Thinking Of Buying A Snes

Yeah I'm interested in playing some old Madden just to see how good or terrible it was, plus John Elway.

 

i love emulators. emulators of newer systems might take up a lot of memory, but the old ones like NES and SNES don't use shit on your computer. and the ability to save anywhere is huge, since so many of those older games were made to be basically impossible. i finally beat zelda 2 on an emulator, by saving after about every other enemy i came across. i haven't tried, but i bet you could even beat famously impossible games like contra or battletoads on an emulator.

i am surprised that the actual consoles have gotten so expensive though. i haven't shopped for anything like that in a while, but about 10 years ago when i lived near a good used game store, i could buy any pre-playstation console for under $50. i think i got a sega genesis for $25, and an xbox original for about $90. and i never bought them, but i remember seeing NES and SNES both for around $25 too. games were a different story though. a vast majority i could find for a buck or two, but a few of the really popular ones were up in the $30 region.

 

you mother fuckers want retro?




...and don't even think of making me go "hunt the wumpus"

 

So after buying one.. It doesn't appear to work on any of our new tvs. I have tried 4 different tvs now and we get sound but no picture.

Surprisingly a PS3 chord produces sound and picture but only in black and white. I have bought another display chord to no avails.
I bought a new power supply. Nothing.
I bought the tools to open it up. It looks clean and good.

I don't know what to do now so I'm thinking about the emulator but don't really know where to start.

I also want a old dinosaur tv to try but no one seems to have them any longer. :d

 

sounds like you got ripped.....snes should show video just fine through the a/v cables..yellow one is video....

what kind of inputs does the tv have?

 

the fact that you got a black a white picture but no color makes it sound like you have the NTSC version, and your TV is PAL. You need the PAL version. your kinda lucky that the TV would display anything. PAL has more lines per screen but does a VBLANK 50 times per second where NTSC draws 60 screens per second.

the color encoding between the two is different tho, so the TV isn't able to decode it from the signal and you only get black and white picture. you need the console for the region where you live (I think it's PAL in Europe but I know that there's another one called SECAM that some countries use).

also, NTSC game cartridges won't work in PAL system and vice versa. I know on the NES that you can disable the region lockout chip, and play any game but still think something might be fucked up with the graphics, at the very least the game will run at a slightly different speed because of how the games were coded.

you should probably return it if you can and try to get one for the proper region. It's and SNES right? If it was a NES you'd be lucky to get anything but a blinking power light, proper region or not. those things can be a real bitch to get to work and always usually have to have parts replaced so I stooped fucking with them. I used to have one that I had gotten to work but sold it.

NTSC is the North American version, and if you check with where you bought it I'd be surprised if this isn't the one you have.

if you can't find out any other way, look at the model number on the bottom (I think that's where it is) and then look up that model number.

 

that sucks

 

It's PAL. We use PAL in Europe and the cartridges are different looking on NTSC. It's running the PAL cartridges.

I also could not tune it in via the aerial chord.

I kinda delayed it all now and unable to return it. I really need to try and make it work on an old tv. I was told by seller that it was working and that it's hard to get them to work on new tvs because of the resolutions or something.

And the black and white only works with the PS3 chord. Which is strange that a PS3 chord even fit in, loosely, but it gave a picture.

 

are you using trying to stick an RCA cable in the RF output? on the SNES the RF out looks like an RCA jack, and takes a special adapter that turns it into a coax cable that goes to the back of the TV and u get video and sound thru that cable. there's a switch that lets you select either channel 3 or channel 4. this is the American version, not sure if PAL version is the same setup but you should check that. if you try to connect that to composite video it's not gonna work.

the RF out can be hard to get to work on new, non-analogue TVs because they won't let you flip thru every channel, you have to make the TV scan for the channels while the console is one.

the "multi-out" connector is like a square recessed connector in the back and takes an SNES multi-out cable which breaks out into composite video , and stereo sound(the red, white and yellow cables). this is probably what you wanna use. PS3 cable shouldn't be able to fit, I thought it was completely different so I'm not sure what you mean. either way you shouldn't use a PS3 cable. if you have an N64 cable tho that should work because they use the same cable for video.

take a picture of the console, show the connection in the back, and try to include the model number too.

 

I've tried a friends n64 cable. Same problems.

I've looked at the rear of a American console and seen the channel switch but the PAL version doesn't offer this option. It's just a plug that goes to a cable and a grey box you plug your TV serial into and then into the Tv. I have tried manual and auto tuning and seen a very rough looking picture but not playable or even visable I just know the title screen and knew what I was looking at.

The PS3 cable fits very loosely. It plugs in but it does not fit in comfortable or snug but playing with the chord in the right spot produced the black and white and sound. So I know it's not the right chord and shouldn't fit but out of curiosity I tried it and it worked. I don't bother though because black and white is lame.

Unfortunately the wii cables didn't fit so I couldn't try them.

 

do u not have the cable for composite video? the multi-out connector should be the best bet. newer Tvs have a hard time with the rf tuner because those channels don't really exist anymore, tho I have been able to get it to work with much fucking around with the TV settings.

try the n64 cable, and the SNES cable (the ones with the yellow, red , and white on the ends) make sure that the cables are connected properly, to the TV jacks that have the same color. make sure that the TV is set to composite video, which depending on the TV will say something like A/V input when you switch thru the inputs.

the fact that you can get any picture at all means that the video works at least somewhat on the console. if that still doesn't work then you can try a GameCube cable cuz it's the same also as SNES and n64 (these cables are often sold as a SNES/N64/GC cable). it could be that the cables you've tried are bad, so u might try finding a new cable. if the cable works on an n64 it's probably not the cable tho.

take a flashlight and look into the receptacle where the cable connects to and make sure nothing looks bent or broken on that part. also make sure the connection points are all clean (also the game where it goes into the console). if you do all of those things and it STILL doesn't work I have heard of people having video problems that were caused by a bad power supply, so u might wanna check that with a voltmeter or buy a new power supply.
you said you've tried it on four Tvs, but make sure you try all steps on each TV until one works.

it seems pretty odd that the SNES cable doesn't work at all, but you get a picture (tho b/w) with the PS3 cable which makes me think there's something wrong with the cables. the PS3 cable is probably only black and white because it's the wrong cable and the pin order is different, so some of the pins are getting connected to give the black and white picture but not all of them are connected so you don't get a full picture.

if the PS3 cable is [component] video, that would also explain the black and white. newer consoles use component which is 3 red, blue and green cables for video instead of just one yellow cable. the green cable is the black and white signal (Y) and the blue and green are CB/CR which have the color.

if all else fails, you can try connected the "green" cable only from the PS3 cable into the "yellow" jack of the TV and setting the TV to composite AV. this is assuming that you have a PS3 cable that's component. if this gives you a color signal to the TV then you just need a cable that works and the ones you have are broken. this is because the TV is getting the signal on the green cable but it ignores the color information because in component video it gets these from the red and blue cables. if that actually works tho, u should t leave it like that, that's just an excercise to narrow down the exact issue.

let me know how any of this works out.

 

well that's the easy part. just google "snes emulator" and you should get a ton of results. look for one that's rated high and download it. then just search for snes roms and go from there. it's really pretty self explanatory once you try.

you'll probably want to buy a video game style controller that you can plug into a usb port too. playing these old games on a keyboard is pretty awkward.

 

higan is a good emulator that accurately emulates the low level hardware. on the intro screen for zelda link to a past where the three triforce peices rotate and then come together, higan does this accurately and the peices come together right as they finish rotating. some emulators like zsnes will have the peices finish rotation way too soon. zsnes isn't a bad emulator tho, and you wouldn't be able to tell if you didn't know what to look for. it uses less cpu than higan. if ur on windows SnesGT is my fav emulator for windows.

higan is finicky about the rom files tho, a lot of roms that you download have some extra fluff in the header at the beginning of the file that's not actually part of the original code and is put there for emulators. higan won't play these unless you strip that out first. there's a tool called "SNES purify" that will do this.

buy a "USB SNES controller" on eBay and it will feel exactly the same. it's hard to get the colors to be exactly the same as the real console, but many emulators come with video filters that help make it look like the real thing. actually I'd say the graphics in the emulator are actually better than the real thing, but I find it "too clean" without filters.

irminsul should get that that console to work tho, cuz it's cool to play on the real thing. even better would be to play it on an actual old school analog crt TV to get the true experience the way it was experienced back then.

I need a new usb controller cuz some of the buttons don't work anymore.

 

Not at all, just a few megs - all they have to do is emulate a very primitive low powered CPU, and of course, the cartridges themselves had so little storage that you can easily fit every game ever made for any given system on a drive... in fact, on a thumbdrive, and still have plenty of room.

In fact, you might have things like MP3s or wallpaper images that are bigger than all the emulator games you'd ever want.

You can get cheap fake controllers for a few bucks, (or, there's info on the internet to make your own converter to use the original things (often still tougher and higher quality), or someone may just sell a multi-system controller converter by now) and for about fifteen you can get a VGA/RCA converter on amazon to play it on your TV, pixelation and all, from your computer. For an alternate and non-original, but objectively better controller, you can map the control keys to the edge keys on a small keyboard, and effectively have an oversized controller that doesn't do that stupid shit that the originals did, where you KNOW you hit that button and hit it hard, and NOTHING happened, and you die.

Totally free, easy, flexible, installable in minutes or seconds.

And the computer never gets stupid fucking dirty carts and connectors and never needs blowing on and even though it technically wears out, your emulator data needn't, and can be used forevermore.

It's also great because you can play them anywhere, or just about any platform. I have a folder with thousands a friend gave me back in high school, we'd play in class.

Also, you can play rare or expensive games or systems that you don't have access to.



Don't get me wrong, I have a functioning museum (literally) of old computer and game hardware and software, I'm a nerd about it. I love my NES and genesis, especially. I have a whole lot of emulators, but don't use them at all, haven't even looked in years, for me the fun is the hardware, it's like driving a model T - yeah, you could put a fake one over an s10, but it's NOT the same. I'm not saying don't buy the system, (do, and take good care of it), but there's no reason you can't also emulate if there's a game that you want to play or whatever, it's reeeeeaaalllly easy.

Also, if you're in the market for an NES, look locally for someone with a junk/parts one sitting on a shelf or whatever, that hangs without playing games - it's a very easy fix, lowball them. The region code chips (which talk to a chip in the cart that legitimizes it) fry and won't let them load games, all you do is take the case off, cut a particular pin (or two, I forget) on the security/lockout chip, and away you go with a region free NES that can play any game (including the non-nintendo ones, which, ironically, seem to fry the chips, because their method of override was to send it a little voltage spike, which would fake it into tapping out and letting your game load)


Sorry for rambling, but I think it's all good info, and a big leg up to anyone ignorant and interested.

About your system.... you better make it work, now you're stuck with the responsibility of taking care of that bit of our computer/gaming history....

 

Cool.

So.

With all the techno gizmo talk.

Can some motherfucker.

Just tell me what to do.

In simple.

Motherfuckin.

Terms?

 

go back and look at post #31. its a big post but go through line by line and try all the stuff with the cables. there's a reason for this, its an attempt to determine whether the cables are at fault.

tell me about the "ps3" cable that gave a b/w picture. how many connectors does it have on the end of the TV, and what colors are they? if it has a "green" connector instead of yellow try putting that into the yellow jack (leave the others unconnected tho) and see if you get a picture. that would actually tell me alot.

just the fact that by using a cable that's not even made for that system gave you more of a picture than the proper cable strongly suggests that the SNES video cable is so fucked up in some way that it's worse than using a cable that's not even the right cable. at least that's what i picked up reading your description of what you have tried. if you can figure out that it's the cable then it should work with a non-fucked up cable.

 

http://www.letsplaysnes.com/play-beavis-and-butt-head-online/?play=true

 

I played atari, coleco vision and intellivision as a kid. Put it on channel 3 or 4, just might do the trick

 

Okay. I used a flash light and it all looked fine and in intact.

I had also heard about the faulty power supply not producing a picture, so I bought a brand new power supply on eBay. This didn't fix the problem.

The console came with two video chords and the aerial. The aerial does not work and I do not have the option to switch the console to channel 3 or 4.

The two cables that came with, one was a little bit loose but the other was a good fit. Both these cables only produced audio.

I borrowed a N64 cable from a friend. It also only played audio.

I bought a brand new SNES video chord on eBay. Same thing, sound only.

I bought the tools to open console on eBay. It all looks clean and soldered and not rusty inside, also the video slot etc. is all tight and in tact.

On our oldest LCD tv, maybe 8 years, we don't get picture or audio. Every other TV tested on gives us at least audio.

 

download and install this: http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/snes/zsnes.html

then download games from here: http://www.emuparadise.me/Super_Nintendo_Entertainment_System_%28SNES%29_ROMs/5

then buy this: http://www.amazon.com/Classic-USB-Super-Nintendo-Controller-PC/dp/B002JAU20W

enjoy.