Retroblox

[cybercylon]

I'm not sure how a flash cart would work in a system like this.

[Bill Loguidice]

4 minutes ago, cybercylon said:

I'm not sure how a flash cart would work in a system like this.

It wouldn't. It would probably take some type of hacked firmware and a workaround to play something not ripped from original media.

I went ahead and bought the deluxe package and two of the light guns. Hopefully it really is the early part of 2022 that they ship out more.

[phoenixdownita]

10 hours ago, Bill Loguidice said:

I went ahead and bought the deluxe package and two of the light guns. Hopefully it really is the early part of 2022 that they ship out more.

Ain't that in the 850 US$ range?   That's way too much for my blood, but if it allows you to avoid irritating the missus by buying back what you basically sold 2Y ago or so, so be it  it does take way way less space (although a single mother-of-all module with NES/SNES/Genny/SMS/TG16 pad hooks and cart slots would be very welcome if a little unwieldy to look at).

 

How many unique systems did you get back into? ... and ... why?

[Bill Loguidice]

10 hours ago, phoenixdownita said:

Ain't that in the 850 US$ range?   That's way too much for my blood, but if it allows you to avoid irritating the missus by buying back what you basically sold 2Y ago or so, so be it  it does take way way less space (although a single mother-of-all module with NES/SNES/Genny/SMS/TG16 pad hooks and cart slots would be very welcome if a little unwieldy to look at).

 

How many unique systems did you get back into? ... and ... why?

I built back up a respectable collection that's primarily limited to a single room. I'm much more careful with what I acquire, etc. Still way too much stuff, but manageable and something I can always sell off the right way this time (i.e., individually and with everything included) if I were so motivated. My curiosity simply gets the better of me with this stuff.

 

My revised plan (versus pre-collection sell-off) has been to focus more on FPGA-based or multi-use systems and streamlining things, as well as only getting boxed games that are complete and/or justify having the manuals and/or other contents. I caved on the Polymega because it seems to offer considerable convenience and can help me avoid having to get some of the other CD-based systems, which would ultimately approach nearly the same price, if not more with all the conversions, etc. I was particularly interested in the multiplatform Sinden-based light gun options, since I don't always like to play on CRTs. The only light gun I have at present is the Sega Master System Phasor, which also has an Atari 2600/7800/8-bit adapter.

[cybercylon]

I see the deluxe version is on sale at the moment, so if one is really interested in this thing, that seems to be the way to go.

 

I've blown way to much money on flash carts and FPA or original hardware solutions to the point where I am pretty saturated. Something like the Polymega would clear up clutter for me for sure, but I am not willing to gamble with them given their checkered history. First half of 2022 slips to 2nd half... then 2023. That would cause me far more stress than the clutter.

 

I do hope you get yours on time though. I am sure you will let us know what you think once you get it in your hands.

 

I will hold up my hands up and say I was wrong though... never thought the Polymega would see the light of day.

Edited November 6, 2021 by cybercylon
fix spelling

[Steven Pendleton]

Remember when I said this a year and a half ago?

On 6/25/2020 at 4:19 PM, Steven Pendleton said:

the thing actually works as advertised, and it did so over a year ago when they brought the thing here to Tokyo to demo it in a few stores. It was, from what I could tell, essentially finished at that point. Everything looked, sounded, and ran beautifully.

Still relevant.

[phoenixdownita]

EM05 with N64 support:

 

https://polymega.com/blogs/system-software-updates/polymegas-em05-ultra-element-module-reveals-n64-support

 

OK, it seems they are alive and kicking.

[+jgkspsx]

On 11/6/2021 at 9:57 AM, cybercylon said:

I've blown way to much money on flash carts and FPA or original hardware solutions to the point where I am pretty saturated. Something like the Polymega would clear up clutter for me for sure

The fact it doesn’t work with flash carts and it only requires you to insert games once is just so weird from a user experience point of view. Plus you have to store and swap in and out all the large and bulky modules to use original controllers or store ROM images. I still don’t understand what problem it solves.

[insertclevernamehere]

Anyone hazard a guess at how much cheaper a disc drive free base unit might be if Polymega did one?  Sort of their Series S to their current Series X, but instead of being for downloads only, it would be a cheaper unit for those who are only interested in cartridge era gaming.

[cacophony]

9 minutes ago, insertclevernamehere said:

Anyone hazard a guess at how much cheaper a disc drive free base unit might be if Polymega did one?  Sort of their Series S to their current Series X, but instead of being for downloads only, it would be a cheaper unit for those who are only interested in cartridge era gaming.

$10 cheaper? The drive cost is minor relative to the other parts, so I can't see them doing it.

[insertclevernamehere]

9 minutes ago, cacophony said:

$10 cheaper? The drive cost is minor relative to the other parts, so I can't see them doing it.

Really? ? That's disappointing.  I guess there must be other factors that make the price difference between the Series S and X significantly more than $10.

[Bill Loguidice]

24 minutes ago, insertclevernamehere said:

Really? ? That's disappointing.  I guess there must be other factors that make the price difference between the Series S and X significantly more than $10.

The Series S and X sport different hardware, which is why they're a dramatically different size. The much larger X is more powerful than the S. I think you're thinking of the PS5 that has a version with/without the optical drive.

 

I'll just second that there's no real point to not having the CD drive in the Polymega. The hardware/software combination can handle a wide variety of systems that are CD-based. There's no advantage I can see by losing that inherent compatibility. In theory, they could have made the optical drive just another module, but I don't think it's possible to stack modules.

[5200Fanatic]

Anyone else still waiting for their Polymega console? I've been emailing them and no response. 

[Bill Loguidice]

13 hours ago, 5200Fanatic said:

Anyone else still waiting for their Polymega console? I've been emailing them and no response. 

I am, along with all the available modules and accessories. I'm assuming it will arrive later in the year at the earliest.

[5200Fanatic]

On 7/18/2022 at 2:55 PM, Bill Loguidice said:

I am, along with all the available modules and accessories. I'm assuming it will arrive later in the year at the earliest.

Me too, initially I think it said first half of the year, but still waiting. 

[thedoppelganger]

So now there's a PC app version coming. Nice idea in some ways but it veers off from the whole point, which is to have a console that plays on your TV. There will still be the console version presumably, but it's a no go area due to the way too high prices. I'll take a look at the app inevitably. Can't believe this is the same thing I was so exited about back at the beginning of 2016 (Yes 2016) when I was a member of their original Retroblox forums. Happily playing all my old games now on my TV on one of my fat PS2's. Still got an original pre-order one that still reads discs perfectly - only ever needed to clean out the original dried up white grease stuff from the disc tray runners and re lubricate with light oil. Got a second fat too - both owned from new and also dropped on a perfect slim with some unopened extras. Ah that new smell. 

[Steven Pendleton]

There is absolutely no reason to ever use their PC emulator thing when you can just go use some other free emulator instead. Besides, I thought the whole point was to have an all-purpose emulator box that you put your cart/disc into, so not being able to put carts into your PC kind of completely renders this pointless.

 

As for emulating directly off of a game disc, well, you probably shouldn't do that. Better to dump it and use the image instead, and that's what the Polymega itself does from what I remember. I forgot this thing existed for a few years, so I definitely haven't thought about it since then.

Edited February 23, 2023 by Steven Pendleton

[Keatah]

With free emulators you will get updates. Look at MAME, 25 years and counting. Having new 3rd party consoles that emulate or claim compatibility with original media is always fraught with technical issues. If you're gonna have to put up with that then might as well reorient your mindset and go with full emulation on a PC (or console) and forego physical media entirely. The experience of inserting a cartridge is overrated and spouted only by a vocal minority of purists - same as those arcade purists refusing to play on anything but a 400lb ratbaggy cab from the 1970's.

 

7 hours ago, thedoppelganger said:

So now there's a PC app version coming. Nice idea in some ways but it veers off from the whole point, which is to have a console that plays on your TV.

Yes. Your PS2 (or other console) is a console that plays on your tv! Been around for years now. Tried, true and tested too.

 

7 hours ago, thedoppelganger said:

There will still be the console version presumably, but it's a no go area due to the way too high prices.

Yes. Another physical thing to break, or muss'n'fuss with. Just stick with a commercial console or PC and do emulation. Non of this experimental hybrid shit that's buggy and incompatible.

 

7 hours ago, thedoppelganger said:

I'll take a look at the app inevitably. Can't believe this is the same thing I was so exited about back at the beginning of 2016 (Yes 2016) when I was a member of their original Retroblox forums. Happily playing all my old games now on my TV on one of my fat PS2's.

Yep. It's all too easy to get wrapped up and wowed by kickstarter hype. Slick presentations draw you in and soon you're donating money to a cause that doesn't need any and is likely to give you nothing back in return.

 

7 hours ago, thedoppelganger said:

Still got an original pre-order one that still reads discs perfectly - only ever needed to clean out the original dried up white grease stuff from the disc tray runners and re lubricate with light oil. Got a second fat too - both owned from new and also dropped on a perfect slim with some unopened extras. Ah that new smell. 

Sounds good to me. As you can guess I'm not a fan of RetroBlox because of all the dillydallying and delays and stuff.. blechh!

[roots.genoa]

8 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

There is absolutely no reason to ever use their PC emulator thing when you can just go use some other free emulator instead. Besides, I thought the whole point was to have an all-purpose emulator box that you put your cart/disc into, so not being able to put carts into your PC kind of completely renders this pointless.

That's why they'll release a new, cheaper version of their console, which is basically a cart dumper (well, rather a CD-ROM drive compatible with the different cart modules). I agree the app alone is not that useful, but their UI and database has a very good reputation, and their emulators are quite good too (they specifically hired developers to optimize them).

[insertclevernamehere]

1 minute ago, roots.genoa said:

That's why they'll release a new, cheaper version of their console, which is basically a cart dumper (well, rather a CD-ROM drive compatible with the different cart modules). I agree the app alone is not that useful, but their UI and database has a very good reputation, and their emulators are quite good too (they specifically hired developers to optimize them).

I thought that’s all their console basically was in the first place.  Not being sarcastic but I genuinely need you to elaborate.

[Steven Pendleton]

5 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

That's why they'll release a new, cheaper version of their console, which is basically a cart dumper (well, rather a CD-ROM drive compatible with the different cart modules). I agree the app alone is not that useful, but their UI and database has a very good reputation, and their emulators are quite good too (they specifically hired developers to optimize them).

It would be nice to have a cart dumper for MD since I don't have the ability to dump that system's games right now.

 

As for the UI and emulation, it was really good when I used it when their CEO dude brought a demo unit to Super Potato 4 or 5 years ago. I only remember playing After Burner Complete on it, but I watched a few other people try it and it worked really well in general.

[GoldLeader]

I just found this thread...Forgot this was a thing.   This was the one that was gonna be FPGA at the start and then began backpedaling right?    

 

Oh well,

 

At least it's not an Amico.

[roots.genoa]

10 hours ago, insertclevernamehere said:

I thought that’s all their console basically was in the first place.  Not being sarcastic but I genuinely need you to elaborate.

The original model also included the PC that emulates everything, which means it was powerful enough to emulate the Saturn and the N64. So that's quite a big difference with the new model.

[roots.genoa]

5 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

It would be nice to have a cart dumper for MD since I don't have the ability to dump that system's games right now.

Absolutely. That's what Jam.gg (ex-Piepacker) was trying to achieve, but they unfortunately had to cancel their adapter. Of course the goal was to play your carts with their service, but since it was a USB cart adapter, it would have been easy to turn it into a cart dumper.

[Steven Pendleton]

10 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

Absolutely. That's what Jam.gg (ex-Piepacker) was trying to achieve, but they unfortunately had to cancel their adapter. Of course the goal was to play your carts with their service, but since it was a USB cart adapter, it would have been easy to turn it into a cart dumper.

There is the Retrode2 as well, but it's always out of stock and relatively expensive at $80+ USD.