Review: Retro Gamer Magazine

Before the internet, gamers had to get their news and reviews from magazines. There were a good amount of them during the 80's and 90's. As print media slowly becomes extinct, news racks are increasingly sparse; only the big name publications remain. Gaming magazines are virtually nonexistent, let alone niche topics like retro gaming. Not so in England, however. Retro Gamer Magazine has been going strong there since 2005. For whatever reason, the retro gaming community over there has numbers to support such a publication.

My first issue of Retro Gamer

I first saw a copy of Retro Gamer at a local Barnes and Noble book store. It was in the computers and technology rack, and I barely saw it peeking out over the Mac magazine. I was astonished that such a thing existed, and wondered how I could have not heard of it before. I examined it closely, it was issue #98, with Metal Slug feature on the cover. The gorgeous sprites of that seminal Neo Geo franchise jumped off the cover. I looked at the price in the corner, and was taken aback at its $9.99 asking price. Then I realized that it was imported, as I saw the 4.99 British Pound price. I flipped through it and made a quick decision to bring it home.

Visuals are bright and page-filling

The quality of paper is excellent. Each page has full color, and the cover is a full gloss and thick, it definitely can take a beating. I am starting to see why it costs as much as it does, considering that it is imported and the print quality is top notch.

The magazine boasts reviews, countdowns and lists, interviews, console specials, import reviews, buyers guides, and many other features. The quality of the writing is generally very good. There is an abundance of pictures and screen shots, all very well photographed with great detail. Ads are minimal and relegated to the back pages of the mag.

Some features are as great as they sound

The breadth of coverage is wider that I was expecting. It almost literally covers everything from Atari to the 6th generation. While this is awesome, a lot of coverage is on British gaming computers as well. This makes sense, as it is a British magazine. I find myself skipping over these pages, and unfortunately that means I'm skipping a good portion of the magazine, almost half. I don't have any interest in the Armstrad, Amiga, Zed Spectrum, BBC Micro, or any other such gaming computer, and I can't imagine any other American would.

It is for this reason that I have reservations for a whole hearted endorsement. The coverage on systems and games common to the U.S. and Britain is excellent, but the bias is present and noticeable. Its too bad that there is no American equivalent, as even in this day and age of digital press, there is a market for physical print, albeit a small one.

I have collected these and will continue to collect, but I'm crazier than most. So, if you don't mind approximately half a magazine on Retro Game coverage at a premium, this is a great read.

These look great on a shelf

Some covers...

My Console Setup January 2018

Any retro gamer knows that a gaming setup changes over time with the addition/subtraction of hardware, consoles, TVs and technology. When I started this blog, I documented my setup here. A few years have passed, and There have been some changes. Back then I had two separate gaming TVs: a 37 inch LCD and a 32 inch Sony Wega CRT. The consoles connected to each were determined by videou output. Since then I have streamlined my two setups into one. The reason was two-fold: I acquired an Open Source Scan Converter, which allowed the older consoles to be properly displayed on an HDTV, and I wanted a single space for gaming.

The vast majority of the connected consoles are of the 4th-6th generation of consoles, with only a few HD systems. Combining these requires a variety of video switches, along with a cheat sheet listing what is connected to what.

Here are my connected consoles as of January 2018:

NES Top Loader (RGB modded with Playchoice 10 PPU)
This was my first modded console. I have an original "toaster" model, but once I entered the world of RGB video signals there was no turning back for me. The original NES could not process RGB video. The picture processing unit (PPU) chip harvested from an old Playchoice-10 arcade machine, was one of the first ways to get RGB from an NES. A Nintendo multi-out connection is fitted in the back to connect to a scart cable. This console requires the most work to get an RGB signal from, but it is still worth it to do so if you covet original hardware.
NES --> scart switch --> OSSC --> TV (hdmi)


Sega Saturn (Japanese Model 2)
The Saturn is a console that I missed entirely during its lifespan. I happened upon it after it the Dreamcast died. When I started gaming again in the early 2000's I focused on 2D platformers and shoot' em ups. While the platformer selection is lacking, its shooter and 2D fighter library is unparalleled. The Saturn is region locked, and nearly all of the best shoot'em up and fighter games are Japanese exclusives. This is easily overcome by using an Action Replay cart...or by playing on an actual Japanese Saturn! The Saturn outputs RGB natively, and so a scart cable is necessary.
Saturn --> scart switch --> OSSC --> TV (hdmi)


Sega Genesis (non-TMSS Model 1) and Sega CD (model 2)
The first version of the model one Genesis was non-TMSS, meaning the trademark message does not load onscreen prior to the Sega logo. Stereo output is accessible from the front via a headphone jack.  The audio output from the rear is mono, so in order to connect the stereo sound to the TV, a separate audio line is wired into the scart cable. A Sega CD model 2 unit is attached underneath. An extender plate fills in the gap underneath to make up for the longer Model one Genesis, as the model 2 Sega CD was designed with the Model 2 Genesis in mind. The RGB output of the Genesis is very striking and the easiest to notice the jump in video quality. I debate about removing the SEga-CD; I just don't play those CD games that often. I'm not in dire need of space at the moment, so I'll leave it for now.
Genesis --> scart switch --> OSSC --> TV (hdmi)

Super Nintendo (1-chip)

I didn't grow up with a SNES, but my friends did. Those were days when kids had one console at a time, and mine was a Genesis. Happy to have it now. The SNES outputs RGB natively as well, and the 1-chip version has sharper image quality than others. I have not made comparisons myself, but it seems verified online through several sources. It looks great anyway. I pulled out the physical tabs that obstruct Super Famicom carts from being played - this is easy to do and necessary as some carts are prohibitively expensive for U.S. versions, but cheaper for Japanese versions.
SNES --> scart switch --> OSSC --> TV (hdmi)


Sega Dreamcast (modded with region free bios)
Like the Saturn, the Dreamcast has quite the shoot'em up and 2D fighting library. And like the Saturn, some of the best offerings were Japanese exclusives. Initially I used a CD swap disc to play imports, but that go old fast. I found this one with the region-free bios for not much more than a regular Dreamcast and jumped on it. The video output of the Dreamcast is unique in that it is the only console of its time to output 480 progressive scan through VGA, which is the signal that I use into the OSSC. I have heard of advanced VGA boxes for the Dreamcast, but I think it looks fantastic this way.
Dreamcast (VGA) --> OSSC --> TV (hdmi)


PC Engine Duo (component modded)
The PC Engine was known in the west as Turbo Grafx-16. It was barely noticed here, overlooked as Nintendo and Sega were battling for market supremacy. In its home country, the PC Engine did quite well, and its Japanese library dwarfs its American offerings. A system heralded for shoot'em ups, it became a priority for me to explore. Games were released on both Hu cards (credit card-sized chips) and CDs. The CD system was the first of its kind, and was an add-on to the original systems. The PC-Engine Duo combined both into one unit, and so offered convenience as well as savings. The original video output was composite, but I had mine modded for component. This was a system that was somewhere inbetween 8 and 16 bits. The cpu was 8 bit, but the graphics processor was 16 bit. So while gameplay mechanics and processing was on par with the NES, the visuals and audio were 16 bit. The CD games obviously had superior audio output, with recorded tracks in lieu of chip tunes. Some games made better use of this than others, like Gate of Thunder and Lords of Thunder.
PC-Engine Duo --> Component switcher --> OSSC --> TV



Nintendo Gamecube
There's not too much to say about the Gamecube, other than the specificity of its component cables. The Gamecube generated high quality digital video, which was throttled down to analog signals for TVs that were not ready for such progress. The component cables have a specialized chip in them that enables the digital video signal to be sent, the highest quality possible. I have a gameboy player attached as well.
Gamecube --> Component switcher --> OSSC --> TV





Playstation 2 (Region free)
The backwards compatibility of the PS2 and on board DVD player were the two major reasons that the PS2 became the juggernaut that it was. A motif throughout this post is that shoot' em ups were a deciding factor in what consoles became my favorites. The PS1 and PS2 both had plentiful offerings...in Japan. This PS2 has a region-free bios installed for that reason. Component video output is standard. I have a 120 GB hard disk drive installed, and I have installed some of my own game on it for convenience.
PS2 --> Component switcher --> OSSC --> TV


Playstation 3 (slim)

This is my second PS3. My first was a 60 GB, fully backwards compatible unit that had heat stroke and basically melted itself. The slim model was more efficient and had better heat dissipation, making overheating no longer an issue. I have a couple dozen games, but my interests do not lie in modern gaming.
PS3 -- HDMI switcher --> TV

Playstation 4
Its a Playstation 4.

PS4 -- HDMI switcher --> TV


Raspberry Pi 3B
The Raspberry Pi 3 is either embraced or scorned by hardcore retrogamers. I wrote a little about it here. I have this connected on this TV, but often I move to a larger room when we have lots of people over. I currently have it in a NESPi case, which obviously resembles an NES.
Raspberry Pi 3B --> HDMI switcher --> TV




I also have a SNES Classic Edition hooked up at the moment. I hacked mine to add my favorite games.
SNES Classic --> HDMI switcher --> TV

You may ask why the redundancy between the original consoles, RetroPie, and SNES Classic? My answer to that is why do people like to drive classic cars, even though they already have a car? Why do people listen to vinyl even though modern forms of media are available? Something about the authenticity of original hardware makes it a different experience. I had a hard time letting go of my CRT, but in the end I'm happy with my decision (I still kept it, as good ones are getting harder to find).

Here it is altogether. I found the TV stand on Craigslist a few years back. What sold me on it was that it had enough space for my favorite consoles, it was sturdy, and it was only $20! My HDTV doesn't quite fill the space, so there's room to upgrade in the future. The speaker bar was a present and really improves upon the sound. My PS3 and PS4 are standing vertically behind the TV. I decided to keep the WiiU in a different room, as my kids play mainly that with their friends. There is an unholy mess of cables and cords hidden in the rear of the stand, well out of sight. The clean look is pretty important to me (and my wife!). Controllers are in a basket nearby. I also setup dedicated power strips so that its not drawing phantom power all the time when not on.
I'm really happy that I was able to condense my retro with current systems, and the key to all of that was the OSSC and some switch boxes.

So, I just wanted to share my take on integrating older generation consoles with modern display, and how it looks altogether. It's not for everyone, but maybe someone will read this and have some of their questions answered and be willing to do the same. If you have any questions feel free to email me or leave a comment.

Retro Gaming Options Today

We have come to the point where retro gaming is no longer fringe. There are multiple means of acquiring and playing retro games these days, some easier than others. People like myself, who have been into the hobby for a long time have more options than most of course, as we have a curated collection of physical games. Others who have nostalgia for retro games, but have not seen a Super Nintendo since the 90's may get an itch to relive some of these games from their past, and can now do so with modern conventions of plug 'n play consoles like the NES and SNES Classic Editions. There are also newer clone systems being released, emulation, download services, and so on. I wanted to compare the pros and cons of what I think are the the primary means by which people enjoy retro games:

1. Original hardware and cartridges
2. Original hardware and an Everdrive
3. Clone hardware and cartridges
4. Nintendo's Virtual Console
5. Plug n' play consoles
6. RetroPie on a Raspberry Pi
7. Emulation on a computer

1 - Original hardware and cartridges
The first option is to play the original game cartridges on original consoles. This has become the least cost effective method over the years, as continual interest and demand for games has inflated game values, and the simple law of supply and demand sets in. There are fewer and fewer games available, so things get pricey. Aside from the cost factor, older consoles do not produce a video signal conducive to a clear picture on HD TVs. The technologies of then and now do not translate, and there are compatibility issues. This can be remedied through a serious of specialized cables and/or console modifications, plus a video up-scaler of some kind. Playing original hardware is the only way to ensure that the game plays exactly like you remember it to. Of course this all gets expensive, and is only recommended to the very dedicated. Most likely if you're not in this camp by now, it will be difficult to go this route.

2 - Original hardware and an Everdrive
An Everdrive is a cartridge that plays roms from an SD card on your original console. Since the code of the rom is the same as on an original cartridge, and an original console is in use, the playing experience is indistinguishable from that of an original cartridge. This is an appealing option to many as mentioned above, the prices of games can get out of hand. Wherever you stand morally on the issue of using downloaded roms is not the debate here, it is just an option among many. Different people use Everdrives in different ways. Some load entire rom sets so that every single game can be played. Some use it to play rom hacks, homebrews, and other games that do not exist in cartridge form and this is the only way to play on an original console. I have found it to be a very convenient option to load the roms that I own onto my Everdrives, and leave it in the console. This reduces the wear and tear on the connecting pins. Of course you have the same issue of TV connectivity to contend with.

3 - Clone hardware and cartridges
While most older consoles are relatively inexpensive, there are advantages to playing on a clone console over original hardware. The main one is HD connectivity. Most clone consoles worth mentioning output 720p HD signals via HDMI, making them ready to plug and play. There are an increasing number of options out there, ranging from bare bones to fully-fledged FPGA hardware systems with no input lag (no emulation). As the range of options diversifies, so do the price ranges.
I am only considering HD systems, as I don't know why anyone would use a clone that was composite video (at that point just use an original console!).

Some HD options include, which are all or soon be be available online:
Gamerz Tek 8-Bit HD Entertainment System - plays NES, ~$25

Retro-Bit RES Plus  - plays NES, ~$40

Hyperkin RetroN 1 - plays NES, ~$40

Retro USB AVS - plays NES, Famicom, ~$180

Analogue NT Mini - plays NES, Famicom, ~$450

At Games Genesis Flashback HD - plays Genesis, Mega Drive ~$70

Old Skool Classiq 2 HD - plays NES, SNES, Super Famicom ~$70

Hyperkin Supa RetroN HD - plays SNES, Super Famicom ~$70

Hyperkin RetroN 5 - plays NES, Famicom, Genesis, Mega Drive, Master System and Game Gear (w/adapter), SNES, Super Famicom, Game Boy (all varieties), ~$130

Retro-Bit Super Retro Trio Plus - plays SNES, Super Famicom, Genesis, Mega Drive, NES
release TBA

Retro Freak - plays Famicom, NES (w/adapter), Genesis, Mega Drive, Turbo Grafx-16, PC-Engine, Super Grafx, SNES, Super Famicom, Game Boy (all varieties),  ~$220

Analogue Super NT - plays SNES, ~$190 releasing soon

These are not all of the options, just the most accessible. I can't review all of them, as that would require access to all of them, but rest assured there are a ton of reviews out there for all of them. Prices are current as of this posting and do not include cartridge adapters.


4 - Nintendo's Virtual Console
The fourth option is to use Nintendo's Virtual console. This service is available on the Wii (and WiiU). How it works is you purchase points using a credit card, and points can be used to download whatever games are available. Not all games cost the same number of points, but end cost ranges from about $5 for NES games, $8 for SNES games, and $10 for N64 games. Genesis and Turbo Grafx-16 games are also available for comparable prices. All told, these are reasonable prices for legitimate versions of these games, especially for games that are rare and/or pricey. There are a lot of titles available, but there still may not be your favorite game available. The emulation is decent, but the picture on the WiiU VC has a darker appearance, and some added blur for some reason. Keep in mind that the only controllers that can be used are the ones that have the Wii proprietary connector, or are compatible with the Wii/WiiU. There are not too many options, but the first party Classic Controller Pro is pretty nice. Depending on when you read this, games may no longer be available as Nintendo is planning on shutting down this service for these consoles, so what you have by that point is what you have.

5 - Plug 'n play consoles
A novel approach for causal gamers, and a recurring holiday gift, plug n' play consoles have existed for a while now, with low expectations for quality. Since you can buy these at Bed Bath and Beyond, you can tell that the target audience is not the connoisseur. Atari and Genesis have been the main culprits, as these have flooded the market until recently. When Nintendo released the NES Classic Edition, the bar was raised as this marks the first time a first-party developed device was released. Playing on the nostalgia of the casual or non-gamer, this item was hotly anticipated and scalped to the extreme. Nintendo gravely miscalculated demand as to this day you will pay anywhere from two to three times the msrp on the secondary market. The quality of the system, build quality, game selection, and playability are all what you expect from Nintendo, further adding to the desirability. Nintendo then doubled down the next year with the SNES Classic Edition. While more units were produced, it is still a difficult item to walk into a store and purchase. The gameplay is just as good as the NES Classic, yet there are fewer games, 21 on the SNES compared to 30 on the NES. The upside is that these compact, simple units with some of the best games on each system for a reasonable retail price. The downside is that there are only 21 or 30 games on them and you cannot actually acquire them for a reasonable retail price.
The company At Games, which produced Sega's Genesis plug 'n play console ($40), upped their game and released an HD version ($70) of the plug 'n play Genesis, this time with a cartridge slot! This is worth mentioning as it is the first of its kind. It does come with an advertised 85 games preloaded, yet expect about a third of those to be filler "bonus" games that are not actually Genesis games. It comes with wireless RF controllers, but you can use your own controllers as well. It has mixed reviews across the board.
The Retro-Bit Generations ($40) was a plug'n play console with licensed games from Capcom, Irem, Data East, and Jaleco. This was apparently pretty bad from a gameplay standpoint. Retro-Bit subsequently released the Retro-Cade ($60), which improved emulation, and swapped Jaleco games for Technos games. There are over 90 licensed games, mainly arcade versions, with some from NES, SNES, and one Genesis game. What makes this different is the emphasis on the arcade games selected.   
It may be worth noting that the NES Classic, SNES Classic, and Retro-Cade can be hacked to play additional games. If you favorite game is not on one of these systems, you can add more games through some very minor hacks.

6 - RetroPie on a Raspberry Pi
RetroPie is a free program that lets you play various emulator programs under one front end, Emulation Station. The Raspberry Pi single board computer is the popular hardware to run it on.
There is an emulator for all of the popular systems from Atari all the way through Dreamcast, although the performance on Dreamcast and N64 is notoriously shaky. Everything prior to those is pretty good. This takes quite a bit of know-how, and the learning curve can be steep, depending on how computer savvy you are an how much customization you want to do. Again we are dealing with the acquiring of roms issue.
I chronicled my experience with RetroPie here. This is more of a deep dive than a casual device, but there are prebuilt Raspberry Pi systems for sale online. I have setup RetroPie sets for some friends, and from their perspective, it is the best thing since sliced bread. If it is setup already, it can be straightforward to use, but it is also easy to muck things up if you start messing around with settings. It was rewarding for me to research and figure out how to set this up, but the average person is not going to.


7 - Emulation on a Computer
I have a Mac, and the easiest option I have found was Open EMU, but there are far more options for PC. Essentially you get roms from somewhere, and drag them into the emulator, and they play. Once you know where to get roms, this is super easy. You can customize, add picture files to the icons, save states, and so on. I played around with it for a while, and it seems to play the games fairly well; I couldn't in my limited testing determine any major faults. I used an iBuffalo controller (the same one I use with RetroPie) and lag was not very apparent, although I am sure it was still there. To me this is the least appealing option to me, as I don't enjoy gaming at a desk. Some people don't mind though, and it is definitely an option.

My purpose is writing this up was to provide the breadth of gaming options to someone looking to get into retro gaming. Anyone who has been following the hobby already knows a great deal of this info, but maybe something will pop up that they didn't know.

Review: Gun Nac for the NES

Shooters on the NES are a mixed bag. They were plentiful, but due to hardware limitations, they were very basic and similar in most regards. There are dozens of shooters, but only a few are held in high regard. Gun Nac is one of them.

The game was developed by Compile, and its heritage shows. Your ship has that "basic" Compile look to it, as seem in Power Strike, Zanac, Space Megaforce, and others. Ship handling is tight,  responsive, if maybe a tad too fast.

The laser is powerful but hard to aim

Power ups are decently varied for the era.
1 - wide ranging vulcan shot - good for beginners
2- large round shot that fragments latterally - fancier but difficult to survive with on later levels
3 - homing but weak scythe-like shots - good for beginners as it makes the stages easier, but ineffective for harder bosses
4 - pulsing flame thrower - it shoots out at length with the initial button press, then its range gradually shortens until pressed again. Effective but tricky to use.
5 - piercing laser - strong, but difficult to use as your shot needs to be lined up to be effective; a good choice against bosses.

The compile "P" chip in one its earliest appearances

Each one can be powered up by collecting the same numbered icon, or "p" chips; another developer staple. Getting hit will lower your shot power; getting hit while on the lowest level results in death.

Awww, how cute. It's firing carrot missiles!

As an interesting addition, there is a shop that you visit between each stage, where you can purchase weapons and upgrades with the cash that you picked up during the stages. Depending on which difficulty setting you play on, this may or may not be helpful. I found myself not needing to buy power ups until the later stages.

Sometimes weapons and pickups clutter the screen

There are several different bombs that you can collect, each denoted by a letter. The more of a specific letter you have collected, the more powerful the effect. You can hold up to 20 of them, but you don't know how many of each you have. These are plentiful.

The programmers at Compile knew how to squeeze everything out of the NES cpu, as there is always a screen full of activity. The enemy variety is superb, and enemies are unique to each stage.
In stage one, the primary enemies are variations of robotic bunnies, as follows with the storyline. There are big bunnies, medium bunnies, carrot projectiles, and a big boss bunny. While these enemy sprites are cute, well designed, creative, and weird. Some examples of enemies include:
flying matches, cigarettes, giant candles, matchboxes, fortune cookies, battle ships with octopi sailors, tentacled creatures, mermaids, and so on.

Attacked by cigarettes and matches....is there some underlying message here?

The action is very lively and fun to take in. There is an abundance of different enemy sprites, all unique to particular stages. If there is one downside to the graphical presentation its the backgrounds. These are pretty standard fare, and sometimes the color use is questionable. I suppose when using the majority of the NES's color palette for the sprites, the leftover colors are used for the backgrounds. Despite this, there's more than enough interest and intrigue in the visuals to make this game a looker.

Bosses are varied

When powered up, the game is on the easy side for shoot' em up veterans. Newcomers to the genre and casual gamers will have no problem stepping as the difficulty curve is a gradual one. Power ups seem to litter the screen at times, so getting powered up again after dying is not as harsh as other games of the era, like Gradius.

Scenery is a mixed bag. Some good, some meh.

I enthusiastically recommend playing this game. Its accessible, interesting, fair, and lot of fun. I find myself coming back to this one over and over again. The cart is, as with many vetted classics, pretty expensive, but if you have the means to play Famicom games that may be a cheaper alternative, or just use an Everdrive or emulation. Any way you get to try it, I think you'll like it.

Review: Retro-Bit Dual Link Controllers

During this revival of retro gaming, more and more people are dusting off their old retro consoles and reliving their past. Often there comes a need to acquire extra controllers, as the originals may be missing or no longer functional.  A quick search online will show that there are a plethora of third party controllers for retro game consoles, many on the cheap. When compared to the standard of original controllers, most of these fail to compare favorably. Sure, they get the job done, but as the old adage says, you get what you pay for. I wasn't in need of extra controllers, but I couldn't pass up the Mega Man designs. I figured I could use these on my original consoles as well as on Retropie.

Every now and then I put together a console setup for friends, and doing so requires me to assemble all the necessary controllers and cords. I have found that I am disappointed in 9/10 generic controllers that I encounter. Everyone has different priorities/taste when looking for a third party replacement controller. From aesthetics, to design, d-pad stiffness, button clickiness (or lack of), cord length, heft, and overall physical form factor, there are a lot of variables to consider. For me, the most important aspects of a generic controller are:
a - how close the d-pad feels to the original
b - how close the button "springiness" matches the original
c - how well the controller feels compared to the original

NES controller comparison
Clearly the button positions on the Retro-Bit NES controller are different, and the buttons are convex instead of concave. I presume this was done to match the B and A button positions on a SNES controller. Its different, but is easy to get used to. The start and select buttons have been raised for some reason. It's not a huge bother, but I found myself pressing the center of the controller out of habit, only to have to stop and look for the start button. The d-pad does not have the arrow indentations that the original has, and has perhaps a lower profile. I found this to be very comfortable, maybe even more comfortable than the original. Movement is smooth, and the resistance is just right. The buttons feel good, except that I prefer the concavity of the original. The build quality is great, and has the same weight as you expect is should. This particular Mega Man design is one of two characters that Retro-Bit licensed from Capcom, the other being Arthur from Ghost's n' Goblins. There is also a non-character design, but I think it looks too plain.

SNES controller comparison
The Retro-Bit SNES controller does not deviate from the original controller design. All of the buttons are where you expect them, and the X and Y buttons are even concave to physically distinguish them from B and A. The button press resistance is bit lighter than the originals, which I like a lot. The L and R shoulder buttons even have a "clickier" feel to them, but not in a bad way. The d-pad is perfect, they nailed this one.

Genesis controller comparison
The Genesis 6-button controller is the second controller released, the first having only three buttons and a start button. It was released around the time when Street Fighter 2 Champion Edition was released, and with good reason. Playing SF2 with only three buttons is a nightmare. You would have to press start to switch between punch and kick. In a game where speed matters, that is a game breaker. It also featured a new d-pad, which is smoother and a bit raised compared to the original. It feels better overall, and is a very comfortable controller. Retrobit did a nice job recreating the feel and tactility on their officially branded SF2 6-button controller.

The whole dual-link concept is an original idea for reproduction controllers, and a welcome one. With more and more options for playing retro games, having a multiple controllers for each system is cumbersome. These controllers all have an original plug and a usb connection, so you can use the same controllers for emulation as well as original hardware.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at the build quality and performance of Retrobit's dual link controllers. They are definitely worth the price, and the awesome licensed artwork is icing on the cake. I highly recommend them. I would go at get them now before the license runs out, as I don't imagine there will be a huge production run.

Review: The Open Source Scan Converter (OSSC)

Anyone who has tried to connect a retro game system to a modern TV has no doubt experienced an unappealing, blurry image. This is due to the system sending a 240p video signal, which is interpreted as 480i by the modern TV. For those who don't know, 240p is an older resolution, with 240 lines of resolution, progressively drawn one at a time. 480i is 480 lines of resolution, interlaced, so the lines alternate to increase resolution, yet flicker in doing so. This was the standard television resolution for decades. This signal sent from the older consoles to the TV is like an ancient dialect, and pending the TV brand, correct interpretation varies from meager to none.

I love seeing this at startup, especially with scanline

For this reason many hardcore fans have kept a CRT lying around in their home somewhere. However, this is becoming more and more difficult to do as CRTs take up a lot of space, which gets hard to justify to others that you live with.

Some people want the ultimate in genuine old-school aesthetics, and go so far as to seek out a professional video monitor (pvm) or a broadcast video monitor (bvm) for their retro gaming. These monitors were super high-end, used by television studios and cost thousands of dollars back in the day. The quality of video output is undisputed for older analog sources. Timing was everything if you were trying to get one, as now they are nearly all depleted and have been long gone as we approach a decade of high-definition. I'm sure there were some people giving these away at some point, but in today's market, the remaining units are highly coveted and expensive. Also, they tend to be on the small side.

The Genesis 240p output is amazing, if viewed properly

The XRGB-Mini, known as the Framemeister is a device that converts and upscales old video output standards (240p, 480i) to a signal that your modern HD TV can relate to (720p. 1080p, etc). It does so cleanly and easily. I don't have a Framemeister, so I can't vouch for this myself, but from researching online it seems that there is between 1-2 frames of lag, and the 480p video handling could be better. The Framemeister is expensive. Not only is the unit itself expensive ($350-400), but it will no longer be manufactured after 2017, which will only drive prices higher on the secondary market. Add to that the necessary RGB scart cables and cable adapters (component and RGB) for the ports on the Framemeister, and you're easily adding another couple hundred dollars. Whether this is worth it or not will vary from person to person, like taste in cars.

So long old friend, you've had a good life

My previous setup utilized RGB scart cables, transcoded into a component signal into a Sony Wega Trinitron (2002). As much as people online raved about the Framemeister, I just couldn't get myself to take the plunge. I had decided that RGB through component into the WEGA was good enough for me.

Then I heard about the Open Source Scan Convertor (OSSC). It is a line doubler, instead of an upscaler. That means it converts 240p signals into 480p signals on the fly, without the need to process the image (and hence no lag!), and outputs via HDMI. I'm pretty sensitive to lag, so this, along with at lower price point (less than half of the Framemeister) was what sealed the deal for me. If your TV allows, you can even integer scale the picture at 3x, 4x, and even 5x. My TV is an older LCD and would not, but the default 2x looks pretty awesome to me.

There are three inputs connections:
Scart - accepts RGBs, RGsB (sync on green) and YPbPr

Component - accepts YPbPr and RGsB (sync on green)
VGA - accepts RGBhv, RGBs, RGsB (sync on green) and YPbPr

Scart cables are necessary for the RGB output, and these can be easily found online these days. They are system specific.

Note that there is no composite nor S-video input. This is really not an issue, as anyone who gets this far research-wise is not looking to use those sub-par connections anyway, so why clutter things up?

My OSSC is version 1.6, which includes audio out via HDMI, which the previous versions did not have natively onboard. There is a micro-SD card slot for firmware updates, and audio in jacks for the VGA and component sources (the RGB scart .

The 6th generation consoles that output 480i are processed to reduced the jittering that takes pace when interlaced video is displayed, giving the overall picture a steadier appearance. 480p video output can be passed through or line doubled to 960p. There were a few games per system that did this, and you will need the infamous Gamecube component cables for that console.

Dreamcast games never looked better

I have been waiting for a proper solution for my Dreamcast to come along for a while. I could have hooked it up to my HDTV via VGA (which looked great), but I wanted it to reside alongside its 6th generation counterparts, instead of the oddball next to the PS3 and PS4. So I had it hooked via S-video. Now that there is a dedicated port for VGA to hdmi, my problem is solved.

After a week of playing around, I couldn't be happier with the results. Nearly all of the default settings worked to perfection out of the box. There are advanced options to fiddle with, but I am not as technically inclined to know exactly how to do everything with it, so I am totally ok with the default setting for each signal. Scanlines can be toggled on and off, as well as adjusted for thickness.
It's a little ironic to add scanlines to a system that is digitally processed to double the number of lines, after all, scanlines are the absent lines on CRTs due to resolution limitations. I still like them, and I think that game developers kept them in mind when designing graphics back in the day. I prefer them with older systems, and may or may not turn them on with 6th generation consoles.

Scanlines are a must for NES games

Here's what I have connected:

via scart using a Bandridge manual 5-port switcher
NES (RGB modded)
Genesis (model 1 w/stereo scart cable)
SNES (1-chip)
Saturn

Bandridge scart switches are hard to come by

via component using an Impact 6-port component powered switcher :
PS2
PC-Engine Duo (component mod)
Gamecube (via official Nintendo component cables)


via VGA:
Dreamcast (3rd party VGA cable)

with scanlines at 18%

no scanlines

The only system that I am unable to connect with this is my N64. Coincidentally, this is my least favorite system, and I'm not terribly bothered. Perhaps some day I'll get it RGB modded so it can join its brethren in my setup.

Final Thoughts
I am very happy with the picture quality that the OSSC puts out. It does everything I need it to, and does it well. Far and away the best feature is having no input lag, which even the Framemeister cannot claim. It is compact, and has direct connections for all of my video inputs (except the aforementioned S-video, for which it gets a pass) without needing more adapters (D-terminal and scart adapters, for example). I like the fact that my setups have been consolidated, as I can obviously connect modern consoles to the same TV as the OSSC. For all that you get, the price is right. Given that this is open source, more improvements and tweaks can reasonably be expected. I thought I would stick it out with my Wega CRT but after switching I don't see going back. I highly recommend the OSSC for anyone who wants to play old school on modern TVs with no lag.