Video Games by James S

Arcade Systems

Please go to:

https://sites.google.com/site/jamesskingdom/Home/video-games-by-james-s/arcade-systems

Atari Jaguar

If ever an example of a games console that should have performed well due to its hardware but failed regardless, the Jaguar is a good example. Keeping with the wild cat theme (i.e. Lynx being a portable console from Atari), the Jaguar from let loose on gamers in 1993 in North America, and 1994 in most other areas including Europe and Japan (were it performed poorly). Marketed as the world's first 64-bit console the Jaguar went up against the Mega Drive/Genesis, SNES, 3DO, and later the Saturn and Playstation. The Jaguar was difficult to develop for because of its complex architecture, only having 50 games produced for the system, and by 1996 the Jaguar was discontinued. With only 250,000 units sold Atari left the games console market.

The Jaguar was developed by Flare Technology (who had initially worked on the Panther for Atari before it was cancelled), and manufactured by IBM. The system consists of 4 processing units; the Object Processor (64-bit processor providing video output), Graphics Processor (32-bit RISC processor with 4 KB internal RAM), Blitter (64-bit operations with Z-buffering and Gouraud shading), and Digital Sound Processor (32-bit RISC processor with 8 KB internal RAM). In addition, a 68000 acts as a general purpose processor and has 2MB main RAM. With regards to audio the Jaguar boasted 16-bit stereo CD-quality sound.

Considering the Jaguar was supposedly a 64-bit system Atari tried to make out that simply 'doing the math', that is, 64-bit is higher than what the lower bit consoles could offer, it was a no-brainer that the Jaguar was the better system. Not only was Atari's logic wrong when it came to its slogan, there is debate whether the Jaguar can actually be classed as a 64-bit console (the CPU and GPU are 32-bit but communication to the co-processors is via a 64-bit pathway).

As if being a complex system to program wasn't off-putting enough to programmers, the Jaguar hardware had a number of bugs including the inability to run code from system RAM and a badly behaving UART.

Games for the Jaguar were released in cartridge form and could be up to 6MB in size with gameplay progress saved on the cartridge. There were a mixture of 2D and 3D games with the 3D games having quality similar to 32X/SNES Super FX. Examples of games released for the Jaguar are Alien vs Predator (the best selling game for the system), Atari Karts (inspired by Mario Kart), Doom, Rayman, Tempest 2000 (often cited as one of the best Jaguar games), Worms, and Zool 2.

In the photo below you can see the box for Syndicate for the Jaguar (left) and the manual (right).

The Jaguar game cartridges were very unusual looking as you can see in the image that follows.

I feel that Atari was aiming for a futuristic look for the Jaguar or they were going for the 'UFO' look, but nevertheless it stands out as you can see below:

In red 'JAGUAR' is written front left, with the 'R' finishing off what almost looks like bloody scratches, keeping with the feline theme. At the front middle is the red power button and below it is the power LED; PAL Jaguar machines have a green power LED whereas the LED is red for NTSC consoles. The power LED will only light if power is connected and a cartridge is inserted. If you find when you turn the console on the screen turns red or the Jaguar logo appears but the background is red then the console is not reading the game cartridge correctly. Try powering off, reseating the cartridge and powering on again. If the game still won't start up try cleaning the cartridge contacts.

Below the power light is the 'ATARI' branding and underneath that a slogan telling you what the system is supposed to be: '64-BIT INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA SYSTEM'. Far at the back is the cartridge port which not only accepts games but also the CD add-on. Perhaps to save a bit of money the cartridge port lacks any form of cover, allowing dust to get in so it would be a good idea to keep a cart in on the CD attachment.

Here is another view of the Jaguar showing the exposed cartridge port:

Now looking at the back of the Jaguar (below); from the left we have the DC power in, next the DSP connector for peripherals, to the right of that the AV connector (composite, RGB, S-video, and stereo audio), and lastly the RF connector for connecting to a TV.

If using your own PSU or sourcing a replacement make sure it's 9VDC and at least 1.2A, centre negative. I used a SMPS which has the advantage of being small and light compared to an original Jaguar PSU.

You can still buy third party AV leads for the Jaguar which provide composite or SCART connection. The French Jaguar consoles, take note, have no RF connector and the console came with a SCART lead.

Because the DSP and AV connectors are of the 'edge' type it's vital that leads are plugged in the right way, which is usually indicated on the cable.

The Jaguar's console (below) is quite unusual looking, although it does have the typical buttons you would expect; a d-pad, as well as pause, option, A, B, and C buttons (the last 3 buttons standing out thanks to being red). The rest of the controller, the keypad, is what seems to be an odd choice (although useful for some games to act as shortcut keys and overlays were available) but is a feature from the Atari 5200.

For a look at the front of a boxed standard controller see below:

Next is the back of the box:

Rather than show the console on the front of the Jaguar box we just get a reminder that the console is named after a cat:

The back of the box is more interesting, showing the console, the CD expansion, some games and the controller.

For reference here is the Jaguar startup screen which features a rotating cube sporting a Jaguar (cat) on each side of the cube:

Next up, a look at Tempest 2000 which, will looking quite plain, does have some fancy graphical effects and is fun to play:

Tempest 2000 would have been a lot easier to play if the 'spinner' controller had been released for the Jaguar. Please see for more information:

https://www.retrorgb.com/jaguartempest.html

An improved version of the Jaguar hardware was used as the basis for a number of arcade machines, giving rise to the name COJAG (Coin-Op Jaguar). The COJAG better reflected the original design of the Jaguar before it had to be simplified due to cost issues. Examples of arcade games that utilised COJAG include Area 51, Freeze and Maximum Force.

Atari had had big plans for the Jaguar had it performed much better with the intention of making online gaming on the Jaguar a reality. There were also plans for a VR headset for the Jaguar to be released in 1995 but was cancelled, however, Missile Command 3D does support the unreleased headset.

A CD add-on for the Jaguar, called the Atari Jaguar CD (a.k.a. Jag CD), gave the Jaguar the ability to play CD based Jaguar games, music CDs and CD+G discs. The attachment is inserted into the cartridge slot of the Jaguar and The Jaguar CD unit also has a cartridge port so that Jaguar cartridge games can be played without having to remove the Jag CD. There were only 13 games that came out in CD-ROM format for the Jaguar which include Baldies, Dragon's lair and Myst.

Even though the Jaguar was a failure during its original lifetime it is still thought of fondly by many gamers. The consoles, games, and peripherals often fetch a high price and are highly sought after.

In the late 1990s Hasbro Interactive bought properties of Atari Corporation and Hasbro released the rights and patents to the Jaguar, making the console an open platform which helped fuel homebrew development. Because a number of games had been dropped due to the Jaguar being cancelled it gave developers a chance to later release those games, such as Hyper Force, which was released in 2000.

Other efforts helped breathe new life into the Jaguar; for e.g. in the UK in 2001, Game sold the Jaguar and games at very low prices thanks to a deal with Telegames.

Here is a video I did about the Atari Jaguar:

Capture Cards

If you want to see and hear your video games on your computer, and especially if you want to record them (or just take screenshots as you can see on this page), then a capture card is exactly what you need. You can read more about them on the Capture Cards page.

AVerMedia AVerTV Capture Card

(Update: 3/2/10)

If you want to view the games you play on your computer's monitor or you want to record the audio and video as you play then a capture card is one of the best options. I use an AVerMedia AVerTV WDM Video Capture (E501) capture card that is designed for laptops as it uses a cardbus connection, as well as an AVerMedia DVD EZMaker USB Gold capture card. The screenshots on this page where taken with my capture cards as were many of my YouTube videos were recorded using the capture devices.

There is one problem with the cardbus capture card and that's the software that came with it is terrible, often crashing when trying to record. I also found that if I try to view PAL games running in 60Hz (as is the case for many Xbox 360 games) the game is displayed in black and white (such a thing can happen with TVs that don't support 60Hz). But the capture card does actually support PAL 60Hz, you just have to use alternative software as explained below (please note that if a capture card doesn't support a certain mode, using different software won't fix that).

The solution is to use the wonderful VLC player which has the option to select PAL 60Hz mode. So it turns out the capture card is capable of displaying 60Hz games but the software that came with it doesn't.

I will now take you through the steps to view and record PAL 60Hz games with the capture card but it may also be useful for those who have a different capture card.

To view 60Hz games using the VLC player and capture card:

* Click Media->Open Capture Device.

* Select the capture device (AVerMedia...) as the Video device name.

* Click configure then click the Video Decoder tab and select PAL_60 for the video standard. Then click OK.

Then when you click Play the game should be displayed in colour. However, the capture card defaults to low resolution so to increase the resolution:

* Click Media->Open Capture Device.

* Select Advanced Options...

* In the video size box type a higher resolution such as 640x480.

* Click OK.

* Click Play and you should see that the resolution has changed.

Recording using VLC isn't as simple as it should be but on the plus side it has advanced options for saving videos. To capture the game to disk as a video file do the following:

* Click Media->Streaming...

* Select the Capture Device tab.

* Make sure the settings are correct (Video device name, Advanced options, etc.)

* Click Stream.

* Make sure the Play Locally option is selected if you want to be able to see a preview of your game while it's recording.

* Click the File check box and then Browse to select a file to save the video to. Make sure you include an extension such as .WMV otherwise the video will be saved to a file of type .PS.

* Choose a format type (Custom, MPEG-2, etc) in the Profile section.

* Click Stream.

The video should now record (the VLC player will say it's streaming); to stop recording simply click VLC's stop button.

Famicom

Please go to Nintendo Famicom.

FC compact

Please go to FC compact.

Mega Drive Games System

The Sega Mega Drive (Genesis in North America, possibly due to a trademark issue) was Sega's 16-bit cartridge based games system that rivalled Nintendo's SNES and followed up from Sega's 8-bit system, the Master System, which had become available in 1985. It was on the Mega Drive that the Sonic the hedgehog games first saw light of day and started one of the greatest rivals in video game history: Sonic Vs. Mario. Released in 1988 in Japan, 1989 in North America and 1990 in PAL regions the Mega Drive featured a 16-bit 68000 CPU running at 7.6MHz, an 8-bit Z80 CPU @ 3.5MHz for sound control and Master system backward compatibility (via the Power Base converter), 72KB of system RAM, 64KB of video RAM and support of up to 61 colours simultaneously. Many would regard the Mega Drive as bringing home arcade quality titles which the Sonic games were a good example of in terms of high quality graphics and fast game play with Sega boasting that the Mega Drive's blast processing gave the console an edge over its competition.

Let's look at the first version of the Mega Drive (in this case the PAL model):

As can be seen in the photo above, the Mega Drive MK I has volume control, power switch and reset button on the top left and the cartridge socket near the back with the power LED nearer to the front; note the '16-BIT' branding almost centre of the console. At the front side is the headphone socket which outputs stereo sound (unlike the A/V port) and the 2 'Atari' type controller ports or on the opposite side. Around the back of the console is an unused EXT. connector, RF OUT socket, A/V OUT connector and power supply socket (DC 10V at 1.2A). Bottom right there is the expansion connector (used to interface with the Mega-CD) which is normally covered by a protecting piece of plastic.

Fun fact: some Mega Drive and Genesis power supplies wrongly instruct the user to 'disconnect from mains when in use' instead of when not in use.

The much smaller Mega Drive MK II (see below) has just an A/V OUT connector and power supply socket (DC 10V at 0.85A) at the back as well as the expansion connection at one side and controller sockets at the front. The smaller size caused some problems such as not being able to fit the Power base Converter (Master system converter) into the MK II Mega Drive, although a version especially for MK II was released.

There is also the MK III and MK IV versions of the Mega Drive/Genesis created more recently only in a few countries, however, and may have compatibility problems with some games. A hand-held version of the Mega Drive (not the same as the Sega Nomad) was also produced as well as a plug and play version with a few games built-in.

Mega Drive games typically came in a plastic box and an example of Sonic 3D: Flickies' island (a.k.a Sonic 3D Blast) can be seen below:

A good example of a Mega Drive game that came in a cardboard box, however, is Sonic & Knuckles which used an unusual cartridge shape but other games were also sold with a cardboard box to keep production costs down.

Here are some screenshots from a number of Mega Drive games (PAL versions) which are Sonic 1, Eternal champions and Zool:

The games for the Mega Drive were a huge strength for the console with over 800 in total across the various regions with games being released as late as 1998 but as if that isn't impressive enough as of 2018 games are still being made in cartridge form for the Mega Drive, although not endorsed by Sega.

Sega released a number of add-ons for the Mega Drive which include the Mega-CD (see below) which worked with the Mega Drive to be able to play Mega-CD games which were more advanced games than what the Mega Drive could offer. There was also the 32X which plugged into the Mega Drive's cartridge slot so that 32X game cartridges could then plug into the 32X, which were superior games to ordinary Mega Drive games. Sega also released, and other companies on behalf of Sega, various combinations of the Mega Drive, Mega-CD and 32X combined together, some of which were portable. There were even a couple of computers that had a Mega Drive built-in, one of which was made by Amstrad. Unlike the Game Gear which required a converter to play Master System games, the Sega Nomad (a.k.a. Genesis Nomad) was a hand-held that could play Mega Drive games without an adapter, but was only released in North America.

As was quite common with SNES games to include additional hardware in the game cartridge to boost the console's graphics power, Virtua racing for the Mega Drive (based on the arcade version) contained special hardware, the Sega Virtua Processor, to create 3D graphics not normally possible with just the standard Mega Drive hardware. While Virtua racing may look very poor by today's standards, for a game released in 1994 and rendered in 3D with 9,000 polygons per second on a primarily 2D games system, Virtua racing was very impressive for the time. Another, although less exciting example of building extra hardware into Mega Drive game cartridges was the J-Cart from Codemasters which was unique in that it had 2 controller connectors actually built-into the cartridge as to act like a multi-tap to allow more than two players to compete at once but only 6 games used the J-Cart technology. Sonic & Knuckles used so-called lock-on technology so that a second game cartridge could be plugged into the top of the Sonic & Knuckles cartridge either to add new game play features to certain other Sonic games, to unlock the Blue sphere mini games to play at will, or in the case of Sonic 3 to play the full game as originally intended. Here is a photo of the Sonic & Knuckles cartridge (PAL):

The flap has been opened and you can just about see where the second cartridge is inserted in the top.

As we are talking about different types of Mega Drive carts it would be worth showing how different EA's games look compared to a standard Mega Drive cart, in this case, Zool:

The yellow tab to the left of the cart, its unusually tall size, the use of different screws compared to the standard carts (see photo, above) and the fact that even European EA carts make reference to the Genesis on the cart's back rather than the Mega Drive are clear indications of an EA cart. The story goes that EA (a small company back in the day) couldn't get their hands on a Genesis development system and even if they could make games for the system they would have to pay Sega licensing fees on each cart sold. But EA managed to obtain a Genesis development system long enough to reverse engineer it and make their own version allowing them to (illegally) put together their own games without paying Sega any money. In the end Sega settled on a less expensive licensing fee for EA, EA made their own Genesis games (which are all region free) and ended up becoming a very successful third party developer for the Genesis. As mentioned, all EA Genesis/Mega Drive carts are region free but most non-EA carts released up to 1993 are also region free with the only requirement that an adapter is used to raise the import cart above the console as it would otherwise not fit in the cartridge slot.

While many would be more than happy to pick up an original Mega Drive, newer versions of the console are still available to buy today often with built-in games although using emulation of the original hardware so unfortunately you won't quite get the same experience as with the original hardware and there may be compatibility issues with certain games. For example, from Argos you can pick up a new style Mega Drive by AT games which includes 81 games built in, accepts standard Mega Drive controllers and also plays any of the Mega Drive games you may already have. This console uses emulation of the Mega Drive hardware which results in poor sound and because the video output isn't upscaled for a modern TV as with any retro device the images will look poor.

The Mega Drive/Genesis was succeeded by the Saturn which you can read about by going to the Saturn page.

Power Base Converter (For Mega Drive)

This oddly named add-on for the Megadrive allows gamers to play their Master system games on a Megadrive (the reason for the name is that some Master systems had 'Power Base' written on them). The Power Base Converter has the pause button and card slots exactly like on an actual Master system but you use the Megadrive control pad or joystick to play the Master system games. However, since the standard Master system control pad has only 2 trigger buttons but the Megadrive controller has 3 trigger buttons it can be a bit confusing at first which buttons relate to the Master system controller trigger buttons (also, typically on Master system games one of the trigger buttons acted as a Start button). The biggest advantage is effectively having two game systems in one, requiring only to remove the Power Base Converter to play Megadrive games.

In the above photo you can see my Megadrive MK I with the Power Base Converter plugged into the cartridge slot (it cannot fit into a Megadrive MK II). The Master system game is inserted into the Power Base Converter and the game can then be played using the Megadrive control pad.

Mega-CD

Sega made a number of attempts to extend the life of the Mega Drive before the Saturn was released and as well as the 32X there was the Mega-CD (known as Sega CD in North America) which when combined with the Mega Drive allowed Mega-CD games to be played that took advantage not only of the CD media but also the extra processing power in the Mega-CD unit (as evidenced in, for example, Sonic CD's 3D-like special stage that was quite like the SNES's mode 7). Like the Mega Drive the Mega-CD contained a 16-bit Motorola 68000 CPU but running at 12.5MHz instead of 7.6MHz that the Mega Drive's main processor ran at. Unlike the Mega Drive which required a game cartridge in order to do anything useful the Mega-CD featured a type of BIOS (contained in a 1Mb ROM) allowing the system to boot without a game and display a startup screen as well as give access to CD player controls. As for RAM the Mega-CD has 6 Mb for the main system memory, 512 Kb for PCM waveform memory, 128 Kb for CD-ROM data cache memory and 64 Kb for the game save backup memory

Because the Mega-CD games came on CD there was as much as 300 times the storage of cartridge based Mega Drive games which allowed for not only larger levels, more sound effects, and better quality music but also FMV's too.

The first version of the Mega-CD, designed for the Mega Drive MK I and sat underneath the Mega Drive and looking like a traditional CD player and having a front-loading tray, was released in 1991 in Japan. Sega followed up with a version 2 of the Mega-CD (which can be used with both MK I and MK II of the Mega Drive) which sat to the side of the Mega Drive and featured a manually operated top-loading CD unit and was released in Japan in 1993. Both versions of the Mega-CD can play audio and CD+G (audio + graphics) discs as well as game discs, and a limited number of games made use of both the Mega-CD and 32X. An additional variation of the Mega-CD known as the Multi-Mega (a.k.a. Genesis CDX) saw light of day in 1994 and was essentially a portable CD player when run off batteries but when hooked up to a TV and power supply it could be used as a Mega Drive/Mega CD games console.

A top view of the model 2 Mega-CD can be seen as follows:

The extension spacer has been fitted to the very left of the unit to accommodate the original model Mega Drive. The Mega-CD's expansion connector can be seen peeking out to the left of the CD drive portion which is used to plug the Mega Drive into the Mega-CD system.

Next we have the back view of the Mega-CD:

From centre-left we have power in, mixing, and right and left line out connections.

To play Mega-CD games a Mega Drive must be connected to the Mega-CD via the expansion edge connector, both the Mega-CD and Mega Drive must be powered with their own, separate power supplies, and an AV cable and controller should be fitted to the Mega Drive as normal. When the Mega Drive is powered on by its switch the Mega-CD will spring to life and you will be greeted with the start up screen which you can see below (Mega-CD model 2):

Then put a Mega-CD disc into the tray, wait for it to be checked and press start on the controller when prompted to start the game. If any time you want to play a Mega Drive game there is no need to remove the Mega Drive from the Mega-CD; just power off the Mega Drive, put in a Mega Drive cartridge and power on.

With the Mega Drive and Mega-CD (and optionally the 32X also) needing their own bulky power supplies there is fortunately a modern alternative in which a high power laptop-style power supply can be used to power everything. I found the PS2 slim power supply to work very well and it is just a matter of making up an adapter cable that provides the necessary plugs for the Mega Drive/Mega-CD/32X. For more information please see the video above linked at the start of this section.

Unlike Mega Drive games which saved player progress to the game cartridge the Mega-CD has 64kb of built-in battery backed save memory which lasts 1 month after the Mega-CD is powered off before the data is lost, a crafty way to get people to keep playing their Mega-CD. Because the Mega-CD uses a rechargeable battery for game saves should the battery become faulty it should only be replaced with a compatible rechargeable battery: AL2032 battery is used in Mega-CD V1 and ML2016 in V2. It is possible to use a non-rechargeable battery instead but you must put a diode in series to prevent the battery from being damaged through charging.

The Mega-CD 2 does not have much in the way of connections; at the back of the unit are the left and right line-out audio sockets, the audio mixing connector and the AC adaptor input. On the top of the Mega-CD you will find the CD tray with the 'open' button for loading/removing a CD/games disc and an access LED to show when the CD is being read.

Audio options on the Mega-CD are quite varied which I'll go through now when using the model 1 Mega Drive:

Mono audio can be obtained through the Mega Drive's A/V port which is not affected by the volume slider.

You can get stereo audio through the Mega Drive's headphone port and the volume slider will adjust the volume as you would expect.

It is also possible to get stereo audio through the Mega-CD's line out connections either with or without the mixing cable (standard stereo TRS) connected to the Mega Drive's headphone socket and the Mega-CD's mixing input and this is useful if you require phono connections to your TV/monitor/amp. If the mixing cable is used then the Mega Drive's volume slider will control the volume of Mega Drive generated sounds (for e.g., in Sonic CD the sound of collecting rings, Sonic jumping, etc. as opposed to the music which comes from the Mega-CD) but in this configuration the audio from the Mega Drive's A/V port will be the Mega Drive generated sounds only. Without the use of the mixing cable all audio is available via the Mega Drive's A/V and headphone ports but the audio from the Mega-CD's line out connections will not contain Mega Drive generated sounds.

If you turn on the system without a disc the Mega-CD will after a brief time prompt for start to be pressed which will take you to the control panel which has various audio CD style controls (note: in screenshot below a Mega-CD game has been inserted):

If you put in a Mega-CD game you can listen to the game's music and you will find a memory option on the control panel which when selected gives you information about the save memory including the optional cart memory:

You can then press any button to access options for managing game saves:

Alternatively, you can boot the Mega-CD with a game disc and quickly press A, B or C to access the control panel and if you then want to start the game you only need to select the CD-ROM option.

While the Sega Saturn was known for its DVD style game cases in Europe the Mega-CD, as you can see below with the example of Sonic CD, used more CD-like game cases that we would see with the Dreamcast:

I only acquired a Mega-CD more recently and of the 3 games I've played so far - Sonic CD, Batman returns and Ecco the dolphin - you can view screenshots from those games below which are all the PAL version of the game and thus have coloured borders.

The Mega-CD, in conjunction with the Mega Drive, can be thought of as almost a prototype for the Sega Saturn in that aside from the obvious similarity of using CD's for the games but also because through the use of the Mega Drive the Mega-CD effectively had a cartridge slot just like the Saturn and also like the Saturn which supported a cartridge based save unit in addition to its internal memory the Mega CD could make use of a Mega Drive cartridge for game saves in addition to its internal memory. It's kind of ironic though that while the Mega-CD got an exclusive traditional platform Sonic game unique to the system the Saturn never had that privilege; Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island was a port of the Mega Drive version and Sonic Jam featured previously released Sonic games. Speaking of ports, unfortunately a lot of the Mega-CD games were just ports (even if enhanced) of Mega Drive games as well as the usual movie-like games that CD based systems were known for. To really create the ultimate FMV based games there were 6 games that could make use of both the Mega-CD and 32X together even though the 32X's cartridge slot was left empty as which showed the clever design of the Mega Drive, Mega-CD, and 32X in working together.

You can view a video I did on the Mega-CD below:

Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

Introduction

The Nintendo Entertainment System, a.k.a. NES, is an 8-bit cartridge based games console from Nintendo that was released in 1985 in North America and 1986 in Europe. It is the equivalent of the Japan only Famicom (for more information about the Famicom please see Nintendo Famicom) first available in 1983. Although the internal hardware is similar to the Famicom, the NES has a redesigned VCR-like look with detachable controllers (as opposed to the Famicom's toy-like appearance) and was marketed as a general entertainment device. This approach is believed to have come about partly to combat the continuing effects of the 1983 video game market crash in North America, a time of recession in the video game market. With the launch of the NES, Nintendo effectively resurrected the video game industry in North America and the NES would go on to enjoy a 10 year life in North America.

The NES features a 10NES lock-out chip in an attempt to stop unlicensed games from being played on the NES, as well as to region lock the NES, however, developers found ways to get around the security. Unfortunately, the 10NES chip effectively can cause a legal NES game from booting because extra connections are needed on the game cartridge to authenticate the cartridge which are extra connections that may not make proper contact with the cartridge connector is dirty of damaged.

Initially, because Nintendo was still quite inexperienced with selling consoles, Nintendo looked to Atari to distribute the NES in North America but the contract fell through. Nintendo would end up distributing the NES themselves, offering retailers a risk free investment to convince them to stock the NES. At first, a total of 16 games were available such as Duck Hunt, Ice Climber and Wrecking Crew, along with the wireless toy robot R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy) for the NES helped shift units. Europe would get the NES in 1987 (sharing the same appearance as the North America NES), which was at first distributed by Mattel, but the NES did not sell as well in Europe as it did outside Europe.

In North America the NES would beat its competition, the Atari 7800 and the Sega Master System, helped greatly by the NES' hit titles including Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros.3, Metroid and The Legend of Zelda. Some 715 games would be made for the NES with Wario's Woods being the last game released for the NES, but a number of unofficial games have been released for the NES from 2005.

Now let's take a look at a NES (PAL version):

The front of the NES is branded on the cartridge flap with 'Nintendo ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM NES VERSION'; a NES distributed by Mattel states 'MATTEL VERSION' in place of 'NES VERSION'. At the bottom of the front of a NES is the power LED (appears as a square light) which blinks red (accompanied by a flashing grey screen) if the NES has trouble communicating with the game cartridge otherwise the light will be solid red if the game is working correctly. To the right of the power light is a locking power switch and to the side of the power switch is a reset button which is useful to use should a game crash. At the far right of the front of the NES are 2 controller ports, marked as '1' and '2', which support standard controllers and a number of other peripherals including the NES Advantage arcade stick, NES Zapper light gun, and Power Glove controller.

In the next photo we can see the cartridge flap lifted up, revealing the mechanism which accepts a game cartridge (marketed as Game Pak) that must be pushed down after the cartridge has been inserted (this is in contrast to the Famicom which has a top-loading cartridge socket). Since the actual cartridge connector is recessed it is protected from direct human contact, however, the cartridge connector tends to wear out over time, not helped by the fact that pressure is applied to the connector pins when a game cartridge is pressed down into place. Another issue is dust can settle in the space where the cartridge 'lives' and to thoroughly clean the cartridge connector the NES must be opened up. Because of these issues it is quite common nowadays to replace the cartridge connector; please see the Repairs section.

On one side of the NES (see below) you will find a single audio connector (red) for the NES' mono audio output and the yellow connector is for composite video output.

In the following photo you can see at another side of the NES the power connector (labelled 'AC ADAPTER') which expects AC but there is no harm in using a DC power supply as long as it is of the correct voltage and current requirements. There is some exposed metal visible to the right of the power connector which on the American version of a NES is where you will find an RF channel select switch. Speaking of RF, the white connector is the RF connector which outputs both (mono) audio and video for connection to a TV's aerial input. The quality of the RF signal is far worse than composite video but at the time of the NES' release most people would have used the RF connection and indeed an RF lead was supplied with the NES when bought new.

Official Variations

A variation on the NES is the NES-101, released in 1993 in Japan and North America, and 1994 in Australasia, which features a redesigned look based on the North America version of the NES. This means it has a top-loading cartridge connector, avoiding the issues with the cartridge mechanism of the original NES model. The NES-101's controller was also changed from that of the original model to make it look more like a SNES controller.

Despite the positives of the NES-101 the new version of the NES did not have composite video or separate audio output - meaning RF output only was available - possibly to save on cost (composite can be added through modification). On the plus side, the NES-101 does not have the 10NES security chip, making the console region free, capable of playing unlicensed games, and lowers the chance of cartridge read errors because the cartridge does not need to be authenticated.

Games

As previously mentioned, the NES contained a security mechanism that would only allow a game to run if the game cartridge contained the correct security chip, however, some developers bypassed the security as they were unlicensed game producers. An example is the NES version of The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy by Codemasters which came in both a 'plug-through' and later, standard cartridge form. The plug-through version requires that a licensed cart be inserted into it to bypass the NES' security system. Another example of a NES game that was of the plug-through type is Micro Machines but the game would also see release for the Aladdin Deck Enhancer. Produced by Camerica, developed by Codemasters and released in 1992, the Aladdin Deck Enhancer is a special cartridge that has a built-in security chip, memory control, 8KB graphics RAM and a security/region select switch. The Aladdin Deck Enhancer is not a game itself but instead must be used with compact cartridge games, of which only 7 such games were released. This resulted in cheaper games since the Aladdin Deck Enhancer contains components typically found in standard game cartridges, offsetting the initial cost of the Aladdin Deck Enhancer. Unfortunately, the Aladdin Deck Enhancer was released too late in the NES' life, ending in Camerica shutting down. Games released for Aladdin Deck Enhancer are: Big Nose Freaks Out, Dizzy the Adventurer, The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy, Linus Spacehead's Cosmic Crusade, Micro Machines, Quattro Adventure, and Quattro Sports.

Check out this video on the Aladdin Deck Enhancer:

Repairs

Original NES model

Like with any game console that uses cartridge games you may find one day that your games won't play and this can happen because of dirt on the cartridge connections or inside the NES' cartridge connector. Typically, if a game won't play the NES will flash its power light and display a blinking grey screen on the connected TV/monitor although it is possible to get a grey screen even with a solid power light. It's worth trying a number of games to see if a particular game is faulty but if you cannot get any game to work and are met with a grey screen (flashing or not), try cleaning the cartridge contacts. The contacts can be cleaned with a cotton swab wet with isopropyl alcohol and then promptly insert and remove the cartridge into the NES (while it's off, of course) several times to help clean the NES cartridge connector additionally. Try the game again and if it still will not run try another round of cleaning the cartridge using the previously mentioned technique.

You may find that even after cleaning a cartridge's contacts that the game runs but the graphics are garbled or the game crashes at a certain point. If you find other games behave in a similar way it may be that the NES' cartridge connector needs replacing. Fortunately, replacement cartridge connectors can be had from online sites such as ebay, just search for 'NES connector' or 'NES 72 pin'. Here is a link to guide for replacing the cartridge connector:

https://www.instructables.com/id/NES-72-Pin-Replacement-Guide/

When you get to step 8 read carefully about the putting the cartridge tray back in; the lip must go under the main board or the tray will not be flush with the board.

Replacing the cartridge connector won't guarantee that the NES wil play games again as there may be other issues to be dealt with, such as a power supply problem. It may be sadly that the best solution is to buy another NES if you factor in the cost of repairing an existing one beyond replacing the cartridge connector or if you are not comfortable replacing small components that have failed.

Successors

The NES was superseded by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1991 in North America, the American version of the Japan only Famicom successor, the Super Famicom, released in Japan in 1990. As with the NES, the North American SNES has a redesigned look partly to be more appealing to the American market but European versions of the SNES have closer similarity to the look of the Super Famicom.

An official modern and smaller version of the NES, known as the NES Classic Edition, was released by Nintendo worldwide in 2016. It emulates the original NES and features 30 built-in games, some of which vary based on the regional version of the NES Classic Edition. Powered via micro USB and featuring HDMI output, the NES Classic Edition is a great way for people to replay classic NES games as well as introduce a new generation to the NES.

Links

A great write up about Codemasters and their games for the NES:

https://tedium.co/2018/06/15/codemasters-history-nes-nintendo/

Nintendo 64

Please go to Nintendo 64.

Nintendo Gamecube

The Nintendo Gamecube was Nintendo's first games system to use optical discs, which were based on mini-DVD. Since these discs were much smaller than the standard type used for the more common DVDs and audio CDs, loading times for some Gamecube games was very short, however, some Gamecube games did have long loading times. Another reason for Nintendo choosing smaller discs to store the games on was perhaps to try to stop people copying them but that didn't some people finding exploits in certain games, allowing them to copy games. The Gamecube discs being smaller, and low capacity, meant that some games came on two discs. Certainly the Gamecube not being able to play standard audio CDs and DVDs-which the Playstation 2 and Xbox could-did not help the Gamecube sell, unless you are one of the lucky owners of the Panasonic Q which was a special version of the Gamecube that could play audio CDs and DVDs as well as Gamecube discs.

Whereas the Nintendo64 had an expansion socket on each controller for plugging in memory cards, the Gamecube had two memory card slots on the front of the console. The first lot of Gamecube memory cards were low capacity; just one game could fill up a memory card. A big strength of the Gamecube, carried over from the Nintendo64, was having four controller ports, which was taken advantage of by some of the best Gamecube games which include Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and F-Zero GX. For some games, a Game Boy Advance could be connected to one of the controller ports using a special lead, for interactivity with the Gamecube game.

On the bottom of the Gamecube were several connectors, one of which was made use of by the modem or broadband adapter to take the Gamecube online but very few Gamecube games actually had online features, a big contrast to the Playstation 2 and Xbox. Another use of the additional connectors was for the Game boy player for playing Game boy and Game boy advance games on the Gamecube.

The Nintendo Wii is fully backwards compatible with the Gamecube; as well as playing Gamecube discs, the Wii actually has four Gamecube controller ports and two Gamecube memory card slots to ensure Gamecube controllers and memory cards will work on the Wii. Some Wii games can actually use Gamecube controllers which for some people work better than the Wii remote.

Nintendo Wii

The successor to Nintendo's Gamecube, the Wii has revolutionised the way we play games and has attracted people who perhaps would not normally get involved with game consoles. It is its unique wireless remote control that replaces the more traditional type of controller that allows players to act out games almost as if they were actually in the game; for example, you actually swing the remote in a tennis game as if it were a real racket. However, especially when the Wii first came out, some players ended up damaging nearby objects because they put too much effort into the game and ended up losing control of the remote. That and the fact that many games are better played with the more familiar type of controller (known as the classic controller), the remote does not always work well.

Other than the more engaging form of interaction with games using the remote, another big selling point of the Wii is its ability to play Gamecube games and actually use Gamecube memory cards and controllers. Some Wii games can also use the Gamecube controllers, which for some is a more comfortable way to play games than having to use the remote. But the Wii doesn't stop at Gamecube games, for a price, much older games such as those for the NES, N64 and many others, can be downloaded and then played on the Wii using its virtual console.

A big downside is that the Wii does not have a harddrive as standard (which the PS3 and Xbox 360 do), although there is the possibility that an external harddrive could be connected using one of the Wii's USB ports, with a suitable upgrade to the Wii's software. But the Wii does have built in flash memory as well as an SD card slot to further extend its storage capabilities as well as for making it easier to transfer photos and other files to the Wii by making use of the SD card connection.

Have a look at the screenshot below of the main menu of my Wii which show the various channels that I have loaded (more can be added for free or at a cost). The first, in the top left hand corner, shows if a Wii or Gamecube disc has be inserted so that you can start a game. Next along is the Mii channel for editing your own avatar which can be used in some games; unfortunately the Miis aren't that detailed but you can have many of them. The photo channel is next of which I have placed an image I had created and then transferred using an SD card; as well as viewing photos and making some slight changes to them, the photos (or other pictures) can be turned into a puzzle. The last channel on the top row is for shopping where you can buy games and download some free items (such as certain channels).

On the left on the middle row is the weather forecast channel, and next to that is the news channel. The BBC iplayer channel is for UK users such as myself, to watch BBC TV and radio, either live or to catch up on already shown shows; the PS3 also has that facility. Lastly is the Internet channel which lets you surf the net using the Opera browser.

Please be aware that you can pick up any of the channels using your remote and put them in a different position.

Here is a screen capture showing me editing my Mii (which looks nothing like me):

And what's this? This is me viewing my site (the old version) using the Wii's Opera browser (unfortunately it is not quite displayed correctly):

Sega Dreamcast

Please go to Sega Dreamcast.

Sega Game Gear

While it was not actually the first portable colour game console (that accolade belongs to the Atari Lynx), the Game Gear from Sega was certainly one of the most popular portable game consoles, although ultimately losing out to Nintendo's Game Boy. Released 6th October 1990 in Japan, 26th April 1991 in America and 24th June 1991 in UK, the Game Gear was essentially an enhanced but portable version of the Master System (a non-portable console by Sega released in Japan in 1985). The Game Gear could produce graphics with more colours than the Master System and the Game Gear could also generate stereo sound through the headphone socket (the Master System could only produce mono audio).

The main competition for the Game Gear was the Atari Lynx, which sold only 1 million units in total, and the Nintendo Game Boy, which sold 69 million units, beating the Game Gear's 10 million unit sales. Although the Game Gear certainly had some impressive games, including Master System conversions, and the colour screen was an appealing bonus, the bulking frame of the Game Gear and its poor battery life was a turn off for many. The original Game Boy may have only had a monochrome screen but its longer battery life and better range of games made it a sensational success.

Going into detail about the technical side of the Game Gear, its specification is as follows, compared to the Master System:

(Game Gear/Master System)

CPU: (GG) Zilog Z80 @ 3.5 MHz. (MS) Zilog Z80A @4MHz.

RAM: (GG & MS) 8KB main, 16KB video.

Sound: (GG) TI SN76489 (3 square wave & 1 noise generator) with stereo sound support. (MS) TI SN76489 without stereo sound support. Also has YM2413 for FM synthesised sound in Japanese models only.

Graphics: (GG) 160 × 144 resolution and 32 colours out of palette of 4096 colours. (MS) 256 x 192 resolution and 32 colours out of palette of 64.

Measuring at 210 × 113 × 38 mm and weighing 400 g (0.8 lb), the Game Gear is similar in size and weight to the second model Atari Lynx, and is almost double the weight of the original Game Boy, and nearly double the size considering all 3 dimensions.

You can see the front view of a Game Gear in the photo as follows:

The Game Gear has a D-pad on the left, with a single speaker below, and in the middle is the 3.2 inch colour LCD, with a power LED to the left of the screen. At the right of the Game Gear is the start button (which standard Master System controllers did not have), as well as the '1' and '2' buttons, familiar to users of the Master System, and the brightness control can be found at the very right of the console (not visible in the above image).

Next we have a top view:

As can be seen in the photo above, the volume control at the very left, with the stereo headphone port to the right of it, and in the middle is the cartridge port. At the very right is a power socket (DC 9V, centre negative) for running the Game Gear off the mains (using an AC adaptor/rechargeable battery pack/car adaptor), and the power switch to the right of the socket. Toward the front on the left is the expansion connector (with port cover in place) 'EXT.' for the Gear-to-Gear cable for linking Game Gear consoles for multiplayer play.

Next up, we have the back view of the Game Gear:

The 2 battery compartments, located at the left and right of the Game Gear, take 3 AA batteries each, supposedly providing 3 to 5 hours of game play (similar to the Atari Lynx), a lot less than the 15 hour battery life of the original Game Boy (which had a monochrome screen, thus needing less power, take note).

Top middle in the photo above you can see more clearly the cartridge port and at the bottom a mounting hole for add-ons. At the very bottom of the Game Gear are a set of strap hooks for attaching a wrist strap.

Games

Games for the Game Gear came in cartridge form and there were over 300 games released for the Game Gear throughout its lifetime, from 1990 to 1997, and as the Game Gear is region free you can enjoy all games regardless of what country the game was designed for. Many Game Gear games are ports of Master System games or conversions of Mega Drive/Genesis games. Game Gear games of note include many Sonic games (Sonic the Hedgehog 1 & 2, Sonic Drift 1 &2, and others), OutRun, Mortal Kombat I & II, Ninja Gaiden, and Space Harrier. For a complete list of Game Gear games please see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Game_Gear_games

Even after the Game Gear was discontinued there were a numbers of re-releases by Majesco Sales (now known as Majesco Entertainment), such as Super Battletank (originally on sale in 1992 and released again by Majesco in 2001) and Caesars Palace (originally released in 1994 and re-released by Majesco in 2000). I was able to buy a sealed version of the Majesco re-release from eBay for £5; the game was only released in North America, hence the US version is what I got. You can see the game in the photos that follow but please note that the box has been squashed somewhat (perhaps during storage while in the seller's care).

You can check out a video I did of unboxing a sealed copy of Caesars Palace:

Cancelled games for the Game Gear include Crazy Faces, Pac-In-Time, Road Rash II, Spirou and WildSnake.

Game Gear Variations

Original models

While the standard colour of the Game Gear is dark grey there were many special versions of the console, such as a blue sports edition available in North America, and the Japanese Virtua Fighter Mini version. For a full list please see:

https://segaretro.org/Game_Gear_consoles

Even after the Game Gear's discontinuation in 1997, with permission from Sega, Majesco Entertainment released their own version of the Game Gear at a much lower price but with a better screen, along with re-releases of a number of games, at a cheaper price (please see the Games section for information about the re-releases). You can tell if you have a Majesco Game Gear because the logo on the front of the console will have 3 white circles instead of red, green and blue circles, and the sticker on the back of the console will mention Majesco. Unfortunately, Majesco's version of the Game Gear is not compatible with the TV tuner accessory nor some versions of the Master Gear Converter.

Modern versions

Sega announced on 3rd June 2020, as celebration of their 60th anniversary, that they would be releasing a micro version of the Game Gear, the Game Gear Micro, set to go on sale on 6th October 2020 in Japan. There will be four versions of the Game Gear Micro, each a different colour and with a different number of games built in, which is unique considering the more normal approach of releasing just one micro console with many games pre-loaded.

Accessories

Master Gear Converter

A number of converters were sold for the Game Gear so that Master System games could be played on the Game Gear, although the adapters do not support Master System games that make use of the 3D glasses. In addition, the Game Gear cannot play FM sound that was built into the Japanese Master System and supported by some games, and since Master System games were designed for higher resolution that the Game Gear supports, use of the adapter results in a poor quality image due to to shrinking down the image to fit the Game Gear screen.

One example of an adapter to play Master System games on a Game Gear is the Master Gear Converter which plugs into the Game Gear's cartridge port and a Master System game is plugged into the Master Gear Converter's cartridge slot. However, a number of games are not compatible with the Master Gear Converter: Lord of the Sword, Outrun and Phantasy Star.

Another converter to play Master System games on a Game Gear is the Nuby converter and is the only such adapter that that works on original Game Gear models as well as the Majesco Game Gear version. Oddly, the Nuby converter requires that the Master System game sit at right angle to the adapter, which could cause the game cartridge to get in the way of the Game Gear's screen.

Due to the similarities in hardware of the Game Gear and Master System it should be possible to play Game Gear games on a Master System with a suitable hardware adapter, however, since the Game Gear has better graphics hardware, even with a converter Game Gear games would need to be patched to work on a Master System.

Sega Game Gear TV Tuner

While somewhat useless today as analogue TV transmission has been switched off the TV tuner for the Sega Game Gear was an affordable way back in the day to watch colour TV on the go at a time when portable colour TV sets were not common and were expensive. Released in 1991 in the UK and selling for about £75, the TV tuner plugged into the Game Gear like a game cartridge but allowed analogue TV to be watched on the Game Gear. You can see a photo of the PAL version of the TV tuner below:

The TV tuner featured a long extendable aerial (top), support for an external aerial input (left), a tuning dial (right), a switch to select between UHF and VHF (top), a colour adjustment dial (far left) and a connector for external AV input (right) which supports mono audio and composite video. There are differences in how the TV tuner looks and operates depending on the region the TV tuner was designed for with the Japanese version being the most different compared to the other versions.

Using the external AV input and a suitable cable (TRS to RCA x2, for e.g.) you should be able to connect any device that outputs a composite signal such as a VCR, DVD player, games console or even a digital TV receiver. Because game consoles typically use male RCA connectors on the AV leads you will need to use a gender coupler if the TRS to RCA lead also features male RCA connectors. Since I tested using my Dreamcast as an A/V source I made use of the fact that the VGA box I have has female RCA sockets for composite and audio so there was no need to use a coupler.

Of course playing or watching anything relatively modern on the Game Gear's screen was a struggle. Oddly the TV tuner adds a patterned bar to the bottom of the screen (seems to be on PAL TV tuners only), so you get even less screen space. It's a shame the tuner doesn't support external stereo audio input but if you use headphones the audio will be heard in both ears.

The external aerial input was designed for connecting a TV car antenna but you can also connect a device that outputs a RF signal to the input although finding the correct cable may be difficult. I had to wire up my own cable, which I used to connect the standard RF lead of my Dreamcast to the TRS to RCA cable (previously mentioned) connected to the tuner. I set the tuner to UHF and was able to get a picture from my Dreamcast by tuning into roughly 40 using the tuning dial. Although I got a picture and was also able to get sound I was unable to dampen the very loud audible noise. Perhaps there is an adjustment that can be made inside the tuner or I need to try a different cable.

I found 2 links to what seem to be the same service manual for the PAL TV tuner with the second one having schematics toward the end:

https://segaretro.org/images/0/03/Sega_Service_Manual_-_TV_Tuner_Pack_PAL_for_Game_Gear.pdf

https://gamesx.com/wiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=schematics:service_manual_-_tv_tuner_pack_pal_for_game_gear_mk-2101.pdf

To disassemble the TV tuner you will need to remove 7 screws including the one that holds the aerial in, and there are 2 screws hidden under the aerial. Take note that the 2 screws toward the bottom of the tuner are the hexagonal type. You can view the internals of the tuner below:

The Game Gear actually has a special TV mode designed for devices such as TV tuners which is enabled by taking cartridge pin 43 low, which makes it easier to transmit visual data straight to the Game Gear's LCD. For supplying audio, cartridge pin 44 (right audio) and 45 (left audio) are used by the TV tuner but are connected together since the TV reception only handles mono audio (stereo TV was not common when the TV tuner was released).

Here is a link to a copy of the North American version of the TV tuner manual:

https://segaretro.org/images/1/14/SegaGameGearTVTunerNAmericanInstructionManual.pdf

Of particular interest is the mention of the backstand (page 4) which was sold with some Game Gear TV tuners.

You can watch a video I did about the TV tuner at:

Troubleshooting

Common issues with Game Gear consoles in modern times include very low or no sound, and poor quality image, which can sometimes be fixed by replacing the capacitors. If you are proficient with soldering this video shows how to replace the capacitors:

The LCD of a Game Gear can be replaced with a more modern type to further extend the life of a Game Gear. Please see this video which shows how to install one type of modern LCD for the Game Gear:

Links

Here is a link to the European Game Gear instruction manual:

https://segaretro.org/images/1/18/Game_Gear_EU_Manual.pdf

The service manual can be viewed here:

https://gamesx.com/wiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=schematics:service_manual_-_game_gear_va1.pdf

Sega Pico

Please go to Sega Pico.

Sega Saturn

Please go to Sega Saturn.

Sega SC-3000

Please go to Sega SC-3000.

Sony PlayStation 1

Please go to Sony PlayStation 1.

Sony PlayStation 2

As Sony's second games system, the PlayStation 2 was for its time a very powerful piece of hardware that competed with the Sega Dreamcast, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube. Released in 2000, it was backwards compatible with nearly every PlayStation 1 game with the addition of a couple of optional enhancements, although for some games it could actually make things worse. The PlayStation 2 also supports most PlayStation 1 accessories and memory cards.

The PlayStation 2 can also play audio CDs, and DVDs, and the format of the first PlayStation 2 games was CD and the later ones came on DVD. A first for a games console, the PlayStation 2 has two USB connectors which could be used to power simple devices such as LED lights as well as supporting microphones, keyboards, mice and flash drives, although not all games could use them.

The Gametrak was an unique USB controller released for the PlayStation 2 that gives the PlayStation 2 Nintendo Wii-like controls. A player attaches the wrist straps to their arms so that the Gametrak can track their movements which are then seen on-screen, giving a more realistic way to play games. However, only a few games supported the Gametrak controller, including Real world golf 2007 and Darkwind.

To date the PlayStation 2 is one of the best selling games machines and not even including all the PlayStation 1 games that can be played on it, hundreds of games were made for the PlayStation 2 and as of 2010, games are still being made for the PlayStation 2. This was probably partly because of the PlayStation 3 being so expensive when it came out and not all versions of the PlayStation 3 can play PlayStation 2 games, so another reason for some people to keep with their PlayStation 2.

The standard PlayStation 2 controller is clearly based on the PlayStation 1 controller and is not far different from the original PlayStation 3 controller. As the PlayStation 2 has just two controller ports a multi-tap was released so that more than two players could play at once for the games that supported it. The original model PlayStation 2 had an i.Link socket for connecting two (original model) PlayStation 2s so that up to 8 player multiplayer was possible with the games that supported it, across two TVs.

Like with the first PlayStation, the PlayStation 2 has two memory card slots; it should be noted that some games, such as Resident Evil 4, are only compatible with the official Sony memory card. Also, a fault develops with some PlayStation 2 memory cards in which they cannot be detected because the circuit board inside the memory card has slipped down (by opening up the memory card the circuit board can be put back into the correct place). As well as taking PlayStation 2 memory cards, the PlayStation 2 also accepts PlayStation 1 memory cards for playing PlayStation 1 games on a PlayStation 2.

There were two main versions of the PlayStation 2; the much larger original model and the slimline version which although, of course, was much smaller than the original PlayStation 2 had its advantages as well as disadvantages. The slimline PlayStation 2 has a built-in network adapter so taking games online is easier but at the cost that the expansion connector was taken out that was needed to connect the harddrive which one use was for installing Linux on. The multi-tap designed for the original PlayStation 2 doesn't work on the slimline version which had its own multi-tap made for it. The i.Link connector was removed from the slimline model perhaps because not many games actually used it.

As can be seen in the photo above Sony released different coloured PlayStation 2s as well as the original (bigger) model and the slimline version. The pink PlayStation 2, along with the matching controllers, was a limited edition aimed at girls although I own the one in the photo, along with the original and slimline black models.

It's sort of ironic how when the PlayStation 2 was first released it was so expensive but as of 2010 you can pick up an original model or slimline one at a very good price and as for the games, of which there are so many, they can be bought cheap. Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness was the first Tomb Raider for the PlayStation 2 yet it still got a version of next generation Tomb Raider, that is, Tomb Raider Underworld.

Sony PlayStation 3

The PlayStation 3 was claimed to be the most powerful games machine at the time and it was clearly meant to be the system that would provide all your entertainment. Released back in 2006, the Blu-ray format of the game discs and movies helped alleviate the high expense of the console and no doubt having a Blu-ray player built into the PlayStation 3 helped Blu-ray beat other forms of HD DVD (Microsoft opted for an add-on HD DVD player for their Xbox 360 so when that format lost it didn't have a negative impact on the Xbox 360). As well as being able to play Blu-ray movies the PlayStation 3 can also play standard definition DVD's and audio CDs. The first PlayStation 3 models could play PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 games but to cut costs, later models of the PlayStation 3 could not play PlayStation 2 games (slim and super slim).

Below is a photo of my PS3, model CECHG03:

It has a 40GB hard drive, two USB ports at the front and only PS1 backward compatibility.

Most models of the PlayStation 3 have built-in wireless connectivity and online gaming is free. PlayStation Home is a free social networking type game (if you can even call it that) where you can create your own 3D avatar and then meet up with and talk with other users (limited to your own region unfortunately) and buy virtual items. You can even watch trailers in a virtual theatre although it is odd to watching a loading bar on the virtual screen!

The PlayStation 3 standard controller is wireless and features a built in battery that can be recharged via a USB lead. The controller has built-in motion sensing devices similar to in the Nintendo Wii remote, however, the first PlayStation 3 controllers did not have rumble support. Up to 7 controllers can be connected to the PlayStation 3 although only a few games allow for up to 7 players. The reasons that a maximum of 7 controller are supported is because the player number is indicated by a group of 4 lights on the back of the controller; to show player 5, 6 and 7 combinations of those lights are illuminated.

As well as having support for high definition TV's and monitors through the HDMI port, the PlayStation 3 still has the standard definition A/V connector found on the first two PlayStations. So you can use an original PlayStation A/V lead on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 if you have a standard definition TV. However, if you use HDMI and then want to go back to using a standard definition TV, you need to reset the PlayStation 3 to SD. This is done by first turning the PS3 off and then turning it back on by holding the touch sensitive on switch for five seconds.

Some of the games you can get for the PlayStation 3 include Dragon Age: Origins, Heavenly Sword, Motor Storm, Fallout 3 and Virtua Tennis 3. Since the games are on Blu-ray that allows for much more storage space than games on standard definition DVD's, although only exclusive games to the PlayStation 3 will actually make use on that extra space. But, some developers are actually struggling to fit games on a single Blu-ray disk!

Sony PlayStation 3 Reference Tool DECR-1000A

The PS3 reference tool, model DECR-1000A, is a special type of PlayStation 3 that was used by developers when testing their software. Weighing at 18KG and measuring 424 x 88 x 596mm it is almost 4 times the weight of the original PS3 and about as twice as deep. It can be used vertically with a suitable stand or placed in a standard 19-inch rack with the right mounting kit. The unit contains a communication processor which has its own flash memory and network connection so that the development PC can access the DECR-1000A through a web interface. The DECR-1000A is not too difficult to get hold of online and for collectors and tinkerers it is a very good item to have.

Somewhat resembling a DVD player or set-top box, the DECR-1000A looks very little like an actual PS3, as you can see in the front view below:

On the front there are two hard drive bays; a 400GB system drive on the left and a 400GB Blu-ray drive emulator on the right. When the unit is in standby either drive can be ejected by pressing the corresponding eject button. There are also access lights for each drive, above the eject button.

Also on the front is a connector for a foot switch, 6 USB slots (two of which are marked 'Extra' - these are the two USB ports you would have on the front of a standard PS3), a compact flash card slot, a memory stick pro slot and an SD card slot, meaning it is similar to the original PS3. The Blu-ray drive and eject button is on the top right and below that are 8 GPO (General Purpose Output) lights and 8 GPI (General Purpose Input) switches which are used both by the system and can also be used by game software. We also find on the front a wireless indicator light, BD and HD/DEV lights (in the XMB menu you can select whether to use the Blu-ray drive or HDD for loading game software), a status light, and 4 switches: reset, network init, system init and power.

Let's now look at the back:

At the back starting on the right there is the mains socket and power switch, AV multi out (like on a retail PS3), VGA out (something the PS3 lacks), digital sound output and HDMI out (the default output. Note that there is a second, hidden HDMI port to its side). To the right of those items is a small area covered up which is possibly for additional LAN sockets, to the left is the main LAN socket and there is an antenna connector for the Wi-fi/Bluetooth. Lastly, nearing the left are 4 analog audio out connectors for surround sound, a Dev LAN connector for connection to the development PC and a covered up Service (serial) connector.

To get inside you need to take off the top black panel which is held in with 5 screws and there are a number of silver panels that have to be taken off to actually get inside:

The power supply is its own unit and the main board takes up half the space, with the two hard drives clearly visible along with the Blu-ray drive.

If you power up the DECR-1000A it shows a simple screen with some debug information and oddly if you press the controller's home button it brings up the familiar interface including the Quit game option which appears to make the system hang. Otherwise, if you press the reset button you will be taken to the XMB screen and for me at least it complains that the system wasn't shut down correctly. In the screenshot that follows you can see a few of the many debug options:

The selected option is the one that determines where the game software will be loaded from.

It is possible to remotely access the DECR-1000A through an ethernet cable using a web interface and is quite simple to do once you know how. Firstly, you need to connect your computer to the DECR-1000A's Dev LAN port via an ethernet cable using either a patch or crossover cable. On your computer check to see if your LAN connection is connected to a bridge and if so remove it from the bridge. Next, set the LAN connection to use a static IP address as follows:

IP address: 192.168.0.1

Subnet mask 255.255.255.0

In Windows 7 you need to go to Network and Sharing Center, select Change adapter settings on the left, right-click on Local Area Network and choose Properties. Select Internet Protocol Version 4,click Properties button, choose 'Use the following IP Address:' radio button and put in the above values. Click OK twice, open your browser and go to address 192.168.0.2 and you should be greeted by the Development Tool screen asking for a language to be selected. If not, make sure the DECR-1000A has power (it can be in standby), make sure the ethernet cable is connected to the Dev LAN port and your computer but if that fails you can try resetting the network settings by shutting down the DECR-1000A and then press the Network init button while pressing the power on button; you should see the status LED flash.

If all is well you will be taken to the Development Tool screen and after selecting a language it will ask you for login information which the default is Administrator for both User Name and Password. You will then have a number of different options which you can see as follows:

Options range from network settings to updating the system to built tests but there isn't a lot you can do without use of other software, such as Sony's SDK.

You can view a video I did about the reference tool:

Sony PlayStation 4

Dreams

Please go to:

https://sites.google.com/site/jamesskingdom/Home/video-games-by-james-s/dreams-ps4

Troubleshooting, tips and tricks

Cannot Capture Video From PS4

Although the PS4 has a built-in means to take screenshots and to record gameplay you may want to capture for much longer than using the PS4's out-of-the-box feature so a capture card with HDMI input is a good choice. However, if you actually try to record your PS4 using a capture card you will probably be met with a blank signal, or at least no visuals, and this is because the PS4 enables HDCP by default which aims to prevent illegal copying of video. To disable HDCP follow Sony's instructions:

https://support.playstation.com/s/article/PS4-HDCP-Information?language=en_US

As stated on the site, disabling HDCP does not allow you to record movies or other copyrighted content.

Dreamcast Faults

If your Dreamcast machine randomly resets, doesn't power up or has similar issues, re-seating the power supply board may fix the problem. First disconnect the Dreamcast from the mains, remove all cables and disconnect the modem. Unscrew the four screws holding together the Dreamcast and lift the top off. Be very careful not to touch any part of the circuits!

Locate the power supply board which is the brown board. Carefully disconnect the mains input connector and then remove the two screws holding the power supply board in place. Lift up the board while pressing on the clip at the side so the board can be pulled out. Inspect the board for any damage such as leaking or bulging capacitors and test the fuse (replace if blown). If you are happy the board looks OK then push the board back in, screw everything back together and test. If this doesn't fix the problem then there is possibly a more serious fault with the power supply; if possible test with a power supply board from another working Dreamcast from the same region.

PS4 Pro Random Black Screen Dropouts

If you are playing your PlayStation 4 Pro and suddenly the screen goes black for a few seconds and then returns then be assured that this is a known problem which but can be prevented. Make sure your PS4 system software is up-to-date and check that the HDMI cable is fully inserted both into the PS4 and your TV/monitor. If you still get the dropouts then try another HDMI cable (make sure it's rated for at least 2.0). If you are using an HDMI splitter or coupler try without and see if that makes a difference; also try with as short an HDMI cable as possible. If the problem persists then the following site has some advice:

https://www.reddit.com/r/PS4Pro/comments/73y3f3/ps4_pro_black_screen_dropouts_solution/

To quote:

'The solution to this is to go to Settings -> Sound and Display Settings -> Display Output Settings and change it from Automatic (or whatever it is on) to 2160p YUV420.'

You may find that the correct path is actually under Settings -> Sound and Screen -> Video Output Settings -> Resolution.

Xbox One Share Screenshots With Other Devices

The Xbox One has the built-in ability to take screenshots simply by pressing the Xbox button on the controller and then pressing Y. To view the screenshots you can go to 'recent captures' in the Xbox's settings settings. From there you can select screenshots and choose to upload them to OneDrive. To access the screenshots on a PC, sign in to OneDrive using the same account associated with your Xbox One. You will find the screenshots under Files->Pictures->Xbox screenshots. Note that even if you have just uploaded the screenshots from your Xbox to OneDrive it may take many minutes for them to show up on OneDrive on your PC. Once they appear you can easily right-click on an image and select to download the screenshot.

Converters/Upscalers

In the 80's and 90's especially it was common to connect video game machines to a TV using an RF or composite video connection and even though today the quality was very poor by today's standards we managed. As technology has progressed HDMI has become the standard A/V connection at least for TV's with many of the old style audio and video connections becoming harder to find on new equipment. This is where converters and upscalers come into play as they take an old style A/V connection and convert it into a more modern form (e.g. HDMI) and up the resolution too. Even if your TV does have older style connections converters and upscalers are still useful so that images fill all of your TV screen rather than being bordered with empty space.

Flylink SCART to HDMI converter/upscaler

I needed a way to convert the RGB SCART signal from a number of my old consoles/computers and after some research I came across the Flylink SCART to HDMI converter/upscaler which was about £20 and was purchased from Amazon.

It came in an unbranded box with a printed paper manual, the upscaler itself (no brand or model number on the unit), and the power supply (very light and rated at 5V @ 1A).

On one side of the device (see below) it has (from the left) a power light, HDMI output, TRS 3.5mm stereo audio out, RCA co-axial digital audio out and 3 buttons: SCART/HDMI select, 720P/1080P select, PAL/NTSC select (actually 50/60Hz toggle). The '720P/1080P select' actually cycles through the following output resolutions:

800x600/1024x768/1280x1024/1280x720/1920x1080.

On the other side (below) is the HDMI input, SCART input and DC 5V power in.

The upscaler boasts the following formats:

SCART i/p format: PAL/NTSC_M/NTSC4.43/SECAM/PLA-M/PAL-N.

HDMI input: 480i/576i/480P/576P/720P at 50/60Hz, 1080i at 50/60Hz, 1080P at 50/60Hz. Compatible with several DVI formats: 800X600, 1024X768, 1280X1024, 1360X768, 1680X1050, 1920X1080.

Because the upscaler supports both composite and RGB through SCART that gives a big advantage and I have observed very clear images when using RGB although I have seen banding (vertical lines) at times. Another negative is that the power plug almost pushes the SCART lead out when inserted; would have been better to use a right-angle plug. An annoying feature is that the on-screen display, which specifies the input source, format and output resolution, lingers for much longer than necessary.

A missing feature is that there is no button to change the aspect ratio; on a TV you can change the aspect ratio but if using (for e.g.) a capture card the video will be stretched since the input through SCART is SD but it gets upsacled to widescreen resolution.

One of the main uses I had for the upscaler was to be able to capture clean images from old systems so I needed to be able to convert RGB SCART to HDMI which I could then feed to my capture card. Oddly, however, my Elgato game capture card would not accept any resolution from the upscaler other than 720p even though the capture card supports 1080p. If there is a source connected to SCART which is powered on and the scaler is set to 1080p the Elgato software will act as if there is no signal.

It is interesting that the upscaler has an HDMI input with a possible use being to extract the audio or to scale the video up/down by making use of the HDMI input and output connections.

To take apart the upscaler there is a single screw to be removed and then the 2 parts can be slid apart (it's a very tight fit). There are 3 screws that hold the circuit board which need to be taken out before the board can then be lifted out. There are only components on 1 side of the board with the usual flux residue on the underside that hasn't been cleaned up. There is no model number on the board but it is marked as 'SCART+HD 2 HDMI 2016/08/10' showing that the design is 3 years old.

You can see the PCB in the photo that follows:

The main ICs on the board are:

TSUMV69XDT (U11) Couldn't find much info other than it's some kind of LCD IC. Has unpopulated 4-way connector (J5) near to it that is connected to the IC.

8s003f3p6 (U14) 8-bit microcontroller with 8KB flash memory. Unpopulated 4-way connector (J2) possible for programming the IC.

25q32jvsiq (U100) 32Mb flash memory.

sil9024 (U36) HDMI 1.4a transmitter.

A/V Switch Boxes

If you have a number of devices that output audio and video with the same type of connection you may find yourself frequently unplugging and plugging in cables to your TV or monitor. There is a solution and that is to use an A/V switch box.

You can buy A/V switch boxes quite cheap; three different types are shown in the photo above. The bottom switch box is able to switch between four different VGA sources (laptop, PC, game console, etc.). VGA carries only video information and this type of switch box uses push button switches.

The middle switch box allows selecting between three different A/V sources that use the RCA 'phono' connection; it uses a sliding switch. Typically, these are the red, white and yellow leads commonly used for older game consoles, as well as other devices, such as VCR's.

For switching between HDMI sources, a switch box like the one in the top of the above photo can be used. This one lets you choose between three different HDMI sources and features a push button switch as well as LED lights to indicate the active connection.

XBox (Original) Games System

Micosoft's first games machine was released in 2001 and was basically a limited desktop computer which had the advantages that it could be made cheaper (by using readily available computer parts) and games would be easier to port from a PC. On the downside, the Xbox was much bigger than other games consoles and was more susceptible to DVD drive problems and overheating. An unintentional consequence of using PC hardware for the Xbox was that it could be hacked and turned into a desktop computer; the Xbox's controller ports are actually USB ports and so, with the right adapter and software, other USB devices can be connected to the XBox.

The name for the Xbox most likely comes from DirectX which is the technology that has made many video games possible on computer and similar devices. It is software that interacts with hardware to allow for very fast 2D and 3D graphics, handles input from a keyboard, mouse or controller, and takes care of audio such as sound effects and music.

The Xbox was the first games system to feature a built-in hard drive for saving games and music from CDs (some games allowed playing of this music). Also, the Xbox has a built-in network adapter for connecting to the internet and for networking Xbox's more locally (for example, to do 8-player in one room on two Xbox's). And a safety feature because of the Xbox's large size was that each controller had a detachable connector towards the end of the lead that would pull away rather than pulling the Xbox off a shelf if a controller got tripped on or yanked.

At the time near the Xbox's release there was a lot of hype about the Xbox's supposed ability to be able to produce photorealistic graphics but no game showed that capability and some games were no better graphically than the Dreamcast (Dead or Alive 3 is a good example). But the Xbox did have some exclusive games that made the Xbox worth getting which include two Buffy the Vampire Slayer games and the start of the Halo series.

Interestingly it might be thanks to Sega that Microsoft decided to make the Xbox as Microsoft worked with Sega to port Windows 98 to the Dreamcast. And the Xbox controller has some similarities to the Dreamcast controller in that the Xbox controller has a familiar layout to the Dreamcast controller (with the addition of a second analogue stick). The Xbox controller has two sockets for memory cards (as an alternative to saving games to the Xbox's built-in hard drive) which the Dreamcast controller also had, although with the Dreamcast controller a rumble pack could also be connected whereas the Xbox controller has rumble built into the actual controller.

Over the years Microsoft produced a number of different Xbox's from the famous black version to the not so usual 'crystal' edition. Internally there were differences in that the Xbox's software was altered in an attempt to stop people hacking the Xbox.

Going against the PlayStation 2, Dreamcast and the Gamecube the Xbox was finally discontinued in 2008. Its successor, the Xbox 360, is also very much a computer but much different to the original Xbox and can only play some Xbox original games through emulation (support for more Xbox games is being added all the time). Considering you can get an original Xbox so cheap nowadays you might as well get one if you want to play Xbox games made for the original Xbox.

XBox 360 Games System

By: Microsoft.

Region: PAL (UK).

On 21/1/9 my order of an Xbox 360 and three games-The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Soul Calibur IV and Project Gotham Racing 4-came from Amazon.co.uk. Let's start with the Xbox itself which makes the Nintendo Wii look tiny and the Xbox 360 power pack is bigger than any laptop power supply pack that I've ever seen. In comparison, my slimline PS2 sits on top of my Xbox360 and misses the air vent holes either side.

With the Xbox 360 60GB version I had bought, you get a wireless controller, but not with rechargeable batteries; you have to buy the charger pack separately. However, the supplied batteries have lasted ages even with the rumble. You also get what passes as a headset that plugs into the controller, information booklets, an AV cable with both composite and component connections and an ethernet cable.

Since the three games I got with the Xbox 360 operate in 60Hz mode only I couldn't use my capture card and instead used the TV, which wasn't such a bad thing. But then I bought a VGA cable so that I can view the games on a spare computer monitor of mine, in HD. There were two little additions to the setup; I have to use separate speakers as the monitor doesn't have them built in and since my monitor is of the older type that has a video lead I had to use a gender changer to connect the monitor cable to the VGA cable from the XBox 360.

The games look amazing even when I used the composite connection (although the text can be difficult to read without using a better video connection such as VGA) and play smoothly. The controller itself fits in my hand exactly as I would like it to, and the trigger buttons are a great addition; it reminds me very much of the Dreamcast controller and that's a good thing. Speaking of the Dreamcast, the XBox 360 has a screen saver that dims the screen after a certain amount of time if no buttons are pressed on the controller; the Dreamcast had something similiar, which for some games was more than just darkening the screen.

It wasn't long before I was streaming music from my MP3 player to listen to while playing a game, even during loading. The XBox 360 had no problem with my USB keyboard which is a welcome alternative to using the controller to input text especially when chatting to people online. There are two USB ports at the front behind a flap and another USB connection at the back above the ethernet port.

Being able to bring up the dashboard whenever you want by pressing the Xbox button on the controller is very handy. If your XBox 360 is online you can invite and send messages to your friends and check how your downloads are doing.

Not having to worry about using memory cards (although there are two memory card slots that some games support) and instead saving to the harddrive is a blessing. Take note that on the 60GB version that I got there is just under 50GB that can be used and is not taken up by the operating system. You can install your games onto the harddrive but you still need the game disc to start the game, presumably to make sure you bought that game and didn't copy it from someone else's harddrive.

You can download free or paid for extra content for the games and the operating system. As soon as I took my Xbox 360 online there were plenty of updates which reminded me too much of using a Windows computer but with less trouble. But Soul Calibur IV required an update before it could be played.

There are a few XBox games that I would like to play, but you first have to check that the XBox 360 can play them; more games are being added to the compatibility list. But the emulation is never going to be as good as the Nintendo Wii's ability to play Gamecube games.

I had heard that the Xbox 360 supposedly is noisy, especially when reading from a disc. I can tell you that it isn't loud enough to be too distracting; my laptop is louder when the cooling fan is on full!

Now for the things that I find annoying, the first of which is having to pay to play games online, but I'm happy to do multiplayer offline, but take note that some games are only multiplayer online. There's the worry that the Xbox 360 will fail soon but as with all my other electronics, I will look after it the best I can.

In summary, the Xbox 360 is a much better attempt from Microsoft than the first Xbox, but it is the games that really allow the Xbox 360 to shine and show what it is truly capable of, some of which are currently not on the Nintendo Wii or PS3.

Xbox 360 Live Vision Camera

This camera was designed especially for the Xbox 360 for video chat and with certain games that support it but as the camera has no built-in microphone you will have to use our own in addition to the camera, if you want to video chat. The camera is connected to its base by a swivel mechanism so that it can be tilted back and forward and turned left or right. And, you will know for sure when the camera is on as a ring around the lens part lights up, near the focus control.

A nice feature of this camera is that it can also be used on a Windows based PC (Windows XP or later); just plug it into to a spare USB socket and Windows will download and install the driver. To use the camera you will then need to use an application that supports capture devices, such as VLC media player. But it doesn't stop there, the camera can also be used on the Mac and PlayStation 3! To get the camera working on the PS3, make sure you have the firmware update 1.54 or later and then plug it into one of the PS3's USB sockets. To check the camera is working, go to Settings->Accessory Settings->Camera Device Settings (you may have to wait a few moments for the camera to activate).

XBox 360 Wired Controller

I got a wireless controller with my Xbox 360 when I bought it but as I needed a second controller to do multiplayer games, and at a slightly lower price, I got a wired controller.

It looks and feels just like the wireless version except for the USB cable which is actually long, a good thing in my eyes (it has a special connector towards the end that is meant to avoid accidents if someone trips on the cord). There was no problem with using the controller on my Xbox 360 to play games in multiplayer, just plug the controller into one of the USB ports.

As a bonus, the controller can be used on a computer, so after installing the software that came on the provided CD, I tried it out. The test was to use the N64 emulator Project64 and after configuring it, it worked a real treat to be able to use the analogue stick as you would be able to on a real N64. The irony of playing Super Mario 64 in emulated form using an XBox 360 controller!

Xbox One Games System

By: Microsoft.

Region: PAL (UK).

There has been much criticism as to the release of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One mainly because of the poor line-up of games available at the release of the new consoles. I was at first very reluctant to get either of them but then decided to take the plunge and get an Xbox One along with Forza 5.

The Xbox One was released in most countries on the 22nd November 2013, not long after the PlayStation 4 (in North America). A 1.75 GHz 8 core APU powers the Xbox One along with 8GB of RAM, which is very much like what you'll find in the PS4. While both the PS4 and Xbox One both have 500GB internal HDD's, the Xbox One's HDD is a lot more difficult to upgrade.

I am not new to Microsoft consoles as I own an Xbox original and Xbox 360 and will be keeping both of them as the Xbox One is not currently backward compatible with any of the previous generation Xbox games or accessories.

While PC gamers will be quick to tell you how superior computers are to consoles for playing games, the Xbox One (and PlayStation 4) are more so like computers than previous consoles. The Xbox 360 had a Windows 8-like interface (after an update) which the Xbox One also has but with more advanced features such as being able to view an app next to a game, There is also the very handy ability to instantly return to the home screen from a game and then go back to playing the game without having to load it again.

Below you can see my Xbox One along with the controller and the new, improved Kinect:

Even though the Xbox One has similar hardware to the PlayStation 4 it is a lot bigger, probably to make sure there are no overheating issues. Like the Xbox 360 the Xbox One has an external power supply which likely also helps keep down the amount of heat inside the Xbox. While talking about hardware issues I'm happy to report that the the Xbox One runs very quietly.

The Xbox One has a touch sensitive power button and eject button on the front as well as a push button on the side for controller sync. The optical drive supports Blu-ray, which the Xbox 360 did not have but was a sensible move by Microsoft to make possible the type of games expected of the new generation as well as to support the likes of 4K viewing. Like the PS4, the Xbox One has a tray-less disc drive in which the console senses the disc and pulls it in.

There are three USB 3.0 sockets on the Xbox One; one at the side and two at the back which are currently only for use with a limited number of accessories; support for USB storage devices has been planned. At the back, along with the power supply socket is a HDMI out socket for connecting to an HD TV or monitor as well as a HDMI input for viewing an HDMI device's output on the Xbox one, such as a set-top box or even a PS4 or another Xbox One (you can even feed a single Xbox One into itself!).

As well as having an S/PDIF as an optional audio connection and IR OUT for interfacing to a set-top box (for changing channels) there is also an Ethernet socket for taking the Xbox One online if not using the built-in Wi-Fi. Lastly is the Kinect socket which provides the power and communication for the Kinect to work, similar in operation to the Kinect port on newer Xbox 360's.

The controller for the Xbox One is very much like the Xbox 360 wireless controller in its look and its use of standard, replaceable batteries, but there are a number of important differences. Firstly, the Xbox button (similar to the Guide button on the Xbox 360 controller) is used to turn on or off the controller or the Xbox One, to go to the Home screen and to switch between snapped apps. Unlike on the Guide button, the Xbox button doesn't light up to show which number the player is.

There is no Back or Start button on the Xbox One controller as they have been substituted with the View and Menu buttons respectively. View has game specific uses while the Menu button accesses settings and help menus and can be used to effectively pause a game. It is somewhat strange to see prompts such as 'Press A to start' when most of us are used to using a Start button to begin playing a game or to pause.

At the top of the controller is a micro-USB port for use with a Play & charge kit, a sync button for enrolling the controller for use with an Xbox One and an IR window so that the Kinect can enroll the controller itself. The expansion port is at the bottom of the controller and is used to connect accessories such as the headset.

The new Kinect is packaged with the Xbox One but is an optional extra that enhances the Xbox One UI and the games and apps that support it but originally the Kinect was to be a required accessory that had to always be connected to the Xbox One. Just as the Xbox 360's Kinect was revolutionary so is the new Kinect, improving on the original. A big problem with the 360's Kinect was the distance a player had to be from it for it to work but that distance has been halved with the new Kinect. The One's Kinect is also more accurate, can see in the dark and monitor a player's heart rate. As there is a dedicated Kinect port on the Xbox One there is no need for a separate power supply but on the downside the new Kinect will not work on the PC; there will be a PC version of the new Kinect available soon.

As with the Xbox 360, to use certain apps on the Xbox One requires that the user has an Xbox live gold account. This has always seemed unfair to have to pay be able to use software on the Xbox that I can use for free on a PC. You even need gold to upload captured games which is already limited because of only allowing a maximum of 5 minutes recording.

Zone 40

The Zone 40, made by the Zone company, is a game console with the appearance of the Nintendo Wii but featuring 40 built-in games, some of which can be seen in the screen shots below. Games are selected from the main menu that appears when the console is first turned on or if the Reset button is pressed on the controller remote. The games are split into two sections; 'Interactive sport games' which includes tennis called 'Virtual Tennis' (note the spelling: Sega's famous tennis game has no 'l' in the Virtual part), Bowling and Fishing. The 'Arcade games' has racing games (such as MX Motor Storm), a dancing type game (Dance Girls) and even Sudoku. Each game is detailed in the User manual that came with the Zone 40 game console.

The wireless remote controllers are very much like that of the Nintendo Wii, in its shape and in that the controllers can be held either horizontally or vertically to suit the game. With support for up to two controllers, there are some multiplayer games provided by the Zone 40, however controller 1 can only be used by player 1 and controller 2 can only be used by player 2.

The game console itself runs off 4 AA (1.5V) batteries although a suitable mains adapter can be used. It features a power button, a reset button, an A/V connector for audio and video connections to a TV and a power socket for the mains adapter.

Game formats through the years

Video games have come in a wide range of different formats through the years, that is, their physical form. While people who mainly play consoles will probably be familiar with cartridges and CD/DVDs, that was not exactly the case for those who play games on a computer, especially back when video games really started to take off.

In the 80s and earlier, people who played games on a computer (in particular, on a microcomputer such as the BBC Micro) would have loaded games from cassettes. Cassettes were slow to load, often requiring the person to rewind and try again because of an error. As well as the long loading times not much data could be stored on cassettes so the games were very limited. As if that wasn't bad enough, cassettes deteriorate over time, can get chewed by the cassette player, and can be wiped by a magnet (since cassettes store data through magnetism).

You can see some cassette based games for the BBC micro and Acorn Electron below:

One of advantage of cassettes was that they could be read by an ordinary cassette player (although some computers had their own special cassette player either external or built into the computer). Also, as cassettes were very common at the time, people could record their computer programs cheaply using an audio cassette (there were, however, cassettes available better suited for recording computer data on).

Some computers supported cartridges as did the consoles at the time (for e.g., the NES). Cartridges allowed games to be played instantly; there was no loading involved. This was possible because the cartridges contained a ROM (Read Only Memory) microchip that was directly accessed by the computer. Not only could cartridges contain a computer program stored in the ROM, the cartridge could also add additional hardware such as for better graphics (Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES is a good example). As well as the computer games that came on cartridges, some cartridges for the computers at the time added more RAM to the system, others extended the built in programming language by giving it new keywords and there were also cartridges that let players cheat.

Since cartridges have no moving parts they are more difficult to break (removing or inserting a cartridge while the system's power is on can harm a cartridge). There are, however, two big problems with cartridges, one of which is the cost for then to be manufactured. The other is that they are read only; a user can't change what is stored on the cartridge (there are programmable cartridges but are not as common).

Optical discs-CD, DVD, Blu-Ray and other optical formats-brought in a new era of gaming thanks to the great amount of storage space but with the price of slow loading times. These discs could store a lot more data than cartridges (and other formats) and made it easy for games to have high quality music, sound effects and movies. While this was possible with cartridges the quality was greatly reduced because of having to compress the sound and video so much. Most cartridge games used the in-game graphics and sounds for movies (i.e., cut scenes) but optical disc based games often made use of the extra storage space for high quality movies. However, as graphics of games have advanced so much (part thanks to having more storage space for the greatly detailed objects) cut scenes are now of very high quality.

While it's not possible to release a single game that spans multiple cartridges (at least, not easily) a number of games came on multiple optical discs. When the player got to a certain point in the game they were instructed to remove the disc and insert the next one. A classic example is Shenmue for the Dreamcast, which came on four discs (one of which was a bonus disc to replay movies).

Like cartridges, a problem with optical discs was that they were read only. Even though writeable and re-writeable discs came about some computers and game consoles had trouble reading them. Especially for consoles, companies went out of their way to stop users from using discs they had recorded themselves (to prevent piracy).

Video Game Secrets

Please go to https://sites.google.com/site/jamesskingdom/Home/video-game-secrets-by-james-s

Video Game Software

Please go to https://sites.google.com/site/jamesskingdom/Home/video-games-by-james-s/video-game-software

All content of this and related pages is copyright (c) James S. 2007-2022