Hasta La Gadget!

If you recall, a few weeks back, we mentioned that Hyperkin was working on an update to their popular retro multi-console, the RetroN. Well, today, they officially showed off the console, and it’s been renamed the RetroN 5, since it has five cartridge slots.

Hyperkin Retro N 5 rendering

Announced at this weekend’s Midwest Gaming Classic, the RetroN 5 made an appearance as both a rendering (shown above), and as a shiny red prototype console, still bearing the RetroN 4 badge, and without the promised GBA slot.

Hyperkin Retro N 4 prototype

The five-slotted console will be able to play original cartridges from the NES, SNES, Genesis, Famicom, Super Famicom, Mega Drive, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color and Game Boy. In addition, it will offer an HDMI output for playing games on today’s HDTVs, and a special video enhancement circuit to ensure high quality playback at resolutions up to 720p.

The RetroN 5 will also offer technology to improve the audio quality compared to what you’re used to hearing from emulators, with the ability to increase playback frequency if you so choose. While you can play games using the original controllers from the various retro systems, the RetroN 5 will ship with a Bluetooth wireless controller(s?), complete with a lovely clicky microswitch D-Pad.

Hyperkin Retro N 4 prototype wireless controller

Hyperkin has also suggested that you’ll be able to use controllers from different systems on each other’s games. For instance, you could play an NES game with a Genesis controller. The system will also have its own custom interface, which will provide the ability to save states, map buttons, and tweak gameplay speed by “overclocking” the game systems. You’ll also be able to assign settings to macro keys on the sides of the controller for easy access. While the menu UI I saw was clearly in the early stages of development, it was already accessible on the prototype system.

‘ Hyperkin RetroN 5 Prototype UI

Hyperkin hasn’t revealed the pricing or an exact release date for the RetroN 5, but they’re hoping to release the system this July – though they were clear they want to give their development team enough time to put a shiny coat of polish on the finished product, so that date isn’t carved in stone.

Here’s video from today’s announcement for more details on the system.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

According to NPD Group, video game sales dropped 25-percent in February, with sales declining across the board: games, hardware, and accessories. This is despite two games that were launched last month by Sega and EA, and is representative of consumers’ shift from traditional gaming to mobile gaming via tablets and smartphones.

Hardware suffered the worst blow, decreasing 36-percent over last year, with a total of $244.2 million in sales. Software was next in line, falling 27-percent over last year to $369.9 million in sales; that represents sales for both gaming consoles and portable units. All in all, consumers are making about 50-percent of their overall game purchases via retail.

Overall, NPD Group says February video game sales came in at approximately $1.2 billion. While Sony and Nintendo tend to be tight-lipped over their console sales, Microsoft is more than happy to reveal its numbers. According to the company, it sold 302,000 Xbox 360 units, which represents a fairly significant drop over last year’s sales of 426,000.

Microsoft is responsible for a significant amount of gaming console sales, according to a statement from the company earlier today, representing about 41-percent of all latest-generation consoles being purchased. Meanwhile, Sony’s PlayStation 4 is slated for release this upcoming holiday season.

[via Bloomberg]

Video game sales dropped 25-percent in US last month is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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It’s undeniable Imangi Studios’ Temple Run games have become an absolute hit on both iOS and Android, sparking a number of endless-running clones. But SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog was probably one of the first games to offer somewhat of a running experience, so we guess it’s OK a Temple Run clone is coming out very soon starring everyone’s favorite blue hedgehog.

SEGA’s Sonic Dash blog post asks its fans “Can you run forever?” which obviously points to the game being an endless runner-type game. This isn’t the first time SEGA has used their iconic mascot to deliver clones of popular mobile games as they released Sonic Jump, which offered a similar experience to the popular Doodle Jump series.

Sonic Dash is expected to be made available for all iOS devices “soon,” which judging by the day it was announced, probably means during tomorrow’s major App Store update. The game will offer 3D graphics as you help Sonic navigate his way through a number of obstacles while also introducing a leaderboards system to figure out who the fastest is among your friends.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Ubisoft Responds To PETA’s Outrage Over Whaling Feature In Assassin’s Creed 4, Far Cry 3 Patch Hopes To Increase Replayability ,

Hyperkin’s fourth RetroN console wants to be the perfect way to enjoy gaming’s past glories. Alongside the ability to play NES, SNES, Gameboy and Sega Genesis titles, it’s compatible with PAL and NTSC formats, with ports for your NES, SNES and Genesis controllers — you still have those, right? If not, Hyperkin’s own Bluetooth-connected controllers can fill in, while the console’s UI will allow you to reassign buttons as needed. There’s also HDMI output, so those 16-bit graphics will get the full glory of your HD plasma screen. Alas, following another notable games console, the company isn’t showing off the device just yet. You’re looking at its predecessor above, which should at least give your mind’s eye something to work with until it’s finally unfurled at Wisconsin’s Midwest Gaming Classic on March 23rd.

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Source: Joystiq

The return of the living dead, or rather, Sega, a company that has not churned out a video game console for the longest time after calling it quits with the Dreamcast (that was a pretty good console in its own right, by the way), is back thanks to the help of hobbyists and enthusiasts. Clearly created just for hardcore fans of Sega, the new laptops will boast of interchangeable covers that were specially designed to resemble its old school game consoles.

The quartet of custom laptops would be the Sega-blue Mega Drive (that was known as the Genesis in the US), with the Saturn and Dreamcast alongside in tow. Each of these creations will be accompanied by a 15.6-inch display at Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels), Windows 8 as the operating system of choice, and a trio of pre-loaded custom Sega themes (wallpapers, icons and sounds), not to mention 60 songs from classic Sega games. Unfortunately, you will not find emulators on board to run classic Sega games. Features include an Intel processor and Intel HD Graphics 4000 chipset, a 500GB hard drive, 4GB RAM, a DVD burner drive for the bare bones model, and these will be available from June 3rd onwards, retailing from around $1,075 and goes all the way to $2,094, depending on the make and model. Too bad they are Japan-only at the moment but who knows? Things might change down the road.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Microsoft Job Postings Confirm Additional Windows And Windows Phone Blue Details, President Obama Thinks Required Programming Language Learning In High School Is A Great Idea,