Component-to-BNC

Assessing the aftermath of the fifth console generation got me thinking about how I'm used to hearing that Sony deeply undercut the competition with the PS1, Neo Geo CD/Z was too little/too late, Saturn was hard to code for, Jaguar wasn't 64-bit, and 3DO's $700 price tag was exorbitant (which is actually pretty cheap, considering what a computer cost back then; that's why DOOM on Jaguar was a big deal) but what kinda irks me is that I haven't seen many explorations of the full SEGA CD 32X setup costing only $500 by the end of 1994... And how the journey to get there is pretty interesting.

Yeah, 3DO beat 32X by a year and was down to $400 by then; and no, they weren't equals - but think about it: Upgrading to Genesis from your NES by 1990 and holding your own against the SNES a year or two later? Finally pulling the trigger on a SEGA CD a year or two after that (when the price dips below $300) to add hugely improved sprite-scaling, audio, and video capabilities? Then grabbing a 32X a year or two after that for $150 to push some real polygons, add way more colours, and significantly upgrade video playback? That's fantastic!

If SEGA could've marketed that long-term upgrade path to showcase their ecosystem's true possibilities, they'd be providing an unprecedentedly vast library with full hardware backward-compatibility right up to an entirely different sixth generation. Neo Geo was always a niche product, Jaguar was broken and unsupported, 3DO was already failing, and Nintendo 64 was late to the party... Delay or even skip Saturn, and offer a CDX+32X for $400.

Instead of pushing genuinely impressive sprite-scaling multimedia spectacles, however, Sega of America focused on shitty interactive movies and allowed half-assed Genesis ports that had nothing more than superfluous intro videos, lazily-arranged soundtracks, and longer loading times. Why not focus earlier on developing way bigger and better-looking game worlds, where players can move around in pseudo-3D for SEGA CD ? Make more Sega Classics collections; hype-up the PC ports that're now playable at a fraction of the cost; push the LaserDisc arcade ports from ReadySoft and Wolf Team as true curiosities; feature how Core Design, Game Arts, Psygnosis, and Traveller's Tales had thoroughly figured-out the platform by the time the 32X was released; and then show what a CD 32X can really do! I know DOOM CD32X Fusion benefits from over 30 years' worth of computer science advances, but it does exist and that potential was always there. This is all in a different timeline though, and pointless because Sony upended everything... Should we still blame the Nintendo PlayStation for that, or would it've happened anyway?

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Finished Fable II and I want to like it more because it's still very pretty and has plenty of character for a playground, but it's just so janky. Ending was effective, if a little anti-climactic. I own Fable III, and I might even try it... But then there was a sale on No Rest for the Wicked, which looks like Diablo, plays like a Soulsborne, and seems to borrow a lot from Fable. Too bad about that one founder, though. Played through all of the content available so far, looks great, love the verticality and exploration, combat is fine, but a couple of the bosses are pretty annoying for certain builds.

Played through Iron Lung in anticipation of the movie; decent for $5.

Found a Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+, a 2GB microSD, an 802.11n USB Wi-Fi adapter, and a boxed 2GB GeForce GT 1030 for $20 at a thrift store... I'm open to suggestions for what to do with that Pi 1 B+ as well as a 1 A; Geiger counter is the most interesting possibility so far, but I don't think I'll need two of those. Tried RetroPie on the B+, but nah... And don't say Pi-hole. So, not sure what to do with any of that aging hardware, but I have been using this as my work computer lately:

• Core 2 Quad Q9450
• EVGA 132-CK-NF79
• 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 (dual channel)
• Radeon HD 5870
• 1TB SATA SSD
• EndeavourOS

...And it runs a decent amount of my Steam library. 

Picked-up RGB+Sync cables for Genesis/SEGA CD/32X/Saturn/Dreamcast as well as S-Video for SNES/N64/GC and it's all just beautiful. Keeping the Dreamcast on VGA and the GC on Wii though.

NSO VB arrived: Some of the games run/feel a little differently (apparently it's running at 60Hz instead of 50Hz now) but nothing's unplayable. It looks really good on the OLED Switch, but it's kind of big and doesn't scale all that well if you shrink it down. Joy-Cons don't work as well as the original Virtual Boy controller - especially in Teleroboxer - but it's serviceable. Sometimes the 3D effect is harder to focus on than with original hardware (e.g. the targeting reticule in Insmouse) but the whole package is overall really cool and still way cheaper than tracking-down and fixing an old one, plus buying games or even a flashcart. At this point, I'm stoked for new games coming down the pike and hoping for a better controller.

Got my Nomad and my VA0, flat-lens Game Gear re-capped - original LCD on the latter has a couple  of stuck pixels and some early signs of impending failure, but it's otherwise fine. Weird thing though: Testing it with 2000mAh NiMH batteries caused graphical glitches, but alkaline batteries worked without issue.

Should you bother?

• Atari
• 2600 - Sure, why not
• 5200 - Nah
• 7800 - Only for Ninja Golf
• Lynx - Awful physical experience; emulate it if you must
• Jaguar - Not worth the money; emulate it for some interesting stuff though
• Jaguar CD - See Jaguar
• Nintendo
• NES - Nostalgia and speedrunning
• GB - However you do it, just make sure you get the display right
• SNES - 100% original, 100% awesome
• VB - Must be experienced; nothing else like it
• N64 - Original, FPGA, or emulator; all good
• GBC - Meh
• GBA - Yup
• GC - Meh; get a Wii
• DS - Yup
• Wii - Original hardware or Wii U for everything except Metroid Prime 3
• 3DS - Must be experienced; nothing else like it
• Wii U - Missed potential; leave it be
• Switch - Stellar platform
• Switch 2 - Waiting for a better display
• SEGA
• SG1000 - What
• Master System - Meh
• Genesis - Generally better on emulators
• Game Gear - Awful physical experience; emulate it for some interesting stuff
• SEGA CD - Seriously underrated
• 32X - Missed potential; leave it be
• Saturn - 100% original, 100% awesome
• Dreamcast - 100% original, 100% awesome; punched way above its weight
• Sony
• PS1 - Get a PS2
• PS2 - Yup
• PSP - Sure, why not
• PS3 - Yup
• Vita - Sure, why not
• PS4 - Yeah, but get a PS5 with a disc drive
• PS5 - Yup, see PS4
• Microsoft
• XBOX - Yup
• 360 - Yup
• XBOne - Kinect only
• Series - Sure, why not
• Misc.
• Intellivision/ColecoVision/Odyssey - Meh
• Vectrex - Must be experienced; nothing else like it
• 8- and 16-bit computers - You're a special kind of nerd, and that's alright
• Neo Geo - Totally fine on emulators, but original hardware is so cool
• 3DO - Pretty good, but most of it's also on PC and better there

Interesting that the vast majority of these classic platforms really only have 20 or so exclusive games worth playing; everything else has a comparable port elsewhere or a PC version. Most people just wanna experience cool art though, and that's never been easier than it is right now - almost all of this stuff can be fully enjoyed on a $20 thrift store computer. I hope collectors have fun and enjoy the hunt though, and speculators can get bent. 

Anyway...

I'd forgotten about this bit of nostalgic wish-fulfillment.

DOOM: The Dark Ages going eldritch horror is rad, and way better than whatever that floating mancave in Eternal was supposed to be. Finished the game and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Finally started Jedi Survivor, and yeah, I'd missed this.

Prime Hunters is kinda meh, though still impressive for the DS.

Picked-up Looney Tunes: Sheep Raider for too much money (but less than the going rate), Game Builder Garage and Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom (360) for a reason able amount of money, and then decided to finally dig further into Fable II because it's supposedly works well enough on Xbox One, and... It hasn't aged as well as I'd hoped. I really enjoyed the first game on PC - small and flawed, but overall fun and well-built - but II just kinda feels like a slog of navigating eggshells and busywork at the cost of some pretty janky system implementations. It's still fun and interesting, and sports great performances; but then the menus are just infuriatingly unpolished, the moral choices lack nuance, and the writing is questionable - and none of that is a 2008 thing like the bloom, or the motion blur, or the combat system, or the animations, or the dialogue timing, or the checkpoints...  Really though, I just wish it ran smoother.

Hey Lizardcube, could you do Comix Zone next? Thanks.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is fine, regardless of how you play it - but it's also visually drab and poorly written. I'm not sure if I like its cliches less than Echoes', but neither lives-up to the first one. Beyond isn't exactly a breath of fresh air so much as it's just oxygen - a huge jump in production values, especially for secondary characters; Vi-O-La is more engaging than the cockpit in Corruption, and conveys a sense of scale much more effectively; the handholding is a little more obnoxious, but nothing new. I've finished the game and thoroughly enjoyed it - up there with Zero Mission, II, Fusion, and Dread; not quite Prime or Super. The scene when VUE-995 apologises to Samus and she just shrugs? Perfection. The ending though... Trash. I don't mean that the final fight or the conclusion of the story are bad, but the overwrought combat patterns and inconsistent conventions were maddening - i.e. Don't read too much into things; just dodge and shoot... Until you do need to literally read into them, and then risk repeating a significant amount of gameplay for no real reason. It's absolutely boneheaded design marring an otherwise brilliant game. Oh, and the secret ending? No spoilers, but that might be the stupidest origin story I've ever seen. Beyond is still an overall win, but talk about tripping over the finish line.

I've finished Other M as well, and it's mostly really good. The game doesn't play quite like anything else; Sakamoto clearly wanted to try something new in the wake of the original Prime trilogy, and he almost pulled it off. The heinously bad script needs a re-write, and that means those awful performances would need to be re-recorded. While the myriad hackneyed metaphors should be toned way down, I don't think they have to go entirely away - there's an interesting story here that explores concepts like creation and responsibility in terms of motherhood; independence and cooperation in terms of choosing to respect a particular chain of command; all of that in the context of AI, genetic engineering, and military applications thereof. This one's due a proper re-working - existing fan projects look solid, but I'd like to see Nintendo fix this mistake themselves - same story and setting, new script, edited cutscenes, and no more motion controls. Oh, and the epilogue is great right up until the end; it's like they realised what they had done, gave us what we actually wanted, and then pulled the rug out from beneath us at the last moment... I honestly laughed out loud. Anyway, Prime Hunters next.

Finally getting around to trying the Oasis Driver for Windows Mixed Reality on Windows 11 25H2, and it's pretty rad and I'm pretty grateful.

Found a Ducky One 2 60% Mini RGB (DKON2061ST) with TTC Gold Pink switches for $6 at a thrift store - missing three keycaps, pretty dirty, and not responding to every key-press. Figured worth cleaning-up and maybe getting a new set of caps if it's serviceable. A quick clean yielded some improvement, but input's still spotty and I'm not super-interested in soldering anything. Maybe some compressed air into each switch as a last resort.

Also found a NETGEAR EAX12 AX1600 Wi-Fi Range Extender/AP/Adapter for $6 - no point in replacing the AC1200 TP-Link I picked-up the other week since it's currently only extending an AC router, but I couldn't pass-up a $94-savings.

ALSO found a D-Link DCS-8010LH for $5 - which was particularly refreshing after recently fighting with a set of Blink cameras for someone else, trying to get them to work without a subscription. Pro Tip: The full local storage option is only available on Blink if you don't have any kind of plan active, including the initial free trial 🙄

I quit my job and bought a keytar.

Quickly:

• The parry mechanic in DOOM: The Dark Ages is less obtrusive than I feared.
• Isles of Sea and Sky gets kinda frustrating toward the end; I seem to be missing a few upgrades though, so maybe that's on me.
• SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance is stellar (Lizardcube hasn't missed yet) and more Metroid than I expected.
• Animal Well is up there too, but I'm not sure sure how I feel about the roguelike elements.
• Inmost gets a little silly toward the end and loses some of its impact, but still really good.

Bloodily:

• Played through the original six episodes of Blood; can't remember if I ever did that back in the day. Still nothing quite like it. Marrow impresses immediately, but I'll get back to it. I feel like I should've waited for Cheello to update Coagulated for Refreshed Supply, but oh well...

Metroidly:

• Metroid II - EJRTQ Colorization is really well-done, and the core game holds-up nearly 35 years later; a little short, but still huge - especially for an original Game Boy game.
• Trying PrimeHack after a few hours of Corruption on original hardware is a revelation.
• Other M at 1440p with a DualSense feels almost contemporary.

Consumerly:

• Finally found a copy of RUSH: A Disney • PIXAR Adventure for Xbox One in the wild (and it has a "Microsoft Company Store" sticker on it), as well as Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings for PSP, and a sealed copy of Destruction Allstars on PS5.
• Boox Go 7 seems to be the sweet spot that balances portability, display, performance, and public-library support - so I got one for my partner.

Privately:

• EndeavourOS + Waterfox + Startpage? Waterfox's AUR package doesn't seem to be maintained all that well and I'm not really interested in Flatpak, so I opted for a manual installation. Still running Windows 11 + Edge + Bing in most places, and Android for mobile; Gemini's getting annoying on the latter though, so... Graphene? Lineage? Calyx?

Thriftily:

• ASUS RT-AX57 for $10
• Wi-Fi 6 is way faster than I need - seeing 2401Mbps negotiated, but I'm on a 100Mbps Internet connection and the router only has Gigabit Ethernet.
• TP-Link RE305 V3 AC1200 Wi-Fi Range Extender/AP/Adapter for $7
• Should be useful; reminds me of the DWL-G730AP I used on my 360 from 2006 into 2011
• Antennas Direct ClearStream 2V TV Antenna for $14
• Was actually looking for one.
• An HP power adapter for a buddy's old laptop for $5
• I told them I'd find one :)
• An HP power adapter for that $12 EliteDesk for $4
• Might need it to replace the $10 official universal travel one - down to $20 total ;)
• Rock Band 3 Xbox 360 Wireless Keyboard for $8
• It's also a MIDI keytar!

Really gotta move the old routers... Keeping these though:

• ASUS RT-AX57 (AX3000, Gigabit, 2x2 MU-MIMO)
• Linksys EA8500 (AC2600, Gigabit, 4x4 MU-MIMO, USB3.0, eSATA)
• TP-Link Archer A8 (AC1900, Gigabit, 3x3 MU-MIMO)

$11.24

Some especially decent offerings in a recent Steam sale, so I bought Sonic Frontiers - aggressive pop-in, absolutely horrible menus clearly designed by inhuman monsters, ugly cutscenes, some truly baffling asset-placement and annoying instant-death situations, very strange music... But genuinely great traversal and satisfying boss battles, and it all lands somewhere between modern Mario and Zelda. Weird as hell, and it works, and I kinda love it - especially for $16.

Also finally pulled the trigger on Ys X, DOOM: The Dark Ages, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, Prince of Persia The Lost Crown, DEVIL BLADE REBOOT, Isles of Sea and Sky (needs a CRT filter), and Rollerdrome (neat); also found Super Mario Maker 2 new for $40.

Back to Destiny - I can't put my finger on it, but Destiny 1 on PS5 feels better than Destiny 2 on PC. Also, The Taken King and Rise of Iron both went on-sale for $3.12 each, so I wrapped all of that up before diving into DOOM and Ys.

So far, I much prefer gameplay in The Dark Ages over Eternal. Performance-wise, on my 3070, I'm seeing ~90FPS@1080p and ~65FPS@1440p

• V-Sync Off
• VRS Off
• DLSS Quality
• Path Tracing Off
• HDR On
• Ultra Preset

Then I got distracted by Voxel Duke Nukem 3D and Blood: Refreshed Supply - both really good.

And then I got distracted again by the Virtual Boy for Nintendo Switch preorders opening, so now I have a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription, and it's better than I expected - the NES, Genesis, Game Boy, and SNES offerings are pretty great; the N64 selection is good but I'd like to see a CRT filter; GBA on there is solid, but relatively weak.

...Aaannnd then I got distracted by Metroid Prime 3 in anticipation of 4... Loved Prime, didn't really like 2, and never got very far into 3; I'm still not a fan of the controls, or the dialogue, or... I'll finish it, regardless.

Got a watch repair kit, and I think I enjoy watch repair about as much as I enjoy soldering - which is to say, not much at all.

Oh, and I finally tried Astral Chain, and it's really good; I've been all over the place on PlatinumGames' output, but this one's got a hold on me for now.

Stuff

Virtual Boy Stuff:

Virtual League Baseball 2 was found and released. Compared to the first game, we've got:

• Brighter graphics
• A dynamic fielding camera
• Functionally different ballparks
• "Full Swing"
• The ability to reposition fielders while pitching
• Optional "Semi Auto" fielding
• Multiplayer
• Save support
• Arguably better music

...2's been much more fun and engaging to play in the time I've spent with it so far, though I do kinda miss the SD players in the Japanese original.

Finished Insmouse no Yakata in Japanese 'cause it really doesn't need to be translated; good game, doesn't do much with the 3D effect though. Wrapping-up the last few bits of Jack Bros. too; better game, better use of 3D. Neither is worth the asking price though, so I'm glad to see them in the Nintendo Classics collection.

Also, Capitán Sevilla 3D and Fishbone both look really good; more slick sprite-based games, please. 

Deathchase is pretty neat, Dragon Chopper could turn into something fun, Hunter is an interesting curiosity, VB Racing is pretty great, and Zpace Racers is a really cool glimpse into what could've been.

Other Stuff:

Hi-Fi RUSH, Sifu, Bloodborne, Demon's Souls, MediEvil... Nothing was grabbing me, so I finally committed to Gravity Rush 2, and I'm hooked. Really liked the first one, and the sequel feels great.

Bubsy 4D demo isn't great though; Yooka-Replaylee demo is better but I hope they added more sound effects for the final release 'cause that attack sound gets old fast. Went back and played Yooka-Laylee, and it's much better than I'd heard - the quizzes are inane, the Kartos levels are broken, and the final boss is kind of annoying... But it's still really good overall. Tried The Impossible Lair too, and it didn't feel particularly special; nothing wrong with it, but it feels sluggish compared to Donkey Kong Country.

Finished Echoes of Wisdom and thoroughly enjoyed it. Things did start to drag a little toward the end, but there were enough secrets and some particularly entertaining writing to keep it interesting.

Getting back to Age of Calamity; still just fine. Might even buy Age of Imprisonment one day.

Played some spooky games for Hallowe'en: The Ten Bells is absolutely worth your time, and FAITH is genuinely chilling despite it's intentional limitations.

Picked-up a $5, French, not-for-resale copy of Destiny for PS4 - playing solo through story missions and patrols without a PlayStation Plus account is decent; might even buy The Taken King if it goes on-sale for $3 again... Rise of Iron for $30 is a big nope though, and sealed copies of The Collection don't seem to be readily-available for cheap. Reading-up on the DCV for Destiny 2 is kinda disappointing, but I guess there's always YouTube. Still prefer Anthem, by the way :(

Thrift store stuff:

• Tactile MX Mechanical Mini for $10 - that's $210-off!
• Clean Logitech G633 headset also for $10 - they were close to $300 new!
• Pioneer DM-C820, which happens to go with the LaserActive PAC-K1 - Neat :)
• CIB Casio SF-3000 GD for $5; works great, but awful to use.
• Linksys EA8500 AC2600 4x4 MU-MIMO router for $9 - was ~$300 new!
• Samsung SyncMaster 193p Plus for $15
• 15" LG Flatron TV + remote w/VGA+audio, component, s-video, etc... for $20
• Xbox One Kinect sensor for $10 (just to have a spare)

...Also found and left:

• Clean Razer BlackShark headset for $14
• TRS-80 Cassette Interface for $4
• Oculus DK2 for $20
• HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 for $25

128Mb, huh?

Test Chamber was released for Virtual Boy and it's a 4Mb game, so that's five titles now. Looks like MrCART is the best value going forward, but I'm not in any rush.

...And then they announced Virtual Boy - Nintendo Classics! It's missing eight games, there's no word on mutliplayer support, and the image quality doesn't look very good (please make filters) but I'm buying one anyway.

Started Hi-Fi RUSH; looks incredible, deep and rewarding combat, and I'm getting kinda bored between cutscenes. Will finish it.

Started Sifu... It's fine; not really getting into the flow though.

Finally started Bloodborne in earnest - five hours in, and I want to like it more but it's just kind of exhausting. I get it; it scratches all sorts of itches really effectively, but it just wastes so much time. I'll keep at it, but spread-out over time.

Finished Horizon Zero Dawn and The Frozen Wilds (not Remastered), and while it was never quite a chore, I think I just like the setting and not much else - the presentation is a little rough around the edges, the combat is still fine and plenty deep, the story is uneven... It's a very good game, but I'm mostly only interested in Forbidden West for the graphics, am absolutely not shelling-out for a PS VR2 for Call of the Mountain, and I'm so far removed from the Lego games in general.

Grabbed Heretic + Hexen, played through Faith Renewed as well as Vestiges of Grandeur, and they're both great.

Pretty much done Super Mario Wonder - green checkmarks all around except for Special World; working on The Final-Final Test Badge Marathon. Game is a masterpiece, maybe a little easy, incredibly charming, and vaguely reminiscent Virtual Boy Wario Land with the multi-layer playfield, eye-tracking, exploration, etc...

Pleasantly surprised by Echoes of Wisdom, albeit repetitive. Wetlands writing is particularly hilarious; maybe halfway through, and excited for more.

Totally missed GBADoom - very impressive, and looks like the best way to play on Analogue Pocket. The new SNES DOOM, while also seriously impressive (and still tempting), just isn't the same as GBADoom, DOOM 32X Resurrection (3.3a!), DOOM CD32X Fusion, or the Saturn Doom fix patch - those were achieved using contemporary hardware, whereas the new SNES DOOM was not. The FX3 is neat, but it just didn't exist back then.

Found a sealed TrickleStar AV Advanced PowerStrip+ for $5, and what a silly device.