michaelf

I like the look of these! My only exposure to a Lynx has been via wistfully peering at one in retro games shops. I’ve got the Evercade Lynx 1 & 2 cart collections, so I wonder if Songbird would release these as a third collection? Hmmm 🤔

From what I recall in the late 90's / early 00's, if there was a grading, it was 'bits', so 8bit (c64, Speccy, NES, SMS, Amstrad etc), then 16 bit (Amiga, Atari, Super NES etc), 32bit, 64bit ... obviously there's holes in that too, as Amiga was a 16 and a 32 bit machine, as was the PC. Then you have marketing people claiming the Jaguar was a 64bit system (I know .... ) etc etc.

I haven't a clue what the PSX360 / PS4/XB1 / PS5/XSX 'bits' are ... and I'd not use 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 etc Gen as for me, it's meaningless.

For the poll, I selected 'I don't care'. Today I'd refer to them as 'current gen', 'last gen' or 'Wii era', 'the 90's' etc. Because it's relatable and not everything needs strictly pigeon-holing

choosing three was tough! In the end, I picked Square, Hudson and Taito. System 3 and Hewson were my next two, although they're the more likely choices to have games published on the platform.

Many of those listed are what I'd like to see, but licensing hell does strip a lot out. i'd definitely prefer Midway over Sega, not because of the perceived quality of the games, but because it's so easy to play Sega games on existing format, whereas I had a Midway Collection disc for my PSP but not seen anything available on newer platforms.

Here's hoping there are at least some games from those publishers coming to Evercade in 2023 and beyond ...

@BionicDodo this was what I was thinking of when I wrote ‘it could cripple a company’ - well expanded upon!

A good review; I shall be eagerly awaiting my LE EXP to arrive (next year now, unfortunately), to compare and contrast, but all sounds positive. TATE mode and better screen quality are my reasons for upgrading my OG Evercade Handheld.

Damien - did you get chance to try any older carts, such as those with PS1 games on or Cathedral? I'm interested to see how they played, with the increased muscle power of the system and the L2/R2 shoulder buttons which the OG HH didn't have.

@BionicDodo totally agree. I had to read and re-read my email as it seemed a bizarre situation. Yes, I'm disappointed that it'll be another month (or two) before I get the LE EXP, but my OG Handheld and FE VS still works.

This type of theft could cripple a company, so I'm hoping this doesn't happen to Blaze. They're good guys (and girls!) and have been really supportive of the community, sharing info, participating in the Discord etc.

So it really feels exquisitely unjust to happen to them.

Preordered back on 1 June, so can cope with a couple of extra weeks, especially if there’s some refinements / niggles sorted out. I’ve got the OG Handheld plus the Founders Edition VS so can happily play those until EXP arrives. It’s not exactly taking for ever (jokes been done already …)

Retro-wise, the Atari Lynx version of Chip’s Challenge courtesy of the Evercade. I’m on level 28 and had some tough ‘uns to do so far so lord knows what the later levels will be like!

Also got Furwind on the go on Switch and definitely-not-retro Gotham Knights on PS5 too 😊

This is great news, as a former Amiga A1200 owner. I expect that Team 17’s games will feature, as they already have a relationship, especially when they’re action-based and not reliant upon an additional IP licence.

Games by Graftgold, Sensible, Hewson/21st Century would be great additions to the Evercade library. There’s plenty of choice!

Great article; found out about a number of GA games I hadn’t heard of, cheers!!

I still prefer the Amiga version of GA to the Megadrive one though (sorry)

@nintendoknife I did think about obsolescence, given the handheld is only just 2 years old. I’m hoping the EXP is more of a ‘correcting version one’ model and that the current VS doesn’t get replaced next year. The existing machines can emulate up to PS1, so unless there’s more powerful machines Blaze want to emulate, they don’t need to constantly release hardware revisions …

I enjoy my current Evercade hardware (the VS & handheld); I’ll be diving into the wallet for the EXP. The machines complement well my Switch and PS5. There’s an overlap of NES games in NSO & Evercade, although there’s plenty of less well known (and decent!) games on the ‘Cade to keep me interested.

Looking forward to add the EXP; just hope there’s no significant delays in shipping …

@El_Murcielago me too. My handheld and VS get a lot of play time. I’d like to see the handheld get L2/R2 buttons more than a screen improvement (OLED is the best natch but we got to consider costs etc).

I’d like the ‘big news’ to be more about home computer licensing being sorted and games from those machines being released. But I’m expecting not to be greeted with that!

@Erigen that would be most amusing !

I enjoy my Evercade, in its handheld and VS incarnations. Rather than just republishing the same old Megadrive (etc) games, they do try and curate less well-known, but still good, games.

For future carts, I’d like to see a pinball-themed cart (eg Pinball Dreams, Fantasies etc and non-licensed IP tables) and a vertical SEU set - as long as the handheld gets a TATE mode!

The problem with the ‘cade is that Blaze is a small company so the juiciest games come at a too-rich price. Or worse, when the IP owners are unknown or in a legal minefield, as with many Amiga-only games, which would be terrific on the system.

I’ve got a Founder’s VS with my name on it too 😃 really enjoy the handheld and the range of games available. Really looking forward to the arcade collections as well as playing the existing library on the home console.

It’s a great system that deserves to have a wider audience.