WELL THIS IS INTERESTING.. Retron 5

[alienjesus]

speak for yourself broski i just got ghost house on sunday

I guess I'm just surprised Hyperkin isn't making an SMS adapter themselves. Then again they didn't bother to provide a dedicated slot either, so perhaps the system isn't as popular as I might imagine.

I'm sure I read somewhere that they blamed this on difficulty to find suitable parts. The SMS wasn't nearly as popular as the other included console, so I guess not many places make stuff for it.

[Tanooki]

Actually (from memory) but you're right about the boxes there are differences between the original garbage model and the modern one that was durably built and functions better.

Is there an official change log? I was under the impression the only differences are:

- Loosened the grip on the carts
- Dust protectors for the controller ports
- Plastic changed for the cart slot dust covers.

Am I missing anything else?

I'm sure there is, but they won't admit to it. The stuff I'm aware of.
- Better more durable metal on the cart pins (which in turn loosened the grip)
- Rubber caps over controller ports
- Better ports for the controller, the old were weakly attached and could be broken
- Top of system is hard plastic now, it doesn't bend with any pressure
- Different parts on the board inside, they had a contract expire, had to get new tech
- Supposedly the controller(joystick) is a little more durable as the stick plastic could crack

Stock model 2 systems also launched with the quick boot put on the firmware so you don't have to hold power for like 3-5sec to start the thing up which was so stupid of them to sell like that. I think they all will have at least v1.5 firmware or later too as mine had 1.5 and it was fresh off the line before they were even boxed up for retail.

[Snatch1414]

Ex helpfully directed me here now that I own a Retron 5. I won't double post but my general first impressions are in the random thoughts thread here:
http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... tart=11340

I do have some questions if anyone can answer:

Is there a consensus best filter to use? None of them seem to fit the bill in my opinion. They help, but only a little. As mentioned in my thoughts above, I tried Super Castlevania IV and the game just didn't look right at all no matter what I tried.

I guess a 1 or 2 GB SD card would suffice here? I found a 4gig one on Amazon for $6. The tiny ones seem to be more expensive probably because no one buys them.

[wclem]

I just threw in whatever SD card I had laying around. Never been an issue so I would not worry.

I read your other post, best point: save states, hands down. I can now play games I otherwise would not sit and play because I can put it in standby and pick up where I left off later. Lets face it, most of us have lives with other responsibilities and this thing help immensely with that.

[ExedExes]

Is there a consensus best filter to use? None of them seem to fit the bill in my opinion. They help, but only a little. As mentioned in my thoughts above, I tried Super Castlevania IV and the game just didn't look right at all no matter what I tried.

I guess a 1 or 2 GB SD card would suffice here? I found a 4gig one on Amazon for $6. The tiny ones seem to be more expensive probably because no one buys them.

I don't use any filters, because I have a smaller TV (19"), a bigger TV might be more noticeable with a filter.

I've used a 1GB card in the past for updates, they are not that large, so that will work just fine. That's a good price on a 4GB if you have something else to use it in like a computer or camera. Remember you can also save screenshots and I believe even states to use in other emulators is going to be supported soon if it isn't right now.

Go to your SETTINGS menu and look for the hardware and software versions, it should be near the bottom.

[Snatch1414]

Ok so any advice on how to do an update? I watched the video but they gloss over a major thing: "connect your SD card to your PC". How the hell do I do that?

[emwearz]

Ok so any advice on how to do an update? I watched the video but they gloss over a major thing: "connect your SD card to your PC". How the hell do I do that?

With an SD Adapter. They cost a few bucks at most PC stores. If you have a laptop, it most likely has one built in.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 3EX34M1440

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 55K2TU4702

[ExedExes]

Has anyone successfully got a Tengen game to work in the NES slot? I tried Gauntlet, and not only did I get a "Can not read ROM" error, it was nearly tougher to get out of the slot than a regular NES game. Fortunately no pins got bent. I think people already said Tengen carts weren't a go.

[emwearz]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... g/htmlview
It is listed as playable. Are you up to date? There have been quite a few times I have to remove a game and reinsert it over and over to get the Retron 5 to read it as it attempts to dump it before all the pins are secure.

[alienjesus]

I encountered another game that crashes and returns to the menu all the time on the retron - Chiki Chiki Boys. I'm on a slightly older version of the software because I had similar issues with Sonic 3 back in April