Retro-Bit strike back !!! Super Retro Trio + Super Retro Adapter !!!

[Cryog]

The RetroN5 has a challenger



Innex's Super Retro Trio plays old-school NES, SNES, GENESIS, and GBA games.



Fans of retro video games will soon have a new multi-format gaming console on which to play them thanks to video game hardware company Innex. Just announced, the Super Retro Console and Adapter by Retro-bit provide brand-new hardware with which gamers can play old-school games for NES, SNES, GENESIS, and GBA.

"Old-school is new-school when it comes to playing nostalgia games," states Innex President, Titi Ngoy. "Our exclusive line of Retro-bit game consoles are awesome for any gamer, no matter what their age."

Ngoy cites what he calls "a huge appetite" for 8- and 16-bit video games and anticipates a large demand for the console thanks to the large library of already-available games for the Super Retro Trio.

The Super Retro Trio is equipped with three cartridge slots, six ontroller ports compatible with original or third party controllers, two 16-bit game controllers, an S-video connection, an AC adapter, and an AV cable. Innex will be listing the console at $69.99 USD.

An adapter will be released along with the console to allow for the playing of original GBA game cartridges directly on the SNES or any third party 16-bit console. The Super Retro Adapter comes equipped with a GBA link cable port for connecting of as many as three Game Boy Advance systems to allow for 4-way gaming. The link cable itself is not included. Innex is listing this item for $39.99 USD.

Retro gamers wanting both will be able to purchase both the console and the adapter together as the Super Retro Bundle for $89.99 USD.

Innex will be showing the Super Retro Trio at this year's E3 in Los Angeles, which takes place June 11 through 13.

http://www.news10.net/entertainment/...per-Retro-Trio

[buzz_n64]

Seems to be inferior to the Retron5. Only 3 slots built in as opposed to 5 on the Retron5. No HDMI, and some extra adapter needed in order to play GBA games. If it is more compatible and accurate than the Retron5, then it might be worth it

[bb_hood]

Unless it has 100% compatibility with every game, what is the point to owning any of these 3rd party retro systems?
I just don't see why any are even needed. You can easily get a nes for 50$, snes for 50$, and genesis for 15$, so why would you spend almost that for one 3rd party system that is probably made of really cheap plastic and wont play every game.
I also think alot of the fun of playing older games is using original hardware.

Why havent we seen a 3rd party system that plays turbo grafx cards and cds? That would be something alot of people could use.

[PreZZ]

I agree turbo cards would be cool, but the market is too small compared to nintendo and sega so probably not worth investing an additional slot for the makers since nobody would use them (except us from dp!!) and finding turbografx games is very hard compared to nes snes gba and genesis. Hyperkin retron 5 looks better overall, with the save states, filters, and hdmi for playing retro games on hdtv. S video is not good enough if your playing on a modern tv, but ok for a crt. It should at least have component outputs. I agree nothing beats the original hardware, but the new retron5 seems perfect for a modern tv, MAYBE i will buy it if its good so I can put it on my home theater setup. Ill keep the original hardware on my small sony pvm!

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Well damn, I think I'll probably have to buy this now so I can review it and see how it stacks up to the ReotrN5, which I'll also be buying.

Some thoughts:

I like the design. Black and red is nice looking. Not sure how I feel about the controller port dust cover. I feel like if I bought it I'd just break that off. seems useless, but who knows, maybe it wont be a problem in the final version.

99% sure this will be reverse engineered hardware like other clones. So yay the compatibility problems that could arise! I'm interested in particular how good the NOAC is. If it's decent, this might end up being a better replacement than the RetroDuo - the current NOAC king multi console. (Super 8 doesn't count as a standalone clone).

The GBA adapter looks interesting. It looks like it'll fit into the SNES cartridge port, which likely means it'll work like the RetroGen and get power from the SNES 5v pin for Super FX games. That will likely mean it will also work on a real SNES or other clones. I wonder if it's video output is controlled by the SNES though? I doubt it, but that would be sweet.

I wonder what "16 bit controller" they'll show off? Moot since you can use original controllers, but weird they didn't show their controllers in the announcement.

If Hyperkin sticks to their word of the retron5 being "Under $100" then this one that does far less and without HDMI is pricy and certainly not the better buy on paper. Still, with no word on how good either clone's performance actually is, there's no point in comparing them just yet.

[dgdgagdae]

I actually prefer no HDMI, because I have an older TV that has an HDMI port, but which doesn't handshake properly with anything. If the Retron5 is HDMI only, that's pretty limiting. Nice for people trying to play old games on new TVs, though.

I'm especially interested in that GBA adaptor, which I would buy in a heartbeat to use on my SNES.

[Az]

What are the two switches next to the controller ports? I'd assume the top one is the Sega region selector since it only has two settings, but what about the one under it?

[Cryog]

Sega Genesis/Megadrive region switch:
NTSC corresponds to NTSC USA, PE to PAL Europe, NJ to NTSC Japan and PA to PAL America (Brasil).

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I actually prefer no HDMI, because I have an older TV that has an HDMI port, but which doesn't handshake properly with anything. If the Retron5 is HDMI only, that's pretty limiting. Nice for people trying to play old games on new TVs, though.

I'm especially interested in that GBA adaptor, which I would buy in a heartbeat to use on my SNES.

Retorn5 won't be HDMI only - it will also have composite (and possibly S-Video).

What are the two switches next to the controller ports? I'd assume the top one is the Sega region selector since it only has two settings, but what about the one under it?

I was wondering the same thing. The image is too low in resolution to be able to tell, but if I had to guess, one of them would be the multi region switch like found on the RetroGen. The other I have no idea. Maybe a controller switch to let you use whatever controllers they come with or original NES/SNES/Genesis controllers? Or maybe console/GBA switch.

Speaking of that, the GBA adapter of course opens up a lot of questions:

Will it be GBA only, or will it also play GB and GBC?

How much of a tv screen will it fill?

How will it output video/audio? Will it do with the RetroGen and RetroPort didn't and feed the signals through the SNES itself and have the video quality dictacted by the SNES GPU and cable you're using?

How will GBA games control? The SNES controller seems the best choice, but who knows what they'll actually end up doing.

How well will the GBA emulation be? I mean as cool as this concept is, will this be a viable replacement for a GameCube GameBoy Player?

[Old_Skool_Fool]

Why would anyone want to have HDMI on a classic console? It's not like it's going to do anything for the visuals of the games, if anything, it would make them worse unless the hardware was engineered with visual buffering in place which I can't see as Hyperkin remotely investing in.

So I got some close up first hands on photos before the E3 show http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...reorder-Thread


Overall it's a nice design, as I really like the Matte finish (still wouldn't do it to my car still) but I'm eager to try it out at the show.

[Akito01]

Why would anyone want to have HDMI on a classic console?

Because it's 2013, and those are the inputs that modern televisions have.

[Old_Skool_Fool]

Because it's 2013, and those are the inputs that modern televisions have.

Umm, yeah BUT these units don't utilize it for Anything honestly. And all modern TVs include a slew of connections. From standard AV, VGA, Svideo, Component because TV manufacturers want to cater to all devices in 2013.

So why would you want to put in your classic 80's/90's game console a HDMI output hence raising production costs and offering little to no value whatsoever in it's main purpose of outputting an image that would only be artifacted heavily via such a method?

[TheRedEye]

Why would anyone want to have HDMI on a classic console? It's not like it's going to do anything for the visuals of the games, if anything, it would make them worse unless the hardware was engineered with visual buffering in place which I can't see as Hyperkin remotely investing in.

Given that these are cheap Android devices running emulators, HDMI output will keep the picture clean, just like your computer.

EDIT: Also, as far as raising price, I'd imagine there are off-the-shelf parts being used here that already have HDMI built in. It's probably MORE expensive to add other outputs.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Umm, yeah BUT these units don't utilize it for Anything honestly. And all modern TVs include a slew of connections. From standard AV, VGA, Svideo, Component because TV manufacturers want to cater to all devices in 2013.

So why would you want to put in your classic 80's/90's game console a HDMI output hence raising production costs and offering little to no value whatsoever in it's main purpose of outputting an image that would only be artifacted heavily via such a method?

While there's not much value in taking a standard video feed of a classic console and running it through HDMI, if you're talking about something like Hyperkin's upcoming Retron 5 which utilizes emulation in tandem with upscaling designed with HD video resolution in mind, you'll wind up with a visually pleasing display.

I've used classic console emulators on a jailbroken PS3 and they output the most gorgeous, crisp, clean images on a modern TV.

Even a Wii outputting 8 and 16 bit games via a 480p RGB cable image looks better than any clone that I have.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I think it's just fine to use S-Video. S-Video is close to RGB anyway, and that's what these systems were designed for in the first place.

[Tanooki]

Why would anyone want to have HDMI on a classic console? It's not like it's going to do anything for the visuals of the games, if anything, it would make them worse unless the hardware was engineered with visual buffering in place which I can't see as Hyperkin remotely investing in.

So I got some close up first hands on photos before the E3 show http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...reorder-Thread


Overall it's a nice design, as I really like the Matte finish (still wouldn't do it to my car still) but I'm eager to try it out at the show.

Considering there's evidence of what HDMI does both due to the Hyperkin device but also the HDMI upgrade to existing toploaders from retrousb coming my first idea I have seeing your signature is that you're a shill for the hardware because your website DasReview is selling it. You're trying to talk down something that can do some stunningly sharp audio and video over HDMI on a modern TV that also isn't yet another set of Systems on a Chip in a new shell that Retrobit is offering again. You're comparing two very different types of systems and entirely unfairly.

[Jorpho]

I recently saw one of these Super Retro Adapters (or Super Retro Advance Adapters, as they seem to be named) and was kind of surprised I hadn't heard of it before. This seems to be the thread where it last came up.

Did anyone here end up buying one of these?

[Leo_A]

So you actually found something for sale? I've seen no evidence of it and it seems largely forgotten at this point.

Does it to do more than just get its power from the Super Nintendo? If it interfaces with a SuperNes controller and routes its AV output through the SuperNes like the Super Game Boy, I was considering giving it a try. It's not everyday a favorite classic console suddenly gains the ability to play two new libraries of games.

But I'm assuming at the very least that it has seperate AV output which destroys any interest I have in it.

[Flam]

Unless it has 100% compatibility with every game, what is the point to owning any of these 3rd party retro systems?
I just don't see why any are even needed. You can easily get a nes for 50$, snes for 50$, and genesis for 15$, so why would you spend almost that for one 3rd party system that is probably made of really cheap plastic and wont play every game.
I also think alot of the fun of playing older games is using original hardware.

^^ This

[Satoshi_Matrix]

[QUOTE=Leo_A;1987399]So you actually found something for sale? I've seen no evidence of it and it seems largely forgotten at this point.

Does it to do more than just get its power from the Super Nintendo? If it interfaces with a SuperNes controller and routes its AV output through the SuperNes like the Super Game Boy, I was considering giving it a try. It's not everyday a favorite classic console suddenly gains the ability to play two new libraries of games./QUOTE]

I'm in contact with RetroBit, and according to their senior marketing vp, the device won't ship until the end of the month.

Based on what I've been told in regards to the GBA adapter, it will route its video output via the internal workings of the Super Retro Trio, but not a OEM Super Nintendo/SuFami.

In other words, if you choose to use the original hardware, it will behave exactly like the existing NES RetroPort and Genesis RetroGen adapter, providing composite video and stereo sound via it's own connector, and not via the SNES's PPU and Multivideo output. The SNES hardware itself will only provide power and control input.

This is to be expected of course, as unlike the Super GameBoy, RetroBit's line of adapters do not run Super Nintendo software as a framework for the other platform.

It is the difference between an SNES WideBoy and the Super GameBoy.

Yes, they both play GameBoy games on the SNES, but one does so through direct hardware interface while the other is a SNES program that boots a BIOS and UI and [i]then[i] boots the GameBoy game.

RetroBit is a maker of hardware. They are not going to create an SNES program complete with a GBA bios and UI like the Super GameBoy or GameBoy Player. If that's what you're hoping for, you need a reality check.

The fact that they are making a GBA interface for the SNES at all is astounding in the first place.