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Clone game consoles suck

I run an NES toploader av out Nintendo retrofit myself.

Freakin' plebeians and their non-vintage cheap knock off pieces of crap make my blood boil. They deserve what they get. Non-breaking bricks and all. The fools.
 
Meh I just use an emulator.

Most of them are just little ARM boxes running emulators.

Would rather use my G3258 and throw some power at more accurate emulation.

To me the controllers are what makes the experience feel "authentic," so I have invested in adaptors for every old console I have owned at one point plus the controllers. Real controllers always beat the knock off ones.

I am just so happy I ripped my childhood collection of games into ROMs back in college as a hobby. I don't even think I could find all those games today, spread across different storage units throughout the state.
 
Most of them are just little ARM boxes running emulators.



Would rather use my G3258 and throw some power at more accurate emulation.



To me the controllers are what makes the experience feel "authentic," so I have invested in adaptors for every old console I have owned at one point plus the controllers. Real controllers always beat the knock off ones.



I am just so happy I ripped my childhood collection of games into ROMs back in college as a hobby. I don't even think I could find all those games today, spread across different storage units throughout the state.

So, Ichinisan and I aren't the only gamers on Anandtech who rip our own game ROMs? Cool.

Currently I have an INL Kazoo dumper for Famicom/NES, a V64, V64jr, and GameShark Pro for N64, a GB Xchanger for GB/GBC, a Max Media Dock for GBA/DS, Gateway 3DS for 3DS, etc. I've also dumped with a ROM reader/programmer on occasion. I do wonder if anyone will ever adapt the Advance Game Port to dump GBA to a Wii's connected drives. I'd love to get a Retrode for the stuff I'm missing (namely: Genesis). I guess a rooted Retron 5 would work equally well. The N64 Adaptoid should be capable of dumping GB/C through the Transfer Pak with the right software.

Most of the Hyperkin consoles (Retron #, Supaboy, etc) are Famicom/NES on-a-chip (Famiclone) consoles with an added SNES hardware clone system (first I was aware of was TriStar 64 and some CD console from Super UFO). The Retron 5 is their first attempt at an emulation box
 
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Yeah, I gave up on any/all clones long ago. Most are Chinese rubbish electronics that will be lucky to last 5-10 years before they break (not to mention are already "broken" in the sense that they have all kinds of glitches playing games).

I will agree that the original controllers are a huge part of what makes a decent system (most of the time). Most of the replacements and replica controllers tend to be very poorly made (cutting corners for cost reasons), and will not last nearly as long as the originals (possible exception being N64 controllers).
 
Yeah, I gave up on any/all clones long ago. Most are Chinese rubbish electronics that will be lucky to last 5-10 years before they break (not to mention are already "broken" in the sense that they have all kinds of glitches playing games).



I will agree that the original controllers are a huge part of what makes a decent system (most of the time). Most of the replacements and replica controllers tend to be very poorly made (cutting corners for cost reasons), and will not last nearly as long as the originals (possible exception being N64 controllers).

Oh, God, please don't remind me of that monstrosity. The aftermarket replica N64 controllers may last longer but they are COMPLETELY unusable!

I bought one of the replica N64 controllers a couple years ago and Goldeneye is completely unplayable. You can't do any fine adjustment because there is a huge dead-zone and not enough precision even after it starts to move. This is a well-known issue for the GameCube-style aftermarket replacement sticks, but this one was original-style.

It could last a million years and I'd still hate it. I do wonder if putting the stick in a real controller will fix that issue but I don't have much hope that it will transfer after looking at my Retrobit dogbone NES controller.

Speaking of that one, if they bother to tool up and make these as close as they are, why not make the components work double-duty as replica parts for original controllers? Well, even though they replicated the NES dogbone right down to the little posts that the controller cord is supposed to snake through for tension relief, they stupidly made the buttons completely different. This doesn't just mean that the rubber pads or plastic caps won't swap (the Start/Select buttons aren't even rubber), it also means that the PCB has to sit at a different height. Sure, the back shell will fit into a real front shell, but it can't support a real NES controller PCB (plastic supports too short).

Furthermore, I bought my Retrobit dogbone new in the box and immediately noticed that the controller cord was not secured on the inside. I ignored their quality control sticker over one of the screws and took a peek inside: Even though they copied the posts for the cord to snake through, IT DOESN'T USE THEM! No reason AT ALL. The super-thin cord still has a lot of slop coming out of a hole molded for Nintendo's thicker cord, but at least it's not tugging directly on the individual wire soldering points.
 
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