4 ms·

Let's see their claim again. > Designed to be the definitive, scholarly operating system for playing and experiencing the entire medium. I don't think they're

Let's see their claim again. > Designed to be the definitive, scholarly operating system for playing and experiencing the entire medium. I don't think they're being truthful here if this is really the case. A definitive system wouldn't be a black box with little way to fix or upgrade it once the company goes away. It should be a practical device with lots of cheap, interchangeable ports (that are dumb plugs or simple boards) you rip roms with (for preservation) and attach controllers to. Then you can load your roms onto a more stylish/temporary device for the shelf. I also think it's silly saying "the entire medium" before that's actually true. I really doubt they'll get around to writing FPGA designs for every system. Is there even external monitor and controller port support? Am I only limited to the entire medium of handheld/snes controller type games? Unless I'm mis-understanding, this just seems like another emulation handheld in an already flooded market, marketing itself the idea it's for "history". Even though it does the same thing as any other handheld. EDIT: Also to add, while it's great to have cart support, you can easily just get a rom ripper and do that. Consoles like the Retron exists with multiple cartridge ports, and all it does is rip the rom like any device, then emulates it.

nsxwolf 5y ago
Yeah, I don't understand this marketing at all. "Scholarly"-what? It's a... nicer front end for their products? The appeal of the product for me that it's an extremely well made, nice looking Genesis with HDMI and retains peripheral compatibility. It is in my mind an unofficial "Model 4 Genesis". I don't mind that it isn't a MiSTer and that I can't modify it further - to me I suppose it's like a fancy new record player. I like to physically take carts down off my shelf, look at the labels, plug them in and play them. There's a lot of stuff out there that's just absolute junk in comparison, like the Retron you mentioned. Cheap plastic, tight cartridge ports that feel like they're causing damage, dodgy emulation. I may build something like a MiSTer eventually but it will serve a different purpose.
- spicybright 5y ago
  Fully agree with you! I only mentioned the retron because it's in a similar category. But it's seriously terrible, having used one. The only good portable emulators imo have really been other devices but repurposed. Like a tablet/phone + bluetooth controller, or something like an NVidia Shield. Every other piece of plastic junk... well yeah, they work, but their emulators are generally jank with emulation glitches. And you generally can't update them like internet connected devices. So if you ignore the marketing (and the lack of 6 face buttons for genesis games ;) ) this would be really nice device for that. And I agree with the carts. Maybe it's nostalgia, or a yearning for a physical medium, but there's nothing like a shelf of media imo. I used to be very into cassettes, splicing together mixtapes from other tapes, radio, computer, etc. in 2017. It's very pleasant putting a tape in the deck for work music. If they can get their marketing straightened out, and the FPGA method gets a lot of mileage, I can see this being a really nice device.

nsxwolf 5y ago

Yeah, I don't understand this marketing at all. "Scholarly"-what? It's a... nicer front end for their products? The appeal of the product for me that it's an extremely well made, nice looking Genesis with HDMI and retains peripheral compatibility. It is in my mind an unofficial "Model 4 Genesis". I don't mind that it isn't a MiSTer and that I can't modify it further - to me I suppose it's like a fancy new record player. I like to physically take carts down off my shelf, look at the labels, plug them in and play them. There's a lot of stuff out there that's just absolute junk in comparison, like the Retron you mentioned. Cheap plastic, tight cartridge ports that feel like they're causing damage, dodgy emulation. I may build something like a MiSTer eventually but it will serve a different purpose.

spicybright 5y ago
Fully agree with you! I only mentioned the retron because it's in a similar category. But it's seriously terrible, having used one. The only good portable emulators imo have really been other devices but repurposed. Like a tablet/phone + bluetooth controller, or something like an NVidia Shield. Every other piece of plastic junk... well yeah, they work, but their emulators are generally jank with emulation glitches. And you generally can't update them like internet connected devices. So if you ignore the marketing (and the lack of 6 face buttons for genesis games ;) ) this would be really nice device for that. And I agree with the carts. Maybe it's nostalgia, or a yearning for a physical medium, but there's nothing like a shelf of media imo. I used to be very into cassettes, splicing together mixtapes from other tapes, radio, computer, etc. in 2017. It's very pleasant putting a tape in the deck for work music. If they can get their marketing straightened out, and the FPGA method gets a lot of mileage, I can see this being a really nice device.