Hive multi-cart - It's alive!

[Rev]

38 minutes ago, cmart604 said:

I heard rumours Rev was releasing a new multicart called Schmive

We demand funnier jokes. 

[+cmart604]

1 hour ago, Rev said:

We demand funnier jokes. 

I'm tired, best I had in the moment ?

[ulao]

so I did some glancing at the 63 pages, look at the first page, checked out the video, search the net, did this ever become available? It looking amazing... OH, page 62 implies it never did go anywhere...  Damn LTO is $600, really?

Edited March 16, 2022 by ulao

[Rev]

15 minutes ago, ulao said:

so I did some glancing at the 63 pages, look at the first page, checked out the video, search the net, did this ever become available? It looking amazing... OH, page 62 implies it never did go anywhere...  Damn LTO is $600, really?

Has not released at this point, As far as I know not even test units as well. 
 

LTO Flash recently sold for 300 and up to 500, one is on ePay BuyItNow for 600, but hasnt sold yet. 

[ulao]

well, I just picked up 9 games to hold me over, I shall wait it out then, thx.

[fsuinnc]

On 3/14/2022 at 2:18 PM, nurmix said:

I still have my Intellicart.  Got it before the CC3 came out.

 

I gave mine away as part of the Secret Santa Gift I gave someone here a few years back. I figured if it they couldn't use it at least it's nice addition to an Intellivision collection. 

[carlsson]

Hopefully Joe finds time to finish the batch of LTO he is working on, and hopefully sell at half the eBay price. Unfortunately everything is becoming more expensive for each day, including shipping even if the components already were paid for, so perhaps the previous price can't be matched.

[First Spear]

There is also the "Kevtris Multicart" from around 2008, does anyone know what happened to that?

 

http://www.kevtris.org/Projects/intvmult/index.html

[RockLobster]

So since this cart is dead ended...   is the out of production LTO the other other cart available?

[Hastor]

Yep, though there's apparently parts for more that have been sitting around for a couple years, waiting to be assembled. Not that anyone is slacking, I forget, but it either is lack of time from more important things or health issues or a combination of the both. I understand the boxes have been ready to go. So no ETA but I doubt they'll go unused forever, and be released some day. I do have one from the first batch and it is very nice, though a bit more cumbersome, requiring management through a Windows app (a couple PCs wouldn't even see it), and storing the games in it. I'd love to see an SD solution. Maybe we can talk @SainT into it one day, but I know his short list doesn't include it (I'm also not sure how much interest it has in the UK where he is). Obvious market for it though! We can't even find someone to make proper replacement controllers though, and the adapter to use Flashback controllers seems on a possibly-never-happening hiatus. I bought 2 flashbacks just in case haha.

 

Anyway, and I'm doing it too, but I think like others have mentioned, I'd like to see this thread renamed or locked. Everytime I see an email saying "It's Alive" I think something new happens. I should know by now, but they are just far enough apart... I don't wanna miss anything though so I leave the notifs on.

[Greg2600]

SainT recently did a Twitter poll on what he should tackle next.  I promoted the Intellivision, although he seems more keen on the PolyGame Master and Wonderswan.

[Hastor]

Yeah it didn't cross my mind at that point and I voted Wonderswan. I have the Flash Masta for it which plays everything I'm aware of (probably some homebrew doesn't work), but it is a bit slow and requires copying games from storage slots to the game slot etc. I'd love one like his other carts, but if given the choice, I'd go Intellivision next, for carts and controllers. Anyway, not to get off topic here (though I guess I did!). Hive is long over, if anything is ever revived I'm sure a new thread will be started.

[Jaxivision]

Serious question, which never seems to get answered.  I would like to know if the guy died, fell off the grid, or whatever.

[+Gemintronic]

1 hour ago, Jaxivision said:

Serious question, which never seems to get answered.  I would like to know if the guy died, fell off the grid, or whatever.

 

I suspect he just got burned out from the scene and happens to be a person who likes his privacy.  Notice he's still an AtariAge subscriber.

[carlsson]

If both the BackBit (which tries to include as many features as possible) and the DIY solution in the RTO (which is more KISS) support SD cards, do you really need one more solution that won't be on the market for many months anyway?

 

And yes, as far as we know, the Hive is a dead project. Other than the yearly necroposting from someone who lost their money, this thread serves no real purpose any longer.

 

Given how slow LTO sales were at the beginning (too expensive?) and how many keep it shrink wrapped as an exotic game, it is interesting how big the demand has become over time. It is like a sleeper crowd of several hundred Intellivision users suddenly woke up.

[+DZ-Jay]

3 hours ago, carlsson said:

If both the BackBit (which tries to include as many features as possible) and the DIY solution in the RTO (which is more KISS) support SD cards, do you really need one more solution that won't be on the market for many months anyway?

 

And yes, as far as we know, the Hive is a dead project. Other than the yearly necroposting from someone who lost their money, this thread serves no real purpose any longer.

 

Given how slow LTO sales were at the beginning (too expensive?) and how many keep it shrink wrapped as an exotic game, it is interesting how big the demand has become over time. It is like a sleeper crowd of several hundred Intellivision users suddenly woke up.

A similar thing happened with the CC3.  The author sat on his stock for several years, while sales trickled in by filtration.  He couldn't give that thing away!

 

Then one day, he announced the end of life of the product, and all of a sudden, everybody wants one.  He sells out of all the stock in an instant, and the thing goes on eBay for like $500.

Go figure.

 

    dZ.

[carlsson]

Perhaps most people already had the majority of the original 125 games, and with the number of legitimate homebrew ROMs were few, the interest for flashcards was limited. Then came IntyBASIC and changed the playfield.

[Hastor]

I think due to the number of consoles with flash drives and just the number of everdrives period now, a lot more people are seeking out flash carts in general. They are more visible in online stores etc. I wasn't aware of the CC3 until it was long gone myself.

[SainT]

15 hours ago, Greg2600 said:

SainT recently did a Twitter poll on what he should tackle next.  I promoted the Intellivision, although he seems more keen on the PolyGame Master and Wonderswan.

You made an impression, the Intellivision is definitely on my todo list if a proper solution doesn’t happen before I get there. The WonderSwan and PGM have been on my todo list for a while now, so I’ll take a look at those first. I’m feeling mildly exhausted by the 7800GD and Mega7800 currently (nothing like releasing two new products in tandem 🙄) so I may yet do some simple ‘stop gap’ project before the next large one.

 

I’ll reassess everything once the 7800GD is out there, the dust has settled a little, and I’ve done some more work on the JagGD and LynxGD from a support perspective.

[SainT]

7 hours ago, carlsson said:

Given how slow LTO sales were at the beginning (too expensive?) and how many keep it shrink wrapped as an exotic game, it is interesting how big the demand has become over time. It is like a sleeper crowd of several hundred Intellivision users suddenly woke up.

Availability and accessibility are big factors. By having good stock levels (in general, the chip shortage of late screwed things for a while) and good retail partners I’ve found sales to be much larger than selling things myself.

[carlsson]

With a bit of luck, there will be three flash or memory card based solutions available later this year, at different price points, slightly different functionality and versatility. Once you have completed the projects already in your pipeline, you might find that the demand has been saturated, unless you're having a solution similar to both the BackBit and Rolo's multicarts: using one generic device and then adapters for different systems.

[SainT]

Not a problem, there are plenty of systems out there in need of attention! 😄
 

And, no, I always try and provide the best possible solution for a console not a cheap / multi solution.

[carlsson]

I wonder who will be the first with a "multicart" for the Soundic SD050, a.k.a. PC-50x type systems that use dedicated GI chips rather than a CPU + ROM. Technically I think you could put a SBC on a card and make it behave like one or more dedicated chips. I suppose the Epoch Cassette Vision with its CPU-on-cartridge solution (not to be confused with the Super Cassette Vision, for which there are a few solutions already) belongs in the same category.

[Greg2600]

22 hours ago, SainT said:

Availability and accessibility are big factors. By having good stock levels (in general, the chip shortage of late screwed things for a while) and good retail partners I’ve found sales to be much larger than selling things myself.

You've also provided additional features over prior multicarts, many we never even imagined.  The LTO is a lovely device, but its very design has presented ongoing component sourcing issues.  INTV is also a system that isn't super trivial to mod for RGB (you might be able to onboard that), and obviously the LTO is not a card-read solution, nor can it emulate the expensive (and flaky) ECS module.