RetroN 5 $129.99 with free shipping @ ThinkGeek - The RetroN 5 deals thread

Drclaw411

Drclaw411

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CURRENT DEALS:

$129.99 with free shipping at ThinkGeek


Important Information
​Warranty registration - http://www.retron5.com/warrantyregistration_/
Patch Notes / How to Update (Last update 6/10/2014) - http://retron5.in/?src=98f13708210194c475687be6106a3b84

I've included the text from the pre-order era of this OP in spoilers for reference.
UPDATE 5/27/14: It's real this time. Hyperkin's June 6 release date is happening. Many mom and pop stores that have received their units have started selling them already, and many people who have ordered from Amazon (myself included) are reporting getting emails from Amazon notifying them that their orders qualify for release day delivery and are updating estimated delivery status to June 6th, no longer showing the "we need more time" placeholder. It's worth noting that so far only people who have ordered the grey unit from Amazon are receiving order updates (which coincides with Hyperkin reporting on their facebook page that they had shipped Amazon's grey preorder units, but Amazon had yet to place an order for the black units). All consoles that have been shown off online by reviewers, people who have been able to buy them before the street date, or Hyperkin themselves have all been grey consoles to this point. No word on black consoles. Another note: Chris Gallizzi of Hyperkin responded to an inquiry about Newegg orders by saying that he is not aware of any issues with Newegg's preorders, and they should be good to go for the launch.

UPDATE 5/22/14: Just one day after IGN and Polygon reported that Hyperkin would begin shipping units to retailers on May 22 (today as of this writing), Hyperkin essentially confirmed that. They have announced that the launch date for the long overdue RetroN 5 is June 6th, 2014. In a much quieter fashion (just by responding to a random person's comment) they confirmed this would be for North America only and that the console would launch in the UK in September. There is also one more small hitch. The rumor that the first batch of units would be only for mom/pop B&M retailers and that NO units from this batch would go to Amazon or Newegg has been gaining some serious steam. While Hyperkin has been responding to a decent amount of comments on their facebook page from excited fans, they continue to ignore questions about when Amazon orders will ship. So it seems those of us who preordered on Amazon still don't have a solid release date. Fulfillment could happen any time between June 6th through September or beyond.

UPDATE 5/21/14: IGN today reported that the RetroN 5 would begin shipping out on May 22 (tomorrow, as of this writing)! This coincides with Chris Gazzilli, Hyperkin's project manager, posting a picture on his facebook page of a massive shipping container full of RetroN 5 units. Ladies and Gentlemen, it seems hell may have just frozen over.

UPDATE 5/13/14: Hyperkin has listed the RetroN 5, and it's controllers, on their company wholesale store for authorized retailers to buy. The console (both colors) and controllers (both colors) are listed as sold out. I'm not sure if they were in stock and sold out quickly, or if they haven't been made available yet. Regardless, it's good news that the system is listed for the first time ever. Additionally, reviewers such as GameSpot and several youtube reviewers have received their review units, which appear to be retail units. The RetroN 5 seems to finally be around the corner. We'll see, but things look promising right now. One thing to note: the listing for the console on Hyperkin's wholesale page indicates that each wholesale box contains six units. If this is the case, it would seem to debunk the previous report of the console being shipped in quantities of four per retailer.

UPDATE 4/25/14: While this hasn't technically been confirmed by Hyperkin, I take it as fact. It's worth remembering that NOTHING has been officially confirmed by Hyperkin. Hyperkin has remained silent until unofficially confirming almost all known info in random interviews with various youtubers and forum members. Therefor, again, I take this as fact:

I spoke to Hyperkin today.

Here are the "unofficial" details.

The "end of May" release is a "soft" release. Meaning they really are waiting for the next batch due in the summer for the official real release. Amazon is NOT getting any of the units released at the end of May. Each retailer is only getting 4 units. Retail on the unit is $139.99 and $39.99 for the additional controller. The reasons for the price increase are both cosmetic and technical but if it works as it should then it should be a great retro system.

Our 4 are already taken with pre-orders. If you know any stores locally that are getting units, and you want one for end of May, then i suggest you contact them and put money down. Keep in mind that each store is getting 4 units only for the soft launch.
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UPDATE 4/17/14: Hyperkin has increased the price of the RetroN 5, saying "north of $100, between $129.99 and $149.99". Alll pre-orders from Amazon should be honored via their pre-order price guarantee. I believe Newegg has the same guarantee, I am not sure about Stone Age Gamer or 8 Bit Classics. Think Geek still hasn't opened pre-orders on the unit, instead offering a link to be signed up for email notifications as to when it will be available. Also on the Amazon front, they have sold out or pre-orders. Furthermore, it is more likely you'll learn the ETA from Amazon, Newegg, or whoever you ordered it from. Hyperkin has gone on record of saying they will never again announce a hard release date for anything.

UPDATE 4/12/14: After Hyperkin denied the console was delayed again and vigoruosuly shoved the month of April up everyone's ass for half a year, today they delayed the vaporware console yet again. At the Midwest Gaming Classic, they did their annual presentation. They ignored the planned April 2014 release, but finally somebody in the crowd asked about it. The Hyperkin rep said it was releasing in "30 days, guaranteed". This is not the first time they used the word "guaranteed", last time was about April so this doesn't mean jack shit. So maybe it'll randomly show up at people's houses at the end of may, maybe it wont, and maybe my ass will fly out of my ass.

Retron 5 Delay History:
-Summer 2013 (which they continued to say after summer was over, claiming they meant "Indian Summer" or "California Summer"....i'm not making this up)
-December 10 2013
-Quarter 1 2014
-Quarter 2 2014
-First two weeks of April
-April 2014, guaranteed
-Gauranteed within 30-40 days of April 12, 2014
-June 6 2014

DELAYED. ANY UPDATES FROM HYPERKIN WILL COME ON THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/HyperkinGames

UPDATE: In a recent interview, Hyperkin confirmed that the initial batch of units WILL NOT BE ENOUGH to meet day ome demand. Also confirmed was the ability for the system to act as a multitap. Example: in a four player SNES game, two players could use snes controlles, one player could use the retron controller, and one player could use a genesis controller. Interview can be found here.


Pre-order at Amazon (SOLD OUT)
Pre-order at Newegg: Black (SOLD OUT) or Grey (SOLD OUT)
Pre-order at Stone Age Gamer (DUE TO HIGH DEMAND, RELEASE DAY DELIVERY NOT PROMISED)
Pre-order at 8 Bit Classics (DUE TO HIGH DEMAND, RELEASE DAY DELIVERY NOT PROMISED)





UPDATE: Hyperkin claims that they opened up some packaged retail units and discovered some units had faulty pins. because of this, the Retron 5 has been delayed. No new release date has been announced, although Hyperkin has stated the unit will release in 2014 and that they are aiming for Q1. This is the Retron 5's third delay.

EDIT: Preorders are sold out at Amazon and Newegg.

Retron5 pre-orders have finally (about damn time) opened.

For those of you who have been following this console, you know it's quite highly anticipated and looks to be far better than any clone system released before.

For those unfamiliar, here's a little info:

  • It's one system that plays games for the following systems: NES, SNES, Genesis, Mega Drive, Famicom, Super Famicom, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance.
  • Two controller ports for each console will be built in with the system. It will also come with one wireless universal controller.
  • Outputs in HDMI and upscales for HDTVs. Early impressions and videos of this have been extremley postive. From the website: "The RetroN 5 will up convert the video signal to show clearer and cleaner images, with vibrant colors on an HDTV with a resolution output of up to 720p through the use of shaders. You will also be able to select the aspect ratio in our GUI, from the standard 4:3 to the HD ratio of 16:9."
  • Features a user interface (dashboard. Somewhat similar of the PS3 interface in appearance, in my opinion).
  • Features save states. From the website: "Most games did not allow for you to freely save your games. The RetroN 5 will allow you to save their games at any point during gameplay, and will feature an autosave feature upon shutdown. You will be able to load your saves at anytime during gameplay."
  • Button reassignment supported. From the website: "Users will be able to program the controller to assign buttons to their preference. In turn, the RetroN 5 will save these custom layouts, so that users will not have to constantly reconfigure the button configuration. This feature will also be available to people wanting to remap their buttons on their original controllers."
  • 100% game cartridge compatibility, without lag.
  • Sega Power Base Converter compatible, allowing Sega Master System games to be played.
More information is here. It may be a bit dated since this was from back when they first announced the console, but I figured it was the best site to link since it also featured some screenshots as well. http://hyperkin.com/blog/2013/03/retron-5-details-revealed-from-the-midwest-gaming-classic/ There is also plenty of info on Hyperkin's facebook page.

I've been looking forward to this for a long time, and i'm extremley excited that pre-orders are finally open. For one console that not only plays all of these console's games, but upscales them and features save states (either to the cartridge (if supported) or the console itself)...this seems like a great deal. And if you've been following the hype for the console, there is a good chance it could end up selling out. Hyperkin isn't a huge company and this thing has a TON of pre-release demand (just check out the comments on the facebook page). I like the look of the black one a bit better, because it seems to be the traditional console color nowadays. But I opted for the grey model because the black console and controller seem like they'd be fingerprint magnets.

Preorder either color here at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hyperkin-RetroN-Gaming-Not-Machine-Specific/dp/B00DZIX3CQ/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1378958043&sr=8-13&keywords=retron+5 or here at Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=retron%205&N=-1&isNodeId=1&RandomID=65244712392254220130925161655

Here are pictures of the two consoles, since the pictures on Amazon aren't that great:

Grey:
Retron-5.jpg


Black:
e3_retron5_03550.jpg

 
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"Calling all trolls! Come take your "constructive" comments and say it to our faces. Ask everything you ever wanted to ask; we dare you to ask for a release date. Take a picture with our red hippo. Talk smack on high school students while begging for a RetroN 5. Play us in a round of retro gaming - just don't be a noob. But above all else, give yourself a reason to come out of that garage or your mom's basement. Oh, and please, take a shower first."

Looks like Hyperkin is getting a tad butthurt lol

http://hyperkin.com/showlist
 
Drclaw411 said:
"Calling all trolls! Come take your "constructive" comments and say it to our faces. Ask everything you ever wanted to ask; we dare you to ask for a release date. Take a picture with our red hippo. Talk smack on high school students while begging for a RetroN 5. Play us in a round of retro gaming - just don't be a noob. But above all else, give yourself a reason to come out of that garage or your mom's basement. Oh, and please, take a shower first."

Looks like Hyperkin is getting a tad butthurt lol

http://hyperkin.com/showlist
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Wow...

 
It gets people talking about going to the events though.  Plus it's trolling the trolls.  Always funny when people on forums do it, but if a company says something, buuuuuuuuuuutthurt.

 
It is super unprofessional though. They announced a date and haven't come up close to meeting it. Calling people trolls for being upset about that does not look good. I personally don't care, but putting something like that on the sight has got to make one question whoever is in charge.
 
Twitter said:
So will this play roms and stuff or only cartridges?

I preordered but have doubt that itll be worth it
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This will only play carts.

However, this runs on a modified version Android OS (like Ouya) and has a USB port and a SD card slot, which is making some think the system might be hackable. However, I don't think it's been confirmed if access to the USB/SD are blocked to end users.

 
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Vinny said:
This will only play carts.

However, this runs on a modified version Android OS (like Ouya) and has a USB port and a SD card slot, which is making some think the system might be hackable. However, I don't think it's been confirmed if access to the USB/SD are blocked to end users.
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I expect it to be hackable, Hyperkin is just smart enough not to go around promoting that. Just like they've been pretty silent on the subject of repros, but I suspect that any well done repro will play fine too.

 
Blumpkin said:
I expect it to be hackable, Hyperkin is just smart enough not to go around promoting that. Just like they've been pretty silent on the subject of repros, but I suspect that any well done repro will play fine too.
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From what I've gathered, I'm pretty sure Hyperkin left 'the back door ajar' :evil:

 
So question: if my GBA cart already has a save on it, can I load it on this thing? Or does it only do the save anywhere feature like roms?

 
The longer it takes to release, the more Gathr and Bing Amazon GC's I can apply to it.  Take your time Hyperkin, I should have this paid off in 2 months.

 
Twitter said:
So question: if my GBA cart already has a save on it, can I load it on this thing? Or does it only do the save anywhere feature like roms?
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Do you mean the normal save state (saves to continue from if you turn off the system) or quick save (long term pause when the system goes to sleep)?

Normal saves will work fine, because those are saved on the cartridge itself.

I don't think quick saves will work but this system is basically an emulator, so it'll have it's own save system that'll let you save anywhere.

 
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Vinny said:
Do you mean the normal save state (saves to continue from if you turn off the system) or quick save (long term pause when the system goes to sleep)?

Normal saves will work fine, because those are saved on the cartridge itself.

I don't think quick saves will work but this system is basically an emulator, so it'll have it's own save system that'll let you save anywhere.
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Normal save. So that's cool.

Still undecided about this console. I don't own any games for any of the consoles except GBC & GBA. I used to as a kid so I'd be getting it more of a nostalgia thing but I don't know. WHY R U GUYS BUYING IT.

 
Twitter said:
So question: if my GBA cart already has a save on it, can I load it on this thing? Or does it only do the save anywhere feature like roms?
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They mentioned on one of the last videos they did that the system can import saves from carts and upload saves to carts, though not the quick saves where the system takes a snap shot of exactly where you are and suspends play (like on the PSP).

Twitter said:
Still undecided about this console. I don't own any games for any of the consoles except GBC & GBA. I used to as a kid so I'd be getting it more of a nostalgia thing but I don't know. WHY R U GUYS BUYING IT.
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I'm buying it because:

1.)suspend saves (so that maybe I can finally beat the speeder bike stage of battletoads) and the batteries in the carts are dead.

2.)built in HDMI scaler (since fewer and fewer tvs are coming out of SD connections and SD looks like crap on HD TVs)

3.)I still have all my NES, SNES, Genesis, GB, etc. carts.

4.)Built in game genie

 
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I posted my retro game collection a few pages back but now I have all of my retro games are packed up which may make me want to wait on this for a little while. No use having this if I don't have my collection around me. Hyperkin also seems to be getting cheeky with their release data drama. Watch April 30th hit and we'll probably hear nothing back from them. 

As for having one, guardian_owl's reasons match my own. Although I beat the Battletoads speed bike level. But after I mastered the level, I came back to it last year only to keep on dying on the jumps on that level (apparently if you jump pressing the button in a certain way, you fall off the side of level, even if you were going to make the jump... that game is just evil).

 
It's my earliest memory of rage quiting, I bought the game from a grocery store previous rental, died over and over and over and over and over on that 3rd level and then finally had to take it back and return it for a refund. Such a shame too as friends would always have fun playing coop for the first 2 levels.

 
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guardian_owl said:
It's my earliest memory of rage quiting, I bought the game from a grocery store previous rental, died over and over and over and over and over on that 3rd level and then finally had to take it back and return it for a refund. Such a shame too as friends would always have fun playing coop for the first 2 levels.
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The 2nd level is where things usually fall apart. I've always told my friends to "I DO LEFT, YOU DO RIGHT. DO NOT GO ON MY SIDE." Then once the electric guys start coming up I always accidentally do the bell move into my friends... then the game over screen hits for player 2. Restart level. =|

 
Twitter said:
WHY R U GUYS BUYING IT.
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I'm buying the Retron because I want to be able to play all the classics on an HD TV and not have tons of consoles cluttering up the living room. I'm also excited about being able to play all my GBA games on a big screen. I know you could do that with GameCube but I never bought one. I'm pretty sure my wife will get a kick out of playing Super Mario World again and my nephew will have some alternatives to playing Rayman.

 
I beat T2: The Arcade Game without continuing, and MegaMan 2 without taking damage.

....those are the pinnacle of my gamedom :)
 
As we get closer and closer to the RetroN5 release
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At least he's optimistic in that article.

Some of his questions should of been a little obvious just by looking at the slot on the Retron. If it could fit in the Game Boy, it will likely fit in the Retron too. I remember trying the GB Camera & Kirby Tilt N' Tumble and both worked fine in the GB Player. As for the Gamesharks, I've owned all of them from every Game Boy era and unless the system is running emulation which it supposedly isn't then it should work . Same with the few games that had rumble built in.

The Famicom Disk question was probably the only worthwhile question. I'm waiting for people to ask for Game Boy Printer support.

 
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At this rate, with the constant RetroN delays, I think it'd be best for them just to hold off a few more years and implement PS2 compatibility. As for Game Boy Printer support, I figured that was a no brainer. How else will I get my full usage out of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe for the GBC?

Seriously though, I'm excited for this system, but I have a feeling we're still in for a bit of a wait.  

 
SolidSnake86 said:
At this rate, with the constant RetroN delays, I think it'd be best for them just to hold off a few more years and implement PS2 compatibility. As for Game Boy Printer support, I figured that was a no brainer. How else will I get my full usage out of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe for the GBC?

Seriously though, I'm excited for this system, but I have a feeling we're still in for a bit of a wait.
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How long do they have to wait before doing this? Isn't there like some sort of 20-year legal wait? I wouldn't tell them to hold off until 2020, but PS1/Saturn/N64 playback would be good

 
bonesawisready said:
How long do they have to wait before doing this? Isn't there like some sort of 20-year legal wait? I wouldn't tell them to hold off until 2020, but PS1/Saturn/N64 playback would be good
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So add another cartridge slot and a disc drive? The unit might start to get a little ridiculous looking.

 
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sirdan357 said:
So add another cartridge slot and a disc drive? The unit might start to get a little ridiculous looking.
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Ha. I highly doubt they'll add moving parts to a clone system. I would think cheaply build cd drives would still break faster than most of the cart based clones. Would be nothing but headaches.

 
Ideally they make use of the usb drive and firmware.

USB expansions that include a box that has controller ports and cart slot to expand to N64.

New firmware will update to support this.

 
One51 said:
Ha. I highly doubt they'll add moving parts to a clone system. I would think cheaply build cd drives would still break faster than most of the cart based clones. Would be nothing but headaches.
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Yes. I'm already worried about the Retron 5 being chintzy with no moving parts. I can't imagine the level of chintziness a system with an optical drive would have! I would rather work with disc images myself, but that would certainly bring legal issues.

 
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Brachabre said:
Yes. I'm already worried about the Retron 5 being chintzy with no moving parts. I can't imagine the level of chintziness a system with an optical drive would have! I would rather work with disc images myself.
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I don't think that would fly. The whole point of the Retron5 is that it provides the ability to play original copies. A system that ran disc images would be completely redundant.

I do think that a disc-based retro clone is possible, but I don't think it's a good idea to fuse it together with a cartridge-focused system. I would prefer to see it spun off into its own separate system. If nothing else, an optical-focused system would have to provide ports for numerous different memory cards. (a regular staple of optical systems) Better to let it be its own thing. A retro system with slots for tons of cartridges as well as five or six different types of memory cards would be insane.

 
Let the retro game inflation and price gauging begin. Nightmare on Elm Street is now floating above $20 should have jumped on it early when it was cheaper.

 
mrx001 said:
Let the retro game inflation and price gauging begin. Nightmare on Elm Street is now floating above $20 should have jumped on it early when it was cheaper.
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I just picked up Jetsons Cogswell's Caper for NES for $60 a few days ago in good condition. I wouldn't say all the prices are rising. Just keep watching and you can pick up what you want for the price you want. Prices fluctuate all the time.

 
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