Retro Games Arcade console

 In the post xmas sales rush here in Australia, one deal that got my attention was from Jaycar, who was offering the Retro Arcade Game console for $50 on clearance! Since it is normally $250, I thought it worth picking one up and quickly checking it out!

I remember seeing these on display in Jaycar electronic stores over the past few years, but I thought they were too expensive. For $50 though I think it was definitely worth trying it - here is the back of the box:

So what is it?

It is a Android OS based system that emulates various Arcade systems, and some home console systems too. It has a MicroSD preloaded with a number of games to try out.

It is setup with a similar form factor to an arcade fighting game two player joystick controller, making it clear that it is intended for two player action! It is very wide and solid!

On the back is a power switch, HDMI output, power input, MicroSD slot and USB socket.

I connected it up to my 1080p TFT screen that I use for the Atari 7800+ I got recently, SNES Mini, NES Mini, Neo Geo X, and PS3 using a HDMI switcher. The Intellivision II and Intellivision Remake are also here too, connected via AV to the 4:3 TFT TV next to it.

Out of the box it has a number of arcade favourites using MAME emulation. I quickly selected Aero Fighters, one of my favourite arcade shoot em up games:

I have to say, the joystick and buttons have that arcade feel, and it feels like you are playing an arcade machine.

I was impressed - Aero fighters ran well with no slowdown. Not sure why the top and bottom of the screen is cut off though...

Unlike a normal arcade game, you can save the progress so you don't have to start over every time, which is a great feature.

This console is running Android, so all the emulations are running on Android platform. The system information is a bit thin on the ground though...I wonder if you can upgrade the firmware?

They have preloaded emulation for Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, MegaDrive, SNES, Playstation 1, PC Engine and NES, as well as MAME.

I fired up Puzzle Bobble next:

This game is still as addictive as ever.

I took out the MicroSD and put into my Mac to copy some Megadrive roms to the appropriate folder in the card so they can be seen by the launcher. I tested Cool Spot, a game I used to own on the original Mega drive back in the day, and still enjoy playing today.

I found the arcade controls work well for this game. It is worth noting that games that use unconventional buttons like the playstation will probably be a bit more tricky as you have to map the buttons to the various PS joystick, which was different in features to the arcade joysticks and buttons on this system.

I have to say, for $50 it is hard to complain. It is a good deal for this money if you don't already have these system emulated on another platform like Pi etc, and using the arcade joystick and arcade buttons feels more "real" when playing MAME arcade games on it.

That said, I note that Jaycar has put the price back up to $250 again now, so it makes me doubly grateful I jumped on it while it was on sale!

I had only a short time to try it out before I left for Prague, so hopefully I can dig a little bit deeper later on and see what else I can do with it!

Adelaide Retro Computing Group August 2016 Event

The August 2016 meeting of the Adelaide Retro Computing Group had a theme of "Bring your favourite Retro System" and our biggest attendance so far turned up to show off their favourites!

We had lots of interesting systems on display at the meeting. To start off with take this 1978 Ohio Superboard system and Apple II si.

Amiga systems were well represented at the meeting, here are two Amiga 500 systems, kitted out with A590 hard disks (upgraded) and one with a CDROM drive.

A rare system indeed - a Sharp TV with built in Super Famicom (SNES) called the SF1:

A couple of MSX systems were also on display at the meeting:

Here is the internals of the Canon MSX system - this system had a mod done to output standard video out:

Here is the Toshiba version of the MSX.

Here is an Apple IIe:

No shortage of software to try on the Apple IIe on the night!

Here is the internals of the Apple IIe, showing (hard to see) the internal joystick mod:

A Commodore Vic 20 was also on display, showing a game that was recently ported by the owner to the Vic 20 from another system!

In my case I brought along my Amiga 4000T and a Neo Geo X for the 2 player game competition:

I showed off AmiKit Real running on the Amiga 4000T plus running a lot of AGA demos.

I also put some games on for people to play - here was Disposable Hero AGA:

The attendees looking over the systems on display:

We also saw the final release version of Rebooteroids for Atari Jaguar, showed off by the programmer of the game!

Theo brought along his Mac Colour Classic system:

More Amigas at the meeting - this time an Amiga 600 and Amiga 1200 side by side:

A serial cable was connected up between them and a two player serial hookup game of Lotus 2 was soon underway!

Next door to this was a MSDOS Compaq IBM PC clone, also running plenty of games during the evening:

The tables were all full and lots of people!

Here you can see a Commodore 128D, which the owner has had since new.

We also saw the extremely rare Pippin console on display at the meeting - this system was designed by Apple and built in Japan by Bandai and marketed as an Atmark system. It was seriously expensive when released and few titles released for it. Steve Jobs canned the Pippin project when he returned to run Apple in the late 1990's.

Here it is in action:

I was very glad indeed to have a play on this very rare system.While in Japan I won an interesting Famicom in a joystick system (with 200 games built in) from a UFO Catcher game, and decided to bring it back as a prize for this month's meeting retro game competition!

We then had a presentation all about capacitors, a common problem that needs fixing for all retro system owners.

It was a very interesting presentation, and we all learnt a lot about the different types of capacitors and common failure points.

George also did a quick presentation on Thimbleweed Park, a new upcoming point and click adventure game in a similar style to the original Maniac Mansion game from Lucasarts back in the 1980's.

As you can see the meeting room was almost full:

As we did last month we had the middle tables set up for people wanting to sell old retro system bits and pieces - there was plenty of interest:

The room was buzzing and it was a great turnout - many thanks to everyone who brought in their systems! There is also a Microbits (from South Australia) PC system in this shot that I missed during my rounds!

Aron was certainly busy at his soldering station, helping many people with their soldering needs:

George brought in a Radio Shack TRS80 luggable (portable?) system:

The two player Retro game competition then got underway, playing a fighting game on the Neo Geo X system I brought in - Luke brought in a second controller so we could have 2 players on it:

In the end a young man became a very happy recipient of the prize! Here I am on the right giving the prize to the lucky winner:

He then quickly started playing it on the main screen:

George also brought in an System 24 arcade board by Sega - very dusty but nice to see an arcade board on the night:

Paul from Retrospekt also brought in his French Amstrad CPC6128 Plus:

It was a fantastic evening and I really enjoyed the meeting. It was great to see so many interesting systems and our biggest attendance so far. Can't wait for the next meeting!

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