SD cards, saviours of retro gaming (not really?)

[soprano1]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018- ... revolution
Owning the real thing is always the best option, but flashcards for the so-called retro consoles has been a thing for many years.
I known some people here own at least an Everdrive cart for MD/GEN, so this article seemed interesting for some discussions on this. I don't think there is a thread for this matter, but if there is, I would be glad that someone pointed it out to me. Thank you.

[JBC]

I use a flashcart or some equivalent in all of my legacy consoles & handhelds. The things are a godsend & allow me to focus my collecting to just the carts I really love & want to own without leaving a purchase up to chance.

I love owning CiB Sega Genesis games. The black boxes are the best ever & look great on the shelf. I don't want to own -all- of them though. My Mega Everdrive X7 showed me how cool stuff like Elemental Master & Bad Omen are, games I would otherwise have never bought.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I just use two of those cool Turbo Everdrive flash carts on the TurboGrafx-16, Turbo Duo and PC Engine Duo-RX consoles. They certainly are worth their weight in gold (with the ability to play the uber-rare TTI version of Magical Chase without having to "break the bank" & the golden opportunity to play the original JPN version of Magical Chase as well) + the ability to play some slick PC Engine homebrew games also.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BIL]

As far as cart systems go, I'm not bothered really. However, roll on solid state optical drive replacements, pls.

All Moving Parts Stand Still

First thing I'm doing when the technology is right is ripping all my discs and never spinning them again, unless the HDD their images are stored on dies.

[WelshMegalodon]

I mean, it looks like we've got HD loaders for the Wii, GameCube, and PS2 on that front, and SD card-based solutions for the Saturn and Dreamcast... nothing for the original PlayStation? There's PSIO, but nobody seems to actually own it. (PS1 emulation is nice, but not relevant to this discussion.)

[Jeneki]

Over the last 5 years I have had incredibly bad luck with CD drive systems (PCE CD, Sega CD, PS1, Sat). I'm just sick of dealing with them. Bring on the SD replacement drives.

[JBC]

I have a PSIO on the way soon. I managed to get into the November preorders last year. Wish they offered them for the slick mini PSOne models but I'm still grateful a solution exists.

Gonna pair that with HD Retrovision's PSX adapter that releases next weekend.

[Specineff]

I mean, it looks like we've got HD loaders for the Wii, GameCube, and PS2 on that front, and SD card-based solutions for the Saturn and Dreamcast... nothing for the original PlayStation? There's PSIO, but nobody seems to actually own it. (PS1 emulation is nice, but not relevant to this discussion.)

A hacked PS3 will let you play PS1 games off the HDD. (Except G-Darius, which for some reason needs the actual disc in the drive. At least in my case)

[soprano1]

With the prices SNES/SFC games are going for, a flashcard for people who own the console seems a good alternative. If I ever got one, that would be my choice, at least.
I'm not sure how the MD/GEN market prices are now, anyone?

[Immryr]

MD prices are also insane.

[soprano1]

MD prices are also insane.

Oh, that's unfortunate. Do you know if the reason is the same for SFC games?

[Immryr]

Uhh, I'm not sure I understand the question. The price of pretty much all "retro" games is through the roof.

[JBC]

I was scrolling through eBay yesterday looking for CiB Genesis games I haven't gotten yet. The future of my collection is looking pretty bleak. A lot of titles are priced like Neo Geo stuff.

I have a list of every box I want on my shelf. I might be able to afford it if I sold every game I own besides my Genesis ones & I'm not doing that. It's gonna be a lifelong campaign.

[charlie chong]

now the most terrible PAL games that no one ever wanted in the first place are becoming the most sought after because TEH RAERZ..

[BIL]

Inverse time dilation. Twenty years ago this was a fun hobby. A decade ago things were starting to look a bit foreboding*. Every year since has deranged exponentially. I would go flashcarts for sure now and focus on hardware. My 80s/90s JP stash is a beloved little vice and I've no need to sell up, but good god damn I'd be in hookers and finest ching chong chinaman charlie for a while if I did. Regrettable.

*excepting Neo Geo AES, which among home consoles has always been ahead of the curve in retarded pricing and shameless bootlegging. The linked article leads straight in with it, and mentions of its most bleeding-edge rarities, which is a bit misleading - though things are now fucked in more mainstream consoles, regardless.

now the most terrible PAL games that no one ever wanted in the first place are becoming the most sought after because TEH RAERZ..

There is at least the black-humoured spectacle of motherfuckers grinding themselves down to squeaking little nubs over PAL N64 Madden 97 or THAT NICE YOUNG FELLOW TIGER WOODZ PUTS IT IN THE HOLE 3D or whatever, though.

[charlie chong]

people are spending £40 on pal road rash for megadrive it's madness.. you used to see it at bootsales for a £1 every week still remember the day i got a boxed vectrex and 10 odd games + overlays at the bootsale for £25 late 2000s(my mum made me sell it to help fund a holiday ) i think those days are long gone now.. all so retro douchbags can sit in front of shelves of games on you tubes and pretend they know what they are talking about

[BIL]

It also causes a mania for seals, ANY SEALS JERRY: STONE CRAZY IN THE USA

Those SE@LEDS have to be worth TENS OF DOLLARS NOW

edit: you know, never mind... I wouldn't be surprised if some of that dross actually is worth a relative fortune.



YE RIGHT! JOKES ON YOU ASSHOLE

[Blinge]

There's a battered old Megaman X box in the window of a nearby CEX.
Going for £145 squids.
any takers?.. heh.

[Sumez]

It's horrible. The entire reason I started collecting "retro" games (ie. second hand games that were so old that no one wanted them anymore) was because I realised I could get all these great classics that still played really well, super cheap because they weren't the hottest shit anymore. I didn't have any money back then, and super expensive games like a boxed Mega Man 7, etc. would set me back $50, so I skipped all that stuff. The entire point for me was getting these games much cheaper than they were originally sold.

Nowadays I regularly pay a lot more for shitty Famicom games than I would ever pay for a new PS4 title, simply because I'm hooked on this stuff. I hate it.

[BIL]

Sumez this is why you MUST EMBRACE EMULATION (・｀W´・)

Spot the shitty game at safe distance! Spot the mediocre or not to your liking ones too!

You can't trust a damn thing these days.

[charlie chong]

yeah it's sad.. i remember the joy at buying and discovering great obscure stuff on the sega saturn and ps1 from ebay/here/ntscj forums and videogameimports in the early 2000s..
looking at videogameimports stocklist now is sad compared to what they used to have.they had mulitples of every rare game ever.the prices were a little bit more than ebay and the forums but damn compared to now they were bargain basement

[Sumez]

Spot the shitty game at safe distance! Spot the mediocre or not to your liking ones too!

I enjoy the excitement! I even enjoy the shit.

Spoiler

[BIL]

GIF's making me frown but your post is making me cry. ;-;

As long as you don't end up selling your butt for Ducktales in RGB I suppose. ;3

[drauch]

I thought classic PC gaming was safe for a bit, but now those wankers are starting to catch on as well, thanks to gits like MetalJesus basically urging people to collect them. Fawk off, I don't give a shit about your sealed PC game boxes you dolt. I want those manuals inside you sluts.

But man, guess it's kinda a good thing in a way, putting an ease to the hoarding sensibilities since two goddamn PC boxes basically take up as much room as a small mammal or a newborn baby. But check out the gatefolds on those babies, dammit!

Uhhh but yeah, pretty much stick to emulation with classic console now. And even sans flashcarts if I don't mess with the console since there's some pretty spot-on USB controllers out there now. SNES Buffalo feels mighty fine.

[soprano1]

Uhh, I'm not sure I understand the question. The price of pretty much all "retro" games is through the roof.

Sorry, I meant the story told by many people here in the forums on how Akihabara game shops started selling more to Western collectors some years ago, and then they started selling those on ebay for the high prices we see nowadays. I guess, as you say in your post, that it happened not only to SFC but to all classic consoles as well.

[Zen]

Nowadays I regularly pay a lot more for shitty Famicom games than I would ever pay for a new PS4 title, simply because I'm hooked on this stuff. I hate it.

Its a perfect storm of loving games, collecting, decreasing stocks, increasing prices, all sorts of male-centric OCD - hunter gatherer - competition shit being triggered.
In other words, its fun as all Hell!

As BIL said, the Neo Geo AES was the canary in the coal mine. That was the time to get in and get stocked up.

Of course the sharks and the dilettanti added to the clusterfuck.



Love Falsh Carts myself.
Dont think for a minute that they will help stop your collecting habit though. They wont

[Udderdude]

It seems like SD cards are turning into the only option for many due to prohibitive prices. This is what happens when you have ever decreasing supply and ever increasing demand.

It does amuse me that some random PAL junk is selling for $$$ to collectors, while you can still grab a sealed US copy of Akai Katana for Xbox 360 for like $10-15.

Just avoid the stupid prices, that's all you can do. And don't dump full sets onto your SD card unless you want to spend the next year picking old copies of Madden and horse racing games out of there.

[soprano1]

And don't dump full sets onto your SD card unless you want to spend the next year picking old copies of Madden and horse racing games out of there.

Seriously, I'm fucking surprised people do that.

[BIL]

That's gross.

I always tell motherfuckers... (・｀ω´・) keep a "GOOD" folder that reflects your actual (or ideal) collection, and a "TEST" one, the latter cleaned out regularly. Voila! No more "can't stick to one game" syndrome, or accidentally booting up Naked Punch Out!

[BrianC]

One thing I like about flash carts is that they not only play the actual carts, but they can play hacks and homebrews as well. Oddly enough, Atari 2600 is still one of the best systems for homebrew, with many games available on the Atari Age forum. They also sell homebrews, as well. I never though Atari 2600 would be able to play Star Castle, but now it has 2 versions.

Probably not the best way to do it, but I pick and choose the games I want to play and then put them on SD card.