Image Credit: Polymega
Update May 8: Fixed a couple of Inaccuracies in the original article.
Update May 7: Pre-orders are now open for Polymega and will stay open for the next 30 days. The Polymega System is available both standalone and bundled with its element modules. Extra controllers are also available for pre-order incase you want to have extra Polymega style controllers to go with your system bundles.
The soon to release Polymega will soon be available again to pre-order for all retro fans looking to grab this all in one retro emulation solution! Beginning May 7, the Polymega can be had for a starting price of $299 for the base unit or for a discounted rate of $499 for the full set of Polymega and its 4 system modules. The Base unit includes compatibility for numerous CD based systems including the Sony PlayStation, Sega CD, Sega Saturn, Neo Geo CD, TG-16 CD and PC Engine CD! WIth the modules Polymega’s compatibility extends to NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, Sega 32X and TG-16! Each module also includes controller ports and one Polymega themed controller for each of the original systems included. The base unit of the Polymega also supports numerous USB controllers including the new Sega controllers from Retro-Bit.
For anyone who hasn’t seen my prior coverage on the Polymega lets go ahead and recap a little bit more about what the system is. The Polymega began life as Retroblox a modular FPGA based system that would play a vast assortment of older games using a combination of FPGA hardware and emulation. As the project went on the name had to be changed to Polymega and the FPGA side of the hardware was removed in favor of full emulation guaranteed to be of high accuracy. The team at Polymega has either licensed or updated each emulator the system uses and even created there own open source BIOS files to utilize systems such as PlayStation and Saturn. I think I have been following the project for 3-4 years at this point so I am stoked to see all that hard work finally coming to light!
The Polymega hardware has also seen some modifications since its original announcement with an upgrade to Intel’s Coffee Lake line of processors and a doubling of the built in SSD storage from 16 GB to 32 GB. A M.2 port has also been added to the hardware allowing for further storage expansion. In total about 3 TB of storage can be added onto the Polymega. Why the need for all this storage? Simple to install your entire catalog of retro games to! To my understanding games can be played from their original format or installed onto the Polymega hardware to reduce wear on your original media. All games can then be navigated and played using the Polymega’s built in menu system.
The Polymega team has also been on an amazing roll as of late with their output of content made using the system. With new Demos popping up almost daily of user requested games being displayed. Emulation has been some of the best I have ever seen and I can’t wait to try it out in person! Thankfully the wait is almost over as Polymega is set to launch this summer. If you can’t get enough info on the Polymega be sure to keep an eye on the official Polymega Twitter and YouTube channels for tons of new demos! Until then be sure to check out some of the demos below!
