Retroblox

[omnispiro]

[BillLoguidice]

According to a post on Facebook, it was being worked on for over a year, so the prototype demonstration should be more than smoke and mirrors. Should be.

[BassGuitari]

According to a post on Facebook, it was being worked on for over a year, so the prototype demonstration should be more than smoke and mirrors. Should be.

Fingers crossed.

[omnispiro]

Am I to understand a prototype will be revealed within the next few days?

Yes, the reveal is this Saturday, they say people will be able to see and use a playable prototype and..... dedicated staff to answer all the burning questions! If you go, PLEASE! Take some pictures and videos!

Edited February 1, 2017 by omnispiro

[xiaNaix]

Edited February 1, 2017 by xiaNaix

[dj_convoy]

So where is it getting the info for the front end from? Is it going to be like MAME, where you have to go out and grab screencaps, bezels and etc.?

[Flojomojo]

AtariAge hive mind, ASSEMBLE! And find out which Kodi skin this thing is running in those screenshots.

[xiaNaix]

[xiaNaix]

AtariAge hive mind, ASSEMBLE! And find out which Kodi skin this thing is running in those screenshots.

All of the GUI screenshots are labeled as "Monolith" if that helps any.

[Gentlegamer]

As fun as it would be to have another lulz thread, it would be more fun for this to be a genuine product.

 

We win either way I guess.

 

Although, I would want a way to upload ROMZ from an unauthorized source for this to have real value to me.

Edited February 1, 2017 by Gentlegamer

[xiaNaix]

It seems like a genuine product. I suppose we'll know for sure after this weekend. As for roms, I'm sure the SD cart slot on the back is there for a reason.

[Keatah]

There's an earlier version of the "Say Hello to RetroBlox" blog post in Google's cache that contains a bit different wording.

 

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6dtqkdDgpTEJ:retroblox.com/2017/01/13/say-hello-to-retroblox/+&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

 

Notably, it mentions a second founder "Eric" who is not mentioned in the published article. Also mentions support for "even the slightly less popular but equally enjoyable systems from NEC, SNK, and more." Another notable omission is the sentence mentioning that their patent pending "Hybrid Emulation" system "achieves analogue hardware levels of game compatibility via emulation without the connectivity limitations of FPGA or salvage-hardware based systems."

 

WTF is a Hybrid Emulation System? No matter. My recommendation of software emulators still stands.

 

 

There is also an entire paragraph missing in the final edit.

 

"You, the community have put out inspirational works in the form of new games, mods, and translations, often times with little to no support from official sources or otherwise. Also, we’ve at times been witness to seeing this work compromised by those that would use it commercially without due credit to its creators. It’s our opinion that the lack of a secure, unified digital marketplace for new retro game projects is a key contributing factor to this “retro-gaming ghetto” where those doing it for the love get burned – and where other talented people who would do it for the money won’t venture for largely the same reasons. So, we believe its time for another option. With RetroBlox, you’ll be able to securely distribute new games and content on our digital storefront. (cough OUYA cough) We also plan to provide new tools for you to use to accomplish these goals which we’ll have announcements about in the future. Our goal is to work with you, the community, as well as major publishers to create a balanced ecosystem of new and original retro games that appeal to all tastes."

 

Make of it what you will.

 

Between this earlier version and the current version, there's a lot of "will be's" and "plan to's". This tells me none of this stuff is ready. And goddammit I want something I can purchase for real at a real store. All these kickstarter things are inflated with hot air.

[dj_convoy]

Hopefully, if this is on the up and up, you would have a way to run patches and the like on games. 50% of the use I get out of my Retron is running patches on games for translations, color hacks, game conversions (running the US version of a Japanese cart) and the like.

[D.Daniels]

It seems like a genuine product. I suppose we'll know for sure after this weekend. As for roms, I'm sure the SD cart slot on the back is there for a reason.

 

what about the pad? I think it has a decent layout

[Keatah]

Man, people really just buy into ideas, huh? Execution of said ideas doesn't matter... just as long as the idea is cool.

 

Why would you be so psyched before there are any concrete details? I don't get it. I, too, like the IDEA of this, but there is ZERO to get excited about at this point.

 

I should just go kickstart some IDEAS. Once funded I'll post them here on AA.

[Gentlegamer]

It seems like a genuine product. I suppose we'll know for sure after this weekend. As for roms, I'm sure the SD cart slot on the back is there for a reason.

 

Ok I'm back in.

[Flojomojo]

 

what about the pad? I think it has a decent layout

It has the right number of buttons. It's just a rendering so it's hard to say how it would feel -- or even how big it is. Square looks nice in photos but isn't how my hands are shaped.

[Keatah]

How many DVD capture cards are in this one?

 

I wanna see this "hybrid emulation" circuitry. That's gotta be something (awestruck)..

[dj_convoy]

 

what about the pad? I think it has a decent layout

Reminds me of the Retron 5 controller a bit which is okay... but nothing better than okay. Fancy renders can't really tell the whole story; I'd have to have it in my sweaty little hands to know for sure.

[BassGuitari]

"Wake me up when there's a prototype."

 

Yes, the reveal is this Saturday, they say people will be able to see and use a playable prototype and..... dedicated staff to answer all the burning questions!

*blinks eyes groggily*

*yawns*

*stretches*

*slowly gets up to make coffee*

 

That was a nice little nap I had there!

[Keatah]

Shoving old-school Atari VCS Game Program cartridges into an original Atari VCS can be cool in a number of ways.

Shoving old-school Atari VCS Game Program cartridges into a modern-day machine doesn't feel right.

 

I'm not sure the modern-day gamer gets excited over cartridges. And the old-school gamer is going to have original hardware to play with.

[Flojomojo]

Im pretty sure there's a Venn diagram in one of the big RVGS/CoCham hater threads about that.

[BassGuitari]

I'm not sure the modern-day gamer gets excited over cartridges. And the old-school gamer is going to have original hardware to play with.

This old-school gamer isn't especially interested in the cartridge angle (though it is nice), for that exact reason. But I'm interested in the CD compatibility. A lot of CD-based hardware has gotten stupidly expensive lately, and this would be a great alternative--provided the support/compatibility is there--to shelling out for stuff like TurboGrafx CD, NeoGeo CD, Jaguar CD, or Amiga CD32 systems (these are some of the relatively few cases where I'll settle for emulation ).

 

Even if those are too esoteric, being able to play my PlayStation, Sega CD, Saturn, and Dreamcast discs on one console is still very appealing.

[SoulBlazer]

I'm just here for the popcorn.

[cybercylon]

According to a post on Facebook, it was being worked on for over a year, so the prototype demonstration should be more than smoke and mirrors. Should be.

 

You would think anyone wanting to dive into this sort of project would be aware of Chameleon shenanigans from last year. Why not show real hardware and something working up front to gain some credibility?

 

I guess we shall find out something soon enough as to whether this thread will be some pages of actual interest because hardware exists, or 300+ pages of debunking and pointing out the smoke and mirrors.

 

Yea... time to get out the popcorn.