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I keep seeing info that Microsoft is ending the XBOX console. I never liked a gaming market with a limited amount of choices for gaming. Competition is good. The 80's and 90's is a good example of the way I like it, everybody putting out handhelds, everybody putting out consoles. The market stayed shaken up.

Microsoft a software only company? Could be.....

What time zone are we looking at? I am central time.

@BLUEVOODU I really think my problem is the chrome OS and Discord. Not sure, but I do know that I cannot use the chrome OS to log into my credit card site. I will need to use my Linux laptop next time I try Discord.

How did I miss this?      This is a collection that I would love to have...

I can still locate it but it will be pricey.......$40 to $60 range......it will happen....I promise

I have played that first Mario game maybe once or twice and it wasn't at an arcade. I had a family before I got into my first Mario game which was Super Mario World. That was the good ole days when they gave a pack-in. My first game console was the Sega Genesis. The Commodore 64 don't count.

I have a slightly different experience at the arcades than, I think, everybody on this forum. 

I remember pinball machines lined up. There was the pitch the ball into the basket, pitch the ball into the hole sort of stuff.

And I remember the driving game. It seems that it was sort-of like pole position. The screen was lit up by a light bulb in the back. You had a steering wheel to control your car, which you could see the shadow of the stick that the car was attached to. You had a pedal for the speed. You simply had the movement of left to right. Cars would pass by in a definite pattern. When you hit a car, there was this violent heavy bump, intense vibration, you could feel in the steering wheel. Something actually hit something inside that stand-up. Enough to make it feel like you actually hit something. It was all mechanical. On screen you could see the projection of ground, road, and other cars moving that gave you a "feel" that you were going forward.

I remember the time it got a video game, it was pong. You could not play it by yourself, you needed someone like a friend or some stranger that was there in the arcade.

Pinball dominated before the era of the video game cabinets. I saw the change. By the time that video game cabinets became the dominating force, I had a job and was living in my apartment, still single. Shmups was first before the fighters in my local arcade.

@BLUEVOODU with gritted teeth and sweat running down my face............Jubei.....Samurai Shodown 2.

@BLUEVOODU
I have not encountered an issue between the two phone ecosystems. I am part of an Senior Adult Sunday School class. I keep everybody in a community chat through my iPhone messages. iphones show up in that as blue, android shows up as green. I have no trouble with sending and receiving. And my iPhone messages connects seamlessly with my Mac mini. Twenty seems to be the limit of phone numbers that can connect with a mass texting on messages.

@BLUEVOODU mine is still hooked and ready. Haven't played it much this year. This is one gaming system that is full of fighting games and that is the main reason anyone would want one. The big issue with a Neo Geo arcade game, walk away from it for a while then come back to play. You easily forget that you had to work your way up to winning those fights. You get plummeted with your tail handed to you in a ziplock baggy.

As with any of these old CD based gaming systems, if it fails, I will dump the games on eBay. At least with the older cart base gaming systems there are those cheap Chinese clone systems to lean on. But with something like the Evercade there is hope. It might cost me an arm and a leg before it is over with but there is a good decent load of Neo Geo games coming to that console.

This is not a fair question.

Believe it or not my most played game has been Bust-A-Move arcade edition. 

Honorable mentions would go to, Last Blade 2, Fatal Fury Special, and Samurai Shodown 2. I would not be able to decide between those three, tied. 

Bear with me, I am going somewhere with this,
I am mostly retro in my contribution to this forum. Occasionally I look at some oddball console which is usually retro focused. That is where the gaming industry has ran off and left me. I just can't handle the cost of admission or drum up any interest for each modern generation. That and my interests are mainly the old stuff. I am presently working on a few projects, game reviews. I want to focus on the homebrew and independent game publishers that are producing games for these old consoles.

With that being said. That would be the section I would haunt mostly. I do jump in here and there in other sections when I feel inclined to pitch in my 1 cent worth.

We have been rather busy on here recently, more so, than we have been in years. But it is great! Not sure what has prompted the interest. This place seems to get a lot of traffic. I have noticed some heavy traffic in some of my posts. Here lately I have seen interest in the Evercade posts. A question that comes to mind is how do we determine what is retro? Just a random thought.

We are a very small community. Forums don't seem to attract this modern young generation of gamers. And I am sure that any traffic we get are from people on their phones. I'm old school, in that I use my laptop.

SO...... what I am hearing from you is that you feel a need to reconfigure, reorganize, re-categorize, the small amount of posting from this community. I would suggest something simple based on what posts that we are making at the present. But at the same time you will need to cover all the basics, (consoles, etc.) Hmmmmm........
One problem that will be hard to work around is that even though we are a small community we seem to have broad interests, gaming is the common thread. Oh yeah right we are a gaming forum.(face palm) I guess what you are aiming at is you want the cream to be on the top with the other stuff down at.......hmmm, maybe the retro section organized by gaming generations? That would mean SNES, Genesis, TurboGrafic 16, Gameboy, game gear, etc, would be of the same generation? Not sure how that would work, or one section 8bit, then 16bit, 32bit consoles? But that would cause controversy when it comes to the Atari Jaguar.

Dividing it into smaller chunks might be good when looking for a particular console.

@BLUEVOODU i looked this up on Amazon and did not recognize the shmups. So instead I went for the Toaplan Arcade collections for the Evercade console. There are four volumes. I know most of the games on them. Familiar territory won me over. But I do have this on my bucket list.

Not sure I remember the blue light. Was that the Playstation logo on the home button? This was that one console that snuck in past my retro gaming radar. Knowing what it was at the time I grabbed it up in a pawn shop, mint condition, for something like $80. I knew they did not know what they had. (You contain your excitement until you get in the car.)
The Vita pulled me into it's world. I was getting email, web surfing, YouTube, gaming, sending text to friends, getting trophies, even online gaming for the first time with Ragnarok Odyssey. I used as a link to my PS3 for remote play. Carried it with me on business trips and used skype to keep in touch with my family. A couple of those trips were overseas in Prague. You could even set it up as a phone, which I never did. Had a fellow worker that set it up as a phone. Looked very weird when he used it. There was this PS network app where people would use their PS camera to just connect and communicate their world live. I found that very interesting when it was people in another country. It was like people inviting you into their home. I used the camera occasionally, but the color was terrible, not the best to install on a console like this. I can't remember all of the apps I had on here because when the support stopped they started snatching the app off with updates. Netflix was one of them. Played my first Persona game on this console and finished it. I don't do that with very many games.

This console caused me to dislike SONY. Here they had great hardware in a portable and it was like they did not know what to do with it. The PSP had great support. That was a time in gaming history that I think back on as being fun. I have been pulling this out recently.

Oh yeah you were asking about the blue light. I am sure I knew about it back then but somehow I do not remember it.

What are your thoughts on Nintendo's New Patients in how they are going to effect the gaming industry?

I feel that it might impact the independent developers and stifle their creativity in certain ways. I think this has sent shock waves through the whole industry. I also feel that Nintendo has lost their way, not the same company that they used to be.

Did we ever do this? I got caught up in some stuff and was busy.

I finally figured out and am hooked into Discord......

Whelp! I am no longer on Discord......I have no idea...
I do know that Chromebook has a lot of trouble with some sites... but I never had something like this

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totally unreal how this site keeps crashing. And it is odd just how many visits it gets. And I have enjoyed how busy we got recently.

[What to expect:]

What to expect:
Blaze Entertainment's Evercade gaming ecosystem is easy to get into IMO. For the Evercade world to mean something to you, you must be into retro gaming because it is that sort-of a niche product. It is all about nostalgia and good simple gaming. Bringing home some of those old memories, be it arcade, or some old home console that you were really into at one time. For many it will be reliving their childhood. They are perhaps the biggest crowd that will reach for these consoles and embrace them. Evercade is carving out their own path in the gaming market with no competition other than those Chinese emulation portables. But those emulation portables are glitchy, haphazard in their delivery, inadequate at times,  and can be frustrating and disappointing when desiring a certain game that is plagued with incompatibility issues. Not to mention the shady side of it.

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My Evercade VS-R came with only one controller and a micro USB power cord.


This is the big advantage of the Blaze Evercade consoles. They have the support of the original creators, or game publishers, and this gives you all the confidence that if you see a game available for the console, it will be optimized for compatibility and very satisfying in its playability. Not only that but a lot of us out here enjoy those little extras, like a physical cartridge, colorful physical paper manuals, and the plastic case to store those things in, and Blaze delivers. When you see the game case, you will notice three different colors, red, purple, and blue. Blue is for PC games, red is for games ported to a home console, and purple is the original arcade game. Blaze even ports homebrew by independent game publishers to the console. Every cartridge contains multiple games, a diverse variety of genres, that you will almost find at least two or more that will appeal to you.  And it seems that the Evercade line of consoles have the capability to play every game console up through the Playstation one generation.

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These are four of the available Super Pocket portables that are compatible with the Evercade Carts.

Enter the Evercade Ecosystem:
Super Pocket Hyper Mega Tech! The easiest way to get into the Evercade world is to purchase one of the Super Pocket portables that contain built in games. I have four simply because I love the concept. But you really only need one. From there you can start to collect the Evercade game cartridges. Each of the Super Pockets are loaded with games from one of the classic game developers. For example, I have the Capcom Super Pocket Edition loaded with 12 classic Capcom arcade games. The Technos Edition is loaded with 15 arcade classics, the Taito Edition is loaded with 18 arcade classics, and the Neo Geo Edition is loaded with 14 arcade classics. It is so easy to all of a sudden have a collection of games for the system. I have four of the six available editions of the Super Pocket consoles and will probably pick up the other two.

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There are four inputs for game controllers


Evercade VS-R:
Then there is the home console. I am thinking that there are some who would rather be in front of their TV gaming. Blaze Entertainment has got you covered. And I would say if you are really into this ecosystem, the home console is a must have. Both the portable and the home console complement each other, playing the same games, at home, or on the go. And yes the game saves are on the cartridge. The build quality feels solid and good. There are some rubber feet on the bottom and I am suspicious about there being weights inside because there are no PCBs that can be that heavy. There are four controller inputs on the front. The back includes a reset button, HDMI port, and the power input. And a blue power button on top.

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Access to the game cartridges is similar to the old NES console in design

Quirks of the Evercade VS-R:
At first I thought there was a compatibility issue with this console. It would not play on my TCL flatscreen. I could not get it to boot up, or connect to that TV. But it did great on my Vizio. Found out that it needed a better quality HDMI cord than what I was using on my TCL TV. Also it will not boot up with just any old usb cord or power brick. The usb power cords are different in quality and apparently this affects the voltage. It must get the required voltage or it will not boot. Blaze says the micro USB power cable can be used with any suitable 5V/1-3.5A (2A recommended) power adapter, or brick. I have experimented by using a Hyperkin usb cord and it would not boot, it had a yellow light and would, either, not show anything on the TV screen, or it would only show the Blaze Entertainment logo. There is a light bar that goes across the front of the console that communicates its state. If it is blue then it is ready to play. As a side note, don't think that you will get a good quality cord from Blaze Entertainment. I have watched a Youtube video where the person had to change the cord that came with the console before it would boot up. He thought he had a bad console at first. I am glad that the one I got with mine met the console's qualifications. To turn the console on, push the blue start button on the top right side, you have to hold it down until you see the light bar glowing before you release. Turning it off is basically the same process. You can insert two game cartridges at once because it has two cart slots. If you insert two cartridges from the same game publisher, like I have Toaplan arcade 1 & 2, there will be a secret game revealed. With those two I got a Genesis game. The system acted a bit wonky when I was trying to go back to the game menu. I had to shut it down and reboot.

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The awesome blue light means you're ready to play


Using the Evercade VS-R:
The first thing you want to do is go to set-up. You want to set up your internet connection and check for updates to the console. I did and there was an update available, downloaded and install, which did not take long. Then you can go into options and set up the console the way you want it for playing games. I surprised myself by liking the heavy scanlines. You can set up the picture pixel wise, no scanlines, light or heavy scanlines, bezels on both sides of the game, or not, etc. It even has the ability to play your game, if needed in an arcade game, by turning your TV sideways, what, Truxton, yep. This thing has the ability to hot swap your game cartridges. I personally don't feel comfortable with that but maybe it is because I am old school. The game menu will show the games from both cartridges. Play and save your stopping point in the game.

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The controller. The directional pad reminds me of the Sega Genesis


Game controllers:
The game pad is very ergonomical and fits my hands nicely. The controller and the Super Pocket portables share the same button configuration. The fire buttons remind me of an XBOX 360 game pad. The cord is about nine and a half feet in length. Everything feels nice and tight and ready for action. Four shoulder buttons, four fire buttons, directional button, menu, start, and select button. I would say a nice, feel, quality pad. Some say that you can use an XBOX one, or 360, controller, but I could not get mine to work. I did however get a retrobit Sega Genesis six button controller to work. It can only be used as a second controller in a two player game due to no menu button. And for some reason it depends on the game. For example it would work for Snow Brothers but not for Truxton.

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The game selection of both game cartridges appear and are selectable in the game menu


Bottom Line:
I know I have sounded like one big long commercial. But it is hard not to when you are having so much fun and that makes a person excited. I am having an awesome gaming time with the arcade games. There are some games that I never had the opportunity to play in the arcades, only on a home console. There is a big difference. And I am personally looking forward to the Neo Geo arcade collection series. Volume one is out now. That will be my next purchase. Big thumbs up to Blaze for such a novel idea! Keeping retro gaming alive!

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Size comparison to an NES game cartridge

I have noticed the crashing of the site. During one of the times it was up I made a posting. I see now it is missing. I am assuming that there was a roll back to get the site going again? If so then I will need to post my review of the Evercade VS-R again?

@BLUEVOODU my most recent purchase...

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I got this for In the Hunt and R-Type. The different color box signifies that it is the arcade version of the game. Today I ordered Toaplan arcade 1 and 2, got a lot of shmups on each one. I will probably end up with all four as I found out today that there are four in all so far.

One thing I find troubling is there are some that are not going to be accepting US orders due to tariffs, as this is a UK item. This makes it very difficult to obtain new releases.

@BLUEVOODU my 2012 Macbook Pro is running great. MX Linux is a solid distro. I have not ran into any issues.

@BLUEVOODU I am thinking that Stunt Racer 64 was another game that was a Block Buster rental only.

@BLUEVOODU same console..................

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see my Hyper Mega Tech post.............

@BLUEVOODU Aliexpress is the guy who walks up to you in a trench coat, opens it up, and you see all of these watches for sale. He is ready to sell you one. You may pick a winner or it may fall apart after he leaves.

@BLUEVOODU hmmmmm...............
Not sure about your experience with clone consoles. Sound is an issue due to the Genesis model 1 sound chip. It is buggy in clone systems due to the original hardware being very difficult to backward engineer. It is never perfect in the games. Some games are worse than others. There are some games that you would not notice unless you are a die hard Sega fan.

The difference between this and the Nomad is that the Nomad is the original hardware. The Nomad is the winner when it comes to game compatibility. But the Nomad screen is dated, old technology. And this clone is thinner. You really can't compare a clone system to the original hardware, original hardware will win every time. You have to accept the clone system for what it is, limited but still usable. I am always checking out clones systems just to see how far they have come. But I think in recent years they have stagnated in their research and development.

The controls have a learning curve, if you are very familiar with the Sega Genesis controller. It has to do with the button arrangement and placement. Once you overcome that it will work for you.

The size of this console is more comfortable to hold and play than the Nomad. I am sure if Sega wanted to  make a Nomad 2 in this present generation it would be comparable in size.

I keep my eyes open for stuff like this.........................

@BLUEVOODU tempest 2000 is best played on the Atari Jaguar. Love playing it on that console. It never felt quite right on any of the other consoles that it was ported to. Don't know if it was ever an arcade game.

Personally I love the ability to instantly merge my iPhone "Messages" with "Messages" on my Mac Mini. I do group texts a lot. While sitting at my Mac Mini I can type something up and send without my phone and my big fingers issue.

This is the sort-of thing that pushed me into retro gaming. My Genesis, NES, SNES, TurboGrafx 16, GB, GBC, N64, or the GBA never needed an update, ever.

The thing is, these games shouldn't need an update, should it? It has been a few years but I do remember playing Monster Hunter Generations, and I was playing it on my 3DS consoles.

On the New 3DS consoles it hangs right here with the red pulsating animation. On the regular 3DS there is nothing but a blank screen and it hangs. By hang, I mean you can push the Home button and it will not return Home. I have to hold down the power button until the console completely shuts down. Pins are clean and shiny.

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@BLUEVOODU I totally understand your suspicions concerning AliExpress. I have been ordering from them for years. You have to put a limit on how much money you are willing to lose.  AliExpress is made up of a multitude of vendors selling their stuff, or junk. I have learned to only order from those who have a rating above 90%. Then there is the feedback with photos. The photos tell the truth. I rarely get bamboozled any more. I purchase all my "fake" NES, Genesis, SNES, N64, GB, GBA, and DS games from Aliexpress. When there is a game I want and the price is out the roof, I go to AliExpress to see if someone is selling a copy. I have also purchased a few clone systems from them. I have also branched out and purchased other stuff. Some stuff is very cheap quality and other things have been surprisingly good. I have also learned to recognize the stuff when it shows up on eBay at a dozen times the price.

I will do a follow up on this console.

@CreepinDeth evidently there was something different in the game's manufacturing that changed. Probably later copies included something in the game that initiated the update? Maybe earlier copies had a broken place in the code? My copy never tried to initiate an update. Batman: Black gate has the same issue. Persona Q is also known to have this issue. Some games have it worse than others.

@BLUEVOODU personal Q would not boot up. Totally dead just like the other game.
It makes me sort-of hesitant about purchasing any more 3DS games.