PowerPak and Super Everdrive Questions

[dgdgagdae]

Has anyone here ordered a PowerPak from RetroUSB lately? What is the turnaround time? I ordered one a couple of days ago, and my status hasn't been updated since I ordered it. It still says "In Production". Also, I emailed them about possibly adding an item to that order, and I haven't heard back. It looks like a one man operation, I'm just not sure what my expectations should be.

Also, how often does anyone know how often Stone Age Gamer gets Super Everdrives in stock? When I checked a couple of days ago, it said expected availability was February. Now it says mid-March. I'm not sure if that's because the date was pushed back, or because they sold out that quickly. An email to them asking if there is a waiting list or a notification list also went unanswered.

[MyTurnToPlay]

It's a shame you purchased the Powerpak. The Everdrive is by far the superior product...excellent quality and product support by the maker himself.

The Powerpak on the other hand is an aging piece of junk. Seriously, it's just crap. Oh well, I guess we can't all be winners. But if you're going to buy a Mega Everdrive definitely wait for the newest version. I think it's coming out soon and has great features.

thank you.

[treismac]

The Powerpak on the other hand is an aging piece of junk. Seriously, it's just crap.

Care to elaborate?

[dgdgagdae]

It's a shame you purchased the Powerpak. The Everdrive is by far the superior product...excellent quality and product support by the maker himself.

The Powerpak on the other hand is an aging piece of junk. Seriously, it's just crap. Oh well, I guess we can't all be winners. But if you're going to buy a Mega Everdrive definitely wait for the newest version. I think it's coming out soon and has great features.

thank you.

Is there even an EverDrive for the NES? I saw them for other systems, but not NES. The Power Pak is for NES.

[theclaw]

No. Most flash cart makers don't think the programming hassle NES entails is worth it. Or something like that.

And there isn't IIRC enough interest in Japan to get ones for Famicom, Mark III, etc.

[Shulamana]

There is also a SNES PowerPak.

In regards to Stone Age Gamer, they announced on Facebook a while ago that they're switching away from the back order system, as they felt it was too complicated and confusing for both them and the customers. Instead, they're switching to a new storefront soon that will allow customers to set up email alerts for when products become available again.

[Steven]

It's a shame you purchased the Powerpak. The Everdrive is by far the superior product...excellent quality and product support by the maker himself.

The Powerpak on the other hand is an aging piece of junk. Seriously, it's just crap.


That's overtly harsh, IMO. I love the Powerpak. It's a GREAT piece of technology. It helps bringing that to friends' house as opposed to grabbing 5-10 different cartridges.

You can't go wrong with the SNES Powerpak. I love mine and don't see myself ever getting rid of it.

[Shulamana]

As a Super Everdrive owner, I'm glad I chose the one I did, but I can't see any reason why you would want to get it if you already had a PowerPak, it's better, but I don't think it's that much better.

[Leo_A]

But if you're going to buy a Mega Everdrive definitely wait for the newest version. I think it's coming out soon and has great features.

I believe I saw zero (Or close to it) loadtimes mentioned for the revised Genesis Everdrive.

Sounds good :)

[dgdgagdae]

As a Super Everdrive owner, I'm glad I chose the one I did, but I can't see any reason why you would want to get it if you already had a PowerPak, it's better, but I don't think it's that much better.

I guess I need to clarify, as I didn't know there was a PowerPak for SNES.

I ordered the NES PowerPak, and I want to order the Super Everdrive for SNES. Is the SNES PowerPak a superior product to the Super Everdrive? And how?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Once again, its best to simply ignore every single word MyTurnToPlay posted.

Now for real answers to dgdgagdae's initial post:

RetroZone's turnaround time varies, but I'd say give them around a month from the time you order to the time it shows up at your door. They aren't crooks, but it does sometimes take a while.

the NES Powerpak is a fantastic piece of technology, and is extremely advanced thank its its use of FPGA controller mapper codes. The NES is notoriously difficult to emulate accurately given the huge range of mappers and MMCs. The fact that the Powerpak is able to create 1:1 versions of nearly all of them at present (with future updates always possible) is reason enough to own one. Plus it saves game data to flash memory, making the Powerpak ideal for long NES RPGs where you might be worried about erasing your battery backed save.

You said you emailed them and haven't heard back. This is not unusual - Bunnyboy virtually never answers emails or pms. You can try asking around on NintendoAge, but yeah, I wouldnt' hold your breath for a response from Retrozone anytime soon.

As for StoneAge Gamer, I can only really tell you that it'll be available when its available. That's just how it is with these things. StoneAge gamer will porbably respond, but I don't think he'll tell you anything that I already didnt.

If you're interested in an SNES flashcart, you might again want to consider the Retrozone SNES Powerpak over the Super Everdrive. The Super Powerpak is again FPGA based, while the Everdrive isn't. The FPGA allows the powerpak to easily emulate any SNES game that doesn't use expansion chips other than the DSP1. The file structure system is also completely different on the Everdrive.

However, unless you need to get an SNES flashcart now, I'd recommend waiting and keeping an eye on an upcoming one called SD2SNES.

http://sd2snes.de/blog/status

It promises to run expansion SNES chips including DSP1 (Pilotwings, Mario Kart) CX4 (Megaman X2, X3) and GSU1 (StarFox) with more to be announced. This will make it the first and only flashcart to handle SNES games that used expansion hardware. It's very exciting stuff.

[dgdgagdae]

Thanks Satoshi Matrix, that's helpful.

I guess part of my confusion is this - it's emulation? I thought that the carts just held the roms, that it was just a convenient way of getting files from one place to a format the SNES can read. What exactly is being emulated, when you have the full console right there doing what it is that consoles do? The SNES doesn't just see it as a cartridge game, there's some emulation going on inside the cart?

From what I've read about the SNES PowerPak, the game saving thing looks like a pain. You have to remember to hold down reset, or your games aren't saved, and then it looks like you manually have to copy the saves over to a new place so that they're not overwritten by another game's save file. If that's all correct, then that alone would drive me to the EverDrive.

[MyTurnToPlay]

Once again, its best to simply ignore every single word MyTurnToPlay posted.

You're an absolute troll you know that. You post a couple of youtube videos on games and suddenly you think you're the end all be all source for retro gaming. Well you're not. You never were, and you never will be. So get off your high horse already.

And to dgdgagdae:

Listen, don't take it from me. And definitely don't take it from that clown Sad-toshi. Check out all the online reviews and you'll see they all pretty much agree with me. When it comes to SNES, the Super Everdrive is the better product. But one thing the genius Sad-toshi did get right is...hold off for a bit and wait for the SD2SNES. It looks like it might be the the best out there, assuming it comes through on it's claims.

thank you.

[Mitch]

I've been pretty happy with both the NES and SNES powerpak.
I checked the reviews before I bought my SNES flashcart and I decided on the powerpak over the everdrive. I haven't regretted the decision. I will admit that the new SD2SNES looks pretty awesome though.

Mitch

[Leo_A]

I guess part of my confusion is this - it's emulation? I thought that the carts just held the roms, that it was just a convenient way of getting files from one place to a format the SNES can read.

Nothing is being emulated so I don't know what he's talking about. It's the original code running through the original hardware just like you thought it was. And while he is correct about how the NES PowerPak can recreate many of the different MMC's used for NES games, it isn't relevent where the SuperNes is concerned.

As far as I know, the Super Powerpak and the Super Everdrive have virtually identical compatibility. Both have the option of installing a DSP chip which was easily the most common expansion chip included with SuperNes games and both can play any SuperNes cartridge that didn't utilize an expansion chip. Neither one has the ability to play things like Super FX games and neither one will ever get that ability. The chips aren't installed in either and the FPGA of the PowerPak isn't nearly powerful enough to recreate them (Something even Bunnyboy has confirmed in the past). About the only differences in compatibility that I can recall off hand is that the Powerpak can play Star Ocean and the Everdrive seems to be better able to run Satiliteview hacks. Their compatibility list are 99.9% identical. And you can save games with both devices, it's not an advantage that the SuperNes Powerpak holds over the Super Everdrive.

And there are under 20 games that utilized special chips beyond the DSP released in North American, many of which are extremely cheap and often already present in someone's SuperNes library (Beyond Super Mario RPG, the two Kirby games, and the two Mega Man X games, they seem to usually be extremely cheap. Even the uncommon Top Gear 3000, an excellent game that used an advanced version of the DSP chip not supported with these devices was far from pricey when I bought a copy a few years ago). And only 1 or 2 imports are in this category that might be of interest to the average import gamer. So we're talking under 20 games here that neither device can play or has any prospects of playing in the future.

And I've seen more than a few people with serious issues with Bunnyboy, including being ignored for many months on end despite having the customer's money. No such issues with the Everdrive cartridge and vendors like StoneAgeGamer (And it sounds like StoneAgeGamer is making improvements to notify people when these things become available which addresses the primary issue noted in this thread). They both pretty much have similar features like onboard saving and compatibility, but you're much more likely to be pleased with the ordering process and support you get when ordering an Everdrive compared to Bunneyboy's version where you're ignored and just have to cross your fingers and hope for the best.

And if the SuperNes Everdrive gets these enhancements that the Genesis Everdrive is getting, soon we will even have save states on real hardware and virtually zero loadtimes (Right now, you have to wait for the game to load into memory when you initially start the console, a process that takes a few seconds and seems strange at first for a SuperNes gamer).

[dgdgagdae]

And you can save games with both devices, it's not an advantage that the SuperNes Powerpak holds over the Super Everdrive.

I understand that both types can handle saved games. It just looks like, unless something has changed in a firmware update, that the PowerPak handles them very clunkily. That's the biggest reason for me preferring the Everdrive. The slowness of loading the game doesn't really concern me.

Of course, that's assuming that Stone Age Gamer gets them in stock. I completely understand that they have a single supplier overseas, but it's discouraging when the projected in-stock date changed the way it did, and that there doesn't seem to be a way to be notified when they get them in stock.

[Leo_A]

I actually tossed that in for Satoshi_Matrix. He mentions that the NES Powerpak supports game saves to the flash memory (Which is incorrect).

By the time I started composing my post, I was mistakingly thinking he was referring to the SuperNes PowerPak when he mentions the ability to save games to memory (i.e., it was an advantage that the Powerpak had over the Everdrive when in fact both have that capability).

[badinsults]

Yeah, the Super Everdrive and Super Powerpak should have identical compatibility. If you are willing to wait a while, the SD2SNES will have superior features (ie support for many special chips, MSU-1 support). I have a Super Everdrive, and I have to say that it is pretty awesome, and the menus are very easy to navigate.

[Greg2600]

SD2SNES will/is superior to both, but the price tag is pretty high.

[Leo_A]

Didn't the Powerpak also have an issue where it enhanced that line through the middle of the screen that usually isn't very noticeable? So that's another thing to keep in mind.

That's the first I've heard of the SD2SNES. Just read up on it and it sounds nice. Always wanted to play Star Fox 2 on a real system and it sounds as if Super FX support is just a matter of when, not if. Too bad it won't support everything, but it's still a nice leap it appears over existing carts in several ways (No load times :)).

Sort of makes the entire Powerpak vs. Everdrive question moot when this won't cost an arm and a leg more than either of those (I saw $200 mentioned (Hopefully what I saw wasn't the cost to produce one), where as the other two are around $150 with DSP chip installed, and in the case of the Everdrive, a cartridge casing). Might as well spring for the last few dollars and get zero load times, improved onboard saving, and wider compatibility and a greater chance of future expandability (Sounds as if several additional enhancement chips and other improvements are in the pipeline for later).

[dgdgagdae]

That's the first I've heard of the SD2SNES. Just read up on it and it sounds nice. Always wanted to play Star Fox 2 on a real system and it sounds as if Super FX support is just a matter of when, not if. Too bad it won't support everything, but it's still a nice leap it appears over existing carts in several ways (No load times :)).

I think I'll just get the EverDrive when Stone Age has them back in stock. The SD2SNES would be worth the $200, but I wonder what availability is going to be. Not just when will it be released, but it doesn't sound like something that's going to be out there in very big quantities. It's hard enough trying to get an EverDrive!

[Greg2600]

The price for the board was pegged at around $189.99, and Stone Age's deluxe was much more. Due to the price point to begin with, I think Krikzz doesn't expect a ton to be made, and that always drives up the price. I also don't know what the component cost is. Really you're paying for the time to make these by hand. Beyond SuperFX, the big question will be whether the inventor (ikari_01) would implement SA-1?

Check this video out, by the way, of somebody who converted Road Blasters to SNES on this card (MSU1).....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHj0oRkr-6g

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I guess part of my confusion is this - it's emulation? I thought that the carts just held the roms, that it was just a convenient way of getting files from one place to a format the SNES can read. What exactly is being emulated, when you have the full console right there doing what it is that consoles do? The SNES doesn't just see it as a cartridge game, there's some emulation going on inside the cart?

Yes its emulation, but its just done on hardware. What is being emulated are the various mappers for the games to run on. Think of them basically as the canvas on which the painting goes. The Powerpak emulates the canvas and then the NES cpu draws the painting just as it would with the real cartridges. The result are complete carbon copies that cannot be discerned from the original cartridge games.


From what I've read about the SNES PowerPak, the game saving thing looks like a pain. You have to remember to hold down reset, or your games aren't saved, and then it looks like you manually have to copy the saves over to a new place so that they're not overwritten by another game's save file. If that's all correct, then that alone would drive me to the EverDrive.

It is slightly a pain, but nothing to get your back bent out of shape over. You just create a dummy save file and duplicate it, remaining the duplicates to the name of the game your are saving as. Then you just use the simple file browser to find that save file and save to it. This is how both the NES and SNES Powerpaks save their data. This might sound complicated, but do it once and it'll become second nature.



You're an absolute troll you know that. You post a couple of youtube videos on games and suddenly you think you're the end all be all source for retro gaming. Well you're not. You never were, and you never will be. So get off your high horse already.

That is by far the most ironic post I've read in a long time. YOU calling ME a troll. Your post was full of incorrect statements and comes across as the very definition of forum trolling. Regardless, you really aren't worth arguing with, so as I said, its best to simply ignore you.

Thank you.





As far as I know, the Super Powerpak and the Super Everdrive have virtually identical compatibility. Both have the option of installing a DSP chip which was easily the most common expansion chip included with SuperNes games and both can play any SuperNes cartridge that didn't utilize an expansion chip. Neither one has the ability to play things like Super FX games and neither one will ever get that ability. The chips aren't installed in either and the FPGA of the PowerPak isn't nearly powerful enough to recreate them (Something even Bunnyboy has confirmed in the past). About the only differences in compatibility that I can recall off hand is that the Powerpak can play Star Ocean and the Everdrive seems to be better able to run Satiliteview hacks. Their compatibility list are 99.9% identical. And you can save games with both devices, it's not an advantage that the SuperNes Powerpak holds over the Super Everdrive.

This.


I actually tossed that in for Satoshi_Matrix. He mentions that the NES Powerpak supports game saves to the flash memory (Which is incorrect).

How is that statement incorrect? The NES Powerpak saves game SRAM to prearranged save files stored on a Compact Flash card, which is a type of flash memory.



SD2SNES will/is superior to both, but the price tag is pretty high.

Anyone know what it'll be selling for? I assume it will be expensive, but I'm not not $250 expensive. Here's crossing my fingers. I love the SNES/SFC library, but the way my collection stands now I could purchase every single SNES/SFC game on my checklist that are missing from my collection for that much.


Didn't the Powerpak also have an issue where it enhanced that line through the middle of the screen that usually isn't very noticeable? So that's another thing to keep in mind.

I've owned a Super Powerpak since the day it launched (had to pay extra for DSP1 back then) and I've never once experienced this problem, and I have my SNES hooked up to SCART. The blacker-than-black vertical line is produced by the console hardware itself, not the software. Many Super Famcioms and SNESes produced before 1992 do not have the vertical line issue at all, and of those that to it is less pronounced on later revisions of the hardware.


[QUOTE=Greg2600;1894513]The price for the board was pegged at around $189.99, and Stone Age's deluxe was much more. Due to the price point to begin with, I think Krikzz doesn't expect a ton to be made, and that always drives up the price. I also don't know what the component cost is. Really you're paying for the time to make these by hand. Beyond SuperFX, the big question will be whether the inventor (ikari_01) would implement SA-1?

What I'm curious about is if the expansion chips can be emulated, can they also be improved? For example, it is possible to overclock SGU-2 chip to over twice its original clockspeed by replacing the crystal oscillators. In order to overclock SGU-1 games, you need to first remove the mask roms from the SGU-2 game and the SGU-1 game you want and then swap them and resolder them. After this is done, THEN you can replace the oscillators. As you might imagine, this is a lengthy and costly procedure to overclock SGU-1 games like StarFox.

If the SD2SNES does indeed support SGU-1 and SGU-2 emulation, then it should, in theory, be possible to code in these hardware hacks to produce superior versions without the lag of the stock counterparts.

[dgdgagdae]

Credit where credit is due - BunnyBoy shipped out my NES PowerPak 3 days after I ordered it, and I already have it in hand. An email with a question about the SNES PowerPak has still gone unanswered, but at least I have what I paid for, and it was a quick turnaround. And to be completely fair, Stone Age Gamer still hasn't responded to an email I sent on Tuesday asking about a waiting list or email notification when the EverDrive is in stock.

It's much more professionally done than I'd expected. I thought it was just some guy doing homebrew, but it looks like a really polished product. The way to save games to virtual battery backup isn't nearly as annoying as I'd figured.

Based on my experience with this device, and the fact that I can actually order one, I'm now leaning more towards the SNES PowerPak over the EverDrive.

[Shulamana]

I'm surprised that Stone Age Gamer has taken so long to reply, last year when I was investigating and after I had already received my Super Everdrive from them, I got replies to my emails within 24 hours every time, even on Sundays (twice). I am pretty sure that Stone Age Gamer is a 1 person operation, and sometimes things do happen.

[Leo_A]

How is that statement incorrect? The NES Powerpak saves game SRAM to prearranged save files stored on a Compact Flash card, which is a type of flash memory.

Read my post. I thought it was clear that I made a mistake with my recollection of your post as I typed mine up, recognized it after dgdgagdae posted, and corrected myself.


I've owned a Super Powerpak since the day it launched (had to pay extra for DSP1 back then) and I've never once experienced this problem, and I have my SNES hooked up to SCART. The blacker-than-black vertical line is produced by the console hardware itself, not the software. Many Super Famcioms and SNESes produced before 1992 do not have the vertical line issue at all, and of those that to it is less pronounced on later revisions of the hardware.

The Powerpak supposedly isn't shielded quite enough and causes a bit of interference (Or at least that was the theory thrown around here at DP at the time for why it was happening) that causes the vertical line through the center of the screen to be more noticeable than usual.


What I'm curious about is if the expansion chips can be emulated, can they also be improved? For example, it is possible to overclock SGU-2 chip to over twice its original clockspeed by replacing the crystal oscillators. In order to overclock SGU-1 games, you need to first remove the mask roms from the SGU-2 game and the SGU-1 game you want and then swap them and resolder them. After this is done, THEN you can replace the oscillators. As you might imagine, this is a lengthy and costly procedure to overclock SGU-1 games like StarFox. .

I don't know what a SGU is, but since you mentioned Star Fox, I assume it's the SuperFX chip. The thread I read about this multicart after it was mentioned last night said that they were likely going to actually have to slow the Super FX recreation on the FPGA down (I'm not sure if emulation is the correct word here since isn't the FPGA actually replicating the functions of the original chip at the circuit level, and even if it is, it confuses people as this thread has shown) to match the correct speed and that it would be optional to run it at faster speeds.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Yeah. The SNES Powerpak is an extremely high quality product and its menu interface is identical to the NES Powerpak. This is why I recommend the SNES Powerpak over the Everdrive. They both basically work the same, but I have never once regretted buying my Super Powerpak. Just don't expect Bunnyboy to answer emails.

Ever.

[Leo_A]

Does the Powerpak have automatic saving now? That at least used to be a big advantage in favor of the Everdrive. No need to make your own save file (A huge pain) and you just saved normally, no holding the reset button down for 5 seconds when powering off the system.

And it also offers no strange SD card compatibility issues (Something I haven't seen mentioned yet but many Powerpak owners had issues with CF compatibility, even when the card was purchased along with the Powerpak from Bunnyboy). Not to mention that a CF card is much more expensive than a SD card of the same size.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

There isn't automatic saving no, but it does ask you if you want to save and then all you need to do is browse to the save file you want to use. It takes less than 10 seconds.

Also, how is making dummy save files for your games a huge pain? Again it takes ten seconds, and after you've done it once you never need to do it again. All you need to do is figure out which games you'll be saving your progress in and then make save files for them before you play.

I mean really, people will complain about anything.

[badinsults]

There isn't automatic saving no, but it does ask you if you want to save and then all you need to do is browse to the save file you want to use. It takes less than 10 seconds.

Also, how is making dummy save files for your games a huge pain? Again it takes ten seconds, and after you've done it once you never need to do it again. All you need to do is figure out which games you'll be saving your progress in and then make save files for them before you play.

I mean really, people will complain about anything.

That actually does really sound like a huge pain. If I have to make saves for a hundred games, then I would consider it to be a large hassle.

[dgdgagdae]

That actually does really sound like a huge pain. If I have to make saves for a hundred games, then I would consider it to be a large hassle.

If you have save files from emulators, you can copy those over to the CF card. So for my NES games, I just copied over my .SAV files from Nestopia. It looks like the SNES PowerPak uses .SRM files, same as ZSNES.

A bigger issue to me would be "oh crap, this game saves" after you're done playing, and you don't have a save file for it. I guess you could tell it to save to the dummy file (you can download a dummy from RetroUSB) and then rename it later.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

For that, just have a few extra empty save files titled something like 8KSRAM01, 02, 03, etc.

It's really a non issue. Outside of RPGs, most NES games actually do not save to battery. The same is even true for SNES games. Most titles even in the 16 bit era still didn't save to SRAM.You can for the most part tell directly at the titlescreen if you see a Password option.

If its necessary, here's a list of NES and Famicom games that use SRAM saves and thus would require you to have dummy save files.
http://www.pocketnes.org/tools/NesGamesUsingSRAM_Titney.TXT

I dont have a quick and dirty list for all SNES/SFC games that use SRAM saves, but there's at least this thread.
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?134961-NES-SNES-Genny-Games-with-Battery-Back-up-Save-feature&p=1606201#post1606201

[dgdgagdae]

I went ahead and ordered a SNES PowerPak, based on how impressed I was with the NES PowerPak. I don't think the inconvenience of having to manually save to memory should be dismissed, because it's definitely an inconvenience. But it's one I'm willing to deal with.

I also ordered the Atari RetroPort while I was at it. He also offers a Genesis retroport. Is there actually a difference between the products, or will the Atari one work with a Genesis controller and all 6 buttons?

[Greg2600]

I'm not really a game saver at all, so I can't really comment on which product is better for that. PP is a little better with some weird stuff like prototypes and the BS-X stuff. It's better with reading games with header file issues. Krikzz released an OS patch which allows you to circumvent these issues, and that was beneficial. The main issue with the Super PowerPak since day 1 has been the CompactFlash card compatibility. It was never quite solved, although if you use the card that comes with it, it should be okay. The deluxe Stone Age product is about the same price, but for me what's good is you can buy the board only still (when in stock), use a dremel on your own donor cart, buy a 2GB SD Card, and slap your own label on there for under $100.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I went ahead and ordered a SNES PowerPak, based on how impressed I was with the NES PowerPak. I don't think the inconvenience of having to manually save to memory should be dismissed, because it's definitely an inconvenience. But it's one I'm willing to deal with.

Hey contrats. I absolutely love the SNES Powerpak. Too bad the CF card doesn't sit flush with it like the NES PP does, but thats a very minor aesthetic complaint. I do agree that the Powerpak not saving automatically is a bit of an annoyance, but it's really a trivial inconvenience given all that the Powerpak offers. It sure beats no saving at all.



I also ordered the Atari RetroPort while I was at it. He also offers a Genesis retroport. Is there actually a difference between the products, or will the Atari one work with a Genesis controller and all 6 buttons?

I really have no idea. I would hazard a guess that they are the same though.

[nusilver]

I have an NES Powerpak, and I'm gonna say right now that I prefer my Super Everdrive. The saving thing is not so minor to me. Anyway!

Satoshi, did you ever finish your RDP review? I haven't seen part 4.

[substantial_snake]

I am much less technically oriented then some of the posters in this thread so can someone here break down what the end user advantages of the SD2SNES over a DSP1 Equipped Super Everdrive. I understand that you'll be able to do OS updates through an SD card and support for many (if not all) of the SNES Enchantment chips but is there anything else that would justify picking one up?

[Greg2600]

SD2SNES (http://sd2snes.de/blog/status) will allow for more special-chip games, yes. The user interface is a nice hi-res graphical one, not text/line based. It has an MSU1 chip capability, which means possibilities for advanced CD quality sound/music. Someone already converted the laser disc game Road Blasters, in some workable fashion. Roms load instantly, like the PowerPak. Massive rom-size allowed. Can save most games instantly to SRAM.

Now all of that said, the price tag is going to nearly double the PowerPak or Everdrive. If you can spare the money, obviously I'd say go for it. If you can't, the other two are excellent alternatives that allow you to play hundreds of SNES/SFC games.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Yeah. For most people, the Super Powerpak is the best option to go with. the SD2SNES will only for the absolute hardcore SNES fans and tech junkies. As I said before, I'm excited for its potential to be coded to actually outperform Super FX games. A lot of FX games like Stunt Racer FX and to some extent even Star Fox run rather choppy; if the SD2SNES is as powerful as it is in theory, it should be able to emulate those the SGU2 chip beyond what the stock real one is and majorly speed up those games.

[Leo_A]

Yeah. For most people, the Super Powerpak is the best option to go with.

There's no shortage of people that back the Super Everdrive as the best option of the two. Type in something like Super Powerpak vs. Super Everdrive into a search engine and see what people are saying.

At the very least, they're neck and neck with no clear winner.

[dgdgagdae]

I got my SNES PowerPak today. Just like the NES PowerPak, he shipped it quickly, and it's a great little device. He answered one email and said to let him know if I had any other questions - I did, regarding a RetroPort, and that went unanswered. Oh well.

So the SNES PowerPak page says it's been tested successfully on the RetroDuo and FC Twin. The NES PowerPak page says "Does NOT work on clone systems like the NEX, Yobo, or FC Twin." Has anyone here tested either device on the Retron 3 (Retro N3? Retro N 3?)? I assume the SNES PowerPak works but the NES one doesn't. Sure would be a nice setup, the one console with both PowerPaks in it, using original controllers.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

the SNES powerpak should work with nearly anything. the RetorN3 plays it as does the RetroDuo, FC-16 GO, Supaboy and the RetroDuo Portable.

The NES Powerpak however, does not work on 99% of NOACs. Only the real hardware and a tiny fraction of clones play the NES Powerpak.

What was your question to him about the RetroPort? Maybe I can answer it.

[dgdgagdae]

the SNES powerpak should work with nearly anything. the RetorN3 plays it as does the RetroDuo, FC-16 GO, Supaboy and the RetroDuo Portable.

The NES Powerpak however, does not work on 99% of NOACs. Only the real hardware and a tiny fraction of clones play the NES Powerpak.

What was your question to him about the RetroPort? Maybe I can answer it.

That's my guess about the PowerPak, but I wonder if anyone here has tried it.

The question about the RetroPort was if the Atari and Genesis cables are identical. You already replied to that one to say you didn't know, but thanks!

[batknight]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for the information. I had a few quick questions:
1) Where can one get a ready-to-use Super Everdrive? It looked like Stoneagegamer was out of stock.
2) Does either device have other advantages such as ease of use when loading games onto the device?
EDIT: 3) Does Super Everdrive let you enter in Game Genie codes?

Your help is greatly appreciated!

[Greg2600]

http://shop.retrogate.com/ is the direct store from the Everdrive creator. There's no deluxe version from him though.

[batknight]

http://shop.retrogate.com/ is the direct store from the Everdrive creator. There's no deluxe version from him though.

So I noticed it said it does not have a slot in the cartridge. What does that mean? (pardon my ignorance)

[substantial_snake]

So I noticed it said it does not have a slot in the cartridge. What does that mean? (pardon my ignorance)

It means that you'll have to drill a slot either in the cartridge that you buy from him or one of your own for the SD card.

[Greg2600]

So I noticed it said it does not have a slot in the cartridge. What does that mean? (pardon my ignorance)

The ED64 and Super Everdrive's from Krikzz have a slot cut out.