pastry

My MiSTer has remained naked and I am cool with that - no issue getting the SD out, and I don't bother very often anyway – more than enough games to play on the thing! But if i was adding a case I'd consider using an extension cable off the micro SD slot to a more permanent mounting point, to prevent wear and tear and to make it easier to get to. I have an inline switch, works fine. Still a bit of a pain as it's inside the TV cabinet - would love a software shut down/start up option. To access the OSD i've mapped the third small button on my M30 and the PS button on my DS4. You can do this from the top level of the MiSTer, ie when not in a core. No need for case button once done.

God, sometimes it takes weeks to finish a film. I think when I watched Aliens again recently it was in 3 parts over about 9 weeks. But usually we manage longer films in 2 sittings, and “movies” in one go.

The powerloader is magnificent. It is so well resolved and solid. I also love.. The "venting" shots the remote-piloted dropship shots aboard Sulaco as it positions to launch the facehuggers in their formaldehyde tanks – that first jump scare is brilliant I have no idea how Ripley gets out at the end, the atmosphere processor is really quite far beyond "structurally unsound" when she comes back up the (somehow still functional) elevator!

I have chatted online to a few early-adopters who got them in the "first run", and they largely said the software (database, interfaces etc) was the stand-out element – very solid emulation etc, but that was to be expected. Before readng the release I was imagining this as a much more grown up Retroarch–style installable for suitable hardware, and I wouldn't be against paying something for that.. but not sure this is for me given I don't have a physical collection any more. What they have announced seems to really dissolves the key USP, which was the closed system they could target in order to get the emulation as perfect as possible. Now it'll be a hardware free-for-all and I'm not sure that will work out so well.. I still think the original device is lovely, but supply, management and the add-on model seems very flawed. Plus needing to own originals anyway - the box might be convenient, but I think we all know that gamers with collections often have a hard-on for original hardware, leaving a small market for people who want a Polymega.. which I suppose is handy given you've not been able to get one anyway.

Toy Commander is still an interesting little game, perhaps a tad clunky by modern standards but worth a go. Skies of Arcadia?

Where the Crawdads Sing - 1/5 i quite enjoyed the texture of the novel, but this film adaptation is dreadful. Has just about the worst pacing you’ll ever see - it tries to rush through every scene, but still drags. It’s poorly structured so has to jump around far too much. It has all the key plot points of the book, presented in such a lazy fashion it robs the revelatory & character building moments of their gravity and emotion. There’s only the merest sense of struggle or rejection that is the core of the main characters experience. My Mum would love it. Aliens - 5/5 Not sure if anyone has seen this but it’s utterly brilliant. A masterwork of character building and tension. I’ve seen it a thousand times but it had been a while - fresh eyes and being that much older and exposed to more only reveals how perfect this is.

@ZOK I’ll be interested to hear what you think. I’m playing it right now and while I can play it, it feels wrong - like when you’d play an old DOS game on a much newer system and it’d make it run too fast, or something. It just feels wrong to me, like the timing is out making it unstable. FWIW running on a Sony A80K OLED with all the motion stuff etc off, game mode.

Not sure if there are any keen F-Zero X fans on rllmuk, but I loved it and have played it a lot, on original hardware and emulated over the years. I can’t be the only one who thinks the Switch N64 version is a total mess? Frame drops all over the place inc. where you get sudden slowdown followed by speed up, and horribly overly sensitive handling (we only have joycons at present so may be related). I’ve had no issue with Wave Race, Goldeneye etc but F-Zero is broken.

Looks beautiful to this day - Wave Race really was a triumph of art direction (and, of course, water simulation).

I adored Burning Rangers, such a great concept and a huge shame that it didn't reach a wider audience. Yes, it's very short, but it's heartfelt and magical in much the same way as NiGHTS. And it has killer cheese music, which I subjected the kids to over breakfast as a result of your thread bump @Nick R!

yeah around that time, when dialup with still very much a thing and there was no cloud account you had to log in to, etc.

A few stand-outs for me N64 launch - my cousin got one, so I spent the day in his bedroom watching and playing Mario 64. I was utterly spellbound by everything N64 in the build up to its UK release, learning about terms like mipmapping and bilinear filtering. It really was the supreme jump I hoped it would be. The LAN-gaming era.. I've got a few of these, hauling my PC along to various places with mates, but perhaps the best was the afternoon/night that we borrowed this big space in a village overnight for a massive session of UT, Q3A, and very early Counter Strike, with probably some AoE thrown in. I think it was our last summer before uni sent us different ways. Dreamcast Launch, 14/10/99 - collecting my pre-order from Blockbuster at lunch break, and having to wait the rest of the day to go home to play (it was my last year of A-Levels). Leaving it sat outside the IT lab in a cubby was terrifying. I got HOTD2 and the gun, which was fantastic – but it was the event itself that stands out, first console I bought with my own money on launch day. Shenmue's release on Dreamcast, with all of my uni housemates crowded in to see this new spectacle – the intro blew everyone away, then I started opening drawer's in Ryo's bedroom and they left me in peace / got bored very quickly RE:make on GC, which I played through in one long sitting with my lovely uni housemate, who was too scared to play it himself. We had a great time with the curtains drawn and the dodgy electric fire on, shutting out the cold/terror of Teesside.

The disc is partitioned so can't just drag drop, but you could probably clone the whole drive. But I'd probably Mr Fusion it.

Yep it was absolutely just a rush job hampered by CE. For me it was one of the very few DC games to really disappoint.. and would you believe it, the other standout was Daytona! Oh, and — hmmm, this is a bit awkward — yet another was Sega GT.. maybe Sega should give up on racing games? (But then, of course, we wouldn't have F355 – which was incredible)

CCE is an ok racing game in its own right, but it's not Daytona USA. The original port is still great fun, 777 Speedway with the hustle and bustle of 40 cars is really impressive, particularly when you stop to think about the gulf between Model 2 and Saturn architecture. The popup is mostly a non-issue when playing - yeah it's bad to look at as an observer, but I don't think it really upsets the gameplay. If you just want the best home Daytona then of course, PS3 or 360. If you want to imagine what Daytona in your home in 1995 was like, the Saturn port is the only option