Polymega

Infernum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pucot56iRiw

This looks promising. Even has the mythical Sega Saturn support. The rest cartridge stuff is pretty standard, but the CD-based console compatibility is very much the main reason to buy a Polymega.

Though I wonder if cease & desists could possibly hamper this thing. Surely the legal go-ahead from these companies must have been given beforehand?

Inviere

Infernum wrote: »

Though I wonder if cease & desists could possibly hamper this thing. Surely the legal go-ahead from these companies must have been given beforehand?

From a legal standpoint, and assuming it’s not using copyright protected code, it’s no different to something like a Retron.

o1s1n

Be interesting to see how they handle the bios side of things, you need a bios dump of all of those CD systems to play games in emulators.

Inviere

o1s1n wrote: »

Be interesting to see how they handle the bios side of things, you need a bios dump of all of those CD systems to play games in emulators.

They can legally write their own bios, provided they don’t use any Sega etc info/documentation to do it. That’s how Bleem got away with it if I recall

DaveyDave

I like the idea of it copying all my games to a library. I wonder will it copy CD based games? Fairly pricey though, $250 + cartridge module + sales tax + shipping. Definitely need a European distributor.

It would definitely want to have solid hardware and a good user interface to be worthwhile.

frasr

Seems most of the cartridge based systems are being dropped for launch and questions being asked on the use of arcade video being shown in the ad for the saturn. Also twitch support wont be there day one. I hope this doesnt go the way that other retro consoles have and it was a case of the guys doing it just being too optimistic...

Video that details a bit more:
https://youtu.be/18cWnisi0h4

eddhorse

Can't trust any new retro consoles now, they all have copyright fiasco's or some pleb at the helm.

Saying that, best of luck with your new purchase

Corholio

Wouldn't be enthused about this being the real deal. The Saturn addition is enough to start alarm bells ringing, thats not even taking into account how they will explain they are able to play Dreamcast games when no current reader exists. They also backtracked on their initial statement about the FPGA, now they are claiming it's some sort of hybrid emulation.

Infernum

Unfortunately, it would appear that this was another retro-oriented project that seemed too good to be true and was only intended to rip off enthusiastic retro gamers.

Shapey Fiend

Was there some new controversy? It's been delayed a bit but that's not massively unusual

Infernum

Shapey Fiend wrote: »

Was there some new controversy? It's been delayed a bit but that's not massively unusual

Inviere

All told, seems a grand little device. Perfect for the masses in the world of HDMI tv's. That said, for what it is, you could go the DIY route and build a PC for the same price that'd leave it for dust. It's nice to be able to use original carts/discs, but they're just getting dumped when you play them...there's no difference between that and using a no-intro rom.

Doge

They've teamed up with Sinden Technologies the guys behind the Sinden Lightgun so at least they'll have a decent Lightgun interface to go with the games.

Inviere

Doge wrote: »

They've teamed up with Sinden Technologies the guys behind the Sinden Lightgun so at least they'll have a decent Lightgun interface to go with the games.

That's going to be available separately anyway though yeah?

Doge

Inviere wrote: »

That's going to be available separately anyway though yeah?

Yep, i think theyre just collaborating to get it working via usb on the polymega firmware.

Infernum

Doge wrote: »

Yep, i think theyre just collaborating to get it working via usb on the polymega firmware.

Indeed. Seems the doubt is over for the console. They've bounced back reasonably well to prove the critics (myself included) wrong.

Inviere

Infernum wrote: »

Indeed. Seems the doubt is over for the console. They've bounced back reasonably well to prove the critics (myself included) wrong.

Same, looks like a fantastic modern day solution.

The Last Bandit

Inviere wrote: »

Same, looks like a fantastic modern day solution.

Definitely a great solution, but very expensive...

Inviere

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Definitely a great solution, but very expensive...

Definitely pricey, that's for sure. However, and this isn't any sort of rationalisation to buy one, but if you factor in the price of original consoles, proper interconnects for them (per system), and a good quality external scaler, the costs are pretty high regardless of the method one chooses. That is, unless someone is fine with rf out being piped into a 50" 4k panel through rf

The only thing this thing has against it (asides from its costs), is:

At this time, there is no method for loading ROM files directly on to the machine. We intend to work with publishers and owners of classic games properties to modernize the distribution of these games to users via more modern delivery methods such as streaming and digital downloads. This will also allow us to create an environment where developers can create new games for classic systems and distribute them in a way that doesn’t instantly release their copyrighted works into the wild where they can be easily pirated.

Polymega FAQ

I find the above a bit silly tbh. The console is clearly dumping carts to rom files every time it plays them, so it has the capacity to load files from memory anyway. Piracy isn't their fight, hell, half the companies that made these games have long since gone or changed hands. I feel of the machine is hacked (which it inevitably will if it becomes remotely popular), and the loading of roms is made available, it'd be a much sweeter deal.

Secondly, how does this fare for cd's? The Polymega is hardly implementing all the various copy protection schemes is it? Similarly, I don't think the cd has to be dumped every time it's used (afaik it's dumped to an iso in memory), so why not the same for carts?

*cough* paid distribution store front *cough*

The Last Bandit

So its a retro Ouya