Video Games Archives - Dan's Best Tech

Oculus Quest – Two Month Review

July 23, 2019 No Comments

Introduction

A few weeks ago, I had my 30th birthday, the same day the Oculus Quest was released, and my beautiful wife bought it for me. This is my two month review of the best Standalone VR Headset ever released. No tethering to a high-end PC is required for you to enjoy VR gaming, but is it worth the sacrifices? Let’s find out!

Cost

The cost for the VR Headset is either $400 for the 64GB version or $500 for the 128GB version. These prices get you controllers and a charging cable, everything you need to start gaming in VR. Current games aren’t that large at around one to two Gigabytes, so I recommend saving $100 and sticking with the 64GB version for $400. Compared to the Oculus Rift’s launch price of $600 plus $200 extra for controllers and the $800 launch price for the HTC Vive, $400 doesn’t seem so bad.

Requirements

Unlike the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, you don’t need to plug the headset into a high end gaming PC. That’s right. No expensive computer is required if you aren’t a PC gamer; No cable is required for you to trip on, and no Windows operating system is required if you prefer to use other operating systems on your computer like Mac or Ubuntu.

Hardware

Regarding the hardware and as I said before, both the 64GB or 128GB storage options for the Oculus Quest are enough space for games in my opinion. It is powered by 4GB of RAM, and the two-year-old Snapdragon 835 mobile processor. Each OLED lens produces 1,440 by 1,600 resolution at 72 Hz refresh rate. The headset offers six degrees of freedom using inside-out tracking from four sensors on the headset itself. The headset comes with a power button, a volume rocker, an interpupilary distance (IPD) slider, and a USB-C port for charging. The IPD slider can adjust from 58 to 72mm. The quest feels premium with fabric accents. It weighs 571 grams vs the 470 grams from the Oculus Rift, and it’s battery lasts 2 to 3 hours on a charge. The controllers track great! They not only tracks your hands like on the HTV Vive and Playstation Move controllers, but they track your fingers as well. It even has capacitive buttons.

Tracking

For the most part, the inside-out tracking is perfect. It is way better than the PSVR, which required me to sit a certain distance from the camera. It doesn’t require any lightboxes or sensors that you have to plug into an outlet or your computer like on the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. It just works! That said, if the sun is shining brightly into a section of the room, the tracking will become jerky and you might lose tracking. It’s probably a good idea to close the blinds before playing.

Portability

The Quest is in my opinion the best thing to happen to VR gaming since the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive were released. This is because of portability. One can’t simply watch an ad to experience what VR is, you have to put the headset on and try it first hand to know what it is. That’s hard to do when the headset is hooked up to a computer or PS4. The Quest is increasingly an attractive option because you can bring it anyyyywhere and show it to anyone. Instead of being confined to wherever you have your Vive set up, you can bring the Quest into a living room, the bedroom, another home, the office, or anywhere else. This portability should increase the adoption and success of VR, and the more successful VR is, the more developers will make high quality games for it.

Games

Speaking of games, the Oculus Quest launched with more than 50 titles, but the number of games still feels lacking right now when compared to SteamVR and PSVR; that said, that’s how I feel when any new gaming system launches.

One game I found really fun was Vader Immortal. It’s not just a great VR game, and it’s not just a great Star Wars game. It is a great game! I felt like I was experiencing this world. I could almost smell the smoke when seeing Darth Vader for the first time. I couldn’t believe how close they got the voice to sound just like James Earl Jones; very high quality and very well done. The lightsaber battles were fun and challenging. There was just the right amount of it too, as it didn’t get repetitive. My only complaint is that many VR games right now are asking players to turn dials, push buttons, etc. That is starting to feel repetitive, even in Vader Immortal.

Another great game on the Oculus Quest is Beat Saber, and it is just as epic as usual. This game is like Guitar Hero and Rockband in VR, but instead of guitars, it has light sabers! It has you slicing through blocks to music. After playing custom songs on the HTC Vive, playing the limited number of stock songs on the Oculus Quest felt a little lacking. Luckily, many modding apps are making it easier each day to add new custom songs to Beat Saber on the Oculus Quest. There are various apps to do this, like SideQuest and Oculus Quest Beat Saber Song Installer. Although there are many tutorials available currently for how to do this, I, myself, am going to wait until custom songs are integrated into the official build of Beat Saber.

Anyways, I just wish I had a larger room to take full advantage of room scale. Room scale allows for rooms up to 25ft by 25 ft. That is insanely awesome! I don’t even have enough space for the recommended 6.5ft by 6.5ft. Luckily, you can still play games inside your barrier; it will even warn you when you get close to the edge. That way, you won’t punch a wall. Now if only they could prevent me from stepping on the dog.

Specs / Good Enough?

So are the Specs good enough? To me, I care about:

Screen-Door-Effect
Aliasing / Text Readability
God-Rays
The quality of the games

Screen Door Effect, or SDE, is the effect of your eyes being so close to the pixels on the display that you can see the gap between each pixel. As a result, the image looks like you looking through a screen door. One way to counter this is to increase the resolution of the display. The Oculus Quest has a higher resolution of 1440X1600 per eye than the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Therefore, SDE is reduced. That said, resolution isn’t everything. The Playstation VR headset’s lower 960X1080 resolution per eye provides the best or least SDE. This is because Sony increased the subpixel count for each pixel in their RGB display. The increased subpixel count helps each pixel blend together better reducing the screen door effect. All this said, the Oculus Quest’s SDE is better than the Oculus Riftand HTC Vive but not as good as the PSVR headset.

Aliasing, Anti-aliasing, and text-readability all have to do with the graphical power and game design. Playing VR games using the graphical power of a PC will obviously have more anti-alliasing than that of a mobile phone processor. Therefore, in theory, text and lines in games will not be as clear on the Oculus Quest. That said, when the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift were first released for the PC, many games used small text that was barely readable. Since then, game developers have increased text size in VR games, making the text much easier to read. So the text readability on the Oculus Quest is perfectly fine. As far as aliasing and jaggies on the Oculus Quest, they are worse than the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, but you won’t notice them unless you do a side-by-side comparison. Games can also be supersampled on the HTC Vive and Oculus Quest to sharpen text and remove jaggies even further; some say supersampling even helps hide some of the screen door effect. The Quest doesn’t have enough power to supersample.

God-rays are like blurry lens flares when bright objects are juxtaposed against dark backgrounds. They were really bad on the Oculus Rift. They were reason why I sold my Oculus Rift. I couldn’t stand them. They are still present on the Oculus Quest, but they are not nearly as distracting like they were on the Oculus Rift. I’d say they are comparable to the God-Rays on the HTC Vive and PSVR.

That leads me to game-quality – The game quality in the Oculus Quest is top notch. I think Oculus ported over only the very best VR games that existed on PC. Therefore, if Oculus had to sacrifice some graphical power in order to make the VR experience portable and more convenient, then it is just fine to me as long as the games are fun. And there is a huge benefit to an almost instant access to games without having to plug everything into the computer, and launching the game from the computer. The Oculus Quest is a much more user-friendly VR experience than anything I’ve used before. Take the PSVR for instance. My PS4 sits on my tv unit on the other side of the living room from my couch, and the cable that connected the headset didn’t reach far enough. So I had to move the PS4 to the coffee table in the center of the living room. And then I realized that the PS4 camera required me to sit closer too. So I had to move the PS4 camera to the Coffee Table too. My wife was not happy. Long story short, I returned the PSVR.

ALVR and VRidge

What if Oculus Quest doesn’t have the game I want to play? What if I am not happy with the graphics quality on Oculus Quest? ALVR and VRidge give you the ability to play Steam VR and Rift games wirelessly through your computer!!! Of course, this requires you to have a high-end gaming pc with a high-end graphics card and a very fast 5GHz reliable Wifi connection. The good news is that Vridge when used with the Oculus Quest supports 6 degrees of freedom! Woop! The bad news is that you will get the occasional screen freeze or streaming artifact. There are some compatibility hiccups too. Therefore, the experience won’t be perfect, but for some exclusives, it might be worth it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Should you buy the Oculus Quest? If you want a VR Headset that is stand-alone with no gaming PC required, has only the highest quality of games, doesn’t have cables around you for you to trip on, and is a lower price than the HTC Vive Pro, than the Oculus Quest is for you. That said, the cost might still be prohibitive for your budget, the games are a limited at this time, graphics aren’t as good as those from a Gaming PC, the Screen Door Effect and God Rays are still present, and previously purchased games from Steam VR will need to be repurchased. Will you purchase the Oculus Quest, or will you wait for another headset down the road?

Video Games

The Best Signal from the N64? – N64RGB + RetroTINK 2X Smoothing

July 6, 2019 No Comments

Introduction

A few months ago, I wanted to try and get one of the best signals from my N64. Rather than purchasing the UltrHDMI, I purchased the Tim Worthington N64RGB with Deblur Mod Kit. After many hours of install, I finally got it working. The Tim Worthington N64RGB with Borti4938’s Deblur Mod Kit produces a clean RGB analog signal from the N64. This is the best option for users who want RGB rather than HDMI. That is when I heard about the RetroTINK 2X. The RetroTINK 2X is a zero lag converter that converts Composite, S-Video, and YPbPr signals to HDMI. It can be used with almost any retro console. Reviewers have said many great things about the RetroTink 2X when using the N64’s native S-Video and Composite output, but now let’s check out the N64 when using the much cleaner HD signal from the N64. In this video, I am showing you the RetroTink 2X’s smoothed vs unsmoothed settings.

Games and Examples

I tested Zelda (Ocarina of time), Zelda (Majora’s Mask), Star Fox, Double-O Seven (Golden Eye), and Super Smash Brothers. In Zelda, Majoras Mask, the textures on the ground are smoothed, aliased edges on mailboxes and stairs are smoothed, Link himself is smoothed, and 2D objects like the on-screen display and menu screen are smoothed as well. In Zelda (Ocarina of time), you can see how the low resolution railing jaggies are smoothed when the filter is applied. In Super Smash Bros, the edge of the top surface of the building is smoothed, both link and kirby are smoothed, and even small items like link’s sward look much better to me. By the way, I recommend you view this footage on a tv or monitor. I don’t think you’ll see much difference on a phone or tablet. In star fox, you can see a big difference even in the main menu; focus on Fox’s ears. During game-play, you can see the best improvements in the Airwing’s wings. Finally, in 007, Golden Eye, you can see the difference in the gun you are holding as well as the objects on the ground in front of you. The bridge looks way improved in my opinion.

The Setup

Let’s talk about the Setup. The N64RGB mod gives a clean RGB analog signal from the N64. The install is difficult, but install services are available. The firmware from Borti4938 introduces a de-blur functionality. I highly recommend this firmware, as it removes the horizontal blur from the N64 signal. The next item in the line is the Shinybow SCART to HDTV Converter. This converts the RGB signal into YPbPr component signals. It is a fully analog converter which is said to have zero latency. Now we can use our N64 on American TVs. The last item in the chain is the RetroTINK 2X, which converts the YPbPr component signal to HDMI. The good news is that it is plug and play and can be used with almost any retro console. As I said before, reviewers have said many great things about the RetroTink 2X when using the N64’s native S-Video and Composite output, but I really care about using it to convert HD N64 signal to HDMI, and then filtering it. The settings I use with the N64 is the Line-Doubling mode that outputs 480P over HDMI to the TV. Regrettably, there are some key shortcomings of the Retrotink 2X, though. There is some distortion during loud, low frequency sounds and the filter between the different inputs of the RetroTink 2X is lacking. For example, my NES plugged into the Composite input of the Retrotink 2X would cause static in the N64 signal plugged into the component input, even when the NES was turned off.

Worth it?

Is this setup worth it? If you want the best picture (in my opinion) when playing N64 games on original hardware and on an HDTV, I think so. The picture is sharp at 480p, the lag is nonexistent, and to me, the filter feature creates one of the cleanest signals generated from the original N64 hardware. Just remember, there exists a sound glitch, there is a problem with multiple inputs, and the picture will never be as good as it would on an emulator. Would you purchase the RetroTink 2X to get HDMI from the N64? What do you think about the filtered look of N64 games?

Video Games

Game Boy Micro – Worth it in 2019?

January 16, 2019 No Comments

Intro:
In 2005, Nintendo released the Game Boy Micro. Unlike the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Advance SP, the Game Boy Micro lacked backwards compatibility for Game Boy and Game Boy Color Games. As a result, the Game Boy Micro was not very popular. Is it worth it to buy a Game Boy Micro in 2019? What if there was a way to play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games on the Game Boy Micro? Is it worth it then?

Cost:
Let’s first talk about the cost. Due to its rarity and age, the Game Boy Micro is currently available new and used on Amazon for $449 and $125 respectively. That’s pretty expensive considering it’s launch price was only $99. The funny thing is $99 in 2005 is now $128 after adjusting for inflation.

https://amzn.to/2MaexHc

Games on the other hand are relatively cheap. Approximately $10 to $35 for very good condition used games. See the link in the description below:

https://amzn.to/2sv3Plz

https://amzn.to/2ALQyJE

https://amzn.to/2ANFFXS

Overall Size:
The Game Boy Micro’s dimensions are 4″ in width, 2″ in height, and 0.7″ in thickness, and it only weighs 2.8 oz. So if you care for ergonomics, the Game Boy Micro will feel more cramped than the alternatives. That said, I don’t have very large hands, so it feels just fine to me.

Screen:
The screen is also very small at only 2.9 in. In my opinion, though, this screen is even better than the AGS-101 screen on the Game Boy Advance SP. Both of these screens are backlit, which makes colors pop similar to what we’ve grown accustom to on our smart devices, but the pixels per inch or PPI on the Game Boy Micro is higher than the Game Boy Advance SP due to the smaller screen. Everything looks super crisp and sharper on the Game Boy Micro’s smaller screen. As a result, the PPI increased from 99 to 144, creating the illusion that the games “look” higher resolution. The drawback is that text will also be smaller. The font size of Game Boy games has never been that small, though, like you see on games today, so I would say that text is still readable.

Faceplates:
The faceplates are replaceable if you’re into that sort of thing. I suppose it’s a good thing since the screen is exposed at all times unlike the Game Boy Advance SP screen. Multiple variants exist if you’re into that sort of thing. Removing the faceplate is very easy.

D-Pad:
The D-Pad feels mushy to me. Over the past few years, I have gotten used to the Xbox One tactile D-pad and the firm PS4 D-pad. That said, it only took me a few minutes to get used to the Game Boy Micro’s D-pad again. If you want a more tactile d-pad, I would recommend going with the Game Boy Advance SP AGS-101.

Shoulder Buttons:
The shoulder buttons feel great through! They are tactile, and you can hear them when you click them. My only complaint, though, is that you have to press the shoulder buttons near the center of the unit. This is opposite for how the original Game Boy Advance shoulder buttons are pressed. Those are activated when pressing near the sides of the unit. Due to its small size, the Game Boy Advance Micro also isn’t as ergonomic when using the shoulder buttons than the larger Game Boy Advances.

Battery:
Like the Game Boy Advance SP, the Game Boy Micro includes a built in rechargeable lithium ion battery. The battery lasts five to eight hours depending on the screen brightness.

Headphone Jack:
I’m happy to say that the Game Boy Micro DOES include a headphone jack. Apple wasn’t the first company to get rid of it and then try to get you to buy their adapter. Nintendo got rid of the headphone jack on the Game Boy Advance SP and sold a proprietary adapter. Following the outrage, Nintendo reintroduced the headphone jack on the Game Boy Micro despite it’s size reduction, and then Nintendo included it on every handheld console since. So yes, it’s ridiculous that I even have to talk about the fact that the Game Boy Micro includes a headphone jack, but yes, the Game Boy Micro includes a headphone jack. Yay! That brings me to the one thing that Nintendo didn’t include in this version, compatibility with all Game Boy games.

Backwards Compatibility:
Regrettably, the Game Boy Micro is not compatible with Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. There currently exists only one workaround.
Goomba Color is a GBC emulator for the Game Boy Micro and Nintendo DS, which will require you to purchase a flashcart. It won’t play your physical cartridges through. Maybe a future update to Goomba Color will allow hot swapping between the Game Boy Advance flash cart (which boots the emulator), and the physical copy of the Game Boy or Game Boy Color game that you want to play, but that may be wishful thinking for a 14 year old handheld. Let me know in the comments below If you’d be interested in seeing a tutorial for loading Game Boy Color roms onto the Game Boy Micro using Goomba Color.

Conclusion
In conclusion, if you want the best screen quality for GBA games, you want the highest pixels per inch or PPI, and you want a headphone jack when playing your GBA games, then the Game Boy Micro is for you.
Just remember, it is a little more expensive, it is a little less ergonomic, it has a mushy D-pad, and it lacks compatibility with physical GB and GBC cartridges.