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RIP-Felix

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Everything posted by RIP-Felix

  1. Truly! It even has a low latency USB mode that cuts controller input lag down as low as possible, like a few milliseconds. CRT, low latency USB, no frame buffer, or maybe 1 frame at the most = as good or better than the original experience. I'd argue better. 480p is a big visual upgrade over what we had on consumer CRT TV's at the time. And we never got RGB, although Component on a CRT is just as good. Regardless, the fact we can do this in 2021 is amazing. Retrogaming without a CRT is good, but the lag can destroy those games. So latency reduction in retroarch was a god send! And the mister with low latency USB polling is really a great stride. TV's now offer super low latency inputs now too. SO the gap between CRT's and HDTV's has reached the sweet spot IMO. The point where you can get a great experience out of retro console, with a decent upscaler (RetroTink, GBS control, etc.) Then there's Mister. If it weren't for the video game grading scam and speculation bubble, it would be a great time for retro gaming.
  2. I don't have any CRT monitors anymore, but they are great for 31KHz signals (480p). If you can convert the signal to RGBHV that is. You will need to upscale 240p/480i --> 480p to use one for retro consoles, and get RGBHV, but the mister is a great way to keep it simple. I think RetroRGB has a guide to get the mister to output to a CRT monitor. You may need to muck around in the config files, but they are supposed to be a near PVM quality picture when you get it working. And we're talking ZERO lag! I'd definitely go that route.
  3. I think this is awesome! Price, considering what you get (essectially a quad core widows capable PC) is actually pretty good. Even for the top model. I'm extremely tempted. This looks to be the best solution for my handheld GameEX emulation dreams. The built in controller and track pads functionality it the real kicker for me. Valve is good about fully customized button layouts and controls in general. They have alot more experience and money backing their controllers. So it's not going to be like a crappy 3rd party controller. Retroarch on my phone using an 8BitDo SN30pro is my goto mobile emulation experience now. That's great, but android isn't! A full fledged windows PC with all my digital library accessible via download is a much better prospect. I like that it docks like the switch - Super cool! IDK, man...this is a real contender! If this is a product they will keep producing, I think I'll pick one up. I don't think I'll be a day one buyer, but if they're still available after the holiday season I'll get one.
  4. Maybe last week?...I payed $7 for a x-box physical copy of this game. Looks like a ResidentEvil esk puzzeler, but without the violence. I thought it would be a chill game. Nice to get a better version free!
  5. "Look! A baby Metroid, isn't it cute?!" Samus Aran: "Kill it!" I can't say I'm super up on metroid lore, but prime is my GOAT. Never really though about it, but Samus does seem kind self righteous for a bounty hunter. What she takes it on herself to wipe out an entire alien species? Why? Just because the Space pirates exploited it's biology as a weapon? Why doesn't she exterminate the space pirates instead of the innocent species caught in the middle of this power struggle between the galactic federation and the Space pirates? What, she's not powerful enough to defeat the space pirates so she exterminates the metroids instead? WTF! She clearly has some PTSD after her parents were killed by Ridley. And she's taking it out on those poor Metroid's. She's the real life sucking Bitc...
  6. Ah man, that hurts! BSNES is the one emulator I would consider a true rival to FPGA or even OG hardware. Some serious talent lost. I'm reminded of this song... While I don't know the circumstance of BYUU's death, we've all been under a LOT of pressure the last year and a half! Please remember to take care of yourselves and the ones you love! Reach out if you need to talk. There are some thoughts that need to be bounced of other people, and they're often the ones you don't feel comfortable voicing. Trust in professionals who know how to tell the difference between normal anxiety and that which originates from chemical imbalance. They can help you develop coping skills and/or provide medication. Fighting for your life sometimes involves wrestling with one's own mind. IF that bastard starts talking shit, don't give him your self worth! Gang up and kick his ass!
  7. Me too! I didn't pay close enough attention to the tweets and whatnot. Besides, I'm kind over the whole "wait for a restock update and fight to the death with BOT for a pre-order" thing. That's why I don't have and X-Box SX or PS5. Or RetroTINK 5x. Or N64 Digital. Or PS1 Digital. Or... I'm burried in other projects and I guess I'm hoping the stock will raise to the point I will be able to buy them later. That may work out for the X-Box or PS5, but with niche stuff I need to be more on the ball. There will only be so many preorders for the PS1 digital before it isn't made anymore. It's just these kids today like to use discord and twatter for updates and my OLD ass thinks they should place product updates on the friggn website where the damn thing is sold! I'm a dinosaur I guess!
  8. I doubt they can get the BOM that low. There's an easy way to test it. You could put in a game that has 240p in game and 480i in the menu (like chrono cross) and see if the it drops sync on the transition. Just pause and unpause rapidly. If it doesn't drop sync, then it's the same as all those other scalers and not a clone. That's not to say it's bad though. If the lag isn't a variable 3-5 frames then it could be acceptable. The real test would be a time-sleuth and measure the lag. If if doesn't drop sync on 240p/480i, that's a nice "feature," even if it results from the mishandling of 240p. The deinterlacing is going to be bad and scaling soft, but for the price that's not a deal breaker. So long as that lag is acceptably low.
  9. While I haven't tested those myself, I do know that these "type" of cheap boxes add a TON of lag and mishandle 240p as 480I. They're designed for TV/movie signals not video games, despite their marketing, which is clearly trying to capitalize on the retro gaming craze. 1 frame of lag is acceptable, but these cheap boxes tend to add variable lag from 3-5 frames, which makes many games unplayable. It's harder to pull off combos in fighting games, for example. For the longest time I was emulating retro games, with my consoles in the closit collecting dust. One day I hooked up my NES to a CRT and blew on my copy of the Legend of Zelda. I can tell you first hand it was a shock to me how much easier it was killing a Darknut when LINK would actually turn in the direction I was pressing! Try it and you'll see what I'm mean! Lag creeps up on you over time, making you think these old games are harder than you remember! They are! But it's not the game, it's the lag from your scaler! I can almost guarantee it's the same scalier inside those trash pound cables. This is why run-ahead mode in retroarch is such a god-send! Finally emulation equal to the lag of a CRT! And with a highly accurate emulator like BSNES, there's no compromise anymore! While that's a breakthrough for NES, SNES, & GENESIS (relatively easy systems to emulate), it's not much help with N64, PS1, PS2, GC, OG XBOX, Saturn, and many others. For them, may people still prefer to use OG hardware. If you're going to invest in the OG Hardware and vintage games anyway, then why dilute the experience with a shitty scaler? If the tactile feel of inserting a cartrige or disc is your hit of nostalgia every once in a few years, and the gameplay experience isn't the point, then sure get the cheap box that isn't really going to ruin the five minutes of nostalgia your were looking for. Your just going to put it away after the nostalgia wears off and go back to your HTPC to emulate the games. So your money would be better invested into a graphics card. That's perfectly fine too! If the gameplay on OG hardware is important to you, then I wouldn't recommend anything cheaper than the RT2x mini... That's going to give you the simplest solution without ruining every experience (zero lag). The only thing is that it doesn't handle well are 240p to 480i transitions. It'll drop signal for a second or 2, which in some games can leave you vulnerable to attack (like Dino crisis, Chrono Cross, Resident Evil 2 N64 port, etc). The only reason those trash boxes don't is because they treat the signal as 480I all the time, so there is no transition. But because it's deinterlasing the signal all the time, it's got that terrible frame buffer adding varible lag! There are more expensive RT options, but for the bump in price, I don't think the upgrade to the RT2x Pro (which has SCART or Component inputs) is worth the upgrade. S-video is good enough! And at 480p you're not gaining much with component or Scart over it. But it's definitely a huge boost up with the RT5x. It adds automatic phase sampling, 1440p upscaling (6x integer scaling of 240p), and triple buffer adaptive deinterlacing. Basically it means the sharpest possible image that only adds one frame of lag, locked (not variable), and it won't drop signal like the previous versions! All plug-n-play. That's what makes it worth $300 IMO. But I'm a hardware enthusiest with 15+ console hooked up to my entertainment center and I enjoy collecting games I can emulate for free. That's what I enjoy spending my excess cash on. If you don't, feel free to buy whatever you think is worth your spare cash!
  10. That is outrageous. This group of ATARI owners deserve bankruptcy. The sooner new ownership takes control the better. Couldn't be worse than these clowns!
  11. A bit on the unavailable side ATM...lol! This is a very nice product for the $300 price point. But there will be some competition soon with the OSSC Pro and PixelFX Morph. They will have more options and cost more too. For what you get the RT5x...err, RT6x...is probably the best plug-n-play solution. The other 2 are planning on being plug-n-play too, with more options for power users, but the extra cost for those features may not be worth it for the casual gamer. I think Mike Chi does a great job of putting it where it counts and keeping costs down on features gamers aren't going to miss. The RT5x is a great scaler for sure. But there's nothing wrong with the RT2x products either. If you want that next step up and like that the RT2x was plug-n-play, then the 5x will be right up your alley. I have an OSSC, but to tell you the truth, I don't use it that much because it take a few extra steps to get it working. I can't just turn on my TV with the remote and start playing like you can with RetroTink products. I think that's its best selling feature.
  12. If the entire scene is done in CGI, I feel like I'm watching beowulf or Final Fantasy: The spirits within. The OASIS was drawn directly on the retina in the highest perceptible detail. It was nearly impossible to differentiate from reality, visually speaking. So the OASIS should have been live action using props and actual sets, instead of rendering entire segments in CGI. Especially not the actors! NPC and other character in the distance, fine CGI them. Flying elements, fine CGI. But mix in real with the CGI an much as possible, blending with framing and scale to achieve the right balance. Like Jurassic park! Like Scott Pilgram vs. the World. And yes, the story elements changing was disappointing, but understandable given the movie format. A high production value TV series would be a better fit. My dream scenario would be getting Edgar Wright and his team from SPVW back together with an HBO deal to produce the show true to the book. With a budget similar to that of Game of Thrones, you can afford the necessary CGI, locations, and costumes. Dream on, right?
  13. I'll buy it. I have adopted the film into the Ready Player universe a spiritual spinoff. I totally get Cline's choice in director, but I think it was a big mistake. I mean, if you had the choice between Steven Spielberg and Edgar Wright who would you choose? I think it was an unfortunate consequence of adulation. It was a technology trap and a missed opportunity. It seems like a movie about virtual reality would lend itself well to CGI, but for me it was the overuse of CGI that killed the RPO illusion. Especially the CGI of main characters! Scott Pilgram had the perfect mix of live action, CGI, and video game elements I wished RPO would have had.
  14. That sounds good, I'll have the same. Hold the root.
  15. I know, right! $1000 and they don't even have Cherry F#cking Cola! Hahahahah.....Suckers!
  16. That's cheap compared to this... See, a $20 HDMI cable gets you 99% of the way. The other $980 gets you that last 1%. I guess if you're in the 1%, $1000 to get the last 1% makes sense!
  17. In the latest episode of Analog Frontiers by My life In Gaming they mentioned The Game Console by the photographer that took all the pictures of game consoles we all have seen and been using. Especially if you've made a GameEx theme, you should consider buying this book, just to support the guy who took the pictures we've all been using. I used them to make console specific themes for GameRoom EX vertscreen, which I use on my arcade cabinet.
  18. If that's true, then I'm actually kinda annoyed with that post. Just because people are making money off, it's popular, and the OP got screwed, doesn't mean he has to take draconian action! Why not keep on keeping on? Sounds like a wining quitter to me, but IDK the details so I could be wrong.
  19. If I could combine what this does, with a genuine switch, I'd pay $1000 for one. Are you listening NINTENDO?! Yeah I really like this. GameEX Evo on this? Yes please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm tempted to buy one outright, once it actually becomes a product I can go and Buy. I don't trust indieGoGo, not after the VCS!
  20. Nope, I'm not taking the bait. That's an April fools stunt. No way that's true.
  21. I just wish there was a way to flip vertically scrolling SHMUPS on an arcade monitor 90-degrees (like can be done in MAME). I'd love to replicate his setup with a CRT, but NEED my 1941 and MS. Pac Man to be orientated correctly! However, for fighting games it'd be great! 1ms Lag on the USB controllers to a CRT is basically zero! Now if you don't pull off that babyality (why didn't they call it an infantality...rolls off the tongue easier!), it truly is your fault!
  22. It's a breeze once you make the tool, easier than the RSX. Once it's off you can replace the TIC as often as you want, there's no need to glue it back on as the thermal paste will hold the Heat spreader in place. I use MX-4. Arctic silver is conductive, and not as good. I'ver heard good thing about cryonaught, but haven't tried it. Good old MX-4 is what I buy in bulk. A saturn core is very exciting! Man I hope they can get it ironed out, because that would be amazing. I imagine then PS1 is also doable? Damn MR is getting more and more enticing. I actually just installed a Satiator in my Saturn and love it. It's the most expensive of the Saturn ODE's but I like that it just goes into the VCD slot on the back and that's it. No mods, soldering, nothing. Compatable out of the box with the redump set. All I had to do was DL 2 files (menu and FWupdate) and place them on the SD card. It automatically recognized and installed them. After that, boom! My Saturn became a 100x more awesome.
  23. A word of advice, the BluRay's daughter board is married to the Motherboard. So if you replace the BR drive do not forget you need to swap the daughter board from yours with the new one. Also, in case you were thinking of just replacing the laser assembly with a cheap one off ebay, in order to calibrate a new laser you need an oscilloscope. I finally bit the bullet and bought one (a RIGOL DS1054Z O-scope for $350, hands down the best value). Now I can properly diagnose problems, ripple voltages, read sync voltages, calibrate lasers, all kinds of useful stuff. I recommend you delid your CPU and RSX, if you haven't already.
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