Clone Consoles Thread

A forum for video games, new & retro, on consoles, computers, handheld & mobile. Also for tech talk, things like PC parts, phones etc.
Post Reply
User avatar
Dr. Zoidberg
Site Admin
Posts: 23094
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 2:33 am

Clone Consoles Thread

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »

A thread for clone consoles.



https://www.polymega.com/


User avatar
melancholy
Global Mod
Posts: 2095
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 1:32 am
Location: Indiana

Re: The Clone Console Thread

Post by melancholy »

I would want to see some tests first before I get excited about that.

User avatar
Dr. Zoidberg
Site Admin
Posts: 23094
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 2:33 am

Re: The Clone Console Thread

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »

Yeah it's another wait and see.

User avatar
melancholy
Global Mod
Posts: 2095
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 1:32 am
Location: Indiana

Re: The Clone Console Thread

Post by melancholy »

Can I also mention how strange it is that the cart slots are sold separately? Is there some special hardware in the slot addon that runs the emulated console? And if so, how would this ‘digital library’ work if you kept having to swap addons?

User avatar
Dr. Zoidberg
Site Admin
Posts: 23094
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 2:33 am

Re: The Clone Console Thread

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »

It's probably just a way to get more money out of people.

User avatar
Calavera
Fighting Mongooses
Posts: 1708
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 2:41 am

Re: The Clone Console Thread

Post by Calavera »

melancholy wrote:Can I also mention how strange it is that the cart slots are sold separately? Is there some special hardware in the slot addon that runs the emulated console? And if so, how would this ‘digital library’ work if you kept having to swap addons?
I've only seen a couple things about this console but from what I can gather it is basically just an emulation box that allows you to use original cartridges. There is no FPGA or anything like that it is simply an emulation machine. The add-ons don't have any special hardware in them, they are just adapters to allow whatever systems cartridges to be used. So you get emulated hardware without the convenience of a list of roms to select from. The worst of both worlds.

Apparently there is some shady stuff going on with the people making this device. At one point they showed a Sega Saturn game running on the hardware but people quickly noticed that it was the arcade version not the Saturn one. Their response was, oh the wrong footage got uploaded from a different folder or something similar. It isn't like this thing is going to have a brand new never before seen Saturn emulator on it that can run every game. They will just be using one of the already available ones which the last time I checked aren't all that great. Most comments about this console are negative, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Image

OrangeRibbon
WHOA-OH BLACK BETTY
Posts: 800
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 1:43 am

Re: The Clone Console Thread

Post by OrangeRibbon »

The other thing that is strange is, they keep saying over 30 consoles BUT when you look at the list it is like "NES, NES Pal, Famicon" . Those are the same three consoles. Yeah the Famicon is a bit different because it allowed extra chips on the cart, but seriously same console.

User avatar
Dr. Zoidberg
Site Admin
Posts: 23094
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 2:33 am

Re: Clone Consoles Thread

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »


User avatar
Dr. Zoidberg
Site Admin
Posts: 23094
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 2:33 am

Re: Clone Consoles Thread

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »


PolyMega All in One retro game console is here! As a part of the PolyMega beta test I received my unit last week. In this video we take a close look at the system. Is it really worth $299? How is the emulation? Does it really run Sega Saturn games? Lets find out!
Image

https://www.polymega.com/

User avatar
pixel
Fighting Mongooses
Posts: 4502
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2016 3:09 am

Re: Clone Consoles Thread

Post by pixel »

Look great, but I'm concerned that the Polymega isn't going to find an audience. Is there a big market between the casual and diehard classic gamers? Because that's who I think this system is designed for: The people who want more performance than the cheaper all-in-one classic systems but don't want to pay the higher costs of modding original hardware for HDMI or RGB.

And whoever buys one has to provide their own physical games. Maybe there's still a market for people that have a large collection of games and haven't found a good solution to play older games at 1080p, but I don't know how Polymega is going to find these people and convince them to buy.

ROMs are a no-go, but I figure someone is going to hack this thing to allow them. The FAQ talks about a digital games marketplace that Polymega wants to create with publishers. This might be tough because of how fragmented the online market for classic games has become. Publishers like Konami figure that they can make more money by release their own compilations rather than hand their games over to a third-party market a la the Wii Shop. Hell, Nintendo doesn't even offer that type of service on the Switch, opting for those system-specific collections.

User avatar
Calavera
Fighting Mongooses
Posts: 1708
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 2:41 am

Re: Clone Consoles Thread

Post by Calavera »

I just don't get the point of a system like this. If you want to play on original hardware fine and if you want to emulate that is fine too. But this is for people who own the original games yet don't own a system to play them on? If they are into retro gaming enough to own a bunch of original games then they would most likely want to mod an original system over using this emulator. I don't really see who this is supposed to appeal to. People who prefer original hardware aren't going to want it because it is just an emulation box. People who prefer emulation aren't going to care because they can already do all this on their PC for free or just build a Raspberry Pi. So maybe this is for people who own the original hardware and games and have no technical knowledge and just want to be able to pop in a game and play it via HDMI. It even fails there because in the video by Modern Vintage Gamer he mentions that many of the games won't work unless you supply the original bios for the systems on an SD card. Odds are if you know how to download the BIOs files and copy them to a card to work on the Polymega then you know how to use emulators.

I know there are many people out there who will buy this just because they buy every new retro gaming related piece of hardware but outside of those people it doesn't seem like this system really appeals to anyone. Especially with such a high price.
Image

Hawq
Site Admin
Posts: 5917
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 7:45 am

Re: Clone Consoles Thread

Post by Hawq »


User avatar
pixel
Fighting Mongooses
Posts: 4502
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2016 3:09 am

Re: Clone Consoles Thread

Post by pixel »

$400 for the base model and $80 for each cartridge type. For an emulation-based, closed-platform machine. And for an all-in-one system like this, SNES/SFC and NES are absolute requirements for me. So it another $160 for those two systems? Yikes.

And MVG is right, they need to have more robust set of options for tweaking audio and video settings. The Mega Drive/Genesis alone has all sorts of audio quirks that the gaming wonks want to replicate, and this has none of the same capabilities of the Mega SG. There's no mention of Master System or Game Gear support, which are pretty standard these days.

I'm a broken record, but at $500+, you can build a nice HTPC and run Retroarch with zero latency. If you're going to give up on actual hardware and use emulation, you might as well go full in on a system that can be tinkered with.

User avatar
melancholy
Global Mod
Posts: 2095
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 1:32 am
Location: Indiana

Re: Clone Consoles Thread

Post by melancholy »

I would pay for the interface alone if I could use it with my own ROM collection. The ability to have them just auto-organize and play the game without any settings tweaking would be worth money to me. Retroarch and RetroPie are cool in concept but I don’t want to spend hours setting it all up and then still have to tweak every game to make it run proper. But I would gladly drop money on a bootable image that does all that work for me, and I’d even be willing $400 on the Polymega if it could run ROMsets of all the systems it supports.

User avatar
pixel
Fighting Mongooses
Posts: 4502
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2016 3:09 am

Re: Clone Consoles Thread

Post by pixel »

ROM support would totally make the Polymega worth purchasing.

For RetroPie, I've only used premade images made by Arcade Punks. They have everything set up and ready to go. I built a Retropie system for my dad and am glad I didn't have to spend days and weeks mucking around. If you are ever interested in a Retropie system, one of these is really all you need:



The only caveat is that some platforms won't have a full romset, like PS1 for example. I was able to load the extra ROMs I wanted and scrape for the media elements (screenshot, gameplay video) within the Retropie menu for.

Launchbox on PC has made it much easier to get a Windows-based emulation machine running, but it'll cost $135 US alone for a premium Launchbox license and lifetime Emumovies subscription. It isn't for everyone, but there are some big advantages.

User avatar
Skynet
Site Admin
Posts: 2070
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 8:54 am

Re: Clone Consoles Thread

Post by Skynet »

I have an arcade machine I made (pre cut wood, assembled/painted myself) that's been running an old PC for years. I've always debated replacing the PC with a Pi but never found it really to be a suitable alternative. This week I got a Pi4 4GB and put together a RetroPie setup with a few games and scraped the games on there.

Next step will be getting a 128GB card and putting everything below PS1/N64 on there. I have a shitload of arcade games which is why I wanted it anyway.

I was thinking of grabbing one of those pre-made images then just deleting the roms I don't need to free up space, then put on the complete romsets I have to fill in the gaps and scrape the remaining artwork.

User avatar
Dr. Zoidberg
Site Admin
Posts: 23094
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 2:33 am

Re: Clone Consoles Thread

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »


Hyperkin just released the Retron 5 Hyper Beach Special Edition. It is an emulation console that uses cartridges from the Game Boy, GBC, GBA, NES, Famicom, Super Nintendo & Sega Genesis. Region Free, HDMI, 1 crappy controller plus 1 decent controller. New firmware over previous versions...

User avatar
Dr. Zoidberg
Site Admin
Posts: 23094
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 2:33 am

Re: Clone Consoles Thread

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »


The MiSTer and FPGA gaming has been one of the most exciting things in retro gaming in recent years in my opinion. I've been enjoying it in all its forms, from the stacked bare bones style system to the MiSTer Fusion desktop I built, but I've always wanted a console style model that consolodates all of those boards into one, and makes the point of entry into the MiSTer world nice and simple for potential users. So we made it!

This is the MiSTer Multisystem.

User avatar
pixel
Fighting Mongooses
Posts: 4502
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2016 3:09 am

Re: Clone Consoles Thread

Post by pixel »

I'm definitely interested in something like that :whoa:

User avatar
Dr. Zoidberg
Site Admin
Posts: 23094
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 2:33 am

Re: Clone Consoles Thread

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »

Not a clone console, but here's a console version of the Evercade.





^Mat & Skynet's favourite Youtuber right there.

Post Reply