RetroN5: Hands on first look

[treismac]

Not sure where the submission thing is coming from. I'm fairly positive that I've read from people who are beta testing the system that most homebrews and hacks have been working, although not 100% of them.

Hmmm... Is there a legitimate source for this submission process talk that is bouncing across NA and DP?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Will this puppy work with everdrive/powerpak?

Its currently unknown. Hyperkin hasn't said one way or the other. If nobody else reports on flashcart compatibility before I get my review system, I'll let you guys know how the RetroN5 reacts to flashcarts.

It's not playing directly off the carts but dumping them into memory first, so if anything you'd probably just see the the flash cart's menus, if that much, and never be able to load a game.

This is what is speculated, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's what the results will be. Until either Hyperkin officially makes an announcement or I [or another retro game reviewer] runs the system through a stress test, this speculation is just that - speculation.


While I personally feel the RetroN5 probably won't support flashcarts (at least, not until hackers unleash that potential in the very hackable android framework), I think its important to separate speculation and inferring based on snippets from actual facts.

[stardust4ever]

I'm curious as to how the Retron5 is supposed to run SNES SA-1 games (SMRPG, Kirby Super Star, DreamLand 3) and Sega Virtua processor (Virtua Racing). Those games are notoriously difficult to dump yet Hyperkin claims they work. While we are at it, anybody own VR7 Lagrange Point for Famicom? Somehow I doubt that one works either. Also I'd love to see someone cram an original NWC in there, that's one beastly mapper...

[Atarileaf]

I have a question that could probably only be answered by someone who's had hands on experience with both systems but I bought an Ouya recently and am loving it for emulation, in fact it emulates MORE systems than the Retron 5 but my question is - if someone already has an ouya is the retron 5 still worth getting and if so, why? I honestly want to know because even though I have an ouya, I haven't ruled out the retron 5 but wanted to make sure there's a compelling reason to do so.By my username you can tell I'm a huge atari fan so being able to emulate my 2600 collection at 1080p without dragging the system and all those games in the living room is a huge plus for me and unfortunately it's not a system the retron emulates.ON ANOTHER SUBJECT, WHY IS THE MESSAGEBOARD MESSING UP MY PARAGRAPH BREAKS AND JAMMING EVERYTHING TOGETHER?

[Leo_A]

The software has been doing some odd things for the past day for me as well. [Edit: I see my paragraphs are intact, but I got two errors after hitting post just now]

I suppose the big advantage over the Ouya are the native controller ports. Unless you buy adapters that may or may not be available, you can't use original controllers on the Ouya. On the Retron 5, you have three pairs of original controller ports by default at no extra expense and with no setup or compatibility hassles.

In practical terms, I can't think of much else the Retron 5 has going for it over the Ouya. But the rumored addition of N64 support in next year's model would be an advantage since judging by Satoshi's video on YouTube, N64 Ouya emulation is in its infancy. If playing N64 titles appeals to you (Which after watching you on YouTube and reading your post for years would kind of surprise me), a future Retron 6 might be a better proposition come late this year or 2015 if done well and if homebrewers don't make strides in that area on the Ouya before then.

[StoneAgeGamer]

I'm curious as to how the Retron5 is supposed to run SNES SA-1 games (SMRPG, Kirby Super Star, DreamLand 3) and Sega Virtua processor (Virtua Racing). Those games are notoriously difficult to dump yet Hyperkin claims they work. While we are at it, anybody own VR7 Lagrange Point for Famicom? Somehow I doubt that one works either. Also I'd love to see someone cram an original NWC in there, that's one beastly mapper...

Not sure about SA-1, but I would assume they work, haven't tried them. As for the SVP, yes it does work. Apparently Hyperkin had to make a special hardware and software change just to get Virtua Racing to work, but it should work on the release system.

[stardust4ever]

I have a question that could probably only be answered by someone who's had hands on experience with both systems but I bought an Ouya recently and am loving it for emulation, in fact it emulates MORE systems than the Retron 5 but my question is - if someone already has an ouya is the retron 5 still worth getting and if so, why? I honestly want to know because even though I have an ouya, I haven't ruled out the retron 5 but wanted to make sure there's a compelling reason to do so.By my username you can tell I'm a huge atari fan so being able to emulate my 2600 collection at 1080p without dragging the system and all those games in the living room is a huge plus for me and unfortunately it's not a system the retron emulates.ON ANOTHER SUBJECT, WHY IS THE MESSAGEBOARD MESSING UP MY PARAGRAPH BREAKS AND JAMMING EVERYTHING TOGETHER?

IMHO, messing with ROMs can be a PITA, but others will invariably pipe in and say the same about getting 30yr old carts to work.

Honestly, I've primarily been using my Ouya as intented, to play indie games. I did download all the emulators initially, but never really used them as I couldn't be arsed into loading ROMs on it due to the fugly process of connecting it to PC prior to the mass storage update. Another thing to point out, sadly, is that Ouya's mass storage driver update last fall broke compatability with the Retrode. Before, emulators had to supply their own mass storage drivers to work with USB, but when Ouya updated their OS to support mass storage, they included support for NTFS and FAT32 but supidly forgot to add FAT16. The Retrode uses FAT so when plugged in, Ouya throws an error saying "Unsupported Device" and disables it. Now even the joypad ports on Retrode cannot be used anymore. I recently aquired a Retrode + N64 plugin and was a little bummed out it doesn't work on Ouya anymore like it did in the YT videos. All those vids on Youtube showing Ouya happily running with a Retrode, game cart, and joypad plugged in? Those were posted in June of 2013 BEFORE the fall mass storage driver update. Retrode compatability issues aside, Ouya is an excellent emulation console, and the USB storage update makes it eaier than ever to load ROMs on it. That said, as someone who has a nice assortment of retro consoles, I prefer playing the original carts. So I use the Ouya for playing indie games and original hardware for retro games.

My consoles aren't getting any younger, so I'm really looking forward to using the Retron5 to reduce the amount of clutter and reduce wear and tear on my original systems. With Retron5, I don't have to unpack my Famicom, NES, SNES Genesis, whatever and put it up afterwords every time I want to play a cart from another system. As for homebrew/repro/whatever compatability, I still have old faithful when I need it. Retron5 will complement, not replace my old game consoles. Also there are options like controller remapping, save backup (back up your savegame to the Retron5 before replcing the battery), built in cheats system where you don't have to use Google to look up the codes for your favorite game, save states, screenshot capture (though I'm still a little peeved they used lossy Jpeg instead of PNG), crisp HD display with loads of options, etc...

While both Retron5 and Ouya are $99 game consoles for budget minded consumers, the simularities end there. Retron5 supports carts only and cannot load ROMs (unless someone later hacks the firmware, which I believe has a good possibility of occuring down the road), and Ouya cannot load cartridges, however it does allow people to download ROMs as well as modern games. The two consoles are mutually exclusive in what they are capable of and I think it's safe to say that if you are trying to decide to choose one console, you will miss out on most of what the other has to offer.

[Atarileaf]

If playing N64 titles appeals to you (Which after watching you on YouTube and reading your post for years would kind of surprise me), a future Retron 6 might be a better proposition come late this year or 2015 if done well and if homebrewers don't make strides in that area on the Ouya before then.

I have Robotron 64 But you're right, I'm not a huge N64 fan. I did notice the N64 emulator on ouya chug a little big with goldeneye, just as a trial. Might have been a bad rom though. Otherwise the ouya has run everything I've thrown at it. No atari 7800 emulator yet, tried side-loading one but it's not ready for prime time. Thanks for the reply PS - Ouya is also awesome as an XBMC box

[Leo_A]

I actually believe I've seen you mention that one before, so my mistake.

Fine underrated game, wish more of those late 90's remakes of classic arcade games were as well done as that.

[NESter]

So the Ouya kinda sucks at N64 emulation then? I was sort of thinking about getting one just for that purpose.

[Zap!]

I hope I don't come across as an jerk for asking this again, but why is there no date yet with April (the company's release date for months) two days away? I am sorry for being that guy, but I really don't think it's an unreasonable question, especially since I pre-ordered. Hell, even if they say April 30th, that's fine. But for Heaven's sake, say something.

[Leo_A]

So the Ouya kinda sucks at N64 emulation then? I was sort of thinking about getting one just for that purpose.

My impression is that it's hit or miss with a lot of potential. Hopefully they capitalize on that unlike what I understand the situation was with Wii64 for the Wii's Homebrew Channel where after a promising start, the authors stopped short of the finish line and left people with an intriguing might've been instead of a truly useful program.

Unless some recent developments have occurred, I think you'd be making a mistake at this time.

[treismac]

No atari 7800 emulator [on the Ouya] yet, tried side-loading one but it's not ready for prime time.

This really, really needs to be fixed. For what it's worth, right now when I have to feed my 7800 emulation fix I use Wii7800 on Wiibrew, which does a fine job.

[T2KFreeker]

So the Ouya kinda sucks at N64 emulation then? I was sort of thinking about getting one just for that purpose.

Uhm, no. The emulator still needs work though. It's like any other emulation program when it first starts out, it works, but needs to have the kinks worked out.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I'm curious as to how the Retron5 is supposed to run SNES SA-1 games (SMRPG, Kirby Super Star, DreamLand 3) and Sega Virtua processor (Virtua Racing). Those games are notoriously difficult to dump yet Hyperkin claims they work. While we are at it, anybody own VR7 Lagrange Point for Famicom?

I've got it. I'll test all the chips you spoke of when I get mine.

I have a question that could probably only be answered by someone who's had hands on experience with both systems but I bought an Ouya recently and am loving it for emulation, in fact it emulates MORE systems than the Retron 5 but my question is - if someone already has an ouya is the retron 5 still worth getting and if so, why? I honestly want to know because even though I have an ouya, I haven't ruled out the retron 5 but wanted to make sure there's a compelling reason to do so.

Practical reasons? If you already have an Ouya, there is no practical reason to buy the Retron5. As you said, the Ouya does far, far more than the Retron5 ever will. (don't forget, in addition to all the emulators it has over the Retron5, it also has 800+ games developed for the Ouya, plus multimedia apps)

So then it comes down to your attachment to physical media, and the size of your collection. Though unconfirmed, it is speculated that the RetroN5 will not work with flash carts, and as a result will only be useful to people with a sizable collection of original cartridges. If that's you, and you find yourself wanting to insert your cartridge rather than booting a rom, then and only then is there a reason to have the RetroN5.

I'm buying one because I do have a sizable collection, but also because I'm curious about it. It's very possible that after my review, I'm going to sell off a good number of my physical carts like EarthBound. My actual attachment to the physical cartridges of my childhood just isn't what it once was.

I suppose the big advantage over the Ouya are the native controller ports. Unless you buy adapters that may or may not be available, you can't use original controllers on the Ouya. On the Retron 5, you have three pairs of original controller ports by default at no extra expense and with no setup or compatibility hassles.

While it's true the Ouya doesn't have native support for retro game controllers like the RetroN5, that's a very minor thing to fix. The Ouya is crazy open source, so you can literally use any USB controller for PC/360/PS3 or controller adapter you want. Most often, I use a $15 SNES to USB adapter to use a real SNES controller with the various emulators.

You could get a series of adapters to use whatever you want on USB. They make adapters for pretty much everything, even Vectrex controllers. Or you could just use a PS3 controller, or the original Ouya pad. Neither are really bad choices.

In practical terms, I can't think of much else the Retron 5 has going for it over the Ouya. But the rumored addition of N64 support in next year's model would be an advantage since judging by Satoshi's video on YouTube, N64 Ouya emulation is its infancy. If playing N64 titles appeals to you (Which after watching you on YouTube and reading your post for years would kind of surprise me), a future Retron 6 might be a better proposition come late this year or 2015 if done well and if homebrewers don't make strides in that area on the Ouya before then.

The N64 emulation on Ouya has improved since I last made videos on it. PS1 emulation as well. There's even a beta Dreamcast emulator for Ouya now. The thing about N64 emulation is that it differs depending on the game you want to play. Some games that were completely unplayable a few months ago have done a 180 and are now fully playable and better than on the real hardware, such as the almighty Doom 64. Other games are buggy, while others still play just fine. I'm sure that a year from now the N64 emulation will be much, much better. The thing to keep in mind about the Ouya is that none of the emulators are static. They all have periodic upgdates. For example, the MegaDrive emulation recently got upgraded for analog stick sensitivity adjustment for After Burner which actually used an analog stick on the real MegaDrive hardware.

So the Ouya kinda sucks at N64 emulation then? I was sort of thinking about getting one just for that purpose.

It depends on what you want to run. Some games run perfect, some are okay with some glitches, some are unplayable. I wouldn't recommend buying an Ouya solely to play N64 emulation. There's so much more it can do and far better, from a bunch of free awesome retro inspired games to multimedia apps to some paid but totally awesome games, and then of course the emulators. i think the Ouya is a pretty awesome little box, and certainly much more established than any of the other microconsoles out there. The rumored Tegra 4 Ouya will probably be able to handle N64 emulation better, but don't count out the current Ouya just yet. Development is constant on that thing.

I hope I don't come across as an jerk for asking this again, but why is there no date yet with April (the company's release date for months) two days away? I am sorry for being that guy, but I really don't think it's an unreasonable question, especially since I pre-ordered. Hell, even if they say April 30th, that's fine. But for Heaven's sake, say something.

It's fucking Hyperkin. They're a tiny company first and foremost, and a lot of the time they do they don't seem to have any idea what they're doing. I would suggest following their facebook page. That seems to be where they post info.

This really, really needs to be fixed. For what it's worth, right now when I have to feed my 7800 emulation fix I use Wii7800 on Wiibrew, which does a fine job.

Oh, I guess I never noticed. I'm sure one will crop up eventually, but the 7800 community is tiny. Are you sure 7800 support isn't in RetroArch?

[Leo_A]

You've all but put me solidly in the Ouya camp in past weeks. I'm just waiting to see what the new version of it is going to be and decide then what to do.

But if you want to use original controllers, $15 USB adapters start to add up if you wanted to add a NES, SuperNes, and a Genesis solution to the Ouya. And if you want to set it up for multiplayer and wanted to stay faithful to original controllers for some bizarre reason, we're talking essentially the cost of the Ouya in controller adapters if one wanted a pair of each [Edit: Or is that not even possible due to only having a single USB port?]

These built in controller ports are definitely a major difference between the two (Although to me at least, going the Ouya route to a HDTV, you might as well go all the way and tie a nice wireless gamepad to it and leave the cord behind). I suspect for a few out there, it's a definite plus in favor of Hyperkin.

The N64 emulation on Ouya has improved since I last made videos on it.

That's good to hear, I'm surprised that there aren't more demonstration videos on YouTube of the N64 emulator in action (And most of what little there is that I checked out recently were a year or so out of date).

Maybe it's time for a re-review?

[Eternal Champion]

Been playing a lot of Genesis games and they look and sound great. Streets of Rage sounds amazing as it should, graphics are crisp and clean like the other systems I have played.

What are the video outputs on the RetroN5?

[Drclaw411]

I'm curious as to how the Retron5 is supposed to run SNES SA-1 games (SMRPG, Kirby Super Star, DreamLand 3) and Sega Virtua processor (Virtua Racing). Those games are notoriously difficult to dump yet Hyperkin claims they work. While we are at it, anybody own VR7 Lagrange Point for Famicom? Somehow I doubt that one works either. Also I'd love to see someone cram an original NWC in there, that's one beastly mapper...

IIRC they posted pics/vids of Mario RPG and Kirby running. And I know they also tested NWC. Some game store that they went to or something...the owner had a grey cart and let them test it, and it worked. They posted about it on their facebook page a while back.

[StoneAgeGamer]

What are the video outputs on the RetroN5?

HDMI only

[Eternal Champion]

HDMI only

Ah OK. Well, I like the idea of this more than straight emulation, frankly. Dunno exactly why. I like having the original carts.
Anyway, both of my Samsung TVs have only one HDMI and I have no A/V receivers. As I have the games and hardware themselves and an old CRT, I'll just hang on to the systems. Sure, there's the added visual benefit of full-on HDMI, but I can do s-video for SNES and I paid for a YPbPr mod for Genesis. So outside of doing mods I can see the benefit.
So it seems that the RetroN5 is for people who...don't have a CRT but have all their old games? Sold off the systems but kept the games? Would people really do this?