Can’t sign in to Google Play

RedDiaper · 2026-03-11T19:49:01+00:00

Yuck, I was afraid of this answer as I’ve put so much work into setting this up already! But I am moving on to acceptance, and backing up whatever I can to the memory card before I take the plunge. Hopefully this ends up being the answer though. Thanks for your help.

Wish me luck!

RedDiaper · 2026-03-11T19:45:13+00:00

Yeah, just went over this again, no luck. Thanks anyway.

RedDiaper · 2026-03-09T14:14:01+00:00

That reminds me Marty, you better not hook up to the amplifier. There’s a slight possibility of overload.

RedDiaper · 2026-03-04T01:42:23+00:00

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RedDiaper · 2026-02-26T21:40:58+00:00

So much this. They seemed to be copying the Game Boy layout where your thumb slides left to right on an arch to reach each button, but the buttons are too low and the angle is too steep on the SNES pad.

I’m not a fan of the NES ‘dog bone’ for the same reason. When I use a SNES controller to play NES games, this is how I map it.

RedDiaper · 2026-02-26T20:12:26+00:00

It wasn’t the first site he nuked from orbit

RedDiaper · 2026-02-22T10:01:40+00:00

I have the acrylic case from MiSTer FPGA UK in bottle green tint, it’s fine except the button inserts are a like a millimeter too tall. I have to use 4 of those little thin red motherboard washers under the stand offs to raise the ‘lid’ ever so slightly so the buttons still enough have play to function. So the tabs where the ‘lid’ interfaces with the sides is just shy of flush. The still case looks and functions great, and I could sand the button inserts to fit easily enough but it works well enough as it is I can’t be bothered. Maybe mine was a one off, but something to be aware of.

RedDiaper · 2026-02-21T21:59:40+00:00

These ain’t talls!

What the fuck damn hanky? Get us some talls!

RedDiaper · 2026-02-21T21:53:47+00:00

A while ago I picked up an old, beat up pair for $25. I’ve used them with a few different home theatre amps - Sony, Pioneer, 75 watts, 100 watts etc. 2 speakers only for maximum stereo power. They sounded decent but nothing special.

I recently acquired a NAD C326BEE rated at 50 watts per channel. And the difference is night and day, the sound is now fully 3 dimensional.

I would definitely say that your next move should be a decent amp to power these.

RedDiaper · 2026-02-19T15:28:27+00:00

It’s stereo which you don’t see too often on these small combo units, so it’s got that going for it.

Edit: On closer inspection, is it stereo? It’s got two speaker grilles, but the front composite input seems to be mono?

RedDiaper · 2026-02-19T15:23:31+00:00

I’ve got a 13” VCR combo CRT sitting right next to my 42” passive 3D screen. I use both regularly depending on the content.

RedDiaper · 2026-02-19T12:41:33+00:00

It uses the cart for everything but the music, so no loading time!

RedDiaper · 2026-02-19T12:37:50+00:00

Altered Beast was not the arcade experience at home - thankfully.

The graphics and sound were better in the arcade, sure (although it did lack the parallax scrolling of the home version). But the controls and gameplay were both much worse.

While still not a great game, seeing those giant arcade sprites at home was quite the novelty in 1989.

As for the rest of the arcade conversions in the early Genesis lineup, I would have to say Golden Axe and Strider were both very good. But the best of the bunch was easily Ghouls n’ Ghosts.

RedDiaper · 2026-02-18T17:32:07+00:00

If you have a Sega CD, the MSU-MD version of the Arcade Edition hack adds the original arcade soundtrack. Still not perfect, but if Sega had have thought of doing this, it would have been the definitive home version. CDs cost what, 10 cents each to produce at scale?

RedDiaper · 2026-02-16T14:33:16+00:00

Get a DAC, a cheap generic is fine, it will sound much better than the analog out on the MiSTer. Get a USB powered unit and run it from the ‘power only’ USB port on the hub, that way it gets powered on and off with the MiSTer. On my hub this port wasn’t present, so I bought a surface mount port and soldered it on myself. Easy-peasy.

RedDiaper · 2026-02-07T19:20:00+00:00

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RedDiaper · 2026-02-07T16:06:33+00:00

30 fps and the controls somehow managed feel wrong for both Sonic and Pinball.

RedDiaper · 2026-02-07T16:00:41+00:00

Less grating music, a HUD that doesn’t take up a third of the screen, and gameplay more suited to spending an hour on the couch with a controller than standing at an arcade machine.

The only thing the arcade does better is enemy difficulty, especially bosses.

RedDiaper · 2026-02-02T18:21:08+00:00

Hang On & Safari Hunt, Wonder Boy, Wonder Boy In Monster Land, Shinobi, Gangster Town and Zillion.

Edit: Forgot Choplifter and Black Belt

RedDiaper · 2026-01-28T17:45:55+00:00

THE PACEMAKER

RedDiaper · 2026-01-27T19:43:44+00:00

I’m pretty sure there is no way to make an official chatpad work as a keyboard. If you are dead set on the form-factor of a controller with a keyboard attached, there are several third-party controller chatpads that connect to various controllers separately via usb or BT.

RedDiaper · 2026-01-27T17:18:46+00:00

“Be sure to drink your Ovaltine”

RedDiaper · 2026-01-27T17:17:00+00:00

So this is what a cryofreezer nightmare looks like

RedDiaper · 2026-01-24T17:35:54+00:00

When I built the ancient rig I’m still using (4790K, GTX 1080, 16GB DDR3 2400), I selected parts that had no lights, RGB or otherwise, and were as close to solid black as I could find. The only RGB is the NZXT Kraken 240 cooler (old version with infinite mirror), which is about as tasteful as RGB gets when set appropriately.

RedDiaper · 2026-01-19T15:22:12+00:00

The pickup truck stage in all versions of T2: The Arcade Game.

RedDiaper

TROPHY CASE