Retro VGS, a new cartdirge-based console

[Asura]

nope they have to make exclusive games for it...and that is where i think the issue is. They need games to sell the system but i cannot see many developers wanting to invest time and money into something where the sales will be limited. Though if they were to make a system like the retron 5 but covers more systems and is better then i think they could be onto something

No way I'd develop new games for a system like the Retron 5. You're literally competing with the entire "golden age" of gaming.

[randombs]

It's OK, he's Indian. Like, super Indian. Look:

Lol cheers! Ahh, that thread was funny. I followed very little of the advice in there with great success

Back OT, I googled Pakistani Megadrive to prove my point but they seem to have actual Megadrives over there, which is ironic.

Even more OT, I wonder if they'll include emulation possibilities. They'd be mad not to. At least with the Ouya you have a regular Android device to play with. I'm assuming this device is also android/Linux-based?

[CMcK]

This Retro VGS is interesting but it does have it's work cut out to convince. It's the combination of FPGA based hardware and high overheads for the carts that could make developers think twice about it.
It looks like the hardware is freely configurable to make whatever style of game the developer wants. You could have a danmaku engine that can handle loads of sprites like Cave did with their arcade board. Or a developer could make a Super Scaler style implementation. Or a vector engine for some Tempest style action. But that is a lot more work on top of developing a game. It's likely that some peeps would chose to use an existing FPGA implementation of a known system, say the Amiga, and code to that specification. But why not just develop an Amiga game then?

The carts are a bit of an unknown too. I would imagine it will be a flash based cart which you reprogramme with your computer. And features some security measures to prevent piracy and the system itself being easily reconfigured to become an emulation device like a Retron. Manufacturing individual ROM carts sounds too expensive to be viable given the likely small number of carts to be made.

I would like to see this system succeed though. Seeing what bedroom coders are getting out of old hardware shows there is a lot of life left in old school games. And applying modern algorithms to 2d games for fancy effects and high quality sampled audio mixed with chip tunes is something I'm sure a lot of people would like to see.

[QualityChimp]

Done.

Awesome!

I know in a few years I won't remember the name of this console, but to find it, I'll remember to search the forum for "cartdirge"!

[randombs]

For the sake of my OCD, what was the original misspelling?

[briareos_kerensky]

For the sake of my OCD, what was the original misspelling?

Cartrdige. Or cartdrige. Or cartrigde.
And now I don't the correct spelling anymore. My OCD compels me to check.

[speedlolita]

This Retro VGS is interesting but it does have it's work cut out to convince. It's the combination of FPGA based hardware and high overheads for the carts that could make developers think twice about it.
It looks like the hardware is freely configurable to make whatever style of game the developer wants. You could have a danmaku engine that can handle loads of sprites like Cave did with their arcade board. Or a developer could make a Super Scaler style implementation. Or a vector engine for some Tempest style action. But that is a lot more work on top of developing a game. It's likely that some peeps would chose to use an existing FPGA implementation of a known system, say the Amiga, and code to that specification. But why not just develop an Amiga game then?

The carts are a bit of an unknown too. I would imagine it will be a flash based cart which you reprogramme with your computer. And features some security measures to prevent piracy and the system itself being easily reconfigured to become an emulation device like a Retron. Manufacturing individual ROM carts sounds too expensive to be viable given the likely small number of carts to be made.

I would like to see this system succeed though. Seeing what bedroom coders are getting out of old hardware shows there is a lot of life left in old school games. And applying modern algorithms to 2d games for fancy effects and high quality sampled audio mixed with chip tunes is something I'm sure a lot of people would like to see.

I'm confused by your take on this. This kind of thing is already being done in indie development, go look at PSN for tons of examples of this kind of thing already in practise. There's far more incentive to work with Sony on getting indie stuff on their platform than some new startup too. Can't see much coming from this myself.

[wakka]

They could've at least made the console look good, like the Analog Interactive stuff. I wonder if the cartridges will look like Jag ones too.

[randombs]

I'm confused by your take on this. This kind of thing is already being done in indie development, go look at PSN for tons of examples of this kind of thing already in practise. There's far more incentive to work with Sony on getting indie stuff on their platform than some new startup too. Can't see much coming from this myself.

Same here. What are the chances that much of what is produced for it will be worth owning the console for. Will collectors want it? I guess it'll become a collectors thing if it fails miserably.

[Neon Ignition]

Isn't this a little bit like the indies who occasionally still produce software on old but familiar hardware like Mega Drive or Dreamcast but expecting them to produce enough to sustain a format? Seems a really odd idea, I get the nostalgia what if angle but beyond that it feels really blatantly set to fail.

[speedlolita]

Where is the nostalgia factor coming from though? New, old style games don't provide any sense of nostalgia.

This will probably be less successful than the Ouya. lol

[Neon Ignition]

I think it's purely from the viewpoint of 'Wouldn't it be nice to have an old school 2D console release like we had back in the day' with little thought beyond that put into it.

[speedlolita]

Yeah, you're probably right.

My initial thought was something along the lines of a modern system with games being stored on SSD drives. Yeah, that's a good idea.

[CMcK]

I'm confused by your take on this. This kind of thing is already being done in indie development, go look at PSN for tons of examples of this kind of thing already in practise. There's far more incentive to work with Sony on getting indie stuff on their platform than some new startup too. Can't see much coming from this myself.

Given that the Retro VGS will likely be no more powerful than a Saturn for 2d I am just curious to see what can be done within a system of fixed capability not hampered by slow mass storage. 2d consoles were abandoned too quickly for the crummy 3d of the PlayStation era.
Plus instant loading and no patches is always something I look forward to when I fire up any older systems.

[briareos_kerensky]

The Retro VGS managed to collect little more than 60k USD in its Indiegogo campaign. The goal is a staggering 2 million USD and there are 35 days left.