ideal new retro console

Post by **Jubal** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:53 pm

ok so when the first glop top NOAC chip came out, I had no interest in them at all. I of course have perfectly running original hardware.

next these multi console units started coming out like the FC-Twin and the Gen-X. these new multi units caught my attention some, not for my own use so much as gifts to retro interested friends.

so if 2 consoles combined are possible, where will it lead? will there be units that can handle 3 or 4 types of different carts?

where is the sweet spot for you personally to consider getting one?

I think my turning point will be a 4 console machine that takes NES, SNES, Genesis and either SMS or 32x.

this is just speculation at this point as there are no sms or 32x on a chip that I know of, but what is your ideal new retro console setup?

Post by **megadethdrumfire** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:23 pm

Or how about a system that plays all games for all cd based systems!! with a 40x drive! sega cd will have no loading time!!

Post by **SnowKitty** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:28 pm

megadethdrumfire wrote:Or how about a system that plays all games for all cd based systems!! with a 40x drive! sega cd will have no loading time!!

it's called a PC and im sure you already have one

Post by **Anayo** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:31 pm

SnowKitty wrote:
megadethdrumfire wrote:Or how about a system that plays all games for all cd based systems!! with a 40x drive! sega cd will have no loading time!!
it's called a PC and im sure you already have one

Not if he's posting at the library...

Post by **megadethdrumfire** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:32 am

i was talking about like a console that played all cd games! come on that would be cool!

Post by **dudex77** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 12:11 pm

Their was like a pirate snes console that could play all the games off of a disk filled with roms but that's the best I've seen.

Post by **GSZX1337** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:11 pm

megadethdrumfire wrote:i was talking about like a console that played all cd games! come on that would be cool!

Back when the Xbox was in the works, there were rumors of a "Silver Box" that could do just that. It could play Playstation, PS2, Xbox (when it would come out), Dreamcast, everything! There was even a schematic for a "all-in one cartridge slot." Eventually, the guy got exposed for the fraud he was and shut his site down. I remember I would talk to my friends at GameStop about what we were going to do with the money made from our console eBay auctions...

Post by **lordofduct** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:55 pm

megadethdrumfire wrote:i was talking about like a console that played all cd games! come on that would be cool!

They already have that too... it's called a XBOX

to be realistic though... guessing you mean it had hardware capable of playing all this stuff. It would be hard to put this all together.

For instance a machine that plays SNES and NES carts is feasible because the SNES was originally planned to be backwards compatible. They just never put in the extra chip to do it... it's missing just one part.

The genny was also built to be backwards compatible and can play SMS games. The Saturn also supposedly had plans for some type of compatability... but this is only rumor and I only bring it up because rumor is rumor.

Same goes with the GBA to Gameboy, similar hardware meant it was easy.

But then rolls in the PS3 and XBOX 360 which boasts backwards compatibility with hardware unlike its own via emulation. This is feasible to certain limits and you see what happens then... it isn't the best when actually applied. A lot of games don't work and it takes a lot of hard work from the developers to get it working.

And speaking of that it required emulation... which essentially is what PCs and the XBOX already do at a pretty good rate (minus some of the newer consoles and the elusive to emulate Sega Saturn).

Hardware wise though this gets hard, you are talking about a chipset that understands several different language sets. Of which the cursors for which to define them is limited. This isn't like making new software that has a little flag coded into it saying what mode to lock into, but instead dealing with software that assumes it is being ran on a specific hardware. You thusly have to get the hardware to detect the language, which in its own right is identical in the manner that it looks, but each cursor means something different.

Its kinda like handing the letter A to several different people of different languages who all pronounce it differently. It looks the same in theory, but in application we use it in different words that mean different things.

My point is, pipe dreams of dedicated hardware like this is futile. Why dream of a day this is possible when you can perform it already with existing software. Instead build technological pipe dreams of stuff that might perform a much greater good. What is another NES clone then a God damn NES clone?

Post by **Daniel Primed** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 8:36 am

dudex77 wrote:Their was like a pirate snes console that could play all the games off of a disk filled with roms but that's the best I've seen.

I had a friend back a long long time ago whom had one of these.

I have never heard or seen them since though. Any names or any off site links for more info? Not that I want one, just interested.

Post by **racketboy** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:57 am

lordofduct wrote:
megadethdrumfire wrote:i was talking about like a console that played all cd games! come on that would be cool!
They already have that too... it's called a XBOX

I didn't realize the XBox could play Saturn and Dreamcast games