Retro Console Ideas...

Ever bought a clone console? I have. They can be very handy when your old system doesn't work anymore or just doesn't easily work on a new HDTV. (Especially if its only AV output is through an RF adapter...) I have one that emulates the NES, Super NES and SEGA Genesis called the Retron 3 and a portable Super NES called the SupaBoy, which also plugs into a TV via RCA composite cables. Other than wireless controllers that just don't work, I like the Retron 3 console. It allows me to play 3 of the consoles I grew up with without having to plug 3 separate consoles into the TV at once. (It has ports for the controllers of all three systems emulated, which saves the product's proverbial ass.) The SupaBoy is also nice as a Super NES replacement, if needed.

Some might also call the Atari Flashback series a type of clone console but, that's debatable with me. A clone console allows you to play your own cartridges on it with your own controllers. The first revision of Flashback 2 can be modded to play Atari 2600 cartridges and all Flashback models from 2-4 can use Atari 2600 peripherals. However, using a 3-button SEGA Genesis controller on them, like you can with an actual Atari 2600, does not work... Sadly... :(

Anyway, I think that there's a LOT more potential in clone consoles than what's been done so far. (i.e. ALWAYS cloning NES, Super NES & Genesis, probably because of licensing/copyright issues. The copyrights on those three are now public domain.) So, I came up with a few ideas of what I'd like to do with regards to clone consoles...

NOTE: ALL consoles will use regular composite RCA cables for A/V output. Regardless of whether it's playing Atari 2600 or N64 cartridges, providing S-Video/RGB/HDMI/Whatever would be extremely redundant and probably cost-prohibitive. Ideally, I want each console to sell for around $50. Also, can we make/market an actual arcade-style joystick to go along with these machines? They might prove to be a big hit. They will require different plugs on the end of the cables (or adapters) to plug into the right ports for the right classic system being emulated.

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Retro-8

- Clone console that plays games from 8-Bit home and portable systems to include: Atari 2600/7800, NES, Game Boy/Game Boy Color, SEGA Master System & SEGA Game Gear.

- Atari 5200, ColecoVision and Intellivision will be left out of this release because their controllers were too complex to emulate with our own designs (considering the target price range) and there just isn't enough demand for them in the retro market anymore.

- Should have 2 ports each for controllers from all systems. If possible, we will use the DB-9 ports for both the Atari & SEGA controllers since SEGA used Atari's technology/patents on the Master System/Genesis controllers.

- Provide at least 1 (if not 2) wired controllers that can be used on all games from the various systems being emulated here. The controller will look like a 6-button Genesis controller with 2 shoulder buttons, making it functional with Super NES games as well. The Atari 2600 games will have their action button responses mapped to just one of the buttons on the controllers included with the system. We might also make it possible for players to configure the controller set-up for different systems in a 'system menu' of some kind.

- Should we use wireless controllers? Not everyone who does that with clone consoles has had much luck with them with regard to their reliability... (See Retron 3)

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Retro-16/32 CD

- Another clone console like the Retro-8 but, this one plays cartridge and CD-based games from 16 and 32-Bit machines, including:

16-Bit: SEGA Genesis, Super NES, TG-16 & Atari Lynx. (Can we configure a port that will accept both Lynx and TG-16 cards?)

32-Bit: Game Boy Advance, SEGA Genesis 32X (should use the same port as 16-Bit Genesis games)

CD-Based: Sega CD, Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation

- Will have 2 ports for SNES, Genesis/CD, Saturn and PS1 controllers.

- Will come with 2 wired controllers inspired by the PS1 design, including analog sticks.

- We might make the CD game functionality into it's own separate stand-alone machine to cut costs and give my company that's making these consoles another future product to sell. It would most likely be called the Retro-CD. It will have 2 wired controllers inspired by the PS1 design, including analog sticks. Naturally, there will also be ports for controllers from the SEGA CD/Saturn and PS1 as well.

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Retro-Nintendo or 'Nin-Retro' (Name needs work)

- Retro console that plays games from all of Nintendo's cartridge-based systems: NES, Super NES, N64, GameBoy/Color/Advance.

- Will have 2 controller ports for NES/Super NES and 4 for N64. NGB & GBC games will be played with either NES controllers and GBA games with Super NES controllers.

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- Retro Atari or 'Retro Fuji' ('Fuji' being a reference to the Atari logo, which is called the 'Atari Fuji')

- Retro console that plays games from all of Atari's cartridge-based systems: 2600, 5200, 7800 (should use same port as 2600 cartridges), Lynx and Jaguar.

- Will have DB-9 ports for 2600/7800 controllers.

- Will come with custom analog joystick controllers that will work for the 5200 and Jaguar games. Should look like a Jaguar controller with a N64-style analog stick in place of the D-Pad. This should make 1 controller design that can work for both Jaguar and 5200 games. It shouldn't be difficult to get them to work with 2600 & 7800 titles as well. (It's also virtually guaranteed to be more reliable than the joysticks that Atari made for the 5200 back in the day...)

- Can we make/market an actual arcade-style joystick to go along with this specific machine and compatible with ALL the systems being emulated here? It might be a big hit...

- As for Jaguar CD games... What few there are... How about emulating the best ones onto a custom made system-on-a-chip design inside the console? (Assuming there's a demand and we can get the license...)

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GAMES TO USE TO SHOW OFF THE ABILITIES OF THESE CONSOLES

The games used should always be the most graphically impressive games available (or just the most popular) for the consoles being emulated. They should also be something that easily accessible to all skill levels of all different gamers. A few different suggestions are as follows...

ATARI

Atari 2600

Asteroids
Battlzone
Bezerk
Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom
Megamania
Ms. Pac-Man
Phoenix
Pitfall!
River Raid
Space Invaders
Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator

Atari 5200

Galaxian
Pole Position
Space Invaders
Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator
Super Breakout

Atari 7800

Alien Brigade
Asteroids
Centipede
Dig Dug
Galaga
Klax
Ms. Pac-Man
Planet Smashers
Pole Position II
Robotron: 2084
Xevious

Lynx

Blue Lightning
California Games
Chip's Challenge
KLAX
Ms. Pac-Man
Roadblasters
Warbirds

Jaguar

Alien vs. Predator
Atari Karts
Defender 2000
Doom
Iron Soldier
Missile Command 3D
Raiden
Tempest 2000
Wolfenstein 3D

NINTENDO

NES

Contra
Double Dragon 1 & 2
Kirby's Adventure
Mega Man series (That means 1-6 for those trying to keep track...)
Punch-Out!! (Preferably with Mike Tyson)
R.C. Pro-Am
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA version)
Super Mario Bros. 3
Tetris (Either the official Nintendo version or the Tengen version would be fine.)
Vindicators (Rare but cool Tengen game)

Super NES

Donkey Kong Country series
F-Zero
Mega Man X series
Mortal Kombat 2 & 3
Star Fox
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario World
Super Metroid

N64
Diddy Kong racing
F-Zero X
GoldenEye 007
Mario Kart 64
Perfect Dark
Super Mario 64
Super Smash Bros. (This one will attract large crowds...)

Game Boy

Mega Man series
Super Mario Land series
Tetris

Game Boy Color

Asteroids (1997 Remake)
Super Mario Bros. DX (Might be a risky proposition because of the screwball camera in that game...)
Tetris DX

Game Boy Advance

F-Zero: GP Legend
F-Zero: Maximum Velocity
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Metroid Fusion
Metroid: Zero Mission
Super Mario Advance series

SEGA

Master System

After Burner
Alex Kidd series
Alien Syndrome
Sonic the Hedgehog series
Space Harrier 3-D

Game Gear

Columns series
Sonic the Hedgehog series

Genesis

Aladdin
Earthworm Jim
Eternal Champions
Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse
Jurassic Park
Mortal Kombat series (especialy part 1)
NBA Jam
Sonic the Hedgehog series
Vector Man 1 & 2
Virtua Racing

Genesis 32X

Knuckles' Chaotix (Assuming you can't find another title from this ancient piece of shit console add-on...)
Space Harrier
Star Wars Arcade

SEGA CD

Sonic CD
The Terminator (I just LOVE the music in this game...)

Saturn

Alien Trilogy
Andretti Racing
Daytona USA
Doom
Hyper 3D Pinball
SEGA Rally Championship
Virtua Fighter series
Virtua Racing series

Sony PS1

Crash Bandicoot series
Gran Turismo series (assuming the in-game control is good...)
Tomb Raider series

- Lord Publius