Author Archives: Kay Joon

Forgive me WordPress, for I have sinned…

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… it’s been three months since my last blog post.

Who knew it was actually the difficult sixth post that was so challenging?

As it happens I have 4 or 5 different posts half-written now, not quite happy with any of them and keep drifting onto something else.  Amusingly one of them is about my gaming backlog, and my tendency to only play a bit of a game and then move on.  Always intending to return but rarely ever doing it.  Perhaps I have a wider problem than just with gaming…

There have been some legitimate distractions however, along with busy times at work and the ongoing studying referred to in a previous post, I have even found time to play some games!

I do find it difficult (read impossible) to focus on writing for fun when there are college and workplace deadlines demanding my attention.  Today though I have finished my most recent assignment whilst sitting on the beach, and as I’m here I feel like writing more.

It’s amazing the difference the right setting makes to inspiration.  I should probably do all my writing for college sat on the beach.  Figures I’ll realise that 9 months into a 10 month course…  If I’ve learned anything from my brief blogging experience, it’s that I’m much more able to string words together with a pen and paper, than I am when staring at a word processor.

Anyway, an experiment.  While I have the weather for it, I shall endeavour to finish off my ‘in progress’ posts over the next few weeks, alongside drafting my final college assignment of the year, from my spot on the beach.  The only issue is finding an alternative venue with a similar inspirational level, for when it’s raining!

Console modding for beginners…

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Slight delay getting this up, but I blame Super Bowl weekend for that.

Last week saw a couple of arrivals I’d been waiting for, my first USA N64 games, and a replacement Dreamcast shell very generously donated by Danny (@dog_retro from twitter). Friday night I sat down after dinner, got the tools out and got on with a bit of (mostly) straightforward console modding.

Firstly, swapping the Dreamcast over:

The replacement shell Danny sent to me, even including the modem and a bonus game. 😀

I watched a couple of youtube videos of Dreamcasts being taken apart to aid the process, but if anything they managed to make it look much harder than it actually was!

Looked much worse in life, and had a lot of scratching etc

Whole thing took about half an hour of console modding, really easy, and very pleased with the results.

Secondly, modding my Japanese N64 to play USA carts:

This is fairly straight-forward following the guide here.  I did have a slight misadventure where I misread the instructions and didn’t pay enough attention to the pictures.

  • The physical differences between the two carts, in order to get USA games working on a Japanese system, (and vice-versa) you just have to get them to fit in!
  • the consoles have blocks that align with the cut out bits in the bottom corners of the cart

On my first reading of the instructions, I believed the intention was to just cut out those two blocks.  This would work, but they are very solid, and would require a stronger tool.  I did attempt this first anyway, as you can see:

I then realised (after stopping the bleeding) that in fact the guide just suggests removing a whole chunk of the plastic.  Like so:

Easy with my hacksaw!  Also very satisfying for the little die-hard SEGA fan in me to take a hacksaw to a Nintendo console.  I then reassembled and tested it with my USA copy of Wipeout 64.  Much rejoicing and a successful Friday evening.

  • Ta-da!
  • Yes I know about the aspect ratio, I fixed that before I played. ^^

  Enough console modding for now, on with the gaming!

The continuing saga of my Nintendo 64

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Since my previous post where I ordered myself a Japanese N64, things haven’t quite gone to plan.  The original intention was to mod the console for RGB output.  I had been reading the directions here and growing in confidence that performing this mod was well within my ability.  The required components can all be found very cheaply on eBay.  Being a Japanese console it is also a simple matter to cut the casing so it will also play American games, following the instructions here.

The console arrived quickly enough, and came with Japanese copies of Wave Race and Pilot Wings.  I hooked it all up for testing, and was pleased to discover that people were not exaggerating the speed difference between NTSC and PAL.  The fact that all the Japanese text meant I had no idea what was going on, only emphasised the need to play American games.  The next step I ordered myself a gamebit 4.5mm to open the machine, and a Japanese copy of Mario Kart 64 so I had something to play.  This was mostly in case there was a delay to the modding, and because I was sure I could follow Mario Kart even if it wasn’t in English…

Fortunately, I held off ordering the components of the RGB mod until after the gamebit had arrived and I opened the machine.  When I got the tool I sat down to have a look inside and discovered signs that the console had been opened before.  Pushing forward with a growing sense of unease, I found the board contained the dreaded MAV-NUS video chip.  I had successfully purchased a console that couldn’t be modded for RGB output, making the whole exercise pretty pointless.

I was disappointed, and put the whole thing aside for a few days.  On reflection, I decided that I’d resume the hunt for a decent Nintendo 64 picture in a few months giving my finances a chance to recover.  In the meantime I would get hold of an S-Video lead to make the best of a bad situation.  This is now in place, and the quality is much improved over the RF cable, and quite playable.  Just like my childhood though, the Sega Saturn picture makes the N64 look silly.  I’m hoping I can pick up a pre-modded RGB N64 at Play Blackpool.

I’ve ordered myself a few American games anyway, to start the collection and make the most of the machine.  When they arrive I will be butchering the case as mentioned above.  Amongst the games I ordered is an NTSC copy of Robotron 64, so I can go ahead with my original plan of blogging about that.

Such an effort.  Anyway…

This is my current setup, I added the Daytona and Raiden prints this week, to cheer myself up about the whole chain of events.  The 360 and PS3 are connected via HDMI, the Wii is component, Dreamcast via VGA and then the Saturn and N64 go into a SCART switch box.  I change my mind pretty often, but my current intention is to replace the 360 with an Atari Jaguar and to swap out the Wii for a Wii U once Mario Kart 8 appears.  I’m resisting the Xbone and PS4 at present as my PC is more than good enough for current/next gen gaming, and Steam means I save a fortune on games that way too.  The PS3 justifies itself as a Bluray/Singstar/Lightgun Shooter device.

The difficult second blog post…*

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*I am aware that this could well be the most common title for a second post in blogging history…

I’ve been thinking about this post for a while.  Well, I’ve been thinking broadly about the kinds of things I would like to write about on the blog, and where I might start.  So far the only enlightenment I’ve reached is that I excel at procrastination.  The following occurred when I finally settled on something I definitely wish to write about:

I decided that I would like to write about Robotron 64, and why it holds the position of #1 game on the Nintendo 64 for me.  I managed to convince myself that in order to do that I would need to add an N64 to my humble console collection.  Not just any N64 mind… I already own a PAL copy of Robotron, (presently my only N64 cart) and my flatmate has a PAL console that he would happily let me use.  However it seemed of paramount importance that I don’t settle for heinous composite output, I absolutely must be playing in RGB…

So now I await the arrival of a recently purchased Japanese N64.  When it arrives I shall be modding to also play US games (this is easy) and attempting to mod for RGB output (this is harder, and incredibly likely to end in tears).  Supposing I actually manage to get this to work, I will then need to acquire either an import adapter to play PAL games on the machine, or buy an NTSC copy of Robotron.  All of which needs to happen before I expect to actually write about it.

Maybe I should have found something else to write about.  Maybe.  I am more concerned that this is about me, and that this kind of thing is likely to happen more.  I’m already thinking that I’d be much more motivated to blog if only I had a bluetooth keyboard for my tablet…

This could get expensive quickly.  Oh well, at least I’ll have something clear to write about if I do kill the N64 with my soldering iron.

It’s alive! For now anyway.

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Imagine that, I’ve actually created the blog.  8 months or so since I first said I was going to.  I have at least managed some high quality procrastination in that time though, so there’s that.

Hopefully this is the first of many posts, but it’s perfectly plausible that this will be the one and only entry, in which case hello lost wanderer.  I apologise for contributing to the vast dead internets.

In the unlikely event I do manage to write something else, I have no idea what it’ll be about.  At this point I suspect posts concerning games and books may be forthcoming.  Should I suddenly decide I’m smart enough to be commenting on my weightier interests, then maybe feminism and atheism too.

You have @feelgoodnev to blame for my inspiration to blog at all, and it was he who came up with the title Liberal Joon.  I’ve also joined a few million other people who have started as part of a New Year idea, I did resolve that I would actually do SOME writing this year.  Ultimately though it was the delightful Nintendude Martin Watts who prompted me into action today as he launched his own personal blog.  He also promised to follow mine, so I shall at least have 1 reader.