Hyperkin: What's Coming and My Thoughts On What's Next

Today, I want to talk a bit about the retro gaming company, Hyperkin.  Yeah Hyperkin has their hands in modern console accessories to a degree, but their main focus is on retro gaming.  Whether that is old console gaming controllers and accessories, or amazingly cool retro systems like the Supaboy and the RetroN5, they have their hands in a lot of different pies.

So, why am I talking about Hyperkin today?  Well, I want to talk about Hyperkin today because they have come out with some incredible new stuff that will be coming out in the coming months.  They are putting out (no joke) a Pixel Art Controller that looks like a pixellated Super Nintendo controller that plugs into your PC or Mac to play emulated titles (and games that require a halfway good D-pad...) for a mere $20 later this month that Hyperkin has been pushing in the Walmart Get On The Shelf campaign, which is basically Walmart's version of Steam Greenlight, except with even more chaff that must be separated from the wheat.

In addition, the RetroN5 that plays NES, Famicom, Super Nintendo, Super Famicom, Sega Genesis, Sega MegaDrive, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance (whew!) cartridges over HDMI with some really cool new additional extras that were only the domain of emulators before this, and it's coming out for $99.99, with a tentative release date (at least according to Amazon.com) of October 31st.  If that's the case... I think I know how I'll be spending MY Halloween week.

So, after all of this craziness, what's next?  Nobody knows, really, but I want to give the guys at Hyperkin 8 suggestions of what they can do in the retro gaming space that will blow everybody's minds.

1) A universal lightgun that works with a ton of different systems (including PC for emulation purposes) and a ton of different games that works REGARDLESS of what kind of TV or other display you have.  Number 1, it's about time.  Number 2, this could be the way we all get to experience great light gun games like Area 51 and Duck Hunt all over again.

2) A retro console that emulates the N64.  Lots of people want this (especially if you look on Hyperkin's Facebook page), and if Hyperkin gets a license to do this from Nintendo, that could make things very interesting going forward for retro games consoles.

3) A retro console that does the impossible: Brings the Sega CD, the Sega Saturn, the Sega Dreamcast, the Playstation 1, the Turbo CD system, the PC Engine CD (the Japanese equivalent of the Turbo CD), and the Amiga CD32 together in one 90s-tastic CD console.  I'd certainly want to get one of these, as my space is really limited anymore.

4) A Dreamcast VGA adapter that doesn't cost the moon.  Please.  Especially for those (like myself) who are way late to the Dreamcast party.

5) A retro gaming-centric monitor.  It could be combined with not only the RetroN 5, but also the universal lightgun peripheral I mentioned above.  Has potential, certainly.

6) Another huge opportunity in the retro gaming space is to have Hyperkin create flash cartridges like the Everdrives of the world that can put the legally grey ROMs into products like the RetroN5 and have people be able to play them on their TV.  This is much, much more questionable, but if anyone can get those retro console games wrested from the vaults and available for purchase individually or in groups, it's Hyperkin.

7) More portable retro consoles.  I hope Hyperkin eventually gets the Sega license to do a portable Sega Genesis.  You can't possibly do worse than At:Games or even the venerable Sega Nomad...

8) Maybe even retro portable consoles get refabs and rereleases like the Game Boy, the Lynx, the Game Gear, etc.