Lifesperience

WIP Logo Concept It may seem that I have disappeared and abandoned this blog, but in all honestly, that isn't the case. For those wondering, (and thanks for not forgetting me!) I am quite alive and what some would call "well" at the moment.   So... what have I been up to, and why hasn't the blog received an update ?

Nostalgia is a powerful force, and with the Nintendo Entertainment System past its 30th anniversary, there are now more choices than ever to play those classic, over-sized cartridges from your youth.  With numerous clone systems out there ranging from under $20 , and all the way up to $500, how does the RetroUSB AVS stack up to the competition coming in at $185 before shipping/taxes?  Let's find out. Upon receiving the RetroUSB AVS , the first noticeable characteristic is that the box itself looks and feels like some cheap Chinese product that you'd likely find at a site like Aliexpress, or in your local Chinatown. Upon opening the box, the experience isn't particularly elegant. It took some work to get the inside cardboard to come out of the box.  The strong suction kept a tight grip and almost made me rip the cardboard in an attempt to get the AVS out of its own packaging.  Once it was finally out, the contents were an HDMI cable, a Mini (not Micro) U...

As I waited anxiously this week for 8bitdo's retro receiver to arrive, I looked over at my old wireless solution for the NES; The Acclaim Wireless Nes Infrared Controller .  The old controller still works decades later, but is hampered down by its infrared technology.  The range is limited to a few feet, and even worse, line of sight between the controller and its huge sensor is a must for it to work at all. 8bitdo has answered the call with its Retro Receiver  adapter.  This modern take on wireless uses modern bluetooth technology.  The adapter itself is about the size of the average adult thumb, and powered directly from the NES port itself.  No controllers come with the $20 adapter, but it does work with all of 8bitdo's controllers and joysticks in addition to the Wiimote, Wii U pro controller, PS3, & PS4 controllers.  The contents of the box are sparse, and only contain the adapter, a usb cable for connecting to your PC/Mac, and what...

Lifesperience is now Raycommend, which can be found here:    Ray Commend   8bitdo, the creators of the Nes30 and other clone gamepads , have recently released a firmware updates that allow them to directly link to Hyperkin's Retron 5 system wirelessly via bluetooth.  If you have a Nes30 pad, then simply update your firmware by following the directions via this link , and start playing!! You can see the official Retron 5 controller default to Player 2, while the Nes30 is Player 1. Due to the Retron 5 gamepad having more buttons than the Nes30, mapping isn't absolutely perfect, but works well enough with the NES, SNES, Sega Master System (with adapter), Gameboy, and Gameboy advance systems.  The Genesis mapping is missing buttons " ^ " and " > " which would correspond to "C" and "Z" buttons on the official six button Sega Genesis controller.  Fortunately, there are options to remap gamepad buttons via the Retron 5's set...

The Ouya, Madcatz Mojo, Nexus Player, Gamestick, Fire TV, etc... All of these microconsoles have tried to find a place in the living room and have failed miserably.  It makes one wonder just how out of touch with reality the people who actually make these things are.  It really should not be that difficult to get the right combination of features to make these microconsoles more attractive to casual or even hardcore players.  Let's take a minute to see what some of the current issues are. Storage: In a day and age where these microconsoles are attempting to lure gamers to purchase games solely via the cloud without a physical copy, the storage on these devices are pathetic.  Generally these consoles come with anywhere from 8gb to 16gb of storage.  Once you factor in the OS, and any additional software that comes with your console, you're looking at anywhere between 5gb to 12gb of storage if you're lucky.  With even Android games coming in at 2gb to 4g...

It appears that a someone going by the screenname of  RetroN Labo  on Youtube has successfully hacked the Retron 5 console to run the full version of  Retroarch.  In the video shown, various emulators that are not part of the original firmware are playable including the PC Engine, Playstation One, Nintendo DS, and Wonderswan.  As the stock firmware from the Retron 5 is programmed to load games from an original cartridge when it is inserted, this hack appears to run ROM and ISO files, most likely from the SD card slot built into the back of the console. In most of instances shown in the video, emulation appeared to run smooth, and the games previewed looked playable. Currently, Hyperkin (Retron 5 manufacturer) is in hot water with Retroarch's creators due to using their emulator cores without permission.  After being discovered, Hyperkin has shared their code, and claims that they have removed any infringing code from their console. ...

As of August 9th, the libretto blog, which Retroarch is based on, posted some interesting news regarding the direction that the project.   Lead developer, Squarepusher  has announced that following the next release of the popular emulation platform,(slated to be version 1.1) the project will be streamlined to create what amounts to an open source operating system for many different types of architectures.  The ultimate goal will be to create "Retroboxes" that will allow one to play not just emulators, but original software on everything from low end arm architecture, to high end Intel rigs. The developer has expressed his frustration with dealing with closed sourced consoles and operating systems, and the performance hits from Android, as well as Linux.  The blog post also discusses his feelings on "open" consoles like OUYA and the upcoming Steam boxes in a direct, earnest way that makes a lot of sense.  Also mentioned are kickstarter and indiegogo campaign...

For all of you Plants vs Zombies fans who also happen to be fans of Windows tablets, the wait is over!  Trolls VS Zombies is a high quality clone of that game, and just as fun!  The game hit the Windows store recently, and is a free with the option for in app purchases. The game plays similarly to Plants vs Zombies 2.  In the place of the plants, you have the "lovable" trolls who are defending themselves from the greedy Vikings that want to steal their gold.  The game starts simply enough with slingshot trolls that are nearly identical to the pea shooting plants from PvZ, building up to mining trolls who dig up moonstones, (similar to the sunflower bringing sunshine in PvZ) and so on.  The game has 70 levels, and there are plenty of trolls to collect in the main game with various abilities to protect you from the equally varied Vikings. In app purchases consist of magic powers, moonstones, as well as certain trolls.  For those of you who don't mind i...

Lifesperience is now Raycommend, which can be found here:    Ray Commend   Like the headline says, Square Enix finally updated Final Fantasy 3 with Cloud Saves, as well as support for many physical controllers.  After booting up the updated game on my Nexus 5, I was greeted with the new and very blue cloud save icon on the top right of my screen. In case that you missed it, the cloud save icon is on the top right of the screen. I started a new game and played just enough to defeat the first boss of the game, and once in the overworld, I saved my file and tested the cloud save system.  Afterwards, I quit my game, and logged onto my Nexus 7. The cloud save menu is simple but functional Once the game booted up on my Nexus 7, I once again pressed the Cloud Save icon and was able to continue from my save file.   The interesting thing about this system is that it does not use Google Play games.  It will instead upload to your Google drive ...

With the recent release of the highly anticipated Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U, Nintendo sweetened the deal by offering early adopters a choice of four games with purchase.  You simply buy the game, register it to your account on the Club Nintendo site, and it will offer you a download code for one of four games. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD Pikmin 3 New Super Mario Bros. U Wii Party U The highly anticipated game was release on May 30th, and the promo offer extends until July 31st for game registration. Once registered, Nintendo will allow you to claim your download by August 31st.   The problem is that the Club Nintendo site has been brought down to its knees due to this offer.  Logging in is currently an exercise in patience.  Registering the game mostly works, but when you attempt to get your code, it will either log you out, or loop you endlessly in re-registering the game and then error out.  How Nintendo could have underest...