So this or an Ouya?
So this or an Ouya?
My Gaming Collection (Now at Google Drive!)
No it isn't. Read closer.
You're preaching to the choir, Satoshi. I own one and I agree with you that the Ouya is an emulation dream come true (apart from no AV output, of course). Once I read that emulators for the TG-16 & C64 were available for the Ouya, the decision to buy one was cinched. Between my Ouya, soft modded Wii, and PC all of my emulation needs are, more or less, met. I just think it would be awesome to have a clone that plays both cartridges and roms, and I'm not sure as to how Hyperkin's neck would be on the legal chopping block if it could. Clones already play old Nintendo cartridges and the Ouya plays roms and the Big N's lawyers haven't sued (that I know of) any clone manufacturer or Ouya into oblivion yet.
That is the golden question isn't it?
On paper, the Ouya outclasses the RetroN5 across the board. Far more powerful machine capable of doing far more and also without spending another additional dime on games. Open source, supported by many developers, non native android apps easily sideloadable, and the size of a rubix cube. Also, the RetorN5 is rumored to be 720p vs 1080p
On the other hand, the RetroN5 is cooler in concept and I have to admit I like the idea of a machine that is capable of playing my retro games on an HDTV and produce HD visuals. I'm just not thrilled that it does so by dumping the carts to roms and then just loading those, essentially making it just a larger more convoluted Ouya. Also, according the OP who [removed by request] everything negative he had to say, it takes upwards of five minutes to dump an 8MB GBA game to make it playable on the RetroN5. If that needs to be done every friggin time, then the Ouya has a massive advantage right there.
Ultimately though, I can't say right now that the Ouya is better than the RetroN5, as I only have what I've been told to go on and haven't yet been able to determine for myself if the RetroN5 is any good or not. All I know is what has been leaked, and given that, the Ouya looks like the better of the two.
The Ouya gets away with it given that their emulators are made by independant programmers and also don't charge for them. If Nintendo went after Ouya, the most that they could do would be to take down the N64/GBC/GBA/NDS emulators from the store, not shut down the Ouya. They aren't providing any roms at all, and they even tell you to go download public domain homebrew and not commercial roms.
I don't want to get way way off topic here, but I assume you bean the pce.emu? Have you successfully gotten any TG-16 games to work? Every single rom I try fails. I can play Japanese PC Engine roms, but none of the English releases. Do you have any tips to help?
Last edited by Satoshi_Matrix; 02-13-2014 at 06:38 PM.
check out my classic gaming review site: http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/
They're both tempting. The Ouya is for the moderately more informed buyer who is aware of roms, emulators, how to install both and to use those games within it. The Ouya also doubles, triples, and so on as a multimedia box, android app/game player, and whatever else they clearly advertise on the website.
The Retron5 is niche and not in a way in the same respect. Who gives a shit if it's an emulator box? We may or may not because we're overly informed and set in our ways, but I doubt extremely they'll print on the box 'emulator for NIntendo and Sega games.' It will say "Plays: A B C..." and that's it, then highlight it can use original controllers as a plus. To the dude starting out, on a budget, or for whatever reason who walks into some ma and pa level used game shop and sees ths on the shelf next to the shitty Yobo and older Retron or Retrobit crap they'll be blown away that it can run 10 different systems all right from the games and with the perks of clean fast painless HDMI, filters for audio/visuals, and the ability to save and load anywhere in any game that doesn't support that all just for $99.
I don't really get the confusion, it's clear what they're after.
The RetroN5 can play games for the NES, SNES, Genesis and their Japanese counterparts plus the Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance. The Ouya can play all of those PLUS games for the Neo Geo, M.A.M.E., Atari 2600, Turbografx-16 (w/ CD game support), Commodore 64, and more. There are other factors to consider, of course, but the ability to play these extra systems I listed plus Ouya's own games is a huge edge that the Ouya has over the RetroN5.
I just want to make it clear that again, I'll be buying a RetroN5 to fully review for you guys. Unlike Retro-Bit, I have no official partership with Hyperkin and have to pay out of pocket for any reviews of their products. Still, this is a case where the interest in the retro gaming community is too strong to ignore. Still, expect a fair and unbiased review. I'm not a big fan of Hyperkin's past product line, but I'm not going to let that influence my assessment of the RetroN5.
check out my classic gaming review site: http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/
Other than the v2 of the Supaboy I've got total contempt for their clone consoles, retrobit too, they're junky and fall short. But something about this claiming 100%, GBA being put on it, HDMI that's responsive to old fast twitch 2D games, and the rest makes me take notice. I won't rush out like you, but if I see good things from other owners I'd be in.
looking forward to your review, Satoshi. still, no updates on a release date here?
I haven't released any press releases from my Hyperkin contact, so no, there is no release date yet.
However, my Retro-Bit contact has told me that the Super Retro Trio is expected to launch mid-to-late March 2014, so if I had to hazard a guess, the RetroN5 won't be too far behind unless Hyperkin wants to give Retro-Bit a good chuck of their potential business.
Of course, I'll be doing a through rundown of the Super Retro Trio and talking about it in great depth in a full review you guys can look forward to.
check out my classic gaming review site: http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/
are the ouya emulators free? How accurate are they and does ouya emulation cover all the systems the retron 5 will support?
MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
http://www.youtube.com/user/atarileaf
Ouya's emulators are free. They're extremely accurate and work perfectly, and are updated every few months or so.
The Ouya can emulate everything the RetroN5 can (that is, NES, Famicom, SNES/SFC, Genesis/MegaDrive, GameBoy, GameBoy Color and GameBoy Advance) and also many more: Atari 2600, PC Engine/TurboGrfx-16, PCE CD, Sega CD, Master System, Neo-Geo, Neo-Geo Pocket Color, Commodore 64, N64, PS1, Amega and more. There are even DS and PSP emulators for Ouya, and a Dreamcast emulator in beta right now.
The higher end newer systems are hit and miss with games, but everything from the classic era plays perfectly. I play my Sega CD games on my Ouya because they run better, look better, and load faster than actually using a real Sega CD.
Almost all of the emulators support pretty much any controller you want to use, too. For the most part, I use an OEM Super Nintendo controller via a USB adapter. You could also use bluetooth controllers if you want, or any USB controller in existence, from an Xbox 360 controller to a PC arcade joystick. The Ouya being open source means you have incredible flexibility.
You can also create controller profiles - that is, mappings to be however you want them. Wanna play Ninja Gaiden Trilogy for SNES but hate how the controls are mapped? Simply go into the configuration, and create a Ninja Gaiden Trilogy controller profile and now whenever you want to play that game, that profile will be selected and you can play the game with controls that you like.
The ouya is nothing but flexible.
Also, Ouya games and the incredible XBMC.
check out my classic gaming review site: http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/
thanks for the answer, I've been debating Retron 5 vs Ouya lately but with the revelation that the Retron 5 is simply android based emulation itself, I'm leaning more to the Ouya that, as you mentioned does everything the Retron 5 can do and more.
One more question - will the Ouya have a fairly long life as far as support and updates are concerned?
MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
http://www.youtube.com/user/atarileaf
Is there a Atari Lynx emulator? I couldn't find any evidence of such a emulator on YouTube.
Besides my Super Game Boy accessory for the SNES, I stayed away from handheld games of the era. So a handy tv solution for the Game Gear (Which I haven't looked for but I'm sure is emulated well on the Ouya) and Atari Lynx would be great.
Neo Geo Pocket Color emulation looks top notch judging by your video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I_A6g4i_ZM
Between those and some classic computers I don't want to deal with the hassle (C64 and Amiga), I think I'm sold.
Last edited by Leo_A; 02-17-2014 at 05:53 PM.
The Ouya company isn't supplying illegal roms nor are those companies offering them up if you're asking.
Ouya makes it clear the emulation is there and can be done, but that you need to 'somehow' get your games on there as they're not going to hang themselves in prosecution and persecution either
Ouya takes USB and I think it has a SD slot? Just throw the roms on there, dump them to the storage within, and the emulator will fire the games right up.
I've got an android tablet with SNES9XEX+ on it and all I had to do was USB the thing into my PC, unlock it (or it won't show up) and then set a ROM directory and tell the emulator where it is, after that just load, scroll to game, click, and it starts.
One thing I'd be SUPER interested in finding out though is if you can take save games from SNES9XEX+ (or any emulator) from an android tablet and plop them into the Ouya and pick up where you left off? That would tip some interest in favor of an Ouya over the Retron to me because as stated you can get usb cables to allow other controllers to work. If you got a SNES usb cable, then just had an existing PS3 dual shock controller, you'll have all your angles covered. The SNES would be solid for any pre-3D era console system really of interest, and the pS3 pad could handle N64/PS1 era and after.
I believe so. The Ouya is selling very well, and its popularity is only increasing. Also since the Ouya is an open platform, every Ouya is its own dev kit, so even if its official support were to dry up tomorrow, the potential for its homebrew community to thrive is there for years to come. Also, you can sideload many programs designed for other Android platforms onto Ouya very easily.
I'm not completely sure, but I don't think so. The Lynx is not a common system to emulate. There might be a Lynx emulator, but I've never installed it.
The only thing the Ouya Discover store provides is the emulator. You have to manually go find roms and put them on the Ouya by the means of your chosing - a USB thumbdrive or external harddrive, or hook your Ouya directly to your PC via a Micro USB cable.
Well, considering that the best official SNES emulator on Ouya is Snes9x EX+ to begin with, Its very reasonable to assume that save files work exactly the same for both the Ouya and tablet formats.
As for your SNES/PS3 pad combo, that's generally what I do, but don't count the official Ouya controller out either. It's actually a lot better than you might think, and until there's a firmware upgrade to change it, many non-Ouya controllers can't navigate the system's internet menus. You'll be able to move the dpad around, but you won't be able to select anything. It's kinda annoying, but its only a minor problem. You just need use the Ouya pad until you get into the emulator, than turn it off (easiest way is to remove one of the batteries). then go and use the controller of your choice with the Ouya.
check out my classic gaming review site: http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/
Well I would assume as much the saves carry over, just would have to have an Ouya and look at how it shows up internally if it can be tapped into my laptop to transfer the files. I know the firmware is stupid on the ouya about navigation, but I also know they have/had a lot of problems with the controller having input lag issues wrecking playability. I heard the latest release more or less fixed it, but then they've even admitted their upgraded model they just put out with more internal storage also has a revised gamepad which they stated has no lag which feared me into thinking they didn't quite fix the basic system.
Satoshi: with the Ouya emulators, has you had to fiddle with settings? I tried out the NES emulator on there and ran it stock and it seemed to have a frame skip and the music and sound effects were pitched higher. CoinOps on my Xbox ran it practically perfect. I haven't tried any other emus yet.
If you like, email me a game save and or savestate from your mobile Snes9x EX+ and I'll see if it works on the Ouya's Snes9x EX+. satoshimatrix@hotmail.com.
What NES emulator are you talking about? There are several NES emulators for Ouya.
The only thing I had to do was fiddle with the video output resolutions. What you want is 90% screen fill, but 100% game fill. It removes overscan while making the image fit the entire screen.
check out my classic gaming review site: http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/
It's NES. EMU and I think I found the problem- goofy ROM. I picked Mario/Duck Hunt and it sounds and plays right. Except for the Ouya controller. I'll have to try a Wii mote.