Channel 8 · Retro Games
Player Select
LOAD "RETROBAT",8,1
The rig
One Menu, Many Machines
Everything runs through RetroBat — EmulationStation for Windows, bundled with RetroArch cores and a stack of standalone emulators, all behind one menu. Pick a system, pick a game, press start. No cables to swap, no cartridge contacts to blow on.
The library lives on the NAS and keeps growing one system at a time. Below is what is currently in rotation — real consoles and handhelds, a handful of home computers, a few arcade boards, and one honorary guest for point-and-click nights.
Current rotation
Select Your System
Nintendo
- NES / Famicom1983CARTBlow into the cartridge. It never actually helped.
- Famicom Disk System1986DISKRewritable floppies, refilled at in-store kiosks.
- Game Boy1989CARTFour shades of green. Enough for everything.
- Super Nintendo1990CARTMode 7 — plus MSU-1 hacks with CD-quality soundtracks.
- Nintendo 641996CARTThree-pronged controller, zero loading screens.
- Game Boy Color1998CARTUp to 56 colours on screen at once.
- Game Boy Advance2001CARTRoughly a Super Nintendo that fits in a pocket.
- GameCube2001MINI-DVDThe console with a carrying handle.
- Nintendo DS2004CARTTwo screens, one stylus.
Sega
- Master System1985CARTSega's 8-bit answer to the NES.
- Mega Drive1988CARTBlast processing, allegedly.
- Game Gear1990CARTBacklit colour screen, six AA batteries, never enough.
- Mega-CD1991CDFull-motion video, grainy as promised.
- 32X1994CARTThe mushroom that sat on top of the Mega Drive.
- Saturn1994CDTwo CPUs, one headache for developers.
- Dreamcast1998GD-ROMIt's thinking.
Sony
- PlayStation1994CDThe discs with the black underside.
- PlayStation 22000DVDBest-selling console of all time.
- PSP2004UMDUniversal Media Disc. Universally forgotten.
NEC
- PC Engine1987HUCARDGames on cards the size of a credit card.
- PC Engine CD-ROM²1988CDThe first console add-on to play games from CD.
SNK
- Neo Geo1990CARTThe arcade at home — at arcade prices.
- Neo Geo CD1994CDSame games, much longer loading screens.
Atari
- Atari 26001977CART128 bytes of RAM. Bytes, not kilobytes.
- Atari 78001986CARTPlays the whole 2600 library as well.
- Jaguar1993CART“Do the math” — 64 bits, according to the box.
Odd ones out
- 3DO1993CDLaunched at 699 dollars. It showed.
- WonderSwan1999CARTBandai's handheld, Gunpei Yokoi's last design.
Home computers
- TI-99/4A1981CARTA 16-bit CPU in 1981 — and a cartridge slot.
- Commodore 641982DISK / TAPELOAD "*",8,1 — then go make a sandwich.
- Amstrad CPC1984DISK / TAPECame with its own monitor and a built-in tape deck.
- Atari ST1985FLOPPYMIDI ports built in — a studio favourite.
- Commodore Amiga1985FLOPPYNext on the shelf. Please insert disk 2.
Arcade boards
- Capcom CPS-11988PCBStreet Fighter II's home turf.
- Capcom CPS-21993PCBCame with “suicide” batteries that kill the board when empty.
- Capcom CPS-31996CDWhere Street Fighter III: Third Strike lives.
- Sega NAOMI1998GD-ROMThe Dreamcast's big brother in the arcade.
- Sammy Atomiswave2003CARTSwap the cartridge, swap the cabinet's game.
- FinalBurn Neo & MAME1978+PCBEverything else that ever had a coin slot.
Honorary guest
- ScummVM1987+FLOPPY / CDNot a console. Still the finest point-and-click machine ever built.