This review was originally published on August 11th 2020 and has been updated to factor in our impressions of the EM03 Element Module.
Originally announced back in 2017 as the RetroBlox, Polymega has endured a fairly tumultuous journey to market. While the system's objective has always been the same – to offer players the chance to access software for a wide range of cartridge and CD-based retro consoles in one place – we've seen a lot of changes over the past few years. FPGA support was dropped early on, something which caused a lot of consternation amongst potential buyers accustomed to the impeccable performance of Analogue's excellent Super Nt and Mega Sg, then the system missed its proposed 'early 2019' release window. Pre-orders opened, but the launch was pushed back again, and now, in August 2020, the machine still isn't in the hands of those who laid down their money all those months ago; it has a revised release window of November – although it's bringing along cloud gaming as a bonus.
Having said all of this, creating and launching a piece of gaming hardware isn't an easy process for a big company, let alone a relatively new one like California-based Playmaji, the team behind the Polymega. And despite the setbacks and delays, this team has persevered; the system may not be totally finished yet, but it's on the home straight, with two waves of beta systems now in the hands of testers all over the globe. We were lucky enough to be included in the second beta test group, and the impressions you're about to read are based on that pre-release variant of the Polymega.
It's worth reiterating that point; the system we have in our hands now isn't the final production model, nor is the firmware anything close to final. The purpose of the beta test is to iron out any issues or problems before the machine goes to retail, and there are still plenty of things that need addressing. On a physical level, there's a gap above the MicroSD card slot which is just big enough for you to accidentally insert the card into the body of the console itself – a problem which the team has already confirmed will be remedied for the final model. Likewise, the fan at the back of the unit is just close enough to the MicroSD slot that it's not inconceivable that someone could accidentally pop a card in there, too – again, this is something that will be solved before release.
On the software side of things, fixes are somewhat easier to execute. Because the Polymega is connected to the internet via Wifi, the system can be updated in the same way a Switch or PS5 can – in fact, we've already had several in the time we've had the console. These updates not only introduce new features and improve compatibility with games – they also fix any bugs or issues present in the firmware. This beta testing phase is vital, as Polymega is expected to play literally thousands of games across multiple formats – and, as has been evidenced during our time with the system, there are often multiple variants of a single game based on production runs, and these all need to be catalogued in the Polymega's database before they can be installed to the console.
Speaking of which, it's perhaps worth talking about how this machine actually works, and how it will run your beloved retro collection. The base Polymega system ($399) comes with a CD drive and will play Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, Sega Mega CD, Neo Geo CD and PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 CD games from all regions. Cartridge-based platforms (NES, SNES, Mega Drive, 32X and PC Engine / TG-16) will be playable using optional 'Element Modules', each of which has to be purchased separately at a cost of $79.99 and come with their own custom controllers based on the pads used with the original machines. The Element Modules also house low-latency controller ports for their respective systems, so you can use original controllers if you have them to hand. Output is via HDMI as you might expect, which pushes a nice, crisp 1080p signal to your HD television.
The Polymega comes with a 9GB pre-installed database which has cover art, text descriptions and screenshots for thousands of supported games across all of these systems. The team behind the system has also spent a considerable amount of time reverse-engineering the BIOS files for each CD-based format the Polymega supports, which removes one of the most tedious (and potentially copyright-infringing) setup procedures normally associated with playing CD consoles via emulation (this has led to some incompatibilities with certain games, so you can side-load original BIOS files if you wish).
When you load a game up, it is matched with its database entry and can be either played from the original media or installed to the system's internal storage; if you choose to do the latter, you no longer need the original cartridge or disc to play that game in the future. M.2 SSD support is also included and comes highly recommended. We've fitted a 1TB SSD to our beta console and even with over 171 games installed, we still have more than 923GB of space remaining.
The interchangeable Element Modules are one of the main ways you're going to access your collection on the Polymega. These bolt onto the top of the machine and allow you to use original cartridges. We've only tested the Mega Drive / Genesis / 32X module so far (Module EM03), but if this is any indication of how the others will work, it's going to be a breeze. You can either choose to play the game direct from the cartridge or install it to the Polymega's internal memory – a process which is practically instantaneous.
We installed over 100 Mega Drive and 32X games in the space of 30 minutes, and most of that time was taken up by physically removing the games from their boxes. The EM03 also worked perfectly with our original Sega Arcade Power stick controller (the same one we got with our Japanese Mega Drive way back in 1990) and Retro-Bit's recent officially-licenced Sega 6-button pad.
The time it takes to install a game from CD varies; some of the discs we loaded up installed in seconds (Guardian Force on the Sega Saturn was done in under half a minute), while others took longer. The process is variable due to a wide range of factors; data size is the most obvious, but if the disc has scratches or marks, it means the Polymega has to take a little longer to properly read the data. In a neat touch, games actually begin the install process the moment you load them into the drive; if you choose not to install and simply play from the disc, that data is deleted the moment you push the eject button.
Once any game is installed, it is displayed in its relevant system menu in the console's pleasantly slick UI; you can also create your own custom playlists for particular titles or genres, to make them easier to find. Furthermore, the console leverages its massive database by giving you recommendations based on the game you're currently playing; so, should you load up, say, Burning Rangers on the Saturn, you'll be able to browse similar games, titles also published by Sega and games released in the same year; these can then be added to a wish list for future reference. You can choose to disable this feature and only get recommendations based on what you have installed in your library if you wish, but we rather liked seeing the suggestions and made more than a few trips to eBay searching for the titles highlighted.
Patches – such as fan-made translations of Japanese games – can be applied to installed software using a USB thumb drive or Micro SD card, and you can even safely 'remove' the patch at a later date, if you so wish. Oh, and while we're here, we should point out that the Polymega is perfectly happy playing and installing copies of games made on CD-R discs, although the intention is clearly for users to digitise their own collections, rather than resort to downloading them from shady sites online. However, Playmaji has been very clear on the fact that you won't ever be able to simply dump a bunch of ROMs onto the console via USB or Micro SD; the system also won't work with flash cartridges, such as the Everdrive range.
All games benefit from creature comforts such as save states and screen filters. The latter option offers two flavours at present: the RGB scanline filter replicates what games would look like on a classic CRT television, while the Composite option simulates that particular AV connection. Both are suitably authentic, but we did yearn for the incredible sharpness of the OSSC's scanline option – but Playmaji has confirmed that it is considering offering more filter options in the future. Should you choose to play without any kind of screen filter, you're getting an incredibly crisp image, just like you'd expect to see if you were using a PC-based emulator. The Polymega's UI also allows you to take screenshots during games as well as tinker with settings such as screen aspect ratio, rapid-fire settings and analogue controls.
While the focus is very much about using your original games, the base unit nonetheless comes pre-loaded with a bunch of NES, SNES, Mega Drive and PC Engine / TG-16 titles, mostly thanks to licencing deals with Piko Interactive and Masaya. Games like Iron Commando, Top Racer / Top Gear, Sword of Sodan, Target: Renegade and Moto Roader II are all included as standard, and while none of the bundled games are what you'd call AAA releases, they do hint at another exciting part of the Polymega's future – the proposed digital store which will allow publishers and developers to monetize their back catalogues in very much the same way that the Virtual Console did on Wii, Wii U and 3DS. Because the team behind the system has done all of the hard work by painstakingly populating that massive database with cover art, screenshots and descriptions, all that's really needed is for the IP holder to grant access to the ROM via a digital store, and they've effectively got a valuable revenue stream that wouldn't exist otherwise.
The base unit comes with its own wireless Polymega controller, which is shaped very much like a PlayStation DualShock pad. It's pretty light and comfortable to use, and the D-Pad is better than you might expect, too. As with any wireless pad, latency is an issue when playing wirelessly, but you can plug it into the machine using a Micro-USB lead to reduce this – we weren't able to test this ourselves, but latency with a wired pad is reported to be about 2 to 3 frames, which puts it in the same ballpark as the SNES Classic Edition's wired pads.
Alternatively, Polymega supports a wide range of wired and 2.4gHz pads, including Retro-Bit's excellent Sega-licenced controllers and even the Xbox 360 pad and the one which comes with the PlayStation Classic. These are all instantly detected by the system with button mapping taking place automatically, so you can play Saturn and PlayStation titles with an authentic controller. Even the on-screen button prompts in the UI change according to which controller you're using, which is a nice touch. While latency didn't feel like an issue to us with USB pads, when using the built-in controller ports on the Element Modules the lag is reduced almost to nothing (a single frame, in fact). While we're on the topic of peripherals, there's a 'next-gen' light gun in the works which will allow you to play titles like Duck Hunt, Time Crisis and House of the Dead on your flatscreen TV.
Now to the important part – how does the Polymega handle emulation, given that it's not using FPGA technology favoured by hardcore retro enthusiasts? Very well, actually. While there are still incompatibility problems to be solved via the ongoing beta test phase, accuracy is impressive. Furthermore, after installing over 170 games to the M.2 SSD we fitted to the Polymega, we only found 3 titles which showed as 'unsupported' (and it is very likely that this is due to the degradation of the original media, as other beta-testers were able to install the same games without issue).
A small number of other titles run fine from the disc but are not recognised by the internal database and therefore cannot be installed; again, this is something that is easily rectified as the beta phase continues and more titles are added to the console's database. Likewise, issues such as games displaying visual quirks, refusing to load past a certain point and other emulation kinks are being ironed out as we speak; the majority of these problems will be related to the aforementioned reverse-engineered BIOS files and loading up the original BIOS via a USB drive or MicroSD card almost always solves them.
Saturn emulation – which has long been spotty, even on powerful PCs – is surprisingly solid. We tested a wide range of games and they look, sound and feel the same as they do on original hardware; even ambitious titles like Virtua Fighter 2, which use the console's high-res mode, run brilliantly. It's worth noting that at this stage, even the acclaimed open-source MiSTer FPGA system doesn't run Saturn titles. Load times sadly don't seem to be any different on Polymega, with the exception of the Neo Geo CD games, which boot practically instantly. All in all, the standard of emulation present here is remarkable; while it's still software-based and therefore will never be a 1:1 replication, it's close enough to be of little consequence to the average user – and as time goes on, it's only going to improve.
Even at this stage, with its little niggles and minor game incompatibilities, the Polymega is a truly mouthwatering prospect for retro gamers. While its cost is indeed high – and launching alongside the PS5 and Xbox Series X at the end of this year isn't going to help matters – the base unit of the Polymega offers incredible value, even at $400; purchasing all of the systems (not to mention regional variants) it supports individually would total much more than the asking price. Factor in the Element Modules at $80 a pop and the cost increases, but even so, being able to expand the system is a real boon and there's no reason why, in the future, we couldn't see support increase thanks to the modular nature of the hardware. N64, anyone?
The delays and lack of FPGA have done much to harm Polymega's standing with a core group of hardcore enthusiasts, and convincing those same individuals to give the machine a chance is perhaps going to be Playmaji's biggest challenge. However, from what we've seen in the week we've spent with the machine, it looks set to become a highly desirable piece of hardware for retro fans; we're not afraid to admit we're utterly in love.
We'd like to thank Playmaji for sending us a beta unit for the purpose of this review. The Polymega is expected to launch later this year. You can find pre-order details here.
Comments (221)
I need to stop myself from buying this. I need to... buy this....
Not using FPGA and asking for $400? I expect this to flop amazingly, because normal retro fans aren't going to shell out that kind of money for a retro console of this type. Meanwhile hardcore enthusiasts will definitely not shell out that sum for a non-FPGA approach.
I don't know who the market for this is in today's climate. I suspect there really isn't one.
My hype died 3 years ago when they couldn't meet any deadlines and completely changed what this is.
All I want to do is play that old Dune RTS game and a Raiden 2.
You won't be able to dump a bunch of ROMs. Shame, it's what I typically do with these types of consoles. I maybe will get it. Though I still don't know the price since I'm from America and they use euros, and I'm too lazy to look it up.
@status-204 Software emulation has come a long way and is not much different than actual hardware now for many emulators, but ya I will hold off for my analogue pocket as it will get hacked and be able to play most of what this can.
@status-204 well, the SNES classic sold out in my area within days, so I suspect the crowd is still there. But I have a SNES classic and a Dreamcast, downloading a bunch of games is a piece of cake.
@Jokerwolf The Analogue Pocket is going to be incredible but don't hold out for it playing anything beyond 16-bit systems - if it even does that at all, as Analogue hasn't released expanded firmware for the Nt and Sg.
The FPGA chips powerful enough to simulate Saturn and PlayStation are expensive, hence the fact that the Mister doesn't have those cores at present.
Never before have I even been seriously tempted to buy a retro console, but this one has me very interested. I have a decent collection of retro games, and playing them across all the systems under my TV is a bit of a hassle, to say nothing of the trouble with picture quality and input lag that comes with playing old consoles on new TVs. Shame that you have to buy separate modules for cartridges, since most of my retro games are on carts.
Would be great if they added online features like cloud saves and retroarchievements support....
Who knows... social support like friends and party to chat while playing.
Really good have all games in a single place without needing a lot of configuration.
So this doesn't play Dreamcast games?
Inb4 all the...
Oh, well, all the whatevers and complaints of individuals who base their opinions solely on personal ideas/misconceptions and hearsay, instead of having any ACTUAL experience with the system...
It concerns me greatly reading statements like this "Patches – such as fan-made translations of Japanese games – can be applied to installed software using a USB thumb drive or Micro SD card". This leads me to believe Polymega cannot support pre-patched game discs. I certainly hope that isn't the case. There's no way on earth it can possibly support all of the various patch mechanisms out there for disc-based games.
All I want is an HDMI retro system that plays Nintendo 64 games without being a blurry mess.
Guess I'll keep waiting...
@ThanosReXXX Ah, yes, a lovely bunch.
@MeowMeowKins I’m 100% certain it will be hacked, after release.
Hmm... I'm not entirely convinced. I might just wait for a FPGA version down the line.
@mario-64 I can tell you now it doesn't support the installation of pre-patched games (as it won't match with the database entry), but you can still play them.
@Damo Analogue hasn't released custom firmware's, but their main developer who makes the official firmware's has made one for each of their analogue systems which allows SD rom loading. Anything past 32 bit is emulated almost perfectly on PC and Android devices so it is a non issue.
I've been watching a Youtuber for a few months playing a vast variety of games on this thing and its been pretty much flawless. I'm looking forward to getting one and patching some Japanese Saturn games to make them playable, whilst also having a convenient way of playing classic systems on a modern display
Any idea if it will support PS2 and Dreamcast later on?
People may laugh at me for this... but I hold a deep love for the CD32. If this ever supports the CD32, I will consider it. But I doubt if that is likely to happen?
@Damo A lovely bunch indeed...
And they never stop. Almost like those avalanches of mindless zombies in that Brad Pitt movie...
@TG16_IS_BAE oh yeah, for sure. Longest it will take is a weekend, I swear, hackers are something else.
@Jokerwolf See, that’s the only thing really holding me back from jumping on this thing. It’s that my PC already emulates every physical game I own, and when I do a side-by-side on my good old CRT I can’t see much difference. The only temptation for me would be as a Saturn/PS1 replacement, but those are the consoles I own the least games on, so not too much value for me.
@MeowMeowKins Not gonna lie, the reason I got all the classic systems was for the ability to customize what games are on there. Truly amazing little devices. Though, if memory serves me, the Turbografx mini is still in process of being hacked. I haven’t checked in on the PS1 one either, as that one was terrible in terms of emulation quality.
@ThanosReXXX
In my experience, public shaming only brings out more trolls. So let's stay on topic eh?
@Ooyah Well, while I actually AM laughing, I'm laughing WITH you and not at you, because to this day, I'm still a proud owner of three Amiga systems, amongst which a CD32 with an SX32 expansion.
@cleveland124 It's not public shaming, and it is warranted if it's an undeniable truth...
@ThanosReXXX
Well I love it when holier than thou types take over comments sections even though they have nothing to add to the conversation. It's the other half of the reason that most comment sections suck.
@status-204 I’m not so concerned about it using emulation, seeing as emulation has been able to replicate anything I’ve thrown at it so far. I honestly can’t see the difference, even when I put it next to my CRT.
However, that’s the problem. My PC already does what this thing does, so that’s really the only thing holding me back from dropping a ton of money on a console.
@TG16_IS_BAE never heard of the TurboGrafx, my hacking extends to the Wii, the SNES classic, and the Dreamcast
@denis09 I think the value they put was in how well it emulates, how low the latency is, and that you can install games, patch them and play them later. The real value is in having something that will preserve your physical collection in the long run.
It costs way too much. Would of been better to be able to purchase modules without needing the base. I might as well buy original hardware.
@MeowMeowKins Boy oh boy are you in for a treat, then. You use retro arch at all? It’s very easy to set up there. Just make sure you have the correct bios for any of the turbografx cd games, but the cartridge based ones work with just the core by itself. Here are some ideas to get you started. Lords of Thunder, Castlevania: Chi No Rinne, Ys, Star Soldier, Soldier Blade, Bonks Adventure....ah, such good times.
@denis09
I would have liked a more thorough comparison between actual hardware and the polymega. Also I'd like a comparison of the polymega against the emulators on PC. The below video review does a better job of comparing side by side. The differences won't really bother casual users but will likely bother people that spend alot of time with retrogames.
https://youtu.be/493PKDeDzsE
This will never play DreamCast and PS2 games (at least not without a digital storefront) by nature of how those consoles use a different physical medium. Without a whole new unit, it could only play CD-Rom PS2 games which is... kinda stupid.
@cleveland124 well, I love it when the people criticizing them take on a holier than thou attitude. Pick your poison, I guess
@TG16_IS_BAE
This box is selling convenience. It's one stop to load all your games/emulators. The UI is slick. It's clear that they spent alot of time trying to make the UI premium to give the overall impression that the total package is premium. That said, all these emulators are available for free on PC. And if you are just interested in playing games it's likely you'll do as good or better on a PC as the polymega is in general a weak spec'd PC. That said we really won't know until more units are in the wild and someone does a side by side comparison to the PC counterparts.
@cleveland124 I'm far from being that kind of person. What I actually am, is a realist, and the fact remains that every time a Polymega article is published, people are constantly commenting on it in a negative manner, while having no hands on experience, which the NLife crew clearly does.
I've also seen several people on YouTube testing it out, and all of them are quite positive about their experience with the system so far.
@denis09 Latency is mentioned in the review, along with a video (from an external source) which shows the level of lag when using a wired pad.
Value for money? That's mentioned in the last paragraph, too. Did you actually read any of this before posting a comment, I wonder?
@MeowMeowKins
I've at least added some comments on topic. The issue is a comment section is for opinions. Some people have negative opinions and some don't. There are accuracy issues with the Polymega as listed in the above review I posted above. This company also has a checkered past by overpromising, showing preview video that wasn't playing on their machine, missing deadlines, and getting in a twitter war with Analogue prior to having a viable product. There are many reasons to be down on this product. Sorry if you don't like it.
The other issue with his comments is that this product is unreleased. So I'd venture a guess that any opinion listed on this comment section doesn't have a hands on opinion. But he wants to focus on a subset of people and call them out. If he has a problem with people posting opinions without a hands on then he should call out everyone who posted and ask Damo to turn off comments.
@TG16_IS_BAE I'll try out Castlevania, considering I loved Castlevania 4. Thanks for the suggestions 🙂
@cleveland124 okay, but if you ask them to turn off comment for that, come on.
@cleveland124 We don't have the element modules at present, so can't compare to cart-based hardware. We might do that when the modules appear, as well as compare CD-based systems, too. Watch this space!
@ThanosReXXX
See my comment above. There are many things Polymega did prior to release to create ill will with their potential customers. The accuracy issues will keep me from buying it and I still struggle with the value of this as anyone with a PC can do what this does for alot cheaper. Supposedly the Saturn core has been tweaked, but until tested my guess is it was tweaked to optimize for the slow CPU that they are utilizing rather than actually offering better emulation than be be obtained on a PC.
So their market appears to be people that aren't focused on great accuracy and also want the convenience of not having to setup multiple emulators themselves. Are these people willing to spend that much? Analogue has proven that people will pay if the accuracy is there. I'm not sure people will pay for almost accuracy there.
I still have a Sega Saturn (with something like 30 games, though I used to have many more), but I currently have no way of playing my Sega CD or Genesis games. Plus going all-digital has made me too lazy to ever change cartridges/discs in my older systems. Maaaan, this thing is tempting.
@MeowMeowKins
I'm not asking for comments to be turned off. Comments sections are for opinions no matter how wild they are. I'm saying if you have a problem with opinions without hands on, then that's really what he was asking for is no comments on pre-release items. And better yet if that's your problem you should probably avoid comments sections in general, because peeps will have opinions.
@cleveland124 Having testing over 100 Saturn games on this thing (and having been a Saturn owner since 1995), I can tell you that accuracy really isn't a problem. At all.
“Accuracy is impressive”
Prove it with numbers.
I did have some hope for this, until they took cheap shots at Analogue and goaded them for using FPGA systems. Sure it's a high quality emulation device, but come on, grow the heck up, you troglodytic fools.
@Damo
I'm sure it's really close. But to me if I'm spending $400 I want better accuracy than was shown in the video above for Genesis emulation which in general takes less power than Saturn emulation. So I'd love to see more side by side videos of the unit to discuss timing differences, sound differences, and some of the minor issues that you've noted in your review but aren't highlighted in the video. To me a video review for something like this makes alot more sense than a written review where I can't actually see or hear the differences side by side. That's just me though. I'm likely not the target audience because I'd want much better accuracy then I've seen online. Maybe the Saturn emulator is better, but I wouldn't buy this just for a Saturn as I already have a Saturn attached to an OSSC and am looking at purchasing the Terraonion mode to go with it. So in general it would really have to knock my socks up to go for that over what I have.
@cleveland124 But that's the thing: until you've tried it out, you can't just go and assume all kinds of things, based upon general factoids, because some may not apply, such as with Saturn emulation, which regardless of it not being FPGA based, apparently pleasantly surprised plenty of people, NLife crew included.
Did you even know that the people behind the Polymega have hired the original programmer of the best Saturn emulator out there, to write a whole new core for them, tailor-made for this system?
That might be the ACTUAL reason it works so well. None of us would be able to say something sensible about it without having that all important hands on experience, so although I absolutely agree with you that they've said and done some weird things up til now, I still think that we should go by actual experience and proof, instead of being influenced by goings on from the past.
@cleveland124 True about the weaker specs, but it is only going to be running games, instead of a bulky Windows OS. Definitely a huge convenience factor as well!
@denis09 You got some kind of vendetta this morning/evening? LOL
I'm rather concerned by those latency numbers. 8bitdo bluetooth controllers measure somewhere between 1 and 2 frames of input lag and people tend to fuss about that. Their 2.4ghz ones measure around the 3-4ms mark. 4 frames on a wireless controller is really bad. I sure hope that's after hdmi lag or god help you if that's added on top of that.
I can handle 1 frame of lag. My bluetooth 8bitdos that are plugged into retro consoles and a CRT are fine but I would absolutely be able to notice 3-4 frames of lag.
I hope they fix that. I was thinking of getting it because I still need a saturn and pc-engine cd, which get very expensive especially since both really need an ODE these days. I was going to put it through a hdmi to component converter and into the CRT but that much input lag is a no sale.
Gonna have to pass on that controller alone. ABXY are the wrong way and left analog stick is in the wrong place...
Doesnt look bad but looks very pricey to get carts on it. Think I'd need it to cover up to the gamecube ps2 era to be worth 400 without cart slots.
Also no N64 and that's really what I'm after. Any suggestions how to get a pal n64 to look good on a modern tv?
@Roibeard64 check out retrorgb.com. I don't know specifically about pal ones but there's a lot of mods and upscalers for N64. There's even a mod that puts hdmi out on the n64.
Looks nifty, but at the asking price to still be playing ROMs ripped from discs/cartridges when the $100 Raspberry Pi is getting dangerously close to being capable of playing Gamecube/N64/Dreamcast, I just can't justify playing this.
$400 for the base unit and an additional $80 for each cartridge based system you want to use with it? Hard pass. That's crazy money.
This is all advertisement. Get a Raspberry Pie, and save the remaining 350$.
@denis09 So because we've reported positively on something (and actually, we've mentioned the delays and removal of FPGA just like everyone else), then we're a shill?
How about this amazing situation - the system is actually good?
But whatever - there's no point in debating this with someone who has clearly made their mind up to the point where even a positive, honest review can't change their mind. Have a good day!
@Yorumi
I think they were talking total lag at 4 frames in total including the wireless controller. so likely the blutooth controller adds a frame which is standard for bluetooth and the system has a baseline of 3 frames which you'll experience if you use a corded controller.
You build yourself a mini pc and emulate for this amount of money, or slighty more.
I never understood why people buy this piece of junk.
Just download retroarch, get yourself a I7 setup, with a nvidia card, does not even have to be the latest, and run every game.
@cleveland124 I've got all my original systems too, along with an OSSC. I'd never get rid of them for the world, but this is a super handy option to have under the TV thanks to the fact that it can play all of the systems I grew up with (and all of the regions) in 1080p along with save states and other creature comforts. Given that my Japanese Saturn (my third) is now exhibiting expansion slot issues, I think machines like this are going to make more and more sense as time goes on.
@denis09 What hard questions would you have asked, regarding the Polymega?
@TG16_IS_BAE Give up. He's not going to back down. We've asked the relevant questions in our interviews with the Polymega team, so he's flat-out wrong.
I appreciate the sentiment, though
@PALversusNTSC Well, one method is legal, the other is not legal, so the people that care about that will want to use the Polymega.
@Damo Of course! As an aside, will Polymega add PS2/Dreamcast emulation that we know of?
@denis09 As it happens, we'll most likely be buying a second unit for the office when the retail version arrives, so yes, I would. This system runs every console I loved growing up and gives me the chance to have my entire collection legally in one place, all in crisp 1080p. I don't need to repeat myself as it's all in the review, but the Polymega team have smashed it with this machine. I love it to bits and can't recommend it highly enough. Given that I have little space these days to have all of my gaming machines set up, it's a godsend. There are minor issues to be addressed (as mentioned in the review) and, because it's software emulation, it's not going to be 1:1 (again, mentioned in the review), but I couldn't be happier with the state of the system as it stands now - and it will be better by the time it arrives in November.
@denis09 Honestly, when compared to the likes of Kotaku, Gamespot, IGN, etc....Nintendo Life is pretty chill. Benign, even. I've never gotten the feel that they are trying to "sell me," on something, they come across as very honest. Kotaku? Loads of shills, the lot of them. That site needs to be shut down. Gamespot is okay, but again, I feel like they are trying to sell me, as does IGN. NL feels like one of my buds telling me about some cool tech he just got. Though, their puns usually make me gag, but I think that's the point.
@TG16_IS_BAE Potentially it could do DC I'm sure - who knows?
@Damo Definitely would be an interesting prospect. Thanks for shedding light on this thing. I'm still on the fence due to lack of cash flow from covid, but maybe later, assuming this isn't some super limited thing like Analogue.
The instaling the game and not needing the game afterwards is a cool touch.
@cleveland124 no, no, it totally get what you're saying. I mean, that's why comment sections can be toxic sometimes, and beautiful sometimes. It's really what you make of it. And are you telling me to buzz off, but nicely? Because just tell me to buzz off, I hate passive aggressiveness
I use bigbox, it's all this and a slice of pie. Love it, costs money but happy to support the devs.
@blockfight to be fair a used Saturn is around $100 and probably needs an ODE for another $200. For pc engine you can either get a core grafx with an ODE(again about $90 + the $200ish for ODE), or a duo which runs around $300 and likely needs mods. A sega CD is around $150 now. So price wise it's not that insane.
@cleveland124 that's what I'm hoping but even than that's a lot of input lag. The main reason I started collecting retro consoles is because the input lag was so terrible on the virtual console.
@status-204 well overpriced and add in fact they already missed target after target. and its still not out. an easy no way
@doctorhino It's not really the same thing, though - this plays your original media, games you've owned for decades.
@Yorumi Exactly - you add up all of the systems, then all of the regional variants this machine covers, and the price isn't as mad as some people are making out. Sure, you could get a cheap second-hand PC for the same price, but the team have done a lot of work behind the scenes on this (the games database alone is insane).
@Damo I would think an OS update could easily do Dreamcast if they can get an open source bios to use. Problem might stem from it being illegal to use an official bios.
Yeah I know it's more legit and to use bigbox you need a full PC and all. It is probably a great product in that case because I can't get enough of organizing and chronicling games with bigbox.
To be fair though you can rip games onto your PC that you own and launch them in emulators, it's just a lot more work.
@doctorhino Never heard of bigbox, is it software or a piece of hardware?
@TG16_IS_BAE software, it basically can download media and images for and organize your games on a frontend then call any application to launch them, including retroarch. It's a lot of setup and tweaking but I love playing around with emus so it's fun for me.
Won’t ever be able to load up roms? Lol, every manufacturer has said similar things, it’s only a matter of time
@doctorhino Oh nice, I use something similar called Playnite, though it fails really hard at the automated organization so I ended up manually reworking everything. Same idea, and yeah I love tinkering so the setup process was fun.
@MeowMeowKins
No, I wasn't telling you to buzz off. Sorry if I gave that impression.
@TG16_IS_BAE That was my point though; if it's not an FPGA for perfect hardware emulation, then $400 is way too expensive for software emulating what almost any PC or laptop produced in the last 10+ years can handle. I get that you can use your own cartridges and discs with it to rip - I mean install - the games, but those people will mostly fall into the enthusiast market who aren't happy with "just" software emulation for that price point.
@Yorumi
For FPGA goodness $400 would be a steal. I think the average person is unlikely to invest in all those mods. For the people that would, the accuracy differences and lag are likely to be turnoffs. The biggest issue to me with the price is I can emulate all those systems on a PC. So to me I'd be paying $400 for the software. The UI is certainly well done and premium but that's just too steep for me at this time. If my Saturn starts giving me issues like Damo or they drop in price maybe I'd reconsider. I did buy a snes/nes mini though I have those consoles in rgb connected to my OSSC because I thought there was enough value there to deal with some of the issues of emulation. Just not there yet with this.
@status-204 All good point, but what's weird to me is I see no difference between FPGA, emulation, and the thing on my CRT. It feels like emulation has really bridged the gap, and FPGA just feels like a gimmick to sell people on. Is it really that much better than emulation, 'cause if that's the case I'm not able to notice, even side by side!
@Yorumi That doesn't even take into account the cost of a PVM and all the relevant cables/mods to make sure an NTSC-U system outputs RGB.
@TG16_IS_BAE Most of my emulated stuff looks way better and have insanely faster loading times. I think a lot of youtube channels like gamesack prefer to use the real hardware to get the real experience of everything, including glitches and loading. With an emulator you might think a game is better than it actually was.
@TG16_IS_BAE
Most people won't notice. And I say that as a big FPGA proponent. Most good emulators and FPGA will be cycle accurate (or close enough) and display pretty pixels. To me the biggest benefit of FPGA is lag. To some people they won't notice. But a device like this has 3 frames lag versus 0 on FPGA. Some games the lag doesn't even bother me much. But there are games like Mike Tyson's Punchout that will be impossible to beat on this. And will feel just like the original on FPGA. So some games it matters. And if you like those games the differences will matter.
@doctorhino Very true. I also wonder if there are legal reasons behind streaming emulation? Is that a consideration? No idea, I don't post videos or stream lol.
@cleveland124 What lag? Are you talking about controller inputs? I use all wired controllers on my PC, so I never experience latency. Is that what you are referring? I've done side by side comparisons with all the hardware types, FPGA, emulation, and the real thing on my CRT. 10 years ago I would have been able to spot the difference immediately, but these day I really can't.
I’ll be sticking to my raspberry pi emulator- same features but required a small amount of manual input by me- and for 10% of the cost.
@TG16_IS_BAE @Damo Surely there's no possibility of Dreamcast ever being supported? It would need a working GD-Rom drive, if they aren't going to support piracy...
@Swoltacular I'll be sticking to emulation, as well, but none of my emulators have the capability of ripping the rom straight from the cd or cartridge. That's the main selling point for the polymega, I would imagine.
@Reprise I have zero technical expertise with the Dreamcast, but isn't a GD-ROM drive just another name for a CD-ROM drive, or is it actually a physically different thing? Sorry, I just never got that because it never seemed to come up on any other console. What I'm asking, is it a proprietary thing exclusive to Dreamcast, or is it just another thing renamed to sound different?
Couple questions; does it (with the 32x expansion) play games that use a 32x cartridge and a cd? How does it handle multi-disc games like final fantasy 7? If you use a pal game that runs at 50hz, is it possible to convert it to 60hz? Is there a power brick or does it work similarly to ps3/ps4? Does it play pc engine card based games?
Does it play N64 and GameCube games? No? Pass.
@TG16_IS_BAE
All emulators have a frame buffer. Even the best add at least 1 frame of lag. Then you'll have additional digital lag from your monitor. The best have less than a frame of lag. USB inputs usually 4-5 ms of polling rate. The best setups usually have 2 frames of input lag. Most people won't notice this. Heck I wouldn't even notice this. But... I've never beaten Mike Tyson with 2 frames of lag. And I pulled that off on the RetroUSB AVS with no problem. So if it's a very good setup, it can't be seen or even felt really. But it's still there and can affect your gaming.
@TG16_IS_BAE oh yeah it could hold like 1.2gb instead, I forgot they used a different hardware on the optical
They aren't compatible which is why people are using disc emulation on Dreamcast hardware noe
@Yorumi cheers will look into it. 👍
Pal limits you unfortunately on some of them like eon .
@Benhop07 1) We don't have the element module yet but I believe it runs 32X CD games fine
2) Booting multi-disc games is supported.
3) You can't change PAL games to run faster, as far as I can see
4) It has a power brick
5) The PC Engine / TG-16 element module will allow you to play HuCards / Turbochips
@doctorhino That's neat! The more you know LOL
@sketchturner NTSC N64 + Super64 from EON + mClassic from Marseille = N64 dreamland.
@Damo there was no 32x CD games, you are thinking of games that required a 32x and a Sega CD for the fmv and sound parts.
@cleveland124 yeah the accuracy and lag are the biggest turn offs. I was willing to deal with very minor emulation problems to get this with a pc-engine attachment considering how expensive it's going to be to get a saturn and pc engine but not when it comes with that much lag. I'd like to see it hooked up to a CRT but I can't imagine a signal converter is going to do it any good.
@TG16_IS_BAE I'm not sure exactly how different a GD-ROM drive is but a GD-ROM disc holds like 1GB or so compared to a CD which holds 700MB. It's the same physical size so it means the data is more compressed on a GD-ROM.
@cleveland124 Again, I'd have to believe it by seeing it firsthand. I'm VERY picky with this stuff, and all the FPGA machines I've tested out with friends just never seemed worth the excessive cost. The only game I've ever experienced issues with is Mega Man X3, but that game is bugged even on the original hardware. Everything else I play, Punch Out included, has never felt better!
@Damo do you have any ability to test this on a CRT, like with a HDMI to component converter or something?
@Heavyarms55 I’ll tell what does play N64 and GC games... my N64 and GC (specifically my N64+Super64+mClassic and my GameCube+SWISS+Carby+mClassic). Still living the dream baby!
@Yorumi Gotcha! I wasn't sure if there was an actual difference or not. Sounds like it was a step up on the way to the DVD.
@TG16_IS_BAE lol it was supposed to be the entire antipiracy measures, thats why once people figured out how to launch CDs there was no need for a modchip
@doctorhino It was an exploit tied to the Broadband Adapter that allowed pirates to rip the data, though some had to be excised or compressed to get it down to fit on a CD.
@TG16_IS_BAE
You must not play punchout alot then. Glass Joe is so easy that the lag doesn't matter. But I tried punchout on the switch and when Tyson started punching I had to start punching because the game and inputs were so misaligned.
Admittedly with computer emulation you can attach a computer via HDMI to a tv and solve the problem. But hooking up original consoles to modern displays is almost impossible without spending alot in scalers. Even if the TV has a composite input the lag is likely to be very high. Like 9-10 frames high. Anybody would notice that. The reason is most retro consoles output 240p while tvs try to interlace it and then de-interlace it just creating major issues. So their are 3 solutions if you are into these games and game alot.
Get systems modded and buy expensive scalers. The cheapest scaler that doesn't add lag is the retrotink 2x which is $130.
Get an FPGA system. They are designed to output the best quality (modded original system) and provide the scaling technology. For $200 a pop they are very good at what they do.
Use emulation. Most people don't prefer this because it isn't lag free and you have to buy additional hardware anyway to interact with original controllers or games. Generally emulation such as the NES mini/SNES mini are close enough for people looking for that original feel but not wanting to spend $200 on FPGA or a scaler solution. But this is $400. So it's not a cheap alternative to the other options. It might be if you are really looking it as an alternative to buying/modding all those other systems but if you are okay with emulation you could use your PC and save $400.
@TG16_IS_BAE No, it's physically a different thing. It was a proprietary format exclusive to the Dreamcast. It stands for Giga-disc as each disc holds 1.1gb of data (if I remember correctly). Sega opted for it as, at the time, it was much cheaper than the DVD format, but still provided more storage than a standard CD.
GD-Rom drives were only used for the Dreamcast as far as I know. The Dreamcast's discs cannot be read by a standard disc drive. Hence ripping games was always more complicated than it was on other disc based formats.
It certainly appears more positive than it did a year or two ago, and from what I’m reading and seeing on YouTube the emulation seems impressive. Especially for the Saturn.
I’d love to see PS1 games from this compared to the new PS1 digital mod recently released, to see how impressive it is.
I’m not normally a fan of software emulation, but I do see the appeal of an all in one system like this if the emulation is of good quality. I look forward to seeing MLiG’s and Digital Foundry’s analysis.
If they ever manage to get a module for N64 released with good quality emulation, I’d be very interested.
Who is bank rolling all this by the way? Given how long it’s been in development, it must have some serious money spent on it already. I’m surprised they didn’t go bankrupt ages ago.
@Reprise Thank you! Others are clarifying the same thing, too.
@cleveland124 Been playing Punch Out for 30 years, I guess that's not enough :/
@cleveland124 Who said I hooked up old consoles to modern TVs? Almost every post I've mentioned I either use emulation, or original hardware on a CRT. Obviously there is input lag when using a console on an HDTV, but that's not what anyone here is talking about, last I checked!
@TG16_IS_BAE if you mod an OG Wii it has those capabilities for GC/Wii discs.
@Swoltacular True! Im sure there are people that use such functionality, though for legal reasons I can see why others would not. I don’t have any use for that though. GameCube only had one game that I liked on it, and the Wii titles I enjoyed are stuck on their closed server, so emulation is the best fit for me there.
@denis09 Why compare it to building and configuring a computer? That's not who it's for. People will pay a few hundred dollars to have all the guess work taken out of it. We're adults in our 30's, we have jobs, and the experience looks simple. Configuring a Pi for box art and different controllers is a huge pain in the ass. This eliminates that.
@KevvyLava I agree, you have to enjoy doing the setup work and learning about the programs. If that's a hassle for you being able to pay to get out of it is worth it.
The buttons are swapped around DESGUSTENG
@cleveland124 no, it's cool. Bit harder to tell what people mean in text than in person. And I'll admit it, I was being a bit rude.
@Yorumi i guess I'm not the audience for this. Hadn't thought of it that way for the combined prices. I can see how it would be appealing to a collector.
@sketchturner You and me both. N64 is the only console I still have such old games I'd actually want to play and for which emulation still is pretty bad outside of a few games. Everything else I feel has either been re-released already, available digitally in a better version elsewhere, or just not worth playing anymore.
For christ's sale Nubtendo Life !!!!!!
You are advertising a console that relies on playing illegally downloaded software?
(Capital letters express my frustration)
(Typing in all caps is against site rules)
There’s a slight problem with this review, polymega don’t have the ability to actually release the console as it’s vapourware. They’ve just about scrabbled enough units for reviews/influencers but the proper beta with those that had preordered never happened because they don’t have the money to build the units.
@blockfight Or the person who can just burn copies of the CD games they want. That was what made this a no-brainer for me.
It’s funny how people talks about FPGA as it was a game changer. FPGA is still emulation, you know.. but via hardware!
FPGA is not about accuracy.. it’s about performance only!
As any implementation, FPGA is as good as developer is capable of.
Software emulation is much more accurate and matured nowadays... and FPGA is just in its infancy.
It will get traction over time, maybe.. but FPGA emulation is much harder and prone to error than software emulation.
@TG16_IS_BAE
You said you saw no difference in FPGA. So I was explaining that on modern TVs there are big benefits. It wasn't to say you had to be interesting in using a SNES on a modern TV. Just that it's where FPGA shines.
And I meant no disrespect on Tyson. Just that Mr.Dream/Tyson match is the ultimate lag test. Sandman and Machoman can also be difficult on emulation due to lag. If you haven't beaten the game or often don't play those 3 on emulation than you may not notice the difference between CRT and emulation. It won't matter for most of the matches leading up to those 3 because there is enough time to respond and deal with the lag. Those 3 don't give you much time at all so it's very difficult. So please try those 3 on the NES mini and a CRT and tell me that you don't notice the lag.
@cleveland124 I have, and I don't. Please stop acting like I've never played this stuff, lmao. Emulation is just that good, these days!
@TG16_IS_BAE
Except for the lag it is very good. If you can beat Mr. Dream on NES mini you are a much better at the game than me. I've never known anybody who can do it and Pat the NES Punk said it's impossible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9VQJJig-Wo
21:40 in the video. So I'm certainly not the only person who notices it. If you are immune to it than bravo. But it exists in tests and many youtube videos like the one above reference it and this review mentions 3 frames of lag above. That might not matter to you but to some people it does.
@cleveland124 Mr. Dream isn't the hardest thing in video games, same with Iron Mike Tyson (bless his soul.) Your experience does not determine that of others!
@TG16_IS_BAE
Mr. Dream isn't the hardest thing no. It is the video game that I've played with the fastest reaction time and I use it as my personal lag test. And I don't know what your point is. I've never said 3 frames (indicated in this review) was the most noticable lag or that everybody would care. The Polymega looks decent for what it is at a high price. Maybe you don't care about lag, but you can't deny it exists. This article mentions the lag the Polymega introduces. If you really believe this article is inaccurate then bring that up with Damo.
This is a humblebrag review of beta hardware with immediate comments attempting to preclude people from having opinions in response because you're not allowed to have thoughts until you're $400 deep. Nothing brings out the especially smug & snide like emulation.
This looks a great piece of kit, but the price puts me off. Also I own every system it emulates, and I have a Retron 5, Retro Trio+ and now I have various raspberry pie setups which are amazing by the way. I'm a hard-core retro gamer, but using the real tech I'm worried they will break down. So I use emulation a lot nowadays to preserve these amazing machines.
I'll just stick with the real thing & a Sony CRT. Zero Lag, Proper nostalgia and real hardware can't be beat if you want to be 'one' with the control aka ZERO lag.
Besides, i dont play THAT many retro games anymore. For the most part, i want 'new' experiences, but even the majority of these new experiences are pretty flipping overrated and boring if you ask me. PSVR, and even LABO VR are fresh and unique exciting experiences, everything else is mostly feeling too familiar and stale. The movie industry is getting a lot more redundent though if you ask me. Theses days, i'm becoming more hard to please.
the PS5 for example, as of now looks like a PS4 Pro 1/2. Haptic feedback(Sony's take on HD rumble), better looking visuals, 4k Resolution just isn't enough to get excited about. I'm really hoping Sony knocks it out of the park with PSVR2
@Cosats You need the original discs to play games on this. What are you talking about?
@Yorumi I've got an Analogue DAC so I'll see if I can test it with that.
@doctorhino Those are precisely the games I was talking about...?
@Coalescence Congratulations, you win the award for saltiest comment of the day!
@Brady1138 There's actually two ways to play on this: either install the games, aka "rip the ROMs" or play straight from the media itself, so you could play from a disc without installing. That's the whole point of the system: replacing all these separate boxes into one that plays multiple. Sure, it is pricey, but if you look at all the CD-based systems that it supports straight out of the box, you're still getting good value for money, considering what it would cost you to buy all these systems separately.
@denis09 You might wanna reconsider EuroGamer as well, then. Seeing as they're part of the same partner network as NLife and all its sister sites...
This is why I haven't bought any of those analogue consoles, this seems like the best solution for the money.
@Coalescence
@Damo Yeah man but you still need the 32x cart to play them, that is where all the game code is on. Are they making a 32x extension?
They are 32x+SegaCD games, meaning you needed both machines because 32x had no cd quality audio.
@Damo
According to analogue the DAC only works with their products. That's unfortunate because I'd be more likely to buy one if it was an all-in-one device.
@doctorhino
That's where this device could be interesting. If it gets a jailbreak then you don't need to buy all those games. Many of the games for the system's we are discussing are costly and getting costlier. A device like the Mega Everdrive Pro (which doesn't work with this) costs $200 but plays every Master System/Genesis/32X/Sega CD game. So even though the upfront hardware is more expensive for say a Mega SG and Mega Everdrive Pro, you could still get more value out of that setup.
@doctorhino
You are thinking about this too hard. The Genesis cartridge and the 32X cart have the same pinout. The reason the Genesis has an extra adapter is for more power. As this is emulation and all the power is in the base unit the 32X and Genesis will come in the same adapter. Similarly I'd guess for the CD/32X games you'd just load the CD onto the harddrive. Then load the 32X game on the harddrive. Then the emulation can interact with the files without needing either adapter in place. Remember the base unit does all the processing. The adapters just give you a way to load games and use original joysticks if you want.
I'm pretty tempted to get one of these with a Turbo element as a TurboDuo replacement, but $400 is just way too much.
£499.99 for the base unit, then add on whichever additional modules you want (all of them)... far too expensive.
@doctorhino The Mega Drive module plays 32X carts
Whoa, this thing is a beast! I was not planning on getting one, but the review makes it sound amazing. I will sit on my decision. What sucks is I already have many minis and other ways to play...but having an all in one machine that will be good for a long time is a nice thing to have. And I love having the original carts/CDs, so it would speak to the collector in me. Too much negativity here on this machine given what it does. Everyone's an expert and they know everything better than anyone else...as usual...and without ever even touching the machine.
My laptop has everything I need to retro game.
@mario-64 it supports disc backups so itll support pre patched games. They already tested policenaughts w/ english patch.
JuSt bUy a Pc, jUSt dO FpGa ,EmUlaTors, oG HaRdWaRe!
Really guys? Let people play and spend thier money on what they want. There's no wrong way to enjoy a game as long as your having fun but there is a right way to react to this article and thats by not being an A**hole.
If you got this for free and couldn't be bother with testing roms (not the ones that are pre-loaded) on it then you just wasted our time. It's a useless review when the most important aspect of an emulation system couldn't test its most basic feature.
Holy crap so many shills in this discussion.
No FPGA, No Dice...
It's just emulation
ಠ︵ಠ
@status-204 I agree, you can go a lot cheaper and with better performance using a DE-10 Nano running MISTer. I hope everyone interested in the Polyomega look up this as an alternative. It can use original controllers too
@MeowMeowKins SNES classic wasn't* $400
@Guitario well aware. I am well aware. But what led you to thinking I thought it was lol.
@denis09 I agree! It comes across as an advertisement
Gosh, that was a long ad.
@Damo Do you actually get paid to be a snide ***** in the comments?
Better to build a 400 retro pc machine yourself.
Thats a lot of money for a poor selection of consoles.....
@status-204 Amazingly, I do!
@Coalescence You may be salty but you are dead right. The amount of 'I know more than you' in the comments is immense! I actually know very little about what the tech in this but I do know the best way of playing old games is on the original system with an old skool tv, so on the basis of that is the next best it has to just be personal preference.
But.....But....But...it's just a scam, it doesn't play games very well, it doesn't even exist.
@Guitario No Saturn emulation core for Mister currently, so it's not a straight comparison. Plus Mister doesn't play original media.
@retro_player_77 It doesn't run ROMs, as is clearly stated in the review.
The price is a bit high for emulation and you didn't list Genesis carts which have a different output than Mega carts. That would be a problem for me as I have a lot of Genesis games as well as N64. The other issue is the add on adapters adding to the price. It is tempting and on the bubble but I am going to wait and see what first user reviews are.
I got a friend who has been dying to get his hands on one of these.
@Zidentia The Element Module for Mega Drive (J/E) works with Genesis (U) and 32X (J/U/E). The Element Module for SNES works with SNES/SFC (J/U/E). The Element Module for TG16 works for all regions of TurboGrafx-16 and PC Engine. The Element Module for NES works ONLY for U/E Nintendo carts, NOT Famicom carts (they require a different set of mappers and aren't supported at this time, even with a converter).
@Guitario The target audience for this is for people that don't want to go through the hassle of purchasing $400 worth of computer parts, assembling, configuring, downloading the correct bin/cue/chd/iso/rom files, and then buying a bunch of adapters for controllers just so they can have a weird-looking box on their TV stand with a bunch of wires running out of it every which way. No sense in comparing it to something like this, which is focused on ease-of-use an high-quality emulation.
@codyf It does support pre-patched games, but because the game isn't the original it won't allow you to install it as it doesn't match the database. If you want to install it, you need the Japanese original and then the patch, which you can apply using USB / Micro SD card.
@KevvyLava those are valid points, I never thought of the ease of access.. but if you're just emulating you could always go a cheaper route.
Setting it all up is part of the fun.
It's a niche market for sure, but I for one am looking forward to this. There is value in having your entire Saturn library loaded into a single HDMI box, with art and other useful info in an easy to use GUI. It's expandable, and does take away some of the minor irks of trying to run a game on the original hardware. Typically as you get older you have less time to play each day. Having to deal with the minor annoyances of set up can make you decide not to play a retro game, and instead just go back to a current consoles since it's much faster to jump in and play for a few minutes. This unit makes retro games easy to pull up and load, eliminating that barrier. Sure there are other emulation sources that allow you to quickly jump into a game, but they all require a lot of setup up front which, if you are interested in this unit, is the exact barrier you are looking to avoid.
All that, plus once this is hacked it's going to be ridiculous...
@Guitario The cheapest route is just to use your existing PC, but that doesn't solve needing to configure everything and get all the correct bin/cue files and all that. The Polymega is the easiest way to play CD-based games. The fact that it will play backups makes it even simpler. Emulating NES, SNES, Genesis, TG16, etc.? Yeah, that stuff is real easy. But these CD-based consoles are a huge pain in the ass, because you need the right bios files, RAM add-ons, and you have all these goofy files and stuff. I've done the Raspberry Pi stuff and it's just never as simple as people make it out to be. Try configuring multiple controllers for a Pi, then map all the buttons over manually when it's not recognized correctly. Even just getting a Bluetooth controller working on a computer is a hassle, because you need to check if you're on D-input, X-input, etc. Then all of a sudden AB and XY are reversed. The complications never end. Will it be enough to shoot Polymega to stardom, I dunno. But configuring a computer is not something even 1% of the population can do.
@Damo huh. That's a bummer. Its a shame you can't rename stuff to match the directory n all that jazz.
@KevvyLava
Ah, thank you for the clarification. I have not really studied the information but I am looking for a console that plays almost everything. No N64 is still an issue. Thanks again.
@Zidentia No problem. In their beta survey they sent out to people who pre-ordered, they were asking a lot about people's N64 collections, which is a good sign. In addition to that, they have stated via Twitter and on beta test live streams that they are looking into potentially creating modules for N64 and PSP, but haven't confirmed anything officially. In addition to that, they are having conversations with their CD-ROM drive manufacturing partner on the possibility of providing GD-ROM drives that could be purchased as an upgrade to provide Dreamcast support. But none of this is confirmed; it's just stuff that they're mulling around.
@KevvyLava
Ok, I will keep my eye on it ans wait for some time in the field first to see how it does.
Polymega must be kicking themselves for not making this a Saturn-only machine. So much has changed since this thing was announced, with FPGA cores for Sega CD, Turbografx CD, Super NES, etc. I still have my preorder but that beautiful frontend is becoming the only thing that’s special with this.
Well, Ive emulated all this stuff for years on my laptop connected to my giant tv and been happy. I guess if I intend to play Mike Tyson Punchout, I'll have to pony up the $400. But I think I'll just play it on my top loader instead. Except I hate that game.
LOL
Emulating debates. 🤣
I simply just buy the actual machines with cheaper price from 2nd handed market despite i will have a lot bulky things in my house, but it's okay for me.
I have PS2 Slim Japan + PS2 Fat USA so i can play 4 different PS1 & PS2 games by 2 machines. Add with my PS3 Slim Asia only for playing certain PS1 Japan games because PS3 was not a right machine to play DDR PS1 as the arrows move faster than the actual song, it completely ruined my timing.
I'm tempted, but I always think it is wise to skip the launch version of any hardware. They often have issues.
@carlos82 I cannot wait. To be able to play a few Japanese games with fan translations. I am there. Plus my Turbo CD collection
@SuperRetro64 they should be fine as beta units have been in the wild for sometime and updates have been applied based on their feedback
I want one. The problem is I own most of the mini consoles already and have played them to death. It would be nice to upgrade, but unless I can say hook up my turbografx 16 mini and transfer the roms I already own, it's a deal breaker for me.
Oh, that and I noticed Micro Mages wasn't in the data base.
@Grandiajet that would be awesome but let's not dream too much lol
@kurtasbestos If you're going to accept software emulation, then just mod a Genesis mini and put Sega CD and Genesis games on that.
@Beatley82 But it wouldn't be all-in-one!!! My TV doesn't have any open HDMI ports left, and if I'm too lazy to change discs then I'm certainly too lazy to swap cables.
“ 9GB pre-installed database which has cover art” - no copyright infringement?
@stevep They've licensed a lot of games. Licensing games is not expensive or hard, unless they belong to certain companies such as Nintendo.
@Galgomite It's not a Saturn-only machine, though? It runs PlayStation, NGCD, TG-16 CD / PC-Engine CD and Mega CD games.
I reaaaaaally, really want one, but that price is just out too far out of my reach at the moment, sadly. One day maybe. Great review overall but one thing I would have liked to see in the video was the visual filters used with the 3D games as well as the 2D example.
Good Lord that would be a fantastic console to own. Not for me, for a fair few reasons, but.....wow....
The price is a killer!
The console is amazing! I really want one
I hope they are working on N64 module as well.
This is the future of game preservation.
This runs burn discs and you know it will be hacked to load iso. Looking forward to that. I have a MiSTer for all the systems I want except Saturn and PS1 so I'll use Polymega for that. I don't have the money or inclination to bother collecting old games anymore.
Wait....£464.99
Holy Crap, and that's just the base unit without any modules?
Any then the modules are £109.99?
WOW... WHOS ON GLUE??
Wow, this can really do a lot. Base price seems fine to me, might be a problem with the cost of the add ons though.
So I can use the element module to install games onto the base unit.....and then I don’t need it anymore?!? That’s weird.
How did they get the licenses to all that cover art?
I would really love to pick one of these up, but like many others, the price point is a major issue. At his time, it's easier to adopt a frontend like Hyperspin on PC, not that I would condone doing such things =0p
I'm still extremely pleased with my hacked SNES Mini to be honest. I have controller extensions so I can very comfortably play sitting on my couch, along with the hack that lets me easily reset the machine via a simple button combo rather than having to go over to the machine to do so. The games look and run great on my 50" 4K TV. The menu is really nicely designed and simple and intuitive. I have a whole bunch of NES, SNES, Master System, Genesis, GB/GBC/GBA, PC Engine and Arcade (including Neo Geo) games on there (a little under 200 games in total). There's no worry about setting up online accounts or agreeing to EULAs or bothering with constant system patches and the like (other than some SNES games that I specifically patched to add the likes of English translations or to completely remove any slowdown the original versions suffered from). It's really a very tiny and neat package, other than the controller cords. It only cost me £80 (plus I think it was a fiver for the additional extension cords). And it's just great all round. Seriously, it's one of the most satisfying products I've owned in a long, long time, and it brings me no end of joy. The Polymega looks very cool for what it is, but I'm beyond happy with what I have with my awesome little SNES Mini.
I'm primarily interested in this for the Sega Saturn emulation so I can play the Shining Force 3 games patched for English.Being able to play other CD-based consoles is a nice bonus.
These retro boxes need to be including SD video-out options if they want to compete with the ease of PC emulation...
Yeah.......still not sold. That $400 is most certainly NOT a bargain if you still own all the consoles this thing supports, in working condition. Which, let's be fair here...most retro gamers already have, or at the very least, a Mini that substitutes for them, as well.
I will buy one if they add 3DO support... my 3DO died and I hear these consoles in particular are dying more than any other CD ones...so not sure bout buying another 3DO...
I'd love to see 3DO support as well. I never had the console as a kid, but playing it now is still something quite special. It's basically a snapshot in time of early 90's PC games, represented perfectly.
This will be pretty cool if 3rd-party publishers actually use it's virtual console mode to publish roms of their back catalogues (to any reasonably significant degree). And that's likely going to be influenced by the install base. But I can't recommend buying this just for the virtual console feature until we know how many companies opt into it.
Otherwise, it's use is only as good as your old cartridge/disk collection. Which in of themselves are only as good as they haven't degraded over too many years.
I only have a significant # of old cartridges/cd-roms/floppies from early Windows/Mac, N64, and Gameboy (well, and everything Nintendo since), so this wouldn't serve me without a significant # of legally-emulated titles built in (and my N64 and Gameboy carts aren't in the best of shape).
But for those who have taken good care of their large collection of old carts & disks, probably a must-buy if only for it's modern TV all-in-one connection (such a pain to keep swapping between devices and/or HDMI chords, let alone storing these old consoles that are likely falling apart faster than the carts are!).
No FPGA, no flashcart support and the price rule it out for me. I'm still glad it exists though and maybe down the line they will release something better (or drop the price).
Looks great, but the price puts me off. Also I own all the original tech, Retron 5, Retro trio 3, Raspberry pi setups which are fantastic. Pandoras box. So I'm covered really.
Yeah that's too expensive. It needs to be able to do a lot more than play retro games for that silly price.
It needs apps and browsers, possibly some other bells and whistles too.
Even then I still think it'll flop.
@Anyone at Nintendolife
Have you been able to physically open the machine and look at the internals? How does the build quality on the inside look?
Hi everyone!
I apologize if this is a dumb question, or if it has already been answered. Does anyone know of you still need the Element Module to play a game once you have installed it on the system? So, for example, if I buy the SNES module and then install Super Mario World, will I then need to attach the module to the system every time I want to play that game? Or could I then just play it off the main system? Thanks!
Does anyone know if the Polymega will work with the original NES PowerPad? I still have my original one & I think my son would love it.
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