• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Taito Egret II mini

Didn't realize until just recently that the standalone controllers don't plug into the actual unit. Probably a petty thing to be bummed about, but here I am! Anyway I will not be reserving this, but will still keep an eye on it (see if someone gets proper Mame running on it somehow)

Wait.. what do you mean?

Aren't they USB controllers?
 
Got mine today. It's a very nice package.

It's bigger than Sega's and especially SNK'S machines.

The top lights up nicely when turned on, like the Astro City Mini.

It is so satisfying to turn the screen around. Really has a chunky feel to it. Not loose at all.

It was a little annoying that with the SD card in, it will only boot those games - the trackball controller games. To see the menu of other games, you have to take the SD card out.

I had a quick play on Arkanoid with the dial controller and then Elevator Action Returns.


iYDyuE9.jpg
9ErYsSL.jpg
yCv34SC.jpg
OkaB6kE.jpg
OM6nc8W.jpg
 

wondermega

Member
Looking great! I am curious to see how this thing develops (more games, does anyone port MAME to it?) Enjoy your new toy!
 

German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
Got mine today. It's a very nice package.

It's bigger than Sega's and especially SNK'S machines.

The top lights up nicely when turned on, like the Astro City Mini.

It is so satisfying to turn the screen around. Really has a chunky feel to it. Not loose at all.

It was a little annoying that with the SD card in, it will only boot those games - the trackball controller games. To see the menu of other games, you have to take the SD card out.

I had a quick play on Arkanoid with the dial controller and then Elevator Action Returns.


iYDyuE9.jpg
9ErYsSL.jpg
yCv34SC.jpg
OkaB6kE.jpg
OM6nc8W.jpg
This is better than porn.
 

Miyazaki’s Slave

Gold Member
I am very happy the controllers are as large as they are in your pics. I pre ordered the set and in all of those photos the controllers looked rather tiny.

Thanks for the pics!!
 
I'm no good for technical opinions. Hell, I need to read websites or listen to youtube commentary to know whether I'm playing at 30 or 60 FPS most of the time, and I had no idea that I was playing with input lag when I played the Saturn Cotton games on Switch last year.

The emulation seems fine to me, but retro videogame fans are hard to please, so I'm sure they'll find fault, and it may well be justified. It's perfectly to my taste.

My arcade stick is coming tonight.
 

Impotaku

Member
Played a few hours pretty happy with it, just a huge shame rainbow islands isn't on it as much as extra is neat to play it's not the same and rainbow islands is not just my favourite taito game it's my absolute favourite arcade game full stop. But what there is on this thing is a lot of fun. The paddle controller is really nice the spinner has gears on it so there's momentum and you can free spin it as much as you like still takes a while to get used to as im dieing all over the place in arkanoid. Cameltry is probably the best showcase for how accurate it is you can spin that maze like a fiend. In between playing on the built in screen i decided to hook it upto my vertical monitor for a bit too.
A5x7FXG.jpg

yzfcdLo.jpg


The trackball is lovely too it spins with momentum so you can really go at it, the metallic spinner is sadly plastic but you can't have it all
FU2nZym.jpg


gWCzbk9.jpg
 

Honey Bunny

Member
Played a few hours pretty happy with it, just a huge shame rainbow islands isn't on it as much as extra is neat to play it's not the same and rainbow islands is not just my favourite taito game it's my absolute favourite arcade game full stop. But what there is on this thing is a lot of fun. The paddle controller is really nice the spinner has gears on it so there's momentum and you can free spin it as much as you like still takes a while to get used to as im dieing all over the place in arkanoid. Cameltry is probably the best showcase for how accurate it is you can spin that maze like a fiend. In between playing on the built in screen i decided to hook it upto my vertical monitor for a bit too.
A5x7FXG.jpg

yzfcdLo.jpg


The trackball is lovely too it spins with momentum so you can really go at it, the metallic spinner is sadly plastic but you can't have it all
FU2nZym.jpg


gWCzbk9.jpg
How does the external arcade stick feel? And does it plug in via usb?
 

Impotaku

Member
How does the external arcade stick feel? And does it plug in via usb?
Yup all the extra controllers are normal usb they just plug in around the back of the unit, feels pretty nice. Haven't put it through it's paces yet but first impressions are that it'll get a lot of use with this thing.
 

SirTerry-T

Member
With that trackball controller, as long as we get a MAME port that's at least capable of running Missile Command all is good :)
 

Impotaku

Member
At weekend i'll try plug it into my pc and fire up mame, i think the trackball & spinner act like mouse inputs from what i have been told so i'm sure i can make the settings in mame work out what to do with the inputs from the controller. I know the huge stick for the astro city mini worked on my pc in mame i just had to remap what all the buttons did on it, for emulator stuff they should be ok as you can remap.
 
Last edited:

wondermega

Member
With that trackball controller, as long as we get a MAME port that's at least capable of running Missile Command all is good :)
Ugh I am hoping beyond hope. Was really looking forward to see a Mame port of some sort run on NeoGeo mini.. nope. Then on Astro City Mini... also nope. At least this one takes SD cards... but we will see, not gonna get my hopes up just yet. If it does, I will buy one in a damn second..
 

kunonabi

Member
Mine came in today too but we're moving soon so I wont be opening it till later. Very surprised everything in one nice box. They really went all out.
 

Impotaku

Member
Today my instruction card box arrived, i did my homework beautifully and the entire stack of cards fit perfect. Ultrapro make trading card storage boxes, i used the 25 count one as it has the exact dimensions and depth to hold the whole 50 card bundle, the cards are a thinner so i took the size into account. With the cost of the bundle i wanted something better to keep them in than just the cardboard insert they come in wrapped in plastic.

Not very good to keep them in this, eventually taking them in & out is gonna mess the cards up.
grI66Jn.jpg


This is way better, i also found a perfect use for that sticker sheet full of taito logos i could put one on the case and would make it look almost like it's official & branded, one small problem though i can't bring myself to use up my bonus sticker sheet damn my collecting brain.
DRpZP6X.jpg

dLaO5rZ.jpg


They will no longer fit back in the card insert in the main box so i'm gonna put them in the arcade box where the hdmi cable & power cord are as the insert panel is stored in there so it makes sense to keep the cards with it. With buying one of the 2 huge bundles the only way you can get those instruction cards i'm making sure to keep them well protected as it's not like i'll be able to buy replacements, i did discover that the instruction cards are actually printed on thin plastic it's not cardboard.
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


Is the Taito Selection EGRET II Mini arcade machine as amazing as it looks? Find out in our review that covers the 40 built-in games, the built-in Tate mode, HDMI TV out, 2 Player support, and tons more in our in-depth hardware review & impressions!

0:00 What is the Taito EGRET II Mini?
0:41 Evoking Japanese Arcades
2:39 Amazing Scree Rotation / Tate Mode
3:58 Hardware Build-Quality + Clicky Buttons & Joystick?
4:42 2-Players, USB Controllers, & HDMI TV Support
6:34 Power Problems
8:22 40 Arcade Games?! + Favorites (Qix, Puzzle Bobble, Elevator Action)
12:30 Save States, Settings, & More!
14:10 Paddle & Trackball Expansion? (10 More Games!)
15:28 What I Keep Playing It? + Neat Feature
18:20 Speaker & Screen Quality + Volume Issue
19:20 Game Menus + Confusion
20:12 Volume Issue
21:10 Verdict
 

Ozzie666

Member
Mine will arrive in a few weeks. I've read you need a decent USB-C power brick charger for this thing, or you'll get lag and crashes? Anyone experienced this? and if so, what power brick are you rocking?
 

Impotaku

Member
Today in between giving this thing another gaming workout decided to find out where to stick the rest of the bonus stickers around the back, had to look online till i found a pic of the back of a real egret to see where the labels were attached as the size of the stickers on the sheet are not to scale i had to put them close as i could get. No idea where the machine alarmed sticker was suposed to go so i just guessed.
3mVGweR.jpg


Now that i have a second set of bonus stickers to use, decided on putting this one on my instruction card case, almost looks like Taito sent them like this in the box all official. Keep looking on amazon japan in case any company makes a carry case or storage box for the egret II stuff
V2dsQPq.jpg
 

rkofan87

Gold Member
i just pre order the us one for 500$ i was just going to grab the 369$ one but that did not come with the arcade stick so had to go for it all it will ship in may can not wait.
 

Impotaku

Member
Mine will arrive in a few weeks. I've read you need a decent USB-C power brick charger for this thing, or you'll get lag and crashes? Anyone experienced this? and if so, what power brick are you rocking?
Yeah the box clearly indicates the power requirement so does the manual, something youtubers totally ignored then bitched about endlessly. A while back i spent the money and bought a proper power brick that had 6 usb ports and was one that is regulated with charge protection. a 60 watt one that gives out 5.4v from all the ports at a max of 2.4A as using phone chargers is a bit hit & miss as i have a few iphone ones laying about but for something like this not suitable as it can lag if it doesn't get enough power on some of the less powerful minis it doesn't need as much juice but some do. The pc engine mini is another that's a bit tricky as it needs the exact power requirement, people were plugging raspberry pi adapters into it and totally frying the usb ports on the front as it gave a bit too much voltage.

I'd search amazon for a proper one, think mine set me back about £20-30 it's been a long time i tried searching on amazon for my exact brick but that listing is no longer there as i bought it in 2018 but there's loads like it just find one that has a regulated supply and charge protection as that's always safe to have. Btw you don't need a usb C charger it uses a usb C cable with the console having usb C input but the other end of the cable is a usb A that goes into the power brick.
 
Last edited:

Ozzie666

Member
Yeah the box clearly indicates the power requirement so does the manual, something youtubers totally ignored then bitched about endlessly. A while back i spent the money and bought a proper power brick that had 6 usb ports and was one that is regulated with charge protection. a 60 watt one that gives out 5.4v from all the ports at a max of 2.4A as using phone chargers is a bit hit & miss as i have a few iphone ones laying about but for something like this not suitable as it can lag if it doesn't get enough power on some of the less powerful minis it doesn't need as much juice but some do. The pc engine mini is another that's a bit tricky as it needs the exact power requirement, people were plugging raspberry pi adapters into it and totally frying the usb ports on the front as it gave a bit too much voltage.

I'd search amazon for a proper one, think mine set me back about £20-30 it's been a long time i tried searching on amazon for my exact brick but that listing is no longer there as i bought it in 2018 but there's loads like it just find one that has a regulated supply and charge protection as that's always safe to have. Btw you don't need a usb C charger it uses a usb C cable with the console having usb C input but the other end of the cable is a usb A that goes into the power brick.

I ended up getting a proper power brick, it was only 66W with C and A options. So far everything seems to be working fine, I believe Ray Force and Darius are the problem games, but they seem to work. The cable in the box is pretty short too, so got a 3M cable. Seems nice.
 

Impotaku

Member
First expansion SD card set has been revealed called egret II mini arcade memories volume 1 and is available December 22nd. More info here about what 10 games are on the card

It comes with a taito station volume 2 book that is a similar format to the taito station volume 1 book that came in the deluxe box set did plus instruction cards for all 10 of the new games. From the info i have found it's a limited quantity item and the preorders close on sept 22th seems taito are working the bugs out as amazon japan is temp out of stock. Taito say to keep checking back on the official site at the weekend as they are trying to get the preorder system up & running again.
 
Last edited:

MrA

Member
First expansion SD card set has been revealed called egret II mini arcade memories volume 1 and is available December 22nd. More info here about what 10 games are on the card
[/URL][/URL]

It comes with a taito station volume 2 book that is a similar format to the taito station volume 1 book that came in the deluxe box set did plus instruction cards for all 10 of the new games. From the info i have found it's a limited quantity item and the preorders close on sept 22th seems taito are working the bugs out as amazon japan is temp out of stock. Taito say to keep checking back on the official site at the weekend as they are trying to get the preorder system up & running again.
PuRiLuRa hot damn im there
 
Last edited:

Impotaku

Member
Preorder now live on amazon japan for the arcade memories vol1, no idea why the preorder system was broken but they fixed it now. Despite what taiko mentioned on twitter i can't see any preorder cutoff date like they mentioned. For anyone wanting it the link is here, you may or may not need a middleman shipper to get it though.
 
Top Bottom