About: Introduction; What is Digital Archaeology? (could use a better name)

 

A brief statement about Digital Archaeology? Bought to you by blood oranges.

 

What is Digital Archaeology? The name is still a misnomer.

Digital archaeology is part of a wider field of study called archaeogaming, centering around excavation research of the inner-workings (using my own written tools) into concepts as applied to video games, internally as part of the game development represented as data and preservation of the physical media. Only because the technology we are dealing with is, in most cases older than 25 years, the term digital archeology is applied with no distinction from less older software and development.

The process of analysing the ROM chips (or chipsets) may give insight into the development process of an earlier state or concept of the game by showing leftover files and references to unused stages, music, graphics and test menus left inside by the developers and testers. Disabled function calls may also be accessed as well as button press combinations to activate hidden menus or other assets.

Unused Game Boy Camera stuff I found

A few years ago I found a lot unused content in the Game Boy Camera. Still lots of work to be done with formatting and uploading images. i don't have enough time to properly format these old pages.

The music played while deleting a photo actually lasts 0.9 seconds longer than what is heard in-game. Game Genie code 453-E28-E6E + 454-668-E6E (International, Zelda Gold) 453-B48-E6E + 454-388-E6E (Japanese) will play the full song endlessly at the title screen
(Source: nensondubois)
CoroCoro Comics

According to the game's Japanese Wikipedia page, there was a special CoroCoro Comics version of the game that was never officially released to the public. While this version doesn't appear to be dumped yet, much, if not all of its unique content is still inside the regular Japanese version of the game.

All of this content is based on two manga series: Bakuso Kyodai Let's & Go!! MAX (爆走兄弟レッツ&ゴー!! MAX), written by Tetsuhiro Koshita, and Gakkyuu Ou Yamazaki (学級王ヤマザキ), written by Manavu Kashimoto. Shogakukan were the publishers of both series.

This Japanese text for the copyright screen is present in both the Japanese and international releases. It says:

© Tetsuhiro Koshita • Shogakukan
© Manavu Kashimoto • Shogakukan

To display the copyright message appropriately at the copyright screen, use the Game Genie code 6B2-C88-2AF (International, Zelda Gold) 6B2-7E8-2AF (Japanese).

Six photos from Album B, stored after all the other B album pictures on page B4. Gameshark code 01??D9D5 (Photo ID ranges from 36-3B). Game Genie code 111-ECB-196 will allow you to select the unused photos. Access to the section was disabled and there is code telling the game that 3B is the final photo spot.

Further, if you would like to compose your own photos, use the Gameshark codes 01??F7D7 + 01??F8D7 + 01??F9D7 + 01??FAD7 + 01??FBD7 + 01??FCD7 (Photo ID ranges from 36-3B)

Two "Wild Frames", which can only be selected while printing a photo. Again, these are stored after all the other Wild Frames. Game Genie code 082-DFA-F72 will allow you to select them.

(access method: nensondubois)

Ten stamps and the icon for these stamps. They are located after the Pokemon stamps. Game Genie codes 009-B5A-E6E + 009-CCA-E6E will enable them.

The international version has code to disable the Mario stamps. Game Genie codes 009-5FA-E6E + 009-76A-E6E will enable this code function.

(access method: nensondubois)

Erase All Saved Data?

Hold Select and Start upon booting to enter a menu giving you the option to delete all SRAM. Press A to confirm, or B to cancel.
Delete All Photos

Select Album from the Edit menu. Highlight the delete icon, now hold Select, Start and press Up to bring up an option to delete all photos. Press A to confirm, or B to cancel.
Unused Hot Spot Effects


There are eight additional Hot Spot graphical effect icons, however only two of them have unique effects. Game Genie code 0FD-159-F76 (International, Zelda Gold) 0FD-199-F76 (Japan) will allow you to access the partially finished effects.

The vibrant "S" icon produces a wave top-to-bottom effect. The rest onward produce a quick page flip top-to-bottom effect. It is unknown why the first two were not added.

World's Rarest Video Games! Play Game Boy on your NES without emulation! Retrovision!

 

Ever wanted to play Game Boy games on your NES? Well it is possible via Retrousb NES Retrovision. Sorry, no audio so you will have to hear my fan going because copyright and my NES is not modified for expansion / extension audio. I also forgot to setup the headphone jack to output.

A few things to note:

-No emulation, original DMG hardware CPU B so games are 100 per cent accurate. Triple buffering to prevent screen tearing.

-Graphics are converted to NES format and controller is read fro the NES controller and written to the Game Boy joypad I/O registers. 

-Much like the Super Game Boy, palettes can be set although initially. You are limited to 8 sets of 4 palettes using the internal NES 64 palettes limitation. Game Boy graphics are 2-BIT as is the NES, the format is different enough that they still they need to be converted.

-Audio from the Game Boy can be mono mixed and piped through the NES expansion port using the resistor bridge mod and a 10kohm resistor otherwise you will need to use the headphone jack for stereo audio but this is not easily accessible with the original front-loader NES. Instead, you will need to use an angled 3.5 mm to AV Red and White RCA jack-out. You will also require to attach one Game Genie unit and disable the region lockout CIC otherwise the console will sporadically blink and reset. Using two Game Genies is not recommended due to splitting the voltage differential, but it would allow you to use more common headphone out sources as well as the Game Boy EXT serial port for linking to other Game Boys, the Game Boy Printer, etc.

-The ROM is a modified version of the Famicom Wide-Boy.

-Palette selection is done via pressing Up, Down, left or Right buttons on the second player 2 controller.

-Super Game Boy enhancements such as palettes, special borders, SOUND functions, etc do not functions and are not detected because it is running using original Game boy hardware. The NES would not be able to parse that additional code information as it requires SNES hardware to function.

-Game Boy Color extra RAM and palette data will not be detected for the same reasons.

-Also, here are all 4 border configurations; controlled via pressing A, B, Start or Select buttons on the second player 2 controller.

1. DMG NES Retrovision / modified Famicom Wideboy border

2. Black

3. White

4. Extension of palette 1

-Using a Famicom converter and or clone console such as a Dendy it is possible to play Game Boy games on a Famicom console. There may be some limitations depending on the clone console and I've yet to test this on my AV modded Famicom. Videos soon.

Here is my custom palette list:

.db $38,$28,$18,$09 ;GB Kiosk Wideboy palette 1/8

.db $30,$3D,$2D,$1D ;GB MBL Pocket / black and White

.db $2A,$1A,$0B,$0C ;GB DMG Green spinach

.db $37,$27,$16,$03 ;SGB A-1

.db $30,$16,$1A,$1D ;White, Red,Brown, Black (contrasts well with most games; only 8 palettes so I had to make this work right)

.db $1D,$06,$16,$26 ;Virtual Boy

.db $1D,$1C,$28,$30 ;Reverse CGB GBC Game Boy Color Right + B

.db $02,$21,$18,$28 ;Reverse SGB G-1 SolarStriker default; night space lightning works well with many games)

I have left additional pictures and information on my twitter post:

https://twitter.com/nensondubois_/status/1297989261828947971

Action 52: Alfredo and Jigsaw are now "playable".

Yesterday I made a post on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nensondubois_/status/1246483734217609217  about researching and accessing the lost two games Alfredo and Jigsaw and how I decided to look into the game's programming to find out why they refuse to work in the first batch revision A cartridges of Action 52 for the NES. I also felt like researching a slightly more obscure limitation presented by the hardware limitations of the console.

I think we all know about Action 52 so I'm not going to waste your time by reviewing the notoriously awful compilation. Here is a picture of the REV A cartridge that has the "broken" games. A small amount of green REV B carts do exist and the issues were fixed in that release as well as a few other "glitches" because in this case that's not a bug, its a feature!

 

All green PCB revision A cartridges of Action 52 will crash upon attempting to load either Alfredo and Jigsaw. This is the result of an erroneous branching instruction that was implemented probably because of an oversight and the code was rushed (really, I don't know how much testing went into the development and I'm really afraid to ask). All black cartridges, including the one I own. Here is a picture of my cart that has both games working by default.

 

 

 (I can't believe I spent $199.99 on this pile of dogsh*t, I guess I'm a dumbass)

 

Accessing both games is possible using a Game Genie code; if you actually own a revision A cartridge, a Game Genie adapter and an NES. I'm not sure why you would want to for any reason. Alfredo and Jigsaw work OKOZETNN.

 

Secondly, there is a bonus item I wanted to show. Now you can hear the ... intro music in it's true quality (why would you want to is beyond my understanding?). Your curiosity has been answered for a question you never asked. Took about 2 minutes total. The game streams digital audio sampling at a bit depth of 7-BIT via constantly writing $4011. unfortunately this requires a lot of frames and because other game logic is running, resources are split between game logic and constantly writing to the DAC, this causes noticeable "garbling". This will work using actual Action 52 cartridges and a Game Genie with an NES console. Normally it is not possible to hear the full quality. I have no idea how the word "quality" was formed into that last sentence.

Action 52 (all revisions).nes

Clear intro audio

GZVAZPAX

 

 Clear intro audio "Make Your Selection, Now!"
GZVAZPAX
ZAUAIAAA

 The cart disabled the reset button on my NES at lease twice. That is definitely not a good sign. YEAH... WOO... YEAH... WOO... YEAH... NO

Bomberman Selection Korean selected for a Game Boy Color re-release?

Hudson, a now defunct videogame developer best known for their Bomberman and Mario Party spin-offs, and least known by their Same Game series of games released a few compilations covering and combining their past titles into a single game. Why is this interesting? Well, because one of compilations is probably one of the most obscure re-releases of a videogame since it is more of a downgrade than the usual instance where game developers add more features. While they do just that, they actually remove an entire game, and ultimately select the lesser-great versions of one of the included games in the process. This hasty decision makes it an almost completely pointless release (or re-release?) of an already existing compilation in a very short time apart from the original, Bomberman Collection.

First, let's start off by explaining the history of the Game Boy Bomberman games. Bomber Boy was originally released on 08/31/90 for the Japanese market, sometime in 1991 for the rest of Asia, later as Atomic Punk for the US in October 1991, and Europe received the game titled Dynablaster in 1991.

Bomber Boy is your standard Bomberman Game where you move on a birds' eye grid, place a bomb near stationary structures and moving enemies to blow them up retreiving powerups such as a higher blast radius, remote control detonators for button controlled explosions, bomb kicks, skull viruses that can either hinder the players progress by inverting their controls, disabling their ability to lay bombs, impeding their movement making them vulnerable and other effects, or causing them to speed up. In rare cases this could actually provide an advantage to the infected player. Be ware! touching other players will transmit the effects to them, offering the multiplayer battles an insane turn in either direction for all players. A port of the original Bomberman for the NES was included for good measure and offers passwords and the ability continue after a game over. The highlight of the Bomberman games was the local multiplayer deathmatches which was only achieved via the erroneous, timing sensitive Game Boy link cable. Good luck!

Later releases spanning different consoles offered slightly different gameplay modes, but overall the core gameplay remained the same; the Sega Saturn version even offered new mechanics such as interactive stage effects ranging from spotlights that only showed the players position and a very small window around them, affected controls by pressing switches by walking over the ground are just a few examples. The Sega Saturn version featured animal companions for various protections and abilities, and the now-defunct Netlink service which allowed dial-up competitive deathmatches!

Bomberman GB2 was released for the Game Boy in 1994 initially only offering the ability to play as the white bomber hero, then when Hudson partnered with Nintendo, they added Wario to mix. Bomberman GB2 is curious because it was the first game to use the Super Game Boy's internal SOUND functions for enhanced explosion sound effects and a few others in certain situations, and the game also setup and allowed for up to four local players to compete with each other without needing a Game Boy link cable as long as they had access to a SNES Multitap accessory. The drawback is the small screen area and that all players always had to be visible on screen at all times, something that the console versions worked around by using smaller sprites and landscapes. Bomberman Pocket also supported both features, which was unfortunate a rarity at best when it came to other games.

Pocket Bomberman was originally released in monochrome in Europe and it did not offer any other Super Game Boy features aside from palettes and a few display borders that changed based on game modes, no enhanced internal SOUND functions or multiplayer battles. Later, it was released for the Game Boy Color with no upgrades aside from the expanded palette for the system. Curiously, the original European version does actually load a pre-defined palette scheme if played using a Game Boy Color. Only games released in which Nintendo either published, developed directly or as a second party received special palettes if a button was not pressed when booting up.

Bomberman 3 was the last entry in the series and is a Japanese exclusive and was offered in standard and interestingly as a Nintendo Power GB Memory flash cart title. The game is exactly as you would expect from a Bomberman title without the multiplayer staple, and strangely Hudson forgot to add the Super Game Boy SOUND effects this time around. Interestingly, the game does setup MLT_REQ 03 signifying it does internally support up to four players via aforementioned SNES multitap and controllers, so, it was an early idea? Just for clarification, the original NES Bomberman and all sequential ports including the Game Boy Advance Classic NES Series also plays a DPCM explosion sound sample in their various emulated forms. Time trials and score attack and hidden boss attack modes are offered in this version, I guess as a bonus. In this installment you acquire powerups by buying them in shops. Bomberman 3 is a solid game that does have several missing features and feels very incomplete overall unpolished in contrast to the earlier games. Was it rushed? No clue but I am curious about the omissions.

Hudson released two Bomberman compilations for the Game Boy, and in a metallic tin case (hope I won't be afflicted with tetanus from handling my very slightly rusty Bomberman Collection videogame on extremely rare occasions), which was not really ideal unless you keep it on your shelf forever. The compilation includes Bomber boy, Bomberman GB and Bomberman GB 2 with no changes made except that it uses the memory mapper MCB1M. Here is an oversimplified explanation: the chip allows multiple banks of games to be stored in and swapped out of the consoles RAM than normally accessible by the 32kb and 64kb limitations. Bomberman Selection also relies on the same mapper.

Bomberman Selection is where things take a strange turn. For some inexplicable reason Hudson not only released Bomberman Collection in Korea only, they decided to remove Bomberman GB2 and downgrade Bomberman GB to the original version not including Wario, and lastly they released the game so it was only compatible with the Game Boy Color which is ridiculous because all of the games were not designed for the Game Boy Color at all. This was unnecessary and likely hurt sales of this collection. Interestingly, Super Game Boy borders and all other assets were deleted from the games that originally supported them leaving the space where they would have been completely empty and not used for additional space. This extra space was not used to map out the new palette assignment banks for the Game Boy Color, as you would imagine or expect making this more of a curiosity at best. The game select menu does contain its original Super Game Boy assets but the code to access and load them was removed and changed deliberately instead of actually deleting the files as they did with the games themselves. I actually took the time to restore the leftover menu Super Game Boy support. Here is my quote from Twitter:

"https://gamehacking.org/vb/forum/video-game-hacking-and-development/hacker-threads/13028-nensondubois-codes/page65#post207018 - Bomberman Selection Korea actually does contain the leftover Super Game Boy prg from Bomberman Selection, which was released earlier. Video soon. The SGB from Bomberman GB2 actually was removed; SOUND, border, PAL_SET does not exist in the GBC ROM.

Code is long but I took assembly shortcuts to cut down, which took 3 minutes, plus 22 or so to manually write down. Enable leftover Super Game Boy support from Bomberman Collection. Bomerman GB2 / Wario Blast Featuring Bomberman does not actually load commands after "MLT_REQ 00"

A lot of header information was changed per game. The sound test does work in Bomber Boy as well in DMG, SGB and CGB modes."

031-46F-E6A
037-13F-E62
F59-0EF-3B6
F09-0FF-196
919-10F-C4D
B79-11F-195
289-12F-195
F19-14F-195
379-15F-195
C99-16F-195
3E9-E5F-5D4
E49-E6F-6E9
E09-E7F-E63
479-E8F-6E9
219-F2F-192
009-F3F-E68
989-F4F-F72
119-F5F-B3A
0C9-F6F-6E2
009-F7F-19A
0E9-F8F-F7E
0D9-F9F-6EA
3E9-FAF-E66
809-FBF-80E
069-FCF-D5E
149-FDF-6EA
229-FEF-19D
3C9-FFF-085
05A-00F-C4D
20A-01F-195
FBA-02F-195
19A-03F-195
0DA-04F-195
20A-05F-195
F5A-06F-195
FBA-07F-195
C9A-08F-195
018-D4E-A2E
Load the unused Super Game Boy border from Same Game
D1E-80F-C40
"

So, in conclusion, Bomberman Selection is a novelty more than just a curiosity at this point with all the strange development choices.

Newly built Sanni Cart Reader! And prototype preservation

(Due to the importance of preserving prototypes this post will also be made on my patreon account)

A few weeks ago I spent the time tracking down the parts to build a Sanni Cart Reader and 3d printer a unit. I went to electronics engineering school several years ago so this wasn't really a difficult project but still required a little more time than I was expecting to invest.

In short: The Sanni Cart reader flasher dumper is an Ardurino kit that can dump the contents of Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Super Nintendo, Super Famicom, Famicom and NES (requires an adapter because the cartridges are not physically compatible directly.), Sega Genesis, Sega Mega Drive, Nintendo 64 and a handful of others. Nintendo Power Game Boy and SFC Memory carts can be flashed allowing custom games to be written to them with some limitations such as not supporting enhancement chips for games like star Fox (GSU) and various other games.

Prototype and reproduction EEPROMs can be backed up and flashed and this is really important for preserving prototypes versions of videogames. If you have prototypes, you can email me at gameboygallery@yahoo.com or message me on twitter #nensondubois_ and we can get the ball rolling to backing them up.

Save RAM and N64 Gamesharks can also be backed up and reflashed if they brick you won't lose your code lists and settings. The Nintendo 64 controller can be tested as well as backing up the controller pack contents can be transferred. I also believe the Transfer Pack contentys of the Game Boy game can be backed up as well but that is redundant, as the hardware is dicey resulting in erroneous byteswaps and various errors with handling save about 36.8% of the time.

I'm not kidding, really the transfer pack hardware is faulty and only robust enough to send small amounts of data efficiently. This is speculation but it may explain why Nintendo never released an official Game Boy and Game Boy Color emulator, and only intended it to transfer only small amounts of data such as Pokemon and character information mostly in various games.

In either case, I have a planned series of videos showing off the usefulness of this small but perfect device. (It really is a lot smaller than you would imagine), and plan on dumping several prototypes down the road.




 It even glows in the dark. Spoooooky!

Complete list of games disabling Super Game Boy user palette selection

Several years ago when I was writing articles for a website that is dedicated to unused content in videogames, (well, actually it may have been a year or two before that site existed), I was annoyed by the fact that game developers cheapened out on proper Super Game Boy Support in their games (more on that another time because I actually plan on doing a well-written entry conveying every possible detail) and how many disabled palettes in their games where it was in most cases unacceptable.

Here is a complete list of games and Game Genie codes that will enable palette selection, and in some cases actually disable them as it was unused in the game's listing. Believe it or not, a few games actually use a more useless function that swaps the user's palette settings back to the one the game provides whenever it changes in-game. Amazing, right? Even more useless is that games disable the ability to use border screensavers. What was Nintendo thinking when they were designing the Super Game Boy? My best guess is that it was a rushed project because it is a wholly mess of incomplete functions and unused features, including the OBJ_TRN mode, which I will explain in another entry.

NOTE: You will have to physically modify the bottom of the Game Genie in order to fit it into a Super Game Boy. The Codebreaker is a more permanent option but the code format is different (which I cracked. It was relatively easy https://gamehacking.org/vb/forum/video-game-hacking-and-development/hacker-threads/13028-nensondubois-codes) and it supports several more patch codes and RAM based injections simultaneously.

Games that disable both controller and palettes will not be distinguished, but only game and is a sister set "Tokimeki Memorial Pocket" actually does solely disable the user's ability to set the controller selection. The most probable reason is because it is a quiz game and pressing the wrong button would have hindered progress?

Dai-2-ji Super Robot Taisen G (J)
Enable Palettes When Played Using a Super Game Boy (Title Screen; palettes are re-enabled afterwards.)
000-7BB-E6

Retrieve (J)
001-B0B-E6E

Animaniacs
00F-C18-E6E

Enable Screensavers When Played Using a Super Game Boy
00F-D08-6EF

Beatmania GB
002-80A-E6E

Beatmania II
002-80A-E6E

Bomberman Quest (GBC)
000-F1B-E6E

Fushigi no Dungeon: Fuurai no Shiren GB: Tsukikagemura no Kaibutsu
008-BEB-E6E

Little Indian Big City
003-54D-E66

Lodoss Wars (J) GBC (Lodoss Tou Senki: Eiyuu Kishiden GB)
001-B0B-E6E
Palettes do not swap to software priority when they change
001-A0B-E6E

Masakari Densetsu - Kintarou RPG Hen ()
003-53A-E6E

Mini 4 Boy II - Final Evolution
00E-FCD-E6E

Rock 'n Monster (J)
004-10C-E6E

Tokimeki Memorial Pocket: Culture-hen: Komorebi no Melody (GBC)
00C-4D9-E62

Tokimeki Memorial Pocket: Sport-hen: Komorebi no Melody (GBC)
00C-5C9-E62

Umi no Nushi Tsuri
001-BFB-E6E

Uno 2: Small World
00E-A88-E6E

Wario Land II
00C-21D-E6E
Enable screensavers
00C-31D-E6E

Wario Land II (GBC)
001-0BC-E6E

Trade & Battle Card Hero
006-469-E6E

Dragon Quest Monsters (J) (GBC)
001-C4B-E6E

Dragon Warrior Monsters (GBC)
001-C4B-E6E

Dragon Warrior Monsters V1.16 (GBC)
001-C4B-E6E

Dragon Quest/Warrior Monsters 2 Ruka's Adventure
001-BFA-E6E

Dragon Quest/Warrior Monsters 2 Iru's Adventure
001-BFA-E6E

FIFA '96
003-59A-E6E

Game Boy Gallery (E)
Palettes do not swap to software priority when they change
00B-F6D-C4D

Pocahontas
00C-82C-E66

The Smurfs
00B-718-E6E

Centipede
00A-85C-E6E

Superman
00E-ECD-E66

Madden 96
005-7D2-E66

Mole Mania
001-CBB-E6E (Unused; listed in the game's internal command packet listing)

Quest for Camelot
00F-DEE-E66

NBA Live 96
002-10E-E66

Donkey Kong Land 2
000-9AB-E6E

Donkey Kong Land 3
000-9AB-E6E

Conker's Pocket Tales
000-9AB-E6E

Dragon Quest 1&2
001-B1B-E6

TinTin in Tibet
009-E38-E6E

Kirby's Dream Land 2
Disable palette software priority swapping when they change
71F-E0A-A2B

Spirou
(Unused; listed in the game's internal command packet listing. Palettes were supposed to have been disabled based on the other Infrogrames titles)
01A-A78-E6A

Doraemon no GameBoy de Asobouyo DX10
Disable controller settings (Unused; listed in the game's internal command packet listing)
6E9-3EA-192


Crayon Shin-chan: Ora no Gokigen Collection
Palette software priority (Unused; listed in the game's internal command packet listing)
13A-E68-E62

Crayon Shin-chan 4: Ora no Itazura Daihenshin
Palette software priority (Unused; listed in the game's internal command packet listing)
646-0EB-F7B

There are a handful of other games that disable palettes and contain unused enable / disable commands in their internal command packet listings, this is the bulk of the games spanning both GB and GBC. I will add the rest once I find them in my notes from several years ago, if not then I will recreate them to complete the listing.

Today is a good day to write about the PS Classic, or the Playstation Classic mini or whatever you want to call the ARM code PS1 emulator that Sony quickly hashed out. Funnily enough I believe a few of my tweets actually influenced the game list because a lot of the titles I requested appeared to have made the final cut.

I requested IQube which is probably the best game on the lot. I also asked for Super Puzzle Fighter and a handful of other titles in an old tweet.

The box in all the original plain glory.

Right front the start the box itself isn't pretty interesting like the original release variations that showed a lot of excitement, flares and edginess (I miss the 90's). Well, let's be honest, that was all a marketing ploy done to pull you in... and it worked! It sparked one of the best gaming consoles ever made! I remember the day my brothers came home with an original Playstation the day it launched. We bought our unit at Games USA at night. I was extremely young but I remember it came with a demo disc though I don't remember the exact version but I believe it was an Interactive Sampler Volume 1-3, which is the one I currently own in the original cardboard sleeve packaging I bought again years later. Lots of great memories.

I'm not going to invest the time giving a teardown of the consoles disappointing included accessories because we all know it comes with two controllers, a basic instruction manual and a usb type-C cable. I could understand why a wall adapter wasn't included. Most modern TV's include at least one USB input (mine does), and the cost to not include a wall adapter was a cheap move on Sony's part in order to grab a few bucks off would-be buyers at the store and at an initial MSRP price of $100 I feel this should have been a good negotiating tactic to pick up a unit. I actually found m for free from someone which was unopened, and well after the fact that nobody bought one. I was not going to spend 100 and so I waited it out like most other people.

The game selection? Well, you know it has a lot to be desired. The reason is one of two. 1. Sony tried to please everybody and they ended up pleasing nobody with only 20 games and half-decent titles, half of those actually being memorable games that highlights the console's array of games from its early days to the end of its time. 40 games would have gotten the attention of a lot more people. Reason two is that the emulation was inconsistent with framerate in a few areas such as the Twisted Metal intro text and PAL and NTSC mixups all over the place!

Luckily, I modded my unit all within a matter of minutes and included all the games I wanted on a 16gb usb flashdrive so it is all good. While it is not such a straightforward process to expand your library it is certainly not the most difficult thing in the world to set up. There are several guides that you could find on how to do this, but beware there is an extremely slim chance of bricking your unit if you attempt to power your car battery through the second controller usb port; I'm not liable for the damages caused. Large flash drives will need additional tools over 32gb to work.I know someone who successfully got 500gb working so 16gb is not the direct limit.

Overall, my recommendation? There are some limitations to the games and it is not an authentic expereince that the original console provided. Here are three example reasons. In Metal Gear Solid your memory card (not giving direct spoilers) will not have game saves from other games so you will not get the thrill of your mind being read because each game has its own separate memory card. Number two, analogue dualshock is not supported so games like Resident Evil Dualshock version and Ape Escape were not included. You can actually use a PS4 controller with retroarch and it will work. Games that required or offered the option to swap our discs for redbook audio playback is not supported in the menu or for games like Grand Theft Auto. This is good and bad. Good because you may forget to insert the game disc and the progress will freeze. I know, I've lost a few good MTV music generator songs this way with some friends back in the day.

Right now as of writing they are going for around 20 it is worth it alone for the USB controllers and compact nostalgic look of the original console even if the game selection is not the most ideal selection. So, pick one up and relive the classic moments when ...

Snaaaaaakkkkeeee!!