Playmaji's retro all-in-one console, Polymega, is due its next big update very soon, and with it, it will bring even more support for SNES and Super Famicom games.
While the updated games support for one of Nintendo's best ever consoles is enough on its own, Playmaji is bringing a slew of changes to its retro system, including a Recovery Mode, Power Save Mode, a new audio player, and tons of small quality-of-life updates that will help spruce up the system and its usability.
Let's take a look at all the big updates, shall we?
Red Book Audio CD Support
The Polymega will be able to play standard audio CDs now, which will add more functionality to a couple of PlayStation classics like Monster Rancher and Vib Ribbon. There's also an audio interface where you can view the album art, track listing, and the standard stuff you might see on Apple Music or Spotify. PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16, Sega / Mega-CD, and Neo Geo CD games will also be able to utilise the audio player, so you can listen to the Ys Book I & II soundtrack whenever you want!
More Super Famicom / SNES Game Support
Likely the big one for many, this update brings more support to the OBC-1 and SPC7110 enhancement chips, as well as Sufami Turbo support to the system. More English patches for popular Japan-only games are also compatible with the system once it has been updated.
Pin a Filter in Collection Views
Better search tools are always a win for us, and update 1.1.20 makes looking for your games that much easier. You'll be able to pin a filter to any grid-based view. So, say you want to see every Sega Mega Drive game in chronological order, you can do that. Playmaji is going to expand on these kinds of searching and filtering tools in future updates, but this is a welcome step.
Power Save Mode
This is pretty much the standard in the big console market, so it's always good to see this setting come to some smaller projects. You'll be able to set an inactivity timer for your Polymega to go to sleep if you don't use the console for a certain amount of time. Just move your controller to wake it up.
Recovery Mode
There will also be a Recovery Mode in case something happens to your system. By holding the eject button on the front of the console while simultaneously turning it on, a special screen will load up. This will let you factory reset your console.
Those are just the big updates coming, but there's a nice handful of patch notes on the system's official website. Highlights here include:
- A warning when you try to start a game that has a save file older than a save state.
- Full RGB colour range video option added.
- Ability to disable button swap for confirm, cancel, etc. in the Japan/Asia region.
- Various SNES patching issues fixed.
- Scrolling text wrapping fixed.
- Option to disable the default screenshot button.
Go and check out the rest of the patch notes on the official blog, which you can read through here. The update was revealed last week and was originally expected to drop yesterday. However, Playmaji has since stated that updated 1.1.20 should be dropping sometime today.
Tell us what you think about this update and let us know about your experiences with the Polymega in the comments!
This article was originally published by nintendolife.com on Tue 3rd May, 2022.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 33
So which SNES games used those chips?
Still no support for Super Game Boy 2, this thing is garbage. Should had just use FPGA then they wouldn't had to lose this compatibility.
But can it play Hong Kong 97?
Nintendo Life love this product, cover it to an absurd extent, I just don't know why. It is an emulation device like many others, and it is not even close to be the best one.
@gaga64
Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge is the only game that uses OBC-1 witch is very dumb of them to make it supported, as it is a Super Scope game, and super scope do not work on emulators like polymega.
@Angelic_Lapras_King
Not in its original form (floppy disk) as the accessory needed is not supported. It is playable if you have a repro on cartridge.
@abdias it's a great machine in my opinion. Have you tried it?
I love that I have all my retro games in one place, yes there's a few omissions and stuff that they are still working on, but it's a great console and for me better suited than an Analogue because I want to install my games on the console and play from the hard drive.
@specter_of-the_OLED apparently super game boy support will never come - I can't remember exactly but it's to do with it having Gameboy hardware in it which needs to be read in real time. Which an emulation machine can't do. Hopefully there will be a Gameboy module at some point
@abdias The Polymega GC01 - Gun Controller has super scope compatibility.
@Alexface powkiddy, odin and anbernic machines are far superior in every single spec, and run much more systems, also are cheaper.
If read cartridge and installing for whatever reason is important to you, retrofreak exists since 2016, it has modules too, also cheaper and also run more Nintendo systems than polymega. There is the retron 5 since 2013 too, but I never used it to know if it is any good.
So my question keeps, why Nintendo Life covers every single tiny update for Polymega and mention, at best, one time all those other superior devices?
@abdias because they got it for free so they promote it positively…..Lots of reviews on YouTube from people who actually paid for one and it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
@abdias Thank you
@Orokosaki the extent of the coverage may suggest that it was more than a free device that they got. It is just a thought of mine, if makes sense is up to you.
@abdias it makes perfect sense, like in the old days when magazine reviews were, let’s just, ‘influenced’ by software houses!
@abdias I don't know, by using the search function, there are many, many articles and videos about Retron 5, Analogue and Anbernic too. Not to mention Evercade which is my personal favourite because I don't own that many retro games but I want to support the devs/publishers.
Besides, what does it matter if they like Polymega and share news about it? I'm sure there are some Polymega owners here, and it doesn't hurt anyone if they tell about the recent updates and so on. Seems like it's more interesting than most emulation machines, as it supports and requires physical media.
@Specter_of-the_OLED FPGA support would mean an even more expensive machine and no PSX and Saturn support at launch - and no N64 support, either. FPGA isn't the magic bullet you think it is.
@abdias We happen to give Polymega a lot of coverage because it's an amazing product which currently does something that no other device on the market can do - play original media. We love covering these kind of systems (check out our coverage of the Evercade, Anbernic handhelds, Retroid 2, etc) but the Polymega really is unique in that it can play original games, has its own internal database of game info AND is expandable.
We've covered plenty of other emulation devices in the past, not just Polymega. We cover all of the Analogue devices, for example. We cover Nintendo systems an awful lot, too, so does that not set your alarm bells ringing as well?
@KoopaTheGamer Thanks for pointing out the obvious, you shouldn't have to do that - but we appreciate it all the same
@Orokosaki I have been keeping an eye on Polymega over the last year. The only real negative I have seen is people complaining about is high price. The system itself and in particular the OS has had mostly positive feedback from what I have seen.
Some people will see value in this. I for one do see the value in this product (I am not an expert in all things emulation, but I have a large collection of SNES / Megadrive / Mega CD / Saturn EU & Jap / PS1 games. Where my original systems no longer work. I also have alot of N64 games, a few 3DO games / Atari Jaguar games, these could potentially be supported in the future)
I also have limited amount of space, that makes this system very appealing.
But to each their own
I have this on my "Buy now" list. Just waiting for the Ultra module. Between the Analogue Pocket and this, I'll have a means to play all my collection!
@Damo I mean they could just apply it to the module and use the console for powers only. It could be done, yes the module would be more expensive but worth it if that means the compatibility is close to perfect.
Would love one of these systems, to complement my collection. But far to expensive, and only seems to be available in the states. Bring it officially to the UK with a decent price please.
@ChromaticDracula if you can spare the money now I'd place your order asap and get in the queue. Seems they (along with everyone else) are still struggling with manufacturing and shipping - better to get something sooner than wait for the Ultra to become available and delay everything
@Axelay71 they ship to the UK but you'll get charged tax on shipping. There's also WWD which are supposed to be covering Europe but everyone is saying they are a nightmare to deal with
@Alexface exactly why I won't bother mate the shipping along tax is far to much. Shame really, I do own a retron 5 and raspberry pi setups so not all bad. But the polymega does look cool.
@Axelay71 ah fair. When I bought mine I thought it would include the taxes, but I paid so far in advance and the anticipation was so much I was kind of ok with it in the end.
I do hope they find some other way of bringing money in to make the console a little cheaper and price more paletable for most people
@gaga64 SPC7110 was used in a few Japanese Hudson Soft games.
The most famous is the RPG Far East of Eden Zero. However, I don't know if the available fan translation will work since I think it uses a custom memory mapping which is different from even the original cartridge.
The only other two games I know of to use it are the board game Momotarou Dentetsu Happy and baseball game Power League 4, I think.
Removed - unconstructive feedback
@abdias And all you write about this product sounds like you work for Abernic or Powkiddy. So, what now?
If every outlet that likes the Polymega is crooked or somehow being bribed, I can tell you that I bought one with my own money and am perfectly happy with it. The controller isn't great, so I use a different one. Aside from that, it does a nice job of playing my original PSX, Saturn, Mega CD and Neo Geo CD games without me having to have those four systems and an upscaler hooked up.
If there's another system that can play my original discs for those four platforms and which has a lightgun on the way that will apparently let me play the copies of Point Blank, Virtua Cop, and Lethal Enforcers that I already own on my modern-day TV, please point me in the right direction and I'll check it out.
You don't like a thing. That's fine and is entirely your right. But it doesn't mean that everybody who does is being paid to think differently to you.
@Alexface nice mate, it looks amazing. How does the Saturn stuff run ?
just waiting for them to hopefully add an update (if that's even possible) to be able to read Dreamcast games or if even a module... been having my eyes on this for the longest time!
@SuperKMx daaaaayammm... mic drop!!!! 😃
@Axelay71 from what I've seen on various YouTube reviews on the product, Saturn runs quite well, even with games that require that 4M RAM Cart
@JedRock again system interests me, but its the price. If it was £199 something like that I would of had one by now. Thanks for the heads up.
@Axelay71 pretty good. I've not tried many Saturn games yet, but only had an issue with discworld
@Alexface luckily have an original Saturn, only down side is modern TV doesn't do it justice, emulation is great for that reason. With filters scan lines etc.
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