Category Archives: Games

DIY, Games, Homebrew, Retro gaming, Reviews

Hardware Review: EDFX–Krikzz’ Video Out Solution for PCE/TG16

August 11, 2023 V1RACY

The PC Engine and the Turbo Grafx 16 came at a time when there was almost a normalized video-out solution, but was still a bit “wild west”. Your modern-day consoles all use HDMI which is interchangeable and work on every current TV with just one cable. Our review today is a new device from Krikzz that works on PCE/TG16 and not just gives you RCA out, but so much more. Let’s discuss!

Features:

CD stereo support for EverDrive
RGB and composite video output
Audio filtering and levels tuned to match IFU audio
Compatible with MegaDrive2/Genesis2 video cables
Can be used without EverDrive as a standalone A/V expansion
Compatible with TurboGrafx and PCE systems

Unboxing Video:

Pros:

Compatibility. So this device accepts all Sega Genesis model 2 cords. It could be something like a cheap one you buy off of eBay or an expensive HD Retrovision cable. And this goes for all types of TV connectors and supports different video types. Whether it’s composite or SCART with RGB. Some have even reported that you can use the Pound HDMI cables to continue to get full RGB and stereo audio! This isn’t something that I could test as I no longer have the Pound cables that I reviewed a few weeks back. So, needless to say, your results may vary. However, I don’t see a reason why a Pound cable or equivalent HDMI adapter wouldn’t work if it’s originally designed to work on the model 2 Genesis.
CD Audio. The last point is a good segue into this point. Video can look good all day, but if you still only have mono, the game can feel a bit flat. The EDFX can absolutely support CD-quality audio, but truth be told that is only if you buy the Turbo Everdrive PRO which we just wrote a review on. That is simply due to the fact that this EDFX takes the port where your CD attachment would typically go. So the only way to boot CD-based games is via the Turbo Everdrive PRO. It also passess the HuCard games audio as stereo like normal, no change there. But yeah, you’ll feel like you’re playing a more modern console, like a Sega Saturn for instance, when using the two devices in tandem. One other point to bring up is that if you’re using the CD support via the Turbo Everdrive PRO is that it really lets you key in your exact settings via the options menu. I discuss where to go for that in the aforementioned article.
On Its Own. This device does not require the Turbo Everdrive or Turbo Everdrive PRO to operate, mind you. Feel free to use your standard HuCard games to play what you’d like. This device can be used on the back of any Turbo Grafx 16 or PC Engine model you’ve got that you normally play games on. This can still get you an upgrade from mono on your favorite HuCard games and a better, more convenient video signal to your retro or even modern television.
Build Quality. Another Krikzz product, another day. Meaning, the same ol, same ol here. There is nothing but perfection when it comes to the build of this device. You can see pictures of it down below. It’s structurally sound, being reinforced by the brass rods with screws. There is also an acrylic or plexiglass top to keep dust off of it. Adding the clear top further enforces the structural strength of the device. The bottom four brass rods also provide the device with a brace to stand on. Four little feet so that they reduce stress off of the plug. Otherwise the EDFX would be free floating out of the back of the console. That could lead to it bending downwards over time or if something fell on it could bend it down.
With regards to the hardware itself, the plug is very snug, but in a good way. It takes a little bit of effort to plug it into the back of your PC Engine or Turbo Grafx 16. But it takes a bit more pull to get it out, and this is to make sure it doesn’t pop out if you accidentally pulled the system toward you while playing. It’s also likely that you’ll not be taking it in and out of your system. Especially if you have the Turbo Everdrive PRO up front. The two items in tandem satisfy everything that you could need to do with a PC Engine/Turbo Grafx 16.
Cost. If you’re just wanting to buy one of these for your existing games and setup, then you’ll only have to pay a cost of $50. I think that that is a great middle-ground cost, especially if you already have a Genesis model 2 cable ready to go. If you’re wanting to get this and the new Turbo Everdrive PRO, your cost is even lower. The Turbo Everdrive PRO is $220, so it isn’t precisely cheap, but the overall cost if you buy them together is $260. So you can either equate that to being $10 less per item or $20 off of the EDFX. Either way, unless you’re trying to buy them separately across two separate paychecks, buying them together is the smartest idea.

Cons:

Covered Up. This device needs a better a shell or casing, if you will. There’s just too much chance for dust and then cleaning the dust out of the components is unnecessary. I’m sure Krikzz aimed to keep this device at the low price point that it is, but we need one that by default is a bit more expensive and is in a shell of some kind. As of now, you’ll have to buy one of the EDFX shells hosted on Stone Age Gamer if you want to reduce dust. If you don’t have a problem with dust, you can keep the device with the piece of single acrylic covering the top. If anything, if Krikzz is trying to keep the cost down, maybe remove the clear part and put a matching white or matching black top to it. That way it matches the color of the Turbo Everdrive PRO that you bought with it.
S-Video. The only thing that I could not test and I couldn’t find any information online is S-Video. So until someone says that an S-Video cable works with it, I’m going to assume that it doesn’t. S-Video is also not mentioned in any marketing of the EDFX. So if you happen to have a S-Video cable and you buy this and confirm it works, I’ll gladly remove this “Con”. If you confirm that it does NOT work, tell me and I’ll update this section to state clearly that it does not work. Some people are very big S-Video heads and deserve to know.

Final Thoughts:

Above and below this section I added pictures of shells made by Humble Bazooka that you can buy for $15 and I think make this a tasteful matching product. I think I’m not the only one who dislikes the look of the transparent acrylic and further hate how it may allow in dust. So after you inevitably buy the EDFX from any one of the links below, I have the link for the 3D-printed shell as well. And of course, after that, I have the list of compatible RGB cables for the EDFX. These products are all great together; they’re a match made in heaven!

Purchase Links:

Krikzz’s Site

Everdrive.ME

3D Printed Shell

RGB Cables for Genesis

Gamecube, Games, GBA, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, PC, Playstation, PlayStation 4, PS VR, PS5, PSP, PSVita, Retro gaming, Talking Point, Wii, Wii U, XBOX One, Xbox series s/x, Xbox360

Fountain City Con 2023

August 9, 2023 V1RACY

I made an article a few years back that is now buried away, but it was about Fountain City Con. I couldn’t tell you what year that was, but I’m guessing it was their first year. Instead of pulling it up and drawing comparisons to FCC’s old self, I’ll keep it fresh. I’ll instead do what I did with my MoGameCon coverage and just tell you what we did across the day and the vibes we got! So you know that if you’re local to Kansas City, what you can expect to feel while at their event next time.

Elliott is the photographer I’ve been having with me at the last few events. He and I decided to ride together since we live near enough to one another. But honestly, the location of where Fountain City Con happened was only within 30 minutes of either of our houses, so we could’ve driven separately. I think that anything within 30 minutes of where someone lives is a good location and not cause for complaining of distance. This is especially true for when the event can be an all-day excursion of stuff to do (more on that soon). It’s even more true for collectors. Why complain about distance when the event focuses on selling things you collect all in one place and saves you from driving around looking for the stuff? Anyway, I digress, I liked the placement of the event.

We decided to eat at a nearby sandwich shop (Goodscents, for those who are nosey) before heading into the event. We made the assumption that there wouldn’t be food in the event space. We ended up being wrong, but more on that soon enough. Our time finding parking on the Sunday at 12:30 proved to be difficult in terms of finding one up close. The parking lot was also under construction so this meant backing up to get out of a lane with no parking. But once we found one, that was the end of our woes for the day!

Upon entering New Century Fieldhouse, we were greeted with the smell of a gymnasium. Rubber, plastic, deodorizing cleaner; but honestly, it wasn’t overwhelming and shortly we got used to the aroma. We walked up to a table laden with Fountain City Con merch which was all sensible items like cups and mugs, nothing that tickled my fancy though. After finally obtaining our press passes we were in and to our surprise there were a lot of booths and interactive setups.

Our first goal before talking with vendors and artists was photographing and recording the event space. That compiled video is down below at the bottom of this page. There were plenty of attendees on this Sunday afternoon, but it wasn’t stuffed elbow to elbow. Nothing was more abundant than time and space. After recording we went to the booths that interested us the most. I bought some art, collected business cards of people I wanted to follow online, and Elliott got some game pickups. Those are in the video as well, if you’re wanting to see what he snagged. Surprisingly, with the sheer amount of comic vendors, we didn’t buy a single comic!

We saw that there was indeed an entire concessions area and they even had food and drink named nerdy stuff. That was definitely a nice touch, even Planet Comicon doesn’t have concessions with custom-named food! There were plenty of tables to eat at. Up above the concessions was another floor. This was designated as a space for anyone who needed to not feel overstimulated, but it was also a nice view of the goings on below. I wish we’d taken a picture from up high! Maybe we’ll remember and do so next year.

Besides reseller vendors, artists, and authors there were also three different podcast tables that were set up. It was intriguing to see podcasts out at events promoting their work in person. I suppose it makes sense, but why don’t you see more of them? There was a stage for panels on the far wall about 50 feet from the concessions. There were plenty of places to sit and listen in. Adjacent to that were tables designated for tabletop gaming, hosted by Brute Force Gaming. But we didn’t happen to see any of it in our time there, it could’ve been that we missed it all.

To wrap this up, I wanted to also focus on the video gaming available. Since our site is heavily gaming-focused, it only makes sense. Along another wall, KC Game On hosted gaming sessions of various titles. We witnessed people playing Smash Bros and they looked like they were heavily entrenched in the game. Nobody ever glanced away for even a second! KC Game On brought several screens so there was everything they needed to accommodate lots of players. Finally, there were four arcade machines in another corner of the space. Honestly, 5 probably would’ve been a better number. The machines seemed to be busy the entire time we were there and we didn’t get a chance to play. There was space for more, so we’d like to see an additional machine next time.

We left and hit up some thrift stores too. I’ll have those pickups in my pickups video later on. But it was great that so many thrift stores were in the area, which is a roundabout way of saying I hope Fountain City Con stays in its location for the years to come. There’s lots of room to grow in that space and it’s clean!

GameBoy, Gamecube, Games, GBA, Movies, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Playstation, PlayStation 4, PS VR, PS5, PSP, PSVita, Retro gaming, Sega, Talking Point, Wii, Wii U, XBOX One, Xbox series s/x, Xbox360

MoGameCon 2023

August 3, 2023 V1RACY

Not *every* year, but most years me and friends try to make our 4 hour exodus to MoGameCon. This year was the first time in a long while that we did so. Unfortunately, we had to leave early. But we do have pictures and footage of our time in St.Louis and at MoGameCon. It looks like we got out of there just in time!

We left from Kansas City on Friday at 4 PM. We drove straight through to St.Louis and ate at a local spot called Culpepper’s. We were trying to meet up with friends, but it just didn’t happen! So we head back to our AirBnB. We were playing some Switch and watched ‘Invaders from Mars’ while enjoying some delicious popcorn. The movie ended and we crashed. Before heading to the convention, we had time to get some grub. So we went and had breakfast at Blondies, and it was absolutely delicious. Finally, we got to MoGameCon at 10 AM when they were letting in press and VIPs. We stayed until 1 PM and got as much footage and pictures as we could. We also tried to buy some stuff in between because we knew the good stuff might get gone once the crowd came in at 11 AM.

When we were there, we were searching for different things and took different pictures and videos of what we saw. Elliott was on the search for someone that would take a trade for a wireless controller he had in exchange for a PS1 Ascii One-Handed controller. His one desire in this world is playing an RPG with one hand and a beer in the other! Unfortunately, he never found anyone who would do that trade with him or maybe he just never found the controller he was looking for so he saved his item for the one day he’d find someone willing to trade. His pickups photo is just below:

Myself, I went to the convention with a different idea in mind. Usually I take a fair amount of Magic the Gathering cards with me to sell/trade off. Then I leave with stuff I didn’t have to pay for. Unfortunately, they didn’t bite this time around. They suggested that I wait for another person to come to their booth that might be interested. I didn’t bother returning because I would miss out on my other goal. My friend has been asking how best to play emulators and PS1 games. I told her the PSP would and that she would have the added benefit of the PSP games too. So I was looking for an affordable one. Finally, I told myself if I saw a Gameboy Camera, I would buy it.

Since I didn’t dwell on the Magic cards and put my nose to the grindstone, I lucked out on both fronts. I stopped by the booth of the Video Game Dads (they have a podcast, look it up). They’re also from Kansas City and so when I saw they had a PSP for sale, I laughed. I said something to the effect that I traveled 4 hours to buy something I could’ve bought from them back home! Anyhow, we worked out a deal since the UMD drive was kind of grindy. I told him it’s going to be for mods anyway and he was happy it was going to a good home. You’ll see in the video below just how clean and scratch-free it is!

The Gameboy Camera doesn’t have a fun story with it. But I did only see one at the place on first glance and to me, at $30, I just bought the dang thing! It felt like a good price and I thought that if I didn’t jump on it, someone else would’ve. And then I went over to Retro Tony’s booth (he has a YouTube channel, look it up), he had a ton of stuff on his table. But I’m someone who looks for deals and common games down below. Tony happened to have a box of freebies full of movies. I looked and found that I had most movies or they were on DVD which was a bummer. I did find one of the Harry Potter films on Bluray that I didn’t yet own. I said YES PLEASE and was happy to be one movie closer to the fully HP movie set.

Once we left the vendor hall, we went into the secondary room that had YouTube personalities (John Riggs and more). There was also a local wrestler, game tournaments, and some other activities happening in that room. I’ve met those people before so I just steered clear on the off chance that people would flood the room. Heck, they had the Sega Pluto prototype there (again) and I’ve even played that before. So I certainly wasn’t much for that room this year. But I did happen into the panel room in time for a Jeopardy-like trivia game about gaming. They had already chosen the teams but the audience all got raffle tickets and were able to win prizes as the game went on. This was put on by Game and Browse (they’re a YouTube channel, look it up!). It went very well and I won an audience prize of a Pokemon tabletop game!

You might be wondering why we left at 1 PM that day as I sort of mentioned before. Well, here’s the video of our time in St.Louis and MoGameCon. Wait until the end and you’ll see!

Games, Homebrew, Jailbreaks, Retro gaming, Reviews

Hardware Review: Turbo Everdrive PRO–Krikzz’ Newest Everdrive for PCE/TG16

July 27, 2023 V1RACY

Hello, good morning/afternoon/evening. We’ve got another Krikzz special for you today, the recently released Turbo Everdrive PRO for the PCEngine family of consoles. We’re going to go into a lot of details for this product, the only thing I won’t be doing is comparing it to the version before it. The Turbo Everdrive 2 already has a full review here on Hackinformer, so read up on that if you’d like to save money and don’t need CD Rom support. And with that out of the way, let’s start!

Description:

“Ever dream of having your whole library of TurboGrafx-16, PCEngine, Turbo CD, & PCEngine CD games in a single cartridge? The Turbo EverDrive PRO allows you to load your game back-ups (commonly known as ROMs) on a microSD card, put the SD card into the Turbo EverDrive PRO, put the Turbo EverDrive into a TurboGrafx-16 or PCEngine, and have your list of games at your fingertips.”

Features:

Cyclone IV FPGA
16MB of PSRAM memory
High-quality 6-layer PCB with hard gold surface finish
Built-in CD-ROM² core*
Arcade card functions
In-game menu
Multi-slot save states
Ten no Koe 2 saves support
Cheats
Custom menu themes
Switchless region auto-detection
Built-in firmware installer
USB port for development

Unboxing Video:

Unboxing Krikzz’ Newest—EDFX & Turbo Everdrive Pro for PCE/TG16!

Pros:

Color Options. Let’s start off this whole shebang by discussing the two color options that are available for purchase. This is going to be the only “Pro” where I’m going to mention the trade-offs. Usually, I would put the bad aspects on their own in the “Cons” section, but this go-around I’m going to keep it all together here.
First off, it’s great that there is more than one color option. Krikzz really designed something unbelievably beautiful this time around. The last time was a green PCB with the ability to screw on a faceplate. But it wasn’t a requirement and it cost extra money. This time, the item is one solid piece built to be solid and no assembly need be made.
This time around he’s supplied us with black that has golden text and accents. And he has also made a white version with golden text. The black and gold is a given with regards to its beauty. However, I received the white to review and I have to say that it’s an absolute treasure to look upon!
The downside? Well, that has to do with the actual microSD cards that you use. If you buy a black Turbo Everdrive Pro, you’ll likely be fine because most microSD cards are black and will blend in. The white one, very few reputable and affordable microSD cards are white. So my card is blue and red, and so I have a setup that annoys me. I won’t go purchase a different card, but you still have time! If you want the white Turbo Everdrive Pro, then buy a white matching microSD card so that it blends in. Or a goldish one, but something that matches.
Getting Going. We’ve discussed a bit about the outside of the device. We’ll get back to that, but now let’s discuss some of the inner workings of the software. Specifically, I wanted to discuss the setup process and just how simple it actually is.
We already mentioned that you’ll be using a microSD card of your choosing. Follow along as you see how few steps are needed. First off, put the microSD card into your computer and format it as Fat32. If it’s too large to format with the OS, I recommend using AOMEI Partition Assistant because it was the only one that could format my 256GB card and have the Turbo Everdrive recognize it.
After you’ve formatted it, just download this zip file straight from Krikzz. Unzip it somewhere and you’ll see an “edturbo” folder in it. Simply drag and drop that to your microSD card. Then, do the same with any game(s) that you want to play. Safely eject the SD card and insert it into the Everdrive and get to playing!
Compatibility. Speaking of loading games, let’s quickly touch on what the Turbo Everdrive Pro supports. We all know that the Turbo Everdrive series can boot the traditional HuCard games. This version still lets you do that of any region and it automatically detects the region so you don’t have to flip a physical switch.
This PRO model takes things a step forward. Its biggest selling point, at least in my book, is the inclusion of being able to load games that typically require accessories and add-ons to play. Meaning that this model of Turbo Everdrive finally plays CD-ROM games. And even crazier than that, Arcade Cards are supported on it. I love that Krikzz decided to get in the weeds with this release. It shows his love and dedication to gaming preservation.
Updates. And now, we’ll flip-flop once again, back to the innards of the software. Well–I mean firmware this time. I need to talk with you about how simple it is to update this thing. Remember back when we talked about the ease of setting up the Turbo Everdrive Pro? Well, updating is the same, but easier. In that same zip file that you downloaded moments ago, you’ll also see a .efu file. Drag and drop that onto your microSD card and then insert it into the Everdrive. Now, power on the console and navigate to it, and run it like a game. It will then give you some on-screen feedback as it runs. After that, it restarts and your Turbo Everdrive Pro is up to date. I love how pure and simple Krikzz makes the updating process!
Build Quality. It’s like Krikzz took the existing Turbo Everdrive v2 and cranked the quality up a notch! So a lot of the attributes of the previous model hold true here, not all of them do. For instance, the weight is heavy, if not heavier this time around. The weight, being compared to that of an average Hu Card is easily double the weight. A run of the mill Hu Card is relatively lightweight, so the Turbo Everdrive Pro feels heavier in the hands. Having said that, weight usually equates to quality when it comes to electronics. And where the weight builds up in this instance is the components. So if it feels like you’re holding something pricey, you technically are. But it’s still a fantastic price considering what you’re getting. More on that later!
Krikzz has a high level of consistency when it comes to doing product builds correctly. So when it comes to PCBs that they manufacture, we get multilayered boards that protect the vias and traces. A multilayered board means less stress/bend as well. And since the traces are under the surface, there isn’t only protection against cuts/scratches but also against corrosion. There’s more to it than that, the technical user already knows what those extras are. The everyman likely won’t care. But just know that you’re getting the best in this regard!
Now with regards to the contacts that make…well, contact with the system, Krikzz again has you covered. And…also the contacts. They use plated contacts, and with properly plated contacts you increase conductivity and fight corrosion. It won’t break down over time, it won’t scrape away as easily, and you can rest easy about overheating.
Keeping with the small form factor that Krikzz has mastered recently, this one has the inclusion of a microSD card slot. Not much to cover here, but I will say that his microSD card slots never get cards caught. And they certainly don’t accidentally go in at an angle. The card clicks in and the card clicks out, simple as that. Wither other non-Everdrive products (clones), I’ve gotten cards stuck or fought me on the way in and out.
Now, in the unboxing video, I showed the clicky button on the top of the Turbo Everdrive Pro. It’s one of two ways that the Turbo Everdrive PRO can bring up the menu in game. It’s a very solid, metal button and it always works the first time. There’s no delay or lag upon pressing it. The only downside to bringing up the menu in game is that if there is a song playing, whatever note was playing will just hang annoyingly until you leave the menu.
Finally, the Turbo Everdrive 2 fits into the PC Engine like any other Hu Card in existence. They got the card dimensions correct even down to the thickness. There is a secondary piece above all of the circuitry that protects what would otherwise be exposed. It does this without sacrificing function or taking up too much vertical space. It fits exactly in the large open space so that you can also keep the card from accidentally being pulled up. And of course, the Hu Card lock still works perfectly.

OS Menus. Now when it comes to navigating the Turbo Everdrive PRO it’s incredibly simple, but in a good way. You have lots of options but they are concise and do not overwhelm you. I’m going to walk you through the menus so you can see how much Krikzz truly offers!
With regards of the overall menu of the device, there is a main menu you can access from any OS screen. It shows you several choices; Options, Recently Played, Cheats, System Folder, Device Info, Diagnostics, and About. Most of these are self-explanatory, we’ll come back to System Folder later, but I do want to discuss what’s in Options.

Within the Options you have these options to utilize; In-Game Menu On/Off, Cheats Option On/Off, Reset Delay On/Off, Default EXP Device (cycles options), Last Game Autoboot On/Off, File Sorting On/Off. Then you have two options that require customization, Audio Options and In-Game Combo.

Within the Audio Options, there is a fair amount that you can tweak. This is because there are a lot of AV out options on the various models of consoles within this family. Not just that but also a lot of hardware that one could plug into the back of the device for different AV, such as Krikzz’s EDFX which will be my next review! Furthermore, Hu Card games could be mono while the CD games could be stereo. So the Audio Options are; Preset (to chose from), Audio Output (mono/stereo), Volume L Up/Down, Volume R Up/Down, CDDA Volume Up/Down, PCM Volume Up/Down, PCM Filter Cut Up/Down, PCM Filter Gain Up/Down.

When choosing a Hu Card game of your choice you get the following options; Start Game, Cheats, ROM Info, Hex View, Delete. With CD games you get a slightly modified set of options; Start Game, Cheats, ROM Info, Hex View, and Open Folder. So the options are almost identical except with CD games, you can only view the contents of the game folder versus outright deleting the title. The other options were self-explanatory and with ROM Info, it breaks down a few things for you; Hu Card Type, EXP Type, ROM size, ROM ID, Date and Time of manufacture.
Speeding Along. Let’s discuss the actual speed of both booting and running games. So how about we first discuss the speed of loading Hu Card games. I tested the largest Hu Card game to see how long it would take. Upon looking through the sizes from all regions, I found that the largest game loaded in less than 2 seconds.
I did the exact same test with the largest CD rom game from any region. Unfortunately, the largest one I could find was just over 700 MB, maybe there was a larger one. But still, for as large as it was, it still loaded in in 3-4 seconds!
We talked about booting a CD game, but what about running the CD game? Well, I would love to tell you how a CD game is from a microSD card. However, I couldn’t compare this to a disc unfortunately since I do not own a CD attachment for my PC Engine. This was something I had to look up online and according to those “in the know”, it’s about the same as running a physical disc because of timings.
In-Game Menus. Okay, let’s talk about what is available from within the confines of the games you’re playing on the Turbo Everdrive PRO. If you thought the OS menus were simple and effective menus, wait until you see these.
The in-game menu during Hu Card games is more advanced than the menu that appears in the CD-based games. Hu Card menus entail; Save State, Load State, Restore Last Save, Restore Last Load, Cheats, Reset Game, Exit Game. It feels modern in that you can exit back to the home screen like a Switch, PS5, or XSX.
And the in-game menu during CD games is much more limited; Cheats, Reset Game, and Exit Game. Still, the great ability to reset the game and dip out of the game back to the menu without a power cycle.
Saves & Loads. And finally, let’s talk about Save States. It’s one of the great new features of the Turbo Everdrive PRO. It’s certainly one of the reasons that I wanted this Everdrive. Save states come in a variety of methods. You can have ones that pop up upon a button combination like Select and Left is to make a save and the Select and Right to load a save. With the Turbo Everdrive PRO you can either press the physical button on the cart or a button combination to bring up the in-game menu. Then feel free to create and load a save at your will.
Now, be warned that not every Hu Card game has the ability to use save states, but I couldn’t find one that didn’t. CD games can pull up your savepoint save with a button combination but you cannot create save states.
One other point to bring up with save states is the making of the initial save. When you’re first using a save slot, it takes up to 10 seconds to make that initial save. After that, you’re simply overwriting a save, so there is no issue. Furthermore, loading saves is a flash always so you can keep on trucking.

Cons:

L.E.D. On the device itself, there is an indicator LED. This LED serves the purpose of letting you know when there is activity happening with the microSD card. Reading or writing happens to the card and the light blinks as these functions occur. Likely so that you don’t abruptly turn off the device while it’s active. God forbid you corrupt your SD card, man!
Anyway, I do have a gripe about this. And it’s just that the light itself is *incredibly* super bright and red to boot. I would like to see Krikzz put in a light diffuser. Or maybe just a light pipe to divert the light away from the viewer’s eyes so that the light is visible just elsewhere.
Now, in Krikzz’ defense, it isn’t on all of the time. As I said, it’s only during activity. But it’s just too bright and a bit too ugly. Kills how beautiful the white card that I reviewed actually is.

Theming. Setting themes could be easier. As it stands, on the main OS you go to Options, System Folder, then navigate to the “tbed” folder and into the themes folder then highlight a theme, and then choose to set it and wait for it to apply. If the Turbo Everdrive Pro really was a pro model it would already know where themes are stored and simply show you your list of themes and let you choose one to apply. Not a huge complaint, it’s likely something saved for a future firmware update. Krikzz is usually one step ahead of me anyhow!

Final Thoughts:

Some of you may be looking at the price of this at over $200 and thinking that there is no logical way that you’ll spend that amount of money on a product. I’d like to remind you that you’re forgetting about how expensive a CD attachment for Turbo Grafx/PC Engine can be in the first place. And that’s assuming that the thing actually works. Now, hopefully, you’re realizing that you can own CD-Rom games for the system, legally back them up, and play them. This means you can load them without needing the CD attachment or damaging your disks that they’re not creating any more of. Not to mention the simplicity of changing the games without the need to swap disks. The hassle is gone, the tremendous expense is gone, and you get to have all of your games on one nice convenient HuCard from Krikzz.

Purchase Links:

Krikzz’s Site

Everdrive.ME

Coming Soon, Games, GBA, News, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, PC, Playstation, PlayStation 4, PS5, Retro gaming, Steam, SteamDeck, Xbox series s/x

Limited Run Games 2023 Rundown

July 12, 2023 V1RACY

Here we are again, another week featuring game announcements. This time it’s from developer/publisher Limited Run Games. So just like every other time, I have the list of games for you with just their trailers. You know you’d rather just watch trailers for what you want to know about and not all of the other needless talking and trailers that don’t appeal to you. Let’s go!

Castlevania Advance Collection Physical

Castlevania Advance Collection – Launch Trailer – Nintendo Switch

Rise of the Triad Ludicrous Edition Physical

Rise of the Triad: LUDICROUS EDITION - Release Date Announcement

Scarlet Symphony Physical

Nintendo Switch "Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony" Official Launch Trailer

Tiger Heli/Twin Cobra Remake Physical

Kyukyoku Tiger Heli on Nintendo Switch is AWESOME [SHOREVIEWKEN!]

Karateka Physical

The Making of Karateka - Announcement Trailer

TMNT Soundtrack Collection (9 Games on Vinyl, CD, Cassette)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Soundtrack Selection

Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 Remastered Physical

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Complete Edition Launch Trailer

El Shaddai HD Physical

El Shaddai ASCENSION OF THE METATRON Steam Trailer 2021 HD

Dungeons of Aether Physical

Dungeons of Aether - Official Release Date Trailer

Shantae Risky Revolution

Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution | LRG3 Reveal Trailer

Chicory-A Colorful Tale Physical

Chicory: A Colorful Tale - Launch Trailer - Nintendo Switch

Odencat’s Paradise Collection

Arzette The Jewel of Paramore

This Way Madness Lies

Midnight Fight Express Physical

Midnight Fight Express: Combat Overview Trailer

Colossal Cave Physical

Colossal Cave - Exclusive Official Nintendo Switch Announcement Trailer

Another Crusade

Rose and Camellia Collection

Rose & Camellia Collection | LRG3 Reveal Trailer

Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties (finally)

Plumbers Don't Wear Ties: Definitive Edition | LRG3 Release Date Trailer

Gargoyles Remastered

(No trailer, just a logo)

Double Shake

Clock Tower HD

Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection

Tomba (TBD)

Gex Trilogy

Games, Homebrew, Jailbreaks, Nintendo, Retro gaming, Reviews

Hardware Review: EZ-Flash Jr. for GB/GBC

July 4, 2023 V1RACY

It’s been a little bit of time since we’ve covered a flashcart for handhelds. Well, that empty streak ends now! Thanks to SenkoGames.com we have a EZ-Flash Jr. to give you the skinny on. So without further ado, break out your OG Gameboy or Gameboy Color, we got work to do!

Description:

“Introducing the EZ Flash Junior for the Gameboy and Gameboy Color systems. The EZFlash Junior will be the new standard in Gameboy and Gameboy Color systems. Instantly load and play your files. No need to wait for slow loading times at all, and with the fast reset back to the main menu, you can quickly and easily swap between the files you want to load and play. The EZFlash Jr offers an easy drag and drop for all of your files, with no need for any type of conversion of the files before you copy them to the microSD card.”

Features:

GB/GBC game copy and play
Instant load time
Real time clock
Fast reset to menu
Maximum game: 64Mbits
Maximum save: 1Mbits, LSDJ support
Mapper supports:MBC1,MBC2,MBC3,MBC5,MBC1M,MBC30
Support Gameboy, Gameboy Pocket, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance/SP, even with backlit mods and rechargeable batteries.
System on chip level recovery mode, prevent upgrade dead
Support FAT32 4GB to 32GB SD cards
Firmware and kernel are both upgradable
Replaceable battery design

Unboxing/Visual Comparisons:

Unboxing an EZ-Flash Jr. (Comparisons & Initial Impressions) -SENKO GAMES-

Pros:

Build Quality. You’ll be happy to know that the construction of this product is second to none. Let’s talk about what we have on the outside first, starting at the outside. You’ll see that the sticker has a nice shine to it, clearly a laminated front. This, of course, is reminiscent of the tried and true stickers on the old-school Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. It looks authentic and if you have a case where it’s transparent, then this might show and if so, it will look good. Looking at the right side, you’ll see what I talked about in my unboxing video, the SD card slot. We’ll have more to discuss on this later, but I want to bring up that I’m delighted to see it is on the side. This enables me to hide the fact that I’m using a flashcart and avoid questions. Additionally, it prevents me from getting any dust in it from the top. And then, on the backside, there is precisely one screw, as Game Boy games have. To gain access inside, you’ll remove this screw and slide the two halves apart in opposite directions. The plastic body itself is strong and doesn’t feel any better or worse than the GB Everdrive I had in the video to compare it to.
Inside of the cartridge is obviously a bunch of complicated science and math. But we will talk about the obvious layman stuff that we all understand. Firstly, the masking on the PCB is black which makes the print and shiny contacts really pop! Inside there is also a button, this can be reached via access on the outside, more on that soon. Additionally, the biggest point of interest inside the cartridge is the battery. They’ve installed a button cell slot so that you can put a watch battery inside. The cartridge comes with the first battery as part of the cost, naturally. Let’s talk about that battery right now.
Batter Up! The battery that comes within the cartridge serves one primary purpose. It’s to be your RTC or real-time clock. There are some games that rely on this physical hardware being present to have the game run. This is something that not every GBC flashcart in the world has. Here is a list of games that would not run properly (or maybe even at all) if you didn’t have a clock battery present.
Barcode Taisen Bardigun, Bokujo Monogatari GB / Harvest Moon GB, Cardcaptor Sakura – Itsumo Sakura-chan to Issh, E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial – Digital Companion, The Great Battle Pocket, Itsudemo! Nyan to Wonderful, Kandzume Monsters, Keitai Denjuu Telefang – Power/Speed Version, Mary-Kate and Ashley – Pocket Planner, Nikkan Berutomo Club, Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal (All regions, all versions), Tottoko Hamtaro – Tomodachi Daisakusen Dechu, Trade & Battle Card Hero.
Initial Setup. The setup is very simple overall, you’ll be playing GBC games in under 2 minutes. There is no crazy setup, which is typical with flash carts for older systems. You simply drag and drop the .GB and/or .GBC file (that you have legally backed up from your game) onto your Fat32 formatted microSD card. Then download the newest pack for it from here and extract it onto the root of the microSD card. Safely eject the microSD card and insert it into the EZFlash Jr. After you insert the cartridge into your Game Boy model of choice, the games will simply appear upon powering on. Before you play any games, quickly run the .gb file that came from the download. After that update has ran, you’re set!
Cost. The main reason that a person would be looking into this is because it isn’t a clone and it has an amazing price point. Imagine a product that is wholly unique, doesn’t try to rip anything off, is a legitimate competitor against a sea of knock-offs. Yeah, that’s what we’re looking at with the EZ-Flash Jr. and it clocks in at just $46.
Operating System. There is a lot to be said here that not a lot of people have discussed. Unfortunately, there isn’t really any documentation on the OS from the manufacturer either. There are a few primary screens. The easiest way I can approach this is to list the screens and tell you the overall purpose for each. That way you can see all of the stuff you can do without getting too bogged down or bored.
Upon powering the device on, you’ll be shown the contents of your microSD card. This initial screen is the screen where you can sift through folders and start up any GB/GBC game that you have on your SD card. You’ll see that at the very top of the screen the three different tabs. You’re currently on the “SD” tab. To the right of that are the other 2 tabs. Being “SET” and “HELP”. Additionally, there is a number on the far right, that just lets you see how many items there are that you’re scrolling through with regards to folders and files.
So let’s talk about the second tab now, “SET”. You can quickly change tabs/screens by pressing the SELECT button on your GB/GBC. Once you’re on the “SET” tab, you’ll see just three things on this screen. It says TIME: with the option to set the time, then it shows the date and time currently programmed, and finally “AUTO SAVE”. The first two items are relevant to one another. You choose to set the time from the top line. Then it lets you modify the date and time on the second line. Finally, the auto save option is either an on or off state. This is pretty self-explanatory, you enable it if you want the EZ-Flash Jr. to backup your save that is made by the game to the SD card.
Now the final tab is “HELP” and it may not show much, but it has a lot of value. It has exactly two lines of information for you. The first is the version and kernel number. The second line is just the website for EZ-Flash in general. The reason that these two lines matter is because you can go to that website and download the newest firmware and OS files. By seeing which you have installed helps you know if there is a newer file to download. I recommend maybe just checking once a year. There are updates, but it’s not every month or something often like that.
Booting. This is likely my final point of just how decent this device is on the whole. We need to talk about zippy this thing starts in general and then how fast it loads a game. I want to preface this by saying that I have the entire romset of both Game Boy and Game Boy Color games and from all regions on this 32GB microSD card. That means the initial bootup may take longer for me. But I counted up to six-Mississippi to get the entire card booted and ready for me to choose a game. My main point is that to load everything that exists out there, it only takes 6 seconds to gain access. That’s pretty damn good if you ask me!
Now we can discuss booting up a game. I decided to do research and look up the largest Game Boy game that you would likely play. I wanted to test the largest game because those would likely take the longest to load. Wario Land II was one of the largest for the original Game Boy. I counted it out and got to 3 seconds by the time the Game Boy screen came up. Not terrible, only feels about 1 second more than if I was playing Wario Land II officially. For the Game Boy Color, one of the largest games you might care to actually play is Shantae. From the time I told the game to start by the time I was greeted by the Game Boy screen was 6-7 seconds. I think on the whole, you’ll find that you’ll be loaded and playing a game of your choice within 30 seconds of flipping on the power switch!

Cons:

SD Card. The depth in which you have to press the microSD card in is very far. You’ll need a long (gross-looking) fingernail or a longer flat object to click it in and out. My recommendation is to put everything that you’ll ever need on the microSD card so you only have to click it in just once.
Screwed Up. I believe firmly that the only real sucky part of the build quality is the back screw. It’s so soft and mushy that I almost stripped it (“rounded it” for our UK readers) the first time I was taking it out. We need a better quality screw if we’ll be changing the battery in it more than once in our lives!
Big Butt(on). I told you way at the top we’d come back to discuss how the internal button is pressed. If you already watched the video up top, you’ll know how it works already. But I’m also going to make a larger point here. The way the button works is that you’ll be in game and then you’ll press on the big piece of plastic at the top of the cartridge. The piece of plastic that is across the top, above the sticker. The purpose of this button is to take you back to the “SD” tab of the main operating system, thus allowing you to choose a new game.
My actual problem with this is the only major shortcoming of the flashcart. Sure you have autosave, but I really would prefer the big button just pop up a small menu in-game asking if you want to make a save state where you are or leave the game. Then you select your option and everyone wins. I’m guessing this is where you’re saving money. And I know that it’s not a big ordeal, but it’s the smallest change and I bet people would pay up to $10 more for the feature.

Final Thoughts:

For those wondering if they should buy this or the GB Everdrive X7, I’ll just say this. If you have the disposable income for an X7, there’s really no reason to get this instead. Just pull the trigger on the X7. But if you’re anyone else wondering if you should get it in general or if you’re comparing it to a lesser Everdrive GB, I recommend this EZ Flash Jr. every day of the week. You won’t regret buying an Everdrive, but if you’re debating a lesser GB Everdrive, that means you’re trying to save money and don’t have a big budget. Don’t beat yourself up, just save some cash and get the EZ Flash Jr. and use the extra cash elsewhere. It’s a rarity that a company has a great product that is affordable and there are plenty of other systems that you can get an Everdrive on!

Purchase Link:

EZ Flash Jr.

3DS Homebrew, DIY, Games, Homebrew, Jailbreaks, News, Nintendo, Tutorial & Guides

KartMiner7-Exploit the 3DS with Mario Kart 7

July 4, 2023 V1RACY 1 Comment

Yes, I know, there are already several ways to get a custom firmware on your 3DS. There are even other exploits for Mario Kart 7 out there, but another one wouldn’t hurt. Lots of you out there have a 3DS and have Mario Kart 7, so why not give this a go?

What is KartMiner 7?

This is a BETA stage exploit for Mario Kart 7. This is the 3rd public exploit of this extremely popular game, this time targeting the extdata savegame on the sd card. It works with both the digital and cartridge version of the game on app version 1.2.

How was KartMiner 7 Found?

The flaw was found by simply fuzzing the entire 1MB+ of extdata save file, creatively named “data.dat”, with continuous, indexed u32s. This resulted in multiple crashes, with some contexts, having my fuzzed data showing up in various registers, and near-branch instructions. The wide scope of this fuzzing naturally crashed multiple threads, but those were pretty easily handled by spraying their stacks with sleeping gas :p The US version 1.2 of the source code has comments if you need more precise (and messy) info.

How to use KartMiner 7?

What you need:

Unmodified USA, EUR, or JPN new3ds or old3ds. (I’m using the official instructions, it doesn’t mention 2DS or 2DSXL, but I’m 99% sure this will work on those too).
Any version of Mario Kart 7. This means digital or physical.
Windows PC with an SD card reader of some kind.
KartMiner 7 install from here.

Instructions:

Update your 3DS to 11.17.
Update your Mario Kart 7 to version 1.2. If you’ve played online recently, this should already be the case.
Start the steps at https://3ds.hacks.guide/seedminer.html but STOP it and continue here when you get your system’s movable.sed file. Place movable.sed inside the resources folder.
(Skip this step if you’ve done it before.) Boot up your 3ds and start mk7 and tap “Mario Kart Channel” at the bottom and then “Streetpass List” also at the bottom. Then agree to all the prompts to get sd extdata, spotpass, streetpass, etc. initialized.
Turn off Wifi on your 3DS (for several reasons).
Turn off your 3DS, remove SD card, and insert it into your PC.
In the Release folder of KartMiner 7, double-click on the .bat that matches your 3DS’s model type and region.
Your hax upload should work, this is confirmed if there is no red text and it says “finished” at the end.
Return your SD card into your 3DS and power it on.
Turn your 3ds on, boot Mario Kart 7, and go to Mario Kart Channel -> Streetpass List -> Press A repeatedly (but slowly) to get past all the menu screens until the hax launches.
If successful, you should arrive at a black-and-white screen titled “3DS ROP xPloit Injector”. You now have a choice of further exploits to install: unsafe_mode or menuhax67. From there you can follow any up to date YouTube video on how to use either of those to complete your installation.

Source

Games, News, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Reviews

Review: The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie

June 30, 2023 Mgs2master2

After many trials and tribulations, from the Azure Tree to the Great Twilight, Crossbell is finally on its path to independence for good. However, things are not all they seem on the surface or behind the scenes in Crossbell. Will this impede the progress, or will independence finally be earned? Let’s look at our final journey into Crossbell in our review of The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie!

Game: The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie
Platform(s):
Nintendo Switch (Reviewed), PS4™, PS5 (Reviewed), PC (Retail & Digital)
Release Date(s): July 7, 2023 (NA – retail, digital); July 7, 2023 (EU – retail, digital); July 14, 2023 (ANZ – retail, digital)
Genre: RPG
Publisher: NIS America, Inc.
Developer: Nihon Falcom
Audio Languages: English, Japanese
Text Languages: English

*Special thanks to NIS America for Providing a Nintendo Switch and Playstation 5 review Key*

Intro/Story:

From the press release:

Three destinies are about to collide! Use the Trails to Walk system to switch between Rean Schwarzer, Lloyd Bannings, and the masked figure “C,” and determine the fates of key characters and locations within Zemuria. Dive into refined tactical combat with new features such as United Front, and discover new allies and challenges within the halls of the True Reverie Corridor!

A Trio of Trails: Experience three different story arcs and switch between them any time with the Trails to Walk system. Plus, discover side episodes to fully flesh out the characters and world of Zemuria.

Reverie into Reality: Enter the True Reverie Corridor, which allows you to encounter and recruit new characters from across Zemuria, enter randomly generated dungeons to test your mettle, and play a variety of mini games.

Paragons of Combat: Utilize Arts, Brave Orders, and cunning tactics to prevail in battle. Master the new United Front system and harness the power of your entire team to decimate enemies while empowering yourself.

Trails into Reverie is billed as the final game in the first three ARCs of the Legend of Heroes games. That is the Liberl, Erebonia, and Crossbell arcs. However, as one plays the game, they are quick to realize this game is more the conclusion that the Crossbell Arc deserved. Each path of the game dives into the mystery of what happens during the game and the fight for the independence of Crossbell.

Every Playable character from the previous games is playable in this game. While there are three different game paths, there is also the Reverie Corridor which every character is playable in this mode. This mode also has several minigames and modes to play outside of the main story. It is where about half of the game will take place. The other half will take place in Crossbell.

As a huge fan, I found the story in Trails into Reverie to be the best-paced story to date, but that serves a purpose. That purpose is to tie up the loose ends of the Crossbell saga once and for all and close the stories of the three arcs that have taken place already. I can say it does that job very well. The game sets out to accomplish this task and does it.

Gameplay:

Gameplay in Trails into Reverie is the same as every game previous to it. This game is not a standalone game. Once again it serves to close the arc of the three series before it, so do not think you can play it alone and get the gist of the story. Catch up to some degree before jumping in.

Load times on PS5 are next to non-existent. On Nintendo Switch, they are on par with previous Switch titles. The gameplay, as stated, is the same as previous games. There is a tutorial for every mechanic introduced, even the minigames get tutorials. The player should never find themselves lost at all as to how to play.

If you are a fan of the Trails game, this game will be no exception to it with the amount of content that is put into it.

Audio and Visual:

Audio-wise, every almost voice actor from the previous games returns in this game. They all reprise their original roles, except for one or two roles (which have wonderful replacements as well). This is for the English voice acting, which is what we played the game with. The Japanese voice acting was experienced as well and done well too.

Hajimari no Kiseki OST - C Route Battle Theme (Wind-up Yesterday!)

It is wonderful to see how Rean’s voice actor, Sean Chiplock, has come so far from voicing Rean In Trails of Cold Steel 1 to this game. You can see the growth from the years of voicing Rean and it is easily his best role for Rean to date. The same can be said for several voice actors throughout the years. They all easily put their hearts into their roles in this game and it brings these characters from over so many years brought to life once again in Trails into Reverie, especially if you played each game.

Visually, the game is on par with every previous Trails game, so its nothing really out of the ordinary. It is done really well here.

The music in this game is on par with previous games, which is they are good. Each path has its battle theme as well which is fantastic. Also, the weird audio compression that was on the Nintendo Switch for previous titles is nowhere in this game.

Wrap-up/Conclusion:

Trails into Reverie is the conclusion that Crossbell deserves, as well as fans of the three previous sagas deserve. It does well to wrap up the story in a way that fans will love. This is with a well-paced story, fan service (not in a lewd way) approach, plus overall love put into the game. Fans of the franchise will adore this game. After 70ish hours, I find myself wanting to get back into it.

– Until Next time, Mgs2master2 out!

*Special Thanks to NIS America for providing a Nintendo Switch and Playstation 5 review key*

Coming Soon, Games, Playstation, PS5, Reviews, Steam, SteamDeck, Windows, Xbox series s/x

Game Review-Layers of Fear (2023)

June 22, 2023 V1RACY

What lurks around the corner? What creeps inside the back of your mind? What souls are damned to this place? How do wretched creatures hunt? There are tons of terrifying questions that one could feel consumed by in their life. Layers of Fear set out to introduce even more horrific questions into your mind that you can’t ignore. Take my hand as I list out what makes this “remake” great…and not so great.

Description:

Today, Bloober Team and Anshar Studios are proud to announce the global release of Layers of Fear (2023), the crowning achievement of the celebrated Layers of Fear series, out now on Windows PC, Apple (Silicon) Mac, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. As one of the first horror games built from the ground up using Unreal Engine 5, Layers of Fear (2023) is the definitive way to experience the critically acclaimed franchise, featuring the original Layers of Fear, Layers of Fear 2, and all DLC’s, including a brand new chapter exploring the story of The Writer, whose tale ties together the overarching narrative of the series.

Features:

The Ultimate Layers of Fear Experience-The series’ crowning work casts an overarching narrative over the entire franchise.

Horror Reimagined-Everything in the Layers of Fear series melds together into a single experience, including all DLCs, so players can find all the answers they seek.

Shocking New Looks-Enhanced with Unreal Engine 5’s improved technology. This version offers a more immersive horror experience with the addition of Ray Tracing, HDR, 4K resolution, and the Lumen system.

Psychological Horror-A grim but gripping first-person psychedelic horror game focused on tense exploration, puzzle-solving, and immersive storytelling. Discover what lies in the depths of the human psyche with this mature, cathartic game.

New Tricks-New brand-new core mechanics that will be introduced to Layers of Fear and its sequel, as well as additional features, so all the chapters and stories will blend seamlessly.

Horror Through the Many Lenses of Art–Explore the depths of obsession with three different stories of craft-obsessed protagonists (The Painter, The Actor and The Writer) which are interwoven to create a truly immersive experience and gripping storyline

Classical, Ominous Soundtrack-Hauntingly beautiful soundtrack composed by the highly-acclaimed musician Arek Reikowski. He has composed a hypnotic score that adds an extra layer of tension to the game and will leave you on the edge of your seat.

Trailer:

Story Pros:

Bloober team has combined their main Layers of Fear games and DLC into one complete package, providing a more immersive and cohesive narrative experience.
The writer’s story is built directly into the game, offering a unique and captivating format for storytelling.
Layers of Fear feels like a horror anthology with individual stories sharing a universe, making it fresh and engaging for players.
Optional mini-campaigns revolving around the painter’s daughter and wife add depth to the plot.
Layers of Fear offers subtle changes and improvements to keep the terror fresh, subverting expectations.
Players can expect ample replayability with four distinct stories and multiple endings.
Layers of Fear 2 has done more with its setting and story than the rest of the series combined.

Graphics Pros:

Enhancements to textures and lighting are remarkable, creating an impressive level of realism on modern consoles and PC.
The game utilizes clever perspective tricks to increase suspense and unsettle players.
The use of Unreal Engine 5 elevates the title’s photorealistic horror to a new level.

Gameplay Pros:

The new flashlight adds stimulating gameplay elements like discovering ghostly echoes or animating mannequins.
Players can use the flashlight to stun stalker enemies or solve puzzles in certain situations, making for a more interactive experience.
The game’s horror is thematically appropriate, adding to the engagement and intrigue.
The game includes accessibility options and quality-of-life additions to enhance the player’s experience.
Light combat elements have been added to address past complaints, improving the interaction within the game.
Layers of Fear 2’s cruise ship setting creates a unique and unforgettable experience.
The narration by Tony Todd adds to the tenor of the game.

Cons:

The balance of tension and release in the game needs improvement.
At times, the flashlight tips the balance of power toward the player, making the enemies less scary.
Experienced survival horror fans may find the puzzles in Layers of Fear too easy.
The constant use of geometry-jumbling techniques and predictable jump scares can feel repetitive.
Some parts are retreaded from the previous releases, so it may not be as engaging if you have already played them.
Confusing puzzles affect the overall experience of the Inheritance DLC.
The gameplay largely consists of walking and opening doors, lacking diversity and balance.
The game lacks true threats, relying solely on “smoke and mirrors,” potentially making it less engaging and scary. This may affect the upcoming Silent Hill 2 game.

Final Points:

At a price tag of $30 Layers of Fear represents a great value for its quality and length. This means that you’re not needing to pay for all of the previous games and their DLC anymore. We recommend not bothering if you’ve already played everything unless you care about the one new chapter.
The delivery of the game’s story is compelling, providing a unique experience within the horror genre. It could just stand to give the enemies more bite and mix up the overall formula to keep it fresh.
This new edition is built on Unreal Engine 5 enabling the game series to have visual bells and whistles that their titles didn’t previously have.

Purchase Links:

XBOX

PS5

Steam

Mac

Coming Soon, Games, News, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch

Summer Nintendo Direct Rundown

June 21, 2023 V1RACY

No talking in between, just a nice and straight to the point list of trailers from today’s Nintendo Direct. This also lets you skip over game trailers you know you wouldn’t watch. Enjoy!

Pokemon DLC Part 2 The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk

The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC for Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet - Nintendo Direct 6.21.23

Sonic Superstars

Palia

Persona 5 Tactica

Mythforce

New Splatfest for Splatoon

Splatoon 3 Splatfest July 2023 - Nintendo Direct 6.21.2023

Detective Pikachu Returns

Super Mario RPG (remake)

Super Mario RPG - Nintendo Direct 6.21.2023

Untitled Peach Game

NEW Princess Peach Game Coming 2024 (Nintendo Direct)

Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon (Switch)

[No trailer, just an announcement.]

Batman Arkham Trilogy

Gloomhaven

Just Dance 2024

Silent Hope

Fae Farm

Hotwheels Unleashed 2

Manic Mechanics

Mario + Rabbid Sparks of Hope DLC

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope - DLC 2: The Last Spark Hunter Trailer - Nintendo Switch

Dragon Quest Monsters the Dark Prince

Pikmin 4 (Gameplay trailer)

Pikmin 1 and 2 Remakes

[No trailer, they said the remakes from the Wii are out today on the eShop for Switch]

MGS Master Collection Vol. 1

METAL GEAR SOLID: MASTER COLLECTION Vol. 1 - Nintendo Direct 6.21.2023

Vampire Survivors

Headbangers Rhythm Royale

Penny’s Big Breakaway

MK8 Deluxe Wave 5 DLC

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Booster Course Pass Wave 5 - Nintendo Direct 6.21.2023

Star Ocean Second Story R

STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R - Announcement Trailer - Nintendo Switch

Wario Ware Move It!

Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Nintendo Direct 6.21.2023

DIY, Games, Homebrew, Jailbreaks, News, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Homebrew, Tutorial & Guides

SimpleModDownloader for Switch Now Available

June 20, 2023 V1RACY

We’ll get right into what SimpleModDownloader for Switch is in a moment, what it does, and how to install and use it. But first I want to thank PoloNX for their contribution to the Switch modding scene. The link to his original post will be at the end and you can go thank him personally yourself if you’d like!

What is SimpleModDownloader?

App to download game mods and hacks from gamebanana.com directly on your switch
App also can install the downloaded mods directly from your switch with SimpleModManager

How to Install SimpleModDownloader.

Download latest SimpleModDownloader from here.
Plug in microSD card into your computer.
Put the downloaded SimpleModDownloader.nro file at SDCard:/switch/
Safely eject your microSD card and return it to your Switch.
Turn your Switch on and then enable your wifi.
Now return to the Switch home menu.
Load homebrew by holding the R trigger and choosing the photo app.
SimpleModDownloader will be in your list of homebrew. Highlight it and then press A to launch it.

How to Use SimpleModDownloader.

Watch the demonstration video below to show you how to use SimpleModDownloader. It shows how to search games, the mods for each game, and how to download and install. Very simple!

Original Post by PoloNX

DIY, Games, Homebrew, Nintendo, Retro gaming, Reviews, Tech

Hardware Review: RGB Blaster by Krikzz

June 18, 2023 V1RACY

Today we’ve got another Krikzz product to share with you all by way of Everdrive.ME. There will be purchase links at the bottom, but let’s discuss it and make sure that you’re all in on this piece of retro tech!

Description & Features

Plug and Play RGB+Audio output for you famicom
Zero lag output. Pixels stream flows synchronously with internal PPU
Compatible with Genesis Mini DIN 9 cables (cable is not included)
Palette modifications support (use blastcfg too for palette update)

Unboxing Video

Unboxing Krikzz’s RGB Blaster for Famicom

Pros & Cons

So what I received for review is the second version of the RGB Blaster. I’m sure they’re not even selling the first version anymore. But this version is able to output video to both RGB SCART and HD Retrovision cables if you have any of those above standard cables. I’m uncertain if the first revision can be modified to have that capability too or if it’s something at the chip level.

Additionally, this newer version allows you to connect to all cables with composite signals. So the range of cords that you can use is quite broad. The PPU, which is the Picture Processing Unit in the NES and Famicom consoles, can output composite video, and it is possible to swap it to output RGB. The RGB Blaster seems to emulate a PPU inside the Blaster’s FPGA, this is likely to render an RGB signal which the old school Nintendo consoles lack. The physical design of the RGB Blaster allows NES and Famicom consoles to output RGB, and the Blaster uses a Genesis 2-style connector for video output.

I love how easy it is to do a firmware update on the RGB Blaster. The upside is that the download is on Krikzz’s website and is a small download. Just extract it and follow the two steps outlined in the readme file. 1. Connect RGB Blaster to PC via USB. 2. Run update.bat. That’s it and after a couple of seconds, you’re entirely up to date. I recommend checking once a month for new updates since Krikzz doesn’t always tweet about them. But if you want your device to be more updated and fix little issues you experience in your testing, keep updating. Now the only downside to updating is the microUSB port, I feel like Krikzz should be able to get their hands on an affordable USB-C port. But maybe they’re finishing off a stock of microUSB first.

Continuing on, the device is priced at $150, as of the time of this writing. Although the device has some compatibility issues, it worked well during testing with a Sharp Famicom Twin and the flash cart that I use. The KryzsioKart is what I’m still using. So if you bought one based on my review, you can rest easy and know that it will work with the RGB Blaster. I can’t speak to other flash carts, of course. The device only outputs RGBs and audio signals, but it adds significant value to the gaming experience by eliminating lag and other issues when it comes to video quality.

The testing that I did was done using a Sharp Twin Famicom, so your mileage can and will vary. This is only going to work on official hardware and licensed hardware though because they have actual PPU’s inside. This means consoles like the Sharp Famicom Twin and of course the Famicom. This isn’t going to work on your clone console, likely not anyway. You’ll likely try different games on a different device(s) in your testing.

What I discovered in my testing using my Sony Wega is that RGB produces a much clearer image with less distortion. This is when I compared it to a composite video. Composite, I found typically outputs more artifacts and is generally of a lower quality. And real quick, I also want to mention that the compatibility issue hole goes a little bit deeper when it comes to variables. I specifically mean certain games with different mappers. The game that I tried that gave me problems specifically was Laser Invasion. Again, I want to clarify that I can’t (and won’t) try out every game out there. But if you have games you want me to load up through my flash cart and try, let me know.

I do want to bring up a more obvious “downside” to the device. The death-grip contacts that are located on the top of the device, made by WingTat. It’s funny because I had the issue in my unboxing video (up above) and even the commenters on the video brought it up. So it feels like a good idea to have a strong edge connector when stacking cartridges, it’s not essential. Stacking cartridges worked out fine without having to push or pull them when it came to Sonic 3/Sonic & Knuckles. If you want to avoid the on-and-off issues it’s best to use a flash cart that’s compatible. Otherwise, you’ll feel like you’re breaking something on the RGB Blaster when you frequently swap cartridges on the top.

The last “negative” isn’t really one at all, but I should still discuss it. The RGB Blaster outputs a resolution of 240p. So, iff you’re wanting to output to a modern TV it likely will not work. Typically the lowest that most will do is 480i/p (depending). It will definitely work on the older televisions that supported it when you were only using it via RF. So in other words, don’t buy this with the hope that it’s some kind of upscaler. Though, if you really want to, you could get an affordable Sega Genesis HDMI adapter. Just be ready for it to be stretched unless it gives the choice of 4:3 aspect ratio. If you’re wanting to spend hella money, you could do a RetroTink or OSSC to upscale it and it will look great.

Overall Thoughts

In conclusion, Krikzz’s Zero Lag RGB Blaster is an excellent device for playing retro games on Famicom or top-loading NES consoles that provides excellent video and audio output without any issues. Although the device has some compatibility issues, it works well with most games and adds significant value to the gaming experience by eliminating lag and other issues. The physical design of the RGB Blaster allows your console to output games in RGB using a Genesis 2-style connector for video output. It’s not a fully emulated PPU, and some games may not work with it, but it’s still one of Krikzz’s first video output devices for a retro console. I definitely think that you should check it out!

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Krikzz.com

StoneAgeGamer.com

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