Retro system clones - anything perfect available?

M

MtothaJ

Host for Orochi
10 Year Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Posts
756
Just wondering out of all the different retro system clones (Genesis / SNES / NES etc.) that are availalbe out there is there anything which can be said to offer the perfect OEM experience?

What I am specifically looking for at the moment is some Genesis and SNES clones which would be capable of a good RGB output.

Obviously, official hardware has its distinct advantages but also numerous disadvantages mailny associated with age and being worn out.

Bearing in mind that these systems are now 20 years old and technology has gone a long way since they were first concieved surely there is something new available out there that does the job... or is there?
 
theMot

theMot

Reformed collector of junk
10 Year Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Posts
7,621
MtothaJ said:
Just wondering out of all the different retro system clones (Genesis / SNES / NES etc.) that are availalbe out there is there anything which can be said to offer the perfect OEM experience?

What I am specifically looking for at the moment is some Genesis and SNES clones which would be capable of a good RGB output.

Obviously, official hardware has its distinct advantages but also numerous disadvantages mailny associated with age and being worn out.

Bearing in mind that these systems are now 20 years old and technology has gone a long way since they were first concieved surely there is something new available out there that does the job... or is there?
Click to expand...

None of it is perfect because the original hardware is emulated on new chips. For what the original systems cost i cant understand why people even bother with these knock offs.
 
xsq

xsq

Thou Shalt Not, Question Rot.,
Joined
Jan 17, 2013
Posts
7,414
theMot said:
None of it is perfect because the original hardware is emulated on new chips. For what the original systems cost i cant understand why people even bother with these knock offs.
Click to expand...
This. Only reason I can think of is laziness (not having to swap out plugs on your TV) or space. But if you're ready to have your games emulated, why not go with roms as well and play on your PC or get a freakin OUYA.
 
S

SNKorSWM

So Many Posts
No Time
For Games.
10 Year Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Posts
15,152
I'd rather wait for the customer reviews first. Just to make sure it's not a jack of all trades and master of none.
 
ggallegos1

ggallegos1

Cholecystectomy Required.,
10 Year Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2013
Posts
5,157
I am seriously considering the RetroN 5 due to lack of space and the features it is bragging about. I was skeptical at first, but from critic reactions at events it looks legit.
 
M

MtothaJ

Host for Orochi
10 Year Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Posts
756
ggallegos1 said:
I am seriously considering the RetroN 5 due to lack of space and the features it is bragging about. I was skeptical at first, but from critic reactions at events it looks legit.
Click to expand...

I think that this is potentially a very interesting product for flatscreen LCD/LED owners, especially if they will allow (as it seems they will) a high degree of tweeking from the user side with regard to e.g. scanlines, button configuration etc.
The thing is that in terms of video output it offers composite and HDMI - not really ideal if I want to hook up to a Sony PVM / BVM. Even the older Retron 3 offered S-video out which the newer one seems to be missing.
 
Kid Panda

Kid Panda

The Chinese Kid
Joined
Jun 13, 2010
Posts
12,514
MtothaJ said:
I think that this is potentially a very interesting product for flatscreen LCD/LED owners, especially if they will allow (as it seems they will) a high degree of tweeking from the user side with regard to e.g. scanlines, button configuration etc.
The thing is that in terms of video output it offers composite and HDMI - not really ideal if I want to hook up to a Sony PVM / BVM. Even the older Retron 3 offered S-video out which the newer one seems to be missing.
Click to expand...

Most newer HDTVs don't have S-Video ports, which I find odd.
 
M

MtothaJ

Host for Orochi
10 Year Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Posts
756
kidpanda said:
Most newer HDTVs don't have S-Video ports, which I find odd.
Click to expand...

In Europe S-Video is pretty much uncommon and rather hard to find on any TV (however you can get cheap S-Video--> Scart adapters), however virtually all TV's (including the newest LCD / LED variants) still have at least 1 Scart RGB port.
Since this is a retro system they should really think of providing suitable ocnnectivity options to oldschool CRT TV / monitors. Granted Scart / RGB is quite a lot to ask for since most of this equipement will be sold in the US and this is a standard which hasn't become popular over there, but they can at least keep the S-Video - sure beats composite output.
 
M

MtothaJ

Host for Orochi
10 Year Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Posts
756
xsq said:
This. Only reason I can think of is laziness (not having to swap out plugs on your TV) or space. But if you're ready to have your games emulated, why not go with roms as well and play on your PC or get a freakin OUYA.
Click to expand...

Thats an oversimplification. Retro equipement is often used, abused and prone to malfunction so with the patents on a lot of the 16 bit systems now expired it would seem that it is not that much to simply ask for a 1:1 clone with all the features of the original but built with parts which are new. Moreover, there is still some potential for improvements e.g. a NES / Famicom with RGB output, or adding region / language, overclock settings.
 
xsq

xsq

Thou Shalt Not, Question Rot.,
Joined
Jan 17, 2013
Posts
7,414
MtothaJ said:
Thats an oversimplification.
Click to expand...
please if you can name a "retro system" of recent years that uses cloned hardware instead of emulation... I doubt there is one (also because of development costs and most potential buyers not giving a damn). Don't get me wrong, I think it would be great to have an out of the box Famicom with RGB output or a "multi system" that uses nothing but cloned chips and circuits. I'd pick one up for sure, but the odds are just very much against it even existing IMHO.

(I am aware of the fact that there will be definition problem of the term "clone" if we're talking RGB output.)
 
chinitosoccer

chinitosoccer

Camel Slug
Joined
Jan 10, 2010
Posts
518
I have these, all Megadrive clones:

100_6286.jpg
100_6287.jpg
100_6285.jpg

and this one is a Megadrive/Famicom all in one:
100_3057.jpg

I also have lots of pirate carts for the Master system, Famicom, SNES etc.
 
ggallegos1

ggallegos1

Cholecystectomy Required.,
10 Year Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2013
Posts
5,157
MtothaJ said:
I think that this is potentially a very interesting product for flatscreen LCD/LED owners, especially if they will allow (as it seems they will) a high degree of tweeking from the user side with regard to e.g. scanlines, button configuration etc.
The thing is that in terms of video output it offers composite and HDMI - not really ideal if I want to hook up to a Sony PVM / BVM. Even the older Retron 3 offered S-video out which the newer one seems to be missing.
Click to expand...

Apparently the RetroN 5 is going to be HDMI only. not much variety in terms of what you can use for a TV
 
shadowkn55

shadowkn55

Genbu's Turtle Keeper
15 Year Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2006
Posts
2,386
xsq said:
please if you can name a "retro system" of recent years that uses cloned hardware instead of emulation... I doubt there is one (also because of development costs and most potential buyers not giving a damn). Don't get me wrong, I think it would be great to have an out of the box Famicom with RGB output or a "multi system" that uses nothing but cloned chips and circuits. I'd pick one up for sure, but the odds are just very much against it even existing IMHO.

(I am aware of the fact that there will be definition problem of the term "clone" if we're talking RGB output.)
Click to expand...

The snes portion of the retron 3 and retro duo use functional clones (if not outright copies) of the cpu, ppu, and apu. There aren't as many complaints with this trio of chips as there are with noac imperfections. I think most of the problems are the incompatibilities with SA-1 games due to a lack of a CIC.
 
xsq

xsq

Thou Shalt Not, Question Rot.,
Joined
Jan 17, 2013
Posts
7,414
shadowkn55 said:
The snes portion of the retron 3 and retro duo use functional clones (if not outright copies) of the cpu, ppu, and apu. There aren't as many complaints with this trio of chips as there are with noac imperfections. I think most of the problems are the incompatibilities with SA-1 games due to a lack of a CIC.
Click to expand...
ok, I have some further reading/research to do. Thanks for the insight.
 
B

Boredom

Morden's Lackey
Joined
Feb 23, 2013
Posts
374
I'm not interested in the Retron 5, because it runs everything purely through emulation. At that point, you might as well just use a PC with roms. HDMI only means I can't use it on my CRTs, and I already have a GC + Game Boy Player for putting GBA games on the TV.
 
Last edited:
K

ki_atsushi

So Many Posts
No Time
For Games.
20 Year Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2005
Posts
23,647
Boredom said:
I'm not interested in the Retron 5, because it runs everything purely through emulation. At that point, you might as well just use a PC with roms. HDMI only means I can't use it on my CRTs, and I already have a GC + Game Boy Player for putting GBA games on the TV.
Click to expand...

On the other hand, I've had scaling issues with almost all of my emulators on PC. The games look like shit no matter what resolution settings I use for some reason. I think having a dedicated console that can play all of these games on an HDTV through a single HDMI port is fantastic.
 
Last edited:
M

MtothaJ

Host for Orochi
10 Year Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Posts
756
shadowkn55 said:
The snes portion of the retron 3 and retro duo use functional clones (if not outright copies) of the cpu, ppu, and apu. There aren't as many complaints with this trio of chips as there are with noac imperfections. I think most of the problems are the incompatibilities with SA-1 games due to a lack of a CIC.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I also read up that the SNES section is virtually perfect. For the Genesis there are reports of relatively poor / unbalanced audio - this is not surprising since its based on the GOAC, which is also what the OEM Genesis model 2 and 3 used, and these also had inferior audio (needed mods to have them sound as good as the model 1).
 
Last edited:
M

MtothaJ

Host for Orochi
10 Year Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Posts
756
Boredom said:
I'm not interested in the Retron 5, because it runs everything purely through emulation. At that point, you might as well just use a PC with roms. HDMI only means I can't use it on my CRTs, and I already have a GC + Game Boy Player for putting GBA games on the TV.
Click to expand...

Incorrect, it uses cloned hardware although in many cases its of the '<console> on a chip' variety.
 
F

FerociousSwan

n00b
Joined
Nov 29, 2013
Posts
8
I'd ideally like a Famicom/Nes clone which outputs good RGB that I can use on my XRGB Mini, rather than pay a small fortune to get one modded.
 
R

RetroGiga68k

New Challenger
Joined
Mar 6, 2013
Posts
60
shadowkn55 said:
The snes portion of the retron 3 and retro duo use functional clones (if not outright copies) of the cpu, ppu, and apu. There aren't as many complaints with this trio of chips as there are with noac imperfections.
Click to expand...

I own a RDP Retro Duo Portable (recent snes clone), and a real (original) NTSC SNES. And I have played the same snes & super famicom carts on both consoles. In about 90%+ of games I found no discernable video, audio or gameplay difference. However in certain game carts like Contra Spirits (NTSC-J) and Super Turrican 2 (NTSC-U), the clone system produces graphical corruptions during some Mode 7 effects, always in the same parts of the game. And the RDP is supposedly one of the more accurate clones out there (certainly better than all the horrificaly broken Genesis clones being sold everywhere). So always stick to original hardware.

ggallegos1 said:
I am seriously considering the RetroN 5 due to lack of space and the features it is bragging about. I was skeptical at first, but from critic reactions at events it looks legit.
Click to expand...

Don't trust online review outlets or critics, when it comes to stuff like this (fidelity of clone retrogaming hardware). They never know their shit, always ignoring things like broken audio, etc.
 
Last edited:
yoyo

yoyo

n00b
Joined
Jan 12, 2014
Posts
27
If you want "perfect", use the real thing. You're not gonna get even close with any of these clones. Every clone has some sort of issue with it, mostly certain games not being compatible; I don't remember what it was but there was a clone I found, I think it was a duo for NES and SNES and it was saying that it couldn't play Castlevania III, which not only is it my personal favorite Castlevania besides Rondo of Blood, but one of my favorite games period. That's a big no-no. Get an NES, a SNES and a Genesis, you'll be on your way.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top