I didn't have a TV that had composite until 93. We still have that TV too, only my idiot brother smashed it to bits for no reason. A shame, it still worked.
The scanline free look only worked for me when play street fighter alpha/zero collection on ps2 on my aquas through a component cable. In some ways it's kinda cool to see all the pixels. But I do agree that emu scanlines are a joke and to be honest I thought I was the only one that thought they looked like an eyesore. The videoout on the sega ages 2500 collection ps2 was cool, liked playing though component alien soldier and messing with the different setting, they even had 240p
I'll be there for the unveiling lol. Meet up with me if ya want. I could care less about the retron 4 though.
No, just a small portable machine with screen that takes Game Gear carts and has a lithium ion battery.
Just because America's TV standard connection was shit doesn't mean games were meant to be played that way. The original hardware was capable of RGB and there were cables for available AT THE TIME for the Master System, Super Nintendo, Mega Drive, Saturn, PlayStation. Some of them were official by the makers, others were custom made, but still it was possible without modifying the console. If you look at the screenshots in the old 8/16-Bit manuals, you'll notice that almost all of them were taken by photographing the TV-screen in RGB-quality, even for consoles like the NES which does not normally output RGB. That was because the developers used RGB, so that is the way they saw the game and also the best way to play the game back when it was new - which, for me, is the ideal way of playing it today. Or in other words: Just because someone drove a rusty old car from the 50's in the 1980's doesn't mean that this represented the authentic standard of 1980's cars. America just chose lower standards than the rest of the world, just like in many other aspects as well
Whatever the standard in that country was, is the intended means of playing. Consoles didn't start coming with Composite cables by default until the PS1/Saturn
That depends on whether you consider game developers or TV manufacturers, to be what determines intended.
I've gradually come to the conclusion that, while the concept of "what the developers intended" is a good idea to keep in mind, I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to attain an experience that is better than what the developers intended, or maybe were even capable of achieving at the time. Examples: the N64 with its RGB output capabilities. The N64 never had the ability to output RGB without modification, so it's not something the developers intended - but it is by far the best way to experience the system. The Gamecube originally used deflicker or smoothing, even over 480p. Disabling it results in a far superior image. Obviously what the developers intended, and the hardware they used to develop their software, are separate things. In the examples I gave, what I see is probably similar to what the developers saw as they were building the game. But at the same time, they were probably testing the software on crappy composite leads. So I think it's difficult to say what the developers actually "intended". I think it's somewhat of a philosophical question with no definite answer. By the way, I was still using RF connections well into the mid-90s, even though composite devices were available by then. I think it was partly due to convenience, and I know at least one of our TVs didn't have a composite input. I remember when we got our 27" Sony Trinitron TV with composite inputs, it was a big deal. Even over composite, that TV had far superior video quality to anything we'd had before. And at the time, it seemed huge.
true, prime example: Totally Radd!! box on NES. You'll see some of the pallett that gets changed on the screen shots (black sky!)
Well todays the day! Anyone heading down to the launch event kinda provide us live image and hands on review! Better yet bring down snes super Mario RPG & CV3 see if it works! Camping here for updates and streaming via assembler =P
I see the retron4 is getting a lot of hate here, but I'll post this anyways; you can get it for cheap + a new unlicensed game here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1449503299/super-4-in-1-multicart-for-the-snes it is my kickstarter, the retron4 will come with official packaging of the game bundle. Prices will be much higher on retail
From the looks of the PCB it's a set of "x" on a chip systems & you select which one to use with a knob. It won't be the same as playing on the real thing, but depending on how long it's been since you played on the real thing you may not notice. The same with the HDMI scan line thing, if you've recently played on a CRT then there is no way you'll think it's the same. The only advantage they have is they make the image look less blocky, which is probably enough for most people. FWIW the artists on games used to test on multiple TV's and monitors to make sure their creations looked at least ok on them all. So the concept of "what they intended" is very loose. Just use what you're happy with.
This is awesome! I could revive old NES, SNES, and GBA games in a single device (using the original cartridges) and be easily connect it to my home theater? Wonder what the cost will be. I alread have the Retron 3 and hoping retron 4 will improve more On the NES side, there is composite video and dual mono output (s-video doesn't work on NES). For Genesis and SNES, there is composite video, s-video, and stereo audio output. Composite video on NES is ok, but it's very dark for Genesis and SNES. It's not really a problem since it's better to use s-video for Genesis and SNES anyways. Compared to composite, s-video output is very sharp and bright. Even the standard Genesis systems don't feature s-video output, so this is a very nice feature of the Retron 3. Since the NES side doesn't work with s-video, it is a bit annoying to have to plug and unplug the s-video cable to play NES games. The Genesis sound is a little inaccurate. I noticed in Sagaia that the sound effects are louder than the music and a bit of the soundtrack is off key. Also, there is a little buzzing noise on NES and Genesis games. I can live with it. At least it doesn't sound totally butchered up like the Atgames Genesis clones. Most of my other games don't sound too different than on a model 1 Genesis. SNES sound is perfect. I don't know how accurate the NES sound is since I never owned one. Also, the NES and Genesis cartridge slots have some sort of deathgrip. I have to press against the system so that I don't lift the whole thing while I attempt to yank the cartridge out. The SNES slot is surprisingly smooth and easy to insert and remove cartridges. I've heard from other Retron 4 tester's that Street Fighter Alpha 2 (SNES) doesn't work, but it works perfectly fine on mine on Retron 3.