Monday, June 15, 2015

Goodbye Saturn controller; hello (again) to Mad Catz TE with Kitty

I thought I'd have my brother fix my long-broken Saturn controller by soldering something, and the d-pad worked again... until I dropped the controller four inches onto the hardwood floor. I was starting to think the rubber pads weren't making contact (when I dropped it the first time the little support piece that keeps the rubber pads in place broke off), so I took the controller apart again. And another wire came apart, and I have no idea where that one went. Mind you, these are super-tiny contacts on the Saturn pad, and I wouldn't want to bother my brother again so soon. So now, down and right on the d-pad don't work, the Y button still doesn't work, and now the B button doesn't work either. I figured I'll pay someone $60-80 to fix and rewire when I have some money to burn. Until then, the best controller ever made will have to be shelved.

On the plus side, that same day I figured out how to use my Mad Catz TE (with Toodles TE Kitty) on my PlayStation TV! A bit of history; neither my Hori Real Arcade Pro 3 (stock PCB) nor my Mad Catz TE with Kitty would work. In fact, the Kitty seemed to be broken after I plugged it into the PSTV until I reflashed it. But because of this thread and this YouTube video, I realized I already had the tools.

Kitty > Neutrik > RJ45 to PS2 cable > iNPiN adapter

A bit of copying and pasting from this thread:
I was using my Hori Command Stick just fine with the iNPiN on the PSTV (even programmed some moves right on it), and now I'm using my main stick (Mad Catz TE with Kitty). I tried the TE once before straight into the PSTV and it actually broke the Kitty until I reflashed the firmware. But using the Neutrik > PS2 cable > iNPiN, I'm having absolutely no trouble, and I'm making full use of the features of the Kitty, namely: 
  • Button remapping (especially important for Street Fighter because you'd otherwise have to open up your stick and rewire to turn your R2 into L)
  • Turbos (because I'm a cheater)
This is a game changer! All those PSP arcade collections and anthologies are finally (what I consider, anyway) legit ports now that I can use an arcade stick. And I don't think I have to tell you I'm displaying the image at 480p via the DVDO Edge and adding scanlines via the HDfury3 and T-SLG, right? So awesome.

Still, the PSTV doesn't play all PSP games, even if you could get them onto your Vita memory card (Genesis Collection, Gradius Collection, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles), so to use the TE on those games I'll have to put them on the PSPgo and pick up an AXISDapter from Toodles. I already have a UD-USB Decoder. (I think pairing them will work, anyway...)

Monday, June 8, 2015

Man I wish Breaking Bad was on when I was in high school

No doubt it would've reversed my fortunes today. I could've gone into chemistry. Or law... hmm.

No spoilers, now...

Friday, May 29, 2015

Weird-ass dream (2015-05-29)

People started to inadvertently make heads explode with direct eye contact, and the one who started it would also go blind. Turns out it was aliens messing with us all along...

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Missed April 2015's PlayStation Plus free games

Could've sworn I got them and it's already mid-May! FML?

I'd better pick these up on sale out of principle:

[PS4] Tower of Guns
[PS4] Never Alone
[PS3] Dishonored
[PS3] Aaru's Awakening
[PSV] Killzone Mercenary
[PSV] Monsterbag

Friday, May 15, 2015

Gaming & video capture ideas before I forget

Some PS1 and PS2 games tend to switch back and forth between 240p and 480i, and that can be pretty annoying when trying to capture. Looks like I'll have to get some cheap capture card (Ezcap) that treats everything as 480i. But if I want to play in the best quality (component) while recording in S-video, apparently the GunCon multi-out adapter cable thingy allows exactly that.

Also, I've always had trouble playing Tobal 2 on my Lik-Sang modded, 1st generation Japanese PS2. It just wouldn't get past the PS logo screen. Could it be the loading or smoothing settings on the PS2? Something to consider. (Update: No dice, it still won't work. But after a while of tinkering manual forced swaps with different discs at different times, Tobal 2 would start playing music. Interesting since it's not a redbook audio game!)

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

New power supply

Last night I was taking a break from work when my computer decided to turn off, and it wouldn't turn on again. Unlike the last time that happened, it wasn't because I was lazy in dusting my computer, so I knew it had to be the power supply.

Old one: 630W
New one: 1000W (and quieter)

Bought on Amazon and shipped with same-day shipping from Kentucky to California for... $6. Not bad.

Now I know this new setup makes my computer a real gas guzzler, so I'm going to try to get most of my work done on the laptop + Dell Monitor. I think I'll turn on my desktop after dinner.

I hope it wasn't all that capturing and encoding I was doing that killed my power supply, even though I really wasn't doing anything with my capture hard drives. Pretty sure they were asleep, too. I still have about 100 episodes of Good Eats to record...

Monday, March 9, 2015