RetroFreak (11 consoles in 1)

[Jagosaurus]

lol I was just reading the same thread!

Another awesome perk: Famicom Disk System games. No, the system won't play the actual disks but will boot the disk images off a SD card.

This guy seems to be the perfect mix for the person who has a ton of carts they'd like to get use out of on modern TVs, but also... doesn't mind throwing a game from a different region, maybe testing a game before buying, or just too lazy to pull off the shelf... onto a SD card.

For me, it's a bit hard to justify. It's the classic circular argument of having the real systems, having flash carts, having a decent clone (RetroTrio), having a modded oXbox with these emus (much more plug and play than a PC), and having an old emu PC. Most of us are in that boat though so I see the appeal. I would be all over this if I had a TG16/PCE or GG collection. Heck, even with what I mentioned above, it still does interest me and I haven't ruled it out. The all in one box is nice.

[nightrnr]

Yep, you speak some of my thoughts on the matter pretty dead on.

I'm in the market for a good famicom replacement, and this would be pretty neat.
Also for the few Supergrafx games, just cool for the novelty.
But I also don't use modern tv's for classic gaming much (and I now have an xrgb for when I do).
I do understand the need/want/benefit for modern displays though.

Backing up "my carts" is a neat option too. But as you said, I come to a circular argument where I question the point of it.

I think I like dedicated systems and flash carts for them when needed. A PC Engine with an everdrive is so much cooler than playing hucards or roms on this.

...and yet part of me wants one.
I'd probably use it to play just my physically copied collection, no downloaded roms allowed. An authentic personal digital archive, if you will. That wood keep the focus and fun there for me, while maintaining the thrill of collecting.
...I am eternally on the fence for this...

[Tanooki]

Good list of points about the system as I do forget it is a total piracy toy as it runs a stock dump of ROMs with no effort involved.

I don't like using wireless controllers either so the R5s sits dead on mine. I could see really no reasonable reason not to own the device and even sell the R5 to get it as I don't care about dumb cheat databases either. I guess I'm old school, but if the code isn't sitting in an old Nintendo Power magazine or something of the sort I don't want anything to do with it as I never used Game Genie garbage.

The only other reason I could think I probably ignored it outside of having the R5 was the fact it wasn't US sold really and the price for the adapter to add functionality (controllers and game gear.)

If I read that right and it uses microSD, I have an unused 32GB card that had sat in my New 3DS XL when I cared to keep that so-so DK game on it as that feebie from the now dead Club Nintendo. 32GB is more than enough for any TG games I liked/owned on hucard in the 90s early 00s (I had a lot) plus some Japanese I didn't (like the cool Super Dodgeball game.)

[Jagosaurus]

Can it play GG, Mark III, & Mark II ROMS off the SD card without the Sega Adapter?

Wasn't sure if that guy added necessary hardware or was simply a pin interface for those systems.

[ElkinFencer10]

Can it play GG, Mark III, & Mark II ROMS off the SD card without the Sega Adapter?

Wasn't sure if that guy added necessary hardware or was simply a pin interface for those systems.

IIRC it can run it off the SD card. I think the adapter is just a pin interface.

[Jagosaurus]

That's awesome if so. Makes sense the emus would already be there.

Just read several reviews on Amazon. Looks like at least a few people experienced the console turning off which seems to be from overheating. 2 guys made a fan system for under the bottom vents & posted pics.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Anyone have a link to the latest firmware update for this thing?

It's my understanding that the system needs to be updated for the GG/SMS/SG-1000 adapter to work.

Mine should be arriving Thursday. Holy shit Play-Asia is fast.

[nightrnr]

I guess I'm old school, but if the code isn't sitting in an old Nintendo Power magazine or something of the sort I don't want anything to do with it as I never used Game Genie garbage.

Oho! thems fightin' words, he mocks my childhood memories.
I used to have an absolute blast imputing random codes in Mario 3 for unpredictable effects; it was basically Mario on LSD sometimes and it was a riot.
And some games, it was all but necessary to see the end (Double Dragon 3 comes to mind).
I do half-regret spending full price for the thing with my paper route money. But I did have some great times with it. It was rarely used if I had not already explored the game greatly.

If I read that right and it uses microSD, I have an unused 32GB card that had sat in my New 3DS XL when I cared to keep that so-so DK game on it as that freebie from the now dead Club Nintendo. 32GB is more than enough for any TG games I liked/owned on hucard in the 90s early 00s (I had a lot) plus some Japanese I didn't (like the cool Super Dodgeball game.)

If I read right (and forgive me, for I don't have a link) it takes forever to boot the console if you put too much on an SD (like if you put gigs of info on a card). My point is that a smaller card might be better. If you don't fill it too extreme, I guess it wouldn't matter, but would be a waste if you had a smaller card to use.

I wonder if my PC USB Saturn adapter would work with this.

[Tanooki]

I would imagine so if you had a lot of little files it would have to load up a listing of each game in each directory when you hit it if it does not buffer it into some memory and remember it. That would get very annoying.

[nightrnr]

See, I'm having a hard time deciding between this and just loading up my Xbox and/or Wii with everything. I mean, what about Sega CD and Super CD/Duo games?
I like the sound of the Retrofreak, but it's just not enough for me. The only thing going for it is the novelty of copying your own carts and playing lag free over HDMI (which are killer reasons, but irrelavent for me right now).
And really all that I want right now is a good and authentic Famicom system with a ram adapter and fdsstick so I can properly appreciate the FDS catalog. Do you hear me Santa?
But I think I'll wait on that until the Holiday inflation dies down. I keep wondering who is buying all the crap that only interests me on ebay.