Tanooki

So you mean you acted like a normal consumer.

Those test suites are exceptional in all sorts of basic tests down to some more specific things to make sure your hardware and accessories are behaving right.

I wish more people who have those times on their hands to do it would clean up the video game box art of the Nintendo (NES, GB, SNES and JP counterparts) of the era. A lot of the art wasn't just generic and terrible say like Megaman1, but some were just utterly glorious and would make some nice tiled background for a computer or ratio more or less fit nicely on a mobile device.

Yes Namco had a pissy fit with Nintendo in Japan back in the mid 80s thinking they deserved special treatment when it came to contracts because of their prominence or whatever on the market with arcade and home stuff, and well the old fart Yamauchi told them to pound sand, so the CEO of Namco got salty and decided to stop/largely stop making games for Nintendo once the PCE hit the market in 1987. For a number of years projects dried up as they went over there where Hudson/NEC were willing to kiss the ring and stroke the ego of the Namco leadership. As such we in the states unlike Japan on FC did not get Namco releases by Namco, but we did get them, in a middle finger sort of way. Pac-Man, Ms Pac-Man, Pacmania they all cozily got out out by TENGEN and only one of those licensed, RBI Baseball, the rest, unlicensed black carts. Outside of that there was Mappyland and Galaga but that was I think Bandai in both casess, licensed, but Bandai. That one out of the way, Pac-Man though had a more odd spread of releases, kind of like RBI Baseball, RBI is actually the #1 baseball series in Japan on the famicom called Famista (Family Stadium) and that got a licensed, then black cart. Pac-Man was the other having come out just early enough to get a wide regular release on a gray cart with a unique sticker, then a black cart no license release. But in the 90s, post global SNES launch the saltiness was brushed off and Namco started doing SFC/SNES releases under license again and seeing as it was a cash cow still as with his wifey Ms PacMan, both of them got a late era, post 16 bit launch release of the game under license again (or for MsP for the first time) with yet another new sticker, manual, and box. There are far fewer copies of 1993 Pac-Man and Ms Pac-Man on the market because they dropped like 18-24mo after the SNES launched in the NA market. They both are within the last dozen or two dozen releases to the NES when they were re-packing Zelda carts in gray and re-releasing other $20 budget games with the red bar over the top along with the top loader console. Be wary of boxed games, at least those in nice shape, sharks ask blood money levels of cash for them vs the actual value of the cart unfortunately so I hope you have the will to put up for box art.

I feel bad making more posts since no one else does, and I know it's not a lack of people seeing stuff, it's motivation and I get that. I have a small update, but no images this time. Due to the pocket, I went doing some deep dive into a few places online social media, web, web forums to find out if the dock was ever fixed, or at least fixed enough. I found it was. The system I was finally told after getting some butthurt fanboy negatives on posts(why?!) asking I got an answer.... largely it is. The dock now will save the resolutions/display levels and the rest in audio/visual/system display format and so on and remember it from sleep, power off, transfer to-from the dock. It also will see and use controllers wired or otherwise too (if you're asking, I had someone already DAC is still fubar which is rotten.) You still have stupidly grayed out button re-confiruation which is idiotic, but it seems to default fine on what I tested so enough of a win. I went checking, dumb luck twice struck because I found an open box never loaded/updated/plugged in unit and made an offer, ended up paying the normal price ($100) and an added 10 to cover the shipping/fees on it and got it just 2 days later (usps oddly fast) so I've been using that with my yellow pocket. Around that, I got a solid nearly 1/2 off the usual price on Space Harrier for Famicom, and screw the haters, it's actually quite good. Sure the visuals are smaller, and the audio isn't sega chip tune...but play wise it works and quite well, even has the bosses and stuff and it's fast, smooth, no chop. Others like it like 3D World Runner I feel are lessers. And this weekend only did a fast dip into a small flea, came away with a small win, for $3 I got the Diablo 3 Collectors Box content of the Diablo skull with 4GB SoulStone USB stick in its forehead. It was dirty and I questioned it, but cleaned up amazingly like new and the stick was clean, clear and virus free so I found out what the old contents were and restored it. (D2, D2 exp and a D2 icon)

Doom 64 is grossly underrated because pewwww N64 sux, PS1 forever mentality that just dogs and dogs decades now. So much of that system if you weren'te a quote unquote fanboy was just ignored or knocked down a peg just because it sucks it's not on CDs and not Sony blah blah...stfu nonsense. Doom 64 was the true Doom 3 unlike the turd that got a 3 on it, it was challenging and honest to the franchise roots previous to its release. The only true failing on the game, they fucked up gamma bad, it's super dark on most old TVs, you'd have to crank it and your TV itself brightness well up to see things and not just in shadows. :\ Another I guess to the fact they cheaped on a battery, but a mempak or password was just fine and equally acceptable in the era. The modern rehash of it it's not really improved really or much on QOL, it's just honest, but not dark as F, you can play it far better, it just works, polished up some but works. I had it originally as it was out for years on that KEX engine before it went commercial as Doom64EX and it was amazing, so I bought in when it went physical as nightdive deserves that credit. I had it for a time on Switch but scaled my games back grossly towards things you can't get on Steam, so that went along with the 1-3 package as well as it felt redundant with Quake as well. I did have digitals of D1-2(and I think 3) when they were asy ou said above 1.50 on a deep cut digital Switch sale so they're still there for handheld if I wanted.

Early in the last week I had come in the mail a lowball offer that worked out and Space Harrier arrived at my door. I read a lot about just how bad it was, blah blah blah usually from sega centric sources, and I guess that was a big mistake. Butthurt feelings potential. Look I'm not a huge fan of the game, but I'm more than familiar with it and can get a number of stages into it (and then some when I was far better) and this one is oddly surprising. Sure it's no super scaler, but, it does shift sizes well, the grid moves fast, and the positioning feels quite good enough for a Famicom game (better than other using the same style grid, 3D world runner, etc) I've fiddled around with. There are no bells and whistles, very minimalistic, just jumps right in like you threw a quarter at it. What is there, sure it's less detailed than the arcade, but it's not a big fall off the cliff from the Master System or game gear either outside of color, and perhaps preferred audio source but the core game is quite enjoyable. It's a shame this didn't hit the US through Tengen, maybe it would have had they not got rocked in court over Tetris. I've read the similar-ish snark about Juuohki (Altered Beast) as well, but I've seen some more positive comments. Why? The game is unique and longer than the console ports and arcade, it adds stages and like any stage in that original game, has a unique beast, so there are new unique FC only beasts. I've read it's a bit better balanced as well too around those and the rest, but it's tiny, like many NES/FC conversions, detailed sure, but smaller sprites, so it's a give and take. I'm looking forward to grabbing a deal on that one and giving it a go.

Screen probably couldn't handle the 240p signal off an old system and choked and I've read that happens on some TVs in the past.

Do you have any better clear images of these or of some of the menu that pops up to give a better idea what's going on inside?

Yeah and it's stunningly well done port wise on there, you can touch, or if you have a controller/grip it's no different than playing on Switch or whatever. Check this apple link, has some images and the rest to get a taste. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/baldurs-gate-dark-alliance/id1632982179 It's also only $10 as is the sequel. Also for that matter the older Baldur's Gate and so-on style games are on mobile too for $10 as well.

Well with PS3 and XB both being me-too's of each other did have their own unique titles or in some cases uniquely sized runs of stuff, so I could see enough of it falling back, never a recovery, but a solid correction but others just not. They're not Gamecube, that one is just toxic as all get out from the last generation as it just is a pain and I wanted nothing more to do with it and got rid of all I had. I could see XB stuff in that era maybe getting nuts because they both battled it out to break even really.

He has a point it's comedic how you did it, well here's an update it didn't sell, so let's raise the price! But you're right, I have no love, no care, no interest in anything xbox console related stuff at all. That said, a friend I made over a year ago about 1/2 my age a military vet that dude he loves the thing and looks for stuff and Blazing there isn't lying, there are spikes right now, massive ones and they seem to be sustaining and gaining depending. Not sure what the hell the deal is, even as far back as the original xbox which outside of a few games usually was the laughing stock of nightmares at retail with stacks of green accursed cases that don't move for even $5. There is an interest in an increasing amount of titles from the MS consoles and the prices are not only shooting back up to old MSRP but exceeding, some, a lot so decently into the three figures levels and going. We had seen a few games that popped up in bundles on marketplace where someone had no idea this was happening and had (should have been) thoughtfully doing a system bundle and a stack of games for like $80-100 or so, but then one game in there alone was the price of the whole damn lot. I don't know if it's FOMO, but maybe a FOMO-lite moment could be taken if you don't get out of control. If you see a game and it hasn't gone up and you like it, and you feel it's likely to suck because it's not some dudebro xbox stereotypical go-to like the usual FPS franchises and a few others pushed harder in the day, odds are it could get to being the next toxic priced title.

Ok now you're getting into my space with that question. What are these? More of the same and in also anything but the same. Confused? Good. It's D&D but live combat, you move around using a controller though keyboard and mouse I think works just as much as well too. These started out initially for BG1 on Gamecube, PS2, and XB, but the sequel skipped Cube despite it doing fine in the day because most third parties had started to sadly ignore the thing going into its 4th year. This game is live combat, live interactions, and moving along in a style you'd more think would be in play with a game like Diablo II. Things aren't as tiny and no click straining your finger type stuff. YOU can't also treat it like Gauntlet Legends, run in and swing away and think you'll survive either. Both the games have a D&D style story, the first one I'm really just familiar with and you open up coming to town, a thieves guild luckily only knock you out and take your stuff, but not your life. You end up in this bar, help the lady who runs the place and others to start trying ot find out who robbed you, where's your stuff, and it goes down a very D&D style rabbithole of the strange. It will take you well beyond Baldur's Gate itself into other realms as things progress so your'e not always just in town, in the towns sewers etc. I finished this on the Cube a few times in the day, and I guess whatever Steam/GoG says is the release date it got a HD remaster(nothing grand on the upgrade, it stayed true for better or worse) and released on PC, iOS, Android, modern consoles(Switch, PS, XB.) Personally I think if you enjoy D&D, live combat vs turn based or seeming so (like the old games you're discussing before this), also liked how Diablo and even to a point gauntlet and their typess handle you should really dig this game. There's a lot of gear, spells, weapons and more to pick up, enhance, learn, etc in this game. It won't hold your hand really either, you can get chewed up if you get too brave. When it re-released I grabbed it on Switch as console was first, a bit later PC hit and did that, but seeing as I think I could handle it, as a test I did grab the first one also for my phone for boring moments and it didn't disappoint.

Wow nice, finally someone putting out a quality kit without the price hiked shenanigans that krikzz pulled on his stuff that has been out there years now. Kind of speaks to poor suppliers or taking advantage as costs should drop not increase over time.

Well I mean the minimal effort meets the minimal thought on the username too, let's just bang some random keys on the number pad...yay! That said, no I don't see this as an inceptionally stupid post over on that site, taking it even at face value they made it clear they're fans of that old chipset even if it does have a rep(and to be fair, quite well deserved with GEMS and other lazy efforts), but it's about an audio expansion chip for carts. I'd put that on par with the MSU-1 in the SNES via the FPGA within the SD2SNES(FXPakPro) is all. Stream some solid audio samples instead of the yamaha and its style of output. I kind of like the idea, curious to see how it works out. Here's a month old video from the maker: