Metal Jesus Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 The first in-depth review of Hyperkin's RetroN 77 Atari 2600 HD clone system. The things I love about it...and things that need a bit more work! PROS: Runs real 2600 cartridges (approx 99% compatibility) 720P HD output Supports original Atari joysticks and paddles Toggle 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio Super long controller cable Looks nice CONS: Joystick may break during heavy use Doesn't support more than 18 ROMS Slight video/audio lag because of software emulation - This was determined using comparing the "feel" of HERO between a real Atari and the FGPA Atari "Walkman" I have. Also... I didn't include it in the video, but the Atari driving controllers didn't work with Night Driver (button worked, but steering didn't) and the SuperCharger just blinked and didn't work either. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Tha is for posting this. Do you think the 18 ROM limit will be lifted in a software update? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMajorHavoc Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Happy to see my game Nexion 3d runs ! There were fears of it not supporting over 16k roms. Nexion 3d is 32K. So that is awesome! I hope everyone enjoys it 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metal Jesus Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 Tha is for posting this. Do you think the 18 ROM limit will be lifted in a software update? I was told by a little birdie...that the limit can be modified. It's not officially supported and I haven't tried it yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metal Jesus Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 Happy to see my game Nexion 3d runs ! I have not admit that I had no idea what was happening in the game! There needs to be a game manual included w/ the RetroN 77 or something cuz not everybody is going to know to come over to AtariAge for that stuff.... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah98 Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Great review as always Metal Jesus! Thank you for the thoughtful review and for posting it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg2600 Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Joystick breaks....yikes. Does the Harmony cart work? Heard it didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_convoy Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Okay, tech types... any idea as to why it would run Pitfall II as a rom, but not from the cartridge? It's merely reading the cart to dump the rom, right? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accousticguitar Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Only 18 roms? That's a deal breaker. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 I was told by a little birdie...that the limit can be modified. It's not officially supported and I haven't tried it yet... Let's hope so, that limitation is painfully stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 ...the Atari driving controllers didn't work with Night Driver (button worked, but steering didn't) and the SuperCharger just blinked and didn't work either. The driving controllers don't work with Night Driver anyway. That game uses paddle controllers. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metal Jesus Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 The driving controllers don't work with Night Driver anyway. That game uses paddle controllers. Wait...what?! LOL 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Let's hope so, that limitation is painfully stupid. But more than 18 ROMs would be HUNDREDS of KILOBYTES of data!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 The driving controllers don't work with Night Driver anyway. That game uses paddle controllers. Wait...what?! LOL *tears off a corner of your geek card* Only Indy 500 from the original games uses the Driving controllers. There are a few home-brews that do as well? Even my real car, which has a steering wheel, doesn't spin all the way around. It works like a paddle! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metal Jesus Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 The driving controllers don't work with Night Driver anyway. That game uses paddle controllers. And more to the point... why wouldn't they work?! That makes no sense. Seems like the innards of the two controllers would be similar, but I must be wrong... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Wait...what?! LOL Driving controllers are for Indy 500. Paddle controllers are different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Thanks for the info. Having input lag is a deal breaker for me. I really hope is a non-issue in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KaeruYojimbo Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 And more to the point... why wouldn't they work?! That makes no sense. Seems like the innards of the two controllers would be similar, but I must be wrong... http://atariage.com/forums/topic/171114-paddle-controller-vs-driving-controller/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metal Jesus Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 Thanks for the info. Having input lag is a deal breaker for me. I really hope is a non-issue in the future. Only way they would fully get rid of any lag is to go full FPGA, but would consumers be willing to pay for it?! People bitch about the Analogue Super NT mini at $190... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metal Jesus Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 BTW: Another shoutout to fellow AtariAge user:@Crispy who created this awesome FPGA Atari clone last year. This thing is AMAZING and has zero lag and 100% compatibility. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 (edited) Even my real car, which has a steering wheel, doesn't spin all the way around. It works like a paddle! That's funny! Off topic: I want to see paddle that you can pull up and down, like the DOTRON controller. Then mount both in place of pinball flipper buttons. Now you have variable force and directional flippers. Whatever.. Edited June 22, 2018 by Keatah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Wait...what?! LOL C'mon man, this isn't your first rodeo. Plus it says it right on the label. And more to the point... why wouldn't they work?! That makes no sense. Seems like the innards of the two controllers would be similar, but I must be wrong... They're actually very different internally. For one thing, the driving controller doesn't actually use a potentiometer, as I recall, and as a result outputs different electrical values...or something. In any case, a game would have to be specifically programmed to use driving controllers; Night Driver was not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Okay, tech types... any idea as to why it would run Pitfall II as a rom, but not from the cartridge? It's merely reading the cart to dump the rom, right? Pitfall II has extra "active" logic in the cart. Think enhancement chip on SNES. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digdugnate Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 great review! i will pick one up when i have some extra dough to burn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+stephena Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Good to see that Stella 4 is performing well on this hardware; hopefully Stella 5 will be compatible too. But overall, TBH it's kind of disheartening to see repeated mention that it would be so much better if it were using an FPGA (especially in the comments on the Youtube page). Really makes me kind of demotivated to see a lot of people basically saying that all the hard work that went into the emulation is wasted effort, and we should move to FPGA. There's still a lot of "emulation, so it must be crap" people around, it seems. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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