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

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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.
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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Well, I got a message back from Amazon. With regards to the Black console, no update except it is back ordered. I did get a 1 day shipping upgrade, but that doesn't matter too much, especially with my Prime membership.

 
I ordered it sep 14 so anyone behind me might be waiting for some time
 
"Hello, 
 
I apologize for the delay in shipping your order. 
 
I've checked the availability for " Hyperkin RetroN 5 Retro Gaming System - Black ", and can confirm that it's now back-ordered. I'm sorry about this delay--we certainly didn't expect this would happen. 
 
We normally obtain this item from a supplier who can usually send it to us soon (as listed on our website) from the time your order is placed; however, in this case, the supplier has taken longer than expected to respond to us. 
 
We sent an e-mail notification as soon as we learned from our supplier that the status of this item had changed. Unfortunately, our reliance on suppliers and manufacturers for information about their stock means that occasionally our database will not reflect all changes. "
 
Edit: To be fair he might not know it has not come out yet so if he just looked at it's current progress it might show backordered if they have not received all the units in yet.
 
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I pre-ordered a gray unit on 9/25 w/ the free shipping option (not Prime...just over $35) and just got a delivery estimate of June 12-14. This was after chatting with an Amazon rep and nicely asking for a shipping update. It's nice having an actual date I can look forward to now.

Edit: This was also at the $76.19 price point.

 
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In case anyone in the DFW area is looking to get one locally they have some at Entertainmart.  I just picked up one at the Arlington location and they still had a few left so it may be the same at the other locations.

Does anyone know how to download cheats to an SD card?

Edit: Forgot to mention they were $119.99 rather than $139.99 which was cool.

 
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Hey all,

I am looking for recommendations on Genesis and Famicom. Those are the only platforms I am missing, but I want to be sure I have at least one of each supported-console game so I can fully test the console out of the box (make sure nothing is broken, etc.)

 
Hey all,

I am looking for recommendations on Genesis and Famicom. Those are the only platforms I am missing, but I want to be sure I have at least one of each supported-console game so I can fully test the console out of the box (make sure nothing is broken, etc.)
for sega genesis

racers:

super hang on

outrun

beat em ups:

Streets of Rage 1&2

platformers/action games

vectorman

sonic hedgehog

revenge of shinobi

golden axe

rpg's

phantasy star 2-4

puzzle

columns

famicom

wai wai world

spelunker

 
Hey all,

I am looking for recommendations on Genesis and Famicom. Those are the only platforms I am missing, but I want to be sure I have at least one of each supported-console game so I can fully test the console out of the box (make sure nothing is broken, etc.)
Genesis:

TMNT Hyperstone Heist,

Sonic 2,

Rocket Knight Adventures,

Shining Force 1/2,

Crusader of Centy,

Light Crusader,

Landstalker,

Ecco the Dolphin,

Aero the Acrobat,

Beyond Oasis,

Castlevania: Bloodlines,

Castle of Illusion Mickey Mouse,

Earthworm Jim (best version, not a port),

Golden Axe 1/2,

Phantasy Star 2/3/4,

Road Rash,

Streets of Rage,

Vectorman

 
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Thanks for the recommendations so far everyone. I think I need more Famicom, though. I do like how cheap CIB Genesis titles are. I like Zelda clones; however, I think "Crusader of Centy" may be a little outside my price range. $180 for loose cart DX.

 
If you are looking for a good Zelda clone may I suggest Golden Axe Warrior if you have a Master System and/or a Power Base Converter? Best Zelda clone of that era.
 
If you are looking for a good Zelda clone may I suggest Golden Axe Warrior if you have a Master System and/or a Power Base Converter? Best Zelda clone of that era.
I disagree. In the 8-16bit age, best zelda clone imho was Neutopia. Unfortunately, this is a game that can not be played on the retron-5.

Hey all,

I am looking for recommendations on Genesis and Famicom. Those are the only platforms I am missing, but I want to be sure I have at least one of each supported-console game so I can fully test the console out of the box (make sure nothing is broken, etc.)
For genesis, I'd recommend these games along with some of the others that have already been listed:

Double Dragon

Pier Solar

Forgotten Worlds

Gemfire

Gunstar Heroes

Hellfire

King's Bounty

Strider

Super Smash TV

Thunder Force (2/3/4)

Valis series

Wrestlemania

 
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Pier Solar has been tempting. But with the Xbox One/PS4 release date probably coming later this year, I will likely end up waiting for that. Totally forgot their was a TMNT game for Genesis. Wish that wasn't so spendy.

 
If you are looking for a good Zelda clone may I suggest Golden Axe Warrior if you have a Master System and/or a Power Base Converter? Best Zelda clone of that era.
I can confirm this. Also, the title is available on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the PS3/360.

 
I disagree. In the 8-16bit age, best zelda clone imho was Neutopia. Unfortunately, this is a game that can not be played on the retron-5.
Turbo/PC game. No wonder I never heard of it. Will have to snag it on PSN if it ever goes on sale. Otherwise it's now definitely on my Turbo pickup list if I ever bother to get one.

 
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!
As I said before, my local mom & pop stores have all turned into shittier, more expensive versions of what you see on eBay. I just stopped going and now go straight to eBay since I can almost always get a better price there.
 
I made some scans of the instruction booklet today. If you want to see it, here's the link to view or download it. I would recommend downloading it, so that you can actually rotate it counterclockwise, since I don't see the option to do that on Google Drive.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bzc998YBodi1N1gtd1hVWmJ3VFU/edit

As for my system, the GBA slot has completely stopped working. And the NES and SNES slots now only read the cartridges intermittently. I never even tried the Genesis slot. I think I might have a defective unit.

 
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I made some scans of the instruction booklet today. If you want to see it, here's the link to view or download it. I would recommend downloading it, so that you can actually rotate it counterclockwise, since I don't see the option to do that on Google Drive.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bzc998YBodi1N1gtd1hVWmJ3VFU/edit

As for my system, the GBA slot has completely stopped working. And the NES and SNES slots now only read the cartridges intermittently. I never even tried the Genesis slot. I think I might have a defective unit.
May as well give hyperkin cs a call to ask about a replacement console.
 
I made some scans of the instruction booklet today. If you want to see it, here's the link to view or download it. I would recommend downloading it, so that you can actually rotate it counterclockwise, since I don't see the option to do that on Google Drive.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bzc998YBodi1N1gtd1hVWmJ3VFU/edit

As for my system, the GBA slot has completely stopped working. And the NES and SNES slots now only read the cartridges intermittently. I never even tried the Genesis slot. I think I might have a defective unit.
Do it old school and blow in the cart and slot. It worked then, maybe it'll work now.

 
As for my system, the GBA slot has completely stopped working. And the NES and SNES slots now only read the cartridges intermittently. I never even tried the Genesis slot. I think I might have a defective unit.
Remember to keep your carts clean. I'm not saying that you're not, but let it be fair warning to everybody regardless.

Jamming a dirty cart into your system is like spreading an STD, it dirties all consecutive carts too. Clean carts, clean contacts. All of my carts will be getting a Brasso and isopropyl bath before ever touching my RetroN 5.

 
Remember to keep your carts clean. I'm not saying that you're not, but let it be fair warning to everybody regardless.

Jamming a dirty cart into your system is like spreading an STD, it dirties all consecutive carts too. Clean carts, clean contacts. All of my carts will be getting a Brasso and isopropyl bath before ever touching my RetroN 5.
Cleaning the carts is a definite must for this system, but even so it is still very difficult to pull those first carts out from the system (even more so if they haven't been cleaned). Fortunately, the 'death grip' the connectors have do loosen up somewhat after playing with a few carts.
 
Question:

I was wondering if this system played imports? I'm never really followed region coding on cart based games because I was too young to know their was a whole world out there but will this play only U.S. releases?

Also, I have two gray units coming on 06/06 and will most likely sell off the second one. Are the hardware failure/problem rates high? This is a product that I would expect to cause problems for people that expect it to plug n play and work with all their old shitty games without firmware updates or cleaning their cartridges first and I just want to know what I'm walking in to

 
Question:

I was wondering if this system played imports?
That's one of the main features of the RetroN 5. It plays Famicom (Japanese Nintendo), Super Famicom (Japanese Super Nintendo), and Mega Drive (European Sega Genesis). So yes, it plays imports, lots of them.

 
That's one of the main features of the RetroN 5. It plays Famicom (Japanese Nintendo), Super Famicom (Japanese Super Nintendo), and Mega Drive (European Sega Genesis). So yes, it plays imports, lots of them.
Okay cool. I have lots of NES and Genesis games but that's about where it stopped for me (sports and traveling as a kid kept me from playing a lot of games from middle school through high school outside of a few PC games) but I wasn't sure if it'd play PAL cartridges (is that a thing?) or what not.

I really just want mine for a handful of nintendo games and to be able to test games without having to drag out all my older consoles.

 
I'm going to return my system on Monday for a full refund. The owner from the game store I bought it from gave me a 30-day return window, and this afternoon I talked to him about the aforementioned problems the system had and agreed to do the refund.

Before I return it though, I'm fielding questions for a review I'm writing that I'm going to have ready in a few days. Is there anything specific you guys want to know about the RetroN5 before it is out of my hands?

 
I'm going to return my system on Monday for a full refund. The owner from the game store I bought it from gave me a 30-day return window, and this afternoon I talked to him about the aforementioned problems the system had and agreed to do the refund.

Before I return it though, I'm fielding questions for a review I'm writing that I'm going to have ready in a few days. Is there anything specific you guys want to know about the RetroN5 before it is out of my hands?
How does the Retron 5 handle overclocking FX chip games, specifically Stunt Race FX?

 
^I don't own Stunt Race FX, but I will try it out with Star Fox and Yoshi's Island.
See if in Star Fox whether it merely speeds up the game or helps the frame rate too. Thanks! It would be so awesome to be able to play Stunt Race FX with 30 fps, and Star Fox would be nice too.

 
Remember to keep your carts clean. I'm not saying that you're not, but let it be fair warning to everybody regardless.

Jamming a dirty cart into your system is like spreading an STD, it dirties all consecutive carts too. Clean carts, clean contacts. All of my carts will be getting a Brasso and isopropyl bath before ever touching my RetroN 5.
I probably should do this, as I've always been a "blower" lol. Are there any good videos or articles for advice on cleaning games, particularly Sega Genesis carts as that's what I have.

 
You'll find about a dozen different methods for cleaning carts. Any of the best ones will involve opening the cart so that you can really get at the contacts.

I use cotton swabs with Brasso to clean the contacts, then cotton swabs with iospropyl alcohol to remove any Brasso and it dries super fast. Do that for both sides.

I try to avoid anything that relies on heavy friction like erasers and magic erasers, but that's just me. And I've been seeing some people using WD40, which I think is fucking stupid since WD40 is a flammable lubricant. 

 
You'll find about a dozen different methods for cleaning carts. Any of the best ones will involve opening the cart so that you can really get at the contacts.

I use cotton swabs with Brasso to clean the contacts, then cotton swabs with iospropyl alcohol to remove any Brasso and it dries super fast. Do that for both sides.

I try to avoid anything that relies on heavy friction like erasers and magic erasers, but that's just me. And I've been seeing some people using WD40, which I think is fucking stupid since WD40 is a flammable lubricant.
I for the past 12 years or so I have always use a eraser and denatured alcohol. It has 0 water content and dries in seconds. I use to be a repair tech for Sprint and we used it to clean the insides of phones. The stuff even gets rid of corrosion. In fact this weekend I cleaned a Pokemon Blue with heavy corrosion all on the contacts and main board and cleaned it with the DA and now it works like new with no problems. What's nice with the DA you can clean the entire board with it and it drys quick. Zero water in it. THen I go over the contacts with and eraser and thats it.

A buddy of mine used Brasso one time and I don't know if he used too much or what but it stripped the copper clean off the contacts. Maybe the copper was thin on the contacts or something but I dont use it because of that.

 
I use cotton swabs with Brasso to clean the contacts, then cotton swabs with iospropyl alcohol to remove any Brasso and it dries super fast. Do that for both sides.

I try to avoid anything that relies on heavy friction like erasers and magic erasers, but that's just me.
Out of curiosity, what do you mean by "heavy on friction." I use the eraser method and then finish it off with isopropyl. I don't use much friction at all since the mildly abrasive nature of the eraser seems to do all the heavy lifting. I imagine the brasso works with minimal friction for the same reason.

Anyway, not saying your way is worse or mine is better. Just curious.

 
A buddy of mine used Brasso one time and I don't know if he used too much or what but it stripped the copper clean off the contacts. Maybe the copper was thin on the contacts or something but I dont use it because of that.
This is also why I don't use Brasso. Goo Gone, Isopropyl, and erasers all work fine for me.

 
Any chance that the price of these will drop back down to MSRP after they start shipping?

Will they be sold in normal retail outlets (Walmart, Target, etc)?
 

Thanks

 
Any chance that the price of these will drop back down to MSRP after they start shipping?

Will they be sold in normal retail outlets (Walmart, Target, etc)?

Thanks
They will probably drop closer to MSRP on eBay once supply shores up a bit more, but you are probably better off waiting till you can get one for the normal $140 from a retailer.

Has any other Hyperkin stuff been sold at normal retail outlets before? If not I would imagine that trend will continue. I've never seen their stuff outside specialty shops, but that doesn't necessarily mean they wouldn't be carried elsewhere in different regions.

 
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Any chance that the price of these will drop back down to MSRP after they start shipping?

Will they be sold in normal retail outlets (Walmart, Target, etc)?

Thanks
more then likely amazon, newegg, and mom and pop game stores and similar places. Normal retailers never sold hyperkin stuff before and the reason is it a niche system and also cause since it play old games normal retailers don't have incentives to sell the system since it not like they going to be selling nintendo and sega genesis games in store to make a profit from.
 
the firmware 1.1 system update is like 145mb and the application update is 4.5mb. When you goto update do the system update first then the application update.

 
When I asked Amazon about the black console, they didn't have any information for me...but they did upgrade me to one-day shipping for free (like others mentioned).

 
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