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[-KRS-]

Might as well ask here. I have a US SNES that's hooked up with composite. My PAL SNES is hooked up with RGB obviously, but from what I know the US SNES doesn't support this, but it does support S-video. My TV only supports RGB and has no S-video input. I tried an old SCART adapter that also has S-video input, and I do get a sharp image, but no color. Is there any way to get color or am I stuck having to buy a new TV?

The US SNES does support RGB through SCART. You'll need a different SCART cable though. One that is made for PAL Gamecubes will work with NTSC SNES units.

As for the S-Video->SCART adapter, are you sure you don't have an extra channel on your TV for S-Video signals? On my Trinitron I don't have an S-video input, but I can use a scart adapter and set the channel to AV2s rather than just AV2 to get color with S-video. This only works with one of the scart inputs on the TV though.

 

[davidwhangchoi]

does anyone know what a good price is for a 1st gen snes loose with controller adaptor and composite cable?

i'm shopping around and picking up a model 1 genesis tonight and the seller also has a snes for 80. i prob won't pick it up but just wondering what it's going for these days.

 

[Cheerilee]

Sorry to DP.

In looking inside a SNES console that will not power on, I see that there's a bit of brown discoloration around the 1.5V fuse. Is that an indication that it's likely blown? Seems the most likely culprit. I've tested the power cord on another SNES. I bought a cheap multimeter to test it but I think I went too cheap ... it doesn't seem to work on any setting.

To self-test your multimeter, change it's setting to "ohms of resistance" (possibly marked with the greek symbol "Omega"), then hold the two testing leads apart, then touch them together. Hold them apart, touch them together. Your multimeter should show complete resistance, no resistance, complete resistance, no resistance.

If it can't do that, maybe the connection on your testing leads is a little bit finnicky. Give them a wiggle. If that doesn't help, maybe the battery is dead (or if you bought a cheap one, it might even have shipped without a battery). Also, there's a fuse inside the multimeter, so look (visually) to see if that is blown.

If none of that works, yeah, your multimeter is probably dead. I'm not an electrician, but I'm on my fourth multimeter (two cheap analog ones that broke REAL easy, one cheap digital one that literally had a wire fall to pieces due to it being made ridiculously cheaply, and finally a badass Klein that does more than I know what to do with it).


If you get your multimeter working (or get a new one), set it to ohms on a low-power setting (don't want to blow the fuse during the test) and see how much resistance the fuse is offering, complete resistance, or no resistance. A good fuse should be no resistance, a blown fuse should be compete resistance.

You should also be able to set a working multimeter to "DC volts" to properly test your SNES power cords. It's great to look and see my PSP charging cable says that it's supposed to be 5v, so I just stuck it to my multimeter and it says that my cable is 5.2v (close enough). It feels so much better than the test of "Does it power my PSP or not?"

 

[RadarScope1]

To self-test your multimeter, change it's setting to "ohms of resistance" (possibly marked with the greek symbol "Omega"), then hold the two testing leads apart, then touch them together. Hold them apart, touch them together. Your multimeter should show complete resistance, no resistance, complete resistance, no resistance.

If it can't do that, maybe the connection on your testing leads is a little bit finnicky. Give them a wiggle. If that doesn't help, maybe the battery is dead (or if you bought a cheap one, it might even have shipped without a battery). Also, there's a fuse inside the multimeter, so look (visually) to see if that is blown.

If none of that works, yeah, your multimeter is probably dead. I'm not an electrician, but I'm on my fourth multimeter (two cheap analog ones that broke REAL easy, one cheap digital one that literally had a wire fall to pieces due to it being made ridiculously cheaply, and finally a badass Klein that does more than I know what to do with it).


If you get your multimeter working (or get a new one), set it to ohms on a low-power setting (don't want to blow the fuse during the test) and see how much resistance the fuse is offering, complete resistance, or no resistance. A good fuse should be no resistance, a blown fuse should be compete resistance.

You should also be able to set a working multimeter to "DC volts" to properly test your SNES power cords. It's great to look and see my PSP charging cable says that it's supposed to be 5v, so I just stuck it to my multimeter and it says that my cable is 5.2v (close enough). It feels so much better than the test of "Does it power my PSP or not?"

Thanks. It's definitely a lemon. I should probably go with a better model. I just don't think I'll be using it that much. Maybe I can find a used one.

 

[Cheerilee]

Thanks. It's definitely a lemon. I should probably go with a better model. I just don't think I'll be using it that much. Maybe I can find a used one.

Yeah, I found it hard to justify paying more for a higher-end multimeter when I barely use one, but after three failures it seemed like a good idea. I think I jumped from $10 to $10 to $20 to $50. The $50 one didn't make much sense to me at the start, but after flushing $40 down the toilet, it made sense.

 

[BTails]

Final Fantasy 4 - 6 soundtracks have been getting me through some pretty stressful days at the office this week. Man, Square had the GOAT soundtracks in the SNES and PSX eras.

Also, even though VI has the best overall soundtrack, V has the best overall song:

Spoiler

Clash on the Big Bridge! Gilgamesh is a top-tier baddie.

 

[Teknoman]

They've made him a bit too comical these days unfortunately.

 

[Shadow Hog]

So I went to MAGfest today, and, well

Mistakes may have been made

 

[sixteen-bit]

you bring ur gamebit, right?

 

[Shadow Hog]

I didn't, but I can knock that out now.

EDIT:

Looks pretty legit to me.

 

[Arctic Feather]

Been playing Secret Of Mana a lot recently (well, the Japanese release), but it's quite buggy isn't it.

For the second time after completing a boss the exit didn't appear, so I was trapped in a sealed room. Except this time part way through the boss battle the main character started flickering and moving off the screen. He never came back.

Also had it crash completely when I beat a different boss.

Is the sequel like this too?

 

[RexRogers]

So I went to MAGfest today, and, well

Mistakes may have been made

Why does the music sound so out of tune in that game? I'm no expert, but something just sounds wrong.

 

[dancrane212]

Nevermind. Got it working.

 

[RexRogers]

Nevermind. Got it working.

For the sake of others coming in later, can you describe what the problem was and what you did to fix it? These types of posts are the bane of forums everywhere.

 

[RadarScope1]

Yes, agreed. Leave up the original post and tell us how you got it working. These threads are for our collective knowledge. I am also trying to revive a SNES that won't power on right now...

 

[dancrane212]

For the sake of others coming in later, can you describe what the problem was and what you did to fix it? These types of posts are the bane of forums everywhere.

Well, there wasn't actually any real problem. Took everything apart, checked the fuse, switches, capacitors and anything else I could think of but nothing showed any issues. Cleaned everything and put it back together and presto, system started turning on where it didn't before.

Simplest solution and all that I suppose.

 

[Peagles]

So, last night I tested a very cheap boxed PAL SNES which I bought some time ago as "not working" ... It works just fine, so I'm happy! I was thinking at least I had the packaging and could fix the system but it's fine, I guess maybe their testing equipment was busted somewhere.

 

[eXistor]

The US SNES does support RGB through SCART. You'll need a different SCART cable though. One that is made for PAL Gamecubes will work with NTSC SNES units.

As for the S-Video->SCART adapter, are you sure you don't have an extra channel on your TV for S-Video signals? On my Trinitron I don't have an S-video input, but I can use a scart adapter and set the channel to AV2s rather than just AV2 to get color with S-video. This only works with one of the scart inputs on the TV though.

Thanks for replying! I actually have a RGB GC cable so I'll try that when I get the chance.

And no my TV really doesn't have S-video, I tried all channels and I just get a black and white image. But that's a non-issue if the rgb cable works.

 

[SKINNER!]

So I went to MAGfest today, and, well

Mistakes may have been made

?? I don't understand. Can you clarify?

 

[lazygecko]

Why does the music sound so out of tune in that game? I'm no expert, but something just sounds wrong.

Most Capcom SNES games are out of tune to various degrees. Early ones like Final Fight and Street Fighter 2 are fucking terrible. MMX1 and 2 got better, but still not perfect. And for MMX3 it got worse again.

I think it mostly has to do with improperly configured loop points on the instruments. If the loops are too narrow, they end up shifting the frequency of the sound.

 

[Cheerilee]

?? I don't understand. Can you clarify?

He was at a Music and Gaming Festival.

He bought a rare/expensive copy of Megaman X3 on impulse.

 

[PumpkinSpice]

?? I don't understand. Can you clarify?

$$$$$$$

 

[SKINNER!]

ah gotcha! Thanks everyone

I thought it was maybe he didn't realise the sticker was torn under the "Super Nintendo" logo after the purchase or something along those lines. Glad to see the cart ended up being a legit copy.

 

[Morfeo]

Been playing Secret Of Mana a lot recently (well, the Japanese release), but it's quite buggy isn't it.

For the second time after completing a boss the exit didn't appear, so I was trapped in a sealed room. Except this time part way through the boss battle the main character started flickering and moving off the screen. He never came back.

Also had it crash completely when I beat a different boss.

Is the sequel like this too?

I dont know about the sequel, but I doubt it. Secret of Mana was apparently heavily cut to fit on a cartridge, since it was really made for the CD add-on, so that explains why its so buggy. I would guess the western version is slightly less buggy, since they had some time to fix it when Woolsey was doing the translation.

 

[theSlacker]

I dont know about the sequel, but I doubt it. Secret of Mana was apparently heavily cut to fit on a cartridge, since it was really made for the CD add-on, so that explains why its so buggy. I would guess the western version is slightly less buggy, since they had some time to fix it when Woolsey was doing the translation.

I don't know how much less since even the western version is buggy as hell.

 

[Morfeo]

I don't know how much less since even the western version is buggy as hell.

It is, but it makes sense that they fixed some stuff, dont you think? That was pretty common back then.

 

[Cogwheels]

I've just started my first proper playthrough of Earthbound.

Obviously it's wonderful. I'm surprised at just how grindy it can be though. I had my ass handed to me when I first took on the punks at the arcade. Even now I'm a bit further along, the smallest enemy seems to be able to take you down if you get complacent. It's kinda refreshing.

 

[SKINNER!]

Got myself an AD Adapter the other day and I'm quite thoroughly impressed with it. I had fun trying out my GBA games on the Super Nintendo.

 

[Morfeo]

I've just started my first proper playthrough of Earthbound.

Obviously it's wonderful. I'm surprised at just how grindy it can be though. I had my ass handed to me when I first took on the punks at the arcade. Even now I'm a bit further along, the smallest enemy seems to be able to take you down if you get complacent. It's kinda refreshing.

Its grindy as hell. I played it for the first time to completion in 2014, and while I did enjoy it, the game felt crazy backwards in so many ways. First and foremost in how random everything is at certain stages in the game, I dont want to spoil anything, but there are areas where the enemies will give you a ton of statuses that really fucks you over for no good reason. The game is also really long (too long imo), and will become boring once in a while, but despite all this, its charming as hell and well worth a playthrough imo. Hope you will have fun!

 

[SKINNER!]

Soooo I just stumbled upon a Chinese website that sells fakes SNES and NES carts of rare games. Yikes, that's gonna put me off buying any forms of retro games from ebay now. Shit is scary seeing how authentic they look.

EDIT: Ha, you can even buy boxed games in bulk. goddamn! I guess this may seem old news to some of you but I just found this out and wow! It's just blowing my mind.

 

[Krathoon]

Sadly my launch SNES has yellowed like so many 80s/90s era consumer electronics. Still works great though, and looks great since I have a pretty old DLP with s-video input. It seems all these fancy new sets lack s-video, so I might have to shell out $500 for that FrameMeister when the time comes. My original bulb (Samsung DLP) lasted 7 years, and I just changed it out today with a bulb I bought over a year ago. Looks better than I remember!

I think there is a chemical you can use to de-yellow the plastic.

Also, I have the Demon's Crest cart and manual, but no box. Muhahahahah!

 

[RexRogers]

I think there is a chemical you can use to de-yellow the plastic.

Also, I have the Demon's Crest cart and manual, but no box. Muhahahahah!

The retrobrite process to de-yellow the plastic is extremely temporary. You get maybe a year. If you're snes yellows then just accept it as fate.

 

[sixteen-bit]

The retrobrite process to de-yellow the plastic is extremely temporary. You get maybe a year. If you're snes yellows then just accept it as fate.

I guess you could sand it and paint it but that comes out tacky more often than not

 

[Teknoman]

Soooo I just stumbled upon a Chinese website that sells fakes SNES and NES carts of rare games. Yikes, that's gonna put me off buying any forms of retro games from ebay now. Shit is scary seeing how authentic they look.

EDIT: Ha, you can even buy boxed games in bulk. goddamn! I guess this may seem old news to some of you but I just found this out and wow! It's just blowing my mind.

Looks like its time for Tactical Espionage Action.

 

[D.Lo]

The retrobrite process to de-yellow the plastic is extremely temporary. You get maybe a year. If you're snes yellows then just accept it as fate.

Wrong. Depends on the item, how badly it is yellowed to start with, how you do it, and on post-treatment conditions.

I have treated things years ago that have not re-yellowed. Some did, but after a second, better done treatment they never did agin.

Though I have never done a US SNES, and it seems they are particularly troublesome.

 

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

Been playing a lot of Contra 3 lately. Seriously a great game on hard mode - lots of great, bosses with cool random behaviors (the wall-climbing guy in stage 3, the battleship in stage 4 (the best one in the game?), the godlike boss rush in the last level), and its run-and-gun segments just feel so deliciously volatile (especially the one at the very start of the first level and the one in the middle of the last). I even managed to beat it without dying after a lot of practice. Both 16-bit Contras are masterpieces, but I'd have to give the edge to 3, even despite the fairly clunky top-down stages (which I think are pretty decent, all things considered).

I've just started my first proper playthrough of Earthbound.

Obviously it's wonderful. I'm surprised at just how grindy it can be though. I had my ass handed to me when I first took on the punks at the arcade. Even now I'm a bit further along, the smallest enemy seems to be able to take you down if you get complacent. It's kinda refreshing.

I don't think it's actually that grindy. It's harsh in that yeah, you can't walk right up to the arcade and beat the enemies there as soon as you hit Onett, but once you grab the best equipment (make sure you have the cheap bracelet and the hidden Mr. Baseball Cap), you'll be good to go. You will have to beat up a couple of Sharks to get enough money for the bracelet, but it's not that big a deal, I think, and it's certainly the only time you ever have to do anything that approaches grinding.

 

[davidwhangchoi]

i just won a snes on ebay for a good price so i'll be joining the club soon =)

 

[Timu]

Been playing a lot of Contra 3 lately. Seriously a great game on hard mode - lots of great, bosses with cool random behaviors (the wall-climbing guy in stage 3, the battleship in stage 4 (the best one in the game?), the godlike boss rush in the last level), and its run-and-gun segments just feel so deliciously volatile (especially the one at the very start of the first level and the one in the middle of the last). I even managed to beat it without dying after a lot of practice. Both 16-bit Contras are masterpieces, but I'd have to give the edge to 3, even despite the fairly clunky top-down stages (which I think are pretty decent, all things considered).

I'm working on a no death playthrough of Contra 3 as well.=O I mastered most of the stages now.

 

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

I'm working on a no death playthrough of Contra 3 as well.=O I mastered most of the stages now.

Nice! Hardest part for me was undoubtedly the first part of the stage 4 boss; I conserved most of my bombs so I could unload them on him. Pretty much all of the final stage was a bit rough too.

 

[davidwhangchoi]

alien wars was fun. i liked the tribute to bubblegum crisis they gave w/ that boomer boss.

i liked C weapon. thought that made it easier.

 

[Timu]

i just won a snes on ebay for a good price so i'll be joining the club soon =)

Congrats dude, you will soon own of the best consoles of all time!

alien wars was fun. i liked the tribute to bubblegum crisis they gave w/ that boomer boss.

i liked C weapon. thought that made it easier.

C weapon is pretty much a requirement on Hard.

 

[SKINNER!]

i just won a snes on ebay for a good price so i'll be joining the club soon =)

Nice one! Enjoy

 

[blast processed]

Dave's falling deeper into that rabbit hole.

 

[Morfeo]

Dave's falling deeper into that rabbit hole.

And when you have got the taste of retro godness, its almost impossible to climb back up!

 

[davidwhangchoi]

i'm loving the rabbit hole =) thanks guys, ever since i got the sony bvm, i want to buy some stuff that i owned plus games for it i skipped in my youth. the console was pretty cheap, 40 plus 9 bucks shipping w/ original controller, ac plug and av wire and one game (taz mania)
i'll post some pics when it arrives =)

 

[Khaz]

Preorders are up for Nightmare Busters again. shipping sometime in 2017.
http://www.nightmarebusters.com/purchase.htm

 

[Bar81]

Preorders are up for Nightmare Busters again. shipping sometime in 2017.

Fucking retarded.

 

[TheMoon]

Fucking retarded.

Or, you know, completely reasonable considering what's happening here. You're not ordering a game from amazon. You're buying a game that has to be specifically manufactured by a factory that does this thing once for a tiny company that is making a super niche special interest product. They'll be taking preorders for a long time to give people enough time to get in on this and get their order as big as possible so they don't end up understocked with lots of latecomers or sitting on a pile of games nobody wants because they expected too many people to order after their cutoff date.

"Fucking retarded" this sure as hell isn't. At worst it's inconvenient to you.

 

[Bar81]

Or, you know, completely reasonable considering what's happening here. You're not ordering a game from amazon. You're buying a game that has to be specifically manufactured by a factory that does this thing once for a tiny company that is making a super niche special interest product. They'll be taking preorders for a long time to give people enough time to get in on this and get their order as big as possible so they don't end up understocked with lots of latecomers or sitting on a pile of games nobody wants because they expected too many people to order after their cutoff date.

"Fucking retarded" this sure as hell isn't. At worst it's inconvenient to you.

Yes, it makes a lot of sense to have an order open up for something that will ship in anywhere from 10 months to 22 months and has been manufactured before. Retarded it is.

 

[IrishNinja]

still waiting for anyone in this thread to have impressions on that nanitek game saver one day!

I've just started my first proper playthrough of Earthbound.

Obviously it's wonderful. I'm surprised at just how grindy it can be though. I had my ass handed to me when I first took on the punks at the arcade. Even now I'm a bit further along, the smallest enemy seems to be able to take you down if you get complacent. It's kinda refreshing.

oh man, the NES one is way grindier, haha
but yeah, in that era it didn't really stand out in my head as such, since i was basically used to grinding in an RPG to make life easier anyway - there's a few areas when it's just you & the girl and status/ambushes can wipe you out, no doubt. its also tricky that when you get a new character you gotta keep em alive long enough to level, but it comes together & feels a bit easier as it goes!

Dave's falling deeper into that rabbit hole.

haha yeah, my thoughts exactly. don't be one of those CIB people here, dave! you'll lose all your macross $!