The infamous NES on a chip is far from pixel perfect. There are documented graphical and sound inaccuracies with regards to a real NES. Just because you use the original game ROM does not mean that the game is "pixel perfect". You also need to recreate the original system correctly (in software or hardware) or you could just burn ROMs to carts and use them on a real NES. The problem with the NES is that each cart has special memory mapper and co-processor chips. This means that making a universal flash cart (like the popular gameboy advance flash carts) is very difficult, which is why it has yet to be done.
HOWEVER, there is a guy, Kevin Horton aka Kevtris, that is currently recreating the NES (check out the pics), and not just a pixel perfect recreation, but also a sound perfect and even "cycle-perfect" recreation of the entire Nintendo Entertainment System and all of the mappers for the system!
Hence this re-created NES will be able to play any NES or Famicom game, and it will be exactly identical to the original... not just close to the original like software emulators of the NES. Compare a real NES and any software emulator of the NES. It doesn't take long to learn to be able to tell the difference, even ignoring the controllers you use to play the games.
Kevin's recreation of the NES will be just like the real thing down to the CPU-cycle and it will be able to use the original NES peripherials such as the original controllers, Zapper lightgun, paddles, spinners, power pad, power glove, and even R.O.B. the Robotic Operating Buddy! Kevin's recreation will be a must own for NES fans, as you will no longer have to worry about blowing on carts and managing a large library of carts: every game could be placed on a small flash card. You also won't have to worry about buggy, inaccurate software emulators running on a large noisy $2000 PC.
The casual NES gamer will be satisfied with the inaccurate software emulators, as they have probably never played a real NES or haven't done so in a decade. Hardcore NES fans will prefer to own Kevin's recreation... well, in addition to the real thing and a room full of real carts, but it will be allot easier to manage thousands of games stored on a postage stamp sized flash card.
The card cost $79, which means the consumer saves money. Sure it won't perform as good as an onboard memory card, but for that price, it is a good card.
Emulation is NOT better than the original system in many aspects. I emulate allot of systems on my Xbox, but if I had an option to go with the original system via a flash cart or backup system, then I would much rather use that than an emulator. Emulator often times fail to recreate the game that the designers intended. Colors are off, as well as aspect ratios, sounds, music, and even slight timing differences in gameplay.
Many systems also don't have good controller adapters for using accessories on a PC. The N64 is the only exception, as it there is a USB device known as the "Adaptoid", which supports every N64 peripherial: controller, memory modules, force feedback modules, etc... The PS1 and PS2 come in second place, as they have some quality USB adapters which allow the use of a controller but not all peripherials.
For the NES and SNES, there are no good USB adapters that support peripherials other than the game controllers. No Zapper or Super Scope support, no Power Pad support, no R.O.B. support, etc... You gotta go with the real thing for that. Personally, for he SNES, I use a Flash Cart, which lets me transfer games from my PC to a SNES cart which I can play on a real SNES with all of the standard peripherials. That beats ZSNES and SNES9x any day!
Most emulator-gamers don't know these things because they never compare their emulator to the real thing, or have long since forgotten what the real thing is like.
With regards to the NES, there will soon be a solution, as a guy is recreating the NES from the hardware logic gate level. Hence it will be a cycle-perfect recreation, yet will be able to play games from flash cards (MMC or Smart Media or something like that). It will also be able to use the original peripherials of the NES and Famicom (Jap NES). Depending on how you look at it, this new retro-console system can be viewed as a recreation or as an extremely low-level perfect and accurate emulation.
My beaf is with inaccurate emulation. If it was perfect emulation that allowed use of native system peripherials, I would have no beaf.
One last thing, that Legend of Zelda speed demo that has been floating around is crap. A buggy emulator was used to make it. I saw the guy not getting hurt by his own bomb exploisions and numerous other bugs. Pretty lame because those bugs don't exist on the real system... but then again, like I said, more and more people these days are starting to forget what the real game is like because all they know is the inaccurate emulation of it.
GoldenEye had no falling and jumping. It could be claimed that location based damage only complicates the game and doesn't add anything truely interesting to the gameplay. Quake is weak in single player, but multiplayer is where both Quake and Goldeneye are the strongest.
In multiplayer, Quake DOES have the variety of weapons as well as gameplay modes! FFA Deathmatch, Duel Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Clan Arena, Rocket Arena, Team Fortress, Capture the Flag, Future vs Fantasy, etc...
Nintendo's continued existence these days has to do with the Gameboy line and Pokemon. Both lines of products that I must admit, I enjoy. Yes, Pokemon is fun if you realize that it is just a game and its existence is just for that very reason... not to be cool.
I don't care how the N64 sold. I bought one the very day it was released in the states, and I was really let down. Also, Nintendo didn't listen to their customers throughout the entire 8-bit generation and more than half of the 16-bit generation, with regards to lame censorship. So they did go merrily on their arrogant way for about 10 years! That is a really long time when you are talking about video games.
Finally, Nintendo delayed the release of the SNES, because they wanted to further milk the NES. Not saying I minded, since some of the last games released for the NES were great. Take the first (and best) Kirby game, for example.
Goldeneye wasn't that great for its time. It was over shadowed by Quake on the PC. 4 player split screen versus 32+ players over the net... hmmmm.... I think the PC had the upper hand there. Of course, if you are only comparing amongst consoles, Goldeneye was pretty good for its time, since consoles didn't get a better FPS until Halo.
I take that back. I just got the extended battery in the mail, and on the box it says 28 hours with light on, and 50 hours with light off! It is the 3x battery from Pelican, and it comes with a 1000mAh battery (the official Nintendo battery is only 600mAh) and a new battery cover and screw because the 1000mAh battery is just a bit too big to fit inside the GBA with the standard battery cover.
The cool thing is that this cover has another external battery compartment that can fit a standard battery. So you get a total of 1600mAh of juice! Even better, there are high-quality 3rd party batteries that are standard size and yet at 700mAh of capacity. So if I swap out my original battery with one of the 700 kind, I can have a total of 1700mAh of juice!
I am going to France this winter vacation. I bought a 30 hour GBA SP battery for the trip. With light it is around 18-20 hours. I am going to try to play Zelda Oracle of Ages from start to finish on one charge:) The battery is 3rd party, and slightly increases the size of the under-belly of the GBA SP. But considering I use a flash cart for my games, everything is still one piece and small, so that is really easy to travel with in my pocket... whip it out during those short waits at airports or long waits on the plane.
I guess the GBA SP will be the portable zenith for me:(
Fanboyism is lame. I have to admit that Nintendo does a good job of designing great games, but they also do allot of bad things and have some gamers that are just average (though no stinkers). Nintendo's biggest failures are, roughly in order:
0. All of the lame censorship starting with the NES.
1. Error-proned front loading NES when Japanese version was top-loading.
2. All of the evil empire crap surrounding Tetris at the time of the NES. Atari *cough* I mean Tengen's version was better.
3. Hell, all of the evil empire crap surrounding the NES and even the Gameboy.
4. Delaying the release of the SNES, allowing Sega to get a few breathes of air.
5. No blood in the first SNES Mortal Kombat, which further allowed the Genesis a little more legitimacy.
6. Virtual Boy: gimmic is not innovation. However, it would be innovative to have stereoscopic in today's world, where 3D can be done right. Make it color the next time around please.
7. Losing Square to Sony.
8. Most stuff related to the N64. A few good games is not enough.
Now Nintendo has had strong successes: 1. Great games and game franchises. 2. NES 3. SNES 4. Gameboy (Pocket, Color, Advance, SP)
Is it me or is there a fanboy religious war going on here? You have Nintendo Zealots versus Sony Fanatics. It is kind of cute and sad at the same time.
One thing I like about the SP is that with a new freshly charged battery, I can last an entire vacation on one charge! No recharging gear is necessary. THAT is the kind of battery life that I am after in a gaming portable. So damn long that I don't have to think about it.
GBA SP looks like it will be around for a while
on
Sony PSP Defects Reported
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
My GBA SP hasn't had any problems, is inexpensive, gets great battery life, is very small and portable, and has a huge library of fun games. Meanwhile the two new kids on the block (DS and PSP) have problems, are expensive, get crappy battery life, are large and don't easily fit in your pocket, and don't have very many games for them.
Especially when you consider a GBA SP plus a flash cart for storing multiple games, the portability of the GBA SP is above and beyond anything that the two new kids on the block can pretend to be.
You said "XML". Hahahaha! What a fucking joke. XML is just another example of software engineering cranks over-engineering a solution looking for a problem.
The SP is still more desirable for many reasons: smaller size, less expensive, and longer battery life.
5 hours at best? I will stick with my GBA then.
on
PSP Battery Journal
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
My GBA gets near 20 hours of battery life! I can basically take it on a vacation and not have to worry about bring along the recharging equipment.
More Segway Astroturfing
on
Segway Polo
·
· Score: 1
Who would have thought that around Christmas time, Slashdot would be Astroturfing the Segway? They have done it before, and I guess they will do it again. The Segway is an overpriced overhyped failure. Just get a scooter or bike instead. You will save thousands of dollars and have something just as effective.
In addition to including installers for open source Windows software, why not also make the CD a bootable Knoppix CD? That way Windows users can use open source apps on Windows, in addition to experimenting with Linux.
My vote goes to the SNES. I still play mine today, but this time I use a Flash Cart. I own over 30 carts, and the flash cart lets me play the rest on a real SNES. The SNES really popularized console-style RPGs. Sure they appeared first on the Atari 2600, but the SNES had a high number of high quality RPGs.
It was also good for fighting games. It had the best Street Fighter II ports at the time. It also had the best version of the original Sim City. It wasn't overly complicated like its sequals, but it added just enough to the original Sim City to make it the best version. However, my favorite game for the SNES, one I still play today, is Super Mario Kart, especially battle mode!
Even the NES emulation isn't perfect on the GBA. There are resolution differences which either result in aspect ratio distortion or cropping parts of the screen off. Not only that, but the NES has the most special chips in carts. There are some games that don't even play on the GBA, good games too such as "Elite".
Yuck, SNES9x emulates DSP games such as Super Mario Kart really poorly. Just look at the backgrounds and ground texture. Compare it to a real SNES. Yuck.
Give me a $10 used SNES + a $70 SNES Flash Cart to a $1000 gaming PC anyday, when it comes to playing SNES games.
Slashdot Mirror
The infamous NES on a chip is far from pixel perfect. There are documented graphical and sound inaccuracies with regards to a real NES. Just because you use the original game ROM does not mean that the game is "pixel perfect". You also need to recreate the original system correctly (in software or hardware) or you could just burn ROMs to carts and use them on a real NES. The problem with the NES is that each cart has special memory mapper and co-processor chips. This means that making a universal flash cart (like the popular gameboy advance flash carts) is very difficult, which is why it has yet to be done.
HOWEVER, there is a guy, Kevin Horton aka Kevtris, that is currently recreating the NES (check out the pics), and not just a pixel perfect recreation, but also a sound perfect and even "cycle-perfect" recreation of the entire Nintendo Entertainment System and all of the mappers for the system!
Hence this re-created NES will be able to play any NES or Famicom game, and it will be exactly identical to the original... not just close to the original like software emulators of the NES. Compare a real NES and any software emulator of the NES. It doesn't take long to learn to be able to tell the difference, even ignoring the controllers you use to play the games.
Kevin's recreation of the NES will be just like the real thing down to the CPU-cycle and it will be able to use the original NES peripherials such as the original controllers, Zapper lightgun, paddles, spinners, power pad, power glove, and even R.O.B. the Robotic Operating Buddy! Kevin's recreation will be a must own for NES fans, as you will no longer have to worry about blowing on carts and managing a large library of carts: every game could be placed on a small flash card. You also won't have to worry about buggy, inaccurate software emulators running on a large noisy $2000 PC.
The casual NES gamer will be satisfied with the inaccurate software emulators, as they have probably never played a real NES or haven't done so in a decade. Hardcore NES fans will prefer to own Kevin's recreation... well, in addition to the real thing and a room full of real carts, but it will be allot easier to manage thousands of games stored on a postage stamp sized flash card.
TV Torrents is down.
The card cost $79, which means the consumer saves money. Sure it won't perform as good as an onboard memory card, but for that price, it is a good card.
Moral values also includes hating gays.
Emulation is NOT better than the original system in many aspects. I emulate allot of systems on my Xbox, but if I had an option to go with the original system via a flash cart or backup system, then I would much rather use that than an emulator. Emulator often times fail to recreate the game that the designers intended. Colors are off, as well as aspect ratios, sounds, music, and even slight timing differences in gameplay.
Many systems also don't have good controller adapters for using accessories on a PC. The N64 is the only exception, as it there is a USB device known as the "Adaptoid", which supports every N64 peripherial: controller, memory modules, force feedback modules, etc... The PS1 and PS2 come in second place, as they have some quality USB adapters which allow the use of a controller but not all peripherials.
For the NES and SNES, there are no good USB adapters that support peripherials other than the game controllers. No Zapper or Super Scope support, no Power Pad support, no R.O.B. support, etc... You gotta go with the real thing for that. Personally, for he SNES, I use a Flash Cart, which lets me transfer games from my PC to a SNES cart which I can play on a real SNES with all of the standard peripherials. That beats ZSNES and SNES9x any day!
Most emulator-gamers don't know these things because they never compare their emulator to the real thing, or have long since forgotten what the real thing is like.
With regards to the NES, there will soon be a solution, as a guy is recreating the NES from the hardware logic gate level. Hence it will be a cycle-perfect recreation, yet will be able to play games from flash cards (MMC or Smart Media or something like that). It will also be able to use the original peripherials of the NES and Famicom (Jap NES). Depending on how you look at it, this new retro-console system can be viewed as a recreation or as an extremely low-level perfect and accurate emulation.
My beaf is with inaccurate emulation. If it was perfect emulation that allowed use of native system peripherials, I would have no beaf.
One last thing, that Legend of Zelda speed demo that has been floating around is crap. A buggy emulator was used to make it. I saw the guy not getting hurt by his own bomb exploisions and numerous other bugs. Pretty lame because those bugs don't exist on the real system... but then again, like I said, more and more people these days are starting to forget what the real game is like because all they know is the inaccurate emulation of it.
GoldenEye had no falling and jumping. It could be claimed that location based damage only complicates the game and doesn't add anything truely interesting to the gameplay. Quake is weak in single player, but multiplayer is where both Quake and Goldeneye are the strongest.
In multiplayer, Quake DOES have the variety of weapons as well as gameplay modes! FFA Deathmatch, Duel Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Clan Arena, Rocket Arena, Team Fortress, Capture the Flag, Future vs Fantasy, etc...
Nintendo's continued existence these days has to do with the Gameboy line and Pokemon. Both lines of products that I must admit, I enjoy. Yes, Pokemon is fun if you realize that it is just a game and its existence is just for that very reason... not to be cool.
I don't care how the N64 sold. I bought one the very day it was released in the states, and I was really let down. Also, Nintendo didn't listen to their customers throughout the entire 8-bit generation and more than half of the 16-bit generation, with regards to lame censorship. So they did go merrily on their arrogant way for about 10 years! That is a really long time when you are talking about video games.
Finally, Nintendo delayed the release of the SNES, because they wanted to further milk the NES. Not saying I minded, since some of the last games released for the NES were great. Take the first (and best) Kirby game, for example.
Goldeneye wasn't that great for its time. It was over shadowed by Quake on the PC. 4 player split screen versus 32+ players over the net... hmmmm.... I think the PC had the upper hand there. Of course, if you are only comparing amongst consoles, Goldeneye was pretty good for its time, since consoles didn't get a better FPS until Halo.
I take that back. I just got the extended battery in the mail, and on the box it says 28 hours with light on, and 50 hours with light off! It is the 3x battery from Pelican, and it comes with a 1000mAh battery (the official Nintendo battery is only 600mAh) and a new battery cover and screw because the 1000mAh battery is just a bit too big to fit inside the GBA with the standard battery cover.
The cool thing is that this cover has another external battery compartment that can fit a standard battery. So you get a total of 1600mAh of juice! Even better, there are high-quality 3rd party batteries that are standard size and yet at 700mAh of capacity. So if I swap out my original battery with one of the 700 kind, I can have a total of 1700mAh of juice!
Now lets see the DS or PSP beat that!
I am going to France this winter vacation. I bought a 30 hour GBA SP battery for the trip. With light it is around 18-20 hours. I am going to try to play Zelda Oracle of Ages from start to finish on one charge :) The battery is 3rd party, and slightly increases the size of the under-belly of the GBA SP. But considering I use a flash cart for my games, everything is still one piece and small, so that is really easy to travel with in my pocket... whip it out during those short waits at airports or long waits on the plane.
:(
I guess the GBA SP will be the portable zenith for me
Fanboyism is lame. I have to admit that Nintendo does a good job of designing great games, but they also do allot of bad things and have some gamers that are just average (though no stinkers). Nintendo's biggest failures are, roughly in order:
0. All of the lame censorship starting with the NES.
1. Error-proned front loading NES when Japanese version was top-loading.
2. All of the evil empire crap surrounding Tetris at the time of the NES. Atari *cough* I mean Tengen's version was better.
3. Hell, all of the evil empire crap surrounding the NES and even the Gameboy.
4. Delaying the release of the SNES, allowing Sega to get a few breathes of air.
5. No blood in the first SNES Mortal Kombat, which further allowed the Genesis a little more legitimacy.
6. Virtual Boy: gimmic is not innovation. However, it would be innovative to have stereoscopic in today's world, where 3D can be done right. Make it color the next time around please.
7. Losing Square to Sony.
8. Most stuff related to the N64. A few good games is not enough.
Now Nintendo has had strong successes:
1. Great games and game franchises.
2. NES
3. SNES
4. Gameboy (Pocket, Color, Advance, SP)
Is it me or is there a fanboy religious war going on here? You have Nintendo Zealots versus Sony Fanatics. It is kind of cute and sad at the same time.
One thing I like about the SP is that with a new freshly charged battery, I can last an entire vacation on one charge! No recharging gear is necessary. THAT is the kind of battery life that I am after in a gaming portable. So damn long that I don't have to think about it.
My GBA SP hasn't had any problems, is inexpensive, gets great battery life, is very small and portable, and has a huge library of fun games. Meanwhile the two new kids on the block (DS and PSP) have problems, are expensive, get crappy battery life, are large and don't easily fit in your pocket, and don't have very many games for them.
Especially when you consider a GBA SP plus a flash cart for storing multiple games, the portability of the GBA SP is above and beyond anything that the two new kids on the block can pretend to be.
You said "XML". Hahahaha! What a fucking joke. XML is just another example of software engineering cranks over-engineering a solution looking for a problem.
The SP is still more desirable for many reasons: smaller size, less expensive, and longer battery life.
My GBA gets near 20 hours of battery life! I can basically take it on a vacation and not have to worry about bring along the recharging equipment.
Who would have thought that around Christmas time, Slashdot would be Astroturfing the Segway? They have done it before, and I guess they will do it again. The Segway is an overpriced overhyped failure. Just get a scooter or bike instead. You will save thousands of dollars and have something just as effective.
In addition to including installers for open source Windows software, why not also make the CD a bootable Knoppix CD? That way Windows users can use open source apps on Windows, in addition to experimenting with Linux.
My vote goes to the SNES. I still play mine today, but this time I use a Flash Cart. I own over 30 carts, and the flash cart lets me play the rest on a real SNES. The SNES really popularized console-style RPGs. Sure they appeared first on the Atari 2600, but the SNES had a high number of high quality RPGs.
It was also good for fighting games. It had the best Street Fighter II ports at the time. It also had the best version of the original Sim City. It wasn't overly complicated like its sequals, but it added just enough to the original Sim City to make it the best version. However, my favorite game for the SNES, one I still play today, is Super Mario Kart, especially battle mode!
It is in the bible. We support peace, but we will kill all that disagree with us!
Even the NES emulation isn't perfect on the GBA. There are resolution differences which either result in aspect ratio distortion or cropping parts of the screen off. Not only that, but the NES has the most special chips in carts. There are some games that don't even play on the GBA, good games too such as "Elite".
Yuck, SNES9x emulates DSP games such as Super Mario Kart really poorly. Just look at the backgrounds and ground texture. Compare it to a real SNES. Yuck.
Give me a $10 used SNES + a $70 SNES Flash Cart to a $1000 gaming PC anyday, when it comes to playing SNES games.
Emulators are far from perfect. In order to get 100% accurate SNES sound, you need to use the actual hardware.