Retro Rays Super Console X

[cashcow06]

Does anyone know anything about this console. Is it legit? I can't find any reviews on it. https://gameretrorays.com

 

[128Kgames]

1 hour ago, cashcow06 said:

Does anyone know anything about this console. Is it legit? I can't find any reviews on it. https://gameretrorays.com

 

They all look like Pi cases to me, not seeing any "console" on that site. 

[akator]

There's an informative review on YouTube.  This console is basically an Android TV with a custom case.  It looks interesting.  I would buy one if I didn't already have several other emulation rigs.

 

 

 

[+LS650]

Yeah, it's an Android TV box, not a Pi of some kind.  If you go to Youtube you'll find several videos on it.  It seems to be getting generally decent reviews.

[7800Knight]

I did see this as well as that YouTube review.

 

I'm on the fence about getting one.  I see a lot of these retro consoles for sale pre-loaded with games and such.  While I am interested, I'm shaky on getting one due to the mixed reviews I hear.  Some people love these and others claim the ones they bought broke quickly.

[mutterminder]

I like how they say they "perfectly" support PSP/N64/DC/NDS, except that they spell the the word "perfectly" at least three different ways.

[youxia]

"...DC/N64 perfectly emulated..." Wow, I'm getting one pronto, seeing as not even a high-end PC rig can emulate these two "perfectly".

 

Edit: Just saw it's a Chinese company, so it's ok. They love to use this kind of flowery Engrish.

Edited February 3, 2021 by youxia

[NeonSpaceBeagle]

Has anyone noticed how in the last year or so just how much these systems are flooding the market?  Every two days a new one comes out.  It's definitely degrading the hobby.

[KeeperofLindblum]

1 hour ago, NeonSpaceBeagle said:

Has anyone noticed how in the last year or so just how much these systems are flooding the market?  Every two days a new one comes out.  It's definitely degrading the hobby.

 

The problem is that enthusiasts did such a great job making the various software configurations (RetroPie, EmuELEC, all the Android Emulators, etc) that you can basically create a "retro game console" from any cheap computer board available. 

This in turn has lead a lot of groups (seems mainly chinese manufacturers and "get rich quick" peeps?) into making their own "Retro Handheld" or "Retro Console". There are just so many of them now... and they all mostly perform the same. You have to wade through a massive pile of them to find the 1 or 2 that are worthwhile. On top of that, they keep making new revisions of the same ones or completely new models with slight tweaks that (generally) improve the item. 

Honestly? It's just a mess as getting one at any point is generally invalidated within a few months or even weeks when they release the revised version that works better. 

[+LS650]

I ordered a Super Console X, and it is supposed to arrive in the next couple of days.

 

I will post some kind of comment/review once I've had a chance to play with it some.

[+LS650]

I've had a chance to play with the Super Console X over the last couple of days.  I bought it from an Alibaba seller for about $60 US plus shipping from China; it took a good four weeks to arrive.  It's essentially an Android TV box running EmuElec.  Some group has gone to a great deal of trouble to configure about 40 different emulators and a wide selection of games  on it.  I have an old Raspberry RetroPie configured with several emulators, and I would say that this is essentially a faster, more polished version of that.  For example, I had a heck of a time getting Atari 5200 to run on my RetroPie, my Vectrex emulator has some screwed up sound effects, etc.  None of that with the Super Console X.

 

It generally does a good job of emulating most systems of 32-bit or lower.  For example, I tried out a few NeoGeo, Atari Lynx, Vectrex, 2600, etc. games and they all ran quite well.  Only a few PSX and Dreamcast games are included, and those run reasonably well, but I am suspicious that the creators may have cherry picked games that ran well, and left out games that do not.  I haven't had a chance to test this hypothesis out, though.  The SCX definitely struggles with the Nintendo 64; a couple of N64 games I tried out had sporadic lag, minor video glitches, and not so minor audio problems.

 

I don't think the Super Console X does anything that someone with a little patience and tech savvy can't configure on a Windows machine, but there is something to be said for a small convenient device that you can plug into your large HDMI display.  Would I recommend it?  I think if you want something a bit casual to just hookup and play some retro game, sure.  Or perhaps if you were considering getting a RetroPie, and would like to get something similar that is ready to play out of the box.  YMMV...

[ErikDavid]

I recently purchased one of these, and 1st impressions are generally positive. Growing up with an Atari 800XL I was excited to see over 5,000 Atari 800 games included on my version. Problem is a lot of these require a keyboard to play in one way or another.  You can access a virtual keyboard on some of the other PC emulators, but don't see one for the 800. Has anyone else with one of these had success finding a virtual keyboard?

[+LS650]

5 hours ago, ErikDavid said:

I recently purchased one of these, and 1st impressions are generally positive. Growing up with an Atari 800XL I was excited to see over 5,000 Atari 800 games included on my version. Problem is a lot of these require a keyboard to play in one way or another.  You can access a virtual keyboard on some of the other PC emulators, but don't see one for the 800. Has anyone else with one of these had success finding a virtual keyboard?

Couldn't you just plug in a cheap USB keyboard..?

[Jimbo_Hambo]

Hey All

 

Just taken delivery of the Super Console X Pro.  I was mainly interested in the old C64, Spectrum, Amiga and Atari Games.  Lts of these require the use of a keyboard, especially the old Spectrum and C64 which are basically useless without a keyboard.  I plugged in a USB PC style Keyboard which does not seem to work.  Has anyone had any success with connecting or configuring a keyboard to work with these emulators?

[andrewk409]

I purchased the Super Console X and received it about two weeks ago, and it has been running great! Except, just the other day, I found that none of the games have sound anymore. I still get sound from the main menu game selection screen, but no "in-game" sound. Does anyone know what could be causing this? 

[Gandalf_the_Grey]

Hi.  A little late to the topic, but just wanted to let everyone know that I have a USB keyboard plugged in to my Super Console X and it works great with the Atari 800 games I have tried so far.  However, my keyboard obviously doesn't have START/SELECT/OPTION/RESET.  I assume there is some way these keys are emulated by whatever emulator the SCX is using, but I don't know what that is.  Does anyone know what emulator it is using under the covers or have a guess as to how these keys are emulated?

 

EDIT: I think I answered my own question.  The first emulator I researched, Atari800, seems to use Function Keys (F2,F3,F4) for Option, Select, and Start.  I had to find the "Fn" key to get them to work, but now I am good.

 

Gandalf

*.*

Edited October 22, 2021 by Gandalf_the_Grey
Added Solution

[the4thman]

I am very late to the game, but mine came with tons & tons of games. The Atari 800 emulator is a bit tricky in that even with the USB keyboard it doesn't seem properly mapped to start, option, etc. & a lot of the games don't seem to work. I seem to have better luck with the same program on my Wii. I kind of wish there was a better, dummy proof Atari 800 emulator that easily knew how to run the different Atari format files for these systems.

I will say the C64 emulation and ease of use is awesome. I have already spent quite a few hours on it. 

[Rhomaios]

On 2/3/2021 at 9:26 AM, youxia said:

"...DC/N64 perfectly emulated..." Wow, I'm getting one pronto, seeing as not even a high-end PC rig can emulate these two "perfectly".

 

Edit: Just saw it's a Chinese company, so it's ok. They love to use this kind of flowery Engrish.

Hard pass for me. You know this is just a cash grab. Though I guess it's fine for some who want to pay to track down ROMs.

[GameGirl420]

I wouldn't recommend it unless you've got extra money to throw away. I have a friend who plugged in a USB keyboard into a brand new Super Console X and the thing malfunctioned. It got stuck on a black screen after trying to set the keyboard controls.Actually  had to return it after and get a refund.Cool concept,but it's poorly designed with cheap materials. 

 

There's no switch to toggle between the MBOX and Emuelec features either,and I'd say that's one of the real flaws of it. Some cool obscure Japanese games on it though.

[chewy]

On 4/26/2021 at 7:03 AM, ErikDavid said:

I recently purchased one of these, and 1st impressions are generally positive. Growing up with an Atari 800XL I was excited to see over 5,000 Atari 800 games included on my version. Problem is a lot of these require a keyboard to play in one way or another.  You can access a virtual keyboard on some of the other PC emulators, but don't see one for the 800. Has anyone else with on had success finding a virtual keyboard?

battlezone works perfefctly w/ my wired 3do controller so im happy but yea most dont work.  also this thing proves further how superior VCS is, the 5200/7800 game play better than ever before here w/ this controller but still cant live up to the VCS.