Legit NEW cartridge based system coming to kickstarter, plays NEW game

[GREEN00]

http://venturebeat.com/2015/05/08/th...-game-console/

It's not an emulation console. It doesn't play your existing NES/SNES/Genesis/etc. games.

This is a NEW console that will get its own NEW games. On actual new cartridges.

Ports and sequels to old favorites are being discussed with publishers. Cart versions of things like Shovel Knight & Retro City Rampage are being discussed.

It's aiming for 16-bit era visuals.

I can actually imagine this system finding success. "Retro" games are very much in-demand, and there's an on-going desire for "traditional" games and for physical releases. I can totally picture myself dropping more money on this thing and its games than I do on PS4/Wii U/3DS combined.

[Jorpho]

http://venturebeat.com/2015/05/08/th...-game-console/

It's not an emulation console. It doesn't play your existing NES/SNES/Genesis/etc. games.

This is a NEW console that will get its own NEW games. On actual new cartridges.

Ports and sequels to old favorites are being discussed with publishers. Cart versions of things like Shovel Knight & Retro City Rampage are being discussed.

It's aiming for 16-bit era visuals.

Anything capable of running Shovel Knight and Retro City Rampage would not be inherently limited to 16-bit era visuals, unless they're planning to get heavily modified versions of Shovel Knight and Retro City Rampage, but it couldn't be worth the effort required to make such versions. Likewise, any other "new" software probably won't stay exclusive for long.

It's a nice idea, I guess, but I can't see it getting much traction, especially in the wake of the Ouya.

[Tanooki]

I think it's a neat idea, and smart move picking the old jaguar molds to save a bundle, but I can't see how this thing could succeed on a large scale. If this actually hit retail I could see buying it, if the price was low enough on it and the games, but only if it looked like it would survive. I don't want another console lying around, a faux collectors item with few games collectors will battle over. I can respect them wanting to limit it to the detail quality of like a SNES, GBA, or a 2D-DS capable level output, that would be fantastic. I just question how viable this is and if it could be sustained. These are the guys who keep panhandling more cash for each year of those magazines isn't it? If they were that successful in print/digital they should be able to bankroll the magazine without the extra cash infusion which makes me question if a more expensive console is a bright idea.

[Kaypar]

It's a nice idea, I guess, but I can't see it getting much traction, especially in the wake of the Ouya.

That pretty much sums up my thoughts exactly. I absolutely love the the concept, but I don't think there's enough interest in The Good Old Days for this to see any substantial success. I'm sure it's a system that I'd buy, only to play it for a couple of hours, then consign it to my shelf to gather dust, right next to my Ouya and FC Twin.

[Tanooki]

That's my fear and the most legit any rational person should have. Does anyone think this would get sustained and growable releases on it through even a shorter (4~yr) console life? I do not. I see it being like the NGPC at best, moderately supported, mostly by them, and then it peters out and you end up with a good list of solid games that you'll get bored of, being all played out, and run out of other junk to do and it ends up as a dust collector.

[Tupin]

I think it's a neat idea, and smart move picking the old jaguar molds to save a bundle, but I can't see how this thing could succeed on a large scale. If this actually hit retail I could see buying it, if the price was low enough on it and the games, but only if it looked like it would survive. I don't want another console lying around, a faux collectors item with few games collectors will battle over. I can respect them wanting to limit it to the detail quality of like a SNES, GBA, or a 2D-DS capable level output, that would be fantastic. I just question how viable this is and if it could be sustained. These are the guys who keep panhandling more cash for each year of those magazines isn't it? If they were that successful in print/digital they should be able to bankroll the magazine without the extra cash infusion which makes me question if a more expensive console is a bright idea.

To be fair, gaming print media is basically dead while retro gaming is not.

[celerystalker]

Yeah... this only stays around for awhile if there are realistically low sales goals and print runs. They need to accept that this sort of thing is niche, embrace it, and maximize their presence within those limitations instead of shooting for the moon.

[otaku]

I like the jaguar connection and mold deal. However cost would need to be low say $150 or less and even then its gonna be very niche like say the neo geo x . It seems practical to limit it power wise to keep cost and production in check however that limits my interest as well as I'd be much more interested in a new N64 like (or current gen like) console with carts

[The 1 2 P]

I don't give this long before it dies off and that's if it can even launch in the first place.

[FieryReign]

Surprising to hear so many negative nancies in this thread. This is the same guy who started Retro Magazine and Game Gavel? They seem like successful ventures. Shovel Knight and RTR are more 8-bit in art style though, not 16-bit. Not sure why he wants to port over already-played games that don't show what the system can do?

[Rickstilwell1]

The pessimism makes the Jaguar shaped shell appropriate for the system. We'll have to see if it can even sell as well as the Jaguar (which didn't sell very well.) Then we will find out if this is the mere shadow of the Jaguar or a new beam of light cast out from the Jaguar's remains...

[Tanooki]

Surprising to hear so many negative nancies in this thread. This is the same guy who started Retro Magazine and Game Gavel? They seem like successful ventures. Shovel Knight and RTR are more 8-bit in art style though, not 16-bit. Not sure why he wants to port over already-played games that don't show what the system can do?

Can't speak for anyone else, but it may fit. Mike may be a decent sales guy, but everything he does comes up looking bigger than better than it is in reality, and that's not a negative, more of a neutral. GG has been around for years yet it still hasn't gained any notable traction. Go there any day and see how few listings there really are, and how far fewer are done by the individual and not some online store front of a shop. I recently bought from there and it was a great better than ebay experience, but I've had an account for years and it was the first time I found something I actually wanted, and also where the price wasn't higher either. Funny thing, they both were games from an American living in Japan which has a big online store and is the only dude selling the medium I was after there. They have quality(GG) not quantity or variety. And then the magazine, fantastic thing really, very well done for the most part (seanbaby should never be put to print in a so called quality notable publication) but it seems that they can't even make the money to pay the bills or sustain their model without another kickstarter to bankroll another year. A good magazine digital, print, both, should be able to sell itself through word of mouth, shelf space, online presence, and cleanly showing up on Kindles and things for digital versions. They do not, something just isn't there.

SO when you think of that, then you look at this (and I"m not going to even factor the Jaguar failure in this and the memory the target audience would have of that) and see they want something marginally let's say nicer than SNES, maybe like am ARM based system GBA/DS level capable that runs on carts that really won't be meant at all to do 3D (but like GBA or even Saturn be coded for it) with a SNES ripoff controller with 2 analogs added to the face of it. You know what they're shooting for. The fact they're now trying to highlight year old plus mega seller indie games as possible launch games what they want. But making a more expensive (have to be) version of those games will just get collectors going and physical media lovers, but what about the casual player, the guy who walks into a walmart, a target or some mom and pop shop for games n' stuff would they buy that? Maybe. People buy those chinese shit Wii knockoffs for $50-100 bucks that don't swap games and have a bunch built in because they're cheap and easy idiot boxes. This though, it could be that easy too, but you won't have the big inside lineup, you'll have to get your lazy ass up and go find the game, somewhere on or offline, and again it'll look like a SNES/DS level android/console level thing that may or may not appeal to enough. It very well could launch, but I see it could be a case of another stagnating GameGavel or magazine that does ok, but not great, and will have to be kept on life support with added cash infusions if they're not super lucky.

[FieryReign]

And then the magazine, fantastic thing really, very well done for the most part (seanbaby should never be put to print in a so called quality notable publication)

Heeeyyyyy, I used to like Seanbaby... Made me laugh my ass off with those pieces he used to write for EGM, even as censored as they were. Didn't care much for his ego though.

[portnoyd]

This is the same guy who started Retro Magazine and Game Gavel? They seem like successful ventures.

[FieryReign]

Wow, I thought the corny ass meme fad was over? Learn how to type of few words instead of letting a picture speak for you... If you got something to say, say it...

[Tanooki]

Heeeyyyyy, I used to like Seanbaby... Made me laugh my ass off with those pieces he used to write for EGM, even as censored as they were. Didn't care much for his ego though.

I know, it's not a negative to his highly immature and somewhat funny stuff, it just doesn't belong in print is all if someone wants to be taken in the least bit seriously. It's like trying to get the writers of Spongebob pump out a million seller novel for educated adults and expecting to be taken seriously as it won't do them any good with a rep like that. Combine that with the ego problem which is still there, it's just not something I think people should pay for.

[WCP]

Isn't this just going to be some type of android console in a jaguar shell ?

The games will be on carts, but it will just be essentially flash memory right ?


If it was actually legit hardware, with like say some form of 68000 processor and stuff like that, and was truly like a 16-bit machine, but maybe with better color and sound. That would be really cool. But this sounds more like it's "pretending" to be a 16-bit console.

I will admit that I haven't really read all the details, so I might be really, really off with my take, but from what I have looked at so far, that's my initial impression.

[Bojay1997]

Isn't this just going to be some type of android console in a jaguar shell ?

The games will be on carts, but it will just be essentially flash memory right ?


If it was actually legit hardware, with like say some form of 68000 processor and stuff like that, and was truly like a 16-bit machine, but maybe with better color and sound. That would be really cool. But this sounds more like it's "pretending" to be a 16-bit console.

I will admit that I haven't really read all the details, so I might be really, really off with my take, but from what I have looked at so far, that's my initial impression.

It's supposedly an FPGA combined with ARM architecture. From the practical standpoint, that means developers will have to create or license "cores" so that the hardware can configure itself to function like the intended original platform or some totally new platform. I think that this requirement more than any other is going to kill this idea before it gets started as the number of people who have the technical skills to do this that are willing to take it on for a niche of a niche market is probably next to zero. I also find it funny that the goto game in all the interviews is Shovel Knight and while that may look like a 16-bit game, it actually is a very modern design behind the scenes that requires some significant processing power and was essentially programmed on a modern PC using methods that wouldn't easily translate to a 16-bit environment, particularly one that requires a high level of expertise to program for.

[AlphaGamer]

Wow, I thought the corny ass meme fad was over? Learn how to type of few words instead of letting a picture speak for you... If you got something to say, say it...

[FieryReign]