Fulfill your childhood console fantasies for $99

[Kaido]

Hyperkin Retron 5 combines ten consoles into one on December 10 for $99:

http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/19/hyperkin-retron-5-game-console-on-sale-december-10/

$99 on December 10th, 2014:

1. NES
2. Famicom
3. Super NES
4. Super Famicom
5. Sega Master System
6. Sega Genesis
7. Sega Mega Drive
8. Game Boy (original)
9. Game Boy Color
10. Game Boy Advanced

If you're into playing original cartridges (instead of ROMs) and loathe good industrial design, then boy will this push your nostalgia buttons :awe: Seriously though, I would have killed for something like this as a kid. If we were on good behavior throughout the week, we were allowed to rent a console & one game each from Blockbuster on the weekends (that rarely happened haha). Ah, memories.

 

[Sluggo]

Your fantasies were different than mine. :sneaky:

 

[KlokWyze]

That shit is fuuuuuuuugly. My modded original xbox is massively superior to that. Plus you can use the same controller for everything.

 

[QueBert]

That shit is fuuuuuuuugly. My modded original xbox is massively superior to that. Plus you can use the same controller for everything.

same controller for everything is huge fail, Xbox controller for SMS games is a no go, Genesis controller for SNES games is a no go. Regardless of how it looks, since I can hook original controllers for every console to this I'll be buying on day 1. Even if the controller's old playing NES games with anything else just doesn't feel right to me. Excitebike with an Xbox controller is just an ugh experience.

 

[SunnyD]

No PCEnginer/TG16 support? Really?

 

[luv2liv]

do you still have to blow the nintendo/snes cartridges to get them working?
if not, this system is full of win!

 

[inf1nity]

whos gonna pay for this when one can download free emulators from the internet for every console....

 

[tboo]

My childhood fantasies involved Kathy Ireland's butt & my face.

 

[lxskllr]

They all came after my childhood. I did have fun playing one the Sonic games on my stepson's Sega. It was already obsolete by the time I got to it, but was still pretty fun.

 

[exdeath]

I have all those original systems and more. Meh. Bet it doesn't even output RGB?

 

[bearxor]

My childhood fantasies involved Kathy Ireland's butt & my face.

We almost had the same fantasy. It was Ireland's boobs and my face for me.

 

[SagaLore]

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG







wait

I have to still find the cartridges in order to play this thing? Dang it.

 

[Dedpuhl]

That thing is really ugly. I still use the original xbox I modded (xecutor chip and large HDD) to play emulators but I prefer using the actual consoles. It's hooked up to my home theater and the retro games look amazing.

I also have a rack set up in my computer room w/ 7 systems (NES, N64, modded Genesis, Genesis/32x/CD, Saturn, Dreamcast and Gamecube). Power is provided through an 8 plug switch. It all goes through a 32" TV (Samsung CRT). One day I'll find my old SNES and games to add to the rack.

 

[SheHateMe]

I think the emulators I have will suffice. I have everything lauchable from XBMC plus USB retro controllers for all the systems. I'm good.

 

[ViRGE]

I would be worried about the compatibility of such a device. They're obviously not using hardware level reimplementations of the various consoles (unlike the knock-off SNES/NES that SoC-ize the original hardware), which means it's a software emulator. Software itself isn't bad, but I question just how good a $99 device will be at the task. Just look at what it takes to properly emulate the SNES; BSNES is incredibly CPU intensive.

 

[Staples]

I grew up in the 80s and played all those systems but it occurred to me when I had a modded xbox that there are very very few games that I would want to play back from that time. Certainly all modern sports and racing games are superior.

 

[exdeath]

I would be worried about the compatibility of such a device. They're obviously not using hardware level reimplementations of the various consoles (unlike the knock-off SNES/NES that SoC-ize the original hardware), which means it's a software emulator. Software itself isn't bad, but I question just how good a $99 device will be at the task. Just look at what it takes to properly emulate the SNES; BSNES is incredibly CPU intensive.

No. Its hardware.

FPGAs are amazing. A modern Altera or Xilinx can easily synthesize cycle accurate logic for all those primitive systems on a single chip and then some. And that's without in circuit run time configuring per device (eg: it holds the logic for all those systems at one time).

A cheap FPGA can run multiple 64 bit PPC softcores and have several hundred kilobytes or even megabytes of block RAM built in without synthing a memory controller andusi g RAM chips. Synthesis of systems with CPUs using only 8k logic blocks and 2K of ram is a joke really.

 

[Doppel]

I grew up in the 80s and played all those systems but it occurred to me when I had a modded xbox that there are very very few games that I would want to play back from that time. Certainly all modern sports and racing games are superior.

I knew some people like exdeath find value in old games, but I find value only in their memories. I pretty much can't enjoy old video games anymore.

 

[exdeath]

No. Its hardware.

Modem FPGAs are absolutely freakin amazing. A modern Altera or Xilinx can easily synthesize cycle accurate logic for all those primitive systems on a single chip and then some. And that's without in circuit run time configuring per device (eg: it holds the logic for all those systems at one time). Actually at that price point though I'm sure it uses a smaller cheap FPGA and uploads appropriate firmware to the FPGA at power on based on detected cart slot.

For those not familiar, FPGA is configurable logic, the FPGA chip *becomes* the hardware IC chip or complex assembly of multiple "chips" its told to synthesize, it is NOT emulating, it is NOT software. Its virtual hardware if you will, but its hardware, there is no cross assembling or interpreting or emulating of the software. The FPGA is acting in a way that is indistinguisheable from a "real" ASIC 6502, etc. Even electrically and pin compatible if so desired.

A cheap FPGA can implement multiple 64 bit PPC softcores at hundreds of Mhz and beyond and have several hundred kilobytes or even megabytes of block RAM built in without synthing a memory controller and using external RAM chips. Synthesis of systems with CPUs using only < 4k logic blocks and 2K of ram is a joke really. We are talking 6502, Z80, and 68000 at 1-7 Mhz here. Such CPUs don't even require 10% of a $5 Cylone II FPGA.

The smallest decent FPGA an Altera Cyclone II with only 20,000 logic blocks and 100 MHz master clock is enough to build a complete 286 Windows 3.0 compatible PC with a VGA adapter and all system board discrete logic (memory controller, keyboard, RTC, etc.

Note logic blocks != transistors. A single FPGA logic block can have lookup tables, half adders, registers, multiplexers, shift registers etc that are made up of thousands of transistors, so a 40,000 transistor CPU might be implemented with 100 logic blocks, to give an idea how vast even the smallest FPGA is relative to old ASIC hardware like a 6502.

 

[exdeath]

http://zet.aluzina.org/index.php/Zet_processor

 

[exdeath]

I knew some people like exdeath find value in old games, but I find value only in their memories. I pretty much can't enjoy old video games anymore.

To be honest most really old games are hard to play unless its like Battletoads or a Megaman marathon or something like that. Its not like I spend 4 hours a day playing Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros daily on my NES like this forum probably imagines lmao. 8 bit isn't even that nostalgic to me.

What is really timeless are the 16/32 bit RPGs. Getting lost in fairy tale worlds is something that transcends any level of technology, it just happened to be the 16/32bit era had the memory capacity for novel length adventures to flourish for the first time in one of the most imaginative eras of gaming. The majority of my collection is RPG and adventure.

Then gaming went mainstream and its all about graphics and realism and story took a back seat and its hardly been the same since. Then something like Ni no Kuni or The Last of Us comes out and reminds you it CAN be done, but look how long it took: this entire console generation!

 

[Kaido]

I grew up in the 80s and played all those systems but it occurred to me when I had a modded xbox that there are very very few games that I would want to play back from that time. Certainly all modern sports and racing games are superior.

Not only that, but you also get the ability to do save-states in emulators, so you can save your place right before Koopa kills you

 

[exdeath]

I have save states on my real NES using custom FPGA mappers using a PowerPak flash cart. Select + B/A to save/load.

Very helpful when playing Battletoads and Contra to train for beating them legit.

Or instant death traps in Megaman.

Or when gambling in Zelda to max out rupees. The RNG seed is part of the save state so if you pick the wrong one, revert back in a flash and grab the right one since it won't change

 

[Oyeve]

If they only had Sega CD I would be all over this! I have all of my original consoles but for some stupid reason I tossed my saga cd addon for the genesis.

 

[Scheeringa]

When was the last time you played one of the old games? I got so excited when I downloaded my N64 emulator, loaded up goldeneye, and then....realized it wasn't as good as I remembered it. The past is the past, lets all move forward.