Game Accesories: Saturn Multitaps

So... you have friends huh?

Maybe they're up for a game, but it's not that easy, not if you have more than one at least. So what you need is a multitap.


There it is, the US multitap, good for a few rounds of Three Dirty Dwarves or Bomberman, but although it is similar to the Saturn and looks well with it, there is always room for a little style.


They don't get any more stylish than this, the japanese version with Bomberman's face and all, the same functionality, but way much better looking. So once again we end up with the serious looking peripherals.

At least the US version has a longer cord, not that it's really useful though.

They are both similarly priced, and are often found on ebay or on forums, which is where each of these came from.

Anwsering the world's oldest question

Maybe not so old, but here it is:

Will Nights controllers work on a Dreamcast?

The answer is....





....no.


Not with this adapter at least, it won't work in neither analog or digital mode, not even in the bios screen.

Regular controllers do work though.



So if you were one of those who wanted to build a chain of adapters to use it on Wii, you will be disappointed.

Game Accessories Part 2: Super Adaptor

Time for another game accessory, the wonderful Super Adaptor. This is a useful cart that allows the use of imports on the super famicom.

The cart has a weird design, the bottom is shaped like a SFC cart and the upper part is shaped like a SNES cart. The label says "For use with Super Famicom" but it has the concave space SNES carts have in order to fit through the plastic tabs.


Unlike some other import carts, the cart connector has the extra space for games that need the extra pins on the sides and there is enough space and also provides enough space to fit either a SFC or SNES cart.

As far as compatibility goes, i haven't found a game that won't work, though I only tried japanese and american games, perhaps PAL carts will have issues.

Here's what it looks with a US cart and a japanese cart (Sorry for the glare).

Game Accessories Part 1: Game Action Replay

Once again I'm back from the dead, this time to bring lots of useless (and a few useful) game accesories that i have collected over the years, updates will be brief but constant so get ready because here it goes.

To kick off with a good start, here's the Game Action Replay for NES, this is sort of a primitive version of savestates provided by emulators, only a lot less useful.


This is how the front of the cart looks like. It is a very nice looking transparent case with a board much bigger than regular NES carts and a visible battery and cart slot.


Here's the back, it has 5 regular philips screws and for some reason there is nothing protecting the pins on this side. The part of the board that has the pins is also thinner than regular NES carts, which means that if your NES has an old connector it is likely to not make contact.

The installation is fairly simple, though you do have to open your NES and remove a piece of metal shielding and leave the cart permanently there.


Once it is installed you are ready to insert a cart into the GAR's cart slot, doing so is tricky, you have to insert it at an angle and leave the cart door open while you play.


Now comes the fun part, using it with the games, by pressing A + select you are treated with this menu (picture shamelessly stolen from The unlicensed world of Nintendo).

Here's what it does:

Slow Motion: Real Slow motion, not that wimpy start button autofire.

Slow Motion Flash: Sometimes fixes some bugs that slow motion causes.

Function Key: Switch between the select and start buttons to access the menu (for games that use select as a pause button).

Game Type: Depending on the letter selected and the game inserted changes the number of available save states, I'm not sure how this is determined, maybe the manual says.

Save Screens: Save current state.

Load Screens: Load state.

Scan Screens: Get a glimpse of all saved states.

Quit: Exit menu.

Unfortunately its not as useful as it sounds, many games crash or get corrupted graphics when loading, this happens most when trying to load from the title screen or from a level different to the one you saved on, mostly a hit or miss. Another issue is not being compatible with the top loader due to the cart's shape.

Despite everything, this cart usually goes for more than $80 on ebay, whenever you can find it that is.

My current Puyo Puyo obsession

I wasn't dead again, I was just gathering games and my current obsession (for a couple of years actually) is Puyo Puyo. As you may or may not know, Puyo Puyo is a blob stacking puzzle game that is very big in Japan but is almost totally ignored in the rest of the world for who knows what reason.

It all started a few years ago when I was asked to make a Puyo Puyo clone as part of a job interview, and luckily I had a copy of Sonic Classics that a friend gave to me back when I got my first Genesis.

Sonic Classics comes with Sonic 1 and 2 and also with "Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine" which I had seldom played until that point but had to in order to understand the game. That's when I got really into it and that quickly became an obsession.

So a while back I managed to get Puyo Puyo Sun for the Saturn



Pretty good game and it came complete with all the things a weirdo obsessive collector wants, not that I am one, but they're still cool to have.



First off there is this poster thingy I have no clue what it says but if you do let me know. OK that wasn't very exciting but I was too lazy to unfold it.



Second up is this sheet with stickers but not just any stickers, GLOW IN THE DARK STICKERS!!



Last but not least comes the spine card, why do people make such a big deal about spine cards is a mystery to me and probably always will. It comes with some writing I'll probably never be able to understand and a piece of artwork that is also on the CD case. I have known people that rebuy games online because the first they got didn't have this piece of cardboard that serves no purpose once you remove the shrinkwrap.

Anyways, some time passed and I managed to get some more games, starting off with Kirby's Avalanche, the US localization for Super Puyo Puyo.



Nothing too exciting, pretty much the same game, except Puyos are now "Ghosts" and the cast was replaced with Kirby characters.

Some more time passed and I happened to know someone who was in Japan at the time (the same person who sold me Puyo Puyo Sun), so the logical thing to do was ask for more Puyo games.



This is Super Puyo Puyo, the one Kirby's Avalanche and Dr. Robotnik's are based on. This one has a certain charm to it with all the original characters, at least more than the american releases.



Finally, there's Puyo Puyo Tsuu, my favorite of the old series, this one came cart-only, it's the one I play the most.



Finally, the cart that started it all, this one went through a lot back when my friend owned it and it shows, but I treasure it.

I have yet to get the Puyo Puyo Fever games but those ones are a bit though to find at a reasonable price.

If anyone has any puyo game that they're willing to sell don't hesitate to contact me!

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The invincible SMS!

About a year ago, I was at a yard sale and I found a dirty Master System, dirty is just an understatement, actually it was filthy as hell, as if someone just left it there in the rain for months, then some dogs took it and buried it with some dead animals and then someone dug it up some years later, I didn't even consider buying it at the time, but I asked the price to amuse myself anyways.

It was $1.50, still didn't seem worth it, but then the seller said I could take it for $1, still made me think about it but what the heck, I got it. I left it in my car, in the sun the whole day. When I got home, I opened it, cleaned part of it and decided to take it to my parents' house to finish there, but it took a fall on the way. I took a peek and the LED had come partially off and everything inside was bent. That made me put it in the trunk and forget about it for months until I cleaned my car and put it inside a box, making me forget about it another few months.

So finally, a year and a half later, I opened the box and saw it there, no screws and all forgotten, so I decided to check it out.

Just to give you an idea of how dirty it is, here's a picture, notice the thick coat of dirt near the card and cartridge ports, I removed some dirt with my finger to make the difference more noticeable, there's also lots of lint everywhere and to top it off, the edges are entirely rusty.



Seemed like a lost cause, but I still had to give it a shot. I didn't even bother putting it back inside the casing, I just plugged everything in and crossed my fingers.


The game I tried was Ganster Town, the box has a cute picture of a kid firing a machine gun.


So here it was, the moment of truth, after all its been through, will it work?

It did! A truly amazing feat, but now, does it work with cards? The card made a scratchy sound because of all the dirt in the slot, that made me doubt that it would work.



But it works too! Both on the first try! I didn't see that coming. This poor SMS has had a very though life but its still kicking, unlike my Xbox that died on me just when I was about to beat Jet Set Radio Future, but that's a story for another day.

Now to finish cleaning it up, hoping I don't forget about it again.

DC T-Shirt!

There are very few things that can express your love for a piece of electronics from last century accurately enough, there's stickers, posters, altars, tattoos human sacrifices and all, but nothing says it better than a t-shirt, unless its one of those Hot Topic ones that all the kids wear now.

So the obvious thing to do of course is getting a Dreamcast t-shirt. Finding a DC shirt or jacket or whatever isn't too hard, if your size is something like XL or XXL or XXXL that is. In my case its M, so it took a while to find, and although it has an awkward fit; its too long and the sleeves too big, it still says Sega Dreamcast.

Sadly, this one came used, so I don't have the slightest clue who wore it before me, and it also cost much much more than anyone should pay for a used t-shirt (please don't ask), but once again, it still says Sega Dreamcast.



No, what you see isn't a myspace picture, but a picture had to be taken and I didn't feel like taking the shirt off just for the picture, so there.

I'll be updating lots more now, so stay tuned!