Retro VGS: New Retro Game Console

[Gorf]

Bit harsh calling them wimps though. But yeah the closer to a real code the better I guess in order to get the most people onboard.

Ah but the truth is harsh Zapiy. The truth is indeed harsh. 

Look, scripting is limited. If you look at the lot of android based games...lots of them are boring and typical and you can tell they are made with the same basic libs. When you see what I have to offer hopefully soon, you will see a big difference. Yes, I've managed to get a 99.99999% C/C++ app working on Android. Unfortunately I had to use a small Java front end...I think it's rather piss poor to have to do this, but it is what it is. However, you can see the difference in performance and how the game characters behave....because I have FULL control over what they do. Yes, I may blow up a few pointers while developing, but a good programmer has good testers to make sure you find as many as possible. Even my 3D game I'm working on is very retro( Jaguar looking graphics with a 60 FPS speed)

[Gorf]

Thanks Zapiy for the photos. So it's going to look like an Atari Jaguar with a PS1 controller.
If your going to create a brand new product why not create a brand new casing and controller as well.
Remember when the Atari ST was born and then came the Atari Falcon in the same casing as the Atari ST.
Man that was the biggest let down for me. People are going to see the Retro Game Console and think it's a
Atari Jaguar with a different name badge and if it doesn't perform like the Jag then people are going to be very disappointed.
But don't get me wrong it's a great idea and I can't wait to see it in action. I may even dev for the machine.

Pete 

I can't help but agree...for a small company startup like these guys, it's not so bad but when a company like Atari does it....OY! ....and I'm glad someone else out there agrees with me on balls to the wall coding.

[zapiy]

I would love to know what other coders here think, is it the same around the net where others are discussing this?

[Shadowrunner]

That's cool, I already have one of those controllers That must be just to show what they're aiming for, it's actually a third party Wii U controller. Hopefully it works better too, the one I have kept loosing connection with the system and I had to reset it all the time. Eventually I just stopped using it, it did feel very comfortable though and I really liked the d-pad and buttons. If it worked better it would be really nice.

[hamie96]

I love the design of the controller, though I feel those analog sticks are poorly made.

As for scripting languages, calling them a language made for wimps is really harsh and overall ignoring the sole reason scripting languages like Ruby or Python exist. One of the major benefits of programming languages is the fact that you can easily create and run a simple program. If you have a rough idea of a program and don't want to spend countless hours programming it, Python serves that purpose. In addition, languages such as Python, Java, and C# are great for introducing people into programming.

Look, scripting is limited. If you look at the lot of android based games...lots of them are boring and typical and you can tell they are made with the same basic libs. When you see what I have to offer hopefully soon, you will see a big difference.

I'd much rather program in Swift or Java when creating mobile apps than C++. Plus, Java gives the benefit of being relatively easy to learn. One of the core goals of the Android operating system was for it to be accessible for a wide variety of developers to develop for. While the Java VM may be clunky, it gets the job done.

Because they purchased all the tooling of the Jaguar fella. That will save thousands to bring this to the market.

Potential savings maybe, but I'm curious what the cost of producing cartridges will be.

[Optimouse]

Although we have been through many many hobbyist consoles like this (from all gamepark handhelds to dingoo to pandora to gcw zero and ouya and gamestick and more more more) I am really curious to see how this goes, what will be the specs, how it will differentiate from other attempts like this. What will be th OS? What will be the specs? Will it be a typical powerful ARM soc with or without GPU? Or something less powerful and with some custom hardware for 2d?

I don't mind if it's not very powerful, I enjoy coding software rendering in low end stuff, and even devices most people would consider not too fast or not with many memory, can do a lot of impressive stuff if programmed well. Hell, people consider 1GHz or 256MB of Ram too little nowadays. As a retro coder, this gives you a lot of power if coding in C/C++.

But it remains to see. A low end ARM soc with Linux and SDL and such will be just another typical software rendering framebuffer for me, fun but not something new. Some 16bit/early 32bit with custom 2d hardware might be more interesting but not for the many. A high end ARM soc can be fine imho even for script coders. There used to be a script game engine or something, called Phoenix I think and a lot of nice games (even if not the most impressive or fast) where being released in this for the gamepark handhelds and others. Even Streets of Rage Remake is done in this language/game engine/whatever.

I am really waiting for the kickstarter where I hope to learn more informations on the specs and plans.

[guest5080]

Again, I really appreciate the discussion here and I am making sure our hardware engineers are keeping tabs on your comments.  We will be posting our "official" story on the RETRO VGS on our website today, I hope - http://www.readretro.com.

In the meantime to follow us along on our journey follow us on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/RETRO-VG ... 6545070951

And Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/retrovgs

Thanks all!!

Mike Kennedy
RETRO Media Network

[Shadowrunner]

Great! Really looking forward to learning more about this

[TrekMD]

That's cool!  Looking forward to reading more about the Retro VGS! 

[zapiy]

Ok the guys are doing a run of these here which i think deserves a new thread..

Here http://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/http:/ ... ic.php?t=3 but be quick, limited time only.

[TrekMD]

That looks really cool.

[hamie96]

Ok the guys are doing a run of these here which i think deserves a new thread..

Here http://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/http:/ ... .php?f=2.0 but be quick, limited time only.

The url doesn't take me anywhere. Also, what's the price for these?

[zapiy]

Fixed the link and check here for prices mate http://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/http:/ ... ic.php?t=3

[Shadowrunner]

Just saw this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbFjBmVT ... youtu.be&a

Looking good

[TrekMD]

Very cool!  Sounds like the plans behind this are good.