Very cool!
I still think it’s probably a much better buy to just go for the Genesis Everdrive and get support for both systems (and 32x, CD).
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I want the new Master Everdrive for the SG 1000 games.
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it’s also balls-hard!
i like really want save states on master system
but maybe not $130 want, fuck
Curious about the save states though, they weren’t all that super reliable on the MD Everdrive.
I only have MSII, although I wouldn’t mind checking out the SG-1000 library, I just can’t be bothered looking into any RGB modding for it.
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/Popcorn watching Krikzz & DB Electronics have a chat about shit i don’t understand.
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Looks like krikkz was a little upset about that article. I like db electronics but his article was like a “new research shows drinking 1 soda a day could kill you” article. Yes the designs could be better but you’re not going to blow up your console using them.
I agree, but honestly, if soda might kill you, it might be a good idea to limit how much you take in. I think that was the point. Krikzz already started putting that in his design so it was just a matter of time. I like Rene too but you know his group can bully at times. I don’t think that is in Rene’s personality though. I think he wants a better product and I look at it from that point of view.
Except the article never said that about krikkz’s stuff, only that they weren’t as good as they should be and people should be aware of that. It’s the garbage “xxx in one” carts he went in on. The problem was that a bunch of outlets lumped everything in together from that article and because of that Rene went back and added a few clarifications to make it more clear. At least it ended up giving us this gif I made from the RetroRGB video where they mocked those outlets for not knowing how to read.
He did go back and edit the article once the internet blew everything out of proportion. The original article was very doom but I’m so glad we got that gif as a result! I have nothing but respect for both guys and I don’t have the knowledge to criticize any of their work.
Rene handled this properly IMO. It’s a bad practice that causes unneeded strain on hardware, and he wrote a very detailed article without getting into any weird personal attacks. It’s true that the whole thing was blown way out of proportion by people who didn’t understand.
I still haven’t upgraded my Super Everdrive or Everdrive MD v3 but I probably will at some point.
Same here. $130?
Save states would be a game changer on MS games as so many of them are complete bitches to finish.
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this is my thought as well - mega everdrive was an easy buy for me years ago because of many features, but a big one was save states…they’re not super reliable. some games don’t work at all, others can lock on you at the wrong time & botch a save entirely.
so yeah, i’ve learned my lesson: i understand these aren’t emulators (and thank god for that), but if the save state system isn’t completely stable, it’s not worth much to me.
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One of the big bonuses with the Mega Everdrive now is that it implements the FM chip for SMS games, which is a really great feature if you’re into using the Genesis’s backward compatibility with SMS games and you want to hear the FM music in games that support it!
Also, on the subject of other flashcarts, I just ordered a Mega Flash ROM SCC+ SD + 512k cart from MSX Cartridge Shop. It’s a really crazy piece of kit that supports not only mounting cartridge ROMs, but also disk images as individual floppy drives, as well as acting as both an SCC+ cart (Konami cart with extra sound chip, think something like VRC-6/VRC-7 from the Famicom), as well as a 512kb RAM expansion. Definitely the best bang-for-the-buck flashcart I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if anybody here has an MSX computer, but I thought I’d throw it out there if anybody does and didn’t know about this thing.
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damn, my buddy was just telling me to look into an option like that…that’s pretty awesome! what’s the hardware for the system itself cost these days, on average? i’d really love to be able to dive into that library one day
There are a toooonnnn of different machines out there, so it depends on what your needs really amount to. Do you just want to play games? Do you want to run non-game software?
A good MSX2+ unit seems to run between $300-400. However, MSX2 machines seem to run $100-300. You can compromise on some stuff to get a cheaper model, but then you’ll end up making up for what those units lack some other way. For instance, a unit might be missing the the FM chip, so you’d need to pick up an FM-PAC cartridge to fill that gap. Or it might not have enough RAM, so you’d either need to mod RAM on or use the cart I mentioned above to give it enough RAM. In fact, some of the absolute best MSX2+ machines only have 64k RAM stock, which is really unfortunate, but if you keep an eye out on eBay, you’ll find the units modded with extra RAM. But again, the aforementioned cart can also cover that need.
This is probably the ultimate MSX2+: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-MSX-2-FS-A1-WSX-Personal-Computer-Game-Excellent-Tested-Japan/273099472279?hash=item3f95ff3d97:g:dHcAAOSwdu9an~TE
but it’s not RAM modded, so it’s only got 64k.
With that said, if you are ONLY interested in gaming, then you don’t need a 2+. And then you have a lot more options. No games were ever made that require a MSX2+, and the MSX2+ machines were a) Japan only, and b) only ever had 64kb of RAM officially. And unlike a lot of other computers, many PAL MSX2 machines can be easily set to output 60hz just with a simple BASIC command, so if you find a cheap PAL machine, you can usually go that way. The main pro to getting specific MSX2+ machines is that some of them have an FM chip built in, so you wouldn’t need an extra cartridge for that. But only a few actually have this.
Sorry, this is a bit complicated… but that’s the result of MSX being a hardware standard rather than a single closed platform, haha. But I’m happy to answer any questions you have.
If you want my quick and dirty recommendation, look out for any of the following MSX2+ models: Panasonic FS-A1WX, Panasonic FS-A1WSX, Sony HB-F1XDJ, Sony HB-F1XV. You’ll sometimes see these with RAM expansions on eBay, and those are really the absolute best. But reiterating, the above flash cart can really help with the RAM expansion needs too. If you decide you’d rather just go with an MSX2 machine and get an FM cartridge with it, then there’s a lot of good options listed here, but Panasonic and Sony brands tend to be my favorites. The NMS PAL machines aren’t too bad either.
EDIT: As an addendum, if you elect to go with another machine, I’d make sure to go to the MSX.org wiki page for that machine and ensure it has the video output you’re looking for. MOST Japanese MSX2/2+ machines have RGB out standard, but not all. And some (like the FS-A1WSX) have s-video too.
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it would definitely be for only playing games, so that seems to help a bit! also, totally bookmarking your post, thanks aena!
BennVenn has just posted a quite in depth video explaining the whole 3.3v flash situation and explains quite effectively and simply why it is essentially a non-issue
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Excellent video! Thanks for the link.
Yep! And he knows his stuff.
Also on the topic of flashcarts, the EZ Flash team have just announced a new GBA cart that looks like it’ll beat the Everdrive easily, and for far cheaper too:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/we-made-some-videos-please-check-it-out.497600/
Features:
- near instant loading from SD. No patching needed.
- savestates
- real time clock
- expanded NOR storage, enough for two Mother 3 ROMs. Benefit of this is instant loading (not really that much of a difference to SD loading though!) and some cool features like fast forwarding!!
- NES/GB/GBC ROM support via emulation
- Cheat codes
- normal GBA cart size!! Doesn’t stick out!
- cheaper than the everdrive
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