hardware showoff

video games
1

helllo! i want to share my excitement… i just went for a walk and around the corner from my place i found a beautiful little Sony Trinitron (14″)!! it was perfectly clean, with the controller on top, and its cable had a cute knot wrapped around it so i figured it might work… and it does!! i immediately hooked up the PS2 to it and everything looks so good! i hadn’t had a CRT in so long! and just last week i learned somebody had hacked the PS2… i feel so fucking blessed :smiley:

[URL=https://i.imgur.com/epmuVe8.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/epmuVe8h.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

it's so cute! i love it!

other than this, i just have a beefy computer with a 2 monitor setup! but i'm sure yall have some more elaborate stuff, so let's see it!

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Hooray, congrats!!! I'll show some fun hardware in a bit myself. When it comes to CRTS sometimes the curb provides.

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I got a Terraonion MODE because I'm tired of re-capping and regearing turbo duos and I've had two briefcase units in various states of disrepair for more than a year! It's expensive but so far it's worth it.
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I‘ve been on the hunt for specific models of CRTs for most of the year, and I think (even though I said this about 3 times already) I’m done. If not for having the ones I‘ve been searching for (or close enough), then I’m done due to space.

Here's 3 of them stacked:
https://twitter.com/jjsignal/status/1329344861342887936?s=20
The newest addition is the 13" Trinitron PVM-1380 which is the first encounter I had with a manual 75ohm switch for video out.

Below that is a hand-me-down Panasonic Pro Line CT-1386 with a nice bubble screen.

And below that is a Sony HR Trinitron PVM-8045Q which acts as the main hub monitor and video outs to all of the other monitors. A friend had an extra one and was willing to give it to me if I went to the city and got him a coffee, felt weird carrying it back on the train, but it has a nice handle on it.

On the other side of the shelf is a 5" and two 9" CRTs that I thought were just cute and nice to have next to my working desk. They fit perfectly in my shelves, unlike the 13" ones and the 8" Trinitron, which need that corner since they're so deep. Unlike the 3 in the corner, they don't have built in video out, so I either have to plug them in manually to use them, or I also have a splitter cable as an option, but the signal gets more distorted with that.

[URL=https://i.imgur.com/xcHb7mx.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/xcHb7mxh.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

The Magnavox RD0946 on the top has the softest screen, even when directly connected to a source, with the Sony KV-9PT40 having the second sharpest looking screen next to the HR PVM-8045Q. That tiny Magnavox on the bottom left has a surprisingly good screen, and also comes equipped with a cute little fold out stand to put it at an angle, and a slide up handle to carry it around (it also doubles as a radio).

CRTs! It's neat seeing the little differences in the picture on all of them. For a while, I was really into how fuzzy the RD0946's screen was. Felt warm and cozy to play an older game on.

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I've been told I live like a mad scientist

[URL=https://i.imgur.com/CYEqRoD.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/CYEqRoDh.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=https://i.imgur.com/IM3VTH7.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/IM3VTH7h.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=https://i.imgur.com/0YIOo8m.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/0YIOo8mh.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

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Cool thread! Damn, that gamecube‘s controller port is lookin yellow, I don’t think I've ever seen one do that before.

I am mostly a digital and PC guy, but I do have a humble collection of retro stuff. My gamer room is a mess, plz forgive.

Here I have a JVC IART hooked up to HD Retrovision component cables, I have the connector for Genesis and Playstation.

[URL=https://i.imgur.com/UkRJKiD.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/UkRJKiDh.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Very proud of my Genesis, it took almost a year for me to track it down back in like 2014, but its a non-TMSS / first year Genesis. Looks good and sounds good. I have all the research done to recap it should I need to, but as far as I can tell it looks about as clean as it is going to. I got lucky with this one.

[URL=https://i.imgur.com/xtapdgq.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/xtapdgqh.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

To round things out, I have a dinky little PVM. Its cute and it even came with a PortaBrace weatherproof case. I've always imagined like bringing it to a block party or something.

Only other remotely cool thing I have up hear is my VR rig but meh.

Actually, just out of curiosity are there any PC hardware nerds here?
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@Jtwo#9546 PC you say? Depends on the vintage. I'm all about the mid-2000s and a 2004 era and 2008 era desktop around just for kicks. Neither of them are hooked up, but last winter I played Tron 2.0 on my 2004 desktop before I upgraded it and just sort of let it go back into storage. Ooops.

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@Jtwo#9546 It totally must have been a smoker‘s Gamecube. But heck yeah on the HD retrovision cables. That’s what I‘ve got running into all the CRT’s I've got. It why I am happy with them over PVMs. The right size (19 inch) and all Component ready.

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@Syzygy#9572 They are shockingly sturdy! But yeah I would love to have a better way to display them.

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some quick snapshots of my ‘gaming rig’ from 10 years ago.

  • - PlayStation 2 (slim)

  • - Philips portable speakers (battery powered only)
  • - Uniden Laser Pocket Projector (ULP1000)
  • - HP Pavilion dv6700

    • [URL=https://i.imgur.com/fqUfh8B.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/fqUfh8Bh.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
    [URL=https://i.imgur.com/GMWBGPd.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/GMWBGPd.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
    [URL=https://i.imgur.com/zRct7L7.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/zRct7L7.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
    [URL=https://i.imgur.com/hu6xsR5.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/hu6xsR5h.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

    12

    lol did I kill this thread with my last post?

    Ok. Here‘s a recent picture. It’s my at home workstation in our garage. I bought the TV at a recycling store a day before we went into lockdown back in March. It was super hard to find monitors at the time and this one was good as it's got HDMI, component and composite.

    Also pictured two boomboxes that I "fixed" with a can of contact cleaner. It really helped with the staticy volume and tuner knobs.
    13

    @hellomrkearns that “gaming rig” is so 2000s I almost heard an AIM ping.

    @JJSignal do you sometimes check out, like... Sonic waterfalls or Adventures of Batman & Robin on that fuzzier monitor? I keep thinking I should have at least one crappy CRT for the things that really rely on that. I kinda got too "good" with my CRTs and a lot of the fuzzy magic is lost in the process.

    14

    @exodus#9782 Occasionally it‘s what I might do when fussing with scaling on some emulators. Sonic on the Magnavox RD0946 has smooth-ish waterfalls in that I can’t see the gaps, though there's a rainbowing effect that occurs often on games that feature a lot of dithering or tricks to make that faux transparency feel.

    15

    Fresh lumber from the hardware store. A day of woodworking. That's my hardware show off. Kirby Super Deluxe with the wood burn print box art is there for embellishment.

    Sonic R looks amazing on that Sony KV-9PT40 @JJSignal#9532 !! Such a fun novelty monitor. Here's a pic of my KV9 set up in the walgreens cosmetics aisle.
    https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/674737315461201930/786674459104247848/19122333_519777955079843_4565468553959964672_n.png
    https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/456336914266718228/555963002503823370/image0.jpg
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    16

    I have realized that one of the things I like about seeing other people‘s set ups is the mix of being both ramshackle and cozy. Brandon’s set up from Twitter I remember having these like great cat print curtains. I guess my point is, that one of the things I love about games is that you can go the giant screen austere set up route, or the youtube gamer every system hooked up at once route, but there is something very human about the small screen on a desk tucked away in the corner of a room. I dunno, A Desk of One‘s Own and all that. The small gaming set up isn’t trying to present a persona for the outside world, it is a very much a window into its creator.

    17

    @robinhoodie#10714 侘寂, Wabi-Sabi life, there is no concept of wabi-sabi in western culture, because we are obsessed with new, nice things. I will always prefer a fine patina. https://youtu.be/jO48DTBU1Rs

    18

    I bought this racing wheel setup years ago - it’s amazing for Daytona on 360.



    I recently got this Marantz plasma panel for free. It’s from 2005, has a glass screen, needs speakers to be plugged into it and is heavy. It is also amazing for PS2/Xbox and Dreamcast. The brightness and contrast are top notch. It also displays SNES/NES and Saturn very well. A bit soft but no lag. [URL=https://i.imgur.com/NNwQNQN.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/NNwQNQN.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
    1 Like
    19

    Its my SEGA GENESIS Arcade power stick!

    https://selectbutton.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/3X/7/7/77ac11a15ce1fde3cd910bd96b3d3efbf7aefc07.jpeg

    with a secret inside!

    https://selectbutton.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/3X/a/b/aba70db1b457b054d12df0833671fa5de5c207bc.jpeg

    Started life like this...

    https://selectbutton.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/3X/4/0/40d4827797b0ce0415f8e82db53b6989075a5fe1.jpeg

    But I really wanted to put a sanwa stick in it!
    So I did...

    https://selectbutton.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/3X/9/d/9ddf9e10214841951ddd12f3def0a0c0057c88ff.jpeg
    https://selectbutton.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/3X/5/c/5cb5801c09d819d1c6172ef2875deb5b9efd7109.jpeg
    HRMMMM

    https://selectbutton.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/3X/9/7/97cfef92e003c0602fbe8c828fd7c4184b8aa0cc.jpeg

    I had to flatten the posts and remove the steel mounting plate to make it almost fit. It was off by the thickness of the foot plate meaning I had to cut that hole in the bottom. I considered trying to shave the bottom off the stick itself but it was much harder steel.

    https://selectbutton.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/3X/9/0/900ef942e9102d4aac9333c731620c66e67dbd4e.jpeg

    2 part epoxy was used to secure the stick in the end as there was no longer any extra material to attach screws.

    https://selectbutton.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/3X/9/1/919e92930792d77c05cab7857e61d88a067ee526.jpeg
    The wires almost matched but had some colors that were different. the correct pinout was (not pictured) to match by color with purple matching green.

    After doing this I was told that in Japan these sticks were always mechanical! And that the Neogeo arcade stick hardware fits inside perfectly with not cutting.
    Dang. (Still like this stick better tbh)

    Anyway this thing is an absolute godsend for shooters (which I am bad at). It also makes anything requiring diagonals a breeze. Landstalker for example is fantastic.

    I also have a 6 button Id like to convert eventually.
    I had to do the 3 to start its such a visually wonderful stick with its light up button LEDS and turbo slider.
    I think it looks even smarter now with the sanwa stick's dust disk fitting perfectly into the stick base.

    20

    office game zone

    panasonic plasma, gutter vga 22" crt on the table, another gutter 12" vga crt I havent cleaned out yet (might get a raspy pi innit), the much beloved racing wheel.
    21

    @PhantomPhotom#10892 you went on quite a journey here

    I've been thinking (NOT VERY SERIOUSLY, but a little) about the paprium "ultimage mega drive stick," the grand stick III. why does it exist? I don't need it. so few games make sense to play with a stick on genesis. and precisely because of that I am intrigued.

    [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/8qdsuDX.png]