We knew that Hyperkin would be officially revealing the RetroN 4 console at this year's Midwest Gaming Classic, but the company surprised everyone by lifting the lid on the RetroN 5 instead.
It pretty much showcases all of the functions that were hinted at with the RetroN 4, and will play NES, SNES, Genesis, GameBoy Advance, Famicom, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Sega Mega Drive and Super Famicom games. OK, so technically some of those are the same hardware but different regions, but that's still an impressive list of consoles.
The RetroN 5 will boast wireless Bluetooth controllers and will upscale the image via a HDMI connection. Improvements to the in-game audio are also promised, but as you can see from the video below, that part of the presentation didn't exactly go according to plan.
Hyperkin expects to launch the system in North America this July, where it will retail for "less than" $100. We'll be reviewing it as soon as we can get our hands on a unit, but are you interested? Drop a comment to tell us.
[source engadget.com]
Comments 33
Whoa! That's a lot of systems in one. I've been thinking about getting a console like this for a while, but I want to know more about compatibility issues. Apperently there are a few games that don't run properly on some of these clone consoles. But still, for less than $100,- you probably cant go wrong anyway.
Wow!!!
Is there any plan for a European release? In Ireland here and have a few shops that sell all the games for each of these systems, would love to give them a shot!
Totes want one.
i think i shall wait for the retron that will be able to play n64 games too, i would love to play all classic rare/rareware games on just 1 console, and also the classic zelda, f-zero and metroid games too... they should try making a CD based console that can play games from sega CD, sega saturn, sega dreamcast and playstation 1, that i would buy day 1.
They need to do this with the Philips CDi, SegaSaturn, and Dreamcast. Something I've wanted for a long time. Yeah, its cool to play all these ancient systems mixed up, but lets play some forgotten systems.
I'd gladly take one if it upscales through HDMI like it says!
Will it use the actual games for the system or will they be downloaded on to the system?
For me the Upscaling is the only interisting part as i own all the aforementioned Consoles..
I'm confused. What happened to the RetroN 4 then? Is this just a fancy version with bluetooth.
I've got to admit, it looks much better than the RetroN 3.
I'm considering importing this from the US, but with the postage probably being through the roof to the UK, I'll definitely wait for a review. Sounds extremely good so far though
Yawn. My Wii can do all of that almost perfectly.
@fluggy
With a limit to your game library however.
Will it still be able to use the original controllers?
@Tsuchiya
not if its been modded and is running emulators
@AbeVigoda
Sorry, I forgot about those little people.
It still uses original controllers, yes (all you have to do to see that is read the video). I'm interested. I have a RetroN3, and it's decent though not without it's problems...if this rectifies those problems and also lets me play Famicom games directly without a convertor, that sounds good to me. HDMI output is kind of nice too.
Looks pretty nice, but the controller looks like an ergonomic nightmare.
@fluggy minus playing actual game cards and the whole HDMI upscalling thing, as well as using original controllers.
Just saying.
While I love my game collection, I do not have space to keep a Genesis, NES, and SNES constantly hooked up. This will solve that and my GBA issue since I cannot get my hands on composite cables for my GCN. And yes, they do need to make a CD format one that plays SEGA CD, TURBO DUO CD, CDi, 3DO, SATURN, and PS1.
I thought the RetroN 4 was pretty cool, but this blows it out of the water. I can't wait to upgrade from my RetroN 3 to the RetroN 5!
Looks cool! I love that it can play the older Game Boy games (a substantial bulk of my retro collection).
If it looks good on non CRT TVs, I'm sold. Now, to re-solder those SRAM batteries....
Awesome,I want one!
The patents on the CD consoles need to expire first before they can make a clone out of them. I don't see that happening anytime soon, even the N64 won't have its patents expiring until 2015.
I usually prefer originals to clones, but this thing looks amazing. Wireless controllers, HDMI output, and no region locking? Heck yeah!
This is just a lawsuit waiting to happen.
I wonder what Nintendo's legal department thinks about this thing.
@Mildudon and Omega
Patent on the Super Nintendo and Super Famicom have expired a long time ago. I don't know if it's exactly legal to make clone consoles, but it's not illegal either. They're making consoles so people can play their old cartridge games; there's no illegal game emulation going on. You are still playing your legit copies of your games with this and other clone systems.
@Mildudon and @Omega: I'm pretty sure they can't get sued. The patents protecting the hardware for all the systems covered by this have expired. Besides, multisystem console clones have existed for years, and I have not seen a lawsuit over any of them yet.
Er, basically what Koto said.
Hells yes I'll buy!!
With the Famicom now added, and no longer PAL compatibility issues... I'm sold !! But I'll wait for reviews to come in on compatibily with specific chips that stump hardware clones almost all the time (Super Mario RPG for the SNES... Akumajou Densetsu and Lagrange Point for the Famicom, since those are games that I own and wish I could play in HDMI)
ill be reviewing it with you
Already own all of them.plus I play gb,gbc,and gab on my GameCube.i have no need for this:(
if this retails at under £100 i might be tempted, but this is great. i have no problems with clone systems that play games from different consoles, as long as they are in working order.
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