It is much cheaper, but what I’d do is include a larger 16:9 screen recessed into the body, so the edges of the screen that should be black bars would be covered by part of the case, then no one would know and it wouldn’t waste so much space. It should allow for a smaller device that way. Some Game Boy screen mods are similar, they’re larger than the original, but the excess space is just covered by the casing so you wouldn’t know.
B. O. With the condition of old carts it’s a good idea. I always take my 3DS with me when I buy old DS stuff. But none of the stores are anywhere close to me and I don’t want to make the trip back if something didn’t work.
That is actually a really cool system. The idea of bringing new on the go was pretty much unimaginably. What if this released when the new was Relevant. Over all, very good and entertaining video.
It’s a cool idea but it’s a shame it’s a famiclone with obvious issues like reversed duty cycles. I had an idea for a real NES portable that would use a real console cut up, with original controller support and both HDMI and composite out (plus the inbuilt screen) as well as battery and DC-in support, making it basically a dockable portable NES, but I believe building a device like that would cost £250 worth of parts, meaning a very high price. I don’t think many people would be willing to pay £350 for a NES portable, even if it was real hardware and perfectly accurate, so I can see why devices like this tend to be cheap famiclones on the inside. You can make a smaller device with one, for a lower cost, but not by a huge amount.
MyArcade also recently released a Famicom to NES adapter, which looks to be using the same basic shape of their ejector tool. I don't understand why they didn't just include the adapter with the Retro Champ and just leave the Famicom port off of the device.
The main issue I see with this thing is the start and select buttons are at the top of the unit and nowhere near easily accessible with your thumbs during play. There are a ton of games where that's actually necessary
Having done liveruns with my relatively easy to transport AV Famicom in 2017 and earlier, I found the Retrochamp even better for doing similar in Syracuse at Retrogamecon last October. Easy to practice with beforehand, and easy to connect to any projector via HDMI; got a neat Super Famicom wireless controller that works great with it!
I think the convention testing scenario makes a whole lot of sense! I don't think I'd ever use one of these but I'm glad people are still trying to innovate in the retro space.
I highly doubt this is hardware "emulation". Potentially a NOC(Nintendo on a chip), however, you are probably better served by a new, way more powerful and cheap ARM chip with emulation than a NOC. You stated that sounds were incorrect anyway.
I feel like an N64 portable shouldn’t be that difficult to produce, but I’m not sure if it would be that usable, I expect if I gutted a real console and used that to assemble one it would be probably the same size, but even deeper, and it would probably devour batteries. But maybe I’ll have a go at assembling some to sell on eBay.
A lot more useful, not the best option. I've done so much Super Mario on my phone that I'm actually better with the touch controls than I am with physical ones.
I'm still hoping someday these companies will finally make a Nintendo 64 Portable, now that would be something that i would be extremely interested, even if it was pricey.
The issue is there aren’t any cheap N64 on a chip solutions like their are for the NES, so building one would mean using emulation, or gutting a real console and trying to squish it down. It’s definitely possible, but it would be pricey especially depending on the spec, and would probably be a bulky battery hog.
There is actually a "premium bundle" that has two of those controllers packed in with it. Madlittlepixle reviewed that on his latest video. Funnily enough, he didn't seem to be aware of the system being sold WITHOUT the controllers.
Why do I feel like the "Cleaning compartment" would be used for more than just actual cleaning. "Honey, why do you keep going to the garage with the Retro Champ?" "no reason honey! Just playing my old games! *chugs from small viles of vodka in the cleaning compartments* "
Yeah, but they were also clearly targeting price over performance. At $80, undoubtedly the screen was going to suffer. I almost get the feeling they saw this as being more for kids/casuals than for collectors. It also makes me wonder what it would look like if someone went with this same basic concept, but at something more like a $200 price point.
@@jasonblalock4429 Sadly you can't expect much for that price. I would pay more for a better screen and better speakers though, since that is the main appeal of this kind of device in my opinion. It's the same reason cheap tablets are crap, what is a big screen good for if it looks bad? Same goes for speaker quality of course.
2:20 it's because it uses a PAL sound chip on the SoC. The PAL equivalent of the NES CPU (2A03) is the 2A07 and has a different sound chip. Most PAL games are optimized for the sound chip!
My Arcade has actually made some licenced handhelds that are actually pretty decent in my opinion. I have a Pac Man one, and its alright. Would you maybe interested in checking those out?
Pins can be detensioned with an appropriate tool and a steady hand. I had to do this recently on a new RetroN. I have seen a video addressing this issue on clone consoles. It is more of a medium difficulty project. The downside, at least on the retron is that I sometimes have to use a matchbook or something similar as a shim to hold the cart against the pins, depending on how worn the cart is.
Looks good for those who may not have an NES anymore but might still have games, Collectors is a good idea, might be a plus for sellers at cons, for people to test the games out before they buy. Give a buyer a extra piece of mind, the game functions before they get home try it out and find out it doesn't work.
I'm surprised you gave it a good review honestly I think it's awesome because I love the table top mode hdmi connection and its portable plus it comes with controllers not to many people are giving good reviews the sound is horrible but yea turn it down so your not making your ears bleed I've been waiting for you to come out with your review on it man thanks for shining some light on it.
Good review, Nintendrew. What about these questions though?: 1) How long does the battery last on a charge? 2) What kind of cable does it use to recharge? 3) How is the brightness of the screen? Is it bright enough for use outside? Can the brightness be adjusted?
My only real complaints are that it wouldn't have cost too much more to upconvert the video signal and turbo buttons would really help extend the service life.
@thecouchtripper That doesn't change jack fucking shit. Why the fuck does it have a switch? Why would anyone want to stretch the image? "Hey I'm a dumbass and I want to make the picture look wrong!"
So the screen quality is bad, the sound is bad, there is now upscaling and your carts get stuck in the slot. Doesn't sound like a 6/10 for me. But the idea for quick testing carts on conventions is really good. Sadly stuff like that does almost not exist in EU :(
I’ve been thinking about picking this up after the Metal Jesus video. Glad to see you did a video too, I always love your insights into this kind of stuff. Might have to pick one up myself, don’t see the myself being too bothered by the nuances
Is it possible to get an original famicon these days and is it viable? I have sights set on an OG N64 and nintendo nes. SNES I'm not so much concerned with.
i collect NES games and have been looking for a convenient way to play Famicom games while i am looking for a Famicom to buy... i am being super picky... would you suggest this as a good way to play the games in the mean time?
Interesting, probably needs some design tweaks, maybe a version 2.0. Maybe an SNES/PalSNES/Japan SNES version, a n64 yeah, but how about a Sega MegaDrive/ Genesis version?
I've been wanting to grab this just to do a comparison of another nes portable from HAMY since I personally love that unit I want to see how it compares to something that comes from a bootleg company
I recall years ago, My Arcade announced a Super Retro Champ? It was supposed to be able to play SNES, SFC, and Genesis games. I assume it's either cancelled or in development hell, cause there've been no updates since.
He has stated some stuff that is pricey now that he collected is now worth a bunch of money clearly due to demand and stock of some stuff so a lot of the stuff was cheaper but now it has gotten more pricey over time
If I buy the Retro Champ, I swear I am going to buy the console just to get some golden age arcade games (Popeye, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Tengen Road Runner, etc.) as well as Mario ones. And yes, that includes Tengen Ms. Pac-Man.
Lol, being a young lad who dares to appear in the public crossdressed, even I think it a bit odd to carry it on the go. If they had implanted enhanced visual as an option on top of the precise hardware-based rendering and fixed the audio, it could've been really great.
Thank you for the review. $80 is a bit steep, given the video and audio quality. What you said about being useful to test cartridges is a good point though.
As someone who doesn’t currently have a console that can play NES cartridges, this did seem interesting. But the negatives seem a bit too much for me unfortunately. Maybe I’d prefer a Retron type machine.
Thanks for reviewing! Was really looking forward to this video, while your right I'm not gonna buy this and just toss it in my backpack for everywhere it would be nice to play some of my older NES games, also to make sure they work to.
5:00 hmm maybe i shoulda got that retroduo portable from retrobit. I got the super retro trio. Actually thinking about it... the duo only plays snes and *can* play nes through an adapter, i dont even know if it *can* play genesis and im actually really happy about playing genesis games such as Ecco on a real cartrige so idk.
I would buy something like this if it could play N64 games
I think everybody would buy that.
Exactly that should’ve been made instead
YES
yes please
Or even gamecube would be cool
The 16:9 screen is really bizarre. They told me at E3 it was a cost cutting decision. I guess it was easier to find a cheap 16:9 screen.
It is much cheaper, but what I’d do is include a larger 16:9 screen recessed into the body, so the edges of the screen that should be black bars would be covered by part of the case, then no one would know and it wouldn’t waste so much space. It should allow for a smaller device that way. Some Game Boy screen mods are similar, they’re larger than the original, but the excess space is just covered by the casing so you wouldn’t know.
My list of cons:
It wasn't shaped like Sonic's head
System didn't include Pong Pong or Through-Man
And finally, my number one con..... No Angry Birds
😂
What a bummer
Angry birds
@@gwroliver3540 angy birmd
@@toasterusedfly angry bitds
Hair looking extra epic today, my guy
Hello my boyo! Pleasure to meet you here before anybody else!
True dat
Never thought of that to test games in the field! Great point.
B. O. With the condition of old carts it’s a good idea. I always take my 3DS with me when I buy old DS stuff. But none of the stores are anywhere close to me and I don’t want to make the trip back if something didn’t work.
Best feature: Holds cotton swabs and rubbing alcohol
Right lol. Form over function.
its best feature is including a bottle of something thats bad for your NES's pin connectors XD
Thought the original iPad had big bezels? Meet THIS
Joey Keilholz those iPads were so much nicer to hold
What is this obsession with having the smallest bezels on a device? You need a place for your hand to hold the thing.
*Laughs in the Colossal MP3 Player*
@@MasterJayanX hello fellow dankpods fan
@@justaraptor8992 Hi, how are you?
I guess I'm a hipster then. I'm gonna be playing that all day.
That is actually a really cool system. The idea of bringing new on the go was pretty much unimaginably. What if this released when the new was Relevant. Over all, very good and entertaining video.
The screen looks awful, though
Good idea bad outcome
lol I just realized it auto corrected nes to new. Also I am a member that’s why I have abadge
Doesn't seem horrible if someone wanted a NES Console/Portable or needed to replacement nes from the console breaking down ...
It’s a cool idea but it’s a shame it’s a famiclone with obvious issues like reversed duty cycles. I had an idea for a real NES portable that would use a real console cut up, with original controller support and both HDMI and composite out (plus the inbuilt screen) as well as battery and DC-in support, making it basically a dockable portable NES, but I believe building a device like that would cost £250 worth of parts, meaning a very high price. I don’t think many people would be willing to pay £350 for a NES portable, even if it was real hardware and perfectly accurate, so I can see why devices like this tend to be cheap famiclones on the inside. You can make a smaller device with one, for a lower cost, but not by a huge amount.
Glad to see you highlight the positives AND negatives. I never thought about the collector's angle… good observation. 👌🏼
MyArcade also recently released a Famicom to NES adapter, which looks to be using the same basic shape of their ejector tool. I don't understand why they didn't just include the adapter with the Retro Champ and just leave the Famicom port off of the device.
The main issue I see with this thing is the start and select buttons are at the top of the unit and nowhere near easily accessible with your thumbs during play. There are a ton of games where that's actually necessary
This shines when you wanna test games on the go, no need to bring alot of cartridges, awsome cleaning gadgets and 1 to 1 to an actual nes
Having done liveruns with my relatively easy to transport AV Famicom in 2017 and earlier, I found the Retrochamp even better for doing similar in Syracuse at Retrogamecon last October.
Easy to practice with beforehand, and easy to connect to any projector via HDMI; got a neat Super Famicom wireless controller that works great with it!
I think the convention testing scenario makes a whole lot of sense! I don't think I'd ever use one of these but I'm glad people are still trying to innovate in the retro space.
I highly doubt this is hardware "emulation".
Potentially a NOC(Nintendo on a chip), however, you are probably better served by a new, way more powerful and cheap ARM chip with emulation than a NOC. You stated that sounds were incorrect anyway.
If they make an n64 version I will pay it with my entire life savings
SAME
I feel like an N64 portable shouldn’t be that difficult to produce, but I’m not sure if it would be that usable, I expect if I gutted a real console and used that to assemble one it would be probably the same size, but even deeper, and it would probably devour batteries. But maybe I’ll have a go at assembling some to sell on eBay.
I imagine if you got a Famicom flashcart for the device it would make it a lot more useful for gaming on the go.
In that case, though, you might be better with a phone/emulator 😅
A lot more useful, not the best option.
I've done so much Super Mario on my phone that I'm actually better with the touch controls than I am with physical ones.
Nintendrew pressing buttons on the screen suck . no offense
@@fabianc2743 you can connect a bluetooth controller to the phone
I’m sending this to my friend who is a huge arcade one up fan he should like this
I'm still hoping someday these companies will finally make a Nintendo 64 Portable, now that would be something that i would be extremely interested, even if it was pricey.
The issue is there aren’t any cheap N64 on a chip solutions like their are for the NES, so building one would mean using emulation, or gutting a real console and trying to squish it down. It’s definitely possible, but it would be pricey especially depending on the spec, and would probably be a bulky battery hog.
There is actually a "premium bundle" that has two of those controllers packed in with it. Madlittlepixle reviewed that on his latest video. Funnily enough, he didn't seem to be aware of the system being sold WITHOUT the controllers.
Ben Heck had his own custom made Retro Champ since like 1999-2000 😂
This thing is gonna be GREAT for cons.
4:19 Super Paper Mario music in the backround
...Ok?
Why do I feel like the "Cleaning compartment" would be used for more than just actual cleaning.
"Honey, why do you keep going to the garage with the Retro Champ?"
"no reason honey! Just playing my old games! *chugs from small viles of vodka in the cleaning compartments* "
Playing Famicom games is cool and all, but can it play Crysis?
ah the wave of nostalgia seeing drew once again
Wow. I am adding this to my must have list
The cleaning kit is pretty neat
I got a question, since it has a famicom slot, would the disk system work?
It might, if it could connect properly.
That display looks fairly mediocre, atleast on video. That's where my PS Vita shines on top of the good buttons although it's emulated of course.
@@7991rellik Yeah, if you don't need something to read cartridges it's probably the better choice though especially for mobile usage :)
Yeah, but they were also clearly targeting price over performance. At $80, undoubtedly the screen was going to suffer. I almost get the feeling they saw this as being more for kids/casuals than for collectors. It also makes me wonder what it would look like if someone went with this same basic concept, but at something more like a $200 price point.
@@jasonblalock4429 Sadly you can't expect much for that price. I would pay more for a better screen and better speakers though, since that is the main appeal of this kind of device in my opinion. It's the same reason cheap tablets are crap, what is a big screen good for if it looks bad? Same goes for speaker quality of course.
Retropalooza Arlington 2021 is around the corner . I might just need this
I seen Guardian Legend getting alot of love here! love that game! cool vid man!
You’re alive? Yes!!!!!
i was listening to this in school, and when the mario music started playing i legit thought that the whole class could hear.
2:20 it's because it uses a PAL sound chip on the SoC. The PAL equivalent of the NES CPU (2A03) is the 2A07 and has a different sound chip. Most PAL games are optimized for the sound chip!
love this channel bro
what was that emulator on your phone that you used for 6 seconds at 4:20 i literally could not find it anywhere.
great vídeo dude; the will be great if you make a review of a lcl pi boy
My Arcade should make a Genesis Champ I'll get that on a heart beat but it has to have a good circle D-Pad and 6 buttons! 😻😻😻
1:31
Tablets: am I a joke to you?
My Arcade has actually made some licenced handhelds that are actually pretty decent in my opinion. I have a Pac Man one, and its alright. Would you maybe interested in checking those out?
Pins can be detensioned with an appropriate tool and a steady hand. I had to do this recently on a new RetroN. I have seen a video addressing this issue on clone consoles. It is more of a medium difficulty project.
The downside, at least on the retron is that I sometimes have to use a matchbook or something similar as a shim to hold the cart against the pins, depending on how worn the cart is.
Looks good for those who may not have an NES anymore but might still have games, Collectors is a good idea, might be a plus for sellers at cons, for people to test the games out before they buy. Give a buyer a extra piece of mind, the game functions before they get home try it out and find out it doesn't work.
I'm surprised you gave it a good review honestly I think it's awesome because I love the table top mode hdmi connection and its portable plus it comes with controllers not to many people are giving good reviews the sound is horrible but yea turn it down so your not making your ears bleed I've been waiting for you to come out with your review on it man thanks for shining some light on it.
Hey Drew Great video but look at the Question block under the smash sign, I spent 5 minutes trying to clean my screen.
Good review, Nintendrew.
What about these questions though?:
1) How long does the battery last on a charge?
2) What kind of cable does it use to recharge?
3) How is the brightness of the screen? Is it bright enough for use outside? Can the brightness be adjusted?
algorithm be like Nintenwho?
@@GuestZer0 Woooooooo!
Can you do a review of the Famicom Cartilage Converter NES Cartilage from My Arcade please?
Hi I’m trying to make your switch arcade cabinet but the fightsticks are out of stock everywhere. Are there any others I could buy? Thanks
Great vid! Metal Jesus hated this but I am glad that you thought this was at least decent. Good insight! I love your channel.
My only real complaints are that it wouldn't have cost too much more to upconvert the video signal and turbo buttons would really help extend the service life.
Liked how you were more through in your review than Metal Jesus Rocks.
I just can't take any of these "retro" consoles seriously. all of them have a 16:9 aspect ratio
Yeah I mean what the hell do you do with a 16:9 screen in a system that plays NES games? 😄
Nitrobotti - throw it in the trash! ;-)
@thecouchtripper That doesn't change jack fucking shit. Why the fuck does it have a switch? Why would anyone want to stretch the image? "Hey I'm a dumbass and I want to make the picture look wrong!"
@thecouchtripper that's not my complaint
My guess is that those 16:9 screens are alot cheaper than the 4:3
I've already picked up myarcade's controllers for the NES and super NES classic, so already have controllers compatible with this in tablet mode.
Everything was going so well until I saw you push that thing with your leg to pop out the Famicom game, that's a really tight connection
Do you know if it will work with an EverDrive or similar carts?
WOW! That retro champ looks really cool looks almost like a big DS but with a cool controller nice idea Nintendrew
Maybe I missed this part... but how was the actual battery life, and was the backlit screen able to be toggled to a different brightness setting?
So the screen quality is bad, the sound is bad, there is now upscaling and your carts get stuck in the slot.
Doesn't sound like a 6/10 for me.
But the idea for quick testing carts on conventions is really good.
Sadly stuff like that does almost not exist in EU :(
I’ve been thinking about picking this up after the Metal Jesus video. Glad to see you did a video too, I always love your insights into this kind of stuff. Might have to pick one up myself, don’t see the myself being too bothered by the nuances
Since it does hardware emulation I wonder if you could hook up a famicom disc system 😂
Man, I kinda just want the convenient cleaning section. That's genius.
Is it possible to get an original famicon these days and is it viable? I have sights set on an OG N64 and nintendo nes. SNES I'm not so much concerned with.
i collect NES games and have been looking for a convenient way to play Famicom games while i am looking for a Famicom to buy... i am being super picky... would you suggest this as a good way to play the games in the mean time?
Can you connect the gamecube keyboard to pc
Does a game genie fit into the NES retro champ?
What's the amazing shmup your playing early in the video mate ?
Interesting, probably needs some design tweaks, maybe a version 2.0. Maybe an SNES/PalSNES/Japan SNES version, a n64 yeah, but how about a Sega MegaDrive/ Genesis version?
They actually announced the Super Retro Champ for this year, it'll play snes and genesis game :)
I've been wanting to grab this just to do a comparison of another nes portable from HAMY since I personally love that unit I want to see how it compares to something that comes from a bootleg company
Finally, 7 Grandad is now portable
Best part of the video was that controller! It looks awesome! What all is it compatible with?
I wish I could time mail me one of these to myself 30 years ago.
How is the HDMI out compared with other budget HDMI NES consoles?
Update for anyone curious: I think it's very close to the Hyperkin RetroN HD's HDMI out.
Dang the bad audio was a dealbreaker for me. I wanted this for MIDINES at first
I'll be cool if they do a super retro champ which is a portable snes
I recall years ago, My Arcade announced a Super Retro Champ? It was supposed to be able to play SNES, SFC, and Genesis games. I assume it's either cancelled or in development hell, cause there've been no updates since.
Does it work with a capture card?
Can you send a link to the song in the video?
Does it play multicarts?
Yo the people who made this should make a portable gameboy
Will this play Castlevania 3?
I know that you have made a collection video. But Im curious on how much does this cost. More specifically your'e whole setup?
L_lac I don’t know if that is possible. There is thousands worth of stuff in his room.
He has stated some stuff that is pricey now that he collected is now worth a bunch of money clearly due to demand and stock of some stuff so a lot of the stuff was cheaper but now it has gotten more pricey over time
If I buy the Retro Champ, I swear I am going to buy the console just to get some golden age arcade games (Popeye, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Tengen Road Runner, etc.) as well as Mario ones.
And yes, that includes Tengen Ms. Pac-Man.
Hi ! Any tricks for cartridge removal ?
Lol, being a young lad who dares to appear in the public crossdressed, even I think it a bit odd to carry it on the go. If they had implanted enhanced visual as an option on top of the precise hardware-based rendering and fixed the audio, it could've been really great.
Thank you for the review. $80 is a bit steep, given the video and audio quality. What you said about being useful to test cartridges is a good point though.
Great video. I hope you come out with another one soon!!
As someone who doesn’t currently have a console that can play NES cartridges, this did seem interesting. But the negatives seem a bit too much for me unfortunately. Maybe I’d prefer a Retron type machine.
I can't find any answers on this. Can it play flashcarts?
Nintendrew is a thicc Greg Proops...!
Aren't there already a few Handhelds that do the same? Some i think with even more Support for other Consoles. Like Genesis and SNES.
Thanks for reviewing! Was really looking forward to this video, while your right I'm not gonna buy this and just toss it in my backpack for everywhere it would be nice to play some of my older NES games, also to make sure they work to.
5:00 hmm maybe i shoulda got that retroduo portable from retrobit. I got the super retro trio.
Actually thinking about it... the duo only plays snes and *can* play nes through an adapter, i dont even know if it *can* play genesis and im actually really happy about playing genesis games such as Ecco on a real cartrige so idk.
I wondering if you can put it in your pocket
I need this, how much is it?
No light gun support ? :(
It's so good! I really want one now
Where do I get this?!
My mom still has her old NES
We do have mario 1 and 2 but, lost 3 and don't know where it is. We do have jepaperdy, Tetris, and Picturica
Nice
Great review!