Questions on Game Gear and Emulation.

murphyebass

Couple of questions. Hope it isnt against the rules of the forum if so delete what you need to please mods. Thanks.

Also sorry about the length of the post but really could do with a bit of help around all this.

First off I've only gotten into the whole collecting retro gaming recently. I love owning the hardware and software. Especially stuff I had as a kid like the N64 I acquired recently (still waiting on the SVideo cable) Cant wait to play it with that!!

And thanks to you guys here I found out about the neo geo pocket color. I love that yolk. I gets played a lot. I wouldnt want to emulate that experience as the control stick is fantastic. Match of the Milenium is fantastic!!!

I also bought a PS2 recently which I intend on picking up hopefully a wealth of games for.

On my list are a mega drive but just havent seen one yet to get. But I will.

And I want to buy a Game Gear but also havent seen one to get yet and have some questions around what to look out for as in I've heard the parts are prone to failure etc..

So whats the point of this ..

1. Right First off I want to know about the game gear.
You can buy refurbished ones off ebay for about 70euro which look great.
Is that the best way to buy them or is it a swizz so to speak.

2. Then on the mega drive thing as I say I havent found one but will hopefully soon.
Until then I'm considering modding my PSP to play some old games.
For example I really want a go of "Cool Spot" at the moment but have no way of doing this. It will definately be bought in the coming months/years but until then I was thinking mod the PSP for this and incredibly expensive games I dont want to fork out for.

So I'm no tech wizard. Can someone tell me the safest and easiest way to do this?? I heard you can brick the console by doing it so I'm very wary as you can imagine.

3. Would also consider similar for the DS Lite I have for GBA games as I've been done with 3 fake copies lately and getting sick of it to be honest.

Hope that all makes sense and I'd really appreciate the help. I've tried googling etc but am getting different answers etc from different sources. Dont want to do the wrong thing or buy the wrong thing etc..

Retr0gamer

Game Gears all come with some kind of capacitor problems it seems. Best to buy one and replace the capacitors or buy one from some one that has already replaced them for you.

If you are getting a megadrive get a scart RGB cable. Also make sure you mod it with a region and 60Hz switch if you get a PAL system otherwise you'll be playing with borders and most games slowed down.

Not sure about emulation on the DS but from my experience with it my advice is don't bother. Emulation was crap on it. Even the PSP has trouble with emulation of SNES and above. Some one is bound to say SNES emulation is grand but it runs only with frame skip and the sound is terrible.

Myrddin

murphyebass wrote: »

1. Right First off I want to know about the game gear.
You can buy refurbished ones off ebay for about 70euro which look great.
Is that the best way to buy them or is it a swizz so to speak.

€70 sounds pretty overpriced for a working Gamegear. You should be able to find one cheaper than that, as loads of them are about that arn't working. If you can find a cap kit for it & have someone replace the caps, its a very cheap way of getting a GG.

2. Then on the mega drive thing as I say I havent found one but will hopefully soon.
Until then I'm considering modding my PSP to play some old games.
For example I really want a go of "Cool Spot" at the moment but have no way of doing this. It will definately be bought in the coming months/years but until then I was thinking mod the PSP for this and incredibly expensive games I dont want to fork out for.

So I'm no tech wizard. Can someone tell me the safest and easiest way to do this?? I heard you can brick the console by doing it so I'm very wary as you can imagine.

3. Would also consider similar for the DS Lite I have for GBA games as I've been done with 3 copies lately and getting sick of it to be honest

Personally I don't find either the DS nor the PSP to be a particularly enjoyable emulation experience. Both are lacking, & if you intend on buying the original hardware at some point, it'd prob be better to wait until you do to play the games.

murphyebass

EnterNow wrote: »

€70 sounds pretty overpriced for a working Gamegear. You should be able to find one cheaper than that, as loads of them are about that arn't working. If you can find a cap kit for it & have someone replace the caps, its a very cheap way of getting a GG.



Personally I don't find either the DS nor the PSP to be a particularly enjoyable emulation experience. Both are lacking, & if you intend on buying the original hardware at some point, it'd prob be better to wait until you do to play the games.

If thats the case with the emulation I wont bother. Apart from the not having the hardware right now its also the case that even when I do I wont have that much time on the telly to play the damn thing hence handhelds being my new love!! NGPC ftw

On the game gear end of it then I just buy one that doesnt work on the cheap and get the cap kit. Who fixes them do ya know??

Cant wait to get a game gear. It was the only handheld I owned as a kid but like everything else it got sold stupidly.

When I get that and the mega drive that'll be my full console gaming history restored.

Must get the Amstrad 6128 plus working again. Cant believe its the only one that didnt get sold. :rolleyes:

CiDeRmAn

Adverts offers up some keenly priced MD on a regular basis, Cool Spot isn't expensive either, have a budget in mind and stick to it, have a look at what previous MDs sold for,
Original hardware really is the best way to play these games.

murphyebass

Retr0gamer wrote: »

If you are getting a megadrive get a scart RGB cable. Also make sure you mod it with a region and 60Hz switch if you get a PAL system otherwise you'll be playing with borders and most games slowed down.

I didnt relise this until recently when I was looking at an advert on ebay and it had the mod switch on it. Think the console alone though with no games or controllers or anything was about 50euro which was more than I was willing to pay.

Say I didnt pick one up on Adverts who does the modding?? Anyone in Dublin for example?

cheers

murphyebass

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Adverts offers up some keenly priced MD on a regular basis, Cool Spot isn't expensive either, have a budget in mind and stick to it, have a look at what previous MDs sold for,
Original hardware really is the best way to play these games.

I couldnt agree more. As well as feeling the part its the owning the original console and feel of the cart in your hand etc..
Holding the N64 in my paw for the first time in 15 years recently was a nice feeling. Sad but true.

No I just wanted to have the option to play games on a handheld due to telly time and certain games costing a fortune that I'll never play otherwise. I completely agree with your comment though.

ps Cool spot was a great game. It sticks in my memory for bein the time when shops opened that you could rent time playing on a mega drive etc. Good times.

Retr0gamer

Time hasn't been the kindest to Cool Spot or those other Dave Perry games. they get boring quickly since every level is just collect XX % of items and reach the end.

murphyebass

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Time hasn't been the kindest to Cool Spot or those other Dave Perry games. they get boring quickly since every level is just collect XX % of items and reach the end.

Thats a shame I must say. I looked up a couple of videos on youtube and I was just taken in by the nostalgia probably more so than the gameplay.

o1s1n

Don't listen to that old grump, Cool Spot is still great. You'll still enjoy it

I despair for Gamegears. I'd say millions have been binned because of that damn cap issue. Such a shame as they run pretty well once they've been replaced.

The LCD screens though aren't the best. Lots of ghosting and washed out colours. It's old LCD technology. They've come a long way since!

Mr.Saturn

I dunno much about DS emulation, but I found the MVS emulator to run particularly well. Mind you, the DS d-pad has no business trying replicate the experience of playing a legit MVS, but there is that initial novelty of playing Waku Waku 7 on a screen barely bigger than a couple stamps. There's some input lag, I recall, but for the likes of Puzzle Bobble, it's not too bad. If you dare go near the like of KoF and whatnot, your gritted teeth'll be nubs in an hour.

o1s1n

The DS Neo Geo emulator is witchcraft. The day I got Metal Slug working on the thing my jaw hit the floor.

murphyebass

o1s1n wrote: »

Don't listen to that old grump, Cool Spot is still great. You'll still enjoy it

I despair for Gamegears. I'd say millions have been binned because of that damn cap issue. Such a shame as they run pretty well once they've been replaced.

The LCD screens though aren't the best. Lots of ghosting and washed out colours. It's old LCD technology. They've come a long way since!

I probably would still enjoy it. I like easier games preferably. Simple and straight forward or pick up and play.

Part of me would love to have time/patience/effort to buy into the likes of RPG's but its just not me right now.

I was looking at videos of the Fable series on 360 which looks pretty good but have decided against it just due to time really.

Last "big" game I played which isnt that big really was Zelda Spirit tracks which I didnt even finish. Must pick it up again actually as I was enjoying it.

o1s1n

murphyebass wrote: »

I probably would still enjoy it. I like easier games preferably. Simple and straight forward or pick up and play.

Part of me would love to have time/patience/effort to buy into the likes of RPG's but its just not me right now.

I was looking at videos of the Fable series on 360 which looks pretty good but have decided against it just due to time really.

Last "big" game I played which isnt that big really was Zelda Spirit tracks which I didnt even finish. Must pick it up again actually as I was enjoying it.

You can get nice big RPGs which aren't modern games. I recently just finished Phantasy Star IV for the Megadrive and it was one of the greatest games I've ever played. Working on Earthbound now for the Snes and loving it

Both far better than that Fable tosh!

murphyebass

o1s1n wrote: »

You can get nice big RPGs which aren't modern games. I recently just finished Phantasy Star IV for the Megadrive and it was one of the greatest games I've ever played. Working on Earthbound now for the Snes and loving it

Both far better than that Fable tosh!

Fairly sure I have the phantasy star series on the mega drive collection at home for the 360. Might give it a whirl the next time I get a free afternoon whenever that might be. :rolleyes:

o1s1n

If you don't have much time then go straight for IV. It's widely believed to be the best in the series. One of the best Megadrive games by far. Kind of annoyed I only got round to playing it recently!

Retr0gamer

If you are new to RPGs don't go near Phantasy Star 1-3. They will seriously kick your ass. Phantasy Star 4 is a good entry level RPG in terms of difficulty as long as you keep your defense buffed for boss fights.

Neo Geo emulation is usually pretty fast because it's very simple architecture meaning less timing issues than there would be with something like the SNES. Timing is what eats up CPU power when emulating. It also helps that it's based on the well documented 68000 CPU.