A new, premium Sega Genesis Flashback console from AtGames will be released this September, and the feature list includes some serious improvements from past product lines.

The system comes with 85 games built in — including seven Sonic titles, Virtua Fighter 2 and Altered Beast — as well as a cartridge slot so you can play “most” of your Genesis and Mega Drive games. Two 2.4ghz wireless controllers, not infrared, are included in the box.

The Flashback also includes standard Genesis ports so you can use your existing wired controllers. The system’s case is designed to look like the classic console, instead of using a stylized shell that’s meant to evoke the Genesis without actually copying it.

“Other new features for the Sega Genesis Flashback include 720p HDMI output, scan line filtering, and a save/pause/rewind feature for every game,” the company states.

These are very welcome upgrades from past classic console releases, but the company isn’t releasing a price for the hardware yet, and the quality of the built-in emulation will also be unknown until we get our hands on the system itself.

https://www.polygon.com/2017/6/9/157...onsole-premium

Depending on the price, I might be interested in buying one.

I'm so in. I love this system.

This is the same company that made the previous couple Genesis classic releases and everyone is supposed to be terrible so I wouldn't have high hopes that they would make a good one this time.

The last release said 80 games and half were Genesis and the other half phone games.

Yeah, it just says 85 built in games, not specifically Genesis games.

Yup, obviously many improvements inspired by the mini NES, but I won't expect the quality to be there until several hands-on tests say otherwise.

At the same time, would be nice if the inspiration goes back the other way to Nintendo as they develop the new SNES. Wireless controllers in particular..

That's the way you build a retro console. Fuck the big N!

Yeah this does not inspire me with confidence. They saw $$$ when the Nes classic was a hit, but I doubt they'll price this reasonably, and IIRC even their emulation was terrible.

What does it mean by most (not all) Genesis cartridges? Were there some special cartridges that didn't work on some systems.

if I recall correctly, there were some Genesis cartridges that had a special chip in them, kind of like the Starfox chip, for some 3d things. I think they were racing games? I'm guessing stuff like that won't work

It seems like it would have made sense to add some of the Sega CD games as well. Looks nice I got the PS3 genesis collection so I think I got my Sega fix.

It also probably means their emulation engine will still be shit, so it will have problems with certain games.

Now Atari is getting in on the action. This was in the same article as the Sega one so I didn't start a new thread about it.

The Atari Flashback 8 Gold comes with a massive 120 built-in games, two wireless controllers inspired by the Artari 2600, and two ports for wired joysticks and paddles. It'll also support 720p HDMI output, scan line filtering, and rewind, fast-forward, and save functions for every game.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/se...ource=facebook

Well, 120 games is better than 85 games. So I guess Atari wins?

That's the same company as the Genesis one.

The "NEW HIT TITLES" is the problem for both.

How does a game like Kaboom work without the analog paddle controller? Did the original game support the joystick?

Looks like the same company is doing portables of both the Genesis and Atari systems too, but with fewer games packed in (however, both contain SD slots...not sure if that's for game saves or roms).

http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/233...source=twitter

Whatever 2600 emulator RetroPie uses automatically "converts" the paddle movements to the left and right arrows of a gamepad (and I can confirm it works fine with Kaboom! and Warlords), so I would assume this uses something similar.

I love the idea of this... but Retropie is so simple and cheap. I'd probably pick this up though --- if only to play Tommy Lasorda Baseball or Lakers vs Celtics again.

Yeah, I guess that's how it would work, but a game like Kaboom (or Breakout or Pong) needs that precise analog movement that allows you to jump quickly to a specific location. I was looking to see if the paddle controllers will be sold separately, but I can find that information. It looks like an earliest bundle included them at one point.

the SVP (Sega Virtua Processor). Only one game was actually released that used it, Virtua Racing, although a few others were in development.
http://www.sega-16.com/2006/03/segas...oad-not-taken/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_G...rtua_Processor

From Gamespot:

Do Not Buy AtGames' Sega Genesis Flashback Console.

https://www.gamespot.com/sega-genesi...GSS-05-10aaa0a

Sounds like it's more trouble than it's worth.

Shocking...

There are flawless genesis emus out there. I can't believe they couldn't get this right. Too bad. I'll just use a Pi for those games.

I think I'll stick with my copy of Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection on PS3.

Iterations of these have been around for a while and they've been known to not be very good. Not surprised to hear that this latest version has problems as well. Say what you will about Nintendo and the scarcity of the NES Classic but they made a quality product at least. Hopefully the SNES Classic is easier to find.