03-23-2019, 03:20 AM
More Tantalising Polymega Details Emerge From GDC 2019
<div><div class="media_block"><a href="http://images.nintendolife.com/fc51d0ea8139c/large.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/fc51d0ea8139c/small.jpg" class="media_thumbnail"></a></div>
<figure class="picture strip"><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.43.50" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/fc51d0ea8139c/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-43-50.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/fc51d0ea8139c/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-43-50.900x.jpg" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.43.50"></a></figure>
<p>We’ve had our eyes on the modular <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/02/exclusive_getting_under_the_hood_of_polymega_the_clone_console_to_rule_them_all">Polymega</a> console for quite some time now, and with good reason – if these guys can pull it off, it will be the <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/09/polymegas_grand_vision_for_the_ultimate_retro_system_includes_a_virtual_console_successor">ultimate one-stop retro system</a>, covering consoles such as the NES, SNES, Mega Drive / Genesis, Mega CD and even Neo Geo CD.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/09/exclusive_polymega_creator_playmaji_on_fpga_sega_saturn_and_dealing_with_healthy_scepticism">The project hasn’t been without its controversies</a>, though; revised specs and <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/09/polymega_answers_critics_with_25_minutes_of_sega_saturn_gameplay_footage">incorrectly sourced footage</a> have led many to question if the <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/06/hands_on_exploring_the_future_of_retro_gaming_with_polymega">Polymega</a> will ever make it into full production. It’s wise to be cautious with this kind of thing, but after a long period of silence, the makers of the console have finally delivered a series of updates.</p>
<p>The Polymega hardware is finished, according to the team at Playmaji. It will run on a 35W Intel Coffee Lake S series Processor, which is upgradeable so Polymega can support other, more powerful retro systems in the future. The upgrade will need to be carried out by an authorised service outlet.</p>
<p>Polymega will also support NVMe M.2 2280 SSD’s via an expansion port on the base of the machine. SD card expansion remains in place and will support cards up to 1TB in capacity. If you wanted to max out the storage, you can install up to <em>3TB</em> – that’s room for a <em>lot</em> of games.</p>
<aside class="gallery">
<div class="col"><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.10" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/825a18ce3f8be/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-10.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/825a18ce3f8be/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-10.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.10"></a><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.17" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/3734a10e1c31c/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-17.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/3734a10e1c31c/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-17.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.17"></a></div>
<div class="col"><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.39" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/88347e9c6b95b/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-39.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/88347e9c6b95b/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-39.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.39"></a><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.52" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/6fa25204c8dfe/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-52.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/6fa25204c8dfe/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-52.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.52"></a></div>
</aside>
<p><a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/09/polymega_launch_trailer_reveals_sega_saturn_support">Saturn support</a> was one of the last big announcements for the Polymega, and the team is reporting that it has hit 99% game and 99% HLE BIOS compatibility for the <em>entire</em> Saturn library. Emulation is running at full speed, apparently. Meanwhile, PlayStation HLE BIOS is 90+% and will be improved over the next few months.</p>
<p>Emulation is one of the big question marks hanging over the project, but the team behind the console have revealed that it will <em>only</em> include in-house or legally-licensed emulators, which are considered to be “best in class”, with “only one of them” being able to run on a low-power ARM-based device. Gameplay samples of all emulators in action will be posted on YouTube next week.</p>
<p>Of particular interest to Nintendo fans is the news that the included SNES emulator will come with expansion chip support for SA1, SuperFX and CX-4, with DSP-1/2 (and variants) and S-DD1 “being implemented at the moment”. Again, gameplay samples “with lossless audio” will be made public soon.</p>
<aside class="gallery">
<div class="col"><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.45.04" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/ce20f6a61346f/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-45-04.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/ce20f6a61346f/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-45-04.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.45.04"></a><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.45.51" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/6cd27d9051e35/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-45-51.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/6cd27d9051e35/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-45-51.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.45.51"></a></div>
<div class="col"><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.46.01" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/072317841fe45/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-46-01.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/072317841fe45/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-46-01.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.46.01"></a><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.46.28" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/a4bb964c1dfa9/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-46-28.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/a4bb964c1dfa9/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-46-28.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.46.28"></a></div>
</aside>
<p>It wasn’t all good news, however; due to 14nm chip supply shortages, the ship date for Polymega will most likely change. The company is “in line behind a few larger companies” but the aim is to get most of the chips by summer. Press units and pre-orders will be shipped as soon as they are in hand.</p>
<p>Finally, it was revealed that the second round of pre-orders will open in May, and retail pre-order info will also be forthcoming around the same time.</p>
<p>Polymega is being demoed at GDC as we speak, and we’ll update this post with any video footage that hits the web. In the meantime, let us know if all of this information has calmed your nerves or simply made you even more sceptical.</p>
</div>
<div><div class="media_block"><a href="http://images.nintendolife.com/fc51d0ea8139c/large.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/fc51d0ea8139c/small.jpg" class="media_thumbnail"></a></div>
<figure class="picture strip"><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.43.50" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/fc51d0ea8139c/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-43-50.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/fc51d0ea8139c/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-43-50.900x.jpg" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.43.50"></a></figure>
<p>We’ve had our eyes on the modular <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/02/exclusive_getting_under_the_hood_of_polymega_the_clone_console_to_rule_them_all">Polymega</a> console for quite some time now, and with good reason – if these guys can pull it off, it will be the <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/09/polymegas_grand_vision_for_the_ultimate_retro_system_includes_a_virtual_console_successor">ultimate one-stop retro system</a>, covering consoles such as the NES, SNES, Mega Drive / Genesis, Mega CD and even Neo Geo CD.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/09/exclusive_polymega_creator_playmaji_on_fpga_sega_saturn_and_dealing_with_healthy_scepticism">The project hasn’t been without its controversies</a>, though; revised specs and <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/09/polymega_answers_critics_with_25_minutes_of_sega_saturn_gameplay_footage">incorrectly sourced footage</a> have led many to question if the <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/06/hands_on_exploring_the_future_of_retro_gaming_with_polymega">Polymega</a> will ever make it into full production. It’s wise to be cautious with this kind of thing, but after a long period of silence, the makers of the console have finally delivered a series of updates.</p>
<p>The Polymega hardware is finished, according to the team at Playmaji. It will run on a 35W Intel Coffee Lake S series Processor, which is upgradeable so Polymega can support other, more powerful retro systems in the future. The upgrade will need to be carried out by an authorised service outlet.</p>
<p>Polymega will also support NVMe M.2 2280 SSD’s via an expansion port on the base of the machine. SD card expansion remains in place and will support cards up to 1TB in capacity. If you wanted to max out the storage, you can install up to <em>3TB</em> – that’s room for a <em>lot</em> of games.</p>
<aside class="gallery">
<div class="col"><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.10" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/825a18ce3f8be/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-10.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/825a18ce3f8be/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-10.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.10"></a><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.17" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/3734a10e1c31c/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-17.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/3734a10e1c31c/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-17.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.17"></a></div>
<div class="col"><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.39" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/88347e9c6b95b/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-39.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/88347e9c6b95b/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-39.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.39"></a><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.52" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/6fa25204c8dfe/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-52.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/6fa25204c8dfe/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-44-52.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.44.52"></a></div>
</aside>
<p><a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/09/polymega_launch_trailer_reveals_sega_saturn_support">Saturn support</a> was one of the last big announcements for the Polymega, and the team is reporting that it has hit 99% game and 99% HLE BIOS compatibility for the <em>entire</em> Saturn library. Emulation is running at full speed, apparently. Meanwhile, PlayStation HLE BIOS is 90+% and will be improved over the next few months.</p>
<p>Emulation is one of the big question marks hanging over the project, but the team behind the console have revealed that it will <em>only</em> include in-house or legally-licensed emulators, which are considered to be “best in class”, with “only one of them” being able to run on a low-power ARM-based device. Gameplay samples of all emulators in action will be posted on YouTube next week.</p>
<p>Of particular interest to Nintendo fans is the news that the included SNES emulator will come with expansion chip support for SA1, SuperFX and CX-4, with DSP-1/2 (and variants) and S-DD1 “being implemented at the moment”. Again, gameplay samples “with lossless audio” will be made public soon.</p>
<aside class="gallery">
<div class="col"><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.45.04" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/ce20f6a61346f/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-45-04.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/ce20f6a61346f/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-45-04.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.45.04"></a><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.45.51" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/6cd27d9051e35/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-45-51.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/6cd27d9051e35/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-45-51.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.45.51"></a></div>
<div class="col"><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.46.01" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/072317841fe45/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-46-01.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/072317841fe45/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-46-01.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.46.01"></a><a title="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.46.28" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/a4bb964c1dfa9/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-46-28.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/a4bb964c1dfa9/screenshot-2019-03-22-at-09-46-28.445x245.jpg" width="445" height="245" alt="Screenshot 2019 03 22 At 09.46.28"></a></div>
</aside>
<p>It wasn’t all good news, however; due to 14nm chip supply shortages, the ship date for Polymega will most likely change. The company is “in line behind a few larger companies” but the aim is to get most of the chips by summer. Press units and pre-orders will be shipped as soon as they are in hand.</p>
<p>Finally, it was revealed that the second round of pre-orders will open in May, and retail pre-order info will also be forthcoming around the same time.</p>
<p>Polymega is being demoed at GDC as we speak, and we’ll update this post with any video footage that hits the web. In the meantime, let us know if all of this information has calmed your nerves or simply made you even more sceptical.</p>
</div>