Sega Gear: Retrozone USB Genesis RetroPort

[Melf]

Gamers itching to play some Genesis via emulation can get one step closer to the real thing by using converters to plug in real controllers. RetroZone makes one called the RetroPort that permits all sorts of controllers and sticks to work on PCs and Macs, and it’s even compatible with some modern game consoles. We put it through its paces, so read the full article to see if it's worth a purchase.

[Olls]

I approve of this article, but 2/5? I'm in Europe and bought two of these.
That's cheaper than buying an Everdrive (or a Mega Drive along with every game in existance).

[shinobimusashi]

I need one of these. Keyboards and crappy pads kill emulation for me.

[Lastcallhall]

I like bunnyboy's products, but they do tend to be on the expensive side. Personally, I prefer a ProPad 6 and my Everdrive.

[goldenegg]

I'm personally very happy with the Saturn style USB pads I picked up on eBay a few years back. The tricky thing with these is that there are two primary manufacturers of this style pad, one of which breaks easily while the other is rock solid. It used to be easy to tell which was which, but it's harder with the new designs. What I've found from experience is that the crappy pads won't work on a PS3, while the good ones will.

[The Jackal]

I'm thinking of getting one of these, and despite what the article says, they seem quite cheap - 13 pounds seems alright to me, at least.

[Phantar]

If you feel the need, go ahead. But be warned: the international delivery via USPS is unreliable as heck! Out of four deliveries sent to me over that service, only one arrived within three weeks; one took about two months; One was bounced back to the Sender after three months for no discernible reason so it had to be re-sent, which took another six weeks until I finally got it; and one was reported lost after three months and I never got it at all (luckily I got my money back on that). So if you still want to go ahead, Good Luck, and don't say you haven't been warned!

[Christuserloeser]

That got exactly ZERO to do with USPS though. It's German customs causing the delay.

[Phantar]

As irritating as the german customs office usually is: The item that got lost wasn't the custom offices fault. The item that got bounced back to the sender apparently hadn't ever left the country either. So I fully blame the service for that, not customs.

I received packages with other postal services from the US, and with no other I had that many problems than with USPS.

[Christuserloeser]

Let me try to explain: Shipping stuff via USPS means that (in case of Germany) Deutsche Post and DHL pick up delivery once your stuff reaches German borders. They will either wait and see if customs let your delivery pass freely, or if not: try to contact you for further details. Both usually translates to your stuff being stuck in customs forever.

If you send packages via Fedex, UPS, or whatever, they will be handled by these companies in Germany and squeezed through customs as soon as possible. Fedex, UPS, etc. do act as middleman, as if they imported the goods, not you.

USPS can't handle things outside of the US as they're property of the American people, Fedex, UPS, and co. are privately owned with their own subsidaries in foreign countries so they're free to act as a private entity.

[The Jackal]

If you feel the need, go ahead. But be warned: the international delivery via USPS is unreliable as heck! Out of four deliveries sent to me over that service, only one arrived within three weeks; one took about two months; One was bounced back to the Sender after three months for no discernible reason so it had to be re-sent, which took another six weeks until I finally got it; and one was reported lost after three months and I never got it at all (luckily I got my money back on that). So if you still want to go ahead, Good Luck, and don't say you haven't been warned!

Do you they give you a tracking number with your order? I want to buy one, but I don't want any of that nonsense.

[Iron Lizard]

I have one of these and it was worth ever penny. Playing Metal Slug with a six button is awesome. On a side note I have more then a few packages get stuck in German customs and had to deal with irate customers. While I won't depute the crappines of USPS, I have had less international packages get lost than packages stuck in customs.