Generation NEX by Play Messiah

[TheCaptain]

A few years ago I saw some info on this system online and it looked interesting, it looked like a classic NES console but with a sleeker design and much smaller, I ended up purchasing one and almost 4 years later I can tell you that I am so glad I did. I love the sturdyness of the hardware and the way it looks set up on my shelf, when people come over and see it they always ask what it is and mention that it looks like their old NES, then when I tell them that it is and NES they geek out and want one. It's a hoot!

I know a lot of people have experienced problems with the NEX including some compatibility issues, strangly enough I have not encountered any of these issues and all 200+ of my NES games work in the NEX, including my copy of Castlevania III. Anyone have any nightmare stories or success stories with the NEX? Anyone here own one at all? I still keep my classic NES on display but I use my NEX to play my games on because I got fed up when I was playing Dragon Warrior IV for like 4 hours and I didn't save and then the NES decided to go green screen on me and I lost all my data, that was a sucky experience.

Discuss!

[Kiddo]

Here's a bit of a question for you. Have you ever gotten them NEX arcade sticks? They seemed pretty nice looking to me, but I was kinda bummed that they apparently aren't standard-NES-compatible or somesuch.

That and the dual NES/Famicom cart compatibility make this famiclone a bit more interesting than the rest.

[mobiusclimber]

The biggest problems I had with the NEX are:

1) bought it for Famicom games, but the emulation on those games was worse than NES games by far.
2) It screwed up colors/graphics/sounds on some NES games
3) The console felt very flimsy. After I sold it, the person who bought it ended up breaking it soon after, but more on that in the next bullet.
4) The cart slot was too tight so putting in and taking out game carts was very difficult. I sold the system on Amazon and the person who bought it also complained about it, but there are several reviews online about this problem. He ended up breaking the system trying to remove a game cart.

Also the controllers kinda suck.

[Carey85]

I'm not the biggest fan of the NEX hardware, but both the wireless controllers and wireless arcade sticks that Messiah made were excellent. Sadly, the wireless controllers and sticks are worthless on an NES without the RF dongle that came with the special edition wireless controllers that came in the lunchpail packaging. I bought my wireless stick from Dave2236 a few years ago at MGC and he was able to throw in a loose dongle that he'd gotten from Messiah in with it.

[jerkov]

I have one in my living room, have had it for about 2 years or so. Never had a problem with it, although it doesn't get used a whole lot. The Famicom slot is very nice to have, although one compatibility problem I have is with the Famicom Star Wars game made by Namco. Game works fine in my regular top-loading NES using a Famicom converter, but will not load up in the NEX.

I also have the wireless remotes, nice to have (especially since the TV and system are set up about 15 feet away), although the remotes do seem to be a bit finicky at times (will occasionally lose signal for a second or two in the middle of a game, which can be annoying) and the d-pad is not as precise as I would have hoped. Still, as I said, wireless is too nice to pass up with my living room set up.

I've never tried this since I only have two wireless controllers, but can you play 4-player games with 4 wireless controllers? Anyone try this? I notice each remote has 4 selectable switches for which controller you are playing with - if I bought two more, would I be able to play 4-player games as I would with a normal NES and a Four Score? If so, I would actually spring for two more wireless controllers off of eBay in order to play with a few other people without worrying about all those wires.......

[Tron 2.0]

There was a in depth review of it here years ago.
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=72413

Though my advice thecaptain get a retro duo if your looking for a,clone that plays the most.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kcCbgVkfY4

[StoneAgeGamer]

Build quality the NEX was probably the best clone I saw, however it only came with 1 controller and has had a horrible NOAC.

Doesn't really matter much now since Messiah went out a business over a year ago.

[TheCaptain]

I have not had any color or music issues that I have read some people complaining about, the ONLY issue I have ever had with the NEX was at the WWF Wrestlemania Challenge start up screen, it's supposed to show the Ultimate Warrior and instead it shows a bunch of coding and gibberish in his place, but the game plays fine and thats the only problem I have seen. I love the hardware, I find it to be sturdy and reliable, and while I do somewhat like the controller I do have to admit that the cord is way too short so I just use a standard NES controller in it's place.

I actually bought something called a "Yobo", which is another NES clone, but it's a flimsy little thing and I hardly ever use it. Right out of the box when I went to set it up I heard a rattle inside the unit that reminded me of a pebble in a can, just not a quality product in my opinion, but it does play the NES library flawlessly so I guess it's a worthy purchase (I bought it for $7.00).

[YoshiM]

I bought the "bundle pack" a couple of years ago at MGC-system, wireless controllers and the joystick based on a review from Retrogaming Radio. I loved the joystick, hated the controllers and found that my NEX system was emanating a foul smell. I traded the whole kit and kaboodle to a fellow DP member in exchange for hardware modding and he said that it was cheaply made and the caps were bad.

[Kiddo]

I probably would most enjoy seeing a mod or so to make one's own RF dongles for the Famicom/NES to get those joysticks working on them. Then I'd consider buying a few of those.

[StoneAgeGamer]

I bet somewhere there is a ton of these receivers. I don't know who owned Messiah, but if you could find out how to contact them, I bet he/she may know.

I know about 1/2 of the Messiah employees now works for Pelican.

[Graham Mitchell]

I have one of these and EVERY game has color issues (looks muted and flat), EVERY game has sound issues (the emulation is not accurate), and several games won't work. In general, the games look and sound so bad that I don't even use it if I can play it on a toaster NES. Even balloon fight looks more lively on native hardware. Oh, and the buttons on the pack-in controller broke within a couple months.

The famicom version of rodland locks up immediately after the first level starts. Gauntlet and alpha mission won't load at all. I haven't tried castlevania 3 yet. I just assumed it wasn't gonna work.

[TheCaptain]

I have one of these and EVERY game has color issues (looks muted and flat), EVERY game has sound issues (the emulation is not accurate), and several games won't work. In general, the games look and sound so bad that I don't even use it if I can play it on a toaster NES. Even balloon fight looks more lively on native hardware. Oh, and the buttons on the pack-in controller broke within a couple months.

The famicom version of rodland locks up immediately after the first level starts. Gauntlet and alpha mission won't load at all. I haven't tried castlevania 3 yet. I just assumed it wasn't gonna work.

Maybe it's your system, it may have a defect or something because I have no issues whatsoever with my NEX beside that WWF game I mentioned before, and I have even tested color between two televisions with one having a NEX and one having a NES and I found no issues.

[Graham Mitchell]

Maybe it's your system, it may have a defect or something because I have no issues whatsoever with my NEX beside that WWF game I mentioned before, and I have even tested color between two televisions with one having a NEX and one having a NES and I found no issues.

I don't have time to search for the thread, but when this thing came out we talked about it for months, and basically everyone agreed that the color palette and the sound chip were noticeably off. This is a widely experienced issue. In addition, I conatacted messiah about my issues with rodland, and they could not explain it. They wanted me to send them the cart. I declined, as I saw it running fine on an actual famicom.

[dao2]

i havent tried the console but i was extremely disappointed with the controllers due to the terrible diskus inplace of the control pad

[StoneAgeGamer]

Yeah it seems a lot of these companies make the clones over think the controllers too much. Its amazing how hard it is to apparently make a good controller that is like the originals.

[SplashChick]

Mine works good. I mostly like it because it's so small and light that I can take it places very easily. There's slight sound and color differences on some games but it's rare that it makes a big difference. The controller works well enough, but I have 4 standard NES controllers so I usually don't use it anyway.

[Leo_A]

Maybe it's your system, it may have a defect or something because I have no issues whatsoever with my NEX

Glad you like it so much, but you must have the only one that doesn't exhibit these issues. Even the newest NES clones have issues, especially on the audio side. And they've only improved the accuracy since this clone...

Also, since when did the Generation NEX have the capability of playing Castlevania III? I never saw anyone else get it working back when these things were new.

[TRM]

I remember ordering a set of their wireless controllers and since I didn't have paypal, they allowed me to pay with a money order. I never received the controllers from them, and their customer service never helped either...

[miaandjohnrule]

I remember ordering a set of their wireless controllers and since I didn't have paypal, they allowed me to pay with a money order. I never received the controllers from them, and their customer service never helped either...

Yeah , they are pretty piss poor customer service wise. It doesn't look like they are around anymore.