Retro VGS Game Console

[esteban]

Dan, my friend, you have endured your first brouhaha here. Welcome to the forums.

[TurboGrafx]

There is a video from gamester81 on youtube that shows some gameplay. I am definitely intrigued by it.

[esadajr]

Tiny Knight adv looks promising.

[Lost Monkey]

Tiny Knight adv looks promising.

It does - I just wish they would drop the Jaguar case...

[NightWolve]

Then there is the stigma of having your brand new machine look exactly like one of the shittiest excuses for a console to ever be built, which is considerable. It's not that the Jag shape is bad or anything, in fact it looks great in alternate colors, but a pragmatically thinking person would have to wonder why you, as a console manufacturer, would be cool with reminding people about the Jag with your new machine. It's quite likely that this guy ACTUALLY THINKS THE JAG WAS GOOD, and do you want to buy a machine from a maniac like that?

ROFLMAO! I have to hand it to ya, quite honestly, I don't think I've ever run into someone better at sarcasm than you.

So, I just learned about these plans for such a console via PD's late-to-the-party thread and think I'll just leave Zeta's quote to also pretty much speak for my opinion on it. That is all.

[Lost Monkey]

Then there is the stigma of having your brand new machine look exactly like one of the shittiest excuses for a console to ever be built, which is considerable. It's not that the Jag shape is bad or anything, in fact it looks great in alternate colors, but a pragmatically thinking person would have to wonder why you, as a console manufacturer, would be cool with reminding people about the Jag with your new machine. It's quite likely that this guy ACTUALLY THINKS THE JAG WAS GOOD, and do you want to buy a machine from a maniac like that?

ROFLMAO! I have to hand it to ya, quite honestly, I don't think I've ever run into someone better at sarcasm than you.

So, I just learned about these plans for such a console via PD's late-to-the-party thread and think I'll just leave Zeta's quote to also pretty much speak for my opinion on it. That is all.

Sarcastic or not - he speaks the truth.  The biggest reason I have for doubting these guys is the looming specter of the Jaguar fan-base.  It reeks of failure and disillusion.

We don't need another "Uncle Rico" console.

[elmer]

There is a video from gamester81 on youtube that shows some gameplay. I am definitely intrigued by it.

Just watched it ... so once again, you've got a developer with a financial interest (he's doing the pack-in game) creating a promo/sales video.

Still no real details, but the graphics on Tiny Knight looked approximately like what he said ... SNES-ish. Not actually great quality SNES, maybe more Amiga (they even included Amiga-style tracker music).

I'm going to channel Arkhan here, and say that Tiny Knight itself looked like a low-quality game-school-project Western wannabe copy of a Japanese game.

In the meantime, there are a bunch of responses from people that want 32-bit games, and others that want online capability, and others that want HDMI output, etc. So it's a very divided set of potential customers. Sure, with a high enough spec, you can please them all ... but then what's "retro" about it? At that point you've just got a modern console doing simple low-resolution games. Ouya or PlayStation TV anyone?

I still don't get it ... but it will probably get funded by the clueless-masses, they'll release it (it will be a Raspberry-Pi-clone in a jag-wire case), and then there will be half-a-dozen crappy games before the whole thing collapses.

[KingDrool]

I'm just catching up on this today. I don't want to dump on it, but my first thought was if you want to go back to the days of cartridge-based consoles, you can! Right now! Because those consoles still exist! It's not as though every SNES, Genesis, whatever-the-hell you're trying to emulate has been rounded up and thrown in a New Mexico landfill. They exist! People still own them! And, as a matter of fact, new "clone" versions of those consoles seem to be released every single year, incrementally increasing the user base. So why not make a clone system and put your resources into making games for that system? Especially since there's a relatively active homebrew community for nearly every retro console in existence.

Sure, it's a nice dream. But why reinvent the wheel?

EDIT: Oh, and using the Jag mold is a terrible, terrible idea. It's an immediate albatross. Spend the money. Do it right. Like Zeta said: if you're going to go through all this trouble, don't make people associate your product with the shittiest console ever made.

[MotherGunner]

Then there is the stigma of having your brand new machine look exactly like one of the shittiest excuses for a console to ever be built, which is considerable. It's not that the Jag shape is bad or anything, in fact it looks great in alternate colors, but a pragmatically thinking person would have to wonder why you, as a console manufacturer, would be cool with reminding people about the Jag with your new machine. It's quite likely that this guy ACTUALLY THINKS THE JAG WAS GOOD, and do you want to buy a machine from a maniac like that?

ROFLMAO! I have to hand it to ya, quite honestly, I don't think I've ever run into someone better at sarcasm than you.

So, I just learned about these plans for such a console via PD's late-to-the-party thread and think I'll just leave Zeta's quote to also pretty much speak for my opinion on it. That is all.

Sarcastic or not - he speaks the truth.  The biggest reason I have for doubting these guys is the looming specter of the Jaguar fan-base.  It reeks of failure and disillusion.

We don't need another "Uncle Rico" console.

Dude, you made my day!!

[esadajr]

Tiny Knight adv looks promising.

It does - I just wish they would drop the Jaguar case...

Who knows, maybe someone will fit it into a custom case

[Sarumaru]

With as little information there is about this system, I'm going to go ahead and just say that everything about this looks terrible. The case, the name, the demo game.. all of it. Cost effective or not, modeling its case after a failed system is a no-no. People will make associations regardless, not everyone will exercise logic and see it as an entirely new console. Also, entirely new console makes it a NEW CONSOLE. There's nothing retro about that. Why even call it Retro Video Game System? I would've  called it something like 2D Gamestation or whatever else (assuming it's internals are meant for 2D, we're all speculating because the info provided thus far is very vague).

I am not against projects like this, my only gripe is that they are using Kickstarter to fund it. And though there's nothing wrong with that in itself, many retro hopefuls will buy into this idea and it will likely get funded and if it fails shortly after, who cares! They got it funded and made theirs. Just seems   sketchy with the what little info is available to the public and what seems like a lot of indecisiveness on their part (whatever the hell this companies name is). Their intent may have been to hype this project to the public, but with what little is known about this project it will only result in a lot of skepticism and will smell of scam until more solid plans are presented.

[Arkhan]

I'm going to channel Arkhan here, and say that Tiny Knight itself looked like a low-quality game-school-project Western wannabe copy of a Japanese game.

Lets not leave out that the controller looks like an inbred trainwreck.   Were the prototypes just SNES controllers hot glued to Jaguar controllers?

The whole thing is just dumb.   We've already got people making games for their respective consoles, targeted at the fanbase for that machine.  Trying to channel them all into one modern place already happened too.

It's called a computer.   Plug your favorite controller in, go on Steam, and download all the 8/16 bit inspired games.

Those are the people that will likely make games for this thing.   

The Ouya is already an abysmal joke.  This isn't going to be any different. 

This is just someone trying to cash in on the ongoing retro gaming craze because they think they know better, or have some insider info that will make their idea work better than others.   

It's not like they're going to make anything as good at the PCE, anyway.

[esteban]

I'm sticking with my original thoughts:

(1) The fact that this is a Jaguar console/cartridge mold DOES NOT MATTER.

JEEZUS, if anything, it helps...it is a hilarious conversation starter, for example. I love the Jaguar-cum-Pheonix narrative: if it is a success, awesome—the curse of Jaguar is broken! Miracle! If it fails, that's what we expected, anyway—curse of the Jaguar killed it.

(2) The licensing structure and fees (who can make cartridges?) is terribly important. This goes hand-in-hand with developer relations...


(3) What incentive is there for developers to support this new platform?

(4) damn, people.

[wildfruit]

Waiting to see how long an unlicensed game takes to appear. I hope its codemasters doing micro machines like they did to Nintendo. Or dizzy 😵

[Lost Monkey]

We don't need another "Uncle Rico" console.

Dude, you made my day!!

Yeah, those guys are gonna be making some sweet moolah.