Jet Get Radio!!!! post here when you get something new!

Steve X2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121767161#Comment_121767161

That looks pretty handy to do. I have half of AliExpress here in my workshop, so I should have all the required bits :)

I just need to stop playing around with LoRa/Meshtastic stuff for 5 mins and get back to some retro fun. I pick up way too many hobbies way too quickly these days :)

KeRbDoG

Was just looking at Meshtastic...very temped to waste funds on it :D

Steve X2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121769864#Comment_121769864

It's very cheap compared to our retro hobby :)

€20-€30 will get you started with a Heltec v3. Can be a slippery slope though as I've got a load of stuff now. A lot of people comparing it to what HAM radio was back in the day(I've also got a load of HAM stuff).

Inviere

I've no idea what you're both talking about, and I've my fingers in my ears.....la la la la

o1s1n

Completed a nice little trilogy over the weekend.

I played the hell out of the original Rushing Beat on the SNES back in the day, my cousin bought it in the early 90s for ten pounds in Riders in Bray when they sold imports cheap.

My copy of it here is actually the original copy we had back then, my aunt was giving away a load of toys and it appeared randomly in a bag. Was absolutely chuffed to find it.

Only found out a few years ago it was actually part of a trilogy. Picked up Rushing Beat Ran back then and finally Shura last week.

By no means the best scrolling beat em ups on the system or anything, but the first game is so special to me it's lovely to have all three!

Inviere

^^ Not exactly setting the world alright here, but I finally got around to ordering this adapter for my eprom writer. Now I can write the likes of Amiga kickroms etc. I know you can softkick these days, but where's the fun in that!

Steve X2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121794320#Comment_121794320

Its permanently attached to my one :) Very handy adapter, and no need to write in multiple passes/blocks when doing larger eproms like the more common adapters you see around.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121794390#Comment_121794390

I look forward to using it. Is there anything special needed via the programmer software Steve, or does it just recognize it?

Steve X2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121794578#Comment_121794578

Once you have a recent version of the xgpro software it should all work automatically. You select the eprom type you are writing to and it'll probably show you a pic(as below) of the adapter to make sure you have it plugged in. Was such a timesaver for me as I was using the older style adapters that you had to switch banks to write the larger eproms.

Older adapter with dip switches is top middle.

Inviere

Brill, thanks Steve 😎

MrVestek

Another Haul from Retro Source in Farmingdale New York. Fantastic place and I definitely recommend checking it out if you're ever in the area.

Tried the StrikerDC pad the other day as I was getting kinda tired of my blueretro from disconnecting every so often and it works really really well!

As you can see I'm starting to develop a fondness for obsolete media formats such as HD DVD and Laserdisc! :-P Hopefully a working Laserdisc player actually turns up today as I'll be on my third fourth player now in an attempt to get a working one (long story).

All in all including the N64 game that I got for my now fiancée (she proposed to me whilst I was over visiting her, naturally I said yes!) it was about $180 in all including tax which considering it was all purchased in a bricks and mortar store isn't actually all that bad.

Here are some images of the expanded Retro Source below for those that are curious:

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121822671#Comment_121822671

Congratulations on the gets and the engagement 👍

o1s1n

Congrats man! Do Retro Source act as a wedding venue too? Seems rather apt 😁

MrVestek

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121824014#Comment_121824014

Nah but she wants to move to Ireland so we'll likely be doing something here instead. Maybe I can ask the lads in Token? :-P

DaveyDave

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121824806#Comment_121824806

Nothing more romantic than the downstairs for a venue haha. Congrats! Always interesting to see the different retro shops around the world.

Doge

Vectorlink arrived today after a pretty long wait since paying the customs fees.

It allows you to use a bluetooth controller for the Vectrex and worked really well with my 8bitdo m30 mega drive controller.

For analog stick support you need to use a wired Wii compatible controller since it uses the Wiis controller port, even the nunchucks will work and it supports the accelerometer so you can use motion controls insead of the physical thumb tick.

The Bluetooth dongle is basically an 8bitdo Bluetooth receiver with a vectorlink sticker on it.

Absolutely loving it as I find the original vectrex controller cumbersome to use and you can certainly get better high scores using one of these.

o1s1n

The sheer amount of peripherals and bits and pieces coming out for all manner of consoles is amazing. Never in a million years did I think you'd see a bluetooth dongle for the veccy. That's brilliant.

Doge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121830758#Comment_121830758

Let alone using a motion controller on the Vectrex! Was playing the arcade version Battlezone last night with the AAE emulator running on the PiTrex.

Playing proper arcade vector games is class. There hasn't been any development for the PiTrex in about 2 years though.

No one has stepped up to keeping it going even though it's open source.

Inviere

I don't really buy many games these days, but what I do like to do, is have a few of 'the greats' for each console if possible. This popped up on Adverts recently, so decided to grab it.

KeRbDoG

Picked up Amiga games, childhood memories :) Don't have any big box games but these are both complete, Frontier even has its mini stories book. Nice

MrVestek

Saw this on a Michael MJD video and just knew that I had to have it. It's a fakeout of Windows 95 on Mega Drive but it's actually this lad's chip tune album in a full Mega Drive cartridge.

https://mikeyeldey.bandcamp.com/merch/standard-edition-grey-cartridge-with-game-box-fourth-run

I don't even know what the music is like. The dude is building them himself by hand too which as I know from experience is no small feat.

Mainly buying it for the novelty of having an album on Mega Drive cartridge. :-P

Anybody else ever bought anything like that before? I'm trying to encourage my chip tune friend Circuit Bird to release some of her music on cartridge too.

Parawind

After several years of waiting my Polymega Deluxe Bundle finally arrived. I have to say it might have been a painful wait but so far I really like the system. The UI really is fantastic, was able to install an M.2 drive without any problems and have been dumping my collection onto it gradually over the past few days without any issues. Really love the filters they have developed, in particular the RGB and RGB/Blur look just amazing on a modern OLED screen. They darken the image slightly, apply really great scanlines and really nail the look of playing these games on a CRT. The fact that you can easily save these on a per game basis and easily swap between them midgame and seeing the current image previewing before changing is again just a testament to how good the UI design is. Really looking forward to testing out the translation patching for my Japanese titles too.

I know a lot of people's attitude to it is just get a RetroPie but I have been down that route before and there is just too much tinkering and I always would run into some limitation or issue. This is the all in one pickup and play solution that I have wanted for a long time, allowing me to massively simplify my setup and still play everything on my primary TV and via my home theatre.

o1s1n

Wow, I tell you what, that's some clean packaging design! I wonder how many units and add ons they shipped in the end? I was convinced this one would be vapourware.

Inviere

A good UI can really make or break the experience. Especially when they mail nice touches like filter previews, save states, etc, sounds like they've nailed this one.

DaveyDave

Jesus, I forgot about that! I remember at the time I was interested in it but I think the price threw me off? Looks like a lovely bit of kit in fairness.

o1s1n

It's a premium looking product for sure, I see you can just straight up by it now.

Just shy of 750 euro for the base unit and four console modules. Not cheap but honestly, it's not overpriced for what you're getting IMO. Wonder do they have an EU distributor or could you get whacked out of it with a big import bill?

https://polymega.com/collections/consoles/products/deluxe-bundle

Interesting to see they're giving lightguns a go too:

https://polymega.com/collections/controllers/products/gc01-retro-gun-controller

Parawind

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121896350#Comment_121896350

Honestly so did I for a long time, the whole thing could actually be a movie. They they had typical supply chain issues, then they had some of the parts being manufactured in Myanmar which then had a Coup D'etat in 2021. I suspect they ran out of funds and ended up with Atari buying a steak in the company and being the unlikely hero. As of March 2024 they have fulfilled all of the back orders from 2023 and earlier.

There was a European supplier called Worldwide distribution or something however I staying away from them and ordered direct from their site, only paid 25 euro customs. The unit was cheaper when I ordered it think it was closer to 600 back then. There was some shaddy dealing with the European supplier and they never placed orders with Playmaji the parent company. I believe they are still trying to sort it out but I personally would only go direct through their site.

The Lightgun is actually a partnership, it is a custom version of the Sinden lightgun however that is still not shipping yet. Really can't wait for that to get shipped.

I had tried the "Retron 5" previously and still have it, but never ended up using it much simply because the UI was so awful. This does look and feel like a premium product and pretty much every way you want to play something it gives up options to do it your way. I'd go so far as to say the UI is one of the best I have ever used. Its graphically clean, the menu layout is similar to the PS3 cross media bar but less cluttered sort of like the PS4 menu was originally. The database of screenshots from games and details is great, it even recommends similar retro titles with screenshots and info on them in certain sections which is just really nice but also not in a intrusive way.

MrVestek

Got this in the post today after seeing a Michael MJD YouTube video about it.

It's a Windows 95 simulator for Mega Drive but it's actually just a very clever interactive chip tune album by MikeyEdley

Had a quick bash of it and it's a lot of fun!

More can be seen here:

https://youtu.be/g2hr8CgU3uM

There's a few left on his Bandcamp page if anyone fancies picking it up:

https://mikeyeldey.bandcamp.com/album/mikeyeldey95

o1s1n

Got this lad in the post today. Absolutely zero import tax from Japan, very unexpected.

This is me right now.

DaveyDave

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121967936#Comment_121967936

Was skimming through this video, that's a serious bit of kit!

Around 12-13 years ago I used to make DJ mixes but never had time to practice enough to get good so I never got into it enough to do complex samples/loops. I think I would have had more fun with synths since you can kinda just arse around with them, layer a few things and come out with weird/funky tracks.

https://youtu.be/XrlF7q-oyF8