I am flying solo for a Zezcast episode where I talk to Antoine Fantys AKA FG Software/Vectrex28. Antoine has Czech heritage, grew up in Switzerland and now lives an works in Tokyo Japan. By day he is a software developer for a large company and by night is an NES / PC Engine homebrew hacker with a great collection of games and demos to his name.

I came to know Antoine over Twitter when I posted photos of a PVM / DV Player combo for sale in a Tokyo Hard Off store. Antoine has previously seen that exact set and noticed from my photo it was now at a discount. He had to get the PVM, take a taxi to the train station, take the 14 inch on the Tokyo subway and then another taxi home, It's a a great tale.

I didn't know Antoine before this talk and we hear about retro consoles available in Switzerland in the 90s, his work as an NES homebrew dev and what the CRT scene is like in Japan right now.

0:00 Start

0:30 Antoine's background & first consoles

10:30 Japan shipping options - post or extra bags?

18:00 Starting off as an NES homebew hacker

28:00 Should Comp Sci courses teach low level languages?

32:00 You can meet OG Famicom devs in Japan

42:00 How does NES code detect NTSC/PAL?

48:00 Whats the homebrew scene like in Japan?

50:00 14" PVM story - bringing it home on the train!

59:00 The recent resurgance of CRT sales in Japan

1:05:00 Japanese online sellers are generally pretty good

Follow Antoine Fantys AKA FG Software/Vectrex28

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FG_Software

Itch for his games: https://vectrex28.itch.io

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Along with my friend Steve from RetroTech we maintain a blog about our projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"

https://www.cathoderayblog.com

You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app

https://anchor.fm/zezretro

Catch us on Twitter

https://twitter.com/zez

https://twitter.com/usa_retro

For all your CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA

Last week a lot of 25 x new old stock 27" JVC CRTs went up for gov auction in DC. This sounds like a great chance to pickup a rare find, however dealing with TWENTY FIVE, VERY BIG screens is more work than it seems.

In this podcast Steve breaks down the total cost of picking up this lot including everything from transport, storage, inspection and buyers fees. The final cost will surprise you!

We also have a talk about official video cables. Are first party officially licenced original cables always the best? Did any console vendors ever pack in crappy cables? Tell us in the comments!

0:00 Start

1:30 Steve got an MRI

8:30 Shipping CRTs is a nightmare!

9:30 Louis sold that rare GameCube controller

17:30 Do you like the N64 controller?

20:30 Are official video cables always the gold standard??

38:30 CRT lot business cost breakdown

1:06:00 Need a CRT in NYC? Just go to Brooklyn Video Games!

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Follow us on Twitter!

https://twitter.com/zez

https://twitter.com/usa_retro

Please keep in mind that very technical CRT questions are really difficult to diagnose online. If you are interested in Steve's professional CRT repair services please head over to his patreon page 

https://www.patreon.com/retrotechUSA

Steve and Louis maintain a blog about their projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"

https://www.cathoderayblog.com

You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app

https://anchor.fm/zezretro

For all your own CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA

Steve is back after his trip to the hospital!

0:00 Start

02:00 Basketball and Jordan were huge when we were kids

06:00 Laserdisc - how does it look?

18:00 Steve weighs in on the N64

29:00 Story of Steve's first PVM

32:00 A HUGE collection of PVM parts for the shop

42:00 Steve opens up about his health

46:00 Visit to Brooklyn Video Games!

52:00 Quick room tour from Steve

53:00 CRT delivery horror stories

56:00 Louis will rebuild his 14 inch PVM

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Follow us on Twitter!

https://twitter.com/zez

https://twitter.com/usa_retro

https://twitter.com/8bitesquire

Please keep in mind that very technical CRT questions are really difficult to diagnose online. If you are interested in Steve's professional CRT repair services please head over to his patreon page 

https://www.patreon.com/retrotechUSA

Steve and Louis maintain a blog about their projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"

https://www.cathoderayblog.com

You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app

https://anchor.fm/zezretro

For all your own CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA

On my recent trip to Tokyo I sat down with my mate Jim (aka KidShoryuken aka Mad Panic Gaming) to ask the big question "Are there any good games and pickups left in Japan??"

Has everything been sold already? Are pickups, games and systems still available at a good price? We discuss a variety of systems ranging from original systems such as Famicom and N64 right up to current gen systems like Switch and PS4.

Sorry about the audio in this episode. Jim even offered to record it and I was like "no no this recorder is great, everything will be fine...". After punishing the audio through seven layers of hell it is ok to listen to now.

As well as running the KidShoryuken YouTube channel Jim also has a Patreon where you can sign up for monthly "loot box" style packages of retro games direct from Japan. Jim's knowledge of Japanese games is top notch and if you are keen to own a selection which has been personally curated by him, go and sign up on his Patreon.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kidshoryuken

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KidShoryuken

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/KidShoryuken

----------------------

Along with my friend Steve from RetroTech we maintain a blog about our projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"

https://www.cathoderayblog.com

You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app

https://anchor.fm/zezretro

Catch us on Twitter

https://twitter.com/zez

https://twitter.com/usa_retro

For all your CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA

Steve took a trip to the hospital this week so Roger, the 8BitEsquire joins Louis again for the Cathode Ray Podcast.

Despite what Louis says at the start, this is Cathode Ray Podcast #42

0:00 Start

1:00 Steve in hospital

6:30 Roger's upcoming first video

8:00 Would you bankrupt yourself in Japan?

11:00 The AV Famicom is too EASY. Bring on RF!

18:00 Louis reviews the N64

28:00 Japanese vs Western toilets

39:00 Roger explains the MSX Personal Computer

55:00 Emulation - how much is too much?

1:02:00 N64 racing games are better with a modern pad

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Follow us on Twitter!

https://twitter.com/zez

https://twitter.com/usa_retro

https://twitter.com/8bitesquire

Please keep in mind that very technical CRT questions are really difficult to diagnose online. If you are interested in Steve's professional CRT repair services please head over to his patreon page 

https://www.patreon.com/retrotechUSA

Steve and Louis maintain a blog about their projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"

https://www.cathoderayblog.com

You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app

https://anchor.fm/zezretro

For all your own CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA

We start the episode with a discussion of how Steve is updating his workshop with a streaming setup. Soon we will be able to watch CRT repair.

In the latter section we discuss the recent controversy with DKOldies. We try and look it from two sides: Are high prices wrong? & Are DKOldies delivering low quality products?

0:00 Start

03:00 Steve explains the new streaming setup

08:40 Components in his new stream pc

21:43 The multi-camera setup

31:00 Louis dragged a Extron Crosspoint ISS 108 home from Japan. Now what?

47:10 RetroGamingCables.co.uk SCART to BNC discussed

49:00 Genuine Nintendo SNES JP21 cable

54:00 FujiWork PS3 cables are LEGIT!

58:25 DKOldies

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Follow us on Twitter!

https://twitter.com/zez

https://twitter.com/usa_retro

Please keep in mind that very technical CRT questions are really difficult to diagnose online. If you are interested in Steve's professional CRT repair services please head over to his patreon page 

https://www.patreon.com/retrotechUSA

Steve and Louis maintain a blog about their projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"

https://www.cathoderayblog.com

You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app

https://anchor.fm/zezretro

For all your own CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA

Louis is back from Japan and we start the episode with a recap of the adventures along with a summary of the state of CRT sales in the land of the rising sun.

Steve discusses his work in museums and wonders how can we produce a LCD which completely replicated the physical and image quality of a professional monitor.

0:00 Start

02:30 Hunting for Retro at Hard Off

06:00 Louis was on an Japanese TV show "Why Did You Come to Japan?"

11:30 Christmas Eve metal gig in Tokyo

13:20 Louis' technique for filming in stores

16:00 There were good amounts of CRTs!

26:00 How is each Hard Off store different?

33:30 Louis found a rare "Tales of Symphonia" GameCube controller for cheap

40:00 How do you transport all this crap home?

48:00 Steve's latest work restoring pro CRTs for museums

49:30 Why the PVM-2530 is SO HARD to repair

56:00 Steve's dream for the ultimate "modern LCD" CRT

1:00:00 Shank's INSANE Wii inside of a PVM

1:11:00 How to make a small PVM/BVM portable?

--------------------------------

Follow us on Twitter!

https://twitter.com/zez

https://twitter.com/usa_retro

Please keep in mind that very technical CRT questions are really difficult to diagnose online. If you are interested in Steve's professional CRT repair services please head over to his patreon page 

https://www.patreon.com/retrotechUSA

Steve and Louis maintain a blog about their projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"

https://www.cathoderayblog.com

You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app

https://anchor.fm/zezretro

For all your own CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA

Today I talked with Japanese comedian Meshida. This isn't a talk about retro gaming but rather about Japanese culture and Stand Up comedy. Meshida does his act in English and is helping to introduce that authentic style of Stand Up to Japan, much in the same way I helped to bring it to Estonia. We focus on the Japanese culture side of things and I figure this will be still be interesting to y'all.

Like all comedians during the pandemic Meshida was bored not being able to get on stage so he started to grow his YouTube channel, creating great skits explaining Japanese culture. He is now at 138K subs and you should check out his stuff!

https://www.youtube.com/@Meshida

I really had a good time recording this podcast with Meshida, it has been so long since I did an episode with an actual live person (I still love you Steve) and it's facinating to hear about Japan from a Japanese comedian.

Follow my daily adventures as I live tweet the interesting, rare and weird stuff I find in each store

https://twitter.com/zez

----------------------

Along with my friend Steve from RetroTech we maintain a blog about our projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"

https://www.cathoderayblog.com

You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app

https://anchor.fm/zezretro

Catch us on Twitter

https://twitter.com/zez

https://twitter.com/usa_retro

For all your CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8qx667CpJ4

The Cathode Ray Podcast is a series with CRT shaman Steve from Retro Tech and Louis Zezeran from Zez Retro. Together we talk about CRTs, TVs and other retro gaming topics.

00:00 Start

0:10 It's impolite to just plug a USB into someone's computer

5:02 I want more of that Steve lovin'

7:40 Steve is gunna coach his son's backetball team

16:21 Managing a comedian on tour is nuts

19:50 Louis picked up a sweet xbox 360 wheel

22:38 What happens to those who are holding expensive retro items?

29:12 Are professional sellers seeing high end slow down?

30:35 Louis' theory on why every retro based collectable will go through a big ass price correction at some stage

41:11 Steve teaches us to edge the YouTube algorithm

49:50 Should Steve do more shorter or longer videos?

54:50 Feeling good about this podcast

57:53 Louis is going to Japan in December

1:03:35 Japanese Hard Off stores often have their own workshop table to test "junk"

1:13:00 Is it our duty to rescue EVERY CRT?

Our next episode will be a live stream, sometime in the morning on Tuesday the 25th eastern time. We will be taking your questions so please tweet to us or email

[email protected]

https://twitter.com/zez

https://twitter.com/usa_retro

Please keep in mind that very technical CRT questions are really difficult to diagnose online. If you are interested in Steve's professional CRT repair services please head over to his patreon page 

https://www.patreon.com/retrotechUSA

Steve and Louis maintain a blog about their projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"

https://www.cathoderayblog.com

You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app

https://anchor.fm/zezretro

For all your own CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA