Before messing with the Timekeeper chip or exchanging the battery, it is very important to back up game saves you don’t want to lose from the NVRAM. With a null-modem cable hooked up to a PC, there are two options to communicate with the CD-i player:
To build a cable, we need a standard serial extension cable and a male 8-pin Mini-DIN connector. Remove the male D-Sub connector and keep it for later (we will need it for the Atari Jaguar mouse adapter).
When looking for a modification to improve the video size/quality of DVC games on my PAL CD-i player, I’ve found that only two tutorials are covering that kind of modification (here / here and here). The modification enables a PAL player to display full screen video without the black bars on top and bottom. NTSC players benefit from this modification too, as there are PAL exclusive software titles that already have full screen video (e.g. De Zaak van Sam) – without the modification, parts of the screen are cut off.
Unfortunately, the mainboard of my CD-i 220 differs from those used in the tutorials, so I had to get a service manual to figure it out myself. The service manual I found is valid for the Philips CD-i players CDI 220/20 220/25 220/39 (PAL) and CDI 220/31 220/37 (NTSC). It says there is an unimplemented switch 1201 in square C6 of the mainboard:
Elansar is a new game for Atari Jaguar. It was released on other platforms before and got ported to the Atari Jaguar 4MB cartridge format. Luckily I’ve got one out of 75 copies. It came enclosed in an universal game case (ironically all kinds of retro cartridges fit well, except Atari Jaguar’s…) with a small manual booklet and a sticker:
To have a full control experience I’m going to build the mouse adapter by Matthias Domin as soon as a new D-Sub15 connector (VGA) arrives. Unfortunately all spare connectors I’ve got have one or more important pins missing.
Today the brand new Neo Geo X Classics Vol. 1 was in the mail. It contains the games Metal Slug 2, Sengoku and Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy on a special SD card.
Also included are the Rocket Cable for charging and upgrading the handheld, firmware v500 (on the SD card) and two manuals (two pages each):
Today I got a sealed new in box relict from an era where Microsoft made great gaming peripherals for computers. It’s the SideWinder Strategic Commander:
Yesterday I got two huge accessories for the Wii (see the Wii game on the right for a size comparison; only 3 of the 9 dance mat segments are shown in the picture):
Some new/old stuff that was in the mail this week:
SEGA Rally Online Arcade and the Microsoft Wireless Speed Wheel. For some unknown reason this game is not available for download at my Xbox Marketplace. It’s included as pack-in with the Wireless Speed Wheel only. Because the outer box was missing it was a real bargain buy – both items are brand new. The Speed Wheel can be seen as a cross-breed between the excellent Wireless Racing Wheel and a regular game pad. Most game think it’s just a game pad and behave accordingly – controlling the cars is almost impossible (e.g. Forza Horizon). But games that were designed to use either wheel play surprisingly well (e.g. Forza 4).
The first one is a small piece of plastic, known as AGB-016 or 6PIN Protection Cover.It is still being sold in the Nintendo Online ShopUpdate: It was sold in the Nintendo Online Shop until 2014. The page can still be accessed with the WayBack Machine. It protects the Game Boy Advance SP screen when an e-Reader+ or an e-Reader with a link cable port is plugged in. Actually, it is a very useful little accessory with the only drawback that it has to be fixed permanently on the e-Reader. The e-Reader then won’t fit anymore in the original Game Boy Advance.
