Lovethrash, please don’t kill a Capture Cassette for an Everdrive 64 shell. 64DD anything is very rare. You should also be aware there’s no way you’d be able to use the Capture Cassette using the Everdrive 64 method, they both use the cartridge slot.
Once I’ve set my mind on killing a rare gaming accessory, the excitement is too much to go back on :). Actually I’m not TOTALLY set on doing it. I know that a cheaper option is to get some crummy game in a black shell, strip the labels off and make another N64 logo for the front. It depends on how much modding is needed for either shell. If I could do this without external cutting, the capture cart would just look more official. I’m also not opposed to hard-wiring the Everdrive inside the system for a super low-profile look.
Speaking of 64DD, I just scored one finally! Got a great deal on a complete in box Randnet starter kit :). It should arrive in the next week or so. I plan on ordering that Doshin game and some of the Mario creative suites since they all sound fun.
Which of those Mario titles would you recommend?
Seeing how Recruit made the Modem cartridge and keyboard, I wouldn’t be surprised if they (or Alps) made the capture cartridge too, rather than Nintendo. Given how different those cartridges look, it’s possible they have different PCB mounting inside. When I get my copy of Mario Artist: Talent Studio in, I’ll investigate the capture cartridge and see if it would accept a game PCB. I doubt it though.
I cringed when you said you’d consider hardwiring the everdrive into an N64…
Did you win that recent Randnet starter kit that appeared on Yamatoku? Definitely a nice price. Technically it was a better deal than 350 EUR on my loose 64DD, but I don’t care one bit for boxes, I’m happier to be without it.
Given how few games there are for the 64DD, I recommend you obtain every game that is cheap.
Buy these:
Doshin the Giant 1 ($50 – $70)
F-Zero X Expansion Kit ($70 – $100)
Mario Artist: Paint Studio ($40 – $60)
Mario Artist: Talent Studio ($40 – $60)
Mario Artist: Polygon Studio ($40 – $60)
Mario Artist: Communication Kit ($30)
SimCity 64 ($40 – $60)
Maybe not the communication kit, it’s apparently just for moving content between the other Mario Artist games and the Randnet service which has been dead for the past 15 years.
Avoid these:
Doshin the Giant 2 ($500+)
Japan Pro Golf Tour 64 ($500+)
Randnet disk ($30 – $50)
The Randnet disk in particular is not a game, it was just the client program for logging onto the online Randnet service.
70 copies? For aftermarket releases that’s nothing to sneeze at, but when there’s hundreds – maybe thousands – of people fighting for those 70 copies, most of which are unavailable, it’s easy to see how the price shot up so much.
It is definitely a really amazing game, both in a programming effort and in hardware as well. It’s the only 32Mbit Virtual Boy game, it even saves your data. The PCB inside is pretty neat.
Yes, I really did purchase a 64DD console, so far I have SimCity 64 and Doshin the Giant 1, just watching for additional disks to appear. Of the 10 disks, I just want 6 or 7, depends if Mario Artist: Communication Kit any good. I never thought I’d spend so much on a console. Oh well, it was my only other big want (the other was Neo-Geo).
Even if I had heard before hand that the Everdrive 64 supported 64DD ROMs, I’d be very skeptical of how complete the support is, even just going by the accessories used by 64DD games. I’m the kind of person to want the real deal, even if it’s kind of expensive.
Lovethrash, please don’t kill a Capture Cassette for an Everdrive 64 shell. 64DD anything is very rare. You should also be aware there’s no way you’d be able to use the Capture Cassette using the Everdrive 64 method, they both use the cartridge slot.
I’ve been thinking of buying a 64DD, I’m really missing 64DD.net now, it was a great resource. I haven’t found a 64DD info source that’s comparable. Archive.org has backups of 64DD.net but they are often broken, missing various pages.
Anyone here into 64DD? Know of good sites on it? I suppose on one hand there isn’t much to say about it, but I hate waiting, I like to read while I pass the time.
I thought the demo version only works on the Flash Boy, which isn’t that commonly owned it seems.
I do notice that a lot though, people get the name wrong all the time. It’s not Hyper Fighter, it’s not Street Fighter II (the game yes, packaging and title screen no), it’s just Hyper Fighting.
Seeing how NWC Grey has been selling for over $10k lately, I’d be very suspicious of a craigslist posting. Odds are very good those are just stolen pictures.
Not really, V-Tetris and Vertical Force are still available in sealed cases. Others like Mario’s Tennis, Teleroboxer, Red Alarm, Panic Bomber and the like are very inexpensive. Wario Land is an odd exception where the Japanese version is more expensive than the US version.
The Hardware Fact Sheet is so bizarre. Only 400 NES games as of 12/31/94? It should be close to 677 games, the total number of licensed NES cartridges. Also, Game Boy is a 4-bit handheld portable? What?
Guy Perfect wrote:
Graphics are usually handled by a dedicated video component in the hardware called VIP (Virtual Image Processor). The CPU overhead for configuring the VIP is usually negligible. You could run into trouble trying to do realtime affine calculations, but most people don’t. (-:
The VB is sounding like a very efficiently designed system, especially with dual high resolution screens. Nintendo doesn’t get enough credit.
Guy Perfect wrote:
As before, the CPU won’t be weighed down one way or the other, so that’s not an issue. Though disabling video could conceivably utilize the VIP as a makeshift coprocessor if you were clever about it… I think you just nerd sniped me.
Having said that, the VIP does draw frames discretely with a top-down procedure, though reverse engineering exactly what that procedure involves is a month-long project in an of itself. What I can say about it is that in profiling experiments, I did not see an increase in drawing capacity when disabling drawing to one display. Apparently it does all the pixel calculations, but at the last moment decides whether or not to apply them.
Bwahaha… I seem to have that effect on people sometimes.
Would you say the VB was designed to be easy to program? Or at least that’s what the hardware layout sounds like to me. Most other game consoles have a more complicated dynamic between the CPU, GFX chipset and the rest of the system. The VIP sounds like it takes care of some of the more menial tasks involved with drawing the screens. Are programmers allowed much flexibility? Can it do raster effects? Or other unusual visual effects?
In Mario’s Tennis, a landscape effect is in use, like what is seen on the SNES (and other consoles if done in software). Is that landscape effect a hardware feature? Or is it done in software too? I’ve often wondered how much more powerful the VB is over the SNES.
One other question, I know this would largely be a waste of time, but would the VB benefit from a co-processor on the cartridge? Think like the SNES. Or is it plenty powerful enough on its own (sort of like a GBA).
3DBoyColor wrote:
Would the VB’s power be cut in half if it had to draw two completely different screens at the same time?
If you want to basically cut the VB’s processing power in half, have it play two completely different games… one using the left screen, speaker, buttons, etc… and the other using the right ones. 😉
DogP
Ah ok I see, so the VIP and CPU together account for the overall system.
While on the subject, is the VB better at drawing 2D graphics than polygons? Does the VIP have any polygon rendering capability, or is it all software rendered using the CPU?
L___E___T wrote:
Heh, seconding that NES comment – I think Nintendo Age sums that up pretty well.
Having said that – the Japanese side (Famicom) of NES collecting is much, much friendlier in the west, and I’ve been visiting FamicomWorld.com daily for ten years now, they are a great bunch and there’s nothing like the elitism and passive aggression you see on Nintendo Age there.
For any NES fans, the Famicom is also a better machine to play and collect for (if I can put my bias to one side), for many reasons.
Given the choice, I’d rather stay at Famicom World exclusively. What I love is piracy has been a part of the Famicom for almost as long as the Famicom itself, so nobody is offended by bootlegs, unlike at NintendoAge. Well, I guess the only exception is Gimmick, but Famicom doesn’t really have a quadruple digit game (or full-time collectors), so there isn’t much counterfeiting going on. The few Famicom collectors around are very friendly. I find the bootleg underbelly of the Famicom helps contribute a sense of levelheadedness to the hobby.
vuefinder83 wrote:
But here I am a year and a crap load of more grammatical errors later, and not a single person has ever said anything to upset me in any way, and that is just one reason why I like and respect this community so much…
the people here are very respectful.
We’re all too busy playing Virtual Boy or coding VB programs to notice. 😛
InactiveX wrote:
Well I think you are all a bunch of bastards and everything all of you ever post is stupid and retarded.
(j/k !) :p
Gee, I thought I’d at least qualify for “bloody git”.
thunderstruck wrote:
One thing I know for sure though. This place would exist today without Minestorm. The Flashboy and all the reproduction carts made this place worthwhile. So thanks for that.
I second that. Thank you Minestorm! Your repro work has helped breathe life into our favorite Nintendo console. (eventually I’ll buy a Flashboy…)
If anything, the VB repro carts have not only helped get protos ahd homebrews (especially homebrews!!!) into the hands of players, but they’ve also raised awareness for the Virtual Boy as a whole. I think it’s safe to say that the VB has been enjoying the most positive popularity in history during the last several years. Although prices have increased, the nice thing is more people realize the VB has value, meaning fewer broken units will end up in the landfills.
The selling visibility is great, but eBay’s final value fees kill any sort of extra profit one may be able to get from selling there. You’d be better off listing it here and on other forums.
