Super Retro Trio Getting A HD Upgrade This Year, NES Top Loader Clone Also Incoming

I think the only really great thing about this is the HDMI support that a lot of retro consoles seem to forget. While it may appear silly wanting super-crisp graphics on 8bit or 16bit games... sometimes you want your big ol' pixels to have sharp edges.

Is this using actual hardware or emulation to play the cartridges? Can't recall the name, but one of the existing retro consoles uses emulation, and the reviews I've seen mention that the emulation isn't perfect, so it defeats the purpose of the console for me. Also wonder if this thing plays SNES carts with special chips. That's a deal breaker.

@TruenoGT Yes! I'd pay anything for an N64 clone with HDMI.

@nab1 The only NES clone that is worth the money is the AVS from retrousb. It's flawless. Not original hardware but a custom, built from the ground up system.

Wow, so many Retro clones this year.
But by law, are they legal ?
Sorry, I don't really know about legal or illegal for those things like that.

Very interesting. It would be nice to finally get my hands on a super system to play my games on the TV instead of emulating them on the computer.

My NES and SNES are still hiding away somewhere, and my SNES cable will sometimes delete my save data if bumped the wrong way. So I mean, hey, it'd be nice.

@nab1

I'm curious too if this is emulation or if it has a cheap digital upscaler. Either way, I wouldn't get my hopes up. Based on their history and price, this isn't likely to deliver a premium picture. Just hdmi convenience.

@Anti-Matter

Hardware is maintained by patent law, not copyright law. So yes, hardware can be copied after a set time.

I own the original Super Retro Trio and it's fantastic. Plays every SNES, NES, Super GameBoy and Sega Genesis game perfectly, with original classic controllers for each system (using hardware not emulation). And most importantly it supports Everdrive flash karts (which gives it a huge advantage over the Retron5). The only downside to the original version is it only supports composite and s video. With the releases of this new SRT with HDMI out, it appears that one flaw is now fixed. Will definitely be picking up this new system for HD Everdrive gaming.

It's great to know that they are jumping on the HD bandwagon now but hopefully they learn from Gamerz Tek rush garbage that was the 8-Bit NES HD which had terrible audio quality on some games and bad glitchy resolution display with no real option to revert it back to 4:3. Hopefully the Super Retro Trio HD offers more than just a stretch 16:9 HD images.

HDMI or not, Retro games still look better on CRT TVs. Shame one day they will be extinct completely. A bit like the mullet hairstyle from the same era.

we are waiting

Sooooo is this now an emulator box? One of the reasons i got the retro trio is because it uses clone hardware rather than emulation.

@Deanster101 I don't think it's an emulation box, the original hardware in the NES, SNES & Genesis/Megadrive could easily be condensed down into this form-factor. Plus HDMI can be modded into the original consoles... so it's not much of a stretch to imagine they've added it to the new Trio.

@nab1 The N64 is a nightmare to emulate properly

@DanteSolablood

There are no snes hdmi mods or genesis hdmi mods. The nes does have an hdmi mod but it has custom parts that cost about $200. If it's a clone, I think the only option is a cheap scaler. You can buy one off amazon for $15. But this solution adds lag and doesn't have a great picture since it'll take the noise of the analog picture to the tv. That's probably the most likely solution though as the retron 5 was $150 and doesn't do a great job emulating Snes.

@cleveland124 Thanks for confirming that, I knew some older consoles do have HDMI attachments etc. I wasn't sure about these three. You also nailed the reason why I doubted the Trio was using emulation... doing a good job for $80 would be a real push.

NES clone with HDMI! Very nice!

But... Composite cables are the way to go!

@DanteSolablood I dont want my pixels with sharp edges lol .. I like them blurred on a CRT

@GravyThief Im still hangin on to my CRT .. I have it in almost all my youtube videos

I would rather buy a Retron 5 because it uses a SD card for save states (in case the internal battery in the cartridge wears out and doesn't save the game).

Considering that the games weren't made in HD to begin with I don't see the point in paying extra for this feature. Even worse, since you obviously won't be playing on a CRT set, you'll have to deal with input delay. I'll take perfectly precise inputs (especially for genres like platformers, shoot 'em ups, and fighting games) over HD shininess for my retro games any day.

@GravyThief Mullets will survive for as long as Billy Ray Cyrus does.

I too agree that CRT sets are best for retro games (defined here as any SD system up to and including the Wii) but for a different reason: it's the only way to completely eliminate input delay.

@BulbasaurusRex that's something I've recently experienced. I don't normally notice input lag in isolation, but I played Paper Mario N64 on the Wii U VC and had to press the action command in fights a little before hitting the enemy. I then got the game for my actual N64 and played it on my CRT. I couldn't get any of the action commands in until I realised I had to press the button much later! I couldn't believe the difference. I had my HD TV on game mode and all effects turned off.

It makes me wonder how different modern games would feel if played on a CRT. And probably explains why I'm rubbish at Shovel Knight yet I'm good at all the classic platform games.

All this wireless and digital processing guff. Give me a CRT and Mullet any day! 😀

@GravyThief You can hook your Wii U up to a CRT (while unplugging it from the HD set) as long as the TV has composite inputs. As long as you make sure you've changed the video options accordingly, this also works to be able to play lag free on the GamePad for any games that support off-TV play. I personally like to switch back and forth between the two options on my Wii U depending on the game, my mood, and whether there are any other local players

@GravyThief @BulbasaurusRex

I've recently gotten an AVS. That NES clone is amazing to me. Through that, I've beaten Tyson on a BenQ gaming monitor (10 ms) lag and on an Epson 2040 projector (25 ms) lag. It feels extremely great even in comparison to a crt which I still have set up and play frequently. So this clone will probably suck, but there are ways to get very close to no lag experiences. But hardware matters, alot.

@BulbasaurusRex

The Wii U has emulation for the older games. As far as I know, there is no way to eliminate lag on emulation because the system is trying to process where the original should be. Even a high PC emulating an NES would create some lag. Some day I'll have to hook up a Wii U to my crt and see if Tyson is beatable I guess. That's my typical lag test because the hit window is so small on Tyson.

The Gamepad uses an LCD tv. All LCD screens have inherent processing that adds lag. The quickest LCDs still add at least 9 ms lag and I doubt Nintendo used the quickest screens. There is also lag inherent from the wireless signal.

Can't beat Tyson on WiiU because it's the Mr. Dream version...

Hmmm I can't see any mention of an hd retro trio....where's the source for this?