Author Topic: Favorite non-Nec system  (Read 2382 times)

twor2005

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Favorite non-Nec system
« Reply #15 on: July 16, 2005, 09:01:26 PM »
Quote from: "nodtveidt"
Quote from: "twor2005"
How in the world did the Atari do that sweet special effect with all the color lines? That looked like an awful lot of color. Its on the title screen for one of the Tron games, and a few others like maybe Swordquests.

I know the effect you're talking about...it was in quite a few games, especially in the Swordquest series. Swordquest: Earthworld used it a lot in particular. I've never coded the Atari 2600, but I do know what it involves, and part of what it involves is being responsible for programming every scanline. So who knows what they were able to pull off...although I have noticed that the effect only ever happened horizontally...you never saw vertical lines of multiple colours like that...


Just out of curiosity, does that show up on any other system? Even when Atari was laughably trying to pit the 2600 against the NES I don't remember seeing a single NES game that did that, for example. What about collections of Atari games on current systems? Though I'm sure the PS2 could pull it off of course, I wonder if its achieved through the same trick via emulation or just simulated?

Keranu

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« Reply #16 on: July 16, 2005, 09:42:28 PM »
I always loved that effect in Atari 2600 games as well.
Quote from: Bonknuts
Adding PCE console specific layer on top of that, makes for an interesting challenge (no, not a reference to Ys II).

TJ

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« Reply #17 on: July 17, 2005, 05:44:17 PM »
Quote from: "lord_cack"
Quote from: "twor2005"

This is a bit off topic do these work well, I mean in comparison to an NES with a new connector is it a similar quality or at least to they have a similar life span? Cause I want an NES (I won an NES on Ebay and the F*&ker never sent it...) and I see alot of these around. Just wondering if I would be wasting my money or not...


I've got one of those "FC Game Consoles" (or Neo-Fami, as it was called in Japan) and I like it. The construction of the console itself feels a little lightweight, but it works very nicely for both NES games as well as Famicom games with a Honeybee or similar convertor. It's got A/V out, so it's actually better than a top-loading NES in that respect, and it accepts original NES controllers so you can use your favorite old pad or NES Advantage if you don't like the pads provided (the Neo-Fami version had its own proprietary controller ports so you were stuck with the ones they gave you).

I do have two minor gripes about it -- 1) occasionally it'll seem like a sound effect or some music doesn't sound quite right, like it doesn't exactly match the output of an original NES, and 2) they REALLY should have put an eject button on it, like a Famicom or Super Famicom, because you gotta put one hand down on the console and pull HARD to get your cartridge out!

But all in all it's a nice little system and definitely worth the $30-$40 if you're in need of a functioning NES.

nodtveidt

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Favorite non-Nec system
« Reply #18 on: July 17, 2005, 06:27:46 PM »
Quote from: "twor2005"
Just out of curiosity, does that show up on any other system? Even when Atari was laughably trying to pit the 2600 against the NES I don't remember seeing a single NES game that did that, for example. What about collections of Atari games on current systems? Though I'm sure the PS2 could pull it off of course, I wonder if its achieved through the same trick via emulation or just simulated?

I've never seen it done on any other consoles...about the closest I've seen is the traditional palette rotation (anyone remember "The Edge" in Phantasy Star 4 for the Genesis? That's one of the most insane palette-rotation areas I've ever seen in ANY video game) which can be done on any console that uses a palette index. The NES can't do the effect for sure...its video hardware is too lacking. Using palette rotation though, even a system as crippled as the Genesis would be able to simulate the effect, although you'd see better results on the PCE and far better results on the SNES with its expanded palette...Faceball 2000 anyone? :D

Keranu

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« Reply #19 on: July 17, 2005, 09:28:32 PM »
Didn't AMIGA games use this effect quite often as well?
Quote from: Bonknuts
Adding PCE console specific layer on top of that, makes for an interesting challenge (no, not a reference to Ys II).

nodtveidt

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Favorite non-Nec system
« Reply #20 on: July 18, 2005, 01:29:38 AM »
Palette rotation. :D That technique was made a household name on the Amiga.

Ninja Spirit

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« Reply #21 on: July 18, 2005, 03:56:48 AM »
Regarding the Neo Fami, I don't know whether to get one because I happen to own 4 Famicom games that have extra chips in them to enhance the sound (Akmajou Densetsu, Madara, Lagrange Point, DDS Megami Tensei II) I'm kinda in the dark about whether Neo Famis support those chips or not.

dj898

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« Reply #22 on: July 18, 2005, 02:16:48 PM »
saturn was and is my fav console...

TJ

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« Reply #23 on: July 18, 2005, 05:08:48 PM »
Quote from: "Ninja Spirit"
Regarding the Neo Fami, I don't know whether to get one because I happen to own 4 Famicom games that have extra chips in them to enhance the sound (Akmajou Densetsu, Madara, Lagrange Point, DDS Megami Tensei II) I'm kinda in the dark about whether Neo Famis support those chips or not.


I don't see why it wouldn't. It's not like the original Famicom was made especially to support them...in other words, you can play 1988's Akumajou Densetsu on a 1983 Famicom, so I would think you could play it on a NeoFami or FC Game Console. Unfortunately I don't have any of those games to test it out with...why don't you send me your copy of Dracula III so we can find out? ;P

zborgerd

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« Reply #24 on: July 18, 2005, 06:07:19 PM »
I've gotta say that the Dreamcast is one of my favorites.  I've got 60-70 games for that system...  Though I also have the same amount for the PSX which doesn't really hold a special place in my heart all that much.

Josep_BV

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Favorite non-Nec system
« Reply #25 on: July 22, 2005, 11:54:12 AM »
My favourite console is NeoGeo (sorry everybody) :wink:  in first position, Pc-Engine the second and Super Famicom the third.

PC Gaijin

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« Reply #26 on: August 02, 2005, 09:58:18 AM »
Quote from: "twor2005"
Quote from: "nodtveidt"
Atari 2600. Seriously! :D When games were games, not visual glory-fests...


How in the world did the Atari do that sweet special effect with all the color lines? That looked like an awful lot of color. Its on the title screen for one of the Tron games, and a few others like maybe Swordquests.


I don't know how it was done on the 2600, but on the Atari 8-bit computer line (which has basically the same hardware as the 5200) you could change the color registers during the interval between the end of drawing one scanline, and the beginning of the next (the time when the electron gun in your CRT was being repositioned). I assume this was how the 2600 worked as well. Using this technique every color in the system's palette could displayed onscreen at one time, although you were limited to changes per scanline (which is why the color changes were always horizontal) and however many color registers you had to play with for the graphics mode that particular scanline was being displayed in. The ANTIC/GTIA chip combo was really awesome for the time: hardware scrolling, sprites, mixing and matching of various graphics modes on a per scanline basis, large color palette (256 colors), etc. Amazing for hardware designed in '78 and released in 79-80. Check out some of the later Atari games like the '88 Mario Bros. remake, the (unfortunately unreleased) port of Commando, Airball, Rescue on Fractulus, Alternate Reality, etc. to see what this system was really capable of. I always used to laugh at the dorks who wrote Gamefan raving about things like multiple layers of parallax and "line scrolls" (per scanline scrolling) on Genesis games like that was something new. The Atari 8-bit hardware could do all that and it was 10 years older than the Genesis :P

Well, as you can tell I'm a bit of an Atari fan :D. Not so much the 2600, more a fan of the Atari 8-bit home computer line. My Atari 800XL, which I received in 1983, was my main gaming system up until '89 when I got a Turbografx-16 (I only owned an NES briefly during 1989, but I sold it to buy the Turbo). I still have tons of fond memories of that machine even though it doesn't work anymore.

However, besides the Turbo my next most favorite system would have to be the Sega Saturn. The Saturn is the spiritual successor to the PC Engine in my eyes. Just like the Turbo/PC Engine, it was decently popular in Japan while bombing over here in the US. And the Saturn got more of the "core" games like the PC Engine and had sort of the same vibe (to me anyway) as that system.

Super NES rounds out my top three console systems. Just too many fantastically good games on the SNES to ignore. The SNES really was the best of both worlds: all of Nintendo's games (and some of their all-time best IMO) combined with tremendous third party support.

As for this gen: everything except the Dreamcast has left me cold (the DC just misses out on a spot amongst my top systems, it just wasn't around long enough to make it). Good games here and there, but I'm just not into console gaming much anymore (more a PC gamer nowadays).

rolins

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« Reply #27 on: August 31, 2005, 07:48:04 AM »
Quote from: "Ninja Spirit"
Regarding the Neo Fami, I don't know whether to get one because I happen to own 4 Famicom games that have extra chips in them to enhance the sound (Akmajou Densetsu, Madara, Lagrange Point, DDS Megami Tensei II) I'm kinda in the dark about whether Neo Famis support those chips or not.


No, the Neo Fami and the Messiah's Nes are just clones. Those famicom games with special sound chips, like Akmajou Densetsu, is not supported on any clone available. You can play them but the custom sound chip won't be used, so sound will be inaccurate.

Your better off getting a real Famicom. The ultimate Famicom setup is a AV Famicom with 72pin->60pin converter. So you can play games from any region. Here is what I'm talking about...

http://cgi.ebay.com/NES-FAMICOM-New-Famicom-HVC-101-FULL-SET-JAPAN_W0QQitemZ8208757825QQcategoryZ62054QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I know they're expensive, but these models are the most sought after.

Ninja Spirit

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« Reply #28 on: August 31, 2005, 08:16:46 AM »
There's another Famicom system which is rightfully even higher than the AV FC.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Twin-Famicom-AN-5008B-16-game-Super-
Twin Famicom aka The "Famicom Duo"

akamichi

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« Reply #29 on: August 31, 2005, 08:25:14 AM »
Quote from: "rolins"

No, the Neo Fami and the Messiah's Nes are just clones. Those famicom games with special sound chips, like Akmajou Densetsu, is not supported on any clone available. You can play them but the custom sound chip won't be used, so sound will be inaccurate.


Hmm... I have a Famicon clone and I thought Akumajou Densetsu sounded the way it was supposed to.  I'll have to compare it to a real Famicon and listen to music again.
 
Quote
Your better off getting a real Famicom. The ultimate Famicom setup is a AV Famicom with 72pin->60pin converter. So you can play games from any region. Here is what I'm talking about...

http://cgi.ebay.com/NES-FAMICOM-New-Famicom-HVC-101-FULL-SET-JAPAN_W0QQitemZ8208757825QQcategoryZ62054QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I know they're expensive, but these models are the most sought after.

I agree.  It's best to get the real thing.  However, the price in that auction is just ridiculous!  Heck, I bought my brand new AV Fami for about $55-$60 last year and I thought that was expensive.  I see them going for roughly $70 new and $60 used now.