Gordon

As the author of the original bad NEX review, I obviously think this whole IGN thing is pretty weird as well. My thoughts on the matter, however brief, are here: http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/48 I'm not sure if Teknik was referring to me when he mentioned bloggers with questionable credentials influencing popular opinion, but I would like to note something very important. I, as a blogger, have never claimed any authority or credientials over any matter. If you read my "About the VC&G Editor" and "About VC&G reviews" pages, you'll notice that I don't take myself or my blog too seriously. I, myself, have been disturbed at how people would read half of what I wrote about the NEX and repeat it like it was gospel, when in fact it was just simple words from a guy who writes about what he loves. Whatever anyone else does with my opinion after that is their own responsibility. Meanwhile, I've moved on other fun stuff like putting linux on a Compaq IA-1 and playing with AtariMax's Atari 800 flash carts. I'd also like to say that I really like this AtariAge forum community. You guys have a great balance of opinon and hold reasonable conversations, unlike some other forums out there. RedWolf

I agree with you wholeheartedly, Jagasian. I guess I hoped so badly that they would be the real deal (with gamers' interests in their hearts, not just money) that I got suckered in. They did a great job of marketing.. too bad the product doesn't live up to the hype. Speaking of engineered news articles and the like, I found an entry on the Generation NEX in Wikipedia the other day, which was an obvious plant by the company. I promptly edited the article to more accurately reflect reality (of course, the article shouldn't be there to begin with). Then I looked at Lik Sang's NEX page, and no surprise, there's a glowing review. I left a more realistic review three days ago, but it has yet to show up. I somehow doubt it ever will, because they actually want to sell these things. The same thing goes for Gamestop's NEX Page. Well, no shill review, but I did leave a realistic review three days ago and it hasn't showed up either. Big surprise. Yeah; Messiah sucks. I guess it's time to move on. But I really did want to warn people to stay away from these snakes-in-the-grass. Gordon --- Vintage Computing and Gaming Blog

Just a note. I just posted a quick Generation NEX review on my new blog at Vintagecomputing.com. Tell your friends and all of us who were dumb enough to buy this thing so we can compare notes. Gordon

Yes. I felt it very necessary to warn people before they waste their money on this thing, thinking that it would finally help them replace their aging NES (as it is marketed.. but as you can now see, that's more than a little misleading). I also wonder where that Game Compatibility list was when I preordered the thing. It wasn't up on the site. If I had seen it, I definitely wouldn't have ordered one. Also note that a game like River City Ransom (the first game I tested with it, incidentally) shows up on their list as working, but in fact if you play it, the first intro-stage has really weird colors, THEN it shows the title screen, and then you start playing. God knows how else it's garbled up if you keep going. But the dealbreaker for me is the inaccurate sound in every game I've tried. It bugs the holy living heck out of me. If even it played Super Mario Bros. 3 (or another classic) perfectly, I would be happy. But NoooOo... I've never had any experience with the Neo Fami, so I can't compare it. But I HIGHLY suspect that the Messiah guys didn't do the hardware development on this machine. I think they simply repackaged the latest Asian grey-market Famicom clone, perhaps adding the wireless feature themselves in the process. If anyone can find some hardware design credits on their site (There are none in the system manual, only to the "President" and some marketing guys), let us all know. This whole thing stinks like fish. Happy gaming, Gordon

I just got my Generation NEX today via FexEx, part of the first shipment. First off, the included controller is terrible. The buttons are slanted and mushy, the controller itself is tiny, and it's an awkward button layout to begin with. The sound on _all_ the games I've tested (incl. SMB1, 2, 3) is off and not accurate (compared to being played on an original NES). Huge bummer. Also, games like River City Ransom do weird stuff when you play them, including garbleing up the menus, changing colors, and generally not working properly. Castlevania III doesn't even work at all for me either (just a blank green screen). Did they even test this thing? How hard could it be to make a 100% compatible NES clone in 2005? And how could they possibly say it's compatible with anything when the sound is messed up with every game? I highly recommend staying far away from this me-too capitalize-on-retro-craze rip-off. (It has game compatibility akin to a $5 Chinese famicom clone.) For $60 You could get an original NES with a new 72-pin connector in it, some REAL NES controllers, and 10 decent games. Heck, you could probably even get the top-loading NES for less than this. Avoid the NEX and get the real thing. Gordon P.S. If anybody wants me to test NEX compatibility with any games, let me know. I have 207 NES games, so I might have the one you want to test.