nullity

Lol... Not really my place to make announcements, but to keep everyone happy: Stay tuned for more PolyRetromegablox! Heh, I saw this, too. Had to scratch my head really good on that one. Almost seems like intentional trolling.

We've gone from "hybrid emulation doesn't exist/is a technical impossibility" to "even if it does exist it is pointless and stupid" to "lol Sony and cave did it first, because they had to for things to work right" to "lol stupid polyblox is stupid and dumb and half-assed" (ostensibly just like Sony and cave, but not... because it is impossible and pointless, right?) My head hurts.

Nowhere did they say it won't run everdrives. The technical limitation they mentioned is the inability to install games from everdrive as the everdrive itself boots to a rom list, not a game. If they can't recognize the cart you've inserted, they can't match it to anything in the games database and online services. You can still play games from everdrive, though. You just won't be able to do net play, global leaderboards, patch installation, etc... I personally agree with the sentiment here that it would be great to fully support loading ROMs from my PC to the SD or installing from everdrive, but I understand that they have to stay on the right side of the copyright laws if they are to successfully court developers and license holders to make old games available for electronic purchase (and thereby fund the continued development of other element modules). I do, however, look forward to the next game con I attend once the polymega is released... You can bet I'll be hitting up friends to install games from their physical copies of the titles I can't afford or otherwise just don't yet own.

Lol, sick burn, bro. Did I say I only had conversation or two with them? I thought I said I've talked with Bryan from time to time. We aren't BFFs, but I'd certainly try to meet up for a beer if either of us happened to be in the same area (KS and CA aren't all that close). I've met him IRL once and played the prototype last year. I know him from the turbografx community though neither of us seem to be terribly active in it these days. He strikes me as a good guy, and I have no reason to doubt his intentions or the capability of his team (though I appreciate how his concept of marketing is likely contributing to the skepticism). If you look at this thing through a different lense, you might not see it as some horrid conspiracy. While I wish more people would give them the benefit of a doubt, I get the skepticism. All I can do is chime in now and then when I see something that seems baseless. When it is released, if it lives up to it's claims, I sincerely hope the people who enjoy what it brings to the table enjoy it, and those who don't like the concept will at least accept that it is a legitimate product and not some kind of scam. Time will tell.

Bingo! Now you're getting it. Totally different companies, plus Playmaji never made such a claim (nor do they use stolen emulators).

With their focus on keeping the platform squarely on the right side of the law, improperly using content they did not create would be a really boneheaded thing to do. Besides, it looks like Pico had the inside scoop on this. They are working with Mobygames.

I've been on the road and haven't been following the thread, but hopped in and saw this... Public Service Announcement: These Patent References are not from the Polymega patent. These are from Hyperkin's patent. I'm pretty sure they created/compiled the game data themselves. That's something they were working on fleshing out last year when I played the prototype, so I don't believe they would have didtched what they had in lieu of a 3rd party API. If they are using anything from 3rd party sources, it would be with permission or licensed. Anywho, it is heartening to hear that you had a mostly positive experience with it at E3. Hope they get the thermal issues sorted out in the final hardware revision!

If it was just the front end, would it be playing games? And by the same logic, wouldn't the E3 demo and the upcoming end product just be a computer running their front end, too? One can interpret words and rationalize their meaning to any end, but, if we're being intellectually honest, I think it is pretty clear that the Retroblox was more than those word choices would imply. The "computer running a front end" or the "empty shell" was in fact exactly what it was presented as: a prototype that had been under development for quite some time. Well over a year at that point if I'm not mistaken, and by a team that is much larger, more diverse, and experienced than has been disclosed... Though I don't fault anyone for some skepticism since Bryan and Eric are the only two names floating around. Not to say that Bryan and Eric suck (lol), but no way could two guys do it all alone. I will say that I've not yet seen SNES carts running, but I'm confident it will happen soon since they plan to launch by year's end. I look forward to seeing if video proof of that is the key to acceptance (assuming, of course, they can pull it off).

I feel like we are having different conversations on some level, godslabrat. I'm not super thrilled with some of the marketing choices, and the name change and delay sucked but stuff happens. I can't argue with you about that. My only point was... True statement: There was an empty shell on display at SoCal. True statement: There was a functional prototype inside of an identical shell being played at SoCal. False Statement: The first time they showed up somewhere, their prototype was a computer running their front end. I was just stating where I thought the false statement got it's legs.

Specifically, his assertation that the Retroblox at SoCal was just a mold. This misinformation led to an ongoing perception here that there was no functional prototype at that time. All of the Chameleon comparisons about empty shells started with this, and it simply was not true. Even in the last page or two, this was repeated by dj_convoy: "The first time they showed up somewhere, their prototype was a computer running their front end." I don't believe there was any objection to Pat's coverage aside from that factual error, which was surprising seeing as how his presence at the booth was not observed. His commentary seems pretty solid and optimistic otherwise. Sorry, I thought I'd been clear about that.

This is a claim that interests me. Specifically, its origin. Are you referring to their demo at SoCalRetroGamingExpo last year? Because of what Pat Contri said? http://atariage.com/forums/topic/261689-retroblox/?view=findpost&p=3697624 I recall asking Bryan about this claim back when it happened and him laughing it off because Pat either never even stopped at the booth, or passed by so quickly that he wasn't noticed. I was in Los Angeles June '17 and played the same unit that was on display at SCRGE (just with a newer OS revision). I'm told that while there was an empty shell on display separately, the working prototype was hooked up to the TV and being played by attendees. I wasn't at SCRGE so I can't say I know this to be true 1st hand, but it doesn't really seem like the kind of thing that would be worth lying about. I'm all for critical thinking, but it has to apply to data on all sides of a subject. Pat was either mistaken or passed on some hearsay as fact, but his statement outweighed video evidence to the contrary and muddied the waters.

Scout's honor. I would love to be involved, but lack the free time and brains to make any meaningful contribution to the project. I have spoken with Bryan from time to time and he has given me some interesting infos in the past, but I'm not under his employ. I just know him from the turbografx community. Btw, got the OCR version ready here (pardon the domain name): http://screwthispc.com/polymega_patent.pdf

I'll run it through OCR and upload a copy to my server over lunch.

I've not read through all of this, but maybe some of the answers you seek are in the patent? https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/docservicepdf_pct/id00000040926304/PAMPH/WO2018013735.pdf?psAuth=gaA4c3AkHycWpHK6fJhLbl60QH0B53L3wKbfMx5jHv0

Hi Elmer! Did you ever earn your ban card at PCEFX? Can't be in the cool kid's club until the nutter nixes you. It's not my intent to troll anyone here so much as to dispute some false information about a project I believe in. As you well know, my having met Bryan and played the prototype last year (the one that was alleged to not exist) does nothing to convince anyone of anything so I wasn't going to rush out of the gate with that factoid. But there you go. It's out there, and I'm sure anything I say on the topic now will be dismissed as propaganda from a paid shill (even though I have no skin in the game). I actually logged in this morning to share some disappointing news I learned last night: The base unit at $250 is no longer planned to include a module, so the price for the system and all modules has risen to $490. Still less than the numbers everyone was tossing around, but higher than I was hoping for and I stand corrected on that point.