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Sound of the 2C33: The Famicom Disk System
Recently, I attended the 2021 Retro World Expo in Hartford, Connecticut; I had a great time overall. One panel I enjoyed was hosted by the XVGM podcast about the Famicom Disk System, and how sound was recomposed going from the FDS to the western NES, which didn’t have the same sound capability. It was a really interesting panel focusing on the composition side, which made me want to dig into the technical side a bit more. Let’s do that now.
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The Pioneer PX-V7: MSX Over All?
To capture a composite video signal and display it on my computer’s output, I need to use an upscaler that converts to an HDMI signal, then an HDMI capture device which in turn communicates with my PC over USB. Then, I can overlay my stupid face over it and send it to Twitch or something. But what if it was 1984? Of course, Twitch wouldn’t exist, nor would HDMI. So what’s the next best thing?
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Throw it in the box: The Sega Master System II Power Base RGB!
A smaller one since a larger project kind of flopped and I don’t want to think about it right now, so it’s a system we’ve seen before here: my French Master System II, seen in Alf 2 and the Mark III rundown. What makes this Master System unlike other ones? Do you actually need a special cable? Why does Nicole find this interesting? All of these questions except the last one will be answered!
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The Fairchild Channel F: First and Finest?
In the beginning Bushnell created Computer Space and Pong. And the home game industry was without business, and void, and Magnavox overlays were upon the TV. And Bushnell said let there be Home Pong: and there was Home Pong. And Bushnell saw Home Pong and saw that it was good. And Bushnell said, Let there be cartridges plugged into the console, and let them increase the games upon the console. And Atari released the Video Computer System, and saw that it was good– wait, aren’t we forgetting someone?
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Pump up the charge: Getting -5V from a 5V power supply
When it comes to electronics, I am a woman of simple interests. Ideally, I only want to care about one voltage, and ground– there’s a reason I did so much better in my college digital electronics course than the analog electronics. But every once in a while you have to look at things more complicated than 1 and 0. Today, we’ll be looking at the most dreaded of all: -1. And it’s not balanced ternary. Can a simple IC save us?
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Apple II Audio and the Mockingboard
Remember this was a retrocomputing blog? A certain cookie company remembers, but if they want their name shout-out they’re going to have to send me some cookies. Today, we’re going to pick that up again, and look at fixing one of the major weak points of my lovely Apple ][plus: its audio capability. Let’s break out the AY-3s and dig in!
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Upscaling from the Perspective of my own Pixel Game Art
A question often asked in the topic of upscalers and retro gaming is, what did the artist intend? I am not a great artist. But having done nearly all the graphics for my games, even if it’s just a step above “programmer art”, still gives me some opinions. So let’s take a look at Space Ava 201, and I’ll tell you what I think about different ways to play it, and my own opinions. You can consider this a follow-up to my post about making graphics; this is about looking at them.
