I've decided to break down and get a Retron, as much as I love playing on my NES (and will still continue to do so) I don't want to hoard CRT's; so aside from an RGB mod I think the Retron is the way to go. I'm really in no hurry to get one at the moment. I wanted to ask yoru opinion on if a Retron 6 will be coming out anytime soon. I'd hate to get the Retron 5 for Christmas, only to find out that a #6 is slated to be released in 2016.  Thanks!

Given how long it took the Retron 5 to come out, I wouldn't worry about it. They did revise the Retron 5 a bit, so they might update the current one, but in terms of software compatibility and emulation, that can all be done by firmware upgrades to both versions.

I would be surprised if there's ever a Retron HD Emulator-style system again given the legal Hellstorm that followed this release.
Something like the Retron 5 can't exist unless the makers break the law, pretty much.

How about we get the Retron 5 done right before we worry about a Retron 6? Just like how why don't our local cable provider (Time Warner) get us more than 15-20ish HD channels before we worry about jumping into 3D or 4K or whatever

Is the Retron 5 a piece of crap? Should I just keep hoarding CRT's?

Aren't they getting sued for stealing code for the emulators?

Or did they settle that?

No it's not a piece of crap exactly...but don't expect it to totally replace the real consoles.  And unless you don't mind lag (I do) you still need a quality CRT.  You really do.

I freaking can't stand lag, makes a game unplayable IMO. I've got three back up CRT's, might get one more this year and hopefully that will last me a life time. It's a shame, the idea of the Retron is pretty cool. I was having an ethical dilemma with the thought of not playing on original harware, now I guess that dilemma is solved

Well, something you might want to think about aside from lag is that the Retron 5 can house save games that it imports from carts. It also lets you transfer saves from the Retron 5 to a cart. That way, if the battery ever runs out, you can replace it and not lose saves.

Also, for games that never had a save function but had high scores, the Retron 5 will save those even after you turn the console off and take the cart out. Next time you pop it in, you'll be beating your own scores, not the default ones.

I haven't noticed a whole heck of a lot of lag, but that can depend on a bunch of other things that people on this forum can go on at length about, but I don't have the expertise to do so. I'm also not a competitive gamer, so I might not notice it as much as others. I play a lot of SHMUPS, and I've never had much of a problem.

It's not particularly expensive, and I've enjoyed mine thoroughly. It's cheaper than any of the mods you'd have to do to get a marginally better picture out of original hardware. Oh, but keep your GBA or GBA player. GBA games look like garbage on the Retron 5.

If they include N64, I'll become interested.

Retron 5 would be much better if it didn't make you insert games pointlessly into it to serve as visual props. The only reason you should ever have to insert a game would be to read/write a save file to the cartridge (which I'm not even sure how well that works with it).

You should just be able to insert a SD card full of ROMS and play, not inserting carts as some form of pathetic copyright protection.

I guess I might be in the minority on this, but I don't see how long-term save data is that big of a deal.

You need a save for the duration of the time you're playing the game (plus maybe a few years in case you pick it back up to max out something you want to revisit)

Other than that, is it really necessary to have your save games last forever?

IMO, put the $150 you'd spend on a Retron5 into a SFF PC with usb controller, linux, & emulators. Hyperkin tried straddling the line between 3rd party console & emulator box with the Retron5 and it wound up getting the worst of both worlds.

I'll pretend you didn't suggest that. This emulation stuff seems like a slippery slope to playing games on a PC; it's making feel dirty and I'm sorry that I ever brought it up. I guess I didn't realize the Retro was basically an emulator.

Yeah, if you want cartridges, you really should go the whole distance and keep original hardware and a CRT around. A 20" CRT is very modest and very easy to transport by oneself. Not only that but your NES games will look better on a smaller TV anyway. Bigger is not always better.

Once you go with a RetroN5, it's really quite silly to restrict yourself with carts. The data inside the carts is exactly the same as ROMs you download online. They have to be the same, or online ROMs would be "bad dumps" and not work properly.

Some games, sure. But man stuff like Kirby's Nightmare in Dreamland and Metroid Fusion look damn good. 

(It appears games with lots of dithering are the ones that don't look very good).

I know this is a silly question, but how many CRT's do you think one should have that would last a life time. I'm using one right now, and have three in storage. Of course I know past usage of said TV's is always a factor. I just don't want to be the crazy guy with 10 used TVs in his attic.

Make sure you have one that you can swap capacitors on, and it gets you down to tube failures as the only other major thing that will go wrong, I think.

There are tons of arcade machines from the early 80's that have only ever been re-capped once and never had the tube changed and they work just fine.


CRTs have a lot of lifespan if you don't abuse them.

Come again? What do mean by capacitors and how do you check to make sure your CRT can swap one?

I suspect that newer TVs are going to be constructed in a way that it is almost impossible to swap capacitors on the main board, just as a function of modern circuit board manufacturing methods.

Older TVs are going to be constructed like arcade monitors, where the capacitors are through-hole soldered and can be desoldered and replaced when they go dry and cause the TV to die.



If you're not into that level of arcade maintenance, just keep a backstock of functional CRTs and you should be fine

You guys are way behind; everyone knows the Retron 9 is going to be amazing!

I wasn't thrilled with Metroid Fusion on the Retron 5. Everything looked blurred and smudged together, due to all of the shading. Having those gradients blown up onto my HDTV just looked off. 

I've had the best luck with games using crisp, vibrant  single-color(no gradients) sprites with solid black outlining, such as Advance Wars 1 and 2. Anything that uses a lot of shading and gradients looks like a blobby mess, in my opinion(GBA-wise).

Yeah, who would have thought a game made for a two inch screen would look like ass blown up to 50+ inches.

Well, but GB and GBC games look fantastic on it. Plus, all of the consoles it supports have siginficantly smaller resoltions than HD. 

Lol!

"Ma! I can see the pixels!"