Video Games & the Hyperkin RETRON 5

In the midst of opening new toys and prepping them for reviews, I've also had a renewed interest in my other hobby (or should I say one of my other hobbies) is gaming.  I've gone back and forth trying to figure out which label applies to me - gamer or collector?  I'd like to consider myself a gamer over a collector, but the truth is I have a TON of games that I've bought and never played.  Well, yet.

I have a lot of different video game consoles hooked up in my room at home.  I'm actually in the process of moving some of the older consoles over to an old CRT tube style TV I just picked up.  When you hear that retro games don't look good on an HDTV, let me tell you those people are right!  I bought a Sega CD set up over Christmas with some money I was given and the Genesis and Sega CD games looked down right horrid on my HDTV.  Cue the CRT television set!

Having so many different consoles makes gaming for me more fun.  I don't usually narrow my focus to any one collection, though if I did it would have to be the PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16.  I would never go for a full collection of games for any one particular system for many reasons I won't go into.  However the collector in me has certain criteria when it comes to buying used games - both retro and modern.

For cartridge based games the criteria differs from platform to platform.  For instance if the game originally came in a cardboard box I don't really care to track down the box.  Here's the breakdown of the criteria I try to follow for each system I own:

MICROSOFT

Xbox - must have original green DVD case w/ instructions

Xbox 360 - must have original green DVD case w/ instructions

NEC

TurboGrafx 16 - must have original jewel case w/ instructions

PC Engine - must have original jewel case w/ instructions

PC-FX - must have original clamshell case or jewel case w/ instructions

NINTENDO

NES - loose cart is fine, prefer instructions

Famicom - loose cart is fine

Famicom Disk System - must have disk case, prefer plastic box & instructions

Game Boy - loose cart is fine, prefer plastic case & instructions

SNES - loose cart is fine, prefer instructions

Super Famicom - loose cart is fine

Game Boy Advance - loose cart is fine, prefer instructions

N64 - loose cart is fine, prefer instructions

GameCube - must have original DVD case w/ instructions

DS - must have original case w/ instructions

Wii - must have original white DVD case w/ instructions

3DS - must have original case w/ instructions

Wii U - must have original blue DVD case w/ instructions

SEGA

Master System - must have original clamshell case, prefer instructions

Mark III - must have original cardboard box w/ instructions

Genesis - must have original clamshell case, prefer instructions

Mega Drive - must have original clamshell case w/ instructions

Sega CD - loose disc is fine, prefer instructions

Mega CD - must have original jewel case w/ instructions

Saturn - loose disc is fine, prefer instructions

Saturn (imports) - must have original jewel case w/ instructions

Dreamcast - must have original jewel case w/ instructions

Dreamcast (imports) - must have original jewel case w/ instructions

SONY

Playstation - must have original jewel case w/ instructions

Playstation 2 - must have original DVD case w/ instructions

Playstation 3 - must have original BluRay case w/ instructions

Still with me?  Think I'm crazy?  Yeah, I guess I kind of am.  Here lately I've even started using The Cover Project website to print my own custom case inserts for my Sega CD and Sega Saturn collection.  Those games come in huge CD style jewel cases.  Not only are they big and brittle, but they take up more space on my shelves which is already severely limited.  I've also started making cases for my small N64 collection since those cartridges don't have spine labels w/ the name of the game.

also comes in grey

So where does this new Hyperkin RETRON 5 come into play?  It's a space saver!  What I mean by that is this one console will take the place of many in my crowded entertainment center.  I have so many cords behind the shelving unit I use that it looks like a rats nest.  If the Fire Marshall were ever to stop by my house like they did my office, I'm sure I'd get some sort of violation!  

The RETRON 5 if you didn't know is an unofficial game console coming out in April (I think) that will play NES, Famicom, SNES, Super Famicom, Master System (w/ adapter), Genesis, Mega Drive, Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance all on the same system!  You can even use all of the original console controllers if the wireless gamepad that comes included isn't your cup of tea.  If that in itself isn't cool enough, the console also hooks up to HDTVs via an HDMI connection, effectively upscaling the graphics and sound.  The console also has built in save slots so you no longer have to worry if your copy of Zelda on the NES still has a functioning battery (though acid leaking from an old battery inside is still a concern).  In addition to the save technology, there are also built in cheat codes that can be turned off via the in game menu.

Now a lot of gamers refuse to use "clones" like this RETRON 5 citing nothing beats the original hardware.  While I do tend to agree that the original hardware is always the route to take, sometimes it's not always an option.  While I can play all of my games on the original hardware there is just something about having an all-in-one system like the RETRON 5 that is really appealing.  Amazon.com just put up the pre-orders this morning (again) for only $99.

Assuming that Hyperkin's claims of the system are all true, this looks to be an awesome piece of hardware.  I'm mainly interested in buying it to save space.  I plan to disconnect my modded SNES to make room for the RETRON 5.  So I guess what I'm saying is the downside to collecting video games is that it can take up a lot of space...both on your shelves and in your entertainment center.  I'm just looking at this new "all-in-one" console as a space saver.