** Many of our favourites gaming memories are from several decades ago, however, it’s safe to say that some of the hardware we once enjoyed has a limited shelf life. With this in mind talented gamers have begun creating aftermarket products such as flash cartridges and adaptors to ensure we can still get our fix even today. The latest release to preserve our history is a complete SD card replacement for the Laserdisc drives found in arcade machines such as Dragon’s Lair.
As impressive as Dragon’s Lair was at the time, the machine itself was just one giant video player that showed you different cutscenes on the game’s embedded Laserdisc, depending on which buttons you pressed. While we’re not trying to belittle the revolutionary game, it’s worth noting that like all optical media the Laserdisc format has already begun suffering from degradation known as Laser Rot - the build up of metal layer oxydation on the game discs. This in turn produces various artifacting on the visuals, which only worsen over time.
Dexter aims to remedy this issue by providing a direct replacement to the Laserdisc player on such arcade machines, allowing gamers in ownership of these cabinets to keep gaming. In order to get Dexter going, compatible Laserdisc files need to be dropped onto an SD card, and the device then plugs into the port where the player once connected. As of speaking the device supports around 40 different titles including the likes of Cobra Command, Space Ace, Mad Dog McCree, and Space Ace, whilst titles such as Road Avenger are being adapted to be compatible.
Needless to say this is a fantastic addition to the retro gaming world and those lucky enough to own one of these historic machines. Dexter costs a massive $359.99, however, given the bleak future of this medium, this is an investment any Laserdisc coin-op owner should consider. **
Imagino que esta noticia tiene más sentido en América y Latino América que en Europa, pero sin duda es bienvenido principalmente como sistema de preservación.
En un momento me quise comprar una para probar.
Pero como tengo los discos de los juegos y sé que básicamente son películas, quiero poder reproducirlos antes de lanzarme a comprar alguna.
