RetroN5: Hands on first look

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Yeah, Hyperkin themselves already let the cat out of the bag with the fact that you can't have multiple carts plugged in all at once, but I don't see that a big deal. You're only going to be playing one game at a time anyway, and it may be possible that this changed in a firmware update.

I automatically assumed that you could have one wired controller plugged in and not interfere with the wireless one, since that's the way the Ouya works and the Ouya is a very similar Android based product to the RetroN5 when it boils down to it.

Please find out if you can have multiple wired controllers all plugged in at once and if they all work, or if one of them overrides the others, or if they become confused, or what.

Also the thing about mix 'n matching controllers for two player games either co-op or vs.

[Zap!]

Is it me or is this the best "looking" system in over a decade? Systems today are all butt ugly and all look somewhat the same. The last decent looking system was probably the Dreamcast.

The grey version looks amazing:

http://www.apes-land.de/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/E3-2013-Retron-5-Console.jpg

[StoneAgeGamer]

Is it me or is this the best "looking" system in over a decade? Systems today are all butt ugly and all look somewhat the same. The last decent looking system was probably the Dreamcast.

The grey version looks amazing:

http://www.apes-land.de/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/E3-2013-Retron-5-Console.jpg

System doesn't looks exactly like that anymore. I posted some pictured on the previous page if you want to see them. That is obvious an early mock-up, GB slot is different a long with a few other details including the controller dock. You can also tell that the gray plastic was coated with a glossy clear coat or something to make it appear more shiny for the display, where as the beta unit I have and I assume the production units probably won't be glossy like that (the gray part that is, the top black plastic is shiny still). Some people have said they think the system is very ugly. I disagree, I think the system looks pretty good. Obviously that's all subjective though, but its the only clone besides the Generation NEX that I thought looked good.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Is it me or is this the best "looking" system in over a decade? Systems today are all butt ugly and all look somewhat the same. The last decent looking system was probably the Dreamcast.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Wiggy, whom I have a deep respect for, has heavily criticized the system for being one of the ugliest things he's seen. There is no general agreement on if the system is good or bad looking.

Personally, I think it's so-so. There are some elements that I really like about it, like the controller cradle in the back and the order of the carts putting Famicom right in the front, but I don't like the color schemes (Gray, black....purple? red or blue would have been a more fitting color) and absolutely HATE the idea that the controller cords on on the sides and not on the front of the machine. As far as I'm concerned, this is a carry over of one of the worst design choices of the RetroN3. Most people, including myself, plan to keep their Retron5 alongside other consoles like the PS3 or Xbox 360 in a row. but the RetroN5 won't allow you to do that because it has to be greedy with its sides leaving room for controller cords. Hyperkin should have put them in the front and they loose major points in my book because of this glaring flaw that must have been deliberately designed that way.

I'd love to know what the hell the designer at Hyperkin was thinking. Venting concerns perhaps? I suppose I won't have any idea until I get mine and tear it open.

[PizzaKat]

Is it me or is this the best "looking" system in over a decade? Systems today are all butt ugly and all look somewhat the same. The last decent looking system was probably the Dreamcast.

The grey version looks amazing:

http://www.apes-land.de/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/E3-2013-Retron-5-Console.jpg

Yeah this looks pretty sweet. Looks like something out of Dead Space. My fat PS3 is a sweet looking console and the last favourite of mine. the new PS4 looks like two PS2s stacked on each other and the Xbox One although not ugly looks run of the mill.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

If you're gonna image quote, at least image quote the one that ISN'T a mock-up unit. That image above is a prealpha mockup, unlikely to even function.

This is what the system actually looks like, thanks to stoneagegamer:


http://www.stoneagegamer.com/images/r5/IMG_1387.JPG

[PizzaKat]

If you're gonna image quote, at least image quote the one that ISN'T a mock-up unit. That image above is a prealpha mockup, unlikely to even function.

This is what the system actually looks like, thanks to stoneagegamer:


http://www.stoneagegamer.com/images/r5/IMG_1387.JPG

Im aware that its not the final version. Ive seen the actual console and my thoughts are the same.

[Zap!]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

It sure is. However, I just can't see how anyone can possibly think a system such as the Wii U looks good. It looks like an external CD-ROM from the mid-late 90's. Here is how they could have made it into a beauty, but oh no, God forbid they come up with a cool retro design:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6c447oDEo1qbg80vo1_1280.jpg

[Leo_A]

To me, I think the Wii U looks great. I like that NES mockup of it though. Too bad that Nintendo didn't cash in on nostalgia with that design since it would be an attention grabber.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Yeah, I don't think there's anything really ugly about the WiiU. It's pretty much fine the way it is. To anyone who thinks the WiiU is ugly, how about looking at systems from years gone by, like the TurboGrfx-16, CD-i, or....

This.

http://m1.behance.net/rendition/modules/3973825/disp/895889692b61ad7a95fabf0e1e6ee93f.jpg

The videogame world is not kind of Brazil.

[Zap!]

Yeah, I don't think there's anything really ugly about the WiiU. It's pretty much fine the way it is. To anyone who thinks the WiiU is ugly, how about looking at systems from years gone by, like the TurboGrfx-16, CD-i, or....

This.

http://m1.behance.net/rendition/modules/3973825/disp/895889692b61ad7a95fabf0e1e6ee93f.jpg

The videogame world is not kind of Brazil.

I think that one looks cool, but the TG-16 wasn't so good. I guess I'm just a bit gaudy. Even my Christmas tree has to be extremely busy. To me the Wii U is too plain.

[treismac]

This.

http://m1.behance.net/rendition/modules/3973825/disp/895889692b61ad7a95fabf0e1e6ee93f.jpg

The videogame world is not kind of Brazil.

You know, apart from the power switch and stupidly big and gaudy logo, I kinda dig it. I especially like the Sonic in the upper right.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Oh whoops. I totally linked to the wrong image. yeah, that master system by tectoy is....alright.

this one is not:

http://images04.olx-st.com/ui/16/56/62/1385127490_569035462_4-Master-System-Evolution-Eletronicos-e-Celulares.jpg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNR0A6IkC8s

[BlastProcessing402]

Oh whoops. I totally linked to the wrong image. yeah, that master system by tectoy is....alright.

this one is not:

http://images04.olx-st.com/ui/16/56/62/1385127490_569035462_4-Master-System-Evolution-Eletronicos-e-Celulares.jpg


Meh, that still looks way better than that horrible Pikachu N64.

I don't think Wii U looks bad, just a little bland. The PC CD-ROM comparison was apt.

I kinda like the look of the R5, but can see why someone might not.

[Drclaw411]

"Calling all trolls! Come take your "constructive" comments and say it to our faces. Ask everything you ever wanted to ask; we dare you to ask for a release date. Take a picture with our red hippo. Talk smack on high school students while begging for a RetroN 5. Play us in a round of retro gaming - just don't be a noob. But above all else, give yourself a reason to come out of that garage or your mom's basement. Oh, and please, take a shower first."

Looks like Hyperkin is getting a tad butthurt lol

http://hyperkin.com/showlist

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I'm sure whoever PR person wrote that thinks he's extremely clever and can totally justify those four years spent in pursuit of a marketing degree. ...We should all just ignore that person.

[Niku-Sama]

You can not have multiple carts in at the same time, if you do it does throw an error. This is one issue I do have with the system. Is it a deal breaking issue? No, but it could potentially be annoying.

I will have to try out controllers. I know I have had NES controller plugged in while using the wireless and I could switch back and forth and that didn't seem to be an issue, but I have not tried with multiple controllers and using a different system's controller on second player and stuff like that.

I wonder what it would do if you had SMB3 NES and SMB3 Famicom in at the same time. I wonder if its smart enough to realize its the same thing or if you get the same error

[treismac]

I wonder what it would do if you had SMB3 NES and SMB3 Famicom in at the same time. I wonder if its smart enough to realize its the same thing or if you get the same error

Not to be overly anal, but SMB3 is slightly different on the Famicom as taking a hit with a Raccoon Leaf, Frog Suit, Hammer Head Suit, etc. will shrink you down to small Mario while the NES version leaves you as big Mario sans suit.

To me the real question would be is the RetroN5 smart enough to correct Gyromite's title screen. :P

[treismac]

"Calling all trolls! Come take your "constructive" comments and say it to our faces. Ask everything you ever wanted to ask; we dare you to ask for a release date. Take a picture with our red hippo. Talk smack on high school students while begging for a RetroN 5. Play us in a round of retro gaming - just don't be a noob. But above all else, give yourself a reason to come out of that garage or your mom's basement. Oh, and please, take a shower first."

Looks like Hyperkin is getting a tad butthurt lol

http://hyperkin.com/showlist

Wow. I'd fire the sh*t out of the PR guy who wrote that if I was a higher up in Hyperkin. Why be so unnecessarily confrontational and insulting? The last sophomoric stab's regurgitation of gamer/geek stereotypes, which, I imagine, would be the target demographic for the RetroN5, was very poorly thought out. It's like a new hip coffee shop bashing hipsters- so, so stupid.

[buzz_n64]

"Calling all trolls! Come take your "constructive" comments and say it to our faces. Ask everything you ever wanted to ask; we dare you to ask for a release date. Take a picture with our red hippo. Talk smack on high school students while begging for a RetroN 5. Play us in a round of retro gaming - just don't be a noob. But above all else, give yourself a reason to come out of that garage or your mom's basement. Oh, and please, take a shower first."

Looks like Hyperkin is getting a tad butthurt lol

http://hyperkin.com/showlist

Wow! That was so insulting. There are nerds who fit these stereotypes, but why insult the people who want to buy your product with negative stereotypes? I guess they figure that they can get away with it since we're going to buy their product anyway.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

hence why we should ignore that person. I don't really see it as insulting, but just juvenile and stupid. It's pretty much the equivalent of a 12 year old on facebook saying "neener neener neener I'm a cool kid! You are all losers!"

[megasdkirby]

hence why we should ignore that person. I don't really see it as insulting, but just juvenile and stupid. It's pretty much the equivalent of a 12 year old on facebook saying "neener neener neener I'm a cool kid! You are all losers!"

Reminds me of the old Game.com commercial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp460zM_PGA

[Dire 51]

http://www.stoneagegamer.com/images/r5/IMG_1387.JPG
I'm gathering that by the shape of the Genesis/MD slot, the RetroN 5 isn't going to be able to play Japanese Mega Drive carts. Can anyone confirm/deny this?

[ggallegos1]

From what they are saying it will, but then again who knows. I've been following this product and preordered it for a long time now, so i am hoping it will turn out for the best.

Review from SXSW:
http://segabits.com/blog/2014/03/11/sxsw-2014-hands-on-with-the-retron-5/

Take note of the screen issues with Super Mario World 2. Hopefully this gets ironed out before shipment

[Drclaw411]

Looks like it's officially vaporware...

Retron 5 has been delayed again, this time due to "bad firmware updates". Apparently they are unsure IF or when the issue will be corrected and the system will be released. It really did turn out to be vaporware....wow...

Info: http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?StartRow=101&catid=5&threadid=119673

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Don't be overdramatic. A firmware issue delay doesn't mean the system will end up as vaporware. Most vaporware is just announcements, no actual product ever shown, much less sent to people in a beta phase. I'm sure Hyperkin will do all they can to resolve the problem as quickly as they can. Also, linking to NintendoAge is always a bad idea. Those guys are elitists and overreact to everything.

[StoneAgeGamer]

Looks like it's officially vaporware...

Retron 5 has been delayed again, this time due to "bad firmware updates". Apparently they are unsure IF or when the issue will be corrected and the system will be released. It really did turn out to be vaporware....wow...

Info: http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?StartRow=101&catid=5&threadid=119673

...

Do you know how much the molds cost for something like this? Do you realize how much development and engineering they put into this already? If this turned out to be vaporware it would essentially put them out of business most likely. Hyperkin is not that big of a company. The only way this would become vaporware is if Hyperkin goes out of business before it comes out for some reason.

P.S. I am not defending the delays, but this is a complete overreaction.

[Niku-Sama]

How is it vapor ware when we have seen fully functional units already?

[ggallegos1]

definitely not vaporware, but I haven't seen this many product delays for a third-party system in my life. this either works flawlessly, or ends with expectations being too high as it is

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Right, The guy is an overreacting NintendoAge member. I posted there for years, but never saw many people with level heads. Those guys overreact to everything. So as I said at the top, don't be so overdramatic.

Anyway.


StoneAgeGamer, can you please answer the question Dire 51 had on the last page? he asked:


[IMG]
I'm gathering that by the shape of the Genesis/MD slot, the RetroN 5 isn't going to be able to play Japanese Mega Drive carts. Can anyone confirm/deny this?

[Drclaw411]

Well, you guys were right. I was an overreacting dumbass who got caught up in the nintendoage thread and posted before I knew what I was talking about. I'm an ass today.

Hyperkin has confirmed that the report on a firmware problem is false and the system is still on track for release next month.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

That's big of you to admit your fault. Lots of people would try to blindly defend their position to the bitter end.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear the firmware rumor was false, but that leaves me to wonder about two things:

1. Who would start such a rumor to begin with, and for what purpose? fanboys being butthurt over the possibility of *gasp* an emulation machine that may potentially render their beloved original hardware obsolete?
2. Even if there was a firmware issue that would cause a delay, what on earth would lead anyone to assume that means the whole thing is vaporware?

[Atarileaf]

Right, The guy is an overreacting NintendoAge member. I posted there for years, but never saw many people with level heads. Those guys overreact to everything.

They are the "FOX News" of retro gaming forums.

[Drclaw411]

That's big of you to admit your fault. Lots of people would try to blindly defend their position to the bitter end.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear the firmware rumor was false, but that leaves me to wonder about two things:

1. Who would start such a rumor to begin with, and for what purpose? fanboys being butthurt over the possibility of *gasp* an emulation machine that may potentially render their beloved original hardware obsolete?
2. Even if there was a firmware issue that would cause a delay, what on earth would lead anyone to assume that means the whole thing is vaporware?

I originally saw it reported by another member of NintendoAge. Now, I don't know if that guy just made it up or indeed it was told to him as he reported by whatever store clerk that sells Hyperkin merchandise that he was referring to. It was fairly convincing considering the pictures of the stress ball, and that nobody had ever posted pictures of that stressball before (Hyperkin said those stress balls were from last e3 apparently). Either the original poster was lying or the store clerk was. I have no idea why the original poster would be intentionally lying, he has many times defended the R5 in that thread when other people come in to the thread and shit on everybody who has it preordered. He did say that the store worker was apparently not given a demo R5 unit that was promised by Hyperkin, so maybe she was upset that she didn't have a demo unit for her store and decided to spread a rumor about Hyperkin essentially scrapping the project?

As far as why it seemed to point to vaporware, the original post claimed that Hyperkin's official word was that they don't know when or if (if being the key word) they would be able to get the console fixed and ready for release.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

You should never believe what is being reported by only a single person who doesn't speak with any authority, especially if they no evidence to back it up, and especially if its on NintendoAge.

It would be like me saying

Hey guys, finally after all these years, Half Life 3 has been confirmed~!

[Leo_A]

As far as why it seemed to point to vaporware, the original post claimed that Hyperkin's official word was that they don't know when or if (if being the key word) they would be able to get the console fixed and ready for release.

"If" should've clued you in from the start that it was nonsense. They didn't get to this point just to cancel it because of a software bug that mysteriously might not be solvable.

[stardust4ever]

Right, The guy is an overreacting NintendoAge member. I posted there for years, but never saw many people with level heads. Those guys overreact to everything. So as I said at the top, don't be so overdramatic.

Anyway.


StoneAgeGamer, can you please answer the question Dire 51 had on the last page? he asked:Satoshi, I'm sure that the Megadrive slot will be fine. US Genesis consoles have a square notch blocking the insertion of Japanese Megadrive carts. Like playiing import Famicom on NTSC SNES (I tab hacked my SNES and have imported several SFC games), these tabs on the US/PAL Genesis are easy to remove, however if the game employs a region check it likely won't be able to run without further modification to the console. Main reason I haven't imported many Mega Drive games (except for Psycho Pinball because I'm a big Pinball fan) is because it's impossible to know exactly which games employ the region check unless you test them out or ask around in the forums. Anyway, Retron5 lacks these square tabs so I'll assume any US/PAL/Jap region game will insert properly and dump just fine.

[Tanooki]

I hate to do this, but I think saying that NintendoAge isn't credible at all is a stretch, often there's a lot of solid info there. That said, NintendoAge is deeply in the pocket of some of their longest and most appreciated members of which one is the owner of retrousb.com which is creating an HDMI NES system that isn't emulated but all new parts FPGA if I remember right, and it has a scoreboard component in it for competitive gaming. Bunny has been super critical of the Retron5 and many who are friends, retrousb supporters, and anti-clone, anti-emulator types have all jumped on a communal gangbang attack of the thing for a good year now. I've tried to defend the Retron5 as a solid alternative, but the thing is you're arguing against a site that leans towards collectors (some very irrational too) who do not like change, do not like interference, and really don't want to see people fucking with their hobby in cash value and collector value.

That can be said of any collector too involved in their hobby so it's not an NA thing as much as a general argumentative thing where you can get some unbalanced sorts trying to start shit with lies, rumors, faked or reused to be faked imagery and anything else to childishly hurt the perceived competition.

I think the Retron5 has promise, but it's only that much until the hard evidence shakes out in many reviews of the retail shelf unit people bought for what it can and can't do, not freebies or paid reviews off handed out systems.

...also ripping on Fox News is just childish, really? Could be worse, there's MSNBC that doesn't even at least attempt to do news. :) At least there's CNN eh?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Yeah, the HDMI NES by bunnyboy, the Super 8 by low_budget and the Ouya are all viable alternatives of the Retron5, but supports of those products don't tend to have much faith in the RetroN5.

I prefer to wait to see for myself. No point in defending - or bashing - the Retron5 until I have personal experiences. That said, I do anticipate the results will be similar to the Ouya, but the Ouya will have more options that outclass the Retron5 in some ways. Still, I think the two systems will cohabit the same shelf for many years to come.

[stardust4ever]

I hate to do this, but I think saying that NintendoAge isn't credible at all is a stretch, often there's a lot of solid info there. That said, NintendoAge is deeply in the pocket of some of their longest and most appreciated members of which one is the owner of retrousb.com which is creating an HDMI NES system that isn't emulated but all new parts FPGA if I remember right, and it has a scoreboard component in it for competitive gaming. Bunny has been super critical of the Retron5 and many who are friends, retrousb supporters, and anti-clone, anti-emulator types have all jumped on a communal gangbang attack of the thing for a good year now. I've tried to defend the Retron5 as a solid alternative, but the thing is you're arguing against a site that leans towards collectors (some very irrational too) who do not like change, do not like interference, and really don't want to see people fucking with their hobby in cash value and collector value.

That can be said of any collector too involved in their hobby so it's not an NA thing as much as a general argumentative thing where you can get some unbalanced sorts trying to start shit with lies, rumors, faked or reused to be faked imagery and anything else to childishly hurt the perceived competition.

I think the Retron5 has promise, but it's only that much until the hard evidence shakes out in many reviews of the retail shelf unit people bought for what it can and can't do, not freebies or paid reviews off handed out systems.

...also ripping on Fox News is just childish, really? Could be worse, there's MSNBC that doesn't even at least attempt to do news. :) At least there's CNN eh?As mostly a lurker on DigitPress, I'd like to chime in a little bit, as someone who has over 2000 posts on NintendoAge, I can say their biggest fault is that the community at large is more hung up on the collecting aspect than actually playing games and enjoying them. Half of all posts on NA if I sort by "latest post" are marketplace threads. There are icons for "complete" sets, etc, which is ludicrous on so many levels considering that a minimum 50% of the library available for every console are crap (although what defines "garbage" varies from person to person - it's often the case that one game enjoys games another thinks are crap), then the high-dollar rares that fetch so much money are being taken out of the hands of gamers who want to play them and made into display pieces for hard core collectors. Sure there's enough Mario/Duck Hunts to go around, but Bubble Bobble 2, Bonk's Adventure, Panic Restaurant, Little Samson, etc? Not gonna happen. Then they have a Hall of Shame system that banishes and chastises people if they happen to have a sour deal or two. I believe Satoshi Matrix, well respected guy with an awesome blog (his 100 best NES/Famicom list helped me discover a few hidded Famicom gems which I did import) fell victim to NA's HOS one-strike-you're-out bully tactics, despite multiple members chiming to his defense. All said and done, there's probably some great members as well as a-holes on either forum (ditto for AssemblerGames, AtariAge, and any number of other gamer centric forums), and I plan on doing a bit less lurking here on Digitpress in the future.

BunnyBoy/Brian of retroUSB seems very critical of the Retron5 because it somehow erodes his sales of the HDMI NES. I don't see how as I plan on getting both consoles, although I could see a casual gamer choosing the Retron5 over the HDMI NES because of it's lower pricepoint and the fact it supports several additional systems. But then no Scoreboard, no homebrews, Repros, etc... Either way my Retron5 is already paid for on Preorder at StoneAgegamer so I'm stoked about that. I got a nice whopping 15% discount coupon from a previous flash drive purchase, that I applied to mt entire order. :cool: Brian seems overprotective of his stuff, and I can't even get my CopyNES to read his newer flash-based UxROM homebrews. Fat chance people will be able to play Battlekid, Studyhall, or 8-bit Xmas 2013 with their Retron5, which is unfortunate. Piko Interactive seems to be partnering with Hyperkin in a way to get the Retron5 to work with their SNES Homebrews, including the SNES 4-in-1, so looking forward to good things.

[Atarileaf]

...also ripping on Fox News is just childish, really? Could be worse, there's MSNBC that doesn't even at least attempt to do news.

It was a joke calm yourself. I thought equating nut jobs on NA to nutjobs on Fox News completely appropriate. ;)

[stardust4ever]

It was a joke calm yourself. I thought equating nut jobs on NA to nutjobs on Fox News completely appropriate. ;)Fox news is nothing. If you want bottom of the barrel journalism, check out Yahoo/Reuters.

[Drclaw411]

Fox news is nothing. If you want bottom of the barrel journalism, check out Yahoo/Reuters.

Faux News is worse. It's not news, it's just a giant channel/brand that exists to tell you to vote Republican, blame minorities, and support CEOs. It's about as useful as MSNBC, which is the same damn thing except it orders the voting of Democrats and pisses on corporations. Neither channel provides much actual news.

Reuters is annoying because they are so similar to the AP. I don't want to read the same article on 83729 different sites.

Anyway back on topic...as a NintendoAge member, I really have noticed how the website's allegiance to RetroUSB has a lot of them pissing on the R5. I guess I should have made that connection when I saw that post about the firmware delay. I don't get why Bunnyboy and RetroUSB supporters are so hateful of the R5. I planned to get a copy of Study Hall, but I'm waiting for confirmation that it will work an the R5 first. My NES is on it's last legs, so the R5 will be my main means of retro gaming.

[stardust4ever]

Faux News is worse. It's not news, it's just a giant channel/brand that exists to tell you to vote Republican, blame minorities, and support CEOs. It's about as useful as MSNBC, which is the same damn thing except it orders the voting of Democrats and pisses on corporations. Neither channel provides much actual news.

Reuters is annoying because they are so similar to the AP. I don't want to read the same article on 83729 different sites.

Anyway back on topic...as a NintendoAge member, I really have noticed how the website's allegiance to RetroUSB has a lot of them pissing on the R5. I guess I should have made that connection when I saw that post about the firmware delay. I don't get why Bunnyboy and RetroUSB supporters are so hateful of the R5. I planned to get a copy of Study Hall, but I'm waiting for confirmation that it will work an the R5 first. My NES is on it's last legs, so the R5 will be my main means of retro gaming.
Dude, buy Study Hall now!!! It's on it's second run and there's not that many left. It's an awesome game and it will be a pity if you miss out on it. Homebrews and Repros, at least the NES variety, won't work on Retron5 because the console needs to know what kind of mapper it uses in order to dump it. Real carts don't come with 16 byte headers telling the console how to run it. Emulators need those headers to know how to load the game. RetroUSB uses custom boards using a derivative of UxROM [iNES mapper 2] for many of the newer homebrews. These boards support onboard flashing of save data and other enhancements, so I doubt the Retron5 would be able to dump it properly. The stance from Retron5 guys is they will not be supporting gray market items such as pirates and repros, but there are tools for homebrew developers to submit their games to Hyperkin and have the games manually added to the supported list through firmware updates. Brian Parker of RetroUSB is very much anti-Retron5 right now so the chances that he submits any of his stuff to Hyperkin is slim to none, which is a pity. Then Brian can use homebrew compatability as a sales pitch for his upcoming HDMI NES. I don't owe loyalty to anyone and plan on getting both systems. I recommend replacing the cart connector in your NES if you're having trouble. Those cart connectors wear out after a few years. Some gamers do not like the aftermarket "death grip" connectors but from my experience they are a helluva lot more reliable than the stock connectors. Also Study Hall also plays fine on NOAC clones to the best of my knowledge. I've played it on my FC Mobile II but the tiny LCD screen looks like ass. The game also features flash memory for saving high scores and even an achievement system! [mind blown]. Either way you owe yourself to get this game...

[Atarileaf]

Fox news is nothing. If you want bottom of the barrel journalism, check out Yahoo/Reuters.

I'm a Canadian so I don't have a horse in the race, so to speak. There's bias in all the American news networks, print or tv. It's just that there's bias, and then there's Fox. Those people are nucking futs!

[Tupin]

http://www.gamnesia.com/news/nintendo-64-games-may-come-to-retron-5#.Uyo5WYWNLwq

Two things: Hyperkin is supposedly planning a version of the RetroN that has N64 compatibility. It's obviously not the 5, and this may just be something like a fightstick for the N64.

I'm more interested in their DOS gaming machine...

Oh, and I want to get both a RetroN5 and an HDMI NES.

[Drclaw411]

http://www.gamnesia.com/news/nintendo-64-games-may-come-to-retron-5#.Uyo5WYWNLwq

Two things: Hyperkin is supposedly planning a version of the RetroN that has N64 compatibility. It's obviously not the 5, and this may just be something like a fightstick for the N64.

I'm more interested in their DOS gaming machine...

Oh, and I want to get both a RetroN5 and an HDMI NES.

I really hope the N64 device is either an adapter for the R5 or a high quality N64 controller with a more comfortable thumb stick than the original. As for the DOS machine, I'm hoping it is essentially and R5 for the older consoles. I want to play Princess Rescue with save states!


Oh and stardust...you convinced me...I just ordered Study Hall

[Tanooki]

I hope that story about the N64 to look out for and some cheap DOS (physical) Box are true as I definitely see a market for that. A lot of old PC games just wont work anymore and some of the hacks and workarounds using emulation apps are brutal or suck, but to have a device that just does it brainlessly stock would be nice. Id think with the retron5 delays I bet they have either or a n64 in a controller type thingy maybe like jakks pacific junk but better quality or they go for a jack in device they run through the SNES or Genesis port or something as an optional addon. Making a retron6 or even announcing that so soon would way piss off their base.

[stardust4ever]

http://www.gamnesia.com/news/nintendo-64-games-may-come-to-retron-5#.Uyo5WYWNLwq

Two things: Hyperkin is supposedly planning a version of the RetroN that has N64 compatibility. It's obviously not the 5, and this may just be something like a fightstick for the N64.

I'm more interested in their DOS gaming machine...

Oh, and I want to get both a RetroN5 and an HDMI NES.N64 is in dire need of a facelift. I have an original N64 console, and while I do often repurchase titles I own on cartridge whenever they become available on Wii/Wii-U virtual console, the N64 titles were the ones I really enjoyed more playing them on Wii than the original console. The original N64 was so blurry even though the games were awesome. MarioKart 64 looked a thousand times better playing in 480p resolution on Wii than it did playing on the original console. I had a PC back in the day with an awesome graphics card and I was blown away when I loaded Mario 64 on my big 1600x1200 monitor and I could see every single brick in Peach's Castle. If there's one console that desperately needs the HDMI facelift, it is the N64. I would love to see an adapter like this for the Retron5:
7407
It would be awesome to play my old N64 games in glorious 1440x1080 HD pillarbox (or 960x720 since the Retron5 doesn't support 1080)


I really hope the N64 device is either an adapter for the R5 or a high quality N64 controller with a more comfortable thumb stick than the original. As for the DOS machine, I'm hoping it is essentially and R5 for the older consoles. I want to play Princess Rescue with save states!

Oh and stardust...you convinced me...I just ordered Study HallAwesome! You will not regret it. It's one of the freshest homebrews I've seen and get challenging but is still very accessible aka you don't have to be a gaming ninja to enjoy it. As for the N64, a better controller would be nice. It's the only Nintendo system I own where I prefer the third party controllers over the originals. Well, that and for some reason I preferred the Madcatz Game Cube controllers for the rubber grips, but the stock GC was nice as well. The plastic thumb sticks in the stock N64 controllers destroy themselves over time with use no matter how careful you are.

[Leo_A]

I'm a Canadian so I don't have a horse in the race, so to speak. There's bias in all the American news networks, print or tv. It's just that there's bias, and then there's Fox. Those people are nucking futs!

Sadly, there's not much that's actually neutral and unbiased. Most of this stuff is liberal through and through. About the only thing unique about FOX is it's at the other end of the spectrum.

Quality reporting of the news, if it ever existed, definitely doesn't exist nowadays.

[ggallegos1]

I was going to post this exact link but you beat me to it. I would love some HD N64 action, even if some of the games will be a bit fugly (polygons lol) I'm just using S-video now and I know the system can look better with the right unmodded love

[Satoshi_Matrix]

It's not just the video signal. N64 games are natively blurry. I've fully modded my N64 for RGB, and even at 240p, N64 games don't look as clear as other 240p RGB signals, particularly Sega consoles. Also, the resolution doesn't change, and even with the 1080p HDMI N64 mod that's in the works that still won't change.

But yeah, it'll be an update from S-Video.

[treismac]

As mostly a lurker on DigitPress, I'd like to chime in a little bit, as someone who has over 2000 posts on NintendoAge, I can say their biggest fault is that the community at large is more hung up on the collecting aspect than actually playing games and enjoying them.

While collecting is undoubtedly a big part of NintendoAge, they do have weekly contests, which helps gamers show some love to otherwise forgotten games in their collection, so actual gaming and subsequent discussion is alive and well at NA, too.

[JSoup]

While collecting is undoubtedly a big part of NintendoAge, they do have weekly contests, which helps gamers show some love to otherwise forgotten games in their collection, so actual gaming and subsequent discussion is alive and well at NA, too.

Alive, yes. Well, debatable. It's no secret that collecting and acquisition are the main pastimes of the forum, pretty much to the exclusion of playing. A look at the topic/post numbers shows that to anyone who isn't a regular poster.

[Tanooki]

JSoup is more on the money. Ive posted there since 2010, read there off and on earlier due to the unique things found. While there is a gaming board, the rest is more collector centered and it does cater to that to the detrement of people who are game players first. Check any of the repetiive long standing arguments there for that. Youll see the VGA vs anti-VGA posts pop up and when closed its because the pro VGA people cant take the heat for legit questions about their practices but is blamed on those whojust jump in to troll it instead. Then the fights over sealed over not, or how those who game should be happy with players copies (which are the less than good to beat up versions) since if youre a gamer it shouldnt matter if it works (yeah right) and others. It just is what it is, though since games have gone towards commodity trading it gets a lot more competitive and personal if not vicious in some cases which is a shame because I recall 3 years back the gaming end had a more public display of it.

[stardust4ever]

JSoup is more on the money. Ive posted there since 2010, read there off and on earlier due to the unique things found. While there is a gaming board, the rest is more collector centered and it does cater to that to the detrement of people who are game players first. Check any of the repetiive long standing arguments there for that. Youll see the VGA vs anti-VGA posts pop up and when closed its because the pro VGA people cant take the heat for legit questions about their practices but is blamed on those whojust jump in to troll it instead. Then the fights over sealed over not, or how those who game should be happy with players copies (which are the less than good to beat up versions) since if youre a gamer it shouldnt matter if it works (yeah right) and others. It just is what it is, though since games have gone towards commodity trading it gets a lot more competitive and personal if not vicious in some cases which is a shame because I recall 3 years back the gaming end had a more public display of it.
Getting off topic here, but you make a valid point. Like people busting their balls over whether or not a 5 screw Stadium Events cart posted by some random seller on eBay was a one-of-a-kind variant, fake, or semi-fake case swap. Jeeze man, Rare does not equal desirable from a gamer's perspective. Stadium Events is a crap game and if I really wanted to play it I could pick up World Class Track Meet for two bucks or bundled with Mario and Duck Hunt as a 3-in-1. I made that argument once or twice and got a warning for "thread-crapping".

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I have also found that those NA people are fiercely against reproductions cartridges, especially of commercially released games. I have no such problem. I think repros are a very good thing and a giant middle finger to some of the insane prices some NES games have risen to such as Little Samson now selling for $600. Rerpo that instead.

NA guys say they're adamantly against the idea of repros because they "negatively impacts the retro gaming hobby" through sellers that would sell their repro as the real thing and never inform the buyer its a repro and not the mask rom original.

If a seller tries to pass off a repro as the real thing then the problem isn't the repro cart, its the dishonest seller. That's a totally different issue.

To me, I have no problems whatsoever with any reproduction cartridges, no matter if its a hack, fan translation, homebrew or repro of a commercially available game.

I wouldn't have any real problem with any repro seller unless they also priced their Little Samson repros at $500-600. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing at all wrong with people selling repros of Little Samson and other rarities for reasonable prices, maybe $25 a copy or something like that. If that ruin's NA's precious $600 going rate for the original copies......good.


But I do agree that people who try to pass repros as authentic originals are scumbags and should never be allowed to get away with that. Is the solution saying "no repros?" no. I also dont think the solution is slapping ugly REPRODUCTION CARTRIDGE letting on labels.

[ggallegos1]

I'm a gamer first. Always have been. I love my collection, but honestly I'm not the richest guy in the world (army lol) I admire people for their massive collections and their CIB sealed Earthbound and such, but I buy games to enjoy them. Kudos to the collector, if it makes you happy all the better. I enjoy having a good quality product and all, but I'd rather have a cart than a sealed copy to enjoy my small but personal collection on my terms.

Back on topic, I've had this thing preordered for the longest. Any word on a date besides April or do you think they'll pull a Sega and say "it drops today!!"

[Tanooki]

I think if there's a mod or admin around it may not be such a bad idea to take that post I did responding to the other and make a full thread of it as this is an open free and positive discussion of some realities that can't be had elsewhere.

I recall that argument over SE vs WCT being made before by stardust and the warnings, hell I've had plenty. Most my time there I've been a regular for private warnings for being 'negative' and public posts and the occasional lashing sometimes questioning why I even use the site since I don't fall in line. The thing is those who really know me who I talk to in the private corners there and elsewhere know when I'm being negative and when I'm being a realist. The problem is a realist is negative if you don't like what's being said. Pointing out comedic variants, the fact that VGA has no real accountability or consistency in how they grade (NA members resubmit for higher scores repeatedly before to get them due to 'value'), and the famous argument against restoration (ie: reproduction) shells, labels, and the rest. The biggest flap I'd say in the last year is just that. What defines a reproduction and what defines over the line. The best determination over at NA is that it is 100% a fair and just reproduction(ie bootleg warez) to make if it's from a region OUTSIDE the NA market regardless if the game needs a translation patch (like Secret of Mana 2 SFC/SNES) or not. It's also OK if you have a thrashed label to make a new one if it has a big printing on it saying REPRODUCTION LABEL on it or entirely new art. Clearly there are flaws to that logic because a new or non-collector may buy it regardless, and one who just games and heard X is cool will buy that too and if it works, they're happy at the time they play it. The thing is there's a ton of old item communities out there from 100+ year old books, car parts, comics, and so on that are ok with restoration jobs done on existing product and as such they're cataloged, noted, and sold for the appropriate amount in the sliding scale of functionally wrecked to mint or new and people pay what it's worth. Don't bring that up though because that's NOT allowed offering up like for like restoration labels or parts because that ruins collector value. How is that hypocrisy fair to those in Japan, Asia on the whole, Europe and other markets who get their games raped and pillaged for 'reproduction' purposes? Isn't their stuff being made more 'open' to the masses ruining that value too potentially? I've said it elsewhere before but it's ok to shit in someone elses back yard, just not your own.

Personally I'm 100% cool with like for like copies of old games, posters and whatever else as they're fun for display or play(games.) I'm just not cool if someone passes it off as old when it's not. Like the books and car parts thing I compared to, it should be noted as such to be fair to the end consumer. I'd love to have Little Samson as it's a fun game but for $500 straight up kiss my ass on that one. If I could get someone using the infinite lives board to make me a copy of that game with a normal gray shell and a solid nearly indistinguishable copy of the original label I'd probably pay at least $30 for that honor, hell I'd probably even pay the original $50 retail price as it would be a 'new' game. If that game NEVER came out in the US and I wanted it, say it came out in PAL only like Mr Gimmick, then it wouldn't be an issue. :)

I hope there's no retribution for making this post, but I've laid off posting this stuff almost entirely over there as I'd rather not get banned again for using dark humor or complaining.

[JSoup]

NA guys say they're adamantly against the idea of repros because they "negatively impacts the retro gaming hobby" through sellers that would sell their repro as the real thing and never inform the buyer its a repro and not the mask rom original.

If a seller tries to pass off a repro as the real thing then the problem isn't the repro cart, its the dishonest seller. That's a totally different issue.

The other argument is that a repro of a popular game could be sold off to someone who knows nothing about games and thinking he/she has an original. At some point he/she decides to sell it and lists it as an original. At that point either prices are going forced to fluctuate to accommodate the extra copies of whatever now being dumped into the market place (which happens anyway), someone is getting ripped off (dubiously) or both.

It seems like a lot of worrying for nothing. Or, rather, a lot of propaganda for the purposes of controlling the market. I fully expect to someday see an individual or group pop up and start selling obvious repros of popular games for people who just want to play the game on a physical system or have something nice to put on a shelve.

[NESter]

I have also found that those NA people are fiercely against reproductions cartridges, especially of commercially released games. I have no such problem. I think repros are a very good thing and a giant middle finger to some of the insane prices some NES games have risen to such as Little Samson now selling for $600. Rerpo that instead.

NA guys say they're adamantly against the idea of repros because they "negatively impacts the retro gaming hobby" through sellers that would sell their repro as the real thing and never inform the buyer its a repro and not the mask rom original.

If a seller tries to pass off a repro as the real thing then the problem isn't the repro cart, its the dishonest seller. That's a totally different issue.

To me, I have no problems whatsoever with any reproduction cartridges, no matter if its a hack, fan translation, homebrew or repro of a commercially available game.

I wouldn't have any real problem with any repro seller unless they also priced their Little Samson repros at $500-600. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing at all wrong with people selling repros of Little Samson and other rarities for reasonable prices, maybe $25 a copy or something like that. If that ruin's NA's precious $600 going rate for the original copies......good.


But I do agree that people who try to pass repros as authentic originals are scumbags and should never be allowed to get away with that. Is the solution saying "no repros?" no. I also dont think the solution is slapping ugly REPRODUCTION CARTRIDGE letting on labels.

If that's true then I wonder how NA feels about one of its members, Bunnyboy, releasing reproduction carts through his website. If selling a reproduction of Donkey Kong isn't questionable, I don't know what is.

[Tanooki]

I've got that Donkey Kong cart, the one with the missing stage they put out on the Wii and other formats since starting in Europe. And then there's the Konami stuff of which I have Gradius II, also a clear and straight ripoff, but that's still a 'reproduction' since it isn't from the US. If that came out in the US it wouldn't have ever happened.

[treismac]

In my estimation collecting is driven by and large by impulse and non-rational thinking. With that being the case and the group think being what it is at NA, I don't see any point in making disparaging remarks about collecting practices that I dislike on NA. Just like I wouldn't bemoan the evils of American Exceptionalism at a military bar, I ain't pissing against the wind by pointing out how f*cking stupid VGA is on a Nintendo Age thread. I suppose that being a gamer over a collector, I am just mildly irked by the dumber aspects of video game collecting, so I just softly shake my head at Nintendo Age's sacred cows and play the weekly competitions, happily ignoring the "Collector's Corner."

[treismac]

Alive, yes. Well, debatable.

You sure did squeeze the truth of the matter out of that cliche I used, didn't you? ;)


As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing at all wrong with people selling repros of Little Samson and other rarities for reasonable prices, maybe $25 a copy or something like that. If that ruin's NA's precious $600 going rate for the original copies......good.

I'm more than cool with collectors losing their investments to the profit of actual gamers. I can't cry too much over someone paying hundreds of dollars for a video game purely as either a collectible or as a means of turning a profit then seeing the market price crash for said game. Games are meant to be played. If you lose money "investing" in a 20+ year old video game, play the stock market and leave gamers to enjoy their games.

[Tanooki]

I'm more than cool with collectors losing their investments to the profit of actual gamers. I can't cry too much over someone paying hundreds of dollars for a video game purely as either a collectible or as a means of turning a profit then seeing the market price crash for said game. Games are meant to be played. If you lose money "investing" in a 20+ year old video game, play the stock market and leave gamers to enjoy their games.

I feel that. A couple years ago I attempted twice to get a copy of the Faria mail away map from people and couldn't get it, just insults tossed and how that I was an entitled baby and so on and was told to use those awful maps that are of little to no help up on gamefaqs or nothing. I ended up after the second row of it selling my game. I lucked a bit later on into hitting ebay at the right moment seeing the game with the map and with an ebay bucks credit (not that much but still...) getting it for like $60 shipped (so the map was $20 versus over $100.) It took me a couple of days of messing around and attempting a few things but I ended up making very high resolution copies of the front and back, then I handed it over to the admin here who added it to Digital Press both in PDF and front and back JPG files. Mirrored that thing to my ISP account and popped it in my signature and I still get the occasional thanks for it and had a good many back when it dropped. Games are meant to be played and the resources that are intended for them should be readily available. Did I kill the collector pricing on that map, probably, since I've seen it fall in price, but the fact I let a lot of people get the help they needed with the game made me feel good, so be it.

[treismac]

Did I kill the collector pricing on that map, probably, since I've seen it fall in price, but the fact I let a lot of people get the help they needed with the game made me feel good, so be it.

Awesome. It's good to have people who contribute to the community rather than look out for their own petty investments, and, using this as a segueway, the progress of clone systems is a good thing in the retro gaming community. To hope for the RetroN5 to fail is really myopic and prickish. I know this is the internet, the magical digital land of anonymous hating, but it hurts no one's ability to enjoy playing their video games on their original systems if the standard of clones is raised by the success of Hyperkin's newest system. Why not hope for the best? If clones or emulation ain't your bag, cool, just don't crap on it if others are enjoying it.

[Tanooki]

I agree, well starting to at least, with clone systems. I've tested out a lot of them since a good decade back and every one of them has been a disappointing pos to me, but Hyperkin changed my opinion with the second version of that Supaboy. Yes, it's clearly not perfect, hell I even had to mod the d-pad on mine for it to react right, but aside from 1/3 of the FX games not working, no SDD1, and having to cart swap some SA1 games to get them to work, it's damn near perfect. The audio and visuals are sharp, buttons are responsive, while thick it's comfy, and it takes a real gamepad as a portable console you can wire into a TV. I like the thing and it gets it right, previous systems would foul the audio and visuals and have fairly meh compatibility issues too. With the Retron5 claiming a shoot for 100% compatibility with games released for it, and will add homebrew if an author submits it, it seems almost too good to be true (and it might.) If they pull it off I'd get it as I think having an all in one that accurate, with HDMI, a/v filters, and save states would be super welcome especially with me having a 2 year old as old games don't do batteries and it's hard at times to find an hour or two to ride an old cart out. The problem is there are collectors out there who are myopic and this thing is an offense to reality, collector value, and whatever else you want to throw at it, especially if they deliver. Clones haven't been my thing, but damn if it's all that they claim to hate on it just shows blinders, with cheap and petty behavior.

[stardust4ever]

Well said Tanooki! \\^_^/

Man, you really came out of your shell there. I remember you from NA. LOL on the repros from the far east. I started collecting Famicom a few years back, and most early games whether arcade, puzzler, platformer, space shooter, beat 'em up, whatever are fairly accessible even if you can't read Japanese. Just stay away from RPGs and you'll do fine. Hell some are even in English. I was digging through some of the repro sites and noticed a couple of the Japanese originals sitting on my shelf. Why pay $40 for a Devil World repro when I just import the original for 700 yen +s/h? Super Famicom is even easier because you just cut the tabs on your SNES. With a Dremel and a security bit I did a nice clean job on it. Two super rare NES carts have crossed my path, and both I passed on for far more than I paid. Bonk's Adventure and Panic Restaurant, I miss thee, but I when I wanted them back, I simply imported both Famicom versions for less than one sixth the going NES price. Sadly Bubble Bobble 2 and Little Samson are stupid expensive in Japan as well, either that or the Japanese eBay scalpers caught on to us.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

I like collecting and gaming. I am also a gamer first tho, Idk why you would collect video games to not play them, to me its just stupid. Then it becomes a job. But yea, I have almost nothing that's super rare and valuable, mainly cuz 95% of the time I'd rather spend what limited amount of money I have on good games rather than rare and shitty games. I think the most valuable game I own is Super Smash Bros on N64, which is up to maybe $55 now. I do like buying weird or bad games, tho, for their amusement, but I collect games to play them. Every game I have, I have played at least once. Minus maybe some obscure NES sports titles. How many 8bit football games do I really need to play?

I'm all for repro carts also, why would u ever spend $600 on Little Samson or $900 on Flintstones 2?? It's just insane. But these are decent games, and an emulation doesn't really fit into my Nintendo the way a real cart does, so I'm all for it. Why would u ever need a repro cart of SMB tho? That's my only arguement against them, that they're really only needed for those games that are thru the roof expensive.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

In some ways there needs to remain that authenticity of games, if the market becomes over-saturated with repro's things could get out of control. Perhaps if repro carts weren't made to be identical to their originals?? It's like a kit-car. Yea it's cool, and it's the same experience as an original Ford Cobra, but some people like the experience of driving a car that's an antique.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

By the same token, gamers are also somewhat responsible price inflation of games. PAt the NES punk was talking about this on his podcast, and he's kinda right. Gamers will usually walk into a store and spend $50 on a Smash Bros cart, if there's a game they wanna play, they'll hit that Buy It Now.

Usually it's the hardcore collectors who are the cheap, stingy guys, who will wait patiently till they find a $10 Earthbound at a garage sale, or a $5 Smash Bros cart.

So in some ways gamers are also guilty of buying into the big retro game bubble happening now.

[bb_hood]

Did I kill the collector pricing on that map, probably, since I've seen it fall in price, but the fact I let a lot of people get the help they needed with the game made me feel good, so be it.

Did you kill collector pricing? I dont see why, collectors want originals. Collectors wont shill out any cash for a PDF file.
Its cool that you bought it to share the information though.



I'm all for repro carts also, why would u ever spend $600 on Little Samson or $900 on Flintstones 2?? It's just insane. But these are decent games, and an emulation doesn't really fit into my Nintendo the way a real cart does, so I'm all for it. Why would u ever need a repro cart of SMB tho? That's my only arguement against them, that they're really only needed for those games that are thru the roof expensive.

Repros are a waste of money when you consider they can all be played via flash carts. I dont think people should be able to sell repros, I feel they have no right to profit off games they had nothing to do with to begin with. I feel its no different than someone selling burned DVDs or CDs.
I think people should be able to play the old classics for cheap, but I dont like seeing people taking advantage and selling other people's work for profit.

[StoneAgeGamer]

I just want to say that I have been working with Hyperkin a bit with the R5. So far they seem to be taking compatibility and some other issues very seriously. I brought my major issues with the system a few weeks ago and a developer messaged me on Skype the other day saying that they believe they have fixed this issue. Since I don't know for sure if the issue is fixed I can't comment on what the issue is/was. However this issue I believed would be an issue that would have turned many customers off, so if it is indeed corrected that is very good news. Its honestly the biggest issue I had with the system.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Are you referring to the limitation that you can only have one game inserted into the system at a time? because Hyperkin said that and I speculated it might be possible for them to fix that several pages ago. You also mentioned that you found that to be a big issue that might turn off some people. Or are you talking about something else?

[treismac]

I just want to say that I have been working with Hyperkin a bit with the R5. So far they seem to be taking compatibility and some other issues very seriously. I brought my major issues with the system a few weeks ago and a developer messaged me on Skype the other day saying that they believe they have fixed this issue. Since I don't know for sure if the issue is fixed I can't comment on what the issue is/was. However this issue I believed would be an issue that would have turned many customers off, so if it is indeed corrected that is very good news. Its honestly the biggest issue I had with the system.

It's good to hear that Hyperkin is committed to making sure that the RetroN5 is a quality system.

Hey, how much of an annoyance, if at all, is the side-placed controller ports? I understand that Hyperkin has had to cram a good bit into the R5's shell, but the placement of the ports still irks me. Perhaps it won't be an issue with the NES & SNES controllers, but the Genesis DB-9 controller ports could cause problems not being front and center, just like they did with the 2600.