Digital archaeology

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 3:35 pm

At times I find I am quite fond of the internet. I was hunting around for unrelated Game Boy information when I stumbled across this site: http://www1.interq.or.jp/~t-takeda/top.html

You can see what caught my attention at the very top of the page: working emulators for the Casio PV-1000 and Epoch Super Cassette Vision. NES and Atari emulators are a dime a dozen, but it's tragically rare to see anybody devoting time to reverse engineering such obscure machines as the PV-1000 and SCV, which are as much a part of videogame history as anything else. Not even MESS seems to have any planned support for these antiques.

The emulators are both still in a preliminary phase and none of the game roms seem to have been dumped as of yet (or haven't been made available), but it's an exciting development and kind of a relief to know that somebody cares enough to do this. I'll be keeping my ear to the ground for news and eagerly awaiting my first opportunity to play Dirty Chameleon. (Incidentally, the site also has a working emulator for the PV-2000, the PC version of the PV-1000. It's the same hardware but had different games.)

If I had my choice as to what as-yet unemulated consoles should be tackled next, I would vote for the other Epoch systems, namely the original Cassette Vision and the Game Pocket Computer. I can't die until I know the truth behind Kikori no Yosaku.

CE · Post by CE » Fri Jul 14, 2006 9:48 pm

Right... the Epoch. I've never heard of these systems.

Did any games actually come out for it?

Shadow Hog · Post by **Shadow Hog** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 11:14 pm

GG! gave a few examples (Dirty Chameleon and Kikori no Yosaku, though I can't say which consoles), so I'd say that's a definite yes.

I'll agree, though. Never heard of them, at all. I admit I sometimes go for more obscure games than some people, but not that obscure.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 11:30 pm

The PV-1000 was Casio's only console (unless you count the Loopy) and there were exactly 15 games released for it between '83 and '84. Casio had the foresight to release the thing 3 months after Nintendo released the Famicom so, needless to say, it was quickly blasted out of all recollection.

Epoch was fairly important in the early days despite the fact that they never made it big in the games industry. They released Japan's first game console circa 1975 (a Pong clone called Terebi Tennis) and then started releasing proper programmable consoles in the early 80's (the Cassette Vision line). The first Cassette Vision didn't catch on but apparently the Super Cassette Vision had a bit of a cult following, also in France where it was sold under the Yeno brand. There were about 30 games released for it.

Kikori no Yosaku was evidently a sort of flagship game for the Cassette Vision. All the Japanese sites I've browsed have some message, usually bolded and brightly colored, along the lines of "you must play this game!!!!!" I guess it's good.

The company, incidentally, is still around (the website: http://www.epoch.gr.jp). They look like the Japanese equivalent of Tiger Electronics.

smiths32 · Post by **smiths32** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 1:01 pm

The Super Cassettevision was also the first console ever to have an RGB output. There was also a version of the console designed for girls, and came with a travel case. That Encyclopedia of Game Machines is a pretty informative book.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 2:42 pm

The Super Cassettevision was also the first console ever to have an RGB output.

That I did not know.

See, idn't it about time someone emulates this shit? And the Game Pokecom, which was basically a Game Boy 4 years before Nintendo made the actual Game Boy.

smiths32 · Post by **smiths32** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 6:56 pm

That console wouldn't happen to have any alternative names would it? Or was it only available in Japan? My Encyclopedia doesn't seem to have anything to say about it at all. Tell me more about it.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 7:04 pm

It's a handheld, which I don't think that book covers. I don't know much about it myself except that it's like a primitive Game Boy. It was a hardcore flop and only 5 games were released for it (plus 2 built-in games) and today it is apparently extremely rare and valuable.

There's some pictures and a small bit of info here: http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Epoch/GamePock.htm

Locit · Post by **Locit** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 9:43 pm

Out of curiosity, are any Saturn emulators very far along? Or is the hardware just too stupidly convoluted?

Shadow Hog · Post by **Shadow Hog** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 10:22 pm

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSF_%28emulator%29">Yes</a>. SSF runs quite a few games full-speed for me, with some quirks here and there (BUG! has a glitchy BG, NiGHTS and Jam are a bit slower than usual, Daytona USA's sound is incredibly quiet albeit definitely present).

But then, I have an AMD Athlon X2 3800+, so I can't verify how others would fare. Ran Clockwork Knight 2, Sonic 3D and Dracula X pretty well, and I recall Ritz saying somewhere that he was running Radiant Silvergun in it at very acceptable framerates, too.

Ritz · Post by **Ritz** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 11:34 pm

I was probably talking about Cassini, 'cause SSF runs Radiant at about 30 FPS for me. Same deal with every other game I've played on it, sans Bug. Games look and run so much better for me on Cassini, but every other emulation-savvy person I know swears by SSF, so it's safe to assume that my computer simply isn't up to snuff.

So yeah, you'd probably be better off with SSF if you've got a hardcore rig, as it emulates more than any other emulator currently available. If not, Cassini is still a respectable alternative, and from what I've seen, it's farther along graphically than SSF (Visuals are noticably smoother, especially with 3D games). The project is more or less dead at this point, though; there hasn't been an update in months, and one of the main devs acquired a brain tumor some time ago and hasn't spoken since.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 12:38 am

Will burned Saturn discs play on an actual console without modification?

Ritz · Post by **Ritz** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 1:12 am

I'm pretty sure they won't. Saturn modchips are dirt-cheap, though.

SDHawk · Post by **SDHawk** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 4:03 am

They can with the infamous swap trick (unless you count putting a piece of tape inside the saturn a modification), but it'll slowly kill the cd drive and takes several tries to get the timing right.