Hyperkin Retron 5 Game System

[nicklmg]

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1wqTIL6

Amazon: http://geni.us/79Q

 

The Hyperkin Retron 5 offers a pretty cool value proposition... if it works. Let's see what Luke's experience has been like so far...

 

[Archangel1994]

Oh my god I need this so much

[SimpleG]

360p only ;[[ for now. Still looks badass!

[AlexStriz]

Too bad I already have 120+gb of emulators stored on my hard drive... 

[Hatsune Miku 「 」]

GJ 

[DIV1D3]

Start at the video - "All of my yes!" 

End of the video - "Ehhhhhh." 

[UltraNeonGaming]

Thanks! @nicklmg

[Solkia]

Um

 

Linus

 

You do realize this product uses emulation software illegally right?

 

EDIT: It seems you do indeed know this, are you sure it's a good idea to review an illegal product?

[melias24]

Yay something i can play retro games on! I'm not of age to really have experienced these types of games, so this looks like an amazing item! 

[Syntaxvgm]

Oh god the colors again I made a thread about this. 

You need to bow down to marques brownlee and ask for color correction tips. 

[Syntaxvgm]

My thoughts on this-

Since I'm not the type that really believes I must do this as opposed to emulators on the PC, I don't see any advantages for this-

 

They rip code that's under GNU licence and use it commercially, and being a guy that really respects the extreme amount of effort it takes to make a good game emulator, this is enough to boycott the system myself. 

 

The emulators on PC seem to have more options related to quality and upscaling. I have yet to try thing myself, and I know it has some options, but I doubt it has the wealth of options that community made PC emulators have. 

This is a DS game, so the result is a bit exagerated for the systems this thing emulates, but making modifications like this not only help it look better, but play better on newer screens. 

These things are not quite as important with retro 2d games like this as they are with say n64 or ps1 games, but making it look good on new screens and scaling better is important. 

That's the big part-playing a gameboy game on a big screen for example looks like trash, and playing an NES game on a non CRT screen is kinda shitty too, but this is what emulators help with in a big way. 

This device, while having video options that I don't know what extent they go to, only supports 720p.

Now, my complaint about this isn't some PC master race thing (hail gaben), but it's about not matching native resolution on ANY screen. I mean most "720p" TVs are 1366x768 anyway. Instead of making it 1080p and making it look good on most Tvs and computer monitors, they opted to make it look bad on any new TV. At that point you might as well just do analog, because you are forcing people to use HDTVs with input latency for no good advantage other than compatibility with computer monitors....but anyone using this on their computer monitor is a special case that is really against ROMs and unofficial emulators, because their PC IS RIGHT FUCKING THERE.  And HDTVs have composite and component. Why HDMI if only 720p?

 

On PC, you can also snatch an old GPU and use analog output if you want. I have a 9600gt lying around just for this. I can use s-video and adapt that to composite, this one supports component too and so did my old tube TV before the ring got loo loud and I replaced it. 

My huge disappointment with no analog option on this system is I would think the intention of using original controllers and cartridges is to play the games the way you originally played them...well nope guess you can't.  

 

Also, any issues you run into with compatibility are...well you are screwed. Using PC emulators, popular games that have issues usually get a work around or patch. 

 

To top it off, on PC, you can use any controller (I'm not a huge fan of retro controllers at all). Of course you need adapters for using original controllers, but at 160$ and including a POS controller, I'm sure the cost is justified. 

 

So I see no reason to do this over just sticking a really old laptop on my entertainment center. Really, I don't. The only advantage you may get is if you own retro games and you want to play on your old save files if the battery isn't dead somehow. 

[PortentousLad]

awesome I just discovered this  myself on thinkgeek.com yesterday.

 

Will watch the vid as soon as I get home.

[c20h]

Mehh, I hoped more.

 

One saving feature is that you can use the old controllers as well. The controller that comes with it is just horrible; looks cheap and so if I were to buy this I wouldn't use it once.

 

Probably won't.

[ReTV]

Best "regular" video in a long time.

[ElDiabeto]

This is way too expensive for me. Right now it is about $160. Also Luke slipped in the subscribe thing in really well.  It wasn't that bad.

[Markmjb]

So you are paying 160$ to create more problems than you solve ? With a lot of code just stolen from others?

I can't think of sane people actually wanting to use this...

[Robbietalk]

The video was very well done, one of the best from you guys that I've seen in a while. Very enjoyable, there was no humour that I found disturbing, awkward, or overly distracting, the intro was nice and brief, and of course, it was very informative, and it's left me with a good idea of what kind of an experience the Retron would be to use.

As for the console itself, I really like the idea behind it, but I won't be getting one until they fix their price, their controller, and their legal issues.

[Trik'Stari]

My thoughts on this-

Since I'm not the type that really believes I must do this as opposed to emulators on the PC, I don't see any advantages for this-

 

They rip code that's under GNU licence and use it commercially, and being a guy that really respects the extreme amount of effort it takes to make a good game emulator, this is enough to boycott the system myself. 

 

The emulators on PC seem to have more options related to quality and upscaling. I have yet to try thing myself, and I know it has some options, but I doubt it has the wealth of options that community made PC emulators have. 

-snip

Someone please emulate and overhaul the graphics on LoZ OoT.

[Technous285]

Pricing, Controller & Legal Issues aside - I personally see this as a semi-decent way to get into retro gaming with LEGIT carts instead of relying on ROM's that may or may not be legal with the wonky state of the IP & Consumer Laws of many countries (Example: Here in Australia you're allowed ONE backup copy of ANY piece of media PER physical copy of the original media OR CD Key for video game disks. So owning 7 CD Key's for Diablo II: Lord of Destruction means one can legally use ISO's of the game disk on upto 7 machines as long as each machine uses a unique key).

I kinda wish they had (at least) a regular USB Type-A port so if you didn't have an original controller from a NES, SNES or Genesis/Master Drive, you could hook in any game controller that plugs in a USB port (such as the multitude of 3rd-party clone X360 controllers) instead of relying on wireless (bluetooth?) controllers

Sure going completely with ROM's and emulators on PC's cuts down on most forms of lag such as input lag from the controller (plus gives the freedom to use almost any controller you wish to plug into a USB port), you still run into issues of getting the programs and files in the first place, getting them to work and if the game files are even legal to have (made from original carts you own or not).

[Mr.McMister]

I'm glad you mentioned the GPL issues as this stuff is very important to me and a lot of other people. Ripping off people free gifts to the world that they made in their free time is never a good thing.

Now i suggest you should review a product called the retrode http://www.retrode.org. It allows you to read your old cartridges and connect controllers to your PC over usb so you can use any emulator you like with your legit carts and classic controllers. The project originaly started as only genesis and SNES but cheap open hardware adapters have expanded that to nearly every old cartridge based console to ever exist.

[Yoinkerman]

I've got a couple of things regarding this video, since I've been using my retron 5 for almost a year, I got one of the first runs.

I think the controller you guys got was just messed up. I have one controller from the initial grey run and recently got a black controller from a later run. Neither of them have button issues, though one of the other 3 owners in my town did have issues with his initial controller. There may be QC issues that have hopefully been resolved. When it works though it's fine. The thumbstick thing while initially weird because it uses microswitches, stands up great to even the most demanding platformer. I routinely play gradius on both the NES and SNES and have no issues. (and win too) I don't notice any input lag, though I haven't played any Genesis games or much game boy.

It's fine if you don't like the design, yes it's weird and non dpad-y, but it *does* work.

The next is the lack of other outputs. I'm personally not worried about the additional outputs, I don't think it's supposed to be a classic console replacement. Sure, composite and component and svideo would be great, but that would probably drive the price up even more. I like having one cable and a power plug, it makes it really really easy to bring the retron places and plug it into just about any TV. I have a backpack for mine.

Perhaps the biggest thing you guys missed is that it plays famicom and super famicom, and lets you use translation patches. It opens the door to playing a whole huge host of games we never got in North America. With the cartridge.

And finally the smallest thing is you can use any connected controllers for any system. Even multitap games.

Ps. Yes the software has issues. For the most part it works alright, better than some AAA launches lately.

If anyone has questions please ask I've used the retron a lot.

Pps. I'm setting the legal issues aside, and leave it to lawyers, I just enjoy being able to use carts with hdmi output.

[Syntaxvgm]

Someone please emulate and overhaul the graphics on LoZ OoT.

I remember it doing pretty well with smash on the 64...never emulated OoT

[Gumi Rokkaku]

I just wish it could play N64 games.
This was a great review. Really thorough. Nice job, Luke.

[Dogway]

You shouldn't be reviewing this, you are doing them a favor specially in Xmas time. The guys ripped off code of several emulators (yes this thing is a plain emulator) and making money out of it. Keep reading: http://www.libretro.com/index.php/hyperkins-retron5-continuing-licensing-problems/

[A Madcap Cow]

Lets see if Luke-Senpai responds to this.