Polymega/Retroblox: New 1080p "Clone" 2600 to PCE-CD to PS1

[bmoc]

Big news dump here related to the hardware and software changes that were to be announced on the new Polymega website (which can't seem to stay up).

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/0 ... _successor

Overall, I think most of the changes were good ones. Some I don't agree with like removing Super Gameboy support. Removing native Twitch support doesn't affect me but that sucks for the folks that were looking forward to it. Also, I'm waiting to find out the difference between the launch SNES module and the future FPGA SNES module before I get one.

[bmoc]

I asked Polymega on Twitter about the difference between the launch SNES module and the future FPGA SNES module. The difference is that the FPGA module will support Super Gameboy, Game Genie, and Everdrive. So if I am understanding them correctly, that means that modules without FPGAs will not support Everdrives. That is a pretty significant change and contrary to what they have been touting before this week.

I have to say that is a massive disappointment. I was so close to ordering all the modules but that is a deal breaker. I'm only down for the base unit right now. I might pick up an AVS instead of all the modules.

[ElkinFencer10]

Yep, that pretty much killed it for me. Depending on how much this RetroPie I have coming tomorrow impresses me, I may not even get the base unit.

[racketboy]

I asked Polymega on Twitter about the difference between the launch SNES module and the future FPGA SNES module. The difference is that the FPGA module will support Super Gameboy, Game Genie, and Everdrive. So if I am understanding them correctly, that means that modules without FPGAs will not support Everdrives. That is a pretty significant change and contrary to what they have been touting before this week.

I have to say that is a massive disappointment. I was so close to ordering all the modules but that is a deal breaker. I'm only down for the base unit right now. I might pick up an AVS instead of all the modules.

Out of curiosity, how does one not support an Everdrive? To the system hardware, how is it different from a standard cart?

[bmoc]

Same way the Retron 5 doesn't. From what is being described in the Nintendo Life article, they have abandoned their "Hybrid Emulation" for now. I take that to mean that the Polymega doesn't directly read data in real time from carts. I assume that it makes no difference whether you have a cart inserted or dump it to internal storage. Since the Polymega isn't interacting in real time with inserted carts, flash carts are a not supported right now.

They have mentioned that the future Famicom module and the future SNES module revision will have built in FPGAs capable of interacting with the carts in real time and therefore will support Everdrives. They have stated that they do not believe any other modules, current or future, will need FPGAs.

[Golgo 14]

Same way the Retron 5 doesn't. From what is being described in the Nintendo Life article, they have abandoned their "Hybrid Emulation" for now.

That was their whole spiel for why this was different & better than other emulator solutions.

I was very interested a year ago, but it's a definite pass for now. I hope it succeeds though and maybe later iterations will be more enticing. I'm pretty happy using a soft-modded Wii for emulating NES, SNES, Genesis & TG-16 games. If a couple years from now they have a main unit w/ Dreamcast capabilities & separate 2600/7800 & Jaguar modules, I'll be in.

[bmoc]

^ No doubt. I'm seeing a lot of grumpy responses on their Facebook and Twitter posts. Can't say I blame them. To announce such sweeping changes the day they intended to take pre-orders is underhanded and compounded by their poor choice in web hosts.

I'm still interested in the base unit as a region free Turbografx-CD/Sega CD/NeoGeoCD/PS1/Saturn. And any CD systems supported in the future should still be a free update. I'm on the fence as to whether I will pre-order or wait for retail. I'll make a decision once all the info is up on their site.

[racketboy]

DIdn't realize the Retron didn't support Everdrives (I don't own either item).

But reading that most of the systems will be software emulation for now makes me want to hold off for a while.
I really like the concept, but I've already got both the Analogue Nintendo systems plus running originals of all the Sega stuff.
I'm mostly interested in the TG16 and Neo-Geo stuff, but if it's just software emulation I'm gonna wait for reviews.
I would like to see a solid alternative for a Genesis/Sega CD/32X that takes up less space and power units, but I think I'll wait on that as well.

I like that they are donating some proceeds to Video Game History Foundation, however -- classy move.

[Tanooki]

Neither Retron5 or Retrofreak do.

There IS one device, and should be 2 that can use the everdrive and SD2SNES from Hyperkin alone. They finally stopped using the cheapest crappiest chinese garbage on a chip from the same factory as Retrobit with their year old Supaboy S and SFC minor revision, and as they had the Supa Boy HD console out between them it probably is the other too. That one is so accurate it gets almost every solitary games weird nuances that even emulators and crap clones fail at with SNES games, and it happily uses the SD2SNES and SuperED too.

But this polymega mess basically won't, it's like the REtrofreak due to the expensive to add up modules, but it's blocked like the Retron5 that you can't go about feeding it roms and stuff gets locked down. It's like the worst of both worlds, locked up tight, and pay per console that isn't optical at $60 a hit on top of a $300 unit.

It's entirely software emulation, they backpedaled on their story about the FPGA, now they're making fun of them and people who want that was being overly picky babies basically who want things too accurate (is that a bad thing?!)

The only real value is I would think IF it comes out, would be just for the optical, nothing else, and if you're fine with it being an emulator, probably android based like the RF&R5 consoles. It has that huge speed increase for the NG CD and Sega stuff, and being new parts, less likely to croak at least for awhile.

[racketboy]

Neither Retron5 or Retrofreak do.

There IS one device, and should be 2 that can use the everdrive and SD2SNES from Hyperkin alone. They finally stopped using the cheapest crappiest chinese garbage on a chip from the same factory as Retrobit with their year old Supaboy S and SFC minor revision, and as they had the Supa Boy HD console out between them it probably is the other too. That one is so accurate it gets almost every solitary games weird nuances that even emulators and crap clones fail at with SNES games, and it happily uses the SD2SNES and SuperED too.

But this polymega mess basically won't, it's like the REtrofreak due to the expensive to add up modules, but it's blocked like the Retron5 that you can't go about feeding it roms and stuff gets locked down. It's like the worst of both worlds, locked up tight, and pay per console that isn't optical at $60 a hit on top of a $300 unit.

It's entirely software emulation, they backpedaled on their story about the FPGA, now they're making fun of them and people who want that was being overly picky babies basically who want things too accurate (is that a bad thing?!)

The only real value is I would think IF it comes out, would be just for the optical, nothing else, and if you're fine with it being an emulator, probably android based like the RF&R5 consoles. It has that huge speed increase for the NG CD and Sega stuff, and being new parts, less likely to croak at least for awhile.

I think it can still be a decent solution for certain use cases as long as you realize what you're getting, but the recent story changes definitely reduces its value and my excitement.