Playing older consoles on new TVs can be a hassle for many reasons, but one of the worst is that they don’t look good. Even newer devices that max out at HD resolutions like the Nintendo Switch will look fuzzy on large 4K or 1440p displays, and retro consoles will often be too blurry to play (if they can even connect to the TV in the first place).
However, an HDMI upscaler like Marseille’s mClassic can solve all these problems.
You’d normally spend $99 for the mClassic, but it’s on sale for just $79 during Prime Day. That’s a pretty good deal for this simple dongle that can make your old and under-powered gaming devices look better.
$79 (was $99)
The mClassic upscales lower resolution visuals so they look better on newer TVs and monitors, and applies anti-aliasing to the picture to smooth out “jaggies” that you often see when playing lower-resolution games on larger screens. It can also convert video output on certain retro consoles so you can hook them up to modern TVs. All the visual computation happens on the mClassic’s built-in hardware; it doesn’t impact the console’s performance.
The mClassic requires an HDMI port to use, so you may need an additional HDMI output adapter for consoles that don’t have a built-in HDMI port, but these are easy to come by.
While the mClassic is a cool accessory for anyone playing games on newer displays, no device is perfect, and upscalers and video converters may slightly distort your game’s visuals. Color accuracy and washed out contrast are the most common issues, but the average player probably won’t notice these nitpicks, and it’s rarely bad enough to ruin the experience. Sure, nothing beats playing older devices on a CRT, but the mClassic is a great option for playing on your living room TV.
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