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Retro RETRO GAMING - WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING?

Discussion in 'Gaming' started by Spanky, 16 Feb 2023.

  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    I've a 28" Panasonic Quintrix that has to come down two narrow flights of stairs at the old place, down the steps, then up the steps into the garden and up more into the office at the new place. I'll be paying someone to do that for me!

    The PlayChoice-10, meanwhile, has *two* CRTs in it, though at least it's on the ground floor. I'll be paying someone to move *that* for me, too!
     
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  2. adidan

    adidan Guesswork is still work

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    Part of me wishes I still had my Sony Trinitron, part of me thinks I'd have to build an extension to fit it if I did.
     
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  3. David

    David μoʍ ɼouმ qᴉq λon ƨbԍuq ϝʁλᴉuმ ϝo ʁԍɑq ϝμᴉƨ

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    OG Gameboy Tetris and Super Mario.
     
  4. Spanky

    Spanky Multimodder

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    I know very much what you mean. Putting Sega Rally from the Saturn on my 55 OLED is blocky as hell . Doesnt detract from the experience imho but its certaily noticeable. XBSX2 for all the PS2 roms , has all the ratio's and even upscales to 4k and they look utterly amazing. I keep it at their original 4:3 .
     
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  5. SuperHans123

    SuperHans123 Multimodder

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    Galaga on Steam
     
  6. Pete J

    Pete J Employed scum

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    Here's a question: when are games considered 'retro'? And will it shift over time?

    Example: Any SNES game is obviously retro. But what about Half-Life? I mean, it's over two decades old now, but I personally don't consider it retro.
     
  7. fix-the-spade

    fix-the-spade Multimodder

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    Anything from the previous-previous generation of hardware counts as retro to me. So the PS3/360/Wii era is now retro gaming, once the hardware you need to play it is discontinued it's heading to retro land.

    As for Half Life, it turns 25 this year, it's so long ago that Pixar had only just released it's second movie, Marvel was bankrupt and nobody gave a **** what Al-Qaeda was. It's definitely retro. It's so retro it's older than the Euro.
     
    Last edited: 19 Feb 2023
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  8. Spanky

    Spanky Multimodder

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    Valid question. Personally to me its the old arcade games / SNES / Megadrive. Only recently filled the Xbox up with PS2 games ... and i dont consider PS2 to be "retro"

    OR ... maybe not appreciating how many years have gone past and am clearly too damn old.
     
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  9. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    I think the general rule of thumb is: if I played it as a kid, it's retro. If not, stop making me feel old.

    I swear, I get a new grey hair every time someone posts "my childhood right there" to Reddit and it's a screenshot of, 'kin', Halo or something...

    (Yes, I'm aware Halo is over 20 years old now. Don't make me tap the sign...)
     
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  10. adidan

    adidan Guesswork is still work

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    The most depressing bit about getting a new grey hair is when it gets to the point they start appearing anywhere on you.
     
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  11. IanW

    IanW Grumpy Old Git

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    I've been tapping the sign since Space Invaders hit arcades!
     
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  12. David

    David μoʍ ɼouმ qᴉq λon ƨbԍuq ϝʁλᴉuმ ϝo ʁԍɑq ϝμᴉƨ

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    Especially when they're not even yours, eh Dan?
     
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  13. adidan

    adidan Guesswork is still work

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    I've got fed up of telling you to trim Dave, damned friendly fire.
     
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  14. Byron C

    Byron C Multimodder

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    Ho boy, I could be here all day...

    I've trimmed down my collection somewhat recently, because I've forced myself to realise that I just don't have the room for it any more... At one point I had:
    • Commodore 64C
    • Atari 800XL
    • Atari STe
    • Atari STfm
    • Amiga 600
    • Mega Drive - two of 'em
    • Gamecube
    • Wii
    • Wii U
    • Playstation
    • Playstation 2
    • Xbox OG
    All I'm left with now is
    • Atari STe - this was my machine from 1989, you'll have to pry it from my cold dead fingers before I part with it
    • Atari STfm - I'm actually looking to move this one on, it's in immaculate condition
    • Playstation - mine from ~1994/1995, and again you'll have to pry it from my cold dead fingers
    • Playstation 2
    • Xbox OG
    These days I mostly use this - the MiSTer Multisystem:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    So... it's an emulator... but not. It uses an FPGA - specifically the DE-10 Nano - to re-create the hardware of original system(s) on the fly. So it's not really "emulating" in the way that a Pi or a PC would because it doesn't use any tricks, hacks, translations, etc; the ROM runs on the actual hardware that would be inside that system. But it kinda sorta is emulation, since the FPGA fabric can be re-configured on the fly to be whatever hardware you want.

    It supports almost everything up to the PS1, the hardware isn't capable of anything beyond that because the FPGA doesn't have enough logic elements; N64 will not be supported because the hardware is too complex for the FPGA, and Sega Saturn is being worked on right now. There are also a bunch of cores for arcade machines, so you could use this in a full-size cab in place of a MAME PC.

    It's bloody brilliant. It's as close as you can get to using the original hardware without actually needing original hardware. That blue USB port in the front isn't actually a USB3 port, it's a SNAC port - SNAC adapters allow you to connect original controllers to this port, and the actual proper USB ports support keyboard & mouse so it handles computers very well. You also get SCART and VGA out for "proper" 15kHz RGB as well as an upscaled HDMI output; you can't use SCART and VGA at the same time, but you can use HDMI and either SCART or VGA simultaneously.

    It is hella expensive though. The FPGA board is about £200 if you can actually find it in stock anywhere, and the MiSTer Multisystem kit goes for a smidge over £260 for all the parts (board, case, PSU)

    I do have a massive 32" widescreen CRT, but Big Chungus is going to a new home. It's just too big for this space...

    [​IMG]

    Instead I now have a far more reasonable 14" CRT - of course it's still a Trinitron!

    [​IMG]

    And, as pointed out by @Gareth Halfacree, this is indeed why your games don't look the way you remember them looking. This is always my go-to demonstration of CRTs vs LCDs:

    [​IMG]

    It's just not the same at all... GLSL shaders do a very good simulation of what a CRT should look like, so you should definitely look at CRT shaders if your emulator supports them. Note, that's shaders specifically, not filters. CRT filters tend to just darken every other line to try and simulate scanlines; shaders modify how the graphics are rendered in order to simulate things like phosphor glow, screen curvature, aperture grille, etc.

    The 14" CRT I have does a fantastic job of making things look good

    [​IMG]

    Correct! I had the 800XL and the C64C from you as a package deal. They both now have new homes where they'll actually get some use, as opposed to gathering dust on my shelves!

    RMC Retro got hold of one of these cabinets recently, looking forward to giving it a try the next time I'm there. Looks like it was an utter **** to get it up those three flights of stairs into the Cave. I have a hard enough time on those stairs because they're so narrow and low, I can't imagine trying to get arcade cabinets up there!



    EDIT: And finally... As to what counts as "retro", I'd say anything over 20 years. So yes, your OG Xbox, the PS2, etc. And yes, that includes older PC stuff like Half Life. I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to face it: you're getting older :lol:
     
    Last edited: 25 Feb 2023
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  15. Spanky

    Spanky Multimodder

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    So you've got a couple then!?!?

    I didnt realise so many people on here had old original hardware . I was surprised the GF still has her original SNES ( now in a rather cheesy council toilet yellow colour ) . Do these old CRT's have a an Ariel port for plugging the old consoles in ? Its been so long since ive had one in front of me!

    I might start looking out for an original Playstation
     
  16. adidan

    adidan Guesswork is still work

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    I can't part with things like that, got all my previous PS's boxed upstairs.

    Edit: @Byron C You saying the PS2 is over twenty years old and I was thinking "nah, don't be daft.... Hang on a minute....".

    Jeez my PS1 is from the last century!?!? How can that be?

    Fricking ageing....
     
  17. IanW

    IanW Grumpy Old Git

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    Managed to convince Lutris to play Simpsons Hit & Run on linux last weekend.
     
  18. Spanky

    Spanky Multimodder

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    I remember quite clearly pre-ordering my PS2 from Currys ... i was 23 i think. Now look at me , almost clinically dead. So yer , we is well old.

    These younger generation dont know how good they got it!! Stick a cassette in a ZX Speccy +2 and see how long THAT takes to load.
     
  19. adidan

    adidan Guesswork is still work

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    Damn, I even got my first email address last century. So early I didn't need to add any random digits to it because it'd already been taken.

    I best stop now otherwise I'll go into full old fart mode remembering when everything was all trees.
     
  20. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Had a quick play around with an emulator I'd not tried before: IBMulator.

    Screenshot from 2023-02-28 14-59-42.png

    Love the UI. Haven't got further than installing MS-DOS 6.22 and Wolfenstein 3D yet, on an emulated PS/1 with 20MHz 386, 16MB of RAM, and an 80MB hard drive. Haven't even got sound card drivers yet!

    It's supposed to support GLSL shaders, but I've not tried that yet.

    EDIT:
    Hah, nice.

    wolf.jpg
     
    Last edited: 28 Feb 2023

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