Thom
@lilock33.bsky.social
The pieces in my jigsaw were never made to fit,
I waste my time pretending I can do it.
I waste my time pretending I can do it.
Tetris Worlds (PS2)
The beginnings of the Tetris Guidelines and the standardisation of all Tetris games...
Some nice modes here, it controls well and looks the part, but it falls flat for me because there's no proper endless mode and everything is against the clock. ⏱️🙁
#RetroGaming #Tetris #PS2
The beginnings of the Tetris Guidelines and the standardisation of all Tetris games...
Some nice modes here, it controls well and looks the part, but it falls flat for me because there's no proper endless mode and everything is against the clock. ⏱️🙁
#RetroGaming #Tetris #PS2
July 30, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Tetris Worlds (PS2)
The beginnings of the Tetris Guidelines and the standardisation of all Tetris games...
Some nice modes here, it controls well and looks the part, but it falls flat for me because there's no proper endless mode and everything is against the clock. ⏱️🙁
#RetroGaming #Tetris #PS2
The beginnings of the Tetris Guidelines and the standardisation of all Tetris games...
Some nice modes here, it controls well and looks the part, but it falls flat for me because there's no proper endless mode and everything is against the clock. ⏱️🙁
#RetroGaming #Tetris #PS2
Grabbed my Space World GBA for a quick test, but I think making a proper start's going to have to wait until after my trip to Scotland.
July 29, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Grabbed my Space World GBA for a quick test, but I think making a proper start's going to have to wait until after my trip to Scotland.
A soundtrack CD is always a sure-fire way to sell me on a special edition... 😅
July 29, 2025 at 6:10 PM
A soundtrack CD is always a sure-fire way to sell me on a special edition... 😅
Nice! I got myself one for Christmas. 😁
I'd been waiting a very long time for a device, or even just a GBC screen mod, that delivered everything I wanted. Been the perfect excuse to revisit GBC games. 😀
I'd been waiting a very long time for a device, or even just a GBC screen mod, that delivered everything I wanted. Been the perfect excuse to revisit GBC games. 😀
July 29, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Nice! I got myself one for Christmas. 😁
I'd been waiting a very long time for a device, or even just a GBC screen mod, that delivered everything I wanted. Been the perfect excuse to revisit GBC games. 😀
I'd been waiting a very long time for a device, or even just a GBC screen mod, that delivered everything I wanted. Been the perfect excuse to revisit GBC games. 😀
Just delivered by the most cheery and careful Hermes/Evri driver. I always feel my heart sink whenever order tracking says it's being delivered by Evri, but they actually did a good job this time. 😌
July 29, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Just delivered by the most cheery and careful Hermes/Evri driver. I always feel my heart sink whenever order tracking says it's being delivered by Evri, but they actually did a good job this time. 😌
Yay! This one's certainly been a long time coming... 😂
This is jumping straight to the "next up" position on my handheld "to play" list, I'll be putting some batteries on charge for my GBA. 😁 Seems like the perfect summer game!
This is jumping straight to the "next up" position on my handheld "to play" list, I'll be putting some batteries on charge for my GBA. 😁 Seems like the perfect summer game!
July 29, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Yay! This one's certainly been a long time coming... 😂
This is jumping straight to the "next up" position on my handheld "to play" list, I'll be putting some batteries on charge for my GBA. 😁 Seems like the perfect summer game!
This is jumping straight to the "next up" position on my handheld "to play" list, I'll be putting some batteries on charge for my GBA. 😁 Seems like the perfect summer game!
Was he actually a victim of the Russian mafia?
Gruesome subject matter, but a worthwhile watch for anyone with an interested in true crime, Tetris, or videogame history.
2/2
Gruesome subject matter, but a worthwhile watch for anyone with an interested in true crime, Tetris, or videogame history.
2/2
July 27, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Was he actually a victim of the Russian mafia?
Gruesome subject matter, but a worthwhile watch for anyone with an interested in true crime, Tetris, or videogame history.
2/2
Gruesome subject matter, but a worthwhile watch for anyone with an interested in true crime, Tetris, or videogame history.
2/2
One of the lesser told Tetris stories is that of Vladimir Pokhilko, who worked with Alexey Pajitnov on the game and later co-created Hatris.
This is a three part documentary from Discovery that challenges the established narrative that he murdered his whole family before killing himself.
1/2
This is a three part documentary from Discovery that challenges the established narrative that he murdered his whole family before killing himself.
1/2
July 27, 2025 at 5:21 PM
One of the lesser told Tetris stories is that of Vladimir Pokhilko, who worked with Alexey Pajitnov on the game and later co-created Hatris.
This is a three part documentary from Discovery that challenges the established narrative that he murdered his whole family before killing himself.
1/2
This is a three part documentary from Discovery that challenges the established narrative that he murdered his whole family before killing himself.
1/2
I really appreciate the super-long stem on the switch for the sync button. 😄
July 26, 2025 at 7:04 PM
I really appreciate the super-long stem on the switch for the sync button. 😄
Yay! Working now! 😁
Put some oil on each end of the spindle and gave it a few taps until it started up. After about 30 seconds of running it became a lot stronger and higher pitched as the oil took hold. That saves having to source a replacement motor.
Put some oil on each end of the spindle and gave it a few taps until it started up. After about 30 seconds of running it became a lot stronger and higher pitched as the oil took hold. That saves having to source a replacement motor.
July 26, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Yay! Working now! 😁
Put some oil on each end of the spindle and gave it a few taps until it started up. After about 30 seconds of running it became a lot stronger and higher pitched as the oil took hold. That saves having to source a replacement motor.
Put some oil on each end of the spindle and gave it a few taps until it started up. After about 30 seconds of running it became a lot stronger and higher pitched as the oil took hold. That saves having to source a replacement motor.
My first time opening up a Wii Remote.
That rumble motor's tiny! 😆 And peeling back the label over the spindle must have taken me a good 10 minutes; so small and fiddly, and it really didn't want to come off!
Hopefully I can get some oil to seep into there.
That rumble motor's tiny! 😆 And peeling back the label over the spindle must have taken me a good 10 minutes; so small and fiddly, and it really didn't want to come off!
Hopefully I can get some oil to seep into there.
July 26, 2025 at 6:28 PM
My first time opening up a Wii Remote.
That rumble motor's tiny! 😆 And peeling back the label over the spindle must have taken me a good 10 minutes; so small and fiddly, and it really didn't want to come off!
Hopefully I can get some oil to seep into there.
That rumble motor's tiny! 😆 And peeling back the label over the spindle must have taken me a good 10 minutes; so small and fiddly, and it really didn't want to come off!
Hopefully I can get some oil to seep into there.
Just realised that the rumble on my original Wii Remote from 2006 isn't working. Occasionally if I shake the remote it'll kick in, but more often than not there's nothing.
Hopefully it's something as simple as the motor needing lubricating. I think I need to open it up and have a look!
#Wii
Hopefully it's something as simple as the motor needing lubricating. I think I need to open it up and have a look!
#Wii
July 26, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Just realised that the rumble on my original Wii Remote from 2006 isn't working. Occasionally if I shake the remote it'll kick in, but more often than not there's nothing.
Hopefully it's something as simple as the motor needing lubricating. I think I need to open it up and have a look!
#Wii
Hopefully it's something as simple as the motor needing lubricating. I think I need to open it up and have a look!
#Wii
Is it possible to name something good about Star Wars Episode 1?
#RandomGameSaturday responds with Star Wars Episode 1 Racer. Essentially Wipeout IN SPACE!! 😁
#RandomGameSaturday responds with Star Wars Episode 1 Racer. Essentially Wipeout IN SPACE!! 😁
July 26, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Is it possible to name something good about Star Wars Episode 1?
#RandomGameSaturday responds with Star Wars Episode 1 Racer. Essentially Wipeout IN SPACE!! 😁
#RandomGameSaturday responds with Star Wars Episode 1 Racer. Essentially Wipeout IN SPACE!! 😁
OK, bit of a false start. 😅
The trigger wasn't proving very responsive, but a bit of isopropyl on the microswitch seems to have fixed it. 🙂
The trigger wasn't proving very responsive, but a bit of isopropyl on the microswitch seems to have fixed it. 🙂
July 23, 2025 at 1:55 PM
OK, bit of a false start. 😅
The trigger wasn't proving very responsive, but a bit of isopropyl on the microswitch seems to have fixed it. 🙂
The trigger wasn't proving very responsive, but a bit of isopropyl on the microswitch seems to have fixed it. 🙂
Brought the Saturn upstairs to the CRT to give the Virtua Gun a try. 🔫👮
July 23, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Brought the Saturn upstairs to the CRT to give the Virtua Gun a try. 🔫👮
Bringing the iScan into the chain between the composite converter and the OSSC Pro takes the minimum reading to 98.8ms.
An additional 47.7ms over the previous value, so lets call it 3 frames that the iScan adds performing 480i to 480p.
Fine for watching films, but not great for gaming.
An additional 47.7ms over the previous value, so lets call it 3 frames that the iScan adds performing 480i to 480p.
Fine for watching films, but not great for gaming.
July 23, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Bringing the iScan into the chain between the composite converter and the OSSC Pro takes the minimum reading to 98.8ms.
An additional 47.7ms over the previous value, so lets call it 3 frames that the iScan adds performing 480i to 480p.
Fine for watching films, but not great for gaming.
An additional 47.7ms over the previous value, so lets call it 3 frames that the iScan adds performing 480i to 480p.
Fine for watching films, but not great for gaming.
The reading drifts from around 51 up to about 68 and then resets back to 51, so the device clocks don't perfectly synchronise and a frame is periodically being dropped to compensate.
I'll be generous and take the lower reading, meaning the composite converter adds 2 frames of additional lag.
I'll be generous and take the lower reading, meaning the composite converter adds 2 frames of additional lag.
July 23, 2025 at 7:09 AM
The reading drifts from around 51 up to about 68 and then resets back to 51, so the device clocks don't perfectly synchronise and a frame is periodically being dropped to compensate.
I'll be generous and take the lower reading, meaning the composite converter adds 2 frames of additional lag.
I'll be generous and take the lower reading, meaning the composite converter adds 2 frames of additional lag.
This time I use the HDMI to composite video converter to take the lag tester's output down to an analogue 480i signal, then use the OSSC Pro to go back to HDMI. The OSSC should only add 2 lines delay in pure line-multiplication mode, so any additional measurable lag is from the composite converter.
July 23, 2025 at 7:09 AM
This time I use the HDMI to composite video converter to take the lag tester's output down to an analogue 480i signal, then use the OSSC Pro to go back to HDMI. The OSSC should only add 2 lines delay in pure line-multiplication mode, so any additional measurable lag is from the composite converter.
When connected directly to my TV the lag tester reads 14.7ms on the middle bar, so just below 1 frame of lag. I'm taking that as the baseline figure.
July 23, 2025 at 7:09 AM
When connected directly to my TV the lag tester reads 14.7ms on the middle bar, so just below 1 frame of lag. I'm taking that as the baseline figure.
OK, so I have a lag tester that generates a test pattern over HDMI and uses a photo-sensor to measure the TV's latency. And I have a cheapo HDMI to composite converter and an OSSC Pro. These should be all I need to measure the iScan's lag with a 480i input.
July 23, 2025 at 7:09 AM
OK, so I have a lag tester that generates a test pattern over HDMI and uses a photo-sensor to measure the TV's latency. And I have a cheapo HDMI to composite converter and an OSSC Pro. These should be all I need to measure the iScan's lag with a 480i input.
There's an episode of Channel 4's Equinox on gaming from 1993 that has some very early footage of what would become A Final Unity. I very clearly remember watching it when it was first broadcast. Apart from the TNG stuff the whole thing is a fascinating watch!
It's on YouTube, link in alt text.
It's on YouTube, link in alt text.
July 22, 2025 at 5:13 PM
There's an episode of Channel 4's Equinox on gaming from 1993 that has some very early footage of what would become A Final Unity. I very clearly remember watching it when it was first broadcast. Apart from the TNG stuff the whole thing is a fascinating watch!
It's on YouTube, link in alt text.
It's on YouTube, link in alt text.
My very first upscaler.
This wasn't used for gaming, but for deinterlacing DVDs on a 480p/576p capable CRT TV in the early 2000s. I'm curious as to how much lag it introduces and what uses it might have as a gaming device though. Might be fun to test it out... 🤔😁
This wasn't used for gaming, but for deinterlacing DVDs on a 480p/576p capable CRT TV in the early 2000s. I'm curious as to how much lag it introduces and what uses it might have as a gaming device though. Might be fun to test it out... 🤔😁
July 22, 2025 at 3:06 PM
My very first upscaler.
This wasn't used for gaming, but for deinterlacing DVDs on a 480p/576p capable CRT TV in the early 2000s. I'm curious as to how much lag it introduces and what uses it might have as a gaming device though. Might be fun to test it out... 🤔😁
This wasn't used for gaming, but for deinterlacing DVDs on a 480p/576p capable CRT TV in the early 2000s. I'm curious as to how much lag it introduces and what uses it might have as a gaming device though. Might be fun to test it out... 🤔😁
That would be this "Technigraph" Pong-clone I picked up last year. My project over the Christmas break was to modify it to get it working with modern TVs and upscalers.
July 22, 2025 at 2:34 PM
That would be this "Technigraph" Pong-clone I picked up last year. My project over the Christmas break was to modify it to get it working with modern TVs and upscalers.
I'm a big fan! So long as you approach it for what it is - a system capable of delivering Game Boy style games, but in stereoscopic 3D - then you'll have no complaints. Nintendo did themselves no favours by marketing it as a 32-bit machine and pitting it against the PSX and Saturn... 😅
July 21, 2025 at 3:04 PM
I'm a big fan! So long as you approach it for what it is - a system capable of delivering Game Boy style games, but in stereoscopic 3D - then you'll have no complaints. Nintendo did themselves no favours by marketing it as a 32-bit machine and pitting it against the PSX and Saturn... 😅
Not a Tetris game this week, but a book!
The Perfect Game is Henk Rogers' first person account of the Tetris story. Probably not the best place to start if you're not already familiar with the tale as it doesn't cover what the other parties were up if Rogers didn't experience it first-hand!
1/2
The Perfect Game is Henk Rogers' first person account of the Tetris story. Probably not the best place to start if you're not already familiar with the tale as it doesn't cover what the other parties were up if Rogers didn't experience it first-hand!
1/2
July 20, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Not a Tetris game this week, but a book!
The Perfect Game is Henk Rogers' first person account of the Tetris story. Probably not the best place to start if you're not already familiar with the tale as it doesn't cover what the other parties were up if Rogers didn't experience it first-hand!
1/2
The Perfect Game is Henk Rogers' first person account of the Tetris story. Probably not the best place to start if you're not already familiar with the tale as it doesn't cover what the other parties were up if Rogers didn't experience it first-hand!
1/2