I’m Bob, the founder of RetroRGB. If you’d like to support my work, please consider following me on social media, or even supporting via paid platforms; Those support services are what keeps the work I’m involved with and this site going. More about me below the links:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/retrorgb
Floatplane: https://www.floatplane.com/channel/RobertNeal
Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/retrorgb
PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=7J9QNKYKBSM3Y
ETH: 0xA7BB5CEE02Ba521cD11Fa159447Bb968Ab596d3f
BTC: 3GKGQpDHVfoMRdttV6dyGQ5ktW67WntWim
Here’s a link to product’s I’ve personally tested and use from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/shop/retrorgb
T-Shirts: https://retrorgb.link/tshirts
eBay Store (occasionally have extra stuff for sale): https://ebay.to/2ESH3e4
Even if you’re not in a place to support directly, maybe consider using my Amazon and eBay links to purchase regular items? Simply click the links below and buy whatever you’d normally purchase with no markup, but a tiny portion of the sale gets credited to me:
eBay: http://ebay.us/Dv0BVk
Amazon General: https://www.amazon.com/?tag=retrorgb-20&linkCode=ez
Podcast: https://anchor.fm/retrorgb
Video Services:
https://www.youtube.com/retrorgb
https://odysee.com/@retrorgb:c
https://www.bitchute.com/retrorgb/
Social Media:
https://twitter.com/retrorgb
https://www.instagram.com/retrorgb/
https://www.facebook.com/RetroRGB
Like many people who are probably reading this site, I grew up playing consoles like the SNES and Genesis, which featured styles of games that aren’t nearly as common today. While I love new games and in many ways they can be far superior, they’re not always the style or experience someone is looking for. Some of the biggest pet peeves of modern games are loading times, constant software updates and often long “training sessions” required before the gameplay even starts. Heck, even many of the games are significantly longer! Someone looking to game during the small bits of free time they might have, often look to classic consoles and handhelds that provide a way to just jump in and start playing; Many classic games can be completed within an hour and are a satisfying experience.
The most common styles of games found on those platforms are different too. There are similar games available for newer consoles, like Shovel Knight, The New Super Mario Bros, Ori and the Blind Forest and (of course) Axiom Verge. Still, the amount of 2D vs 3D graphic games made is very small, so I often find that to enjoy that style, you need to go back to some of the classic consoles, which was the original catalyst for this site…
The journey to experience retro video game awesomeness started in October 2011 when I discovered a (low quality) Retro Controller Adapter for the Wii. After a few months of playing virtual console games on my Wii via the adapter, it started to feel like a tease; I got to use the original controller, but I missed the look of a CRT, as well as not having any lag on my games!
I soon realized if I wanted a “real” experience, I had to get the real thing and as a result, I ended up building the Retro Cart. I was happy playing all the old games the way they were meant to be played, on the original hardware, on a high quality CRT TV that brought out the best in the older games. After that project, I thought I was done…
Then, I re-discovered RGB and my retro video game life changed forever (I knew about RGB as a kid, but it was so unfathomably expensive back then that I just put it out of my mind). Even though it was less than three months from the time I completed the Retro Cart, I knew I had to start over. I was able to use most of the same equipment I already purchased, but there were some key differences. I dug so deep into it, that I decided to document exactly what I went though via a Google Doc, just in case “a few of my friends” ever wanted to do the same. I eventually gathered so much information that Cousin Scott suggested I make it into a website, so if other people wanted to walk down the same path, they could skip all the research and follow one easy to read guide. Hopefully I succeeded!
Tito from Macho Nacho Productions recently released a video showcasing software for the PlayStation 2 that replaces the boot OS with one modeled off the Japanese-only PlayStation Broadband Navigator (PSBBN) menu. This has a really nice looking menu for launching games from your hard drive and is even compatible with POPStarter, however installation requires Linux […]
Digital Foundry recently posted a video showcasing the incredible port of Mario Kart 64, made possible via it’s decomplication project. Basically, you can now play a true, non-emulated version of MK64 on Windows, Mac and Linux, at basically any resolution and refresh rate you’d like. I spent a few minutes with it, running at 4K144 […]
TheRetroChannel is now selling a digital audio mod, that’s compatible with basically all PlayStation 1’s with a parallel port. This is a true digital-to-digital mod, giving you pure 44.1KHz/16bit digital audio with zero analog noise. While this mod still requires soldering two wires internally, it’s still much easier than other methods and since the breakout box […]
The team behind the FPGA-based ZX Spectrum Next has just successfully funded a follow-up Kickstarter. This third production run includes a more powerful FPGA, as well as new cores for the Sinclair QL and Commodore 64. Complete units start at about $400 and there’s options to upgrade the original two ZX Spectrum Next’s, board-only options […]
The Roundup is available as a video and on all audio-only podcast services, such as iTunes, Google, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon Music and direct-download: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/retrorgb If you enjoy these videos, please consider supporting this channel via monthly support services, tips, or even just by using our affiliate links to purchase things you were already going to buy […]
Darksoft has opened pre-orders on an arcade multi-kit for the Namco System 2. For this to work, you’ll need a joystick game with a specific graphics board, so definitely check the thread (and list below) for all the details. The price is about $550 and it should ship to customers this September. More info after the […]
Developer Rumbleminze recently released another NES to SNES conversion, this time for the original Castlevania game. Like with Rumbleminze’s previous NES to SNES conversions, this is utilizing FastROM/HiROM to further speed up the data transfer. That, combined with the SNES’ higher sprite limit should reduce (or completely eliminate) sprite flicker and slowdown. This also includes rumble support, […]
I recently did an interview with Randy Linden. While most of us are probably familiar with his work, it was awesome getting the true history of Bleem and the really cool story of how the original SNES Doom port came to light. We talked about quite a few other things and towards the end focused […]
Natalie The Nerd has been archiving information needed to reverse engineer classic Nintendo handhelds and is hosting the information on her wiki for free. This information includes scans of the PCB’s, as well as scans with the protective layer removed and the copper visible. Natalie also has schematics and CPU pinouts for a few of […]
Analogue has just sent out an email to people who pre-ordered the “3D”, stating their FPGA-based, 4K Nintendo 64 will ship in late August. Analogue will be absorbing the tariff costs and no additional charges will be applied to people’s orders. There’s still no footage of it in action, however they’re claiming reviews will be […]
