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nightrnr
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Re: Polymega/Retroblox: New 1080p "Clone" 2600 to PCE-CD to

by nightrnr Wed Oct 10, 2018 3:16 am

Hmm, well I may just have to set up a PC for that then, or use an Xbox for my purposes, like I always intended for the few systems I mentioned. Dreamcast would be good too, but I'm overcomplicating it at this point.

Yeah, I better stay out of this. It's really not marketed at me. Yes, I have a nice collection of older games... but I've spent too much time and effort getting older systems to do my modern bidding; using obsolete tech and PC's for everything these new things claim to do.

A more streamlined Sega Saturn emulation might be the best potential for the Polymega, but I'm covered on that end (mentioned on other posts). I just can't trust Saturn gaming on anything but actual hardware.

If it does take off and it's worth it's weight, maybe I'll eventually get one to play with at a discounted or used price.
Damn them for making me want NGCD games though. You'd think PS2 Neo Geo ports would be enough for me.
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Re: Polymega/Retroblox: New 1080p "Clone" 2600 to PCE-CD to

by bmoc Wed Feb 13, 2019 9:13 am

Polymega came out of their hole yesterday and announced their participation in a NESMaker contest on Twitter yesterday. I just hope they didn't see their shadow because that would mean we are in for 6 more weeks of development time. :wink:

In all seriousness, they are planning a big project update in March. https://twitter.com/polymegaHQ/status/1 ... 1198068736
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Re: Polymega/Retroblox: New 1080p "Clone" 2600 to PCE-CD to

by bmoc Thu Mar 21, 2019 3:03 pm

Polymega Updates copied from Twitter:
1. Polymega hardware is finished. Running a powerful 35W Intel Coffee Lake S series Processor which can be UPGRADED in the future, if necessary, to support future systems and functionality (by authorized service only).

2. Now you can add a huge amount of games to your Polymega library with support for NVMe M.2 2280 SSD's via expansion port on the underside of the console. SD expansion remains intact, up to 1TB. In total, you can install up to 3TB of games on Polymega now.

3. On the eve of the Sega Saturn's 25th anniversary, we are proud to announce we have hit 99% game and 99% HLE BIOS compatibility for the entire Sega Saturn Disc Library. Full speed. PS1 HLE BIOS is 90+% currently and will be improved further in the coming 2 months.

4. Polymega includes only in-house created or legally licensed software. Emulators are best in class and only one of them could run on a low-power arm device. There is a *huge* difference and we will be posting sound and gameplay samples of all to YouTube next week.

5. Our high quality SNES Emulator has expansion chip support for SA1, SuperFX, CX-4. DSP-1/2 + variants are being implemented at the moment. Gameplay samples with lossless audio will be provided soon. Reply with comments of games you want to see. Also S-DD1 is being implemented.

6. Now some bad news, 14nm supply shortages are affecting the ship date for Polymega. We're in line behind a few larger companies but target is summer for receiving most of the CPUs and ship. Press preview units and pre-orders will be shipped as soon as received.

7. We will be at GDC tomorrow for hands on press previews of the system and will show all disc systems in action including Saturn, PS1, Sega / Mega CD, 32XCD, Neo Geo CD, Turbo CD / PCE CD. Follow us on Instagram stories to catch video as it's happening. Carts soon after.

8. We will be launching a second round of pre-orders in May. Details forthcoming. Retail pre-order info will be available at that time. LA Press / YouTuber hands on event in May. We will also be at E3 again this year. Thank you all for your support!


NVMe support is a welcome addition. I hope the Sega Saturn support is as good as they claim. I'm puzzled why they felt compelled to share #5. SNES emulation has been pretty rock solid for a number of years. I think everyone expects all the special chips to work at this point in emulation. #6 is a disappointment but an understandable one. I've been dealing with the Intel shortage at work too.
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Re: Polymega/Retroblox: New 1080p "Clone" 2600 to PCE-CD to

by marurun Thu Mar 21, 2019 4:31 pm

Well, that's more transparency from them than we've had in a while, so go them.

Basically, the system is now a NUC with swappable cartridge adapters. But sure. The licensed emulator thing does help.
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Re: Polymega/Retroblox: New 1080p "Clone" 2600 to PCE-CD to

by bmoc Thu May 02, 2019 8:39 am

Here are a few things of note that have happened recently or will happen soon:

-Preorders will open up again in a few days. May 7th at 9AM PST. The price for the base unit is going up by $50 though. :(

-RetroRGB posted a lengthy interview with Bryan from Polymega a few days ago that is worth a watch if you are following the project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjLv_lLCN-s

-And finally, Polymega posted something interesting on Twitter. It sounds like they are thinking about making some sort of Nintendo Switch-like handheld device for portable game systems (Game Boy, Game Gear, Lynx, Wonderswan, NeoGeo Pocket, etc).
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Re: Polymega/Retroblox: New 1080p "Clone" 2600 to PCE-CD to

by Anapan Fri May 03, 2019 1:32 am

Through the interview I kept hearing a lot of "in the future" stuff, but I had no idea it was actually at the point that it is. Over half of the stuff Brian said I didn't expect to hear, and Bob backed up the interview with his own experience playing it. It's still not what it hopes and claims to be, but it is far more advanced than I wrote it off as. I got a lot of "if you hack it, it is better than your current plug-and-play emulation box" and "We employ the emulator authors and paid them a lot of money to one-up your PC emulation setup" from the interview. All really impressive. Custom built emulation engines with funding is how CEMU got to where it could eclipse BOTW on Switch in a matter of months. This seems to be the same situation (kinda). The focus on accuracy and low lag and especially hearing the test results knowing their current hardware platform's specs was actually surprising too.
Still not gonna preorder it, but I take back some of my previous comments and assumptions about this being worthless. In fact, it might be a great chinese clone emulation engine in a box for my cocktail cabs (too soon, sorry!)
The attention to the frontend and pre-configured emulation at a better level than cheap illegal chinese handhelds does make this a marketable device.
Glad Bob did that interview and dug to get some clarity. Had to LOL at the lack of care about PR. I could care less about social media either.
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bmoc
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Re: Polymega/Retroblox: New 1080p "Clone" 2600 to PCE-CD to

by bmoc Wed May 29, 2019 3:26 pm

Polymega just teased what appears to be a new peripheral to be unveiled at E3. It looks suspiciously like a light gun. :shock:

https://twitter.com/polymegaHQ/status/1 ... 0437957632
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nightrnr
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Re: Polymega/Retroblox: New 1080p "Clone" 2600 to PCE-CD to

by nightrnr Thu May 30, 2019 3:21 am

Okay, if that is PS1/Guncon compatible on newer TV's, I think they've got a must have retro system.
Still, there's nothing I can't play with my current TV's and systems, but for anywhere else, this could be fascinating news.

Wish they weren't upping the price of the systems, but I can definitely wait for a deal one day even if I were to decide I needed it.

Without a light gun, I would only really want it for Sega CD and NGCD (and to see how well it handled Saturn, but I REALLY like my Rhea/Phoebe Saturns).
I will continue to follow this...
For now, I have other options that are more than good enough (light gun games being the only ones that aren't future-proofed).

Out of curiosity, could you just burn a copy of a PS1/Saturn/SCD/TGCD/etc. game and install it, or would you need the original? Seem like you could, if only for the older non copy protected CDs.
For PS1/Saturn, it would be the only way to play translated games.
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bmoc
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Re: Polymega/Retroblox: New 1080p "Clone" 2600 to PCE-CD to

by bmoc Thu May 30, 2019 6:28 am

Burned copies will definitely work for non-copy protected systems like Sega CD and Neo Geo CD. It is not confirmed whether that works for copy protected systems.

Saturn support seems pretty solid by most accounts. A pro fighting game player was invited to test out its Saturn compatibility and came away fairly impressed.

Translation patches can be side loaded via the SD card.
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nightrnr
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Re: Polymega/Retroblox: New 1080p "Clone" 2600 to PCE-CD to

by nightrnr Thu May 30, 2019 5:44 pm

Yeah, sounds about right, but still makes me wonder.

About translation patches though:
Take the ones for Shining Force and Dragon Force II; those are not straightforward patches and must be done on a PC with other more specific executables. Unless the creators make a patch friendly to the Polymega (or allow a buned disc install), I don't see them working.
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