What goes into creating cloned retro hardware?

[MotherGunner]

Hi Guys, aside from the obvious (which is money), does anyone know why/how some companies are able to create retro hardware?

I am curious as to why no one has done this for TG/TE - PCE/GT?

I mean there is only so many times you can "repair" something before it's rendered useless right?

Discuss.

[Duo_R]

I was just thinking about this the other day I think the low user base is why no one has created on. I would love a Turbografx on a chip! :-)

[mac]

It would be great to get a Retro re-release of the Duo. Arcade card, HDMI output and wireless controllers would be sweet.

[Black Tiger]

A cheap Wii with Mednafen is much better than any crappy emu on a chip in an empty shell, like typical modern clones. A dedicated clone would likely retail for more as well.

[mac]

A dedicated clone would likely retail for more as well.

Which would be fine by me. As good as Mednafen on the Wii is nothing beats using the real hardware imo.

The very reasons you mentioned is why the Neo-Geo redo was so lame imo, if it was real hardware capable of playing the real Deal would have been worth it or more.

One thing is for sure...Retro or Collector gamers will pay for a quality product.

[Necromancer]

Which would be fine by me. As good as Mednafen on the Wii is nothing beats using the real hardware imo.

But cloned hardware isn't real hardware, but rather a collection of parts to emulate original hardware.  The only things they have going for them are the ability to use original games and original controllers, which don't mean much to me, as there's nuttin' wrong with flashcarts and there's room for improvement on the controllers (especially if you want wireless).

[mac]

Understand those retro Snes, Genesis systems are horrible.  But who would not pay 200 bucks for real hardware that is modernized just slightly ? Better controllers, HDTV support being just a sample.

[SignOfZeta]

It would be pretty hard to beat a hacked Wii and a PVM.

There is no substitute for real hardware though, I agree, which is why I use real hardware on real CRTs. When you're want to play unobtainablly rare games or fan translations use flash carts and CDRs.

If you want something in between, like something with dedicated or repoped chips, real cart slots, and such...it's never going to happen, and if it did there would be so many ways for it to go wrong it's not even funny.

Something that could actually be built and would actually be helpful for the community would be a flash drive for the CDROM2 side of things. A way to play ISOs off sold state media. I don't see any reason why I couldn't keep a Core system going for the rest of my life, but those CDROM2 drives...I'm not sure what that's going to be like in another decade or two.

[mac]

Looking through Twitter today and came across a link to this thing.







http://hyperkin.com/blog/2013/03/retron-5-details-revealed-from-the-midwest-gaming-classic/

If the emulation is up to snuff and the hardware not junk it could be interesting.

[Arkhan]

lol.  5$ says the HDMI output sucks monkey balls.

[mac]

lol.  5$ says the HDMI output sucks monkey balls.

probably, but you can beat your ass the controller will.

[FiftyQuid]

So do you pronounce it RE-tron or the RET-ron?  Another debate for another thread.

No Turbo love again.   

[gameofyou]

Hi Guys, aside from the obvious (which is money), does anyone know why/how some companies are able to create retro hardware?

Discuss.

I think there are 2 main methods.  1) you can design a system with a powerful CPU, and have it run emulation software.  Or 2) you can reproduce the original hardware inside an FPGA chip.

[Tatsujin]

So do you pronounce it RE-tron or the RET-ron?  Another debate for another thread.

I pronounce it FAIL-tron

[mac]

Hi Guys, aside from the obvious (which is money), does anyone know why/how some companies are able to create retro hardware?

Discuss.

I think there are 2 main methods.  1) you can design a system with a powerful CPU, and have it run emulation software.  Or 2) you can reproduce the original hardware inside an FPGA chip.

System on a chip ?