WELL THIS IS INTERESTING.. Retron 5

[BoneSnapDeez]

The reason I ask is that I'm not looking at some SMS games. Specifically Ninja Gaiden (I didn't even realize this was on SMS until yesterday = mind blown) and Double Dragon (co-op!!!).

You know Ninja Gaiden on SMS is a completely different game from the NES version, right? I don't own it myself, I always figured it was somewhat rare.

Anyway, still no Retron 5 for me. Might have to get those old consoles hooked back up.

[noiseredux]

I thought the 32x didn't physically fit in the R5 Genesis slot?

[samsonlonghair]

I thought the 32x didn't physically fit in the R5 Genesis slot?

I thought it was the 32X cartridges that don't physically fit. One or the other.

Can someone who actually owns a Retron5 answer this? I hate speculating.

Here's hyperkin's statement:

The RetroN 5 does not support the 32x. The 32x requires hardware cabling and adapters that connected with the Genesis that we weren't able to integrate. Sorry 32x fans.

It seems that (in a perfect world) they should be able to simply bypass the 32X "mushroom" altogether and plug a 32X cartridge into the Genesis slot, then emulate the 32X hardware.

[CFFJR]

I thought the 32x didn't physically fit in the R5 Genesis slot?

The 32X itself fits. The part of the system that plugs in is the same size as a Genesis cart. The games don't work! But it fits.

32X carts however, are too big to fit into the R5 directly.

I don't own one, but Game Sack covered the issue.

---

I stumbled across two R5s at 2nd & Charles the other day, for $140 each. One had a crushed corner on the box, but it was probably fine.

Kinda wish I had pulled the trigger and grabbed one. I imagine if I go back for them at this point they'll be gone. I still check next time I get a chance, but yeah...

[samsonlonghair]

I thought the 32x didn't physically fit in the R5 Genesis slot?

The 32X itself fits. The part of the system that plugs in is the same size as a Genesis cart. The games don't work! But it fits.

32X carts however, are too big to fit into the R5 directly.

I don't own one, but Game Sack covered the issue.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, CFFJR.

Hey Noise, Here is the direct link to the applicable moment in the video CFFJR mentioned:
http://youtu.be/Y13r4LCbARw?t=8m33s

[noiseredux]

Cool, thanks for clarifying. So perhaps you are right and support could be added.

[samsonlonghair]

Maybe they're saving that for the Retron 6.

[graffix_13]

The reason I ask is that I'm not looking at some SMS games. Specifically Ninja Gaiden (I didn't even realize this was on SMS until yesterday = mind blown) and Double Dragon (co-op!!!).

You know Ninja Gaiden on SMS is a completely different game from the NES version, right? I don't own it myself, I always figured it was somewhat rare.

Anyway, still no Retron 5 for me. Might have to get those old consoles hooked back up.

Yeah. They are similar but the storyline is completely different. The gameplay doesn't look that different (watched gameplay videos on youtube). Not sure how it controls though.

And I can't comment on it's rarity, but if ebay prices are anything to go by....then yeah, it's pretty rare (as opposed to Double Dragon which can be had for $10 CIB).

[ExedExes]

Thanks to Tanooki now on the Digital Press forums, he brought us an early build of the new Retron 5 firmware to try from Hyperkin. This is firmware version 1.41, but it covers the features I listed yesterday, and it also now adds the ability to save GBA games with EEPROM memory back to the cartridge. I downloaded it and tried it with Ultimate Brain Games and a decent save progress file I had on Super Ghouls & Ghosts (both EEPROM games), and both games wrote the new progress I made on each game back to the cartridge successfully, having tested them on my GBA SP after saving. I had no idea about half the games in the GBA library used EEPROM save memory, but it's used primarily for smaller saves and high score saving.

You can download it here, but keep in mind this is not an official version of the firmware. It's a test/development build, and not all the fixes may be working.

They are also working on a way to reduce the startup times to about half a second after pressing the power button, compared to the 4-5 seconds we have to wait right now. I wish them luck on that, so far it seems to be a success!

[Tanooki]

I've been working with the tech since the beginning of last month as I got one of these early on and ended up befriending the guy. If you know my name from over at Digital Press or at one point the declining NA I've got an active thread going over at DP where I'm posting updates on the system that aren't the public stuff as I have the ok to do so.

I thought you all might be interested in a couple of things. For starter's there's a build I can share publicly on the site that adds some big stuff like EEPROM saving back to the GBA carts which is huge as many of the best games it had used that. Also adds other stuff like remap of start/select, MODE button for 6 button Gen controllers, fixed some random mappers, fixed the Action 52, fixed Mega Man(Rockman) X, and other things. You can get that here: http://retron5.in/?src=e369853df766fa44e1ed0ff613f563bd

Another is that they've worked up a way to get the system to start up pressing the power button for .5seconds instead of 5 seconds. I can share this one if someone wants it, but it would have to be via message since it's maybe not ready for prime time.