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

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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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Currently in talks with someone to pick up a few SNES titles: Lufia 1, Final Fantasy 2, Super Mario World 2, and Breath of Fire. Would be a nice lot to grab up. Seems like most of the RPG titles rise in price quite crazily.

 
Nax5 said:
Seems like most of the RPG titles rise in price quite crazily.
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It varies from title to title, but yes. The RPGs do have a tendency to hold their resale value in the after market. Part of it is that they have always been more narrative focused, especially the JRPGs from that era. It's easy to form a nostalgic attachment to a decent narrative and solid characters. Those elements also tend to age more gracefully, making revisiting them later in life a lot more pleasant.

Get a copy of Act Raiser if you don't already have one. It tends to be on the lower end of the cost spectrum, and it has some of the best music in the SNES's catalog. The game itself is quite good as well, even if the action sequences are a tad simplistic. Well worth having and one of the early stand-out titles for the platform.

I'm on the lookout for Metal Warriors, and Mega Man X3. Sadly, both titles are notoriously expensive, and will probably only go up in price.

 
Radewagon said:
I feel you. I feel awful for having contributed to such off-topic nonsense. It's hard, though, with someone rampantly spreading misinformation about cartridge games having no copyright protection and then showing zero proof as to how he came to that conclusion. I really respect cheapassgamer as a community and it bothers me that it might indirectly be contributing to the spreading of gross misinformation. But even with that, I'm done. From now on, only relevant posts.
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lol...self righteous much?
"I feel awful for contributing"
*continues to go on about it and kick dirt on others*

ROMs are legally to create, own, store, and use. I shouldn't have to post a source. Here, it should be as common knowledge as 1+1=2

As for early cartridge based games, the early bulk of them had next to non, hence the easy use of flash carts. I have experience first hand. If you don't believe me, that's your prerogative. older cartridges were so much easier to back up because of little-to-no DRM measures.

Were you inferring that I meant ALL cartridge games are DRM free? Because I only meant n64 and earlier. The games I'm specifically referring to though are NES.

But why are we talking semantics? There's one major question that I've answered, and clearly no one else has debunked it, because they can't:

Is backing up ROMs immoral? Nope. Is it illegal? NOPE. End.
 
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If I were to make a list of my top 10 pet peeves in life, people sticking their nose in other people's business and getting all sanctimonious about piracy would be on the list. If you don't want to pirate, don't pirate. If you think owning roms, mp3s or videos is wrong, then don't do it. But, please spare people with the guilt trips about what they do with their own stuff.

Not necessarily calling anyone here out in particular. Just ranting. Been in plenty of conversations where I'd be talking about a video game or something and someone will ask a question and I'll go "Oh no, I'm not playing on the SNES, I'm using a rom" and out comes the mindless holier than thou drivel. "I hope you feel good about yourself, you scumbag" blah blah blah. Go give them a peace prize for their nobility. And if I here another person likening piracy to some serious felony like robbery or assault.... goodness that just kills me.

Different discussion for another time, but I am a big advocate of the freedom of information and media through the internet and am a big supporter of people who provide such media and heavily in the category against anti-piracy organizations.

 
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ShadowAssassin said:
If I were to make a list of my top 10 pet peeves in life, people sticking their nose in other people's business and getting all sanctimonious about piracy would be on the list. If you don't want to pirate, don't pirate. If you think owning roms, mp3s or videos is wrong, then don't do it. But, please spare people with the guilt trips about what they do with their own stuff.

Not necessarily calling anyone here out in particular. Just ranting. Been in plenty of conversations where I'd be talking about a video game or something and someone will ask a question and I'll go "Oh no, I'm not playing on the SNES, I'm using a rom" and out comes the mindless holier than thou drivel. "I hope you feel good about yourself, you scumbag" blah blah blah. Go give them a peace prize for their nobility. And if I here another person likening piracy to some serious felony like robbery or assault.... goodness that just kills me.

Different discussion for another time, but I am a big advocate of the freedom of information and media through the internet and am a big supporter of people who provide such media and heavily in the category against anti-piracy organizations.
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I have no issues with it if it's done as he is saying because it would be the exact same as me backing up my movies on my network drive. Some of this started out because the wording he picked with Zombies ate my Neighbors and it sounded like he just up and downloaded the rom on some site and again I have no huge issue with this but my issue is more or less the same as yours with people sticking their nose in the air but my issue is where people fail to agree that it's a wrong thing to do.

 
I think it varies from situation to situation. SNES carts are so old and out of production, so I won't say it is wrong for someone to download and play roms. They aren't taking money away from any companies. It's different from downloading, say a 360 game and playing that via a modded system.

I see nothing wrong with it in even the least bit.

 
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ShadowAssassin said:
If I were to make a list of my top 10 pet peeves in life, people sticking their nose in other people's business and getting all sanctimonious about piracy would be on the list. If you don't want to pirate, don't pirate. If you think owning roms, mp3s or videos is wrong, then don't do it. But, please spare people with the guilt trips about what they do with their own stuff.

Not necessarily calling anyone here out in particular. Just ranting. Been in plenty of conversations where I'd be talking about a video game or something and someone will ask a question and I'll go "Oh no, I'm not playing on the SNES, I'm using a rom" and out comes the mindless holier than thou drivel. "I hope you feel good about yourself, you scumbag" blah blah blah. Go give them a peace prize for their nobility. And if I here another person likening piracy to some serious felony like robbery or assault.... goodness that just kills me.

Different discussion for another time, but I am a big advocate of the freedom of information and media through the internet and am a big supporter of people who provide such media and heavily in the category against anti-piracy organizations.
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I don't care if someone downloads a ROM of some old game that you can't actually buy anymore, but if someone pirates current stuff then they are a piece of sh!t, no debate required. These things cost money to develop and manufacture and the publisher/developer deserves every cent they can get.

 
Marbles said:
See, I used emulators when I was younger (I am in my 30s) for games I couldn't purchase in the states, couldn't afford, or couldn't find.

However, yeah the Retron 5 has made me restart my collection for old games again, ontop of the VC/PSN purchases I've made.

So many memories of the 4th Gen of consoles, and some very vivid 3rd gen.

Was Terranigma ever released in English speaking territories?

Also, speaking as a person holding a Masters of Computer Science, specializing on Information Assurance/Data Integrity. I was always taught/told that roms and back-ups are legal if you own the original cartridge of have purchased a legit version of the original data (such as VC or PSN releases). However, with today's laws and the constant flux of the American legal system and regular redifiing of many of these terms and ideas, I really can't say for sure.

If anyone has a good update to this information, I'd love to read it. Thank you!
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Terranigma was released in Europe (including England), Australia, and Japan. The England/Australian PAL versions are freaking hard to find at a decent price since everyone wants that one to play due to the official english translation obviously. Been looking to acquire this cart myself :)

 
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I agree, but the reason it is drifting off topic is because the damn system keeps getting pushed back and there is nothing else to talk about, since no one can play the thing.

By the time this thing comes out, PS3 games are going to be vintage.

 
k321ut said:
Can we keep this thread on topic? If you want to debate the legality of ROMs, start a different thread.
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well first, retro roms kind of have to do with this. If it wasn't for Retron, I would have never brought them up. In fact, ROMs are probably the Retron's number one competition.

Please, you should see other forum threads here - they go way off topic and no one cries. Here, what do you want us to do, exclusively talk about a reiteration of a product that hasn't been released and has been delayed over and over? What else more could be said?

You're making it seem like we're talking about politics or something.
 
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I kinda want to pick up a couple Famicom/Super Famicom games just because I don't have any and this can play them....eyeing up the Dragonball/Z games, but I don't know Japanese so I have to look through to see which ones I could still get some play time out of....

 
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I only have an Elemntary level of Japanese, but a game I am definitely picking up for Super Famicom is Magical Drop 1 & 2. Fantastic fast-paced puzzle games, and you can get by without knowing any Japanese.

 
MoCiWe said:
I kinda want to pick up a couple Famicom/Super Famicom games just because I don't have any and this can play them....eyeing up the Dragonball/Z games, but I don't know Japanese so I have to look through to see which ones I could still get some play time out of....
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You can play the DBZ Super Butoden series of games without knowing Japanese. (The second one and third one are pretty good.)

 
Nax5 said:
I only have an Elemntary level of Japanese, but a game I am definitely picking up for Super Famicom is Magical Drop 1 & 2. Fantastic fast-paced puzzle games, and you can get by without knowing any Japanese.
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I believe I have a Magical Drop game on Steam? Or at least I've played one before, but that would be something I'd be open to ordering. I have played the Jump Ultimate Stars and J-Stars games on DS and PS3, and was able to get by/learn the menus just by knowing how games work and had fun, so as long as it's not like a full on text game I should be good.

Rig said:
You can play the DBZ Super Butoden series of games without knowing Japanese. (The second one and third one are pretty good.)
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Sounds good, looks like you can get the trilogy on eBay for a good price as well!

 
UcanSUKtheFAC said:
If it wasn't for Retron, I would have never brought them up. In fact, ROMs are probably the Retron's number one competition.
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Roms are competition for time and attention, but obviously not for money. While ROMs might detract from some RetroN5 sales, they aren't going to count for many. Anyone who is already happy with ROMs will continue playing them, simple as that. The RetroN5 doesn't have any utility for a ROM-thusiast like that.

As I've pointed out before, the RetroN5 and its clone ilk are targeted first and foremost toward classic game collectors, not players. Anyone who just wants to play those games is probably better off acquiring them through digital distribution services. (and yes, possibly through ROMs and emulation) The prices on digitally distributed classic games are very reasonable, and only getting more so. I've acquired several classic titles over PSN, and a whole slew of them from Steam and GOG. (Sierra classics for the win!)

Clone systems are for collectors who want the original plastic, and are just looking for a more effective way to enjoy and test their classic carts on modern hardware. It's a considerably more niche market, but its a market all the same.

 
One of the things I'm interested in seeing either Hyperkin officially implementing or 3rd party via hacked OS is the ability to use fan translation files for original famicom/super famicom releases owned via patching the rom in the Retron 5's memory once a cart is inserted/recognized. Would love to do that for my copy of Bahamut Lagoon and other foreign releases that were never in english.  Just not sure it's 'legal'.

 
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MoCiWe said:
I believe I have a Magical Drop game on Steam? Or at least I've played one before, but that would be something I'd be open to ordering. I have played the Jump Ultimate Stars and J-Stars games on DS and PS3, and was able to get by/learn the menus just by knowing how games work and had fun, so as long as it's not like a full on text game I should be good.

Sounds good, looks like you can get the trilogy on eBay for a good price as well!
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There are also a few Super Famicom Sailor Moon games that aren't bad. I have one or two that are Final Fight style beat 'em ups that are fun. I think a couple 1 vs. 1 fighters, too.

Gotta watch out for them though, because I know they had at least a couple text-heavy RPG's, too.

 
Bishop said:
So they have a final production system, but there's still no release date (specific or general), no report of mass production, they're just auctioning the thing off for cash?

Who's getting shot in the face for this?
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Hyperkin does something nice, insulting comments happen.

Company can't win :)

 
I just don't get the constant shade to Hyperkin. It's real, some of us have seen it in person, even had their hands on it. Few of us have given money for it, and if you did, you should of considered placing a pre-order that didn't take your money yet. They are a company with an unreleased product, if long delays offend you, then you should take your money somewhere else. But, being so offended by product delays that you have to spout off and off about it like there is nothing better to do? It's a bit childish. Yeah, we all wish we were playing now, but it's just not a big deal. Especially for a novelty product that at best, is a shelf-space-saver for the retro collector that needs to test new acquisitions, or get their fix. 

 
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I got one of those "Hello, we have good news!" Emails from amazon just now and I freaked thinking it was an date update to my retron preorders. Alas, it was only alerting me that my copy of JoJo was upgraded to release date shipping.
 
Brachabre said:
One of the things I'm interested in seeing either Hyperkin officially implementing or 3rd party via hacked OS is the ability to use fan translation files for original famicom/super famicom releases owned via patching the rom in the Retron 5's memory once a cart is inserted/recognized. Would love to do that for my copy of Bahamut Lagoon and other foreign releases that were never in english. Just not sure it's 'legal'.
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Yeah, that would be awesome, but as you said not really sure if they can legally do that or not.

Rig said:
There are also a few Super Famicom Sailor Moon games that aren't bad. I have one or two that are Final Fight style beat 'em ups that are fun. I think a couple 1 vs. 1 fighters, too.

Gotta watch out for them though, because I know they had at least a couple text-heavy RPG's, too.
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Alright, yeah the games that are fighters are probably ones I would definitely be more interested in, not anything like RPG's that's for sure!

 
Most likely a new placeholder date =/

EDIT: So a new round of unfortunate information has hit the net. Some websites have officially changed the price of the console to $139. Customers given the option to pay the difference. Controllers will be $40.

And the worst bit - each small video game shop is getting 4 units of the first shipment, which is likely to arrive towards the end of May. Amazon will not receive any units until the second shipment, sometime in June.

As usual, this is from FB posts connected to blogs and online marketplaces. No word from Hyperkin.

 
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Nax5 said:
Most likely a new placeholder date =/

EDIT: So a new round of unfortunate information has hit the net. Some websites have officially changed the price of the console to $139. Customers given the option to pay the difference. Controllers will be $40.

And the worst bit - each small video game shop is getting 4 units of the first shipment, which is likely to arrive towards the end of May. Amazon will not receive any units until the second shipment, sometime in June.

As usual, this is from FB posts connected to blogs and online marketplaces. No word from Hyperkin.
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http://www.thecoverproject.net/forums/index.php?topic=12241.msg138809#msg138809 This is where I saw the bit about Amazon not getting any in May.

 
Cancelled my pre-order when they first started the delays. The price increase and continued waiting game washed away my interest. I'll keep track of reviews and decide at a much later date.
 
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Nax5 said:
Most likely a new placeholder date =/

EDIT: So a new round of unfortunate information has hit the net. Some websites have officially changed the price of the console to $139. Customers given the option to pay the difference. Controllers will be $40.

And the worst bit - each small video game shop is getting 4 units of the first shipment, which is likely to arrive towards the end of May. Amazon will not receive any units until the second shipment, sometime in June.

As usual, this is from FB posts connected to blogs and online marketplaces. No word from Hyperkin.
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Burning the most popular online retailer in favor of small game shops would be phenomenally stupid. The bad press they'd get wouldn't be worth all of the good press they'd get for favoring small independent game shops. Especially since small game shops are not something that are universally good for gamers. In fact, there is not a single good independent retro shop in my area (California, Inland Empire). The few that exist are either staffed by jerks or guilty of charging WAY too much for the games they stock (the real retro gamer's best friend these days is Goodwill).

I think Hyperkin needs to hire someone with some common sense to do their PR. If they were smart, they'd honor Amazon preorders first because of the reviews that the site generates. MANY people will be looking to Amazon's user reviews for impressions of the product. They should also keep all preorder prices locked at the original price. They could call it a thank you for long time supporters. The good FREE press they'd get from such a move would be worth the financial hit. The alternative is bad free press that they don't have the resources to fight.

If someone who works at Hyperkin is reading this, get your act together. Your people made, hopefully, a great product. Don't screw up its potential by being idiots on the marketing side.

 
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So I'm guessing the pay $40 more part is specifically for the Amazon preorders since I don't think any other company had it for that price?
 
Radewagon said:
Burning the most popular online retailer in favor of small game shops would be phenomenally stupid. The bad press they'd get wouldn't be worth all of the good press they'd get for favoring small independent game shops. Especially since small game shops are not something that are universally good for gamers. In fact, there is not a single good independent retro shop in my area (California, Inland Empire). The few that exist are either staffed by jerks or guilty of charging WAY too much for the games they stock (the real retro gamer's best friend these days is Goodwill).

I think Hyperkin needs to hire someone with some common sense to do their PR. If they were smart, they'd honor Amazon preorders first because of the reviews that the site generates. MANY people will be looking to Amazon's user reviews for impressions of the product. They should also keep all preorder prices locked at the original price. They could call it a thank you for long time supporters. The good FREE press they'd get from such a move would be worth the financial hit. The alternative is bad free press that they don't have the resources to fight.

If someone who works at Hyperkin is reading this, get your act together. Your people made, hopefully, a great product. Don't screw up its potential by being idiots on the marketing side.
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it probably true cause they did the same thing in Europe to:

"But at the same time Hyperkin has been sneaky, especially with the European distribution of the RetroN 5. Funstock has the deal to distribute the console in Europe, but at the same time during the Gamescom event a list was obtained with some retro stores in the UK. Under the pretence of promoting the console what they actually did was try and market the console directly, so you end up with a bit of a messy problem."

http://metro.co.uk/2014/04/13/the-problem-with-retron-5-the-retro-console-readers-feature-4696586/

 
Nax5 said:
Most likely a new placeholder date =/

EDIT: So a new round of unfortunate information has hit the net. Some websites have officially changed the price of the console to $139. Customers given the option to pay the difference. Controllers will be $40.

And the worst bit - each small video game shop is getting 4 units of the first shipment, which is likely to arrive towards the end of May. Amazon will not receive any units until the second shipment, sometime in June.

As usual, this is from FB posts connected to blogs and online marketplaces. No word from Hyperkin.
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Screw with the people that wanted to throw money at you back around September 11, 2013 and preordered at Amazon even more. More solid business strategy from Hyperkin.

Hopefully that isn't true.

 
Hmm. Can't say much until official word but I'm going to be pissed at Amazon if they raise it even though they have their price guarantee which has been proven not to be infallible (learned that through this site on some deals). I don't really care if any of that is true about the delay or second wave of shipments though. Sound like a broken record saying this again and again here but it's a system designed to play retro games so it's not like it's the end of the world if it takes forever to come out. Delays suck I realize some of you don't like getting the run around but who does. Fact of the matter is it's still a system that plays old ass games that all of us have done without for over a decade (unless you kept your old consoles) so it's not a huge product that the world will be letdown about.

 
If Amazon getting them late is true, it probably means that Amazon worked out a special deal to still make $ off their $99 pre-orders.  Amazon has more clout than Hyperkin and could probably demand that Hyperkin hold their original wholesale price.  Hyperkin is probably punishing them by giving it first to the retailers that pay more.  Amazon can be pretty rough in negotiations.  They don't sell Nintendo consoles because Nintendo made them eat certain costs.  Hyperkin probably wouldn't be willing to fight that battle.  

As long as Amazon holds their pre-order price, I'll wait for that order.  Like many, I would have a hard time buying this at $140.  I have all the systems already, this was more of a convenience factor.  Unlike stated above, I think this has more casual appeal.  People that have a box of games that they never bothered to sell, but their system has long been broken.  Collectors spend thousands of $ on these old systems and likely have perfectly functioning systems and would be turned off to the inaccuracies in the Retron 5 emulation.  

 
so to get this plus an extra controller would come up to around $180. This thing better be damn good and have accurate sound emulation. That's really the one thing that stopped me from buying clone systems. Is there any videos of genesis sound comparisons

 
I've never had an issue with an Amazon preorder price going up after I've locked in. I'm not the least bit worried about that. People have on a rare occassion reported that they weren't charged the lowest price before release but I've never heard of their prices going up after locking in. That would be a first for Amazon and I just don't see it happening. That being said I did print out a copy of my invoice just for safe keeping... I'm pretty sure Amazon would just cancel existing preorders before simply raising prices. They have done this before as a way to get around their own guarantee. However, I don't think they will in this case simply because of all the negative publicity around the console already. Surely they don't want to get caught up in the mess. Plus they will come out as heroes for keeping existing preorders and following through even after the random price drop. The positive buzz for doing so surely outweighs the few thousand dollars they might lose out on.

 
That's a brutal piece of news, though. Especially for people who pre-ordered extremely early. You would think that if it were untrue, Hyperkin would jump in almost immediately. Nothing yet, though.

 
A price increase on a console that had an already questionable reputation? Count me out. At $100, I'd take a chance on reviewers' testimonies, but not much more than that. I was 10x more excited for this than the new Xbox & Playstations. I guess I'll just continue slogging through my endless backlog from just the last-gen for the foreseeable future then.
 
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