iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Donkey Kong (1982, Coleco) - Intellivision I’m not saying any of this is preferable, but it’s a far cry from the blocky objects I’m used to seeing when I’ve played games from this era via emulation over the years. But man… no wonder the NES felt like a revelation lol.

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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.

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Frogger (1983, Sega) - Intellivision This isn’t standard RF noise either. It is definitely a few steps above the Famicom for example. Hard to believe this is the reality of how players saw the home versions of their favorite arcade games for many years.

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CRT Pixels @crtpixels.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

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.

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Gotta celebrate @noodleawesome.bsky.social’s work on this #scanlinesunday as well, because damn he included some genuinely well-shot examples

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CRT Pixels @crtpixels.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

What a great day to be thankful for what you have! Once you start to see the value in “obsolete” technology, it’s impossible to justify just how short our upgrade cycles have become. Call me crazy, but I think TVs, phones, computers, etc SHOULD last for decades.

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CRT Pixels @crtpixels.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

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

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CRT Pixels @crtpixels.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Final Fantasy IX marks the moment I fell in love with the craft of video games and the artists who bring them to life. That small, thoughtfully considered detail can outshine the broadest horizon.

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CRT Pixels @crtpixels.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

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

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CRT Pixels @crtpixels.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

If you know someone who repairs CRT TVs within a few hours of Kansas City, you can save a life

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So, there you have it for now. I have more minor nitpicks, wishes (orchestrated soundtrack DLC PLEASE), and praises, but what matters is that The Ivalice Chronicles is a great way to experience Final Fantasy Tactics, for the first time, or another time. And you absolutely should.

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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.

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At first I wasn’t sure what to make of the new mountain of voiced dialogue. In practice however, every unit now feels like a genuine character rather than a faceless grunt. Soldiers jubilant praises or personalized death throes go a long way to driving home the game’s themes.

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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.

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However, the Enhanced version does add a lovely (optional) Focal Effect blur, added lighting and contrast depth, as well a possible attempt at recreating the PS1’s dithering via a storybook filter effect. These touches do a nice job calling back to the strengths of the original on a CRT TV.

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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

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My biggest issue is with the “Enhanced” visuals. Environmental textures have been smoothed out using a filter, while sprites appear to have been scaled up and drawn over. Details can smudge together or look a bit off like Gragoroth’s fingers here or Wiegraf’s boot.

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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.

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The Ivalice Chronicles also offers a separate Classic version, which retains the PS1 visuals with 16:9 support, but removes PS1 dithering. It also adds an autosave feature, a lifesaver, and the somewhat controversial 2007 War of the Lions translation. More on that later.

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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.

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I consider Final Fantasy Tactics to be not only one of the greatest games of all time, but an essential work of fiction. While I always adored its poignant story, I found the idiosyncrasies of its mechanics a bit impenetrable in my youth. Today, they’re second nature.

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CRT Pixels @crtpixels.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

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.

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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!

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CRT Pixels @crtpixels.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

It differs set to set as well! I’ve seen sets from the same manufacturer, from the same time period, that use completely different tubes. Not to mention next to no one was calibrating their TVs. Notice how different the screens of these PVMs look despite being essentially the same model.

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CRT Pixels @crtpixels.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

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)

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CRT Pixels @crtpixels.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Final Fantasy Tactics (1997, Squaresoft) - PS1 Sharp Pixels vs. PS1 S-Video via Sony KV-27S43 One more FF Tactics post for the road! Something that struck me making this comparison last night is how many variables are at play, even for just this opening battle. Incredible game.

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Final Fantasy Tactics (1997, Squaresoft) - PS1 Sharp Pixels vs. PS2 YPbPr via Sony PVM-20L2MD Well damn, this one surprised even me! Even on a PVM calibrated by the legend Keith Raney (thanks Keith), dithering still gets cleaned up nicely over component!

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Final Fantasy Tactics (1997, Squaresoft) - PS1 Sharp Pixels vs. PS2 YPbPr via Toshiba 14AF45 I got a reply saying that dithering is still visible on a CRT via component so I wanted to demonstrate that this definitely isn’t always the case, particularly on consumer TVs.

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Final Fantasy Tactics (1997, Squaresoft) - PS1 Sharp Pixels vs. PS1 Composite via Sony KV-27S43 FFT is actually THE game responsible for this blog. When I got an HDTV in 2012, I hooked up my PS2, but when I saw FFT’s dithering for the first time I thought my console was broken!

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