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Thread: RetroN 5 is officially a thing, apparently

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    Default RetroN 5 is officially a thing, apparently

    No images yet, but from the press release, it's got:

    - Bluetooth Controller
    - GBA support
    - HDMI support
    - “Perdana” Digital User Interface (???)

    Sadly no N64 yet, but it looks like we are getting a lot closer. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting them to do a four-cart clone, especially not one with GBA. This should be very interesting.

    http://hyperkin.com/blog/2013/03/hyp...aming-classic/
    Last edited by Frankie_Says_Relax; 05-06-2013 at 10:00 PM. Reason: Fixed title for accuracy.

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    I don't think we'll ever get an N64OAC. Emulation is simply just to cheap and widespread to make the creation of a hardware solution necessary.

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    Damnit Hyperkin, you got me legitimately curious!

    HDMI output? GBA compatibility? Bluetooth wireless controller? This all sounds good on paper. I reallllllly hope they put in a better NOAC here.

    As an owner of many Hyperkin products, I have to say I've been woefully disappointed by the vast majority of their products, including the RetroN3.

    More than likely, I'll buy one for review.


    Right now with as little information as we're currently given, I have many questions looming over this product.




    1. How exactly will HDMI output work? There is no NES-on-a-chip that supports anything better than composite. For the NES side, is Hyperkin simply planning on feeding a composite signal through HDMI as they did with the S-Video signal on the RetorN3?

    2. Will OEM Nintendo and Sega controllers work? I assume so given the RetorN series history, but it's still an important question to ask.

    3. Will the device be HDMI only? As in, no other video standards?

    4. GBA compatibility sounds exciting, but there's quite a number of questions looming over this concept alone. How will you control GBA games? Will GBA games be fullscreen? Will they include the entire GBA chipset meaning GameBoy and GameBoy Color games are also playable?

    5. Compatibility! Will the current issues with the NES and especially SNES sides of the RetorN3 be fixed?
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    I have separate consoles for all of those so this is pretty useless for me, I can't see a real use for this. The full NTSC and PAL compatibility sounds nice, but they'll probably screw it up in some way. I'm guessing they won't bother to convert the signals, they'll just expect people to be playing this console on a worldwide compatible TV as most modern sets are. Hense the focus on HDMI connections, though I don't expect the output to be optimised for any high definition resolution.

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    Holy shit! I have an NES, SNES, and Genesis on my TV but playing GBA on the big screen?!?! That's awesome!
    I am known as Theretrogamer12345 on Youtube and Sega-16. I am known as Gunstar Hero on Digital Press. My eBay account is Theretrogamer

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gunstar Hero View Post
    Holy shit! I have an NES, SNES, and Genesis on my TV but playing GBA on the big screen?!?! That's awesome!
    You can buy a Gameboy Player for the Gamecube, or one of those conversion kits for the original GBA consoles. A friend of mine bought one of those kits for his brother as a gift, I was told it works pretty well.

    The main thing I have against these clones is the lack of accuracy compared to legit first party hardware. If you don't care about it being 100% authentic and want to save space, why not just buy a cheap Win XP laptop for under $50 and have a bunch of emulators on it along with tons of ROMS? You can hook that up to a TV as well, play anything you want in addition to the four consoles this one clone can do. Having ROMS on a computer or running them straight from the original carts doesn't matter, the code is identical. All that matters is what's used to run the games, either legit hardware, a clone, or an emulator on a PC.

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    I received an advanced delivery of this product for review....so let me save everyone the trouble. The Retron 4 is a piece of crap. Hyperkin has a consistent record of trashy junk products...and this one is no different.

    On the bright side of things...100 poor Chinese laborers were given jobs by Hyperkin to make this thing....so in a sense...Hyperkin is leading the charge towards making the world a better place. "Hyperkin the humanitarians"...pretty catchy slogan

    thank you.

    P.S. Fix the Supaboy you clowns.

    thanks again.

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    Default Oh boy

    I have the Retron3. At first, I thought it was going to be awesome, a great system for all of my retro gaming needs. I was wrong. It has terrible compatibility, I have a whole stack of NES games that don't work, as well as multiple snes games. Besides that, it is fairly decent. The compatibility issues kill it for me.

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    MyTurnToPlay, I'm not sure if you're just trolling, but I call bullshit unless you can provide something more than a typical "lol hyperkin sucks and all clones suck" statement.

    If you really do have a review unit then by all means, let us see photos of what it looks like!

    Also, I have several questions.

    1. How does HDMI output work for NES? Is it simply feeding a composite signal through HDMI as they did with the S-Video signal on the RetorN3?

    2. Does it have the same controller ports as the RetorN3 - Two NES, Two SNES, Two Genesis and a wireless receiver?

    3. How is the Blutooth controller? Is it the same as the IR one with the RetorN3, but now not limited by line of sight?

    4. Does it offer any other video standards other than HDMI? Composite, S-Video?

    5. How are GBA games controlled?

    6. Are GBA games full screen or windowed like the GB Player for GameCube?

    7. Do GB or GBC games work with the GBA slot?

    8. Not a question, but talk about compatibility!
    check out my classic gaming review site: http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/

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    Quote Originally Posted by Satoshi_Matrix View Post
    MyTurnToPlay, I'm not sure if you're just trolling, but I call bullshit unless you can provide something more than a typical "lol hyperkin sucks and all clones suck" statement.

    If you really do have a review unit then by all means, let us see photos of what it looks like!

    Also, I have several questions.

    1. How does HDMI output work for NES? Is it simply feeding a composite signal through HDMI as they did with the S-Video signal on the RetorN3?

    2. Does it have the same controller ports as the RetorN3 - Two NES, Two SNES, Two Genesis and a wireless receiver?

    3. How is the Blutooth controller? Is it the same as the IR one with the RetorN3, but now not limited by line of sight?

    4. Does it offer any other video standards other than HDMI? Composite, S-Video?

    5. How are GBA games controlled?

    6. Are GBA games full screen or windowed like the GB Player for GameCube?

    7. Do GB or GBC games work with the GBA slot?

    8. Not a question, but talk about compatibility!
    Dude, seriously?

    Pardon me while I go get our official contact from Hyperkin to call bullshit.
    "And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"


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    Quote Originally Posted by Gameguy View Post
    You can buy a Gameboy Player for the Gamecube, or one of those conversion kits for the original GBA consoles. A friend of mine bought one of those kits for his brother as a gift, I was told it works pretty well.

    The main thing I have against these clones is the lack of accuracy compared to legit first party hardware. If you don't care about it being 100% authentic and want to save space, why not just buy a cheap Win XP laptop for under $50 and have a bunch of emulators on it along with tons of ROMS? You can hook that up to a TV as well, play anything you want in addition to the four consoles this one clone can do. Having ROMS on a computer or running them straight from the original carts doesn't matter, the code is identical. All that matters is what's used to run the games, either legit hardware, a clone, or an emulator on a PC.
    I use emulators but I mostly like to use real cartridges (or discs) when I play. I forgot about the Gameboy player, I might need to check that out! I heard they are fairly cheap as well but I'm not sure how expensive the discs that came with them are. Do you need the disc to use the player?
    I am known as Theretrogamer12345 on Youtube and Sega-16. I am known as Gunstar Hero on Digital Press. My eBay account is Theretrogamer

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gunstar Hero View Post
    I use emulators but I mostly like to use real cartridges (or discs) when I play. I forgot about the Gameboy player, I might need to check that out! I heard they are fairly cheap as well but I'm not sure how expensive the discs that came with them are. Do you need the disc to use the player?
    Yes, you need the disc.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Satoshi_Matrix View Post
    MyTurnToPlay, I'm not sure if you're just trolling....
    Look through the rest of his posts, I dare you to find one that's not trolling something.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gunstar Hero View Post
    I use emulators but I mostly like to use real cartridges (or discs) when I play. I forgot about the Gameboy player, I might need to check that out! I heard they are fairly cheap as well but I'm not sure how expensive the discs that came with them are. Do you need the disc to use the player?
    The Gameboy Players with the disc are around $30 last I checked, I don't have one yet though. You do need the disc, I keep finding them without the disc so I just pass on them. The discs are what makes them expensive, it's cheaper to buy a complete one than to just try buying the parts separately. I'm kicking myself now but I remember passing on a loose Gamecube system for $7.99 which included the Gameboy Player(no disc), a loose copy of Zelda Twilight Princess, and a broadband adapter. I didn't know at the time that broadband adapters were worth so much, the Gameboy Player was useless without the disc and since the Zelda was loose I didn't think it was worth much. Now I know better.

    I don't really emulate anything anymore, I mostly did that to play games at school during lunch around 10 years ago. The thing is if you're using a clone system the games might be off when you're playing them, similar to emulator problems. If the processor is the wrong speed the games will play at the wrong speed, if the sound chips are off the games will sound off, if the graphics chips aren't good you'll have problems with the graphics, etc. If you were to play ROMs using a flash cart on actual legit hardware they'll play the same as the real games, it's the hardware you play them on that makes the difference. I'd rather just play them using real systems, with buying bundles and collections of games they work out cheaper than buying any of these clones separately.

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    When will there be a halfway decent multiple system clone that allows you to play roms like that much maligned Sonic themed Genesis clone [it's licensed so is it really a clone?] with the Wii-esqu motion controllers does? That would just be so rad to have the choice between both cartridges and roms. Also, as long as I'm tossing up wishes, I'd had preferred the ability to play my 2600 & 7800 games over GBA games.

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    Most (all?) of the GBA clones I've seen are ARM based animals running hit-or-miss emulation. Lots of title compatibility problems (FPS's, games that use rudimentary 3D), tendency to either not save or wipe saves off a cartridge, etc.

    I somehow doubt Hyperkin has not only solved these issues, but is bundling this improved GBA setup in with a multi-platform console.

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    Sounds interesting at the very least. If there was some support for loading rom images off a SD card for the GBA end of it, I'd buy it if done well.
    Last edited by Leo_A; 03-06-2013 at 01:12 AM.

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    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4a49-7OHtE


    This is what you're looking for.
    check out my classic gaming review site: http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gameguy View Post
    You can buy a Gameboy Player for the Gamecube, or one of those conversion kits for the original GBA consoles. A friend of mine bought one of those kits for his brother as a gift, I was told it works pretty well.

    The main thing I have against these clones is the lack of accuracy compared to legit first party hardware. If you don't care about it being 100% authentic and want to save space, why not just buy a cheap Win XP laptop for under $50 and have a bunch of emulators on it along with tons of ROMS? You can hook that up to a TV as well, play anything you want in addition to the four consoles this one clone can do. Having ROMS on a computer or running them straight from the original carts doesn't matter, the code is identical. All that matters is what's used to run the games, either legit hardware, a clone, or an emulator on a PC.
    I... I had no idea that existed. It's awesome, Thank you!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Satoshi_Matrix View Post
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4a49-7OHtE


    This is what you're looking for.
    I have a front loading version of that card. It's actually really nice for GBA Games but I lost my savs at one point so be ready to replace the battery in there once it dies.

    Don't try to use it for DS games, though. Compatibility hasn't been updated in eons.

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    This does nothing that I can't already do as I have all the original systems and a GameBoy player. I've never been a fan of emulators or clones. Mainly because I've never seen one that didn't have issues. I can see how someone would like to get one of these to consolidate and save space. I'm just too big of a sucker for nostalgia. Never mind the issues, I like gaming on the original hardware just because I like how it looks too. I like gaming on an the original NES because it's an NES and it reminds me of those times just looking at it. I don't even own a top loader because I wouldn't play on it. Yes, I'm a little strange.

    Despite all that, I think this is interesting and like Satoshi I would like to know the answers to those questions as well.
    Atari: 2600, Jaguar
    Microsoft: XBox, XBox 360
    Nintendo: NES, GB, GBC, SNES, N64, GameCube, GBA SP, Wii, New 3DS, Wii U
    Sega: SMS, Genesis, Game Gear, Nomad, Sega CD, 32X, Saturn, Dreamcast
    Sony: PS1, PS2, PS3
    Wanted: 7800, Neo Geo CD

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