I wanted to add-on that Richard (MineStorm) is 100% reliable and legitimate. I’m saying this because he may come back at you with a price of around $100 USD. You may feel odd about sending a Paypal payment for that amount to someone you have never met. Just rest assured that [almost all of us] purchased our FB/FB+ directly from Richard. We all went down that same path. Sending you some positive reassurance now will help you to make your decision later.
The more you stay around these parts the more you will develop trust and respect for Richard and his projects. One day you may even make a similar post to another new member =)
this seller lost$$found pisses me off. apparently they like to pull apart working VB units and sell them as parts.
anyways, i’m more posting this here because i read some recent threads from users looking for spare cables to solder. they often pop-up on ebay from this seller.
i am no expert when it comes to the vb. most of the collectors here are far more educated on its hardware. to my eyes both of the controllers look the same. i am just not seeing a larger font? is there anything else to back up that this is a prototype controller? was there any paper work? what is the story behind how you got it? other than what you mentioned, is everything else identical (including the PCB)?
i am not trying to challenge you in any ways, i am just really curious about this controller. =)
Galactic Pinball is fun but I prefer Space Pinball. Even if it wasn’t fully completed, its tables are more enjoyable.
Mario Clash is another fun game you should look into. Although I prefer this one with the button hack patched to the ROM (adds run, switches jump/throw).
You really should consider a FlashBoy+ to get the most out of your VB.
the part you slide into the LIF socket. you screw down the LED part and then the other end slides into that little socket? that is the part, just pull the cable back out a fraction of a mm, instead of pushing it in all the way. what i did was push it in until it stops, then pull it back out a tiny (tiny, tiny) bit.
since they were solder fixed, try pulling the cable out a tiny bit. pushing it all the way in can cause issues due to the dimples that form on the cable. (i don’t know the technical term for this, perhaps someone else can elaborate).
my glitch issues appeared on games with more red, such as some of the ones you have mentioned. games with simpler graphics didn’t give me issues. after i got them solder fixed i also had some glitches. it was dogp whom suggested pulling the cables out a tiny bit after seating them. that fixed my problems.
the black lines could be dust on the LED cover. you can try some rubbing alcohol and a q-tip.
sometimes contacting the seller with words carefully focused from the correct perspective can result in a lower buy-it-now price. it never hurts to send an email.
i have a few lines on my displays. more since i got them solder fixed and replaced. i haven’t pulled them back out to clean them yet, but i’m assuming its just dust on the LED.
that appears to be a common ribbon cable issue to me. regardless of it if turned out to be something else, you would be future proofing your display connections by having them soldered.
you are saying this smudge appeared while the VB was sealed? did you open and tinker with the innards previously? it seems you were very thorough, but did you check the inside of the red plastic lenses for a finger print?
you should consider picking up to cables and having someone solder then. as long as they test their work before they ship it back, you’ll have replacements for your current VB. opening and replacing the cables is rather easy and nothing that should be feared.
i had forgotten where i read that as well and morintari was kind enough to link me to the article. HERE
“Third party support which is usually so muscular w/ Nintendo hardware was surprisingly light on the ground. And it so transpired w/ Yamauchi’s orders. In a somewhat misguided attempt that the Virtual Boy only got the very best of standard software. He only sure that only a few select companies were allowed to see the technology and permitted to sign up for development. It was a bizarre method of quality control that ultimately backfired. As the system struggled to gain any kind of third party support after it’s catastrophic week sales. In fact only 22 games were ever released in it’s entire life span.”
Retro Gamer issue 64 Page 59 second column first paragraph.
as for my thoughts… i think that even if they had marketed it correctly, had avoided all the failed demo units, that it still would of flopped. we have to remember that they brought to market a production unit. even Yokoi felt it wasn’t ready for the public in its current state. i’m sure a second generation of software would have helped, but beyond that i don’t think anything else could have saved the system to the point that it flourished with a proper hardware sequel.
had they waited to release it, had it been exactly what Yokoi had in mind, had they not limited the developers, had they marketed it for the niche system it was?? those are all interesting ideas. i find it hard to speculate because of the time in which it was released, the popularity of 3D during that time, the obscurity of “indy”/homebrew development during that time, and the type of technology available then. there were just way to many cultural and technology factors that were out of their hands. i suppose in an alternate universe a full 3D depth of field, colored system made by nintendo, was released. it was successful and had hundreds of amazing titles made for it. if anyone ever opens that portal, please PM me. i’d like to visit.
i saw a post here already (can’t seem to find it quickly) where someone commented on vbjin for the rift. i recall them mentioning that most of the games were working rather well. it is a neat idea and could make for a nice addition to virtual boy emulation.
It wouldn’t make sense to make 4 MB homebrew games and not be able to test them before release.
emulation has proven more than satisfactory for developmental purposes. there is no reason to assume it would not continue to be a tool for future > 2 MiB homebrew projects. the pictured design is clearly missing “flash kit” elements and the post stated it was a “repro board”. i posted my question in avoidance of assumption and in favor of fact. while i would like to agree, i’ll await a reply from richard before getting excited.
