Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

@RogerRoger the main problem is a lot of stuff doesn't really have a place in a new house haha. You just kind of move it around each room until it slots in somewhere.

I was a 10 minute walk to work before too, now I'm a 6 mile cycle ride, eep.

Thanks mate!

@kyleforrester87 Hope you get situated in your new place. I personally can't stand moving. Anyone who willing does so has my props for eternity.

@DerMeister thanks! I tend to move every 4-5 years. I know someone who moves every year, he has a family (4 kids). I can't imagine relocating to a new part of town, sorting all your bills, doctors, schools etc every year! Urgh!

@RogerRoger haha I was thinking of that scene when I wrote that.

Although to be fair I think of that scene about 8 times a day.

I actually booyahed on stream tonight.

Finally, after weeks of trying, I beat both Kurt Zisa AND Phantom in a single stream. Hallelujah!

@RogerRoger Wow! That's a lot of pre-ordering!

@RogerRoger I have a sealed copy of Worms for the MegaDrive if you fancy it? lol

@RogerRoger I’m trying to decide about a Shenmue1/2 preorder. Sometimes the niche Japanese games become difficult to find due to a limited number of physical copies. I know I won’t have time to play it for quite a while, but I don’t want to have to search high and low for it later on. Also, sometimes I preorder because I like supporting games that I like and want to see succeed, especially if the game is at risk of struggling financially (at least that’s what my CDO tells me)

I just realized Kiwami 2 is pretty close. I should probably preorder that too, since I want that steelbook.

@DerMeister Amazingly, I was able to find the Kiwami steelbook many months later at GameStop and finally broke down and bought it even though I still haven’t finished Zero. The Yakuza series is getting quite a Western fan base so I anticipate less issues with shortages, but maybe I was just lucky to find the Kiwami steelbook (one of the lovliest cases I own)

@RogerRoger New for a Mega Drive isn't much cop. A nice, clean early run PAL MegaDrive with a VA3/VA4/VA5 motherboard, new cap's, RGB and a 60hz mod is just the best

@RogerRoger Well, there are many flavours of MegaDrive; and while the often observed notion of the MD1 being better than the MD2 is quite true overall - there are at least 8 hardware revisions of the MD1 alone.

The main noticeable difference in PAL (and most, really) over both models is audio quality. The MD1s with the motherboards above are the ones with "High Definition Graphics..." printed on the top of the circle around the cartridge bay. They have the ext port and RCA jacks on the back and sound better than all of the other versions of the hardware. The 60hz mod is mainly there to mitigate the PAL 50hz system clock, which has every component in the machine running 10hz slower.

There are a couple of 'better' MD2 revisions too. Generally they sound pretty awful, but there are boards (VA4 I think mine is) that are decent. Video out of PAL MegaDrives is generally better too.

There are pretty extensive mods you can do to MD1 sound on later systems that are insane. Very difficult to do - but the results are incredible.

@RogerRoger As is the trend with hardware revisions, unless you're MS (nooch), it's a cost-cutting exercise. The MegaDrive was expensive to build and had to go up against the NES for 2 years before even the SNES showed up. Dropping features was the only way to keep producing it and make any money. Most players in the most popular SEGA markets (Europe and Brazil) weren't at the cutting edge of home media technology like those in Japan. I certainly never had the opportunity to plug my first MegaDrive in to a dedicated stereo sound system via the RCA jacks - it was indeed a 14" portable Bush thing!

But yeah - of all of the MegaDrives, the PAL MD1 HD is easily the best looking! The Genesis has the supid name, horrible label and colours, and the Japanese MD, while nicer than the Genesis - isn't quite as stylish.

Same goes for the MegaDrive 2. The red & black colour scheme for the console and peripherals is nothing short of bloody gorgeous!

@RogerRoger That;s the one. I mean, look at it! I have the Arcade Power Stick II, the 6 button version of the MD1 one. It isn't exactly a good stick, but it's so very, very good looking! The 6 button controllers are also hot.
I've long coveted the Master System Converter II - but it's never less than £50 on ebay, boxed with the spacer even more. But even just for a pass-through, it's also rocking the red/black thing.

Did you have the pack in Road Avenger though?

@RogerRoger GAMEelite is great over the long run. Your subscription should near enough pay for itself just of those purchases.

I'm conflicted about Shenmue 1/2. Go with GAME for £27 (£3 back in rewards) physical or get it digital on the PS store with the 10% preorder discount for £22.50.
Never played these games, but going physical would at least give me the option to trade it in... .
These are the decisions that keep me up at night.

@RogerRoger if it had a red cartridge slot, that would be Japanese, or a clone.

Probably Sol Feace. It's pretty middling game. As are most Mega CD gamest... But CDs! 😂

God, the Mega Drive was such an ace console. A friend of mine had his still going and it was great for some random multiplayer nostalgia. Bonus points to Micro Machines having extra controller slots on the cartridge itself.

One of the most random things I remember about the Mega Drive was the Xmen game that had a level that actually got you to press the reset button on the console in order to progress.

@Thrillho Ah that game was nails! Never finished it as I never figured out that it actually wanted you to press the actual MD reset button!

I have a dream of reflashing a codies J-Cart (with the ports) with Mega Bomberman and getting it to work!

My Model 2 is struggling as of late. Needs a teardown and internal clean again I think.

@RogerRoger Ha!

It came as a double pack with Cobra Command, which I quite liked. Still have them, as they were (and still are!) pretty worthless when I was selling stuff off.

@RogerRoger possibly one for Unpopular Opinions thread, but I really hate Sonic & Knuckles (other than for the meme value). Not all that keen on Sonic 3 either. Sonic CD is a genuine masterpiece, though the jump sound effect is horrid!