Hyperkin has developed a reputation for modern takes on legendary game consoles that are often better than the real thing. If true, its just-unveiled Retron 5 is a nostalgia singularity. The hardware emulator can use its namesake five cartridge slots to play original games from no less than nine vintage consoles, including the Genesis(Megadrive), NES (Famicom), SNES (Super Famicom) and GameBoys from the original through to the GameBoy Advance. It keeps going: there's a custom Bluetooth controller that can handle every system, mix-and-match original controller support, save states and upscaling for both video (to 720p, through HDMI) as well as audio. While we'll have to see just how well the Retron 5 works whenever it exists as more than a conceptual graphic, that opportunity may come quickly when Hyperkin is tentatively shooting for a July release at less than $100. About all that's left for a follow-up Retron are Jaguar and Turbografx 16 slots -- pretty please?

http://hyperkin.com/

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Hyperkin's new RetroN 4 console is designed to play NES, SNES, Genesis, and Game Boy Advance cartridges. It's compatible with both PAL and NTSC formats, has dedicated controller ports for NES, SNES, and Genesis controllers (and uses its own Bluetooth controller), and uses HDMI output. A special UI built into the console allows users to reassign buttons, among other things.

More details about the console will be revealed at the Midwest Gaming Classic in Brookfield, Wisconsin on March 23. That includes pictures of the device.

Who ever thought you could get away with announcing a new console, the fourth in its series, with details of its functionality but no pictures of the console itself? Honestly.

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/05/re...gba-over-hdmi/ ...

A geek friend of mine has just had this brought for him for Xmas and my jaw dropped, The Retroduo Portable has slots for the original carts, no need for emulation, your playing the real thing, the handheld plays Snes, Nes or even Sega Megadrive Carts and has an 8 hour battery life, heres a few of the specs:

The RetroDuo Portable is a finely made hand held gaming system. It allows you to play 16-bit SNES games and 8-bit NES games. The specifications are:
- Reinforced Cartridge

- Multi-player capabilities with two controllers

- Stand up your RPD or use it like a Handheld console

- Compatible with most 16-bit SNES games

- Compatible with most 16-Genesis games with the RetroGen Adapter (sold separately)

- Up to 8 Hours of uninterrupted gameplay with the Dual Capacity Lithium-Ion Battery

- Works with most Televisions

- Light-weight and Travel-friendly
Inside a freshly bought RetroDuo Portable package you will receive:
- Retro Duo Portable x 1

- SuperRetro Controller x 2

- Stand-up Dock x 1

- AC Power Adapter x 1

- AV Cable x 1

- Dual Capacity Lithium-Ion Battery x 1


Now if you partner this console with either a Neoflash Snes Cart or Neoflash Megadrive Cart then you have the ultimate console that can play perfectly just about any Snes/Megadrive or Nes Game, bloody mouthwatering ...

Last month, [Lee] sent in a build where he connected an Arduino Mega to an old Sega Genesis/Megadrive cartridge. He’s figured out how to read the contents of the cartridge now, allowing you to preserve your 100% complete Sonic & Knuckles / Sonic 3 save for time immemorial.

http://hackaday.com/2012/08/15/hacka...ugust-15-2012/ ...

There are masochists, and then there are masochists. We'd have to put French hackers Dyak and Furrtek in the latter category. The two ingenious and self destructive modders tweaked the beloved Sega Genesisto send signals to a pair of controllers any time the player takes damage. That signal doesn't produce rumbles or blinking lights, however, it's passed through a port to a shock collar meant for dogs. That's right, every time you get hit, you get zapped. The jolt of electricity you receive is hardly deadly, but it's certainly not pleasant, as you can tell from the barrage of obscenities bleeped out of the above video. The hack isn't exactly easy but, if you're bold, and don't mind a bit of pain, you'll find full details of the mod at the source link.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/03/f...nesis-let-obs/ ...

Golden Axe is great, and the Sonic 3/Sonic and Knuckles combo is one of the highest works of art from the 16-bit era, but for those of us without a working Genesis or Megadrive, we’ve had to make due with the ROMs others provide. [Lee] figured out an easy way to read the data off these old Sega cartridges using easily scavenged parts and an Arduino Mega, paving the way for an Arduino-based ROM dumper.
The connector on the bottom of a Sega Genesis cartridge has a 2×32 pinout, normally requiring 64 connections to actually read the card. These connectors aren’t readily available, but [Lee] did manage to find a few 2×31 pin connectors lying around in the form of old ISA sockets. The outer pins of a Genesis cart are used for grounds and a ‘cartridge insert’ slot, and after filing away the end of an old ISA connector, [Lee] found he could actually read the data on these old game cartridges.
There are 49 data and address pins on these old Sega carts, so an Arduino Mega needed to be brought into the mix to actually read some of the data on the ROM chip. As of now, [Lee] can read data from the cart but has only gotten so far as to read the licensing data stored at 0×80. Still, very cool and the first step towards an Arduinofied Sega cart dumper.

http://hackaday.com/2012/07/24/readi...-a-breadboard/ ...

Sega and Nike have teamed up for one of the cleverer bits of video games cross promotion MCV has seen in a while.
The TV short, called My Time Is Now, was aired during Chelsea’s famous Champions League victory over Bayern Munich in Germany on Saturday night. It features a plethora of the sport’s biggest names including Ronaldo, Snejder, Neymar, Pique, Blanc, Wilshere, Van Der Vaart, Ozil and Ribery.
View the video online, however, and a tasty little extra awaits the eagle-eyed.
Look out for the appearance of a large white and red Nike football boot on the advertising hoardings around ¾ of the way through the video. If you’re quick enough to click on that then a special mini-game called Sonic x Vapor appears.
The game is an endless runner set in the classic Green Hill level of Sonic the Hedgehog 1, except with the added addition of Nike Mercurial boot sponsorship.
Indeed, Sonic’s custom sprite for the game is wearing a pair himself.
Try out the game for yourself here.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/nike-...ic-game/096370 ...

Yuji Naka may not have the same name recognition these days as Shigeru Miyamoto or Hideo Kojima, but he's absolutely one of the pillars of Japanese video game development. If it weren't for Naka-san's efforts in creating Sonic the Hedgehog and leading Sonic Team, our generation would never have witnessed the glorious Nintendo vs. Sega rivalry, which ultimately produced many brilliant games on both sides.
In March of 2006, Naka-san eventually decided to test the development waters with his own studio, Prope. He was actually the last member of the core creative team that created Sonic to leave Sega, which may explain the decline of the franchise (but we'll get to that later).
In this exclusive, GamesIndustry International had a rare opportunity to speak with the legend about a variety of topics.
We started by asking him about his legacy, which he actually found to be a somewhat strange query.
"Being asked about 'Yuji Naka's legacy' is a little odd since I'm still actively creating games. When I finally retire from making games, I assume people will decide what my lasting 'legacy' will be at that point… though I think it will probably be Sonic," he said.
He then reflected on some of the critically acclaimed games he designed: "It's been 28 years since I started developing games, and during that span I've brought a lot of products into this world. Out of those titles Sonic is the one that is the most remembered, but Phantasy Star Online, an online game put out on a family-oriented game console, had a lot of hardships during development but I think we were able to release a really good and advanced product at the time. Perhaps just barely being able to release it within the end of the 20th century has something to do with why I feel so strongly about that game."
"I think even moderately raising the difficulty level [of Sonic games] in the future could work well"
Yuji Naka

"The arcade game Samba de Amigo also stands out because the player uses their entire body to move and have fun. Using the newest cutting-edge technology to create a simple and just plain stupid innocent fun game was rewarding."
Given that the last several years of Sonic gaming have been mostly sub-par (by Sega's own admission), we couldn't resist the opportunity to pick Naka-san's brain about what's gone wrong with the cherished franchise he started. Ironically, the explosion of the games industry in the last couple decades could have something to do with it, as more and more companies are trying to appeal to the mainstream - and that may not have been the best approach for Sonic.
The original Sonic creators on Sonic's 20th anniversary: Yuji Naka, Naoto Ōshima (center), and Hirokazu Yasuhara

"I also think that recent iterations have not been as fun when compared to those of the past," Naka-san agreed, proceeding to explain what Sega has done wrong: "I think the number one reason for this is that the games have become much easier, so the gamer doesn't feel that extreme joy that comes with the satisfaction of accomplishing something that was very difficult to achieve."
He continued, "Today's games are created to appeal to as wide of an audience as possible, so that's why the difficulty levels are so low in order to have both experienced and non-experienced gamers be able to play them. Sonic has a very simple control scheme that is capable of doing a lot of advanced things while sprinting at a high speed, that's what makes it a good game in my opinion. I think even moderately raising the difficulty level in the future could work well."
It's been years since we've seen a rivalry as fierce as Nintendo vs. Sega in the 16-bit days. It's an era that brings a huge grin to the faces of most people in this editor's generation. Naka-san admitted to us that he'd sort of like to see Mario and Sonic continue to be adversaries: "Thinking back to the rivalry between Sonic and Mario back in those days brings back some fond memories. It was based on each of them running on different hardware and which one was better, which made for a great rivalry. I would like for Sonic and Mario to keep up that rivalry relationship long into the foreseeable future."
Of course, we all know that's not happening now that Sega's no longer a hardware manufacturer and Sonic's already appeared with Mario in a few games. Naka-san did express his wish to possibly one day breathe new life into Sonic again, or into one of his other fan favorites like Nights. "Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to do so but perhaps at some point in the future if I could come back and contribute, that could be fun and gratifying," he remarked. Are you listening, Sega?
So what's Naka-san's focus in 2012? Not surprisingly, like many veterans of this business he's moved to social and mobile experiences. He sees "the recent surge in smartphones [as] having a huge impact on console games. It's something that should be monitored carefully moving [into the] future."
That said, there's still very much a place in his heart for huge triple-A games.
"Actually, when Prope was originally ...