What Do People Think Of The Evercade?

[Dogg Thang]

you end up with a library of curiosities not classics.

This is definitely true. I kind of like it for that, admittedly. But you're also right that the "which version is it?" thing has been a big issue. On several occassions, carts have the worst possible version of a game included.

[fuse]

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There's your confirmation that the first Giga Cart is Tomb Raider Collection 1 (Tomb Raider 1-3) and that is what's being bundled with the VS-R and EXP-R.

[Baseley09]

Think it's a reasonable coup for them having a tomb raider pack in, but echoing the above someone like me should be all over this system but tbh I don't see what I would play on it that I don't have elsewhere

[QualityChimp]

Yeah, I'm exactly the same, Base-o.

I really want to get behind the Evercade as an official way to play retro titles in a licensed way, and I love the way you can play one cart on either the console or handheld, however remain underwhelmed with these minimal releases.

3 Tomb Raiders in one disc is a step in the right direction, but realistically I'd probably play the original or Anniversary or Remastered or even one of the reboots.

Is it still just the games or have they started making their releases more like the Museum titles we mentioned at the start of this thread?

[Lebowski]

Just games, it all very bare bones. The Hyper Mega Tech handheld they did is a cheap way into the system, and comes with some of the best games on the system, things like Puzzle bobble Newzeland Story, Rastan and Space invaders on the Taito one and, games like Strider, Final Fight, street fighter 2, and Mercs on the Capcom version. it's a real shame the only way to get these games is via the mini handheld and not on cart as the Mega Tech doesn't have HDMI out or wifi with it being a cheap 40-50 console. Some of the Capcom games are not well suited to the console either 1942 has big black bars to keep the aspect ratio of the original game.

[fuse]

Currently teasing an announcement for next Thursday.

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Given what they've already announced very recently, if I was a betting man, I'd say it'll be an arcade stick.

[Dogg Thang]

They said there was more new hardware coming in November. Seems odd to announce new hardware even before the next iterations have been released and I can't imagine what they could offer, unless they're planning a real premium offering version just of the handheld and console.

[fuse]

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https://evercade.co.uk/alpha/ (this does not seem to be live yet...)

[Dogg Thang]

I don’t quite have a sense of scale but the cart slots are making me think this is very small.

[Baseley09]

Groan, tbh think ive seen enough of these type of products now.

[Yakumo]

Same old **** with the same licensed games. Yawn feast for sure.

[Dogg Thang]

I guess the difference here is that you can play any of the Evercade carts on them too.

[QualityChimp]

As someone who doesn't have, but would like a bartop machine, I find this appealing, but am scared of what the price will be.
EDIT: Watched the vid. £199 isn't unreasonable if it's a good stick and buttons.

In other Evercade news:

https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/05/blaze-confirms-one-million-evercade-cartridge-milestone-ex-eidos-boss-joins-as-chairman

"Blaze has confirmed that it has sold one million Evercade cartridges since the platform launched back in 2020.

"This milestone has been achieved thanks to the continued growth of the Evercade platform, the quality of retro and indie game licences, and the recent hardware launches from both Evercade and the HyperMegaTech! brands encouraging sales," says the company in a press release published today.

"The figure represents a massive milestone for Blaze as an independent UK company, highlighting that the demand for titles that helped form the video games industry - from early adopters to much younger players - and new modern-retro indie games is strong, especially with the collectability of Evercade’s physical cartridges echoing an era of tremendous growth and popularity in interactive entertainment."

There's more good news, too – the recently-announced Tomb Raider Collection 1 has become the "fastest-selling cartridge in Evercade’s five-year history."

Finally, there's the confirmation that games industry veteran Dominic Wheatley has joined Blaze as Chairman:
"Wheatley is best known as the co-founder and CEO of games publisher Eidos, launching the incredibly successful Tomb Raider and Championship Manager franchises," says Blaze. "He took over as CEO of the Catalis Group in 2012, building it up to over 2,300 staff across multiple countries. He is now a Director of the Catalis Group, which includes indie game publisher Curve Games and outsource service provider Testronic."

Wheatley will join CEO Andrew Byatt and the wider Blaze Entertainment team to "help the company grow into new markets."

Here's what the vet had to say about the announcement:
"When I was introduced to the Blaze team and found what they had created I was so impressed. The design and power of the hardware and the slate of games they had managed to licence already was awesome. I got down on my knees and began to pray. When they asked me to join them I was like ‘Hell yeah!”"

Blaze is launching the Evercade EXP-R and Evercade VS-R later this year, as well as the as-yet-unannounced Alpha system."

Side note, the bloke on the right is my friend's friend!