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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What's the need for people to hate on Hyperkin? Big deal it's had delays and some issues. A company that releases such products should be supported by gamers, not derided. The more you ridicule them, the lesser the chances of getting products like this being made and succeeding. It's so irritating to read the comments in this thread.
Yes sir, we should just sit back and let a company do what they want. Oh, thank you, Hyperkin for not being forthcoming with what the real issues are for the delays, keep pushing out release dates, raising the price, and for allegedly not having enough product to service the entire world. :bow:

:bs:

I'm waiting for them next to announce that the consoles were stolen from their front porch and/or the vessel carrying them sank/got hijacked by pirates. Those damn Somalian pirates!

 
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I'm waiting for them next to announce that the consoles were stolen from their front porch and/or the vessel carrying them sank/got hijacked by pirates. Those damn Somalian pirates!
I think you just talked your way into a job interview for head of marketing at Hyperkin HQ. :D/

 
Yes sir, we should just sit back and let a company do what they want. Oh, thank you, Hyperkin for not being forthcoming with what the real issues are for the delays, keep pushing out release dates, raising the price, and for allegedly not having enough product to service the entire world. :bow:

:bs:

I'm waiting for them next to announce that the consoles were stolen from their front porch and/or the vessel carrying them sank/got hijacked by pirates. Those damn Somalian pirates!
Yes, damn those pirates!!!

 
If anyone is looking for an alternative to the Retron5, there's the Super RetroTRIO by Retro Bit. In my experiences in the past Retro Bit's clone consoles have been better than Hyperkin. The RetroTRIO doesn't have HDMI out, and it only does NES/SNES/Genesis. You can buy an adapter to play GBA games that I think is an extra $30.

A few sellers have them in stock at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FQDEKM0/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=

This is a new 2014 console from Retro Bit.

Looks like the going price is about $90 + $4 shipping.

No I don't work for Retro Bit. Just want classic gamers know that there is an alternative.
I posted about this a while back, I'm really eager to find some detailed reviews on this one.

 
Regarding whether or not Amazon is getting pre-orders last, here is an answer straight from Chris Gallizzi via his FB page:

"By retailers, we mean amazon, think geek, new egg... those sites that offered preorders are our priority"

"That seems to be a rumor about box stores.. idk where it originated from. If you preordered at 99.99 your choice of online retailer will/should honor the price. However the price is increased to 139.99"

 
Regarding whether or not Amazon is getting pre-orders last, here is an answer straight from Chris Gallizzi via his FB page:

"By retailers, we mean amazon, think geek, new egg... those sites that offered preorders are our priority"
That made my day!

 
Hey guys, this was posted on videogamesnewyork facebook page:

Retron5 Updates!
 
Its been a rough road for the folks over at Hyperkin with getting the Retron5 out the door and finally the updates contain more than delays and apologies. 
 
BUT TAKE A MOMENT TO REMEMBER ALL THE RETON5 CAN DO:
 
1. MULTI SYSTEM - playgames from NES, SNES, Super Famicom, Genesis, Mega Drive, Famicom, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and GBA and SMS
2. HIGH DEFINITION VIDEO - HDMI w/built in upscaller automatically upconverts the old games to out put at 720p
3. RETRON OS - Upscalling with HD graphical interface
4. STATESAVES - Instantly Save or load your games at any point during gameplay
5. OVERCLOCKING - FASTFORWARD games
6. SCREENSHOTS save to sd memory card
7. CHEATS - built-in
8. REGION FREE - full region unlock (any country and video format all will play)
9. SOFTWARE BASED MULTITAP - Any game with any controller! mix and match any controllers for any systems games also supports 4 wireless controllers
10. GAMESAVE BACKUP and RESTORE - backup your gamesave and restore them to the physical cartridges. 
11. CUSTOM BUTTON MAPPING - remap the buttons however you like, supports macros as well.
12. SOFTWARE UPDATES - Much like the ps3 and 360 hyperkin can add patches and new features over time. 
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***Hyperkin is building features on the NEXT-GEN consoles into a classic system for a fraction of the price. ***
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1# QUESTION is WHEN:

Now before you read the answer contain that excitement a little while longer...quantities are LIMITED and the price has gone up for the first few shipments. 
 
Everything is on schedule for the units to start shipping in the middle of may and will arrive in waves as stock arrives and clears customs, quality checks, etc... 
 
2# PRICE:
For the first few waves the price is expected to be $139.99, this is not due to demand this is actually due ti the price increase at the wholesale level. Hyperkin intends to return the price to its original MSRP of $99.99 later in the year.
 
3# CAN I RESERVE/"PRE-ORDER" ONE?
As always with any new game or system release we do not take money for so called "PRE-ORDERS". Our system is EASIER and FREE all you have to do is call the store and ask to have your name put on the call list for the item and give your name and phone number and you will be notified the moment is available.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#2 is a tough pill to swallow for the people that don't have the system preordered and want it as soon as possible as opposed to waiting another few months to a year if it ever goes back to the price of $99.99. If this console takes off what reason would Hyperkin have to lower the price of the console? I think this could be just speculation on their part. I'm more pissed about them raising the price of the bluetooth controllers before we had a chance to preorder them at a lower price.
 
I'm kind of worried at how the retro game market prices will skyrocket once this abomination of a console gets out into the wild. I've already seen games gradually rise in price these past few months and you can't depend on retro game stores as most of the ones I visit base their prices off what the games sell on ebay.
 
Enough of the doom & gloom. I never played Castlevania Bloodlines and purchased a complete hard case copy for $40 that I'm super excited to play once I get my retron5. What retro games are you most excited to revisit/play for the first time?
 
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1) What's the need for people to hate on Hyperkin?

No need, but the hate is justified as they are shaking consumer confidence.

2) Big deal it's had delays and some issues.

This was supposed to come out Nov. of last year. That's more than just a regular old delay. Trust me, people were more forgiving a few months back.

3) A company like them should be supported, not derided.

And they were. Now, not so much. Their handling of the situation has been terrible. They have shown the gamers (their future customers) very little respect in the way they have kept information about release so close to the chest. So, yeah, Hyperkin is being treated how they have chosen to treat their market.

4) More ridicule means less chance of more products or success.

Not really. Their lack of reliability to complete and ship a product is hurting them more than any ridicule possibly could. When the product is in consumer hands, the real test begins. If the product is reliable and as promised, once shipped, then the positive reactions will help sell the product and no one will care about all the ridicule that happened before release. Also, the fate of future products are riding on the financial success of the Retron 5 and nothing else. Ridicule of pre-release will have VERY LITTLE to do with continuing lines from Hyperkin.

5) Irritating to read the comments.

I see it as a way to vent with people sharing a very annoying experience. Honestly, I can't see why anyone would have a problem with a little catharsis. I would imagine that someone who can't see the need for such talk might be someone who is far too forgiving of Hyperkin's terrible handling of the current situation. That lack of a critical eye might be more hurtful for Hyperkin than the negative comments you're seeing. Enabling bad behavior is not the way to ensure Hyperkin's success.

That said, the opposite extreme is also a problem (being overly negative), but I have seen VERY little of that here.
1. Hate is justified because they're shaking consumer confidence... Don't see how that's justified. Product is not even released yet and you're not a shareholder. You can have an opinion but there's no need to continually deride them and come up with horrible conclusions without any evidence to support them.

2. I know how long. I was the first one to create a thread about Retron 5 on CAG. It had a release date possibly as early as last July. http://www.cheapassgamer.com/topic/304746-retron-5-coming-soon-gen-md-nes-fc-snes-sfc-gb-gbc-gba/?hl=%20retron

This type of console has never been released before and is a huge undertaking for a company as small as Hyperkin. They've also had production issues with faulty connectors. Complaining over and over and coming up with insults and constant negativity helps no one.

3. Small company makes niche technology device. They can't give an exact release date and stick to it when they encounter technical issues with emulation and production problems. They also keep stuff close to their chest for competitive reasons. People went very fast from supporting them to deriding them. Too fast and too much.

4. If people took into account the intricacies of the product and emulation they wouldn't be so quick to complain and insult, thus there would be no problem. The ridicule will turn people away before the product is released and create a negative reputation for the company before and afterward.

You have seen before that the reputation of a company and a console creates a reputation that endures over time, unless the company or product goes above and beyond that reputation. This is true whether the reputation is fully the fault of the company or not. Sometimes it comes down to circumstance.

If people develop a negative reputation for Hyperkin now, then it can effect the sales of every product in their line before and after the release of Retron 5. Anyone who develops a negative rep toward them now who does not buy a Retron 5, may be dissuaded to ever buy anything they make.

Yes, their handling hasn't been the best and they're hurting themselves. However, there's no need for people to get on a bandwagon about it. People are complaining hard about something so trivial, I'd hate to see what they'd do with some real life problems.

Small company, technical hardware and software, especially when emulation can present a problem in any part of each and every game running on the hardware, unforeseen production issue. Retron 5 presents issues that nothing else on the market has to deal with and has never been done before. Only thing close is emulation on PS3/360, but those had their own problems and required lots of time and updates.

5. It's irritating to see people complain and insult over something so trivial, while it also happens to be a difficult, time consuming, large undertaking, for the first time by a small company. It's irritating because the right response would be to support companies who actual try to deliver a product no one else ever has or ever may.

 
Can you not change it at any time? I know Amazon lets you change how you want to pay until they actually charge you.
unfortunately no. Theres no payment change option like amazon has. I better call them soon actually i had kinda forgotten about this. Dont want them having an excuse to cancel my $99 pre order price.. wow skiming the last few pages here.. wtf is this company doing? They seem to be pissing a lot of people off

 
In terms of people posting about all of this over and over again, and getting worked up, you are spending more time being negative and getting all tore up than any type of time killed by this delay.  I personally just don't get why people do this over stuff, but it happens more and more in these modern times of facebook/forums/internet constant connection.  I'm glad I only bother checking this thread every few days myself due to seeing a constant bitchfest/speculation-a-rama as to how a company is trying to screw people over and lying.

 
My friends and I used to get bent out of shape when reading about delays in Gamepro or EGM. It's all part of the fun. I personally bought an Ouya that is on sale this week and the emulation is pretty great. Far better than my Retron 3.
 
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Looks like reviewers are starting to receive their units. Here's an unboxing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WumhlOPS1ig&feature=youtu.be&a

 
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In terms of people posting about all of this over and over again, and getting worked up, you are spending more time being negative and getting all tore up than any type of time killed by this delay. I personally just don't get why people do this over stuff, but it happens more and more in these modern times of facebook/forums/internet constant connection. I'm glad I only bother checking this thread every few days myself due to seeing a constant bitchfest/speculation-a-rama as to how a company is trying to screw people over and lying.
They could take another 2 years... as long as it works like they promoted, I will be very happy (especially for the amazon preorder price).

I could understand people getting upset if they have $100 out of their bank account in limbo all this time. I'm glad Amazon doesn't charge you until your order ships. I'm still waiting for my order to attempt to ship before I call customer support and have them apply my Amazon credit.

Looks like reviewers are starting to receive their units. Here's an unboxing!
Nice. I'm glad they reviewers are getting their units. The grey one looks cool, but I'm happy I preordered a black one.

Dipset! :bow:

 
Might be a weird question, but could one theoretically have a game in each port and just select the one you want, or does it only function with one game at a time.  Would make a neat "PlayChoice 5" kinda thing if the former were the case.

 
I have no interest in this product because I prefer the original systems over emulation, but I would have canceled my preorder on principle alone at this point. To each his own.

 
I have no interest in this product because I prefer the original systems over emulation, but I would have canceled my preorder on principle alone at this point. To each his own.
Last time I bought an original SNES from EBAY it didn't work and I couldn't get a refund from the seller or paypal.

Luckily, in the end I ended up not having to pay for it >_> (Parents were getting a divorce, I was 27.. mom purposely put it on dead beat father's credit)

 
And this is directing from independent game store website: http://www.8bitclassics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=50
No PayPal Orders accepted anymore! Orders placed via PayPal will be reversed and canceled.
Update (April 23, 2014) – We were just contacted by Hyperkin in regards to changes with the Retron 5. We will be contacting all of our pre-order customers in regards to these changes.
​Official list price has been changed from $99.99 to $139.99. This means that if the pre-order stays active, we will need to charge an additional $40 per order.
Shipping will happen towards the end of May. No definite day given.
Initial quantities are limited but the remaining of the product will ship two to three weeks ater the initial shipment is received.

Updated, Please Read: See announcement above first and foremost. Because of this delay, we will no longer be taking pre-orders via PayPal. I don't want to have to sit on cash this long and so all payments are required to be by credit card. Any future orders (from 11/27/13 on) that are paid by PayPal will be cancelled and reversed. If past orders would like to cancel their pre-order, please use the Contact Us page as the return option doesn't notify us properly.
 
I can't even remember what that did when you put one of the other Sonic games into S&K?
You could play as Knuckles. Since Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles were originally meant to be the same game, it acts as an expansion and the levels are slightly different. Sonic 2 just lets you play as Knucles. Sonic 1 doesn't work, but you can use a code to play a mini-game.

 
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I can't even remember what that did when you put one of the other Sonic games into S&K?
You could play as Knuckles. Since Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles were originally meant to be the same game, it acts as an expansion and the levels are slightly different. Sonic 2 just lets you play as Knucles. Sonic 1 doesn't work, but you can use a code to play a mini-game.
That mini-game (which was a sphere-shaped world based "runner" where your character was always moving forward ala the ios trend) was available whenever you stuck in just about any cart that wasn't a sonic title, each cart giving you one of these mini-game levels--there seemed to be DOZENS of different levels. I'm quite sure that out of 30-40 carts I had tried back in the day, I only ran across (pun intended) there were only a few duplicates of these surprise levels.

It was pretty neat back in its time, and especially the surprise element of having no idea how the strategy of each level would play out.
 
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Hm, that reminds me of the Monster Rancher game for the PS1. You could put in any other game disc or music CD (I think) and you would get a monster generated from them. No idea if there was an actual pattern or if it was totally random. Just a cool surprise-based game style as well.

 
Hm, that reminds me of the Monster Rancher game for the PS1. You could put in any other game disc or music CD (I think) and you would get a monster generated from them. No idea if there was an actual pattern or if it was totally random. Just a cool surprise-based game style as well.
It was based upon the number of tracks and size of tracks.

From the WIKI

The characteristics of the monster (such as stats, breed, and traits) are determined by various integers stored in the game. To generate a monster, a random number generator is needed to define what characteristics the monster will have. However, because random number generators are only pseudo-random, the entropy of possible monsters would be limited by the pseudo-random seed. To resolve this, TECMO created a CD reading system that would generate unique random number seeds and, consequently, a large variety of random monsters. Discs contain digital information with a different sequence of values. When the game reads this information, the values found within the discs' data are mapped to the range of integers in the game.

Some CDs and DVDs can be specialized to produce rare monsters. For instance, in Monster Rancher 4 the Harry Potter DVD generates a unique owl monster, and in Monster Rancher 2 and Monster Rancher 4 TECMO's Dead or Alive game creates a Pixie named Kasumi. In Monster Rancher 2, the Lost in Translation DVD generates a unique squid-like creature. Special CDs called pandora discs can produce multiple monsters. Often, the Monster Rancher game CD itself is a pandora disc.

 
Nifty! Where has all this innovation gone nowadays? Cripes, I kept hoping that modern games like Assassin's Creed would simply acknowledge that I've played an earlier game in the series (ala Mass Effect) but no-oooo we can't even get that kind of "off-the-cuff" thinking out of our modern game producers. They're too busy tacking on multiplayer modes and coming up with DLC marketing strategies. :oldman: #getoffmylawn
 
Cripes, I kept hoping that modern games like Assassin's Creed would simply acknowledge that I've played an earlier game in the series (ala Mass Effect) but no-oooo we can't even get that kind of "off-the-cuff" thinking out of our modern game producers.
You don't register your Uplay passports, do you?
 
It was based upon the number of tracks and size of tracks.

From the WIKI

The characteristics of the monster (such as stats, breed, and traits) are determined by various integers stored in the game. To generate a monster, a random number generator is needed to define what characteristics the monster will have. However, because random number generators are only pseudo-random, the entropy of possible monsters would be limited by the pseudo-random seed. To resolve this, TECMO created a CD reading system that would generate unique random number seeds and, consequently, a large variety of random monsters. Discs contain digital information with a different sequence of values. When the game reads this information, the values found within the discs' data are mapped to the range of integers in the game.

Some CDs and DVDs can be specialized to produce rare monsters. For instance, in Monster Rancher 4 the Harry Potter DVD generates a unique owl monster, and in Monster Rancher 2 and Monster Rancher 4 TECMO's Dead or Alive game creates a Pixie named Kasumi. In Monster Rancher 2, the Lost in Translation DVD generates a unique squid-like creature. Special CDs called pandora discs can produce multiple monsters. Often, the Monster Rancher game CD itself is a pandora disc.
I remember running through the house and getting every CD I could grab in hopes of getting something good. Those old America Online trial discs you got in the mail were good for this.

 
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