I was talking with some people at work one time and some dude (programmer) told me that there is a system that can play Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega, etc. game cartridges. The reason why I ask is because I'm thinking of opening an online store on FrancoisSoft to sell games but need a universal system to test them on. I could get an NES, SNES, Sega Mastersystem, Sony Playstation... Jesus, do I have to go on! Anyways, has anyone heard of such as system? What is it called? Even one that can play all of the Nintendo games would do. Give me some ideas.

He probably meant the RetroN5. [edit: Oops, wrong link. Corrected it]

Amazon.com sells them also.

You made me happy! Yep, love to play games on the console but needed something to test these games.

Don't use the RetroN 5 to test games. It's a glorified emulator box.

There is no guarantee that valid, functional games will actually run on it, and conversely there is no guarantee that games that work on the RetroN 5 will work on the original console.

Well, I have a RetroN5 at home, and as I do NOT care how it gets its visuals on screen so far I am very happy with it. Played all my SNES games (though I didn't try the Super FX ones yet like Star Fox/Wing, I read that they play just fine).

And you get MUCH improved image quality thanks to the HDMI output and Antialiasing. Nothing for the retor purist, I for one are happy to happy to have the crappy analog connections gone!

As for testing games on the RetroN5, be aware that, as Anthony wrote, there are incompatibilities with SOME games.... sems to be very low percentage of games, but can happen. So while the RetroN5 is a very good way to replay the games of your childhood one (and soften some of the shock of crappy analog connections and low resolutions, as well as crappy sound chips), it is in no way an accurate way to test old games.

Also, the RetroN5 lets you play SNES, Genesis/Mega Drive, Famicon/NES, GBA/GB games and MAster System through the adapter, without worry for regional differences. But you will not be able to use it to play Game Gear, Lynx, 3DO, Jaguar, or any of the later consoles on it.

You CAN try the Mega Drive 32X or CD, but I guess that will not really work as the RetroN5 has none of the original Hardware the Mega Drive had. So while it takes some hassle out of testing 5-7 systems in different configs, the other 20 or so consoles you will still need to buy.

Be aware that the most common consoles are actually not too expensive to get online, you can get used ones in not-too-mint-conditions for both SNES and Mega Drive / Genesis for under 100 bucks... though of course, if you want to be able to test ALL international cartridges, triple that (or buy a much more expensive modded console)... Playstation 1 should also be easy enough to get hold on, if you are lucky enough to snatch an eearly production run, you can even play international titles without modding.

The master system AFAIK is a little bit harder to get (compared to the NES), but should also not be too expensive.

Now if you try to get the original NeoGeo AES console, you will have to pay _A LOT_

Ok, tell me about the NeoGeo.

Ok, tell me about the NeoGeo.

Oh, it was just THE one console everyone wanted and nobody could afford back when I was young.... and obviously it is still as expensive as it was back then today, as long as you don't go for the cheap emulation console version that came out some years ago (which was reated as being convinient, quite faithfull to the original when docked, but with a stupid widescreen screen on the portable device (remember, back then 4:3 was the ONLY format available), and crappy analog video output for the TV dock (which is kinda sad when the AES ha among the best analog video outputs of its time))

If you REALLY don't know it: King of Fighters, Samurai Showdown, Metal Slug... does that sound familiar? All of them and many more arcade classics where produced by SNK, which was producing amongst the best arcade boards back in the 80's.... they created a console out of their arcade boards, which ended up being the NeoGeo AES, being the most powerful console until the Playstation and Saturn came out (IDK how it compared to the Jag or 3DO, but it was REALLY powerful hardware for a console created in 87').

Francois Soft, on 17 Dec 2014 - 1:54 PM, said:
Ok, tell me about the NeoGeo.

Oh, it was just THE one console everyone wanted and nobody could afford back when I was young.... and obviously it is still as expensive as it was back then today, as long as you don't go for the cheap emulation console version that came out some years ago (which was reated as being convinient, quite faithfull to the original when docked, but with a stupid widescreen screen on the portable device (remember, back then 4:3 was the ONLY format available), and crappy analog video output for the TV dock (which is kinda sad when the AES ha among the best analog video outputs of its time))

If you REALLY don't know it: King of Fighters, Samurai Showdown, Metal Slug... does that sound familiar? All of them and many more arcade classics where produced by SNK, which was producing amongst the best arcade boards back in the 80's.... they created a console out of their arcade boards, which ended up being the NeoGeo AES, being the most powerful console until the Playstation and Saturn came out (IDK how it compared to the Jag or 3DO, but it was REALLY powerful hardware for a console created in 87').

I bought an MVS arcade cab. Got it in the garage. Was a lot cheaper than than the AES. All the SNK games are actually cartridges that plug into an arcadified version of the home console. Or put a better way the AES was / is just a consoled arcade board.

Ok, cool. But I think spending that extra dollar is the better way to go. I'll try to find that AES thing, maybe on ebay or something.

If you REALLY don't know it: King of Fighters, Samurai Showdown, Metal Slug... does that sound familiar? All of them and many more arcade classics where produced by SNK, which was producing amongst the best arcade boards back in the 80's.... they created a console out of their arcade boards, which ended up being the NeoGeo AES, being the most powerful console until the Playstation and Saturn came out (IDK how it compared to the Jag or 3DO, but it was REALLY powerful hardware for a console created in 87').

Never played this stuff. Kicking someone in the nuts was not my idea of fun back then. Tended to go for turtle stomping instead. Did play some Sonic the Hedgehog which was ok but not as good as Jumpman.

I bought an MVS arcade cab. Got it in the garage. Was a lot cheaper than than the AES. All the SNK games are actually cartridges that plug into an arcadified version of the home console. Or put a better way the AES was / is just a consoled arcade board.

Actually a pretty cool idea... hard sell on the GF, with all my other hardware lying around all over the apartment, but might be worth the try... would put it in my homeoffice if there was still space left :)

Does the MVS take the exact same cartridges as the AES?

Ok, cool. But I think spending that extra dollar is the better way to go. I'll try to find that AES thing, maybe on ebay or something.

Never played this stuff. Kicking someone in the nuts was not my idea of fun back then. Tended to go for turtle stomping instead. Did play some Sonic the Hedgehog which was ok but not as good as Jumpman.

If you REALLY need all the old consoles and have limited space available, the AES is the better idea. The MVS obviously comes with a whole cabinet, so takes up lots of space and has an old shoots-you-deathrays-in-the-eyes screen. Of course you could just rip out the board and build your own custom console with it, like some other guys did on the net (I really dig the wooden versions you can actually buy).

Well, I was MUCH more into Fighting games back then than I am now. Played Street Fighter, the original Soul Edge and Bloody Roar until my Sister and Parents almost couldn't take it anymore (they uterrly hated the repetitive sound effects :) )... that might be why I always drooled over my video game magazines whenever a new NeoGeo game was featured in one of them...

Later on in University I broke 2 Laptops playing NeoGeo emus with other students in Class whenever the lecture got boring.... yeah, don't use cheap laptops for fighting games.... the Keyboard will not take it.