I am most certainly, without a doubt, a self-confessed retro-gamer. Whether i’m fist-fighting until my last breath in Sega’s Street Fighter, or making a final-lap comeback during a Super Mario Kart session on my SNES — it’s all good. However, those of you who have experienced console issues with these outdated devices – and believe me, issues do and will occur – will know that there is nothing worse than owning a large collection of SNES or Sega Genesis/Mega Drive cartridges without a functioning console to utilise them. Fortunately, the folks over at Retrode understand our need to stay stranded in the “old days”, and have created a device that allows users to play any SNES or Sega Genesis game on their PC and/or iPad. Say hello to the Retrode 2.0…
The German-based Retrode 2 is, as its name suggests, a reiteration of the original Retrode, which was welcomed into the world in February, 2010. Originally this little, black device went about its days creating ROMs from a users’ Mega Drive or SNES cartridge/s. Now, Retrode have taken things a big step forward for retro gamers by morphing the Retrode 2.0 into a unit that not only creates ROMs from any of your old SNES and Genesis games, but also a device that deploys these ROMs to your PC “under any Operating System, using any emulator” (their words, not mine), and your iPad. At this point, users can connect up to four of their SNES or Genesis controllers and begin experiencing the classics all over again! Check out the Retrode executing what has been dubbed “iCade Mode” on an iPad, below…
Of course, while the Retrode sounds like a great idea, you may have noticed that your favourite electronics retailer hasn’t thrown any on the shelves in their store/s – and this is because the Retrode 2.0 isn’t available for purchase in Australia, at least not yet, anyway. Having said this, you can just as easily have one of these bad boys shipped to you from online stores based in Germany, Japan or the United States (take your pick!) for approximately eighty of your Australian dollars (prior to any shipping charges you may incur, that is). If you have anything you would like clarified in relation to the Retrode, or you would simply like to learn a little more about it, I recommend heading to their fan site – you’ll find a wealth of information including the Retrode‘s history, stories from those who own a Retrode, user-created documentation, a community forum and more!
Have you purchased a Retrode of your very own? If so, have you found any issues regarding PC compatibility? Or are you finding that your new ROMs are bringing your old games back to life, perfectly? Throw me some comments below and satisfy my curiosity…
