VIDEOGAMESNEWYORK

I used to think that 'mean and stupid' was the worst combination of qualities a human being could exude at the same time. After my most recent venture to Video Games New York, I realized that being simultaneously 'condescending and wrong' was worse. Quick backstory: I recently brought home an N64 and a copy of 'Rogue Squadron' -- my favorite game when I was a kid. I hooked it up to my new 4K TV and it worked fine. I played it for about a month, then went out and spent a large sum on five other games. When I got home, none of them worked. My TV just said 'No Signal'. But Rogue Squadron still worked fine. I researched for a couple hours to solve my mystery, and made the hour long commute to Video Games New York to pick up an AV to HDMI "upscaler". I knew it wouldn't look good, since the upscaler they told me they had was a cheap one--but I was just hoping to trick my TV into reading all my games, and my research had pointed me in this direction. I step in and ask the girl at the front desk if they had the part I had called ahead about. She was helpful and friendly. Warned me that it probably wouldn't look good. I briefly described my problem and she listened attentively and nodded, unsure as I was what the problem could be. Then I asked if I could return it if it didn't work. A voice from behind me said "Well why do you want it?" I turned and explained my predicament to this man. But he cut me off. He had been listening to my conversation with the young lady, who proceeded to walk away since he had needlessly jumped in to take over her job. He smiled at me like I was 5 years old and said "I hate to tell you this, but it's your system that's the problem." I said "Oh, well I bought the system from you. About two months ago." He was taken aback, but quickly rerouted. "We sell hundreds of N64s every month. Did you bring it with you?" "No, I was just hoping to grab one of these adapters and see if it works." "Did you clean your games?" "Yes, I did." Looking at me like I'm full of it: "Did you clean them well?" "Sure did!" "Really well?" He's about to ask if I cleaned them by blowing in then, so I reply: "With a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol." "Okay, well that chord isn't going to help. If you've already been playing a game on it, then your TV can read your N64." And then chuckling as if it were the most obvious part: "It doesn't matter what game you put in it." "My question still stands. If this chord doesn't do it for me, can I return it?" "I mean, if you open it--it was ordered off Amazon. So you can't return it. But they're half that price on Amazon anyway, why don't you just order it there?" (So, quick PSA: They jack up the price 100% on chords behind the counter, then look at you like you're an idiot if you're considering buying one.) Biting my tongue: "So I can't return it. Okay." Then made the hour trip back to my house empty handed. Turns out he was wrong. A handful of N64 games, including Rogue Squadron and Turok 2, output a 480i signal when used in tandem with the expansion pack, which I have in my 64. All the other games output a much lower resolution, which most modern TVs can't even read. I went to Brooklyn Video Games, where Steve helped solve my problem. I bought an AV to HDMI adapter from him--similar to the one above and for about a third of the price--to tide me over until my Framemeister arrives. Now all my games show up on my TV. So if you are interested in making the trek to a retro video game store run by someone who knows what they're doing, won't talk down to you, and has a robust collection of rare games that are moderately priced--make the trip to Brooklyn Video Games. I stayed for an hour and chatted it up with him and I'm usually not that kind of customer.