The retro thread

[emptyvessel]

Question I had from Candy the other day that I thought I'd ask more broadly amongst other collectors (eg Yoshi Sonic): what software do you use to track your games collection?

I have in the past used Games Collector from collectorz.com (I even paid for it), but only partially entered my collection and haven't used it for years. It's very fully featured but has an equivalent fully featured cost.

Is there a decent online version of that floating around nowadays? I've looked at Backloggery and Giant Bomb, but they're more suited to a modern generation collection and weren't that good with retro stuff.

I really need something as my memory is terrible so I constantly forget what I have or don't have.

[emptyvessel]

Hmm, http://www.retrocollect.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; allows you to track your collection.

[Candy Arse]

No option to add 3DO games.

[Yoshi Sonic]

emptyvessel you're so far ahead of me in actually getting your gear set up.

Your snap and the one Candy posted have got me thinking about an Ikea Expedit bookcase or two - shelves tall enough for vinyl, Vectrex and VB and hopefully wide enough for Colecovision or Intellivision+speech

Backlit like that dudes would be cool, but I think I'd like to concentrate on having the consoles on display and the psu's and leads accessible in drawers rather than always plugged into a TV. Well at least not all of them. I have no qualms running consoles on a modern LCD - they look glorious on mine in game mode (a Samsung).

That'd take care of the consoles but I think the micros will need something else. But that's for the shed anyway.

I think only then could I begin to list what games I have.. But I've bookmarked that website!

[emptyvessel]

I found out that I already had the Pro version of Game Collector, so I paid (lol) for the most recent version and got their barcode scanner app as well. Have been testing it on my boxed games with mixed success, for some reason it can't pick up Watara Supervision barcodes...

Also I had a shit hitrate with the Saturn games as Sega Ozisoft applied their own barcode stickers over the top and nobody has catalogued them online yet. May as well do it myself when I get around to it.

I've got the ability to sync to their online version of the app, but not edit via the web. To get that I'd have to pay $20 a year which is a rip. The installable app itself is very nice though, especially with the bulk barcode interface.

Yoshi - Double-check the width of the cubes on the Expedit, they're pretty narrow so they'd only be suitable for certain consoles. In my pic, the shelves are wide enough to accomodate a surround sound tuner and it needs at least that for consoles such as the Colecovision or Intellivision.

Pics of the AV spine, power spine, small switches and my in-progress cupboard setup in a few mins....

[emptyvessel]

Ok, so some in-progress shots and ones that show the guts of the setup. Dodgy iPhone pics and I haven't resized them so caveat emptor..

- The AV spine. Conduit from Ikea, containing four pairs of Composite, S-Vid and L/R audio plugs. Each clump of cable is labelled so I knew what to plug it into. Each of the four individual clumps plug into a small manual switch, which then controls up to four consoles in a section. Most of the cables were from Jaycar but I had a few short ones lying around so I used those. I also have the optical cable and standard stereo cable for my surround system going through this.

- The power spine. Black cabling and power boards to blend in with the unit as they sit on the bottom shelf behind the lower consoles. Each board is individually switched and the orange glow of the switch helps me tell which sections I have powered. Again, conduit from Ikea, boards and extension cable from Jaycar.

Those two spine pieces run behind the bottom entertainment unit from my original setup pic, and at the source plug into a large power board and the silver switcher beneath my TV.

- As mentioned, I use four small AV switchers from Jaycar on the end of the AV cable termination points. Each has four svid/composite/L and R audio inputs, which means unit-wide I can switch in 16 consoles. To select a console, I press the appropriate button on the manual switch in its section, and then select section 1 to 4 on my large switch below the TV. You can also see the power board location in this shot. My measurements aren't quite exact so the positioning of the power boards is a bit inconsistent, and I really need some stick on velcro to place these correctly.

- Now, for the rest of the storage setup. I mentioned I was looking for shelves to go in the cupboard to store and semi-display my non-connected consoles. In the end I bought a modular steel shelving system from Store, and set it up like this. You buy the four corner poles of whatever height you want, then purchase however many shelves you want, then put it all together and it fits really well. All my older consoles are down the bottom (Videopac, Arcadia, several random Pong consoles, Colecovision, Intellivision, various 2600's) and then my Mega CD, silver painted Megadrive 1 (I did it years ago but the paint is quite patchy) and some double sega consoles. Above that is my Goldstar 3DO, Japanese Saturn and another PAL Saturn, and above that is a Turbografx-16, Amiga CD32 and Super Famicom. I also have an AV modded PC Engine in there, plus doubles of my handhelds.

- Joypads are stored using the old standard of a door-hung shoe store, which works quite well (got this one from Store as well). I also have my Dreamcast keyboard and a NES fitness mat in a mesh storage hanger from Ikea.

Still to come is a storage solution for my loose games, which will probably be a cheap ikea metal frame for sliding baskets, with two plastic baskets from Ikea and some tighter mesh baskets from Store so games don't fall through the mesh.

Oh, I've got my handhelds stored in two Ikea DVD towers I already have. Pictures to come, but I'm considering using cheap display plate holders to keep them upright and under display.

[Yoshi Sonic]

Ooh ah, looks like fun. The thing I like about unboxing and setting up retro gear is that it's like Christmas 1982 all over. Except x 16 when you're setting up multi-consoles.

Now that I see what you've done with your wiring, I can see how to make a bookcase work - take the power and TV to the console, rather than taking the console to the power and TV - duh

How will you be hooking up your RF consoles? Can you even get antenna switches? Maybe NES Y-switches in parallel?

[Yoshi Sonic]

ahh I see you're not hooking up the oldies afterall

[t0mby]

Hmm, http://www.retrocollect.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; allows you to track your collection.

http://www.backloggery.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is an alternative, also supports 3DO games.

[emptyvessel]

Yoshi - Even though I have the old consoles, they're not real favourites of mine to actually play so I didn't pick them as permanently hooked up.

The RF was also a factor, but the ones I'd probably play a bit of (2600, Colecovision and Intellivision) all can be AV modded so that'll be a project down the track. The 2600 Jr I made a go at modding years ago but it was a simplistic mod with no amplifier setup and didn't work all that well. Being a qualified computer systems/electronics engineer I should have known that, but I thought I'd give it a go.

The Toploader NES is the only one in the active setup that is RF currently, but I intend to AV mod that relatively soon.

In all the consoles I've set up, I've found two that don't work. The N64 won't even power on, which is disappointing as it's one I purchased on release and I take care of my own kit. Might just be the power supply, but I don't have a spare to confirm with. The Master System 1 also won't power on (no power light) but I have several power supplies hiding around so I might be able to get it sorted. If not, I'm pulling it apart as I'd prefer to have the MS1 as it provides native AV out rather than having to mod a MS2.

[t0mby]

The N64 won't even power on, which is disappointing as it's one I purchased on release and I take care of my own kit.

Lifetime warranty on all Nintendo consoles pre Gamecube.

[GreyWizzard]

I'm fairly certain Nintendo defined lifetime warranty as the life of the console in the market. So as long as somewhere sells brand new n64's you should be okay.

[Candy Arse]

Another one crossed off the bucket list - a boxed, modded, Neo Geo AES. Picked it up today locally, as well as a copy of 2020 Super Baseball which I love. All credit goes to emptyvessel for alerting me to the sale on Ebay.

Now having 3 Neo Geo consoles I would like to proclaim myself the biggest wanker ever, and loving it.

[t0mby]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BIGGEST-COLLECT ... 279wt_1163" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All Sega/Nintendo/Nec fullsets !
You'll probably see this once in a lifetime: 22 fullsets sold at once!
1) All games ever released on Nintendo home systems, from Famicom to Gamecube!
2) All games ever released on Sega systems!
3) All games ever released on NEC systems, ALL FACTORY SEALED!

Check the pictures. Check the price. Check the shipping cost!

[Yoshi Sonic]

I just learned a new word - fullset. zomg

[emptyvessel]

It sold. Madness.

[Candy Arse]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEO-GEO-AES- ... 212wt_1396" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Anyone wanting a Neo Geo?

[Candy Arse]

http://www.racketboy.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wow this site looks really good. Bookmarked!

[emptyvessel]

Yep, Racketboy has a lot of good articles, especially around the hidden gems for each platform.

[Candy Arse]

I now own a Super Duper Nintendo. Modded for 50/60Hz and plays PAL/JAP/US SNES games.

The same chap modded my Saturn, Mega Drive and Master System for the same purposes. Let the good times roll.

[Seraph]

A lot of PAL games can be bumped up to 60hz without issue on a modded SNES, but you'll find certain games have issues. As a rule of thumb, anything with special chips will be more likely to have problems. Things like Starfox have graphical glitches. Mario RPG won't work most of the time due to its SA1 chip. Megaman X2 and X3 have issues due to their C4 chips.

I find a two-SNES system to be the safest bet -
1. a PAL SNES, with a 50/60 switch and an on/off for the region lockout chip, and
2. a US SNES, with the plastic blocks snapped off.

This way, all PAL games are guaranteed to run, you can bump up most of them to 60hz without issue, and NTSC games are guaranteed to run.

[Candy Arse]

I did read that about the games with the special chips. It's a bridge I'll need to cross when I get there, but the games I'm going after from the US initially (Metroid, Chrono Trigger, DKC 1/2/3) should run just fine on my system.

[Candy Arse]

Fuck Mega Drive games look magnificent via s-video and in 60Hz. As an added bonus a 60Hz-out Mega Drive means 60Hz-out Mega CD games. Winning!!

[Seraph]

Super Metroid will be fine, my JP copy works fine on the PAL SNES (though I use the US one anyway). Chrono Trigger should be OK as there's nothing special about the cart. I seem to recall issues with 60hzifying a PAL DKC3 on my modded SNES, though I can't find my notes on it.

[Candy Arse]

I've got PAL DKC3, will test it out today.