okay its like a "dual sim card phone" i get it!
but it will be cooler if it can play diffrent games at the same time

amiash

@htd: Really? How much was it? The Mall of America is 4 miles from my house.

strictnein

I saw Retro Duo at a MOA 3rd floor booth during Xmas

htd

Oh WOW! I need to grab one of these before it gets sued into nonexistence!

Kai_

Yeah, Play N Trade stores sale thing like this already. They have the FC twin (for SNES and NES) AND have the one for Genesis/NES as well actually. Then again the one I go still has a Virtual Boy for sale (Which no man alive will buy for the asking price of 40 that they have).

daknight

Gimmie one that will accept an SD Card as well and I'm sold...

NNTPgrip

@rbininger: Just because it's not news to you doesn't mean it's not news to somebody who has never seen them.

VoldtaEngler

Yeah, these are pretty readily available. I have one called the "FC-Twin" which I assume stands for Famicom Twin. It works really well, I played through all of mega-man 2 in one sitting. More impressive is the fact that even if I stomped around the system it wouldn't freeze up. Weeee, no more blowing on cartridges and shovin books in the NES!

CaptLtrl

This is news? These things have been widely available for years on eBay!

rbininger

Yeah - all the mom and pop game stores around my area gouge you on these. (Not to mention on original consoles as well). $50 a pop is a steal if you can't afford/find the originals.

bookwo3107

@Slackerchan: Exactly, this has been out for a while. The snes Nes one anyway. $80 at the store I saw, so $50 isn't bad.

@amiash: It accesses one game at a time.

Luis

Now I can still play my copy of Gunstar Heroes for Sega Genesis that I retained for sheer sentimental value... manual and case still intact.

InEffectMode

@MajorMcMuffin: If the patents are lapsed, there's little that Nintendo can actually do. Also...despite all the emulators that are out there, if you've got a save on an actual cart from having the original game...and have rendered your current console inoperable..its kinda hard to get it off and play it on the computer. RIP my SNES ;_;

verrius

how are we supposed to play both games?
or am i missing the concept of it?

amiash

@MajorMcMuffin: Even better, go pick up a real SNES for a few quid. Sure, it can't play NES games, but it's the real deal. I recently got one for a few quid, and have SFIII, Super Metroid and Super Mario World to look forward to. Yeah!

Krondonian

Not impressed, there's already a much much nicer looking phony for the NES/SNES that comes with a recolored SNES controller. What it was called? The FC-Twin, I think...I'd get it myself, but my retro TV I play old games on doesn't have RCA jacks...

SuperMaxZero

The model I have is called the FC-Twin. The reason these things are popping up is that the patents on the NES and SNES hardware is running out or has run out. Nintendo still owns the IP of their games and just won't tech support one of these 3rd party consoles. I've played everything from Demoncrest and Super Punch Out to Ninja Gaiden on it so far with good results.

MAJORMUFFIN - No real retro gamer plays a rom.

DasKonstruct

@Chief2BeaR: ...wow...I hate you lol. just kidding. But thats a pretty neat little toy.

Ignis

Its nice in theory, but:
1. Nintendo would presumably leap out, legal guns blazing if anyone tried to sell the thing.
2. Who needs a weird looking console when there are about 10 emulators freely available.

MajorMcMuffin

These have been around for a while. I would have grabbed one, but both my NES and SNES still work.

Struct09

You can find these suckers in malls, mom and pop gaming stores and fleamarkets everywhere, it's just up till now, they were all made/imported from China and Korea. It's pretty smart as there seems to be a pretty large market of people who actively still play 8 and 16bit titles, but don't want to have four systems.

I find the 'lasped patent' thing funny as hell, Nintendo renews/enforces those things with the fury of god.

Sixtail

50 bucks brand new

DasKonstruct

@ptolemy:
Click the link. Looks a bit like the Genesis 3 (the third model of the system which was TINY).

Odd, though, as it has an NES and a Genesis cart in it. I thought it would take Master System?

BPMΩ

What, no one here has heard of Yobo's FC Twin? The console can play both NES and SNES games and is roughly 98% compatible with the entire 8 and 16 bit libraries. It was only a matter of time before a Sega system would come out...

Slackerchan

@DasKonstruct: How much was it?

goldwings

Oooh, that's nice; I hope they provide tech support/customer service, though. Stand behind their product and all that, instead of just being all "lulz, exploit the retrogaming market" (not that I'm implying that's all it is)
@Gomerboy: Well the controller itself and the jack that goes into the console looks like it's not too different from the original, so I would think/hope they're compatible.
And nothing's uglier than the ITC1. Nothing (ok, nothing so far).

not_tom_brokaw

Mmmm, retro gang bang goodness!

xAnarChisTx

Awesome. I'll be the first in line for one if they're of reasonably good quality. I've been pretty happy with my NEX.

Nightshift_Nurse

I have one that I bought from Play N Trade and it works quite well. They have custom controllers that are pretty much near identical replicas of the SNES controller.

DasKonstruct

Whats the SEGA one look like? That one's kinda similar to the re-released SNES.

ptolemy

Oh, shit that is BOSS HOG.
Was it actually running Starfox? Or wasn't it hooked to a TV?

Tonx

The real question is: does it accept the original controllers or are there some generic ones that go with the console?

Oh, and: FUGLY!

Gomerboy

At the same time?!

Chief2BeaR

Sounds good to me but will it play Super Mario RPG and Kirby Superstar I bought an FC Twin and sadly these two games don't work on it so I was thinking if this one might do. I hope so.

Bluejuan85

With all the custom chips and the Sony audio DSP in the SNES I'm surprised they would actually be able to design a clone of it, patents lapsed or not. Do the games run just as they would on a real SNES?

Nintenboy01

@Billkwando: I have a fully working CDX. Love that little thing. Picked it up with Earthworm Jim Directors Cut for the Sega CD. Need to dust it off and install that 32X I picked up at Goodwill.

KaneTaker

I'm disappointed that these knock-off consoles never have anything better than composite connections. I'd love to see them in s-video, at the very least. Can anyone here comment on how accurately the Genesis version recreates the graphics/audio of the original console?

kevinski

I was interested until I saw that it wasn't Master System/Genesis compatible, it was NES/Genesis compatible. My SNES, NES, and Genesis all still work great. My SMS crapped out a long time ago though.

@Adam In Texas: The X'eye was a joint JVC/Sega product. That's why it was legal. There were several products that combined the Genesis and Genesis CD in one console (Wondermega and CDX being a couple.)

Eltigro, hospital postin' fool

@Adam In Texas: wasn't that aka the CDX?

I remember that thing. :)

Billkwando

Did anyone own a JVC X-eye? It was legal and was a combo Genesis/Sega CD. We picked one up from Incredible Universe when our original Sega CD (the front loading, power tray version) died on us back in the day.

Adam In Texas

The only thing to watch out with FC Twins and the like, is that on the NES games the sound is emulated. It's on of those 1-chip deals. SNES is authentic.

I hear the best example of the emulated sound being off is on the Mario coin sounds.

Billkwando

@RawSteelUT: Haven't run across any incompatibilities yet but I'm sure the hardware isn't perfect at only 50 bucks. I'm just happy I could play Super Punch Out which is like one of the 5 games that really matter.

DasKonstruct

A glorified BIOS emulator?

Hum.. hardly anything impressive.

huginn

@DasKonstruct: You can't really renew a hardware patent. You must be thinking of the trademarks/copyrights, which Nintendo still enforces. This creates the problem with these systems. Since they can't use Nintendo's copyrighted code, they have to basically make their own emulation program, which results in the incompatibilities you often see.

RawSteelUT

These things have been out for some time now.

rjmajor323

I don't like these "NES on a chip" systems, mainly because games like Castlevania III won't work on them.

Me, I prefer to keep my systems repaired. [www.oldschoolgamer.ca] does wonders in that regard. We need to have more unofficial repair centers, and less of these generic, under-supported consoles.

RawSteelUT

I already have a FC Twin that lets me love my SNES/NES games like yesterday...

Better than tracking down a "used" SNES for the same purpose.

But just how many games were worth playing on the Master System? I hadn't even HEARD of the thing before the Genesis came out!

Enigma_20XX

@MajorMcMuffin: If that's the case, Nintendo isn't very quick on the draw as a local game store sells the NES/SNES version for $50. The only reason I don't have one is my SNES is still hooked up to my TV.

multimoog

I got a Yobo NES a few years ago and it works like a champ. My original NES died and the Yobo has been better than my NES ever was. My SNES still works like a champ so I wouldn't bother with a replacement.

kingofallcosmos

Ghetto.

sandwiches

Blowing only makes the damage worse. Really what you need to do is use alcohol to clean the cart, but most of the time, the problem isn't with the cart, it's with the 72-pin connector inside the NES. Replacement connectors, or NES' with the connectors replaced, are both available on ebay and work like a charm. It's simply a design flaw that causes the connector inside the NES to go bad after a certain amount of time due to the stress put on it by the unconventional insertion mechanism.

The NES 2 of course has none of these problems, but it's rare, expensive, and does not have the composite output that the toaster NES has (I do love mine, though), in addition to some output quality issues. The dogbone controller is the shit, though.

In general, if you're going to spend dollars on something like this in 2008, better to go to eBay and get a refurbished replaced connector toaster NES. Same with a used SNES or SNES 2, in good condition, those things will work for a LONG time. I wouldn't bother spending money on these kinds of knockoffs.

HAGE

Here is the question I want answered... Does the NES one play it without requiring you to perform arcane rituals upon starting up the game? For if you do not on an NES, the dreaded gray/random-block screen appears and you must repeat the ritual you missed repeatedly until it works. The ritual varies from person to person, from blowing on the cartridge and console, to smacking it REALLY hard.

2K Ghede

I'm surprised these knock offs are so expensive. My shop sells the actual NES and SNES for $60 and $45 respectively, and I'm pretty sure we're $5 above Ebay prices.

@Bluejuan85:
Rubbing alcohol and a Q-Tip will clean the contacts on the cart in no time, and 72-pin connectors are cheap, if you're looking to stop the 'arcane rituals'.

The reason blowing on carts is bad is because it corrodes the contacts. The spit stays on the contacts for a while, which causes both the contacts and pins to corrode albeit at a slow pace. Alcohol works because it evaporates quickly.

Another common problem people have is the RF adapter going bad. Not many people know that there's an RCA jack on the right hand side of the NES. It only does mono sound, but you'll never have to deal with 'the fuzz' ever again.

@Adam In Texas:
The Sega CDX is worth the money. You can put the power base converter (to play master system games) or the 32x on top of it, but the weight will eventually cause some damage to the innards of the cartridge slot.

Verum

I'd prefer Virtual Console myself. Less blowing into cartridges.

Very nice though. I can see these being a good idea- cheap good games for two cheap good consoles for a cheap price.

Sabre_Justice

I have an FC twin that plays SNES and NES games. It works pretty well. I think there are a few games that don't work with it, but it definitely works better than my broken NES original.

curtisawa

Well, for all you FC Twin owners, I was actually lucky enough to play Starfox and Kirby Superstars on the Retro Duo at the CES Show. It seemed flawless for the 10 minutes I was playing. The gaming section was small, but at least I found something I liked there. I bought an FC Twin last March, and it didn't work for these games, not to mention the Retro Duo also had s-video and they stated it also takes the original and other third party controllers, which I thought was cool. Both features that are not compatible on my FC Twin unfortunately. Can't wait to UPGRADE to the Duo.

vaporgopher

I saw this today! It's a lot better than those "FC Twins" out there. It has S-Video Outputs, plays Kirby Superstar! They had it sitting with the nES Mario cartridge. I also saw a Super famicom cartridge plugged into the system, so super famicom games work well with it. Definitely getting one! I think everyone is getting the wrong facts.

bbcloseout

Somebody should have asked the guy if the Gen X accepts the original Virtua Racing for the Genny, or even the good ol' 32X (obvious it isn't compatible with the Sega CD)

El Cernex

cernex

Now if you can get one to play all 4 then you have a deal.

OtakuboyT

WHY???????????????????????????????????????????

taomaster99