Damo

@Azuris The unit wouldn't power on via the port on my TV, I had to source a 5V PSU brick from elsewhere. It's not a massive issue, sure, but it's one that might throw some people off who aren't as savvy about these things.

@Spider-Kev The 'star' count refers to numbers of stars collected in the game.

@sdelfin @amishpyrate You'd never get 24 hours of battery life out of 3 AAs with a screen as bright as this one.

@KingMike The original GBC doesn't have a lit screen.

@gingerbeardman I'm loving it so far, and if I get chance, I'll try and do a review of it. But so far, so good - it's basically Tetris with a few "modern" upgrades (hold, etc). They really haven't messed around with it much at all.

@nocdaes "Incidentally... I've got £20 here that says AA batteries become obsolete before a USB C Cable ever does. That's a truly bizarre pro!"

The 'pro' in that case relates to the fact that the Chromatic will never suffer from a dead internal battery, as you can either use AA batteries or replace your rechargeable battery pack.

And AAs have arguably outlived USB and Micro USB, and I can't imagine them not being around when USB-C is eventually replaced!

@trevofour I've updated the post to include mention of this.

@DeciderVT Is a cheap SoC inside a tiny SNES case really a SNES Mini?

@KingMike Sorry, I should have been more clear there. Fixed!

To anyone who is confused about why there are comments from 2013 here, this piece was originally published on Nintendo Life over a decade ago and has been updated and republished here to better reflect recent developments.

@slider1983 Nope, sadly. There's the MultiMega / CDX, which is a Mega Drive and Mega CD, but they never had plans to combine all three systems.

@Daniel36 He owns the rights to the English-language localisation, so it certainly can't happen WITHOUT him on board, even if there are other rights issues to tie-up. But, given that some of these titles were re-released digitally on PSP / PS3, it should be possible.

But yeah, it ain't happening without Victor Ireland being involved. He spent the cash localising these games when nobody else would.

@EarthboundBenjy To give some wider context about the game.

@obijuankanoobie It technically wasn't a Sega product, but one made by AtGames under license. Not that your average person would make that distinction, of course!

@BLAZINOAH SMS and GG

EDIT: Sorry, it's for PC - I was incorrect!

@Bod2019 Correct, there's no Capcom cart for Evercade. And I heard the same thing, this is due to Capcom wanting the licence to be tied to hardware.

@-wc- I knew precisely what he meant, I was just saying that critical reaction is less important to business people than money in pockets.

@Hydra_Spectre Critically, sure, but commercially his films have been successful.

@RootsGenoa I've added something in!

@Markiemania95 - Oops - thanks for the save!

@Markiemania95 That's my bad! Fixed!

@TransmitHim You've missed the point of this by some margin. Many games are now unplayable due to the nature of their media (floppy discs, cassettes, etc) and even CDs and carts aren't going to last forever. If the industry wants to be serious about preserving its history, then what the VGHF is suggesting should be happening. It's not because the ESA and the industry at large is only concerned about making money, not preserving history.

And besides, anyone who merely wants free games doesn't have to look very hard online to find them.

@GrailUK Video games can be studied on an academic level, too. And, as this site hopefully attests, there's the historical aspect to consider, too.

And to take your 40K example, sure, why shouldn't issues of White Dwarf and the associated battle manuals be preserved in some way so people can study / learn about the history of tabletop gaming?

@GrailUK Video gaming is an entertainment medium, like any other. People read for pleasure, just as they play games for pleasure.

@XiaoShao That was super-limited edition and only sold via Funstock here in the UK, I think?

@jamesamong007 Oops!

@gingerbeardman I'll amend that, thanks!

@Blast16 Exactly that.

@gingerbeardman I only spotted it today, thanks to Twitter suggesting it to me. I felt it was worth highlighting given the typical drama that seems to happen in the world of FPGA these days.

@Toohats DRM? You mean the beta key? You know Jotego does the same thing with his beta cores, right? I don't think there's anything wrong with these guys protecting their work. If anyone could download the beta cores there would be less subs and therefore less inclination for them to spend their time creating them.

@Gryffin This is primarily intended for emulation, so it only needs to match the button layout on a per system basis (NES, SNES, etc) in emulators like Delta and Ignited. There are different physical modules to match the number of buttons, and the creator is making new ones to match N64 and DS button layouts.

Sorry if I didn't make that clear in the review.

@Gryffin Yep - the front plate is designed to match perfectly with the on-screen buttons.

@LuigiBlood Apologies for not making that clear, I've updated the piece

@Beauville Apologies for that omission. I've added a note to the piece.

@Deuteros Games-X!

https://www.timeextension.com/features/the-inside-story-of-games-x-the-uks-first-weekly-video-game-magazine

@slider1983 Basically nothing.

@_Ex_ In the best hands and on the best hardware, yes. But for anything under $200, software emulation for platforms like Saturn and N64 isn't going to be perfect (at least not yet, and from my own personal experience).

Given that cheap emulation devices are massively popular these days, I'd argue that is the way most people are going to experience software emulation – or on systems like Switch, where latency is a huge problem, even with official releases.

@_Ex_ Quite the opposite, as you can see from the review section of this site, we've covered all kinds of emulation devices, including handhelds and devices like the Polymega. I'm a big fan of both emulation and FPGA, and can see the benefits of both:

https://www.timeextension.com/features/soapbox-heres-why-i-cant-ditch-software-emulation-handhelds-for-the-fpga-analogue-pocket

I'm also fully aware that FPGA emulation isn't perfect (as mentioned in this very review, in fact), but on the whole, because it is emulation at a hardware level, it's usually more accurate and less prone to latency – especially if you're directly comparing devices at this price point ($160).

None of the software emulation devices in this price bracket can match MiSTer Pi when it comes to performance. A more powerful PC wil close the gap of course, but we're talking about sub-$200 products here.

@RetroGames I realise that. It's going for the NES aesthetic in terms of visuals and sound, though - like Shovel Knight did, which you mention.

@UK_Kev Doubtful, unfortunately. The hands-on footage from the prototype in October will be vital to generating confidence in this, I suspect.

@Poodlestargenerica Fair point, I've changed it slightly. Appreciate the feedback!

@PopetheRev28 it's in the works, apparently!

@IceClimbersMain That's the early bird pricing - it will rise to $60 eventually.

@PopetheRev28 It's been available for a while now. The issue is that demand outstrips supply as this is basically a one-man operation. When pre-orders go live they sell out quickly.

Since this review went live a short time ago, the developer has explained that it's possible to put the VM2 into sleep mode by holding down the Mode button for 3 seconds. We've updated the review to reflect this.

@Guru_Larry That video still makes me shudder

@Poodlestargenerica OpenGL is the default renderer for that PS2 emulator. As stated in the review, switching to Vulken improved things, but not to a level that I'd deem fully playable.

@-wc- I'm inclined to agree but let's not forget that Sega had just witnessed its market share get eaten by Sony, and perhaps assumed that six buttons would be off putting for a more casual, mainstream audience? I definitely see the logic of reducing complexity in terms of controls.

@RootsGenoa I know what you mean, but it was one of the things raised in reviews of the remasters (the lack of autosave) so I thought it was best mentioned here, too.

@Spider-Kev No, that's just you

@RootsGenoa That's exactly why it was mentioned - modern gamers might expect autosave, which this doesn't have.

@RossoftheRobots Save states are manual, too