Coleco Chameleon .... hardware speculations?

[PlaysWithWolves]

When "digital collector's editions" exist, anything is within the realm of possibilities.

 

Personally I don't recall many magazines that could be considered Collectible items, and more so on the gaming geared ones.

 

Outside the first couple issues of Nintendo Power Magazine I can't recall ones that would attract most people

 

Reader's Digest, Playboy, MAD Magazine and arguably even TV Guide.

[jhd]

Reader's Digest, Playboy, MAD Magazine and arguably even TV Guide.

 

People actually collect Reader's Digest?!

 

I frequently see old issues of Life magazine in antique shops and at flea markets, so (presumably) that is a collectible title too.

 

Slightly closer to the main topic, I never cease to be impressed by the ability of the people here to identify specific hardware based on a single blurry photo of a random circuit board.

[tep392]

Maybe they plan to license the board from Linx. Or from whatever company Linx buys it from.

[hookem]

Nothing wrong with using off the shelf products to make a new product including PCB, as long as it does it advertised purpose, and it's used fraudulently.

 

Assuming you meant "not fraudulently", I agree. And maybe that's what they are doing... certainly it isn't in the same category as the CC at this point.

 

But the image with the multi-tester and the soldering iron, that could be a bit misleading...

[hookem]

 

I think hookem is right, this fake 'prototype' is a Linx 7" Windows Tablet PC. The PCB in this disassembly video is numbered EM_18270_V3.0 so the are minor differences aren't surprising as it's not the same revision (e.g. the size of gold patches on the edge of the PCB), but it's a 99% match. The battery here is a Shenzhen Shirui SR299198P, the number can be read in the 'prototype' and Linx photos.

 

Yes, I was thinking 99% match. Could be a different board revision, but I thought their original looked a bit photo-shoppy in the area where the differences were. In particular the inconsistent edge of the longer gold patch, the lack of color variation in the green area where the circuit board writing would be, and the blurry tops of chips:

 

^^ click to view large version to see what I'm talking about

Edited April 23, 2016 by hookem

[enoofu]

 

Portable Solutions5 hours ago (edited)

+galax This movie is incomplete. It was created a long time ago, when we were still planning to go on Kickstarter. An early prototype was created almost two years ago. To create it, we used the stuff from Cube iWork 7 2\32. Current prototypes are assembled from more recent hardware. p.s. This video is only available from the direct link. We have not even planned to spread it.

I wonder how a iWork 7 can play the Witcher 3

At 47 Sec mark

https://youtu.be/DyTYOM_yl0k

[sh3-rg]

Don't care what you haters say...

 

it can play *all* *pc* *games*

 

WITH

 

k-i-t-t-e-n-s

 

 

The future is now.

[Schizophretard]

I like when Edward says,"We have brought together incredible Japanese engineers." while the camera is on one of the only two Asian dudes while the rest is mostly white people.

 

[toiletunes]

[Cernex]

Did anybody else noticed that when we get a glimpse at the keyboard, it's a Russian keyboard?

 

THAT EXPLAINS SO MUCH!

[StopDrop&Retro]

Wow, I didn't notice the Russian keyboard. But people have pointed out the Russian connection on Dingoonity:

2. The company is very sketchy. Supposedly it's registered in Detroit, however all of the Twitter communication is in Russian. Further research, and a WHOIS of the page, tells me that the PGS website is hosted in Russia as well. Now, I am not saying all Russians registering companies in the US are by default fraudulent, but in the case of this device I will go ahead and say that it's very sketchy.

 

I don't know if Russia's reputation for being sketchy is true, but I will admit I avoid online retailers if they say they're from Russia

 

Aside from that, it could explain the company's communication problems. They were making pricing predictions/promises right out the gate and later on when people were translating their tweets they realized the company was only trying to get to that price point. I guess that communication error really makes no difference since they seem to have nothing close to a working prototype right now, therefore they're always working towards some price without knowing for sure.

 

But this brings us back to the main topic once again, it's the same problem we saw with the RETRO VGS. They were quoting $150 for a long time and raking in plenty of support because that's what people wanted to hear. Then it shot up to "north of $300" overnight. Then they suddenly switched to IndieGoGo and the writing was finally on the wall- they don't have a prototype and have no clue what they're doing. Same thing with the Chameleon, they were quoting ballpark prices there too and later we find out it was all smoke and mirrors. If you believe Mike, as the project lead even he didn't know what he had (nor did he want to find out) and later we learn he has nothing... again!

 

So the moral of the story is that communication is key. When you start telling your customer base something that you hope will entice them to open their wallets later on, you better know what you're talking about or it'll bite you in the ass before you know it. I always thought things would only get better after Kickstarter implemented their prototyping requirements, instead it seems like it's only gotten worse because the effortless pie-in-the-sky projects are still out there and those rules only encourage those creators to be vague and less communicative rather than making them show a working prototype. Most consumers are also to blame, they want the promise of a dream product more than they want it to be real.

[Cernex]

Then it shot up to "north of $300" overnight. Then they suddenly switched to IndieGoGo and the writing was finally on the wall- they don't have a prototype and have no clue what they're doing.

 

Ah yes, the universal signs of having nothing at all. Good to know.

 

Here's hoping people don't fall for it... AGAIN.

[Schizophretard]

 

Ah yes, the universal signs of having nothing at all. Good to know.

 

Here's hoping people don't fall for it... AGAIN.

 

But that guy that does movie trailers said,"PGS Revolution Now!". He thought that was so important to point out that he interrupted the background music and glitter stoner eyes. So, it must be real!

[Welshworrier]

Interesting that he said that the linked clip (uploaded 26th March 2016) was from a few years ago - perhaps he could then explain how it's got Batman Arkham City shown running on a surface 3 (launched May 2015) at 1:26. - Which runs at about 20fps on the i5 version allegedly

 

I call shenanigans.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Welshworrier

[Merendino]

Instead of focusing on a new gaming system I wish there were more people dedicated to flash carts for obscure systems and/or mods to existing systems. (I want me a Neo Geo multi cart that's quality without killing my wallet.)

[Cernex]

Instead of focusing on a new gaming system I wish there were more people dedicated to flash carts for obscure systems and/or mods to existing systems. (I want me a Neo Geo multi cart that's quality without killing my wallet.)

 

Hey man, I wish someone could make a Neo Geo CD2 or at least mod the original so the loading times wouldn't be so mind-numbingly long, but we can't all get what we want.

 

Still love my Neo CD, tho'.

[phoenixdownita]

What happened to triverse? He kind of went missing on this topic after he stated he wouldn't take over Retro mag.

Anyone knows if he's reaching out to more members of the RVGS Inc CC team to hear their point of view on what happened?
[although they cannot do that without looking like total idiots with statements like "all the HW was handled exclusively by Mike", as if in an HW company, as that is what they attempted to sell, only 1 guy knows/follows the HW development ... truth be said it does match the pattern of Mike wanting to be the sole MITM, but still you wouldn't let it happen if you really are a "professional" in the field (and I mean any field, the left hand needs to know what the right hand is doing)]

[godslabrat]

It's interesting that Mike taunted triverse over not speaking to him regarding the takeover of the magazine, yet Mike's own conduct following the Toyfair shows he intentionally made himself scarce.

[mkiker2089]

 

Hey man, I wish someone could make a Neo Geo CD2 or at least mod the original so the loading times wouldn't be so mind-numbingly long, but we can't all get what we want.

 

Still love my Neo CD, tho'.

I still don't understand why that's not possible. Some posts on NeoGaf (I think that was the site) mentioned a mod using modern PC parts but the poster vanished. I don't see why it isn't possible though. It's a CD rom after all and the system can cache it faster hence the CDz. So in theory why can't you put a better reader in it. Something like an 8 speed CD rom system.

[StopDrop&Retro]

Instead of focusing on a new gaming system I wish there were more people dedicated to flash carts for obscure systems and/or mods to existing systems. (I want me a Neo Geo multi cart that's quality without killing my wallet.)

 

Neo Geo Pocket Color for me! I know there's a flash cart out there but it's impossible to get and pretty expensive and hard to use from what I understand.

 

 

 

It's interesting that Mike taunted triverse over not speaking to him regarding the takeover of the magazine, yet Mike's own conduct following the Toyfair shows he intentionally made himself scarce.

 

What?! You mean Mike could be a hypocrite with absolutely no ability to interpret his actions from an external perspective? No way.

[+madman]

I still don't understand why that's not possible. Some posts on NeoGaf (I think that was the site) mentioned a mod using modern PC parts but the poster vanished. I don't see why it isn't possible though. It's a CD rom after all and the system can cache it faster hence the CDz. So in theory why can't you put a better reader in it. Something like an 8 speed CD rom system.

Wow this is really off topic, now we're talking about the Neo CD here. Anyway, it's not just a simple as putting an 8x CD-ROM into the Neo CD. Try taking a 386 computer and putting a 1G memory module in it, in theory why can't you? Same reason. The surrounding architecture needs to support it. I have a CDZ and aside from fighting games, the load times aren't really that bad for a CD system of that era.

[+5-11under]

Wow this is really off topic, now we're talking about the Neo CD here. Anyway, it's not just a simple as putting an 8x CD-ROM into the Neo CD. Try taking a 386 computer and putting a 1G memory module in it, in theory why can't you? Same reason. The surrounding architecture needs to support it. I have a CDZ and aside from fighting games, the load times aren't really that bad for a CD system of that era.

 

Some black tape ought to do it.

[RupanIII]

Just remember, there is no digital, only pulses of analog wavelets

nothing irks me more than the phrase "digital download", I want an analog download dammit! Kind of like those "homes of the future" films where they are shopping on a video terminal and its some clown pointing a tv camera at a paper catalog

 

Hmmmmm... ugh. That and the NForce thing. i'll be emailing them to say keep the hell away from RR or I will drop my sub.

 

Ugh.. this sort of thing is starting to get cringey now.

 

I love how "limited printing" = limited to as many as he thinks he can sell. I can swear he's said before that there was only like 3,000 copies of issue 1 printed. Not enough to be considered limited compared to the magazine as a whole but just enough to make sure every subscriber/completionist has the chance to give you their money.

[mkiker2089]

Wow this is really off topic, now we're talking about the Neo CD here. Anyway, it's not just a simple as putting an 8x CD-ROM into the Neo CD. Try taking a 386 computer and putting a 1G memory module in it, in theory why can't you? Same reason. The surrounding architecture needs to support it. I have a CDZ and aside from fighting games, the load times aren't really that bad for a CD system of that era.

I get that it won't be super simple but I seem to recall that up to a certain speed most CDroms were compatible with older computer systems. Maybe it was 4x. That was when the drives were harder to install software wise also. It seems more like a hardware issue. Like overclocking the CPU can be done pretty easily so can't you do something similar. Have the CD read at a higher speed and let the memory read be the bottle neck. Anyway, I admit it's probably much more difficult but in the days of people making combo systems, overclocking, adding different video formats etc I think the problem is more a lack of love for the Neo Geo Cd than anything else.

 

Sorry for the off topic rant but the thread is winding down anyway, right?

[galax]

We will be continuing with year #3 but not using crowdfunding to do it.

 

RETRO Year 1: 2,345 backers pledged $75,759 to help bring this project to life.

RETRO Year 2: 1,260 backers pledged $50,832 to help bring this project to life.

RETRO Year 3: 3,500 suckers please give $70,000 to help bring this project to life.

 

Mike, based on the (lack of) enthusiasm for year 2, and your recent PR disasters, you'll be lucky to find 500 people willing to give you their money let alone 3,500.

 

"Limited printing of only 3,500 copies"

 

'Limited' to the number of people who contributed to both of the first two Kickstarters combined. Hmm...