Retron5 detailed video review series

[satoshi_matrix]

My long delayed full review of the Retron5 has begun today with part 1 of what will be a 9 part video series detailing in depth the Retron5 as it currently is. Like my other reviews, my aim is to be as through as possible and include way more detailed information than you would find....anywhere.

Here's Part 1. New installments will be out daily.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_18ema35ZSs

[tappybot]

Will watch. Thanks for your hard work satoshi!

[satoshi_matrix]

Part 2 is now published:

This time I thoroughly explain and detail the user interface of the Retron5 as well as go over each of its features, and give my impression on them. Spoilers: all but one of the filters are terrible and you are terrible if you use them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyRbAeRzfZI


Post Merge: September 30, 2014, 09:39:03 pm
Part 3 is now live.

Come explore the Famicom, from games like Mario 3 to technical gems like Lagrange Point and JustBreed, all in glorious 720p.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g82J_dvwIWY

[FamicomRetroGamer]

Aren't these Retron consoles just using emulators? If so then I might as well just download the emulator from the internet and play it on my PC.

[Bob-Bob]

Yes, they are. The console operates by dumping the ROM from the cartridge and running it in an emulator. There are also known problems with the emulators in question, where certain games won't run properly or in some cases not run at all. It kinda defeats the whole purpose, really.

[satoshi_matrix]

It's a better alternative to Famiclones though, that's for sure. Far more games work via emulation on the Retron5 than would work via NOACs.

Speaking of which,

Part 4. The NES.

Now you're playing with power.

emulation power!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__lNZJFUVhk

[L___E___T]

If anyone really wants one of these kits - might consider getting one sooner rather than later, Hyperkin likely have some legal fallout on their hands.

Satoshi does it load games from an SD card?  How does it sit with Everdrives?  I haven't watched all the videos just yet.

[MaxXimus]

No SD card for roms .  You need the cartridge.

[L___E___T]

I find that really frustrating and contradictory - we're essentially talking about an emulation computer that hooks up to a TV, but you need the individual cartridges?

That's pretty nuts - if you have all those cartridges, you're surely going to have the system for them, which means you're pretty hardened retro gamer, but then it plays emulations of those?  That doesn't fit.


It has a conflicted identity this machine, and it's not cheap either.  I like all the settings, but let's be honest a cheap PC with controller adaptors, a TV out and access to all games via ROMs is cheaper and does the job better.  It's unashamed emulation of course, but now we know the Retron is unadmitted controversial emulation.


Not taking anything away anyone who owns one, just seems a rather conflicted and confused product offering.  To me at least.

[satoshi_matrix]

The Retron5 cannot directly play ROMs loaded on an SD card and cannot read flash carts or the vast majority of pirate multicarts. Only individual games.

The Retron5 works by reading and temporarily dumping the ROM of each individual cart. Once you remove the game, the ROM it dumped is also removed. It's a legal form of emulation as you are essentially dumping and playing your own ROMs. Flashcarts work parallel to the Retron5, not with it.

The Retron5 is emulation based, but that's just used in place of OAC technology used in other clones. I don't see why people are up in arms about it when they're not about clones from Retrobit or Yobo or whoever else.

The Retron5 is great if you have a large collection of carts. you can play them on an HDTV in 720p import your save files and use original controllers.

To be clear, there is no no legal troubles with the Retron5. Only accusations made by libretro of RetroArch, a guy who has a track record of being a jerk to every other emulator author out there while ignoring the fact that RetroArch itself is a mess. I'm ignoring that drama with libretro unless and until something more concrete happens. I dont personally think there will be any legal action at all.

[L___E___T]

Hmm, interesting points but I should note I wasn't attacking the system or anyone's choice to get it.

For me I like having all the carts to play the real versions of those games, I can jump on ssega.com or another flash site to play those games in 1080p up but it's just not the same for me.

The RetroArch issue is one thing - depends on those guys doing something about it, but the point about having ROMs of games one owns isn't a legal workaround.  I've heard that a lot but I actually found out recently it's still illegal, the Retron more so because it navigates the games' code and systems apparently, according to lawyers.

Still, someone's got to do something about it again as per the other point, I don't see that happening ever, but for those that really care about the legality, I suppose it's worth mentioning.  I'm not being contentious, it's not my job to worry about it or anything, but it was news to me as well.

I didn't mean to derail any of this - I am considering getting one so am watching the vids with interest.  I'd be very interested if it could be hacked/modded to play games from SD card.

[satoshi_matrix]

That's already happened. People have already hacked the Retron5, but its a giant mess

If you want a box that can run ROMs directly and do all kinds of other things, what you want is an Ouya, not the Retron5. The Retron5 is if you want to run your original carts.

The Ouya has far more emulation options and with USB adapters you could run any controller as well so the differences between them ultimately come down to your preference on physical media vs digital content.

On my channel I've got a video review of the Ouya explaining all this.
Post Merge: October 02, 2014, 09:08:03 pm
Okie dokie, part 5 is now up:

This time the coverage is the SNES and Super Famicom. If you have the eternal save set to the SD card, it makes certain games virtually unplayable. Simply switching to use the internal storage solves these issues. This caused me to record this twice, once before I realized this and here the revised final version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLVfz7HCkwA

[P]

The Ouya has far more emulation options and with USB adapters you could run any controller as well so the differences between them ultimately come down to your preference on physical media vs digital content.

This is the one argument I don't get. The Retron 5 a combination of a dumper and an emulator. It dumps the ROM into memory and plays it in an emulator from there. When the ROM is in memory you could probably even remove the cartridge and continue playing because its job is done. How's that different from playing a ROM on any other emulator?

Someone on NESdev said that you could just as well dump your own carts, load them in an emulator and place your cartridge on your emulator-device and pretend that you are playing from the cartridge.

[L___E___T]

To be honest that's how it feels for me and essentially what I was getting at.  You have emulation and you have the real thing.  

I ultimately prefer to play the real hardware for a reason and also have a library of carts plus Everdrive specifically for that set up.

Emulation is still viable in my book, just not the same experience - so I'd quite like to have an emulation station from an old PC set up which again would affords better results for less cost than the Retron.

So those are the two ends of the scale (Real>>>>Emus), but importantly I don't quite feel the Retron occupies the middle space, I don't really feel like there is  a middle space - it's a bit of a no-mans land because it doesn't have the advantages of either full emulation or full real hardware, yet it does have a fair chunk of the disadvantages (no SD card loading, needing to keep all those carts etc.).  To have a big old library of carts is neither cheap nor practical, so it dismisses what I think is the core pro of emulation.  However it also dismisses that core pro of real hardware because fundamentally you are only ever playing emulated games, and what's more in the same emulators that are available to anyone with a lowly PC.

That is what is all very odd to me.  Now if it had the option to run the real chip-based games on perfectly emulated hardware, as well as the option to load from SD it would be unique.

[Pikkon]

To be clear, there is no no legal troubles with the Retron5. Only accusations made by libretro of RetroArch, a guy who has a track record of being a jerk to every other emulator author out there while ignoring the fact that RetroArch itself is a mess. I'm ignoring that drama with libretro unless and until something more concrete happens. I dont personally think there will be any legal action at all.

Are you in denial.

There is evidence of hyperkin using these emulators without the authors consent,if you want to by all means you can disprove it and show everyone wrong.

http://www.libretro.com/index.php/category/blog/