NES/Famicom Appreciation Thread

Because of this thread I was just dreaming about playing a Mega Man game in some kind of competition with people I used to go to school with, like it was actually a task for school, or something. I was doing really well until the image starting going out of sync and I lost my shit lol, just woke up feeling so angry!

It's probably because I was installing my NESRGB yesterday and couldn't get the image to sync, hehehe. Can't wait to get up in a few hours and rewire this thing!
 
Peagles said:
Because of this thread I was just dreaming about playing a Mega Man game in some kind of competition with people I used to go to school with, like it was actually a task for school, or something. I was doing really well until the image starting going out of sync and I lost my shit lol, just woke up feeling so angry!

It's probably because I was installing my NESRGB yesterday and couldn't get the image to sync, hehehe. Can't wait to get up in a few hours and rewire this thing!
Click to expand...

Were you aware you were dreaming? Usually that happens once you figure out you're dreaming, electric stuff ends up being static/messing up for some reason or another.
 
Teknoman said:
Were you aware you were dreaming? Usually that happens once you figure out you're dreaming, electric stuff ends up being static/messing up for some reason or another.
Click to expand...

It was towards the end, so maybe. Usually I test electrical stuff in dreams to check if I am dreaming. Like if I wake up and I doubt whether I'm awake, I always test the lamp beside my bed. If it doesn't turn on, I'm dreaming.

It is problematic when there's a power cut though, hehehe.

AND NOW BEHOLD, the glorious power of NESRGB!

DSC_0005_zps04ac2109.jpg
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Compare to composite on the same monitor:
IMAG0334_zps25602172.jpg
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Yeah...really making me want to mod my original nes...but i've got almost everything switching back and forth between my RGB SCART to Component converter already lol.

Are there any downsides to modding it, since arent some games built with composite in mind? I kinda want to get a stereo mod done though...but I dunno.
 
Teknoman said:
Yeah...really making me want to mod my original nes...but i've got almost everything switching back and forth between my RGB SCART to Component converter already lol.

Are there any downsides to modding it, since arent some games built with composite in mind? I kinda want to get a stereo mod done though...but I dunno.
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Some games definitely make use of dithering techniques, and a lot of that intent will get lost if you use higher quality cables.

But most games don't really do anything special, and you really are going to get a significant improvement in picture quality by going with RGB otherwise.
 
ZealousD said:
Some games definitely make use of dithering techniques, and a lot of that intent will get lost if you use higher quality cables.

But most games don't really do anything special, and you really are going to get a significant improvement in picture quality by going with RGB otherwise.
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Definitely something to do in the future then.

I really want something like that for my N64 since that is one system that would seem to really benefit from the clarity.

Where would you get the cables to use anyway / how do they look (after having the mod installed of course)?
 
Teknoman said:
Definitely something to do in the future then.

I really want something like that for my N64 since that is one system that would seem to really benefit from the clarity.

Where would you get the cables to use anyway / how do they look (after having the mod installed of course)?
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For NES no downsides I can see apart from cost. Although the NESRGB kit is cheaper than the old fashioned way (and much much better IMO).

For N64 seems cheap to do and well worth it. Baphomet did mine but only cos I can't find NTSC consoles easily here and you can't do it on PAL.

The jump in picture quality in anything composite to RGB is astounding. Even s-video to RGB is a huge jump. It's worth every penny to me!
 
Peagles said:
Even s-video to RGB is a huge jump. It's worth every penny to me!
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I've seen a lot of comparisons of composite to s-video and composite to RGB, but I never really see any comparisons of s-video to RGB. Is it really that big of a jump?
 
in my experience, s-vid's biggest plus is that you shake all the shitty effects composite still had, much of what RGB does is with color separation/etc. this varies a lot on different systems - many on here think turbo looks fine that way, and personally i was happy with SNES on s-vid for many years. it's stuff like this NES & the Genesis that really do seem to gain a lot from RGB, likely due to the more limited color palette.
 
ZealousD said:
I've seen a lot of comparisons of composite to s-video and composite to RGB, but I never really see any comparisons of s-video to RGB. Is it really that big of a jump?
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Depends really. Each system benefits in different degrees from RGB over svideo and a high quality monitor or upscaler shows a lot more detail too.

For the NES in particular composite is as high as it goes without modding, so if you're going to mod you may as we'll go the whole way to RGB. The NESRGB kit also adds svideo if you want it, however.
 
ZealousD said:
I've seen a lot of comparisons of composite to s-video and composite to RGB, but I never really see any comparisons of s-video to RGB. Is it really that big of a jump?
Click to expand...

I remember when I was wondering the same. Once I acquired a few PVMs from work and some RGB cables for my Genesis, I did a comparison using Sonic 1 on Saturn's Sonic Jam using S-Video(LEFT) and the original cart on the Genesis using RGB (RIGHT).

IMG_20130922_211436.jpg
IMG_20130922_211446.jpg
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You be the judge. ;)
 
Ramune said:
You be the judge. ;)
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I know that the Sonic Jam collection is really good, but I don't really care for comparisons that aren't using the same exact unit. I see some small color differences and maybe s-video is a touch more blurry, but I have no idea if that's the difference in cables or if it's the difference in how the Genesis and the Saturn render.
 
ZealousD said:
I know that the Sonic Jam collection is really good, but I don't really care for comparisons that aren't using the same exact unit. I see some small color differences and maybe s-video is a touch more blurry, but I have no idea if that's the difference in cables or if it's the difference in how the Genesis and the Saturn render.
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If I had a decent camera I'd put up some comparisons. I'm afraid I agree though, cross system comparisons aren't worth a dime. The Genesis/Mega Drive is well known for terrible video at lower levels and really really shines with RGB, so the difference between svid and RGB on MD could be quite worthwhile (haven't tried myself though, couldn't be bothered modding for svideo).
 
Peagles said:
If I had a decent camera I'd put up some comparisons. I'm afraid I agree though, cross system comparisons aren't worth a dime. The Genesis/Mega Drive is well known for terrible video at lower levels and really really shines with RGB, so the difference between svid and RGB on MD could be quite worthwhile (haven't tried myself though, couldn't be bothered modding for svideo).
Click to expand...

I have an s-video modded 32x, and I found the difference between composite and s-video to be extremely noticeable.

As we've mentioned before, RGB can sort of break graphics that rely on dithering, and s-video did the exact same thing.
 
ZealousD said:
I have an s-video modded 32x, and I found the difference between composite and s-video to be extremely noticeable.

As we've mentioned before, RGB can sort of break graphics that rely on dithering, and s-video did the exact same thing.
Click to expand...

Yep I'm well aware of all that. I'm not talking about composite though, just svid vs RGB like you were asking about. Unfortunately I don't have a good enough camera to take some comparison shots, but I have the setup available to do so for most of my systems.

As an aside though, lack of dithering effects is a small price to pay for RGB goodness IMO :P
 
Peagles said:
It was towards the end, so maybe. Usually I test electrical stuff in dreams to check if I am dreaming. Like if I wake up and I doubt whether I'm awake, I always test the lamp beside my bed. If it doesn't turn on, I'm dreaming.

It is problematic when there's a power cut though, hehehe.

AND NOW BEHOLD, the glorious power of NESRGB!



Compare to composite on the same monitor:
Click to expand...

Yes this game, for some reason, is really impressive in RGB. Especially with the NESRGB and the palette switch set to "improved".
I think it is because of how much I played it as a kid. I just know every pixel, and seeing it crisp on a PVM just brings tears.
 
Peagles said:
If I had a decent camera I'd put up some comparisons. I'm afraid I agree though, cross system comparisons aren't worth a dime. The Genesis/Mega Drive is well known for terrible video at lower levels and really really shines with RGB, so the difference between svid and RGB on MD could be quite worthwhile (haven't tried myself though, couldn't be bothered modding for svideo).
Click to expand...

ZealousD said:
I know that the Sonic Jam collection is really good, but I don't really care for comparisons that aren't using the same exact unit. I see some small color differences and maybe s-video is a touch more blurry, but I have no idea if that's the difference in cables or if it's the difference in how the Genesis and the Saturn render.
Click to expand...

I should have added that once I got my RGB cables for the Saturn, Sonic 1 looked virtually identical to the Genesis version in RGB plus the Japanese Rom additions (Sonic 1 has this distinct RGB look with the coloring and I can notice it even on the PS Vita too with the Sega Genesis collection). I guess I can do a S-video/RGB comparison all on the Saturn if we want to really settle this. ;)

Edit: Figured I was taking too much focus on the console being discussed here, so I'm linking to my post on the Saturn thread so we can keep this strictly 8-bit here. :)
S-Video vs. RGB comparison @ the Saturn thread
All taken on a crappy Android phone. Try the app "Camera FV-5 Lite" as it really helped me out Peagles!
 
This conversation is probably better off in the Upscalers & RGB thread!

In regards to the NES specifically, this is about the best comparison I can find:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=47963 Post #16

Of course, all systems are different. Some benefit from RGB more than others. In general I find S-Video goes a long way to fix the sharpness of the pixels, but doesn't help the colour so much. RGB does both better, and then some. I'm just in love with RGB :P
 
Peagles said:
This conversation is probably better off in the Upscalers & RGB thread!

In regards to the NES specifically, this is about the best comparison I can find:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=47963 Post #16

Of course, all systems are different. Some benefit from RGB more than others. In general I find S-Video goes a long way to fix the sharpness of the pixels, but doesn't help the colour so much. RGB does both better, and then some. I'm just in love with RGB :P
Click to expand...

Heh, JUST finished posting there, but I agree, hence the link.

And you echo my findings exactly. Nice link btw. Kinda wanted to see where the conversation goes, but it just ends. :(
 
^ Awesome man!

I want to get a Metal Storm someday, but paying anything over $18 for a NES cart makes it but a dream to be had...LOL

Maybe I can swing a trade.
 
Superblatt said:
Where the hell did you find a metal storm complete for $90?
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Heck, I've surprised myself with the deals I've gotten on occasion. I found my Metal Storm for $50 complete with registration card and the awesome poster, the whole thing in 100% mint condition. Where did I get it? An Amazon seller, no less. I bought it purely based on its (glowing) description, no pictures so I was taking a risk. But it practically looked like the shrinkwrap had just come off the box right before shipping.

I wish all my deals came that easily.
 
Wow @ that copy of Metal Storm. Congrats!


Speaking of the Everdrive, is there some list of advantages over the PowerPak somewhere? I've googled a bit but haven't really found a good comparison. I don't doubt that the Everdrive is better but what exactly is better about it? :)

The price for one obviously. $109 for the Everdrive vs $135 for the PowerPak. It's odd that they haven't lowered the PowerPak price over the years, especially now that there's good competition. And also SD cards vs CF cards is another obvious advantage. And there's actually a chance the firmware will be updated with the ED while the PP hasn't had it's firmware updated in years. But what else is there? Is the compatibility better? The PP already supports 99% of the official releases IIRC. Would be cool if the ED had better pirate cart support or something.

I'm just asking because I'm thinking about if it's worth it or not for me to buy an Everdrive if I already have a PowerPak.
 
Yeah CFs use a parallel connection while SD uses a serial one. For a long time it was true that CF were faster than SD, and that is why camera manufacturers continued using them for the longest time, but these days there isn't a real significant difference. I think the PowerPak used them because according to the guy who made it the NES wouldn't be able to use an SD card fast enough. He said the same about the Super PowerPak. Both of those statements have been proven false now though with other flashcarts using SD cards.

I was just thinking that it's much more common to run into an SD card reader in a laptop or whatever compared to a CF card reader. Especially these days. That's why it's "better".
 
I've finally joined the rest of you in the RGB NES club. It's hard to believe just how much of an improvement it is.

FF2.png


Hoping to color-match this soon:
NES_rear.png
 
I'm tempted to get an NESRGB installed in my AV Famicom. I assume it would output S-video? I'm going to upgrade stuff to RGB eventually, but I have an entry level PVM that only does s-video now. I can survive for a while, I'd rather spend the money on games.

Speaking of I got a copy of Pizza Pop! on eBay that's coming in the mail, I'm excited. I forgot to bid on a copy of Gourmet World I was watching that ended for $12.99. I'm kicking myself so hard for that.
 
Lambtron said:
I'm tempted to get an NESRGB installed in my AV Famicom. I assume it would output S-video? I'm going to upgrade stuff to RGB eventually, but I have an entry level PVM that only does s-video now. I can survive for a while, I'd rather spend the money on games.

Speaking of I got a copy of Pizza Pop! on eBay that's coming in the mail, I'm excited. I forgot to bid on a copy of Gourmet World I was watching that ended for $12.99. I'm kicking myself so hard for that.
Click to expand...

Yes you need to do the NESRGB mod to get S-video as well.
 
Awesome to see this get bumped, I actually recently found my childhood NES and I'm in the process of restoring it... 3 decades of use and abuse have really taken it's toll on the thing. I've ordered a replacement 72 pin connector which will be here in a few days, and I've currently got the case outside baking in some developer 40 (hydrogen peroxide, the only ingredient in retrobrite that actually does anything).

Had some horrible stains I mostly got off, and as implied above it's really badly yellowed. If it goes well, the SNES will be next. I'm tempted to kill the 10NES while I'm in it... but I'm lacking a good tool (it's a tighter space than I thought it'd be). I've taken a ton of hi-res pictures of the whole process, I'll probably post them when I'm done. Just getting the stains off alone makes it look amazing by comparison... but wow the inside is just a total mess. The place on the mobo that the 72-pin connects to is corroded as frig and I could never imagined so much dust could have ended up in the thing.

I'll post a ton of pictures and such of the process when I'm done. Any tips on clipping the 10NES? (I've already identified the right pin)
 
Is there a list of manufacturing dates or anything so you can tell how old your NES is? My main board is an NES-CPU-07, but my google-fu isn't turning up anything where I could tell the date.

I know that puts it somewhere in the middle-ground as far as revisions go (NES-CPU-04 being earliest to NES-CPU-11) but I'm curious about the date itself... I was really young at the time and my parents don't know the date we acquired it.
 
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