Damo

@RaeDawnChonglingBay I've updated the article with the removed games.

@RootsGenoa A fair point, fixed!

@Uncharted2007 @GhaleonUnlimited @RootsGenoa Our lists tend to evolve over time, so I'm not against bumping this from 10 to 15 entries and including MK2, NBA Jam, Doom etc - watch this space!

@BulkSlash Your assumption is correct, I think - it will probably just spit out hints and tips based on what it has scraped from the internet. Something I hope becomes illegal on copyright grounds sooner rather than later.

@belmont If you have an ODE, yes. If not, Action Replay carts can be flashed with Pseudo Saturn and allow you to retain the 1M/4M expansion (as they have it built-in).

@BulkSlash Agreed, it's real godsend!

@Hydra_Spectre Apologies, that has been amended.

@bring_on_branstons Hopefully things will improve this year. You cite Analogue as an example of how to do things, but it's worth pointing out that, until very recently, the wait for Analogue Pockets was almost as bad. Ant, who works with me here at Hookshot, had to wait almost a year for his. These issues have impacted many companies, not just Playmaji.

@romanista Exactly - everyone's use case is going to be different. I'm just happy we have so many options when it comes to retro gaming in 2024!

@blondeandy I'm sorry to hear you've had such a poor experience with Playmaji. Rest assured, we've been filtering back issues with pre-orders to them for the past year or so. The situation with the Polymega is awful, and while it's not totally Playmaji's fault (component shortages and civil wars are beyond the company's control), the lack of communication over the past couple of years isn't good, and we've said as much to them.

I can only hope that 2024 is a more positive year for Playmaji and Polymega, because, as you can see from this review, I feel the system itself is excellent.

@gingerbeardman Having re-read the review for what feels like the millionth time today, I realised that I'd already stated in the text that issues like discs being spat out or showing as unsupported were remedied by a previous system update (it's important to remember the original review was based on beta hardware / software). However, I've given that paragraph another go-over to make it clearer to readers in 2024.

"According to Playmaji, the retail firmware features some low-level changes in the way the system behaves, so these could just be teething troubles that will be fixed with future software updates – or, as we just mentioned, it could be down to decades-old CDs starting to become unreadable (it's worth noting that we've since had another update of the retail firmware which has fixed some of the incompatibility problems we encountered previously). Whatever the reason, Playmaji has spent the past three years fine-tining compatibility and ironing out any issues, and the abovementioned problems have largely been eradicated in 2024. Like many other pieces of modern consumer hardware, Polymega is likely to continue to evolve and improve over its lifespan."

@Stocksy On our review scale, even 10/10 isn't perfect, as there's arguably no such thing as a perfect game. 9/10 certainly shouldn't be seen as perfect and without fault, but it's highly recommended and does what it sets out to do amazingly well.

@gingerbeardman The review is based on the one originally written in 2020, so it has been adjusted accordingly to reflect 3 years of software updates. I changed the con you mentioned to better reflect the situation now, in 2023, when compatibility has improved dramatically.

The disc-spitting is also a thing of the past (at least in my experience) so I'll probably give this another pass to update it. I didn't want to totally re-write the review, but there's some legacy stuff in there which perhaps needs amending (I'm technically on holiday at the moment but wanted to get this updated asap).

Returning to the matter at hand, I would continue to recommend this system to anyone with a sizeable collection of retro games who wants to play them on a modern TV. It's a great option for that particular gamer, and, as I said before, it's been my most played system for the past 3 years. I just wish Playmaji could get them into people's hands faster.

@gingerbeardman I think you might have misunderstood the story - GB support hasn't been announced, it was discovered by users who have the N64 module.

Not defending Playmaji's inability to hit deadlines, but in this case, nothing was promised officially.

@gingerbeardman You're perfectly entitled to your opinion, of course. But speaking personally (I wrote the review), Polymega has been my most played system since I got the review unit in 2020. Compatibility has improved massively since then, with only a small handful of games not working 100% (as is the case with a lot of emulation-based options - in fact, even FPGA systems have compatibility issues). The user experience is also fantastic (not sure where you got 'uneven' from?) with games installing easily and the end user getting a rich library to browse, complete with screenshots, descriptions and other data. Compared to many other emulation options, it's incredibly streamlined.

And there's no hand-waving here, as you say - 9/10 suggests a product which isn't quite perfect, and Polymega certainly could be better - but, if you own a large collection of physical games and you want a one-stop solution for playing them on a modern TV (with the ability to use save states, patches, etc) then it doesn't really have any rivals at the moment.

I'm not sure why this review should leave a bad taste in your mouth when you haven't used a Polymega personally, but I would highly recommend you give it a go. It's a wonderful way to reconnect with your physical retro games.

@isitafox As noted in the review, this cart was released before the Evercade Amiga emulator was done. From this point on, we should see a lot more collections with Amiga games on them.

@iconmaster We got our 1 and 7 mixed up! Thanks!

@Gerald Excellent news! Hopefully the base unit isn't too far behind!

@-wc- The UI design is terrible

@BulkSlash You can migrate everything using a MicroSD card - EmuDeck even has the option to move everything over. I had all of my emulation stuff on a MicroSD card already, and it was all retained when I popped it into the OLED model.

@nukatha Ah, thanks for the save!

@KingMike Sorry, I think I may have misunderstood your first question. I'm fully aware of all of the system cards (spent far too much money collecting for the PCE back in the day) - I assume the Analogue Duo simply picks the right 'card' for each game? I loaded up CD-ROM2, Super CD-ROM2 and Arcade CD games and they all played flawlessly. I didn't test Altered Beast though, which is apparently one of the CD-ROM2 games which refused to run on any of the more advanced System Cards.

@KingMike I'm not sure I follow? The Duo runs all CD games without the need for System Cards, as mentioned in the review. I'm no expert but I imagine Analogue was able to replicate the System Cards within the FPGA, as all they really did was add more RAM, if I remember rightly.

@KoopaTheGamer Yeah, it was a pun referencing that (and the PC Engine name). The PCE generates emotions

@michaelf I imagine a second pack will happen. Sadly it looks as if SuperFrog won't be included as there appears to be some kind of legal issue with that game now...

@-wc- The Yes album covers really are something else. Their beauty is one of the reasons I lament the shift to digital music; it's not the same when you can't listen to an album while gazing at the cover art! I have a massive soft spot for Relayer because the cover is so good.

@-wc- Anytime, my man 🤜🤛

@-wc- "In 1988, the same year as the film's release, the Kyoto-based developer Tose partnered with the publisher Taito to release a Japan-exclusive adventure game based on the magazine for the Nintendo Famicom, which received somewhat of a lukewarm response from magazines at the time like Famicom Tsūshin"

The 'magazine' in this case is the original manga, on which the film was based.

@Darthphillius I remember that - Xenon was also featured as a phone-in game on Get Fresh, if memory serves?

@Zenszulu If you read the full interview, Atari (and Nintendo's other rivals) were pretty bummed by Nintendo's practice of getting third parties to sign over the exclusivity of their games in order to get them released on the NES - a practice which was later deemed to be anti-competitive.

Not saying this little episode was justifiable, but you can see why Atari and Sega would be annoyed.

@JJtheTexan Ah yes, I was getting my NA and EU releases mixed up! Fixed!

@-wc- I forgot PD uses that setup as well. GoldenEye doesn't though, does it? That's stick + C-buttons, if my fading memory serves me correctly...

@-wc- Fair enough on the 'second stick' wording, that was confusing (I meant second control input), so I've amended that.

However, with N64, my point is that there are plenty of amazing games which require you to use both the D-pad and the stick at the same time (Sin & Punishment being my personal fave) and that means the RG ARC isn't the ideal system.

TBH, this issue aside, I wouldn't recommend this device for ANY system that relies on analogue input, so the conversation is moot anyway

@fpcreator2000 2D DC fighters run fine on this, BTW. I was playing CVS2 last night and it runs at close to full speed.

@michaelf You are quite welcome!

@macdon6794 We were told directly, but I assume the same update is going out to other sites.

@wiiware See, I really liked that aspect - it's kind of like gear-gating sections of the level, creating mini-puzzles within stages. But I can see why it might frustrate, too!

@michaelf Watch this space...

@calbeau Apologies; the unit has about five hours of stamina - this has been added to the review.

@BobaTheFett Just because you don't see the point of projects like these doesn't mean other people aren't interested in them. I personally find it amazing what old hardware can do when put in the right hands.

Regards to it "being weird" that we reported on this without more detail, the guys behind the project literally posted a video and that was it. We're not involved in the project so therefore can't give any additional background info - but, given the interest in this post, it seems that a lot of people wanted to hear about it regardless.

And as for it not running on stock hardware because an Everdrive is used, that's kinda like saying Star Fox and Virtua Racing don't count either, as they're running with the help of special chips on the cartridge. The console itself is stock, so that's still a legitimate statement.

Regardless of all of this, I'm amazed a news post about a really cool development in the world of retro gaming would cause such a large amount of drama.

@Woderwick I was honestly thinking for a second I might be the only person who remembers this album!

I also loved the Dark Future radio intro - it blew my mind as a 12-year-old that albums could have stories weaved into them.

I'm so pleased this album is getting a new lease of life, even if it's only as menu music!

@NinChocolate I was thinking the same thing! XD

@AshMcCool @Coolmusic Ah, you're quite right! I've updated the text to reflect this. Thanks!

@belmont Thanks, added!

@Turrican Wow, I've never seen that cover before! Added, thanks!

@WaffleRaptor01 Firstly, "one of us" was in quotation marks because I was kinda alluding to the line from Toy Story rather than saying it 100% seriously - apologies if that wasn't clear.

Secondly, despite the fact that gaming is the world's biggest entertainment industry, there are still a lot of celebs who don't play games – and if they do, they're certainly not as invested in them as Perry clearly was.

That's why I felt it was worth using this kind of language because he wasn't just a casual gamer.

@Exerion76 People tend to bond over shared interests and hobbies.

@gingerbeardman The resolution is actually (almost) perfect, as most of the arcade games have an very similar resolutions. I was amazed at how sharp the games look on this display.

As for the comparison with the RGB30, you're comparing two totally different devices aimed at two different demographics. The Super Pocket is more straightforward to use, doesn't come loaded with unlicensed ROMs (something a lot of people are uneasy about) and has the added benefit of running physical carts, too. And it's cheaper than the RGB30 by almost half (and the battery life is almost the same).

The Super Pocket is clearly aimed at younger players, and the casual retro gift market - and with that in mind, it's a brilliant product.

@RootsGenoa Mapping is active on the EXP, as per the last update I think?

@DestructoDisk A few points:

"It's a portable that plays cartridges made for handhelds"

Judging from the amount of traffic we get on our OpenFPGA core guide for the Pocket, I'd argue a LOT of people are using their Pockets to play ROMs. I have a massive collection of physical carts but I see the benefit of being able to load a bunch of ROMs onto an SD card and avoid having to carry around physical games.

Also, your use of term 'hack' is misleading here; there's no hacking required to make use of OpenFPGA - it's baked into the Analogue Pocket firmware. All you're doing is loading in new FPGA cores and then loading ROMs. The Pocket was always designed with this in mind, just as it was designed to play original media.

"There is currently not an FPGA complex enough to do 3D game systems. It's not a software emulation handheld."

There are PS1, Saturn and N64 FPGA cores on MiSTer already.

"I think it's pretty clear that Analogue only creates and sells FPGA consoles, and caters to the FPGA niche."

While you're correct in that the FPGA and software emulation sectors are different, the end goal is the same: to play retro games. Given that the RGB30 has the same aspect ratio display as the Pocket (one of the big selling points for me personally), the comparison is fair, IMO.