Thread by @gamespite

People frequently ask me about my streaming/capture setup, so I'll be posting about all nonsensical contraptions I've put together to get, like, 5% superior quality to just emulating a bunch of stuff.

To start, here's the center section of my home office shelving.

This shelving is actually purpose-built for me; @catnguyenphoto commissioned custom built-ins for the office, and I had my side of the shelving built specifically to house my gear. There's a large space for a 20" CRT, and all the shelves have feeder cutouts for cabling, etc.

The bottom portion of the photo is the CRT I use as my recording monitor (a Sony PVM-1953MD). On top of that is an XRGB Mini Framemeister for upscaling 240p video to 720p for recording, and a gscartsw (JP21-RGB SCART switcher) which dual-outputs to the PVM and the Elgato.

On the top shelf, you can see my PS4 library slowly being Cask of Amontillado'd by random Japanese PC games (MSX, X68000, MyCards). (This is an unsubtle metaphor for my gaming habits.) Also: Analogue Mega Sg cart adapters and flash carts for MSX, NGPC, and Game Gear.

Middle shelf, starting from left: Analogue Nt Mini + Famicom Disk System. The workhorse of my setup. In addition to playing NES/Famicom/FDS games, it's jailbroken so I can record 2600/7800/Coleco/etc. games when necessary without the need to keep those actual consoles on-hand.

Middle shelf, continued: @Analogue Super Nt (currently equipped with a Super Game Boy 2), running through a DAC. The analog video output from this setup is beautiful—even crisper and cleaner than actual Super NES output through Nintendo's official JP21-RGB cable.

Also, an Analogue Mega Sg + Mega SD (with DAC, which makes 32X support possible thanks to a custom cable from @retroaccess). The Mega SD is just plugged in for convenience; it actually doesn't run correctly through the 32X—I have to remove the 32X to use it or the cart adapters.

And finally, a PS2. Nothing unusual there. It's just... a PS2.

(Someone, please develop an ODE for PS2. The disc drive on mine is starting to give out.)

Next up: the overflow bookshelf for devices I don’t keep hooked up when not in use, since they require specific cabling or dedicated desk space.

First, the Virtual Boy that made VB Works possible. It’s modded with @furrtek’s Virtual Tap adapter (RGB variant) to allow video capture. Its janky eyepiece cabling was recently repaired by @Arithmaldor to bring it back into fighting shape.

Beneath that is a 2DS XL equipped with a Katsukitty mod for HD video capture via USB.

There’s also an o.g. DS with a video mod here, but the software can’t capture HD. I keep it around in case I need to record something that uses the GBA slot (like the Arkanoid dial controller)

Finally, a Panasonic A1 model MSX. This was not the Cadillac of MSXes I wanted, but after spending too much money on a HitBit that turned out to have a dying disk drive and keyboard, I decided to go with something reliable and inexpensive. It does RGB out, so it’s good enough.

The triple shelving unit to the right of my CRT is the big one. This is the Fire Hazard Zone, with seven different systems plugged in and hooked up for capture.

The top shelf, from left: A couple of @benjedwards BX Foundry sticks (TG16 and Saturn).

You can stop sending sad emotes at me now, Benj! Sheesh.

The GameCube in the middle has had quite a journey. It's region-modded, running on a donated first-party component cable through a Behar Bros. Garo box to SCART, and the optical drive died so it was resuscitated with a GCLoader powered by Swiss. It is... a beast. In orange!

The PlayStation has been with me the longest: I bought it in April 1997 and chipped it to play imports (read: Dracula X) a month later. The drive flaked out in 1999, but that's OK now, because it's had a PSIO installed. We are BFFs. It alone gets to wear the Astromech of Honor.

The PS1's memory cards are plastered with stickers and loaded with derelict saves from 20+ years ago. I wish I had more personal legacy stuff like that, but as many times as I've moved across the country (I once toted all my worldly belongings in a Nissan Sentra), it's been tough

OK! Middle shelf. Top left: An RGB-modded Nintendo 64. The inserted cart is a Wide Boy 64, which is basically a Super Game Boy that can play Game Boy Color software. It's official dev hardware, never released to retail... which is a dang shame. They really should have.

Beneath that is a SuperGrafx equipped with a Super SD System 3, which means it is, in effect, a PC Engine capable of playing TurboGrafx-16, PCE, Turbo CD, CD-ROM^2, and SuperGrafx games. In RGB. It's rad, and I need to get more use out of it.

And then there's a Dreamcast that someone fitted with an internal hard drive. It's, y'know, a Dreamcast. I should stream some games from it sometime.

Bottom shelf, left: IS-GBA-CAPTURE. This is a dev tool that was sold to media for screen caps; it's a metal box attached to a modded GBA via IDE cable. It's the only device in this setup that outputs S-Video (rather than RGB/component), but the video quality is still excellent.

(The orange thing on top of the IS-GBA-CAPTURE is @Woozle64's GBA Consolizer, which doesn't output analog video, but I still keep it on hand for some of its extra features)

And then there's my lovable little trash Jaguar. I hope I can get some use out of this, someday.

Also seen here: A Game Boy camera lens adapter, some flash carts, and a commemorative sake box from the Kojima Productions LA opening ceremony (which I use to store PS1 memory cards)

Ok, let’s wrap this up—here’s my desk work space, which also has a few systems I hadn’t accounted for when we built out our office.

On the right is a Sega Saturn, which was delivered unto me equipped with an ODE installed (not sure if it’s Rhea or Phoebe, but it gets the job done). It recently had its PSU replaced and is back in tip-top condition.

On the left is a Sharp X68000 compact computer with a multisync monitor. I need to do some work on this to get it up and running fully (and capture from it), but it’s such a thing of beauty. Especially with that Cyber Stick controller.

Harder to see here is a PSTV, which is running through a box that kills HDCP so I can record from it. There’s also a hidden McWill-modded Lynx with VGA-out, which can also be recorded from.

Hidden beneath the desk is an Xbox One S (I’m afraid it hasn’t been turned on in a few years...), a PS4 (which is getting LOTS of use lately for Limited Run archival projects), and an Open Source Scan Converter linked to an Extron splitter (for routing Lynx/X68000 video feeds).

And finally, the command center: An HDMI splitter, an Elgato HD60 capture device, and a laptop for recording and production.

And THAT is how the sausage is made. And why I can waste a few hours of a weekend trying to sort out the point of failure when streams/recordings go awry

This setup is almost, but not quite, complete. There's still one more device I'm hoping to integrate into the workflow (hopefully soon!), and I need to get the X68000 kitted out. I'm also hoping the @Analogue Pocket + dock + adapters will consolidate my portable recording needs.

When I started the Game Boy World project six years ago, I was recording via composite video from a cheap handheld Super NES clone. A kindly donor got the ball rolling by setting me up with a second-hand Framemeister, and look where we are now.

I very nearly turned down the Framemeister, because I am acutely aware of my personality defects and KNEW that if I started down the rabbit hole of high-end retrogame video capture, I would have a difficult time stopping.

(Honestly, it's so much worse than I ever anticipated.)

Needless to say, all of this wouldn't have come together without valuable resources like @RetroRGB and @Artemio's work, hundreds of enthusiastic Patreon supporters, and a loving partner who didn't mind me going all Serial Experiments Lain on our home office. Thanks, enablers!

One other note—this has been a six-year process, and everything here largely revolves around what was available to me in 2014. Since then, the high-end retro scene has exploded, and there are TONS of new options. If I were start fresh today, I would make many different choices.