RoXolidProductions

In this episode, we test out and review the RetroTINK 4Kvideo upscaler, designed to improve the look of component, composite, s-video, VGA, RGB SCART, and HDMI inputs to see if it is the ultimate retro gaming upgrade. Order a RetroTINK 4k At https://www.retrotink.com/product-page/retrotink-4k To say I have been a huge fan of the RetroTINK line of products since I first tried the RetroTINK 2x would be an understatement. It took what I loved about my original retro systems, things like the Super Nintendo, Famicom Disk System, and N64, and line multiplied them to 480p and gave me an HDMI output. I loved the results and didn't think that they could get any better. And then they did with the RetroTINK 2X Pro, Multi-Format, and eventually the RetroTINK 5X. Never one to rest on his laurels, Mike Chi from RetroTINK has been hard at work to improve upon even the excellent 5X. The results? The RetroTINK 4K. Let's take a closer look at this magical machine. Out of the box, you get the RetroTINK 4K, a standard-size SD card, a USB SD card adapter, and a remote control. The remote is a nice improvement over the original RetroTINK 5X remote, and my understanding is this is the remote that the 5X will be coming with moving forward as well. It features input, output, profile, and resolution buttons on the face just to name a few. It needs two AAA batteries, not included, but overall this is a very nice addition to the platform. Slightly larger than the RetroTINK 5X by about 20% I would say, one of the things that I did was 3D print out a vertical stand from Todd at RetroFrog. He actually had me help him with some of the early prototyping and I provided him feedback on tweaks before he actually got a RetroTINK 4K of his own. This is a very well-designed base and will definitely help keep your setup cleaner and neater. I went back and forth and how I wanted to connect my systems to the 4K. I could disconnect my RetroTINK 5X and put the inputs into the 4K and call it a day. If I did that I would have to go through my HDMI switcher, and at that point I wouldn't have 4K, 60Hz output. The more I thought about it, I decided to connect the RetroTINK 4K to the output of my HDMI switcher and leave my RetroTINK 5X in place. This way I didn't have to redo a bunch of profiles from the 5X on the 4K, and also ended up gaining extra inputs if I ever needed them on the 4K. When it came time to test, I threw just about every system I own at this thing. From component, composite, and HDMI. The only thing I didn't test was S-Video and that's because I don't have any S-Video connections currently for anything. I did however even test RGB SCART coming out of the Sega Master System, JVC X'EYE, Super Famicom Jr, and the Dreamcast thanks to the Bahar Bros Mamba RGB SCART cable. It handled each and every one of these connections beautifully. When I got into more recent systems, systems that natively output HDMI, I really noticed a huge difference. For me, the RetroTINK 5X does such an amazing job that for day-to-day gameplay that's still probably going to be my device of choice. But playing games through the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and the Nintendo Switch upscaled to 4K made these systems absolutely come to life for me. I loved how bright and vibrant all the colors were, the depth of field in the images, and the overall quality of the results that I got. I think that's where this makes the biggest difference for me, the old systems definitely look great, but the newer ones get that extra punch of quality that really sets them apart. Why it RoX: - Beautiful video quality - So many inputs! - Wonderful upgrade for the remote control - Firmware upgradable, and for free - On-board profiles for different systems - Can be used in conjunction with other scalers What could be improved: - Preloaded profiles not compatible with HDMI input - Expensive - My RetroTINK 4K door is very loose Should you buy one? I don't say this lightly, the RetroTINK 4K is a definite investment. If your goal is to get the best image quality possible on a modern, flat-panel display, this is the way to go. It allows you to utilize original hardware and generate visuals that were previously unthinkable. There's only so much you can do with certain signal types, I'm looking at you composite video, but it has an impact and improves every signal that goes through it. The fact that you now have an HDMI input expands the reach even further to even newer systems. It's an expensive investment, sure, but if it's in your budget you won't find a better performer on the market. #RetroTink #VideoGames #4K #Nintendo #Sega #Xbox #HDMI #RetroTInk4k Check out all of our 3D Printed items by visiting https://roxolid-productions.weeblysite.com/

Originally posted on 2/10/24 to YouTube. I wasn't aware that the Rumble Sync wasn't working. In this episode, I share a life-changing event that, I don't know how I will get through because I am absolutely devastated and need this amazing community's help. In September 2023, I made the very scary choice to leave the company I was at and join forces with a friend at their company. I was excited, rejuvenated, and motivated to kick butt and take names. That was 6 months ago the day this video goes live. Unfortunately for me and my family, I was informed 2 days ago that my position had been eliminated and I was being let go. For the first time in my life, I was looking at not having a full-time job to provide for my family. I've never, ever been in this situation previously, and as such, I'm freaking out, terrified, and overall rocked to my core. I know many people had thought that RoXolid Productions was my full-time job. It hasn't been, not to-date at least, but it is something that we may have to look into making a reality. This is where I need your help, and it isn't overstating the case to say that you can change my family for the better. We have almost 25,000 subscribers at this point, and I am beyond thankful and appreciative of each and every one of you for watching, sharing, commenting, liking, and otherwise supporting my channel. I understand the economy is terrible right now, we're in an election year and people hold on to their wallets, and overall things are thought everywhere. But with 25K subscribers, if just a fraction joined us as a YouTube Channel Member or supported us via Patreon, then I never have to work for anyone else ever again! I've always tried to keep the cost of support low, it's only $1.50 to become a channel member and only $1 on Patreon! Like legit, if this community can come together to help us out here, and invest in what we are doing here, it could be life-changing! I know many will ask "Ok, fine, you have channel memberships, but what are you doing to help yourself?". Good question. Since this happened 72 hours ago I've sent out over 150 resumes to various companies, both local and providing off-site work. I've reached out to former colleagues to see if there are any opportunities there to explore as well. I've launched a new sale on my 3D Printer accessory storefront, bringing items down the the lowest prices I've ever offered them. I'm trying, I'm doing everything I can, and it's not even the start of the week. Check out all of our 3D Printed items by visiting https://roxolid-productions.weeblysite.com/ Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCznAOWQLsiCAMNRq9fzQJpw/join Get early access to our videos and support RoXolid Productions for as low as a dollar a month through our Patreon page, https://www.patreon.com/RoXolid Looking for some RoXolid Merch? Check out our T-Spring store for shirts and swag at https://teespring.com/roxolid-productions-official-s

In this episode, we unbox & test out the GameSir G8 Galileo smartphone controller adapter & see if it is a PlayStation Portal Killer. There's been a lot of talk lately about cloud gaming on mobile thanks to things like the PlayStation Portal. While many will agree that that was not executed to the best it could have been, it did show the industry's desire to shift into being able to play console quality games on the go, Just like the Nintendo Switch. The thing about that, however, is most of us have a device in our pockets that are as powerful, if not more so, then the Portal or even the Nintendo Switch in our smartphones. That's what GameSir is banking on with their new G8 Galileo smartphone grip. Designed to give you a tactile input while you play on the go, could this be a better PlayStation Portal? The G8 has a number of interesting features to it. First & foremost the color scheme reminds me 100% of the Super Nintendo controller, & I love that. You have A, B, X, & Y face buttons, both an analog stick & d-pad on the left hand side of the grip, & a second one on the right hand side. And those analog sticks are not just any old analog sticks, they are actually Hall effects sensors. That means concerns about drift should be negligible. GameSir also includes a number of additional sticks for you to swap out depending on what your personal preference is, & thanks to a magnetic faceplate, this couldn't be easier. To accommodate smartphones of different sizes, the USB-C port that interfaces with the phone itself is on a hinge to adjust for different heights. The grip also is spring loaded to expand to hold a variety of different phones. I tried both my Google Pixel 6 Pro & my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra & both fit perfectly. I downloaded the PlayStation cloud app from the Google Play store & got the testing. My theory about the poor performance on the PlayStation Portal was that it was less device related & more service-related as I have had issues with remote play in my home for my PlayStation 4 to my PlayStation 5. I was hoping that the G8 would confirm that one way or another. First up was Gran Turismo 7, & pretty early on we started to get some buffering issues on the service. It cleared up eventually, & I was able to run some races fairly successfully. The button presses felt great, the triggers were very smooth even though they lacked the haptic feedback of the Portal or the DualSense controller. One other thing missing was rumble. The next game I threw at it was Spider-Man, & this one saw not graphical issues but some lag & latency issues. GameSir does provide an app where you can go in & adjust the deadband on the buttons & sticks, & I think I'm going to have to do that as there were times when I was trying to web sling & it just wasn't as responsive as I would have liked. If I push the triggers down more it worked, so I think adjusting the deadband will fix that. Next up I decided to test a native Android game, the original Sonic the Hedgehog. This played fantastically, both the d-pad & the analog sticks were terrific, & button presses were spot on. This again to me hammers home that with a game loaded directly onto my phone there were no lag & latency issues, where while playing through the PlayStation service there definitely were. For my final test I decided to try out some cloud Gaming on my Xbox Game Pass. I actually had very high hopes for this as Microsoft has really made their online platforms a priority for over a decade. One of the games that I am most sensitive to lag & latency on is MLB The Show due to the pitching meter that I utilize. I will say they're absolutely zero issues here, it was super crisp & responsive, & absolutely blew PlayStation out of the water! Why it RoX: - Less than half the cost of a Portal - Hall effect sensor joysticks - Great performance - Expandable to accommodate a large number of phones - USB-C for power - Compatible with native Android games, along with PlayStation & Xbox cloud gaming - Great color scheme What could be improved: - No rumble support - Did not connect to my Cellaro 5G - Cannot fix Sony's terrible cloud service - Convex & concave buttons would be really nice Should you buy one? I absolutely love the value & performance that GameSir has delivered here. You get a truly excellent platform that you can utilize on your existing smartphone. Without a phone installed, the G8 is fairly compact & easy to transport, & it can be conveniently tossed in a backpack or bag. If your focus is on the PlayStation side of Cloud Gaming, their services are just not ready for prime time, even with 1 gigabit internet service. Xbox & native Android games, however, work beautifully. I think this is a very well put together controller, & if mobile gaming is important to you this should be at the top of your list. #GameSir #G8 #HandheldGaming #ShortsIRL #PlayStation #GamePass #Xbox

In this video, we react to and analyze Microsoft's February 2024 Podcast where they confirm plans to take some Xbox titles 3rd Party. Oh my goodness they're finally doing it! Microsoft is going third-party! Well not really. In early 2024 it was leaked that Microsoft was going to be bringing their games to other platforms, and people were wondering if this meant Xbox games such as Gears of War, Halo, and others were going to come to PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch. During the Updates on the Xbox Business | Official Xbox Podcast, we got more information regarding what the plans were, so let's take a deeper look. What Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond and Matt Booty Discussed: It is somewhat true that Xbox IS going partially 3rd party, but it's not an exclusive 3rd Party, Microsoft isn't ending the hardware production of Xbox consoles. What they are doing is releasing a very limited number of games, 4 to be exact, on 3rd party hardware. What they look to be doing is bringing older, non-tentpole titles to other platforms. These appear, or at least sound like (because they weren't revealed) to be games that were not AAA titles. I would say I expect them to be similar to, say, Minecraft, Roblox, and Rocket League. One of the things that they mentioned, and I think is a true strength of Xbox, has been the philosophy that you can access your content regardless of where and when you bought it. That means that you can purchase your content once, and access it across multiple consoles. So if you bought something on the Xbox 360, if it's compatible, you get to access it on newer systems such as the Xbox One, One S, One X, or Series S and Series X. What isn't happening: Game Pass isn't coming to other systems, that's something that Microsoft confirmed directly. That is something they are planning on keeping platform-specific to Xbox consoles and Xbox on PC. As such, this is something that again they are simply providing additional options to the players to be able to enjoy cross-play functionality. Speaking of cross-play, that is one thing that they focused on as well. The goal is to allow people to play where they want when they want, and how they want. They plan on making sure that you can start on one platform and continue from your previous save states and statuses. Theoretically, this means you can start a game on the Xbox, continue it on your PC, and finish on either your Nintendo Switch or PlayStation 5. Overall, the concept sounds like it could be fairly seamless, and really user-friendly. When is it coming: We don't know yet. Microsoft and the Xbox team didn't elaborate on when we could expect this to see the light of day, however, I would expect it to arrive before the summer of 2024 is a wrap. What will we get? So this is just my hunch, but I am betting we will see Rare Replay, a Forza game, a Halo Game, and Hi-Fi Rush. What we won't be getting: Supposedly we're not getting Starfield or Indiana Jones on cross-platform play. That's a bit of a bummer, but understandable. What do you think? Are you excited for this? What do you hope we'll see? Let me know in the comments. #Xbox #Gamepass #XboxHardware #Microsoft https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107 Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include— (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. (Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2546; Pub. L. 101–650, title VI, § 607, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5132; Pub. L. 102–492, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 3145.)

In this episode, we unbox and test out what may be the ultimate budget-friendly grip for the Nintendo Switch and Switch OLED, the clutch from KMD. In a lot of ways, the Switch has followed in the path of the Nintendo Wii, not only with its success but with the number of third-party accessories for the system. Whether we are talking about screen protectors, cases, or controllers, there are a lot of options for the Nintendo Switch. KMD Gaming manufactures some great accessories that are also extremely budget-friendly. They now have a Joy-Con replacement grip called the Clutch, available in two different colors, and it looks to change the game when it comes to value and performance. Unlike other Troy can replacements, the clutch is basically one solid unit. Sure, there's a left and a right Joy-Conas they were, but they are joined along the back by a center spline. This also incorporates a couple of other interesting features. You can store four different cartridges in openings along the top of the unit, it features rumble, LED backlighting, motion controls, and Bluetooth. That's right, the clutch does not rely upon a physical connection to your switch to communicate, it all happens wirelessly. The clutch is designed to be compatible with either the Nintendo Switch or the Switch OLED. There is a locking mechanism towards the rear top section of the case which adapts to either system quite well. There's also a piece of slip-resistant foam padding along the back. Some may be concerned that this foam padding may increase the amount of heat radiated back into the console, but I never found any problems. Pairing to both my Nintendo Switch and Switch OLED was a snap. Once paired I dove into gameplay beginning with Super Mario Bros Wonder. From the word go everything felt fantastic on here. The button presses were responsive, both the analog stick in the d-pad worked great, and the shoulder buttons operated as you would expect as well. For a basic platformer, it was close to perfect. One of my tests for any controller is Street Fighter 2 as I can feel the lag and latency inherent in any controller fairly easily. It also allows me to adequately test both the analog stick and the d-pad. I was initially a bit bummed to see that the analog sticks were not Hall effect sensors, the performance of both the d-pad and the analog stick was nothing short of fantastic. I was able to pull off all of Ryu's moves, the spinning sidekick, the Hadouken, and the shoyruken nearly every time I input in the right commands. This was great! Why it RoX: - Budget-friendly - Two different colors - LED backlights - Fantastic performance - Storage for four different cartridges - Compatible with both the Switch and the Switch OLED - Fairly comfortable What could be improved: - Does not provide power to the Switch - No Amiibo support - Analog sticks are not Hall Effect sensors - Placement of cartridge storage slots makes removing cartridges difficult Should you buy one? When it comes to this style of controller, the Hori Split Pad Pro tends to be the first recommendation anyone makes. I have to tell you in practically every way I believe the clutch is vastly superior to the Split Pad Pro, and here's why. First and foremost, it has rumble! That's a feature missing from the split pad. I believe the ergonomics are vastly improved on the Clutch compared to the Split Pad which feels much too large in my hands. Having the joiner between the left and the right controller on the Clutch also eliminates the Joy-Con Flex that the Split Pad, and quite frankly any other Joy-Cons I've tested, can introduce. You can also use this as its own Pro Controller, where there is no onboard battery with the Split Pad. Oh, the Clutch is also less expensive. This is another excellent accessory from KMD that checks many boxes, has very few misses, and is reasonably priced. I highly recommend the KMD clutch controller if you are looking for this style of gaming grip. #NintendoSwitch #switchaccessories #KMDGaming #nintendo #SplitPad #SwitchOLED

Out of the box, it includes the dock itself, a USB-A to USB-C cable (which is vitally important and we will cover more on in a bit), and a puck-shaped remote control. Instead of an instruction manual, a card is included with a QR code for you to scan for the instruction manual. Unfortunately, this doesn't take you to the manual, it takes you to the product page, something I wish they would tweak and take you right to the manual. If I already have the product do I really need the product page versus the document I'm actually looking for? The materials feel of good quality, and there are several LED lights around the doctor to indicate what's going on. It seems they've branded this with X's and O's, with a white LED backlit x and o on the face of the dock itself, and a two-tone colored x and o on the top of the unit. A button is located on the back left of the dock as you are looking at the front of it, with multicolored LEDs behind it. Press this button to manually change what cartridge you are accessing, and the LED also changes colors to let you know which cartridge you are on. The Unitek Switch dock includes three USB-A ports, an HDMI port, and an ethernet connection so you can hardwire the dock to your router. on both sides of the unit, there is a female USB-C port. One with a battery icon, the other one that says PD 3.0. You will need to utilize both of these. Plug in your power supply, I highly recommend sticking with the OEM Nintendo power supply, into the PD 3.0 port. From here, connect the USB-C from the included pigtail into the battery side and plug the USB-A into one of the ports on the back of the dock. You must connect things like this to provide both power and enable docked mode for your Switch. If you do not, the Switcher will work but it will not connect to the TV or if you connect power to the opposite side you can connect to the TV but the Switcher will not work. Upon connecting to my capture card, I will be honest I did not notice any difference in the video quality compared to my OEM Nintendo Switch dock, and I am talking the original Nintendo Switch dock. That's a good thing as you would hope that there would be little if any difference between the two. Games looked good, they played crisply, and I did not feel any additional lag or delay. I started my gameplay test with Kaze and the Wild Masks, a game that Jay over at @YTSquarePegs recommended. When I was done I was able to simply hit the button in the center of the remote to go to New Super Mario Bros deluxe, and I had the exact same experience. It just worked. I toggled through and played some Crash Bandicoot, finally ending up with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cowabunga Collection, and everything worked great. My final test was Street Fighter. I was easily able to pull off the spinning side kick & hadouken, but at least in my very first play that I captured I did not pull off the dragon uppercut. Part of it was DeeJay was just kicking my rear end and I was playing more defense than offense. I played more later and was able to pull off all the moves without a problem. Why it RoX: - Amazing combination of features - Very slim and portable - Features three USB ports and a networking connection - Allows you to store up to five Nintendo Switch games - Remote control works wonderfully - HDMI 2.0 video output standard - Eliminates concerns for scratching of your Switch display when inserting or removing into a dock What could be improved: - The instructions do not indicate that you need to plug in the USB-A to USB-C cable - The LED for the cartridge selector is completely blocked by the system - Having the front LEDs change colors instead would be more beneficial - More cartridge slots would be awesome - More color options would be great - Leaves the display exposed to collect dust. Should you buy one? First and foremost I know there's going to be someone in the comments that's going to say never use a third party dock because it's going to break your Switch. Listen, that's referencing something that occurred almost 7 years ago at this point, and the issue was drilled down, for the most part, to AC power supplies that were out of spec. I spent a lot of time talking with electrical engineers who build these things for a living and multiple engineers said the same thing. If you use the OEM Nintendo Switch AC adapter and you should be fine in most cases. That being said... This thing is flipping awesome! It condenses everything down into a much smaller package than having the clip-on cartridge adapter and a separate Nintendo Switch dock. Overall functionality is absolutely wonderful, and the things I would like to improve are minor. If you are in the market for an extra or portable Switch dock, this needs to be at the very top of your list. Kudos to Unitek for making an absolutely wonderful piece of tech that will have a permanent home under my TV.

In this episode, we unbox & test out the GameSir G8 Galileo smartphone controller adapter & see if it is a PlayStation Portal Killer. There's been a lot of talk lately about cloud gaming on mobile thanks to things like the PlayStation Portal. While many will agree that that was not executed to the best it could have been, it did show the industry's desire to shift into being able to play console quality games on the go, Just like the Nintendo Switch. The thing about that, however, is most of us have a device in our pockets that are as powerful, if not more so, then the Portal or even the Nintendo Switch in our smartphones. That's what GameSir is banking on with their new G8 Galileo smartphone grip. Designed to give you a tactile input while you play on the go, could this be a better PlayStation Portal? The G8 has a number of interesting features to it. First & foremost the color scheme reminds me 100% of the Super Nintendo controller, & I love that. You have A, B, X, & Y face buttons, both an analog stick & d-pad on the left hand side of the grip, & a second one on the right hand side. And those analog sticks are not just any old analog sticks, they are actually Hall effects sensors. That means concerns about drift should be negligible. GameSir also includes a number of additional sticks for you to swap out depending on what your personal preference is, & thanks to a magnetic faceplate, this couldn't be easier. To accommodate smartphones of different sizes, the USB-C port that interfaces with the phone itself is on a hinge to adjust for different heights. The grip also is spring loaded to expand to hold a variety of different phones. I tried both my Google Pixel 6 Pro & my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra & both fit perfectly. I downloaded the PlayStation cloud app from the Google Play store & got the testing. My theory about the poor performance on the PlayStation Portal was that it was less device related & more service-related as I have had issues with remote play in my home for my PlayStation 4 to my PlayStation 5. I was hoping that the G8 would confirm that one way or another. First up was Gran Turismo 7, & pretty early on we started to get some buffering issues on the service. It cleared up eventually, & I was able to run some races fairly successfully. The button presses felt great, the triggers were very smooth even though they lacked the haptic feedback of the Portal or the DualSense controller. One other thing missing was rumble. The next game I threw at it was Spider-Man, & this one saw not graphical issues but some lag & latency issues. GameSir does provide an app where you can go in & adjust the deadband on the buttons & sticks, & I think I'm going to have to do that as there were times when I was trying to web sling & it just wasn't as responsive as I would have liked. If I push the triggers down more it worked, so I think adjusting the deadband will fix that. Next up I decided to test a native Android game, the original Sonic the Hedgehog. This played fantastically, both the d-pad & the analog sticks were terrific, & button presses were spot on. This again to me hammers home that with a game loaded directly onto my phone there were no lag & latency issues, where while playing through the PlayStation service there definitely were. For my final test I decided to try out some cloud Gaming on my Xbox Game Pass. I actually had very high hopes for this as Microsoft has really made their online platforms a priority for over a decade. One of the games that I am most sensitive to lag & latency on is MLB The Show due to the pitching meter that I utilize. I will say they're absolutely zero issues here, it was super crisp & responsive, & absolutely blew PlayStation out of the water! Why it RoX: - Less than half the cost of a Portal - Hall effect sensor joysticks - Great performance - Expandable to accommodate a large number of phones - USB-C for power - Compatible with native Android games, along with PlayStation & Xbox cloud gaming - Great color scheme What could be improved: - No rumble support - Did not connect to my Cellaro 5G - Cannot fix Sony's terrible cloud service - Convex & concave buttons would be really nice Should you buy one? I absolutely love the value & performance that GameSir has delivered here. You get a truly excellent platform that you can utilize on your existing smartphone. Without a phone installed, the G8 is fairly compact & easy to transport, & it can be conveniently tossed in a backpack or bag. If your focus is on the PlayStation side of Cloud Gaming, their services are just not ready for prime time, even with 1 gigabit internet service. Xbox & native Android games, however, work beautifully. I think this is a very well put together controller, & if mobile gaming is important to you this should be at the top of your list. #GameSir #G8 #HandheldGaming #ShortsIRL #PlayStation #GamePass #Xbox

In this episode, we unbox and test out the Atari 2600+, an updated version of the classic system, and see if Atari is Truly Back. For many gamers of a certain age, old farts like me, we started in the video game world with the Atari 2600. While other home consoles had been around for a few years before its release, the 2600 really elevated things to a different level. You didn't play video games, you played Atari. The terms had become ubiquitous, just like facial tissue and Kleenex. As time went on, however, the video game crash of 1983 did in this once great system. As time has gone on, the Atari 2600 has found a very loyal following in the retro gaming scene. Atari, having changed hands several times since the early '80s, has seen a resurgence in recent years with systems such as the VCS. Their latest home console release, the 2600+, looks to take what everybody loved about the original Atari 2600, add some modern features to it, and release what they feel is the definitive version of the console. The design team at Atari nailed the aesthetics of the 2600+. Absolutely nailed it. This has all the looks and feelings of the original, I'll be it about 20% smaller. The signature wood grain veneer on the face is here, and it still looks fantastic. One update has been made to the Atari logo on the face which now has an LED behind it to indicate when the system is powered on. Perhaps the biggest improvement of the system is the addition of an HDMI port. This allows you to get clean, crisp images from the system to your modern flat-panel television. This is a welcome addition and something I was excited to see. The system comes packed in with one CX40 controller, and a 10-in-1 multi-cartridge. The controller itself feels absolutely authentic, even though it is a bit stiff compared to what I remember from back in the '80s. The multicart includes an interesting mix of games. Instead of relying on an on-screen menu to load different titles, Atari opted to utilize dip switches on the back of the cartridge to indicate what game would load. Or a couple of times when I got confused about what switch position I needed to be in, but I eventually got it figured out. Connecting everything up and getting it powered was super easy. I really appreciate the fact that Atari opted to go with USBC for power and not micro USB. I plugged in my HDMI cable, power cable, and controller, and inserted The included cartridge to get playing. First and foremost, The Atari 2600 + does not play cartridges natively. Much like the Hyperkin Retron 77, the Atari 2600 + dumps the game from the cartridge into local onboard memory and that is what gets played. It should be less of an issue on a machine such as this compared to newer machines as these games could not save your progress. These ROM dumping sorts of systems can have issues when you try to save back to a cartridge. Looking at the images on my TV I couldn't help but think man this thing looks crisp! Granted, the Atari 2600 graphics are pretty simplistic, but everything looked really really good. Much like the visuals, the audio is also something fairly basic, but everything seemed to be recreated accurately here. I have no complaints regarding pallets, audio quality, or anything along those lines. Games compatibility was also excellent. In fact, there was a game that I tried to play on the Retron 77 that would not that now played successfully on the Atari 2600 +, that being Star Wars Return of the Jedi Death Star Battle. I could not get it to work no matter what on my Retron 77, but it fired right up here on the Atari 2600. That's great to see. I also love the fact that the Atari 2600 Plus is compatible with the Atari 7800 library of games. I don't have much experience with those, but the one in my possession, Galaga, played beautifully. Why it RoX: - Plays actual cartridges - High games compatibility - HDMI output - USB-C for power - Period Accurate joystick included - Compatible with 2600 and 7800 cartridges - That beautiful wood grain What could be improved: - I'd prefer to see it at $99 - Joystick a little stiff out of the box - I just don't have the nostalgia for the 2600 that I do for a Nintendo systems Should you buy one? This is probably the best Atari 2600 clone I've ever tried, but that field is fairly small. I thought load times were decent, game compatibility was great, and the overall experience was fantastic. The visuals on a modern flat-panel TV were exactly what I expected, but granted the 2600 graphics were fairly simplistic. I don't know how much use this will get moving forward, but I'm glad to have it in my collection because now I truly have a viable option to play Atari 2600 games in HD. #Atari #Atari2600 #VideoGames #PacMan

In this episode, we unbox and test out the PlayStation Portal handheld accessory for the PlayStation 5 from Sony. Key Specs: Display Size: 8in LCD Resolution: 1080P Refresh Rate: 60HZ Bluetooth: No WiFi Compatibility: WiFi 5 2.4GHz & 5GHz Battery: 4370mAh Much like how every company seemed to be going after the Nintendo Wii in that generation of hardware, this generation it seems like everybody is trying to capture the lightning in a bottle that the Nintendo Switch has done.For years people have been expecting a follow-up to the PlayStation Vita from Sony, and in the summer of 2023, they announced a new handheld. Well not really. What they released was a streaming device compatible with the PlayStation 5 called the PlayStation Portal. The overall look and design of the PlayStation Portal feels slapdash and a half-ass. It looks as though Sony took a DualSense controller, cut it in half, added an 8-in 1080p display, and called it a day. The Portal has no onboard storage of its own, it cannot play any games natively on itself and requires an always-on internet connection. A Vita 2 this is not. For $200 you get the system, a USB-C cable, and an instruction slip sheet. There's no case included, no screen protector, nothing. After opening & testing the PlayStation DualSense edge controller I was really expecting a case with this, however, Sony definitely cheaped out here. Going from the box to playing was a painful experience from a time standpoint. It took me over half an hour to download and install all of the day one, or latest day, patches and firmware upgrades for the system. That was crazy, & I have fiber internet. Once all the updates were installed I was ready to go ahead and sign into the system which was fairly easy to do. It became clearly evident to me quickly was that this is designed for people who have a PlayStation Plus membership. The emphasis on digital gaming is transparent here. I don't own many digital-only games on the PlayStation any longer as those purchases have not always come forward from generation of console to generation of console. The first game I tested was AEW Fight Forever. Upon loading the game I instantly noticed that the frame rate just seemed off. It didn't feel like it was laggy or that there was a whole lot of latency to it, it just didn't look right, it didn't feel right. That being said I was able to have a couple of successful matches without any issue. From here, I moved on to several other games I own on my system. Gran Turismo 7 ran beautifully on the system, to be honest with you. I never had any connection issues, I never had really any issues at all. While only a 1080p display, I have to admit the colors looked gorgeous, it was vibrant, and I half wonder if the issues I ran into on Fight Forever warrant inherent to the game versus anything to do with the system. I did spend some time playing the original Spider-Man, and that also looked and played beautifully. I was able to zoom around the skies of New York without any issue, button presses felt good, this was not the hellish experience I'd heard others had had. To finish my testing I took the Portal to the office and connected it via my cellular hotspot. I do have 5G ultra-wideband service at the office and found that I could connect to my phone without any major issues. I fired up Ratchet and Clank a Rift Apart for this test, and while there were a few times I got the warning that my network connectivity was slow it never disconnected during gameplay. As Sony has done for generations, there is no support for standard Bluetooth headphones. They want you to buy THEIR earbuds, and that's really anti-consumer. I hope that someone comes out with an adapter at some point, and I may look into other unofficial solutions down the road. Why it RoX: - PlayStation 5 gameplay on the go - Beautiful display - Rumble is awesome - Works great with digital titles What could be improved - No native gameplay options - Requires constant internet connection - If you want to play a disc-based game you really have to plan ahead - No included screen protector, case, or AC adapter - Not compatible with Bluetooth Headphones Should you buy one? I have to admit I was more impressed with the Portal than I thought that I would be. I actually enjoyed my time playing this and I can see it possibly getting more gameplay. The thing is I no longer have my PlayStation Plus subscription, Sony priced me out of the market. As such and as someone who doesn't have the opportunity to play games on the go, the use case for me is rather low. I also did not appreciate the fact that Sony did not include a case, screen protector, or AC adapter, and their lack of Bluetooth support sucks. I will say that I did not experience the game-breaking delay and the lag feared, so that makes me hopeful that Sony has addressed this in recent firmware updates. At $200 I see this as a novelty, one that is easy to pass up. #PlayStation #Portal #VideoGames

In this episode, we unbox and test out the Hyperkin Retron 3 AV, designed to allow you to play original Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Super Famicom, Genesis, and Mega Drive cartridges. There are a core group of retro video game enthusiasts that absolutely love the '80s and '90s era of video games. From the systems, the games themselves, and even how you play them. Many consider me to be a heretic as I do not like playing on CRTs, but for some that is a key component to the overall gameplay experience. For years, Hyperkin has released a number of different systems to allow you to play your old cartridges on new hardware, and they sent us one of their recently revamped Retron 3 AV to check out. The system is equipped with three different cartridge ports that are directly compatible with five different system's cartridges. There's an NES port, a Genesis or Mega Drive cartridge port, and a Super Nintendo or Super Famicom port. Of note is the fact that, while there is a region selection switch on the back of the unit, it is only for the Genesis side of the system and only switches between NTSC-J and NTSC-U. There is no NTSC to PAL switch. The face of the unit features six total controller ports, two each for the NES, Genesis, and Super Nintendo. They all felt decent & did not grab the controller plugs too tightly. Hyperkin included two controllers with the system, a Super Nintendo-themed Scout controller and a six-button Sega Genesis-inspired SN6 controller. They used to call that controller the Squire, I wonder if they lost the trademark. There is no NES controller included, however, they did include an NES to Super NES controller adapter. The cartridge slots were very tight, and it seemed like it was very difficult to get the cartridges to insert straight into the system. Also, the manual had incorrect information in it, indicating that the NES cartridge port was in the front when it is in fact in the back. The back of the system features a stereo RCA jack composite video output, a micro USB port for power, and that Sega Genesis region selection switch. I really wish with all the other updates they made to the system that they would have changed to USB-C. Upon firing the system up, the first thing we did was test out on a CRT with Duck Hunt. Using light guns on clone systems can be hit-and-miss, but I had high hopes for this one. From the word go, I was able to play Duck Hunt without any issues, as the experience was extremely authentic. HDMI-equipped clone systems cannot do this on a flat panel TV due to how they work, so this is definitely a reason for someone to consider picking something like this up. Up next was my Super Mario Bros coin test. I did utilize a 60-to-72-pin adapter to test my Famicom version of the game. The colors looked a little bit off initially, and as soon as I started playing I could hear that the audio is off as well. I found this highly bizarre as the Hyperkin Retron 3 HD has very good audio authenticity out of the RCA jacks, but this seemed like a step backward. Next up, it was time to do the compatibility test for Battletoads. Frequently this is a title that locks up on level 2 on clone systems, and unfortunately, it did so here as well. My understanding is the PAL version of this game has been patched to address this issue, but US and Japanese versions do not run on clones. I continued testing and for the most part, the results were as I expected. Virtua Racing did not work, but the Power Base Converter FM Mini did and allowed me to play Master System games through it. I did run into an issue where my PAL version of Yoshi's Island did not work, but my PAL version of Axlelay worked. Why it RoX: - Compatible with light gun games - Sale price at under $50 - Two color options available - 2 controllers included What could be improved: - No PAL region selection - Included controllers don't feel as good as their standard controllers - NES-to-SNES dongle instead of just including another controller - Micro USB for power - Reverse duty cycle issues on audio - Not compatible with Virtua Racing - Regularly priced around $72 Should you buy one? The Retron 3 AV is an interesting system, one that I am not the target audience for. At $72, for me, it prices it a little bit too close to the Retron 3 HD which actually performs better via composite video. If not on sale, the Retron 3 HD is the better-performing system. If you can get one at the $45 sale price, then you have my attention. If playing on CRTs and being able to play like on games are important, warts and all this might be worth looking at since it would be less expensive than buying the system separately. But at full price, it needs further refinement. #Hyperkin #Retron #Nintendo #Sega #CloneVideoGameSystem #SuperNintendo

In this live stream, we unbox, upgrade, and set up the Creality K1 high-speed 3D printer, designed to compete with the Bambu Labs P1P, P1S, and X1. Order the Creality K1 from Sain Smart on Amazon by visiting https://amzn.to/3SKQYZG (affiliate link) I have absolutely loved being involved in 3D printing for the last 2 years. I have created so many fun designs that are practical and profitable. I recently was contacted by the team at Saint Smart through Amazon and provided a Creality K1 to unbox and evaluate. Having used other core XY printers from Bambu Labs I'm super looking forward to setting this up. One of the things that really sets the K1 apart from previous Creality printers is the fully enclosed design, along with the high-speed performance. Whereas the Ender 3 V2 prints at 50 to 60mm per second, the K1 can print its speeds almost five times as fast. It also handles exotic materials better such as flexible TPU, and stronger PETG, along with PLA and PLA+. In addition to the printer itself, we're also going to walk through installing the optional print camera. Sain Smart also sent along a high-speed nozzle and high-speed PLA too. I'm really curious to see how quickly I can get this set up and printing. Unlike my other printers, I cannot use Cura or Bambu Studio for the time being. I have to use Creality Print which I already have set up on my computer. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this performs and how quickly I can get it set up. My Bambu Labs printers were able to get set up in about 20 minutes each, so I'm hoping for something very similar from Creality's offering. In addition to being involved in the gaming realm, over the last two years, I've really gotten involved in 3D printing. I started off a few months after we moved into our new house, and the sky has been the limit since. One of my first printers was the Creality Ender 3 Max, and I've owned four other reality printers since. Thanks to Saint Smart, I now have an opportunity to check out one of Creality's latest and fastest printers in the K1. Let's take a closer look as Our 3D Printer Farm is Expanding! The K1 differs from the traditional Ender series of printers in many different ways. The Ender 3 is referred to as a bedslinger, meaning not only does the printhead move up and down and left and right, but the print bed itself also moves forward and backward. On the K1, the print bed is fixed forward and back, side to side. It will move up and down to adjust the layer height but the printhead itself is what moves throughout its range of motion. This allows for greater acceleration, greater top speeds, faster printing, and overall better quality results. The K1 is designed to the same bed size as the Ender 3 V2, which is a 220mm by 220mm bed and you can print 250 mm tall. Whereas the Ender 3 V2 can print at 50 to 60 mm per second, the K1 can print it speeds up to 600 mm a second, or 10 times faster. If you don't need the speed, you can slow it down and get much better print results as well! The K1 can use most 3D printer filaments, from PLA, PETG, ABS, and even TPU. For the last 6 months, I have been using Bambu Labs P1P and P1S printers, so I am really interested to see Creality's take on this Core X/Y platform. #3dprinting #crealityk1 #CoreXY #Shorts #FYP #SainSmart

Over the past 5 years, Retro-bit has had a beautiful tendency to bring some of the best games never to see their way out of Japan back out and localized for different regions. Whether we are talking about one of their first, Holy Diver, or their more recent, Assault Suits Valken, they have done amazing work to provide fans of long-lost games the versions they've been looking for. One of the awesome things about this game is that they have offered me an opportunity to play and stream it and share my thoughts before the Pre-Order even closes! That's right, I actually am getting the opportunity to play test one of the earliest copies of Assault Suits Valken (aka Cybernator in the USA) while you can still pre-order it! How cool is that? We'll be streaming Assault Suits Valken, with a stream on our YouTube channel here at YouTube.com/@RoXolid/Live on Friday, November 3 2023, and on the Retro-bit Twitch channel! That's right, we're simulcasting! You'll want to make sure to join us as we're not only answering questions and giving you a look at the game, but Retro-bit will have a giveaway to give a copy away to one lucky viewer. I may even toss in some 3D printed items as well for giveaway! Like how cool is that, we get to help Retro-bit give away free video games! Their latest release, Assault Suits Valken, comes in one of two different completion levels. They are: Assault Suits Valken: Deluxe Edition North America (NTSC) / Europe (PAL) MSRP (NA/EU): $79.99 / €89,99 Assault Suits Valken: Collectors Cartridge North America (NTSC) / Europe (PAL) MSRP (NA/EU): $59.99 / €64,99 Have you heard of these games before? Have you played any of the subsequent re-releases? I'm definitely interested in picking up one of each set, one with the Super Famicom-shaped cartridge and one with the Super Nintendo-shaped cartridge since I have both systems. I also think the bronze and gold cartridge collars are an interesting idea to differentiate the two different completion levels. Let me know if this is something you would consider down on the comments. #Retrobit #SuperNintendo #AssultSuitsValken #halloweenwithshorts #SNES

In this episode, we unbox and test out the Nyxi Hyperion Joy-Con controllers for the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch OLED, and Nintendo Switch Lite. The Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons, people love them, and they love to hate them. Almost as soon as the Switch was announced, companies went to work to develop third party replacements. This became even more important when Joy-Con drift became a thing. Nyxi has produced a number of different options for years, and we just received their Hyperion controllers to test. This version that they sent me features a transparent case so you can see all the inner workings. Something I actually really enjoy. The outer shell is a very smooth plastic, a little bit too slippery for my taste. Designed to be much larger in size than the original Joy-Cons, the left controller even features a traditional D-Pad instead of the up, down, left, right, buttons. The back of the controllers have been molded in such a way to give you a more positive grip without needing to utilize any sort of external case. The Hyperion controllers include a number of interesting features. A set of LED lights are included for each of the controllers and can be changed from a constant color to a breathing mode where the LEDs fade in and out. You can also turn them off all together to save battery life. Each controller also includes turbo functionality, and back buttons. Pairing to the Nintendo Switch or Switch OLED is fairly easy. Simply slide the controllers onto your Switch rails and they connect. You can now remove them to use them in the included joiner to create a pseudo wireless Pro Controller. While connected to the rails, the Hyperion controllers will charge, but they also both feature a USB-C port on the underside so you can charge them separately from the system. Upon getting them paired and fired up I got to some handheld gameplay. One thing of note, this does make your Nintendo Switch considerably wider, so if you don't like how large the Switch is to begin with this makes it even more so. Using my Street Fighter 2 test, both the analog stick and D-Pad seem to work okay, however I could not pull off the dragon uppercut consistently at all. It did not matter if I used the analog stick or the D-Pad, it just could not interpret the inputs correctly to pull off the move. This is kind of disappointing. Next, I moved over to Super Mario 3D World, a game that is much less intensive for controller inputs. With a traditional 3D platformer, I had no issues whatsoever with the Hyperion. Mario jumped, bounced, and stomped enemies precisely as he should. Next up, I wanted to put the turbo to the test with Star Fox on the Super Nintendo Switch online. This underscore to me how the left and the right Joy-Cons have no direct communication with each other, as I had to hit the turbo button on the corresponding right Joy-Con along with the fire button to get it to work properly. It's a minor annoyance, but something I wish they would improve. This also made me notice the fact that the LED breathing patterns were not synchronized from the left to the right controller. In Star Fox, the turbo and autofire worked great, when it worked. I had more than a few occasions where the auto fire just stopped autofiring. I have no idea why this did this, and it was more than a little annoying. Why it RoX: - Feature packed - Neat-looking LED lights - Includes joiner to be used as a pro controller - D-Pad instead of up down left right buttons on left Joy-Con - Programmable back buttons - Turbo What could be improved - Sticks do not utilize hall effect sensors - Inconsistent performance in Street Fighter - Left and right controllers do not communicate with each other to sync - Over slippery design - Does not wake Switch from sleep - Not compatible with amiibo Should you buy one? While I have generally been a fan of Nyxi products in the past, this version of the Hyperion controller leaves quite a bit to be desired. The inconsistent performance of the analog stick and the D-Pad in fighting games is definitely noticeable. This version also does not include Hall effect sensors on the analog sticks, however, they do offer a version which does. In the grand scheme of things, I still think these are better than the split pad or the split pad proof by hori, but there are few too many things going on here for me to strongly recommend them at this time. In the end, I think they are Underwhelming but Flashy. #NintendoSwitch #switcholed #Joycons #Nyxi #HallEffectSensors #Hyperion

I will admit that Halloween is not one of my favorite times of the year. I don't like blood, guts, or gore. As such, I'm kind of particular in the Halloween-themed games that I play each October. As such, I wanted to share some of my favorite games to play around Halloween with you. I don't dig a ton of blood, guts, and gore, but one game I get gleeful delight from every time I play, and a game I consider one of the Must-play games to play for Halloween is Castlevania for the NES and the Famicom. You can't have Metroidvania games without Castlevania, can you? Well, the very first game set a very high standard. Known in Japan as Akumajō Dracula, you take control of Simon Belmont, a descendent of a vampire killing legend. Your goal? Enter Count Dracula's castle and destroy him again, 100 years after your ancestor did it the first time. Originally launched in Japan in 1986 on the Famicom Disk System, it was translated and brought over to the West in 1987 as the very first Castlevania game. Here the legacy of a franchise was born, as players everywhere tried to take down the evil vampire villain and all of his henchmen. Ofer the years, Castlevania has spawned many sequels, Anime, and even a television show. The Belmont and Dracula family have been linked to each other now for almost 40 years, and with the excellent gameplay, level design, play control, and of course music, Castlevania will surely continue to go on and on. Are you a fan of the Castlevania series? What was the first game you played and what title was your personal favorite? Have you played the Japanese Famicom Disk System Version? Share your thoughts in the comments! #halloweenwithshorts #Castlevania #halloweengames #Nintendo #Famicom #famicomdisksystem #FYP

In this episode, we compare the video output performance of three of the most popular plug & play Xbox HDMI adapters out there, the Electron Shepherd Xbox to HDMI, the Bahar Bros Xedusa, & the EON Gaming XBHD. In recent years it just has been annoying that the original Xbox didn't have HDMI output. I did pick up a set of the Monster video cables to go into my RetroTink 5X, & the video quality is great, but I don't want to use that component video input for a system I rarely play. So what am I to do? That's where checking out some of these plug-and-play HDMI adapters come in. We're going to take a look & evaluate some of the most popular ones on the market. Cost: Electron Shepherd Xbox to HDMI: $42 Bahar Bros Xedusa: $65 -$ 75 EON Gaming XBHD: $189 If cost is your major consideration here, there's one clear winner & one clear loser. The Electron Shepherd Xbox to HDMI is 40% less than the next lowest competitor here, & barely more expensive than some of those crappy Xbox to HDMI cables. Connection ports Xbox to HDMI: HDMI output Sedusa: analog audio, stereo audio, component video, optical audio, HDMI XBHD: three land adapter ports, dual HDMI output, toss link audio The Xedusa is the most versatile video output of all of these adapters. It provides more video signal outputs, & allows you to connect to an upscaler or line double or such as the RetroTink 5X. The XBHD is the only one to include any sort of LAN port integration, while the Xbox to HDMI simply has the HDMI output. Build quality: The Xbox to HDMI is minimalist in its design. You have a connector that plugs into your Xbox, & that exits to an HDMI port. The entire weight of the dongle & the cable is supported by the metal connector. The Xedusa comes with the unit sandwich between two plexiglass plates. The version that I have required the Xbox connector to bear the weight of the device & any cables, however, they have revised the units & replaced that connector with a short pigtail so now the adapter can rest on the ground & the connector not bear the weight. The XBHD is a beautiful looking piece of tech. It includes a molded case with integrated feet to help spread the load of the weight of the HDMI cable. Connecting to the system is again an all metal connector for durability. Picture quality Xbox to HDMI: This looks good, really good. With my system set to output 720p, I did notice a little bit of blurriness compared to the others on some screens, but overall the quality is phenomenal. And again it's barely $40. Xedusa Out of these three adapters I feel like the seducer has the best overall image quality. The colors are vibrant, they are bright, & overall it just provides a beautiful experience. While I did not show it here, when you connect the Xeducer to a RetroTink 5X the image quality is off the charts. That is the strength of the Xedusa, getting that component video output to go into an upscaler. XBHD We cannot deny the crushed black levels. There have been some discoveries by individuals such as the amazing Mike Chi who have discovered that the HDMI output is set to limited instead of for range which causes some of the issues, but he's also discovered that's not all of it. You can tweak the brightness settings on your display, but then it throws it off when you're playing other games & systems. Unfortunately, there's no way to update the XBHD, so even if EON comes out with a fix how do you implement it? Rankings: Third place: EON gaming XBHD A beautiful box & amazing industrial design does not fix crushed black levels & a really expensive price tag. I don't understand why they over engineered something like this, I would like to see them come out with a version with the correct RGB settings & simplified design with just a single HDMI port. At $190 this to me is a non-starter. Second place: Bahar Bros Xedusa The Xedusa is an amazing piece of tech, & if I played my Xbox more this would probably be my top overall. The picture quality is beautiful, it gives you so many connection options, but it's a bit overkill for what I want to do right now. If all you're looking to get to an HDMI output, this does that but also does more that you may not utilize. It's a damn fine unit & it is worthy of being in conversation for the best overall. First place: Electron shepherd Xbox to HDMI $42. That's what I keep coming back to here, this amazing piece of tech is only $42. And not only that, it's really good for $42! The colors are good, and the brightness could be a little bit better but for someone who plays his Xbox maybe a couple times every few months, this provides me with the quality & convenience that I am looking for. When it comes to the Xbox2HDMI Vs XEDUSA Vs XBHD, I think I have a clear winner for me. Have you ever tried an Xbox HDMI adapter? Have you ever tried any of these? Let me know what your opinions are in the comment section. #Xbox #Xedusa #Xbox2HDMI #EonGaming #XBHD

In this episode, we unbox and test out the latest release from EON Gaming, the XBHD. This Plug-And-Play Adapter for the original Xbox promises to give you dual HDMI outputs and LAN Party Integration. Let's check it out. What do you do if you want to connect your original Xbox to your TV via HDMI? And what if you wanted to have a LAN party with original Xbox hardware? Well, towards the end of May 2023, the team over at Eon Gaming announced a new addition to their product lineup. They are calling it the XBHD, and it has a number of interesting features, but it raises a lot of questions too. Let's take a closer look. One of the challenges with the original Xbox is the fact that you can't tap right into it and get an HDMI output. You have your multi connector which can output composite, component, and S-video. Well, it appears that Eon Gaming is tapping into this port and providing you with an HDMI output. According to their own specs, it will output anywhere from 480i, 480p, and 720p, but 1080i resolution is not recommended. Unlike popular upscalers out there such as the RetroTink or OSSC there is no line multiplication going on here, as such what you see is kind of what you get. Now, this does feature twin HDMI outputs, so you can connect one Xbox to two different TVs to be able to have multiplayer fighting games for example, and each player gets their own television. Another interesting feature of the XBHD is the integrated LAN adapter and ethernet ports. It connects to your system's LAN adapter port, and features three additional LAN connection ports. Interesting in theory, but in 2023 are LAN parties with original Xbox hardware that common? I don't know the answer to that question. I would think that if you would want to have the equivalent of an Xbox LAN party you would use either an Xbox 360, Xbox One or Xbox Series S or X and connect over the internet. A LAN party requires you to be in the same room, and is anyone really lugging around an original Xbox anymore? I don't know. FInally, an integrated 3.5mm MiniTOSLINK connector for audio. This is a very generational appropriate connector, but audio and video are both handled by HDMI so I don't know that there's a specific need for this. Connecting the XBHD to the back of my Halo edition XBOX was straightforward, however, just like the EON GCHD, you need to make sure that you push the unit all the way into your system. I thought it was fully inserted but failed to get any video signal. An extra push and it popped into place. For gameplay, I threw a number of different titles at it. Star Wars: Battlefront was first up, and it looked fairly similar to playing through the Electron Shepherd XBOX2HD and the Xedusa, which is what I expected. Draw distance and details all looked quite good. From here I moved to a few games I had never played before such as Crimson Skies (OMG this game is awesome!), Halo 2, Dead or Alive 1 Ultimate, and Soul Caliber 2. I'll say that I thought Crimson Skies and Soul Caliber 2 both looked great, but I thought Halo 2 was a bit on the darker side. That could have been the game, however. I finished up with 2 games I am very familiar with, Enter the Matrix and Indycar Racing. While Enter the Matric CAN run at 1080i, I left the settings at 720P, and the results were very, very good. For Indycar Racing, I will say I thought things like the driver's hands and gloves looked much smoother than with other adapters, but that could be me mis-remembering. Why It RoX: - Plug-And-Play - Beautiful Design - Molded-in feet supports the adapter - Dual HDMI outputs - Integrated LAN adapter What could be improved - No Upscaling - EXPENSIVE - If you have no use for LAN this loses a lot of its benefits - Very tight fit into system Should You Buy One For $190, you're making a heck of an investment in an adapter for one particular system. As I stated in our announcement video, when you have the Xbox2HDMI adapter from Shepherd Electronics and things like these Xedusa from the Behar Bros that will get you to an HDMI connector for a fraction of the cost, it prices itself out of the market for those simply looking to get to an HDMI output. Frankly, the HDMI output isn't the big feature, and I don't believe it is the focus of the XBHD. LAN parties and those running tournaments are going to get the most benefit from the XBHD. #Xbox #EonGaming #XBHD #HDMIXbox #GCHD #HDMIXBox #Xedusa #Xbox2HDMI #FYP #fypシ

Since I launched this channel in 2017, I have worked hard to continue to evolve, grow, develop, and improve what this channel is all about. From different cameras, b-rolls, and the types of videos that we do, I'm constantly experimenting and trying new things. One strategy I have been utilizing for the past year has been to post a YouTube Short every single day since October 2nd, 2022. My goal: post 365 consecutive days of videos. I mean, what would happen if I posted a YouTube video every single day for a full year? Well, over the past year, that has been a goal I've been focusing on, to post a YouTube Short every day for a year. Beginning on October 2, 2022, the journey began. And now, 1 year later, I'm amazed that I can say We Did It! We Actually Uploaded To YouTube For 365 Consecutive Days When YouTube launched the Shorts platform, I jumped on board fairly early. I utilized Shorts to bring news, game pickups, and other content to the channel that didn't necessarily warrant a full-length video. In October 2022 I was invited to partake and what YouTube called a Sprint, a focus on content creation on the platform. From October the 2nd 2022 to November the 1st 2022 The plan was to post a YouTube Short every day and tag those videos with the hashtag Shorts30. One of the challenges for me during this period was that we went down to Florida for a family vacation again to Walt Disney World, so how would I manage to hit the school? Well, I actually did it, and I was able to share part of my family vacation through YouTube Shorts. Once the month was complete I was thrilled and did not plan to continue to do it. That is, until I did. They say something becomes a habit if you can do it for 28 consecutive days, and for me creating a YouTube Short every day had just become a habit over the course of October. This is something that I just continued into November. November continued into December, And before I knew it I was at the end of 2022. At the end of each year, I like to create goals for myself and the channel to make sure that I am not only keeping myself accountable but that I'm not just going through the motions. One of the goals that I had come up with was that I was going to post one new video, specifically a YouTube Short, every day. I didn't know what happens to your channel if you upload to YouTube for 365 consecutive days, so I decided to do it. Would I take off in the YouTube Algorithm? Would I ruin my channel in the algorithm? Would Al Gore come out with bad rhythm as ManBearPig? Sometimes I feel like I just wish someone could just explain the YouTube Algorithm to me, I mean it is 2023 after all! Over the course of the last year, there have been some sicknesses, injuries, equipment failures, and other life events that made it difficult for me to accomplish my goal. Difficult, but not impossible. Now looking back, there are times I probably could have taken a day or three off and not posted a Short, but in the end, I decided to push through and do it anyway. I have had some Shorts that have performed amazingly well, my most popular video on the channel has over half a million views and is a YouTube Short. I've also created some Shorts I thought would have done great but have not done well at all. You live and you learn what can I say. In the last year I've definitely learned a few things. I've learned what our community does and does not want to see. I've also been able to share some behind-the-scenes views with people in my life and my family which otherwise would not make a good typical video. But it's one of those things that I've been able to share with each and every one of you over the past 365 days. So while I have posted a video every day over the last year, I do think it has come at an expense. Producing so many Shorts eight into the time for me to produce regular videos, so I've produced less of those over the last year. I'm going to change that. I've also become fairly burned out by posting 365 consecutive days of videos. I'm going to change that as well. But overall I think I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment that I was able to set this goal and achieve it. So am I going to do moving forward? Well, I'm still going to create YouTube Shorts, just not as many of them. I will return to my more traditional posting cadence of full-length videos three times a week and YouTube Shorts two to three times a week. I think that's something that you, or the audience, will appreciate and it will allow me to take a day off from time to time. What do you think of what we've been able to accomplish here? Do you have a favorite YouTube Short that we've produced? Let me know down in the comments, and thank you all for your love, viewership, and support over the past 12 months. #YouTubeShorts #ChannelUpdate #shortsexcellence

In this episode, we share our experiences from attending the 2023 Utah Retro Gaming Expo where we We Re-Bought Part Of Our Childhood collection, and something we haven't owned in over 30 years. While I have attended a number of video game conventions in the Midwest, along with the Southeast Game Exchange, that's pretty much been the extent of my travel for the YouTube channel. That is until September 2023 when I was invited to set up a table and host a panel at the Utah Retro Gaming Expo. Hosted by Minus World Games based in Layton Utah, about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City, this is my first time to a game convention this far west. Friday was my travel day, and it was interesting because it was also my last day at my old job. I packed up my office, headed home to grab the rest of my stuff, and drove two and a half hours north to Chicago to fly out. This meant that I wouldn't get into Salt Lake City until almost midnight local time, and by the time I got there and got my rental car picked up everybody had either hit the bars or hit the sack for the night. I brought a number of items with me for my 3D printer store to sell, including my latest prints featuring the Game Boy, Famicom Disk System, GameCube, and Legend of Zelda LED lights. I also brought some of my staples including my Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega, Xbox, and Dreamcast lights. This was the first year they had invited guests to be a part of the show, and in addition to me, my good friend John Riggs was to my right most of the weekend, and Ryan from Archades games was to my left. John had his homebrew games and other items for sale, well Ryan was showing people how to dump the ROMs from their existing cartridges and use emulators to play them through a soft modded Xbox Series S. I tend to plan out my panels pretty specifically before I go to a convention. I know what I'm going to say. This convention was all a bit different because Ryan and I really didn't have a chance to touch base ahead of time so we just riffed for about an hour. We talked about everything from different controllers, YouTube issues, and just the general gaming community. We both had fun and it was good to spend time with him and kind of get to know each other a little bit better in front of everybody else. Once the panel was over, I decided to take a little bit of time and walk the floor. My youngest daughter had wanted me to see if I could find her a Princess Daisy or Princess Peach stuffy, and I thought I saw one when I got in first thing in the morning, but when I went back it was gone. I was extremely shocked to see the amount of toys at this show. And classic toys too from Transformers, Star Wars, and Star Trek. We're talking about the original 1980s-era TIE fighter and Millennium Falcon were here. Optimus Prime, Megatron, the Protectobots, Technobots, there was a lot of stuff here. I actually saw two that I had to pick up, the first being a Mail-In exclusive named Power Dasher. I had this as a kid, I remember my excitement getting it, and I love the fact that it's back in my collection. I also picked up a Metroplex that was nowhere near complete, but I plan on 3D printing replacement parts and pieces. There are a lot of import games at this convention, something I love to see. One vendor actually had quite a few boxed import N64 games and they looked terrific. One in particular caught my eye, however. Mischief Makers is a pretty expensive US game, but he had $40 on it, marked down from $50. I offered him $30, he fired back with $35 and I accepted. My final pick up of the weekend is completely due to Jay over at @YTSquarePegs. He had recently featured Motocross Madness for the original Game Boy and it reminded me of how much I loved that game as a kid. That was actually the one game I was on the lookout for at the show. I couldn't find a US version, but one table did have a Japanese version, and the only wanted six bucks for it. I offered him five and we sealed the deal. Once we packed up the show for the night, I headed out to dinner with Daniel Pesina, his brother Carlos, Tim Kitzrow, Paul Niemeyer, John, and a friend of Daniel. We had an amazing server who rolled with the punches all night long, and was just generally fun. I can truly say that while I was friendly with the Mortal Kombat guys, Tim, and Paul in the past after the conversations we had that night I truly consider them friends. This was a terrific convention and I truly believe it has nowhere to go but up. It has lots of floor space, terrific vendors, and really did offer something for everybody. I am very thankful to Tracy and the crew for having me out, and I would love to attend again next year. #GameHunting #UtahRetroGameSwap #Transformers #StarWars #Toys #Collectables

In this episode, we sit down with a trademark and copyright attorney to discuss the legality of making your own video game backups from games you physically own, downloading games from the internet, and enforcement of copyright and trademark dependent on whether or not the original company that produced said content still exists, and more. One position I often get criticized for is my take on emulation, piracy, and downloading video games from the internet. "What harm is it?" "Who's getting hurt?" "The publisher already made their money so why does it matter?" These are all arguments I have heard over the years. I personally do not download and play games off of the internet, I don't believe that it is right, I believe it is a violation of trademark and copyright, and I have a moral issue with stealing content that I did not pay for. These are my personal opinions and beliefs, and how I conduct myself. Others, however, have taken issue with this, assuming that I am gatekeeping or otherwise trying to prevent them from enjoying reliving their childhood. Nothing could be further from the truth, but I wanted to get some legal expertise involved in this. As such, we actually interviewed a legal expert to ask some questions too. Myth: If a company is no longer in business the copyright is no longer enforceable and I can download that content. Truth: Whether a company that produced a game or not is still in business is irrelevant to the enforcement of legal copyright enforcement. As David mentioned, someone probably purchased the assets of that company out of business or filed for bankruptcy. For example, simply because Hudson no longer exists does not mean no one owns their copyrights anymore. On the contrary, Konami bought them, which is why Konami was the one who released the TurboGrafx 16 Mini. Myth: The company isn't producing the game I want to play any longer so it's perfectly okay to download the content. Truth: whether or not a copyright holder decides to cease production and sale of a copyrighted work has no factor regarding the legality or the enforcement of the copyright. Simply because someone ceases the distribution of copyrighted works does not make the copyright invalid. Myth: retro games are too expensive now, so it's okay to just pirate them off the internet. Truth: Things are more expensive today, nothing you can do about that. Just because something is expensive does not make it legal to download the software and use it as you see fit. Myth: I used to own a copy of Super Mario Brothers, so I can download a copy of the ROM and play it and be okay Truth: No, you can't. If you make a backup of a game, you have to actually make a backup from the game you physically have possession of. You also must maintain ownership and possession of the original copy that you backed up. For example, if you had a ROM dumper and dump the ROM of every Nintendo game that you own, and then sold those games, technically you are violating copyright law. Myth: The publishers already got their money, So my downloading games from the internet doesn't hurt anybody. Truth: You potentially hurt people now and in the future. We've seen in recent generations of gaming that manufacturers have gone back and re-released collections of older games on new platforms. Some individuals own and run video game resale stores that buy, sell, and trade retro video games. You are hurting those people and those businesses. Myth: You're just a gatekeeper and don't want me to play my games Truth: I don't care how you play your games. I don't care how you get your games. I'm explaining why I do things FOR ME. You can do whatever you want. You can choose to ignore copyright law, or you can choose to follow copyright law. I don't care, it doesn't affect me. And my opinions and moral belief should have no effect on you. Myth: The online store that sold the digital version of the game no longer sells the game, so I can just download it. Truth: If the method of distribution that you purchased your games through previously no longer exists, you have no legal right to download content from any other source. You may not like it, and this is one of the reasons why I prefer owning physical versions of games versus digital because this type of thing can happen. Look at the Wii, Wii U, and 3DS eShops, they are all done selling new content. On the Wii U and the 3DS at least you can still re-download things for a while, but you can't even do that with the Wii at this point. I hope this explains to some people why I don't download games, also how I do support making legal backups of your video game library. In the end, you do what you feel is right by you, I'm going to do what I feel is right by me, and I'm just going to go have fun and play the games that I physically own. #ROMDownload #VideoGames #Copyright

In this episode, we unbox and test out the Mytrix Pro Controller designed for the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo Switch Lite, iOS, and Android to see if this budget price controller has Pro features. Playing the Nintendo Switch in docked mode with the Joy-Cons is just not a pleasant experience. The sticks are way too small, they tend to drift, and the buttons are too small, and it's just not a great way to play. A solution many people, including myself, have gone with has been the Switch Pro Controller which delivers a much better experience but is also fairly expensive. If you have multiple people in your home who are going to play, what are you going to do if you need more than one Pro Controller? The team at Mytrix is hoping to deliver a solution with their controller, featured here. Out of the box, the overall shape and design I would say is closer to the Xbox Series S and X controller than the Switch Pro Controller. They offer a number of different colors and schemes with this particular model, and we went with the Zero-Kirin version that features a Gundam on the face. Charging is done by an included USB-C cable, and The controller features a 600mAh battery pack. Most of the major features from the Switch Pro Controller are here, wake from sleep which many budget controllers omit, Rumble, RGB lights behind both the sticks and the buttons that are independently controllable, and gyroscopic controls. One feature which is missing is NFC for Amiibo support. In the hand, the controller feels very good. It doesn't feel budget or cheap, it actually feels quality. The one thing I will say is the surface of the plastics feel rather smooth and slick, some sort of texturing here would have improved that feature in the hands. The face buttons all feel very clicky, and even though the analog sticks are not all effect sensors, they are still very smooth. The D-pad feels very similar to a Sega Genesis D-pad and again felt very smooth and precise during initial testing. I started out testing with the Super Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, as this is a good test for lag, latency, and delay. I personally prefer using the analog stick myself over the D-Pad with Street Fighter so that's what I started with, and within 20 seconds I was able to pull off all of Ryu's moves. The analog stick impressed me immediately, I must say that. The button presses were all terrific as well. It was so good that on the very first round with this controller I got a perfect score against Zangief. I almost duplicated that in the second round using the D-pad, but I missed one of my inputs and he got a hit in on me. He only got one other hit on me the entire round while using the D-pad, so far so good. Next up was Super Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, definitely a less challenging game as far as the controls and putting them through their paces but still something that many people will play with this controller. Once again everything worked well, even the tilt controls for steering even though I did not show them on screen. The one thing I did not realize was someone had used my profile since the last time I had played so the auto accelerate and auto steering assist were both turned on. I turn those off and it worked beautifully. Everything that I threw at this controller worked beautifully. Kirby and the Forgotten Land, ideal. The rumble is absolutely phenomenal and I really felt it while playing Kirby. The auto and turbo fire works perfectly too, as playing any of the on-rail shooters, shmups, or anything along those lines worked great as well. Star Fox was a perfect example of this. And the D-pad worked great for the Nintendo Switch Online games, like Super Mario World, Metroid, Yoshi's Island, and Mario 64. Why it RoX: - Only $40 - Multiple styles and colors available - RGB lights - Precise sticks - USB-C for charging - Turbo and AutoFire - Integrated headphone jack - Programmable back buttons What could be improved: - Typos in the instruction manual - Not compatible with the fixture gaming S1 or S2 - I would prefer that the back buttons would not be programmed to anything out of the box Should you buy one? This is an exceptional controller for the money! For only $40 you get a lot of terrific features. It is well-balanced, precise, and comfortable, and it just works. Myself, I'm not a big fan of the back buttons, but I know that I'm a bit odd as far as that goes. Beyond that, the typos in the instruction manual made setting up and controlling the lights a little bit more challenging initially, and it simply does not work with the Fixture Gaming S1 or S2. Beyond those most minor of nitpicks this is definitely a controller which you should have on your shopping list if you are looking to pick up something to replace a broken controller, Joy-Cons, or just need additional controllers for your Nintendo Switch. #Nintendo #Switch #ProController #Mytrix #fypシ #nintendoswitch

We are live from Eli Field in Monticello Illinois, host of the 2023 RC fest. This is a celebration of all things radio controlled, from airplanes, drones, helicopters, cars, trucks, and more. In this live stream we are going to share with you views of the race track and sounds is I announce at the event. RC fest started over in Germany, and has found a home here about 15 mi from the worldwide headquarters of Horizon Hobby. The event has multiple try me areas where fans can come and get their hands on some of the coolest RC products anywhere. People travel from all over the Midwest, and all over the nation, to be a part of this event. The way the racing works is like this. Anywhere from 7 to 10 cars or trucks will be in a qualifying race. The vehicles are separated by vehicle classification and driver skill level. All of the vehicles on track are what are called 1/8 scale, meaning they are 1/8 the scale of a full size race car. Some of the vehicles run on an alcohol-based nitro methane fuel and internal combustion engines, others run on lithium polymer batteries and electric motors. Each vehicle is fitted with a device called a transponder which allows our scoring computer to count the laps automatically each time the vehicle crosses a wire buried in the track. In qualifying, drivers try to complete as many laps in 5 minutes as they can. So for example, if one driver turned 10 laps in 5 minutes and 10 seconds, and another driver turned 10 laps in 5 minutes and 5 seconds, the second driver would be qualified faster as they turned the same amount of lapse but in less time. In qualifying, each vehicle is timed individually. The entire heat race has a master clock which starts counting down the 5 minutes, but each race cars 5 minute time does not start until it crosses the scoring loop for the first time. From then they are considered to be on the clock. Once qualifying is over, drivers are sorted with other drivers in the same class and same speeds roughly. The slower drivers will be in lower lettered main events, for example if there are 40 total drivers, we will have four main events each made up of 10 drivers. In the end, the fastest 10 drivers in each class will compete against each other for the overall championship of their class at the event. Those races are called the A-mains. Make sure you check out the entire live stream archive as we will be streaming the first round of qualifying, second round of qualifying, and the main events separately. Scoring results will also be available on The live RC website.

We are live from Eli Field in Monticello Illinois, host of the 2023 RC fest. This is a celebration of all things radio controlled, from airplanes, drones, helicopters, cars, trucks, and more. In this live stream we are going to share with you views of the race track and sounds is I announce at the event. RC fest started over in Germany, and has found a home here about 15 mi from the worldwide headquarters of Horizon Hobby. The event has multiple try me areas where fans can come and get their hands on some of the coolest RC products anywhere. People travel from all over the Midwest, and all over the nation, to be a part of this event. The way the racing works is like this. Anywhere from 7 to 10 cars or trucks will be in a qualifying race. The vehicles are separated by vehicle classification and driver skill level. All of the vehicles on track are what are called 1/8 scale, meaning they are 1/8 the scale of a full size race car. Some of the vehicles run on an alcohol-based nitro methane fuel and internal combustion engines, others run on lithium polymer batteries and electric motors. Each vehicle is fitted with a device called a transponder which allows our scoring computer to count the laps automatically each time the vehicle crosses a wire buried in the track. In qualifying, drivers try to complete as many laps in 5 minutes as they can. So for example, if one driver turned 10 laps in 5 minutes and 10 seconds, and another driver turned 10 laps in 5 minutes and 5 seconds, the second driver would be qualified faster as they turned the same amount of lapse but in less time. In qualifying, each vehicle is timed individually. The entire heat race has a master clock which starts counting down the 5 minutes, but each race cars 5 minute time does not start until it crosses the scoring loop for the first time. From then they are considered to be on the clock. Once qualifying is over, drivers are sorted with other drivers in the same class and same speeds roughly. The slower drivers will be in lower lettered main events, for example if there are 40 total drivers, we will have four main events each made up of 10 drivers. In the end, the fastest 10 drivers in each class will compete against each other for the overall championship of their class at the event. Those races are called the A-mains. Make sure you check out the entire live stream archive as we will be streaming the first round of qualifying, second round of qualifying, and the main events separately. Scoring results will also be available on The live RC website.

We are live from Eli Field in Monticello Illinois, host of the 2023 RC fest. This is a celebration of all things radio controlled, from airplanes, drones, helicopters, cars, trucks, and more. In this live stream we are going to share with you views of the race track and sounds is I announce at the event. RC fest started over in Germany, and has found a home here about 15 mi from the worldwide headquarters of Horizon Hobby. The event has multiple try me areas where fans can come and get their hands on some of the coolest RC products anywhere. People travel from all over the Midwest, and all over the nation, to be a part of this event. The way the racing works is like this. Anywhere from 7 to 10 cars or trucks will be in a qualifying race. The vehicles are separated by vehicle classification and driver skill level. All of the vehicles on track are what are called 1/8 scale, meaning they are 1/8 the scale of a full size race car. Some of the vehicles run on an alcohol-based nitro methane fuel and internal combustion engines, others run on lithium polymer batteries and electric motors. Each vehicle is fitted with a device called a transponder which allows our scoring computer to count the laps automatically each time the vehicle crosses a wire buried in the track. In qualifying, drivers try to complete as many laps in 5 minutes as they can. So for example, if one driver turned 10 laps in 5 minutes and 10 seconds, and another driver turned 10 laps in 5 minutes and 5 seconds, the second driver would be qualified faster as they turned the same amount of lapse but in less time. In qualifying, each vehicle is timed individually. The entire heat race has a master clock which starts counting down the 5 minutes, but each race cars 5 minute time does not start until it crosses the scoring loop for the first time. From then they are considered to be on the clock. Once qualifying is over, drivers are sorted with other drivers in the same class and same speeds roughly. The slower drivers will be in lower lettered main events, for example if there are 40 total drivers, we will have four main events each made up of 10 drivers. In the end, the fastest 10 drivers in each class will compete against each other for the overall championship of their class at the event. Those races are called the A-mains. Make sure you check out the entire live stream archive as we will be streaming the first round of qualifying, second round of qualifying, and the main events separately. Scoring results will also be available on The live RC website.

In this episode, we recap the last four years of our channel as June 4th marks RoXolid Production's 6-Year YouTube Anniversary. Switch Friend Code: SW421468548701 We have had quite an amazing journey over the course of the last four years. We have attended conventions, we have exploded our collection, and we have met some of the best people around. On June 4th, 2017, I made the decision to finally put time and effort behind creating a YouTube channel, and RoXolid Productions was off and running. At first, I didn't quite know what I wanted to make out of the channel. I didn't know if I wanted to dive into the world of RC, something I was very familiar with. I didn't know if I wanted to dive into consumer electronics as I had been a contributor to some smartphone websites. And then I refund my love for retro video games, partially thanks to the Hyperkin Retron 5, and with that, we were off to the races. Sure, I still toyed around with things like cord-cutting tutorials and Android TV boxes, but gaming was where I really found my foothold. I started off with things like checking out clone NES systems with HDMI ports, went on to review controllers and accessories, and even started to get into modding original equipment. Over time, I think I've really found a unique vision and voice for the channel, and I truly hope that you enjoy the effort that I put into trying to make this channel the best it can be, not for me, but for all of you. Some of my most fun times with the channel have to do with going to conventions and meeting amazing people. Having been able to attend the MoGameCon in 2018, our first convention, the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, what I consider my hometown con with the Midwest Gaming Classic where I actually had three separate panels, and of course the 2019 Southeast Game Exchange. We have had so much fun going and enjoying this hobby with each and every one of you that we have met. I've loved talking to you, sharing stories, and just talking about video games. We have definitely had our ups and downs over the last four years, none harder than the loss of my father in 2019. But once again this community was there for me and I didn't even have to ask for it. The crew at the 2019 Southeast Game Exchange lifted me up, gave me the support that I needed, and I didn't even realize I did. Next to my wife, they were the best things to come out of what was otherwise a terrible weekend. So where are we going? What are we doing? What's next for the channel? Well, I'm hoping to continue to grow, both the subscriber base and as a creator on the platform. Over the last six to eight months I've really tried to focus the content in such a way that it is more concise, more entertaining, and more informational. I think that is one positive to come out of the pandemic for me, I've really been able to sit down, evaluate what I was doing, and make sure that we were producing content that people wanted to enjoy. And hopefully you have. Make sure you stay subscribed to the channel, we're not going away, and there's more goofy videos to come. If you have watched any of my videos, liked, shared, commented, supported it through Patreon, become a channel member, donated via super chat, I want to take a moment and sincerely thank you for supporting our efforts here. There's more hard work to go, but I am sure with your help, guidance, and encouragement the best is truly yet to come. #YouTube #Anniversary #mariokart8deluxe Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCznAOWQLsiCAMNRq9fzQJpw/join The footage used in this review are used under the Fair Use laws, referenced below: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107 Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include— (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. (Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2546; Pub. L. 101–650, title VI, § 607, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5132; Pub. L. 102–492, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 3145.)

We just got an update email from Intellivision CEO Phil Adam (not Adams like the former President), and he laid out some interesting facts. He shared that, guess what guys, making a video game system is HARD! Well no kidding. Here's excerpts from the email, where he basically confirmed that the Amico Hardware is no longer a priority and that the mobile games for the Amico will be coming to mobile hardware: "The last 18 months, since becoming the CEO, has been an extremely difficult time for the Intellivision business. A long list of disappointments from both inside and outside of the company had to be taken head on. During this time we laid off a large portion of our staff, restructured our management team, and began the process of reevaluating every aspect of the business, which included the path that lay ahead for Intellivision." "What we have distilled down from countless hours of self assessment is that we are, or more accurately, wish to be, in the business of creating a living room experience that brings people of various ages together in group play. It is the experience between people, sitting in the same room, that will be our primary measure of success. This, first and foremost, comes from offering great content." "As an entertainment business, we realize that creating great content requires world class partners and a focus on strategies where we can effectively achieve the necessary level of excellence to succeed. To this end, we will be announcing a string of new partnerships that will not only help bring fun and innovative content that captures the Amico experience, but also bolsters and celebrates our content's appeal by (1) licensing our IP to development partners who have product pedigrees that are creatively aligned and best poised to bring something great to market, (2) leveraging our IP in ways that ensures delivery on Amico but additionally expands our content to entirely new audiences Intellivision would otherwise be unable to reach and (3) acquiring new IP that embodies Amico and fits our strategic focus. This will include licensing IP for other platforms where it makes sense to do so." "Our commitment to delivering a unique and innovative platform that brings people together has not wavered. What has changed is our philosophy on how to deliver that experience. The business environment is quite different from what it was in 2018 when the original Intellivision business plan was put together. We cannot solely be dependent on a traditional hardware console business model. The cost and time to scale such a business is too great. We must be more creative in how we deploy our intended entertainment experience - not only delivering a better experience for our customers, but also reducing the time and cost to scale the business." "We want to assure our fans that shipping a console remains a part of our product strategy. The development and hands-on testing of our pilot units have been a successful step forward. As a testament of this progress, we are pleased to share with you this video of a father and son playing Shark! Shark! on one of the pilot units in their home!" "As part of our expanded strategy, we also plan to bring the Amico experience to other hardware platforms, starting with mobile devices, under the name Amico Home. Amico Home will dramatically reduce the hardware footprint needed to enjoy Amico games and provide more developers the opportunity to explore the creative potential of in-room multiplayer games with our innovative physical and smartphone controllers. This broadening of the talent pool will bring new ideas and gaming that will shape the future of Intellivision and our place in the market." "We are excited for this future and what it means for bringing the Amico experience to the public. Those who supported Intellivision early on helped set the foundation for all that we have been able to achieve, and we are truly thankful to you all. In the coming weeks, those that have maintained a deposit will be able to sign in and verify their spot on the priority list (Amico Club List). The Amico Club List will be used as the primary mechanism to prioritize access to special products, early access to new games and other unique offers. More details to follow." "Again, we thank you for your patience and support as we chart a new course for Intellivision and establish our own unique position in the vast and vibrant video game industry. " Phil Adam, CEO What do you think? I think this means there will not be a major retail presence of the Amico, that it will become a licensing house and development studio, if it becomes anything at all. #Amico #intellivisionamico #PhilAdam