The Polymega 

What do you think of the Polymega? Yay or nay?

Damn, that is a LOT of problems for a bare bones emulation box that's more expensive than a PS5.

I appreciate your brutal honesty. Companies need to bring their A game before you review their product.

Man, for 500+ bucks to get up and running, this has way too many issues for me. I love the concept of a definitive modular retro box, but it needs either a massive price drop or a lot of work to smooth out some of those issues. Thanks for the in-depth review!

Originally announced in 2017, 7 years ago. So many better options today with a smaller price tag.

No Philips CD-i? Well excuse me princess

$500 for an underpowered Retroarch machine is a hard ask.

The price of this thing is obscene

I'd heard of the name around the block, but never really knew what a Polymega was. This not only educated me on what it is, but also why I don't want one!

Thank you for showing and trying the Polymega so we don't have to

Imagine paying $550 for a freaking Celeron based Emulation box... Yeah, no thanks.

It's pretty cool but, running emulators on a 6 year old laptop you have sitting around in your basement through HDMI is surprisingly competent for a fraction of the cost.

How the hell is this thing still so unfinished after all this time? Specially considering it uses free Emulators that have existed for years? The shimmering in the output is absurd for such an expensive device...

I canceled my preorder and got my money back. I have no regrets.

Just wanna say, I am very sensitive to audio delay. That's one thing I just can't get over

"Huh, guess the next Game Sack vid will mention a portrait video mode of some sort" - Joe's neighbours

$500? For a system with 2GB of ram and a Celeron? Using software emulation? With 4-7 frames of audio delay? Yiiiikes. Seems hard to justify the cost when emulation is right there anyway. Not being able to pull your cart saves either? What's the point of the console then? Just for the novelty of putting in the cartridges you own? Hard pass, really. Great video though! Always love your production quality!!

I love the skit callback to the "too much blast processing" gag, one of my favs from the show.

I've watched some video reviews of this in preparation before I made the jump to order and this one by far is the most damning. While I understand that emulation isn't perfect on other devices and in some cases I don't mind, the constant need for configuration from booting a game to just plugging in a controller on top of the emulation issues is a major deal-breaker for me. Though I'm intrigued by the convenience of getting to have access to various game libraries on one console, this is gonna have to be a hard nay for me, especially for $500. Great in-depth review., brother. This is why I subscribe. 👍

Wow. $500,00 + $80,00 a module for a lot of plastic waste running a CELERON, with a free OS (Linux) and free emulators, that has a lot of bugs. How is that price even justifiable? How can the devs put on the market something like that?

I use to be a warrior like you, but then I took a HD temporal blur to the knee

Hey Joe! Just wanted to say that over the years I’ve watched your channel grow, and your content constantly improve (as well as your humorous delivery). You have a knack to make technical info delivery understandable and entertaining, I honestly think that in the retro space your content is the best out there. Much appreciation from a fellow Gen-X

5:10 You know you're watching a good channel when you start to smile as soon as you see a game sideways 'cause you know you're about the hear the thing XD

if the Polymega was based on an FPGA ,that could drastically improve its quality. A more user friendly, consolized version of MISTER would be pretty awesome.

I had high hopes when it got announced, I could deal with the change from FPGA to Software Emulation (if done right) and they announced the Polymega with an Intel i7 / i5 at the start, seeing it run on a lowly Intel Celeron now while still carrying the hefty price tag is stunning. I applaud myself for going MiSTer years ago :)

Oh no Joe! You missed it. "We're gonna rock down to NEC avenue!"

I'm always baffked by how much work goes into your videos. You're amazing

i got mine a few months ago. Started boot looping out of the box. Never got to play a single game on it. The company takes over a month to respond to emails. Should have kept my money.

Loved the ending 'tower' bit - vintage gamesack!!

You always upload on sunday mornings here in the Netherlands, thank you for waking me up with TATE MODE!!!

I want a multi console based on FPGA, not a weak Celeron based system from 2017 running high latency software emulation.

Man I love this machine. It definitely needs some updates and yes it's expensive but I'm having a blast having access to my full retro collection again

Thank you Joe! I was so excited for this, and was trying to save up for this... Now I don't need to waste my money! I was under the impression that modules were needed for near hardware level emulation... not simply to adapt the cartridge. So glad youtubers like you exist.

Gimme that Lightening Force model 1 synth soundtrack any day of the week!

I really love the concept of the Polymega and have been a supporter since its early announcement. The Base + Ultra Expansion was the package I really looked forward for. However to see that it has still so many baby-illness problems unfixed after all this time is bad, and for such a heavy price-tag it is difficult to justify such a big investment....

A friend of mine recently bought one… that arrived without booting 🤡 he hasn’t heard back from Polymega yet. I don’t see the point of buying one instead of buying a MiSTer FPGA or a RetroTink 5X and proper SCART / component cables. And, finally: awesome content, as usual.

Glad to see you're stil around delivering such quality content!

NO ONE was expecting Game Sack to cover this! This should be interesting!

Happy easter and thanks Joe :)

Thanks for all the work on this! I loved getting to see what this thing is like!

I'm astonished at all the issues. Excellent review.

I like these concepts of newer hardware running older games,. The main downside I can see is that if the main unit breaks down and the manufacturer stops making that specific unit, you're left in the dust, and getting another used unit will most probably be VERY expensive due to the sparse availability. On the other hand, finding original consoles is easier, much more affordable, and in some cases easier to repair due to being older hardware and the existence of several videos and tutorials spread all over the Internet. AND it's also easier to just buy a second or third console as backup in the eventual case your original consoles also start breaking down and you can't repair them 🙂

$500 U.S. for the console... then $80 additional, depending on the module you want? ...I'll stick with the MiSTer.

Just realized I’ve been subscribed and watching for 10 years. Thanks so much Joe!

Happy Easter Joe and thanks for a video on the holiday.

_Two_ 32Xs? Why, that's 64 Megabits of POWER!

I actually liked the original idea but since that got lost during development, I stick to my expensive hardware from Analogue 😂

Great review. Love the end skit too.

Welcome back! Missed both you and Mustie1 last Sunday morning!

Base unit at 500 USD. Not a chance

I remember asking the "value" question when this thing was first announced. I was told "this isn't for the enthusiast who knows about emulation. Its for the person who just wants to put in their game and play." So its an expensive toy for people with little to no understanding of tech... I think we all know what to call something like that.

Love your videos and the humor ❤ Always full of great content!

this sort of thing is genuinely a really cool idea for somebody who just wants to declutter how many consoles they have hooked up at once, but they always seem to have an infinite amount of problems that the kind of person who bought all those consoles in the first place would definitely notice

You could get an older office PC that still has its optical drive and get almost the same experience as the PolyMega, at least when it comes to the disc based systems as Retroarch lets you play those games directly from the drive or will copy them for you. Sure you'd be giving up being able to use real cartridges but since you aren't actually playing the game from them using another cart dumper to get your roms would be no different, if a few extra steps. All in all you'd get almost the same experience at a far cheaper price and with more systems available to play.

When you use youtube reviews as your QA department.

Best video I have seen on the product. Thank you!

Happy Easter, Sackboy! :)

So many issues and such a hefty price tag

If I want an emulation box, I can connect any old controller to my pc and emulate there, with better quality, playing literally any of the... ALL? of the roms that you can find online, for free. I don't see the point of these devices. Either you play with original hard, or you go FPGA or just use a pc.

As always, stellar review Joe.

Thanks Joe!!!!!!! You make my day better

Game developer here, the audio delay is from the ALSA audio driver on Linux. On Windows, this issue is solved long ago with the WASAPI (XAudio) driver. On Linux, one would have to use the more obscure JACK driver instead.

lmao I'm so glad you have all the skits compiled. thanks for all the great entertainment

Thank you for the attention to detail!

I live for the TATE MODE call outs

1.Started at $250, ended up costing $550. 2.Abandoned Features: Dropped FPGA support after pre-orders. 3.Performance Problems: Reports of bugs, lag, and compatibility issues. 4.Expensive Expansion: To get other 5 modules , they will cost your around $400. 5. Dated hardware Unlike Analoge pocket, which bundled expansions together, Polymega requires users to purchase each module separately, increasing the overall cost and making it less convenient for consumers seeking a comprehensive gaming experience.

As soon as I saw your shirt at the beginning of your new episode Joe, I about fell out of my chair laughing!

Great video and great ending lol!

He is risen! Happy Easter GameSack!

TAAAAAATE MOOOOODE! Happy Easter, Joe!

Thanks for the video! I've been waiting years for the Polymega. But seeing that after all this time there are so many issues i doubt the system will ever work perfect...

20:52 Joe I got angry when you cut the music I was so engrossed in the awesome music 😂😅 Great video thanks for showing us I learn a lot about retro video and audio from you 😊

Sackmen, unite!

I certainly know what YOU think about the PolyMega Joe lol.

This thing reminds me of the LaserActive from the '90s that I desperately wanted back then, only better. I'm not going to buy it but man, it's tempting. Love that stop-motion, by the way!

Easter Sunday Sack! Still digging the new opening animation.

Someone has probably already pointed this out, but the game at 2:55 is TinHead, not TinStar :)

I say nay, just use a pc you already own and retroarch with controller adapters if you want to use original controllers.

I remember when the Polymega was first announced. It was right when I started getting back into collecting older games for my older systems. I was so excited about it. But considering what it is and how long it took to come out, I’m glad I went the route of FPGA and additional hardware to play some older consoles on modern TVs. May have been a lot more work, but I would prefer that over what the Polymega became.

Great review. It was very fair and well researched. Hope to have you review it again once more features come out in the future. Also, if you haven’t yet, check out the patches you can side load to your games. It really is a great feature, especially when taking Disc games into account. :)

As soon as they switched the concept from FPGA to software emulation I was out. The fact that it doesn't actually play from the cartridge makes it no different to playing emulators on the PC, frankly. I can get adapters for genuine controllers to use on the PC and have a better experience than the Polymega controllers

Great presentation on this video, I was a fan of the "Bzzt!" and "Ding" along the way.

Just wanted to note that the ambient music you chose when describing the console really complimented this video nicely. It allows viewers like myself to better absorb all the technical details without some goofy chiptune blasting in the background. (Not knocking your taste in music, it is usually excellent!) Wish you would go this direction more often!

2:14 -- God I hope it runs faster than 2.9 Mhz... emulation be pretty slow at that clock rate.

Probably just stick with my old PSP for retro emulation.

It was over for this system when they dropped FPGA for software emulation.

The "PolyShmegma". I'm not sure where I heard that name used a few years back... but now every time I see this console - I just hear it pronounced as the _PolyShmegma._ lol. In my head-canon, your voice Joe, is by far the funniest one to pronounce it repeatedly in a 30 minute video! Everything about this console is nonsense: from the price of base unit, to the modules (and their cost), to the fact that its a expensive modern 'software emulation' device that makes it so hard to do simple things even cheap emulation boxes allow (even accounting for it being closed source). I'm not sure who they designed this for, given its prohibitive expense - and how cheap alternative are for people who want to play with carts. But one thing is for sure: It's a fascinating device to see you cover, and the PolyShmegma is the greatest game console name ever in the history of the universe! Thank you Joe for bringing us the scoop!

I guess this is the device for people that have more money than sense. You can do all this on PC and just get adapters for your controllers.

Looks like Playing emulated games on PC or a hacked handheld is still the way to go.

I'd never heard of this thing before. It's good to learn new things.

Thanks for giving it to Playmaji straight, Joe. Damn was I hopeful for this thing. I thought the addons idea was so cool.

Ooofff... the sheer gall to ask 500usd for a console that never play anything right..

So you can buy a ps5, a 6900xt on sale, or.... this thing with a ton of issues...

I'm excited to see you Joe. That is my own wired dongle.

Such a cool device! And good video about it as usual. Interesting about the Enhanced Audio part, I think preferred it off since it had some more clarity in the setup I'm listening in here, but I could see that it could be a bit too sharp maybe. But when comparing the Audio Enhancing on made it sound a bit muffled. But that's in this A B testing context of course so probably is just fine. :)

IMHO, Polymega is pretty much dead on arrival. If Polymega were to use AMD AM4 motherboard with iGPU support up until Ryzen 7 5700G + upgradable external memory, perhaps this could be an emulation beast.

🔥 *TATE MODE!!!* 🔥 never gets old. 5:10

I wanted one of these for a while, but decided on an AVS for my NES needs, and I've got a consolized Neo Geo MVS in an AES case. Reconnecting with my childhood is getting expensive, but its worth it to have no lag.

Love Blaster Master in the background at the beginning of the vid. Currently trying to beat it.

Intel Coffee Lake CPU running at 2.9 megahertz!?!?