CRT Pixels

For anyone curious, the Nova’s custom, first-of-its-kind 4:3 120hz OLED screen means you can run black frame insertion and beefy CRT shaders and games up to and beyond PS2 and GCN. @retrogamecorps.com’s latency tests show that its responsiveness is on par with a CRT TV. Insanity.

Good example of why I personally prefer a softer look on a CRT vs a more razor-sharp presentation. Technically there may be more clarity and detail in the sharper image, but the softer pixel blurring results in a picture that’s more easily readable as a whole. Just different flavors though.

Spent some time this week at Rapid Fire Arcade near Kansas City. I always love checking in on how arcade monitors are holding up in real world scenarios. You could tell these folks have taken really great care of their hardware. Only a couple of Madway racers had been sadly swapped to LCDs.

Considering letting the 20” JVC D-Series go, because i just don’t have the room for it, but then I start playing arcade games on it again and man…

Can’t wait for all the Youtube videos sooner or later claiming this shit as a “graphical improvement” and saying “no one wants to play those ugly old games the way they used to look”

Demon Attack (1982, Imagic) - Intellivision I spent my morning testing out a Mattel Intellivision that a friend gave me and came to some pretty startling conclusions. The console’s (very) noisy RF signal goes some way to adding texture to its simplistic graphics.

Centipede (1983, Atari) - Intellivision What is striking to me is how in motion, through the haze, this truly does FEEL like playing Centipede. The player can make out just enough information to keep things playable, and the soundscape is mostly in tact as well.

Demon Attack (1982, Imagic) - Intellivision I spent my morning testing out a Mattel Intellivision that a friend gave me and came to some pretty startling conclusions. The console’s (very) noisy RF signal goes some way to adding texture to its simplistic graphics.

So glad I could contribute to this excellent video! Thank you Noodle for reaching out and for reminding me why I love this art and the humans to thank for it over the technical aspects it’s easy to get lost in. You really, truly nailed it.

Found this old test footage of Aliens vs. Predator (1994) running on a cheap Hitachi via the MiSTer Analog IO Board's composite. After everything, CRTs are still so magical to me

Happy 25th anniversary to Final Fantasy IX, my favorite game of all time ❤️ Still chasing that high.

Lately I’ve been playing Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles on Nintendo Switch 2 for review. My full review will be up on my podcast, but I’d like to unpack a few thoughts here as well. tldr; This is an excellent remaster with its own strengths and weaknesses.

Thank you to @square-enix-games.com for the review code. All screenshots and video of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles taken from Nintendo Switch 2 console captures and copyright of Square Enix. CRT photos of the PlayStation original taken by me on a 20” JVC D-Series.

Lately I’ve been playing Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles on Nintendo Switch 2 for review. My full review will be up on my podcast, but I’d like to unpack a few thoughts here as well. tldr; This is an excellent remaster with its own strengths and weaknesses.

Minor characters now truly become the iconic figures of a fittingly sweeping tale. Milleuda, a character I’d always glanced over in previous playthroughs, has become one of my favorites. I would also push Argath off the nearest ledge at any given opportunity. The 2007 script now feels definitive.

Lately I’ve been playing Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles on Nintendo Switch 2 for review. My full review will be up on my podcast, but I’d like to unpack a few thoughts here as well. tldr; This is an excellent remaster with its own strengths and weaknesses.

However, there is one addition here that I absolutely cannot ignore. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles might just have the best voice acting performances of any video game I have ever played. It genuinely enhances the drama, script, and story in every way.

Lately I’ve been playing Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles on Nintendo Switch 2 for review. My full review will be up on my podcast, but I’d like to unpack a few thoughts here as well. tldr; This is an excellent remaster with its own strengths and weaknesses.

I would have preferred an option to simply switch to the original, pixellated sprites rather than an entire “Classic” version. That or have each sprite completely redone in a more hand drawn, fittingly HD art style. Your mileage may vary. Here is a quick comparison vs my JVC D-Series CRT’s S-Video

Lately I’ve been playing Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles on Nintendo Switch 2 for review. My full review will be up on my podcast, but I’d like to unpack a few thoughts here as well. tldr; This is an excellent remaster with its own strengths and weaknesses.

Sadly, the Classic version seems to use some kind of AI upscaling for its FMVs. The scenes themselves appear suitably pixelated to the original resolution, but in motion details smudge together as if the FMVs were AI upscaled and then recompressed. A minor, but odd decision.

Lately I’ve been playing Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles on Nintendo Switch 2 for review. My full review will be up on my podcast, but I’d like to unpack a few thoughts here as well. tldr; This is an excellent remaster with its own strengths and weaknesses.

The Ivalice Chronicles does a fantastic job onboarding new (or lapsed) players with modernized tutorials, rebalanced difficulty options, and a slew of quality of life features. All of these gameplay features feel like genuine enhancements that don’t detract from the core game.

Lately I’ve been playing Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles on Nintendo Switch 2 for review. My full review will be up on my podcast, but I’d like to unpack a few thoughts here as well. tldr; This is an excellent remaster with its own strengths and weaknesses.

I didn’t advertise my trip to PAX West 2025, but it was nice to see so many of you regardless! Thank you to those who said hi, chatted about CRTs, and offered encouraging words after a rough year. Can’t wait to see you all again in 2026!

If you’d like to hear my thoughts on the mountain of incredible games I previewed at PAX West this year, you can find Part 1 of that at my podcast: bsky.app/profile/pock...

Yet another nice example of a developer keeping a midrange, composite-only, consumer CRT nearby to check how the game’s visuals would look for the end user. (image via @crtbot.bsky.social)