"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
Updated 1st page with new info!
"And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
So does anyone know if Mega Man X2 or X3 work?
#vbender
X2 and a RetroDuo are on my "to-buy" list. I'd get X3, but I have the PC version already (still want it though).
I asked the couple that owns the retro game booth at my local flea market about the RetroDuo, and they said they won't carry it. The reason: quality concerns. They claimed that they had heard nothing but bad things about them breaking and wearing out quickly. I asked if they meant the FC Twin and other Yobo systems, but they seemed to know what I was talking about.
I own an NES and a SNES, but neither one looks close to decent on my 42" LCD, on any available input. My NES over RCA plugs looks like the page 1 shots of nes-over-s-video with the solid colors not being solid, and coax looks about the same but sounds better. SNES looks bright and washed out over coax, and has a big discolored vertical strip down the center-left. Mode7 effects have weird "shadows" over other graphics (especially the pendulum screen in Chrono Trigger). I'd love to try component output on SNES, if there's available cables or a pinout to make a set.
Would a RetroDuo offer a proper solution to my problems, or would it be mostly the same? From what I've read, the compatibility is high enough, it's just a question of quality.
Hello and welcome to the forums!...The Retro Duo is by far the best NES/SNES clone that I have seen..But,like any other clone it has its ups and downs...I'am the proud owner of 3 Retro Duos.On my personal experience with them,I have found a few minor problems that with little technical knowledge, can be fixed...(missing screws to hold the actual cartridge connectors and broken ribbon cables)...Funny thing is that the en-samblers new of these problems when putting them together and in some cases they decided to only add jumper wires instead fixing the whole thing).....
For the SNES side,the company that manucfatures the Retro Duo went the extra mile by giving us a RGB encoder....The Y/C signals provide true s-video for it.
NES side,it is good compared to other clones..But for me there is a bit of sound issue...
Other than that, it has great compatibility with games and accessories!...I'll definately recommend it!..
Last edited by ooXxXoo; 04-13-2008 at 02:33 PM.
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I know that you've mentioned the RGB output before, but do you have any diagrams or specific information relating to a mod for the RD? In my particular case, either VGA or component cables would work nicely. If not, S-Video should suffice.
I'm pretty much sold on the RD, just waiting a bit to hear on how they hold up, etc. Most likely going to buy from Amazon sellers, unless anyone else knows a better/cheaper source.
I wired a NES connector to the RetroDuo and it works just fine. So now I can use the Messiah pad while playing the NES side. NES lightgun is next on my experiment list, but I need another SNES pad for the extra pins/wiring, as a regular SNES pad leaves two signals unconnected.
The NES sound so far seems to be pretty good, I haven't really noticed any major issues with the exception of Jackal. Jackal seems to be particularly bad - the 'melody' side of the music seems muted, while the percussion is fine; the firing sound is wrong/garbled; the grenade sound is almost non existent. Anyone else notice this in Jackal?
Man, what was I thinking? Thing looks like a rejected pen stand design designed for Ikea by Fisher-Price.
Shiny black plastic doesn't withstand the ravages of time very well, I'm afraid.
Anyway, I wouldn't say that detracts from the utility or the decent dimensions of the device - six by six inches is pretty good.
I'm probably going to go ahead and order mine. Which color though? Everything on my racks is black, save for my Wii and a blue Linksys router. I'm tempted to go for the black one, but wasn't the white one mentioned as having better construction or quality?
I'll try to give you an idea from my personal opinion on which one to get!...I've found a major issue with one the(clocks)crystal oscillators on the white model... it can be replaced to work great again...Although this issue may only be within a few revisions,since I already have seen as many as 3 different of them...
Later on,I got another brand new Black Retro Duo for me little nephew, and as I first started testing it,the s-video feature didn't work at all...Again,I opened the system case and found many of its ribbon cables broken...I replaced all of them and now if fine....But remember,this problem came from a new sealed system(factory defective)!....my tutorials to fix these problems should be available soon....In the mean time I hope this info helps with your decition..,
Also,there is a static problem with the Black plastic shell color,kind of like what the PS3 suffers of, it will be full of dust in a matter of seconds+mine came all scratched when new,while in the white model you can't really tell as much.
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Hmmm. Considering that the S-Video is the main reason I'm getting one, I might wait a bit. As soon as I know for sure that they're up to the quality I'm hoping for, I'll go for it. Aside from old IDE cables, I don't really have a lot of supplies that I could use to fix one offhand.
(and I REALLY want one now >_<)
Unfortunately,at times specially clones and sometimes even official systems,later revisions happen to be worse than the earlier's ones...I'm hoping that due to the Retro Duo production cost they won't start to replace electronics parts for others that'll be cheaper...One of my concerns could be the encoder...they could easily drop the whole samsung encoder and get a cheaper one(without RGB),or none at all...You should get your Retro Duo with high hopes,hoping for the best!..It may get worse!..
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Yeah, same issue here. I coated the thing with Novus plastic polish and it does help quite a bit though.
So after some more playing around with the RetroDuo, here are some more observations:
- My Tototek SNES flash cart works just fine with it
- PowerPak sram load/save works fine
- I have a Super Mario World cart that does not boot at all on the RD. Oddly enough if attached to a Game Genie, it works fine
- My Rolling Thunder cart will not boot/run properly on the RD, but the same game loaded from the PowerPak works fine
- My Dragon Warrior cart will not boot on the RD, but will work fine if attached to the NES Game Genie
Overall I am very pleased with the RD. It does seem to have some odd sound issues that the Yobo/FC didn't have, but the NES compatibility overall is better.
I've had extensive experience with other clones such as the NEX, Yobos, FCTwin, Blade, Power, etc. and though still imperfect, I proclaim the RD King of the Nintendo Clones!
I ordered a black one from an Amazon seller just a second ago, after reading that. I have a feeling you're going to be right.
Are you sure the RGB encoder isn't part of the design for something important to the console itself? If there's anything I've learned from hobbyist electronics, it's that one chip can be used for lots of different things.
And also, I'm still wondering about that chip. Could I hook composite cables up to it and get 480p signal or is it really just for SCART?
Well, turns out the shipper I ordered from on Amazon is out of black ones, so it looks like I'm getting a white one (they described it as Retro Duo (blue)).
I hate sellers that post out of stock items...
Yeah, I think it is probably an issue with the specific cart/connectors that isn't mating quite right with the RetroDuo, and that the GGs alleviate it.
I'd still like to know why Rolling Thunder carts have been reported as not working (mine too) but I can play it from the PowerPak just fine.