Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN FEBRUARY 2025?

On Mon, 10 Mar 2025 15:40:18 +0100, H1M3M <wipnoah@gmail.com> wrote:

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Zaghadka wrote:

On Sun, 09 Mar 2025 10:16:10 -0400, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
 

On Sun, 09 Mar 2025 01:49:26 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

Zaghadka <zaghadka@hotmail.com> wrote:

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Yes, I was serious. Ugh, passive LCDs. Yeah, I didn't like those on
computer screens. Hence I preferred CRT back then.

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[snip]
 

But even the Gameboy's competitors -like Sega's
GameGear and the Atari Jaguar- languished on the shelves partly
because they opted for better, battery-hungry screens. In almost every
respect, the GameGear was a far, far better machine than the Gameboy,
but its 6 AA batteries lasted 3 hours, compared to the 15 hours for
the two AA batteries in the Gameboy. Sure, that meant that, with the
GameBoy, you were stuck with only monochrome color, but you were
'stuck' with it for 15 times the length of time it would take to power
a GameGear.
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Yeah. Nintendo made the right choice. The GameGear had an amazing
experience, but the backlight was too power hungry. Nintendo was right;
battery life was more important. I had a Gameboy. It lasted forever
because it was a simple, tiny, unlit LCD.
 
Most people don't even know what a Jaguar is, because Atari was no longer
a player in consoles. Started its plummeting decline around the 7800.
 
Does anyone even remember the benighted Lynx? You didn't. That was the
Gameboy contemporary, and it also made the mistake of backlighting. The
Jaguar was years later. They should have taken Nintendo's example to
heart by that time. ;^)
 

This is the end of the chain, so I suppose it will be more readable here.
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I have had up to three GBAs over the years, but nowadays all I have left
is a GB Micro, and let's face it: 20 years after buying it, presbyopia
is starting to become a problem with a 2 inches screen. I am fine with
playing those on a modded 3ds with the bare metal gba firmware, but
after Deck and Switch it's hard to go back.

And what's the point anyway; emulation has gotten so good that unless
you're a die-hard retroist or are trying to speed-runs on authentic
hardware, you might as well just use an emulator and give yourself all
the advantages thirty years of tech- and game-development offer. With
things like upscaling, save-states and better controls, it's just a
better experience to emulate it on modern hardware.

Which isn't to say I have total disdain for original hardware (anyone
looking into my study filled with old computers and gaming consoles
will be able to tell you that!) but those aren't the machines I use to
actively PLAY the old games on (unless absolutely necessary). But
there's something to be said about experiencing the 'old tech' every
now and again; the loud whir of the fans, the crunky static of old
sound-cards, the agony of a BSOD or having to blow on the cartridge*
to get it to load.

But for actual play-throughs? Use an emulator.





* don't blow on your cartridges; the moisture in your breath does them
no favors. ;-)