Hyperkin Retron 5 Announced

[Black_Tiger]

Why not just ship faulty units like the major console companies, so they can cash-in during the holiday season?

[Ace]

If I were to guess, it's because Hyperkin's got a bad name lately. The RetroN3 has gotten progressively worse since its release, the RetroN2 was a piece of shit when it was released (and I'm sure Hyperkin shipped out faulty consoles as the first RetroN2 I got had no S-Video cable, which I'm sure was done to hide severe video sync problems in S-Video - my new one doesn't have this issue and its PCBs are identical to the first RetroN2 I had) and there was a serious issue with the audio on the SupaBoy that took a long time to correct. All things considered, this is a smart move on Hyperkin's part. I'm sure if they shipped out the RetroN5 in its current state with 6 missing pins in the Famicom slot (how the hell did this happen?), it would destroy their clone console business, or if it wouldn't completely destroy it, bring people's trust in Hyperkin so low, very few people would actually buy their hardware.

The wait is killing me, though. I've been dying to get my hands on one of these to compare its Android-based software emulation to its reverse-engineered hardware-based counterparts.

[NeoVamp]

If I were to guess, it's because Hyperkin's got a bad name lately.

Agreed, they really need to step up on their game before people completely dismiss them.

I'm happy with my V2 Supaboy though, except for that stiff Dpad on it.

[Ace]

Agreed, they really need to step up on their game before people completely dismiss them.

Right with you, NeoVamp. After I got my first RetroN2, I was really starting to lose faith in Hyperkin, and when I got my RetroN3 Version 3 (this particular variant is still unknown, believe it or not - this RetroN3 actually ELIMINATES the Castlevania III compatibility found in the RetroN3 Version 2, which is absolutely unforgivable, and a lot of these have faulty power buttons, my console included), I really could no longer put up with their products and was ready to just abandon their clones outright (I don't need Famiclones, but as someone who's got a lot of interest in clone hardware, I like to pick up a bunch of 'em and test them out to the fullest extent, but with Hyperkin having consistently put out shit clone after shit clone as of late, I felt like I was wasting my time with their hardware). Hyperkin has been all over the place lately. Just look at my previous example with the RetroN2: a batch of consoles that showed up at my local flea market one week after its release came with no S-Video cable and when I tried to use S-Video, my highly-tolerant Electrohome 27E510 TV went nuts as soon as any white would show up. The image would be either warped where there was white or be completely desynced if the screen was almost 100% white. Now, I had to get another one as I ended up acquiring some new Super NES games, and unlike the first RetroN2, this one DOES have an S-Video cable and no S-Video desyncing issues (there's some VERY minor warping on white screens when used on certain LCD displays, but it's only at the very top of the screen). Same boards on both consoles, so I'm quite certain with that first batch of RetroN2s, there was a known problem with desynced S-Video, perhaps due to incorrect components on the S-Video circuitry (I'm inclined to say the capacitors on Chroma and Luminance), and Hyperkin tried to sweep it under the rug by not including an S-Video cable (do they really think we're that stupid?). I was honestly surprised Hyperkin decided to delay the RetroN5 due to missing pins on the cartridge slot; that is really atypical of Hyperkin. Good on them for actually giving a shit for once and not shipping out the RetroN5 in its current state.

[MtothaJ]

There's no fucking way this isn't an emulator.

The Retron 3 used real hardware, in fact the SNES section was virtually perfect. For the Genesis / Mega Drive it was also real hardware albeit of the 'console on a chip' variety.

[MtothaJ]

Here's what would be great: a system on a chip based clone that uses perfect copies of the original circuitry. With today's manufacturing processes, making an 100% accurate SOC that contains copies of every chip inside a console should be completely possible. There's no excuse for making those awful sounding NES and Genesis clones. While the software emulation used by this thing is probably a hell of a lot more accurate than most of the current clones, the purist in me still won't be satisfied with playing a clone until it manages to emulate the system in hardware.

This is what I would like to see also - more emphasis on quality. Both in terms of system design / build as well as graphics and sound e.g. give me a NES / Famicom with RGB or a Genesis with proper sound.

[Assman]

The Retron 3 used real hardware, in fact the SNES section was virtually perfect. For the Genesis / Mega Drive it was also real hardware albeit of the 'console on a chip' variety.

I don't really understand why with all the posts made in this thread you felt the need to point that out to me specifically, but yeah, I know that. This thread is for the Retron5, which I was directly referring to when I made that post several months ago.

[Vector2013]

System on a chip is fake shit, that's why the md sound is shit quality and out of pitch in retrons, if they had a small motherboard with the actual sound chips and more instead of tec toy system on chip horseshit, I'd call it real hardware.

So there's

Emulation, meh
System on chip md, good try but no cigar
Actual hardware (looks at nomad board or md board or cdx board or even scorpion board)

[EclecticGroove]

System on a chip is fake shit, that's why the md sound is shit quality and out of pitch in retrons, if they had a small motherboard with the actual sound chips and more instead of tec toy system on chip horseshit, I'd call it real hardware.

So there's

Emulation, meh
System on chip md, good try but no cigar
Actual hardware (looks at nomad board or md board or cdx board or even scorpion board)

Well, there is a big difference between emulation (strictly software, or SOAC) that is passable, even pretty good, and ones that are complete and utter trash.

If this system can offer pretty good, to excellent quality emulation and compatibility, then it's well worth a look. If it is trash, and can be modded/hacked to allow much better quality/compatibility... it's still potentially worth a look.

Either way, if it lets people enjoy the old games, and does so in ways that are not total garbage, I'm all for it!

[Vector2013]

Well these Retrons and AT game systems and other system on a chip consoles fail for md use because of bad sound and out of pitch or sync sound even playing music at near half speed, so that makes it a trash experience imo.

[EclecticGroove]

Well these Retrons and AT game systems and other system on a chip consoles fail for md use because of bad sound and out of pitch or sync sound even playing music at near half speed, so that makes it a trash experience imo.

And that's entirely valid. Although we can still hope that this one has been improved, but it's obviously very likely it won't have much, if any, improvement.

But that aside... keeping in mind their general target market... how many do you think would even notice those issues? The extremes maybe, but the pitch and synch issues (other than extremes) would basically be completely unnoticed.

[Vector2013]

And that's entirely valid. Although we can still hope that this one has been improved, but it's obviously very likely it won't have much, if any, improvement.

But that aside... keeping in mind their general target market... how many do you think would even notice those issues? The extremes maybe, but the pitch and synch issues (other than extremes) would basically be completely unnoticed.

Well I think Sonic 3 music plays at 70% speed on AT games and the sound in Retron is almost as bad as the dreamcast md emulation sega smash pack vol 1 / echelon ones based off it, but some won't notice I guess but some will. Guess I'm a purist, genesis model 1 va2 to va6 $15 on ebay. I'm not down with system on a chip stuff.

[EclecticGroove]

And that's fine. Me, I have a Model 1 genesis + sega cd, a CDX, and my Nomad. I also have a bunch of remakes and emulated re-releases on my 360.

Even with that, this console interests me as it has potential. Even if it isn't perfect I don't mind. If I want absolutely perfect... I will play on one of my other systems. But if it is pretty damned good, or even better can be improved on to make it something that only people who are a real stickler for detail would notice, then all the better.

The ability to have a small system that hooks up via HDMI, upscales, and does nes/snes/gba/genesis games right out of the box (with MS as an easy extra) is pretty much worth my time to look into.

If I want to take my CDx out to play Genesis/sega cd games... I can't guarantee I'll even be able to hook it up to someone's tv anymore and have it work. They may not have composite/rf connectors, if they do, will it even display anything due to low resolution?

To guarantee I have no issues I'd have to pack up my system + scart cable + scart-component converter and get a scaler to make sure it is being output to a resolution that new TV's are guaranteed to accept.

That or I can get this thing and plug it in via HDMI and be done with it. For me, so long as it's not too bad, it's worth looking into at least.

[Vector2013]

And that's fine. Me, I have a Model 1 genesis + sega cd, a CDX, and my Nomad. I also have a bunch of remakes and emulated re-releases on my 360.

Even with that, this console interests me as it has potential. Even if it isn't perfect I don't mind. If I want absolutely perfect... I will play on one of my other systems. But if it is pretty damned good, or even better can be improved on to make it something that only people who are a real stickler for detail would notice, then all the better.

The ability to have a small system that hooks up via HDMI, upscales, and does nes/snes/gba/genesis games right out of the box (with MS as an easy extra) is pretty much worth my time to look into.

Ok.

If I want to take my CDx out to play Genesis/sega cd games... I can't guarantee I'll even be able to hook it up to someone's tv anymore and have it work. They may not have composite/rf connectors, if they do, will it even display anything due to low resolution?

To guarantee I have no issues I'd have to pack up my system + scart cable + scart-component converter and get a scaler to make sure it is being output to a resolution that new TV's are guaranteed to accept.

That or I can get this thing and plug it in via HDMI and be done with it. For me, so long as it's not too bad, it's worth looking into at least.

Or do what I did in my avatar.

[EclecticGroove]

That isn't exactly hooking it up to someones tv :P

That is fine in small doses, but that's like trying to play a multiplayer game on my nomad using it's screen.. very far from idea.