Your QUESTIONS ANSWERED…

A selection of smaller questions from readers…

CROSS Streams

Is it safe to use a Saitek Megagrip IV MX241 Joystick that says for Mega Drive with a C64? I don’t want to try it in case I blow my Commodore SX-64 up! ian Learmonth via email

Many readers might be surprised to find that the answer to this is that it isn’t 100 per cent safe. Although the controller is pin-compatible, the electrical behaviour is different and can stress the c64 hardware if the keyboard and controller are operated at the same time. issue five of Commodore World provided a wiring diagram for readers to build their own adaptors in order to make sega controllers safe to use, so the problem has been known for at least 25 years – visit bit.ly/ c64segawiring if you’d like to see that and try it for yourself. However that’s an unnecessary step today, as there are premade adaptors out there if you’d prefer to buy one.

mag blag

What are the legal ways to download/view historic gaming magazines? (Mean Machines, Amiga Power, Nintendo Power UK etc)? Michael gulliver via Twitter

if a copyright holder has explicitly released those magazines into the public domain or provided official downloads of archive content, you’re golden. if not, your options are limited to buying your own copy, borrowing a friend’s copy, or finding a library or museum stocked with original copies.

emulation nation

Why do people hold such elitist attitudes towards people who choose to emulate games?

Rob via Twitter

emulation is something that has been embraced by many original game devs as a legitimate way of enjoying their games, so the rejection of emulation of any quality by certain retro gamers is a mystery. While there is a ritualistic pleasure we derive from slotting a cartridge into a snes, are we any better than someone enjoying the same game on their

Wii or their snes Mini?

No, but some people convince themselves that they are to justify their own expensive purchases. Nick finds that being single allows him plenty of time in ‘The ivory

Tower’ (which is what he affectionately calls his flat), which he uses to extensively document the differences between games running on original hardware and their emulated counterparts. You may feel that this is the behaviour of a rather irritating hipster, as we often do during the extended presentations of his findings that he holds during our lunch breaks.