Review Polymega - Now With N64 Support, But Is It Still Worth A Look In 2024?

I need to stop myself from buying this. I need to... buy this....

My hype died 3 years ago when they couldn't meet any deadlines and completely changed what this is.

All I want to do is play that old Dune RTS game and a Raiden 2.

You won't be able to dump a bunch of ROMs. Shame, it's what I typically do with these types of consoles. I maybe will get it. Though I still don't know the price since I'm from America and they use euros, and I'm too lazy to look it up.

@status-204 Software emulation has come a long way and is not much different than actual hardware now for many emulators, but ya I will hold off for my analogue pocket as it will get hacked and be able to play most of what this can.

@status-204 well, the SNES classic sold out in my area within days, so I suspect the crowd is still there. But I have a SNES classic and a Dreamcast, downloading a bunch of games is a piece of cake.

Never before have I even been seriously tempted to buy a retro console, but this one has me very interested. I have a decent collection of retro games, and playing them across all the systems under my TV is a bit of a hassle, to say nothing of the trouble with picture quality and input lag that comes with playing old consoles on new TVs. Shame that you have to buy separate modules for cartridges, since most of my retro games are on carts.

Would be great if they added online features like cloud saves and retroarchievements support....
Who knows... social support like friends and party to chat while playing.
Really good have all games in a single place without needing a lot of configuration.

So this doesn't play Dreamcast games?

Inb4 all the...

Oh, well, all the whatevers and complaints of individuals who base their opinions solely on personal ideas/misconceptions and hearsay, instead of having any ACTUAL experience with the system...

It concerns me greatly reading statements like this "Patches – such as fan-made translations of Japanese games – can be applied to installed software using a USB thumb drive or Micro SD card". This leads me to believe Polymega cannot support pre-patched game discs. I certainly hope that isn't the case. There's no way on earth it can possibly support all of the various patch mechanisms out there for disc-based games.

All I want is an HDMI retro system that plays Nintendo 64 games without being a blurry mess.
Guess I'll keep waiting...

@MeowMeowKins I’m 100% certain it will be hacked, after release.

Hmm... I'm not entirely convinced. I might just wait for a FPGA version down the line.

@Damo Analogue hasn't released custom firmware's, but their main developer who makes the official firmware's has made one for each of their analogue systems which allows SD rom loading. Anything past 32 bit is emulated almost perfectly on PC and Android devices so it is a non issue.

I've been watching a Youtuber for a few months playing a vast variety of games on this thing and its been pretty much flawless. I'm looking forward to getting one and patching some Japanese Saturn games to make them playable, whilst also having a convenient way of playing classic systems on a modern display

Any idea if it will support PS2 and Dreamcast later on?

@Damo A lovely bunch indeed...
And they never stop. Almost like those avalanches of mindless zombies in that Brad Pitt movie...

@TG16_IS_BAE oh yeah, for sure. Longest it will take is a weekend, I swear, hackers are something else.

@Jokerwolf See, that’s the only thing really holding me back from jumping on this thing. It’s that my PC already emulates every physical game I own, and when I do a side-by-side on my good old CRT I can’t see much difference. The only temptation for me would be as a Saturn/PS1 replacement, but those are the consoles I own the least games on, so not too much value for me.

@MeowMeowKins Not gonna lie, the reason I got all the classic systems was for the ability to customize what games are on there. Truly amazing little devices. Though, if memory serves me, the Turbografx mini is still in process of being hacked. I haven’t checked in on the PS1 one either, as that one was terrible in terms of emulation quality.

@ThanosReXXX

In my experience, public shaming only brings out more trolls. So let's stay on topic eh?

@Ooyah Well, while I actually AM laughing, I'm laughing WITH you and not at you, because to this day, I'm still a proud owner of three Amiga systems, amongst which a CD32 with an SX32 expansion.

@cleveland124 It's not public shaming, and it is warranted if it's an undeniable truth...

@ThanosReXXX

Well I love it when holier than thou types take over comments sections even though they have nothing to add to the conversation. It's the other half of the reason that most comment sections suck.

@status-204 I’m not so concerned about it using emulation, seeing as emulation has been able to replicate anything I’ve thrown at it so far. I honestly can’t see the difference, even when I put it next to my CRT.

However, that’s the problem. My PC already does what this thing does, so that’s really the only thing holding me back from dropping a ton of money on a console.

@TG16_IS_BAE never heard of the TurboGrafx, my hacking extends to the Wii, the SNES classic, and the Dreamcast

@denis09 I think the value they put was in how well it emulates, how low the latency is, and that you can install games, patch them and play them later. The real value is in having something that will preserve your physical collection in the long run.

It costs way too much. Would of been better to be able to purchase modules without needing the base. I might as well buy original hardware.

@MeowMeowKins Boy oh boy are you in for a treat, then. You use retro arch at all? It’s very easy to set up there. Just make sure you have the correct bios for any of the turbografx cd games, but the cartridge based ones work with just the core by itself. Here are some ideas to get you started. Lords of Thunder, Castlevania: Chi No Rinne, Ys, Star Soldier, Soldier Blade, Bonks Adventure....ah, such good times.

@denis09

I would have liked a more thorough comparison between actual hardware and the polymega. Also I'd like a comparison of the polymega against the emulators on PC. The below video review does a better job of comparing side by side. The differences won't really bother casual users but will likely bother people that spend alot of time with retrogames.

https://youtu.be/493PKDeDzsE

This will never play DreamCast and PS2 games (at least not without a digital storefront) by nature of how those consoles use a different physical medium. Without a whole new unit, it could only play CD-Rom PS2 games which is... kinda stupid.

@cleveland124 well, I love it when the people criticizing them take on a holier than thou attitude. Pick your poison, I guess

@TG16_IS_BAE

This box is selling convenience. It's one stop to load all your games/emulators. The UI is slick. It's clear that they spent alot of time trying to make the UI premium to give the overall impression that the total package is premium. That said, all these emulators are available for free on PC. And if you are just interested in playing games it's likely you'll do as good or better on a PC as the polymega is in general a weak spec'd PC. That said we really won't know until more units are in the wild and someone does a side by side comparison to the PC counterparts.

@cleveland124 I'm far from being that kind of person. What I actually am, is a realist, and the fact remains that every time a Polymega article is published, people are constantly commenting on it in a negative manner, while having no hands on experience, which the NLife crew clearly does.

I've also seen several people on YouTube testing it out, and all of them are quite positive about their experience with the system so far.

@MeowMeowKins

I've at least added some comments on topic. The issue is a comment section is for opinions. Some people have negative opinions and some don't. There are accuracy issues with the Polymega as listed in the above review I posted above. This company also has a checkered past by overpromising, showing preview video that wasn't playing on their machine, missing deadlines, and getting in a twitter war with Analogue prior to having a viable product. There are many reasons to be down on this product. Sorry if you don't like it.

The other issue with his comments is that this product is unreleased. So I'd venture a guess that any opinion listed on this comment section doesn't have a hands on opinion. But he wants to focus on a subset of people and call them out. If he has a problem with people posting opinions without a hands on then he should call out everyone who posted and ask Damo to turn off comments.

@TG16_IS_BAE I'll try out Castlevania, considering I loved Castlevania 4. Thanks for the suggestions 🙂

@cleveland124 okay, but if you ask them to turn off comment for that, come on.

@ThanosReXXX

See my comment above. There are many things Polymega did prior to release to create ill will with their potential customers. The accuracy issues will keep me from buying it and I still struggle with the value of this as anyone with a PC can do what this does for alot cheaper. Supposedly the Saturn core has been tweaked, but until tested my guess is it was tweaked to optimize for the slow CPU that they are utilizing rather than actually offering better emulation than be be obtained on a PC.

So their market appears to be people that aren't focused on great accuracy and also want the convenience of not having to setup multiple emulators themselves. Are these people willing to spend that much? Analogue has proven that people will pay if the accuracy is there. I'm not sure people will pay for almost accuracy there.

I still have a Sega Saturn (with something like 30 games, though I used to have many more), but I currently have no way of playing my Sega CD or Genesis games. Plus going all-digital has made me too lazy to ever change cartridges/discs in my older systems. Maaaan, this thing is tempting.

@MeowMeowKins

I'm not asking for comments to be turned off. Comments sections are for opinions no matter how wild they are. I'm saying if you have a problem with opinions without hands on, then that's really what he was asking for is no comments on pre-release items. And better yet if that's your problem you should probably avoid comments sections in general, because peeps will have opinions.

“Accuracy is impressive”

Prove it with numbers.

I did have some hope for this, until they took cheap shots at Analogue and goaded them for using FPGA systems. Sure it's a high quality emulation device, but come on, grow the heck up, you troglodytic fools.

@Damo

I'm sure it's really close. But to me if I'm spending $400 I want better accuracy than was shown in the video above for Genesis emulation which in general takes less power than Saturn emulation. So I'd love to see more side by side videos of the unit to discuss timing differences, sound differences, and some of the minor issues that you've noted in your review but aren't highlighted in the video. To me a video review for something like this makes alot more sense than a written review where I can't actually see or hear the differences side by side. That's just me though. I'm likely not the target audience because I'd want much better accuracy then I've seen online. Maybe the Saturn emulator is better, but I wouldn't buy this just for a Saturn as I already have a Saturn attached to an OSSC and am looking at purchasing the Terraonion mode to go with it. So in general it would really have to knock my socks up to go for that over what I have.

@cleveland124 But that's the thing: until you've tried it out, you can't just go and assume all kinds of things, based upon general factoids, because some may not apply, such as with Saturn emulation, which regardless of it not being FPGA based, apparently pleasantly surprised plenty of people, NLife crew included.

Did you even know that the people behind the Polymega have hired the original programmer of the best Saturn emulator out there, to write a whole new core for them, tailor-made for this system?

That might be the ACTUAL reason it works so well. None of us would be able to say something sensible about it without having that all important hands on experience, so although I absolutely agree with you that they've said and done some weird things up til now, I still think that we should go by actual experience and proof, instead of being influenced by goings on from the past.

@cleveland124 True about the weaker specs, but it is only going to be running games, instead of a bulky Windows OS. Definitely a huge convenience factor as well!

@denis09 You got some kind of vendetta this morning/evening? LOL

Gonna have to pass on that controller alone. ABXY are the wrong way and left analog stick is in the wrong place...

Doesnt look bad but looks very pricey to get carts on it. Think I'd need it to cover up to the gamecube ps2 era to be worth 400 without cart slots.
Also no N64 and that's really what I'm after. Any suggestions how to get a pal n64 to look good on a modern tv?

Looks nifty, but at the asking price to still be playing ROMs ripped from discs/cartridges when the $100 Raspberry Pi is getting dangerously close to being capable of playing Gamecube/N64/Dreamcast, I just can't justify playing this.

$400 for the base unit and an additional $80 for each cartridge based system you want to use with it? Hard pass. That's crazy money.

This is all advertisement. Get a Raspberry Pie, and save the remaining 350$.

@Yorumi

I think they were talking total lag at 4 frames in total including the wireless controller. so likely the blutooth controller adds a frame which is standard for bluetooth and the system has a baseline of 3 frames which you'll experience if you use a corded controller.

You build yourself a mini pc and emulate for this amount of money, or slighty more.
I never understood why people buy this piece of junk.
Just download retroarch, get yourself a I7 setup, with a nvidia card, does not even have to be the latest, and run every game.

@denis09 What hard questions would you have asked, regarding the Polymega?

@PALversusNTSC Well, one method is legal, the other is not legal, so the people that care about that will want to use the Polymega.

@Damo Of course! As an aside, will Polymega add PS2/Dreamcast emulation that we know of?

@denis09 Honestly, when compared to the likes of Kotaku, Gamespot, IGN, etc....Nintendo Life is pretty chill. Benign, even. I've never gotten the feel that they are trying to "sell me," on something, they come across as very honest. Kotaku? Loads of shills, the lot of them. That site needs to be shut down. Gamespot is okay, but again, I feel like they are trying to sell me, as does IGN. NL feels like one of my buds telling me about some cool tech he just got. Though, their puns usually make me gag, but I think that's the point.

@Damo Definitely would be an interesting prospect. Thanks for shedding light on this thing. I'm still on the fence due to lack of cash flow from covid, but maybe later, assuming this isn't some super limited thing like Analogue.

The instaling the game and not needing the game afterwards is a cool touch.

@cleveland124 no, no, it totally get what you're saying. I mean, that's why comment sections can be toxic sometimes, and beautiful sometimes. It's really what you make of it. And are you telling me to buzz off, but nicely? Because just tell me to buzz off, I hate passive aggressiveness

I use bigbox, it's all this and a slice of pie. Love it, costs money but happy to support the devs.

@status-204 well overpriced and add in fact they already missed target after target. and its still not out. an easy no way

@Damo I would think an OS update could easily do Dreamcast if they can get an open source bios to use. Problem might stem from it being illegal to use an official bios.

Yeah I know it's more legit and to use bigbox you need a full PC and all. It is probably a great product in that case because I can't get enough of organizing and chronicling games with bigbox.

To be fair though you can rip games onto your PC that you own and launch them in emulators, it's just a lot more work.

@doctorhino Never heard of bigbox, is it software or a piece of hardware?

@TG16_IS_BAE software, it basically can download media and images for and organize your games on a frontend then call any application to launch them, including retroarch. It's a lot of setup and tweaking but I love playing around with emus so it's fun for me.

Won’t ever be able to load up roms? Lol, every manufacturer has said similar things, it’s only a matter of time

@doctorhino Oh nice, I use something similar called Playnite, though it fails really hard at the automated organization so I ended up manually reworking everything. Same idea, and yeah I love tinkering so the setup process was fun.

@MeowMeowKins

No, I wasn't telling you to buzz off. Sorry if I gave that impression.

@Yorumi

For FPGA goodness $400 would be a steal. I think the average person is unlikely to invest in all those mods. For the people that would, the accuracy differences and lag are likely to be turnoffs. The biggest issue to me with the price is I can emulate all those systems on a PC. So to me I'd be paying $400 for the software. The UI is certainly well done and premium but that's just too steep for me at this time. If my Saturn starts giving me issues like Damo or they drop in price maybe I'd reconsider. I did buy a snes/nes mini though I have those consoles in rgb connected to my OSSC because I thought there was enough value there to deal with some of the issues of emulation. Just not there yet with this.

@status-204 All good point, but what's weird to me is I see no difference between FPGA, emulation, and the thing on my CRT. It feels like emulation has really bridged the gap, and FPGA just feels like a gimmick to sell people on. Is it really that much better than emulation, 'cause if that's the case I'm not able to notice, even side by side!

@Yorumi That doesn't even take into account the cost of a PVM and all the relevant cables/mods to make sure an NTSC-U system outputs RGB.

@TG16_IS_BAE Most of my emulated stuff looks way better and have insanely faster loading times. I think a lot of youtube channels like gamesack prefer to use the real hardware to get the real experience of everything, including glitches and loading. With an emulator you might think a game is better than it actually was.

@TG16_IS_BAE

Most people won't notice. And I say that as a big FPGA proponent. Most good emulators and FPGA will be cycle accurate (or close enough) and display pretty pixels. To me the biggest benefit of FPGA is lag. To some people they won't notice. But a device like this has 3 frames lag versus 0 on FPGA. Some games the lag doesn't even bother me much. But there are games like Mike Tyson's Punchout that will be impossible to beat on this. And will feel just like the original on FPGA. So some games it matters. And if you like those games the differences will matter.

@doctorhino Very true. I also wonder if there are legal reasons behind streaming emulation? Is that a consideration? No idea, I don't post videos or stream lol.

@cleveland124 What lag? Are you talking about controller inputs? I use all wired controllers on my PC, so I never experience latency. Is that what you are referring? I've done side by side comparisons with all the hardware types, FPGA, emulation, and the real thing on my CRT. 10 years ago I would have been able to spot the difference immediately, but these day I really can't.

@TG16_IS_BAE @Damo Surely there's no possibility of Dreamcast ever being supported? It would need a working GD-Rom drive, if they aren't going to support piracy...

@Swoltacular I'll be sticking to emulation, as well, but none of my emulators have the capability of ripping the rom straight from the cd or cartridge. That's the main selling point for the polymega, I would imagine.

@Reprise I have zero technical expertise with the Dreamcast, but isn't a GD-ROM drive just another name for a CD-ROM drive, or is it actually a physically different thing? Sorry, I just never got that because it never seemed to come up on any other console. What I'm asking, is it a proprietary thing exclusive to Dreamcast, or is it just another thing renamed to sound different?

Couple questions; does it (with the 32x expansion) play games that use a 32x cartridge and a cd? How does it handle multi-disc games like final fantasy 7? If you use a pal game that runs at 50hz, is it possible to convert it to 60hz? Is there a power brick or does it work similarly to ps3/ps4? Does it play pc engine card based games?

Does it play N64 and GameCube games? No? Pass.

@TG16_IS_BAE

All emulators have a frame buffer. Even the best add at least 1 frame of lag. Then you'll have additional digital lag from your monitor. The best have less than a frame of lag. USB inputs usually 4-5 ms of polling rate. The best setups usually have 2 frames of input lag. Most people won't notice this. Heck I wouldn't even notice this. But... I've never beaten Mike Tyson with 2 frames of lag. And I pulled that off on the RetroUSB AVS with no problem. So if it's a very good setup, it can't be seen or even felt really. But it's still there and can affect your gaming.

@TG16_IS_BAE oh yeah it could hold like 1.2gb instead, I forgot they used a different hardware on the optical

They aren't compatible which is why people are using disc emulation on Dreamcast hardware noe

@Yorumi cheers will look into it. 👍
Pal limits you unfortunately on some of them like eon .

@doctorhino That's neat! The more you know LOL

@sketchturner NTSC N64 + Super64 from EON + mClassic from Marseille = N64 dreamland.

@Damo there was no 32x CD games, you are thinking of games that required a 32x and a Sega CD for the fmv and sound parts.

@cleveland124 Again, I'd have to believe it by seeing it firsthand. I'm VERY picky with this stuff, and all the FPGA machines I've tested out with friends just never seemed worth the excessive cost. The only game I've ever experienced issues with is Mega Man X3, but that game is bugged even on the original hardware. Everything else I play, Punch Out included, has never felt better!

@Heavyarms55 I’ll tell what does play N64 and GC games... my N64 and GC (specifically my N64+Super64+mClassic and my GameCube+SWISS+Carby+mClassic). Still living the dream baby!

@Yorumi Gotcha! I wasn't sure if there was an actual difference or not. Sounds like it was a step up on the way to the DVD.

@TG16_IS_BAE lol it was supposed to be the entire antipiracy measures, thats why once people figured out how to launch CDs there was no need for a modchip

@doctorhino It was an exploit tied to the Broadband Adapter that allowed pirates to rip the data, though some had to be excised or compressed to get it down to fit on a CD.

@TG16_IS_BAE

You must not play punchout alot then. Glass Joe is so easy that the lag doesn't matter. But I tried punchout on the switch and when Tyson started punching I had to start punching because the game and inputs were so misaligned.

Admittedly with computer emulation you can attach a computer via HDMI to a tv and solve the problem. But hooking up original consoles to modern displays is almost impossible without spending alot in scalers. Even if the TV has a composite input the lag is likely to be very high. Like 9-10 frames high. Anybody would notice that. The reason is most retro consoles output 240p while tvs try to interlace it and then de-interlace it just creating major issues. So their are 3 solutions if you are into these games and game alot.

Get systems modded and buy expensive scalers. The cheapest scaler that doesn't add lag is the retrotink 2x which is $130.

Get an FPGA system. They are designed to output the best quality (modded original system) and provide the scaling technology. For $200 a pop they are very good at what they do.

Use emulation. Most people don't prefer this because it isn't lag free and you have to buy additional hardware anyway to interact with original controllers or games. Generally emulation such as the NES mini/SNES mini are close enough for people looking for that original feel but not wanting to spend $200 on FPGA or a scaler solution. But this is $400. So it's not a cheap alternative to the other options. It might be if you are really looking it as an alternative to buying/modding all those other systems but if you are okay with emulation you could use your PC and save $400.

@TG16_IS_BAE No, it's physically a different thing. It was a proprietary format exclusive to the Dreamcast. It stands for Giga-disc as each disc holds 1.1gb of data (if I remember correctly). Sega opted for it as, at the time, it was much cheaper than the DVD format, but still provided more storage than a standard CD.

GD-Rom drives were only used for the Dreamcast as far as I know. The Dreamcast's discs cannot be read by a standard disc drive. Hence ripping games was always more complicated than it was on other disc based formats.

It certainly appears more positive than it did a year or two ago, and from what I’m reading and seeing on YouTube the emulation seems impressive. Especially for the Saturn.

I’d love to see PS1 games from this compared to the new PS1 digital mod recently released, to see how impressive it is.

I’m not normally a fan of software emulation, but I do see the appeal of an all in one system like this if the emulation is of good quality. I look forward to seeing MLiG’s and Digital Foundry’s analysis.

If they ever manage to get a module for N64 released with good quality emulation, I’d be very interested.

Who is bank rolling all this by the way? Given how long it’s been in development, it must have some serious money spent on it already. I’m surprised they didn’t go bankrupt ages ago.

@Reprise Thank you! Others are clarifying the same thing, too.

@cleveland124 Been playing Punch Out for 30 years, I guess that's not enough :/

@cleveland124 Who said I hooked up old consoles to modern TVs? Almost every post I've mentioned I either use emulation, or original hardware on a CRT. Obviously there is input lag when using a console on an HDTV, but that's not what anyone here is talking about, last I checked!

@Swoltacular True! Im sure there are people that use such functionality, though for legal reasons I can see why others would not. I don’t have any use for that though. GameCube only had one game that I liked on it, and the Wii titles I enjoyed are stuck on their closed server, so emulation is the best fit for me there.

@denis09 Why compare it to building and configuring a computer? That's not who it's for. People will pay a few hundred dollars to have all the guess work taken out of it. We're adults in our 30's, we have jobs, and the experience looks simple. Configuring a Pi for box art and different controllers is a huge pain in the ass. This eliminates that.

@KevvyLava I agree, you have to enjoy doing the setup work and learning about the programs. If that's a hassle for you being able to pay to get out of it is worth it.

The buttons are swapped around DESGUSTENG

@cleveland124 no, it's cool. Bit harder to tell what people mean in text than in person. And I'll admit it, I was being a bit rude.

@Yorumi i guess I'm not the audience for this. Hadn't thought of it that way for the combined prices. I can see how it would be appealing to a collector.

@sketchturner You and me both. N64 is the only console I still have such old games I'd actually want to play and for which emulation still is pretty bad outside of a few games. Everything else I feel has either been re-released already, available digitally in a better version elsewhere, or just not worth playing anymore.

For christ's sale Nubtendo Life !!!!!!
You are advertising a console that relies on playing illegally downloaded software?

(Capital letters express my frustration)

(Typing in all caps is against site rules)

There’s a slight problem with this review, polymega don’t have the ability to actually release the console as it’s vapourware. They’ve just about scrabbled enough units for reviews/influencers but the proper beta with those that had preordered never happened because they don’t have the money to build the units.

@blockfight Or the person who can just burn copies of the CD games they want. That was what made this a no-brainer for me.

It’s funny how people talks about FPGA as it was a game changer. FPGA is still emulation, you know.. but via hardware!
FPGA is not about accuracy.. it’s about performance only!
As any implementation, FPGA is as good as developer is capable of.
Software emulation is much more accurate and matured nowadays... and FPGA is just in its infancy.
It will get traction over time, maybe.. but FPGA emulation is much harder and prone to error than software emulation.

@TG16_IS_BAE

You said you saw no difference in FPGA. So I was explaining that on modern TVs there are big benefits. It wasn't to say you had to be interesting in using a SNES on a modern TV. Just that it's where FPGA shines.

And I meant no disrespect on Tyson. Just that Mr.Dream/Tyson match is the ultimate lag test. Sandman and Machoman can also be difficult on emulation due to lag. If you haven't beaten the game or often don't play those 3 on emulation than you may not notice the difference between CRT and emulation. It won't matter for most of the matches leading up to those 3 because there is enough time to respond and deal with the lag. Those 3 don't give you much time at all so it's very difficult. So please try those 3 on the NES mini and a CRT and tell me that you don't notice the lag.

@cleveland124 I have, and I don't. Please stop acting like I've never played this stuff, lmao. Emulation is just that good, these days!

@TG16_IS_BAE

Except for the lag it is very good. If you can beat Mr. Dream on NES mini you are a much better at the game than me. I've never known anybody who can do it and Pat the NES Punk said it's impossible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9VQJJig-Wo

21:40 in the video. So I'm certainly not the only person who notices it. If you are immune to it than bravo. But it exists in tests and many youtube videos like the one above reference it and this review mentions 3 frames of lag above. That might not matter to you but to some people it does.

@cleveland124 Mr. Dream isn't the hardest thing in video games, same with Iron Mike Tyson (bless his soul.) Your experience does not determine that of others!

@TG16_IS_BAE

Mr. Dream isn't the hardest thing no. It is the video game that I've played with the fastest reaction time and I use it as my personal lag test. And I don't know what your point is. I've never said 3 frames (indicated in this review) was the most noticable lag or that everybody would care. The Polymega looks decent for what it is at a high price. Maybe you don't care about lag, but you can't deny it exists. This article mentions the lag the Polymega introduces. If you really believe this article is inaccurate then bring that up with Damo.

This is a humblebrag review of beta hardware with immediate comments attempting to preclude people from having opinions in response because you're not allowed to have thoughts until you're $400 deep. Nothing brings out the especially smug & snide like emulation.

This looks a great piece of kit, but the price puts me off. Also I own every system it emulates, and I have a Retron 5, Retro Trio+ and now I have various raspberry pie setups which are amazing by the way. I'm a hard-core retro gamer, but using the real tech I'm worried they will break down. So I use emulation a lot nowadays to preserve these amazing machines.

@Brady1138 There's actually two ways to play on this: either install the games, aka "rip the ROMs" or play straight from the media itself, so you could play from a disc without installing. That's the whole point of the system: replacing all these separate boxes into one that plays multiple. Sure, it is pricey, but if you look at all the CD-based systems that it supports straight out of the box, you're still getting good value for money, considering what it would cost you to buy all these systems separately.

@denis09 You might wanna reconsider EuroGamer as well, then. Seeing as they're part of the same partner network as NLife and all its sister sites...

This is why I haven't bought any of those analogue consoles, this seems like the best solution for the money.

@Coalescence

@Damo Yeah man but you still need the 32x cart to play them, that is where all the game code is on. Are they making a 32x extension?

They are 32x+SegaCD games, meaning you needed both machines because 32x had no cd quality audio.

@Damo

According to analogue the DAC only works with their products. That's unfortunate because I'd be more likely to buy one if it was an all-in-one device.

@doctorhino

That's where this device could be interesting. If it gets a jailbreak then you don't need to buy all those games. Many of the games for the system's we are discussing are costly and getting costlier. A device like the Mega Everdrive Pro (which doesn't work with this) costs $200 but plays every Master System/Genesis/32X/Sega CD game. So even though the upfront hardware is more expensive for say a Mega SG and Mega Everdrive Pro, you could still get more value out of that setup.

@doctorhino

You are thinking about this too hard. The Genesis cartridge and the 32X cart have the same pinout. The reason the Genesis has an extra adapter is for more power. As this is emulation and all the power is in the base unit the 32X and Genesis will come in the same adapter. Similarly I'd guess for the CD/32X games you'd just load the CD onto the harddrive. Then load the 32X game on the harddrive. Then the emulation can interact with the files without needing either adapter in place. Remember the base unit does all the processing. The adapters just give you a way to load games and use original joysticks if you want.

I'm pretty tempted to get one of these with a Turbo element as a TurboDuo replacement, but $400 is just way too much.

£499.99 for the base unit, then add on whichever additional modules you want (all of them)... far too expensive.

Whoa, this thing is a beast! I was not planning on getting one, but the review makes it sound amazing. I will sit on my decision. What sucks is I already have many minis and other ways to play...but having an all in one machine that will be good for a long time is a nice thing to have. And I love having the original carts/CDs, so it would speak to the collector in me. Too much negativity here on this machine given what it does. Everyone's an expert and they know everything better than anyone else...as usual...and without ever even touching the machine.

My laptop has everything I need to retro game.

@mario-64 it supports disc backups so itll support pre patched games. They already tested policenaughts w/ english patch.

JuSt bUy a Pc, jUSt dO FpGa ,EmUlaTors, oG HaRdWaRe!

Really guys? Let people play and spend thier money on what they want. There's no wrong way to enjoy a game as long as your having fun but there is a right way to react to this article and thats by not being an A**hole.

If you got this for free and couldn't be bother with testing roms (not the ones that are pre-loaded) on it then you just wasted our time. It's a useless review when the most important aspect of an emulation system couldn't test its most basic feature.

No FPGA, No Dice...
It's just emulation
ಠ︵ಠ

@status-204 I agree, you can go a lot cheaper and with better performance using a DE-10 Nano running MISTer. I hope everyone interested in the Polyomega look up this as an alternative. It can use original controllers too

@MeowMeowKins SNES classic wasn't* $400

@Guitario well aware. I am well aware. But what led you to thinking I thought it was lol.

@denis09 I agree! It comes across as an advertisement

Gosh, that was a long ad.

Better to build a 400 retro pc machine yourself.

Thats a lot of money for a poor selection of consoles.....

@Coalescence You may be salty but you are dead right. The amount of 'I know more than you' in the comments is immense! I actually know very little about what the tech in this but I do know the best way of playing old games is on the original system with an old skool tv, so on the basis of that is the next best it has to just be personal preference.

But.....But....But...it's just a scam, it doesn't play games very well, it doesn't even exist.

The price is a bit high for emulation and you didn't list Genesis carts which have a different output than Mega carts. That would be a problem for me as I have a lot of Genesis games as well as N64. The other issue is the add on adapters adding to the price. It is tempting and on the bubble but I am going to wait and see what first user reviews are.

I got a friend who has been dying to get his hands on one of these.

@Zidentia The Element Module for Mega Drive (J/E) works with Genesis (U) and 32X (J/U/E). The Element Module for SNES works with SNES/SFC (J/U/E). The Element Module for TG16 works for all regions of TurboGrafx-16 and PC Engine. The Element Module for NES works ONLY for U/E Nintendo carts, NOT Famicom carts (they require a different set of mappers and aren't supported at this time, even with a converter).

@Guitario The target audience for this is for people that don't want to go through the hassle of purchasing $400 worth of computer parts, assembling, configuring, downloading the correct bin/cue/chd/iso/rom files, and then buying a bunch of adapters for controllers just so they can have a weird-looking box on their TV stand with a bunch of wires running out of it every which way. No sense in comparing it to something like this, which is focused on ease-of-use an high-quality emulation.

@KevvyLava those are valid points, I never thought of the ease of access.. but if you're just emulating you could always go a cheaper route.
Setting it all up is part of the fun.

It's a niche market for sure, but I for one am looking forward to this. There is value in having your entire Saturn library loaded into a single HDMI box, with art and other useful info in an easy to use GUI. It's expandable, and does take away some of the minor irks of trying to run a game on the original hardware. Typically as you get older you have less time to play each day. Having to deal with the minor annoyances of set up can make you decide not to play a retro game, and instead just go back to a current consoles since it's much faster to jump in and play for a few minutes. This unit makes retro games easy to pull up and load, eliminating that barrier. Sure there are other emulation sources that allow you to quickly jump into a game, but they all require a lot of setup up front which, if you are interested in this unit, is the exact barrier you are looking to avoid.

All that, plus once this is hacked it's going to be ridiculous...

@Guitario The cheapest route is just to use your existing PC, but that doesn't solve needing to configure everything and get all the correct bin/cue files and all that. The Polymega is the easiest way to play CD-based games. The fact that it will play backups makes it even simpler. Emulating NES, SNES, Genesis, TG16, etc.? Yeah, that stuff is real easy. But these CD-based consoles are a huge pain in the ass, because you need the right bios files, RAM add-ons, and you have all these goofy files and stuff. I've done the Raspberry Pi stuff and it's just never as simple as people make it out to be. Try configuring multiple controllers for a Pi, then map all the buttons over manually when it's not recognized correctly. Even just getting a Bluetooth controller working on a computer is a hassle, because you need to check if you're on D-input, X-input, etc. Then all of a sudden AB and XY are reversed. The complications never end. Will it be enough to shoot Polymega to stardom, I dunno. But configuring a computer is not something even 1% of the population can do.

@Damo huh. That's a bummer. Its a shame you can't rename stuff to match the directory n all that jazz.

@KevvyLava
Ah, thank you for the clarification. I have not really studied the information but I am looking for a console that plays almost everything. No N64 is still an issue. Thanks again.

@Zidentia No problem. In their beta survey they sent out to people who pre-ordered, they were asking a lot about people's N64 collections, which is a good sign. In addition to that, they have stated via Twitter and on beta test live streams that they are looking into potentially creating modules for N64 and PSP, but haven't confirmed anything officially. In addition to that, they are having conversations with their CD-ROM drive manufacturing partner on the possibility of providing GD-ROM drives that could be purchased as an upgrade to provide Dreamcast support. But none of this is confirmed; it's just stuff that they're mulling around.

@KevvyLava
Ok, I will keep my eye on it ans wait for some time in the field first to see how it does.

Polymega must be kicking themselves for not making this a Saturn-only machine. So much has changed since this thing was announced, with FPGA cores for Sega CD, Turbografx CD, Super NES, etc. I still have my preorder but that beautiful frontend is becoming the only thing that’s special with this.

Well, Ive emulated all this stuff for years on my laptop connected to my giant tv and been happy. I guess if I intend to play Mike Tyson Punchout, I'll have to pony up the $400. But I think I'll just play it on my top loader instead. Except I hate that game.

LOL
Emulating debates. 🤣
I simply just buy the actual machines with cheaper price from 2nd handed market despite i will have a lot bulky things in my house, but it's okay for me.
I have PS2 Slim Japan + PS2 Fat USA so i can play 4 different PS1 & PS2 games by 2 machines. Add with my PS3 Slim Asia only for playing certain PS1 Japan games because PS3 was not a right machine to play DDR PS1 as the arrows move faster than the actual song, it completely ruined my timing.

I'm tempted, but I always think it is wise to skip the launch version of any hardware. They often have issues.

@carlos82 I cannot wait. To be able to play a few Japanese games with fan translations. I am there. Plus my Turbo CD collection

@SuperRetro64 they should be fine as beta units have been in the wild for sometime and updates have been applied based on their feedback

I want one. The problem is I own most of the mini consoles already and have played them to death. It would be nice to upgrade, but unless I can say hook up my turbografx 16 mini and transfer the roms I already own, it's a deal breaker for me.

Oh, that and I noticed Micro Mages wasn't in the data base.

@Grandiajet that would be awesome but let's not dream too much lol

@kurtasbestos If you're going to accept software emulation, then just mod a Genesis mini and put Sega CD and Genesis games on that.

@Beatley82 But it wouldn't be all-in-one!!! My TV doesn't have any open HDMI ports left, and if I'm too lazy to change discs then I'm certainly too lazy to swap cables.

“ 9GB pre-installed database which has cover art” - no copyright infringement?

@stevep They've licensed a lot of games. Licensing games is not expensive or hard, unless they belong to certain companies such as Nintendo.

I reaaaaaally, really want one, but that price is just out too far out of my reach at the moment, sadly. One day maybe. Great review overall but one thing I would have liked to see in the video was the visual filters used with the 3D games as well as the 2D example.

Good Lord that would be a fantastic console to own. Not for me, for a fair few reasons, but.....wow....

This runs burn discs and you know it will be hacked to load iso. Looking forward to that. I have a MiSTer for all the systems I want except Saturn and PS1 so I'll use Polymega for that. I don't have the money or inclination to bother collecting old games anymore.

Wait....£464.99

Holy Crap, and that's just the base unit without any modules?

And then the modules are £109.99?

WOW... WHOS ON GLUE??

Wow, this can really do a lot. Base price seems fine to me, might be a problem with the cost of the add ons though.

So I can use the element module to install games onto the base unit.....and then I don’t need it anymore?!? That’s weird.

How did they get the licenses to all that cover art?

I would really love to pick one of these up, but like many others, the price point is a major issue. At his time, it's easier to adopt a frontend like Hyperspin on PC, not that I would condone doing such things =0p

I'm still extremely pleased with my hacked SNES Mini to be honest. I have controller extensions so I can very comfortably play sitting on my couch, along with the hack that lets me easily reset the machine via a simple button combo rather than having to go over to the machine to do so. The games look and run great on my 50" 4K TV. The menu is really nicely designed and simple and intuitive. I have a whole bunch of NES, SNES, Master System, Genesis, GB/GBC/GBA, PC Engine and Arcade (including Neo Geo) games on there (a little under 200 games in total). There's no worry about setting up online accounts or agreeing to EULAs or bothering with constant system patches and the like (other than some SNES games that I specifically patched to add the likes of English translations or to completely remove any slowdown the original versions suffered from). It's really a very tiny and neat package, other than the controller cords. It only cost me £80 (plus I think it was a fiver for the additional extension cords). And it's just great all round. Seriously, it's one of the most satisfying products I've owned in a long, long time, and it brings me no end of joy. The Polymega looks very cool for what it is, but I'm beyond happy with what I have with my awesome little SNES Mini.

I'm primarily interested in this for the Sega Saturn emulation so I can play the Shining Force 3 games patched for English.Being able to play other CD-based consoles is a nice bonus.

Yeah.......still not sold. That $400 is most certainly NOT a bargain if you still own all the consoles this thing supports, in working condition. Which, let's be fair here...most retro gamers already have, or at the very least, a Mini that substitutes for them, as well.

I will buy one if they add 3DO support... my 3DO died and I hear these consoles in particular are dying more than any other CD ones...so not sure bout buying another 3DO...

I'd love to see 3DO support as well. I never had the console as a kid, but playing it now is still something quite special. It's basically a snapshot in time of early 90's PC games, represented perfectly.

This will be pretty cool if 3rd-party publishers actually use it's virtual console mode to publish roms of their back catalogues (to any reasonably significant degree). And that's likely going to be influenced by the install base. But I can't recommend buying this just for the virtual console feature until we know how many companies opt into it.

Otherwise, it's use is only as good as your old cartridge/disk collection. Which in of themselves are only as good as they haven't degraded over too many years.

I only have a significant # of old cartridges/cd-roms/floppies from early Windows/Mac, N64, and Gameboy (well, and everything Nintendo since), so this wouldn't serve me without a significant # of legally-emulated titles built in (and my N64 and Gameboy carts aren't in the best of shape).

But for those who have taken good care of their large collection of old carts & disks, probably a must-buy if only for it's modern TV all-in-one connection (such a pain to keep swapping between devices and/or HDMI chords, let alone storing these old consoles that are likely falling apart faster than the carts are!).

No FPGA, no flashcart support and the price rule it out for me. I'm still glad it exists though and maybe down the line they will release something better (or drop the price).

Looks great, but the price puts me off. Also I own all the original tech, Retron 5, Retro trio 3, Raspberry pi setups which are fantastic. Pandoras box. So I'm covered really.

Yeah that's too expensive. It needs to be able to do a lot more than play retro games for that silly price.

It needs apps and browsers, possibly some other bells and whistles too.

Even then I still think it'll flop.

@Anyone at Nintendolife

Have you been able to physically open the machine and look at the internals? How does the build quality on the inside look?

Hi everyone!

I apologize if this is a dumb question, or if it has already been answered. Does anyone know of you still need the Element Module to play a game once you have installed it on the system? So, for example, if I buy the SNES module and then install Super Mario World, will I then need to attach the module to the system every time I want to play that game? Or could I then just play it off the main system? Thanks!

Does anyone know if the Polymega will work with the original NES PowerPad? I still have my original one & I think my son would love it.

For that price I’d really need it to be able to support dreamcast and gb/gba.

@GravyThief I think that would be Damo as he seems to have a vested interest in this thing.

I am just glad this finally has a review, maybe now we can move back to nintendo related stuff.

@cleveland124 and its still only review copies out

As i said before in this article, however much I want one, it is just massively overpriced

Do we know what games are not compatible??
Can't find the compatibility list anywhere. Seems to have dropped off...

I already have the ultimate retro all in one machine thanks!
It's called a Wii! A modded one that is!

Oof at $449 I'd rather just spend an extra $50 and get a PS5.

@Steel76 I wouldn't say that a console that emulates 5 CD-based systems (edit: or actually 10, if you factor in that it emulates both PAL and NTSC versions of these consoles) straight out of the box is insanely expensive at that price point.

No one is saying that it's cheap either, so let's not overreact. It's a fairly decent price for what you get in return.

System seems fine. But a funny thing the article mentions is that the system is for people that want to use their own games....yet they get dumped onto storage and are played from there, like every other device mentioned. I seriously doubt people using this system will put their games in every time.

It's like when people try to argue they buy Analogue systems because they want to use their own games but then they just leave a flash cart in it. If you want to use your games every single time just stick with original hardware without a flash cart.

@Damo Exactly. To be fair though, they did, probably in their unbridled enthusiasm, initially promise us the (FPGA) moon, so at least part of the criticism actually is warranted, but the whole "bleh, it's just a way too expensive emulation box" comments are beyond short-sighted.

And it's not like your review wasn't elaborate enough, but apparently, most of these negative commenters skipped over the important parts...

@Bunkerneath

Yeah, it is probably cheaper to buy the original Systems with a OSSC or to make a MISTer.
Or any halfway capable PC and set up Emulators and Steam Big Screen.

Still too expensive

@Toliveistobe I don't own the system but I knew someone who did and the answer is yes, once you plug in a game to the system you could create a dump of the rom or ISO within the console. Then you will never had to reinsert that game onto the system ever again and could just play em through the dump install instead similarly to a PC or the Retro Freak. The only thing is if you got a bunch of back-up games on a flash cartridge (such as EverDrive, Mega SD, SD2SNES, or PowerPak) or a homebrew title to try like New Super Mario Land and Sydney Hunter you probably won't be able to run those on this thing as it doesn't support flash cartridges, repros, or roms. I'm not even sure if you could patch games of never before release title so to play translated version of those games.

I just don't see this thing doing well at all.
The price point alone is enough to ward off people looking for a casual retro experience, who ,in my experience, aren't willing to track down and buy all those carts and CDs. These people want a quick and easy device, like the NES/SNES minis.
The lack of FPGA is a turn off to hardcore enthusiasts (which was promised for this thing initially).
Many of the audience who are into using actual physical media are already doing it with the actual hardware.
One the coolest perks of emulation is the homebrew and hacked games, which you can't dump onto this either (it looks like people have to make 'patches' that will work specifically with this machine?)

Just seems like a very niche market of people who already own physical retro games, but no way to play them, somehow haven't gotten into one of the many other options and are also willing to drop $500 over cheaper options.

No N64.
No thank you.

@Damo

Yeah, it won't be inexpansive if you start by Zero
But i bought the OSCC for 170€, a few years ago a Gamecube for 40€ a second Super Nintendo also for 40€ (without Cables) and a Megadrive for 80€(friggin modded).
I also have Cables from Retrogamingcables, they are good but also not Cheap.
But when i want to collect the real ones, i get the real Deal with it.
There are also People who still have their old Systems and don't have the need for a new one, they only need a Solution to Upscale it.

On the other Site, it is Emulation.
My PC from 2009 can emulate every System this System does.
So i could use it to play those Games.
Or hook up my Laptop.
Or a build a Raspberry.
There are Methods to use your Cartridges if you really want.
CDs are no Problem.

And Systems like those from Analogue or the MISTer offer non emulated Solutions.

So there are better or cheaper Solutions out there.

I've been watching this system for a while now, it looks really decent and reviews well. Only problem i seem to have with the thing is how to get my hands on it at a decent price. @Damo Did they mention anything about purchasing from the UK in any of your correspondence?

Initially it was available at a really high mark up from either Amazon or some German warehouse company but not directly. Then all of those pre-order links stopped working. I've just had another look at the site which seems to be offering the $ price but didn't go far enough into the process to see if UK shipping was available. If it is, then buying the console with all the modules may be considerably better offer than it was initially.

I’m planning to get this sometime this year. I have a lot of retro games I would like to revisit (especially mySaturn RPGs). Price is a bit hefty, but is worth the convenience for someone like me.

@ThanosReXXX @Damo

I know there is this negative connotation to emulation boxes which is why you don't like the comparison, especially in light of pi's being so cheap. But it's a cheap PC with optimized UI and emulators. The UI is certainly nice and if you don't have a PC close to a TV there is some utility there. But the price jumps dramatically if you say add SNES, NES, Genesis as most people would want to be at $690.

Here is the listing of emulators that are used:
System Emulator Module
Famicom / NES Mesen EM01
Super Famicom / SNES Mednafen (SNES Faust) EM02
Sega Mega Drive / Genesis Modified Kega Fusion EM03
Sega Mega CD / Sega CD Modified Kega Fusion Base
Sega 32X Modified Kega Fusion EM03
PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 Mednafen EM04
PC Engine CD / TurboGrafx-CD Mednafen Base
PC Engine SuperGrafx Mednafen EM04
Neo Geo CD Modified MAME Base
Sega Saturn Mednafen Base
Sony PlayStation Mednafen Base

Supposedly Mednafen and Kega Fusion have been tweaked some off the versions that are currently available to PC users. We won't know the extent until there are some detailed comparisons available on youtube.

The hardware is unimpressive. Based on information they gave before, the main CPU is an Intel G4930. This is a celeron class PC below the I3 series that most low end laptops run. So while there may be some benefit to these versions of emulators (reviews pending), most people will own a more powerful PC that could take advantage of other features within the emulators.

I am one of those individuals who pre-ordered back in 2018. In fact, my pre-order snuck in when they were stress testing their ordering page (I was die hard). With that said, I am a needle's width away from cancelling this thing. I'm so sick of the waiting and the nebulous responses I get to my questions (if I even get a response). The end of March is my ultimate deadline.

@Damo

"As with any wireless pad, latency is an issue when playing wirelessly, but you can plug it into the machine using a Micro-USB lead to reduce this – we weren't able to test this ourselves, but latency with a wired pad is reported to be about 2 to 3 frames"

"While latency didn't feel like an issue to us with USB pads, when using the built-in controller ports on the Element Modules the lag is reduced almost to nothing (a single frame, in fact)."

A little confused with the verbiage from the review. Are you saying using an original controller is in the 2-3 frame lag range and using a USB controller is in the 3-4 frame lag range?

@Damo

The UI is slick no doubt.

"The machine also supports original controllers (via additional cost, admittedly), which emulation boxes and PCs don't."

They can. I use a number of raphnet adapters that allow original controllers on PC and are pretty low lag. They are essentially what the Polymega is doing within their units.

"That's a bit like saying a PS5 / Xbox Series X is just a PC in a smaller case."

They pretty much are at this point, right? I mean there are reasons to buy those systems too. Exclusive games being the primary point since Sony doesn't release games for PC and some multiplatform games like the NHL series by EA don't get released on PC. You'd have to be a PC builder to build a PC that was more powerful than those systems and come out cheaper. So it's cheap performance for people that don't have a powerful PC as those systems compare more to mid to mid-high performance PCs. They also have the reason that would be the same Polymega is that it's a convenient way to play on TVs if you don't want to setup and have your PC attached to a TV.

It's rubbish. You can get a white Wii for $40 on offerup and 10 minutes later have the entire library of NES, SNES, GB/GBA, MD, TGX16, and MAME. You can also connect NES, SNES, SEGA controllers and joysticks to it.

If ya don't know now you know

Really need a way to play PS2 games that doesn't include original hardware or fat ps3. Such a huge library that feels locked away

This thing sounds pretty awesome to me. But I just don't need it. I have a massive retro game collection and all the original consoles and have already spent plenty of time and money getting them all to work on my modern television. I have a framemeister, a hydra scart switcher, and all the quality scart cables, I even have the Hi-def NES mod by kevtris since the nes doesn't output RGB.
I Want to need the Polymega because the ui is so slick and convenient. But I also just love the authentic experience of using the original consoles. If I didn't have the setup I already have I would definitely get Polymega, but unfortunately I just don't need it.

Too bad people who ordered it years ago will still have to wait several more months to receive theirs

To play SNES games, it would cost $450 (Base) + $80 (SNES Module) = $530. Also add on tax and shipping.

That's more than a PS5 or a XSX. That's insane.

So does it take advantage of fast loading? That's one thing I love about emus, hitting the throttle button when it's loading to get past the waits.

From what I hear you will need it for neo geo cd, psx and saturn had their fair share of pain as well.

@getyourak Switching games into progressive mode is a pain as well. A system that forced the game into progressive plus used hdmi and made by Sony they could easily charge 200-250 and people would eat it up.

The options on Xbox Series X for still playing OG Xbox games are sparse as well, I could do with a more reasonable sized xbox while I'm at it. Playing Morrowind in 4k is pretty cool but not too many games supported.

Coverage of this here on NL feels a little biased. Almost advertising feature in tone.

@Crono1973

But you can install your original games onto the hard drive and play them without the cart/disc!!!!!....oh wait.....

Yup...once I Get the money im droppign it on this.

@cleveland124 With all due respect, as @Damo pointed out so correctly, you simply cannot make a 1:1 comparison, which is why the label "just a simple emulation box" just doesn't fit the bill. For all the rest of the ACTUAL info and facts on this thing, I'll leave it up to Damien, seeing as he's the only one out of ALL of us who has actually play-tested this device, and as such, his review is worth far more than any of our basically prejudiced armchair criticisms.

I'll be honest, I'm not quite sure either whether or not I'll buy this, much less if I even NEED it (then again: we actually don't need any console, so yeah... ), but I'm at least willing to keep an open mind, and I'm even up for play-testing it myself, without having a predetermined negative mindset about it.

P.S.

You may have had a point when listing the emulators/cores, but you forgot one MASSIVELY important factor: with many of these cores and BIOS'es, they've enlisted the help of the ORIGINAL builders/hackers to reverse engineer or sometimes even completely re-engineer them to fit the custom design of the Polymega hardware, such as in the case of the Saturn emulator, which by the way is actually based on Yabause, a notoriously difficult to run and tweak emulator, even on higher end PC's.

I'm kind of assuming they probably chose this path due to them having left behind the original plan to base everything off of FPGA cores, so custom building/re-engineering them for this console was probably the second best option.

And it would certainly explain why everything is running so well, even though it is only software-based emulation.

@Damo
Yep, i can see the Appeal that you don't need all the extra Thingies to make it work.
But than again, i can just use my Laptop via HDMI and my 8Bitdo Controller via Bluetooth :>

But well, i am just not the exact Audience.
I go full "original" or full emulation

They seem to fill a Nieshe* inbetween.

The Amount of Comments in the Internet shows that this Device is creating enough Interest and this alone will bring up enough Customers that will be totally happy with it.

If People will have Joy with the Machine and the Games, everything is ok

*I was too lazy to look up how to write Nieshe correctly, it is Nische in german.
Just to mess around Neesh, Neash, Kneesh, Nysh, Nühsch...

I just wish it wasn't like four additional modules that you have to get for the full setup, three of which are going to be lying around when not in use.

Maybe, at the very least, the base unit could have come with one of the modules of your choice. Or at least there could have been like a deluxe bundle option with one of modules of your choice attached by default, so you don't have to have the default model with that big chunk of plastic that just wastes natural resources and takes up storage space as soon as you decide to purchase at least one additional module.

Also, the base system is actually pretty huge already, and certainly compared to the size I thought it was going to be from the images. I was honestly expecting it to be like the size of an original PlayStation or something like that, but it looks like it's way, way bigger than that from what I have seen recently, and actually closer to the huge modern consoles we have now, which is rather shocking to me.

Outside of those annoying size and practicality issues though, it does sound pretty dang amazing.

Although, for me right now, I'm extremely pleased with my [diminutive] hacked SNES Classic Edition to be honest (along with a couple of basically essential controller cord extenders), which I have installed around 170 classic games on from a variety of retro consoles (SNES, Genesis, Master System, NES, PC Engine, Neo Geo, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, MAME). Honestly, it's one of the most satisfying little consoles I've even owned, and in some ways feels like the ultimate SNES to me (still my all round favourite console of all time).

@Damo

"Again, I must stress that options are good. I wouldn't talk to someone with four kids who was thinking of buying an SUV and tell them to instead buy a two-seater sports car."

I've admitted there are convenience benefits and I wouldn't tell anybody what to do with their money. But I think when you talk about new hardware you compare it to available options which would include available emulators on the PC spectrum which will give a very similar gameplay experience while maybe not doing as well with the UI. I just don't think you can't compare the two even if someone values the UI very highly.

"Polymega will, in the fullness of time, allow you to legally buy games and support the people who own the IP – something straight emulation doesn't offer."

I'll be happy to be wrong if their store actually gets a good selection. But with the price and the retro focus this is going to be really niche. To me I don't know how this could sell more or have a better store than something like the Ouya which I personally found to be very lacking.

@ThanosReXXX

"You may have had a point when listing the emulators/cores, but you forgot one MASSIVELY important factor"

I had listed that it would be interesting to see the youtube videos that would compare existing PC emulation to this device. I'm sure they'll come. It is disappointing though that mentioned in this review is that some games worked in the beta stage but now don't in the final version. The benefit of Analogue is that Kevtris is an employee of Analogue so he spends all his time working on firmware to ensure the highest accuracy. I don't know the arrangement they have here, but they may not get the continual updates that Analogue or other modern systems like Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony where they constantly have people working on bug fixes.

Its a nice product....but, for £270 you can buy an xbox series S and install retroarch and play all the same systems and more at a similar level of emulation by all accounts. and you’d have an xbox as well....

@Grandiajet so far, no... that is LITERALLY the ONLY thing keeping it from being perfect ( for me)..

@cleveland124 You made some valid points there. But even though there aren't any comparison videos yet, or at least not that I know of, there ARE plenty of standalone videos, that give a pretty decent impression of how all the various games and systems run on the Polymega.

As for the way it updates: the system has both online capabilities and side-loading through SD card for firmware and such.

@Damo Something the size of the OG Xbox really would have been a beast.

@bryce951 Yeah, if you can find one that's not scalped by losers on eBay, sure. I'd be all over getting one, they make excellent emulation boxes.

This, this here is objectively overpriced crap

@cleveland124 Kega Fusion? Really? Ha ha ha ha ha! It doesn't even come close to emulating the YM2612 properly. Blast 'Em and M2Engage (Genesis Mini) does a better job.

I see the appeal, but having both a NES Classic and an Analogue Super NT means I have my nostalgia covered until this thing can play N64 and Gameboy/Color/Advance flawlessly. At that point, it'll become an essential purchase for me, but right now....? Meh.

I sold my old games to buy drugs.

$400 for an emulator. Lol.

@Damo This may play games from those consoles but is not made or endorsed by nintendo. But anyway there is clearly enough interest with you and many others so there you go.

Like yourself I also am old and love the oldskool games, I personally seem happy to remember my enjoyment of playing those games rather than having a desire to want to replay them all. And I wouldn't want those nice boxes and manuals getting damaged anyway! I have also always been a nintendo gamer, well apart from a ps2, as in the past I have never liked PC gaming, I found it to come with many hackers, cheaters, modders etc. and this led to many early online experiences being ruined due to cheating. I also like my games to be exactly as the game maker intended it to be, therefore fan games really do not interest me in the slightest and often come with someone trying to make money off it! Consoles are also the only place I feel that there is a level playing field, I could see myself making excuses for losing games because the other player had a better pc than me and I don't need anymore excuses for losing!

Therefore it has only led me to have a negative attitude towards this, but after reading many articles here I have since mellowed in that as I can clearly see that people enjoy modding games for far different reasons than I had thought. I still don't particularly like it for the new consoles as I still feel that although some people use this in order for them to enjoy it for themselves it does fuel what the hackers do and that means that companies have to spend time deflecting what they do rather than making more games.

But please carry on with the articles as much as you so please, I will read many of them I'm sure. Just one question I have thought whilst readying the articles, it seems there is a major importance for people that games run exactly as the original. Is it just the fact we have newer tv's that causes such a problem for people using the actual consoles instead of buying these machines?

Anyone know how saves work on this? Can they be backed up?

Gyeearrgh, I want this so much... I haven't touched my Saturn in a few years and worry that it's not going to work if I ever get around to trying it out again. I also have a box of Genesis games that I'd love to be able to play again. My only regret is that I sold off all of my Sega CD games years ago... the only one I kept is Shining Force CD, and getting that chance to play that again makes this whole thing VERY tempting.

The Polymega has me more interested in retro gaming. Gotta thank Playmaji for that, but I'll be buying from Analogue.

I don't know if I completely understand see the appeal of this. I can play my ps1 games in retroarch flawlessly. That it plays saturn games well is impressive and definitely the most notable achievement of the system. But for $450 plus storage costs plus even more if you want to play cartridge games, plug the costs of the games themselves going full original hardware starts to make more sense.

Plus this doesn't do n64, wii, arcade, ps2, or dreamcast games. There's no leaderboards, achievements or online play. Filter options seem limited. Doesn't seem like the ultimate solution to me.

The only thing I don't like about it is having all those different modules and even the extra controllers for them that you're going to have to store somewhere when not in use (assuming you want more than just the base unit and maybe even all the modules, which I think a lot of people). If it were truly a single system with one set of controllers then it would just be magical, but I get how that would be hard to nail because then certain controller aspects wouldn't be perfectly matched to each system and you'd somehow have to fit a bunch of different cartridge slots on the one box too. But, yeah, that's my gripe. Outside of that, it looks pretty awesome from what I've seen.

I am getting one ,and although I missed the original preorder an eBay seller sold me one .And yes they have awesome feedback..They had 10 for sale ,they are down to 7 ..

@Damo Thanks a lot for the detailed review, really good to read and get these details !

I just don't see any point in this device outside of having a trophy to sit on your shelf.

If you have tons of old copies of games, don't you care about authenticity enough to play them on actual hardware too? Do you really get a swell of nostalgia from plugging Sonic into some new random black box?

And if you don't care and just prefer emulators, what modern (even non-gaming) computer can't emulate the hell out of these systems?

Everyone is free to spend your money on what makes you happy! And we all love old games. Just seems like this device doesn't have an audience. But if you find it it's for you, I do hope you enjoy it, and it would be great for publishers to be able to legally sell their old games instead of pirates and unlicensed repro makers capitalizing

I’ve pre-ordered. I like what I see so far

I'm slowing starting to get excited about this, now there is an N64 module. I have PC Engine HU-cards, N64 games, and Saturn games, but can't be bothered with unboxing and setting up the consoles for 20 mins on Sega Rally, etc.
I'm not ordering one yet, but IF they add Dreamcast support in the future (FAQ page on their website gives me some hope) then I'll struggle to resist!

I pray mine arrives this year, I've spent so much money on bolstering my collection to prepare 😂 I dread to think what I've spent on Mega-CD games alone🤦🏽‍♂️

"Some games don't work properly." The whole issue of accuracy, compatibility, supported/unsupported, and the uneven user experience is my idea of a bad time. And then there's some hand-waving to explain it away as not really a problem and...9/10. Bizarre.

My own personal trust and opinion of any news outlet is in a constant state of flux/balance, some things improve its standing and others reduce it. This review for some reason leaves me with a bad taste, and so has had a large net-negative on my opinion of Time Extension.

@Damo oh, I have used one I don't own one but I have used one for a length of time over the summer. I also found it had a propensity to spit out discs mid-install (still mentioned in the review) and recognise some games as unsupported (also mentioned above) with no reasonable explanation as to why that might be. Just reading your review text it felt at odds with the pros/cons and score.

@Damo I thought his comment was harsh. Until I read your reply…. 9 out of 10 doesn’t suggest a product that “certainly could be better” it’s suggests near perfection.

Especially at such a high price point with or without modules.

Most people reading want to know…. Do I want to spend 800/900 quid on this….. 9/10 suggests yes. This is an excellent way to spend your money.

I guess that’s the hardest thing as a reviewer. Firstly scores are almost impossible…. And secondly knowing you are saying to people “yes spend £800 on this gadget”

I enjoyed the review and your thoughts either way.

Ah I see that as a result of my early comment the con has been edited from "Some games don't work properly" to "Compatibility isn't 100% across all systems" 🙈🙉🙊

So in conclusion.

• Polymega is the best way to play a range of original physical media for retro console games on a modern TV.
• MiSTer FPGA is the best way to play (potentially) cycle-accurate games (arcade, console and home computer) with minimal lag on a modern TV.
• Other software emulation (e.g. via Raspberry Pi) offers a good solution for playing games (arcade, console and home computer) at a significantly lower cost than the Polymega or the MiSTer.

There’s no right or wrong approach, just select what you feel is best for you and - most importantly - enjoy playing the games.

NB: this holds true up to about the N64, beyond that is software emulation or original hardware (potentially modded).

@Damo apologies if this comes across a little harsh but i'm using it more of an opportunity to vent than anything! There are probably a fair few people, myself included, who purchased one of these systems off the back of positive reviews of which this is one of the more prominent. Since purchase we've spent two years plus waiting for systems, often with complete silence from Playmaji for months on end and a concern that the money was down the drain. Every time Playmaji have something new to announce you are there to signal boost almost like an official PR channel for them with very little mention of the problems. It would be nice if you were able to use your special relationship you seem to have with them to ask some of the tougher questions and get updates for those of us still waiting. Or maybe cease advertising their new endeavours until they've delivered on the outstanding orders. This may now be a little irrelevent with the latest shipping news but until i have a system in hand i'm going to struggle to believe any announcement. Even with the recent positive news my expected date of getting a system has gone from "by end of 2023" to "may slip into January" to "3rd week of february"...

My God I want one of these. It seems custom made for me as I have a massive collection of physical retro games.

However despite the positive press I've read on here (it sounds SO good), all the incredibly bad stories about Playmaji being unable to fulfil orders made years ago is a joke and despite really wanting one I'm left in a situation where I don't really know what to do. Do I take a risk and order one now and be prepared to wait ages to get my system with little to no updates from Playmaji (and considering how long it takes them to despatch orders better to get in earlier than later?) or wait till they sort their crap out and actually run things like a professional business and follow through on what they say and get orders out in a respectable time? Also any chance of an official UK release? I think I had more chance of seeing Santa on my rooftop last week than this happening the way things are going.

Yet amazingly, whilst Playmaji cannot sort out their existing orders, they CAN send out a preview unit of their new module for review?! Why not sort out the existing orders rather than developing a new module which might as well be vapour based on what I've read from people waiting to get their orders from years ago.

Bad form. Who is running this company so badly?

I'm actually not trying to dump on Playmaji - but man oh man do you guys have a bad rep from everything I've read over numerous comments on the NL and TE websites. Yes yes there was the pandemic and problems making your system - but geez how long are you going to use this as an excuse.

I ordered an Analogue Pocket in November - ordered it FRIDAY, it arrived in the UK from the USofA MONDAY.

Dang now that's service and how you do things.

And the thing is - despite all this crap I'm reading I still REALLY want your product. Get it together guys as you have a killer system many of us want you to succeed at selling and supporting! PLEASE!!!!!

I understand everyone's annoyances with the company. It took 2.5 years for me to receive mine (ordered May 2019 and got it November 2021), but I feel it was worth the wait. I did use a Framemeister with scart hookups for years before my order and while I waited for it to arrive, so I was already in good shape.

My pros: I can have one system under my tv instead of many, which also means one input and one power cable. The emulation hasn't been an issue. I can use wireless controllers. The quick saves are awesome! The TV filters. Can take screenshots for saving high scores on games that don't keep it (like Streets of Rage). I can keep my games on my shelf reducing wear and tear. It outputs 1080p for all systems, so I don't have to buy upgrades for the rest of my retro systems. Cartridges copy instantly. Supports ssd. It supports burned discs. Super quick and slick UI. Custom background music (I'm using Starlight from Sonic). Free updates.

My cons: It scratched some of my discs. My only module (Genesis/32x) has tight pins, but I only have to put each game in once to copy. Disc game can take 10 minutes or so to copy, which takes a long time when you have hundreds of games to go through. There's
only 2 usb ports and they're a little closer together, which means you can't use 2 8bitdo usb dongles at the same time (2 retrobit dongles fit). New company, so I'm unsure if the long-term reliability of the unit. The module is annoying to change out.

That is all I can think of right now for pros and cons. The product isn't for everyone. I feel only you could decide if it is right for you. $450 is a lot. I got mine when it was $300. I still feel $450 is worth it for me and what I want for my gaming setup.

I just got a notification my n64 module shipped, so I'm looking forward to that. I'm still waiting for my nes and snes modules as well as the light guns. I ordered a second unit for my brother almost 2 years ago. That is how much I like the product.

@Damo Thanks for all that you do on this site! It is a fun place to visit!

I too received the "update your shipping address" email, and I initially felt really positive about it ... I mean ... after all this time, even Playmaji wouldn't use such a ruse to drum up more orders, would they?
Despite being really interested in the Polymega, I was wary of ordering, in light of all the problems and delays, and the lack of communication, but when 2021 rolled around and Polymega officially became a retail product, and Nintendo Life published an article, I decided to place an order. That was back in December 2021. I have yet to receive anything. Despite their latest promises, I'm clearly not going to receive even as much as an email this year. Don't go thinking you can just request a refund if your patience runs out, either. I sent two emails, one of which was sent back in April, requesting a refund. My refund request only received a response in October, when I was told that shipping was likely set to occur before years end, and that I could still request a refund if I wanted one, which I had already done ... twice. Playmaji is keeping your money, whether you get anything in return or not. All I have for the £450 I paid them over two years ago is three emails.
I would say to any potential customer, go ahead and order from Playmaji if you want, but only if you're happy to receive nothing in return for your money. That way, you won't be disappointed.

Thanks to Damo and Time Extension for having the most in-depth review of this, it is appreciated. I’m expecting my base unit next week (ordered May ‘22), and my Ultra module in the next week (ordered yesterday). Really looking forward to a seamless way to play my old carts and CDs without having to have them all out. Love my og hardware and Analogue systems, but I’m a married 53 yr old that a) can’t have this stuff lying around everywhere all the time - I have no “setup”; b) a makes the barrier to entry for quick sessions on 16-bit games a little harder. I’ve never loved emulation, always seems to be a compromise, and the Retrofreak - the last cartridge ripping emulation system I had - and the Retron 5 both went on ebay as they just lacked quality. Hopefully Polymega fixes this.

Small company manufacturing in Myanmar, amidst a global supply chain crisis, I’m pretty glad I’m not just ending up with a refund from a dead company. In the context of issues tech behemoths like Sony and Microsoft had, and seeing how small co like Analogue has fared, Polymega is thankfully finally getting its act together.

This is a niche part of a global hobby and we are all spoiled by modern fulfillment standards from Apple and Amazon. If you went through the struggle of the grey import market, the Pal vs NTSC frustration, the shift from CRTs to flat panels, the price of retro games in the ebay era, this is just an unfortunate aspect of the hobby. I wonder what it is like in the world of classic cars, classic cameras, or any hobby using old stuff.

Good that you’ve updated this.. i think you’re a bit optimistic.. without the elements it’s not really living up to its promise…, and if you’re looking at 600+ it sort of changes… stilll good they keep improving.. just got a dock for my analogue pocket… seems to fit my use case more, but everybody has different preferences ofcourse…

@Jimgamer8 I ordered in Jan 2022. I have to wait until end of Feb for my Base Unit (according to their latest shipping status), Yet you ordered after me, and you are getting it next week (I’m happy for you, but this is just another annoyance of Playmaji).

@Gerald that’s a bummer and hope I didn’t rub salt in the wound.

The Saturn use case is compelling for me, as the original ones are very old now and prone to laser reader and capacitor issues. But the price remains prohibitive. Will just have to hope Analogue launch an FPGA based Saturn in the future.

@Jimgamer8 no worries

@damo cheers for the response. Good to hear you have been feeding back to Playmaji. Am hopeful the February date is going to be the one, the N64 module is en route already. One of the most frustrating things about the whole situation is how much i think i'll enjoy the system when i get it - i'd be a lot less bothered about the delays if i wasn't so eager to get my hands on one!

@Jimgamer8 Well, I've used it for a couple of hours, ripped a bunch of N64, PSX, Saturn and PC Engine CD games. It's slick, user friendly, and does all the processes around ripping / cataloguing and so on very well.
Major disappointment with the display modes and latency. I'm spoiled by the retro-tink, my CRT, and Analogue's products. The RGB and composite filters just don't look right on 2D games. This is especially true using it on a 32" PC monitor a foot from my face. Was hoping it would be better on a big telly at several feet, but just not sure I like the visual side yet. N64 and 3D games on PS1 / Saturn look far more forgiving.
Latency with the official pad is bad. With the 2.4ghz M30 its a bit better. Plugged in mega drive mini pad is ok. Awaiting my PSX mini USB pad off eBay. Gradius / Gradius Gaiden my go-to games for this and its just not good enough.

Will assess with a bigger library of 3D games, but as it stands, I feel like returning it. $500+ is a LOT of money for a subpar experience. What a bummer.