The Retro Duo: Worth it?

[AlexxRedd]

I've been directed to the Retro Duo when I get into conversations about my old NES not being up to snuff and not wanting to shell out the bucks for the top-loading version.

I like the idea.

Regardless, I'm still wary. I've looked up a few reviews, but they don't give me much confidence. I don't want to lose too much in audio and visual. Does anyone have one of these? Can you give me a rundown on how you feel about the system and how it performs? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!  

[Haratio TaFotter]

I have a friend who owned something very similar to this (some kind of SNES/ Sega Genesis hybrid). I'm pretty sure it played some of the title listed for that console without any of the glitches. Can't for the life of me remember what it was called though, they looked very similar. It played well, no glitches in audio or video that I can remember.  

[nitnit]

I have to ask, are you using this to play old NES games that you own and you want to play on a television, or are you using this for games that you have yet to purchase?

If it's the latter you could just use an emulator on your PC and a gamepad. It's free, no compatibility errors, and you don't have to deal with the NES controller.  

[AlexxRedd]

Good question! Just for games I already own. I've done the emulator thing a long time ago, but when the old computer died it took everything with it; save states and all. I never had the heart to try to rebuild everything I had downloaded and beat the games I had beaten.

So now I find myself digging out the NES after I let my brother borrow my SNES and I realize that I could just let him keep the thing and I could get this Retro Duo, possibly, and be able to play my NES games again as well, without having to fight with my old NES (I'm under the impression that top-loading works much better, from what I've heard).  

[nitnit]

The top loader looks pretty cheap, unless the ebay auctions are fakes  

[AlexxRedd]

Well, I've posted this question in a few other forums that I visit, and it looks pretty legit! Sounds like the SNES part works just like a normal SNES, but no one has tried the NES part yet. Still wish there were some good reviews online somewhere. Perhaps I'd better deepen the search...  

[Raike99]

If you have a Wii or a PSP, softmod them instead.  

[AlexxRedd]

Gona have to elaborate on softmod, buddy!  

[nitnit]

He's referring to using an emulator homebrew application for your Wii or PSP. It's actually quite easy to do and google searches can give you step by step instructions.

You can also find stuff like this for the DS, but it's not quite as easy to do.  

[Raike99]

DS homebrew is pretty s**t.
By softmodding I mean (possibly) downgrading your Wii, using Bannerbomb/Twilight Hack to get HBC on it, and then downloading various apps and channels to play emulators.
This wiki has tons of info on Wii modding; have fun.  

[nitnit]

Twilight Hack is old.  

[AlexxRedd]

Useful information, but I think I'll say away from the easy-illegal route. Not that I didn't have emulators and a ton of roms back in the day, but I'd rather not mess with my current systems to try and get that stuff on there. It was hard enough to find working stuff back when the game companies weren't cracking down on this kinda stuff. No idea how hard it would be to find roms nowadays!  

[darkslasherX]

Alexx #2

No idea how hard it would be to find roms nowadays!

Not that hard if you use torrents, easy to impossible if you rely on web downloads, depending on the game.

On topic, it looks like the Retro Duo is basically a hardware emulator, so obviously it's not perfect, but it looks good enough, as long as the games you want to play work.  

[Raike99]

nitnit

Twilight Hack is old.

Hence "Bannerbomb/Twilight Hack."  

[AlexxRedd]

darkslasherX

Alexx #2

No idea how hard it would be to find roms nowadays!

Not that hard if you use torrents, easy to impossible if you rely on web downloads, depending on the game.

Yeah, figures. Torrents are the answer to everything nowadays! Used to have a few good places where I could easily get roms, but they slowly died off as the companies cracked down. Someday I'll get into the torrent thing.