OOTS #1179 - The Discussion Thread

[Gnoman]

All of this talk about old games makes me wish I still had my old NES. Then again, I can't remember the last time I saw a coaxial cable, so I probably couldn't hook it up anyway.

The original model of NES (not the toploader, which is thus inferior) supported composite video via a RCA port on the side of the unit, which most TVs still support. Unfortunately, modern TVs are really, really bad at analog-to-digital conversion, and upscaling takes time as well. Unless you have a really nice TV, using an older console with a flatscreen induces significant lag. This means that retro collecting either requires you to buy an expensive upscaling unit, or else find a CRT.


That said, the old hardware isn't that expensive, although a fair number of the games are getting up there.

Wait, what? Now you have picked my curiosity, because that was the first text game I ever played, and I do not remember having any problem to solve it, as a 10 years old child, beyond some language barriers that my handy pocket dictionary used to solve.

At one point in the game, you encounter a snake. You have a sword in your inventory, the description of which even includes a snake. Obviously, you kill the snake with the sword, right?



You can kill the snake to get past it, but that hurts you later. Instead, you get a bridle from a genie, then throw the bridle at the snake. The snake turns into a winged horse, which gives you a magic sugar cube. The magic sugar cube nullifies poison, allowing you to survive a scratch from the poisonous thorns guarding Dracula's castle.