Retro games and emulation - Discuss retro shit in case you're stuck in the past or a hipster

Grabbed a WF2703 at a flea market for 15$ along with a random 17 inch CRT in the parking lot for free lol. I know the TV is a far cry from a might trinitron and is on the cheap side but I should be ok right? Plan to mainly play nes, snes, psx and some ps2 on it. Can't test it yet because I need to re-purchase some console bits and pieces.
I always keep an eye out for dumpster CRTs. People throw away ones that work perfectly all the time. I normally try and check the inputs on the front and the back. I prefer ones that have s-video, but it's not a deal breaker. Certainly avoid older sets that only have RF connections as that will be pretty much useless. I find that smaller sets almost always look better than larger ones. The set I use most currently is a 13 inch trinitron and it looks amazing, which was found at a dumpster.
 
Grabbed a WF2703 at a flea market for 15$ along with a random 17 inch CRT in the parking lot for free lol. I know the TV is a far cry from a might trinitron and is on the cheap side but I should be ok right? Plan to mainly play nes, snes, psx and some ps2 on it. Can't test it yet because I need to re-purchase some console bits and pieces.
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What?
 
I always keep an eye out for dumpster CRTs. People throw away ones that work perfectly all the time. I normally try and check the inputs on the front and the back. I prefer ones that have s-video, but it's not a deal breaker. Certainly avoid older sets that only have RF connections as that will be pretty much useless. I find that smaller sets almost always look better than larger ones. The set I use most currently is a 13 inch trinitron and it looks amazing, which was found at a dumpster.
Ideally you shouold pop the back plastic cover off and see what's in there and if there's anything you can safely clean. Might give you a better price if you talk tenobabble.
 
Not my picture but it looks like this:
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The TV itself just uses composite cables, I think. All I need to do now is replace a few cords on my snes and get a flashcart. Awaiting an adaptor for my CRT monitor. Going to try playing baldurs gate on it.

Obviously, I wanted a trinitron but I don't have much money atm and don't feel like shelling out over a hundred dollars for one when I can go to a flea market and get near free shit that's close to it. I grew up with crappy cheaper brand crts anyway so ~*nostalgia*~. I paid 15$ for the tv.

The monitor I got for free was a Envision EFT720.
 
I figure they made the player slow in those games to compensate for Game Boy's screen ghosting
Explain Super Mario Land 1 and 2 then, because you could still run in those games and I've never hard anyone who owned an OG GameBoy complain about the ghosting when playing those games.
 
  • Take the 3 Castlevania GameBoy games
  • Add these three patches
  • Games become enjoyable now
Not only that, but their piss easy too, ESPECIALLY the first one... 4 stages, then dracula, the end, game loops afterwards and doesn't stop til game over. This just convinces me Konami half-assed these games and purposefully made the Belmonts slow as fuck just to artificially add difficulty.
The walk speed might be shit but it's what they designed the games around, so I don't think it's all that revealing if "fixing" it makes the games a lot easier. For instance I remember CVA having crushing ceiling traps that gave you just enough time to walk through them, naturally if you could run through them I'd expect those parts to be no big deal. There's at least one hack for CV1 that that adds more jump control and so on, and of course that makes it much easier (allegedly... I have no inclination to see for myself).

As mentioned, it was the norm for Gameboy games to have slower movement speed, as well as fewer levels. Somehow it worked out much better for the Contra series than it did for Castlevania, even though that's the opposite of what one would expect. Operation C can actually stand with the NES games and doesn't feel like a gimped also-ran.
 
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Explain Super Mario Land 1 and 2 then, because you could still run in those games and I've never hard anyone who owned an OG GameBoy complain about the ghosting when playing those games.
Sparse backgrounds is my thinking. There's less smear if there is less that can smear. Compare Super Mario Land to the absolute shitfest that is Fortress of Fear.
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It is available on many systems and I picked it up on a whim. Capcom Arcade Stadium is great.

I wish there was a larger compilation of NeoGeo games. Seems like they all are sold individually.
 
Three shill videos reviews for the Analogue Pocket released just minutes to each other...
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I've got to admit though, it does look neat, but it's rather expensive, so i'll stick to my modded GBA.
 
Three shill videos reviews for the Analogue Pocket released just minutes to each other...
View attachment 2801142

I've got to admit though, it does look neat, but it's rather expensive, so i'll stick to my modded GBA.
For $220 and you have to use your own carts ($60 for a flash cart from what I can see) I'd rather just use a Steamdeck
 
Three shill videos reviews for the Analogue Pocket released just minutes to each other...
View attachment 2801142

I've got to admit though, it does look neat, but it's rather expensive, so i'll stick to my modded GBA.
I saw a review on some site but my questions are:

1. How close to native hardware is this? Extremely important question.
2. Can I shove an microsd card full of roms on it?
A regular GBA with an everdrive in it seems more appealing IMO.

Been playing a lot on my Envision CRT monitor, the motion/colors feel really good, especially for 3d games. I accidentally loaded FFXIV on it and was shocked at how much better the colors and depth of the game looked even though my UI was squished due to being a much lower resolution than my modern monitor (which is 1080p).

Stuff like Hades and Infinity engine games (PS:T, Baldurs Gate, Icewind Dale) feel REALLY good on it. Sadly no scan lines even when I crank the resolution way down or maybe I just don't notice them. I considered posting pics but most people here probably wouldn't be able to notice the depth from photos. Blacks look really good too.

One negative thing though is that reading text outside of games kind of burns my eyes. Don't know how to describe the effect.

Really excited to try out my TV but won't have a console til after Christmas.
 
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Stuff like Hades and Infinity engine games (PS:T, Baldurs Gate, Icewind Dale) feel REALLY good on it. Sadly no scan lines even when I crank the resolution way down or maybe I just don't notice them.
That's not something PC games from the late 90s had.

The retro scan line effect is caused by running 480i tvs with 240p. That's console/arcade/8 or 16-bit home computer territory.
 
That's not something PC games from the late 90s had.

The retro scan line effect is caused by running 480i tvs with 240p. That's console/arcade/8 or 16-bit home computer territory.
Ok, that's useful to know because I still get confused like a dumbass over nuances like this and the last time I ever messed with a CRT for gaming was around 18 years ago.

In case my wording is confusing here I'm talking about CRT monitors for PCs and not TVs:
I have a stupid question though: if im using a DAC will my CRT monitor have input lag? I have one of those VGA to display port ones. Also, if im playing a pc game like Hades or Mega Man Collection will my input lag be better vs a regular "modern" 1080p monitor or is input lag mostly something people talk about when discussing emulators? Very specific questions, sorry.

I always hear the CRTs are way better when it comes to input lag but never quite sure what games they mean.
 
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1. How close to native hardware is this? Extremely important question.
FPGA systems are as close to native hardware as you're going to get without having the actual system itself. Their goal is to replicate the hardware as opposed to emulation which is making the hardware in software so to speak. I'm not super knowledgeable on the FPGA stuff, but that's the core of what they are.
 
Three shill videos reviews for the Analogue Pocket released just minutes to each other...
View attachment 2801142

I've got to admit though, it does look neat, but it's rather expensive, so i'll stick to my modded GBA.
I'm really afraid to look at what normal ass Gameboy and GBA Hardware goes for if prices for a third party alternative is $220 and it's considered a good deal.

An Original gameboy could be had for like 30-50 bucks and a GBA was maybe 60.
 
I'm really afraid to look at what normal ass Gameboy and GBA Hardware goes for if prices for a third party alternative is $220 and it's considered a good deal.

An Original gameboy could be had for like 30-50 bucks and a GBA was maybe 60.
If you want an IPS screen mod GBA or GBC it's comparable. Personally if I'm gonna blow that much money on a retro handheld I'll still just buy a modded original model GBA.
 
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