Retron 4 (console for snes\nes\genny etc)

[Zap!]

I like the system a lot, so I hope I don't get blasted for being a hater for saying that I really, really, really wish it had wi-fi. I'd pay more for that feature.

[cybercylon]

I may get one but (1)The price has to come down. New R5's are hovering around $199 Cdn in my neck of the woods. (2) From what I hear, the vaus controller for nes arkanoid doesn't work and being a huge arkanoid fan on the nes, this is a must fix for me to be interested.

It may be no better in the states in some areas given that the currency exchange is about equal. I think I saw $179 in one retro store. That's nearly half way to a PS4. At that price, I am not interested. If it gets back down to something more reasonable, then I might be interested.

 

It's that and I would have to start collecting carts again as I unloaded my nintendo collection a few years ago. Things that I like that were once cheap or at least affordable are expensive... presumably due to the fact that people that were kids in that era are buying things up. There is Genesis part of it, but the Genesis collection and what I have bought on the 360 covers most of what I want.

[AtariLeaf]

It may be no better in the states in some areas given that the currency exchange is about equal. I think I saw $179 in one retro store. That's nearly half way to a PS4. At that price, I am not interested. If it gets back down to something more reasonable, then I might be interested.

 

It's that and I would have to start collecting carts again as I unloaded my nintendo collection a few years ago. Things that I like that were once cheap or at least affordable are expensive... presumably due to the fact that people that were kids in that era are buying things up. There is Genesis part of it, but the Genesis collection and what I have bought on the 360 covers most of what I want.

 

This thing was supposed to be $99 then after the "delays" went up to $139. I guess now we're seeing the supply and demand aspect but I can't imagine anyone wanting one of these at the $200 range. I backed out at $139. I'm sure once the novelty wears off and sales drop off we'll see a good price reduction.

 

As well, another reason for hanging back is I want to see how these things hold up after 6 months to a year. Very curious what the failure rate on these might be after that length of time.

[Atariboy]

Another excellent reason to hold back is the inevitable revision down the road. Not counting their handheld, I believe that this is their 4th attempt at this. Unless Hyperkin changes course or fails, we're all but guaranteed that 12-18 months down the road, we'll get another improved revision that builds on this foundation.

Edited July 6, 2014 by Atariboy

[Bill Loguidice]

Another excellent reason to hold back is the inevitable revision down the road. Not counting their handheld, I believe that this is their 4th attempt at this. Unless Hyperkin changes course or fails, we're all but guaranteed that 12-18 months down the road, we'll get another improved revision that builds on this foundation.

 

I seriously doubt we'll get a RetroN 6 in 12 - 18 months, particularly since this has flashable updates. Even if we did (and we won't), that's still 12 - 18 months of use between now and then. It's worth supporting now as long as one is comfortable with the real (non-gouging) retail price.

[cybercylon]

 

I seriously doubt we'll get a RetroN 6 in 12 - 18 months, particularly since this has flashable updates. Even if we did (and we won't), that's still 12 - 18 months of use between now and then. It's worth supporting now as long as one is comfortable with the real (non-gouging) retail price.

I would echo AtariLeaf's comment about waiting around 6 months to see how these things hold up.

 

About revisions, I don't think we will see a RetroN 6 any time soon. Maybe AtariBoy was thinking smaller scale. The original release of the RetroN 3 could not play some games like Castlevania 3. Later revisions could and from what I heard, the sound quality was somewhat better. There is no physical change in appearance, and I think the only way to tell them apart was how the box was labelled. Don't remember. That RetroN 3 went out of my hands with my remaining Nintendo collection awhile ago...

[AtariLeaf]

Yep, I'm waiting at least until late fall and see how these hold up. I'm not convinced the build quality is all that great on these things.

[Atariboy]

I seriously doubt we'll get a RetroN 6 in 12 - 18 months, particularly since this has flashable updates. Even if we did (and we won't), that's still 12 - 18 months of use between now and then. It's worth supporting now as long as one is comfortable with the real (non-gouging) retail price.

Their business model depends upon a significant segment of their customer base rebuying a revised version of the product. I'd be very surprised if we reach two years from now and there isn't an improved Retron that has taken this one's place.

 

And I didn't really mean to advocate for waiting although that's how it ended up reading. What I really meant was that one benefit to playing the waiting game here to see how everything shakes out is that the inevitable and hopefully improved revision of this product just might be available or at least announced by the time one is ready to make a purchase.

 

So not only could you go for the enhanced release, it should also drive prices down on the existing Retron 5. For someone that's interested but in no particular rush to acquire one just yet, waiting isn't such a bad thing.

[128Kgames]

 

This thing was supposed to be $99 then after the "delays" went up to $139. I guess now we're seeing the supply and demand aspect but I can't imagine anyone wanting one of these at the $200 range. I backed out at $139. I'm sure once the novelty wears off and sales drop off we'll see a good price reduction.

 

As well, another reason for hanging back is I want to see how these things hold up after 6 months to a year. Very curious what the failure rate on these might be after that length of time.

 

My pre-order from newegg.com still came in at $99, tax free and shipped for free, so not everybody jacked up the price. What retailers actually charged more when this was released?

 

For $99, I'm still enjoying mine...

[dashv]

I'll let you guys know how well it's holding up in five more months.

 

Here's my impressions one month in:

http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,5017.0.html

Edited July 7, 2014 by dashv

[Andromeda Stardust]

Stone Age Gamer and most other small retailers had to jack up their price. I cancelled my preorder after I heard of issues people were having with the hardware. Newegg and Amazon are huge corporations making millions in profit so they probably ate the price difference.

 

Not all bad as I put the money from my preorder refund towards a 7800 system.

[Zap!]

Another excellent reason to hold back is the inevitable revision down the road. Not counting their handheld, I believe that this is their 4th attempt at this. Unless Hyperkin changes course or fails, we're all but guaranteed that 12-18 months down the road, we'll get another improved revision that builds on this foundation.

 

Yeah but by that logic, you'll never get a Hyperkin system because a better one will always be out in 12-18 months. It's like saying no to the PS4, because one day the 5 will be out (yeah I know, a little extreme considering they come out every 5 or 6 years). But the same premise can be used for phones or almost anything. Always something better coming out, unless there's nuclear war.

[+Gemintronic]

Most likely the next Retron X will feature a whole new set of emulated consoles with the same advantages and disadvantages of their current strategy.

[Andromeda Stardust]

@Wh8te Knight: What does nuclear war have to do with anything? We dropped two atom bombs on Japan and some 40 years later they send us some of the best video games ever made. They must be among the most forgiving people on the planet. Where's all the Karma?

[AtariLeaf]

 

Yeah but by that logic, you'll never get a Hyperkin system because a better one will always be out in 12-18 months. It's like saying no to the PS4, because one day the 5 will be out (yeah I know, a little extreme considering they come out every 5 or 6 years). But the same premise can be used for phones or almost anything. Always something better coming out, unless there's nuclear war.

 

A lot of us do the same thing with the big three. I know I do. I bought a PS3 after the PS4 was released. One, price drops make the previous incarnation more attractive and two, you hope at least, the bugs have been worked out. I won't buy the Retron 5 right away for the same reason I don't want to buy any console right away - wait and hear how it's holding up over a few months to a year and see what the failure rate is, how people like it over a certain span of time and see if and when there may be a price drop.

 

There's a reason I'm not an early adopter on most electronics and it has nothing to do with the next big thing down the line.

Edited July 7, 2014 by AtariLeaf

[Zap!]

@Wh8te Knight: What does nuclear war have to do with anything? We dropped two atom bombs on Japan and some 40 years later they send us some of the best video games ever made. They must be among the most forgiving people on the planet. Where's all the Karma?

 

That wasn't really nuclear war since it was one sided, and it wasn't rebuilt over night. But yeah they really turned themselves around.

[Atariboy]

Yeah but by that logic, you'll never get a Hyperkin system because a better one will always be out in 12-18 months. It's like saying no to the PS4, because one day the 5 will be out (yeah I know, a little extreme considering they come out every 5 or 6 years). But the same premise can be used for phones or almost anything. Always something better coming out, unless there's nuclear war.

Yeah, but like I said, I'm not advocating for anyone to wait before making a purchase.

[cybercylon]

 

A lot of us do the same thing with the big three. I know I do. I bought a PS3 after the PS4 was released. One, price drops make the previous incarnation more attractive and two, you hope at least, the bugs have been worked out. I won't buy the Retron 5 right away for the same reason I don't want to buy any console right away - wait and hear how it's holding up over a few months to a year and see what the failure rate is, how people like it over a certain span of time and see if and when there may be a price drop.

 

There's a reason I'm not an early adopter on most electronics and it has nothing to do with the next big thing down the line.

I'll let the early adopters be the beta testers for me. In this case, if RetroN 5 sells well, but there are hardware issues, it may take a revision or two to get it right. Functionally, any revision would be the same... just more reliable. Unfortunately, this product has not been out long enough or has sold enough to have any clue as it how reliable it is. That and the jacked up price means waiting will cause less anxiety for some.

 

The 360 hardware debacle should be fresh in everyone's mind. It wasn't until the Jasper revision that they got it right. How far were we into the 360's life cycle by then.... 2-3 years?

[dashv]

I'll let the early adopters be the beta testers for me. In this case, if RetroN 5 sells well, but there are hardware issues, it may take a revision or two to get it right. Functionally, any revision would be the same... just more reliable. Unfortunately, this product has not been out long enough or has sold enough to have any clue as it how reliable it is. That and the jacked up price means waiting will cause less anxiety for some.

 

The 360 hardware debacle should be fresh in everyone's mind. It wasn't until the Jasper revision that they got it right. How far were we into the 360's life cycle by then.... 2-3 years?

Thank you. It makes me chuckle to read comments left on the Hyperkin facebook page from people adamant that "SONY and MS would never release a console with problems like this". Not only would they... They have. And they have enough money and know-how that they shouldn't have.

 

I'm actually quite impressed overall with what Hyperkin has been able to accomplish even if their customer friendliness and support could benefit from some refinement.

 

Edited July 8, 2014 by dashv

[elbarto1]

I'll let you guys know how well it's holding up in five more months.

 

Here's my impressions one month in:

http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,5017.0.html

Great read dashv. I fully agree on all counts except for setting up an RMA. It was really easy for me just by emailing their support dept through the hyperkin website (at the bottom)

I don't have Facebook anymore so this was my only avenue to contact them and I had a RMA set up in about 3 days. I mailed off my busted grey unit and requested a black one in return. They sent my black one back to me in a process that took about 3 weeks.

 

I also have 2 units because of being impatient and not wanting to wait the 3 weeks. Both work great and I'm loving the console, except for the build quality.

[dashv]

Great read dashv. I fully agree on all counts except for setting up an RMA. It was really easy for me just by emailing their support dept through the hyperkin website (at the bottom)

I don't have Facebook anymore so this was my only avenue to contact them and I had a RMA set up in about 3 days. I mailed off my busted grey unit and requested a black one in return. They sent my black one back to me in a process that took about 3 weeks.

I also have 2 units because of being impatient and not wanting to wait the 3 weeks. Both work great and I'm loving the console, except for the build quality.

Thanks for the comments. One thing I plan to cover in another month or so is people's stories about support good and bad!

[Andromeda Stardust]

I agree with the others: the best course of action right now is to ride it out and wait for the bugs to get ironed out. I don't believe in paying money to become a beta tester.

[Zap!]

RetroN 5 version 1.5 software update has been released:

 

http://retron5.in/node/6

[godslabrat]

I really wish a clone would be made like this that would support the vectrex. That's one system that's limited by finite original hardware. An hdtv with an hdmi connection could be a workable, if imperfect, substitute for a vector monitor.

[Bill Loguidice]

I really wish a clone would be made like this that would support the vectrex. That's one system that's limited by finite original hardware. An hdtv with an hdmi connection could be a workable, if imperfect, substitute for a vector monitor.

 

I think an iPad with iCade is about as close as we'll get, and is probably better than an HDTV version. Honestly, without a true vector monitor, it will likely never be better than "almost there."