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Recently I've seen a lot of people that seem to think that NES clones are either a perfect FPGA recreation or a cheap NOAC with screwed up audio, but during these last two years a lot of good clones have appeared, but before talk about that I'm going classify clones by the type of hardware inside of them: Full hardware clones: Mostly made by companies in countries that didn't had received the NES officially, these had components for each chip inside the NES, so compatibility was high, and sometimes the quality was better than the product it was based on, since Nintendo just assembled it in Japan, but the components were made in China. NES-on-a-chip: This is where the bad perception that people have on Famiclones come from, wrong color palette, bad audio, hollow carcass with just some components inside, not all of them are bad, but most are. FPGA recreations: As of now, the only two examples are the AVS and the Analogue NT, these are very expensive and hard to find, but claim to be 100% compatible with anything you throw at them. So, back to the what I was saying, recently there have been a huge amount of hardware clones that have a lot more quality than the products sold by the likes of Hyperkin and Retro-bit, the only problem is that they are sold almost exclusively by Chinese companies without a name or a brand. First there are the Zoga and a generic one that mimics the Famicom, both having a good compatibility but with not all games tested, and there's a full hardware clone called Coolbaby RS-40, a clone that's PAL but can be modified to NTSC, there are also some variations of the first 2 ones, like one that is a 2-in-1 with the SNES and a portable one. I could spend a lot of time saying what works and what doesn't, but I'm going to sum it up to: each one of these clones have their own features, but there isn't one that has everything yet, but what is here shows that a perfect clone could exist without the use of an expensive FPGA, and that any of these problems will probably be solved with each hardware revision, because even if it's a gray Chinese market, these companies are trying to improve their products, some of these clones even have wireless controllers and HDMI ports. So, what does a clone needs to be on the same level of FPGA products? 1. Region switch 2. Compatibility with cartridges that have sound chips or extra hardware inside. 3. Compatibility with games that usually don't work on other clones or emulation. 4. Famicom expansion port, not essential but I included it here anyways, it was mostly used for things related to sound or the BASIC keyboard.
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Ok, so in this thread there's a lot to talk about, and I also needed to split Sega's 8-bit systems into another topic so I can focus on the 16-bit hardware, this is a sequel to the threads I made about clones of the NES and SNES: (In retrospect, the SNES thread looks very incomplete and doesn't have a lot of information and details) So, I just want to start with the fact that no clone console is ever going to have 100% compatibility, even FPGA ones, why? Because there's also no Mega Drive official model that has 100% compatibility, see, unlike Nintendo, Sega didn't thought the world would get tired of their games if they kept releasing new models every year or gave a license to third parties to do so. So I am going to list some of the specific models that have their own software just as an idea, a Mega Drive PC, a module for a computer that plays Laser Disk versions of Sega CD games, as well as some exclusive games, 3 arcade boards variations, and two Brazilian models that have either 4 EA games or a Guitar Hero clone (guitar peripheral included). Now, taking these uncommon models aside and considering just the main ones there's still a lot to discuss, like: Sega CD support The only modern clone that can use the Sega CD on the expansion port is the Analogue Mega SG, and it still has some small problems, the reason why it's the only one is because companies don't think it's worth it putting the expansion port there since the add-on isn't that popular, but many clones have support for the Terraonion Mega SD that plugs in the cartridge port. 32X support Nope, there isn't a single one, but Krikkz seems to be developing a 32X clone that will work on modern systems, we just need to wait. Now, for the sake of simplicity I'm going to define three levels of compatibility, original models(it plays "everything"), Genesis 3(small incompatibilities with some games, doesn't even start others) and Nomad(doesn't play some games simply because it's portable). So, to start things out I'm going to talk about the special clones so I can get them out of the way. Atgames/Genesis Mini Android Clones There are some clones that use systems similar or almost identical to the emulated systems licensed or made by Sega in the past, these have SD and cartridge ports included, the drawbacks are the fact they are emulated, so, only games that just have a simple ROM file. Portable/Nomad Clones These are on the same level of an actual Nomad but with problems similar to the ones found in the Genesis 3, interestingly, I found some clones that have exactly the same outsides as the Atgames portables, but with cartridge slots, some with custom designs, and a clone on a cartridge that can plug into some portable SNES clones. Clone Consoles Now, one of the things that held me from doing this is the weird compatibility with these clones, first, there are only Systems-on-a-Chip(technically on 2 chips since there's also the 8-bit one) available on the market currently, no full hardware clones. But to the clones themselves, they seem to use the same chips with little variation, but compatibility and quality are wildly different for each one, most surpass Genesis 3 compatibility by not too much, but others don't. A common problem that I found is the Mono audio, the only one with Stereo audio that I found is the Hyperkin Mega Retron HD. Since there are too many special cartridges for the Mega Drive I'm going to list the issues on another day
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So im a huge fan of bootleg/obscure hardware, and two of my favorites pieces of my collection are these old 1993 Megadrive clones i bought. The first one is a Nasa New 16 bit, the clone lacks a lot of features like the headphone jack and the MegaCD port, and is incompatible with the 32x and some multitaps, but the console has a great built quality. The second one is the infamous Kw-501, which i was kinda disappointed that the built quality was very bad, but the console has most of the features the Nasa lacks. Any of you guys owns an old Megadrive clone or similar?
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Some days ago I made this thread about NES clones, some of the things I said there also apply to the SNES: Now, if you are looking for a clone system that's not based on FPGA but has almost the same quality SNES clones are definitively the ones to go(at least the recent ones). I took a look at some videos by people with big SNES collections, and every game seen to have worked other than a regional variant, but the problem was with the game not playing instead of some incompatibility issue, so who knows, maybe it's something could be fixed. Other than that, these clones have their own adapters for NES, Mega Drive and GB Boy Colour (a GBC clone that's 4:3 unfortunately), and if you want the 2-in-1 with the NES seems to be a good option too, maybe not the portable one, because it comes with an extremely big 16:9 display that makes the console bigger than the Switch, and in Japan there are companies releasing DIY SFC kits if you are into those things.
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I had this machine for a very long time in my collection of weird clone hardware, this one is probably among my rarest ones. Is a 64k pc similar to an commodore 64, that has a famicom built in, its a weird specimen even for famiclone standard, it uses a specific 5v ac adapter, wich makes some games have sound error's and visual glitches. Uses nes ports for the controllers, and has an expansion port that i still have no clue whats for, i have two of these but this is the only one that i have that has a fully working keyboard, the machine was bought in 1992 from a magazine number in CDMX, is a very interesting piece of clone hardware, and the last of the 3 bit corp computers. Im thinking about trading it for other weird clone console, or maybe another Gentry sufami clone to fix mine, if someone is interested pm Anyway, has someone ever heard of these computers by BitCorp before?
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In this one, we are taking an indepth review of the MP5 X7, a sort of love child of the Nintendo Switch and PS Vita. What is it and is it any good? Find out here! If you enjoy, please drop us a like and consider subscribing Social Media : Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/groups/33011... Twitter : http://twitter.com/RetroGamerVX Channel Support: Paypal donations : https://streamlabs.com/stephentwigg Patreon : https://www.patreon.com/RetroGamerVX Mine Exploration Channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsW2E1LQ7EETG9NQgij2dWA/
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I recently bought a Hyperkin Retron System to play my Nes collection on, so I didn't have to put more wear and tear on my Nintendo (replacement cart connectors get expensive after awhile! ). I really liked it, its so easy to set up and small enough to take anywhere with a tv, plus it plays my games pretty easily. Well, it got me to thinking, maybe there is a similar system to play Atari 2600 games on? Well, I had no luck finding one , so, I contacted Hyperkin to see if they would consider making one for the Atari Games. They said they would forward my email to their R&D department and look into possibly making one. Long story short, there may be a new system to play your old Atari games on to where you dont have to hack up your old machine to play it on a newer tv. And yes, the original system is still best, (im not selling my sixers, either one) , but if they put out a Retron System to play Atari games on,( for about $20-25 USD) would you buy one?