andykara2003

Still got mine hooked up to my CRT. Love this console.

@rushiosan Wow - Banko Kazooie has one of the most listenable soundtracks I can think of. And I had classical violin training from the age of four.

FPGA consoles - the next step towards retro gaming perfection! Minimal latency, more accurate than software emulation, HDMI out, great physical looks, designed by seriously talented engineers. As good as original hardware plus CRT? Never has been, never will be.

With the exception of handheld devices - this looks beautiful.

I think the consoles would look better spinning in the ball.

@Einherjar Agreed. If everyone reviews based on initial code, it’ll discourage developers from releasing broken games.

@HolyGeez03 I agree. I’m annoyed that so many developers are releasing broken games. Very annoying for us physical collectors who value retro games. One day the servers that provide these patches will be shut down & then if your hardware breaks you’re stuck with a broken game.

@Axelay71 Same, '71.

@Ooyah So good to see another oldie here - 49.75!

I love my SNES so much. Although I was in the middle of the birth of rave when it came out. Summer of love - the best train of parties ever known to man, only those who were there know what I'm talking about. So yes, I'm very happy that I had to forgo the experience of the SNES for a few extra years.

They nominated Just Dance 2022? Just lost every ounce of credibility with me.

@Ooyah Another fellow oldie - can I ask how old?

@mattcoz Yes the remake of that one 👍

Must be a hint that Metroid 4 will coming out by the end of the year..

Talk about evergreen title. I know everyone’s excited for a MK9, but damn this demonstrates even further that Nintendo are the best developers in the world.

Thanks for the insight, I’m turning 50 soon & feel that my priorities are changing. Sounds like you’re embracing life & made a great decision, I might do the same. I’ll keep it all for a bit longer to be 100% sure but I have a feeling it’ll all go before too long.

@HamatoYoshi Oo that’s tempting me to sell my stuff then. I put it on hiatus for a while but that sounds perfect. I just almost broke my arms moving house with a whole room full of CRTs and other stuff. Definitely feels like a weight in my life..

@HamatoYoshi Nice one, same here. I almost got rid of my collection at that point but realised it might be a rash overreaction. Now I enjoy the games for their own sake but am free of the compulsion of collecting. In fact it was the first time I could really enjoy the games for their own sake. Did you get rid of your collection?

@HamatoYoshi How old are you out of interest? I see you were on the C64 side? I was a Spectrum owner.

Thank god I finished my collection a couple of years ago. I wouldn’t be happy to pay the prices some of these classics are going for now. Lots of people being ripped off and repros are common now as well. And I’ve never been interested in Japanese games because of the language barrier but respect to the people who do - lots of games don't need you to understand Japanese.

@liveswired Actually Nintendo are well known for their incredibly efficient coding. They were just coding on relatively limited hardware.

I love the extreme devotion and love for Nintendo’s history these modders and programmers have, and very cool to see these projects. For me, I just love original consoles on CRT and that’s the way I play all those games. I love the way the unique phosphor bloom and bleed of CRTs treat the games - an effect just as beautiful as any mod. Nostalgia plays a part too of course.

@Prizm Slightly immature language there - but I play multi platform games on PS5, Series X or PC. Using.a 3090 means I can run at very high frame rates so I usually choose that. I only use the Switch for exclusives.

We have a couple of 3090 equipped PCs that will run this but I prefer original hardware personally. I like to play the way the developers intended.

@Azuris Nice one - it sounds great, I’d like to try one.

@BloodNinja No hard feelings, enjoy your time here.

@BloodNinja I apologise, I didn’t mean to offend. I wasn’t using the fact that you’ve just joined to say you’re young - that’s your interpretation - just that you might not be used to how things work. You’re very welcome here, I was just pointing out that your exclamations in capitals will be seen as a bit pushy & juvenile here. Of course, you can write what you want, I just thought you should know.

@BloodNinja You’re absolutely right, the stick degrades. I keep fresh brand new controllers to update mine every 5 years or so, so I take your point. I was referring to you saying that the original’s the ugliest thing ever produced, which is of course opinion.

P.S. please stop saying ‘ninja approved’ after every comment. It comes across as very juvenile. I see you’ve just joined - perhaps you are very young in which case that’s totally understandable. But if you’re over the age of 12, get a grip.

@BloodNinja Quick preface to your comments: “In my opinion”.

@71nk0 It’s only poor design if you have to switch between the two control methods mid game, which I don’t think ever happened - so your argument is moot.

@71nk0 I take your point - The games I played didn’t use the d-pad. But for games that just used the analogue stick I find it just as comfortable as modern pads. Just our of interest, which N64 games did you play that required you to switch back & forth between the analogue stick and d-pad controls?

I never understood why so many people don’t like the original controller. It controls brilliantly in my opinion - I think some were confused as to how to hold it bizarrely. The control stick wears out which is its weakness. I keep a stash of brand new ones to last me out.

@Edu23XWiiU Ahh I see, thanks.

@GravyThief You already have the best option. I have the ultrahdmi - the digital solutions don’t come close to a good CRT.

Beautifully written article! As many of my retro consoles, controllers and CRTs as possible were bought brand new & are hooked up in a temperature and humidity controlled cellar - now that’s OCD. I was determined that all the kit would outlast me..

@quinnyboy58 Looks like a very decent solution - enjoy!

@Ultrasmiles True, but this is for those who love original hardware for various reasons.

@Incrediblecam is spot on - these projects are on a completely different level to the Eon super 64 and other plug & play solutions mentioned as the N64’s digital to analogue conversion is bypassed, producing a much cleaner HDMI image. But the downside is they’re not plug & play & you’d either need to pay a modder (expensive as it’ll be a complex install) or be pretty experienced yourself. And as he says, you’ll need to get your preorder in as soon as it goes up.

If Dan (Citrus3000PSI) is involved this is going to be good - he's a genius with this stuff.

However, there is a way (and only one way) to make the N64 look perfect - i.e. exactly as you remember it from back in the day.

I've tried so many routes, have the UltraHDMI, lots of CRTs, pro monitors etc. Hook an N64 to a brand new or barely used 14" (no larger) consumer Sony Trinitron via RGB.

This gives that perfect, clean, smooth, non-blurry image that people generally think is impossible or was just a delusion we had back in the day.

The UltraHDMI is the current best digital solution and doesn't even come vaguely close, let alone the EON super 64 etc.

@Edu23XWiiU I’d prefer this - if Nintendo handles this the way they handled the new 3DS then the pro would be a lame upgrade with no or very few exclusive games.

However, if a pro ran every existing game at a minimum of 1080p and in some cases with increased frame rates, then I’d go for it.

@BlubberWhale Yes, 900p would be much better.. Seeing what they’ve done before, I would have thought they’d be aiming for a scaling resolution with 900p as average..

@Moonlessky Yes, I went through the same process when I got the thing - cheers for reminding me to give it a go

@Heavyarms55 Good attitude, I'll go into it with that thought too.

@Moonlessky Hmm you have me thinking - I have one too but never liked the effect much as is slightly smears the image in a way I found off-putting. I might give it another go with Bowser's fury though. Maybe the MClassic combined with a decent viewing distance will suitably mitigate things.

Such a shame re. Bowser's Fury - I mostly play my games docked & 720p is such a step down from 1080p on a 55"+ TV. 1080p scales so well on my LG CX that I'm perfectly fine with it, but I found Pikmin 3 at 720p too low res & can only bear to play it in portable mode. But here, you lose 60FPS when playing portably so.. Never mind, if I was forced to choose between 1080/30 or 720/60 I'd still choose the latter; gameplay is king.

Loved my platinum cube back in the day. Not long ago I bought a brand new in box ntsc platinum so I know the machine will probably outlast me..

Grinding is fine for teens but for working adults it’s a waste of time

Mine have just started drifting & I haven’t used them much.

@Clyde_Radcliffe Oo nice, thanks for the link! I was going to pass on this as I‘ve played the main game but I think it might be worth it now. Wouldn’t want to miss 6 hours of Nintendo magic.

Nice - it's the length that concerns me tho (as always). If it's a good chunk. I'll buy it. Nintendo, please never introduce 8-way controls for fully 3D Mario games - and while we're at it, please consign the broodals to history. Also, your younger generation of coders are embracing other game types like western RPGs and incorporating them into Zelda, Mario etc. Great for this one generation & it worked well, but please don't continue this - remember that Nintendo is special because it's ideas are unique.

@TheFullAndy Thanks for your recent email Andy. Just to inform you that we’ve taken both your requests seriously and have since developed and prepared the game for your approval pending a worldwide release towards the end of next week.

Best, Konami.