RetroN 3

[CRTGAMER]

CRT, my Altair wants a word with your IBM clones...

[jfrost]

its so ugly i dont want it

Just to reinforce the fact that Scrotum Wound finds this piece of equipment ugly.

[Flake]

its so ugly i dont want it

Just to reinforce the fact that Scrotum Wound finds this piece of equipment ugly.

What would a 'scrotum wound' find appealing?

[samsonlonghair]

I love the fact that this clone has ports for original controllers from all three systems. I wouldn't want to play Genesis games with an SNES controller or vice versa. The controllers that come with clone systems are always crap. I don't know why they even bother to include controllers.

So what the hell does the big, grey dial do?

[CRTGAMER]

I love the fact that this clone has ports for original controllers from all three systems. I wouldn't want to play Genesis games with an SNES controller or vice versa. The controllers that come with clone systems are always crap. I don't know why they even bother to include controllers.

So what the hell does the big, grey dial do?

Pretty slick space saver with S-Video and option of original controllers.
Looks like the Dial switches NES - SNES - Genesis.

[samsonlonghair]

I did some searching for a review of this product. Most of the supposed "reviews" online are just speculation based on the press release. I was able to find one real review.

Stone Age Gamer posted this on the Atari Age forums. As far as I can tell, this is the first hands-on review of the RetroN 3.

Well played with the Retron3 a little bit and here's some of my impressions.

Pack-in controllers as expected are pretty disappointing. If you are buying this system because of its wireless controllers do not bother. The system plays games fine, my biggest problem is the controllers so I will comment mostly on those.

First the wireless controllers seem to be from the same mold as the GEN-X/GN Twin so I don't know how long they will last. Also unfortunately the are IR and not RF. So if you do not have a clear path to the system then they won't work well.

Playing NES games:
Packed-in Controllers - Wow amazing they actually seemed to have gotten to mapping correct playing NES with the pack-in controllers. A = B and B = A. I also believe Y = turbo B and X = turbo A. Unfortunetly this is one of the few places they got it right.
Offical NES controllers - Mapping is fine. They work as expected. The controller ports are a little tight though, however I was using a 3rd part controller and this may have been why they were tight.

Playing Genesis games:
Packed-in Controllers - Wait these controllers were modelled after the Genesis controller, yet are mapped wrong? Yes. For some stupid reason if you are playing Genesis games with pack-in controller A = B and B = A. This won't affect you on some games, but any game that requires you to be holding A and hitting B or holding B and hitting C its impossible. I played Road Rash 2 with these controllers and it was basically unplayable because I could not hold the throttle and punch at the same time. Obviously this mapping does not affect Sonic games.
Offical Genesis controllers - I was expecting the A/B mapping to be backwards on these as well, but to my surprise they seemed to have mapped the official controllers correctly.

Playing SNES games:
Packed-in Controllers - There's a little chart on the back of the controller telling you what buttons are mapped to whch buttons. You read the SNES chart and it all makes sense. A = B, B = A, C = R, etc. However its not right. Somehow these controllers are mapped like how the Retro Duo controllers were laid out. Y = B, B = A, X = Y, and A = X. Confused? Yeah it is confusing. Personally I like how the Retro Duo laid the buttons out better, so this did not bother me. However, I know it may bother some people. Also C = L and Z = R. So those are backwards from what you may expect.
Offical SNES controllers - Well at least they are mapped correctly with official controllers right? Wrong. They are mapped the exact same way with official controllers. I forgot to test if R/L are mapped correctly. I assume they are.

The system feels pretty solid and looks a little better in person than pictures. I do not know about any game compatibility since I don't really have time to go through a bunch of games. I would recommend it over the FC3+ strictly due to the official controller ports. However, if you hate clones right now this system will not change your mind. There are still a few perplexing issues. If they fixed this button mapping issue and used some decent pack-in controllers with RF this would be a home run.

Its still a great space saver and if you were looking into getting an FC3 I would really look into getting this system instead.

Some girl with cat ears interviews a Hyperkin employee concerning the RetroN 3. Paul from Hyperkin reveals that the ugly disk feet are removable. On the subject of compatibility, Mega Man 3 works; Castlevania III works; Super Mario RPG doesn't work; Battletoads still freezes at level two.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh02fdAHD0s

[sevin0seven]

Some girl with cat ears interviews a Hyperkin employee concerning the RetroN 3. Paul from Hyperkin reveals that the ugly disk feet are removable. On the subject of compatibility, Mega Man 3 works; Castlevania III works; Super Mario RPG doesn't work; Battletoads still freezes at level two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh02fdAHD0s

sounds like just another clone.

[MrPopo]

Offical SNES controllers - Well at least they are mapped correctly with official controllers right? Wrong. They are mapped the exact same way with official controllers. I forgot to test if R/L are mapped correctly. I assume they are.

I'm sure that'll be a deal breaker for a lot of people.

[fastbilly1]

Offical SNES controllers - Well at least they are mapped correctly with official controllers right? Wrong. They are mapped the exact same way with official controllers. I forgot to test if R/L are mapped correctly. I assume they are.

I'm sure that'll be a deal breaker for a lot of people.

Right here. No dice. Looks like I need to keep waiting.

[Jrecee]

When I have more space I may invest in a clone. I like the idea of the space saved using one console to play 2 or 3 libraries worth of games.

Wait. . . when you have more space you're going to buy a system to save space?