RetroFreak (11 consoles in 1)

[arcadifvid]

the retrofreak kept me at bay when i couldnt find a nesce (dont even know why i still even want the nesce since i already had retrofreak way before in the first place)

i once reached out to cybergadget suggesting to improve the scanlines (i need them thicker, darker!) .. well they were nice enough to reply back anyway. they actually said they were working on various new features to improve functionality! .. i could only wonder what at this point though. its been a while since we received any update other than adding DS4 support.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Well I finally have a functioning system!

Seems pretty cool so far. Default controller is swell (unlike the Retron 5!). I love being able to load up games onto a microSD card. In fact, I may just take the outer shell off the system and just download everything I wish to play.

Got to try out my first SG-1000 and SuperGrafx games (I ordered a couple in anticipation). I loaded up some FDS games on the microSD card and they work flawlessly. This is awesome.

Only complaint I have right now is with the Gear Converter. It's pretty wobbly and finicky.

[Jagosaurus]

I love being able to load up games onto a microSD card. In fact I may just take the outer shell off the system and just download everything I wish to play.

Hm, take off the outer shell? Is the SD slot not easy to get to?

[BoneSnapDeez]

Nah, it's not that.

See the image in the rectangle at the bottom-right. That's the system itself. It can removed from the outer shell, which consists of the cart slots. You don't need the cart slots though, as you can play (downloaded) games off a microSD card, and/or use the cart slots one time to install the games onto your microSD cart and then remove the outer shell and just roll with the teeny tiny box.

I'll probably install a bunch of carts onto the microSD card, then take off the outer shell and proceed with download-only.

I'm a bit wary about the overheating issue, but if this thing holds up pretty well it could effectively replace my Retron 5.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Oh, and for those interested, running FDS games is easy. You need the BIOS (just ask me ) and then you can download games onto a card. They run off the NES emulator, naturally, and option+start will flip the disk.

[AaronC]

Just got one of these in today and I must say it is a little marvel of a machine!

A couple of questions:

1) I had some issues with it reading games. I had to insert a couple of them a good amount of times with most of them being SNES games and then Bonk's Revenge for TGX16. I had to slightly bare down on the cart to get them to pick up. I cleaned the ones that gave me problems and some of them still had issues. The Bonk one I ended up loading as "Unknown". Most of the SNES ones that didn't work I got it to recognize, but some of them was picked up in weird ways like one half of the cart was pulled up slightly.

2) Can you go in and rename files? I'm glad I have Bonk on the SD card now, but I would kind of like to have the name haha! I see that it has unknown for publisher and release date, but no way to rename them?

3) I got a lot of games that was loaded as 1MB. Is this correct? The seemed to be playing ok, but I also don't want to get half way through a game and it quit because the whole file wasn't loaded haha! I did get some varying ones as well like Chrono Trigger and Breath of Fire was around 4MB or something. I figured it was good until I Google'd average SNES game size and it was a bit off. The system might be doing some compressing or something, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't they only one getting these file size numbers.

Other than those two issues, I like everything about it. It looks great on my 55" Sony 4K and the fact that I can just go and select a game to play with no cart is great. And, surprisingly, the controller is great! Much better than that abomination the Retron 5 came with haha! I'll have a review up on my blog soon (monstersofgeek.com). I'll link it when it gets finished.

[alienjesus]

3) I got a lot of games that was loaded as 1MB. Is this correct? The seemed to be playing ok, but I also don't want to get half way through a game and it quit because the whole file wasn't loaded haha! I did get some varying ones as well like Chrono Trigger and Breath of Fire was around 4MB or something. I figured it was good until I Google'd average SNES game size and it was a bit off. The system might be doing some compressing or something, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't they only one getting these file size numbers.

This is probably correct. When you were searching cartridge sizes, are you sure you weren't getting confused between Megabits (Mb) and Megabytes (MB)? A megabyte is equivalent to 8 Megabits.

For example, Chrono Trigger is a 32Mb (Megabit) cartridge. That's the equivalent of 4 Megabytes (MB) - or exactly what your system is displaying!

[Jagosaurus]

Thanks Bonez. I didn't know the brains and SD portion were removable. That's pretty cool. What are the rough dimensions of that? Looks tiny.

Too small & the HDMI cord will move it around. I run into that with my little media box I use for USB movie playback.

[AaronC]

3) I got a lot of games that was loaded as 1MB. Is this correct? The seemed to be playing ok, but I also don't want to get half way through a game and it quit because the whole file wasn't loaded haha! I did get some varying ones as well like Chrono Trigger and Breath of Fire was around 4MB or something. I figured it was good until I Google'd average SNES game size and it was a bit off. The system might be doing some compressing or something, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't they only one getting these file size numbers.

This is probably correct. When you were searching cartridge sizes, are you sure you weren't getting confused between Megabits (Mb) and Megabytes (MB)? A megabyte is equivalent to 8 Megabits.

For example, Chrono Trigger is a 32Mb (Megabit) cartridge. That's the equivalent of 4 Megabytes (MB) - or exactly what your system is displaying!

That is exactly what I did haha! Thanks for the clarification on that. I was telling my wife how I forgot how small these games are as far as file size. Now we get GB worth of information on a disc. Makes you appreciate the developers of yesteryear even more.

[BoneSnapDeez]

The cart slots do indeed suck. This is my biggest complaint overall. I say once a game has been installed there's no reason to insert that particular cart ever again.