One of the most exciting projects in the realm of retrogaming today is the MiSTer, an open-source, FPGA-based emulation device that uses hardware description languages to re-create the hardware from your favorite old home consoles, arcade games, and even home computers on a chip-by-chip basis. Unlike software-based emulation platforms like the Raspberry Pi, RetroArch, OpenEmu, … Read more
The Nintendo Entertainment System is famous for a few things: resurrecting a dead home video game market here in the United States, launching a huge number of storied franchises that still exist to this day, and having an unreliable hardware issue centered around its 72-pin cartridge edge connector, manifesting itself in the form of a … Read more
During the 16-bit era, the Neo-Geo AES was the gold standard of home consoles. I remember staring at it sitting in the glass case at Toys ‘R Us, never to be touched by human hands. Not only were the carts amazing in their size, the controllers looked epic compared to those that I was used … Read more
Atari joysticks are very simple devices, and as such there isn’t much that can go wrong with them. Their Achilles’ Heel however is the metal domes that, when pushed down by the joystick or fire button, complete the circuit to register the input. Over time, these domes wear out and lose their elasticity, drift out … Read more
In a previous article, I outlined the procedure for taking apart your NES console and refurbishing the 72-pin connector. As I had mentioned, the connector is only half of the problem. Over time, the contacts on cartridge games become dirty and oxidized, preventing proper contact with the console. Many games bought on the used market … Read more
Back in the good old days, most games didn’t come packaged in a box that was meant to double as a storage case. With the exception of games for Sega’s Master System and Genesis, cartridges generally came packaged in boxes made of card stock that were meant to be thrown away. Most first-party Atari 2600 … Read more
Those of us who grew up playing the original Nintendo Entertainment System remember full well the trials and tribulations of trying to get a game to boot up properly. No one among us hasn’t had to to blow into the business end of a cartridge before sticking it into the NES in order to avoid … Read more
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