CES highlighted quite a few interesting products for retro and current-gen gaming fans, and Hyperkin has now issued a press release and assets for the goodies it showcased at the event.
Perhaps the key reveal for keen retro followers of the company is its 3-in-1 adapter for the RetroN 5, a rather solid clone console that can play an impressive variety of carts and game types. This add-on is used with the Mega Drive / Genesis slot to add support for Game Gear, Master System and even the less familiar Master System Card.
Hyperkin is also getting on the Switch accessories bandwagon, with a mix of cases and chargers utilising USB-C. The car charger is sure to be useful for eager gamers on a road trip...
All are set for a 'Q1' release, and we'll keep an eye out for pricing information.
Comments 24
Nice, i like it.
An interesting article, though it doesn't really reveal anything about the Switch. However I am a little saddened that there are huge travel-bag accessories being designed for the Switch before it's even launched. I'd have hoped third party accessory makers wouldn't want to play to a potential buyers worst fears before the console is even out. Doesn't help with selling their ship.
As for the RetroN5... welcome to SNL (Sega Nintendo Life, not Saturday Night Live).
@DanteSolablood I get what you say about third-party accessories but, at the same time, I see the existence of these products as a sign of confidence in the Switch. I can't recall if the Wii U or the 3DS before it were getting this amount of attention before they came out.
@MarcelRguez I'm pretty sure the Wii U probably got it's fair share, though I don't think they got the same publicity. I think it's actually a good sign that Nintendo's "let 'em wait" strategy is working well. Full props to the Big N on that!
I'd just have preferred they'd kept the man-bags secret until later. I keep my 3DS in a man-bag (I'm a nerd, it's only natural) so I'm fine. Though I can imagine the anti-squee from Captain Neg & the Lame Blasters.
Lord praise USB type C. So happy they didn't skimp there
Hmm... I keep looking at those screen protector descriptions hoping to get some hint about touch capability, but nothing. That's probably the biggest feature I want to know about it because it really effects what kind of extra gaming options there will or won't be.
Oh good. Time to start looking for my old Game Gear games.
In about 27 hours... not that I'm counting.
I hope the charger is compatible with 220 V input.
The Hyperkin Travel Bag for Switch
"Compatible with Switch"
You don't say!!
Probably gonna get a screen protector. A scratch on the screen would absolutely kill me. I'll probably invest in a car charger too, although I'm not sure how much I would actually use it.
I really like the idea for the Master System/Game Gear adapter, but I'm not really interested in those systems. I have no idea how it could work, but a similar adapter for TurboGrafx/PC Engine or possibly even N64 games would be a day one purchase for me.
A device that'll finally let us play our Game Gear carts on a TV without modding a Game Gear? Colour me interested...
@Angelic_Lapras_King Ah, but you could ALREADY play TV on your Game Gear. Sega was one ahead of you there!
This looks like a re-brand of the Gear Converter for the Retro Freak console:
http://www.play-asia.com/retro-freak-gear-converter-for-game-gear-sega-mark-iii-sg-1000-/13/709flf
The Gear Converter may even work for the Retron 5 as a lot of the software powering the two devices is the same. (Emulation-wise, anyway.)
At least if the Switch is going to be a more "normal" console, at least playing it in a car won't be a terrible idea like playing a Wii in car.
I already had a similar adapter for the Retro Freak which allows you to play Game Gear games on the system which also works on the Retron 5 so this product is a passed on my part.
The bag is where they lose me. It looks bigger than it needs to be by quite a bit. Looks like they just pulled out any old bag and said, yep this is for the switch
@samuelvictor
No way it works on an original genesis. The retron 5 is an emulator box, not a clone console. This gives the retron 5 a way to read the games and they'll update the system to emulate the games. Obviously there are master system adapters that work with genesis. There are no such adapters for the game gear because the game gear displays more colors than the genesis is capable of displaying. Some people have reworked game gear roms to work with the genesis color palette, but you'd need an everdrive as that is not native support.
My 2 cents on the retron 5 is it's not great hardware. It adds lag. it's unrelaible (mine broke after 10 times using it and had to be sent back to hyperkin which I paid to ship to them under warranty.) The cartridge slot has a death grip that is likely to damage your carts and still somehow requires you to fiddle with the connection to get the retron 5 to read the game. The controller that comes with it is garbage.
I guess that's pretty harsh, I just wasn't a fan. It does look pretty nice on an hdtv when it works. Using original controllers gets around their crappy one. The lag seems acceptable on all systems but the SNES. For some reason it just seems to lag more on that system which was dissapointing to me. The only way to get a similar setup with GBA is to have a GBA player through component output (preferably to XRGB). And this would be the first way to play GG games on a tv(eithout modding a system). Unless you count other emulator boxes which of course won't use the cartridge.
@samuelvictor
Sorry the master system component piece may work with a Genesis. The power base converter will work on a Genesis and a retron 5. When the retron 5 came out, this was also released
http://www.stoneagegamer.com/powerbase-mini.html
This works with Retron 5 and the original Genesis and is cheaper than finding an original powerbase and works with the model 2 which I don't think the original powerbase will fit. I am quite confident the GG piece won't work with a Genesis though.
Yeah, surprisingly the GG supports 4096 colors while the Genesis supports 512 colors.
One clone console I'm super impressed with is the AVS. Retrousb sells it and it's a clone of the NES. It used FPGA to emulate the NES hardware and does so with no lag. I've beaten Tyson on my LCD projector through the AVS which is my lag test since I don't have something more precise.
I just mention that because there is hope for an hdmi mod for the SNES using FPGA. There are now hdmi mods for the N64 and Gamecube using FPGA boards that are well regarded though I don't have those. My current setup is SNES to CRT using s-video and SNES to hdtv using rgb->xrgb. Both are very good but the xrgb is costly. As this FPGA thing is catching on, I think it's only a matter of time before there is a great solution for that.
Nice. As a RetroN 5 owner... Nice.
Still no car seat pole mount?!? This is my #1 accessory need for the Switch.
Nice, I guess that confirms the Nintendo Switch will be using USB Type C power.
Never saw any snes lag on my retron 5.
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