I guess I oughta ask this question: do you need a dedicated deinterlacer/image scaler or does your TV function for that purpose just fine?
If the answer to either of those questions is “yes”, then I could see the rationale for getting a Retrotink2x Pro/Multiformat or a Retrotink5x, but if the answer to the latter question is “yes”, then it might be a waste of $129/279.
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I actually realized I don’t need it.
My tv a flatscreen still outputs the PS2 beautiful.
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The Dreamcast has arrived! And man is it an amazing console. First thing I noticed right out of the box is it’s much more small and compact than I was expecting from pictures I’d seen of it. But it has a very reassuring heft to it, and the overall build quality is very good.
This Dreamcast in particular is in great condition, with no yellowing or scratches, as was everything else that came with it. The VMU was still in the original box with instructions, and the pull tab for the battery hadn’t even been removed! And speaking of the VMU, how has no other console since the Dreamcast implemented a feature like this? The idea of having a memory card that doubles as a second screen/clock/handheld game device is so cool.
Overall I’ve been very impressed by the experience I’ve had with the console so far. It’s incredible how advanced it is for when it came out, and it’s so sad that it tanked the way it did. I guess people just weren’t ready for it at the time… But if you’re at all interested in owning one of these things, I’d highly recommend pulling the trigger on one. I have a feeling it’s soon to become my favorite console I own. I just need to get more than one game for it first…
Anyway, that’s enough rambling. Here’s a few pictures I took:
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I gotta know:
Is the controller as bad as everyone says it is?
Because as time’s gone on, I’ve learned that small controllers like the older DualShocks before the 4 hurt my hands like crazy. Surely the Dreamcast controller can’t be worse than the DualShock 2, no?
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If I said it was a great controller I’d definitely be lying. But I don’t think it’s terrible. The grips are definitely pretty small though… But from my limited use thus far, I don’t really notice the controller design affecting my ability to enjoy playing games with it. But if the DualShock 2 hurts your hands, this might as well… It’s not that the controller is small, but the grips are.
Overall I like the button placement, but the grips could have been a bit wider to make it feel less like you’re clawing at the controller. Which is something I forgot to touch on in my previous post.
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Rambling about RenderWare on Discord is fun.
It’s even more fun when you realize that Sonic Team actually managed to make a game that is better on the GameCube than any other platform. I’m looking very squarely at Sonic Heroes, a game that doesn’t support 480p on the PS2 but does on the GameCube… and runs far worse on the PS2 than it does on GameCube.
Some things just never change, because quite ironically, I remember Sonic Forces running better on Xbox One than PS4.
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Meanwhile me who bought Sonic Heroes AND Shadow the Hedgehog on PS2:
I’ll probably get both for the Xbox sometime (or the GameCube if I feel like paying more for the Nintendo logo)
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SCUS-97512 and a French Canadian print of Gran Turismo 3 are on my radar next.
I can only hope that I can find the Burnout Anthology versions of both Burnout 3: Takedown and Burnout Dominator.
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TFW Sonic Adventure takes up 166 of the 200 available blocks on a Dreamcast VMU… Provided you’re sending Chao to the VMU anyway. Looks like I’ll have to buy a second VMU, because I don’t have enough storage space for SEGA Bass Fishing anymore. That or shell out $60 (compared to $20 for a VMU) for a 4X memory card which has 800 blocks of space.
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ahfuck here we go again. Current collection as it stands consists of a softmodded 1.4 Xbox w/ 500GB HDD, Xbox 360 Elite 120GB (Falcon w/ busted laser), XB1X 1TB, PS1 1001, PS2 Slim 70000 w/ FreeMcBoot, and a PS4 Pro 7015B 1TB. PS1 and PS2 live in my closet as I have absolutely nothing for the PS1, and if I ever want to whip out the PS2 I can just take it and my 22" TV out and do that.
And then there’s my hoarding plans. I’m sure I’m missing a few, but maybe that’s a good thing. Obviously it should go without saying that in an ideal world, I’d want most of these to be in the best shape possible without spending a used car’s worth of money on each one.
So in a somewhat general order this would be the console hoard list:
- 2 Xbox 360 Elite Jaspers in near mint condition, one with an older NXE dash (anything pre-Kinect update honestly) and a second to keep up to date and use
- A Canadian Halo 2 OG Xbox to replace my clapped 1.4
- Halo 3 360
- Reach 360
- MW2/MW3 360s
- RE5 360
- Halo 4 360
- Facelifted XB1VCR where they ditched more of the gloss plastic
- White SE XB1VCR
- Xbox 360 Premium or Core (ideally with Blades)
- Halo SEs, Crystal, Skeleton, and Mountain Dew OG Xboxes
- XBL 10th Anniversary 360
No order for these ones, this is just a general list:
- Project Scorpio XB1X
- Storm Gray XB1S
- Fortnite XB1S (that purple do be hawt)
- Halo 5 XB1VCR
- Advanced Warfare XB1VCR
- PS3 Slim of some kind
- Some kind of phat PS3 60GB for that sweet sweet back compat
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Well, I just got very unlucky (or lucky depending on how you look at it). Apparently, there’s a known issue with a small number of Sonic Riders copies for the Xbox where the CGI cutscenes are extremely choppy and have glitched subtitles. And I just happened to stumble upon one of those few copies when buying the game off eBay. It’s not something I could have avoided as it seems most people don’t even know the issue exists. I can only find two search results anywhere that even reference the problem.
But whatever. Most of the cutscenes in the game aren’t CGI anyway, so it won’t affect the gameplay that much. Just an interesting issue that I never would have heard of if I hadn’t happened to stumble into one of those few glitched copies of the game.
The question is do I bother trying to get a refund? It’s not really the seller’s fault that this copy has that issue. And they appear to be a reseller, so it’s not like they had played this copy enough to even know it was one of the affected ones.
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Do what I’d do: cherish it and buy another copy that probably works properly - preferably a Platinum Family Hits copy.
stares nonchalantly at my copy of the SpongeBob Movie game on PS2 without a logo against the 4 other copies I own
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Yeah, it is definitely an interesting thing to say I have. Fortunately none of the gameplay is affected by the glitch, so if I decide I like the game I may buy a PS2 or GC copy as well. It’s actually pretty hard to find Xbox copies of the game for sale. Except for factory sealed copies, which there are always several eBay listings of for whatever reason.
Also as far as I know, Sonic Riders never got a platinum hits release on the OG Xbox.
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Oh, thought you said Sonic Heroes for a reason. Whoops.
Yeah, buying another copy wouldn’t be of much loss anyways - maybe on the GameCube, at least.
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I’m trying to decide if I want to buy a ROM cart for my Genesis. Because I have a bunch of (legally obtained) ROMs from buying the SEGA Genesis Classics collection on Steam, and it would be a heck of a lot cheaper than buying all those games individually. Of course, I would buy original copies of the games I like eventually, but for now, it would be nice to have more than two games to play on the console.
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Might as well get the ROM cart; would be worth the money not just now for the games you have, but in the future if you ever decided to sell it.
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I still need to see how terrible Densetsu no Surfroid is… and if I give a fuck about any WWE game ever made.
Actually, I have a lot on my back catalog.
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Sonic Team when porting Sonic Adventure 2 to the GameCube: “lol lets see how many objects we can shove into a level without the frame rate collapsing”
Sonic Team when porting Sonic Heroes to the PlayStation 2: “lol lets see if we can make RenderWare work like shit on the ps2”
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Honestly is there a single Sonic game on the PS2 that doesn’t run worse than the other platforms it was released on?
Heroes is pretty bad, but the worst of them all has to be Shadow the Hedgehog hands down. Words can’t even describe how horribly it runs - it’s something you just have to experience for yourself
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It’s something I genuinely want to see for myself. If it’s anything like how poorly SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! runs on the PS2, then I can find a lot of humor in it.
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