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

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$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.
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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Make sure everyone who orders from Amazon checks the email and clicks the link to approve them holding the order. If you dont they will cancel it in Feb.

 
I wish hyperkin would just announce a date. "Q1 2014" is all they will give. I'm guessing that it will silently release sometime between March and September
 
While I wouldn't consider the Retron 5 vaporware just yet IMO, Hyperkin is definitely guilty of major preannouncing/hype tactics to gain a high demand/following and a resurgent interest in retro game collecting/culture by having all their "delays" news headlines posted on the gaming blogosphere/review sites...

 
While I wouldn't consider the Retron 5 vaporware just yet IMO, Hyperkin is definitely guilty of major preannouncing/hype tactics to gain a high demand/following and a resurgent interest in retro game collecting/culture by having all their "delays" news headlines posted on the gaming blogosphere/review sites...
It looked like those "delays" were legit and needed. Either way I'm okay with waiting to spend a hundred bucks and it gives me time to get all my games in order.

 
I have no doubt that the Retron 5 will be released, and I seriously doubt that the delays are on purpose. My only question is when?

 
I see this as vaporware until proven existent.
If you're in Sacramento, you can go to the SacAnime Convention this weekend at the Sacramento Convention Center and see it in action. The thing exists, they're just having production problems. To me it seems like this is the first time they've had this much interest in a product and they've just not been able to handle it.

 
It takes a small company a while to produce something, not factoring in problems like pins.  No reason to call it vaporware or talk trash about the company.

 
Hyperkin is definitely guilty of major preannouncing/hype tactics to gain a high demand/following and a resurgent interest in retro game collecting/culture by having all their "delays" news headlines posted on the gaming blogosphere/review sites...
Yeah, I'm sure that they are excited as all get out to not have cash coming in. Companies want products out as soon as possible to reduce losses & risk. Your theory would be the worst idea possible for a small company.
 
Yeah, I'm sure that they are excited as all get out to not have cash coming in. Companies want products out as soon as possible to reduce losses & risk. Your theory would be the worst idea possible for a small company.
Fair enough.

 
[quote name="Brachabre" post="11415406" timestamp="1388817866"]While I wouldn't consider the Retron 5 vaporware just yet IMO, Hyperkin is definitely guilty of major preannouncing/hype tactics to gain a high demand/following and a resurgent interest in retro game collecting/culture by having all their "delays" news headlines posted on the gaming blogosphere/review sites...[/quote]

So my question would then become what the hell would be the point of hyping up a product after you stop preselling it? Shame on them for hyping a product they aren't even trying to sell, right? Come on, think for a minute. Obviously they stopped taking preorders because they are having legitimate difficulties producing the product. All the hype produced at this point is simply fan fueled anticipation not the fault of Hyperkin. Everyone needs to just relax and let them get it worked out.
 
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I'm amazed at the people who really thought this would ship this month. The dates were probably ranged thanks to the units that Hyperkin may of promised Amazon.

That aside, just looking at these recent posts, I feel like everyone is repeating the same three topics in the thread.

1. It's never coming out because ________.

2. When is it coming out?

3. Does it work? (or variations such as what consoles it plays or what games it can/cannot play)

The above three questions have been answered numerous times. Seriously, refer to the OP post for all of your questions. It feels like people only go to the last post of this thread now. /rant (sorry this is just bugging the crap out of me)

 
Somebody just posted on their fb page that he went to one of their Sacramento demos of the r5 and got to play it. He also said that when badgered about the release date, the employee running the booth said hopefully before March. Wow. I'm just gonna assume this is coming out in 2034.
 
Somebody just posted on their fb page that he went to one of their Sacramento demos of the r5 and got to play it. He also said that when badgered about the release date, the employee running the booth said hopefully before March. Wow. I'm just gonna assume this is coming out in 2034.
Can you be any more of a negative nancy?

 
UPDATE: Hyperkin responded to somebody's facebook post saying they now expect it to be "to their standards" by early Q2 2014. At this point, I'm calling Vaporwarwe.
Can someone point me to where on there facebook page it says Q2? All have I seen them post so far this month is where they will be showing the system at?

Update*

I see it now.

"Management will not allow us to create another official release date because they are still super-pissed that we missed out on holiday dollars. Best we can tell you is our in house chatter has everything finished, to our standards, in early Q2 2014."

Still no official so we will see. I just hope they give Amazon a release date before Feb 2. If they dont get one they will cancel the preorders.

 
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They won't cancel preorders feb 2nd.  You have till feb 2nd to tell amazon you still want to keep your preorder.  Amazon does that all the time with items that take a long time to come out.  I've had blu rays and books both ask the same question, and end up being another 6 to 8 months till they finally come out.

 
It's not vaporware. My guess is that Hyperkin wasn't happy with the emulation compatibility. All this is is running Android-based emulators. The compatibility for those can be spotty.

 
They won't cancel preorders feb 2nd. You have till feb 2nd to tell amazon you still want to keep your preorder. Amazon does that all the time with items that take a long time to come out. I've had blu rays and books both ask the same question, and end up being another 6 to 8 months till they finally come out.
Cool I took it to mean they would cancel it with out a date. Good to know.
 
Having a console be delayed for a few months is far better than games that have been delayed for years.

If waiting means all goes well then it's worth the wait.

 
I don't see why they are annoyed they missed out on "holiday dollars" specifically, even if it had shipped out on time all the orders that would of been before Christmas seemed to already be sold out.

 
I'd rather have a fully functionable console that isn't prone to defects than something rushed out just to satisfy a deadline. And it's not like this is the PS4 or One, it's something I daresay many are into it for the concept and will likely have it sitting in a corner with dust in less than 3 months.

 
Right now I'm thinking it will be out Holiday 2014. This way they know it works, they can produce enough to stock preorders and have enough to stock for the holiday based on news and reviews. Thats my hunch -- even if its ready Q2 it wont ship until they stockpile inventory and they will feed us  little by little to keep the hype train going.

 
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This is beginning to sound like the old Working Designs delays... hopefully it will all get straightened out and the retron lives up to the hype.  I am excited about this console and hope that the wait is worth it in the end.

 
The fact that they said it will be "done to our standards" has me calling bullshit on the faulty pin excuse they used last time they delayed it. If that was the case, all the needed to do was re-order the inventory...not start tinkering around with it again.
 
The fact that they said it will be "done to our standards" has me calling bullshit on the faulty pin excuse they used last time they delayed it. If that was the case, all the needed to do was re-order the inventory...not start tinkering around with it again.
If they delay long enough, they can probably even just skip 5, go to 6, and add N64 compatibility.

 
If this has a USB port i just want an Add on for N64 to this via that. With addons for other systems as they come (Saturn, Sega CD etc). Come on Hyperlink.

 
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If they add N64 support I will be all over this. I have a bunch of N64 games. And I'd like to start collecting NES, SNES, etc.

 
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