You can say that $35 pi is the same thing as soon as it comes with a case, cartridge slot, cd-rom drive, controller, and works right out of the box without you having to f*ck around with it.
Yep, assuming that the POLYMEGA really does all they claim, and does it legally, I can certainly see some people buying it.
It doesn't make any sense to *me* why people would want to actually go out and buy real old physical games to run on a fake emulated console ... but to each his own.
I assume that their real plan is to be the middleman for digital sales of legal DRM-protected downloads of old games. That seems like the only thing that makes much sense to me.
Again, for people with no technical skills, but with a love for old games, I can see that that might work.
For as long as their POLYMEGA works without breaking, anyway.
That module system looks fragile, and those laptop CD drives don't exactly have a good rep for longevity.
Big manufacturers have large budgets, and teams or companies that they can go to for the experience of making solid consumer products that don't break.
These guys have a 3D printer and a history of software development.
Perhaps they've managed to team-up with someone reputable who has history ... that might change things.
But then, why run a crowdfunding campaign for initial sales?
I guess that we'll find out more during E3 next week. That seems likely to be when they plan their big <yawn> announcement.