Which Will Come Out First Poll

[Cebus Capucinis]

I mean, it did come in first for the second question.... ?

[Matt_B]

2 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

I didn't know PolyMega made it out.  I really didn't have much interest in it, but the light gun sure has my attention and may just be enough to sucker me into buying one --

 

You don't need a PolyMega to use a Sinden light gun. They've been around for a while and are mainly targeted at Windows and Linux (including Raspberry Pi) setups.

 

Here's a video from a couple of years back.

 

 

That's pretty much all the PolyMega is: A bunch of things you could elsewhere, mostly for free on the software front, cobbled together in one rather expensive box. I suppose it fills a niche, because lots of people won't have the time/inclination/knowledge to do it for themselves, but it doesn't really offer anything new.

 

Ah well, I suppose they've exceeded expectations just in getting the thing out after being the console that time forgot for all those years.

[Razzie.P]

19 hours ago, Matt_B said:

You don't need a PolyMega to use a Sinden light gun. They've been around for a while and are mainly targeted at Windows and Linux (including Raspberry Pi) setups.

 

 

I didn't know that.  Thanks a bunch!   I'm really thinking of giving those a shot, and can go back to having little to no interest in PolyMega.

[MrBeefy]

On 4/19/2022 at 8:25 PM, Matt_B said:

It looks like the Playdate has finally made it out the door:

 

 

The only question now is whether the Amico turns up to accept its participation trophy for coming in last or fails to make it to market at all.

 

On 4/19/2022 at 8:59 PM, Cebus Capucinis said:

I mean, it did come in first for the second question.... ?

It still has to come out to even be released last. I'm not sure it deserves a participation trophy yet.

 

I'm guessing the end of April we will know more.

[Matt_B]

Yeah, you don't even get a participation trophy if you don't participate. ?

 

That said, even if it's long crashed and burned as a commercial product, there appear to be a few thousand people out there still willing to pay three hundred bucks for one so some sort of limited release can't be ruled out.

 

I won't be waiting up for it, mind you.

[MrBeefy]

1 hour ago, Matt_B said:

Yeah, you don't even get a participation trophy if you don't participate. ?

 

That said, even if it's long crashed and burned as a commercial product, there appear to be a few thousand people out there still willing to pay three hundred bucks for one so some sort of limited release can't be ruled out.

 

I won't be waiting up for it, mind you.

Will that be enough to justify the manufacturing run is the big question. Not having numbers will make it more expensive to produce.

 

I would like to see it released so at least those who have been patient get something. I would also like to see some resolution to all the hype of it being the next big thing in gaming. I'd have liked to see it do well, but in it's current state I see no path to success at this point.

 

I still wouldn't hold my breath at this point for those waiting or those who do get one. Even if they produce something the lifespan of the store probably won't be long. If I would get one I'd go in fully expecting it to possibly only have a total of 15 games. If you bought the rfid cards and get the console I would download those games as my first order of business before the servers go down.

 

[Cebus Capucinis]

I guess now that we're seeing fire sales of the VCS (in theory), the next question is: which one has the longest / shortest staying power?

[MrBeefy]

18 hours ago, Cebus Capucinis said:

I guess now that we're seeing fire sales of the VCS (in theory), the next question is: which one has the longest / shortest staying power?

That would be harder to gauge because the Polymega and Pocket are different beasts than Amico, VCS, Evercade, and Playdate.

 

Once again if Amico releases I would be surprised if the servers are still up after a year. That is still going off the assumption it makes it out.

 

VCS with the fire sale is probably heading towards end of life so to speak.

 

Playdate I could go either way.

 

Evercade will go as long as they got games they can get the license for. Al should round up some of the best 2600 homebrews/ers on AA and propose a AA Evercade cart.

 

Switch seems to be still going strong.

 

[roots.genoa]

9 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

Switch seems to be still going strong.

However it depends if you consider the Switch as a whole or only the OLED model, since the poll was about the "Switch pro".

[Matt_B]

Comparisons between the OLED Switch and anything else seem a bit pointless when it's probably going to outsell the rest of them combined by a factor of several hundred.

 

The Analogue Pocket seems to be very popular within the realm of niche retro devices though. They've got an order backlog so deep you'd have to wait until this time next year to get it.

[Steven Pendleton]

Ironically, my Pocket is a glorified dust collector. I'll care about it a hell of a lot more when the HuCARD adaptor is available.

[MrBeefy]

5 hours ago, Matt_B said:

Comparisons between the OLED Switch and anything else seem a bit pointless when it's probably going to outsell the rest of them combined by a factor of several hundred.

I agree. I think it's really more between the other ones that are actively creating new games or collections of games. I wonder if any of the Amico games will ever see the light of day if it never releases?

[roots.genoa]

8 hours ago, Matt_B said:

Comparisons between the OLED Switch and anything else seem a bit pointless when it's probably going to outsell the rest of them combined by a factor of several hundred.

Oh I agree, but some people seem certain that a Switch Pro will be released soon and that the OLED will vanish quickly (or just replace the OG model as a cheaper alternative, realistically).

[MrBeefy]

@godslabrat do you still have that counter about total ruse or whatever? 

 

So what new consoles should be added? Evercade XP. Can Amico make it out before that?

[Matt_B]

I'd throw in the Aya Neo Air, GPD Win Max 2, AYN Loki and Anbernic Win600.

 

If the Amico beats any of them to market I'd be surprised, because they've all got a record of shipping product more or less on time.

 

AYN are still dragging their feet a with the Odin Lite, I suppose, but that's only six months late rather than two years and a few preview units have finally reached the hands of influencers.

 

[MrBeefy]

15 hours ago, Matt_B said:

I'd throw in the Aya Neo Air, GPD Win Max 2, AYN Loki and Anbernic Win600.

 

If the Amico beats any of them to market I'd be surprised, because they've all got a record of shipping product more or less on time.

 

AYN are still dragging their feet a with the Odin Lite, I suppose, but that's only six months late rather than two years and a few preview units have finally reached the hands of influencers.

Well IE was going to try and get some consoles out in hands supposedly. They also had that SEC doc that suggested they would be out of money sometime around July. 

 

The AYANEO Air looks nice but not sure why I'd want to get one over a Steamdeck.

[roots.genoa]

I think it would be fair to see if the Amico will be released before the Analogue Duo.

[Matt_B]

2 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

Well IE was going to try and get some consoles out in hands supposedly. They also had that SEC doc that suggested they would be out of money sometime around July.

What I suspect they're hinting at is knocking together some preview units to give to influencers. That's a significant step and what most of the serious players in the market are already doing for devices that they're expecting to ship later in the year, but probably not enough to move the project forward in itself.

 

The obvious takeaway from that SEC document is that they're going nowhere without a huge amount of new cash, and if that ever happens they'll be sure to make it known.

 

2 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

The AYANEO Air looks nice but not sure why I'd want to get one over a Steamdeck.

The Neo Air has a few things going for it. It's smaller, lighter, has a better display, Hall sensors, runs Windows out of the box, and they're shipping globally rather than just to Valve's currently very small list of countries. That might be worth an extra hundred bucks or so to some people, at least. I'm more tempted by the Loki though, to be honest.

 

On the other hand, if you're already deep in the Steam Deck pre-order queue, there's no reason to cancel. Nobody in the handheld PC space is matching Valve's economies of scale and thin-to-negative margins, so it's still very much the value proposition if it's got the features you want.

[MrBeefy]

13 hours ago, Matt_B said:

What I suspect they're hinting at is knocking together some preview units to give to influencers. That's a significant step and what most of the serious players in the market are already doing for devices that they're expecting to ship later in the year, but probably not enough to move the project forward in itself.

 

The obvious takeaway from that SEC document is that they're going nowhere without a huge amount of new cash, and if that ever happens they'll be sure to make it known.

 

The Neo Air has a few things going for it. It's smaller, lighter, has a better display, Hall sensors, runs Windows out of the box, and they're shipping globally rather than just to Valve's currently very small list of countries. That might be worth an extra hundred bucks or so to some people, at least. I'm more tempted by the Loki though, to be honest.

 

On the other hand, if you're already deep in the Steam Deck pre-order queue, there's no reason to cancel. Nobody in the handheld PC space is matching Valve's economies of scale and thin-to-negative margins, so it's still very much the value proposition if it's got the features you want.

Oh I'm sure Intellivision will scream to the heavens if they are able to get some to influencers to "prove haters wrong" ?. Personally that might be their last best effort to try and get someone to give them money. I still think their debt and lack of progress will scare most people off.

 

I'm not in the Steam Deck line. I just know I'd use it for smaller games more and that's basically what I do with the Switch now.

[Matt_B]

19 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

Oh I'm sure Intellivision will scream to the heavens if they are able to get some to influencers to "prove haters wrong" ?. Personally that might be their last best effort to try and get someone to give them money. I still think their debt and lack of progress will scare most people off.

Given how big a deal they made of "unboxing" one of their own prototypes in the office, I'd think that's a given. Seriously, why invest now when you could just wait for the inevitable bankruptcy auction and not have to worry about paying existing investors first before you could take a profit?

 

Anyway, there's another handheld of note on the horizon in the shape of the AOKZOE:

 

 

Being based around the Ryzen 7 6800U it's got the potential to outperform the Steam Deck significantly. Just don't ask about the price, availability, build quality, the track record of the company behind it or any of that.

 

We may yet be pleasantly surprised, of course.

[MrBeefy]

4 hours ago, Matt_B said:

Given how big a deal they made of "unboxing" one of their own prototypes in the office, I'd think that's a given. Seriously, why invest now when you could just wait for the inevitable bankruptcy auction and not have to worry about paying existing investors first before you could take a profit?

 

Anyway, there's another handheld of note on the horizon in the shape of the AOKZOE:

 

 

Being based around the Ryzen 7 6800U it's got the potential to outperform the Steam Deck significantly. Just don't ask about the price, availability, build quality, the track record of the company behind it or any of that.

 

We may yet be pleasantly surprised, of course.

That unboxing was so horrible. I can't believe anyone thought that was a good thing. They couldn't even spell their name correctly. Maybe there is a letter "i" shortage due to covid and they had to substitute an "e". I'm sure there are many who would buy that excuse.

 

The AOKZOE looks cool but yeah track record matters. Unless you have 600 years experience in bleeps and bloops. Then you must be a hardware master. I'd rather go with a less powerful Steam Deck than a gamble.

[Matt_B]

Well, they've managed to get some prototypes into the hands of YouTubers. AOKZOE have, that is. IE continue to leave us in suspense. ?

 

Anyway, here's ETA PRIME putting it through its paces with some AAA games:

 

The 6800U is clearly a gaming beast and will be the chip to have this year for AAA gaming on the go.

 

Other than that, I'm not terribly convinced. There are just too many players in the market these days and they've all got access to the same off-the-shelf chips, so it's going to come down to value for money and how refined an experience they offer.