Sure, the $60 NES Classic Edition has its charms. But the $40 RetroN 1 can do much more, costs less, and isn't discontinued.
The adorably tiny $60 NES Classic Edition is officially a collector's item. Nintendo halted production in April and has no plans to make more.
Other than going to places like eBay, where you'll pay a premium for the system, there's another strong option for buying something similar to the NES Classic Edition without actually getting it. It's called the RetroN 1 HD.
Try to ignore the dumb name for a second while you take a gander at this attractive little box:
Not bad, right? Here's the kicker: It costs just $39.99, and it can play every single NES game. Here's the deal.
Unlike the NES Classic Edition, the RetroN HD 1 is built to play every NES game ever made. You slap an NES cartridge into the opening on top, and you're off to the races.
The console works with Nintendo Entertainment System cartridges from North America (NTSC), as well as those from Europe (PAL). It's unclear if the console will play Japanese cartridges from the Famicom game console, but it seemingly can't. Hyperkin didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
That said, compared with NES Classic Edition's included 30 games, the RetroN 1 HD is a major step up. Granted, you'll need the cartridges, but you should have no problem finding your favorite NES cartridges for ridiculously low prices — $2 to $3 apiece for most.
Bonus pro tip: If you have NES cartridges that don't boot up, try cleaning the exposed part of the cartridge (the bottom part) with alcohol on a cotton swab. If the cartridge doesn't boot up after that, it's probably broken. Do not blow on your cartridges — that does nothing other than make them dirtier.
What do you get in the box for $40? Here's everything we know.
Hyperkin says you get three main things in the box:
• One premium classic-style controller.
• One 3-foot HD cable.
• One 6-foot micro-USB charge cable.
That means that no games are included — part of the reason the system costs $20 less than the NES Classic Edition — so you'll need to snag some of those. But you probably already have a bunch of old NES cartridges sitting around collecting dust, right? Right.
Other than just playing your old NES games, the RetroN 1 HD — living up to the "HD" in its name — upscales them to high definition.
You might be wondering what "upscaling" means when we're talking about 8-bit games from 30 years ago. In the case of the RetroN 1 HD, it means you can play those games on your HD TV in the correct aspect ratio (16:9) instead of having massive black bars on either side of the screen.
Because these games are so old, they are presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio — not a widescreen format. As a result, NES games can look unfortunately scrawny on a modern TVs. The RetroN 1 HD fixes that issue.
Bonus: There is a switch on the bottom of the RetroN 1 HD that enables you to switch between the classic aspect ratio (4:3) and the modern one (16:9), if you're into that kind of thing.
Another advantage the RetroN 1 HD has over the NES Classic Edition: The gamepad has a lengthy 10 feet of cable.
One of the big problems with the NES Classic Edition was the bizarrely short gamepad cable. It was just 3 feet, which forced players to either stretch the HDMI cable across their living room or sit ridiculously close to their TV.
This isn't a problem with the RetroN 1 HD, which has 10 feet of controller cable.
Bonus: If you want to plug in your classic NES gamepad, you totally can — the RetroN 1 HD uses the original controller ports from the NES (whereas the NES Classic Edition used more modern ports).
Unfortunately, one of the best aspects of the NES Classic Edition — save states — isn't built into the RetroN 1 HD.
In some NES games, you could save your game. "The Legend of Zelda," for instance, allowed players to save their game and return later.
But in many NES games, there's no way to save. Maybe they have a password system, like the "Mega Man" games. But many have nothing at all — players used to straight up leave their NES turned on, paused, while doing other things. It was an imperfect solution to a frustrating issue.
The NES Classic Edition solved this issue in an elegant way: You could save any game at any point — turn off the console and come back later, assured your game stayed right where you left it. The RetroN 1 HD doesn't appear to have this function, which is a tremendous bummer.
All that said, between the $40 price tag and the ability to play literally every NES game, the RetroN 1 HD is a helluva stand-in for the discontinued NES Classic Edition.
The RetroN 1 HD isn't available yet, but you can preorder the console on Amazon right now. Hyperkin's saying it launches pretty soon, on May 25.
Sure, the $60 NES Classic Edition has its charms. But the $40 RetroN 1 can do much more, costs less, and isn't discontinued. Read Full Story
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