Retro Gaming Gains A Savior?

1up.com has a look at a new slimline NES console made by a company named Messiah. They hope the console, named Generation NEX, will be able to reach consumers in retail stores. From the article: "We think our products can be mainstream, it's just a matter of finding and reaching those people. Everyone loves the NES, and grew up playing it...We're hoping to get Generation NEX into mainstream retailers. We think that'll help out a lot. It's kind of like one of those impulse buys, people aren't searching for it but when they come across it they'll be like 'whoa, I want that!'...The greatest challenge was incorporating all of the extra features into the hardware...It's quite easy just to make a clone that works with the existing stuff, but then when you incorporate the built-in wireless and all the other stuff that went into this hardware ... That was the biggest challenge, getting everything to work together."

Comments

10NES and the hardware patent

[screwballicus]

Wouldn't this necessitate that they duplicate the system-side functionality of the 10NES chip in such a way as to violate Nintendo's patent? Seeing as precedent stands in Nintendo's favour regarding the replication of cart-side 10NES functionality, with Tengen having lost its case, if the patent is still valid, one would think that this hardware would not be legal in the United States. But has the 10NES patent expired? Or do carts function without 10NES hardware on the system side, though the reverse is not the case?

Re:10NES and the hardware patent

[Megane]

Nope, you only need it for cartridges. A homebrewer would have to start buying Super Mario cartridges in bulk, but otherwise it's not necessary.

And it's well known that if you cut pin 4 of the chip inside the console and ground it, ***THIS POST HAS BEEN CENSORED BY THE DMCA POLICE ***

NO CARRIER
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Geek orgasm

[RyoShin]

I could see this succeeding or failing.

One thing I didn't see in the article is if they had Nintendo's blessing in all of this. If not, Nintendo could potentially swoop in and take them out, or just take over the company on threat or stopping the product altogether. I assume they haven't gotten this far without some legal talking, but I can't be sure to the extent of that.

The system must debut at an equal price or lower price to the GBA SP at the time. Even in the updated form, the console can't match the graphics of the GBA (can it even match the GBC?), and don't even try to compare it to the current generation of consoles.

Having some form of a developer kit would really boost it. Those toying with the gaming industry would get some first hand experience at 'easier' coding. A fairly inexpensive dev kit, including a cartridge that either hooks up to the computer while in the NEX or can download from the computer and then be put into NEX, software for writing games (and perhaps something like RPG Maker,) and a 'getting started' book would be awesome.

Allow the software to be downloaded for free, but unless they have some other input device (which I also didn't see in the article,) you'll only be able to use a cartridge for that.

Re-release the classics. Chances are that not many people have NES games, so they'll have to release something, or many people will have nothing to play on it. Since the capacity of memory per area has greatly increased since the days of the original NES, take advantage of that: offer extras, if possible.

Alternatively, the article mentioned that, with the expand graphics and rumble support, they could update many games. That would be awesome (Four Swords in the original Hyrule?), but if you have the memory storage to allow it, include the original version of the game for those feeling nostalgic.

I see this console being bought mainly by the older generation. Many of the NES games were quick pick-up-and-play games. Most working adults who loved games as a kid don't have the 80 hours to put into massive games, and this would give them a great alternative. These adults will then share the console with their kids, who will gain an appreciation for gameplay over graphics, perhaps spearheading an improvement in games for the current consoles.

Or not. In any case, I hope that this system comes to frutility (from the looks of it, we're much more likely to get the NEX than the Phantom.) If the price is right, I can see myself easily picking this up.

Re:Bad timing?

[badasscat]

It really does sound like emulation with a different box...

It's not emulation, it's what people in the know call a "famiclone". In fact, there are probably dozens of similar systems out on the market - if you look up famicom systems on Ebay (or NES systems) 99% of the results will be this thing or similar models, not real Nintendo systems.

The Famicom was reverse-engineered years ago. Nintendo hates it but there's nothing they can do about it. These sorts of consoles have been on the market for probably a decade now. Interestingly enough, the vast majority of those plug and play TV game systems (like the Intellivision 25 in 1, the Atari 10 in 1 and Activision 10 in 1, etc.) are built using a "famicom on a chip" - same basic idea. They're using the famicom to emulate whatever system they're supposed to be.

Nintendo does go after "pirate" consoles every once in a while, but these are systems with Nintendo software pre-installed on them. They always carefully word their press releases so that it looks like the console itself is illegal, though, and the media usually plays along. It's a scare tactic.

Frankly, I don't see why 1up thinks this model is so special, unless this is just the first they've heard that such things exist. That doesn't really make it newsworthy, though.

(Sometimes news isn't really about how new something is but about letting people know about something they probably don't already know about... but the fact is famiclones have been on the market for a long time and are neither going away nor are they headed for the mainstream.)

Law suit pending?

[PhotoBoy]

I'd be willing to bet given the massive success Nintendo has had with their re-release of old NES games for the GBA and the NES-coloured GBAs, Nintendo will be watching this very closely to see if they can stop it.

With one of Revolution's biggest known features being backwards compatibility right back to the NES I'm sure Nintendo won't want a competing product out there that might cost them a Revolution sale.

Seems cooler than it is

[rAiNsT0rm]

I've covered videogames for some years, and my initial reaction was that this... sweet! but then I thought about it more. Having programmed a bit for the NES I can personally attest to the difficulty and hurdles to overcome.

A system that has these same features and accepts a cheap flash memory like SD that runs it's own 2D games utilizing an easy, modern programming language and has the ability to run NES games in emulation would go much further and be able to be made much cheaper.

This thing is headed for failure either because of poor market research or lawyer costs trying to save their asses. Any serious older gen gamer is going to buy a Revolution and get the same thing but with so much more.

Gaming in general needs to go back to 2D. 3D is great for FPS' but that's about it. 3D has been a square peg in a round hole for years and what kills me is that companies cling to it as tightly as possible. Ever notice why the GB/GBA does so well? People want FUN games with SIMPLE controls, whoever thinks that a controller with 18+ buttons and three directional inputs is a good thing is an idiot.