The Polymega All-In-One Console

[burningdoom]

This console promises compatibility with all major consoles PS1 and under. With possibilities of more in the future. HD, or course.

Are you getting one? Before you decide, watch the launch trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pucot56iRiw

Before I saw this trailer, I was not interested. From the sounds of it, you would have had to buy a seperate "module" for each console compatibility.

Well, the trailer shows that the base unit will be able to play all cd-based consoles the system is compatible with, no extra "modules" needed. The modules will be for the cartridge based consoles. And considering I already have a Retron 5 (with the Master System/Game Gear adapter), I don't really need any cartridge modules (other than the TG-16 one, which I will likely get).

Now, you may be wondering what cd-based games the base module will be compatible with. From what I've read and see in the trailer we're getting Turbo-CD, Sega CD, PS1, Neo Geo CD, and Sega Saturn.  Holy crap, I'm in for that!

The price is a hefty $250, but considering how many consoles you're getting on the base unit, and considering there's no other machine that does this for disc-based consoles, I feel it's worth the price.

[aliensstudios]

It looks intriguing, especially since it plays disc based games. To me, the mere idea that you could preserve your disc based games and systems longer by using this system is enough to have me interested. It'd be killer if it had analog output too.

$249.99 out of the gate for something unproven like this may be too much to ask for me personally, especially since some of the essential modules and compatibility will cost you even more. If it were 149.99 or even 199.99 it would sell like hotcakes. For now, I think this thing will hit the same niche as the Retron 5; a product for those who are willing to sacrifice hardware accuracy for convenience.

[tpugmire]

There’s a very lengthy thread about it on atariage. Having followed it since the beginning, there’s no way I’d back it at this point.

[kevininja]

Yeah, I wouldn't back this with all the negative things I've read online. They also haven't shown any actual gameplay on their "prototype", which is a major red flag with crowdfunding projects like this.

[betelgeuse]

Looks really interesting. $250 to play the CD based games and $600 if you want to play all the cartridges as well.

I might be getting one of these. The main reason I don't play a lot of the older games I own is because the system usually isn't hooked up. This would definitely end that.

[soera]

Looks interesting. Nice to see a retro system that actually takes and reads CDs. With that being said, I dont think its for me. At least not yet. It sounded like Saturn is something thats coming in its future which would raise its interest in me. Which brings me to my question and why Im responding ....

What stops a system from reading ALL disks? I honestly dont understand the tech side of PS1 vs PS2 vs Xbox vs Turbo CD vs Saturn vs Dreamcast disks and so on.

[sworddude]

The strongest points in my opinions are the more obsecure cd based systems and that you can play the games of all regions on a single system

neo geo cd, turbografx cd mega cd are the main problem consoles to get in the first place not to mention that japanese, pal and ntc games are playable withouth needing any converters or specific consoles wich also can be a true pain.

This console is only nice for disc based games since cardridges already have some nice systems wich do their thing for a cheaper price. Not really a reason to get those cardridge add ons not to mention that carts were not the reason why this system was made. Also that pretty much all cart based systems are very durable compared to the more obsecure disc based systems.

I won't be getting this system but It's a very promising development for the future since it will be more and more easy to play games on otherwise fragile disc based systems and to top it off import games without a hassle.

[Flashback2012]

I'll only support it if it's endorsed by Coleco, uses old Jaguar system shells and has a random capture card for its guts instead of an actual motherboard. 

[NickAwesome]

Yeah, it sounds cool but definitely would need to see it work before I threw any money at it.  I'm particularly skeptical about its ability to emulate sega saturn, that system is notoriously hard to emulate. 

[sworddude]

I don't see the big deal to the appeal of being able to play saturn games on the system considering the following reasons

- The saturn console is not a hard system to get especially compared to the mega cd, turbo grafx cd or the neo geo cd not to mention not to expensive even the western consoles as a stand alone unit with cables and controllers.

- Imports are super easy to play on a single console als don't forget that japanse consoles are dirt cheap if you really wanted to have multiple consoles or use ntc games on a cheap japanese saturn console with an import card.

- As far as the more obsecure cd units go the saturn is actually a pretty durable system unlike especially fragile systems such as the mega cd and turbo grafx cd units.

It's pretty fun if saturn works but It's not that hard to play saturn games in the first place unlike other cd units wich are hard to get, pretty expensive and notorious for being ticking time bombs.

[pizzasafari]

There’s a very lengthy thread about it on atariage. Having followed it since the beginning, there’s no way I’d back it at this point.

Can you condense the thread as to why that is? I'm intrigued by the console but if there's something I don't know about going on that makes me nervous.

[kashell]

I like the idea of it. But, after being burned by the Retron 5, I'm not going to be buying until I see some glowing reviews.

[ignition365]

There's definitely some shady shit going on with it, I wouldn't jump on this until later after it's been produced and people have reviewed it to say whether or not it's good.

They have this roadmap that is essentially a kickstarter stretch goal list.  If they get X amount of money from preorders they will implement support for system Y.

$750k - Collection Insights Screen
$1m - EM05: Famicom module
$1.25m - Play movies and audio discs
$1.5m - NEC PC-FX CD System
$2m - EM06: Atari 2600/7800 module
$2.25m - Basic Social Network
$2.5m - Cheats database
$3m - EM07: Colecovision module
$3.25m - Advanced Social Network
$3.5m - Sidebar Apps
$4m - EM08: Gameboy module
$4.25m - Achievements System
$4.5m - Netplay & Matchmaking
$5m - EM09: Sega Master System module
$5.25m - Tournament Netplay
$5.5m - Philips CD-i System
$6m - Sega Dreamcast
$7m - 3DO
$8m - Nintendo 64 module

[rayne315]

What stops a system from reading ALL disks? I honestly dont understand the tech side of PS1 vs PS2 vs Xbox vs Turbo CD vs Saturn vs Dreamcast disks and so on.

technically speaking... almost nothing... just how good of hardware they are willing to throw into it.

legally speaking... Patents... if they were to include anything that the patent is currently still active (patents last up to 20 years) then there is the very real possibility they will get sued out of existence.

[tripredacus]

Reading the discs is not the issue. It is getting around the copy protection. Since this is an emulator, that program would need to either be able to mimic the protection of the original console, as it would read that information, or be able to execute the contents by ignoring the protection. Now compound that by the fact that every console used something different. Sometimes it was just code on the disc to deal with, or sometimes it was a portion on the disc outside of the data area that the console would read that a normal ODD wouldn't.

What stops a system from reading ALL disks? I honestly dont understand the tech side of PS1 vs PS2 vs Xbox vs Turbo CD vs Saturn vs Dreamcast disks and so on.

technically speaking... almost nothing... just how good of hardware they are willing to throw into it.

legally speaking... Patents... if they were to include anything that the patent is currently still active (patents last up to 20 years) then there is the very real possibility they will get sued out of existence.