« !W00t! The Xbox 360 December '06 Back Compat Update is now online | Main | Review : Pelican Nerf Controller for PlayStation 2 »
WTF! PSOne plus N-64 and HDTV Equals DOA!
I had a hell of a hard time trying to play PSOne games on my HDTV.
When I first got my HDTV I was all impressed at how good DVDs, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox and Xbox 360 games looked on it. I had no idea just how accommodating and compatible with old video game systems my Magnavox 15inch LCD-TV actually was.
My Generation Nex, Dreamcast and Super Nintendo all worked perfectly with my HDTV over standard AV cables. But when I hooked up my N-64 it flickered out of sync just as bad as Wii Virtual Console games over standard AV cables. The pain inducing flickering was so bad as to render it totally un-playable. Now the N-64 could not do progressive scan over component so while getting a Wii-Component cable fixed the flicker on Wii Virtual Console games it would not help. I got a RF Switch adapter from Pink Godzilla Games and decided to try to hook it up through the co-ax cable. It worked much to my surprise and I was finally able to play MarioKart 64 once again.
Fast forward to this past weekend I wanted to play some PSOne games on my PSTwo and was disappointed to find out that about 80% of my PSOne games would flicker uncontrollably on my HDTV through the S-Video or standard AV video cable. This was a real pisser considering PS2 games looked fine on the very same system. I could not play any Final Fantasy 7, 8, & 9 games or Castlevania : Symphony of the Night and this would just not do.
So I found a $4 RF Switch adapter for the PS2 at the store and gave it a shot. It didn't work at all and I was not able to get any kind of picture out of it. So I was determined after this point and drove over to BestBuy and bought a MadCatz Universal Component Cable for PS2, Gamecube and Xbox for $15. My component AV switch box did not have a spare space for component cable so if this was going to work I needed to get a bigger switch box. All of the PS2 games showed up as 480i and looked pretty good but absolutely none of the PSOne games worked. There was not any flicker just no usable signal. I swore under my breath and my cats were spellbound by the mess of cables that I created in the process. I am going to see if I can exchage the cable. Damn it, absolutely nothing is ever simple with HDTV!
I gave up and realized that I was going to need as old-school TV for some old-school video gaming. So I cleared of a shelf on my book shelf and dug out our old 13-inch RCA TV out of storage. It ends up PSOne games on the PSTwo worked like a charm on it and I also hooked up my Super Nintendo and N-64 to it as well. Kymberly's friends have an old PSOne that they are not using since we got them a PS2 as a present so I asked her if she could procure the unused PSOne for a Christmas gift for me.
The N-64 and PSOne are freaking 1990's technology and I am surprised to see that the past decade's game systems having problems on these new fangled HDTV sets. I could understand if I had issues with a Colecovision or Atari 2600. I have not tried to hook up my Sega Saturn, Sega Genesis or Atari all in one joysticks to the HDTV but I might have to use the standards TV if I get the urge to play some NiGHTs or Virtua Fighter 2. I am disturbed with the reality that certain old video game systems are not going to work on newer HDTVs sets and I am glad that I kept around an small old standard TV.
Jake at December 18, 2006 
Games
Comments
Seems like some HDTVs have trouble with 240p that the older consoles output.
Posted by: Anonymous at March 25, 2007 12:26 PM
I have the same problem its ****ing me off if anyone knows if this problem can be fixed can u please email me at shrimpyadam@hotmail.com
Posted by: Adam at May 18, 2007 9:48 PM
