Gaming for over 30 years
Hey,
Just a quick note to say that I’ve moved this blog from an internally hosted (i.e. at home) Blogenginge.net website to an externally hosted WordPress site.
I did this because performance seemed shitty when hosting it at home, but in all accounts it seems just as shitty hosted externally.
When time permits I will try optimise site performance, in the mean time, please be patient with load times (and feel free to let me know how bad load times are!)
So I have been a fan/sucker of the NFC/Toys to Life craze since it’s rise to popularity from the original Skylanders: A Spyro’s Adventure. Sitting next to me as I write this are 250+ Skylanders, 20-30 Disney Infinity characters (the rest are in the other game room), and about a dozen of the more recent Amiibo purchases.
I love the creativity in the Skylanders characters, the nostalgia from the Amiibos, and let’s just say I have Disney Infinity (DI) characters. I’m not that big a fan of either the physical DI characters (I find the very blocky) or the game itself, yet my boys get hours and hours of amusement of mucking around in the Toy Box mode.
And now there is a fourth contender to the market (fifth or more if you include older games like ‘Funkeys’), Lego Dimensions, though the AUD entry price seems ridiculously steep ($160 for the starter pack), so it will be interesting to see how that seels.
Anyhow, I’ve found it extremely difficult to locate decent ‘collectors’ spreadsheets for these series, so I’ve compiled my own, which you can find here http://1drv.ms/1bzrztX. The Skylanders section includes all the common variants (alt deco/legendary/dark etc) that appear different in-game, as well as the special/chase variants that I own .. so it is by no means comprehensive as I only have a few chase variants.
For those interested, the terminology ‘alt deco’ is used to describe Skylanders with physically different paint work that also appear different in-game. Depending on their age, alt deco variants are usually reasonably easy to find, being exclusives in certain game edition releases or retailer exclusives i.e. they had a general retail release.
Special variants, also called chase variants, physically look different, such as a Glow in the Dark (GITD) paint jobs, are clear or crystal or are ‘flocked’ (i.e. fuzzy), yet look identical to the original characters in-game. Special/Chase Variants are usually a very limited release for special events (e.g. New York Toy-Fair, E3), or there is just as a vary rare chance that your retailer will get one (I’ve heard numbers bandied like 1 Skylander in 1,000 boxes of Skylanders). I have yet to see a chase variant in the wild, and some of them (like Pearl Hex from the 2012 Nuremberg Toy Fair) go for $500US+. As of Skylander Giants and up, most Special/Chase Variants have a tag of ‘special’ when placed on the portal, though the chase variants of the original Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure (e.g. E3 2012 Silver Spyro, Flocked Stump Smash etc) don’t have that coded into the NFC chip, so they just appear as the original characters, though they do start at level 5 with 5,000 gold from memory.
I’ve been asked a few times about how I’ve amassed my retro games collection, and while a fair bit of it came from e-bay, especially the hard to find titles, the larger part came from my local markets.
You can get some great deals at markets, some of my better ones include:
Boxed N64, boxed controller, 10 boxed games including Ocarina of Time – $70
Gamecube in mint condition with two controllers – $15
2 x Atari’s (one Vader, one 2600 Jnr) with approx. 20 games – $70
30 x PS1 games – $30
Sadly it’s getting harder and harder to find good deals, as most people are e-bay savvy, and some people are just ridiculous in their asking price, someone at the markets a few weekends ago was trying to sell a PS1 controller for $35 (when a few weeks before that I picked up a boxed white PS1 for $5). Mostly these days its a plethora of PS2 games, though supprisingly there have been a lot of PSP games out there recently. But occasionally you come across something worthwhile.
Some hints for finding some of the better deals are:
Get there early, a good time is when the last sellers
I own both a Retron 3 and Retron 5 from Hyperkin, that I use for playing some of my older games, and thought I’d give my opinion on both.
I’ve seen a lot of Harries (I was going to say dicks, but I thought Harries would be nicer) that always post stuff like ‘You are a moron, use a PC for emulation, PCs rule, consoles suck’. To those Harries I would say this – I own a good portion of the carts that I like to play, I like jamming them into a console, and I like using the original controllers for the original experience, I like not having to use a mouse and keyboard to start my games. I do own (too many) PCs, and I do use one as a MAME machine (With a TankStick .. thank you Hayes it is awesome). I also own all the consoles that I use the Retrons for, but both my NES’s have died (even after performing surgery on one to replace the 72-pin connector), and the Retron 5 just look better onscreen that the SNES and modded MegaDrive. It is worth noting that these are not for purists Harries as they use emulators, so sounds and colour can differ, but they are good enough for me. Also, some games do work with either console, so I use the original hardware with them, I seem to have had better success with the Retron 3 than Retron 5 as far as cart compatibility goes.
So anyway .. the Retron 3.
Throw away those controllers immediately
The Retron 3 has three cart slots, one for each of the Super Nintendo, Genesis and Nintendo Entertainment System. It also has two control ports for each system so you can use the original controllers for the system.
The Retron 3:
The Retron 5 has 5 cartridge slots: NES, SNES, Genesis, Famicom, Game Boy Advance, and has the same controller ports as the Retron 3.
The Retron 3 on the left and Retron 5 on the right
With the Retron 5:
In short, I use my Retron 3 and emulation carts for playing games for which my cart is dead, or I do not (yet) own the cart, and use the Retron 5 for playing my SNES/MD/NES carts. Between them they cover all my needs in getting my retro games working and looking good, and I’m glad I bought them.
Below is the list of games I’m most looking forward to this year and are planning to budget for. I’m sure I’ve forgotten about some (hopefully not too many, I can’t afford to add many to the list!), and I’m sure there will be one or two that pop up as ‘must-plays’ during the year sometime. No Vita games on the list which is sad, but just the JRPG’s in my Vita pile of shame alone is probably enough to get me through 2015.
3DS
New 3DS
Wii U
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
PC
The PlayStation TV, formally known as the PlayStation Vita TV in Aus. is basically a PS Vita without the screen, with a few extra features and limitations. Outside of it’s ability to allow you to play a large number of PS Vita games on a large TV (see https://support.us.playstation.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5376/~/games-compatible-with-playstation-tv for a full list), it’s primary function in my house is to allow remote play of PS 4 games on a different TV. Thus if the little’ns are using the Wii U/360/PS3 on the TV we primary use for the PS4, I can use the Remote Play feature of the PS TV in the games room to fire up and use the PS4.
The thing itself is tiny, measuring about the same size as a pack of cards (and lighter than one too). It’s hard to keep it flat with a HDMI, Network Cable and Power coming out the back (Think I might Velcro mine down).
A teeny tiny console
Cool stuff with Remote Play on PS TV
Uncool stuff with Remote Play on PS TV
Some Non-Remote Play Stuff
For us PAL people, PlayStation have an excellent full FAQ on it’s capabilities, features and limits, which you can find at http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2014/10/07/ultimate-playstation-tv-faq/.
For $149AUD or $199AUD with an DualShock 4, it can be a cheap(er) option than buying an additional PS4, though only if both are not going to be in use at the same time.
So this is a quick
post to help anyone who has an NVidia multi-monitor setup and is using or
planning on using an Oculus Rift DK2 as well.
Here is a quick run
through:
First up, a general
tip, if your DK2 camera is not working or not working consistently try one of
the following:
Secondly, a driver
decision needs to be made, if you use the latest (as of writing) NVIDIA 347.09
driver it forces 120Hz mode on the Rift, which breaks Elite Dangerous in Oculus
Rift mode and causes some double image issues.
However 347.09 does enable 3D Vision enabled games to work (but no head
tracking). Using ‘Direct to
Rift’ mode will work with 347.09, as will using Extended Mode with the DK2 as
the primary display, but having the DK2 as the primary display can be a bit of
a pain.
When connecting the
Rift, connect it using the supplied HDMI-DVI connector to the lower DVI port of the card
that is hosting your primary monitor.
Don’t use the HDMI/mini-HDMI of the video card.
I.e.
<Card1 DVI1> –
Monitor 1 (Primary Monitor)
<Card1 DVI2> –
Rift
<Card2 DVI1> –
Monitor 2
<Card2 DVI2> –
Monitor 3
Set display 2 (the Rift) to be on the far right and in the Windows screen resolution, set the rift orientation to be ‘landscape flipped’.
Important: Running games on the Rift will not work when the display is in NVIDIA (3D) Surround mode.
Now here are the various scenarios.
Play NVidia (3D) surround games (without Rift)
Use the Rift in Extended Mode
Important Note: If you can’t see a window because it’s on the Rifts display (happens all the time when it’s t he primary display), hold shift and right-click the application in the taskbar and select ‘move’. You can then use the cursor keys or mouse to move the windows to another display where you can see it properly. Or alternatively you can just squint with left and right eyes while looking into the Rift to see and move the Windows (required for multiple window apps like Explorer and Internet Explorer).
Use the Rift in Direct Mode
Play 3D Vision games
I originally thought to do a detailed comparison of the New 3DS XL with the current 3DS XL, but realistically that information can be found elsewhere with more detail than I can be bothered with, so instead here are my quick thoughts.
Quick summary of the important New 3DS changes
Faster, New ‘c-stick’ button, New ZL and ZR buttons, Improved 3D, Change in button/slide/card slot locations, fully compatible with all existing 3DS and DS games
How does the 3DX XL physically feel?
It is close enough in weight and size that you don’t feel a difference when switching between them. The finish is a finger print magnet but feels a bit more grippy than the existing standard 3DS XL.
Is the speed make much difference?
Yes, a huge difference. It starts up faster, launches games faster, goes to the home screen faster from games. If you are someone like me who is constantly closing/opening the 3DS, then it’s a lot less painful to use. It may be just me, but the existing 3DS XL seems to be getting slower, especially when using themes.
How good is the improved 3D?
The 3D is now 100% usable, the new 3DS tracks your face and adjusts the 3D accordingly, and it works really well. So if you were someone who never used 3D because you didn’t have the robot like capability of holding your hands and head dead still for hours on end, then you are in luck. It has made me re-visit some older 3DS games so I could actually play them through in full 3D. It even works in the dark, using infrared to track your face.
Is the screen any different?
The screen is the same size, resolution and quality as the existing 3DS XL, but now can do dynamic brightness adjustment which works quite well especially when using outdoors.
How’s the new ‘c-stick’ and ZL and ZR buttons?
The new c-stick is very comfortable to use, and in a very convenient location (works great in Smash Bros). It also can be used as a replacement to the Circle Pad Pro, which made existing 3DS XL into an hulking beast with weird weight distribution (much like myself). The ZL and ZR buttons are perfect for my overly long fingers, and can be used in the home screen to scroll left and right which is nice. I can image that there location could be painful for people with smaller mits.
How about the other button/switch moves?
The home button is now raised in the bottom center of the bottom screen, and the start and select button are also small raised circles below the A/B/X/Y buttons, because they are no longer immediately adjacent to each other you don’t accidently hit the wrong buttons, and because they are raised it makes them easier to locate in the dark. There is no longer a wireless switch, it’s software instead, which means that I no longer accidently turn it off in my pocket or bag which is cool. Volume control is now on the left hand side of the top screen, which again means it doesn’t change in the pocket/bag. I’m unsure about the new location for game card being on the front, I’ve had it pop out accidently a few times which doesn’t happen for me very often on the existing 3DS.
Quick Round Up
Lots of small changes, all amounting to a better all round experience. The speed and improved 3D alone are good reasons for trading up. If you are a big existing 3DS XL user, or want to actually use the 3D all the time, then I would say get one. Eventually you will need one to play new ‘New 3DS’ only games, such as the great Wii game Xenoblade Chronicles, which will be a New 3DS only game when it comes out. There are rumours in the web-o-sphere that Zelda Twilight Princess (GCN/WII) and Mario Sunshine (GC) are also on the way to the New 3DS, which would be very cool if true, as they are both great games.
So I get asked reasonably often which of the ‘new’ generation consoles I would recommend. My recommendation would be ‘all of them’, but if you can only afford one then here are some of my thoughts.
First off, they all play games, which is good. There are currently very few ‘must have’ exclusives on PS4 and Xbox One, with most the AAA games available on both. The Wii U has some awesome games, but only a few of them.
Xbox One Pros
Xbox One Cons
PS4 Pros
PS4 Cons
Wii U Pros
Wii U Cons
My summary would be: