So, I bought a Retrogen...

[3vix6]

So, after looking at the cool Genesis clones on the internet I decided to get a Retrogen. It looked cool from the videos, even with the sound being a bit off..

What do you all think of the system? Any of you have one?

[TheMVRules]

Look at the Blaze Sega Retro thread if you want to know the problems and how it works.

[jlf65]

I've got a RetroGen... it's a nice little handheld. The music in MD games is lower pitched than it should be, but it's not intolerable to most people. It works decently with most games (there are a few emulator issues with a few games, but nothing I've run into myself). And it works with the MD-Pro flash card (got my MD-Pro 64 in my RetroGen right now! ).

I really like the LCD on the RetroGen. It's a nice display - fairly easy to read, which is good for us old-timers.

[TheMVRules]

Get a Nomad instead. Oh, I forget - it wastes battery quick!

The RG is the same as Blaze Sega Retro but with a older emulator. Same ARM.

The music is lowpitched because of the emulator using YM2203 frequencies instead of YM2612 frequencies.

[3vix6]

See, I always thought the Nomad was way too bulky, also the battery usage sucks on it though and I HATE buying batteries. :-)

I saw that there was the Genmobile available to buy, just both looked like almost the same units (minus the dpad and the installed games). Personally, I like having the actual cartridges or media when I play games, so the installed games really didn't matter.

Hey jlf65, what do you think of the dpad? I've heard mixed reviews about it.

I don't think I mind the music.. Infact all the videos I've seen of Sonic 2 "Chemical Plant" actually sounded better at the lower pitch!

Does anyone out there have a Genmobile?

[jlf65]

I like it pretty well. It's better for some games than others, but not bad overall. I've seen controllers that were far worse. Maybe not quite as good as a new Genesis controller, but not the POC some people like to rant about.

One guy over at SEGA-16 glued a stick to the dpad as he says that makes it much better for fighting games. Pretty funny.

I also have the GenMobile (I got both handhelds for testing purposes). The dpad is better and worse in a way: it's better in that it's more like a regular dpad people are used to, but worse in the it's split in half - the left and up are on the same piece of plastic, and the down and right are on a separate piece of plastic. That makes it harder for some folks to do diagonals across the split.

The LCD is smaller - small enough to make it hard to see details on many games.

The case is nicer - they clearly spent more money on it than the RetroGen.

Otherwise, they are identical and play games identically.

[TheMVRules]

Glued a stick?
Reminds me on the Mad Dogz Arcade stick for the 360. So crappy..

[Tom Maneiro]

ARM emulators on cheap shells MUST DIE. Seriously, ARM is everywhere, but i don't want on my Genesis, kthanxbai.

Why nobody bothers to make cheap true GOACs anymore?

A question: Is the RetroGen better than, let's say, the Radica?

[TheMVRules]

It's cheaper to use an ARM than using MDoaC's.

The Radica was atleast on a MDoaC.

But you can't compare them, Retrogen is handheld, Radica is not.

[jlf65]

I've got the Red Radica as well. It is definitely better since it's not an emulation - no slowdowns in the games, only minor problems with the sound (the sound is nearly all correct, but a few odd sounds some games use for instruments or sfx don't quite work right meaning it doesn't handle some of the odd quirks the YM2612 had that some games count on).

The main problems with the Radica are no cart slot, and not portable. However, the main board is just a tiny thing, and you can hack a cart slot onto it as shown in the page here. Maybe at some point, I'll buy another RetroGen and replace the AoC guts with the Radica. That would be an awesome project.

[TheMVRules]

But both has some compatibility issues, Radica with S&K for an example, and I doubt that Wily Wars would work with any of them.

[oompa loompa]

Jun 6, 2010 12:43:59 GMT -5 Tom Maneiro said:

ARM emulators on cheap shells MUST DIE. Seriously, ARM is everywhere, but i don't want on my Genesis, kthanxbai.

Why nobody bothers to make cheap true GOACs anymore?

A question: Is the RetroGen better than, let's say, the Radica?

Dingoo A320

It uses a MIPS CPU architecture I think

[3vix6]

It's mips based.. It's an Ingenic jz4732. Still, same same.. It's still a Mips.

Cool little unit by the way (The Dingoo), I was never impressed with the development tools for the main OS, but it's still cool none the less.


Anyway, my Retrogen came.. Freaking sweet! I've been showing it off to other retro gamers.
Very impressed by the screen, but not so much by the sound (There are times where the music makes me cringe). Other than that, it works great!


Question.. Does anyone know if this works with the Everdrive?

[jlf65]

Jun 12, 2010 21:32:00 GMT -5 3vix6 said:

Anyway, my Retrogen came.. Freaking sweet! I've been showing it off to other retro gamers.
Very impressed by the screen, but not so much by the sound (There are times where the music makes me cringe). Other than that, it works great!

Yeah, sometimes the music is tolerable, and sometimes it's cringe-worthy. ;D

Question.. Does anyone know if this works with the Everdrive?

It does not. The Everdrive-MD isn't recognized at all - the RetroGen goes straight to it's menu of built-in games when the Everdrive is inserted. It's like it's not there at all.

[3vix6]

Well.. Krap.. That's half the reason that I bought it!

I was hoping that I could do development on the road because I'm gone alot from my apartment. (I travel alot for work)

Oh, well.. It's proven to be a very cool unit none the less. ;-)