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Retro Duo, Just A Few Questions, Can You Help?


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This is my first post at AtatiAge, so hello everybody.

 

 

Okay basicly, I was going to purchase a Retro Duo, and wasn't sure whether it's worth it..

 

I've heard the NES slot is bad quality and can possibly rip the pins from your games.

 

I already have both a NES & SNES but would prefer just one console so I could store away my old consoles.

 

Also, does anybody know if the Retro Duo works in the UK, on PAL TVs?

 

 

 

 

Is there just a smaller clone console that just plays SNES games out there..or any other consoles like the Retro Duo that are

made in England?

 

 

 

Thank you very much!

 

 

 

 

( Currently googling the questions I've asked here even further, any updates I'l be sure to update this post too =D )

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I'll try my best:

 

I've heard the NES slot is bad quality and can possibly rip the pins from your games.

it's a bit looser than I'd like. I can't imagine any situation where it would rip pins from a game

 

Also, does anybody know if the Retro Duo works in the UK, on PAL TVs?

no. It officially supports european snes games, *but* the console's output is NTSC-only on all the units I've seen for sale.

It should be pointed out that a lot of 'modern' (highdef) TV's have settings to support both ntsc and pal. So that might be an option.

 

European NES game compatibility is going to be a bit iffy, especially with games like 'Elite' that are pretty insistant on PAL output. I'd imagine a good number of other PAL NES games work though (you'll need somebody else to verify, because Elite is my entire PAL NES collection)

Is there just a smaller clone console that just plays SNES games out there..or any other consoles like the Retro Duo that are

made in England?

I haven't seen an snes-only clone (a shame given what they've been doing with clone NES handhelds). also, I don't believe I've seen any snes combo-clones designed for england or europe in general.

Edited by Reaperman
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Hi,

 

I have one of these consoles and I can tell you that there is no way it can rip the pins from your games. I think the console would break in half before that happened.

 

I also live in the UK and this console works fine on my TV (LCD) using the composite video in.

 

The NES emulation is really good (the sound is perfect).

 

The SNES emulation is not perfect but playable. Although I did have trouble with PAL mariokart for some reason. Also the SuperFX games do not run perfectly (lot of screen distortion).

 

Conclusion??? It's great for NES - not so great for SNES.

 

There is a NES only console out there by Yobo - might be worth checking that out.

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I like and use a messiah generation nex gives you NES and famicom support (way cool imo) bought mine used for 25 but new they go about 50 and can be found at retail also they support a wireless controller. Controller is ok but the original nes controller is better its a well built clone though and is a nice modern interpretation of the nes

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The NES emulation is really good (the sound is perfect).

I've heard that from many people, but I have also experienced, and heard from just as many people that the sound is just unbearable; it literally sounds like static the whole time. What I gather from this is that the defect rate is really high with the Retro Duo. I've even heard of some units having worse processors, making SNES games run as slow as molasses.

 

I gave mine away to a friend as a SNES replacement, but I wouldn't buy another, as $50 is too much to take a gamble. I would recommend the FC Twin over it (the one with the YOBO jewel) but it has one issue that can break the deal if you often times play multiplayer; you can't use 2 official SNES controllers at a time; if you press certain buttons at the same time, it will pause the game.

 

There's also a standalone NES clone called the Retro Entertainment System. That one has seemingly perfect sound and colors, but it also has issues. On games with heavy DPCM usage, the sound hits the wrong notes quite frequently, enough to ruin the experience as it can play a high pitch suddenly and could break your concentration (Metroid is just unbearable on it.)

 

After I went through all of these experiences (and money!) I decided it was time to break down and hunt out some official hardware. I haven't had a good experience with a clone yet!

Edited by Metalwario64
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Got a keen-o Retro Duo in today (red and gold = snazzy). So far, so good. The controllers are a bit lighter than I'd like, but they are accurate and solid. So far, the sound has held up well.

 

The NES slot rather bugs me as the thing is just too tight. I doubt it's going to rip any pins out, however.

 

I paid $45 for the thing and that wasn't a bad deal. I picked one up because my top loader NES has only RF output -- that sucks on a "normal" television set and will look dreadful on the HDTV I'm buying this weekend. The retro duo has both RCA plugs and S-Video (I've had a problem with black and white output through S-Video on certain games, however).

 

I've only fooled with it for a few hours, but it appears to be a solid unit so far. Time will tell though, right?

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Hyperkin needs to take their FC Mobile 2 hardware and make it into a regular system. Seems to be the most compatible NES clone out right now.

 

Oh and whomever mentioned the Generation NEX. Yeah like someone said its a pretty well built, however its compatibility is pretty bad. Also, I'm pretty sure Messiah is out of business. They told me last January (2008) that they would be repackaging the NEX to make it more competitive. That's the last I heard from them. I even called them like 3 or 4 times and no answer. They also never answer e-mails, plus there site is down most of the time. The poor compatibility + only coming with 1 controller + $59.99 MSRP killed the system and what looks like the company.

Edited by StoneAgeGamer
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thats a shame because other than these compatibility issues I think they had by far the nicest package which is important at retail. I'm gonna pick one of these retro duos up used hopefully under 30 bucks so I can play some snes and super famicom games (cheaper than the real hardware!)

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