Damo

@NotSoCryptic Most of these emulation devices don't have retro-themed case designs. This looks like something Tiger would have put out in the late '90s; cheap, colourful and aimed at kids.

@KoopaTheGamer Thanks for pointing out the obvious, you shouldn't have to do that - but we appreciate it all the same

@abdias We happen to give Polymega a lot of coverage because it's an amazing product which currently does something that no other device on the market can do - play original media. We love covering these kind of systems (check out our coverage of the Evercade, Anbernic handhelds, Retroid 2, etc) but the Polymega really is unique in that it can play original games, has its own internal database of game info AND is expandable.

We've covered plenty of other emulation devices in the past, not just Polymega. We cover all of the Analogue devices, for example. We cover Nintendo systems an awful lot, too, so does that not set your alarm bells ringing as well?

@Specter_of-the_OLED FPGA support would mean an even more expensive machine and no PSX and Saturn support at launch - and no N64 support, either. FPGA isn't the magic bullet you think it is.

@Mattock1987 It can, but they don't run that well.

@Malanta7 I imagine that's the cost of components going up?

@farrgazer Fixed!

@InkIdols I think keeping silent and allowing people to make out we were 100% in on this all along is much worse, if I'm honest.

@doctorhino "I never said it had to be money"

What you said was:

"I also don't trust anything this site does anymore as they hide advertising as articles. Damien did the same thing with the polymega but at least that is real."

"Advertising" means money.

I honestly can't believe we have to keep saying this as journalists, but we don't get paid off to write articles. We cover things we think are interesting. The Polymega certainly falls into that category - it's my dream machine and the positive feedback from other customers since it launched backs up what I said about the beta unit a few years back.

In the case of the Amico, I also found it an interesting system as I A) have young kids and B) love retro, so it was reasonable to assume our readers would want to hear about it, too. It's a shame that it may never see release because new hardware is almost always a positive thing for the industry; it gives developers and the general public more options.

The irony of being called 'shills' in this case is that we didn't actually give any positive coverage for the machine while its original funding drive was active - the only news article we did during that period was this one:

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/03/new_game_footage_suggests_the_intellivision_amico_will_struggle_to_pull_families_away_from_switch

@doctorhino See my comment above. We cover all kinds of games and hardware on this site; to assume money has changed hands when we write about something more than once is rather naïve.

@nessisonett With all due respect, how do you figure that one? Our initial news coverage was "these games look pretty bad" and even the interview with Tommy had the headline "Will Intellivision get its chance?" Hardly what you'd call positive promotion.

This is hardly glowing coverage:

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/03/new_game_footage_suggests_the_intellivision_amico_will_struggle_to_pull_families_away_from_switch

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/07/feature_intellivisions_tommy_tallarico_wants_to_follow_in_nintendos_footsteps_but_will_he_get_his_chance

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/02/tommy-tallarico-has-stepped-down-as-ceo-of-intellivision

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/02/intellivision-admits-its-wii-like-amico-console-may-never-see-release

If negative articles like these now constitute "shilling" then I think we may need to reassess the meaning of the term 😂

@Darthroseman Thanks for the kind words!

@RR529 Yup.

@EmmatheBest This isn't playing GB games. It's a filter that makes other games look like Game Boy games.

@HamatoYoshi It's spot-on - you can see Saturn emulation in action in our video.

@Not_Soos You need the original media.

@Snatcher I said I can verify that element of the story - which means it rings true with stuff I've been told by people in the industry who have interviewed him.

@themightyant I can independently verify at least one element of this story - Naka does like talking trash in Japanese in front of people who he thinks don't understand Japanese. :I

@KingMike OMG can you imagine lol

@chinhead Let's give it until tomorrow. If you still feel the same way, drop me a line here and I'll do it.

@chinhead Is that an honest request?

@impurekind I quote:

"The show clearly has a bit of an agenda as is, literally making the very first contestant non-binary and very visibly so, with everyone using they/them perfectly throughout, plus having a gay couple too, and specifically making a point of mentioning they are gay and asking them about the relationship"

You utterly exposed yourself with that comment and the many, many others you have posted on this topic. I raised the point in the original piece that people would attack the show for being too inclusive, and you confirmed my thoughts within minutes (and penned several essay-length replies outlining your position quite clearly) so please don't try and make out this is 'on me'.

Given that you've had a warning and have ignored it entirely, then I've got no option but to issue a ban.

@impurekind "You don't have to push it any harder, Damien."

See, the thing is, I didn't push anything - I correctly predicted that there would be narrow-minded people who would take issue with the episode, and you quickly 100% confirmed my suspicions.

If you're likely to go off on one of these rambles every time we even as much as mention inclusivity (which, like it or not, is part of modern life in 2021) then I'm afraid I'll have no option but to issue a ban. The site isn't going to change, so you're the one who is going to have to change.

I'd hate to lose such a long-standing member of the community, but I may have no choice. The ball is in your court.

@OldPierre77 "As someone who ACTIVELY supports and supported LGBTQ+ their entire life, who has friends and family STRUGGLING in a grim world with their everyday life by actually being a normal human being and open about their homosexuality — I don’t see the point in making political statements in a show 100% about losing our free time"

Firstly, there was no 'political statement' made during the show. The contestants in question are all gamers - and they're "actually being normal human beings" (your words) by appearing on a TV show about video games and playing video games. You shouldn't have any issue with this, going by your own words?

@Clyde_Radcliffe By all accounts, he isn't. But then Patrick Moore wasn't, either. He's just playing the character of the GamesMaster.

@Varathius Wow! I'd love to see your collection!

@Ooyah I'm not totally sure but I think it might be to do with the fact that the console versions have more buttons to use, and I'm not sure Blaze has an Amiga emulator at present?

@Gwynbleidd The title is fine; we're talking about third-party games which were previously available on Nintendo systems. They're still "Nintendo" in nature because you need a Nintendo console to play them. 😃

@madmaxjp The MiSTer also costs about 3 times as much.

@BloodNinja Well, the same thing will happen when the Amico servers are shut down I guess, but I still think this is a step forward for digital purchases.

@InkIdols Re-read what @Meteoroid has posted in these comments so far, as the use of NFT here shouldn't have any impact on the environment. The use here is to simply identify a digital copy of the game and match it with the physical game card.

@InkIdols And that's fine, you're entitled to do that. But we're not talking about Tommy here, but the approach Amico takes with physical / digital games.

@BloodNinja Exactly. The concept is interesting. It's odd that people are so negative about it when they're paying good money to Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft for digital games which they can't re-sell, and don't have any more ownership over than they would Amico games.

@Fugazi8 I'm not arguing with anyone; I'm just pointing out that the piece in question is focused on why this approach is new and different, and why it could be potentially interesting for digital purchases moving forward. It's not about whether or not the Amico will fail.

As for the 'shill' comments, I'd normally ignore them as they're downright hilarious, but you might recall that we've covered a lot of tangental projects on NL - the Evercade, Polymega, SNK, Konami and Sega's micro-consoles, etc. Why was there no outcry there?

The only reason people seem to think we're shills for covering Amico – which, like any new piece of hardware, I'm personally excited by because new hardware is almost always positive for gamers (even stuff that flops is often very interesting) – is because they've taken a personal dislike to Tommy. There's not much I can do about that; Tommy's always been very polite and forthcoming with me, but then again, I've not been hurling rocks in his direction. As for the interview we did where we apparently didn't challenge him, we raised all of the points that were mentioned in the Ars piece and gave him the platform to respond to them. Whether or not you believe what he said is up to you, but he had a right to reply (and for the record, we asked the Ars journalist to contribute as well but never got anything back in the end).

Tommy hasn't offered me a ride in his Ferrari or a free t-shirt (more's the pity, I like fast cars and I try to wear clothes all of the time), but if you honestly think those are the things that tempt a fairly large and successful website that's been running for over 15 years to write something positive, then I'm not sure I can convince you otherwise.

Bottom line, there are some very interesting things happening around the Amico, as well as many worrying things – but finding out how it pans out is part of the fun.

@Meteoroid You've hit the nail on the head.

@WhiteUmbrella "Once the servers are shut down, the physical media is useless. It's no better or more physical than a digital library with Sony, Microsoft or Steam"

That's certainly true of the servers, but at the moment, you can't exchange digital games on any other platform. So this approach is different, irrespective of what you think of the Amico or Tommy.

@Gwynbleidd But that's the whole point of this - it mixes physical and digital. A digital purchase, at the moment, is tied to your user account and cannot be sold. This approach still offers the convenience of digital (one tap and the game is on the machine until you delete it) but allows you to sell your copy if you want to raise cash to buy another game, or if you're bored of it.

It's a different approach to tackling digital ownership and gives the consumer more options. Options are good - physical, digital and this new approach - it's all good for the end user to have that choice.

@Jamie_R We've been following this since it was first confirmed that more than one former Nintendo executive was involved with the system. Plus, this is an interesting approach that could have wider ramifications for digital purchases on other systems, including Nintendo's.

Guys, it would be amazing if you could actually read the entire piece before posting a comment. Tom addressed many of the points being raised in the piece – the focus of which is very much the unique way in which this approach mixes physical and digital ownership.

Everyone's pretty much on the same page that Amico has a mountain to climb, but that doesn't stop this approach from being unique, which is the prime focus of the news item.

@HamatoYoshi There's no accounting for taste, my good friend

@nessisonett 100%. Rob really knows his games, and is hilarious too. Can't think of a better choice tbh.

@frogopus It compares very favourably to LaunchBox. The team behind the Polymega have been matching the database to carts and disc production runs, that's how accurate it is. Whenever a new production variant is discovered, it gets reported (by the beta testers originally, but now by a wider selection as the console is now available) and gets added to the database, which is updated every time there's a firmware update. Having said that, out of over 300 games I've installed, I've had less than 5 which have failed to be detected by the database (and 3 of those are now recognised since the last update).

This is certainly the best option ATM for disc-based emulation, IMO.

@Filbert_Wang You're welcome!

@abdias The originals controllers use the ports on the element modules, not USB, so lag is definitely reduced.

And no offence, but I've used some of these Chinese consoles you mentioned, the databases are hilariously inaccurate and full of mistakes. Polymega is on a totally different level to that.

@KillerBOB @mattmanvsuperman @ramu-chan @abdias

(Apologies for tagging so many of you, just wanted to address the points raised in one post)

Bob at RetroRGB tested the lag and it was around 2-2.5 frames using a wired USB controller, which is in the same ballpark as micro-consoles like the SNES Classic and Mega Drive Mini. Using one of the element module controller ports rather than USB (these accept original controllers) the latency is even less. While it's not going to match the Mister when it comes to lag, it's such a small amount of latency that you'll really struggle to notice.

While Mister keeps being raised as a rival to this, it's really not. Mister can't do Saturn or PlayStation (yet) and doesn't offer the massive database of games.

I think it's this element that people are missing here; if you want an emulation box that just plays ROMs then you have plenty of other options. The thing which makes Polymega stand out (and one of the many things that you're paying for when you drop down all that cash) is the HUGE pre-populated database of 1000s of games. That includes cover artwork, menu art, screenshots, descriptions, release date info, dev / publisher info, etc, etc.

I dread to think how long it has taken for Playmaji to create this database (the menu icons are all bespoke designs rather than lifted directly from the cover), and it's one of the aspects I love the most. You load up your game, it matches it to the database and then you install it. And it's there; it's not some filename, but a properly curated part of your digital collection - a bit like downloading games to your Switch. And you can then use that game to find other games released in the same year or by the same dev or in the same genre and tag them in your 'wishlist'. Polymega is aimed at collectors rather than people who are happy to just download ROMs off the internet.

I've been following and reporting on the Polymega situation for long enough now to realise those who are critical of it often don't fully understand the appeal of the platform, and why it's unique when compared to other options on the market. And, for the record, I've got original hardware, a Mister, both of Analogue's 16-bit FPGA consoles and many other means of playing retro games – but the Polymega has been the platform I've used most over the past 12 months (including Switch, PS5 and Series X). It's simply the most convenient way of accessing my retro collection all in one place (I sadly don't have a lot of room at home so can't have all of my machines connected at once).

@galachef55 I'd just embarrass myself lol

@evanc You learn something new every day! The one I have is from Japan and has different packaging

@BloodNinja @Magician We've got a review for that model coming soon! First impressions are excellent; the form factor is lovely.

@mattesdude I'm not sure it was? Happy to be told otherwise, however!

@SenseiDje You can use one of these