he/him - il/lui
This is awesome. Radiant Silvergun isn't my most played shmup to date but it's definitely so so unique, I really enjoy it.
I certainly think romhacks/patches are a major benefit to older gen titles and I'm somewhat concerned we'll lose that with newer gens.
I picked up quite a few games - Deathsmiles, DoDonPachi Resurrection, Mega Man X Legacy Collection, Mushihimesama, ProtoCorgi, Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds Saga, TMNT Shredder's Revenge and Ultrakill.
I've only played ProtoCorgi so far and I kinda love it - I mean, you're a corgi, barking or shooting lasers at various enemies in space, what's not to love?
I've already played most of the other games before and wanted to own them on Steam, except for Ultrakill (and I'm really looking forward to that one).
Persona 3 Reload - I'm not sure whether I like it or not just yet tbh. I'm about 20 hours in (or 2 months of "in-game time") and the plot is very slow to unravel.
I don't like turn-based RPGs usually, so combat is a bit of a chore and the exploration of Tartarus is very samey. Social sim aspects have been fine, but I guess I expected a bit more interactivity? I'm not sure. Its been nice to learn more about side characters, albeit ones not present in the "core" team.
The only somewhat similar game I've played before is Fire Emblem: Three Houses and I absolutely loved it, but I was much more interested in the gameplay (T-RPGs are 100% up my alley) and social sim was okay as well.
I think my primary issue with P3R is the setting - which I didn't think would matter so much - I really don't relate to high school life / issues anymore and it's making it hard for me to get into the game...
The OST is absolutely S-tier though (and it has made exploring Tartarus much more bearable!)
Not to be a Debby Downer, but you'd either need a LG TV which is already rooted, or one you can root (per the repo's README, "RootMyTV is unlikely to work on firmware released since mid-2022" and given firmware downgrades are impossible...).
AFAIK firmware updates are opt-out by default, so as long as you connect your LG TV to internet, you're likely to have received one, but I could be wrong.
That's mostly true, except for games made specifically harder so that you'd have to rent them multiple times (eg: ActRaiser 2 NTSC-U/C / SNES is much harder than its NTSC-J / SFC counterpart).
Maybe? You would need to know rooting a TV is even a possibility in the first place, I had no idea that was the case and I've had my LG TV for over 4 years.
I'm just pointing out some specifics of the prerequisites, which the article did a pretty bad job of highlighting imo, and how this is not the miraculous solution it's somewhat touted to be.
Many options exist, depending on your budget:
There's also a handful of other options (GameCube GB Player, SNES Super GameBoy, etc), but that's likely more consoles and accessories for you to purchase so I didn't mention those in detail.
Yep, completely fair.
They mention:
How long will DeckHD support the custom BIOS firmware?
We plan to continue providing BIOS firmware support for the foreseeable future. We are also optimistic about having the opportunity to work together with Valve to release official BIOS which natively support the DeckHD screen.
Which sounds to me like they haven't reached out to Valve and there's pretty much no chance of that (EDIT: official BIOS support) ever happening.
The company's dedication to retro authenticity goes far beyond creating desirable gaming hardware.
Sure, Analogue also caters to scalpers, to a point.
Somewhat /s, I guess?
I love my Analogue Pocket, which I've had for a little over a year, and Dock, which I've gotten maybe a week ago but has already surpassed my (fairly mild) expectations. I've also had a Super Nt for over a year and have a pre-order in for the Duo, so I tend to appreciate what Analogue comes out with, but their recent strategy with limited edition Pockets feels a bit ill-intentioned.
They had seemingly finally caught up to production issues and were able to deliver everyone's orders towards the end of August and suddenly made both regular editions of the Pocket unavailable to then "drop" limited editions a few weeks later.
Those are once again hard to get, unsurprisingly slightly more expensive than the "regular" variant and generate a significant amount of demand for very limited quantities.
I might be reading too much into it, but it feels like they're still trying to cultivate a constant feeling of FOMO and/or limited supply around the Pocket, all the while being finally able to catch up with demand (I fully understand production was not at scale compared to how much demand there was for it back in 2021/2022).
As the RetroDECK team, we are deeply concerned by the rumors about how others have handled their dependencies and their relationship with those developers.
I haven't been following up with the Emulation scene on Steam Deck for a while, what is this in reference to?
considering that Sony doesn’t offer PS+ Day 1 Launches, unlike Xbox
They don't offer them as often as on Game Pass, but there are some day 1 launches on Extra.
As with most subscription models, the value proposition will probably decrease as we move forward (one only has to glance at streaming services to see what awaits us in the gaming space imo...). Bummer, but expected.
NB: Careful, that reporter has apparently been wrong on a number of accounts regarding Sony's PlayStation business in the past, eg:
I wouldn't take this article too seriously / as gospel (although PSVR2 has probably not been selling like hot cakes).
I don't have any experience with using the Edge on the Deck since I only play it in handheld mode, but I've been using it almost exclusively for about 10 months on PS5 and I really couldn't go back to a regular DualSense, the backpaddles are too nice to get rid off now. The trigger adjustment is also pretty neat, although I don't play competitive shooters so I'm not really part of the "target demographic".
That being said, I wouldn't have bought it at MSRP and I still don't think it's worth $200 USD (I got it on amazon warehouse deals for 40% off and it was basically brand new, if you can get it this way or otherwise slightly used elsewhere I'd recommend that instead).
I'm not saying the combat is straight up bad, but throughout my 6-7hrs with the game (so far), it was definitely its most underwhelming aspect IMO.
I have to give it another go, but Sekiro's was definitely more fun (or at least rewarding), while Ghost of Tsushima's felt tedious. Maybe it just didn't "click" for me though.
I've only quickly skimmed through, but another two:
My money is on more Steam Decks being sold in Japan, thus driving MH up in those lists.
Used or loaned games (provided you have libraries offering them in your area) are still a huge benefit for (most, ie physical media "enabled") consoles.
The subscription model is broken by default, regardless of Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo, and is only good and cheap until it isn't anymore.
Agreed that consumers have a say, to some extent, however some are too far "into the ecosystem" to either care or be willing to boycott or make a change that would inconvenience them, so they'd rather give in.
Performance issues are definitely present in the console versions of the game, albeit not 4-5s stutters and whether you notice framerate drops or they bother you or not is a different thing entirely I suppose.
WRT how small it is, this video comparing the OG and Slim PS2 could be of interest to you, just so you can see how Sony was able to make it that much smaller back then.
Simple Alarm Clock.
Extremely reliable during the ~10 months I've used it so far and it is indeed simple enough.
I finally started Horizon: Forbidden West - gameplay changes compared to HZD keep trickling in and I couldn't be happier. I love Aloy's character so I'm really happy to be in her shoes again.
This past week was pretty disappointing before that:
Assuming it's nothing to do with your Dreamcast's laser (in which case you might need to adjust it to get it going, but realistically replace it altogether), have you looked into getting the disc itself resurfaced?
If this hasn't been done before, this would likely be the first thing to attempt before considering getting a new copy tbh. Many local game shops still have the machines for it and can do that for very little money.
I'm in the same situation, the Deck has been my only PC for about as long as I've owned it (first batch, so about a year and a half now) and it's more than enough for my use case.
From everdrivestore.com, "What is an Everdrive?":
An Everdrive is a flash cartridge that allows you to play games on your console. The cartridge is easy to use. You “drag and drop” files from your computer onto a * micro SD card that you insert into the Everdrive. When you turn on your console, a list of games will appear. With your controller, you select the title, and you're done!
I think the Logitech G Cloud would fit in that category, when on sale (otherwise it's $350 USD, so at that point you might as well get the 64G Deck).
Afaict it's $250 USD with a promo code now and since it's basically a tweaked Android ROM, you can stream Game pass, your PS4/PS5 (via PS Play) or Geforce Now and even do some light emulation (up to DC just fine).
Ergonomics and screen are pretty great from what I recall, after testing one a few months ago.
It used to be that the timer started as soon as you hit download, however they supposedly fixed it later on to only start whenever you booted up the game (and stop as soon as you fully quit it).
I guess there might be some bugs / potential rollback on that fix, but since it's never been officially communicated AFAIK...
Shmups, I'm only a beginner but I have a few suggestions:
ESP Ra.De. - somewhat slower bullet hell with pretty interesting scoring, the "Psi" re-release has a lot of useful QoL features.
Espgaluda II - you could think of it as a successor to the former, it has refined gameplay and recent releases have great QoL features. Somewhat faster paced bullet hell?
Ikaruga / Radiant Silvergun - Although these are two very different games, they have entirely different mechanisms to most other shmups. Ikaruga feels like a "puzzle" game a lot of the time, while Radiant Silvergun has some light RPG elements. Both are somewhat hard to get into imo.
Dodonpachi Resurrection - great starting point re bullet hells, the recent re-release offers a ton of QoL features and the game itself has interesting scoring / gameplay. Soundtrack is awesome.
Raiden IV - Super biased, but I love the soundstrack. Pretty great, if simple, game otherwise.
I have many more shmups in my backlog (Ketsui, Dodonpachi Daioujou, Battle Garegga, Rolling Gunner, etc) which I'm sure I could recommend, but seeing as I haven't played them first hand yet... I'll leave it there for now.
Yes, thank you!
Microsoft has historically never been profitably selling consoles, which is certainly part of their shift towards different business models, including Game Pass and a focus on more than just Xbox, but PC and Cloud as well. They don't really have much of a financial incentive to sell consoles for that sake alone, they have to get people to subscribe to Game Pass and/or buy games (possibly digitally whenever possible) and the Series S is their best console for that, as the consumer is very much locked in.
Retrogaming wise, I'm playing Parasite Eve! I'm usually not one for Halloween themed games/movies/anything either, but I've been enjoying it greatly.
I would wholeheartedly recommend the A Plague Tale duology (Innocence and Requiem). They both had a lasting impact on me (especially Requiem) and the overall presentation is really great IMO.
This will be dependent on a few things:
I can personally vouch for the OSSC as a great entry point, however there's a caveat - if you'll be mostly playing PS2 / inputting interlaced content and you have the budget for it, you might want to consider the RetroTink 5X, as the OSSC's bob deinterlacing is not up to par IMO. The 5X is well worth it for that reason alone, otherwise they are both great options.
PSP, hands down. So many incredible games, it was a RPG powerhouse, that screen was great for the time and for me it was an "everything" device (I remember browsing the web and reading mangas on the PSP... Janky but incredible all the same).
The Vita comes close - nigh "home console" games on the go and the OLED screen to make those shine.
How have you been liking the dock so far? I've been pretty hesitant to pull the trigger on it given its price (or rather given shipping and duties/taxes to add on top, hu).
(Also, interesting way to stand up the - I'm guessing modded? - OG Xbox vertically, haha)
You're kinda in the perfect "target demographic" for the 5X with a PS2 in a way, but it's a matter of how much flickering bothers you or not, and whether or not the higher output res, more features, etc, is worth the price or not.
Again, both options are absolutely great and you wouldn't go wrong with either!
Yes! I finally got to it in the past month or so, and I had an incredible time tbh.
Controversial I guess, but that's in contrast with my playthrough of FF VII OG a couple years back, which I probably idealised throughout the years and imo really didn't age well.
Remake redeemed the whole "FF VII experience" for me (and I guess we'll see what they come up with next).
That was on Logitech's website and after adding it to the cart, no idea about Amazon.
It might not look the part, but I'm talking from experience and it was just a notch below the Deck's ergonomics tbh.
I think that's debatable, as many still prefer the Xbox controller design and layout, but I'm biased towards the Dual Sense (as well?), sure.
And please, for the love of every other real handheld that came before it, don't abbreviate it as PSP...
Disclaimer: I'm about as inexperienced as you are (and ended up giving up on CRTs for the time being, but mostly for lack of space tbh).
With that out of the way, my research from a couple years ago netted a couple of results, which might or might not be relevant to you (and I'm guessing you could have already found those), depending on where on the globe you are located.
If those two are not relevant to you, you might want to check your local CL / Kijiji / FB Marketplace / local equivalent(s) for potential listings.
Otherwise you could certainly YOLO it with the Trinitron since it's well documented, assuming you feel confident enough around high voltage and are equipped with the necessary tools to discharge the tube, etc. From what I've seen it's not as bad as it seems, as long as you you're careful and follow the right steps/tutorials.
Do you have any spare PCB / whatever lying around you could use to practice soldering with? Components on CRT PCBs are indeed not so small, so I don't know what sort of prior experience you have with soldering, but bigger components = easier to solder (as long as you use a bigger tip on your soldering iron, and feel free to use flux / add fresh solder).
The Nathan Drake Collection. Uncharted 1 is a bit rough around the edges, but I would recommend going in order of release either way.
Enjoy, those are wonderful games! (I might be slightly biased, Uncharted is probably my favourite video game series tbh)
That's better, although I would probably wait for $130-140.
Yeah, I'm not using the paddles for anything fancy, simply face buttons or R1/L1 / R3/L3 for most games, so your modded DualSense sounds like a nice solution for that. I'm not sure you would get much more with a DS Edge tbh, unless you're really interested in making trigger adjustments or joysticks replacements (which is certainly a nice-to-have, but also a missed opportunity as they could have gone with hall effect ones...).
I guess the main question is where do you draw the line for "somewhat newer stuff"? 5th gen consoles only (and then which one) or even newer?
And what screen size are you looking for?