Boy, that's a strange system. Until this article, I wasn't even aware of its existence. I took a look at its games and they sure do seem unimpressive. It's weird, too, that so many of their demo games are simply "reimagined" versions of ancient Intellivision and Atari games I played decades ago like "Combat," "Missile Command," "Moon Patrol," "Astrosmash," etc. (A lot of intellivions games were variations on Atari games, anyway.)
When I was really young I worked at Nintendo--just customer service and gameplay counseling--when Beth and Perrin were in Marketing and, IIRC, legal. They're very smart. capable people but their involvement doesn't really have much to do with the software library, which looks pretty uninspiring. Without great games the console isn't going anywhere.
I have a feeling that this will end up in the same dustbin as the Atari VCS.
Edit: Wow, $250? The Switch or an Xbox Series S — vastly more capable systems — are only $50 more. Yikes.
Lord, how many more times will people buy the Atari games? I grew up with them, but they really, really, really do NOT hold up today. But it's a start, I suppose. The console itself is not terribly visually appealing and the finish does not look high quality. And I've never, not once, found one of those one-piece D-pads to be satisfactory. They're almost universally cheap, uncomfortable, and inaccurate. It'd be a miracle if this one weren't.
It fills a niche and will be affordable, but that's it. It's barely above the innumerable Chinese Android handhelds.
I really can't believe how shady this all seems and that people are willing to plunk down $300 to preorder a console that doesn't have a definitive release date or even any confirmed titles. This simply cannot end well.
I wonder if Nintendo would ever consider buying Sega? This has been wished for many, many times over the years but it would be a pretty fantastic team-up, especially if Nintendo was in charge of quality control. As of 2014, Nintendo had cash on hand worth almost three times Sega's market capitalization.
They sure used a lot of hyperbole in that press statement. I'd be extremely skeptical of their claims until the actual hardware can be evaluated. The Retron 5 sounded similarly appealing until hardware manufacturing issues and software problems undermined their first batch of consoles. I rather wish they'd gone the Fpga route rather than this "hybrid emulator" nonsense.
Oh, and just to be pissy I scrolled down and saw how they were so proud of their working "prototype" controller when all it is a black Interworks "Controller Pro U" for Wii-U.
That controller runs about $25 on Walmart and I bet a wired version, featuring fewer components, would be even cheaper to manufacture. It seems pretty clear that they're buying components off the shelf from companies willing to sell them items (the Jaguar mold, the Interworks controller design) and are slapping them together. With something like the Raspberry Pi costing $40 full out and providing all the power a console like this needs, where in the h*ll are they coming up with a $300 price tag? The other components, like the pin slot and power supply, can't possibly cost much.
I'm with those that think that nostalgia can only carry you so far, and that the amount of nostalgia in the retro community isn't enough to carry this project across the finish line. The CPU is ARM, which makes me wonder what the system OS will be (it's unspecified but I highly suspect it will be an Android or Linux implementation.)
It won't play other carts, only VGS carts designed to work with the system. And games start at $30 for the crummy ones and slide up to $60 for games like Gunlord. Why would I pay $300 for this console when I can buy a used Dreamcast and a copy of the game for about $110?
The pack-in game is made by a retro outfit that is ENDLESSLY hawked by Gamester81. I used to watch his YouTube channel until I decided I was both tired of trying to understand what he was saying as well as being sick of him always pushing games his retro company makes. They're about on par with the F2P games in the Play store, albeit without the cartridge.
Comments 8
Re: Intellivision's Wii-Like Amico Console Gets Delayed For A Third Time
Boy, that's a strange system. Until this article, I wasn't even aware of its existence. I took a look at its games and they sure do seem unimpressive. It's weird, too, that so many of their demo games are simply "reimagined" versions of ancient Intellivision and Atari games I played decades ago like "Combat," "Missile Command," "Moon Patrol," "Astrosmash," etc. (A lot of intellivions games were variations on Atari games, anyway.)
When I was really young I worked at Nintendo--just customer service and gameplay counseling--when Beth and Perrin were in Marketing and, IIRC, legal. They're very smart. capable people but their involvement doesn't really have much to do with the software library, which looks pretty uninspiring. Without great games the console isn't going anywhere.
I have a feeling that this will end up in the same dustbin as the Atari VCS.
Edit: Wow, $250? The Switch or an Xbox Series S — vastly more capable systems — are only $50 more. Yikes.
Re: First Images Of Cartridge-Based Retro Console The Evercade Revealed
Lord, how many more times will people buy the Atari games? I grew up with them, but they really, really, really do NOT hold up today. But it's a start, I suppose. The console itself is not terribly visually appealing and the finish does not look high quality. And I've never, not once, found one of those one-piece D-pads to be satisfactory. They're almost universally cheap, uncomfortable, and inaccurate. It'd be a miracle if this one weren't.
It fills a niche and will be affordable, but that's it. It's barely above the innumerable Chinese Android handhelds.
Re: Atari Comes Under Fire For Seemingly Knowing Very Little About Its Crowdfunded VCS Console
I really can't believe how shady this all seems and that people are willing to plunk down $300 to preorder a console that doesn't have a definitive release date or even any confirmed titles. This simply cannot end well.
Re: Hands On: Exploring The Future Of Retro Gaming With Polymega
Sounds great, but also very, very, VERY expensive.
Re: Hardware Review: Sega's Heritage Deserves Better Than The Mega Drive Ultimate Portable
I wonder if Nintendo would ever consider buying Sega? This has been wished for many, many times over the years but it would be a pretty fantastic team-up, especially if Nintendo was in charge of quality control. As of 2014, Nintendo had cash on hand worth almost three times Sega's market capitalization.
Re: Modular Console RetroBlox Could Be The Ultimate Old-School Gaming Platform
They sure used a lot of hyperbole in that press statement. I'd be extremely skeptical of their claims until the actual hardware can be evaluated. The Retron 5 sounded similarly appealing until hardware manufacturing issues and software problems undermined their first batch of consoles. I rather wish they'd gone the Fpga route rather than this "hybrid emulator" nonsense.
Re: The Retro VGS Wants To Revive The Glory Days Of Cartridge-Based Home Consoles
Oh, and just to be pissy I scrolled down and saw how they were so proud of their working "prototype" controller when all it is a black Interworks "Controller Pro U" for Wii-U.
http://wiiudaily.com/2013/01/interworks-controller-pro-u-review/
That controller runs about $25 on Walmart and I bet a wired version, featuring fewer components, would be even cheaper to manufacture. It seems pretty clear that they're buying components off the shelf from companies willing to sell them items (the Jaguar mold, the Interworks controller design) and are slapping them together. With something like the Raspberry Pi costing $40 full out and providing all the power a console like this needs, where in the h*ll are they coming up with a $300 price tag? The other components, like the pin slot and power supply, can't possibly cost much.
Re: The Retro VGS Wants To Revive The Glory Days Of Cartridge-Based Home Consoles
I'm with those that think that nostalgia can only carry you so far, and that the amount of nostalgia in the retro community isn't enough to carry this project across the finish line. The CPU is ARM, which makes me wonder what the system OS will be (it's unspecified but I highly suspect it will be an Android or Linux implementation.)
It won't play other carts, only VGS carts designed to work with the system. And games start at $30 for the crummy ones and slide up to $60 for games like Gunlord. Why would I pay $300 for this console when I can buy a used Dreamcast and a copy of the game for about $110?
The pack-in game is made by a retro outfit that is ENDLESSLY hawked by Gamester81. I used to watch his YouTube channel until I decided I was both tired of trying to understand what he was saying as well as being sick of him always pushing games his retro company makes. They're about on par with the F2P games in the Play store, albeit without the cartridge.
There's no way this project gets funded. None.