Original NES and SNES controllers

[CZroe]

VERY surprisingly, I have a Sony PS2 coming, and I only listed like 2-3 games I wanted for it in my collection. Huh? PS2 was one of the best consoles in video gaming history. It's funny what games we actually remember playing.

Dreamcast, I had 50 burnt games in college. I was a video game reviewer as a side job back then, and I'd get sent games on all platforms to review. Dreamcast was one of them. 3 paragraphs netted me $15 and I could keep the game (which I'd inevitably sell, because $30 to a college kid is lunch at pizza hut for the week vs. the cafeteria).

The left is Ultra HDMI N64 with Sharp Pixels ON, VI Deblur OFF.
The right is Ultra HDMI N64 with Sharp Pixels ON, VI Deblur ON.

I've been working on the basement the last few days. I should probably think of moving part of my retro collection down here, or all of it. I kind of like having my NES/SNES/etc. in the living room. Maybe I'll keep just those consoles there, and move the rest elsewhere (perhaps connected to a CRT, dunno).

For the basement:

 

[007ELmO]

HAHA that would be awesome.

 

[Fallen Kell]

One of my cousins has a rack like that. He worked for K-B Toys back when they went out of business and got one when they were throwing away everything they couldn't sell as they shutdown.

 

[007ELmO]

I was going to edit my post with (where do I get it?). xD

 

[CZroe]

I was going to edit my post with (where do I get it?). xD

I've been seriously looking for a while but I'm unwilling to pay the prices other Nintendo fans and collectors are asking. My brother saw that one being used somewhere out-of-state and I definitely want to go back and make an offer on it. I plan to find an equivalent locking lighted glass display case that I wouldn't mind using and then offer a trade + cash.

This wasn't a game shop so I'm hoping the owner is of the "any similarly functional shelf will do" mindset. Many ended up at indie/retro game stores but they are using them more and are less likely to get rid of them cheap.

 

[007ELmO]

Here's some DC hardware I may use someday if I find time to actually play games that are being collected.

 

[007ELmO]

I got a slim silver PS2 today! It came with some extras I won't ever probably use, the eyetoy, silver remote, etc. I did score the matching silver component cables and optical cable.

Out of the huge PS2 library, these were the first games I thought of getting.

 

[CZroe]

I got a slim silver PS2 today! It came with some extras I won't ever probably use, the eyetoy, silver remote, etc. I did score the matching silver component cables and optical cable.

Out of the huge PS2 library, these were the first games I thought of getting.

Katamari! I've still got my original copy. Love that game!

 

[007ELmO]

Pelican 1520, the only way to travel.

 

[007ELmO]

So I got the Gamecube Component cables a few days ago after deciding I won't be waiting or going for the GC-Video HDMI mod. Wow, the gamecube looks amazing at 480p-->720p. Maybe it's just that the N64 looks so God awful with the HDMI mod. I'm very happy with Gamecube, then again it's nearly next gen compared to all the other retro stuff.

 

[sxr7171]

So I got the Gamecube Component cables a few days ago after deciding I won't be waiting or going for the GC-Video HDMI mod. Wow, the gamecube looks amazing at 480p-->720p. Maybe it's just that the N64 looks so God awful with the HDMI mod. I'm very happy with Gamecube, then again it's nearly next gen compared to all the other retro stuff.

I thought quite a few Gamecube games looked better than most Xbox games.

 

[Ichinisan]

Arcade Works finally came through. 3x brand new Blinking Light Win units.

The NES I wanted to use it with has a problem that is unrelated to the cart connector. My other NES works so well, I don't want to replace the connector.

...the shipping label says it shipped 2-day priority USPS (I only paid for the most basic shipping).

The "Keep calm and don't press down" sticker is impossible to read. Maybe because I'm slightly colorblind?

 

[007ELmO]

Hah, 2 day priority USPS, sigh.

I put the sticker on mine and decided it looked stupid and took it off. Thankfully, it comes off easily (from what I remember).

The connector works though, if you're not having any problems with carts booting up I'd forget about it for now. The games are really hard to take out (I wiggle them left to right), thinking I might be damaging something inside, who knows. Good to hear you got them at least!

I played some Mario golf (gamecube) the last few days, and Mario 64/Banjo kazooie. I love Mario Golf, too bad I don't have a memory card for my system yet. The component cable for GC has helped a lot.

 

[CZroe]

I tried inserting a game with a Game Genie and it puts pressure on the door and partially closed it. If you have a console showing cracks at the hinge I wouldn't attempt it. If you have one with no cracks I suspect that it may cause cracks. I really wish they had engineered it with the connector as close to the front as possible for the door to close with a standard cart fully inserted. That would have made the connector tightness a non-issue and improved compatibility with things like Game Genie or unlicensed games (some have a protrusion at the top).

I'm tempted to take apart my spare Game Genie to make a pass-thru switch or something so I can leave it installed. I'm not sure if it is just the extra leverage, but it feels much easier to insert and remove. I wonder why it's so hard to get the connector strength right today if they could do it way back then?

 

[Ichinisan]

The sticker is a bit easier to read in natural light (versus the artificial light in my apartment last night). It's still difficult and would be nearly impossible if it was under the cover of my NES. Even with natural light, the "K" looks like an "H."

I wish the game would stick out a little bit more so it would be easier to grab. It would also have better compatibility with a Game Genie (CZroe noted that the plastic flap thing on the GG pulls the NES door down).

Games snag as I insert them instead of sliding all the way back. That should have been easy to avoid in the design process. Not a big deal though. I plan to do some modifications to one of mine...

 

[CZroe]

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...oulette-a-new-party-game-for-the-ne?ref=video

"Hell Bent for Leather" tier is pretty awesome! $250 is a bit much though.

 

[Ichinisan]

CZroe and I removed 14 pins from one of my Blinking Light Win units, so the grip strength should be reduced by ~20%. It's only a slight difference, but it's noticeable when you compare 2 of them side-by-side.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u...02-28_blw_pinmod/2016-02-28_blw_pinmod_00.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u...02-28_blw_pinmod/2016-02-28_blw_pinmod_01.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u...02-28_blw_pinmod/2016-02-28_blw_pinmod_02.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u...02-28_blw_pinmod/2016-02-28_blw_pinmod_03.jpg

 

[007ELmO]

Very interesting. I wonder if their V2 of the mod would have something similar, don't know, but they said it would be easier to use. I am OK with the original BLW mod, as long as it loads up the first time, essentially every game I have tried has so far.

 

[Ichinisan]

Very interesting. I wonder if their V2 of the mod would have something similar, don't know, but they said it would be easier to use. I am OK with the original BLW mod, as long as it loads up the first time, essentially every game I have tried has so far.

This should be version 2.

You can see "rev 2" on the board in one of those pictures.

I posted this on Nintendo Age and someone told me there's another pin that was never used by anything. I guess that means you could remove 15 pins total.

 

[007ELmO]

Excellent. I wonder what you guys think of the grip strength. It's almost impossible to pull an NES game straight out on the original BLW, you have to wiggle it left to right certainly bending some pins somewhere.

The HDNES is my favorite retro mod/console so far.

 

[CZroe]

Excellent. I wonder what you guys think of the grip strength. It's almost impossible to pull an NES game straight out on the original BLW, you have to wiggle it left to right certainly bending some pins somewhere.

The HDNES is my favorite retro mod/console so far.

Never got to feel the original BLW's grip strength but if this is even too much then that has to be much worse! The connector may not even be the same so I don't know if removing the 16 unnecessary pins is as easy. These pins pull out of the bottom which means that I had to either unnsolder the entire connector or cut the legs and pull them out. My desoldering iron is not enough to easily remove the entire connector so I chose the latter. I used some flush cutters from Harbor Freight to snip the leg as close to the PCB as possible then bent the leg out as close to the connector as possible. Once you can grab it with needle-nose pliers you can push the bent pin back down to the PCB and turn the pliers to "wrap" the exposed portion of the pin around it, making room to pull down more until the rest is out.

 

[007ELmO]

As long as we're all happy with the connection, I'm OK with it being a little too tight.

Picked these up a couple days ago!

 

[007ELmO]

What game capture device do you guys recommend or know about?

I heard of Avermedia, Startech, BlackMagic, and ElGato.

I won't be doing much live streaming, I heard ElGato has sync issues but is pretty good with local recordings (video quality). I would like to have live recording with no sync issues and excellent recording quality.

Thanks!

 

[007ELmO]

I purchased the Elgato HD60 Pro.

 

[007ELmO]

I've been a little slow lately, sorry, I've been interviewing for other jobs. Usually stressful.

Also got this done yesterday, took way longer than it should and 3 trips to home depot. Still have 3 more to do. Anticipating problems, manufacturing quality is not very good...had to reinstall this thing 2 or 3 times.