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[SKINNER!]

Can you list the hardware in this picture??

Specifically, whats that thing that holds a Cartdrige horizontally and what happens when you have 2 games connected to that mounstrocity.

Blaze's Universal Game Adaptor.

Place an NTSC game on the top slot. Place a PAL game in the rear (horizontal) slot and it autoamtically plays the imported game. Has never failed me once. Unsure if this device converts other region games on other consoles.

 

[zephervack]

I'm gonna guess it's an adapter/converter to play other region games. That's how many SNES adapters work, like the Honeybee Adapter. So the horizontal cartridge is a local region game that provides the lockout chip to fool the N64.

Blaze's Universal Game Adaptor.

Place an NTSC game on the top slot. Place a PAL game in the rear (horizontal) slot and it autoamtically plays the imported game. Has never failed me once. Unsure if this device converts other region games on other consoles.

Why does it need 2 cartdriges connected at the same time? is it grabbing the region code from one to patch the other?

 

[-KRS-]

Why does it need 2 cartdriges connected at the same time? is it grabbing the region code from one to patch the other?

If it works like the SNES adapters it routes the pins that are for the region chip to the local game and the rest of the pins to the import game. So to the N64 it appears that the game has the right region chip.

 

[Teknoman]

Anyone ever played Super Robot Spirits?

 

[-KRS-]

Got the PAL S-video cable from consolegoods.co.uk today (so it took about a week to ship within the EU), and holy shit the difference in picture quality over a composite cable is absolutely huge. Really sharp picture and the colors are so nice looking. So I can definitely recommend it for PAL N64 gamers.

 

[soxinthebox]

Got the PAL S-video cable from consolegoods.co.uk today (so it took about a week to ship within the EU), and holy shit the difference in picture quality over a composite cable is absolutely huge. Really sharp picture and the colors are so nice looking. So I can definitely recommend it for PAL N64 gamers.

Glad you got a great image out of it too. I really wish growing up I had known that there was an alternative to that god awful fuzziness - I had always assumed it was some N64 specific smearing filter.

 

[-KRS-]

Glad you got a great image out of it too. I really wish growing up I had known that there was an alternative to that god awful fuzziness - I had always assumed it was some N64 specific smearing filter.

Indeed. I've always felt a bit bummed out about the PAL N64 picture quality but with this cable it's a whole other thing entirely. It actually looks good now!

 

[SKINNER!]

I like the sound of that. Will definitely pick up a cable at some point this month.

 

[Lynd7]

The cable is definitely a step up, on an LCD though it still isn't fantastic, but it's definitely better.

 

[Rich!]

It's definitely an improvement if you don't want to pay extra for an RGB modded console.

I posted comparisons a few pages back. S Video is generally very good, but poor on edges and reds.

 

[metsallica]

So, not sure if this is the best place to ask but I always turn to RetroGAF first because, COME ON, RetroGAF = Best GAF!

Was just having a conversation with a friend about F-Zero, lamenting the fact that Nintendo hasn't shipped a new game in 10 years... It's my favorite of all Nintendo franchises and the talk got my mind wandering to the F-Zero X Expansion Set. It's the only bit of F-Zero I've never experienced so I started looking around for how best to officially rectify that.

First, I guess I'd need the following?

1. A Japanese N64 (or will my American N64 suffice?)
2. A working 64DD
3. A Japanese copy of F-Zero X (which I already have, actually, imported it from NCSX back in the day!)
4. The Expansion Set itself.

Is that correct?

Browsing through Yahoo Japan Auctions it looks like the 64DD goes for anywhere from $400 to $1000; prices fluctuate wildly with very few on sale. Many seem broken or untested, I've heard they have lots of reliability issues. Is there a better place to look for them? Are those prices what I should be paying? Also, generally how much does the Expansion Set go for?

Any help is appreciated; I'm not sure I'm willing to shell out the cash to do this but just thinking about it has been fun. I recently commissioned an amazing artist to do an F-Zero piece for me just to keep it at the forefront of my mind... And who knows? Maybe we'll get a happy announcement next week.

 

[ALM5252]

I had just got my copy of Baku Bomberman 2 (Bomberman 64: The Second Attack) yesterday. Ordered it for $15 free shipping. I really think I'm gonna be importing games more often. They're a lot cheaper than US games most of the time.

I might order Animal Forest next for my collection.

Fake Edit: My girlfriend's dad had found a copy of Pokemon Stadium, that thing was disgustingly dirty, but once cleaned it was working. I'll probably sell the one I had recently bought now.

 

[Kainazzo]

So, not sure if this is the best place to ask but I always turn to RetroGAF first because, COME ON, RetroGAF = Best GAF!

Was just having a conversation with a friend about F-Zero, lamenting the fact that Nintendo hasn't shipped a new game in 10 years... It's my favorite of all Nintendo franchises and the talk got my mind wandering to the F-Zero X Expansion Set. It's the only bit of F-Zero I've never experienced so I started looking around for how best to officially rectify that.

First, I guess I'd need the following?

1. A Japanese N64 (or will my American N64 suffice?)
2. A working 64DD
3. A Japanese copy of F-Zero X (which I already have, actually, imported it from NCSX back in the day!)
4. The Expansion Set itself.

Is that correct?

Browsing through Yahoo Japan Auctions it looks like the 64DD goes for anywhere from $400 to $1000; prices fluctuate wildly with very few on sale. Many seem broken or untested, I've heard they have lots of reliability issues. Is there a better place to look for them? Are those prices what I should be paying? Also, generally how much does the Expansion Set go for?

Any help is appreciated; I'm not sure I'm willing to shell out the cash to do this but just thinking about it has been fun. I recently commissioned an amazing artist to do an F-Zero piece for me just to keep it at the forefront of my mind... And who knows? Maybe we'll get a happy announcement next week.

American N64s work just fine with the DD, it's PAL systems that have issues. You'll have to modify the N64 to take Japanese cartridges (if you don't have a workaround already), but otherwise you're good.

I paid about $600 for the unit, and when I received my DD it wouldn't read discs, instead it made a clicking sound at regular intervals. I've read this issue happens a lot. I had to take the entire unit apart (and try finding a guide for that >_>) and cleaned the reader (tiny metal piece inside the metal cage of the disc slot). Thankfully that worked; it could've been shipping that tipped the reader, or dirt from over the years. DDs are built like tanks, they're one of the most solid pieces of plastic electronics I've ever felt. There's no way those things were ever cheap.

Just know that the DD is a novelty piece more than anything; the F-Zero Expansion Set is one of the better uses for it. The Mario Artist games are barebone, Doshin the Giant isn't that great, and Japan Pro Golf 64 is also pretty average. A decent price for the disc appears to be ~$40. Just know that you're spending at least ~$500 (with shipping) to play custom F-Zero tracks.

Edit: Sim City 64 is okay, but if you played 2000/3000/4 you've played something much better.

 

[metsallica]

American N64s work just fine with the DD, it's PAL systems that have issues. You'll have to modify the N64 to take Japanese cartridges (if you don't have a workaround already), but otherwise you're good.

I paid about $600 for the unit, and when I received my DD it wouldn't read discs, instead it made a clicking sound at regular intervals. I've read this issue happens a lot. I had to take the entire unit apart (and try finding a guide for that >_>) and cleaned the reader (tiny metal piece inside the metal cage of the disc slot). Thankfully that worked; it could've been shipping that tipped the reader, or dirt from over the years. DDs are built like tanks, they're one of the most solid pieces of plastic electronics I've ever felt. There's no way those things were ever cheap.

Just know that the DD is a novelty piece more than anything; the F-Zero Expansion Set is one of the better uses for it. The Mario Artist games are barebone, Doshin the Giant isn't that great, and Japan Pro Golf 64 is also pretty average. A decent price for the disc appears to be ~$40. Just know that you're spending at least ~$500 (with shipping) to play custom F-Zero tracks.

Edit: Sim City 64 is okay, but if you played 2000/3000/4 you've played something much better.

That is EXTREMELY helpful, thank you kindly! The lengths we F-Zero fans go for a bone... I've always wanted a 64DD and I'm definitely interested in making my own tracks, plus X is my favorite F-Zero. I'm going to search around for a while and see if I can dig up any promising leads. Again, thank you so much.

 

[Rich!]

That is EXTREMELY helpful, thank you kindly! The lengths we F-Zero fans go for a bone... I've always wanted a 64DD and I'm definitely interested in making my own tracks, plus X is my favorite F-Zero. I'm going to search around for a while and see if I can dig up any promising leads. Again, thank you so much.

Cheaper option:

http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/434/

It's far, FAR more flexible and powerful than the F-Zero Expansion Kit, and if you have an Everdrive 64 you can play your tracks on a real N64. Here's some hacks made using the editor, plus two patches which give you all the extra tracks included with the 64DD expansion kit:

http://www.romhacking.net/?page=hac...gory=&perpage=20&title=&author=&hacksearch=Go

 

[Shadow Hog]

The only custom track anyone truly needs

 

[metsallica]

Cheaper option:

http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/434/

It's far, FAR more flexible and powerful than the F-Zero Expansion Kit, and if you have an Everdrive 64 you can play your tracks on a real N64. Here's some hacks made using the editor, plus two patches which give you all the extra tracks included with the 64DD expansion kit:

http://www.romhacking.net/?page=hac...gory=&perpage=20&title=&author=&hacksearch=Go

The only custom track anyone truly needs

You guys are awesome.

 

[SKINNER!]

Any point getting the N64 version of Sin and Punishment if you already have it on the Wii virtual console? Also, sequel any good?

 

[-KRS-]

Haven't played much of the first game so can't speak for that, but the sequel is really damn good on it's own at least. Probably one of my favorite Wii games.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Any point getting the N64 version of Sin and Punishment if you already have it on the Wii virtual console? Also, sequel any good?

The original controls best with a N64 pad. But there should be a 3rd party adapter to get N64 pads working on Wii anyway.

Sequel is great, highly recommended.

 

[televator]

So I was looking for some actual info on the VGA/HDMI board for the 64. While I can appreciate the elegant design and the ammount of work in creating it, I wondered what it actually did that an RGB mod couldn't. At first it seemed like not much. It appeared to be simply line doubling... a function that can be done by existing external devices. Hmm...

Then I found this picture posted by the creator:

An OSD with scaling options. Pretty cool, although it still seems to me that folks with RGB + XRGB mini setups won't see much benefit?

 

[NR1]

Stopped by my local Half Price Books in Dallas, Tx and someone just unloaded a hell of a collection there. Lots of rare and unusual stuff. I grabbed Indiana Jones for $25, but if anyone sees anything they want, let me know and I will swing back by here tomorrow and get it and be more than happy to send it to you at cost.

 

[metsallica]

Aww, Rocket! My favorite Sucker Punch game by about a mile. Warms the ol' cockles just to see it.

 

[Teknoman]

Damn it, I would've wanted Mystical Ninja, but that seems like alot?

 

[Brofield]

Hey guys, I'm not sure if I've come to you before asking for this help, but I can't seem to find it anywhere else.

My Conker's Bad Fur Day cartridge is dying on me, and it sucks. Mostly because I'll never get as good a deal as I did elsewhere when I bought it for $25. For the first six months I've owned it, it's been absolutely fantastic, but recently it comes up that the system we'll turn on but no picture. I'll wiggle it around, blow some air into the game and/or the console (I know I shouldn't, but I panic everytime!) I know it's that particular game, because SSB, StarCraft 64 and a bunch of others work just fine...except this.

Now, I've gone through incredible lengths to clean this with rubbing alcohol and Q-tips, and those contacts were mirrors, but if I'm not mistaken, is there a method that involved taking apart the cartridge and cleaning out the inside? Or is that just even worse for the game?

 

[Rich!]

Don't scrub the contacts too much - you'll kill it. If youve rendered them totally gold and shiny then that's bad.

Sorry to say, but you may have caused it yourself.

 

[SKINNER!]

Nice find there NR1! I would've went for Indiana Jones too. Shame on the marker pen writings though.

Also, had no idea Beast Wars was an N64 game :O So many American NTSC games never made it to the PAL region by the looks of it.

In other news, got my eye on a mint copy of Bangai-o but I'm thinking maybe I can find it cheaper when I visit Tokyo at the end of the month. Gonna see if I can pick up a copy of Sin and Punishment too.

 

[-KRS-]

Don't scrub the contacts too much - you'll kill it. If youve rendered them totally gold and shiny then that's bad.

Sorry to say, but you may have caused it yourself.

Is that really possible using only q-tips though? Especially since he has only cleaned it without opening it up. I didn't think it was possible to apply that much force that way. And some games come out gold and shiny when I clean them since they weren't that dirty to begin with, but yeah if there's some black/gray on the pins after cleaning and you try to force that away that can be damaging.

 

[Brofield]

Is that really possible using only q-tips though? Especially since he has only cleaned it without opening it up. I didn't think it was possible to apply that much force that way. And some games come out gold and shiny when I clean them since they weren't that dirty to begin with, but yeah if there's some black/gray on the pins after cleaning and you try to force that away that can be damaging.

I don't believe I scrubbed away the black and grey pins, but I'll take it easy on the alcohol and W-tips if anything. Would a contact cleaner have been more effective? Or is rubbing alcohol just fine?

 

[televator]

I seriously doubt that q tips and alcohol would kill a cart unless we're talking some extreme elbow grease here... lol

First of all, don't panic. Secondly, NEVER blow on your carts. That should be like an official commandment for all retro collectors. Just don't do it. Its unnecessary, its the lazy man's way to get a cart to play, and you're just putting moisture on the contacts... Just stop that.

There are things you can try. Not all carts use the same contacts on the console itself. So try cleaning the contacts on the console itself. You can use an old gym mebership card and a very thin cloth doused in alcohol to do this. Just press the cloth into the system's cart slot with the card several times until you don't see more dirt on the cloth. Obviosly you wanna do this while the system is unpluged. Make sure you get all the contacts in slot. Give the cart istelf another alcohol rub, let everything dry out and try to see if the game works after that.

 

[chalkitdown1]

Why are so many of those games in the picture so expensive? I've only checked a few of the more popular ones like Goldeneye but they're about 4 or 5 Dollars on eBay. Also, why do all the prices end in 22 cents?

 

[Later Alligator]

I don't believe I scrubbed away the black and grey pins, but I'll take it easy on the alcohol and W-tips if anything. Would a contact cleaner have been more effective? Or is rubbing alcohol just fine?

i use rubbing alcohol/q tip first, and if that doesnt work open up the cart and use an eraser

 

[ZealousD]

Nice find there NR1! I would've went for Indiana Jones too. Shame on the marker pen writings though

Magic Erasers are a god send for permanent marker on cartridges.

 

[NR1]

Magic Erasers are a god send for permanent marker on cartridges.

Nice! Thanks for the tip! I had been wondering how to get rid of the writing without damaging the cart or label.

 

[-KRS-]

Do keep in mind that magic erasers actually grind away a bit of the surface. That's the "magic" of them.

But that means it will make the surface feel/look different there. I'm not sure how much it affects N64 carts though, but NES carts definitely get a smoother surface where you used the erasers.

Velinos in the NES thread said he had had good results using a dry erase marker to trace over the writing and then wiping it off. I'm not exactly sure yet what a dry erase marker is though, so maybe that also affects the surface. But something tells me it won't.

 

[Conrad Link]

I'm surprised it wasn't the Sculptor's Cut version of Clayfighter there NR1, considering a bunch of those in the picture are from the Blockbuster/rental exclusive range weren't they (Beast Wars, Scooter game etc)?

 

[NR1]

I'm surprised it wasn't the Sculptor's Cut version of Clayfighter there NR1, considering a bunch of those in the picture are from the Blockbuster/rental exclusive range weren't they (Beast Wars, Scooter game etc)?

Agreed. At first I thought it was, but my hopes quickly faded when I read the label.

List of Retail Exclusive N64 titles

I could have sworn that Rocket: Robot on Wheels and Chameleon Twist were exclusives too...???

 

[SKINNER!]

Track and Field 2000 and Daikatana were PAL retail releases. Strange to see them being rentals-only in the States.

 

[Rich!]

Track and Field 2000 and Daikatana were PAL retail releases. Strange to see them being rentals-only in the States.

Strange that Daikatana was released at all, anywhere.

 

[Celine]

Strange that Daikatana was released at all, anywhere.

The good Daikatana game was released for GBC.

 

[Timu]

The good Daikatana game was released for GBC.

I had no idea there was a good one.

 

[-KRS-]

Got a CIB Doom 64 in the mail yesterday. The box was a bit damaged when I bought it, but the cart and manual is in really good condition. When I opened up the cart to clean it I found that it was completely spotless. So I'm guessing it hasn't been played much, which I rectified immediately by putting it in my N64 and playing until level 7 or so. Such a great game.

 

[NR1]

New goodies at Half Price Books in Dallas.

I saw Corker at another location once before for about $85 if I recall correctly.

 

[PK Strawstorm]

New goodies at Half Price Books in Dallas.

I saw Corker at another location once before for about $85 if I recall correctly.

Remember when second-hand stores weren't so smart about prices? Oh the good old days of fleecing.

Note: I never experienced those days first-hand, but feel like they would've been more fun, so long as you weren't scamming some grammy. Meanwhile, this chain store probably did just that.

 

[Shadow Hog]

I hadn't realized cart-only prices for BFD were so awful.

 

[Rubik8]

I hadn't realized cart-only prices for BFD were so awful.

And to think I bought BFD for $8 in 2002 on a whim. Even worse, I still haven't played it.

 

[NR1]

And to think I bought BFD for $8 in 2002 on a whim. Even worse, I still haven't played it.

Well, if your not going to play it.... How about I take it off your hands? Tell you what, I will even do you a true solid and give you $10 for it! How about that! That's a 25% profit on your investment! Not bad in this economic climate.

 

[Teknoman]

Remember when second-hand stores weren't so smart about prices? Oh the good old days of fleecing.

Note: I never experienced those days first-hand, but feel like they would've been more fun, so long as you weren't scamming some grammy. Meanwhile, this chain store probably did just that.

You can still catch a deal at times. Ten bucks for Doom 64 isnt bad imo, and awhile back I got Super Double Dragon for like 12 or something. You can get really lucky if you catch them while they are shelving the games.

 

[FlammableD]

I hadn't realized cart-only prices for BFD were so awful.

Prices like that make me consider an Everdrive.

And then forget it when I check their prices.

 

[Rich!]

Prices like that make me consider an Everdrive.

And then forget it when I check their prices.

Eh? The everdrives are outstanding tech for very reasonable prices.

I remember the days of 128mbit flash carts for the GBA retailing for £200. And don't get me started on the copiers previously available for the SNES and N64, fucking hell. Shitty clunky unreliable shit that cost the equivalent of two or three everdrives each.