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Tayaya · Jun 12, 2014

I got mine yesterday (I paid $99 via Amazon by pre-ordering last September - they didn't raise the price).

1) You CAN use the Retron without the wireless controller - you can map a hot-command to any plugged-in controller. By default this is down+start. Pressing this combination (which is rarely used in-game) will bring up the Retron menu. I was worried about this too especially with the dubious quality of the packed-in controller, but happily there is a way around requiring it. The review got this wrong.

2) Compatibility updates are being released as people report problems with certain carts. two firmware updates have already crept out, and I'm sure more are on the way.

3) Since someone asked, yes you can use ANY controller you want with any platform's games. Wanna play those GBA games with the Genesis controller in port 2? Go for it. Wanna use the NES controller to try and play SFII on the SNES? You can, but you'll run out of buttons. You need to pull up the menu to do it, but it's possible.

4) You CAN turn off the "import save file upon first insert of cart" feature, to stop the Retron from automatically attempting to import them and potentially deleting your 20+ year old memories. I did this.

All in all it's a great little machine so far, and I really like it. The emulation quality is good and everything works as well as I hoped it would.

GayForMaster · Jun 12, 2014

RobbieNick said:
I got one yesterday for the very fair price of $165. no Tax. (It's $140 retail) Here are my thoughts.

PROS

ALL IN ONE - You can play NES/Famicom, Genesis/Mega Drive, SNES/Super Famicom. Game Boy/Game Boy Color/GBA and even the Master System with the Power Base Converter. This frees up a lot of shelf space for me!

SAVE STATES - This is the best thing about the system. It's like virtual console in which you can save your game at any time and come back to it. It's a huge help against those really tough areas in certain games. I'm already farther on Super Star Wars than I've ever been.You can even take your game save and put them on an SD card. Just remember to load any game save back onto your cartridge if you are gonna use it on another system.

HDMI - You're playing your classic games with a nice, sharp picture on an HD screen.

SCREENSHOTS - Take your own screenshots, put them on an SD card and use them for retro reviews and such.

FILTERS - This has the first scan line filter I've ever been happy with. You can also smooth out the images if you hate your games looking too pixelated.

USE THE ORIGINAL CONTROLLERS - Two slots for each controller. Six extra slot altogether for Genesis, NES and SNES. Not only that....

BUTTON MAPPING - You can use a Genesis controller for a SNES game and vice versa! Program any buttons in any way you want. The Ratron 5 controller has extra buttons on the side. I put save staye on the left and load state on the right.

CONS

LOADING/EMULATION - This is not the original hardware, so when you put in a cartridge it rips the ROM and save files onto the hardware. It can take up to a minute before you can play your game.

ONLY ONE CARTRIDGE IN AT A TIME - You can't just plug in multiple cartridges and select them through a menu. I don't know why this is since the OS seems to have a selection menu on it. Hopefully this will be fixed in a later update.

THE CONTROLLER KINDA SUCKS - It works good wirelessly and the exta button for mapping are helpful, HOWEVER It's not ergonomic (how it feels in the hands) at all and they went with an 8 direction joystick instead of a D-Pad which should have been the obvious choice.

THE TEETH GRIP TOO TIGHT - "Okay, gimmie back my Genesis cartridge. GGGRRR!! HHHHMPPH! I said give it back!!"

WHY NO HOLDING OF ROMS? - It's coming from my own cartridge and not the internet, why can't I just have it on the system? The hard drive is 1.5 gigs and that can't be all save states.

Minor nitpicks are that you have to hold the power button for about 5 seconds to turn it on (I thought mine was broken for awhile). Also, Super Game Boy doesn't work. I guess emulation on top of emulation is a bit too much.

Overall 7.5/10 Having all these systems on one consoles saves a lot of space and Saves States are a game changer as I can now defeat the much harder games. Only one cartridge in at a time and the poorly handled controller are a bit of a bummer though. In the end, I think it's worth it.

Lol using save states and filters as pros. Changing retro games to vector graphics is absolutely disgusting, and save states are for casuals.

jvm · Jun 12, 2014

GayForMaster said:
Lol using save states and filters as pros. Changing retro games to vector graphics is absolutely disgusting, and save states are for casuals.

Tell that to the Vectrex.

Also, I'd think that a system like this straddles the hardcore-casual divide. Cheap enough to pull in some casuals with the means to splurge. Just good enough to attract the hardcore who want something just-good-enough.

Tayaya · Jun 12, 2014

jvm said:
Just good enough to attract the hardcore who want something just-good-enough.

This.

I don't have a lot of space, so my old consoles sadly haven't been hooked up for some number of years now.

However, last night I was able to indulge in and play a ton of my old favorites again on multiple consoles all on this one box. Yes I could tell every once in a while that something wasn't absolutely perfect, however 95% of the experience was close enough to let me enjoy the game without my usual complaints about game X's sound not emulating properly (a common and annoying problem for me) or game Y behaving abnormally. I enjoy the convenience of having one box that uses a modern connector type hooked up to my TV that now fills the role of 4+ of my other ones. Less space and less energy consumption are worth the barely perceptible deficiencies in perfection in the emulation.

The_Afroman · Jun 12, 2014

If anyone is interested. I am selling mine for 140. I have had it for 3 days and well.. i like it well enough, i bought it because i wanted to try it out, and since I already have an Ouya.. it's pretty much redundant. PM me.

Confusatron · Aug 21, 2014

ThinkGeek has this back in stock for $140. I'm tempted to pull the trigger, but all of the problems I've read about make me hesitant to do so. The software issues are certainly a problem, but what scares me more are the pin issues I've read about. Specifically, the connectors being too tight and prone to damage.

So I'm curious, how do current owners like their system after having it for a while? Are you happier with the software side after the updates that have been released this summer? More importantly, how is the hardware side holding up for you?

dubq · Aug 21, 2014

^^^ Came here to post the same query.

JohngPR · Aug 23, 2014

Decided to pick this up. I've had SNES/Genesis games that gave been collecting dust for years since I don't have an easy way to hook up my old consoles. So happy that I can play all these old games again.

Will be interesting to play some of these with my son too.

Ashler · Nov 21, 2014

Pre-orders just opened up at funstock in the UK for the Retron 5:

Grey Version with 2 controllers

Black Version with 2 controllers

Just pre-ordered mine, thought some european GAF members would like to know about this.

Rich! · Nov 21, 2014

Please be aware that this console's software is a rip off of Libretro/retroarch code without any permission or acknowledgement.

I know it won't stop many from buying it, but I certainly never will.

Ashler · Nov 21, 2014

richisawesome said:
Please be aware that this console's software is a rip off of Libretro/retroarch code without any permission or acknowledgement.

I know it won't stop many from buying it, but I certainly never will.

Oh. You just bummed me out. I was really looking forward to this and now i'm thinking about cancelling my pre-order...

Galdelico · Nov 21, 2014

Ashler said:
Pre-orders just opened up at funstock in the UK for the Retron 5:

Grey Version with 2 controllers

Black Version with 2 controllers

Just pre-ordered mine, thought some european GAF members would like to know about this.

Thanks for the heads-up, but

richisawesome said:
Please be aware that this console's software is a rip off of Libretro/retroarch code without any permission or acknowledgement.

I know it won't stop many from buying it, but I certainly never will.

until this whole thing gets sorted by Hyperkin, no way I'm in.

Bjoern the Smexy · Nov 21, 2014

richisawesome said:
Please be aware that this console's software is a rip off of Libretro/retroarch code without any permission or acknowledgement.

I know it won't stop many from buying it, but I certainly never will.

I would really love to get the Retron 5, so I can record and stream my old games, but this issue...well, it's an issue.
I don't want to support something with basically stolen code.

Rich! · Nov 21, 2014

Bjoern the Smexy said:
I would really love to get the Retron 5, so I can record and stream my old games, but this issue...well, it's an issue.
I don't want to support something with basically stolen code.

Yep. It's a stolen collection of emulator code in shoddily built hardware.

Lettuce · Nov 21, 2014

Jesus £165!!!........glad I kept my pre-order at £89 which FunStock are kindly honouring.

But I got one from the US a few months ago as I was sure it would never see the light of day here in the UK due to all the libretto cores it was using, guess i was wrong.

Well I guess I can stick my pre-order up on eBay and make a profit.

But seriously Hyperkin need to sort out there damn scanline overlay they use, it's shocking!!!. I was able to knock up a selection of Scanline overlays for RetroArch in Photoshop the other day within 15 minutes so what's Hyperkins excuses for not providing a select of scanline overlays that look authentic??. But an even better route would be if the used one of the many CRT scanline shaders that are available for Retroarch.

Galdelico · Nov 21, 2014

Lettuce said:
Jesus £165!!!........glad I kept my pre-order at £89 which FunStock are kindly honouring.

But I got one from the US a few months ago as I was sure it would never see the light of day here in the UK due to all the libretto cores it was using, guess i was wrong.

Well I guess I can stick my pre-order up on eBay and make a profit.

But seriously Hyperkin need to sort out there damn scanline overlay they use, it's shocking!!!. I was able to knock up a selection of Scanline overlays for RetroArch in Photoshop the other day within 15 minutes so what's Hyperkins excuses for not providing a select of scanline overlays that look authentic??. But an even better route would be if the used one of the many CRT scanline shaders that are available for Retroarch.

It's probably not the case, but your post does really sound like you're wishing them to go 100% 'fuck it': as in, they stole the code, people caught them and still buy their system, so who cares, let's hope they steal all the fancy features now.

Lettuce · Nov 21, 2014

Galdelico said:
It's probably not the case, but your post does really sound like you're wishing them to go 100% 'fuck it': as in, they stole the code, people caught them and still buy their system, so who cares, let's hope they steal all the fancy features now.

No not steal other eliminates of RA but to look at it and see what can be achieved and copy and impliment these not use the actual source

Harlock · Nov 21, 2014

You can hack the firmware to run downloaded ROMs?

Ashler · Nov 21, 2014

Harlock said:
You can hack the firmware to run downloaded ROMs?

Oh boy.

Lettuce · Nov 21, 2014

Harlock said:
You can hack the firmware to run downloaded ROMs?

Its not as straight forward as just copy roms onto an SD card and playing them though, a lot of fiddling about.

To be fair id rather the hacked FW allow you to add your own shaders

MilkyJoe · Nov 21, 2014

no N64

(

Rich! · Nov 21, 2014

MilkyJoe said:
no N64 (

Use Retroarch and a retrode.

It's the exact same experience for a fraction of the price - and you'll be supporting the actual developers (even considering retroarch is free) rather than thieves who are exploiting their code for profit (hyperkin).

Ban Puncher · Nov 21, 2014

Ain't no substitute for OG hardware.

Rich! · Nov 21, 2014

Man Puncher said:
Ain't no substitute for OG hardware.

This? Definitely not. This is what I get using my real hardware. Photo I took using my SNES Mini, RGB modded and displayed through an XRGB Framemeister:

this is the same shot, taken from a retron:

absolutely no comparison.

McBradders · Nov 21, 2014

richisawesome said:
Use Retroarch and a retrode.

It's the exact same experience for a fraction of the price - and you'll be supporting the actual developers (even considering retroarch is free) rather than thieves who are exploiting their code for profit (hyperkin).

Where are people supposed to summon a Retrode from? Googling leads to a dead of 'Out of Stock' and 'Discontinued' storefronts.

richisawesome said:
This? Definitely not. This is what I get using my real hardware. Photo I took using my SNES Mini, RGB modded and displayed through an XRGB Framemeister:
.

You're running it through a prohibitively expensive upscaler... come on. I'm not trying to defend the Retron here, but these comparisons and "solutions" are a little far reaching.

Rich! · Nov 21, 2014

McBradders said:
Where are people supposed to summon a Retrode from? Googling leads to a dead of 'Out of Stock' and 'Discontinued' storefronts.

I didn't actually realize they were out of stock/discontinued. I got mine from ebay.

that's a shame if so.

Lettuce · Nov 21, 2014

richisawesome said:
This? Definitely not. This is what I get using my real hardware. Photo I took using my SNES Mini, RGB modded and displayed through an XRGB Framemeister:

this is the same shot, taken from a retron:

absolutely no comparison.

Apply crt-geom shader and come back

Rich! · Nov 21, 2014

Lettuce said:
Apply crt-geom shader and come back

I use retroarch (hell, I started the thread for it), and crt-easymode with BSNES core is basically identical to the real thing. But we aren't talking about retroarch here, we are talking about the retron 5.

Ban Puncher · Nov 21, 2014

richisawesome said:
SNES Mini, RGB modded and displayed through an XRGB Framemeister

Occam · Nov 21, 2014

A glorified emulator using stolen code.

This Frankenstein's monster doesn't even allow you to dump your own cartridges so you don't have to insert them every time you play...

Rich! · Nov 21, 2014

Man Puncher said:

hell yeah. also, just to show off the mega drive image quality, model 1 PAL 60hz modded through XRGB mini:

awww yeah! right, that's enough OG hardware pimping for one day

Lettuce · Nov 21, 2014

.

Rich! · Nov 21, 2014

Lettuce said:
.

If we're going the retroarch route:

glorious. Quite simply the most accurate Game Boy emulation I have ever seen.

Harlock · Nov 21, 2014

Would be cool if someone made an expensive, but true retro system, with chips for each original systems. Even costing U$ 300 I see having a demand.

On other side, someone can make a pure emulation hardware, to play roms, with slot for original controllers. You can download the emulators, avoiding the problem of selling a hardware with free software.

Lettuce · Nov 21, 2014

richisawesome said:
If we're going the retroarch route:

glorious. Quite simply the most accurate Game Boy emulation I have ever seen.

Thats too green, the GB was never that colour more like a mushy pea soup colour

Rich! · Nov 21, 2014

Lettuce said:
Thats too green, the GB was never that colour more like a mushy pea soup colour

Good job it comes with a variety of different colour palettes you can alter yourself then (they're in the shader folder). That's just the default palette - but you also have a more muted one, a pure black and white one and also one suited for the game boy pocket.

Lettuce · Nov 21, 2014

This is much more authentic to what a GB screen looks like in RL....

You should try the DMG -Shader

CrashPrime · Nov 21, 2014

Harlock said:
Would be cool if someone made an expensive, but true retro system, with chips for each original systems. Even costing U$ 300 I see having a demand.

On other side, someone can make a pure emulation hardware, to play roms, with slot for original controllers. You can download the emulators, avoiding the problem of selling a hardware with free software.

The chips don't exist anymore. It would be significantly higher than $300.

Also, Lettuce, wtf. What plugins are those? That is astonishingly close to how I remember OG gameboy. Is there an appropriate level of ghosting to complete the experience? (please say yes)

Rich! · Nov 21, 2014

Lettuce said:
This is much more authentic to what a GB screen looks like in RL....

Yeah, you can have that look too - the palette is easy to adjust.

Fox Mulder · Nov 21, 2014

Man Puncher said:
Ain't no substitute for OG hardware.

I have a huge pvm and rgb cables, but that's the minority.

while original hardware is great, at some point emulation will have to take over.

Lettuce · Nov 21, 2014

richisawesome said:
Yeah, you can have that look too - the palette is easy to adjust.

Shame Hyperkin will never have the foresight to implement such options on the Retron5...so are only hope is hacked FW

Occam · Nov 21, 2014

Lettuce said:
Thats too green, the GB was never that colour more like a mushy pea soup colour

Yes, the original is more yellow, I just held mine next to this image. The display only looks greenish when the black liquid crystals are switched on because they mix with the yellow background.

EDIT:
Yes, that's better

shuri · Nov 21, 2014

7DollarHagane said:
Those scan lines are NOT accurate or good. Not even in the same universe as some of the free shaders on retroarch.

I'm sure this thing is fine but so is a cheap htpc running emulators and doing a lot morw .

Let's be honest, the scan lines generated by most of those retroarch shaders are super overdone and barely look like how it used to look on legit screens of the era.

Rich! · Nov 21, 2014

Occam said:
Yes, the original is more yellow, I just held mine next to this image. The display only looks greenish when the black liquid crystals are switched on because they mix with the yellow background.

Yeah. Here's some screenshots I just took in Retroarch with the different palettes:

DMG

Game Boy Pocket

Pure B/W

JasoNsider · Nov 21, 2014

I've got a question that I've not seen answered before - does anybody know if Mother 3 works flawlessly on this? As in, the musical cues/timings in battle work?

SummitAve · Nov 21, 2014

I ended up returning my retron 5. It was too expensive for what I got. Nothing about it made me think it would still be working in a years time. Also the input lag.

twdnewh_k · Feb 21, 2015

Found this by chance while browsing around at the mall; didn't even know something like this even exists.

Seems very cool and reading up online, it looks like some of the software and OS issues were fixed. I am seriously considering it just for the cool factor.

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