JB0

That's set at the operator level, not the developer or publisher level. So blame your local arcade for the pricing.

Top-right corner! OLD-SCHOOL NOD! YAY! ... But is it a nod to Metal Gear 2, or a nod to Snatcher's MG2 nod? I'm so confused...

Hey, one of my favorite boards ever was pink.

They're all NTSC, as Japan is NTSC. I don't know if you're asking teh diffrence between the VFX games, M3, and the PS2 game, or what. If mod'ed, it should play everything but M3 and VO, what with one being a DC game and the other being Windows. ... Unless you're in PAL, which I guess you are. I honestly have no idea how that affects things on the PS2.

Mmmmm... immersive hardware...

Backwards compatibility? Why? The hardcore already OWN what came before, and aren't getting rid of it. 327831[/snapback] Preservation is the most important objective of what I would define hardcore, loyal supporters. No matter how good you take care of your console, it eventually goes (much like several of my SNES cartridges). Hence, legacy support or emulation is the only alternative. 327871[/snapback] Funny, as every console and game I've ever owned is still kicking, with the exception of my first copy of Metroid 2 and my first Virtual Boy, which was dropped on the floor(technically stil works, but the displays are out of alignment). This is from the 2600 on up to DC, GC, and PS2. I'd really liek to know what barbarism you inflicted upon your SNES games that killed them. 327874[/snapback] I rub the smooth side of the cartridge against my bare buttocks. A lot of fun, but terribly hard on the cartridges 328059[/snapback] That explains that. You should only rup hem against your front in the future. The copper connections on the inside boards wear down the more you insert and eject the cartridge. Eventually, they wear to the point that the cartridge has difficulty making proper contact with the port. Although not so evident on carts rarely played, this failing is problematic of excessively used and previously rented carts. 328061[/snapback] The part wearing the most is the cart slot, actually. The damage done to the card-edge contacts is negligible. I know some carts(most common on the NES) are corroded from things like... people blowing on them. That's the NES' dirty little secret. Blowing on your cartridges makes them WORSE. There is no dust interfering with normal operation. Truth is... The (cheap) cartridge connector bends out a little after signifigant use, making it harder to get the game to work. Add the fact that the lockout chip is pretty twitchy and requires a pretty much perfect connection to work, and you get the blinking screen of death. Someone concluded it was because of dust and tried to blow it out. It worked. The tale spread. It works for one reason. Because you get little droplets of spit all over the cart connector. Which makes it more conductive than normal, offsetting the crappy connection you're getting from your loose cart slot. BUT... when you run electricity through it, you get a rapidly-accelerated oxidation process. This makes the contacts on both your NES and cartridge "dirtier." And it becomes harder to get the games working the next time. "Blow the dust out" and it works again. Lather, rinse, repeat. Eventually you have an NES that only works while the carts are nice and drooly. Then not at all. Worst I've had is a Genesis copy of Ristar. Green came off on the first q-tip. Then black. Not some pansy-ass gray like when you clean a normal cartridge. A real, manly, honest-to-god BLACK. Then more black. And more. And more. I stuck it in my Genesis to test it once I started getting gray off. And it worked, but the sound was abysmal. So I said screw it, took the screws out, and hit that god-forsaken connector with a pencil eraser. THAT fixed the filthy son of a daughter. I'm not sure I WANT to know what the previous owner did to it. ... You never owned a copy of Ristar, did you?

As I understand it... You don't need ANYTHING to file for a US trademark, aside from a trademark someone hasn't registered in the US. Also note that(again, as I understand things) you can't trademark a property. Phrases, names, logos, etc. can be registered, though.

I'm sorry, I'd characterize backward compatibility as a new system being able to play games from an older one, not a very-slightly-modified-but-mostly-the-same-damn-thing system being able to play software from the older version. GameBoy Color, while not a radical change, IS a signifigant upgrade. Processor's twice as fast, there's more RAM(work and video both), a larger ROM address space, some new features in the sound system, the display supports 56 colors from a pallete of 32k(as with most systems, this oficial max is bypassable) instead of 4 from a pallete of 4, some boring technical details like DMA support, and irrelevancies like IR communications and a faster gamelink. It's pretty half-assed and was never intended to do more slow the WonderSwan and NeoGeo Pocket down until the GBA was developed, but it IS a new system. Pocket is, Color isn't. From what? It's more like dropping a faster CPU into your existing motherboard, replacing the video card with a better one, dropping a bigger hard drive in, and adding more RAM. Is it stil the same PC you started with? *sighs* I hate defending the GBColor. It's only purpose was to slow the WonderSwan and NeoGeo Pocket down until the GBA was developed. It was never intended to have any real long-term support. It was a pathetic half-assed stopgap measure, as well as a disgusting abuse of the market on both the commercial and consumer sides.

And what would it be back-compatible with? The wildly successful Saturn? The incredibly popular SegaCD or 32x? Tangental note... The Saturn was rumored to be Genesis and SegaCD compatible for some time before launch. A few people even whispered of 32x support. The cart slot certainly didn't help quash these rumors. Intrestingly enough, the sound processor is a close relative of the Genesis CPU, and the Saturn CPUs are the same chips as the 32x processors, only faster. And again, the SegaCD and 32x are totally diffrent issues. One was a success as a system expansion, the other was a dismally embarassing failure regardless of market. ... I take it back. The 32x might have been considered a success if it was an expansion for the 3D0.

It's not just you. I see it too. And a quick test says it shows up in MSIE as well as Mozilla, but renders blue in IE.

There may be hostile aliens in the other galaxy. I volunteer my services as gunner.

Backwards compatibility? Why? The hardcore already OWN what came before, and aren't getting rid of it. 327831[/snapback] Preservation is the most important objective of what I would define hardcore, loyal supporters. No matter how good you take care of your console, it eventually goes (much like several of my SNES cartridges). Hence, legacy support or emulation is the only alternative. 327871[/snapback] Funny, as every console and game I've ever owned is still kicking, with the exception of my first copy of Metroid 2 and my first Virtual Boy, which was dropped on the floor(technically stil works, but the displays are out of alignment). This is from the 2600 on up to DC, GC, and PS2. I'd really liek to know what barbarism you inflicted upon your SNES games that killed them.

Sure... nowadays. But remember that, at the time of the Dreamcast, backwards compatibility really hadn't been done before. It was the PS2 that set that standard, with the GBA (and later the DS) following, and soon all three new consoles, to follow that trend. You can't really knock on the Dreamcast because Sega didn't think of it first. Actually, it'd been done several times before the PS2. Some of which were even relevant. Maybe. The hardware IS 100% compatible, the adapter shorts one pin on the cartridge slot and provides a new smaller cart slot that accomodates carts for the Master System/Mark3/SG1000/whatever the hell ELSE Sega used a Z80 on. This WAS relevant outside of the US, but within the States no one cared as the Master System was the only 8-bit hardware to get here and it was handled atrociously badly(even ignoring Nintendo's business practices). Other pre-PS2 backwards-compatible systems are(relevant means it actually affected the market at the time): GameBoy Color->GameBoy (relevant) Atari 7800->2600 Atari 5200->2600(with an adapter that contained 2600 hardware, so it shouldn't really count) ColecoVision->2600(same deal as 5200+relevant) IntelliVision->2600(same as 5200) SNES->GameBoy(Same deal as 5200+game enhancements+relevance) Master System/Mark3->SG1000/SG2000(if I recall names right) Moving into computers(and I'm not familiar enough with this market to offer relevancy notes honestly) 99/4a->99/4 C-128->Commodore 64 Commodore 64->Vic20(I think) Atari XE->Atari XL Atari XL->original Atari computers IBM PC-AT->IBM PC/XT Every damn IBM clone on Earth -> PC-AT. Very relevant, as adhering to a 20-year-old architecture restricts the performance of your modern multi-GHz machine. </mini-rant> Thsi is by no means guaranteed complete, though I think I hit everything of interest on the console side.

I am confused and frightened by these changes. I need my Invision logo back.

Backwards compatibility? Why? The hardcore already OWN what came before, and aren't getting rid of it.

Sorta. I pulled both versions by checking the drivers in the device manager. The updated driver, though, was downloaded from nVidia's site. I believe nVidia just leaves out some of the decimals, as you noted, and write it as 78.01. Other way around. The card manufacturer drivers are based off nVidia's reference drivers. Some of them keep the nVidia numbering scheme, some add decimals, some pull totally new #s out of their ass. The large version # is because the detonator drivers have been going for quite a while. Started back on the TNT1(hence the driver name).

I welcome the challenge. Well, the thing is, Nintendo has their dedicated fans, and while Microsoft and Sony both have games on their consoles that appeal to hardcore gamers, they also have a ton of commercial crap to appeal to their mass-market audience. The Dreamcast was the last system that really felt like it was specifically for the hardcore gamer. *nods* That's actually been listed as one of Sega's faults several places. They focused too hard on the real gamers, and not enough on mass-marketability. End result is the Master System, Saturn, and Dreamcast all kicked ass and are viewed very highly by gamers, but are generally either mocked or forgotten by the masses. The Genesis was a fluke, and sadly, the masses are turning on it now that there's nothing else left. Hell, just look at peripherals. How many companies, even in the Genesis era, were making 1st-party joysticks? Sega carried it through to the Dreamcast. Ditto for specialized controllers. Mass-market 1st-party attitude is "dammit, you'll use the stock gamepad and like it" and Sega's attitude was "Ya know, some of these games would kick a lot more ass with a joystick. And you really can't play Virtua On without twin sticks. And hey, we'd kinda like to make a maraca game while we're at it." That was actually one of the striking things about the Saturn's US launch. Virtually every peripheral you could ever want was available. Digital stick, flight stick, steering wheel, multi-tap, light gun, all lined up and out the door with the first consoles. ... Too bad the games weren't ready.

I'm just obsessive about my interests. I know way more than anyone SHOULD know about a select group of suibjects. Like video games, or Macross.

The price wars rectified the tag diffrence rapidly. Sega lost assloads of money there, but... They also sort of ticked the retailers off. A lot of them weren't part of the Saturn's initial launch. The ones that were got stuck with a system that had no new games for something like six months. And then during the price wars, in an attempt to help stem the tide of red ink on their own papers while still competing with the PS, they asked retailers to sell the Saturns at a slight loss. At which point it disappeared from shelves. As a trivia note: Lunar was the game that started the MegaDrive selling in Japan.

PICTURE!

I can see where it's a lot more appealing at that price level.And I wouldn't mind having one, really. EVERYTHING has a few games worth having. But the 32x was largely a joke. It was obvious it was going to be dropped almost immediatly when the Saturn came out. And in practice, it was stillborn because Sega couldn't spare the programmers from the Saturn to feed the 32x. Now if the 32x had upgraded a Genesis with a SegaCD up to a Saturn... THAT would've been something else entirely. Would've saved the loyal a good 200$(32x launched at 200, Saturn at 400, as I recall). But that would've been too much to ask.

SegaCD was NOT a failure. It is UNREASONABLE to compare SegaCD sales to those of standalone consoles, because it ISN'T a standalone console. It is an EXPANSION. It's ENTIRE available market consisted of Genesis owners, whereas a standalone console's market consists of everyone. It wasn't considered a failure until post-Dreamcast, when people started explaining how Sega was a total screwup that couldn't do anything right and was doomed from day 1. I'd say it was a failure. I owned one. I know how horrible it was lol I own one. Present tense. Wouldn't trade Eternal Blue for nothing. It sold well enough to be worth re-designing to match the Genny2 instead of abandoning. (In Japan, it actually sold the Genesis, but we're concerned with America here) Market penetration was slightly better than Final Fantasy 7, and I don't see anyone calling that a failure. And yes, it's a valid comparison, as FF7's market was totally restricted to PS1 owners, and the SegaCD's was totally restricted to Genesis owners. It makes no logical sense to compare add-on sales to standalone consoles. While not totally adequate, it makes more sense to compare them to software as they share similar market restraints. Sega sold 32x games? And for maximum confusion, there were 32x CD games. I own 3 of them, though I've never owned a 32x. Previous owner of my Genny had a 32x for a long time, and kept the games after it broke. ... I've never really understood why the SegaCD and 32x were treated as systems instead of add-ons until this moment. The word Genesis didn't appear on SegaCD games, and the packages, while the same style, had a large color-coded sidebar that announced in big letters what level of system they were for. Sega treated them largely as seperate systems, which did a lot to minimize confusion(though some is inevitable, no matter how clear it is).

I got a first-run Dual Shock too. First game was Lunar: Silver Star Story. Bought it at launch. Several months before I got the PS, actually.

SegaCD was NOT a failure. It is UNREASONABLE to compare SegaCD sales to those of standalone consoles, because it ISN'T a standalone console. It is an EXPANSION. It's ENTIRE available market consisted of Genesis owners, whereas a standalone console's market consists of everyone. It wasn't considered a failure until post-Dreamcast, when people started explaining how Sega was a total screwup that couldn't do anything right and was doomed from day 1. I think everyone had long since forgotten the Game Gear. I'm sure the 32x and Saturn factored in a little bit, but it was largely just Sony fanboys. They were, actually. They were interested in bashing it. They'd talk about how ugly it was and how much better the PS2 was. Before the PS2 even had finalized hardware. And of course, in the continuing Sonyist revision, the DC is now known to have "no good games."

Did the TG16 come out on September 9th as well? 327454[/snapback] Indeed. The PCEngine is raw sexiness. But NEC's attempts at selling it in America were just embarassingly bad. ... And they road it too long in Japan, and it died. The PCFX successor was hopelessly dated before it ever came out.