NES/Famicom Appreciation Thread

Timu said:
For RGB you want a Sync Strike with a VGA cable and one of these 3:

Startech PEXHDCAP
Startech USB3HDCAP
StarTech PEXHDCAP60L

I recommend the last one overall.
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Awesome, thanks for the recommendations Timu :) Are they easy enough to set up/use? I'm just searching Google now for some instructions to get a better idea of how it all works...
 
Shadowman16 said:
Awesome, thanks for the recommendations Timu :) Are they easy enough to set up/use? I'm just searching Google now for some instructions to get a better idea of how it all works...
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After learning for a bit it's easy to use them and I recommend the program AmaRecTV, aka greatest capture software out there, to get the most of your capture card since it has a insane amount of options for what your card can do and plus allows you to mix and match capture and sound devices, like you can have a Startech capture card and record sound from even your own sound card!
 
Timu said:
It's beatable, but it has limited continues(3, which is insane IMO) and 3 lives per continue. You don't get any extra lives, health items are extremely rare(you may encounter up to around 5 throughout a playthrough) and it's best you use the required weapon to beat a boss(like in Mega Man) or else the fights will be longer. BTW it plays similar to Mega Man!

A 1CC is pretty difficult for this game!
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Sounds good, cheers dude, think I might have to make it my next NES attempt. I'm drawn to it's box art as much as anything. Limited continues might be an issue though!

whiterabbit said:
I just watched your Castlevania playthrough. You seriously don't mess around when it comes to that game. Really good stuff.
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Ah brilliant, good stuff. Haha well tbf I probably should be better at it considering how many times I've played it!
 
Huggers said:
Sounds good, cheers dude, think I might have to make it my next NES attempt. I'm drawn to it's box art as much as anything. Limited continues might be an issue though!
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It's a huge issue for this game, definitely those last 2 stages, good lord, the 4th stage is long and the 5th stage requires you to have masterful jumping skills or else you won't get far!
 
Mzo said:
It would be except have you ever watched or read anything that Pat the NES Punk wrote?
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yeah, talk about a letdown...as was said, it this was Parish (who's got several interesting books under him, by the way) i think i'd be trying to come up with $60...but EGM-looking reviews of every NES game, by Pat? nahhh

BTails said:
Mzo, that Fire Man kill just made me smile on a cold Monday morning, so thank you for that.
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seriously, ive watched it like 3 times now
 
Teknoman said:
I can vouch for the middle one as well. The capture software that comes with it actually doesnt work too bad.
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Yeah but AmaRecTV is so much better that it makes the included software(Streamcatcher) worthless for capturing. Only reason I even use Streamcatcher at times is to detect various resolutions and that's about it.
 
Timu said:
Yeah but AmaRecTV is so much better that it makes the included software(Streamcatcher) worthless for capturing. Only reason I even use Streamcatcher at times is to detect various resolutions and that's about it.
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Speaking of which, when using streamcatcher ( I cant get AmaRecTV to work right...) should I turn the sharpness on the capture setting all the way down or just leave at default?
 
Teknoman said:
Speaking of which, when using streamcatcher ( I cant get AmaRecTV to work right...) should I turn the sharpness on the capture setting all the way down or just leave at default?
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Really? AmaRecTV works for me, what's going on with it?

As for sharpness it doesn't matter too much with Stream Catcher, usually default is fine, though if you have a Sync Strike and use AmaRecTV increasing the sharpness to max gets rid of jailbars completely.
 
Timu said:
Really? AmaRecTV works for me, what's going on with it?

As for sharpness it doesn't matter too much with Stream Catcher, usually default is fine, though if you have a Sync Strike and use AmaRecTV increasing the sharpness to max gets rid of jailbars completely.
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I get audio popping here and there / sometimes the recording slows down for a split second.

But im really just going from: System -> RGB/YUV transcoder -> powered component distributor (plugged to TV and capture card when recording). Quality looks good to me, but i'm not sure if it could be better.
 
Teknoman said:
I get audio popping here and there / sometimes the recording slows down for a split second.

But im really just going from: System -> RGB/YUV transcoder -> powered component distributor (plugged to TV and capture card when recording). Quality looks good to me, but i'm not sure if it could be better.
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Now I need to know what codec you are recording with for video and audio. For me I used the x264 codec and lame MP3. Also, if you getting audio popping, it's best to use the line in from your sound card, like having a female rca to male 3.5 mm adapter to avoid that. That's the beauty of AmaRecTV, being able to use your own sound card for sound.

Also for AmaRecTV I would have the color space at YUY2 or RGB.

BTW x264 gives you some of the best quality for recording as you can even do uncompressed with it. When I do recordings the quality looks amazing because of it.

Funny enough I have more problems recording with Stream Catcher like the recording slows down as well at times.
 
At the moment my PC is in another room from where the retro stuff is, so i've just got a long usb cable stretching between rooms when recording, thats one reason why i'm trying to keep cables to a minimum. For now anyway.
 
This might be a good thread to post in. I started a Nintendo site on October 18 called NintendoTimes. It covers everything Nintendo related (past, present & future). One of the unique aspects of the site is the Warp Zone section.

Here I write articles as if they were written 30 years ago today. I've done months of research into newspapers and sites to find articles, pictures, etc. from the NES era to eventually post on the site as if it were happening in realtime. So, for example, you won't find a review of Castlevania for the NES because it hasn't released yet (that'll happen in 1987 - so I can post that in 2017).

I've found it to be a fun exercise in writing from the point of view of what other games were available at the time and how I felt as a kid growing up playing games like Super Mario Bros., Castlevania II, Mega Man, Blaster Master, etc. for the first time. While many sites these days have retro sections or review the latest Virtual Console games, many times the reviews are written from today's perspective. I'm aiming to create the articles as they would have been written 30 years ago.

If you have time, please check out what I've done so far. Here is a link directly to the Warp Zone page. If anyone would like to offer up some writing skills to pen a review or two for some of the NES launch games that I haven't yet done, please get in touch with me via e-mail or PM me. Right now games needing a review (from the perspective of 30 years ago) are: 10 Yard Fight, Baseball, Clu Clu Land, Excitebike, Golf, Gyromite, Hogan's Alley, Stack-Up, Tennis, Wild Gunman, and Wrecking Crew.

Likewise, if you have anything else you'd like to contribute to the site, let me know. The NES doesn't really pick up until mid-1986 and then in 1987 things really kick into overdrive, but I'd love to have some extra hands helping out by then. My goal with this section of the site is to find documentation, newspaper articles, magazines, and commercials to create a destination to find all of these historical items in one place. Right now they're scattered across Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, and various special articles on various sites. I'm striving to create a one-stop place for those interested in the history of Nintendo.
 
Its a another cool effort, but frankly, there are just too many people out there wanting spotlight on their work for me to really be able to take time to read/watch it, but good luck!
 
Btw, it seems to me that now when I am finally trying to go full ntsc on most consoles, that pal Nes-prices are starting to slightly fall. Games like Ufouria, Little Samson and Sword Master used to be quite expensive, but is now all going down. For instance, i just picked up a beautiful complete in box Sword Master for $30. Maybe the crash we have been waiting for is finally happening?
 
Morfeo said:
Btw, it seems to be that now when I am finally trying to go full ntsc on most consoles, that pal Nes-prices are starting to slightly fall. Games like Ufouria, Little Samson and Sword Master used to be quite expensive, but is now all going down. For instance, i just picked up a beautiful complete in box Sword Master for $30. Maybe the crash we have been waiting for is finally happening?
Click to expand...
Actually I've noticed that too about PAL stuff in Australia. SNES and N64 got to absurd levels a couple of years ago, but have definitely dropped back down to earth.

It's actually a very tricky thing to prove, since ebay deletes all old listings. But here's an article from a couple of years ago about it. It features a pic of a $350 PAL AU Ocarina of Time. That was quite a plausible price at one point. I actually sold my copy for $300 in 2013, and I have the ebay email to prove it.

Now? If you are a bit patient you can get an excellent condition copy for under $100.

So these things can collapse somewhat it seems.
 
PAL prices are coming down? Does that mean we'll see a similar decrease in NTSC prices?

Also, we probably need to vote on a game for December, no?
 
The fever has to end sometime. If you're paying attention you can see spikes and falls happen over a matter of weeks. One recent is example is Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu. Seeing it happen in that kind of a micro cycle really makes you cynical as a buyer, and hopefully it's opening people's eyes to the fact that this stuff is inflated. Still, it seems prices are continuing to inch up for many desirable games. So who knows when it ends.
 
Just finished Mario Bros and only died once. Was going for a no death run but inexplicably ran into a hammer bro in 8-3. Massive school boy error
 
Timu said:
Congrats still though as you didn't use a continue.=p
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That's true! Cheers dude. I remember finding it a lot tougher back in the day. With warps I can breeze through it in under 10 minute's now. Seemed much bigger when I was younger
 
That kickstarter made me curious to see how many NES reviews I've done. I'm up to 228 not counting the ones that I haven't posted yet. Someday I'll get there, heh.
 
IrishNinja said:
jesus christ, for real? did they not print many copies out that way or what?
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synt4x said:
I'm guessing that only applies to the PAL Collector's Edition of OoT that only came out in Australia.
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Australians, like Americans, seem to be very afraid of buying from overseas, so it's quite an insular market.

And yes, the AU edition is a much nicer, fancier edition than the EU one too, so that may help, there may be overseas interest in it. The box is made of premium cardboard and has a real 'metallic' finish to the gold.
 
IrishNinja said:
is that all there is to it, though? our launch-day copies had that finish as well, gotta be more than that
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Nah, the AU version is superior to the gold US version. It's plain gold with a really expensive looking finish.
N64OoT.jpg
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USA Collectors edition has 'shine' lines on the cover and is just a normal traditional shiny box finish.
Cbkcyg6pLfpoEctOXvukcJxXc86oJ1UsU9BlQt9LFi2Q9O4fzMEKVHv4fI3x5GIX9DYATiIocskZ_-cDlgoy0N4TVDkspOodUPMwKdre_apUcL-ma9q13srK35DpMu_OJA
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And of course the rest of PAL got this horrible messy black thing
056e4e9e-41f4-11e5-9afb-b9505136db19.jpg
Click to expand...
 
The USA collector's edition was a regular cardboard box with a sturdier, plastic-y rectangle glued to the front of it.
 
Craig Majaski said:
This might be a good thread to post in. I started a Nintendo site on October 18 called NintendoTimes. It covers everything Nintendo related (past, present & future). One of the unique aspects of the site is the Warp Zone section.

Here I write articles as if they were written 30 years ago today. I've done months of research into newspapers and sites to find articles, pictures, etc. from the NES era to eventually post on the site as if it were happening in realtime. So, for example, you won't find a review of Castlevania for the NES because it hasn't released yet (that'll happen in 1987 - so I can post that in 2017).

I've found it to be a fun exercise in writing from the point of view of what other games were available at the time and how I felt as a kid growing up playing games like Super Mario Bros., Castlevania II, Mega Man, Blaster Master, etc. for the first time. While many sites these days have retro sections or review the latest Virtual Console games, many times the reviews are written from today's perspective. I'm aiming to create the articles as they would have been written 30 years ago.

If you have time, please check out what I've done so far. Here is a link directly to the Warp Zone page. If anyone would like to offer up some writing skills to pen a review or two for some of the NES launch games that I haven't yet done, please get in touch with me via e-mail or PM me. Right now games needing a review (from the perspective of 30 years ago) are: 10 Yard Fight, Baseball, Clu Clu Land, Excitebike, Golf, Gyromite, Hogan's Alley, Stack-Up, Tennis, Wild Gunman, and Wrecking Crew.

Likewise, if you have anything else you'd like to contribute to the site, let me know. The NES doesn't really pick up until mid-1986 and then in 1987 things really kick into overdrive, but I'd love to have some extra hands helping out by then. My goal with this section of the site is to find documentation, newspaper articles, magazines, and commercials to create a destination to find all of these historical items in one place. Right now they're scattered across Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, and various special articles on various sites. I'm striving to create a one-stop place for those interested in the history of Nintendo.
Click to expand...

Gonna add it to the retro gaf media list.
 
So with only 4 days left in the month and no voting so far, and with the holidays coming up for many, I think I'm going to make December an easy one for us. Unless there are objections, we'll go ahead and do Super Mario Bros. 3 for the month of December.
 
OnPoint said:
So with only 4 days left in the month and no voting so far, and with the holidays coming up for many, I think I'm going to make December an easy one for us. Unless there are objections, we'll go ahead and do Super Mario Bros. 3 for the month of December.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a plan. Nice easy Christmas game. Faxanadu went by the wayside for me with having to visit the hospital every day and other things. :/ Hopefully the kids will come home by the end of December.
 
OnPoint said:
So with only 4 days left in the month and no voting so far, and with the holidays coming up for many, I think I'm going to make December an easy one for us. Unless there are objections, we'll go ahead and do Super Mario Bros. 3 for the month of December.
Click to expand...

Sounds good to me. My Analogue NT is ready
 
D.Lo said:
Actually I've noticed that too about PAL stuff in Australia. SNES and N64 got to absurd levels a couple of years ago, but have definitely dropped back down to earth.

It's actually a very tricky thing to prove, since ebay deletes all old listings. But here's an article from a couple of years ago about it. It features a pic of a $350 PAL AU Ocarina of Time. That was quite a plausible price at one point. I actually sold my copy for $300 in 2013, and I have the ebay email to prove it.

Now? If you are a bit patient you can get an excellent condition copy for under $100.

So these things can collapse somewhat it seems.
Click to expand...

Interesting to see I am not the only one noticing this trend.

OnPoint said:
PAL prices are coming down? Does that mean we'll see a similar decrease in NTSC prices?

Also, we probably need to vote on a game for December, no?
Click to expand...

Yeah, we need a new game, this time I will be back to participating.
 
Had the pleasure of opening a brand new copy of Ai Senshi Nicol. That manual is crisp! The character cards Konami included with their releases are pretty neat too. Apparently my copy is No. 082912. That seems like such a low number to print; how many more could there have been? The sticker seal with Disk-kun on it says VOID all over it now, so I guess that's how to know for sure if a FDS game is brand new or not. I was hoping to get a Disk-kun sticker out of the deal, but it's not really viable.

Also, my Famicom now ouputs in RGB thanks to Baphomet.
dsc_0447_sm7dkf4.jpg
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Kirby is a pretty game. Click here for a massive version of above picture.
 
I really need to get around to getting my NES RGB modded. I know baph and I have discussed price in the past, I just haven't gotten around to it.
 
Ok. Got my Famicom Disc System today and I'm trying to get it to work. I've plugged the RAM adapter into the famicom (AV model, modded for RGB output) and plugged the RAM cable into the back of the FDS. I'm using batteries instead of an AV adapter for the FDS but when I turn on the console I just get a white screen, the FDS is making no noise at all. I'm guessing its the batteries fault but I just wanted to get Gaf's opinion on this.
 
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