VOGONS


post up pics of your "computing area"

Topic actions

Reply 1161 of 2202, by xjas

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I've posted about this before, but I've put a ton of work into this space over the last couple weeks, just tidying it up, fixing flaws, and generally making it nice to use. This is where I siddown and play some games:

1.jpg
Filename
1.jpg
File size
444.95 KiB
Views
3323 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

Sorry for the suboptimal lighting. Most systems of the 32-bit era (5th & 6th gen) are represented, with the exception of the really niche stuff (Amiga CD32 - although the PC there has FS-UAE on it - CD-i & Jaguar.) I sold my Saturn a while ago as every good game I had for it was also covered between the 3DO, PS1, & Dreamcast, and it was too expensive/hard to find new ones. But seeing how it's finally been fully hacked and homebrew dev tools are getting better I might pick another one up.

Every console is hooked up on a switch & I can access any of them with just a few buttons. The TV is a really nice CRT from the very end of the era that produces a bright, crisp, square image with no wobblyness or warped geometry. Sure it's standard definition, but 480i on it looks fantastic.

The PC, 3DOs and Xbox are on S-video, the Wii, Dreamcast, and PS1 are on composite, and the PS2 is hogging the component inputs all to itself, although eventually I'll move the Xbox & Wii to component when I find a 5xRCA switch somewhere. The Megadrive and TI99 are actually on a daisy-chained pair of RF modulators 😜 and the 64 will eventually go into the S-video switch but only uses its own little monitor for now.

The TV also has composite video & audio outs, which I can hopefully tap into for streaming or recording, but I haven't tried that out yet.

The "table" doesn't usually stay there, I just wanted to show off a controller for each system. As you might guess I often prefer the weird 3rd-party/off brand stuff to the official ones. Usually the controllers go in the cabinet underneath, and I only have out the ones I'm using in order to keep things tidy, but here's one for everything:

2.jpg
Filename
2.jpg
File size
277.35 KiB
Views
3323 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

Detail of the shelves on the right. Looks like a wild DS snuck in there too:

3.jpg
Filename
3.jpg
File size
223.92 KiB
Views
3323 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

And the good stuff under the TV:

4.jpg
Filename
4.jpg
File size
202.43 KiB
Views
3323 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

The top 3DO was the first console I ever bought, back when the PS1 had taken over all console gaming and every other system was worthless. 😜 Still have the box too. Sadly my original PS2 & Dreamcast were destroyed in a flood, so those are replacements. The PS1 is an SCPH-1001 with RCA jacks on the back. The PS2 is an SCPH-30001 (fully moddable North American launch system) which I just got a HDD adapter for and a Free McBoot memory card is on the way.

The 3DO "Testing Station" is a dev system that can run unsigned code, and if you think I don't have plans for that, you'd be wrong. 😉

I got the Wii recently and immediately modded it to hell and back. I have legit games for it but it loads Wii & Gamecube ISOs off a 160GB HDD, and can run homebrew and even act as a quasi-dev system over wifi. The Xbox is a pristine V1.3 with the original nVidia GPU, de-clock-capped and ready to be modded but I haven't gotten around to that yet.

Older games run fine on the PC under emulation, so no plans to add e.g. a SNES or TG-16 to the setup. It's a P4 3.0 with an AGP HD3850 & also plays some Win98/XP games (Unreal, Need for Speed, etc.)

No gaming space would be any good without a comfy chair to play them on. I use this folding floor-height 'gaming' chair, I can lean it back and look straight at the TV without any neck strain. It's still a bit bulky when folded up but I can get it out of the way when needed.

9.jpg
Filename
9.jpg
File size
240.38 KiB
Views
3323 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

^^ guess which system is running here, BTW. There are at least five machines there that might play this game. 😜

twitch.tv/oldskooljay - playing the obscure, forgotten & weird - most Tuesdays & Thursdays @ 6:30 PM PDT. Bonus streams elsewhen!

Reply 1162 of 2202, by KCompRoom2000

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

What a neat gaming setup you got there. ^

xjas wrote:

9.jpg
^^ guess which system is running here, BTW. There are at least five machines there that might play this game. 😜

My guess points to either that computer (since it looks like it's powered on) or that Wii (since you have the Wii remote and the Gamecube controller on the chair)?

Reply 1163 of 2202, by xjas

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Yep, it's on the Wii. 😉 Technically there are versions (official or not) in various stages of completion for the PC (duh), Dreamcast, PS1(/2), Wii, and Xbox. The Wii version is kind of interesting because it was apparently ported from the original source rather than one of the more modern source ports (D1X / Rebirth.) It actually controls OK with the Wiimote+Nunchuck although the position of the D-pad is awkward for strafing.

You can tell the Wii is running because of the two bright lights on top of the TV - that's my camera picking up the infrared LEDs in the sensor bar. I had no idea it could do that.

twitch.tv/oldskooljay - playing the obscure, forgotten & weird - most Tuesdays & Thursdays @ 6:30 PM PDT. Bonus streams elsewhen!

Reply 1164 of 2202, by PcBytes

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

How retro is a VCR? 🤣

Attachments

  • 1531651380412.jpg
    Filename
    1531651380412.jpg
    File size
    582.51 KiB
    Views
    3181 views
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

"Enter at your own peril, past the bolted door..."
Main PC: i5 3470, GB B75M-D3H, 16GB RAM, 2x1TB
98SE : P3 650, Soyo SY-6BA+IV, 384MB RAM, 80GB

Reply 1165 of 2202, by Der_Richter

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

I was mesmerized and looked through almost all pages of this thread. And i find it fascinating that there is a recurring theme of "hacking things up" that you can clearly see. There are a lot of older, recycled furniture. There are visible cables. Lots of stuff being kept around at CONVENIENT reach, not hidden away, just for looks. Comparing this to the threads on other forums where people show off new custom gaming rigs is interesting, as that is an orgy in stylized desks, RGB lights and hiding everything around that would be useful to actually have. I find it fascinating to think about paralels that could be drawn between the interest in keeping alive older tech and the mentality drawn to that, as opposed to the strive for the latest most powerful gear with no regard for the old stuff, and how that could affect the look of the work area.

As for myself, i will take some pics as well i think. I had to cut down some when we had our second child, so now i have a storage "room" for machines being in use at the moment as well as a workshop with two desks out in the garage where i do the refurbishing, administrative tasks surrounding donations of hardware and software, write my articles and so on. One desk is for writing and patching code, with a modern computer, the other is the workbench where i either keep a vintage machine running or restore one and is where i have my tools such as all the logic tools, scopes and soldering gear. Apart from this i rent storage units to keep other machines not in use at the moment. There are in total a few hundred computers around of various types. 😀

Preserver, refurbisher, collector. In that order.

Reply 1166 of 2202, by harddrivespin

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Here's my setup as of July 21st 2018:

sqayamq.jpg

On the left is my "gaming" machine. It is a Packard Bell iStart 1360.My most modern rig I can currently use. Specs:

- OEM AM2 Motherboard

- Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (originally Athlon 64 3200+)

- NVidia Geforce 9600GT (512mb GDDR3, 256-bit, PCI-E, originally Geforce 6150 SE iGPU)

- 2gb DDR2 600mhz

- El Crapo Dell OEM 250w PSU

- 80gb 7200 RPM SATA HDD

- Windows Vista Home Premium (RTM)

On the right is my main daily use custom build. Specs:

- Sempron 2600+ (Socket A, formerly an Athlon XP 1800+)

- MSI KT4 Ultra Socket A motherboard (VIA KT400 chipset, FSB 160mhz)

- ATI Radeon HD X1650 Pro, 128-bit, 256mb (Gets very hot very quickly, so I avoid super intensive tasks with it. My one big problem with ATI is heat.... Previously there was a Radeon 7200 and a Geforce FX 5200 in this machine)

- 2.5gb DDR333 (Originally, 512mb DDR400 and later 1.75gb DDR266)

- Soundblaster CT4740 (Sound Blaster 16 PCI)

- 235w Seasonic PSU (Branded "Sander Computer Systems", I wonder who made this)

- 3.5" FDD, DVD/CD-RW drive too

- Windows XP Professional SP3, NetBSD 8.0

Reply 1167 of 2202, by oeuvre

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Those are quite dated machines you use for daily use!

Even a Core 2 Quad with 8GB RAM would run circles... Sandy/Ivy/Haswell era quad core desktops are quite affordable now. You can get a quad core, SSD, HD, 8GB RAM, and video card for under $200

HP Z420 Workstation Intel Xeon E5-1620, 32GB, RADEON HD7850 2GB, SSD + HD, XP/7
ws90Ts2.gif

Reply 1170 of 2202, by Mike

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
xjas wrote:
I've posted about this before, but I've put a ton of work into this space over the last couple weeks, just tidying it up, fixing […]
Show full quote

I've posted about this before, but I've put a ton of work into this space over the last couple weeks, just tidying it up, fixing flaws, and generally making it nice to use. This is where I siddown and play some games:

1.jpg

Sorry for the suboptimal lighting. Most systems of the 32-bit era (5th & 6th gen) are represented, with the exception of the really niche stuff (Amiga CD32 - although the PC there has FS-UAE on it - CD-i & Jaguar.) I sold my Saturn a while ago as every good game I had for it was also covered between the 3DO, PS1, & Dreamcast, and it was too expensive/hard to find new ones. But seeing how it's finally been fully hacked and homebrew dev tools are getting better I might pick another one up.

Every console is hooked up on a switch & I can access any of them with just a few buttons. The TV is a really nice CRT from the very end of the era that produces a bright, crisp, square image with no wobblyness or warped geometry. Sure it's standard definition, but 480i on it looks fantastic.

The PC, 3DOs and Xbox are on S-video, the Wii, Dreamcast, and PS1 are on composite, and the PS2 is hogging the component inputs all to itself, although eventually I'll move the Xbox & Wii to component when I find a 5xRCA switch somewhere. The Megadrive and TI99 are actually on a daisy-chained pair of RF modulators 😜 and the 64 will eventually go into the S-video switch but only uses its own little monitor for now.

The TV also has composite video & audio outs, which I can hopefully tap into for streaming or recording, but I haven't tried that out yet.

The "table" doesn't usually stay there, I just wanted to show off a controller for each system. As you might guess I often prefer the weird 3rd-party/off brand stuff to the official ones. Usually the controllers go in the cabinet underneath, and I only have out the ones I'm using in order to keep things tidy, but here's one for everything:

2.jpg

Detail of the shelves on the right. Looks like a wild DS snuck in there too:

3.jpg

And the good stuff under the TV:

4.jpg

The top 3DO was the first console I ever bought, back when the PS1 had taken over all console gaming and every other system was worthless. 😜 Still have the box too. Sadly my original PS2 & Dreamcast were destroyed in a flood, so those are replacements. The PS1 is an SCPH-1001 with RCA jacks on the back. The PS2 is an SCPH-30001 (fully moddable North American launch system) which I just got a HDD adapter for and a Free McBoot memory card is on the way.

The 3DO "Testing Station" is a dev system that can run unsigned code, and if you think I don't have plans for that, you'd be wrong. 😉

I got the Wii recently and immediately modded it to hell and back. I have legit games for it but it loads Wii & Gamecube ISOs off a 160GB HDD, and can run homebrew and even act as a quasi-dev system over wifi. The Xbox is a pristine V1.3 with the original nVidia GPU, de-clock-capped and ready to be modded but I haven't gotten around to that yet.

Older games run fine on the PC under emulation, so no plans to add e.g. a SNES or TG-16 to the setup. It's a P4 3.0 with an AGP HD3850 & also plays some Win98/XP games (Unreal, Need for Speed, etc.)

No gaming space would be any good without a comfy chair to play them on. I use this folding floor-height 'gaming' chair, I can lean it back and look straight at the TV without any neck strain. It's still a bit bulky when folded up but I can get it out of the way when needed.

9.jpg

^^ guess which system is running here, BTW. There are at least five machines there that might play this game. 😜

WOW!!! What a setup you've got there! Very nice! I'd like to have a Dreamcast, but I've got terrible luck with those things. First one had the CD motor blow up on me, and the second one crashed a lot on Shenmue, and the third one refused to start at all. 🙁

Reply 1171 of 2202, by TheAbandonwareGuy

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
Mike wrote:
xjas wrote:
I've posted about this before, but I've put a ton of work into this space over the last couple weeks, just tidying it up, fixing […]
Show full quote

I've posted about this before, but I've put a ton of work into this space over the last couple weeks, just tidying it up, fixing flaws, and generally making it nice to use. This is where I siddown and play some games:

1.jpg

Sorry for the suboptimal lighting. Most systems of the 32-bit era (5th & 6th gen) are represented, with the exception of the really niche stuff (Amiga CD32 - although the PC there has FS-UAE on it - CD-i & Jaguar.) I sold my Saturn a while ago as every good game I had for it was also covered between the 3DO, PS1, & Dreamcast, and it was too expensive/hard to find new ones. But seeing how it's finally been fully hacked and homebrew dev tools are getting better I might pick another one up.

Every console is hooked up on a switch & I can access any of them with just a few buttons. The TV is a really nice CRT from the very end of the era that produces a bright, crisp, square image with no wobblyness or warped geometry. Sure it's standard definition, but 480i on it looks fantastic.

The PC, 3DOs and Xbox are on S-video, the Wii, Dreamcast, and PS1 are on composite, and the PS2 is hogging the component inputs all to itself, although eventually I'll move the Xbox & Wii to component when I find a 5xRCA switch somewhere. The Megadrive and TI99 are actually on a daisy-chained pair of RF modulators 😜 and the 64 will eventually go into the S-video switch but only uses its own little monitor for now.

The TV also has composite video & audio outs, which I can hopefully tap into for streaming or recording, but I haven't tried that out yet.

The "table" doesn't usually stay there, I just wanted to show off a controller for each system. As you might guess I often prefer the weird 3rd-party/off brand stuff to the official ones. Usually the controllers go in the cabinet underneath, and I only have out the ones I'm using in order to keep things tidy, but here's one for everything:

2.jpg

Detail of the shelves on the right. Looks like a wild DS snuck in there too:

3.jpg

And the good stuff under the TV:

4.jpg

The top 3DO was the first console I ever bought, back when the PS1 had taken over all console gaming and every other system was worthless. 😜 Still have the box too. Sadly my original PS2 & Dreamcast were destroyed in a flood, so those are replacements. The PS1 is an SCPH-1001 with RCA jacks on the back. The PS2 is an SCPH-30001 (fully moddable North American launch system) which I just got a HDD adapter for and a Free McBoot memory card is on the way.

The 3DO "Testing Station" is a dev system that can run unsigned code, and if you think I don't have plans for that, you'd be wrong. 😉

I got the Wii recently and immediately modded it to hell and back. I have legit games for it but it loads Wii & Gamecube ISOs off a 160GB HDD, and can run homebrew and even act as a quasi-dev system over wifi. The Xbox is a pristine V1.3 with the original nVidia GPU, de-clock-capped and ready to be modded but I haven't gotten around to that yet.

Older games run fine on the PC under emulation, so no plans to add e.g. a SNES or TG-16 to the setup. It's a P4 3.0 with an AGP HD3850 & also plays some Win98/XP games (Unreal, Need for Speed, etc.)

No gaming space would be any good without a comfy chair to play them on. I use this folding floor-height 'gaming' chair, I can lean it back and look straight at the TV without any neck strain. It's still a bit bulky when folded up but I can get it out of the way when needed.

9.jpg

^^ guess which system is running here, BTW. There are at least five machines there that might play this game. 😜

WOW!!! What a setup you've got there! Very nice! I'd like to have a Dreamcast, but I've got terrible luck with those things. First one had the CD motor blow up on me, and the second one crashed a lot on Shenmue, and the third one refused to start at all. 🙁

Your missing an HD CRT (Sanyo Vizzion, Sony Trinitron, RCA TruFlat etc) and 7th gen Consoles. Also I don't see a seperate stereo amp or external speakers so I assume your sound quality is subpar. You can usually get some good 12 or 14 inch main driven 3 way speakers at thrift stores fairly cheap.

I abandoned physical hardware long ago. Ever since the collectors jacked up prices for anything worth playing it isn't worth it unless you one of the wealthy one percent. Instead I modernized and electrified my entire living room corner. I will take pictures later but the only systems in it are Xbox and Xbox 360 because they can't be emulated worth a damn yet. I keep meaning to buy a Wii too since its very nature makes it entirely unsuitable for emulation until some sort of motion registration becomes more standard on PC. I use an HD CRT (1080i with HDMI/HDCP input) for my Gaming/Movie display, and a 1920x1200 25" ASUS LCD for the normal PC/Modern gaming end of the setup.

Cyb3rst0rms Retro Hardware Warzone: https://discord.gg/jK8uvR4c
I used to own over 160 graphics card, I've since recovered from graphics card addiction

Reply 1172 of 2202, by TheAbandonwareGuy

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
harddrivespin wrote:

Eh, generally speaking I stay away from Intel due to iME and ethical reasons, so they're a no-no. Also, I dun't got 200 bucks to spare *he says as he drinks expired milk*

Ryzen.

Enough said. Seriously, Ryzen APU's are monsterous for what they are/there price point.

Cyb3rst0rms Retro Hardware Warzone: https://discord.gg/jK8uvR4c
I used to own over 160 graphics card, I've since recovered from graphics card addiction

Reply 1173 of 2202, by Mike

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:
Mike wrote:
xjas wrote:
I've posted about this before, but I've put a ton of work into this space over the last couple weeks, just tidying it up, fixing […]
Show full quote

I've posted about this before, but I've put a ton of work into this space over the last couple weeks, just tidying it up, fixing flaws, and generally making it nice to use. This is where I siddown and play some games:

1.jpg

Sorry for the suboptimal lighting. Most systems of the 32-bit era (5th & 6th gen) are represented, with the exception of the really niche stuff (Amiga CD32 - although the PC there has FS-UAE on it - CD-i & Jaguar.) I sold my Saturn a while ago as every good game I had for it was also covered between the 3DO, PS1, & Dreamcast, and it was too expensive/hard to find new ones. But seeing how it's finally been fully hacked and homebrew dev tools are getting better I might pick another one up.

Every console is hooked up on a switch & I can access any of them with just a few buttons. The TV is a really nice CRT from the very end of the era that produces a bright, crisp, square image with no wobblyness or warped geometry. Sure it's standard definition, but 480i on it looks fantastic.

The PC, 3DOs and Xbox are on S-video, the Wii, Dreamcast, and PS1 are on composite, and the PS2 is hogging the component inputs all to itself, although eventually I'll move the Xbox & Wii to component when I find a 5xRCA switch somewhere. The Megadrive and TI99 are actually on a daisy-chained pair of RF modulators 😜 and the 64 will eventually go into the S-video switch but only uses its own little monitor for now.

The TV also has composite video & audio outs, which I can hopefully tap into for streaming or recording, but I haven't tried that out yet.

The "table" doesn't usually stay there, I just wanted to show off a controller for each system. As you might guess I often prefer the weird 3rd-party/off brand stuff to the official ones. Usually the controllers go in the cabinet underneath, and I only have out the ones I'm using in order to keep things tidy, but here's one for everything:

2.jpg

Detail of the shelves on the right. Looks like a wild DS snuck in there too:

3.jpg

And the good stuff under the TV:

4.jpg

The top 3DO was the first console I ever bought, back when the PS1 had taken over all console gaming and every other system was worthless. 😜 Still have the box too. Sadly my original PS2 & Dreamcast were destroyed in a flood, so those are replacements. The PS1 is an SCPH-1001 with RCA jacks on the back. The PS2 is an SCPH-30001 (fully moddable North American launch system) which I just got a HDD adapter for and a Free McBoot memory card is on the way.

The 3DO "Testing Station" is a dev system that can run unsigned code, and if you think I don't have plans for that, you'd be wrong. 😉

I got the Wii recently and immediately modded it to hell and back. I have legit games for it but it loads Wii & Gamecube ISOs off a 160GB HDD, and can run homebrew and even act as a quasi-dev system over wifi. The Xbox is a pristine V1.3 with the original nVidia GPU, de-clock-capped and ready to be modded but I haven't gotten around to that yet.

Older games run fine on the PC under emulation, so no plans to add e.g. a SNES or TG-16 to the setup. It's a P4 3.0 with an AGP HD3850 & also plays some Win98/XP games (Unreal, Need for Speed, etc.)

No gaming space would be any good without a comfy chair to play them on. I use this folding floor-height 'gaming' chair, I can lean it back and look straight at the TV without any neck strain. It's still a bit bulky when folded up but I can get it out of the way when needed.

9.jpg

^^ guess which system is running here, BTW. There are at least five machines there that might play this game. 😜

WOW!!! What a setup you've got there! Very nice! I'd like to have a Dreamcast, but I've got terrible luck with those things. First one had the CD motor blow up on me, and the second one crashed a lot on Shenmue, and the third one refused to start at all. 🙁

Your missing an HD CRT (Sanyo Vizzion, Sony Trinitron, RCA TruFlat etc) and 7th gen Consoles. Also I don't see a seperate stereo amp or external speakers so I assume your sound quality is subpar. You can usually get some good 12 or 14 inch main driven 3 way speakers at thrift stores fairly cheap.

I abandoned physical hardware long ago. Ever since the collectors jacked up prices for anything worth playing it isn't worth it unless you one of the wealthy one percent. Instead I modernized and electrified my entire living room corner. I will take pictures later but the only systems in it are Xbox and Xbox 360 because they can't be emulated worth a damn yet. I keep meaning to buy a Wii too since its very nature makes it entirely unsuitable for emulation until some sort of motion registration becomes more standard on PC. I use an HD CRT (1080i with HDMI/HDCP input) for my Gaming/Movie display, and a 1920x1200 25" ASUS LCD for the normal PC/Modern gaming end of the setup.

I know where you're coming from with that. As I'm typing this post, I'm playing Duke Nukem II on a modern PC on my HDTV. I pretty much play all my DOS games on my modern PC. Thank goodness for GOG. Retro hardware/games are just too darned expensive nowadays, thanks to the scalpers on eBay.

Reply 1174 of 2202, by xjas

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
Mike wrote:

WOW!!! What a setup you've got there! Very nice! I'd like to have a Dreamcast, but I've got terrible luck with those things. First one had the CD motor blow up on me, and the second one crashed a lot on Shenmue, and the third one refused to start at all. 🙁

Thanks! This is actually my fourth or so Dreamcast. The first one (which I bought new back in the day) got destroyed in a flood 🙁, its replacement got sold because I moved overseas, ITS replacement got sold because I moved overseas, and this one I bought when I established myself where I am now. They were still pretty cheap until recently but they seem to be going up. If I move again I'll probably take the current one with me this time. 😜

I have like 5 controllers, a keyboard, and a mouse for the thing now. Some of my burned games date to the early 2000s (and still read fine.)

Mike wrote:
TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

Your missing an HD CRT (Sanyo Vizzion, Sony Trinitron, RCA TruFlat etc) and 7th gen Consoles. Also I don't see a seperate stereo amp or external speakers so I assume your sound quality is subpar. You can usually get some good 12 or 14 inch main driven 3 way speakers at thrift stores fairly cheap.

I abandoned physical hardware long ago. Ever since the collectors jacked up prices for anything worth playing it isn't worth it unless you one of the wealthy one percent. Instead I modernized and electrified my entire living room corner. I will take pictures later but the only systems in it are Xbox and Xbox 360 because they can't be emulated worth a damn yet. I keep meaning to buy a Wii too since its very nature makes it entirely unsuitable for emulation until some sort of motion registration becomes more standard on PC. I use an HD CRT (1080i with HDMI/HDCP input) for my Gaming/Movie display, and a 1920x1200 25" ASUS LCD for the normal PC/Modern gaming end of the setup.

I know where you're coming from with that. As I'm typing this post, I'm playing Duke Nukem II on a modern PC on my HDTV. I pretty much play all my DOS games on my modern PC. Thank goodness for GOG. Retro hardware/games are just too darned expensive nowadays, thanks to the scalpers on eBay.

I had an HD CRT; I didn't like it. For one thing it couldn't handle 60Hz pseudo-high-color effects properly (think flashing sprites to simulate transparency during i-frames in 16-bit games, but also a lot of demoscene effects on the 64 & TI99), for another it didn't have an easy scaling toggle and tended to force everything into 16x9. It also only barely fit in the cabinet. I got rid of it and put the much friendlier-to-use Toshiba back in. I know very well what I'm doing with regards to sound; the Toshiba TV's internal speakers work Just Fine(tm) for playing games in my small space (and are heaps better than anything in a modern LCD TV anyway.) I have higher-end stuff set up for music elsewhere.

I really don't care much about the newer systems, anything I play post ~2005 is likely gonna be an indie game off Steam/GOG/Humble on PC anyway. "Triple-A" publishers shovelling out derivative sequels and movie-licensed schlock sucked most of the fun out of gaming on those platforms. I might evennnnnntually pick up a PS4 VR, pretty much because of Wipeout.

The games aren't that expensive if you buy things locally and stay away from the "trendy" ones (Pokemon, JRPGs, anything Nintendo, etc.) I'm WAY under $1000 into this whole setup and there's almost 20 years of acquisitions there (I bought that first 3DO in around '98 or '99.) I did sell my Saturn because it wasn't modded and finding games I actually wanted to play was too difficult.

twitch.tv/oldskooljay - playing the obscure, forgotten & weird - most Tuesdays & Thursdays @ 6:30 PM PDT. Bonus streams elsewhen!

Reply 1175 of 2202, by TheAbandonwareGuy

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
xjas wrote:
Thanks! This is actually my fourth or so Dreamcast. The first one (which I bought new back in the day) got destroyed in a flood […]
Show full quote
Mike wrote:

WOW!!! What a setup you've got there! Very nice! I'd like to have a Dreamcast, but I've got terrible luck with those things. First one had the CD motor blow up on me, and the second one crashed a lot on Shenmue, and the third one refused to start at all. 🙁

Thanks! This is actually my fourth or so Dreamcast. The first one (which I bought new back in the day) got destroyed in a flood 🙁, its replacement got sold because I moved overseas, ITS replacement got sold because I moved overseas, and this one I bought when I established myself where I am now. They were still pretty cheap until recently but they seem to be going up. If I move again I'll probably take the current one with me this time. 😜

I have like 5 controllers, a keyboard, and a mouse for the thing now. Some of my burned games date to the early 2000s (and still read fine.)

Mike wrote:
TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

Your missing an HD CRT (Sanyo Vizzion, Sony Trinitron, RCA TruFlat etc) and 7th gen Consoles. Also I don't see a seperate stereo amp or external speakers so I assume your sound quality is subpar. You can usually get some good 12 or 14 inch main driven 3 way speakers at thrift stores fairly cheap.

I abandoned physical hardware long ago. Ever since the collectors jacked up prices for anything worth playing it isn't worth it unless you one of the wealthy one percent. Instead I modernized and electrified my entire living room corner. I will take pictures later but the only systems in it are Xbox and Xbox 360 because they can't be emulated worth a damn yet. I keep meaning to buy a Wii too since its very nature makes it entirely unsuitable for emulation until some sort of motion registration becomes more standard on PC. I use an HD CRT (1080i with HDMI/HDCP input) for my Gaming/Movie display, and a 1920x1200 25" ASUS LCD for the normal PC/Modern gaming end of the setup.

I know where you're coming from with that. As I'm typing this post, I'm playing Duke Nukem II on a modern PC on my HDTV. I pretty much play all my DOS games on my modern PC. Thank goodness for GOG. Retro hardware/games are just too darned expensive nowadays, thanks to the scalpers on eBay.

I had an HD CRT; I didn't like it. For one thing it couldn't handle 60Hz pseudo-high-color effects properly (think flashing sprites to simulate transparency during i-frames in 16-bit games, but also a lot of demoscene effects on the 64 & TI99), for another it didn't have an easy scaling toggle and tended to force everything into 16x9. It also only barely fit in the cabinet. I got rid of it and put the much friendlier-to-use Toshiba back in. I know very well what I'm doing with regards to sound; the Toshiba TV's internal speakers work Just Fine(tm) for playing games in my small space (and are heaps better than anything in a modern LCD TV anyway.) I have higher-end stuff set up for music elsewhere.

I really don't care much about the newer systems, anything I play post ~2005 is likely gonna be an indie game off Steam/GOG/Humble on PC anyway. "Triple-A" publishers shovelling out derivative sequels and movie-licensed schlock sucked most of the fun out of gaming on those platforms. I might evennnnnntually pick up a PS4 VR, pretty much because of Wipeout.

The games aren't that expensive if you buy things locally and stay away from the "trendy" ones (Pokemon, JRPGs, anything Nintendo, etc.) I'm WAY under $1000 into this whole setup and there's almost 20 years of acquisitions there (I bought that first 3DO in around '98 or '99.) I did sell my Saturn because it wasn't modded and finding games I actually wanted to play was too difficult.

I think you had a lemon of a HD CRT?

My Sanyo has a button on the remote that toggles 3 different pixel size modes. It has some geometry issues that take some getting used to though. I could fix them with the service menu if I cared enough. It's a 32" model so it would NEVER fit in that cabinet. It was only $400 when it was new if my info is correct. I guarantee you a properly maintained Trinitron would blow it out of the water.

Cyb3rst0rms Retro Hardware Warzone: https://discord.gg/jK8uvR4c
I used to own over 160 graphics card, I've since recovered from graphics card addiction

Reply 1176 of 2202, by SteveC

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

My shed - taken just now

shed.PNG
Filename
shed.PNG
File size
1.3 MiB
Views
2514 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/StevesTechShed
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SteveTechShed

Reply 1178 of 2202, by old_MySpace

User metadata

Here's my computing area. Sorry about the mess, it's usually really tidy.

No clue why the first photo got the colors all wrong, sorry about that.

Small list:
Keyboard is a Compaq Internet Keyboard SK-2800c.
Mouse is a Compaq Logitech M-S48a.
Speakers is a Compaq Premier Sound.
Monitor is a CDC crt.
Both PCs are connected with a KVM switch.
Pentium 4 Win 98 rig is the desktop case.
My "everyday" pc is the one below.
The rotary phone, if anyone is interested, is an Italian Siemens s62.