Polymega - the modular retro gaming system formerly known as RetroBlox - is shaping up to be an incredibly interesting piece of kit. It supports various retro systems via modules which come with cartridge slots and controller ports for that particular console, and these bolt onto the base unit which also contains a CD-ROM drive with support for multiple CD formats.
NES, SNES, Mega Drive and PC Engine carts will all be playable via modules, while Sega CD, PC Engine CD/TG-16 CD and PlayStation support has been confirmed on the CD side of things. However, the team behind the machine announced that a fourth CD-ROM format would be revealed just before E3. We can now confirm that format is the Neo Geo CD.
Released in 1994, the Neo Geo CD system was an attempt by SNK to make its insanely expensive Neo Geo line of consoles a little more affordable and mass-market. Instead of paying extortionate prices for massive cartridges filled with expensive memory, games could instead be delivered on CDs, drastically reducing the price. The only problem is that the initial front and top-loading units took ages to load games and were prone to failure - as was the subsequent Neo Geo CDZ, which boasted a double-speed drive for faster loading times.
The good news is that Polymega will load Neo Geo CD games up to 80 percent faster than the original Neo Geo CD, and 60 percent faster than the CDZ.
Here's what Polymega's Bryan Bernal had to say:
Our goal is to make this system that had so much potential as fast and playable as the MVS / AES counterparts without costing you a literal fortune per game. Now with POLYMEGA, Neo Geo CD is not only a viable and affordable way to get into Neo Geo collecting, but also is a way to experience many great nuances of the system that were overshadowed by the horrendous load times such as the excellent CD-quality arranged music as well as the special games and content not found on the MVS / AES versions such as Crossed Swords II, the exclusive 5th course (Scotland) on Neo Turf Masters, and more.
With the addition of Neo Geo support, the Polymega will surely become even more desirable for retro addicts. Let us know if this news has increased your interest in the console by posting a comment below. The system is expected to hit Kickstarter soon.
This article was originally published by nintendolife.com on Tue 13th June, 2017.
Comments 20
Wow, this sounds really tempting. Never heard of the Polymega before but definitely interested. Gonna go look it up now...
NG-CD is cool specially with the faster loading times, but it does not have a very wide selection and original copies are not as easy to be found, I honestly think that what could attrack way more people would be adding the Saturn or Ps2 compatibility, given their very nice library selection.
@Alex16J Saturn support would be an instant day one buy for me, as my oh-so-transparent username may suggest...
Name the price ?
Body Color options ?
Looks temptating... (Can play PS1 ALL Region)
@SegaBlueSky
It was the RetroBlox, but they had to change their name.
This will most likely be the first Kickstarter I support. As an avid SEGACD fan, this system is perfect for my retro collection. And a possible $250.00 price point for the base and $50.00 for each system mod sounds reasonable if it really does let me dump my games onto the system and all in 720p.
Huh. Funny enough, I have 1 Neo Geo CD game. Just nothing to play it on. XD
This device looks too good to be true, which worries me. I expect that it will either be prohibitively expensive or the whole project will collapse under its own ambition. I want to be wrong about that. I've been imagining and wishing for a product with this functionality for years now.
That said, I don't own any neo geo software. I have a saturn game and a pc engine CD game I'd play on this and there are sega CD games I'd pick up if I could play them. It still looks like I'd be better off playing my PS1 games on my PS3.
This will be awesome if it turns out. Especially if all the CD games load faster than they originally did. That is the problem with Sega CD, PlayStation 1, TG16 CD games many times is horrid loading times.
They've been trying to shovel this sucker on retro gaming forums for months now. One HUGE dodge is that they refuse to hint or speak of the price. They go on about how you can get X model that does only so much, then it's add-on modules to throw more games at it.
This could be a $100 system with $400 in add-on devices to get the job done, or it could be a $100 system with $100 in add-on modules. Not a good thing to be dodgy about as either way depending what you want to do that isn't a built in CD game could add up really really fast.
That's as good a choice as any, and it goes well with the others since they're all predominantly 2D sprite-based systems.
Good update but then we won't be able to see the juggling monkey on the load screen anymore, I like that juggling monkey over the boring Polymega logo.
@samuelvictor Yay, I was right all along!
@Alex16J I wouldn't worry too much about availability, seeing as the Neo Geo didn't have any copy protection, so you can probably also play copied discs, unless PolyMega uses its own copy protection, which I highly doubt, since all of their modules allow for backing up discs to the system.
And it'll probably be region free as well, and over here in Europe, Neo Geo CD's are still relatively easy to come by. And they're cheap too, so if you rather buy originals, that could also be an option.
I'm very interested in price.
I can play PS1 and SNES games on one system with the SNES controller? Holy poo.
Now just tell me the price.
@tanookisuit I'd rather them not even talk about price until it's final. The Coleco Chameleon fiasco had many things wrong with it, one being they set a price expectation of 150-200 USD and then did the crowdfunding at around 300. I'm sure these guys know their limited target market won't tolerate too high a price.
You bring up a good point, which is that the add ons will add up in price. It's a blessing and a curse. If you want it all, it won't be cheap. If you just want a couple of formats and skip others, it could work out better on price. Personally, there are formats I'd skip for various reasons. The real star of the show with this thing is the CD formats, of course.
Impressive improvement with the load times.
Funny little Tidbit. CDRom promised a way lower cost but that never translated to the consumer.
Neo CD collecting is already going through the roof, you'd better jump in quick as this will cause the prices to just become the same or close to as the AES versions.
The real question is...can it play CDI games???
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