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The Nintendo 64 Appreciation/Collecting/Emulation Thread.

IrishNinja

Member
yeah, really lookin forward to those impressions - ordered my ED64 board! found a good page about unreleased games, any other hacks/stuff to look for?
 
I was digging through my Attic while I didn't find any games, I did manage to find two of my old genesis controllers and this.


21VafzE.jpg


My old N64 is long gone traded it into Game-Stop like a moron when I was young, but I managed to find my old box to bring back the nostalgia.

It's in pretty good condition considering it's been shoved up there for years.
 
yeah, really lookin forward to those impressions - ordered my ED64 board! found a good page about unreleased games, any other hacks/stuff to look for?
You and I both, then.

...as well as a Mega Everdrive, an Everdrive N8, and an Everdrive GB. Guess I'm set as far as running ROM hacks/translations on real hardware goes (for the most part, anyway).
 

SKINNER!

Banned
yeah, really lookin forward to those impressions - ordered my ED64 board! found a good page about unreleased games, any other hacks/stuff to look for?

Grabbed mine too. Can't wait to give it a go. Settled for a 2.5 as I don't really care much for Pokemon Stadium 2 and Animal Crossing but I'm wondering if I'll regret getting the 3.0 considering it saves without resetting. Oh well, just gotta wait until it gets in the mail.
 

Craft

Member
Got a near mint boxed complete Kirby for £35, only problem is the shop has stuck a price sticker right on the cardboard. Any tips for removing this without damaging the box or leaving any residue?
 
Grabbed mine too. Can't wait to give it a go. Settled for a 2.5 as I don't really care much for Pokemon Stadium 2 and Animal Crossiq but I'm wondering if I'll regret getting the 3.0 considering it saves without resetting. Oh well, just gotta wait until it gets in the mail.

I went with the 3.0 for this reason only. We have drunken game nights all the time and I'd rather not worry about remembering to press reset every time we want to save. What about games that save without prompting you? I'd rather not deal with the hassle.

On another note I'm starting to get worried about my n64 controllers and their analog stick. They have some play to them but they all sit centre still. On any other controller this would be a deal breaker but I honestly don't remember what a new n64 controller felt like. My question is, does anyone know what a n64 analog stick felt like when new? Was it nice and tight like any other analog stick?
 

IrishNinja

Member
Grabbed mine too. Can't wait to give it a go. Settled for a 2.5 as I don't really care much for Pokemon Stadium 2 and Animal Crossiq but I'm wondering if I'll regret getting the 3.0 considering it saves without resetting. Oh well, just gotta wait until it gets in the mail.

ah, AC is the DD version yeah? moot point for me without the hardware i'm thinking, haha

and i know some see it as a hassle but my mega everdrive already has me in the habit of resetting, so i'm just gonna do that on every one of them for good measure
 

SKINNER!

Banned
What about games that save without prompting you? I'd rather not deal with the hassle.

During gameplay, saves occur just as normal. You only need to hit reset(to commit your save file to the SD card) instead of shutting down the N64 when you're done playing or wanting to switch games.I don't think you are required reset the console everytime you're prompted to save by the game. I hope not anyway otherwise I'd have gone for the 3.0 as well.

ah, AC is the DD version yeah? moot point for me without the hardware i'm thinking, haha

Yeah, the Japanese version of AC that got remade and translated for the Gamecube anyway. Something about the game requiring a built in battery that's not present in the Everdrive 1 and 2s. It's the only N64 game that uses it.
 

robot

Member
I modded one of my controllers with one of those gamecube sticks that was posted on GAF a looong time ago. It's actually pretty cool! Definitely better than the used original stick that was in that controller, but I still prefer a fresh original.

Have any aftermarket replacement sticks come close to the original? Ordering controllers from ebay is always a crap shoot - I luckily got a good atomic purple that is slightly loose but feels good. The hunt for a minty controller seems impossible nowadays.
 
Unfortunately, no. The GC-style sticks are particularly bad, since their degrees of analog sensitivity aren't quite right (going up in steps of 2 instead of steps of 1) and having a notable deadzone. At least, early GC-style sticks. Apparently later ones are better about this. Marginally. Good luck knowing which one you have.

There's also one modeled after OEM parts, but it's apparently incredibly stiff and bad and awful and people hate it... although it's apparently less so if you swap in the spring part from an actual OEM stick? I dunno.

There's also replacement gears from kitsch-bent. I ordered four pairs and am considering using it on my current stick (which still snaps back roughly to center but definitely is a little loose once it reaches there), so I guess I can see how well those work.

Unfortunately, the two gears are like only two parts of four that wear down from friction - you also have the bowl and the stick itself to worry about, and as far as I know nobody's done anything to replace those... yet. Writing this up, I'm wondering if the aftermarket OEM-style sticks could work as a replacement bowl, but given nobody's tried that yet, I'm going to assume the answer is "yeah no". Still, there are at least two suggested ways of repairing the bowl - one using metal putty and a 15mm steel ball, another using epoxy and drilling some holes into the existing bowl. I'm tempted to try the putty method sometime, although I'd have to special order the ball (they're cheap on Amazon, at least).
 

dhonk

Member
Code:
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/Zrm4Vnd.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/H3ysNE4.jpg[/IMG]

Screencap from an h.264 video via Elgato Game Capture HD. Full video soon, gotta play some other games.
 

dhonk

Member
That's even better, need more screens!

Ok heres a few more then! haha. This is with all the retro preset stuff off, and just trying to get it as sharp as possible. Note: these are still screengrabs from a video, so there might be some compression. But still seems like a decent representation of the actual results.

 

IrishNinja

Member
gorgeous. so can you do that degloss/whatever filter and scanlines too? cause my XRGB does those well but that video said this device does fantastic ones too
 

dhonk

Member
gorgeous. so can you do that degloss/whatever filter and scanlines too? cause my XRGB does those well but that video said this device does fantastic ones too

Oh sure, this is the supplied retro mode at 1080p which is just a preset of a bunch of settings. You can fine tune stuff afterwards too of course. This isn't how I usually run my games, but it feels authentic to me and should be good for people that like it! Oh also note, if you compare my 2 screenshots of the Mario Kart character select screen you might notice you can see more on the Retro one. Had a different overscan setting before, now set it lower to match the retro mode one and its all good. (You can of course disable overscan as well. The menu system is very easy to navigate, excellent stuff.)

Code:
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/dhEK7r1.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/hjvcRj7.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/fIr4VyJ.jpg[/IMG]
 

TheMoon

Member
Code:
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/Zrm4Vnd.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/H3ysNE4.jpg[/IMG]

Screencap from an h.264 video via Elgato Game Capture HD. Full video soon, gotta play some other games.

I'm sure you chose those screencaps completely at random. :)
 
Oh sure, this is the supplied retro mode at 1080p which is just a preset of a bunch of settings. You can fine tune stuff afterwards too of course. This isn't how I usually run my games, but it feels authentic to me and should be good for people that like it! Oh also note, if you compare my 2 screenshots of the Mario Kart character select screen you might notice you can see more on the Retro one. Had a different overscan setting before, now set it lower to match the retro mode one and its all good. (You can of course disable overscan as well. The menu system is very easy to navigate, excellent stuff.)

Code:
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/dhEK7r1.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/hjvcRj7.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/fIr4VyJ.jpg[/IMG]

These look damn good! Much better than the first 2 pics you posted.
 

IrishNinja

Member
goddamn, dhonk - those lines look gorgeous! sounds like that board + install would be $150+ though, yeah? damn, gonna be a while before i can justify that, haha
 

dhonk

Member
Yeah the install was 164 + shipping both ways from Badass Consoles. (He also is a big player in the Gamecube modding community.) He did an amazing job, even the port cutout for the mini HDMI looks flawless.

It was darn expensive for sure, but a better price than other installers I've seen so far. (Retro Fixes is the other one Ive seen installing, 220 bucks I think.)
 

Lynd7

Member
I'll definitely be getting one installed eventually. Looks great.

It's firmware is upgradable via a flash cart for if it does get an update one day right?
 

dhonk

Member
I'll definitely be getting one installed eventually. Looks great.

It's firmware is upgradable via a flash cart for if it does get an update one day right?

Yes, and there already is an update. (Or will be soon.) Basically my installer mentioned he could hold off on shipping the N64 till he got the update. It fixes a bug with *some* official n64 controllers not being able to access the UltraHDMI settings. I just wanted the darn thing and I have 6 N64 controllers so I figured one of them would work. It did.

Anyhow yeah, Ill need to get a flashcart at some point if I want updates.

hXOuqca.jpg


bonus DOOM
 
Is there any ghosting when the games are in motion? Also I don't know if you have the tools but it'd be cool to see comparison pictures with s-video and composite.
 
Is there any ghosting when the games are in motion? Also I don't know if you have the tools but it'd be cool to see comparison pictures with s-video and composite.


Something like this is very subjective and will differ with every tv/monitor. The biggest advantage is that the signal is digital and the up scaling is being done by the unit and not your tv/receiver. This gaurentees a great picture on any tv/monitor with HDMI. There is no ghosting. This will be caused by the receiving end if there is any. You can bet your ass the image will be superior to any analog output and is the best option, hands down, for playing n64 on a modern tv.

When you're running 240p via an analog signal on a modern tv it's a roll of the dice. Most modern Tvs don't even have svideo and don't accept 240p via component for rgb-component converters so that just leaves you with composhit.
 

IrishNinja

Member
anyone know anything about N64 hacks/etc? i was reading some of the Mario 64 ones are working on console now, was wondering about that & what else to grab!
 

outsidah

Member
I may pickup that HDMI upgrade when they get more stock. In the meantime, is Project 64 still the go to emulator of choice? I tried downloading the latest version and got some warnings about malicious software on their page. It looks like they bundle the installer with Adware now?
 
They do, yes - deliberately, apparently. You might be able to track down a version without it, but I recall having difficulty doing so.
 

Peagles

Member
It's funny, I haven't used it in years and it's sitting on a partition somewhere. Anyways out of nowhere Windows started freaking out the other day and quarantining it and stuff because of the adware crap, lol.
 
I may pickup that HDMI upgrade when they get more stock. In the meantime, is Project 64 still the go to emulator of choice? I tried downloading the latest version and got some warnings about malicious software on their page. It looks like they bundle the installer with Adware now?
I use whatever is bundled with OpenEmu but i think it's Mupen64plus. Works about as well as you can expect a 64 emulator to.
 

IrishNinja

Member
so, i filled up this 16 GB SD on my ED64 with all sorts of madness - sadly most of the Mario 64 fan hacks haven't worked, but ive got 1 gig of community Goldeneye maps!

had some friends by last night, bond was great but man, Duke Nukem was rough. getting back to Paper Mario soon though!
 
I still haven't even received a shipping number for my Everdrives. Really should shoot off an email about that, it's been three weeks...
 
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