How to make Atari games look better by making them look worse
by JC Fletcher 
{ Apr 24th 2009 at 9:03AM }
Ian Bogost presented the challenge to a team of Georgia Tech computer science students, who then modified Stella to simulate the characteristics of a CRT -- texture, afterimage, color bleed, and noise. The results can be seen above, compared with the pixel-perfect original. Enduro really demonstrates the advantages of an authentic display: when the colors blend properly, the sunset actually kind of looks impressive. These features will be added to the public releases of Stella soon. Maybe they can be integrated into the next-generation Atari Flashback console -- if another one ever happens.
[Via Kotaku]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kattleox @ Apr 24th 2009 9:12AM
WOAH is the one on the left reality or the one on the right? Like that GT5:P quiz?
Crysis 2, you don't got JACK on Pole Position.
Ghaleon @ Apr 24th 2009 9:19AM
Uh this is true of every emulator, even up to the 32-bit consoles.
Poisoned Al @ Apr 24th 2009 3:08PM
Hell, you can say the same about the Wii! It looks more then a bit poopy on my HD set, but fine on the old CRT.
Dave @ Apr 24th 2009 3:30PM
Did you just use "Wii" and "poopy" in the same sentence?
Dr. @ Apr 24th 2009 9:23AM
Ah, Enduro. I can never get back the chunk of my childhood that you stole... and I don't want to either!
*swoon*
Hashbrown Hunter @ Apr 24th 2009 10:06AM
Your comment along with your avatar make me cringe.
Dr. @ Apr 24th 2009 11:45AM
Oh don't even get me STARTED on ET.
As an aside: I do play recent games, guys. Really.
tuffy @ Apr 24th 2009 9:27AM
So they've added Nestopia's NTSC emulation mode to Stella. It's a good idea, but not the first time it's been done.
c0bra95 @ Apr 24th 2009 3:09PM
Not the first time at all. I think I saw NTSC emulation last in Kega Fusion. Removing the artifacting introduced by much better display tech is something that not everyone wants. I get into arguments with some friends about it. They are adamantly opposed to any filtering at all, preferring a blocky mess to any blur of any kind. To each his own.
JoeTheBlow @ Apr 24th 2009 9:28AM
Have i stumbled onto a Joystiq thread from 1982?
Seriously though, i've recently got into Demakes. Atari-ized versions of new games:
http://www.tigsource.com/features/demakes/
Little Girl in Underland (mental Alice remake) and Soundless Mountain 2 (have a guess) are FANTASTIC.
t00l @ Apr 24th 2009 10:01AM
No offense Joystiq but I much prefer the pixelated version....
Brazell @ Apr 24th 2009 10:09AM
Which one is supposed to look better or worse? The one on the left looks better, to me, then the blurry mess on the right.
Tez @ Apr 24th 2009 10:10AM
"when the colors blend properly, the sunset actually kind of looks impressive"
Dream world: you're living in it.
On the other hand, the grass ALMOST looks like there's a texture applied to it :P
Phil @ Apr 24th 2009 10:24AM
I'm not sure what TV the team that made this used as a reference, but I have to say that it must have been craptastic. I hooked my 2600 up to my old 20 inch just to check and no, it does not look as bad as the image on the right.
Maxwell Ash @ Apr 24th 2009 11:27AM
The one on the right is the fixed one... I think.
Phil @ Apr 24th 2009 11:32AM
Yeah, I know. My point is that I think they are exaggerating the interference from the old analog TVs.
Ironhide @ Apr 24th 2009 9:38PM
I think the point of it is the emulate the old style rf connection on a late 70's/early 80's era tv. I remember around 1979 or so playing on my friend's wood floor console tv and the picture above right is pretty accurate in my opinion. Don't forget you didn't even have an actual coaxial connection to attach a cable connection. You had to get an adapter that manually switched between antenna and game that attached to the two antenna screws on the back.
Covarr @ Apr 24th 2009 10:35AM
Why didn't they just use Blargg's NTSC filter? Most emulators worth mentioning use it, and it does this already.
Ironhide @ Apr 24th 2009 10:42AM
I used to call my coaxial connection to my tv, my poor man's antialiasing.
ali @ Apr 24th 2009 11:45AM
Every time Atari comes up, Ian Bogost's name is soon to follow.
I'm a CS major at GT and we have to watch him on The Colbert Report at least once a semester.
It's like ALL RIGHT. I GET IT.
required @ Apr 24th 2009 12:03PM
I like this approach.
Dave @ Apr 24th 2009 3:29PM
I prefer the left approach.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Apr 24th 2009 12:03PM
NTSC signalling does not induce blur in the vertical direction. And at the low res 2600 games were, the horizontal blur was not enormous.
Remember Pitfall Harry, his single pixel missing in his neck? It was easily recognizable back on the TVs of the day.
The only way you would get that much blur is if your TV's electron gun was out of focus. And some were, but not all of them were.
fischju @ Apr 24th 2009 12:10PM
Why does the pixel perfect side have a crap load of compression artifacts?
David @ Apr 24th 2009 12:22PM
Hey cool. I'm at GA Tech and I'll have Ian Bogost as a prof next semester.
Shagittarius @ Apr 24th 2009 12:32PM
Is this a new Wii game?
Dave @ Apr 24th 2009 3:25PM
You rat bastard. How did you know?
Chicago Mafia @ Apr 24th 2009 1:36PM
Enduro! One of my favorite games from back in the day. Someone make a sequel!
Gustavo Maciel @ Apr 24th 2009 2:22PM
ZSnes did that for SNES emulation ages ago, and I always use it! Old games on LCD screens don't look as good as they did...
lee @ Apr 24th 2009 3:59PM
I used to love that game when I was a kid. One of the great activision classics
Bill Kendrick @ Apr 25th 2009 11:32PM
So my question is: when you play paddle games in Stella, will the interference move around, like it did on my woodgrain 2600? :) I'm glad to see this (though I do admit, it's the example in this article seems a little TOO distorted), because emulated 2600 games never looked good. The pixels were NOT square or rectangle... they were almost little ovals. Things really look a lot more pleasant when they don't look like they're made out of Legos. (Though I admit those new Lego Star Wars, Batman, etc. games look pretty amusing :) But that's not what I meant. :^P )