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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Man, that is some BS...Awesome for the people who are getting theirs, but what was the point of pre-ordering if we don't get them until a month or two after official release?

I think I pre-ordered mine in like December or something. And a black unit to boot =/.
Well for what it's worth you'll still get the earliest unit, they just don't have any anywhere yet. It's not like you have to wait for your preorder while they are readily available in the wild or anything. At least not yet.

Think I might cancel and resell all the carts I bought.Want to buy a new computer. I lost a lot of interest and patience on the RetroN 5.
If you are serious and have some good NES/SNES or even Genesis/SMS carts shoot me a PM. I'm always looking for good games.

 
We know they were shipping black consoles to Amazon at the same time as the grays. Maybe they are just a day or two behind, who knows. I ordered the black on Sept 11th so I would think I would be one of the top of list.

Think I might cancel and resell all the carts I bought.Want to buy a new computer. I lost a lot of interest and patience on the RetroN 5.
I too might be interested in a few if you do sell. Let me know, there are still a few carts out there I would like to have.
 
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I ordered a black one in January so I'm likely fuqed for this calendar year. Maybe the bugs will be worked out at least. Lol
 
We know they were shipping black consoles to Amazon at the same time as the grays. Maybe they are just a day or two behind, who knows. I ordered the black on Sept 11th so I would think I would be one of the top of list.

I too might be interested in a few if you do sell. Let me know, there are still a few carts out there I would like to have.
Somebody posted on their fb that they talked to amazon customer service and were told they never received black consoles.
 
I ordered a black one in January so I'm likely fuqed for this calendar year. Maybe the bugs will be worked out at least. Lol
Well there are six more months left in the year. How long do you think it takes to manufacture these things?? I can't imagine they won't have all preorders filled within the next two to three months tops. If they were holding back the release date for any reason recently it was surely to get a decent enough supply going to ship out to most of the preorders in the first wave.

It amazes me the lack of patience our society seems to have these days. 'I'm not getting mine day one? I guess I won't see it till next year..' this didn't sound a little immature and a lot extreme when you proofread it? (I know I'm kidding myself, no one proofreads anymore. Hell I'd wager most people don't even look at the keyboard based on the grammatical nightmares I read online every day.)

 
We know they were shipping black consoles to Amazon at the same time as the grays. Maybe they are just a day or two behind, who knows. I ordered the black on Sept 11th so I would think I would be one of the top of list.


I too might be interested in a few if you do sell. Let me know, there are still a few carts out there I would like to have.
He do we know they were shipping black units and the same time as gray? If anything we do NOT know that; haven't heard of a single person getting a shipping estimate on the black units.

 
He do we know they were shipping black units and the same time as gray? If anything we do NOT know that; haven't heard of a single person getting a shipping estimate on the black units.
Well, the owner of the company said he personally loaded up both grey and black units to send to Amazon for their order but as a person who has both preordered and has only received a shipping update on the grey one and who also happens to have a friend who got in 14 retron units to his videogames store and all were black, I would worry that the original statement is not accurate. I understand the run on nature of this previous sentence and, yes, it was intentional.
 
Well, the owner of the company said he personally loaded up both grey and black units to send to Amazon for their order but as a person who has both preordered and has only received a shipping update on the grey one and who also happens to have a friend who got in 14 retron units to his videogames store and all were black, I would worry that the original statement is not accurate. I understand the run on nature of this previous sentence and, yes, it was intentional.
^ well I obviously don't have all the sweet "connections" that you do but common sense tells me that they took more preorders for black then gray. I'm sure smaller stores, that might only be carrying one sku would lean towards black too since that is an infinitely more popular color for electronics. Because of this Retron most likely was stretched thin on their black inventory and is why Amazon hasn't had their allotment fulfilled yet. I have no doubt that we have CAGs, like myself, who put in orders for both on day one. Had amazon gotten even a small shipment some of these would have estimated shipment updates by now so either they're delayed in transit or they won't get them until the second wave.

 
[quote name="Boss" post="11797856" timestamp="1401366901"]Forget about precision platforming in Mario or pulling off even the simplest of moves in Mortal Combat.[/quote]

What the hell is Mortal Combat?
 
I was reading it then I got to this sentence. And they lost all credibility so I stopped.

..

Forget about precision platforming in Mario or pulling off even the simplest of moves in Mortal Combat.
I think that is a bit much. Are people not allowed to have spelling mistakes?
calm-down.jpg


 
I think that is a bit much. Are people not allowed to have spelling mistakes?
Well, MK has been around since what, 1992? And has seen a ton of media releases like movies, comics, toys, etc. And has always had the "iconic" spelling with a K even to the point of being made fun of. Aaand the guy is writing a review of sorts for a retro console with specific mention of the game in question. So...NO, not allowed in this instance.

 
This may sound silly, but does anyone know what size SD card this thing takes?  I know save files have to be fairly small, so I didn't know if I could get away using the 4GB one I have or if I should pick up a larger size for future fun and games.

 
Well, MK has been around since what, 1992? And has seen a ton of media releases like movies, comics, toys, etc. And has always had the "iconic" spelling with a K even to the point of being made fun of. Aaand the guy is writing a review of sorts for a retro console with specific mention of the game in question. So...NO, not allowed in this instance.
It was probably just a correction made by an evil spell checker.

 
Edit: :bouncy:  :bouncy:  :bouncy:  :whee:  :whee:  :whee:  :D/  :D/  :D/

           WOOHOOOOOO!

         :D/  :D/  :D/     :bouncy:  :bouncy:  :bouncy:  :whee:  :whee:  :whee:  

 
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^ well I obviously don't have all the sweet "connections" that you do but common sense tells me that they took more preorders for black then gray. I'm sure smaller stores, that might only be carrying one sku would lean towards black too since that is an infinitely more popular color for electronics. Because of this Retron most likely was stretched thin on their black inventory and is why Amazon hasn't had their allotment fulfilled yet. I have no doubt that we have CAGs, like myself, who put in orders for both on day one. Had amazon gotten even a small shipment some of these would have estimated shipment updates by now so either they're delayed in transit or they won't get them until the second wave.
All Im saying is I would take the word of a man who works for the company and help load them over an Amazon CS rep in a office god knows how far from the warehouse where they arrived. They could have arrived at the same time but have not been processed yet. But everyone getting so bent out of shape because they haven't got an email that the black console is going to arrive on the 6th yet. I have had mine bought and paid for since Sept, almost 9 months to the day but I'm not fussing. I am expecting people with pitch forks and torches before long though. Everyone take a deep breath, its almost here.

 
I just got email confrimation from Amazon that I will have my order on RELEASE date June 6th.  I preordered a grey one and on September 17th so I assume ALOT of happy people will be posting the same thing here shortly and on the facebook page.

 
Damn, these things are selling for $250+ on eBay... They're gonna make more... you're gonna use the thing to play games that are 2 decades old, it's not gonna kill you to wait a few months.

Are people that retarded? 

 
This may sound silly, but does anyone know what size SD card this thing takes? I know save files have to be fairly small, so I didn't know if I could get away using the 4GB one I have or if I should pick up a larger size for future fun and games.
I remember hearing 16gb but I'm not sure.
 
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Oh sorry! Here's the link:

twitch.tv/freakyzeeky_

http://www.twitch.tv/freakyzeeky_

I plan to start streaming at around 7pm PDT. You guys can ask me questions while I put this system through it's paces. :D

 
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Damn, these things are selling for $250+ on eBay... They're gonna make more... you're gonna use the thing to play games that are 2 decades old, it's not gonna kill you to wait a few months.

Are people that retarded?
Yes, yes they are AND THEY HAVE TOO MUCH BLOODY MONEY!
 
Damn, these things are selling for $250+ on eBay... They're gonna make more... you're gonna use the thing to play games that are 2 decades old, it's not gonna kill you to wait a few months.

Are people that retarded?
Is it fair to guess that you weren't anywhere near ebay when the 360 or PS3 launched...? Hell, even the original Wii went for uber-boku stupid amounts of money just so that people could get the high of being "first!!1!"

'A fool and their money...' and so on and so forth.
 
We're pleased to announce the first update for the RetroN 5 - software version 1.1, which includes many improvements and additions such as:

- Numerous NES/Famicom compatibility fixes (including improved cartridge detection logic and mapper support)
- Several SNES/Super Famicom compatibility fixes (including support for ExHiROM and "SpecialLoROM" games, and better cartridge detection logic)
- Fixed manipulation of cartridge saves on SNES "HiROM" games
- Fixed a bug preventing a small number of Sega Genesis cartridges from being properly detected
- Fixed a bug which resulted in scanlines getting distorted if the screen size was not configured to the largest setting
- Added the ability to optionally display scanlines at the main menu in addition to in-game
- Large update to game identification databases
- File manager copy now checks if the destination file already exists and prompts to overwrite if necessary
- Beginning of effort to support homebrew and repro cartridges
- More reliable manipulation of the front panel LED's
- Removed default mapping for "fast forward" feature, as the original button combination was conflicting with some games
- Fixed a bug causing the bottom line of Gameboy games' display to be cut off 
- Many under the hood changes and fixes

https://www.facebook.com/HyperkinGames?fref=nf

 
Damn, these things are selling for $250+ on eBay... They're gonna make more... you're gonna use the thing to play games that are 2 decades old, it's not gonna kill you to wait a few months.

Are people that retarded?
Looking at eBay - it look like mostly it is mom and pop game stores doing it. I just find that funny. Remember to support your local independent game store!

 
I need to check 2nd and Charles today and see if they got any of these in. They are a retail store...not mom and pop but not major retail chain. They are owned by Books A Million though.

 
thanks for the stream freak. Answered a lot of questions. Did you ever get it back working?
I haven't turned it on since I stopped streaming, but when I get out of work I will turn it on and see what's up. I also noticed Hyperkin releasing a firmware update, so maybe that'll fix some of the issues I had last night.
 
Hey gang, if you have a September preorder and haven't gotten a shipping update yet you might want to go ahead and email customer service. I preordered a grey unit on 9/24 and decided to send a nice message this morning inquiring about the ship date. Not an hour later I get this:

Hello,

I'm sorry you didn't receive a confirmation e-mail after placing your order.

I've checked your order and see that the delivery date was not known yet so I've changed the shipping method to One day shipping at no additional cost.

Now, I can confirm that we expect to ship your order in time to be delivered to you by June 6, 2014.

We will send an email when your order is shipped with the details so that you can track your package. Your order could ship any time between now and right before the estimated delivery date.

You can always check the status of your order in Your Account. Here's a direct link to the order details:

We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Confirmed my order has been updated with June 6th delivery estimate. Goes to show it never hurts to ask. ;)

 
I sent Amazon an email to see if I can get mine updated or at least some news on if they know mine will be late. I'm cool with either but knowing would be good.

 
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