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Author Topic: 8 bit Christmas.  (Read 14993 times)

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Howard_Casto

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8 bit Christmas.
« on: November 25, 2021, 01:09:16 am »
So streaming on HBOmax right now is a film based on the book (that I didn't know about).   It's basically "A Christmas Story" but with the ultimate goal of the kid getting a NES instead of a red rider bb gun.   It's by no means a rip-off of that movie but they are similar enough to make the comparison.   It's surprisingly good.   I mean as in I might want to watch this again next year good.   Also the ending made me feel feelings.   I'm being decidingly vague on purpose because I hate to spoil any of it.   Just experience it for yourself.   

nitrogen_widget

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2021, 08:06:28 am »
I saw the Preview for this.

I like Neil Patrick Harris and my kids are interested because it's about NES.
so will check it out this weekend with them.

edit: watched last night after dinner.
I enjoyed it and so did the kids.
« Last Edit: November 26, 2021, 11:00:23 am by nitrogen_widget »

javeryh

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2021, 01:47:42 pm »
I am planning to watch it this weekend.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2021, 03:40:20 pm »
As one who grew up with earlier consoles, I tend not to be drawn to movies which glamorize the NES.  I've also grown a somewhat cynical view of new Christmas movies since seeing many of those responsible for them turn out holiday garbage while denigrating the tradition pretty much any other time of the year.

So I immediately soured on the idea of giving this movie my time.  Fortunately, Lisa is much more forgiving of industry and celeb transgression and wanted me to watch it with her.  What would I do without her :)

I'm happy to say that the writers and producers nailed this one.  I saw so many parallels with my own childhood, it seemed uncanny.  It is obviously the product of a group of people who grew up in a similar time.  It was very well done, with a ton of tongue-in-cheeks moments and excellent story-telling.  Christmas movies should touch the viewer deeply and separate the commercialism from the true meaning of the tradition.  This did it in a very, very entertaining way and had just enough of the heart-wrenching moments to make it memorable, without being over-the-top or seeming forced.

Instant classic in my book.  :cheers:

Howard_Casto

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #4 on: November 26, 2021, 07:41:06 pm »
My only negative feeling about the film was that one scene in which they used a made up game.   Not only was it a fake game, but it was a genre that really didn't appear on the NES.   The solution would have been an easy one... just use Karate Champ instead.... it would have fit the scene perfectly and considering it's data east they could have gotten the license for a song.   I get that it is just a movie and something like that shouldn't matter but considering the fact that real games were used in the rest of the film it stood out like a sore thumb. 

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #5 on: November 27, 2021, 09:41:42 pm »
RetroUSB's yearly 8-Bit Xmas always intrigued me, but I'm not big enough into NES to purchase any of the carts: https://www.retrousb.com/index.php?cPath=30&osCsid=424bffa6920f7c3977d4ee748ae14af1

No, it's not movie related. But it was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the previews.
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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #6 on: November 27, 2021, 09:52:20 pm »
It was good. Definitely resonated with me as someone who was around the same age as the kids in the movie in the 80s.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #7 on: November 27, 2021, 10:03:50 pm »
Kids, and more importantly wife loved it.  She wants to make it an annual watch

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #8 on: November 27, 2021, 10:57:07 pm »
Watched it and enjoyed it. Pretty much what you expect from a typical cheesy Christmastime movie.

My only negative feeling about the film was that one scene in which they used a made up game.   Not only was it a fake game, but it was a genre that really didn't appear on the NES.   
Yea, that was a bit odd. Maybe it had to do with licensing or something.
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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #9 on: November 28, 2021, 10:55:21 am »
It was good. Definitely resonated with me as someone who was around the same age as the kids in the movie in the 80s.

I was roughly the same age so i could relate also.
especially being 10ish and being friends with a jerk just because his parents could afford the cool toys. lol.

But, other than atari 2600 i was full on team home computer back then.
ti99 then c64, then amiga.

i knew NES existed but i'm ashamed to say i've never played a real one.
Or a SNES.
just sega consoles now that i think about it.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #10 on: November 28, 2021, 10:37:12 pm »
Was it me or was Doogie calling it an Entendo the whole time?

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #11 on: November 29, 2021, 12:23:24 pm »
*cue Men On Film*
“HATED IT!”

The only good thing was June Diane Raphael looking like a sexy teacher during the movie and a silver fox at the end of the movie.  Don’t waste your time.  Poorly paced jokes and a drawn out story brought on by writing and poor actors.  It was just a thinly veiled version of a Christmas Story with a NES in place of an “official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time”.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #12 on: November 29, 2021, 03:52:03 pm »
I got bored with it fairly quickly but I also think it's okay for people to enjoy things.

 :cheers:

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #13 on: November 29, 2021, 06:17:07 pm »
Going to have to watch this, pretty much my experience except when I was 10 in 1989 replace NES with the Sega Genesis. I was addicted to video games and nothing was going to prevent me from getting this new 16 bit console that was coming out and the screenshots of games in magazines was like I had never seen before. I think it was like $200 bucks so I started going door to door washing peoples cars or mowing their lawns to save up; at $5 a job progress was coming in slow.  Christmas morning came around, my parents were not interested in buying me the newest games conceal, had an atari 5200 but never wanted to buy the NES. After everyone opened their presents that Christmas morning and we were sitting around in the wrappers, my mom says you know I think there was one more present in our bedroom, pulls out the Sega Genesis and I lost my ---goshdarn--- mind. Best Christmas ever.

javeryh

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #14 on: November 29, 2021, 06:41:45 pm »
That was me except it was summer of 1986 mowing lawns at $8 each to save up for a NES.  Less than 30 minutes after buying it and hooking it up I got grounded for 2 weeks for yelling at my sister.  Ahh the memories…

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #15 on: November 29, 2021, 08:51:13 pm »
I was one of like five kids in America that owned a SEGA Master System because we all lived on the same street and had a Japanese neighbor with one and we all liked it better.  A rare and isolated victory for SEGA that Christmas.

 :lol




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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #16 on: November 29, 2021, 08:55:28 pm »
Same here! We started with Sega because it seemed to have better RPG's and wasn't all hung up on blood and gore. Overall though, the SENS got more play time than the Genesis did and I'd say the games have aged better.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #17 on: November 29, 2021, 08:56:13 pm »
Also - my kids and I enjoyed the film. It was fun, and the appropriate length. 90 minutes is where it's at.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #18 on: November 30, 2021, 06:16:50 am »
Also - my kids and I enjoyed the film. It was fun, and the appropriate length. 90 minutes is where it's at.
Amen to this.  What’s with every new movie going almost 3 hours these days?  Drives me crazy. If it’s good enough I will barely notice but most of the time I’m checking the clock…

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #19 on: November 30, 2021, 02:23:41 pm »
Also - my kids and I enjoyed the film. It was fun, and the appropriate length. 90 minutes is where it's at.

While I was watching this, there were two times I expected it to wrap up, only to have things go awry again.  Then I gave up trying to predict the conclusion.  That's one of things I liked about the flow of the film.  By the end, it felt like just enough not to be too drawn out and become boring.  The ending seemed a little abrupt, but it served it's purpose.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #20 on: December 01, 2021, 10:35:21 pm »
I've got to imagine that the people this film didn't connect with weren't the target audience.   The way they hit many of the major beats of my childhood around that age was uncanny.   All it was missing was a reference to going to see the wizard in theatres just to catch a glimpse of super mario bros. 3 and it'd be perfect in that regard.   

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #21 on: December 03, 2021, 05:37:22 am »
Same here! We started with Sega because it seemed to have better RPG's and wasn't all hung up on blood and gore. Overall though, the SENS got more play time than the Genesis did and I'd say the games have aged better.


 My Brother bought the Master System for his Birthday.  I was ticked.. as I really wanted to experience more Super Mario Bros.,
other then the rare time I got to play at someones house.

 That said... I ended up buying all the games for the SMS..

 - Shooting Gallery  -  Is probably worth the entire price of admission alone.  Its one of the best lightgun games ever made.
 I think I made it to the 2nd space ship level, which is no joke.

 - Missile Defense 3D - Is not quite as polished / fun as Shooting Gallery... but the 3D shutter glasses effect is simply amazing

 - Phantasy Star - Epic RPG
 - Wonderboy in Monster Land - Epic action game  (I prefer it to the later in the series)
 - Golvellius Valley of Doom - Excellent action RPG, similar to Zelda, but much more impressive gameplay functionality
 - Shinobi - Excellent 8bit arcade port
 - Zillion - Good action + puzzle  side-scroller
 - R-Type - Excellent Port (though, I was never a huge fan of its slow pace and difficulty level)
 - Maze Hunter 3D - Really cool 3D effects.  Decent and unique gameplay and effects.
 - Teddy Boy Blues - Fast and fun shootem up
 - Choplifter - Excellent port
 - Astro Warrior - surprisingly good shump
 - Global Defense - Another decent shump, with a unique control twist


 As for Genesis vs Snes...

 - The color palette was dim and limited on the Genesis, which ruined the artistic look, on a lot of its games.
Its the main reason why many of the games do not "Hold Up" visually, in comparison to the Snes.

 - That said...  Genesis FM Synth Chip, often provided FAR superior music and sound effects (when it was programmed well).

   The SNES music was more like Generic Midi samples.. and was often boring and flat sounding.

   Two of the most amazing musical samples for the Genesis:   Target Earth,  and  Thunderforce II.
Neither of which could have easily been re-created on SNES hardware (if at all possible).


 I owned about 50 Genesis games... but the thing is... I realized that I only enjoyed re-playing about
7 of them.  The rest were largely Crapolla.

 I only owned a few SNES games:  Street Fighter II, Contra III, Super Mario World, Killer Instinct, MK1, and a few others.
At that time, I didnt have a ton of extra cash to spend.. and to be honest, a lot of the SNES games didnt seem all that
appealing to me.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #22 on: December 03, 2021, 11:24:50 am »
Sorry for contributing to the "veering of off topic" I'll try to rope it in at the end of my reply :)

- The color palette was dim and limited on the Genesis, which ruined the artistic look, on a lot of its games.
Its the main reason why many of the games do not "Hold Up" visually, in comparison to the Snes.
As a person who has spent about $600 in Genesis games in the last few weeks, I'll have to say games not holding up visually is quite subjective.
The color palette wasn't dim, developers just used the darker colors more frequently.

Here is a screenshot I stole from Video Chums that shows Sonic 2 and Super Mario World side by side

I don't think Sonic 2 looks dim and dark at all.

Is this from the SNES or the Genesis version?

The fact you had to think about it just proves my point.

- That said...  Genesis FM Synth Chip, often provided FAR superior music and sound effects (when it was programmed well).
   Two of the most amazing musical samples for the Genesis:   Target Earth,  and  Thunderforce II.

Neither of which could have easily been re-created on SNES hardware (if at all possible).
The SNES would be able to simulate anything the Genesis did via FM Synth samples. It wouldn't be identical but it would be serviceable. The major issue with the SNES was the forced Gaussian filter on the audio. Lots of homebrew "hackers" and devs have found use of the MSU-1 to improve the audio in dozens of games with more being done all the time.
They have have also been fixing bad audio in genesis games as well, like the garbled audio in Street Fighter 2 Special Championship

I owned about 50 Genesis games... but the thing is... I realized that I only enjoyed re-playing about
7 of them.  The rest were largely Crapolla.
I'm *really* curious what your 7 games are. Please make a new thread called  "Steve's List of the only 7 Genesis games worth playing" so we don't derail this thread any more.

Back on topic, I'm watching the movie later today and will report back. I also have fond memories of my NES and I never had the joy of owning a master system but I did/do own a gamegear. I remember getting an NES for Christmas one year along with Bases Loaded. The umpires names will be forever ingrained in my head. I might even get YUK DUM BOO BUM as my epitaph. I like NPH but I hate holiday movies, so I'm going in with the bar set "Ultra Violet" low.  I think I might be the "target audience" but I'm not sure.


EDIT: And here we go!
« Last Edit: December 03, 2021, 11:48:31 am by Malenko »
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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #23 on: December 03, 2021, 01:36:12 pm »
EDIT: And here we go!


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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #24 on: December 03, 2021, 02:01:08 pm »
Oh boi.

Lots of goofs based on it being 1988 and not 1989 ;Camera during the ending, and the mom say its 1988.
Powerglove didn't come out till 89, Zapper wasn't Orange till 89 (rich kid had an orange zapper too)
The Billy Ripken error card is from the 1989 set


Other smaller things like ,He didn't know what year the story took place but he knew he was 11.
Intro bad mouths Chicago sports teams, but the Cubs and Blackhawks have won championships in recent years. And even though the WNBA isn't a real sport the Sky won that this year.
Paperboy isn't 2 player co-op
Super confused why a rich kid wanted gifts to get in to play with the power glove... he already could have whatever he wanted.
Jake gets denied "summer sausage entry", but is sitting amongst the chosen kids after sneaking in and didn't get kicked out.
The card sale didn't mathematically make sense or was grossly under-explained.

neat things:
the transition from paperboy to the flashback was really well done

best dialog:
"you wanted the dog, you have to pick up after it"
"you got the dog before I was born"

Was it me or was Doogie calling it an Entendo the whole time?
En-ten-dough, every time.  He looks ---smurfing--- OLD too, makes me sad.

I wouldn't deem it an "instant classic" destined to be watched every year, but there are far worse Christmas movies out there.
The fake NES game didn't bother me that much, but it would have been better if it looked like a Nintendo game, like the game featured in "The Wrestler"


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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #25 on: December 03, 2021, 02:22:01 pm »
I wouldn't deem it an "instant classic" destined to be watched every year, but there are far worse Christmas movies out there.

This is exactly how I felt.  I'd watch it again next year if the kids were up for it but it's hard to squeeze in any more Christmas movies with Home Alone, The Grinch, Die Hard, Christmas Vacation, Elf and A Christmas Story solidly in the rotation.  The family has been pushing to add Klaus as well since that was really good.  I did like 8-bit Christmas though.

Yay, a fellow Plex user! But, Adele One Night Only?
Happy wife happy life.

Is Plex just a movie player?  I have a ton of discs and a ton of files but it's all in disarray.  Does this just organize it all somehow?  I keep seeing people talk about it but not sure what it does or how easy it is to set up.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #26 on: December 03, 2021, 02:31:34 pm »
Is Plex just a movie player?  I have a ton of discs and a ton of files but it's all in disarray.  Does this just organize it all somehow?  I keep seeing people talk about it but not sure what it does or how easy it is to set up.
Think of Plex as your own personal Netflix. You can take all of your movies and rip the files out of them, place them into a folder, and Plex will add the info for you. It's super easy to set up and use. And best of all, it's free.
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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #27 on: December 03, 2021, 04:11:53 pm »
Is Plex just a movie player?  I have a ton of discs and a ton of files but it's all in disarray.  Does this just organize it all somehow?  I keep seeing people talk about it but not sure what it does or how easy it is to set up.
Think of Plex as your own personal Netflix. You can take all of your movies and rip the files out of them, place them into a folder, and Plex will add the info for you. It's super easy to set up and use. And best of all, it's free.

So I need a PC?  Right now in my media collection if you can even call it that are a few external hard drives with movies plus a cabinet full of blu-rays.  I use my Xbox One X to watch the discs and some box called a Zidoo to watch all the files (it can decode pretty much everything I've thrown at it).  I think it is Android based.  Is that where I put Plex or is my set up not ideal for it?

Of course this is all so I can watch 8-bit Christmas as many times as I want.   :laugh:

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #28 on: December 03, 2021, 04:35:21 pm »
So I need a PC?  Right now in my media collection if you can even call it that are a few external hard drives with movies plus a cabinet full of blu-rays.  I use my Xbox One X to watch the discs and some box called a Zidoo to watch all the files (it can decode pretty much everything I've thrown at it).  I think it is Android based.  Is that where I put Plex or is my set up not ideal for it?

You need a PC to act as the Plex Server.  Don't let "server" scare you.  It's just a PC with Plex installed.
Install plex on the PC> point it at the directories where your content is> watch via just about any streaming device with a plex app (Roku, Chromcast, Fire TV, Android TV, Android phone or tablet, Apple devices).
That might not be complete instructions, but that's the general rundown.  Plex server on the PC will transcode to whatever format the streaming device prefers.
I'm mostly in the Roku ecosystem.

EDIT: Imagine a front-end that automatically adds all the box art, descriptions, previews, etc.  As well as sorts the content as you see fit.  That is pretty much what plex does.  It's a front-end for your media content, with minimal effort on your part to organize.

I ripped all my blu-rays to a big hard drive on my main PC.  Occasionally I pick up "complete series" DVD sets for cheap and add those. 
The funny thing is that I don't use it that often because I want to save the content for a time when the internet is down or I have to take a break from the abusive monopoly Comcast.

On the topic of the movie.  ....eh thought it was OK.  Some scenes were just too much of a ripoff of A Christmas Story.  Not in the way of recycling plots, but in damn near recreating scenes.
I thought the field trip portion and the ending were good. 

« Last Edit: December 03, 2021, 04:59:14 pm by BadMouth »

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #29 on: December 03, 2021, 07:34:37 pm »
I got a VCR recently.  It looks so ---fracking--- bad on my 55” 4K TV it’s actually remarkable.  Sound is okay but some movies the bass is right at that cross over frequency so my remote sub constantly cycles on and off.

On the other hand, my Vegas wedding tape has finally been ripped to a digital format.  Half the people at that wedding are dead now.

I bought a CBS FOX box set of Star Wars and Empire was still factory sealed so I bought another used copy of Empire.

I also got a literal crate of Disney movies on VHS for $20.

One of the stupidest purchases I’ve made in years.

---fudgesicle--- yo plex server.

 :cheers:

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #30 on: December 04, 2021, 01:36:06 am »
I got to the 37 minute mark and couldn't watch any further.  Bleh.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #31 on: December 04, 2021, 05:43:05 pm »
The timeline inconsistencies were quite intentional.   That's why they have that little discussion about the year in the beginning and the daughter says "does it really matter?" basically to the audience.   It's just a good story, much like a Christmas story the facts are exaggerated and bent to make for a better narrative.   I'm ok with that because it did end up with a better narrative than if the cabbage patch doll and power glove arcs weren't included, ect.   

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #32 on: December 06, 2021, 02:25:27 pm »
The timeline inconsistencies were quite intentional.   That's why they have that little discussion about the year in the beginning and the daughter says "does it really matter?" basically to the audience.   It's just a good story, much like a Christmas story the facts are exaggerated and bent to make for a better narrative.   I'm ok with that because it did end up with a better narrative than if the cabbage patch doll and power glove arcs weren't included, ect.

I agree.  If the inconsistencies irritated you, the joke went whoosh! :)  Besides, memories aren't prefect, and virtually the entire movie is based on them.  Inconsistencies, embellishments and exaggerations abound in the ol' gray matter playback device.  Watching those play out was part of the charm.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #33 on: December 06, 2021, 04:43:58 pm »
Only thing I am mad about is why the Baseball cards and not Garbage Pail Kids

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #34 on: December 06, 2021, 07:15:12 pm »
Only thing I am mad about is why the Baseball cards and not Garbage Pail Kids

I thought the particular baseball card was one of the more memorable parts of the movie.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #35 on: December 06, 2021, 07:23:53 pm »
Garbage pail kids were like 1985, bro.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #36 on: December 06, 2021, 09:08:47 pm »
They were at their most popular in 87, Than Cabbage patch kids sued them.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #37 on: December 07, 2021, 02:17:52 am »
I got a VCR recently.  It looks so ---fracking--- bad on my 55” 4K TV it’s actually remarkable.  Sound is okay but some movies the bass is right at that cross over frequency so my remote sub constantly cycles on and off.

On the other hand, my Vegas wedding tape has finally been ripped to a digital format.  Half the people at that wedding are dead now.

I bought a CBS FOX box set of Star Wars and Empire was still factory sealed so I bought another used copy of Empire.

I also got a literal crate of Disney movies on VHS for $20.

One of the stupidest purchases I’ve made in years.

---fudgesicle--- yo plex server.

 :cheers:

I just love that anyone would connect a VCR to a 4k TV.
My old surfing buddy Edgar (also sadly deceased) used to work at the local video rental joint where I was in Rhode Island back in 1989 so I had all the crap I could stand to watch.

His shop got buried by a Blockbuster that opened up about 2 miles away.
Wonder where all those brutalized tapes went-
Oh, the memories of ---smurfy--- resolution format!

Do you have a SW version that properly shows that Han shot first?
Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools! I can fix it.

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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #38 on: December 07, 2021, 04:24:38 pm »
Yep, it's the CBS FOX version that was released before he went in there and molested everything.  However, I did pop in my "THX Special Edition" version of Empire Strikes back last night.  If you had told me it was a DVD I would have believed you.  That thing was mastered well for VHS, I'll give it that.





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Re: 8 bit Christmas.
« Reply #39 on: December 08, 2021, 06:42:18 am »
Quote
The color palette wasn't dim, developers just used the darker colors more frequently.

 Yes, the Genesis has bright colors to chose from.  The problem is, that when you need more than two
or three shades of a color, to make a nicely shaded object... then you quickly run out of options.

 I do not know the memory constraints, and the colors per sprite limits... which also limit what a
developer can do in-game... vs  in a Demo.   With a demo, for example.. you can devote 100%
of a systems resources to making a certain effect.   With a game... you have to balance the systems
resources... between sound, graphics, and program logic.

 A Genesis Demo could also feature nothing but a full cartridge worth of sampled speech / music..
at quite a shocking level of quality.   However, again... the developers were not going to have CD
quality samples, because then they would not have enough room in the game carts for decent
graphics to be stored as well.


 As any decent artists knows... there are many tricks you can use to get around certain limitations.
In the case of your SF picture, you can see the use of Dithering (alternating patterns), to help create
the illusion of an in-between color shade.

 In your examples of both Sonic and Super Mario games... these are more in line with "Cartoon"
flat-shading.  Meaning... they are mostly large single color fills, that do not have much shading.

 When looking at other side by side comparisons... it becomes clear that the limits of color
shades that they have to chose from, greatly effects the end results of the final picture.

 

 Because the Gen lacks as many "Browns",  you will notice that the books are very different in their shading.
The Gen version has to use more dark shades, because it does not have as many lighter shades available.

(or at very least, it cant afford to use as many shades, due to the shared tileset color and memory limits)

 And since the shading ends up having a much greater Contrast level... they likely chose that darker
blue as the background, to better match the overall darker brown shades "average".

 The better the Artist... the more likely they can make something look extremely well, despite the limits
of the system.  Case in point:  Earthworm Jim.  I was never a fan of the game, due to the clunky control...
but the graphics are on a whole other level... compared to most typical console games.  They were
drawn by very high level, traditionally trained artists.. and it shows.

Quote
The SNES would be able to simulate anything the Genesis did via FM Synth samples. It wouldn't be identical but it would be serviceable.

 Thats simply not true.   Listen to this song from Thunderforce II:

 

 Most especially, note the sweeping of the sounds.  Its one thing to sample a single note.. but its very different to
try to represent complex dynamic sound sweeping.  Its one reason why Simulated electric guitar, rarely sounds good at all.

 Target Earth  (Skip to 10:46 (Song title = Surprise)
 
 

 There are a number of even more complex musical pieces in both of those games, that never could be duplicated
on the SNES.

 The SNES is more like a generic Midi sound.   It was FAR easier for standard musicians to make music with it...
but it cant even come close to the complex and breathtaking sounds and compositions possible, with an FM synth like
the Genesis's chip.

 In fact, many Genesis games have Horrible audio... because the people whom they chose to create music and
sound effects for their games... could not really utilize the FM synth properly.  However... those that DID know
how to use it... produced absolute ICONIC Masterpieces.

EDIT:

 I Noticed that you said  "Genesis FM SAMPLES"

 The Genesis chip is  "FM SYNTHESIS"  NOT  "SAMPLES".   To make sound with an FM Synthesizer, you need to
program Mathematical Algorithms.   While the chip also allows the playback of actual recorded samples... the majority of the music and
sound effects, were hand-programmed, with custom made Algorithms.  This not only saved massive amounts of memory space...
but FM Synth sounds can be FAR more dynamic and powerful, than any "Sample Player".   In fact... a lot of music that has samples in it.. were sampled from true Synthesizers.


 As for my top Gen games...  the ones that immediately pop to mind are:

 Thunderforce II  (IMO - Far superior to the rest of the series, and my fav. shump of all time)
 Target Earth  (Insane Arcade level difficulty, great story, great music, unusually creative gameplay elements. A real masterpiece of work)
 Castle of Illusion
 Strider
 Ghouls and Ghosts
 The Revenge of Shinobi
 Rocket Knight Adventures  (Admittedly, this one got a bit too difficult near the end for younger me, so Ive yet to fully beat it)
 Zany Golf  (Not a powerhouse game.. just creative, fun, funny, challenging)

 These are the games that I could easily play over and over and over again... without getting bored of them.
As said, I owned about 50 games... but I never played the others more than a single beating.
There are other games that probably could make the list, that I never played (or only played a few min worth
on an emulator).
« Last Edit: December 08, 2021, 07:02:47 am by Xiaou2 »