@Damo The evidence IS the video. Go grab yourself a Saturn emulator for the PC. Any one. There aren't many.. SSF is probably the best. Load up any of the games they showed in the video, and try and duplicate what you see. @tguk911 has it right on - people were jumping ship, and they had to do something. If they had consulted anyone who has been in the emulation community as long as I have, we would have told them not to try and fake the Saturn, because Saturn emulation is a bit crap. Always has been. If only there -was- a Saturn emulator that good!
I would be willing to dedicate the time to an expose to call them out. I think it would be a lot of fun. I do enjoy helping people to save money.
@Damo: They don't have to admit it, it's plain as day. Unless they have written their own emulator with 100% perfect emulation since announcing their change in hardware ... and that would be a first, because there is no Saturn emulator that runs Saturn games as well as you see in that video. That footage is piped from a real Saturn, using an RGB-SCART cable. I would thrown down a challenge right now for them to prove otherwise, with a proper one take video that displays the console, how it works, and how they managed to perfect Saturn emulation from the original discs. But they won't do that, because they can't do that. If that video posted up there fools anyone, then it's time to get off the internet before they accept a money transfer from a Nigerian prince.
Like I said in one of the other threads, what these guys are shilling is a fancier emulator front-end than retroarch. Anyone should be able to look at the sum of everything they've put out thus far from announcement to this silliness, and realize it's a scam.
This just gets more hilarious every time they try.
1. This is footage ripped off a Rhea modified Saturn - the mod that loads discs off an SD card.
2. Notice how they "select" a game off of their menu, and suddenly it's right into the game play? Gotta switch the video feed over to the real deal, that someone actually put the hard work into and pulled off. Creative editing, points for that.
3. Notice how there is still no footage of the "console" and its "controllers"? They don't even bother show a the disc into a disc drive.
The jig is up, it always was, posting video from the wrong game - it had to happen sooner or later. The thing about keeping a lie going is that it gets harder and harder to remember what lies you told. This thing is finally folding like the house of cards it always was. Anyone that committed your hard-earned money to this, claw it back now before it's too late!
@LittleMac78 I hear you, though I disagree on the expense. Aside from something like the Retrode, or the appropriate CD drive, many people have a combination of hardware and controllers already in their house to pull it off without issue, or with very little expense. The Android stereo deck in my car handles PlayStation and Nintendo DS games with a Bluetooth controller for goodness sake. My phone could probably handle the moon landing while relaying 4k video of the whole experience. Now if you want to run something like Higan for example, well, you're going to need something more powerful than the Polymega, and the average computer of the average user. But most people are not that anal about their emulation.
RetroUSB (https://www.retrousb.com) has been producing USB dongles for NES/SNES/N64/Atari for years, as well as kits to modify your own controllers, should you be evil enough to destroy an original controller. It's about $15 for a little dongle, and you have the original controller to hook into your system. Lag free.
Yes, the FPGA is a far better option. Anyone who has touched a Super NT (https://www.analogue.co/pages/super-nt/) can attest to that. Polymega isn't even in the same universe as the Super NT. The folks at Polymega probably went "oooooh, FPGA," invented a bunch of marketing drivel, and then just assumed they could put it inside their magic black box and it would work.
But it didn't, and now they're back to bog-standard emulation in a box. It isn't too early to judge - they've been at this for almost 2 years now, with the same tired marketing speak, no demos or videos, nothing but renders for imagery, and endless promises.
If they make any more changes mid-stream, Duke Nukem Forever is going to look in their direction. He's here to kick ass and chew bubblegum - but he's all out of gum.
@LittleMac78 The only delusional folks are the ones who believe this is real. Did you not read the same post as I did above? Have you not seen the 20 reward tiers to be activated once they scam their initial $500,000 USD? "Hybrid emulation," "14 layer PCB." It's a more obvious scam than the Nigerian prince who desperately wants to bequeath his fortune to me.
With statements like: "That means you can now play backed up games such as StarFox and others regardless of whether you have the cartridge inserted, a convenience that most gamers will appreciate," how are you not laughing out loud? Why yes, I do appreciate it ... my phone can do that! That one single statement proves the whole thing is nothing more than a charade. A collection of emulators wrapped up in a box with a silly name and a high price tag.
You can be incredibly lazy, and still produce the same thing in the comfort of your own home:
Step 1. Get your favourite hardware - heck, it can be anything. A raspberry pi, your phone, your linux / chromeos / windows based computer.
Step 2. Be really lazy and install Retroarch if you aren't familiar with individual emulators. The interface is pretty snazzy though.
Step 3. Hook up a Retrode if you want that real stick-in-my-cart-and-it-rips-a-rom experience, and/or your trusty GDR-816[0, 1, 2, 3,4]B / GDR-H10N, or one of the many drives that reads all the discs if you need that real stick-in-my-disc-and-it-rips-an-iso experience.
Step 4. The controller of your choice.
BAM! A DIY Polymega. You can stick it in a cool plastic box if it makes you feel better. The only thing these oafs have developed is a menu to "demonstrate" the "working product".
I've said it before, and I'll say it again - this is a scam. Nothing about this is real. It's the RetroVGS (Chameleon) only amped up by a factor of 10. It's astounding the number of people who are being taken in by it. Call it RetroBlox, call it Polymega, call it whatever you want - but I call it a scam. They've been using the same tired renders and promos since the beginning of 2017, where they were already purporting to show a near- perfected system in action.
I don't know why NintendoLife continues to promote it. Look at NintendoLife's own coverage...
Feb 2017: "The goal is to ship within 8-10 months after the close of funding from Kickstarter. So, we will be shipping RetroBlox around this time next year."
That would have been February 2018, 7 months ago. But of course, no Kickstarter, because people would sniff out the scam too early. Instead, "Last year, Playmaji eschewed going down the crowdfunding route and instead raised $500,000 from undisclosed angel investors, according to chief executive and co-founder Bryan Bernal. " (Techcrunch) And yet, here we are today with a huge round of product changes and a pre-order campaign to raise - wait for it - $500,000. Hmmmm.
Feb 2017: ""For the people who are speculating $300, it won't be nearly that much"" Update Sep 2018: "Polymegaâ„¢ can be pre-ordered for the discounted price of $249.99 USD. After pre-order the system will retail for $279.99 USD. Polymegaâ„¢ Element Module Sets start at $59.99 USD."
I guess $50 shy is not nearly $300, for the base experience. However, it's well over if you want (and of course people will) the element modules. Which they know full well.
Feb 2017: "So, thats why we've announced the product two months before the anticipated launch of the Kickstarter. This will give us time to release more technical information and provide live in-person demonstrations to assuage any concerns some may have. Before even the first second of the Kickstarter campaign, many will have had the opportunity to play their games on Retroblox and have a taste of the final product."
So, it's almost ready? Search all the coverage around the web. Does any site have video footage? Photos? Doesn't anyone wonder why not? Because it doesn't exist! Oh wait, it's September 2018 and nothing has changed? Why gosh golly wow, colour me surprised!
April 2018: They released a video purporting to be their 14 layer PCB (...lol). "According to Polymega maker PLAYMAJI's Bryan Bernal, more of these "development" videos will be shown prior to a "bigger marketing campaign" which occurs this year."
Haven't seen any more of those, but then they have to learn from their contemporaries. We haven't seen any real product, video, photos, or anything else since February 2017. Come ON. If this this was real, they would be cranking out constant video, being completely transparent. If it were real, it wouldn't need marketing, seeing it in action would be enough to sell itself. But they can't do that, because they don't have a product - and this article today proves it. Those are some very sudden, very deep hardware level changes for a product that's been 'almost ready' for 18 months.
June 2018: NintendoLife claims to have played the unit: "The Polymega is a sight to behold in the flesh; it looks every bit as beautiful as the professionally-made product shots would lead one to believe."
And yet not one photo of the unit in the article, again - just the same tired renders. Those aren't product shots, guys. The tiny PC they shoved in the black box to 'demonstrate' was something you could have built yourself at home. CD drives that read PSX/NeoGeo CD/etc games are as easily available as you were fooled. Probably the same box they used on the E3 floor. The only place anyone has ever actually "seen" it.
There are endless quotes from articles all over the web. In April 2019, when the system is supposedly going to launch, I'll be waiting for the NintendoLife article detailing the scope of fraud committed by Bryan Bernal and Polymega. Because this thing is never going to see the light of day.
Now we're talking about a virtual console style service, where just 3 months ago he was saying they want to have 50-100 licensed titles of their own available by the end of 2018. They aren't going to distribute any BIOS files, but they "might license the PSX BIOS - FOR NOSTALGIC REASONS!" LOL, give it a rest already.
Like I commented in June: "This kind of scam has been pulled before - promise something that's too good to be true, yet the public allows themselves to be fooled because they so badly want it to be true. This project smells rotten. The people behind this project will float away on a boat made of your stolen money, on the river of your tears."
I've said it before, and I'll say it again - this is a scam. Nothing about this is real. It's the RetroVGS (Chameleon) only amped up by a factor of 10. It's astounding the number of people who are being taken in by it. Call it RetroBlox, call it Polymega, call it whatever you want - but I call it a scam. They've been using the same tired renders and promos since the beginning of 2017, where they were already purporting to show a perfected system in action.
This looks about as real as the Coleco Chameleon. Lots of pretty 3D renders, impending Kickstarter, a video of the "14 layer pcb", lots of nonsense babble on their webpage about 'hybrid emulation'. No videos of the unit, game play, or any functionality of any kind - at least they've learned from the Chameleon not to publish photos - wouldn't want to be caught out before they can run away with the Kickstarter money.
This kind of scam has been pulled before - promise something that's too good to be true, yet the public allows themselves to be fooled because they so badly want it to be true. This project smells rotten. The people behind this project will float away on a boat made of your stolen money, on the river of your tears.
Comments 10
Re: Polymega Answers Critics With 25 Minutes Of Sega Saturn Gameplay Footage
@Damo The evidence IS the video. Go grab yourself a Saturn emulator for the PC. Any one. There aren't many.. SSF is probably the best. Load up any of the games they showed in the video, and try and duplicate what you see. @tguk911 has it right on - people were jumping ship, and they had to do something. If they had consulted anyone who has been in the emulation community as long as I have, we would have told them not to try and fake the Saturn, because Saturn emulation is a bit crap. Always has been. If only there -was- a Saturn emulator that good!
I would be willing to dedicate the time to an expose to call them out. I think it would be a lot of fun. I do enjoy helping people to save money.
Re: Polymega Answers Critics With 25 Minutes Of Sega Saturn Gameplay Footage
@SenseiDje 😊
Re: Polymega Answers Critics With 25 Minutes Of Sega Saturn Gameplay Footage
@Damo: They don't have to admit it, it's plain as day. Unless they have written their own emulator with 100% perfect emulation since announcing their change in hardware ... and that would be a first, because there is no Saturn emulator that runs Saturn games as well as you see in that video. That footage is piped from a real Saturn, using an RGB-SCART cable. I would thrown down a challenge right now for them to prove otherwise, with a proper one take video that displays the console, how it works, and how they managed to perfect Saturn emulation from the original discs. But they won't do that, because they can't do that. If that video posted up there fools anyone, then it's time to get off the internet before they accept a money transfer from a Nigerian prince.
Like I said in one of the other threads, what these guys are shilling is a fancier emulator front-end than retroarch. Anyone should be able to look at the sum of everything they've put out thus far from announcement to this silliness, and realize it's a scam.
Re: Polymega Answers Critics With 25 Minutes Of Sega Saturn Gameplay Footage
This just gets more hilarious every time they try.
1. This is footage ripped off a Rhea modified Saturn - the mod that loads discs off an SD card.
2. Notice how they "select" a game off of their menu, and suddenly it's right into the game play? Gotta switch the video feed over to the real deal, that someone actually put the hard work into and pulled off. Creative editing, points for that.
3. Notice how there is still no footage of the "console" and its "controllers"? They don't even bother show a the disc into a disc drive.
The jig is up, it always was, posting video from the wrong game - it had to happen sooner or later. The thing about keeping a lie going is that it gets harder and harder to remember what lies you told. This thing is finally folding like the house of cards it always was. Anyone that committed your hard-earned money to this, claw it back now before it's too late!
Re: Polymega's Grand Vision For The Ultimate Retro System Includes A Virtual Console Successor
@LittleMac78 I hear you, though I disagree on the expense. Aside from something like the Retrode, or the appropriate CD drive, many people have a combination of hardware and controllers already in their house to pull it off without issue, or with very little expense. The Android stereo deck in my car handles PlayStation and Nintendo DS games with a Bluetooth controller for goodness sake. My phone could probably handle the moon landing while relaying 4k video of the whole experience. Now if you want to run something like Higan for example, well, you're going to need something more powerful than the Polymega, and the average computer of the average user. But most people are not that anal about their emulation.
RetroUSB (https://www.retrousb.com) has been producing USB dongles for NES/SNES/N64/Atari for years, as well as kits to modify your own controllers, should you be evil enough to destroy an original controller. It's about $15 for a little dongle, and you have the original controller to hook into your system. Lag free.
Yes, the FPGA is a far better option. Anyone who has touched a Super NT (https://www.analogue.co/pages/super-nt/) can attest to that. Polymega isn't even in the same universe as the Super NT. The folks at Polymega probably went "oooooh, FPGA," invented a bunch of marketing drivel, and then just assumed they could put it inside their magic black box and it would work.
But it didn't, and now they're back to bog-standard emulation in a box. It isn't too early to judge - they've been at this for almost 2 years now, with the same tired marketing speak, no demos or videos, nothing but renders for imagery, and endless promises.
If they make any more changes mid-stream, Duke Nukem Forever is going to look in their direction. He's here to kick ass and chew bubblegum - but he's all out of gum.
Re: Polymega's Grand Vision For The Ultimate Retro System Includes A Virtual Console Successor
@LittleMac78 The only delusional folks are the ones who believe this is real. Did you not read the same post as I did above? Have you not seen the 20 reward tiers to be activated once they scam their initial $500,000 USD? "Hybrid emulation," "14 layer PCB." It's a more obvious scam than the Nigerian prince who desperately wants to bequeath his fortune to me.
With statements like: "That means you can now play backed up games such as StarFox and others regardless of whether you have the cartridge inserted, a convenience that most gamers will appreciate," how are you not laughing out loud? Why yes, I do appreciate it ... my phone can do that! That one single statement proves the whole thing is nothing more than a charade. A collection of emulators wrapped up in a box with a silly name and a high price tag.
You can be incredibly lazy, and still produce the same thing in the comfort of your own home:
Step 1. Get your favourite hardware - heck, it can be anything. A raspberry pi, your phone, your linux / chromeos / windows based computer.
Step 2. Be really lazy and install Retroarch if you aren't familiar with individual emulators. The interface is pretty snazzy though.
Step 3. Hook up a Retrode if you want that real stick-in-my-cart-and-it-rips-a-rom experience, and/or your trusty GDR-816[0, 1, 2, 3,4]B / GDR-H10N, or one of the many drives that reads all the discs if you need that real stick-in-my-disc-and-it-rips-an-iso experience.
Step 4. The controller of your choice.
BAM! A DIY Polymega. You can stick it in a cool plastic box if it makes you feel better. The only thing these oafs have developed is a menu to "demonstrate" the "working product".
A fool and his money are soon parted.
Re: Polymega's Grand Vision For The Ultimate Retro System Includes A Virtual Console Successor
Like I said in yesterday's article...
I've said it before, and I'll say it again - this is a scam. Nothing about this is real. It's the RetroVGS (Chameleon) only amped up by a factor of 10. It's astounding the number of people who are being taken in by it. Call it RetroBlox, call it Polymega, call it whatever you want - but I call it a scam. They've been using the same tired renders and promos since the beginning of 2017, where they were already purporting to show a near- perfected system in action.
I don't know why NintendoLife continues to promote it. Look at NintendoLife's own coverage...
Feb 2017: "The goal is to ship within 8-10 months after the close of funding from Kickstarter. So, we will be shipping RetroBlox around this time next year."
That would have been February 2018, 7 months ago. But of course, no Kickstarter, because people would sniff out the scam too early. Instead, "Last year, Playmaji eschewed going down the crowdfunding route and instead raised $500,000 from undisclosed angel investors, according to chief executive and co-founder Bryan Bernal. " (Techcrunch) And yet, here we are today with a huge round of product changes and a pre-order campaign to raise - wait for it - $500,000. Hmmmm.
Feb 2017: ""For the people who are speculating $300, it won't be nearly that much"" Update Sep 2018: "Polymegaâ„¢ can be pre-ordered for the discounted price of $249.99 USD. After pre-order the system will retail for $279.99 USD. Polymegaâ„¢ Element Module Sets start at $59.99 USD."
I guess $50 shy is not nearly $300, for the base experience. However, it's well over if you want (and of course people will) the element modules. Which they know full well.
Feb 2017: "So, thats why we've announced the product two months before the anticipated launch of the Kickstarter. This will give us time to release more technical information and provide live in-person demonstrations to assuage any concerns some may have. Before even the first second of the Kickstarter campaign, many will have had the opportunity to play their games on Retroblox and have a taste of the final product."
So, it's almost ready? Search all the coverage around the web. Does any site have video footage? Photos? Doesn't anyone wonder why not? Because it doesn't exist! Oh wait, it's September 2018 and nothing has changed? Why gosh golly wow, colour me surprised!
April 2018: They released a video purporting to be their 14 layer PCB (...lol). "According to Polymega maker PLAYMAJI's Bryan Bernal, more of these "development" videos will be shown prior to a "bigger marketing campaign" which occurs this year."
Haven't seen any more of those, but then they have to learn from their contemporaries. We haven't seen any real product, video, photos, or anything else since February 2017. Come ON. If this this was real, they would be cranking out constant video, being completely transparent. If it were real, it wouldn't need marketing, seeing it in action would be enough to sell itself. But they can't do that, because they don't have a product - and this article today proves it. Those are some very sudden, very deep hardware level changes for a product that's been 'almost ready' for 18 months.
June 2018: NintendoLife claims to have played the unit: "The Polymega is a sight to behold in the flesh; it looks every bit as beautiful as the professionally-made product shots would lead one to believe."
And yet not one photo of the unit in the article, again - just the same tired renders. Those aren't product shots, guys. The tiny PC they shoved in the black box to 'demonstrate' was something you could have built yourself at home. CD drives that read PSX/NeoGeo CD/etc games are as easily available as you were fooled. Probably the same box they used on the E3 floor. The only place anyone has ever actually "seen" it.
There are endless quotes from articles all over the web. In April 2019, when the system is supposedly going to launch, I'll be waiting for the NintendoLife article detailing the scope of fraud committed by Bryan Bernal and Polymega. Because this thing is never going to see the light of day.
Now we're talking about a virtual console style service, where just 3 months ago he was saying they want to have 50-100 licensed titles of their own available by the end of 2018. They aren't going to distribute any BIOS files, but they "might license the PSX BIOS - FOR NOSTALGIC REASONS!" LOL, give it a rest already.
Like I commented in June: "This kind of scam has been pulled before - promise something that's too good to be true, yet the public allows themselves to be fooled because they so badly want it to be true. This project smells rotten. The people behind this project will float away on a boat made of your stolen money, on the river of your tears."
Re: Polymega Launch Trailer Reveals Sega Saturn Support
I've said it before, and I'll say it again - this is a scam. Nothing about this is real. It's the RetroVGS (Chameleon) only amped up by a factor of 10. It's astounding the number of people who are being taken in by it. Call it RetroBlox, call it Polymega, call it whatever you want - but I call it a scam. They've been using the same tired renders and promos since the beginning of 2017, where they were already purporting to show a perfected system in action.
Hogwash.
Re: Polymega's 'Element Modules' Will Come With Wired Classic Controllers
@DABYX
You can't make this stuff up ... wait, sorry, if you're Polymega, yes you can.
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/04/video_polymega_gears_up_for_marketing_blitz_with_footage_of_pcb_creation
Re: Polymega's 'Element Modules' Will Come With Wired Classic Controllers
This looks about as real as the Coleco Chameleon. Lots of pretty 3D renders, impending Kickstarter, a video of the "14 layer pcb", lots of nonsense babble on their webpage about 'hybrid emulation'. No videos of the unit, game play, or any functionality of any kind - at least they've learned from the Chameleon not to publish photos - wouldn't want to be caught out before they can run away with the Kickstarter money.
This kind of scam has been pulled before - promise something that's too good to be true, yet the public allows themselves to be fooled because they so badly want it to be true. This project smells rotten. The people behind this project will float away on a boat made of your stolen money, on the river of your tears.