Polymega/Retroblox: New 1080p "Clone" 2600 to PCE-CD to PS1

[marurun]

Saturn emulation is what I’m most interested in hearing about. Some media skeptics have been won over, but nothing is certain until reports start coming out on hardware in circulation.

[BoneSnapDeez]

holy shit it's actually real

[marurun]

holy shit it's actually real

On the one hand… right? Whoda thunk?

On the other hand, they have been very good about demoing units consistently despite poor communication with the consumers. There was nothing about this that was impossible or even infeasible, and they did have a range of licensing arrangements in place. So most doubts were about the company and not the technology. Once they’ve filled all orders I will look for prices to drop a bit as components age and drop a bit in price.

[bmoc]

Saturn emulation is what I’m most interested in hearing about. Some media skeptics have been won over, but nothing is certain until reports start coming out on hardware in circulation.

Any specific games you want tested?

[prfsnl_gmr]

I’m just curious generally. If this thing does Saturn emulation really well, I will consider picking one up.

[bmoc]

I've got about 200 disc based games installed now. I have another stack of PS1 games to install before I start putting it through its paces and I expect to have that completed tomorrow. Installing a lot of CD games is tedious but I wanted to get it all done before I move for my new job. It will likely be my main source of entertainment for the next few months while construction is completed on our new house.

I've also reached out to Playmaji support to ask about sideloading BIOS files. I know it is possible but their FAQ doesn't provide enough details on how to do it. I should have an update on the emulation quality before the end of the week. The few games that I have tested so far have all worked well.

[bmoc]

I posted the rest of my review. viewtopic.php?f=38&t=51066&p=1171257#p1171256


I also had to edit the part about the SSD overheating with the following:

Ok, enough about controllers. Let’s talk about storage. The base unit comes with 32GB of built-in storage but only 9GB is usable after the latest firmware update. 9GB is fine if you are only dumping carts but if you have a substantial amount of disc based games, you are going to need more storage. I’m currently using a 512GB Western Digital NVMe SSD with my base unit. After several hours of installing games, the SSD did overheat on me twice. The SSD disappeared from the Polymega’s interface and I had to power down the unit to let it cool.

To combat this, I have removed the SSD slot cover and propped up the base unit about ¼ inch to let heat dissipate better. I’m going to look into getting a heatsink for the SSD because the passive SSD cooling vents in the Polymega are not adequate. So far my workaround seems to be fine as I have installed games for many more hours without overheating. 9/13/21 EDIT: While this prevents the storage from disappearing from the interface, I think I was also encountering some thermal throttling on the SSD. Lots of FMV sequences would have stuttering audio which was not present when the SSD was cool. Since I am done installing discs, I'm running the base unit upside down - PSX model SCPH1001 style. Since doing this, I haven't had any FMV issues and the SSD stays a lot cooler. If adding a heatsink doesn't fix this, I have two options to use the unit right side up: wait for the firmware update that allows you to move games between storage device + get a larger microSD card or get a laptop cooling pad. I'm leaning toward the cooling pad.

[nightrnr]

Fascinating to read about your experience with the system.

I wonder if my SATA M.2 SSD would run cooler, if it works at all? If so, I might have accidentally got a better option.
But as you said, a large micro SD might be the best way to go .

Right now, my only LCD TV only does 720p, so I might not get to try it out right away (when the finally send it).
If 720p is still in the works, I hope it comes out soon (not sure how I would update it without a 1080p monitor, maybe borrow one).

I plan to try out fighting games with the Genesis controllers, but may have to get the Saturn Retro-bit gamepads too.
I want to know if you can set the controller buttons any way you want (and play with fewer buttons if needs be: leave a button unassigned, have button combos to compensate, reassign, etc).
Controller options are a big thing with me.

[bmoc]

The SSD does have to be NVMe. I don't think SATA will work even if it is the same size (M2 2280).

I can't say for certain what will happen on your 720p tv. Perhaps it will detect that is the maximum resolution and adjust appropriately. There is a setting in System Settings for resolution but the only option for me is 1080p.

There is no button mapping at this time. I don't know if that will be added in the future or not. A lot of games will let you remap buttons, but I agree that it would be nice to have that option at the emulator level.

[nightrnr]

Their reply to me about SATA SSD's is:
"Technically yes, but it depends on the drive since many / most SATA drives were released as B-Key, whereas Polymega is compatible with M-Key M.2 2280 drives."

https://mobile.twitter.com/polymegaHQ/s ... 2377551873

My SSD does fit both B and M keys.
I have to try it at the very least. It will be awesome if it works, but I won't be too upset if it doesn't.

Man, no button mapping takes a lot of freedom out of emulating. I hope they add that in at some point.
But true, a lot of games allow the option too.