Forget any chance of original cartridges. There's no market for an inexpensive emulation based Neo Geo that supports original cartridges. The small niche in the classic gaming world with Neo Geo cartridge collections aren't going to leave real hardware behind.
But count me in for something along the lines of the Intellivision Sprint from PLAION. A good built-in selection of well emulated Neo Geo games and hopefully support for side loading roms would be welcome.
I just hope it supports the 8BitDo Neo Geo gamepad if this happens (and the USB 2.4g receiver for 8BitDo's arcade stick).
Edit: Well I sure didn't see that coming. Instead of an emulation based Mini (my original guess) or something that's FPGA powered or emulation based that supports original cartridges (Time Extension's guess), it ended up being something quite different and cool. Original chips, full cartridge support, etc.
I'm not in the market (still too rich for my blood, so I'll stick with my Pocket's excellent FPGA Neo Geo core and my 8BitDo Neo Geo pad), but I'm still excited to see this happening.
If this ends up supporting some more common platforms, I just might be tempted since I love the concept. But I can just do NES, SNES, Genesis, 32X, and Jaguar out of this group (My TG16/PC Engine is my Analogue Duo). I think most are going to also fall well short, unless they for some reason have multiples of the same console hooked up simultaneously to the same tv.
Powering five consoles with a device that can do 11 makes this tough to justify. Granted I'm eyeing a MiSTer, but that's not going to be connected to my CRT with these other consoles so that won't even bump me up to 6. I'd love to see it expand to do some of the bigger pre-crash consoles, 7800, PS1, and Saturn.
Something I'd love to see even more is this concept done for the handheld realm. As one that keeps a backlit SP, DS, DS Lite, PSP 1000 & 3000, 3DS XL and 2DS XL in use, this would go a long ways towards simplifying the charging situation for these. Toss in the Wii U gamepad while you're at it.
This is going to have really limited appeal I think.
Your case has to be modded, some of the original hardware is supplanted by FPGA, and the SNES can relatively easily offer pristine RGB video.
Unless one missed out on the Super Nt and is only interested in their old SNES for retro gaming, the FPGA hardware one should invest in should instead by a high end FPGA upscaler that can be used throughout one's range of classic systems (and even modern stuff like the WIi U if you buy a Retrotink 4K or such).
That's not to say though that this doesn't have its place or that it's not a cool project. I just think it fills a particularly narrow niche.
The rational part of me thinks it's pointless to port NES games to the SNES. The irrational part of me enjoys playing through every game that Infidelity ports over.
I'd be sad to see it end. I look forward to each release and even though I'm just playing the vanilla version of each on my Super Nt and Pocket (still lots of improvements like no sprite flicker, sometimes quality of life improvements, etc.), I look forward to revisiting them all over again in full MSU-1 form one of these days when I buy a FX Pak Pro.
I have a feeling that save states won't ever happen. Happily not a feature I thought I'd have much use for on N64 games, so I'll be okay with them not delivering on that promise I think.
I like save states mostly for games that used password saves. It lets me avoid the annoyance of recording a password and inputting it to resume. But on the N64, while there's a little bit of that in the library, it mostly of course relies on onboard cartridge saving or external memory card saving.
I don't think a single one of Pyron's projects (such as Sunset Riders) has ever made it out since he transitioned past just doing recolorization hacks.
@axelhander I guess developing weapons for the US military and its allies is apparently an issue for them.
Yet at the same time they're apparently cool with executing hundreds of people a year for minor or trumped up offenses, targeted assassinations and kidnappings inside and outside of Saudi Arabia, being a major center for human trafficking for slave labor and sexual exploitation, no freedom in general (Jews in the US military for instance weren't allowed to have services on Saudi soil during Desert Shield/Storm), widespread discrimination against women, long-term accusations of them being a financial supporter and arms dealer to terrorist groups (such as during the Yemeni civil war), etc.
Same with Electronic Arts. I guarantee when the buyout is completed next summer that the publisher will still be covered by this outfit. $$$$ speaks so they will let it go. Just like the US government under both Democratic or Republican control. Wave those greenbacks and they'll gladly sell the Saudis anything while spinning it as a positive move.
I'm confused why Time Extension is even covering anything to do with SNK, given the Saudi ties and the rampant human rights issues associated with that ownership.
Never had one, but I hope they get it right. I don't love the C64 Maxi's joystick and would like a better option.
And while I'm awaiting a Maxi iteration of it and thus haven't tried it yet for myself, the CX40 stick for the Atari 400 Mini apparently was lousy (a shame when a different team within the same company got it right with the 2600+'s CX40; Plaion designs all of the Retro Games hardware as well as doing the 2600/7800+ on their own). While I hope it's fixed if/when an Atari Maxi happens (honestly, just repurpose the CX40+ and jettison the 400 Mini's CX40), it might not matter much if they finally get this one right.
I've never had one of these, but it does remind me of my RadioShack Archer joysticks for the 2600 and such (although RadioShack rounded over the contours of the joystick for more comfort). I recall those being halfway decent, although the fire buttons would die after a while (it was good that it had two buttons that were wired up together, extending the cheap controller's longevity). But back in the early to mid 1990's there weren't any other options for new 2600 joysticks.
A bit on the pricey side (just barely though, especially in 2025), but hopefully next year. I've already just bought the Gamestation Go and will also be buying the new Intellivision in December that Plaion is doing.
Hopefully this one sticks around for a while. My C64 Maxi wants some Amiga company.
@slider1983 Not aware of the original owners after the console's original Mattel/INTV Corp run, Keith Robinson and Stephen Roney, ever having any grand plans there.
The plan under them always seemed to keep the brand alive through Intellivision Lives/Rocks style compilations, licensing games out to plug & play manufacturers and Microsoft (Game Room for the 360), etc. Modest goals aimed at keeping the legacy alive.
Plans to release unreleased Intellivison games on cartridge and develop a homebrew programming scene with development software and such never came to fruition. But the main focus was always on stuff like Intellivision Lives.
Then Keith, one of the original "Blue Sky Rangers", passed away in 2017 and then the Tommy Tallarico/Amico trainwreck started the next year when he bought the rights.
@Quick_Man Sadly, Atari 50 also has quirks as well. The audio for example in 5200 Berzerk remains broken despite Digital Eclipse being informed about it almost immediately after the Stern DLC hit last year.
When I see this flag I see the Bataan death march, I see them beheading Allied POW's, I see them binding pilots hands then weighing them down and tossing them overboard after interrogating them, I see them murdering the 100 American contractors that they kept on Wake Island to build bunkers for them when the tides of war shifted against them, I see them vivisectioning B-29 crewmembers in a teaching hospital after making them think that they were going in for medical care, I see the USS Arizona exploding and the Oklahoma capsizing on December 7th when they still officially were at peace with us (or for you Brits on the other side of the pond, substitute the Repulse and Prince of Wales a few hours later), etc.
There's nothing good about this flag, folks. Someone not aware of Japan's atrocities of the 30's and 40's that looks this up and sees that today's Japanese Navy still flies it (unsurprising, considering Japan's failings to acknowledge their past), doesn't whitewash the history behind this flag and make it okay.
While I like their thinking, they screwed up their button assignments. The two primary buttons traditionally have proven to be Y & B. Even most early SNES games like Super Mario World leaned towards those two.
So we've been condemned because of that to play NES & Game Boy classics with poor button mapping thanks to the desire to match up the button lettering when these games are rereleased on a controller that uses the ABXY layout.
Early prototypes for the SFC/SNES after they had abandoned ABCD had it right. B was where Y is and A was where B is. X & Y were actually assigned to what in practice quickly proved to be the two secondary buttons. But sadly someone screwed up before the launch and messed with the configuration.
@mjparker77 I believe my C64 Maxi was $125 from Amazon. Your price range even in this day and age doesn't sound very accurate. If it is, this one is going to be a tough sell.
@Daggot Internally I'm confident that like the C64 Mini/Maxi, it's just going to be the A500 Mini with a working keyboard.
The 1200 is a smaller form factor than the 500, which is I feel the obvious reason behind that switch. It doesn't reflect beefier hardware guts or extra capabilities.
If nobody cares about going down a sidetrack, I would expect the same situation later on if they do a full size successor to the Atari 400 Mini. Instead of a membrane keyboard equipped Atari 400 Maxi, I would expect to see a different model being selected for the Maxi iteration while offering essentially the same hardware guts and capabilities as the 400 Mini (although hopefully with a much improved CX40 joystick since the 400 Mini's version is awful and pales compared to originals or what the 2600+ has).
I'm thinking probably the Atari 800XL when the day comes since it's substantially smaller than the original 800 and was a popular choice for Atari computer owners back in the day (although a 600XL would be even smaller).
@NatiaAdamo Tell the Ukrainians then to surrender and prepare for executions, imprisonment, or being reeducated in the reincarnated Soviet regime since they're not allowed to defend themselves from a foreign invasion.
Some of you people are just incredible. I'd laugh if it wasn't so pitiful.
Helsing built drones have been an important asset for Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion (a war that Ukraine never wanted, asked for, or deserved).
Conventional drones use GPS, which the Russian military has routinely jammed over the battlefield. Thus it's down to AI and stored map data to reach their targets without relying upon GPS signals.
@FR4M3 Watch or read the news, man. It's been called the Red Sea Crisis. They've attacked many commercial vessels (few of which are US owned and operated) and several military vessels, have sank several, have damaged a fair number of them, have seized at least one merchant shop and kidnapped the crew, have forced many millions of dollars to be spent to combat the crisis, etc.
As for why, you'd have to ask them. The vast majority of their targets have had literally nothing to do with their stated goal. They're literally attempting to attack anything that moves.
But it's all besides the point. When I spoke about giving the military and the young people that have enlisted to serve their nation the tools that they need to succeed, I'm talking peacetime & wartime. Not even necessarily the US, if you think that's distasteful given the attack on Israel by Hamas and the Gaza crisis that has now followed. It could be a country like New Zealand for instance, which has a modest military aimed primarily at patrolling and protecting their maritime interests in the region like fisheries protection (a military that essentially is 100% focused on self-defense rather than any sort of offensive mission).
I would hope that their citizens and those of their allies, including the US, want New Zealand's young men & women to have the tools that they need like safe & reliable maritime surveillance aircraft rather than something that might lose a wing the next time it goes up into the air and kill the entire crew.
Furthermore, the US and our allies have engaged in combat with regularity in recent times, like our guided missile destroyers and cruisers alongside the Royal Navy and other allies regularly engaging drones and anti-ship missiles fired by the Houthis at anything that floats.
But since that flew right over your head and hit the basement wall behind you, you don't wait until hostilities break out before forming a military, training young men & women to fight, developing technology to enable them to do their job the best that they can, equipping them with the tools that they'd need, etc.
It's what a standing army is all about. You can't be so naïve to not be able to grasp that concept. We're talking well over a decade for instance to bring a new aircraft carrier into service. Starting with NAVSHIPS forming up requirements and conducting research to having the ship in service with a fully trained crew and able to be used is an extremely long process, very expensive, and takes millions of man hours to accomplish.
You don't wait until war has broken out to then prepare. You prepare for it now and hope that it's such a deterrent that a potential foe ends up never starting it in the first place. Otherwise you're in trouble when something like just rolling out a new design of fighter jet can take a generation.
Edit: Read about it on Wikipedia. What a creepy guy.
I don't find his endeavor with drones distasteful. I'm all for giving the American military and those of our allies the tools to better protect our soldiers, sailors, and airmen while taking the war to the enemy to hopefully achieve a speedy conclusion to hostilities with the minimum loss of life possible. But something like this VR headset stunt just speaks volumes that this guy has to be insane.
@KainXavier Namco owns Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Man Plus (Namco has let it out of the vaults a few times). As part of the Midway settlement, it seems logical that they also control Jr. Pac-Man and Baby Pac-Man even though they've never done anything with either.
What GCC had was royalties. Dating back to when the game was developed by GCC and Midway released it (with Namco's knowledge and unwritten approval, which backfired when the game became a massive hit and Namco sued), every time that Ms. Pac-Man was sold they were owed a small royalty.
Namco through the years gradually "forgot" about it until GCC reminded them of the agreement and the history behind Ms. Pac-Man (Namco at that point was under the impression it was an in-house production rather than a Midway/GCC game from the United States).
When this happened back circa 2010 is when we started to see Ms. Pac-Man not be released alongside their other golden age flagships, with an occasional exception like the paid DLC add-on to add the game to the original Pac-Man Museum roster.
Fast forward 8-10 years or so and GCC was looking to sell. Namco underbid and AtGames, thinking about how they already had a Namco Pac-Man license and were including these games in their offerings, offered more with the ideal that they could now include Ms. Pac-Man.
Since then, Ms. Pac-Man has largely been in limbo. A few old digital releases have remained available like the backwards compatible XBLA game, but few if any new appearances have happened for the game. Apparently it created a rift between these two companies with Namco feeling like AtGames stabbed them in the back and not wanting to pay AtGames the GCC royalty fee. The result has been Ms. Pac-Man sitting on the sidelines.
Edit: These links can tell the complicated story better than my retelling of it from memory. While I got the gist of it right, my telling of it isn't fully accurate.
@Atariboy Just for the sake of full transparency, I'm of course only referring to 2600 cartridges. Starpath Supercharger fans are of course out of luck with their cassette games.
It would certainly be cool to connect one to the 2600/7800+ and play great games like The Official Frogger, but it's not going to be happening.
I suppose that's one spot that a jailbroken Hyperkin Retron '77 still offers a perk compared to the official Atari SA offerings, since you can just stick those roms or any other 2600 rom onto a micro SD card and be off to the races.
@Sketcz Pitfall 2 works. They solved that hurdle months ago.
They recently also got the Melody enhanced homebrews from Champ Games and such working as well, such as the excellent port of Galaga for the 2600.
I believe there's one or two homebrews that are still problematic for the dumper routine (these problem games were never an emulation issue, with Stella fully able to handle the job). But basically 100% of the commercial library and 99.9% of the homebrew 2600 library is now playable.
Nerds in basements apparently can't comprehend that people and the nations that they form always have refused to live peacefully.
It sadly means that even those with good intentions to pursue peace have to pursue the means to defend themselves. That means aircraft, bombs, torpedoes, ships, missiles, etc.
I've even seem condemnations about drones from these supposed haters of war, saying that people should be putting their lives at risk rather than fighting remotely. I guess it's better to have two 18 year old kids die if their Apache gets shot down than it is to lose an unmanned drone.
I could get behind a Gaelco arcade compilation (World Rally and World Rally 2 were both great), but I'll pass on this particular release.
I just bought the Top Racer Collection off the Xbox store at a discounted price (Another one from QUByte Interactive and Piko Interactive). It will be interesting to see how it performs. Top Gear 1 has long been a favorite game. And save states will be much appreciated in Top Gear 2 and 3000 (I hate writing down and entering in passwords; Top Gear 1's "HORIZONS" password to unlock every country and easily return to where you left off gives that one a pass).
They really need to make sure to support USB mouse/track-ball accessories this time around on consoles. It was a shame that was a PC exclusive feature on Atari 50 when the Switch 1, PS4/5, and XB1/Series systems all support the hardware as an option.
It looks okay, but only okay. A bit reminiscent of 1942: Joint Strike from 15+ years ago. Not very ambitious and cheaply done, but perhaps entertaining enough for a few playthroughs if the price is right (I think that one was $5, to give an idea of what I'd say this new Aero Fighters game is worth after watching gameplay of it).
It definitely isn't going to be a memorable release though. And unlike when the XBLA game that I mentioned came out, there's no shortage of vertical and horizontal shooters today. With regular Arcade Archives releases, Gradius Origins and numerous other collections, and new games here and there, this one is way too generic to stand a chance of standing out.
And judging by the Japanese prices, they're asking a premium price for what's not a premium game. Cheap graphics and it appears to be far too easy of a game. So those that do make the jump can expect to not have much replayability for their purchase, unlike what a good shooter will offer.
I'm not sure what role Hamster has here, but given that they're the rights holders of the IP and potentially the developer (Success appears to just be the publisher), they have a long ways to go before they're able to craft something as memorable as many of the games that they emulate so well via their Arcade Archives program.
He's very much mistaken. XBLA SVC: Streets of Rage Streets still has working online multiplayer on the Xbox 360 (and via BC, still works on newer consoles), standalone XBLA Streets of Rage 2 still has online multiplayer on the Xbox 360, and Sega Genesis Classics on PS4 and XB1 also has online multiplayer that it still active (I don't own the Switch version, but assume it too has the feature).
Getting delisted doesn't have to mean that the online capabilities are shut down.
Folks, no need to ask about Everdrive support when you see that it's using software emulation. Multicarts like Everdrives require multi-loading, which necessitates a live cartridge bus.
So any device that dumps a cartridge and runs the resulting rom image that's created, which all emulation based systems do out of necessity, will not work with your Everdrive. At best you'll get the Everdrive menu and nothing else.
Stick to selling us on Analogue products, please. Those deliver on their promises and then some, and deserve this sort of coverage. So far Polymega hasn't done a thing to convince the community they'll live up to even half their promises, have been caught in numerous lies, have backtracked on their stated intentions several times, have engaged in a foolish smear campaign against Analogue, and have downright attempted to scam us.
@Deanster101 While Analogue is great and I love what they've been doing (And can't wait to order a Mega SG later this year to join my Super NT), fpga isn't automatically better than emulation.
While Polymega is a scam, you won't find someone like Kevtris ever bad mouthing quality software emulation such as Stella, Higan, etc. Extremely accurate and very good.
A fpga simulation can be as lousy as the worst NOAC clone. It's all up to the talent involved, their level of understanding of the hardware they're reproducing, their eye for details, etc. Just because it's fpga doesn't automatically elevate it above software emulation. It's not some magical elixir and at the end of the day, a skilled programmer still has to sit down and code their recreation of the original hardware no matter if it's fpga or emulation.
They both have their advantages and disadvantages. For instance of an advantage of emulation, save states aren't directly viable in Analogue's products. Of course with expensive multicarts, you can work around that to a degree, but for technical reasons I've forgotten (Which he's spoken about at AtariAge), Kevtris can't directly support them.
Yet Analogue's products offer such advantages as zero input lag thanks to things like the lack of an operating system slowing everything down, can interact directly with original cartridges, etc.
Comments 61
Re: The Neo Geo+ Will Be "Better Than Emulation" Says Modding Legend Furrtek
The Atari Flashback 2 and the Commodore 64 DTV both leap to mind as early examples of retro themed hardware with custom ASIC's.
Re: Hopes Of Neo Geo Hardware Revival Triggered By ESRB Rating
Forget any chance of original cartridges. There's no market for an inexpensive emulation based Neo Geo that supports original cartridges. The small niche in the classic gaming world with Neo Geo cartridge collections aren't going to leave real hardware behind.
But count me in for something along the lines of the Intellivision Sprint from PLAION. A good built-in selection of well emulated Neo Geo games and hopefully support for side loading roms would be welcome.
I just hope it supports the 8BitDo Neo Geo gamepad if this happens (and the USB 2.4g receiver for 8BitDo's arcade stick).
Edit: Well I sure didn't see that coming. Instead of an emulation based Mini (my original guess) or something that's FPGA powered or emulation based that supports original cartridges (Time Extension's guess), it ended up being something quite different and cool. Original chips, full cartridge support, etc.
I'm not in the market (still too rich for my blood, so I'll stick with my Pocket's excellent FPGA Neo Geo core and my 8BitDo Neo Geo pad), but I'm still excited to see this happening.
Re: RetroTap Aims To Eradicate Your "Tangled Mess Of Ageing, Bulky Wall Warts"
If this ends up supporting some more common platforms, I just might be tempted since I love the concept. But I can just do NES, SNES, Genesis, 32X, and Jaguar out of this group (My TG16/PC Engine is my Analogue Duo). I think most are going to also fall well short, unless they for some reason have multiples of the same console hooked up simultaneously to the same tv.
Powering five consoles with a device that can do 11 makes this tough to justify. Granted I'm eyeing a MiSTer, but that's not going to be connected to my CRT with these other consoles so that won't even bump me up to 6. I'd love to see it expand to do some of the bigger pre-crash consoles, 7800, PS1, and Saturn.
Something I'd love to see even more is this concept done for the handheld realm. As one that keeps a backlit SP, DS, DS Lite, PSP 1000 & 3000, 3DS XL and 2DS XL in use, this would go a long ways towards simplifying the charging situation for these. Toss in the Wii U gamepad while you're at it.
Re: This New SNES Mod Offers Razor-Sharp Digital HD Output
This is going to have really limited appeal I think.
Your case has to be modded, some of the original hardware is supplanted by FPGA, and the SNES can relatively easily offer pristine RGB video.
Unless one missed out on the Super Nt and is only interested in their old SNES for retro gaming, the FPGA hardware one should invest in should instead by a high end FPGA upscaler that can be used throughout one's range of classic systems (and even modern stuff like the WIi U if you buy a Retrotink 4K or such).
That's not to say though that this doesn't have its place or that it's not a cool project. I just think it fills a particularly narrow niche.
Re: "Let's See How This Goes" - Mega Man 2 Could Soon Be Getting The Proper SNES Upgrade We've All Been Waiting For
I can't wait. It will be well worth it though when it releases.
Re: New Jaleco Arcade Collections Set To Bring 32 Games From The Legendary Japanese Developer To Steam
What's a "SF shooter"? Been a member of the online classic gaming community since about 1997 and that's a completely new term to me.
Re: "I Could Not Give Less Of A S**t If Anyone Else Plays Them" - Developers Behind 'Pointless' Homebrew Ports Defend Their Work
The rational part of me thinks it's pointless to port NES games to the SNES. The irrational part of me enjoys playing through every game that Infidelity ports over.
I'd be sad to see it end. I look forward to each release and even though I'm just playing the vanilla version of each on my Super Nt and Pocket (still lots of improvements like no sprite flicker, sometimes quality of life improvements, etc.), I look forward to revisiting them all over again in full MSU-1 form one of these days when I buy a FX Pak Pro.
Re: "We Know Trust Is Something You Earn Over Time" - Limited Run Games Reveals "Renewed Fan-First Focus"
Seems like I'm one of many former LRG customers.
Re: Analogue 3D Firmware Update v1.2.3 Now Available, And Here's What It Does
I have a feeling that save states won't ever happen. Happily not a feature I thought I'd have much use for on N64 games, so I'll be okay with them not delivering on that promise I think.
I like save states mostly for games that used password saves. It lets me avoid the annoyance of recording a password and inputting it to resume. But on the N64, while there's a little bit of that in the library, it mostly of course relies on onboard cartridge saving or external memory card saving.
Re: "I Think It Would Be Extremely Difficult" - Don't Expect Sega To Sell Yakuza's Retro Games Individually
If he had hoped to convince anyone, I'd say that he failed spectacularly.
Re: Raiden Fighters Remix Collection Branded "Absolutely Unacceptable" By Disgruntled Fans
While I wish it had joined the backwards compatibility list, I'm sure glad to own the 360 compilation.
Re: "A Bit Insane" - Fan-Made Parodius Port For Genesis / Mega Drive Just Gets Better And Better
I don't think a single one of Pyron's projects (such as Sunset Riders) has ever made it out since he transitioned past just doing recolorization hacks.
Re: "I Can't Promote A Product That I Don't Support" - SNK Mod Steps Down Over Fatal Fury "AI Slop" Trailer
Removed
Re: "I Can't Promote A Product That I Don't Support" - SNK Mod Steps Down Over Fatal Fury "AI Slop" Trailer
@axelhander I guess developing weapons for the US military and its allies is apparently an issue for them.
Yet at the same time they're apparently cool with executing hundreds of people a year for minor or trumped up offenses, targeted assassinations and kidnappings inside and outside of Saudi Arabia, being a major center for human trafficking for slave labor and sexual exploitation, no freedom in general (Jews in the US military for instance weren't allowed to have services on Saudi soil during Desert Shield/Storm), widespread discrimination against women, long-term accusations of them being a financial supporter and arms dealer to terrorist groups (such as during the Yemeni civil war), etc.
Same with Electronic Arts. I guarantee when the buyout is completed next summer that the publisher will still be covered by this outfit. $$$$ speaks so they will let it go. Just like the US government under both Democratic or Republican control. Wave those greenbacks and they'll gladly sell the Saudis anything while spinning it as a positive move.
Virtue signaling at its finest, lol.
Re: "I Can't Promote A Product That I Don't Support" - SNK Mod Steps Down Over Fatal Fury "AI Slop" Trailer
I'm confused why Time Extension is even covering anything to do with SNK, given the Saudi ties and the rampant human rights issues associated with that ownership.
Re: The Next Two EGGCONSOLE Games For Switch Include An Action RPG From T&E Soft & An OutRun-Style Racer
Mad Rider looks like it's up my alley. Is this the first MSX 1 or 2 racer that they've released?
Re: After A Year Of Radio Silence, My Arcade's Sega Mini-Arcades Are Coming This Year
I think I'll wait for Outrun to be revisited 12 months later in handheld form.
I like the looks of MyArcade's Pole Position handheld that seems set to ship here shortly and think a similar Outrun follow-up is a safe bet.
And heck, maybe they'll add in Turbo Outrun if they revisit it.
Re: One Of The Most Iconic Joysticks Of The '80s And '90s Is Being Revived
Never had one, but I hope they get it right. I don't love the C64 Maxi's joystick and would like a better option.
And while I'm awaiting a Maxi iteration of it and thus haven't tried it yet for myself, the CX40 stick for the Atari 400 Mini apparently was lousy (a shame when a different team within the same company got it right with the 2600+'s CX40; Plaion designs all of the Retro Games hardware as well as doing the 2600/7800+ on their own). While I hope it's fixed if/when an Atari Maxi happens (honestly, just repurpose the CX40+ and jettison the 400 Mini's CX40), it might not matter much if they finally get this one right.
I've never had one of these, but it does remind me of my RadioShack Archer joysticks for the 2600 and such (although RadioShack rounded over the contours of the joystick for more comfort). I recall those being halfway decent, although the fire buttons would die after a while (it was good that it had two buttons that were wired up together, extending the cheap controller's longevity). But back in the early to mid 1990's there weren't any other options for new 2600 joysticks.
Re: The Company Behind Arcade Archives Is Teasing Something Big For Its 500th Release
@Razieluigi Hamster's unspoken rule is no American developed games, sadly.
Re: The Company Behind Arcade Archives Is Teasing Something Big For Its 500th Release
Looking forward to Rave Racer for the 500th.
Re: Turrican And Taito Collections Are Coming To Evercade
@mjparker77 Nonsense, several gems in that lineup like Qix and Zookeeper.
Re: Pricing And Release Date Revealed For Full-Size Amiga Replica 'THE A1200'
A bit on the pricey side (just barely though, especially in 2025), but hopefully next year. I've already just bought the Gamestation Go and will also be buying the new Intellivision in December that Plaion is doing.
Hopefully this one sticks around for a while. My C64 Maxi wants some Amiga company.
Re: "We Brought The Rivalry To An End" - Atari Reveals The Intellivision Sprint
@slider1983 Not aware of the original owners after the console's original Mattel/INTV Corp run, Keith Robinson and Stephen Roney, ever having any grand plans there.
The plan under them always seemed to keep the brand alive through Intellivision Lives/Rocks style compilations, licensing games out to plug & play manufacturers and Microsoft (Game Room for the 360), etc. Modest goals aimed at keeping the legacy alive.
Plans to release unreleased Intellivison games on cartridge and develop a homebrew programming scene with development software and such never came to fruition. But the main focus was always on stuff like Intellivision Lives.
Then Keith, one of the original "Blue Sky Rangers", passed away in 2017 and then the Tommy Tallarico/Amico trainwreck started the next year when he bought the rights.
Re: Review: Atari Gamestation Go - A Tour Of Atari's Legacy With One Too Many Bumps In The Road
@Quick_Man Sadly, Atari 50 also has quirks as well. The audio for example in 5200 Berzerk remains broken despite Digital Eclipse being informed about it almost immediately after the Stern DLC hit last year.
Re: "Nintendo Has Made Serious Objections" - Last Ninja Collection Delayed On Consoles
When I see this flag I see the Bataan death march, I see them beheading Allied POW's, I see them binding pilots hands then weighing them down and tossing them overboard after interrogating them, I see them murdering the 100 American contractors that they kept on Wake Island to build bunkers for them when the tides of war shifted against them, I see them vivisectioning B-29 crewmembers in a teaching hospital after making them think that they were going in for medical care, I see the USS Arizona exploding and the Oklahoma capsizing on December 7th when they still officially were at peace with us (or for you Brits on the other side of the pond, substitute the Repulse and Prince of Wales a few hours later), etc.
There's nothing good about this flag, folks. Someone not aware of Japan's atrocities of the 30's and 40's that looks this up and sees that today's Japanese Navy still flies it (unsurprising, considering Japan's failings to acknowledge their past), doesn't whitewash the history behind this flag and make it okay.
It's not just a Korean thing.
Re: Here's Why Controllers Have 'A, B, X & Y' Buttons, And Not 'A, B, C & D'
While I like their thinking, they screwed up their button assignments. The two primary buttons traditionally have proven to be Y & B. Even most early SNES games like Super Mario World leaned towards those two.
So we've been condemned because of that to play NES & Game Boy classics with poor button mapping thanks to the desire to match up the button lettering when these games are rereleased on a controller that uses the ABXY layout.
Early prototypes for the SFC/SNES after they had abandoned ABCD had it right. B was where Y is and A was where B is. X & Y were actually assigned to what in practice quickly proved to be the two secondary buttons. But sadly someone screwed up before the launch and messed with the configuration.
Re: Random: "Surely They're Trolling" - After The NES-Cart-In-A-SNES Debacle, The BBC Marks Windows 95's 30th With An Apple Mac
The BBC is just practicing their usual standards of journalism.
Re: Retro Games Ltd's Full-Size Amiga Replica 'THE A1200' Resurfaces At Gamescom
@mjparker77 I believe my C64 Maxi was $125 from Amazon. Your price range even in this day and age doesn't sound very accurate. If it is, this one is going to be a tough sell.
Re: Retro Games Ltd's Full-Size Amiga Replica 'THE A1200' Resurfaces At Gamescom
@Daggot Internally I'm confident that like the C64 Mini/Maxi, it's just going to be the A500 Mini with a working keyboard.
The 1200 is a smaller form factor than the 500, which is I feel the obvious reason behind that switch. It doesn't reflect beefier hardware guts or extra capabilities.
If nobody cares about going down a sidetrack, I would expect the same situation later on if they do a full size successor to the Atari 400 Mini. Instead of a membrane keyboard equipped Atari 400 Maxi, I would expect to see a different model being selected for the Maxi iteration while offering essentially the same hardware guts and capabilities as the 400 Mini (although hopefully with a much improved CX40 joystick since the 400 Mini's version is awful and pales compared to originals or what the 2600+ has).
I'm thinking probably the Atari 800XL when the day comes since it's substantially smaller than the original 800 and was a popular choice for Atari computer owners back in the day (although a 600XL would be even smaller).
Re: "I Can't Stand This Accumulation Of Toxicity Anymore" - Retro Musician Remute Quits Spotify Over "AI Military Tech" & "Bot Playlists"
@NatiaAdamo Tell the Ukrainians then to surrender and prepare for executions, imprisonment, or being reeducated in the reincarnated Soviet regime since they're not allowed to defend themselves from a foreign invasion.
Some of you people are just incredible. I'd laugh if it wasn't so pitiful.
Re: "I Can't Stand This Accumulation Of Toxicity Anymore" - Retro Musician Remute Quits Spotify Over "AI Military Tech" & "Bot Playlists"
He might want to review his own morals.
Helsing built drones have been an important asset for Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion (a war that Ukraine never wanted, asked for, or deserved).
Conventional drones use GPS, which the Russian military has routinely jammed over the battlefield. Thus it's down to AI and stored map data to reach their targets without relying upon GPS signals.
Re: Palmer Luckey's Nintendo 64 Clone Will Cost $199 For Early Adopters
@FR4M3 Guess what I'm now doing?
Re: Palmer Luckey's Nintendo 64 Clone Will Cost $199 For Early Adopters
@FR4M3 Watch or read the news, man. It's been called the Red Sea Crisis. They've attacked many commercial vessels (few of which are US owned and operated) and several military vessels, have sank several, have damaged a fair number of them, have seized at least one merchant shop and kidnapped the crew, have forced many millions of dollars to be spent to combat the crisis, etc.
As for why, you'd have to ask them. The vast majority of their targets have had literally nothing to do with their stated goal. They're literally attempting to attack anything that moves.
But it's all besides the point. When I spoke about giving the military and the young people that have enlisted to serve their nation the tools that they need to succeed, I'm talking peacetime & wartime. Not even necessarily the US, if you think that's distasteful given the attack on Israel by Hamas and the Gaza crisis that has now followed. It could be a country like New Zealand for instance, which has a modest military aimed primarily at patrolling and protecting their maritime interests in the region like fisheries protection (a military that essentially is 100% focused on self-defense rather than any sort of offensive mission).
I would hope that their citizens and those of their allies, including the US, want New Zealand's young men & women to have the tools that they need like safe & reliable maritime surveillance aircraft rather than something that might lose a wing the next time it goes up into the air and kill the entire crew.
Re: Palmer Luckey's Nintendo 64 Clone Will Cost $199 For Early Adopters
@FR4M3 I was obviously talking in generalities.
Furthermore, the US and our allies have engaged in combat with regularity in recent times, like our guided missile destroyers and cruisers alongside the Royal Navy and other allies regularly engaging drones and anti-ship missiles fired by the Houthis at anything that floats.
But since that flew right over your head and hit the basement wall behind you, you don't wait until hostilities break out before forming a military, training young men & women to fight, developing technology to enable them to do their job the best that they can, equipping them with the tools that they'd need, etc.
It's what a standing army is all about. You can't be so naïve to not be able to grasp that concept. We're talking well over a decade for instance to bring a new aircraft carrier into service. Starting with NAVSHIPS forming up requirements and conducting research to having the ship in service with a fully trained crew and able to be used is an extremely long process, very expensive, and takes millions of man hours to accomplish.
You don't wait until war has broken out to then prepare. You prepare for it now and hope that it's such a deterrent that a potential foe ends up never starting it in the first place. Otherwise you're in trouble when something like just rolling out a new design of fighter jet can take a generation.
Re: Palmer Luckey's Nintendo 64 Clone Will Cost $199 For Early Adopters
@MikeP What VR machine kills the user?
Edit: Read about it on Wikipedia. What a creepy guy.
I don't find his endeavor with drones distasteful. I'm all for giving the American military and those of our allies the tools to better protect our soldiers, sailors, and airmen while taking the war to the enemy to hopefully achieve a speedy conclusion to hostilities with the minimum loss of life possible. But something like this VR headset stunt just speaks volumes that this guy has to be insane.
Re: Atari Is Re-Releasing Its 2600+ To Celebrate Pac-Man's 45th Birthday
@KainXavier Namco owns Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Man Plus (Namco has let it out of the vaults a few times). As part of the Midway settlement, it seems logical that they also control Jr. Pac-Man and Baby Pac-Man even though they've never done anything with either.
What GCC had was royalties. Dating back to when the game was developed by GCC and Midway released it (with Namco's knowledge and unwritten approval, which backfired when the game became a massive hit and Namco sued), every time that Ms. Pac-Man was sold they were owed a small royalty.
Namco through the years gradually "forgot" about it until GCC reminded them of the agreement and the history behind Ms. Pac-Man (Namco at that point was under the impression it was an in-house production rather than a Midway/GCC game from the United States).
When this happened back circa 2010 is when we started to see Ms. Pac-Man not be released alongside their other golden age flagships, with an occasional exception like the paid DLC add-on to add the game to the original Pac-Man Museum roster.
Fast forward 8-10 years or so and GCC was looking to sell. Namco underbid and AtGames, thinking about how they already had a Namco Pac-Man license and were including these games in their offerings, offered more with the ideal that they could now include Ms. Pac-Man.
Since then, Ms. Pac-Man has largely been in limbo. A few old digital releases have remained available like the backwards compatible XBLA game, but few if any new appearances have happened for the game. Apparently it created a rift between these two companies with Namco feeling like AtGames stabbed them in the back and not wanting to pay AtGames the GCC royalty fee. The result has been Ms. Pac-Man sitting on the sidelines.
Edit: These links can tell the complicated story better than my retelling of it from memory. While I got the gist of it right, my telling of it isn't fully accurate.
https://pacman.fandom.com/wiki/History_of_Ms.Pac-Man_legal_issues#General_Computer_Corporation_vs._Midway_lawsuit(1982)
https://www.fastcompany.com/3067296/the-mit-dropouts-who-created-ms-pac-man-a-35th-anniversary-oral-history
Re: Atari Is Re-Releasing Its 2600+ To Celebrate Pac-Man's 45th Birthday
@Atariboy Just for the sake of full transparency, I'm of course only referring to 2600 cartridges. Starpath Supercharger fans are of course out of luck with their cassette games.
It would certainly be cool to connect one to the 2600/7800+ and play great games like The Official Frogger, but it's not going to be happening.
I suppose that's one spot that a jailbroken Hyperkin Retron '77 still offers a perk compared to the official Atari SA offerings, since you can just stick those roms or any other 2600 rom onto a micro SD card and be off to the races.
Re: Atari Is Re-Releasing Its 2600+ To Celebrate Pac-Man's 45th Birthday
@Sketcz Pitfall 2 works. They solved that hurdle months ago.
They recently also got the Melody enhanced homebrews from Champ Games and such working as well, such as the excellent port of Galaga for the 2600.
I believe there's one or two homebrews that are still problematic for the dumper routine (these problem games were never an emulation issue, with Stella fully able to handle the job). But basically 100% of the commercial library and 99.9% of the homebrew 2600 library is now playable.
Re: WayForward Distances Itself From ModRetro's Re-Release Of Sabrina: Zapped! On Game Boy Color
Nerds in basements apparently can't comprehend that people and the nations that they form always have refused to live peacefully.
It sadly means that even those with good intentions to pursue peace have to pursue the means to defend themselves. That means aircraft, bombs, torpedoes, ships, missiles, etc.
I've even seem condemnations about drones from these supposed haters of war, saying that people should be putting their lives at risk rather than fighting remotely. I guess it's better to have two 18 year old kids die if their Apache gets shot down than it is to lose an unmanned drone.
What a world.
Re: BBC Recently Covered The Rise Of Retro Gaming - See If You Can Spot The Problem
Typical level of journalism quality from the BBC.
Re: This New 'Beat Em Up Collection' Brings Together 7 "QUByte Classics" In A Single Package
I could get behind a Gaelco arcade compilation (World Rally and World Rally 2 were both great), but I'll pass on this particular release.
I just bought the Top Racer Collection off the Xbox store at a discounted price (Another one from QUByte Interactive and Piko Interactive). It will be interesting to see how it performs. Top Gear 1 has long been a favorite game. And save states will be much appreciated in Top Gear 2 and 3000 (I hate writing down and entering in passwords; Top Gear 1's "HORIZONS" password to unlock every country and easily return to where you left off gives that one a pass).
Re: ChatGPT Translated An Article About Space Harrier, Then Suggested "Tailoring" It For Retro Gamer
Space Harrier was never on the Sega CD.
Re: This Week's Arcade Archives Release Is Another Deep Cut From Konami's Past
I bought this on Game Room years ago. Despite not being well known (I believe it only got a 2600 port back in the day), it's quite a good game.
Will be nice to replace yet another Game Room title on the Xbox 360.
Re: Digital Eclipse's Next Collection Focuses On The "Iconic" Golden Tee Arcade Series
They really need to make sure to support USB mouse/track-ball accessories this time around on consoles. It was a shame that was a PC exclusive feature on Atari 50 when the Switch 1, PS4/5, and XB1/Series systems all support the hardware as an option.
Re: Sonic Wings Reunion Is Coming To Switch, PS5, PS4, Arcades, And Steam Later This Month
I hope that the border art can be disabled.
It looks okay, but only okay. A bit reminiscent of 1942: Joint Strike from 15+ years ago. Not very ambitious and cheaply done, but perhaps entertaining enough for a few playthroughs if the price is right (I think that one was $5, to give an idea of what I'd say this new Aero Fighters game is worth after watching gameplay of it).
It definitely isn't going to be a memorable release though. And unlike when the XBLA game that I mentioned came out, there's no shortage of vertical and horizontal shooters today. With regular Arcade Archives releases, Gradius Origins and numerous other collections, and new games here and there, this one is way too generic to stand a chance of standing out.
And judging by the Japanese prices, they're asking a premium price for what's not a premium game. Cheap graphics and it appears to be far too easy of a game. So those that do make the jump can expect to not have much replayability for their purchase, unlike what a good shooter will offer.
I'm not sure what role Hamster has here, but given that they're the rights holders of the IP and potentially the developer (Success appears to just be the publisher), they have a long ways to go before they're able to craft something as memorable as many of the games that they emulate so well via their Arcade Archives program.
Re: Nintendo Switch Online Update Brings Netplay Back To One Of Sega's Best Brawlers
He's very much mistaken. XBLA SVC: Streets of Rage Streets still has working online multiplayer on the Xbox 360 (and via BC, still works on newer consoles), standalone XBLA Streets of Rage 2 still has online multiplayer on the Xbox 360, and Sega Genesis Classics on PS4 and XB1 also has online multiplayer that it still active (I don't own the Switch version, but assume it too has the feature).
Getting delisted doesn't have to mean that the online capabilities are shut down.
Re: Exclusive: Polymega's Next Module Brings Nintendo 64 Support
Folks, no need to ask about Everdrive support when you see that it's using software emulation. Multicarts like Everdrives require multi-loading, which necessitates a live cartridge bus.
So any device that dumps a cartridge and runs the resulting rom image that's created, which all emulation based systems do out of necessity, will not work with your Everdrive. At best you'll get the Everdrive menu and nothing else.
Re: Polymega's "Next Gen" Light Gun Controller Will Let You Play Duck Hunt On Your HDTV
Will believe it when I see it.
Re: Hands On: Polymega Is Shaping Up To Be The Ultimate All-In-One Retro Emulation Box
Stick to selling us on Analogue products, please. Those deliver on their promises and then some, and deserve this sort of coverage. So far Polymega hasn't done a thing to convince the community they'll live up to even half their promises, have been caught in numerous lies, have backtracked on their stated intentions several times, have engaged in a foolish smear campaign against Analogue, and have downright attempted to scam us.
Re: More Tantalising Polymega Details Emerge From GDC 2019
@Deanster101 While Analogue is great and I love what they've been doing (And can't wait to order a Mega SG later this year to join my Super NT), fpga isn't automatically better than emulation.
While Polymega is a scam, you won't find someone like Kevtris ever bad mouthing quality software emulation such as Stella, Higan, etc. Extremely accurate and very good.
A fpga simulation can be as lousy as the worst NOAC clone. It's all up to the talent involved, their level of understanding of the hardware they're reproducing, their eye for details, etc. Just because it's fpga doesn't automatically elevate it above software emulation. It's not some magical elixir and at the end of the day, a skilled programmer still has to sit down and code their recreation of the original hardware no matter if it's fpga or emulation.
They both have their advantages and disadvantages. For instance of an advantage of emulation, save states aren't directly viable in Analogue's products. Of course with expensive multicarts, you can work around that to a degree, but for technical reasons I've forgotten (Which he's spoken about at AtariAge), Kevtris can't directly support them.
Yet Analogue's products offer such advantages as zero input lag thanks to things like the lack of an operating system slowing everything down, can interact directly with original cartridges, etc.