Atariboy Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 (edited) I haven't yet laid my hands on one so I couldn't say, but I'm intrigued by it and look forward to checking it out. The arcade side of the unit in particular interests me with several additions in the Atari arcade roster that go beyond the list of usual suspects, along with the possibility of expanding it from the SD card slot like the Legends Flashback could (but hopefully with more capable hardware and more modern emulation in the Gamestation Pro). Edited October 3, 2023 by Atariboy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Defender_2600 Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 5 hours ago, 0078265317 said: So then still worth 100 in your opinion? 200 officially licensed games are not free and it includes two wireless joysticks that don't look cheap. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonie Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 13 hours ago, 0078265317 said: Wow that looks extremely cheap. Like a 25 dollar device not a 100 dollar device. What do you expect? We've come a long way in Semiconductor processing because of this machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+frankodragon Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 Some info about the Rockchip inside. According to this page it's an underpowered RKRockchip 3032 (which are found in those TV game sticks) so I doubt it would even emulate N64, PSX and higher end consoles. If they did, then those games would run very choppy, or crash. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 4 hours ago, Defender_2600 said: 200 officially licensed games are not free and it includes two wireless joysticks that don't look cheap. I agree — the mini-consoles filled with unlicensed games aren’t playing by the rules. Also, the packaging looks nice and shipping/distribution has costs too. Even downloading ROMs from the internet and putting them on microSD cards has a cost. $80 for all this seems fair. Back in Atari days, that would be the cost of a single new cartridge. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatchKeyKid Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 12 hours ago, Atariboy said: If you need to rename a lot of file extensions, Advanced Renamer does a great job of automating the process. The program is freeware and you just paste all the files to be changed into it and set it up to replace each instance of .bin with .a26. Sorry if this is a stupid question but will that work with the gamestation pro? Are the file types actually identical in function and differ only in the extension? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSchoolRetroGamer Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 2 hours ago, frankodragon said: Some info about the Rockchip inside. According to this page it's an underpowered RKRockchip 3032 (which are found in those TV game sticks) so I doubt it would even emulate N64, PSX and higher end consoles. If they did, then those games would run very choppy, or crash. Thanks, I suspected the best experience on this machine would be with roms from platforms 16bit and below. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariboy Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, LatchKeyKid said: Sorry if this is a stupid question but will that work with the gamestation pro? Are the file types actually identical in function and differ only in the extension? Someone else in the thread said that .bin and .a26 are one and the same in regard to 2600 games. If that's accurate which I believe it to be (I did a few quick tests with 2600 roms and changing the extensions back & forth with no issues with Stella on my PC), all that needs to be done with unrecognized .bin roms is to change the file extension over to .a26 with a batch renaming program like the one I recommended. That's sometimes the case for other systems that have multiple extensions in use, but sometimes not. For instance I have a few .smd roms for the Genesis and on the Analogue Pocket with one of the Genesis cores, the files don't even show in the file browser (presumably it's a file extension that's fallen into disuse or was never popular compared to .md or the generic .bin extensions, so the core isn't even setup to recognize roms with .smd extensions). Renaming them to the most common .md standard yielded non-working roms. Edited October 3, 2023 by Atariboy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatchKeyKid Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 37 minutes ago, Atariboy said: Someone else in the thread said that .bin and .a26 are one and the same in regard to 2600 games. If that's accurate which I believe it to be (I did a few quick tests with 2600 roms and changing the extensions back & forth with no issues with Stella on my PC), all that needs to be done with unrecognized .bin roms is to change the file extension over to .a26 with a batch renaming program like the one I recommended. That's sometimes the case for other systems that have multiple extensions in use, but sometimes not. For instance I have a few .smd roms for the Genesis and on the Analogue Pocket with one of the Genesis cores, the files don't even show in the file browser (presumably it's a file extension that's fallen into disuse or was never popular compared to .md or the generic .bin extensions, so the core isn't even setup to recognize roms with .smd extensions). Renaming them to the most common .md standard yielded non-working roms. Thanks. I've played both in Stella but I just assumed that the emulator was simply programmed to support both rather than them being byte for byte identical/interchangeable except for the extension hence my question. Hopefully that is also the case with the Gamestation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcajun90 Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 (edited) I live in Alaska and there hasn't been one of these yet that showed up. Tired of making the trip for nothing. Can you call them? What department? Their website doesn't list it. Edited October 3, 2023 by rcajun90 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThirdGenGamer Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 (edited) Moved my focus from game systems to the Extras section. The Extra area has arcade roms. All of them work very well. Buttons for credits and to start. Would love to get a classic like Galaga to run. Extras include: World Rally Championship, Steel Force, Mighty Warriors, Burglar X and Snowboard championship. Working with Mame Roms .37b5 and doing testing for roms and directories. -ThirdGenGamer Edited October 3, 2023 by ThirdGenGamer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+frankodragon Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 Checked to see if Walgreens carried the GameStation since they also have other My Arcade products. No dice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0078265317 Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 It just popped up on mercury. I think people are buying early and are not happy so reselling to try and make profit. I think these will be on clearance by the ned of next year. Mercari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+swlovinist Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 Here is my review of the product. Thanks to ThirdGenGamer for the help. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 Presumably some systems require you to supply a bios. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nopaybob Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 2 hours ago, 0078265317 said: It just popped up on mercury. I think people are buying early and are not happy so reselling to try and make profit. I think these will be on clearance by the ned of next year. Mercari "Not happy"? Those bastards are just scalping since there is limited availability atm. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake67 Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 2 hours ago, swlovinist said: Here is my review of the product. Thanks to ThirdGenGamer for the help. Thanks for this. For me, paddle functionality is always going to be what I look at most in these packages. As a lefty, these controllers don’t do it for me. I think I’ll put my hope in the upcoming Atari 2600+ paddles working the way I’m used to. Still, if I were to walk into a Costco and see it for a good price, I’d be tempted to throw it in the cart. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThirdGenGamer Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 (edited) Great video swlovinist! Thanks for the shoutout!! Edited October 4, 2023 by ThirdGenGamer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThirdGenGamer Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 3 hours ago, jgkspsx said: Presumably some systems require you to supply a bios. I was thinking the same thing. Moved it (The dir with bios in them) in and out of other differently named directories. Still testing... -ThirdGenGamer 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSchoolRetroGamer Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariboy Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 Sadly it doesn't sound more useful for arcade roms than the Legends Flashback was. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nopaybob Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 https://youtu.be/Cn_BocjMaq4?si=snn0uv791jmNSyx_ 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSchoolRetroGamer Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 4 minutes ago, nopaybob said: https://youtu.be/Cn_BocjMaq4?si=snn0uv791jmNSyx_ Uhm, look at my last post two up, already posted, embedded even. 😉 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThirdGenGamer Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 (edited) Thanks for posting OldSchoolRetroGamer and nopaybob! Another great video by GenXGrownup. Damn I over thought everything for Arcade! Like I usually do. Right Atariboy ✌️ I had the right romset but created directories like crazy. Everything in 1 directory including MAME sets 🤔! Hopefully there will be a firmware update. That will allow multiple directories and possibly someway to sort. Atariboy - You had stated that this is very similar to Legends Flashback. What was the testing like for Arcade roms? I had another thought. GenXGrownup referenced a samples directory. What other directories does it understand? The search continues but we are closer! -ThirdGenGamer Edited October 5, 2023 by ThirdGenGamer 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariboy Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 (edited) The Legends Flashback with the stock firmware used a similarly old MAME romset that dated from the early 2000's (the system lacked the horsepower to run a more modern build of MAME). Game compatibility was hit or miss with the misses increasing in number with newer games, vertically oriented classics played off the SD card were stretched rather than properly displayed, etc. At the end of the day it was a good option for late 70's and early 80's games and well worth the $25 that I think it cost me at my local Walgreens, but I was hoping to see the newer and more premium priced Gamestation Pro leave it in the dust. Instead it looks like it's going to be pretty comparable with what it's capable of out of the box with user supplied arcade roms. It's still great though that we'll be able to expand upon the built-in roster of arcade games on here. I was mainly thinking about rounding out the lineup with the addition of some contemporaries to the built-in game roster anyways, which the Gamestation Pro should handle reasonably well more often than not. And like I did on the Legends Flashback, my tv lets me squeeze the picture for the vertical classics to approximate the correct aspect ratio so I'm at least able to counteract that particular negative. I should note that the Legends Flashback has been expanded upon significantly by the classic gaming community. I think it has turned into a much more capable device from the little bit I've seen, but I never got around to exploring that area after hitting roadblocks with a community update for the companion Atari Flashback 9 (my audio would die out over time so I reverted back to the stock firmware, which caused my interest to kind of fizzle out). So things like the stretched 3:4 arcade games very well may have been rectified. Hopefully we'll see a similar story here with the release firmware not the end of development, but rather just a baseline with hopefully both MyArcade and the classic gaming community working together to unlock more of the device's potential like with the paddle controllers (which I'm sure many of us would love to be able to utilize with games loaded off SD card). Edited October 5, 2023 by Atariboy 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpg.83a2761de6b278e27919f99f53c87389.jpg)
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.