Retro VGS Game Console

[glazball]

Zeta and Lukester, neither one of you know what will or will not be coming out on this machine, IF it does happen.  And no, the launch lineup is laughable.  But so was the Wii U and it's turned out to be a wonderful system imo.

I'm willing to give the RVGS a chance.  I'd love a return to physical media.  Why did Ark release Atlantean on card?  He didn't have to.  I'm sure it was a ton of work for a small niche audience.  But it's an audience that includes me and I treasure it.  Perhaps the RVGS can work a similar magic.

First, he needs to show a working prototype before he gets any monetary support from me.  As someone else on another forum pointed out, Kickstarter requires as much for hardware.  Second, price is a major concern.

I don't mind being called an idiot.  It's a pretty idiotic idea, I'm quite aware of that.  Vinyl lovers still have their vinyl because the small minority spoke with their money over the years, and perhaps us cart lovers can do the same.

[SignOfZeta]

The problem is that to you a game system is a series of shrinkwraped cardboard boxes and the shape of the controller. If you had any understanding of product design whatsoever you'd know that making a game machine is not just way more complex than that, the whole association with carts or Jaguar shells is completely upside down. It's like someone said they were going to design a race car and the only details set in stone are that it has to have red wheels and an organic leather steering wheel.

Again, neither pro, nor con, neither makes sense. There is no system to be pro or con about.

And comparing it to the WiiU? Come on. Do you have any sense of scale? Nintendo probably put a million man hours into the WiiU before they even told us it existed. This is a guy caught thinking out loud and has been bullshitting his way forward with a sliver of an idea because he's too scared to put the brakes on the whole thing.

[GreatBlueSwirlof99]

I'm not judging it yet, haven't seen or played it yet, and it might be cool! (I guess)

[elmer]

I don't mind being called an idiot.  It's a pretty idiotic idea, I'm quite aware of that.  Vinyl lovers still have their vinyl because the small minority spoke with their money over the years, and perhaps us cart lovers can do the same.

I find it quite possible to believe that the RETRO VGS (as it is currently configured) might indeed survive for a short while as a boutique platform for "vanity" publishing.

If an "indie" developer does well with a game on Steam/PS4/Xbone/iPhone ... then 12-18 months later, when the user base has finally got them to fix all the major bugs, they might feel flushed with success and decide that it would be "cool" to have a physical cart ... if the process is made easy for them.

But if you're expecting developers to actually really "target" the RETRO VGS, then you've just got to look at what's out there to get an idea of the costs of catering to a small audience.

Take a look at what the NG:DEV team has done in making new carts for the Neo Geo. Great work ... but $400-$550 per cart really limits the people that can afford it.

If that future appeals to you ... go for it!

But if you're listening to the stoners and somehow expecting a flood a high quality sequels to classic 16-bit games ... then you're deluding yourself.

[SignOfZeta]

There is no reason to compare what NG:DEV does with this thing. Yes their Geo carts are hundreds of dollars, but their Dreamcast ports are like $60 because that's the production cost difference between CD-ROM and carts build of mutiple 24 pin ROMs when you start talking about games that big, much bigger than any cart SNK ever made, IIRC.

And frankly, if there was a snowball's chance in hell that the VGS would get even a single title as interesting as something from NG:DEV (who's games aren't even that great) even if it were $400, the system would be much more appealing. I don't see anything like that happening though. I think something along the lines of "Amiga demo scene" or "15 year old version of MAME" is the best possibly likely scenario.

[lukester]

Zeta, believe it or not this thing is getting support from NG.Dev.Team.

Which games? I have no idea.

[elmer]

There is no reason to compare what NG:DEV does with this thing. Yes their Geo carts are hundreds of dollars, but their Dreamcast ports are like $60 because that's the production cost difference between CD-ROM and carts build of mutiple 24 pin ROMs when you start talking about games that big, much bigger than any cart SNK ever made, IIRC.

Sure, the cart costs are huge, but IIRC, they're basing their business on Neo Geo sales, and the Dreamcast releases are secondary. $60 for a CD is still a nice profit-margin after the COGs.

I'd expect any RETRO VGS prices to be higher in order to cover the higher COGs, and Mike Kennedy's "licensing" fees.

And frankly, if there was a snowball's chance in hell that the VGS would get even a single title as interesting as something from NG:DEV (who's games aren't even that great) even if it were $400, the system would be much more appealing. I don't see anything like that happening though.

Actually, they're one of the teams that I can see supporting the RETRO VGS.

They own their games, those games are already working on "old" hardware, there's no need to get any Unity licensing sorted-out, and so it's just a case of striking the right business deal ... and apparently they've already been talking together.

The ARM chip in the RETRO VGS should run a Neo Geo emulator quite nicely.

So IMHO, it'll just be a case of Mike Kennedy funneling enough of the Kickstarter funds in their direction as a Development Partner to make it worth their while.

[SignOfZeta]

Do we have any solid info on the NG:Dev thing? I ask because that would be a huge deal.

[lukester]

Do we have any solid info on the NG:Dev thing? I ask because that would be a huge deal.

Obviously they can't reveal specifics yet, but on their facebook page...

"NG:DEV.TEAM contacted us about developing games for the RETRO VGS! Yes, that get's us EXCITED! And it should get YOU excited too!"

https://www.facebook.com/RETROVGS/posts/831382946930977

In addition, NG.Dev.Team liked the Retro VGS facebook page, as well as Marvelous (who owns the Data East catalog), and DotEMU, who made those R-Type ports for Android and iOS.

[Black Tiger]

NGDev have already said that they aren't doing anymore DC ports. If the allow any of their games to be put on this thing, they will only do it themselves if enough collectards buy enough other games first and then likely only if licensing fees are waived. The most likely scenario is the RetroVGS team doing a kickstarter to buy the rights to port one of the DC ports. There's no way NGDev is going to make anything new for the VGS. The fact that it's 75% shovelware already makes it all the more unattractive to publishers and game players. That's why my emtpy carts packed in shiny sealed boxes scheme is much more appealing to everyone.

[SignOfZeta]

Do we have any solid info on the NG:Dev thing? I ask because that would be a huge deal.

Obviously they can't reveal specifics yet, but on their facebook page...

"NG:DEV.TEAM contacted us about developing games for the RETRO VGS! Yes, that get's us EXCITED! And it should get YOU excited too!"

https://www.facebook.com/RETROVGS/posts/831382946930977

In addition, NG.Dev.Team liked the Retro VGS facebook page, as well as Marvelous (who owns the Data East catalog), and DotEMU, who made those R-Type ports for Android and iOS.

Hmm, that's not very impressive.

[ProfessorProfessorson]

Yeah no one has actually announced anything. Liking someones FB page doesn't mean development deals are happening, especially on an unproven system not even launched yet, with no consumer base in place. Indi developers need a system to already have a consumer base in place to make sure what they make will bring in cash. Really all that is going on right now is a lot of spin to try to drum up interest.

[wildfruit]

I thought the Wii u launch line up was quite good and varied.

[ClodBuster]

You know it's retro if it is spelled RETRO with capital letters.

[lukester]

Do we have any solid info on the NG:Dev thing? I ask because that would be a huge deal.

Obviously they can't reveal specifics yet, but on their facebook page...

"NG:DEV.TEAM contacted us about developing games for the RETRO VGS! Yes, that get's us EXCITED! And it should get YOU excited too!"

https://www.facebook.com/RETROVGS/posts/831382946930977

In addition, NG.Dev.Team liked the Retro VGS facebook page, as well as Marvelous (who owns the Data East catalog), and DotEMU, who made those R-Type ports for Android and iOS.

Hmm, that's not very impressive.

It's now official.

Gunlord coming to Retro VGS...Last Hope Pink Bullets will come out later too.

https://www.facebook.com/RETROVGS?fref=ts