Honestly I think its worth the price. If you don't have an original console like a sega Saturn or CD they go for a couple of hundred especially in my area. The idea with this console is to make all your physical retro games play on modern tvs with a better look. Plus it feels like it's own console with that beautiful OS/UI. The changing out the Modulars to play different games is an interesting feature. But yeah I'd personally use it. I'd have it hooked up with my Xbox series x, PS5 and Switch since my TV can only fit 4 hdmi ports. I can have the playability to enjoy my next gen games, and a new way to enjoy my older games. I'll still play my older games on their consoles on CRTVs, but Polymega is definitely gonna come in handy
@@Trimint123 but you have to buy extra add-on to use your cartridges, for each system.... what about even older systems that used floppies or cassettes - there are A LOT of Amiga games I would LOVE to se on a modern system, can it run them? you can even add your own roms that you copied before they hit their last leg and arent around more --- that's what MOST of my roms are
I'd spend the extra few buck for a Series X and then there are SOOOOOO many more options for running emulator for so many systems , even the ps1 ps1 (and i think maybe ps3) - it's just a WAY BETTER system for emulation, HANDS DOWN
@@Nobe_Oddy the Intel uhd 610 graphics on this console is trash. Its the Achilles heel of it especially when compared to the Series X. Microsoft's console runs circles around this overpriced PC.
Nice test and totaly agree with other user, today a Xbox Serie S or X with Retroarch is better and cheapper. Personaly i bought a dev account for 19$ and i use Retroarch like a pc on my Xbox Serie X 😎
They included 4 custom controllers and 1 recycled model controller with my deluxe bundle. They clearly focused their time and efforts on their custom retro controllers and not the base unit pack in controller.
what i am seeing in this device is sadly only a Low end Mini PC with a DVD drive and some custom connectors running a decent emulation OS. Retroarch can use CDs, and you can add that cartridge feature by buying a Retrode. if it was prices at like 200€ or less it would have been interesting, but i think its massively overpriced for what it actually delivers.
@@thaprototype th-cam.com/video/9tUtsx9KK-o/w-d-xo.html Here a video showing you how it works ( it's actually pretty plug and play 😄) it will show load disc and dump disc option as the video shows even in the latest version . I actually discovered this by accident while I was making a virtual DVD drive for a dos game a few weeks ago I myself did not know until recently .😄
I will say, with all of the unkept promises and compromises, they really kinda knocked it out of the park with UI/UX consistency. It looks great and main-stream enough for novices to understand. As much as Emulationstation and Retroarch are loved by the community, for an absolute newcomer to emulation the sheer amount of options can be very overwhelming. Something simple and modern such as this looks really great. For the price and the fact that it's not an FPGA like they initially thought it would be, definitely not something I'd personally purchase, but I genuinely do appreciate the effort they put into the OS to really streamline emulation for the masses.
Yeah the UX used here really is killer. It's like a nice blend of Netflix meets Launchbox, super pretty and easy to use. It's honestly probably the best thing about the whole polymega package.
Man I’m so glad you said something about the disc option on Retroarch . No way on earth I would buy this system, my Athlon 4core 4 thread and 16gb DDR4 L16 is just fine for this system I even got a GT 1030 and it emulates very very very well.
I want to hate on it for the low specs and high price but it's beautiful. They did a great job with the UI and usability seems spot on. It would need to drop that price another $200 to fit on my TV stand. I'd be more willing to shell out the money they are asking if this was a FPGA device with the same kind of connection system.
Bro, I recommend getting the Valve Steam Deck. :) Can play emulators, and is faster than a relatively high end gaming PC from 2015-16, or mid range gaming PC from 2017-18.
I understand wanting 1 system to play all the old consoles... but 450-650 and you need to supply the original carts.. not for me.. but i get why some people would love it, like my brother in law... he has stacks of old console games... but 450 is a bit steep for a gift... plus he would want all those 80 dollar add ons... but he would love it... he has at least 5 systems hooked up all the time... Great vid man thanks!
@@thecryingsoul So true. :) The Polymega would also probably have more computing power than the world's fastest supercomputer from a decade earlier (1987). Have you heard of Moore's law? Here it is: Since the 1960s, computer processing speed (transistor count) has doubled every 18-24 months. For instance, a budget smartphone from 2020 has more computing power than a gaming PC from the late 2000s, or a supercomputer from 1995. :) Moore's law is already coming to an end, and by 2025, computer speeds will not get much faster for the price, since computer components can't get much smaller (may cause instabilities in the calculations due to unwanted quantum effects). Right now, chips are in the 5-10 nm range, and by 2025 we may be in the 2-5 nm range. Under 1.5 nm, instabilities may occur, and under 1 nm, normal computing is darn near impossible. Hopefully we switch to photonic computing, such as the tech developed by Lightmatter.
OMG please show the CPU upgrades.. I've been waiting for something like this FOREVER lol if we can get at least PS2 and Gamecube/WII out of this I'm sold 100%
I don't think your Father can Reverse Engineer a 300 MHz 0.35uM CPU. He can do a 30 MHz PS1 CPU. Been 20 Years and No PS2 Emu. He may be getting Errors detecting the 0.35 uM Transistors. The 30 MHz was like One to Two uM Transistors.
I think most people can not understand that this is a finished, polished console that a lot work went into. The base unit plays 15 systems right out of the box. This is great for CD gaming collectors...one system to run them all and all with an HDMI output. I like the fact that they made the cartridge systems as add-on....you buy what modules you collect or want to play. With the price of Sega Saturn's and Sega CD this thing is a true bargain..Ill be picking one up.
They really scaled back those specs from what they initially intended to use. This is why I passed on it. Still I'm hoping it does well, because ultimately I would like to see a non modular version of this that still supports multiple consoles.
Yeah why even use a hardware module system at all? I saw when he opened it up there was plenty of room for a cartridge connector slot. Theyre just money hungry i guess
I was hyped on the polymega when it was going to be fpga based. I don't know quite where it fits in now, but I am pretty disenchanted. It is fine, but it just isn't for me. I probably need to jump on the Mister bandwagon.
The MiSTer keeps getting better and better. They were able to get Saturn and PS1 games running on that DE10 nano for God's sake. Now I can play some of my favorite imports, like Sakura Taisen, Densha de Go, and Tokimeki Memorial on MiSTer
@@lucasn0tch I'm so excited for the PS1 and Saturn cores to be completed. It's still a "we'll see" scenario, but it almost looks like a given that everything will fit considering how well and fast they're progressing. I have original consoles, but the MiSTer is great for consoles I don't have and portability. A buddy of mine is really interested in getting one too but he wants the PS1 core to be done first. That's the selling point for him lol
@Brian Babin I agree with your Sega Saturn statement. Only PCs and MACs and certain emulation devices can run Saturn full speed with no problems. I would love it when raspberry pi computers can run Sega Saturn and Sega Dreamcast and Panasonic 3do without overclocking and hacking, and run full speed. Until that happens, I will happily wait. 🙂
As of this review, November 2021, the base unit price with one controller is USD $450. Wow, just wow...what hallucinogens are they taking and where can I get some!
Oh wow, I spotted the DVD drive uses SATA cable. I wonder if we can cramp in a 2.5 inch SATA drive into it with slim optical drive to 2.5 inch drive adapter and run games from the that SATA drive.
I'd like to see you leverage the patching functionality. Like patching improvements to game along with translations. Like Policenauts on the Saturn or something. That's be cool to see how it works from your perspective. Thanks for the great video!
@@ocha-time depending on implementation and how it works on Polymega it could be a feature that separates it from the rest making it special and worth a purchase. Patching of games covers many aspects outside of just translations. Plus it'd only help make ETA Prime's videos appeal to a wider audience by addressing more features. To each their own I guess.
I agree its overprice for what you get. The price of $249 was fine but $449 for the base is too much for the unit. But the only thing I see is the Metadata is awesome, updates, module and new module with FPGA or third party module with special addon would be cool. I think later the Polymega Store would be nice.
Because it works out of the box with no setup? Everything is just plug and play and comes in a sleek looking package. People pay for convenience. It has a good looking simple ui with all the metadata and artwork preloaded. I don't have to install retropie, scrape artwork, configure emulator settings. I pop in a game and can just play.
Given they originally promised FPGA, it's pretty unacceptable that it's basically a low-end office machine slapped in a black box. It's also baffling that, knowing the pack-in controller would require a dongle, they didn't integrate the dongle internal to the case. The pack-in controller looks like a rebranded Ouya controller, and it charges by _micro USB_ in 2021. There's no excuse for that. Even when they started out, USB-C was here, and ready. They knew they'd be launching into a world where USB-C would be the standard. I hope people enjoy their overpriced emulation PCs.
Yeah, I'd have been willing to pay a premium over a refurb SFF office PC just for the novelty of using the original physical media, but $400+ is an insane asking price for this hardware.
@@bland9876 There is plenty wrong with micro USB. It's not rated for nearly as many insertions, which means the controller has a finite lifespan just on the times you plug it in. Even mini USB was better for that. The micro port and the plugs are more fragile. Micro USB is becoming far less common, I have like two cables in the house. With USB C everywhere, I'd have a hard time finding my micro USB cables if I needed to. Micro USB 2.0 can't charge devices as quickly, and 3.0 is a weird wider connector, while USB 3.0's extra voltage and current options are rolled into the type C connector. There's no excuse for releasing a product in 2021 with micro USB when type C is an option, even if the ONLY benefit you'd get is the durability of the socket.
@@bland9876 Micro USB always breaks on me. Seriously I have 2 android phones that crapped out and it was the micro USB port both times within 1-2 years! My USB-C phone from 2018 is still going strong with no signs of wear.
What's pretty unacceptable? That they retracted their FPGA statement, and clarified their lofty ambitions well before it went on sale? Or that they admitted they were too ambitious? Or that they commissioned the author of the Kega Fusion emulator to make a special version for the Polymega? Or that the research done for this system allowed for leaps and bounds of progression in Saturn software emulation? Which of the above is "pretty unacceptable"? Products change during development. I'll agree, the price is high. And the micro USB can be seen as problematic. Though admittedly, I have not had problems with slots. Only the cords. But people like you are acting like it's this massive harbinger of lies. When, from what I've seen, this thing has delivered on everything promised at launch. The store is yet to be seen. But was not promised at launch. Though, I've seen some of your other comments. You seem like a bit of an insufferable elitist. So you do you boo boo.
@@RobertSeeJen, you asked, so here's your answer: it's "pretty unacceptable" that they were talking out their ass on the announcement, to drum up hype. It's just as unacceptable that their product is basically on par with a Lenovo office machine in a nicer looking case, that it offers basically nothing beyond the cheap Chinese emulation boxes other than fan noise, a bigger footprint, and the ongoing cost of buying more modules. If it were an FPGA console, it would be justifiable that they would need to add physical hardware each time, but even the Retron series of consoles can fit more than one kind of catridge slot on their machines. The base model Polymega comes with only an optical drive. As for being an insufferable elitist, that's just another way of saying "he's right, and I don't like it waah waah waah". Kind of a _you_ problem, that one.
So it's basically just an overglorified Dell Optiplex in a cool custom case. With a fancy looking version of Batocera, locked out of roms so you can only play original CDs.
if mister runs something, then it runs at full speed. fpga is a reimplementation of the original hardware, it either runs or doesn't. sure it might be a case where a fpga emulator might not run something correctly and it ends being slower than it is supposed to, but that is a issue with the implementation not the lack of capacity of the hardware, the fpga that mister run on goes up to 100mhz iirc. that's why it will never run dreamcast since its cpu runs at 200mhz but is not like a program based emulator that is dependent on the horsepower of the machine running it.
Whether it is easy accessible for casual people who had physical copies for old games or not, the price itself doesn't justify the overall hardware specs as a non-FPGA device standard, and the $80 for a single external module. Also, $649 for complete set of Polymega is just simply overprice although it's the best choice by far. With a PC with decent specs, a retropie or even a next gen console like Xbox Series (If you can get one) with dev mode available & Retroarch and so on, any one of them will out perform what Polymega did despite it provides a good UI layout from the start and it is basically plug and play device. It's true that being very easy to use for many retro gamers who simply just wanna play games without caring a lot is potential, the fact that it already lost a lot of charm due to the above reasons and it basically fails in terms of marking standpoint considering there are a lot more better options with lower costs in general.
I received my unit last week as well and have been loving it. Truly awesome stuff and there’s plenty of potential for Playmaji to keep expanding on the system’s capabilities. Great video as always!
I love mine too. ETA's following are mainly emulator people who are satisfied downloading torrents of roms, and not game collectors who hold real physical copies of games, so not sure if this product is a good match for his audience until it's been hacked / modded and running RetroArch.
@@steve43ful people are settling for it bc they held on to their games too long, they wanna use those games, they don’t want to setup stuff and they want save states!
Is the Valve Steam Deck the beast of emulation? That is the beast of emulation IMO. Two TeraFLOPS of GPU compute speed. That's 2.0*10^12 calculations per second
I've been an outspoken, and at times overzealous, critic of this thing since it was renamed the Polymega, and yeah, I still don't see the point of this, and moreover who it's intended for. It's taking the most arduous aspects of clone consoles and emulation machines, and if I'm not mistaken it still uses HLE BIOS by default for all of the disc-based systems it's running, which will likely cause issues with a lot of games if they aren't the most popular titles, requires the user to supply authentic BIOS for the best experience, and that's before the $60 per piece expansion modules for each console you want to use carts from. Just to give manufacturers some credit I will say that the console looks pretty well designed and quite solid, the menu interface is pretty nice and clean and looks pretty much exactly as they advertised on the website a couple years back, the included universal controller is also quite nice as it's based off of an already proven controller, and the games boot rather quickly and are identified in a snap. With all that said, I'm still rather confused as to who this console is made for: collectors will already have original consoles or high quality alternatives to go to, people who want emulation machines won't shell out $500+ for a closed off, underpowered PC with a disc drive when there are MANY alternatives, and the casual player looking to revisit their favorites will just buy the retro games or collections they want from modern consoles or go to something like the Evercade or any of AtGames' current offerings.
Evercade vs does look like retro done right. But licensing will hold that back just like other machines. I seriously doubt will get Zelda on evercade even tho we don’t need it on it. Just makes you think what other big title won’t show on evercade. On evercade you just get what you get, and hope you get what you’d like to play on it. Or just go with whatever library it gets overtime. Evercade has Playmaji beat on pricing I’ll give them that!
@@cassiodalcin and a cool ui and cool background music. I wish it was cheaper like everyone else. But they are not able to make money off from games and shipping Cost Is just a nightmare from Asia to states so maybe price of system will go down when they get some revenue coming in from the digital games store
Really sick of these x86 'consoles'. The only thing this really brings to the table is the cart modules, which they could have just released independently as PC peripherals. I mean, I get it. Most of this crap is marketed towards people who've never heard of emulation and/or think it's some sort of wizardry, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.
Most people who collect older games have heard of emulation. The people who buy this know it's emulating games. But this fits into a niche of people who want a CD clone console (which is already rare to this day compared to clone cart consoles) that doesn't require hacking a pre-existing console and is more above board than hacking. Then there are specific personal situations one may find themselves in. You still don't have to like it, but it doesn't mean it has no place. If this had PS2 capabilities I'd be all over it. But for now I will have to settle for HDL on my PS2.
I remember in the 90s as a young lad I had an idea for an all in one console. I called it the quin magi. Used to draw it all the time and tinker with boards, I was 9 so I broke them 😂😂😂 glad someone is at least attempting these days. It's a dream to have a cd console that can play all cd based games I have natively no roms the actual disk. (With rom support included tho)
Imagine with all cartridge support as well. With no boot switcher, just everything readable without having to do anything but put I'm cart or cd, and the addition of rom storage. And to be realistic nothing past gen 5.
Mister psx and saturn core development are both making huge progress. This will be much better than the polymega as there is huge community support for it. You get much more display and scanline options with MiSTer too.
For what it is it's WAY over priced. $450 for what's essentially a SFF pc, and not even a good one. For just a little more you can get a Ryzen based mini pc. Then just add a Xbox controller and USB DVD (if you want) and you are set. Only advantage this has is support for hardware carts.
I would love to see a review of their light gun. If that works good. That alone has me sold. I just wish this thing wasn't 700 bucks... I am REALLY hoping for Dreamcast support and for added bonus, light gun support as well.
Would be interesting to see a low power core processor (8400T/9400T - 8600T/9600T etc.). They are the same TDP (35W). Might not work as well. Really depends on how the emulators handle multiple cores. Could get a little boost with the iGPU and it might boost higher single core than the Celeron. Though, at that point you basically have a Dell/Lenovo/HP micro pc. The cart reader really seems to be the only thing going for it unless you really like the case.
The Idea is cool, but for an Rom Collector it's an big disadvantage if you can't add Roms. And I'm no expert in Computer Hardware but I think the 2Gb Ram would be an Bottleneck to the Integrated UHD Graphics Card. I think 4GB would fit perfect. Too expensive for that thing.
I really only see the appeal of this if you have a truly massive collection of physical games and you're a stickler for everything being on the up-and-up. For a collector with an averaged-sized collection, I'd rather go with original hardware with display adapters, or something FPGA-based like what Analogue offers. And of course, if you care a bit less about only playing what you have physical copies of, there are certainly more versatile Retroarch-based solutions. The Polymega interface is nice, and I like how streamlined and user-friendly it is, but if you can manage the initial time investment of setting up a PC with launchbox and Retroarch, or an Nvidia Shield TV with the Reset collection, it can be extremely rewarding. Personally retro-achievements have me sworn to RA over solutions such as this.
on sega rally, the holes in the ground (they look more like triangles to me)in my experience are there because when you try to upscale it from its default resolution the game doesn't respond well to it, give kronos a try with "compute shader video interface" selected as your video core, think you will like the results don't go too crazy with your upscales it is quite hardware intensive
I ended up cancelling my pre-order on this about a year ago and kind of glad that I did. Its an interesting machine, but the price and hardware isn't really worth the price. A 2 core system for 450+ dollars? That's a bit rough on the wallet for a pretty low end system. I am curious to see what upgrades you will be able to do with it though, as if it can be bought for a good enough price and throw in a few upgrades (a quad CPU and 8 gigs of ram at the very least) then it might fit in some collections
Crt tv is what you need, because the projection of graphics is a crossed eye unified display with curves so it's just right to the eye. The bands like samsung or sony crt tv only.
The deluxe bundle is the way to go and for the fun factor and the thousands of games you can play I think it's totally worth it. I have a lot of cartridges saved of different consoles but got some of my consoles robbed in a moving. This works for me. Will be buying probably next year. Will love if they add Neo Geo, Jaguar, 3DO, Amiga 32 modules. I know, it's asking too much. This works for me. You all missing the point that it runs physical media of many consoles in one. I which they upgrade the processor and the ram.
Wonder if it can play Philip CD-I games . I curious about that CD-I games if their actual as bad as people claim but never want to buy that console it be a huge waste of money . The Cd-i emulator don't work when I try using it in the past
Looking forward to when the OS is "available" separately. That's all I'm really interested in at this point. It's a really slick looking front end with solid emulators. The hardware is meh.
@@steel5897 thanks for the reply and info. I run LanchBox/BigBox in my arcade currently and love it. I would highly reccomend it to anyone in the community as it's a fantastic front end. At the same time, I do appreciate a piece of software that's simply plug and play. LaunchBox wasn't terribly difficult to set up by any means but I have hours upon hours tweaking the individual emulators settings and controls. This OS is much more of a "consolized" experience where you just put in a game and it (at least appears to) just works.
my biggest gripe regarding any of the polymega reviews is a lack of comparison of the picture quality vs original hardware with a quality upscaler like a retrotink or ossc.
In Japan, Polymega is sold due to desirable of aftermarket old games that you can play all region PS1, NGCD, MD/GEN, S32X, SS and SCD/MCD games. Additional : New Polymega models that can be play proprietary optical discs such as GD-ROM, NintenDisc GameCube (5GB Mini DVD), NintenDisc Wii (8-17GB DVD-DL) & then N64 carts (example play Sin & Punishment in Polymega).
I'm actually surprised. This device is not powerful at all. but it handles SS pretty well. just curious what emulator they are using! hope someone could dig it up!
is it an emulation console? or is it fpga? edit: they apparently started off as a fpga design and shifted to software emulation at some point in development.. that might explain why i had this pegged as fpga.
Bloody Roar like back in day some old RE for sure. The importing of physical alone omg I def need that but I'll have to ship to buddy in States it's free for them to ship to me $128 usd lol. And yes please do a cpu upgrade vid I'd love to do the same.
Great video... Thanks for the teardown... interestingly... MadLittlePixe posted a video in Dec 2020 and the CPU on his system was an intel Pentium G5400T clocked at 3.1Ghz 🤔
I want to see you upgrading the CPU. I should be getting my polymega real soon so im just curious if that upgrade is possible. Also would it mess with the settings by just swapping the chip to a better one?
Its a 75 watt powerbrick and it has to power the whole system not just the CPU so your limitation is the power delivery itself. Unless you already have a compatible CPU for that socket with a TDP of no more than 45 watts on hand for some reason its not worth the added expense. The added cost puts it in direct competition with far better PCs and the jump from intel uhd 610 to Intel uhd 620 graphics is underwhelming to say the least. You could probably get a ryzen based entry level PC for that sort of price and it will be faster.
No reason to upgrade the CPU, the performance the celeron delivers for every platform the PM emulates is overkill. If they add another platform in the future and it sucks, at that point it'd be worth your time to open the device and upgrade the CPU, but honestly the rest of that unit will die long before the Celeron does, and the Celeron's honestly too much for Saturn emulation. To be clear, everything this thing handles, a Raspberry Pi also handles equally well, for $40. In fact, the RPi 4 can also do Dreamcast at near perfect speed.
@@ocha-time Interesting take and a refreshing answer seeing most people try to bash Polymega. What would you say the would be the absolute upper ability for the polymega with its present celeronsetup? PS2 or Dreamcast? You think it could handle those systems well?
I’m really not seeing any reason to “upgrade” to this from something like my HEN PS3, CBHC WiiU, or soft modded OG Xbox in my living room. I’m not missing Saturn support in my living room enough to get this, I’d just get a Saturn and a MODE. I’ll keep playing Saturn on my PC and the rest on modded consoles.
Great review! On one hand this is pretty fucking neat and the UI is just beautiful. On the other hand the specs seem to have been toned down from last time I've checked which was ages ago... UUUGH. I'm one of those people who can't hassle with emulation via the computer cause I work an awful lot and barely have time off to properly set one up. I want something that just works and this WAS something I was looking at. Unfortunately it seems they've toned down the specs and backtracked on some promises which is quite ugh, however I suppose if they figured out they could have it run with lower than expected hardware due to some newfound knowledge in emulation tech I guess it's probably okay? All in all I'm still quite on the fence, but I don't think I'll be making a purchase until they've lowered the price. Also, could you possibly try out Need for Speed III Hot Pursuit? No reason 🙃
It's a nice idea but it feels complicated getting the modules and original games are not exactly cheap and easy to find. I prefer the Evercade approach or an emulating box with tons of prebuilt games. I like retro games but I think it should be an easy set up to an them.
Definitely agree that the low end Intel CPU and 2 GB of RAM is a huge limitation. I'm surprised they didn't go with an embedded Ryzen system like the Atari system. Even that one should have used the 4c8t APU.
I know most people here are into the emulator scene, but look at it from the outside. It's plug and play. You don't need a upscaler, HDMI mod or a CRT to play your game collection. You don't need to hook up more than this console to the TV. You don't need to set up, or even know how a emulator works to use this thing. A lot of people don't even have computers at home anymore to do this anyways. They use phones and tablets. They can play their own game collection legally instead of downloading pirated games from the web. I can understand the appeal. It's definitely a market for this sort of product.
Honestly I think its worth the price. If you don't have an original console like a sega Saturn or CD they go for a couple of hundred especially in my area.
The idea with this console is to make all your physical retro games play on modern tvs with a better look.
Plus it feels like it's own console with that beautiful OS/UI. The changing out the Modulars to play different games is an interesting feature.
But yeah I'd personally use it. I'd have it hooked up with my Xbox series x, PS5 and Switch since my TV can only fit 4 hdmi ports. I can have the playability to enjoy my next gen games, and a new way to enjoy my older games. I'll still play my older games on their consoles on CRTVs, but Polymega is definitely gonna come in handy
Coming back to this vid 2 years later. I got one ordered! Should be here next week! Cannot wait!
For this price of Polymega, Xbox Series S is shining like a star.
I mean it's core feature is to take your old games into it. So the prize is reasonable.
@@Trimint123 but you have to buy extra add-on to use your cartridges, for each system.... what about even older systems that used floppies or cassettes - there are A LOT of Amiga games I would LOVE to se on a modern system, can it run them? you can even add your own roms that you copied before they hit their last leg and arent around more --- that's what MOST of my roms are
I'd spend the extra few buck for a Series X and then there are SOOOOOO many more options for running emulator for so many systems , even the ps1 ps1 (and i think maybe ps3) - it's just a WAY BETTER system for emulation, HANDS DOWN
@@Nobe_Oddy the Intel uhd 610 graphics on this console is trash. Its the Achilles heel of it especially when compared to the Series X. Microsoft's console runs circles around this overpriced PC.
Nice test and totaly agree with other user, today a Xbox Serie S or X with Retroarch is better and cheapper. Personaly i bought a dev account for 19$ and i use Retroarch like a pc on my Xbox Serie X 😎
For the price point of the base and the deluxe unit. The universal controller should be way better than a recycled model.
They included 4 custom controllers and 1 recycled model controller with my deluxe bundle. They clearly focused their time and efforts on their custom retro controllers and not the base unit pack in controller.
@@Vachey is that you Polymega?
literally my first thought when I saw it, the most generic controller I'd ever seen
@@KrisKnight lol it's probably that nintendolife guy who keeps arguing with people that dare talk smack about it
Is essentially a Gamesir G3s controller
what i am seeing in this device is sadly only a Low end Mini PC with a DVD drive and some custom connectors running a decent emulation OS.
Retroarch can use CDs, and you can add that cartridge feature by buying a Retrode. if it was prices at like 200€ or less it would have been interesting, but i think its massively overpriced for what it actually delivers.
First time I've read Retro can run CDs. Can you link to a video or something about it.
@@themexicanwolverine if you have a CD drive retroarch legit asks you to dump the cd if need be you just need a DVD drive plugged in 😄
@@manankataria That's awesome. I had no idea.
@@thaprototype th-cam.com/video/9tUtsx9KK-o/w-d-xo.html
Here a video showing you how it works ( it's actually pretty plug and play 😄) it will show load disc and dump disc option as the video shows even in the latest version .
I actually discovered this by accident while I was making a virtual DVD drive for a dos game a few weeks ago I myself did not know until recently .😄
@@manankataria so can I just run my PS1 games or do I need to dump then use?
If it was 199.99 and 49.99 for each of the add-ons this would be really interesting. Just too expensive for what it is at the moment.
I have been messing with the bios with Sega CD. The Polymega does not play Terminator (Sega CD). When I use Sega CD official Bios works fine
I will say, with all of the unkept promises and compromises, they really kinda knocked it out of the park with UI/UX consistency. It looks great and main-stream enough for novices to understand. As much as Emulationstation and Retroarch are loved by the community, for an absolute newcomer to emulation the sheer amount of options can be very overwhelming. Something simple and modern such as this looks really great.
For the price and the fact that it's not an FPGA like they initially thought it would be, definitely not something I'd personally purchase, but I genuinely do appreciate the effort they put into the OS to really streamline emulation for the masses.
Yeah the UX used here really is killer. It's like a nice blend of Netflix meets Launchbox, super pretty and easy to use. It's honestly probably the best thing about the whole polymega package.
Well... Lemuroid is an alternative.
Man I’m so glad you said something about the disc option on Retroarch . No way on earth I would buy this system, my Athlon 4core 4 thread and 16gb DDR4 L16 is just fine for this system I even got a GT 1030 and it emulates very very very well.
I want to hate on it for the low specs and high price but it's beautiful. They did a great job with the UI and usability seems spot on. It would need to drop that price another $200 to fit on my TV stand. I'd be more willing to shell out the money they are asking if this was a FPGA device with the same kind of connection system.
I think I'd pay to have their OS/frontend
FPGA Mister is probably closer to what you are looking for
I skipped fpga bc most cores don’t have save states
Bro, I recommend getting the Valve Steam Deck. :) Can play emulators, and is faster than a relatively high end gaming PC from 2015-16, or mid range gaming PC from 2017-18.
@@sociallyresponsiblexenomor7608 I'm saving up for one. I've got original consoles, but it's nice to have it all in one unit.
I understand wanting 1 system to play all the old consoles... but 450-650 and you need to supply the original carts.. not for me.. but i get why some people would love it, like my brother in law... he has stacks of old console games... but 450 is a bit steep for a gift... plus he would want all those 80 dollar add ons... but he would love it... he has at least 5 systems hooked up all the time... Great vid man thanks!
This wound be huge if it was released in 1997
No shit, it would also have significantly more computing power than any personal computer from 1997
Were roms around back then? Just curious. Any emulators?
@@tiksartok2964 They’re dum dum.
I think 2 gigs of ddr4 would make everyone shit themselves
@@thecryingsoul So true. :) The Polymega would also probably have more computing power than the world's fastest supercomputer from a decade earlier (1987). Have you heard of Moore's law?
Here it is: Since the 1960s, computer processing speed (transistor count) has doubled every 18-24 months. For instance, a budget smartphone from 2020 has more computing power than a gaming PC from the late 2000s, or a supercomputer from 1995. :) Moore's law is already coming to an end, and by 2025, computer speeds will not get much faster for the price, since computer components can't get much smaller (may cause instabilities in the calculations due to unwanted quantum effects). Right now, chips are in the 5-10 nm range, and by 2025 we may be in the 2-5 nm range. Under 1.5 nm, instabilities may occur, and under 1 nm, normal computing is darn near impossible. Hopefully we switch to photonic computing, such as the tech developed by Lightmatter.
OMG please show the CPU upgrades.. I've been waiting for something like this FOREVER lol if we can get at least PS2 and Gamecube/WII out of this I'm sold 100%
Find a LGA1151 CPU at around 35W or less (within Coffee Lake family), pop it in, done.
Do you think it could play the dragon ball z games from the PS2?
@@LordSiah Just checked the official site, they said not in the short run, so no. No support for PS2
Agreed it needs to be able to play PS2 and games of that similar caliber at the minimum other than that it's basically f******perfect
I don't think your Father can Reverse Engineer a 300 MHz 0.35uM CPU.
He can do a 30 MHz PS1 CPU. Been 20 Years and No PS2 Emu.
He may be getting Errors detecting the 0.35 uM Transistors.
The 30 MHz was like One to Two uM Transistors.
I think most people can not understand that this is a finished, polished console that a lot work went into. The base unit plays 15 systems right out of the box. This is great for CD gaming collectors...one system to run them all and all with an HDMI output. I like the fact that they made the cartridge systems as add-on....you buy what modules you collect or want to play. With the price of Sega Saturn's and Sega CD this thing is a true bargain..Ill be picking one up.
They really scaled back those specs from what they initially intended to use.
This is why I passed on it.
Still I'm hoping it does well, because ultimately I would like to see a non modular version of this that still supports multiple consoles.
Yeah why even use a hardware module system at all? I saw when he opened it up there was plenty of room for a cartridge connector slot. Theyre just money hungry i guess
I was hyped on the polymega when it was going to be fpga based. I don't know quite where it fits in now, but I am pretty disenchanted. It is fine, but it just isn't for me. I probably need to jump on the Mister bandwagon.
It’s definitely in an odd spot now
The MiSTer keeps getting better and better. They were able to get Saturn and PS1 games running on that DE10 nano for God's sake. Now I can play some of my favorite imports, like Sakura Taisen, Densha de Go, and Tokimeki Memorial on MiSTer
@@lucasn0tch I'm so excited for the PS1 and Saturn cores to be completed. It's still a "we'll see" scenario, but it almost looks like a given that everything will fit considering how well and fast they're progressing. I have original consoles, but the MiSTer is great for consoles I don't have and portability. A buddy of mine is really interested in getting one too but he wants the PS1 core to be done first. That's the selling point for him lol
@Brian Babin I agree with your Sega Saturn statement. Only PCs and MACs and certain emulation devices can run Saturn full speed with no problems.
I would love it when raspberry pi computers can run Sega Saturn and Sega Dreamcast and Panasonic 3do without overclocking and hacking, and run full speed.
Until that happens, I will happily wait. 🙂
@Brian Babin I literally just imported a saturn from Japan last week lol. OG hardware still king!
So glad to see you take this one on. For the money I had to see it working
As of this review, November 2021, the base unit price with one controller is USD $450.
Wow, just wow...what hallucinogens are they taking and where can I get some!
Bad LSD man... bad LSD... lol
Great Video! And yes, update the CPU :)
Unlikely to happen soon due to the ongoing chip shortage. Toshiba said it could last as long as 2023.
This is the video I've been waiting for
No upgrades, no buy 😢
Thanks for sharing Bro 👊
Funny that you picked Tekken 3 and Sega Rally to test. I love those games from those consoles. Might have to go play Sega Rally right now.
Oh wow, I spotted the DVD drive uses SATA cable. I wonder if we can cramp in a 2.5 inch SATA drive into it with slim optical drive to 2.5 inch drive adapter and run games from the that SATA drive.
I'd like to see you leverage the patching functionality. Like patching improvements to game along with translations. Like Policenauts on the Saturn or something. That's be cool to see how it works from your perspective. Thanks for the great video!
I think Sakura Taisen is a better choice, given that it got a translation two years ago
Why leverage something that's completely standard on every other emulation platform? That's not special.
@@ocha-time depending on implementation and how it works on Polymega it could be a feature that separates it from the rest making it special and worth a purchase. Patching of games covers many aspects outside of just translations. Plus it'd only help make ETA Prime's videos appeal to a wider audience by addressing more features. To each their own I guess.
“You can definitely hear that thing spin up.” - ETA PRIME 2021.
😂😂😂👍🏻
I agree its overprice for what you get. The price of $249 was fine but $449 for the base is too much for the unit. But the only thing I see is the Metadata is awesome, updates, module and new module with FPGA or third party module with special addon would be cool. I think later the Polymega Store would be nice.
Any chance you can review the light gun addon? It's sinden based and I would totally consider it for light gun games if it works well.
Questions in clickbait titles can always be answered with 'no'. It's called Betteridge's law of headlines. Seems like it holds up.
Forgot all about this device. Looking forward to seeing what modders will do doing with it.
It's good to see that these retro emulation console/handhelds/systems start shipping out with their frontends for an optimized console experience
This is perfect for me, will be ordering one. Thanks for the review.
Been waiting for this review from you!
That interface is so slick. Like it a lot
Imagine you opened it up and there was a capture card inside of it. Lol.
I've been looking into this Polymega for years, for the Sega Genesis via HDMI.
I still don't understand why this needs to exist. It's an underpowered PC with a CD drive.
I wonder if the pc can load the original games because thats the only difference lol
@@magnus00125 The Poly can play the game directly from disks. Although you can also install them too.
The point is the cartridge modules.
It's for people that enjoy physical games and collect them to use in only one system.
Because it works out of the box with no setup? Everything is just plug and play and comes in a sleek looking package. People pay for convenience. It has a good looking simple ui with all the metadata and artwork preloaded. I don't have to install retropie, scrape artwork, configure emulator settings. I pop in a game and can just play.
Given they originally promised FPGA, it's pretty unacceptable that it's basically a low-end office machine slapped in a black box. It's also baffling that, knowing the pack-in controller would require a dongle, they didn't integrate the dongle internal to the case. The pack-in controller looks like a rebranded Ouya controller, and it charges by _micro USB_ in 2021. There's no excuse for that. Even when they started out, USB-C was here, and ready. They knew they'd be launching into a world where USB-C would be the standard.
I hope people enjoy their overpriced emulation PCs.
Yeah, I'd have been willing to pay a premium over a refurb SFF office PC just for the novelty of using the original physical media, but $400+ is an insane asking price for this hardware.
@@bland9876 There is plenty wrong with micro USB. It's not rated for nearly as many insertions, which means the controller has a finite lifespan just on the times you plug it in. Even mini USB was better for that. The micro port and the plugs are more fragile. Micro USB is becoming far less common, I have like two cables in the house. With USB C everywhere, I'd have a hard time finding my micro USB cables if I needed to. Micro USB 2.0 can't charge devices as quickly, and 3.0 is a weird wider connector, while USB 3.0's extra voltage and current options are rolled into the type C connector.
There's no excuse for releasing a product in 2021 with micro USB when type C is an option, even if the ONLY benefit you'd get is the durability of the socket.
@@bland9876 Micro USB always breaks on me. Seriously I have 2 android phones that crapped out and it was the micro USB port both times within 1-2 years!
My USB-C phone from 2018 is still going strong with no signs of wear.
What's pretty unacceptable? That they retracted their FPGA statement, and clarified their lofty ambitions well before it went on sale? Or that they admitted they were too ambitious? Or that they commissioned the author of the Kega Fusion emulator to make a special version for the Polymega? Or that the research done for this system allowed for leaps and bounds of progression in Saturn software emulation?
Which of the above is "pretty unacceptable"? Products change during development.
I'll agree, the price is high. And the micro USB can be seen as problematic. Though admittedly, I have not had problems with slots. Only the cords.
But people like you are acting like it's this massive harbinger of lies. When, from what I've seen, this thing has delivered on everything promised at launch. The store is yet to be seen. But was not promised at launch.
Though, I've seen some of your other comments. You seem like a bit of an insufferable elitist. So you do you boo boo.
@@RobertSeeJen, you asked, so here's your answer: it's "pretty unacceptable" that they were talking out their ass on the announcement, to drum up hype. It's just as unacceptable that their product is basically on par with a Lenovo office machine in a nicer looking case, that it offers basically nothing beyond the cheap Chinese emulation boxes other than fan noise, a bigger footprint, and the ongoing cost of buying more modules. If it were an FPGA console, it would be justifiable that they would need to add physical hardware each time, but even the Retron series of consoles can fit more than one kind of catridge slot on their machines. The base model Polymega comes with only an optical drive.
As for being an insufferable elitist, that's just another way of saying "he's right, and I don't like it waah waah waah". Kind of a _you_ problem, that one.
So it's basically just an overglorified Dell Optiplex in a cool custom case.
With a fancy looking version of Batocera, locked out of roms so you can only play original CDs.
It can play cd-r
I think an upgrade video for this would be awesome 😎
Would be interesting to see Performance vs the Mister multiconsole
Would be great if all consoles on mister had save states
if mister runs something, then it runs at full speed.
fpga is a reimplementation of the original hardware, it either runs or doesn't.
sure it might be a case where a fpga emulator might not run something correctly and it ends being slower than it is supposed to, but that is a issue with the implementation not the lack of capacity of the hardware, the fpga that mister run on goes up to 100mhz iirc. that's why it will never run dreamcast since its cpu runs at 200mhz
but is not like a program based emulator that is dependent on the horsepower of the machine running it.
I would like to see the upgraded CPU on that.
The best part of this video was when he put a disk in, and said :-
“You can definitely hear that thing spin up”.
😂😂😂👍🏻
even the CMOS battery is difficult to replace!
Ngl that ui is beautiful
Whether it is easy accessible for casual people who had physical copies for old games or not, the price itself doesn't justify the overall hardware specs as a non-FPGA device standard, and the $80 for a single external module. Also, $649 for complete set of Polymega is just simply overprice although it's the best choice by far.
With a PC with decent specs, a retropie or even a next gen console like Xbox Series (If you can get one) with dev mode available & Retroarch and so on, any one of them will out perform what Polymega did despite it provides a good UI layout from the start and it is basically plug and play device.
It's true that being very easy to use for many retro gamers who simply just wanna play games without caring a lot is potential, the fact that it already lost a lot of charm due to the above reasons and it basically fails in terms of marking standpoint considering there are a lot more better options with lower costs in general.
I received my unit last week as well and have been loving it. Truly awesome stuff and there’s plenty of potential for Playmaji to keep expanding on the system’s capabilities. Great video as always!
I love mine too. ETA's following are mainly emulator people who are satisfied downloading torrents of roms, and not game collectors who hold real physical copies of games, so not sure if this product is a good match for his audience until it's been hacked / modded and running RetroArch.
@@Vachey if you care enough about classic gaming to have a physical collection it’s weird that you’d settle for software based emulation.
@@steve43ful people are settling for it bc they held on to their games too long, they wanna use those games, they don’t want to setup stuff and they want save states!
.... nope 🤪
I only want to see the Beast of Emulation 👹
and I tought you bought everything, ha ha ha
🙌
Is the Valve Steam Deck the beast of emulation? That is the beast of emulation IMO. Two TeraFLOPS of GPU compute speed. That's 2.0*10^12 calculations per second
Naughty!
I've been an outspoken, and at times overzealous, critic of this thing since it was renamed the Polymega, and yeah, I still don't see the point of this, and moreover who it's intended for.
It's taking the most arduous aspects of clone consoles and emulation machines, and if I'm not mistaken it still uses HLE BIOS by default for all of the disc-based systems it's running, which will likely cause issues with a lot of games if they aren't the most popular titles, requires the user to supply authentic BIOS for the best experience, and that's before the $60 per piece expansion modules for each console you want to use carts from.
Just to give manufacturers some credit I will say that the console looks pretty well designed and quite solid, the menu interface is pretty nice and clean and looks pretty much exactly as they advertised on the website a couple years back, the included universal controller is also quite nice as it's based off of an already proven controller, and the games boot rather quickly and are identified in a snap.
With all that said, I'm still rather confused as to who this console is made for: collectors will already have original consoles or high quality alternatives to go to, people who want emulation machines won't shell out $500+ for a closed off, underpowered PC with a disc drive when there are MANY alternatives, and the casual player looking to revisit their favorites will just buy the retro games or collections they want from modern consoles or go to something like the Evercade or any of AtGames' current offerings.
Word. This is just a mini PC in a cool shell.
That last paragraph was extremely well said 💪🏼 and perfectly summed up what I was thinking
I bet some people will still buy the Polymega since they found out you can use cd-r’s
Evercade vs does look like retro done right. But licensing will hold that back just like other machines. I seriously doubt will get Zelda on evercade even tho we don’t need it on it. Just makes you think what other big title won’t show on evercade. On evercade you just get what you get, and hope you get what you’d like to play on it. Or just go with whatever library it gets overtime. Evercade has Playmaji beat on pricing I’ll give them that!
@@cassiodalcin and a cool ui and cool background music. I wish it was cheaper like everyone else. But they are not able to make money off from games and shipping Cost Is just a nightmare from Asia to states so maybe price of system will go down when they get some revenue coming in from the digital games store
Scanlines should double brightness to make up for the difference. No point in running scanlines if your display brightness is cut in half 😔
Viper is a decent shooter for the PS1 also EU exclusive
Really sick of these x86 'consoles'. The only thing this really brings to the table is the cart modules, which they could have just released independently as PC peripherals.
I mean, I get it. Most of this crap is marketed towards people who've never heard of emulation and/or think it's some sort of wizardry, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.
Most people who collect older games have heard of emulation. The people who buy this know it's emulating games.
But this fits into a niche of people who want a CD clone console (which is already rare to this day compared to clone cart consoles) that doesn't require hacking a pre-existing console and is more above board than hacking. Then there are specific personal situations one may find themselves in.
You still don't have to like it, but it doesn't mean it has no place. If this had PS2 capabilities I'd be all over it. But for now I will have to settle for HDL on my PS2.
You can adjust the brightness of the RGB filter. Push X.
I remember in the 90s as a young lad I had an idea for an all in one console. I called it the quin magi. Used to draw it all the time and tinker with boards, I was 9 so I broke them 😂😂😂 glad someone is at least attempting these days. It's a dream to have a cd console that can play all cd based games I have natively no roms the actual disk. (With rom support included tho)
Imagine with all cartridge support as well. With no boot switcher, just everything readable without having to do anything but put I'm cart or cd, and the addition of rom storage. And to be realistic nothing past gen 5.
Mister psx and saturn core development are both making huge progress. This will be much better than the polymega as there is huge community support for it. You get much more display and scanline options with MiSTer too.
mister doesn't play original physical games tho I think this is marketed to people who wanna use their own games
Great video thank you
Same question i always ask, when will i be able to buy the polymega at Walmart?
For what it is it's WAY over priced. $450 for what's essentially a SFF pc, and not even a good one. For just a little more you can get a Ryzen based mini pc. Then just add a Xbox controller and USB DVD (if you want) and you are set. Only advantage this has is support for hardware carts.
You can buy usb cartridge readers
Polymega is meh af
🤷♂️
For that kind of money, you could buy a mister kit.
For that kind of money, you could buy a mister kit.
I would love to see a review of their light gun. If that works good. That alone has me sold. I just wish this thing wasn't 700 bucks... I am REALLY hoping for Dreamcast support and for added bonus, light gun support as well.
Would be interesting to see a low power core processor (8400T/9400T - 8600T/9600T etc.). They are the same TDP (35W). Might not work as well. Really depends on how the emulators handle multiple cores. Could get a little boost with the iGPU and it might boost higher single core than the Celeron.
Though, at that point you basically have a Dell/Lenovo/HP micro pc. The cart reader really seems to be the only thing going for it unless you really like the case.
0:40 confirmed, ETA Prime has a nose. I repeat. He's not just hands. He has a nose 😆
The Idea is cool, but for an Rom Collector it's an big disadvantage if you can't add Roms. And I'm no expert in Computer Hardware but I think the 2Gb Ram would be an Bottleneck to the Integrated UHD Graphics Card. I think 4GB would fit perfect. Too expensive for that thing.
My biggest question, is can you plug this into a CRT via Component at all?
I mean, this could replace my custom build as far as that goes.
I really only see the appeal of this if you have a truly massive collection of physical games and you're a stickler for everything being on the up-and-up. For a collector with an averaged-sized collection, I'd rather go with original hardware with display adapters, or something FPGA-based like what Analogue offers. And of course, if you care a bit less about only playing what you have physical copies of, there are certainly more versatile Retroarch-based solutions. The Polymega interface is nice, and I like how streamlined and user-friendly it is, but if you can manage the initial time investment of setting up a PC with launchbox and Retroarch, or an Nvidia Shield TV with the Reset collection, it can be extremely rewarding. Personally retro-achievements have me sworn to RA over solutions such as this.
I have a large collection and I have zero use for this.
on sega rally, the holes in the ground (they look more like triangles to me)in my experience are there because when you try to upscale it from its default resolution the game doesn't respond well to it, give kronos a try with "compute shader video interface" selected as your video core, think you will like the results don't go too crazy with your upscales it is quite hardware intensive
I ended up cancelling my pre-order on this about a year ago and kind of glad that I did. Its an interesting machine, but the price and hardware isn't really worth the price. A 2 core system for 450+ dollars? That's a bit rough on the wallet for a pretty low end system. I am curious to see what upgrades you will be able to do with it though, as if it can be bought for a good enough price and throw in a few upgrades (a quad CPU and 8 gigs of ram at the very least) then it might fit in some collections
Crt tv is what you need, because the projection of graphics is a crossed eye unified display with curves so it's just right to the eye. The bands like samsung or sony crt tv only.
Dude how do you afford this dope tech
MONEE MONEE MONEE MONEE
-Mr. Crab
Most of the stuff he reviews are loaned to him as a review unit. This one was preordered tho
He runs a successful TH-cam channel, that's how.
@@karehaqt exactly lol, not that hard to figure out
waiting for someone to make his linux distro available for us to customize
The deluxe bundle is the way to go and for the fun factor and the thousands of games you can play I think it's totally worth it. I have a lot of cartridges saved of different consoles but got some of my consoles robbed in a moving. This works for me. Will be buying probably next year. Will love if they add Neo Geo, Jaguar, 3DO, Amiga 32 modules. I know, it's asking too much. This works for me. You all missing the point that it runs physical media of many consoles in one. I which they upgrade the processor and the ram.
Could technically upgrade the 35W G4900T to others with the same matching TDP: like the i3 8300T, or the i5 8400T.
Not the ultimate retro emulation but the most expensive retro emulation 🤣🤣🤣
$500 although? Woah. But def more value than the Atari VCS
Not really
I mean… only if you care about using original carts/discs. Otherwise you can just install Retroarch on the Atari VCs.
Wonder if it can play Philip CD-I games . I curious about that CD-I games if their actual as bad as people claim but never want to buy that console it be a huge waste of money . The Cd-i emulator don't work when I try using it in the past
I vote for a CPU upgrade. Also, was that an internal M.2 slot?
what? it is not expensive enough for you?
If this supported Dreamcast, it would have been a day 1 for me.
is there an OS like this but for a pc? where if you insert a disc it can play it?
Looking forward to when the OS is "available" separately. That's all I'm really interested in at this point. It's a really slick looking front end with solid emulators. The hardware is meh.
I'm sure you can get something very similar with Batocera if you really wanted to. Or even Bigbox if you want to run on your existing Windows PC.
@@steel5897 thanks for the reply and info. I run LanchBox/BigBox in my arcade currently and love it. I would highly reccomend it to anyone in the community as it's a fantastic front end. At the same time, I do appreciate a piece of software that's simply plug and play. LaunchBox wasn't terribly difficult to set up by any means but I have hours upon hours tweaking the individual emulators settings and controls. This OS is much more of a "consolized" experience where you just put in a game and it (at least appears to) just works.
there is Lakka as well
my biggest gripe regarding any of the polymega reviews is a lack of comparison of the picture quality vs original hardware with a quality upscaler like a retrotink or ossc.
Hey ETA Prime, have you checked out a phone with the Dimensity 1200 chipset yet? I'd really love an emulation test on one of those.
In Japan, Polymega is sold due to desirable of aftermarket old games that you can play all region PS1, NGCD, MD/GEN, S32X, SS and SCD/MCD games. Additional : New Polymega models that can be play proprietary optical discs such as GD-ROM, NintenDisc GameCube (5GB Mini DVD), NintenDisc Wii (8-17GB DVD-DL) & then N64 carts (example play Sin & Punishment in Polymega).
*NintenDisc is the nickname of Nintendo optical disc.
I'm actually surprised. This device is not powerful at all. but it handles SS pretty well. just curious what emulator they are using! hope someone could dig it up!
is it an emulation console? or is it fpga?
edit: they apparently started off as a fpga design and shifted to software emulation at some point in development.. that might explain why i had this pegged as fpga.
Maybe later an update that enables swap file from the M.2 hard-disk would serve as ram extension?
Bloody Roar like back in day some old RE for sure. The importing of physical alone omg I def need that but I'll have to ship to buddy in States it's free for them to ship to me $128 usd lol.
And yes please do a cpu upgrade vid I'd love to do the same.
Yes I wanna see how much the CPU can be upgraded!
Great video... Thanks for the teardown... interestingly... MadLittlePixe posted a video in Dec 2020 and the CPU on his system was an intel Pentium G5400T clocked at 3.1Ghz 🤔
10:40 kinda sucks that the default ui doesn't seem to let you add NAS.... With the right app even non-rooted phones can connect to NAS..
I want to see you upgrading the CPU. I should be getting my polymega real soon so im just curious if that upgrade is possible. Also would it mess with the settings by just swapping the chip to a better one?
Its a 75 watt powerbrick and it has to power the whole system not just the CPU so your limitation is the power delivery itself. Unless you already have a compatible CPU for that socket with a TDP of no more than 45 watts on hand for some reason its not worth the added expense. The added cost puts it in direct competition with far better PCs and the jump from intel uhd 610 to Intel uhd 620 graphics is underwhelming to say the least. You could probably get a ryzen based entry level PC for that sort of price and it will be faster.
No reason to upgrade the CPU, the performance the celeron delivers for every platform the PM emulates is overkill. If they add another platform in the future and it sucks, at that point it'd be worth your time to open the device and upgrade the CPU, but honestly the rest of that unit will die long before the Celeron does, and the Celeron's honestly too much for Saturn emulation. To be clear, everything this thing handles, a Raspberry Pi also handles equally well, for $40. In fact, the RPi 4 can also do Dreamcast at near perfect speed.
@@ocha-time Interesting take and a refreshing answer seeing most people try to bash Polymega. What would you say the would be the absolute upper ability for the polymega with its present celeronsetup? PS2 or Dreamcast? You think it could handle those systems well?
I’m really not seeing any reason to “upgrade” to this from something like my HEN PS3, CBHC WiiU, or soft modded OG Xbox in my living room. I’m not missing Saturn support in my living room enough to get this, I’d just get a Saturn and a MODE. I’ll keep playing Saturn on my PC and the rest on modded consoles.
Would love to see upgrades on this.
Great review! On one hand this is pretty fucking neat and the UI is just beautiful. On the other hand the specs seem to have been toned down from last time I've checked which was ages ago... UUUGH.
I'm one of those people who can't hassle with emulation via the computer cause I work an awful lot and barely have time off to properly set one up. I want something that just works and this WAS something I was looking at. Unfortunately it seems they've toned down the specs and backtracked on some promises which is quite ugh, however I suppose if they figured out they could have it run with lower than expected hardware due to some newfound knowledge in emulation tech I guess it's probably okay?
All in all I'm still quite on the fence, but I don't think I'll be making a purchase until they've lowered the price.
Also, could you possibly try out Need for Speed III Hot Pursuit? No reason 🙃
I think seeing what could go in there would be good
You can install disc games to the system? That means that you can rip disc games?
Pretty much.
You can also install backup copies of games. I have a CD wallet full I put in mine :)
@@Vachey I have a couple of PlayStation 2 games, and a lot of Xbox 360
Also I would like to see a Storage Swap with the Polymega Game Install from usb, Mirco SD, M.2 harddrive game save files.
Yeah I’d love to see you do a cpu swap. With the current hardware that’s in it now do you think it can handle ps2 or n64?
It's a nice idea but it feels complicated getting the modules and original games are not exactly cheap and easy to find. I prefer the Evercade approach or an emulating box with tons of prebuilt games. I like retro games but I think it should be an easy set up to an them.
@ETA Prime Can you check the Polymega compatible with 3rd Party USB Controllers. I have been having trouble with my controllers.
Definitely agree that the low end Intel CPU and 2 GB of RAM is a huge limitation. I'm surprised they didn't go with an embedded Ryzen system like the Atari system. Even that one should have used the 4c8t APU.
@@nasman7492 yep, and that ghetto CPU would also limit PS2 emulation speeds
I struggle to see a market it’s still just emulation,box up your old games and by a mister
Wasn't it supposed to be FPGA originally? How many pre-orders were canceled?
I know most people here are into the emulator scene, but look at it from the outside. It's plug and play. You don't need a upscaler, HDMI mod or a CRT to play your game collection. You don't need to hook up more than this console to the TV. You don't need to set up, or even know how a emulator works to use this thing. A lot of people don't even have computers at home anymore to do this anyways. They use phones and tablets. They can play their own game collection legally instead of downloading pirated games from the web. I can understand the appeal. It's definitely a market for this sort of product.