Weekly Roundup #130
Here’s this week’s roundup! Audio-only version here: http://www.retrorgb.com/podcast/?name=2019-01-02_130.mp3
I’m Bob, the founder of RetroRGB. If you’d like to support my work, please consider following me on social media, or even supporting via paid platforms; Those support services are what keeps the work I’m involved with and this site going. More about me below the links:
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Like many people who are probably reading this site, I grew up playing consoles like the SNES and Genesis, which featured styles of games that aren’t nearly as common today. While I love new games and in many ways they can be far superior, they’re not always the style or experience someone is looking for. Some of the biggest pet peeves of modern games are loading times, constant software updates and often long “training sessions” required before the gameplay even starts. Heck, even many of the games are significantly longer! Someone looking to game during the small bits of free time they might have, often look to classic consoles and handhelds that provide a way to just jump in and start playing; Many classic games can be completed within an hour and are a satisfying experience.
The most common styles of games found on those platforms are different too. There are similar games available for newer consoles, like Shovel Knight, The New Super Mario Bros, Ori and the Blind Forest and (of course) Axiom Verge. Still, the amount of 2D vs 3D graphic games made is very small, so I often find that to enjoy that style, you need to go back to some of the classic consoles, which was the original catalyst for this site…
The journey to experience retro video game awesomeness started in October 2011 when I discovered a (low quality) Retro Controller Adapter for the Wii. After a few months of playing virtual console games on my Wii via the adapter, it started to feel like a tease; I got to use the original controller, but I missed the look of a CRT, as well as not having any lag on my games!
I soon realized if I wanted a “real” experience, I had to get the real thing and as a result, I ended up building the Retro Cart. I was happy playing all the old games the way they were meant to be played, on the original hardware, on a high quality CRT TV that brought out the best in the older games. After that project, I thought I was done…
Then, I re-discovered RGB and my retro video game life changed forever (I knew about RGB as a kid, but it was so unfathomably expensive back then that I just put it out of my mind). Even though it was less than three months from the time I completed the Retro Cart, I knew I had to start over. I was able to use most of the same equipment I already purchased, but there were some key differences. I dug so deep into it, that I decided to document exactly what I went though via a Google Doc, just in case “a few of my friends” ever wanted to do the same. I eventually gathered so much information that Cousin Scott suggested I make it into a website, so if other people wanted to walk down the same path, they could skip all the research and follow one easy to read guide. Hopefully I succeeded!
Here’s this week’s roundup! Audio-only version here: http://www.retrorgb.com/podcast/?name=2019-01-02_130.mp3
Members of the Planet Virtual Boy forums have just released a newly-dumped version of the unreleased game Bound High: https://www.planetvb.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=7247&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=0 The game itself is almost identical to the version previously dumped, however this version seems to have been complied in a different way. So far, testing shows almost no difference, but there’s the possibility that certain […]
At just $25, the MC Chthulu has been the go-to board for retro gaming fans who use custom fight sticks. When combined with an RJ45 jack (link below) and custom cables, this board can be used on a very long list of consoles: Undamned Adapter (superguns, arcade boards, etc) PC USB Raspberry Pi Playstation Playstation 2 […]
A brand new Atari 7800 cartridge will be available next month for $60 and has just been released on Windows via Steam for $10: https://store.steampowered.com/app/893690/Rikki__Vikki/ In my opinion, the most interesting feature of the game is it’s custom audio chip they’re calling the “BupChip”, making this a game that allows the 7800 to output a quality […]
Here’s this week’s roundup! Audio-only version here: http://www.retrorgb.com/podcast/?name=2018-12-26_129.mp3
Superg has just posted an update on his quest to cure sync issues in the latest version of his gscartsw firmware. He was able to apply one type of filtering which didn’t seem to solve the issue, but he has one more idea to try. Unfortunately, if this last idea doesn’t work, nothing more can […]
Retro-inspired game Hive Jump has just announced January 11th as the launch date for the Switch and Xbox One versions of the games. I haven’t had a chance to play this one yet, but it certainly looks cool! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/graphitelab/hive-jump-0/posts/2371317
Displaced Gamers, along with some awesome people from the retro-gaming scene have just released a video the describes what 525-line video means on a CRT. It’s an excellent demonstration of thinks like “blanking intervals” that are really hard to understand without visual queues. The same team also released a great video about 240p, which I’ll […]
It looks like the initial work has started for bringing CPS1 and CPS2 arcade support to the MiSTer. These arcade boards run some of the most popular Capcom games of all time, so this would be a big win for the arcade community if it’s successful! We’ll make sure to keep everyone aware of the […]
Romacher Kaze Emanuar has just re-created Super Mario Bros by hacking Mario 64. This looks absolutely awesome and seems to be a 2.5D re-creation of the original. The patch is available for download and both a trailer and instructions on how to pacth the ROM are below. Link to ROM patch: https://mega.nz/#!KHZ1FSbY!A6C_MTKDRPgEboREBI2juRVoSDuXxunUMdr5RN_291U