retroUSB's HDMI NES, the AVS, Goes Up for Pre-Order

Looks cool and all but it's a bit expensive. Would be cheaper to just stick to playing roms. And yes, the main advantage I see is for people with large NES game collections but knackered out NES consoles.

Edit: I suppose the price isn't too bad depending on how much use you can get out of it. And what about PAL games? Sure it has the PAL 50 hz display but can it play PAL NES games? Wasn't the only difference between playing NES games on a NTSC NES vs a PAL NES a slight difference in the shape of the games cartridges and preventing it fitting in the other regions slot? Did they accommodate fitting both formats here?

Considering something like the RetroN 5 isn't that much more expensive for what you get, this thing is way overpriced. (Still a nice unit, though).

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
Agreed. Though it's a nice unit indeed it is expensive for what it does.

I need to get round to trying out NES coding one day. See what I could make. And I agree, the price is a little too high to justify. Also I have 4 NES consoles already now...

Neat. I'm probably bring mean or something but I don't have 185 bucks for a new NES though. I do hope that official NES Mini goes up for preorder soon though.

I got the AVS plus four of the seven "launch" games.
http://www.retrousb.com/index.php?cPath=36

Super stoked, been following this development since 2013. Can't wait for the shipment to arrive!

Also for those complaining about the price, this is not an emulator/dumper like the Retron5. It will play all the flash carts and new homebrews with custom flash mappers, that the other guys simply barf on.

Looks neat thinking about picking one up!

What are the chances that Nintendo will start delivering cease and desist notices to the clone manufactures once the Classic is released?

It's a bit odd that they haven't already given their desire to always defend their IP. Once the Classic is released they will be able to defend themselves by proving that these clones have a direct financial impact to them.

Is it official from Nintendo or made by 3rd party ?
Because i'm scared ended up by purchasing illegal things despite the great deal features.

@supercreeps good point. third party consoles got by with the reasoning that the hardware is obsolete no longer being made - among a few other defenses as well. with the mini coming out, they are all suddenly in the crosshairs, even if the mini has no cartridge slot.

@Jamotello That is exactly the point. It has no cartridge slot.

So the reasoning will still be, lot of players still have original cartridges, but no longer a fuctional original Nintendo console.
Since these are no longer being made, the clone manufacturers are still able to target this audience.

The upcoming NES Mini is targetting a different audience.

I'm waiting for the N64 equivalent of this. Give me an N64 with HDMI! Take all my monies!

@sketchturner googled that before when i saw the gamecube hdmi thing. there already is hdmi out for n64. it's a modification, however, and one that requires a third degree black belt in steady hand soldering; or you can have the guy do it for you. goes all the way up to 1080p and adds features and whatnot.

@Jamotello Yeah I'm aware of the modding options but I don't want to mess with that. If I'm going to spend that much money I'd rather have a new system that's not going to crap out a few years after paying through the nose to mod it.

@Whopper744 It has in the UK. I think Amazon are doing pre-orders worldwide as well

I preordered an AVS myself, I've never been interested in emulators like the Retron. The AVS targets people like me who want 100% accuracy and the ability to use my living room TV. The online leaderboard functionality is an added bonus.

I actually just bought Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril from this site and I was so sad to see it didn't work on the Retron 5, so I had to buy a Retro-Duo console just to play it. It's the Mario (Mascot) edition though so at least it'll be an interesting conversation piece, along with my R-Zone. I'd love to buy this thing but like a lot of people are saying, $185 is quite a lot for a new-aged NES but to be fair there's a lot of quality going into this thing and I'm sure it's worth every penny for NES enthusiasts!

I get collectors not wanting to pay this much. But the price is actually really good/less than I thought it would be. I bought a toploader for $60 and paid $225 to get it modded to output rgb to go into my xrgb which was also $310. You get my setup for $185 here and potentially a little less lag.

@World But the Retron 5 is poorly constructed and is prone to breaking. The cartridge slots are too tight and are popping out.

With the Retron 5 available for around the same price with WAY more supported systems, this is kind of...dumb tbh. I love my Retron 5, but I see zero incentive to buy this.

Widescreen? As in a stretched-out TV image? Also, 720p? What is this, 2005? The Mini NES Classic Edition or whatever it's called from Nintendo sounds much more appealing to me.

... And can they just simply rip off the original NES design like that? I'm pretty sure Nintendo will take action against this thing, one way or the other.

@CB85

There is a 4:3 option. And with all the clones out there I very much doubt that this is the one that draws Nintendo's legal attention.

Well it's cheaper than the Analog Nt so maybe someday I may check it out. I'll just had to read on some reviews first just so it doesn't end up like the Analog Nt and the Retron 5 (2 systems that had a lot of hype but in the end falls flat due to major compatibility problems).

@ElkinFencer10

No offense but this is a premium product. This doesn't have lag, the retron 5 does. My retron 5 broke after 3 months of light use. This uses a better cartridge connectir than the cheap ones on the retron 5. This is not emulation. Which means 100% compatibility and accuracy which the retron 5 does not have.

If you are happy with the retron 5 great. But you might as well ask why people buy BMWs when a honda civic will get you there.

@CB85 Yes they can make a design similar to the NES just as long as it's not a carbon copy of the system. This is not the first Famiclone that try to stylize its design based on the NES, a very old Famiclone from 2005 also did it as well, that and it was a two-in-one console like the AVS too in that it is compatible with both Famicom and NES cartridges.

Generation NEX, the first Famiclone that allows compatibility with both Famicom and NES games way before systems like the Retron 5, RetroFreak, Analog Nt, and the AVS. It is compatible with 92% of NES and Famicom games with titles like Castlevania III, Battletoads, Paperboy, Dragon Warrior IV, and Rad Racer 2 being among the few that were not compatible with the system.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE you're right. To be honest, Ouya is perfect option. You don't have to hook up all the consoles AND can play suprerior versions of games without that PAL slower crap.

Too pricey but looks good tho.

I'll be getting this. Four player and HDMI out of the box plus a permanent home for my Everdrive makes this a win. Even if it is about $35 more then I hoped to spend on it.

@Anti-Matter
Yea it's made officially by Nintendo. Yep they selling this.

Nintendo is the best. They also sell cute games

I've already pre-ordered. This thing is what most retro gamers were hoping for out of an "NES Mini". The price is actually the most attractive aspect. The Analogue NT (another HDMI NES) costs around $400 for the base model, and modding an original NES sets you back about $300 after parts and labor.

You can't even compare this thing to the likes of the Retron 5, either. They are two wholly different kinds of devices.

Unlike the slew of cheap Famiclones to hit the market since 2000, the AVS does not emulate software. Meaning, unlike the Retron, it's not just a low-end computer with SNES 9x and other emulators installed. It actually runs the games off of cartridges, rather than just having a program that recognizes the rom and plays from the stored file.

The AVS is a painstaking replication of the NES hardware using new parts. This means it plays every game on the system flawlessly, with none of the glitches and innacuracies common to emulation, supports all of the original peripherals, and is linked online to a community of very dedicated Nintendo fans via Scoreboard.

I'm not thinking of the AVS as a replacement for my toaster (NES), but as the best way to play my carts on my projector with sharp pixels. Anyone who's seen an NES composite image blown up above 100 inches can attest to the horror lol.

Now is a great time to get into retro gaming and or collecting and I see the AVS as a launchpad for people getting into the scene, as opposed to something that only caters to those with massive NES libraries already.

@supercreeps All related patents for NES have expired. Exact hardware replica NES units could be produced if desired. The only thing still enforceable are copyrights and trademarks related to NES.

Overpriced and over-ugly.

Very cool and the price is very good considering I just paid nearly double that for an AV Famicom with Kevtris' Hi-Def NES mod. I can understand why people would think devices like this are overpriced but really it's the price to be paid for proper hardware accuracy.

Emulators and cheap hardware clones are frequently inaccurate in the way they run the original games. While there's nothing wrong with emulators (I'm currently playing Symphony of the Night on my iPad) I do prefer original hardware whenever possible.

@ElkinFencer10 The Retron 5 sucks as far as compatibility goes. There are several games it won't even load, because it uses a cheap software emulator. The AVS on the other hand will play every NES game. On top of that, there is no input lag, so you can play twitch based games like Mike Tyson's Punch out, without getting destroyed. And this is a quality product, the pins aren't going to fall out after 2 months. It also has online leader boards. This is in a different league then the Retron 5. This isn't an arm based cheap emulation box, this is a modern HD way of playing NES. The two can't be compared.

@Gentlegamer Thanks for the clarification. Interesting, still surprised that Nintendo haven't found a way to stop them or at least tried - perhaps they have and we just don't know. (or I don't know)

I just ordered one! Can not wait to try out my old carts on my big tv. My original nes still sort or works but looks terrible on my HD tv.

Do any Wii to NES controller adapters exist? With the new OEM NES controllers for the Mini coming out, it would be great to use them on the AVS.

@supercreeps stop them from doing what exactly? As long as they don't call it an NES or use any NES logos can do whatever they want. As mentioned the NES patents have run out and it's now open to doing exactly this sort of thing. I'm thankful a quality company who cares about the NES and its users was the one to market and sell this instead of someone just out to make money.

Looks cool with the NES matching design, but I already have an Analogue NT, which I love, so no need to double down on this one

@retro_player_22

I own an Analogue NT since it launched and I've used NES, Famicom and the Famicom Disk System games with it, and every single cartridge and Disk I've used has worked, and looks great! As compared to my top loader, it is a noticeable difference in graphic quality with the NT significantly crisper and sharper than the NES-2.

I've also used nothing but old school controllers and they all work just fine, no different than the top loader and original NES, both which I also own. I've re-beaten quite a few games from my youth and again, I didn't notice any compatibility issues.

Out of curiosity, what are people saying is the problem?

When stacked against other options it's actually a pretty decent price, to send my nes off to get the hdmi mod would cost me quite a bit more

$185?! No thanks. I think I'll use that $185 towards an Xbox 1S for $299. I'll get a new games console with a built in UHD player to compliment my 4k TV.

I would have liked it to use original hardware and just change the case. Its beautiful, but I don't want emulation.

@goonow It does not use emulation.

@OGGamer What other systems do you own? With a Wii U and PS4, plus most likely an NX, the XBO is a ways off for me (once it's under that $200 "sweet spot", I'll pick it up). The AVS is really competitively priced for what it is.

@CB85 There is a big reason for 720p output, aside from cost. 480 and 720 are perfect multiples of 240p - the original output resolution of the NES.

Upscaling to those resolutions makes the process fast (lag free) and pixel-perfect. Moving to 480 and 720 from 240 is less a process of "upscaling" as it is a process of "line-doubling" or tripling. Upscaling to 1080p requires more processing (causing lag) and introduces all sorts of undesirable visual artifacts.

With a 720 native output, the AVS is able to shave a solid $60 off of it's build price, and still output a picture that most purists would call optimal. If you mind the letter-boxing, you can always let your TV get the picture the rest of the way to 1080p.

Most modern HDTVs are fairly adept at upscaling a 720p HDMI signal to 1080p without introducing too much lag or ugliness. The same cannot be said of how they handle upscaling from 240p over composite (shudder).

Looks nice and is not all that expensive for what is a niche product. I wonder if they could legally build a SNES / Super Famicom variant that plays from all 3 regions; if the hardware parents have expired.

Also it kind of looks like a space age 80s toy.

@NESlover85 While I haven't had a problem with Hyperkin's products (especially since it's so easy to get a replacement), I see your point. I guess this will fill a niche for people who want a quality modern system instead of original hardware (it looks very nicely made, at least).

everyone on here always thinks everything is expensive lol

That is how you do a retro system! Too back they could not have partnered with Nintendo to make it official. I will be keeping an eye on this one. Wow!