godslabrat Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 (edited) Today on "As the PolyMega Turns"... Someone asked about using Everdrives, then the conversation shifted to the onboard SD and how that could essentially be the system's answer to the Everdrive. This was downplayed, as the SD is supposedly encrypted and will only contain the games you, personally dumped. Then the weirdness starts... Edited June 19, 2018 by godslabrat 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 (edited) Today on "As the PolyMega Turns"... Someone asked about using Everdrives, then the conversation shifted to the onboard SD and how that could essentially be the system's answer to the Everdrive. This was downplayed, as the SD is supposedly encrypted and will only contain the games you, personally dumped. Then the weirdness starts... 92A4B2FC-47B2-4D73-98B5-E9633037520D.pngA2E7FFEA-B0ED-4A02-8686-FF98D830E5C1.png First, that's an absolutely painful twist of reasoning to downplay one of the most popular techs in the hobby. It reeks of "We don't like it because it's not invented here." And this is from the people who brought you "The Super NT is a good interim solution." Second, it's yet another hint that the functionality of the retro hardware was compromised in the interest of improving the digital sales platform. Third, and most confusing to me personally, we get this weird doubletalk that the encrypted SD card is both a design decision and a technical limitation. Obviously it can't be both, and as it takes extra effort to encrypt the SD, it's a design decision, so own it. Edited June 19, 2018 by godslabrat 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Today on "As the PolyMega Turns"... Someone asked about using Everdrives, then the conversation shifted to the onboard SD and how that could essentially be the system's answer to the Everdrive. This was downplayed, as the SD is supposedly encrypted and will only contain the games you, personally dumped. Then the weirdness starts... That's super weird. "Physical collections are better than a list of ROMs. And we will be looking to sell content digitally so you have a list of ROMs." What purpose would that serve, except to enrich PolyMegaMeataBlox? Reminds me of coleco Chameleon's $70 collectible cartridges which would hold games you could have bought for $5 on Steam several years ago. Collect them all! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derFunkenstein Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 (edited) That's super weird. "Physical collections are better than a list of ROMs. And we will be looking to sell content digitally so you have a list of ROMs." What purpose would that serve, except to enrich PolyMegaMeataBlox? Reminds me of coleco Chameleon's $70 collectible cartridges which would hold games you could have bought for $5 on Steam several years ago. Collect them all! I think they just killed this thing. Not just for me, but for pretty much everyone. I hope it gets cracked and they lose their backsides on it. I'm sure by "technical limitation" they mean "our angel investor overlords who mandated this online retro store require it" Edited June 20, 2018 by derFunkenstein 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 I think an online store in a retrogaming console is passe. Or at least a nuisance because of how it limits the system. I mean it's alright to have a store and everything, but once its existence undermines other features.. Not so alright. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 I just don't see the point. Not that I mind the feature on conceptual level, but if the entire purpose of the device is to make use of vintage media, having an online ROM store seems like slapping an unrelated device on it. It'd be like selling a grilled cheese maker that also makes ice cream. I like both those things individually, but I struggle to see the value in putting them into the same box. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derFunkenstein Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Great, now I've got a hankerin' for a DQ Blizzard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leods Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 So much for hybrid emulation. If it was accurate emulation using the cart slot anything that runs on the original would run on the polymega. But you need to be really gullyble to have believed this people were actually going to do it. Now they're switching this creap into an ouya? Seriously? Now I am just waiting for them to go in indiegogo asking for money. It's the last step they need. But hey, they might just release it traight up. But if someone actually invested 500k dollars into this crap, I pitty whoever did it. this thing isn't doing 500k back. Even with all the morons out there ready to buy any crap gimmick, this retarded brother of the Retron 5 isn't going to go far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 n. If it was accurate emulation using the cart slot anything that runs on the original would run on the polymega This was literally the exact line they used to sell the original concept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daj Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 What purpose would that serve, except to enrich PolyMegaMeataBlox? I think you cracked the puzzle. But maybe some of the time, talent and money that goes into trying to scam people with insane Frankenstein monsters like this would get better returns if they tried making a quality product that would appeal to retro gamers. It's a strangely untapped market... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 It's funny. This whole market seems to be about repackaging and modifying traditional and proper PC-based emulators. Along with mixing in new content. Don't think it'll ever work quite right. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 New photo of the board: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Looks legit to a dum-dum like me. Kevtris, drop some knowledge please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Looks like it's coming together. Eh - whichever way the wind blows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Not a DVR capture card... repeat, NoT a DVR capture card. We can at least move past if it exists at all and focus on what kind of value it offers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leods Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 What an achievement. It's already reached the "At least it's better than the Coleco Chameleon" status. Well done. BUT are those cart slots any better than the retro VGS though? Were those actually shown to work in any capacity? TBH, now they've admitted this thing won't even run flash carts, is anyone still interested? It's just a more expensive retron 5. Did anyone really want that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nullity Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derFunkenstein Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 (edited) So what you do is you get yourself a re-programmable cart and a USB flash kit and then flash a ROM, install it, flash another ROM, install it...ad infinitum. LOL They have no interest in anything other than the store platform. If they'd said that from the get-go, I don't think people would have taken this slow revelation so badly. That's what they get for not being up-front. Edited June 22, 2018 by derFunkenstein 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetrogamerX Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Is there no release date for this yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derFunkenstein Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 They've said Q4 2018 (it's in the TechCrunch write-up), but whether they make it is anybody's guess. No way this thing launches without the online store ready to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetrogamerX Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 They've said Q4 2018 (it's in the TechCrunch write-up), but whether they make it is anybody's guess. No way this thing launches without the online store ready to go. 2019 then. This console is a great idea just done wrong. I hope it doesn't fail or maybe someone else will improve upon it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_convoy Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 A Retron 5 - type device for disc based systems is still a good idea in that disc based systems are a lot less hardy than cartridge based ones. The "but, original hardware!" argument falls apart a bit against my SEGA CD which is surely a ticking timebomb, or my TurboDuo. It would be nice if this becomes the ubiquitous solution going forward, but I'm very much skeptical. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 You know what these are, right? I hope the people looking to buy this (retron 5 as well) figure it out... it's a Rube Goldberg machine to play ROM dumps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 A Retron 5 - type device for disc based systems is still a good idea in that disc based systems are a lot less hardy than cartridge based ones. This console is a great idea just done wrong. I hope it doesn't fail or maybe someone else will improve upon it? You might ask why I still update this thread even though it's obvious I will never buy one of these machines. This is why. I think the idea of "A Retron 5, but better" has a lot of merit. A multii-system emulation console is a good idea. A CD-based equivalent is also a good idea. Where it failed was in the nonsense about "Hybrid emulation"... it added needless complexity for no apparent gain. We know there are weaknesses in software emulation, but there's no reason to think that this machine presents a better alternative, functionally, than a pure emulation machine. On the other hand, if it WERE a pure emulation machine, we would know exactly what we were getting, tradeoffs and all. We'd know what games might not work. We'd know how to deal with CD BIOS issues. With the Polymega, I don't really have confidence in the CD support, I don't have confidence in the cartridge support... I have FULL CONFIDENCE in the online store support, but isn't it funny how that was the last feature to be announced and the only one that's seen any amount of clarification at E3? I'm still here thinking I want "A Retron 5, but better" and now thanks to BurgerMega, I'm wondering if anyone else will ever be willing to risk trying it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insertclevernamehere Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 I'm getting the Retron 77 as a stop gap but still hope there will be an Atari module for the Polymega some time after launch. Hopefully not too long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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