe the guest is the dude whose apartment we visit, which is overflowing with Famicom boxes. Am shocked that he’d allow television cameras come visit, but hey, more power to the guy for being so proud of his collection. We immediately cut to a segment on controllers for the Famicom, with the highlight being an inflatable motorcycle! After that is their version of the Power Pad and their version of the Power Glove. Turns out, the latter is just as unmanageable as its American equivalent. And finally they bust out the Switch cuz the milking mini game in 1-2-Switch makes for great television.

And finally here, gonna wrap things up with the final thing I shared in that GSW post of mine that I posted at the very top. Which basically served as the prototype for the Attract Mode blog, as anyone can tell. Anyhow, here we have the ultimate dream team of Link and WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon…

Don’t forget: Attract Mode is now on Medium! There you can subscribe to keep up to date, as well as enjoy some “best of” content you might have missed the first time around, plus be spared of the technical issues that’s starting to overtake Tumblr.

[billyggruff]

Game’s I played as a little kid

These are in order of oldest ones I remember too pre PS2, which is something I may cover later. We were pretty poor, so whatever games I did get I played them too the ground. 

Bug for the Sega Saturn. It was the very first game that I ever remember having. It was quintessentially 90′s and a clear venture into the mascot wars of that era (that very few survived). It had some obnoxiously tough difficulty spikes that even stumped my parents whom were actually still into games at the time. Those damn bubbles, I never got passed them...

Bug Too! Bug’s sequel that I remember liking more because the disco looking bug guy could sorta glide through the air while he danced. I was very young when I played these lol. 

I remember really not liking this game lol. For something featuring the Incredible hulk it was really underwhelming to tiny me. Apparently its regarded as one of the worst Saturn games so perhaps I was onto something. 

I forgot the name of this game. All I remember is it was about flying a dragon around and shooting stuff. 

It was around this time that I grew rather tired of the Sega Saturn and I ended up getting a job watching an old lady’s cat to earn enough money to get a Nintendo 64. Except after I had earned enough money I found out the playstation was cheaper by just enough that I could buy a game as well, so with that development I got that instead.

As I recall, my young self asked the cashier of the gamestop what game he recommended. I thought it was the mature way of hiding the fact I had no clue what I wanted to get from the store lol. He recommended Tekken, and so Tekken was the first game I got for the original playstation. I had a lot of fun with it, but eventually fighting games, especially when played all by your lonesome, gets a bit boring, so we ended up getting another game after that. 

*SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA PRESENTS: A UNIVERSAL STUDIOS PRODUCTION. BOOGIE, CREATED AND DEVELOPED BY NAUGHTY DOOOOOOOOG*

Seriously this game was the BOMB, played the crap out of it as a kid. I would go onto play the the prequels in reverse order, but before that I took a turn into the realm of the spooky and hilarious with...

Seriously, MediEvil is funny even too this day. Fantastic writing and a surprising amount of levels for a playstation 1 era game. Most young peeps probably only know this guy from that failed playstation smashbros thing, but his games were awesome. I recall not liking the second game quite as much, but it had some interesting ideas in it too. 

This game left such an impression on me as a kid. Oddworld was so perfectly atmospheric, and its art direction was something I could appreciate even as a kid. Its opening cutscene too was a marvel for Ps1 era. 

I had a myriad of demo disks at the time as well, some of which included the infamous Bubsy 3d and ET: Interplanetary Mission, which were both pretty trash games. It was a while before the vaunted PS2 would be advertised to come down the pike. That’s where a great majority of my gaming actually took place, but these Ps1 and Saturn games still hold a special place in my memory. 

[attract-mode-collective]

The One Man War Against The Bydo, As Depicted By Just A Single Animator, Is Complete

Remember the work in progress R-Type fan flick from Otaking77077 (aka Paul Johnson) that I highlighted a little over a year ago? Well, as you can see above, it’s finished! And other than the rather questionable usage of a filter laid on top to accentuate the time from which the source material hails from… the game’s from the 80s; fans of the game knows this already, and for those who aren’t, it probably doesn’t matter the least bit…, it’s good stuff.

Johnson’s next project is Street Fighter related, which is neat and all, though I was kinda hoping he’d stick to shmups. Since he covered the 80s, why not a shooter from the 90s? Cuz a Thunder Force anime would be pretty rad and all.

Speaking of Street Fighter, the current focus of the Video Game Art Archive is Street Fighter The Movie: The Video Game. So get this; the Japanese instruction manual has illustrations of all the characters doing their specials, and they modeled after the actors!

Remember: here’s how Blanka appeared in the movie…

And here’s something to do with the live action Mortal Kombat flick; pondwitch sez: “me and my neighbor scorpion at the easter barbecue”

Buranovskiye Babushki, according to Wikipedia, is “a Russian ethno-pop band containing eight elderly women” (you’ve probably never heard of them before, unless you follow the Eurovision Song Contest, hence why they’re no strangers to me). Anyhow, TNT4, which appears to be the Russian equivalent of Comedy Central, recently enlisted the grannies to do a cover of the Mortal Kombat theme…

Can’t believe I’ve gone this long without mentioning the big news from last week! Well, big news in my book at least; the creator of PaRappa the Rapper and Vib Ribbon is teaming up with the creator of Gitaroo Man and Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents. It has the name of Project Rap Rabbit for now, and otherwise, not much else is known…

[UPDATE 5/16/17] Actually a new, crucial bit of intel has been revealed; Project Rap Rabbit is something you can Kickstart.

Speaking of PaRappa, here’s a snapshot I’ve been meaning to pass along for some time now, tho instead of waiting for the next installment of the Super Attractive Club newsletter, here’s the cute little stamp that accompanied the box full of 20th anniversary goods that miki800 ordered a few months ago…

Now might be as good a time as any to mention that the RodneyFun.com storefront is no longer open for business. How come? Well, Rodney Greenblat (the other person responsible for PaRappa, for those who needed an explanation) is about open a brand new shop!

The Rodney Shop will open this Saturday in the Catskills here in NY. Yup, it’s an actual store, not a website. Though hopefully an online version will open shortly thereafter, and hopefully I’ll be able to make the trip and be one of the first customers to enter the doors…

Everyone knows about the Nazca eagles in Xevious, though @isami_ichifuji points out that the game contains at least one other real world landmark…

Some time ago, I mentioned a series of discs for the Sega Saturn that weren’t games but were instead filled with CGI portraits, plus a tune or two, each based upon a Virtua Fighter. Well, some time before that, lvrllnd wrote about something a series of tapes for your VCR, which again was designed to cash in on “VF Fever”…

As before, there was one for every single character; each features various tricks and tricks and I want each and every one. If you look on eBay, you can find them for about $27 each! Along with plenty of other Virtua Fighter VHS tapes. Though I’m actually more interested in just the one on Virtua Racing…

Sticking with Sega for a little bit, courtesy of kazucrash is the unused cover art for the North American release of Gunstar Heroes. Call me crazy, but I kind of really like it?

Via Video Games Densetsu are some old photos that Koichi Namiki, who was part of the Sega Sound Team Band, recently shared. My fave is this one, back when Macs were considered part of the band...

Also via videogamesdensetsu is the most interesting tidbit from Hideki Sato (one of Sega’s main hardware designers) at something called the Game Business Archive: “Ryuichi Sakamoto was paid ¥10.000.000 to create the boot up sound of the Dreamcast.”

The dude from Yellow Magical Orchestra got paid close to 90k for the DC start up sound! I wonder how he feels about the fact that his handiwork is always accompanied by the sound of that loud ass disc drive mechanism, along with the beep of a VMU that needs its battery replaced? Eh, got his close to 90 grand, I’m betting he doesn’t really care.

Something else that recently took place was Retro Express, described simply as “an event for retro PC”. Other than some Toho port for the Famicom, the only other notable observation from shoutime is how he or she “was done in about 20 minutes”…

Behold the Family Cube R. It’s basically a Famicom and the Famicom Disk System in a very nice looking red translucent housing, which I originally spotted over at sixteen-bit. the creator “gorigo” explains what’s inside, but due to that pesky language barrier, I’m not 100% sure what is being said. I believe it’s a combination of authentic hardware and clone hardware. Especially since: “If it is a genuine Famicom board, it will not fit”…

Perhaps the most interesting component is the “homebrew L type connector” that allows Famicom carts to be playable without having to protrude on top…

It’s also super neat how it’s the same exact size and dimension as a GameCube with Game Boy Player attached…

The Family Cube R is also the closest thing we’ll get to a Famicube IRL…

Here’s a completely different kind of mash-up, one involving Splatoon and Space Channel 5, by kitsune23star…

And here’s another, from the CDTcrew, featuring Die Hard the movie and Die Hard the video game (or at least that’s what Dynamite Deka is called outside of Japan)…

Though back to the subject of hardware, miki800.com shows us that a Ford dealership in the UK of all things decided to take the iconic look of assorted consoles and apply their stylings towards cars. The end result is pretty… interesting. Their take on an Atari 2600 as a car is perhaps a good starter…

The car based upon the Mega Drive/Genesis is perhaps the nicest, though is mostly looks like what the Transformers turned into, before they crash-landed on Earth (am talking about the G1 cartoon btw)…

Though this van based upon the NES looks looks like a clone console by Hyperkin, aka I think it looks awful…

As for the Switch mobile… remember when the G1 Transformer lost their ability to transform and had to drive around in big goofy cars?

miki800.com also shares with us how various sports titles for the Famicom and Super Famicom illustrated the Player 1 vs CPU mode. I dig how in Super Famista 3, the two are pals, but by Super Famista 5, they’re bitter rivals…

I’m already iPhone 5S buddies with Eric, and coming this June, I might be Darius arcade cab cradle for my iPhone buddies with JC…

And once again, I wish I still had my iPhone 3GS, so I could take advantage of yet another batch of recently discovered assortment 3GS covers from National Console Support…

Please enjoy this video from a dude in Japan who’s all about showcasing their wide and weird assortment of junk food. In this case, he’s checking out the just released Dragon Quest chicken nuggets. The vid itself is nothing wildly exciting, just nice and calm and relaxing; I watch his YouTube channel to relax and help fall asleep at the end of a long hard day…

Unfortunately, someone didn’t get the memo about the lids being perfect for making yet another kind of snack, as @xoxo_lalafell shows us all…

Meanwhile, @TakeponFX recently tweeted about Koppa’s, that deli in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with the Atari 2600 for customers to play that I wrote about almost a year ago. There are two things worth noting here: first is the following image that was shared, which shows a slightly different configuration, sans the massive multi-game selector. Considering when it was originally taken, which according to Flickr is 2010, I’d have to assume it’s a prior set-up…

The same older config was present in The Jeffrey Dahmer Files, which I also mentioned in that aforementioned post, and which is also from 2012. So the selector hasn’t been around before then, I’d wager. Anyhow, the second thing of note is that I had no idea you could purchase shirts from Koppa’s, including…

Behold the evolution of Bald Bull (via brotherbrain)…

Very few fanbases are as multilayered as Nintendo’s. For most folk, who consider themselves to be fairly dedicated fans of the house that Mario built… they barely scratch the surface. And to determine how deep your love for Nintendo goes exactly, here’s a handy chart (via radicalhelmet)…

This week’s recommended reading is courtesy of Kotaku, which details an arcade that holds tournaments centered on the rather obscure Neo Geo fighter Galaxy Fight. Though there’s one key difference, one that sets it apart from all the other tourneys out there (aside from the unique choice in game): every round lasts only a single second…

“You’d think such a thing wouldn’t work, and yet it seems to have distilled the intense mind games associated with the fighting game genre to their purest form, crafting a unique experience for players and spectators alike. Strategy that typically plays out over a minute and a half is crammed into just a few brief moments. Should you wait for your opponent to make the first move and react accordingly, or bet everything on a risky uppercut that can be punished if it misses? With such a small amount of time for gameplay, the weakest attack can secure a round, opening avenues for outlandish tactics that infrequently pop up during normal competition.”

And last but not least, a photo from arcade-crusade, of a dude standing next to a pinball machine that’s also wearing a shirt with some sound advice…

Don’t forget: Attract Mode is now on Medium! There you can subscribe to keep up to date, as well as enjoy some “best of” content you might have missed the first time around, plus be spared of the technical issues that’s starting to overtake Tumblr.