Showing posts with label Retro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Retro. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Subscribe to Enter to win a Retro-Bit RES + 8-bit HDMI Equipped NES Clone System Giveaway from RoXolid Productions



In this video we cover our upcoming thank you to our subscribers as we hit the 500-subscriber mark with a giveaway of a Retro-Bit RES + 8-bit HDMI Equipped NES Clone system.

This channel, RoXolid Productions, has always been about you, our viewers, fans, community and subscribers. As we close in on 500 YouTube channel subscribers I have decided to thank you for your support and fandom. Once we hit 500 subscribers we will draw one eligible subscriber at random to receive a Retro-Bit RES + 8-bit HDMI Equipped NES Clone system. Not only will you win a RES+, you'll win OUR RES+! Thats right, we're giving away the actual RES+ that we used in our unboxing and review video. To be eligible you simply need to subscribe to our YouTube Channel and live in and have a shipping address in the lower-48 continuous states.

This giveaway is not sponsored by or endorsed by YouTube or Retro-Bit. The system that will be given away will be shipped via USPS or UPS, which ever method is less expensive. No insurance will be provided , however the standard $50 insurance will cover the cost of the unit. The console was purchased from Fry's Electronics at a value of $34.99 plus tax. No warranty is provided or implied with this unit. Upon the request of the winner the unit may be autographed before shipping.

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Should You Buy a Gamerz Tek 8Bit HD NES Clone Console?



There are a ton of different options out there these days for playing classic and retro Nintendo Entertainment System games and we, as game players, reap the benefits. The latest console we had a chance to test out is the Gamerz Tek 8Bit HD console, which we recently unboxed. This system is a true clone, no emulation, and plays real genuine NES cartridges. How does the Gamerz Tek 8Bit HD measure up? Were there any issues with compatibility? How do games look and sound on this sub-$30 console? Should you buy one? Watch to find out.

Why it RoX?
Awesome value for the money
2 Controllers, and they're usable!
Great games compatibility
Good color palette
AV and HDMI output
Small size

What could be improved?
The audio is off and it's distracting
AV out is mono not stereo
Power is a barrel-style connector, not Micro USB
The plastic design is a little uninspiring


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Questions? Comments? Email us at RoXolidMail@Gmail.com!

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Monday, August 28, 2017

Unboxing the Hyperkin Smart Boy Game Boy Adapter - Play Cartridges On Your Phone


Several years ago Hyperkin shocked the world with an adapter for smart phones which was reported to allow you to play your classic Nintendo Game Boy cartridges on your phone. Sure, emulators had been out for some time but the promise of Hyperkin’s adapter was that you’d be able to play with physical controls. After a lot of interest, design, testing, tweaking and modifying Hyperkin has actually done it and brought their April Fool’s joke to life and the result is the just-released Hyperkin Smart Boy. Much like their proof of concept piece the Smart Boy will allow you to play your Game Boy and Game Boy Color (or Game Boy Colour) games natively on your smart phone. Check out how the Smart Boy comes out of the box, how it fits our test phone and more in this unboxing.

Make sure you are Subscribed to RoXolid Productions to see the full review once completed!

Thanks to Live Action Games for help with this review. Make sure to throw them a like on their Facebook Page at

https://www.facebook.com/LAG217/


Support RoXolid Productions for as low as a dollar a month through our Patreon page, https://www.patreon.com/RoXolid.

Questions? Comments? Email us at RoXolidMail@Gmail.com!

Follow Us on Twitter @RoXolidStudios

Give us a Like on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RoXolidProductions/

Monday, August 21, 2017

Should You Buy an AV2HDMI Adapter?



In today's living room the HDMI connector is king. Unlike audio/video connectors of the past it is capable of carrying a lot of data in one simple and easy connection. This was not always the case however. Back in the dark ages, we'll call them the 1980's and 1990's, we had to suffer through low-resolution connections such as RF (gasp), Component (Shriek!) or Composite (Faint!!!).

It is possible to connect devices from yesteryear to modern HDMI-equipped televisions. We have one such offering here in the Mini AV2HDMI adapter. Purchased off of eBay for under $15 I wanted to see if this little box was the miracle I was hoping for to help me connect my Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, Famicom, Sharp Famicom  Twin, Super Famicom and Nintendo N64 via HDMI.

The connection is super simple, just connect your AV cables to one side, the Mini USB cable to another and finally your HDMI output cable to a third. Once connected and power has been provided you're ready to go. Sort of. The systems I was trying to up-scale all ran at a naitive resolution below even today's Standard Definition Standard of 480P. To begin with the adapter is having to up-scale a pretty crummy resolution. Beyond that when I connected ANY input device to it I had a noticable audio buzz coming through my system. I tried different Mini USB cables to make sure the insulation wasn't too thin and causing RF noise, different HDMI and AV cables but the buzz was always there. Just for that fact I would say pass on this adapter, but there are more reasons yet to come.

On my classic NES titles they were all blown out to 16:9 aspect ratio with no way to bring them back to their naitive 4:3. This lead to the graphics not scaling properly and also some pretty gnarly artifacting in the graphics themselves. The title screen on Mike Tyson's Punch Out is one of the worst offenders but everything from Super Mario Bros to Excitebike and everything in-between had weird artifacting in the graphics. When compared to my NES Classic there's no comparison, the AV2HDMI does a poor job at up-scaling.

There is one thing that this adapter does well and that's convert AV cables to HDMI. That's about all it does well. The 720/1080 switch didn't seem like it changed ANYTHING, at least I never noticed a discernable change. If you're on a smaller TV, like 24-27" you might not notice all the artifacting I did on my 60", but even on my 48" in my media room it was distracting and, honestly, my AV cables looked BETTER on the same TV!

If you're into retro gaming and looking to connect your old system to an HDMI port pass on these adapters. They are all over eBay and if they are anything like this one they are port adapters, not up-scalers. Don't waste your money on this, instead save your pennies and have the guys at https://www.game-tech.us/product/hi-def-nes/ upgrade your console for you, you won't be disappointed. Or less expensive but super fun is to pick up an NES Classic, it supports HDMI naitively!


Support RoXolid Productions for as low as a dollar a month through our Patreon page, https://www.patreon.com/RoXolid.

Questions? Comments? Email us at RoXolidMail@Gmail.com!

Follow Us on Twitter @RoXolidStudios

Give us a Like on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RoXolidProductions/