shmups.system11.org

RE: Obiwanshinobi

Happy to see those Young Gods CDs!
It's a band I very rarely hear anyone talk about, even within the scene of people you'd expect to be into that kinda stuff.

But I actually saw them in concert a couple of weeks ago, for the first time ever. Their first time playing here since 1995, too! It was a pretty fucking awesome experience. Half the show was their new album which came out in 2019, but I didn't mind, it was honestly very good. Especially this track.

tbh, while they're interesting on a technical level, they're not any more fun to game on. The high end models are so damn sharp and have so many columns or phospors, that you don't actually have a "crt feel" when gaming on them. Which is very strange experience.

I actually like a good consumer set or prosumer set or low tier pro monitor, way better than I like the monster PVM. My fave set that I own at the moment, is actually a consumer Sony from the '80s that has RGB. I'm perfectly happy with it. If I ever happen to stumble upon my grail for cheap(a large low tier PVM) then so be it, but if not then that's perfectly fine. And I'm not even making this up to comfort you : while I was thinkering with those high end PVMs, I was legit missing my consumer Sony and couldn't wait to game on it over the holidays(it's at my parents')

A good consumer set with RGB or component is a FANTASTIC way to enjoy retro gaming, and it's one of the best pictures you can get for these old grafx IMO. It's more flattering to those grafx' shading and has a more interesting grain. with a great RGB-to-component transcoder (or the HD Retrovision cables), you'll get an ace picture on a consumer crt. consumer sets are way bigger too!

Where are you at? I can always notify you if I see a cheap PVM in your area, I search that stuff a lot. You're in Ontario right? which part?

I swear this must be the second time you said something like this to me lol.

Honestly I think its just my curiosity with these PVMs/BMVs.

I'm actually really happy with my Sony WEGA SD TVs. They produce a great picture BUT!!! I'm always left wondering how much better could it get after this?

I also have several PC monitors that output really great picture. Dreamcast 480p looks amazing on these PC monitor via VGA. Anything 480i and under via an OSSC looks great as well and add in a scanline generator and I'm quit happy.

I don't know how much better it can get from there though maybe I just need to see a PVM/BVM in person and maybe then I can die a happy man lol

From what I've read though the higher end PVMs/BVMs start to look more closely to an LCD which isn't what I'm into. I do like seeing the grains on the CRT and a bit of bloom. I do like a clear, colorful and bright image though.

I do live in the Ottawa region but I don't think the wife would allow me to buy anymore CRTs. I think when I hauled home the HD WEGA into the house that was the last straw

Though I could try my luck with a smaller 14inch PVM or something lol

Wegas are great. I don't want to repeat myself too much but I'm in the same boat as FinalBaton. Hell if you were closer I'd offer you my 14'' PVM for what I paid for it.

That does put me at ease a bit

Never really actively went looking for a PVM. Never thought I would score one either.

Actually what's funny is that my new years resolution was to try and quit collecting stuff and just enjoy what I have.

Instead of actively looking for more stuff to get I'm actually finally enjoying what I have. I sort of forgotten how much fun it was to just game.

Of course what triggered all this was picking up all the wants for my Neo Geo MVS library in November. Its not a huge library but I felt satisfied with what I had and I went on to enjoy those games. Now I'm just trying to do this with all my systems.

The other day I had a blast with ESP Rade on my CRT monitor. I had adjusted the monitor just right to output a proper 4:3 image and it looked gorgeous!

I'm slowly learning to just enjoy what I have and so far its been working

@Shelcoof check your PMs, I might have something for you

From BulletMagnet. VIIIIITA.

Stopped at Goodwill after work...

...and an Extron Crosspoint matrix switcher appears!


$30. Only 8 in, 4 out (8x4), but it's a start. *REALLY* hoping someone donated a PVM with it and it's lingering in the back... processing for the sales floor but, by the looks of the original labels, it was likely used in a conference room projector setup with VGA ports on various wall plates.


I've been planning to refinish this thing into a retro gaming station so today I spent 15 minutes grabbing random consoles and repair junk to take this pic & show a bit of teaser for what I'm planning to do with the Extron.

Full resolution:
https://imgur.com/a/GRTyV60

I'll make a shelf extending from the top counter which will hold a giant RGB-modded consumer set. Hope to add a PVM off to the side in the future, which will really come in handy for Tate mode games. It'll also have a flat panel with OSSC, RetroTink 2X, Elgato, etc.

The Key Digital RGBHV/YPbPr switch (also from Goodwill) is the exact same size but, unfortunately, it only switches SPDIF audio... and only coax at that. Guess it won't be easy to use for PS2, XBOX, GameCube, 360, PS3, HD Retrovision, etc. It's like they only want me to use it for DVD players! For most of those I still have my old Pelican Universal System Selector Pro HD with optical TOSLink SPIDIF. I recently sold my JoyTech version (equivalent to the Pelican Pro HD 2) but who needs a remote control for this setup with an Extron, right? You gotta be there to turn consoles on/off and select inputs and outputs and such anyway.

Even so, I think I'll be building Rattboi's SCART input/output adapters with automatic switching... either that or I start making my own custom cabling.

wtf an Extron crosspoint at Goodwill???

This is gonna be a cool setup I think. I like that furniture better than the usual ikea shelves

The Young Gods, I think, belong in catacombs after all. Truly underground. As nonchalantly graceful taking on the US as T.V. Sky could seem to be, let us not forget that A. Dvořák's "New World Symphony" was taken for a joke in his (nearly) homeland Prague, where "Nový Svět" is a name of a district.
It could be that, in the US, they have yet to recover from the damage Only Heaven* did to them over there. Well, possibly, Only Heaven is my most-listened to Young Gods album to this day, but - in hindsight - I wouldn't have a clue how to market it back in the day.

*) Seems actually rare, like the rarest of all their albums out there, these days.

P.S. Sweet F.A. - the radio station I'm listening to is just playing that 2019 Young Gods Album RIGHT NOW, no kidding. Like, it's happening just now. One very, VERY serious radio station, usually.

I literally said "Holy sh*t!" out loud when I saw it so, yeah, I was similarly surprised. Probably turned a few heads. Still having trouble figuring the exact model since the labels don't look like anything I've seen from other Crosspoints. It's definitely one that doesn't have room for the stacked RCA jacks from dbElectronic's Phoenix adapter design.


Thanks. It was some sort of retail fixture (another Goodwill find) that's been sitting in the garage for months until I can move it to the "man cave" accessory building (16x16x16 insulated and electrified barn thing). Figured it wouldn't take much to get more console density than those Ikea shelves with enough strength for holding a heavy 36" flat-glass Trinitron. Always planned to double the number of shelves and load it up so hopefully the Extron is the kick-in-the-pants motivation I need.

Another idea:
My flea market game vendor friend has been after my PS2 retail kiosk for years (yet ANOTHER Goodwill find; $23.93). I just told him that I'm still not interested in selling it but he can use it "on loan" at the gaming lounge place he just opened on Friday (Infinite Games, Vila Rica, GA). It needs some work too but I wonder if I should do something similar with this RGB station gaming center... thing... since, well, there isn't room in the living room for all the consoles and there certainly isn't room for this. It looks like my building is getting repurposed for a while longer anyway.

While "on loan" I think I can secure each of the valuable consoles to a board that locks into each shelf with hardware store supplies. Heck, half of them already have threaded mounting holes on the bottom so it's mostly a matter of drilling and counter-sinking some bolts/machine screws. That should give me some comfort leaving my stuff there, since no one can just grab and run with the furniture. I doubt someone breaking in would happen to have the tools/time needed. Obviously all this RGB/HDMI stuff is too niche for a shop seeking walk-in clients but considering the nature of his business it might eventually get some of his clients asking about my RGB/HDMI services. I could also tell anyone in the Atlanta region where they can check this stuff out in person.

It's a lot to consider and each option sounds like a rabbit hole. I'm excited either way!

Got these last month on launch, forgot to post about it.



Also last week I bought this Fixeight board after taking a gamble on a lot of PCBs on a local Facebook Marketplace listing, 30 bucks for non-tested boards. Normally I wouldn’t have gone for it, but after identifying the board from the pics provided I had to bite. Also in the lot a bunch of bootlegs, and a faulty Tecmo Wild Fang which boots but has graphic and color errors.