Prepare to hear non-stop about the Polymega, as it’s no doubt going to start clogging up your retro gaming airwaves very soon. If the name Polymega doesn’t sound familiar, however, then maybe “Retroblox” will ring a bell. Originally announced early 2017, the then branded Retroblox promised a new angle on aftermarket retro gaming. Unlike a console such as the Retron 5 which might only focus on a specific console or a predetermined selection of such, the renamed Polymega offers a modular solution (called “Element Modules”) so you can swap out and only play the consoles you’re interested in. So far, there are separate modules that support the Mega Drive, SNES, NES and Turbografix-16 that also include ports for the original controllers.
Better yet, the base unit (of which the modules connect to) includes a pioneering CD drive for this kind of console, which currently has planned support for the PSone, TurboGrafx-CD, Sega CD and Neo Geo CD (with more formats supposedly being available at or after launch). And as you can imagine, being a device of the modern world, 1080p upscaling will be possible as well as the option of backing up your games to the internal memory.
Sounds pretty schmick, right? Of course it does. In fact, it sounds totally awesome. A real gamechanger for the retro gaming community and industry. Radical, as the kids would say. It’s for that reason, that gamers were a bit worried when nothing was heard of the project in a while. Their last updates on social media, for example, were from the June of 2017 (when they announced support for PS3’s memory card adapters). A promised Kickstarter campaign in the April of the same year also never materialised. It’s with great relief then, that they finally gave an update in the form of a video.
It’s only 24 seconds long and doesn’t include that much associated information, but those 24 seconds are very comforting indeed. What is shown is a prototype being manufactured – more specifically, a 14-layer PCB being printed.
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According to Nintendo Life, this is the start of a major marketing blitz leading up to this years E3. Expect more videos of the development and manufacturing process too – it’s all part of the plan to get you hyped for when they announce the pre-order. Originally, the pre-order was going to basically be the Kickstarter campaign, but according to the official FAQ, they “raised enough money from private investors and corporations” that the Kickstarter was unnecessary. Regardless, while no solid pricing information is available yet, they have stated that the base will be cheaper than $300, while the modules will cost “around the same price as a new video game ($40-60 USD)”.
Very exciting indeed. Check out their official website, Facebook, Twitter and of course here for updates as they come available.
