Category

Retro Gaming

Category
Retro Gaming

Check out the 240p Test Suite

Learned about it in this video from the YouTube Channel My Life in Gaming. Some of their videos are a bit more technical than the general “retro review” style, which is why I started watching.

In their RGB 300 Video Series, they covered a homebrew project called “240p Test Suite.”

This project includes a number of test graphics and patterns to help in adjusting the settings of a modern TV. Even more impressive are the systems it covers:

  • Nintendo Wii
  • NSuper Famicom / SNES
  • Nintendo GameCube
  • Sega Mega Drive (Genesis)
  • Mega CD (Sega CD)
  • Sega Dreamcast
  • PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16) / PCE Duo

Check out this wiki page which lists all the tests and download it for your retro gaming platform.

CD-based systems are pretty easy to run since most of the era didn’t have copy protection. For the cartridge systems, you’ll need something like an EverDrive / SD Card reader for ROMs to make it work.

I’ve got mine on order…

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The Bernoulli Box – Where Physics Met Storage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpqiahBKX7w

Back in the 1990s, a 1.44mb floppy disk was a reasonable storage size for most documents.  For bigger documents or backing up an internal hard drive, other options were necessary. You might remember the Zip Drive, but that wasn’t the first large portable media.

The Bernoulli Box was the precursor to the Zip Drive. It used custom media that could store 10s to 100mbs on portable disks. Well, portable compared to carrying around an entire hard drive. Operating using the Bernoulli principal, the drive’s head never comes in contact with the “floppy” material inside the protective case.

Clint of Lazy Game Reviews takes a look at this cool forgotten drive technology in this video.

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Machine Learning with Super Mario Brothers

Using a learning algorithm known as NEAT, this Super Mario World play through is an example of a machine learning how to beat the level on its own. Using an evolutionary process, a neural network was built–or learned–to complete the level. The name of the program used to control Mario is called… Mar-I/O.

  • N: Neuro
  • E: Evolution of
  • A: Augmenting
  • T: Topologies

The initial play through is fascinating as well as the breakdown of what is going on. Well worth the 5 minutes.

[Update… Ryan in the comments provided this MarI/O version modified to factor in score.]

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