Nintendo releasing mini NES HDMI pre-loaded w/ games!

[Fudoh]

I usually don't change the settings on the my display. So these are the same settings I use for the FM, OSSC or Pi emulation. The NES Mini felt a bit too sharp using the same settings. I haven't used it long to pinpoint the cause. Don't interpretate too much into this - especially since you'll be getting one yourself soon.

[Ikaruga11]

So is there an option to turn off the noise?

[Fudoh]

I have admit that I didn't see any noise in the first place. Any active NR function on the TV's side were disabled, but I can't say if there's some basic undefeatable NR running.

[lev11]

I thought the shimmering was a problem with the monitor I was playing on, thanks for clarifying. Was happy with pixel perfect, narrow AR not too bad when sitting close to small pc monitor.

[FBX]

Here's a zoom-in of the noise on the NES Classic:



What's interesting is it is independent of the game's resolution, so 4x3 and pixel perfect show the same square pixels in the noise itself. This leads me to believe it's an overlay that is applied to the whole screen when the image is sent out.

[atheistgod1999]

Here's a zoom-in of the noise on the NES Classic:

-snip-

Weird, looks like JPEG artifacts.

[Ikaruga11]

So how accurate is the color palette?

[FBX]

So how accurate is the color palette?

It appears to be a "what we wanted each color to be" versus "what the original hardware did" kind of thing. Although most entries line up fairly well to hardware captures. Their flesh tones and cyan colors look way off though.

[FBX]

Actually looking side-by-side using RGBSource's NES Classic capture, the hues are generally closer than I expected to my Unsaturated-Final work. My big complaint of it would be how rather dull the colors are. It's really bad in the overworld of Zelda. Here's some shot comparisons (RGBSource's NESCLASSIC.pal on the left with Unsaturated-Final on the right):

[BONKERS]

Here's a zoom-in of the noise on the NES Classic:

-snip-

Weird, looks like JPEG artifacts.

Not even close.

Here's JPEG artifacts up close

Macroblocks


As for the Palette. Maybe this is 100% accurate and Nintendo has access to measurements in a way we don't.

Either way it looks fine.

[Sumez]

As for the Palette. Maybe this is 100% accurate and Nintendo has access to measurements in a way we don't.

All NES colors are based on NTSC chroma/luma signal on a software level. There is no true or false.

Looking at all the most popular available emulators while digging into some homebrew myself, it's really baffling how vastly different their color representations are.

[RGB0b]

It definitely wasn't jpg noise, but I replaced the large pics on the review page with BMP's, to avoid any further confusion. Also, here's a zip with untouched screenshots of every video mode in bmp: http://retrorgb.com/files/NESClassicVideoModes.zip

It's definitely some kind of filter.

[FinalBaton]

All NES colors are based on NTSC chroma/luma signal on a software level. There is no true or false.

Looking at all the most popular available emulators while digging into some homebrew myself, it's really baffling how vastly different their color representations are.

I'll repost an interesting tidbit that I heard recently and posted in the NESRGB custom palette thread :

I noticed something that sticked with me this weekend : when watching a Classic Gaming Quarterly episode where he read a '88 game magazine, there were some RGB capture NES screenshots at some points. Which hints at a developper tool that operates on an RGB colorspace. That really grabbed my attention.
That means that when Nintendo nowadays republish NES games, maybe they have an actual RGB palette to go back to for reference.

Not saying this is 100% the case but; just food for thought.

[Fudoh]

I remember the RGB screenshots used by Nintendo back in the 80s and these were done using the Arcade PPUs. The screenshots were showing the same wrong colors some selected home titles exhibit when running on the Arcade PPU instead of the home PPU.

[Sumez]

No doubt that's what it was. I doubt dev systems had PlayChoice PPUs, though. You'll easily find that most games obviously aren't designed with its palette in mind, and I don't see any reason why developers wouldn't get the same PPU to work with as the actual NES/Famicom units had.

[Ikaruga11]

Regardless, the palettes are obviously not the same and I prefer the vibrant saturated colors of the original NES.

[Einzelherz]

If you really want to do this, you could see if somebody like Raphnet is interested in producing adapters. Seems kind of pointless, though, since you could just use the shell/buttons/rubber pads from an NES Classic controller to refurbish an OEM NES controller.

I asked him about a wiimote to gcn adapter, partially because I think people would like the lag elimination with these new nes controllers, but he wasn't interested.

[Kyle]

The NES Mini felt a bit too sharp using the same settings.

Mine came in today. If I take a step back, normal folks will love this thing minus the extension cord being basically mandatory. The presentation, form factor, controller are all on point. I don't perceive lag, no screen tearing, nothing that would stop me short of recommending it.

If I'm nitpicking I'll agree with Fudoh. The sharpness is too aggressive. I wish I could dial it back. The uneven pixels of the 4x3 mode are ugly. The pixel perfect mode is spared it. The scrolling "shimmering" is noticeable. It seems silly there is not a key combination to return to menu. Even holding start+select for a couple of seconds would have sufficed.

I am normally a real console on CRT guy. When I emulate it is Retroarch on a Fire TV. It does not exhibit any of these display issues. I would recommend a Pi or Fire TV to a tech head. This isn't a bad solution otherwise.

[Ikaruga11]

I'm just going to get the NES Classic Controller for playing WiiWare and NES games on my Wii.

[Kyle]

We had some time with family on it today. Everyone had a nice nostalgia kick before realizing they sucked at the games. No fault of the system though. Casuals should love this thing. It serves its purpose well as a plug and play type system. I imagine there will be plenty up for grabs once folks are tired of it.

[tjstogy]

Has anyone taken apart the new controllers to see if the old pcbs fit in?

[atheistgod1999]

wrong colors some selected home titles exhibit when running on the Arcade PPU instead of the home PPU.

What if the home PPU was the wrong colors?

[Kyle]

Has anyone taken apart the new controllers to see if the old pcbs fit in?

Yep. They are swappable. If they were available would be good to refurb old controllers. At the moment they're harder to find than the system.

[Ikaruga11]

At the moment they're harder to find than the system.

What a shame.

[Gnomenthusiast]

I've got a system on pre-order, it won't arrive till December. I stupidly didn't order a spare controller at the time, and it looks like I could be in for a long wait!

[borti4938]

I think more interesting will be people modding in a reset button on the new wiichuck NES controllers. The NES Classic supports controller-triggered reset via the Wii home button. With a controller that already has a home button (like the Wii Classic controller) you don't need to get up off the couch to hit reset. The new NES controller does not have a home button. If it uses the same (electronics) controller as the classic controller, perhaps you may be able to add a home button and solder it to the chip.

I've modified my NES Classic Mini controller to simulate the HOME button as a combination of Start+Select. All you need is an OR-Gate (either a 'regular 74-IC', e.g. the 74HC32 or a single gate version, e.g. 74AHC1g32). I've combined Start + Select with the OR Gate and connected to output to the lifted pin 8 of the main IC on the controller (this is normally where the HOME button is connected to in a Wii Classic Controller)



Of course I also have connected unused input pins to Vcc or GND after I took this picture.

Now my NES Classic Mini goes back into the main menu by pressing Start+Select at the same time

[Jockel]

In case anyone doesn't follow any news, you can add custom games to this thing now.
And yeah, Recca works.

[yxkalle]

I think more interesting will be people modding in a reset button on the new wiichuck NES controllers. The NES Classic supports controller-triggered reset via the Wii home button. With a controller that already has a home button (like the Wii Classic controller) you don't need to get up off the couch to hit reset. The new NES controller does not have a home button. If it uses the same (electronics) controller as the classic controller, perhaps you may be able to add a home button and solder it to the chip.

I've modified my NES Classic Mini controller to simulate the HOME button as a combination of Start+Select. All you need is an OR-Gate (either a 'regular 74-IC', e.g. the 74HC32 or a single gate version, e.g. 74AHC1g32). I've combined Start + Select with the OR Gate and connected to output to the lifted pin 8 of the main IC on the controller (this is normally where the HOME button is connected to in a Wii Classic Controller)



Of course I also have connected unused input pins to Vcc or GND after I took this picture.

Now my NES Classic Mini goes back into the main menu by pressing Start+Select at the same time

You think 2 diodes would work too? Or is the voltage drop to big?