Retro VGS Game Console

[Punch]

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 😵

LOL, almost no one will want to develop for the system, imagine if they actually restrict developers from developing games for the system with "licensing". Which I wouldn't doubt that could happen since the small amount of info about the console in public already points to a horribly mismanaged project full of wishful thinking.

[sirhcman]

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

The game looks like garbage

[esteban]

I'd play Tiny Knight based on the demo alone.

[TurboGrafx]

haters gonna hate, but I will probably get this.

[SignOfZeta]

You probably won't, since it probably won't ever come out.

[ProfessorProfessorson]

Looks like eurotrash.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I'd play Tiny Knight based on the demo alone.

As would I.  Personally, the only thing I know that bugs me, is the idea of it using Jag carts, I HATE those things!  I have all mine stacked....very carefully, with little guarantee that they'll stay that way.  A fly buzzing by would knock them off the shelf.  Yeah, I'm a Jag lover, I got's a weird fetish for it, probably since it's an underdog & failed, & just an oddball console in general, like the Gamate or Supervision.  That doesn't make it a great system, but I still enjoy it for whatever reason, but, the carts themselves........

[TurboGrafx]

You probably won't, since it probably won't ever come out.

That may be true, but if it is available I will give it a chance.

[Sarumaru]

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 😵

LOL, almost no one will want to develop for the system, imagine if they actually restrict developers from developing games for the system with "licensing". Which I wouldn't doubt that could happen since the small amount of info about the console in public already points to a horribly mismanaged project full of wishful thinking.

Yeah, pretty much.

[cr8zykuban0]

if anything they should have done a different case design.  things already dont look good for this system, more negative than positive news and thoughts but im curious to see more news about the retro vgs as time goes on

[SignOfZeta]

If anything they should have developed ANY FORM OF CIRCUTRY WHATSOEVER before wowing us all with a 20 year old case they can't use.

I guess to people who aren't involved in product development this announcement seems merely vague, but you don't design a game system with a pen. A "game system" is the CPU, the OS, maybe a unique input system, stuff like that. You don't try to blow people's minds with a drawing. That's totally ass backwards.

Also ass backwards, insisting that the system will be made in the U.S. and will cost less than $200 before you have any idea what's going inside of it. Game systems have been a China-only thing for so long now that you're going to have to blaze a few trails just too make one here again. I fully support this initiative but I don't think he knows...well, that it's no longer possible because we don't even make chips here anymore.

The issue isn't wether or not you support this game system. The issue is that it isn't a game system yet, and while it someday may be, virtually %0 of the work needed to make it one has been done yet. It's less real than the Phantom was because at least the Phantom had specs and sorta ran.

[Necromancer]

I'd guess their idea of "made in the usa" would be more like "final assembly", where a chinese made pcb (fully populated) would be inserted into their jagwire cases and packaged here.

added in edit: there's more chip manufacturing here than you think, including Intel, Global Foundaries, IBM, Texas Instruments, Freescale, and even Samsung.

[KingDrool]

It's less real than the Phantom was because at least the Phantom had specs and sorta ran.

Ha! I played the Phantom once at E3...for about thirty seconds before it blue-screened and I was shuffled away from the kiosk by one of their reps. Ah...good times.

[elmer]

As would I.  Personally, the only thing I know that bugs me, is the idea of it using Jag carts, I HATE those things!  I have all mine stacked....very carefully, with little guarantee that they'll stay that way.  A fly buzzing by would knock them off the shelf.

<engage full sarcasm>

Errr ... why would the Retro VGS cartridges fall over?

Won't they stack perfectly ... all nice and pristine, still sealed in their boxes ... right next to the sealed 1st-edition console.

Isn't that who this concept is aimed at?

<back to regular skepticism>

I'll be curious to see if these guys can actually pull-the-rabbit-out-of-the-hat and get the thing semi-designed before the KickStarter begging begins.

If they commercialized something like the MiST FPGA board, and so allowed developers to basically re-write the hardware on boot to customize their games (possibly from a library of different retro designs) ... then it could be an awesome system.

Unfortunately, that probably wouldn't be possible within the announced price range (given the cost of the 2 controllers that Mr Katz wants to buy from his buddies, and also the cost of the pack-in game(s) that he wants to buy from his other buddies).

More plausible is that they'd just use a nice-and-cheap Chinese Allwinner or Rockchip ARM SoC that's designed for Android.

If they want to ship the console without an OS, then you would just "boot" it up from cartridge straight into a game (well more like straight into a customized version of linux).

Would that appeal to people here? Basically an Ouya without the Android part and no online store?

I'd guess their idea of "made in the usa" would be more like "final assembly", where a chinese made pcb (fully populated) would be inserted into their jagwire cases and packaged here.

Haha ... you beat me to saying that! 

He'll just get the cases made by the same guy that ran off his recent test-run of the old molds.

After all, it's already clear that it's what is on the outside that matters most!

[elmer]

Doh ... I think that I just finally understood Micheal Katz's perspective and reasoning for the Retro VGS. 

The actual hardware that's inside the thing is totally irrelevant to his business plan.

He's selling the experience of owning big cartridges in big boxes ... with pretty manuals ... just like yesteryear.

It'll be a Chinese Android/media-playback SoC ... the reason that he's agonizing over whether to have NTSC or HDMI output is just a case of choosing which of the alternative chips he'll use.

Any of the recent ones will be able to do a decent 2D game ... which is what he wants ... so no need to pay for an expensive Nvidia Tegra (which would also have licensing restrictions on the graphics drivers).

The console will run a simple uBoot loader from internal flash/rom, which then loads the actual game/linux/whatever from a nice-and-cheap parallel flash chip in the cartridge. It'll be encrypted to discourage piracy.

Instant booting (to a logo screen), and no OS on the console.

If the cartridge contains a simple linux system, then it will run Unity on this kind of hardware, which will make modern indie "retro" developers happy.

Since the main board would be made in China, the choice of the jagwire case and cartridge could be as simple as a way to discourage cheap knock-off production.

If the whole thing is made in China ... then the factory just runs off an extra few thousand boards/cases and sells them online ... which takes away from his profit.

If he's the only one that has the mold for the cases/cartridges ... then it doesn't 100% guarantee to stop that, but it certainly does make it a lot more expensive for someone to do, and so unlikely to happen unless the Retro VGS is a huge success (in which case he's already got a lot of money and can afford to sue).