Retro VGS Game Console

[BlueBMW]

I mean do they really want to equate their system to the toilet that was the Jaguar?

No, that was the Jaguar CD!

[Black Tiger]

I would post legimate questions, the kind that need answering most, but I know that they won't answer them or let them be visible to the public. What they're really asking for is for the already converted collectards to gush to one another about how amazingly collectible this fantasic new collectible product is.


"How long until we get to see more games ported over from other platforms? Will they be limited editions and what kinds of pre-order bonuses can we expect?"

"Can you please make cart label variants mandatory for all licensed games? Minimum of six please, ideally with a single holographic/iridescent/etc chase label."

"Please limit all game print runs to small numbers and only allow extra print runs with unique packaging which identifies which set a game is from".

"Will we get to buy limited edition systems painted to look like various Nintendo consoles? IE: NES edition, Famicom edition, Gamecube edition, Wii U edition, etc?"

"How did you manage to lure the biggest and brightest retro artists of the hot retro scene and are they as big of fans of the Retro VGS Games Console as we retro/8-bit collectors are?"

[Gredler]

Hate to be a boner killer here, but there is a reason why we don't see any new cartridge based system nowadays (unless you count the DS line). Wouldn't it be more economical to release them on a sd card or a variant of? Or CD based? I'm pretty sure if it gets the AES treatment ($200 per game yikes) it'll likely fail.. BTW, I'm still confused why they chose to use a shell of a failed system. I mean do they really want to equate their system to the toilet that was the Jaguar?

Is it not plausible that a single sd style card could hold a game, and if mounted into a large plastic cases - not unlike original NES carts were tiny pcbs in a large plastic case - this would be a more extreme hardware to plastic ratio. I imagine this could keep costs down if they used a standardized pcb that manufacturers are already making (sd card, etc).

Don't get me wrong, I don't think this thing will be successful enough to support its costs, but I imagine the cost of a sd'sh card in a larger plastic case would be the least of their financial hurdles in this endeavor.

[elmer]

What they're really asking for is for the already converted collectards to gush to one another about how amazingly collectible this fantasic new collectible product is.

Hahaha ... so very true!

That still seems to be the only reason for it's attempted-existence. 


But ... hey ... they've finally got a real hardware guy to work on the thing ... and he's actually trying to design something fun and interesting. 

To quote their FAQ ...

What’s going on under the hood?

Specifically, and at this current time, it’s an FPGA and ARM system. If a developer wants to make a Neo Geo game, they would include an HDL (Hardware Description Language) file that configures the FPGA to operate like a Neo Geo.
...
We'll be supplying the validated cores for developers to choose from and you don't have to know how to program an FPGA to make a game, it just gives us a lot of hardware flexibility, I didn't want to lock us in to a specific ASIC design.

So ... at this point they're talking about it being something like the MIST or the Turbo Chameleon 64, but in a Jaguar box.

Turbo Chameleon 64 (http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/Chameleon)

MIST (http://harbaum.org/till/mist/index.shtml)

That would be a really fun piece of hardware for a geek-developer to play with, particularly since it sounds like it would be based on one of the newer Altera Cyclone chips.

But it wouldn't make any commercial sense for a developer to waste time like that ... that's really hobbyist territory.

They've already mentioned raising the price from their original estimate (those FPGA chips are expensive), and I still see absolutely no commercial future for this as a game system, nor why anyone would buy it to play the games that they have announced.

It still stinks of being a crazy solution-looking-for-a-problem.

However ... if they do actually make the damned thing with specs like that, then I'll be very tempted to buy one, just to hack around with the hardware ... but I don't think that I'd ever buy any of their games.

[esteban]

Hate to be a boner killer here, but there is a reason why we don't see any new cartridge based system nowadays (unless you count the DS line). Wouldn't it be more economical to release them on a sd card or a variant of? Or CD based? I'm pretty sure if it gets the AES treatment ($200 per game yikes) it'll likely fail.. BTW, I'm still confused why they chose to use a shell of a failed system. I mean do they really want to equate their system to the toilet that was the Jaguar?

Supposedly, recycling the Jag mold cuts down on development and manufacturing hiccups (which would force further iterations of design and further prototyping of shell --> more $$$$).

I am the minority, but I think it is awesome that the Jaguar mold is being used.

The people who hate the Jaguar design are just haters.

The Genesis was an ugly wart, too, but that wouldn't stop me from appreciating it if it was reincarnated as a Blue-Ray player. YES, IT IS A NOVELTY, but that is the point, as far as I am concerned. Yes, I am intrigued by a Blue-Ray in a Genesis form factor. Total novelty. If it used the genuine molds of the Genesis, I'd feel it would be kinda neat (the FEKA LEGACY continues!)

Like I said, a novelty, but at least it is rooted in real video game history.

Also, co sided the alternative: a new, original design. Let's assume a modest budget for designing/prototyping new shell.


DO YOU REALLY THINK A NEW 2015 DESIGN WOULD BE INTERESTING? IT WOULD BE SHITE. LOOK AT ALL CONSUMER ELECTRONICS and consoles. Bland. Lame. Silly. Uninspired.

The Jaguar is far better than the bland shite you'd get today (remember, this kickstarter is on a budget, so the new shell design would be utilitarian at best, and ugly/impractical at worst).

JAG DESIGN:
It is meant to be a novelty, but the fact that it is not a reproduction, but the *actual* mold makes it seem more viscerally connected to a real piece of video game history (dare I say video game *infamy* ...which makes it EVEN BETTER).

BOTTOM LINE: I would not be surprised if the REAL MOTIVE  for using the Jag Design is to funnel money to the guy who owns the molds. I am not a scammer, but if I was, I can think of countless ways to structure a project where expenses seem 100% legit.

[BigusSchmuck]

Hate to be a boner killer here, but there is a reason why we don't see any new cartridge based system nowadays (unless you count the DS line). Wouldn't it be more economical to release them on a sd card or a variant of? Or CD based? I'm pretty sure if it gets the AES treatment ($200 per game yikes) it'll likely fail.. BTW, I'm still confused why they chose to use a shell of a failed system. I mean do they really want to equate their system to the toilet that was the Jaguar?

Supposedly, recycling the Jag mold cuts down on development and manufacturing hiccups (which would force further iterations of design and further prototyping of shell --> more $$$$).

I am the minority, but I think it is awesome that the Jaguar mold is being used.

The people who hate the Jaguar design are just haters.

The Genesis was an ugly wart, too, but that wouldn't stop me from appreciating it if it was reincarnated as a Blue-Ray player. YES, IT IS A NOVELTY, but that is the point, as far as I am concerned. Yes, I am intrigued by a Blue-Ray in a Genesis form factor. Total novelty. If it used the genuine molds of the Genesis, I'd feel it would be kinda neat (the FEKA LEGACY continues!)

Like I said, a novelty, but at least it is rooted in real video game history.

Also, co sided the alternative: a new, original design. Let's assume a modest budget for designing/prototyping new shell.


DO YOU REALLY THINK A NEW 2015 DESIGN WOULD BE INTERESTING? IT WOULD BE SHITE. LOOK AT ALL CONSUMER ELECTRONICS and consoles. Bland. Lame. Silly. Uninspired.

The Jaguar is far better than the bland shite you'd get today (remember, this kickstarter is on a budget, so the new shell design would be utilitarian at best, and ugly/impractical at worst).

JAG DESIGN:
It is meant to be a novelty, but the fact that it is not a reproduction, but the *actual* mold makes it seem more viscerally connected to a real piece of video game history (dare I say video game *infamy* ...which makes it EVEN BETTER).

BOTTOM LINE: I would not be surprised if the REAL MOTIVE  for using the Jag Design is to funnel money to the guy who owns the molds. I am not a scammer, but if I was, I can think of countless ways to structure a project where expenses seem 100% legit.

Makes sense as Atari tried to cut costs anyway possible. I dunno man, I'm not really sold on the whole thing. I think (as other stated in this thread) better energies can be spent on developing new games for old systems. To each his/her own I guess.

[SignOfZeta]

He bought the molds because he doesn't know what he's doing. If this product even launches (doubt it) I'm pretty sure he won't ultimately use those molds. If it does, I'm sure using the existing molds will only add to the cost/price when compared to designing from scratch. If it somehow turns out to be a huge hit (no way, just...no way) then the MkII ver will have a new case.

You simply don't design a new product by starting out with nothing more concrete and real than 25 year old molds for a massively failed product and then go from there. That just isn't how it's done. Only a total simpleton defines a "game system" by it's case design. I love good design, but when you are going to make something like a TV game machine the case design is one of the LEAST important things to consider, and usually one of the last things completed. It's usually outsourced completely.

When you don't know the exact CPU but someone already have molds for the cases, your hype mining colectardation couldn't be more glaringly obvious. The shit is upside down.

To address Esteban:

I agree that the Jag isn't bad looking at all. It looks great in white. The design itself isn't a problem.

The idea that any new design couldn't be good because all new industrial design is naff is just not true. It's true that new design is certainly lame in game consoles right now (PS2-4 all suck, every XBOX sucks, WiiU is least interesting Nintendo machine ever) but that's mostly to do with the way those companies work and the way that cost reduction is a massive priority right now. Everyone wants the cheapest stuff possible so the Apple TV, Roku, PSTV, and a million other products are all identical tiny cheap plastic bricks. When you are designing a product like what the VGS wants to be, you don't have those restrictions. People are wasting money on purpose on this, on principle, so there is money to hire good designers, use multiple materials and parts, etc. A new design could be just dandy, but I guess it's not important really since they are going with the "Worst game machine ever" vibe for some reason, and also it's never coming out anyway.

[Necromancer]

There's no shortage of existing cases that could be used.  Even if they went custom, the cost is negligible when spread out over the quantity of systems that will necessarily be built and sold for this to ever go anywhere.

The people who hate the Jaguar design are just haters.

I hate them using it for reasons other than aesthetics.  Even if it were a beautiful system, why copy the design of a failed system of which few retro gamer have fond memories?  It's just a poor choice, especially when your system has pretty much nothing in common in terms of capabilities other than 'plays games'.

The Genesis was an ugly wart, too, but that wouldn't stop me from appreciating it if it was reincarnated as a Blue-Ray player. YES, IT IS A NOVELTY, but that is the point, as far as I am concerned. Yes, I am intrigued by a Blue-Ray in a Genesis form factor. Total novelty. If it used the genuine molds of the Genesis, I'd feel it would be kinda neat (the FEKA LEGACY continues!)

This is a very different situation, where there's no pretense about its use being anything other than cashing in on people's nostalgia.  That's exactly what they're trying to do here, but again, who is nostalgic for Jags?


TL;DR - the only Jag design worth replicating with modern hardware is the E-Type. 

[wildfruit]

TL;DR - the only Jag design worth replicating with modern hardware is the E-Type. 

Y u no love F type?

[Necromancer]

Y u no love F type?

It's a very nice looking car, but you don't make replicas of brand new cars.

[MrBroadway]

TL;DR - the only Jag design worth replicating with modern hardware is the E-Type. 

Hellz yeah! That's my dream car right there. Screw the Aston Martin, Lamborghini, whatever else. E-Type was the very pinnacle of car types.

[Arkhan]

It's baffling.   Pier Solar and ROM are two titles coming to it.

They exist on Steam and crap.   Why do you need to buy this thing to play it?

You'd be buying a machine with an FPGA in it so you can play something that's cheaper/more accessible elsewhere.

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[Otaking]

I really like the idea of a modern yet retro console, with new 2D sprite based games and cartridges.
But with consoles I only ever really liked Japanese originated games, so instead if this idea was done by and supported by Japanese developers it would be awesome.
But saying that the guy behind it seems to have is heart in the right place, so I do hope it's a success but it's not for me.

[NightWolve]

I am the minority, but I think it is awesome that the Jaguar mold is being used.

The people who hate the Jaguar design are just haters.

I love esteban.  Top forum poster by far!

[esteban]

NightWolve: