AtGames' Sega Genesis Flashback Console - Reviews

[Ian J]

Thought I'd post these in case anyone is thinking of putting down some hard earned cash on one.

https://www.gamespot.com/sega-genesis-flashback-classic-console-review/

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2017/07/29/sega-genesis-flashback-review

http://gizmodo.com/i-tested-two-retro-consoles-one-good-one-hot-garbage-1797304161

 

[levi]

It boggles the mind how they can't get emulation running smoothly on these, when I was able to run picodrive on a sub 1W ARM processor back in the 90s and that did a perfectly good job of it as I recall.

But the fact it doesn't register first button presses when using the wireless controller could be wangled as a feature rather than a failing; you just need to enter the konami code before use!

 

[Jumpman]

It boggles the mind how they can't get emulation running smoothly on these, when I was able to run picodrive on a sub 1W ARM processor back in the 90s and that did a perfectly good job of it as I recall.

But the fact it doesn't register first button presses when using the wireless controller could be wangled as a feature rather than a failing; you just need to enter the konami code before use!

Yeah, I never buy these "flashback" systems, as they are beyond hit and miss. I give "N" credit for their mini offering, as it ran brilliantly, but they of course they took one step forward with a proper system, and then 3 steps back by only offering it for a few months(jack asses).

Anyways, the company offering this Sega system released a statement saying that the units they sent out for reviews are not the final product, and shouldn't be judged by how bad they may appear to be based on that.

Really? Are these guys for real? If you send out a poor representation of your product for review, that shows a HUGE level of stupidity, which in turn tells me to steer clear of your company and product. And if that is a lie(which I suspect it is), the reviews are spot on, and show a crappy product, which in turn is going to have the same outcome.

I completely understand that most of these systems are cheaply made, and are trying to cash in on the retro gaming market, but these systems should be way better than they are, especially for the asking prices, and how old most of the games being offered are. So while I was no fan of the NES Mini asking price(I thought it was overpriced for what was included)), at least they delivered a stellar form of playing their past titles, and once hacked, it was well worth the asking price and then some. Sadly the NES controller included was still garbage(a rectangle in your hands is never a comfort), but other better options where available.

Even dealing with a cheap company in HK, there are more better and cheaper options for playing classic Sega games, and a company like AtGames should go out of business charging anyone real funds for such crap products.

Chris

 

[second exodous]

I never could figure out who these clone consoles were for, if you're not a serious collector you probably only have a few carts and a paspberry pi would serve you better. If you're a serious collector with 50+ carts you have original hardware. The built in games are nice I guess. . .

 

[Jumpman]

I never could figure out who these clone consoles were for, if you're not a serious collector you probably only have a few carts and a paspberry pi would serve you better. If you're a serious collector with 50+ carts you have original hardware. The built in games are nice I guess. . .

I bought the Intellivision Flashback a few years ago as some of the original programmers where a part of getting it released(Mainly Keith Robinson who recently past away), and I was also able to get overlays for all the games included, as those where offered special as well. I also got it signed by many of the other original programmers as well, so it was more of a collectible for me, than anything I would ever use. But it's nice to have replica's of the OG controllers, and a decent amount of games that should operate and function properly if I ever decide to actually use it.

But mostly I think these systems are for the older generations who may want to relive some good childhood memories, and may not be to familiar with emulation, or don't have any interest in actual collecting the originals due to the cost and time of it all. And most of these are just cheap "plug & play" type devices, that are pretty inviting on the shelves of Walmart or the Dollar store for $10-20 bucks. I only bought the one I have due to it's limited nature, and the ability I had to get it signed. Otherwise I would have never bought one, for the reasons you stated. There are just better options out there, but the average consumer may not know or care about other means, and may just want a quick cheap "fix". LOL

Chris

 

[second exodous]

I see buying a flashback for the controllers, the first Atari FB had amazing controllers, They felt 100% original. But the problems with flashback systems is when they accept a cart, they are never 100% compatible and get lots of complaints. So as far as flashback without the cart feature I can see people getting those for the built in games but if you are a serious collector and have carts yourself I don't see why you wouldn't go out and buy the original system. Cart slots just cause problems.

 

[EvilDragon]

According to AtGames, some reviewers have received units with an older Beta firmware, which has these issues. They'll get new review units.

Sent from my XT1650-03 using Tapatalk

 

[hitbyambulance]

I see buying a flashback for the controllers, the first Atari FB had amazing controllers, They felt 100% original. But the problems with flashback systems is when they accept a cart, they are never 100% compatible and get lots of complaints. So as far as flashback without the cart feature I can see people getting those for the built in games but if you are a serious collector and have carts yourself I don't see why you wouldn't go out and buy the original system. Cart slots just cause problems.

you are likely thinking of the second Atari Flashback, which had the nice joysticks (the first one had the weird Atari 5200-like controllers). another draw of the second Atari Flashback was that it actually was based on the old hardware and was not an 'NES-on-a-chip' emulation. you could even hack a cartridge port on it to play original cartridges!

 

[second exodous]

According to AtGames, some reviewers have received units with an older Beta firmware, which has these issues. They'll get new review units.

This just shows really stupid marketing, why would they ship review units that have a bug in the main feature? So, I've seen quite a few channels on youtube reviewing this and EVERY ONE OF THEM, 100%, find games that don't work. So, am I supposed to wait for updated reviews on the unit before I buy? Heck, most people that watch these reviews that have carts aren't going to buy it because there is no guarantee it will work with their games rendering the reviews pointless and actually damaging. AtGames are just idiots.

you are likely thinking of the second Atari Flashback, which had the nice joysticks (the first one had the weird Atari 5200-like controllers). another draw of the second Atari Flashback was that it actually was based on the old hardware and was not an 'NES-on-a-chip' emulation. you could even hack a cartridge port on it to play original cartridges!

Oh yeah, you're right. I didn't buy the first one actually, I bought the second one because it had all the solder points on the board for a chart slot, which I never used because the sound was off and the chip needed updated.

 

[Ian J]

I'd rather Sega released their own mini classic with built in games to the same standard as the NES mini.

These 3rd party manufacturers charge a pretty penny but don't appear to offer the quality.

 

[rygD]

Not sure how that would work since Sega doesn't do hardware anymore.

 

[levi]

They could still do a deal with a manufacturer like foxconn (or pick any other far eastern manufacturer for more slave driving goodness), or even better someone like ED to make a simple ARM based computer, put it in a shrunken MD shaped box (pref. Gen 1) and write a menu system as its OS, and use a decent open source emulator to run the games. It shouldn't be too hard to use one of these Pi emulator launchers, and modify it if necessary to not allow access to the terminal. Provided the OS is on eMMC and not on a little MicroSD card, that would prevent people from adding more unlicensed games without cracking some aspect of how the box works. Still, I could imaging that by shorting one or two cpu pins to ground while it was loading the menu to get it to drop you back to a prompt, although interfacing the system to a keyboard is left to the hacker to get working.

 

[rygD]

That still requires a third party to manufacture it, though.

 

[Ian J]

Do Nintendo have their own manufacturing facilities?

Pity they could just knock out a few more NES Classics.

 

[elwing]

I just hope the snes classic will be as good as their nes...

 

[levi]

I just hope the snes classic will be as hackable as their nes...

Fixed that for you?

 

[elwing]

Lol, not really, I want a pnp solution and there's lots of great games on it, I'd setup a raspi3 if I wanted to runs lots of games....
I intent to have an easy system for my childrens...

 

[second exodous]

As far as the SNES mini I hope the StarFox2 rom is pulled off of it. I wonder if it is a rom that has been changed from the one that was leaked.

 

[rygD]

Lol, not really, I want a pnp solution and there's lots of great games on it, I'd setup a raspi3 if I wanted to runs lots of games....
I intent to have an easy system for my childrens...

Back when I was a children we had real NESs. Some people I knew eventually got SNESs, or a Sega Genesis. Anyway, we relocated our consoles between TVs and houses (if we ended up going to someone's house that didn't have one). We swapped carts, and often blew them out. We experimented with codes where that was the method of "saving", and picked up a Game Genie when it came out. My school had a subscription to Nintendo Power, so we tried to get there first to check it out when a new issue arrived. Of course I did get a GB which follows most of the same support, and it survived with me for 10 or 11 years and was still fully functional and intact, and it went with me everywhere (eventually the screen cover glue gave out, and it fell off, so I glued it back on since we didn't know where to get new ones back then).

Family members who are significantly younger than me had consoles with optical discs, and some of them actually took better care of the games than adults did/do. Some of them also knew how to hook their stuff up to a tv, and we are talking about kids that were 4 or 5 years old...although I wasn't much older when I started out.

So, yeah, kids are smart, so get em the real thing or a computer. Also, if they have to work at it to be able to play games on it some of them will appreciate it more (probably the same ones that are already trying to take good care of their stuff).