travistyoj

[travistyoj]

I just wanted to post another quick update to Piforce Tools.  Version 1.5 is now available, and here are the release notes:

Improved Boot times

Fixed minor /etc/fstab formatting issue

Added support for Adafruit RGB LCD Plate

Added support for Raspberry Pi 3, along with 2, B+, and B support.

[travistyoj]

The castlevania kick continues.  I started out wanting to make a super cut of all the intro’s in the Castlevania series, and I realized only the early games in the series did the castle approach bit.

[travistyoj]

Dracula Music Collection Rip

I recently picked up a copy of Akumajō Dracula X: Gekka no Yasōkyoku, or as you probably know it, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.  The first edition of the Japanese version actually came with a pretty sweet collection of music from every Castlevania up until that point. It was also released in the US as a preorder bonus titled Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Music Sampler CD. In the interest of preservation, and the fact that this music is not available commercially anywhere, I figured I would rip it and post it here for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

Dracula Music Collection

Track List

Akumajō Dracula (FDS)

Akumajō Dracula (MSX)

Dracula II - Noroi no Fūin (FDS)

Dracula Densetsu (GB)

Akumajō Densetsu (FC)

Akumajō Special - Boku Dracula-kun (FC)

Dracula Densetsu II (GB)

Akumajō Dracula (SFC)

Akumajō Special - Boku Dracula-kun (GB)

Akumajō Dracula (FC)

Akumajō Dracula (X68000)

Akumajō Dracula X - Chi no Rondo (PCE)

Vampire Killer (MD)

Akumajou Dracula XX (SFC)

Akumajou Dracula (Arcade)

Akumajō Dracula (SFC) (Arranged Version)

[travistyoj]

I just wanted to post a quick update to my piforce tools project: Version 1.4 now supports Raspberry Pi Model 2, so swing on by and download the latest image.  It’s actually back on raspbian wheezy now, which allows a single image to support B, B+, and B2 hardware revisions.  ArchLinux was defniitely more snappy on boot times, since it uses systemd, but it was such a pain to configure.  TLDR: 1.4 has more compatability, but slower boot times.

[travistyoj]

Recently, I’ve been exploring the wonderful world of Genesis ROM hacks, and specifically updating the rosters of old baseball games to have current players and statistics.  After a first attempt, I loaded up my ROM only to have a red screen staring back at me.  I did some quick research and found out that the Genesis itself does a checksum at boot.  This was presumably to prevent tampering, which coincidentally is exactly what I wanted to do.  I found Genesis/MegaDrive checksum fixers, but they were old, Windows only, and required using a GUI.  I figured, with an open source implementation in python, people can fix checksums in their projects, and even script against it.

[travistyoj]

Look! It's another episode of Mail Call!

[travistyoj]

Gaming Nostalgia: Nintendo Power - Issues 1-10

[travistyoj]

The evolution of Nintendo's controllers.  Keep your eyes on the D-pad... You are getting sleepy.

[travistyoj]

Hi, I have a dead Marvel vs Capcom JPN board... I would like to revive it with the Avalaunch clean ROMs (similar to Phenoix decrypted sets). My question is while resurrecting the board can I also change it to USA region? I know a "normal" resurrection requires 3,4,5,6 & 7... Do I also need 8,9 & 10 being this is a region change? Thanks!

Yep, you can change the region.  Usually the later ones are the same, but what I would recommend is download the romset from avalaunch, and just verify 10 against the avalaunch romset, then work backwards until they dont match.  So probably at 7 or 6, when the verification fails, just burn from 3 to that one.  Hope that helps, good luck!

[travistyoj]

Another fresh set of gifs from the intro of a favorite game: Super Metroid.

[travistyoj]

One of my favorites, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood

[travistyoj]

Game Controllers

Created by Graphicsoulz | Website

[travistyoj]

[travistyoj]

Here are all the consoles I will be playing next Saturday.  Can you name them all?

[travistyoj]

Nintendo Game & Watch Collection

Image by Chris Parsons

[travistyoj]

Today I had to say goodbye to an old friend, my NBA JAM T.E. arcade cabinet.  We had this set up at my old job for over a year, and while we played it a ton, lately it was just collecting dust.  I decided I would record some of the audit screens before the new buyer arrived.

A coworker and I went halfsies on the cabinet, and halfsies on all the restoration work.  We replaced the flyback on the monitor, installed a capkit, replaced the T-molding, and replaced all the sticks and buttons.  (No small feat on a four player cab).  Owning an arcade cabinet is kind of like owning a boat, the two happiest days are the day you buy it, and the day you sell it.

[travistyoj]

This year for Extra Life I am doing something a bit different.  I'll be playing a new console every hour on the hour. From the Atari 2600 all the way until the Xbox One, I'll be playing games for 24 hours straight, and I need your help to raise as much as we can for Children's Miracle Network hospitals.  Tune in to twitch on October 25th, and please donate anything you can to help heal sick kids.  Last year we raised $750, and we are on track to double it!  If you can give just a dollar for every console I play, that $24 will add up fast to get to the goal.

Donate anything you can at Extra Life!

Watch the Stream on Twitch at October 25th @ 8 AM EST!

Here's a full list of every console I will be playing:

Atari 2600

Intellivision

Colecovision

NES

Master System

Genesis

Turbo Grafx-16

Neo Geo

Super Nintendo

Panasonic 3DO

Atari Jaguar

Sega Saturn

Playstation

Nintendo 64

Dreamcast

Playstation 2

Xbox

Gamecube

Xbox 360

Playstation 3

Wii

Wii U

Playstation 4

Xbox One

What games will I be playing?  You're just going to have to tune in and find out.