RickR

"Cartoon Network Collection - Special Edition"

Hey Harry, we have the same GBA!  Cheers!

Hey Harry, we have the same GBA!  Cheers!

I will likely stop by the chat as my show will end at about 6:30pm PT.

Over the months, I have been experimenting with lots of different methods of lighting the screen. This is the best one I have come up with so far.
I have several different reading lights in all different shapes and sizes. The owl one is the only one that will clamp the entirety of the GBA. This is currently the only way I can play GBA games in the dark. It’s not great as it flies and falls off a bunch, but it works alright.


With original Game Boy and GB Color games, it works a little easier. 

The intro screen on that game is FANTASTIC! It seems that Revenge of the Gator has become a bit of an Atari I/O trend. I'd love to get my hands on the physical cartridge someday, as it's pretty cheap and I'd definitely get my money's worth.
I have been getting back into Game Boy stuff recently. So far, I only have the Advance and Super Game Boys, not the "brick". I like my standard GBA better than the SP for a few reasons. For one, I can use AA batteries. I bought a few rechargable ones last year with a gift card and have been using those. I always have one pair in the system and one pair charged/charging and ready to go. With the AA batteries, I never have to wait for the the thing to charge and if I don't have my rechargable batteries laying around, I can use any kind of AA battery in a pinch. The second reason I like it more is that it has a headphone jack. I love listening to my games with headphones and getting that sweet stereo sound. I imagine it'd be decently hard to find the GBASP headphone adapter these days. Thirdly, the GBA is more compatible with games. The SP,. when using a gyroscope game like Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble, will have the controls reversed.
Sure, the lack of a backlight is a problem, especially these days when it gets dark outside so soon. But I have found ways to work around it. When using Game Boy or Game Boy Color carts on the GBA, the games stick out about an inch from the slot. This makes the thing harder to fit in your pocket, but it also makes it so I can clamp a reading light to the cartridge and be able to play my games easily. GBA exclusive games are a bit harder to light, so I mostly avoid them. This works, but it is inconvenient and mostly falls off. I'm hoping that I get a Worm Light for Christmas that will make my life a lot easier.
For those of you who don't know what that is, here's a picture from the web. It plugs in to the Link Cable port.

I see you already branded the NES Golf cart there 😇
The next retro junk box ❤️

ROTG pinball is excellent. I only have it on the 3DS so far. For my GB pinball fix, I play Kirbys Pinball Land, made by the same people.

Cool! I found a Revenge of the Gator cart at a pawn shop during a trip to Idaho last month. Addictive little game. I love the intro screen. I posted my high score a few days ago on the forum scoreboard. (Using an SP, yes I admit. 🙂) Maybe one of you can beat my score!

I can't argue. But at least I won't need a miner's helmet to see. 

I can't argue. But at least I won't need a miner's helmet to see. 

SP is for cowards!

Well done!  Those are pretty sweet.

Progress pic on the PAC tree. 

Bottom/center looks like Link to me. 

Are top row, left and middle "Pac-Man" based?

I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this show. 
 

I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this show. 
 

I think, too, that I could get rid of one of the shelves.  Like that one under the Wii. 

Adding the INTV and Colecovision would be tough because I'd need to add an RF switchbox.  Those stiff RF wires make that difficult.  But I'll consider it. 
And there's just to room for the other systems that I love, which are mostly computers.  C64, Atari 800xl, Amiga, ST.  Those ones will have to remain seasonal. 

Oh, and there's one more system that's available today -- I have the SNES Gameboy adapter cart.  So those I can play on a larger screen too.

And BOOM!  I just got super lucky to find the Concerto cart in stock.  That's like a Harmony cart for 7800.  A true space saver! 

Congratulations! The concerto cart is pretty cool indeed, though I don’t think I have much use for one personally. Space for games isn’t a problem for me here. Plus, I have lots of great games here, about half the library.
Do you still need a donor shell? Because I still need Super Breakout! Ha, ha!
By the way, I remembered a while back you were talking about Championship/Pele’s Soccer, and how it was an underrated game. I tried it out today for the first time in years (I didn’t know it had a computer opponent) and I think I’m seriously addicted. Help!

And BOOM!  I just got super lucky to find the Concerto cart in stock.  That's like a Harmony cart for 7800.  A true space saver! 

Oh, that's not stealing!  You borrow what you need, and I'm sure you'll have some good ideas for me.  Swapping the Jr for the 7800 is a good idea.  I'll do that.  The other thing I need is another power strip, as I don't have a spot to plug in the N64 without unplugging something else.  I might need a trip to Goodwill for that.  They have a lot of them for cheap prices.
Upstairs, in my real gaming space, I have an Atari 800XL, an Intellivision, and a Colecovision.  There's not space for any of those down here, they are all pretty large.  You see, there's a desk up there that used to have a TV and a Vectrex on it.  Those are gone now -- put away in storage so that son #2 could use the desk for his school work.  It's a nice big school desk (like a teacher's desk from the old days).  It's oak and huge and heavy.  I'll take a picture sometime.  He's got his computer setup there with books and stuff.  I don't mind at all.  In fact, I feel bad that he has to spend his senior year of college here with us.  It sucks for him.  But I'm happy he's safe. 

It sounds like your flatscreen is similar to mine.  It's the earliest generation of LCD flatscreen.  Analog.  No HD.  It fits perfectly.  But mine does not have HDMI ports.  It doesn't do scaling.  It's a very nice picture for retro gaming.  I've got a nice composite switchbox off to the left there. 
 

This reminds me a lot of my downstairs gaming setup, though with more layers and drawers and things. Downstairs, we have this sort of cubbyhole thing, with some of the squares containing games and others with controllers, qtips, alcohol, cables, and the like. I'll have to post pictures someday.
I really like that setup! It reminds me of a miniaturized version of one a family friend has (whose father sadly passed last night).The door closing thing is an excellent way to keep things tidy to outsiders. Reminds me of our old TV stand we used to have when I was really little, back when we still used a CRT.
Your game selection is also pretty nice, too. Got some great consoles up there, and it's very neat and tidy compared to what it was like previously. However, as I'm looking at this I'm thinking of how one could possibly cram even more stuff in there! Not that you'd need to, anyways, but it's an option. You should see our downstairs. I'm using every inch of that space for all the consoles and stuff, and everything's jam-packed together. The Vader-Wii and external hard drive are basically clamped together between the two televisions! 
I think part of the reason that I'm able to fit so much stuff there is that the flatscreen there was made at the perfect time. It's not terribly high-quality picture wise, but it has all the inputs you'd want. Coaxial, two composites, two components, s-video, and three HDMI ports. That way, along with a RF modulator for composite for a third input, I can keep most of my stuff hooked up at once. Shame many TV's are skimpy on the inputs!
Long story short, Rick, I really dig your setup. It's actually pretty inspiring in some ways. I'm someone who doesn't have a lot of space for consoles, and I'm always looking for more ways to stay compact. This has actually provided me some ideas. Hope you don't mind if I steal 'em. Thanks! Mua ha ha!
PS- replace that Junior with a 7800! Then we can have a Food Fight!

Most high-score challenges take place here. 

When not in use, the doors are closed and no one is the wiser.