raygank wrote:The Retron is unlikely to measure up to a truly open android device in terms of ease of use for anything other than its intended purpose. Not that I wouldn't be glad to see some experimentation with its software, I just wouldn't buy it for that purpose when other options will be easier and cheaper.
I have the Hyperkin Supaboy 2 and FC Mobile II, both portables emulate very well with original carts proven history of the company. This is the main advantage of the Hyperkin; the Sega/Nintendo original cart slot capability using any retro gamepad. With that SD Slot firmware update, a hack unofficial or perhaps even official just might be possible later?
Nice that the Gameboy cart series is included in the Retcon 5, wishful thinking Sega Game Gear carts should have been included. Maybe in the next revision and possibly TG16 Hucards, now that would really be a winner!
Haven't found the post, but here's the proof of concept youtube, r5 using retroarch version of a ps1 emulator to run FF7. http://youtu.be/PXx6VRBBl8Y?t=3m30s
That is really cool and a great choice of games. I really like that the impossibly difficult Kato and Ken/JJ and Jeff was chosen, as well as one of my favorite verts - Tatsujin/Truxton.
Tanooki wrote:Haven't found the post, but here's the proof of concept youtube, r5 using retroarch version of a ps1 emulator to run FF7. http://youtu.be/PXx6VRBBl8Y?t=3m30s
Wow, I had not seen that before. Interesting!
I like the convenience and the simplicity of the default Retron experience but I could definitely see the appeal of being able to run a TG16 rom off the SD card using RetroArch. I hope it's something we can do soon without a lot of difficult to execute hacks.
Has anyone seen any info on converting between a standard .sav or .srm SRAM file from an emulator and the SRAM file format the Retron 5 uses? They have the same file extension but are not compatible.
I ask because I'm about half way through Earthbound on an emulator, and just received my Japanese copy of Mother 2, which works great on the Retron patched into English. It would be nice to be able to move my save over from the emulator I've been playing on.
It seems like most SNES emulators at least use the same format for SRAM saves, as I have been able to move that save file between several other devices and emulators, and it looks like Hyperkin is using a branch of SNES9x. Sadly, the Retron doesn't share this common SRAM format.
It looks like the Retron SRAM saves are enormously smaller, indicating that they're probably compressing them. Comparing the two in a hex editor, the standard SRAM file has a header with the name of the developer and also a lot of empty space. The Retron save has a smaller header that just says RTN5 and has absolutely no white space.
Why they couldn't just use standard SRAM files is beyond me. This would have to be a deliberate change, but I can't imagine they'd make it just to save 4 KB of space on the SD card.
raygank wrote:The Retron is unlikely to measure up to a truly open android device in terms of ease of use for anything other than its intended purpose. Not that I wouldn't be glad to see some experimentation with its software, I just wouldn't buy it for that purpose when other options will be easier and cheaper.
I have the Hyperkin Supaboy 2 and FC Mobile II, both portables emulate very well with original carts proven history of the company. This is the main advantage of the Hyperkin; the Sega/Nintendo original cart slot capability using any retro gamepad. With that SD Slot firmware update, a hack unofficial or perhaps even official just might be possible later?
Nice that the Gameboy cart series is included in the Retcon 5, wishful thinking Sega Game Gear carts should have been included. Maybe in the next revision and possibly TG16 Hucards, now that would really be a winner!
I had a post a few pages back about my discussion with Edward at the Hyperkin booth at the Classic Gaming Expo on the Game Gear support. Basically the team had considered it but wasn't seeing a lot of interest in it from fans. I really wish they would reconsider it as I would love a Game Gear player and I think a lot of Retro Gamers would too. Certainly there would be at least as much interest in that as the Famicom slot which delayed their product launch by many months. Only super hard core niche gamers like us were interested in the Famicom slot to begin with, most wouldn't care.
“We would love to support the old systems like Atari, Sega Master System, maybe even Game Gear, but those pin connectors don’t exist,” Lee said. “And to develop one, it’s just not [cost-effective] at the moment. So we have to stick with these consoles, which already have pin connectors in the market.
This is from March. Maybe the story has changed since then.
raygank wrote:Has anyone seen any info on converting between a standard .sav or .srm SRAM file from an emulator and the SRAM file format the Retron 5 uses? They have the same file extension but are not compatible.
I ask because I'm about half way through Earthbound on an emulator, and just received my Japanese copy of Mother 2, which works great on the Retron patched into English. It would be nice to be able to move my save over from the emulator I've been playing on.
It seems like most SNES emulators at least use the same format for SRAM saves, as I have been able to move that save file between several other devices and emulators, and it looks like Hyperkin is using a branch of SNES9x. Sadly, the Retron doesn't share this common SRAM format.
It looks like the Retron SRAM saves are enormously smaller, indicating that they're probably compressing them. Comparing the two in a hex editor, the standard SRAM file has a header with the name of the developer and also a lot of empty space. The Retron save has a smaller header that just says RTN5 and has absolutely no white space.
Why they couldn't just use standard SRAM files is beyond me. This would have to be a deliberate change, but I can't imagine they'd make it just to save 4 KB of space on the SD card.
Really need something like this to happen. I know they won't officially support it, but it kinda sucks not being able to use the save files on emulators. We're taking a trip in October, and I won't be able to bring the Retron5. It would be nice to take my saves and put them on my PSP for the road trip.
“We would love to support the old systems like Atari, Sega Master System, maybe even Game Gear, but those pin connectors don’t exist,” Lee said. “And to develop one, it’s just not [cost-effective] at the moment. So we have to stick with these consoles, which already have pin connectors in the market.
This is from March. Maybe the story has changed since then.
You are right I remember this coming up before. Although I can't see why a pin connector couldn't be developed, I mean Krkzz makes a Game Gear Everdrive board from scratch complete with cart pins. Seems a company with more resources than one guy could do something.
