A False Messiah: The Generation NEX Sucks
November 3rd, 2005 by Benj Edwards
I received my Generation NEX two days ago via FedEx, part of the first shipment of a new NES clone console from Messiah Entertainment (the self-proclaimed saviors of “gaming”). My initial impressions were good, because the packaging is pretty nice. But once you open the clear plastic box and plug it in, things get a little ugly.
First off, the included tiny, corded controller is terrible. The buttons are laid out in a slanted pattern (which I hate.. more on that in another entry) and their feel is mushy. No, not “Excellent Official NES Controller Mushy,” but a very bad kind of mushy. And another note about the controller: look at the picture. See those two black buttons above the red ones on the right? Those are the Select and Start buttons. The two in the middle are “Slow” and “Turbo.” Also, the controller has two shoulder buttons like a SNES, except in this case they function like the regular “B” and “A” buttons. All in all, very awkward. Of course, you can plug in your original NES controller to the unit (a must), but I thought I’d mention the pack-in controller, since, after all, it is part of the package.
The sound on most of the games I’ve tried so far (SMB3, Pinball, River City Ransom, etc.) is off and not accurate (compared to being played on an original NES). The colors, too, on all games seem a little strange. Huge bummer. Also, certain games like the aforementioned River City Ransom do weird stuff when you play them, including messing up the menus, changing colors, and generally not working properly. Castlevania III doesn’t even work at all (just a blank green screen). And yes, I cleaned all my games thoroughly before trying them on the NEX. I need to test more games with this, but it feels like it would just be a waste of time. So what on earth could have led me to believe that my games would actually work on this console? Oh. Here’s an excerpt from their July 29th, 2005 Press Release:
8-bit Software Galore: Enjoy all your favorite NES and Japanese Famicom games using one console.
Also, there’s this from their Official NEX FAQ:
Q: Does it contain custom ICs, or is it based around the NOAC [NES-on-a-chip] that most “clone” consoles are based around?
A: Our IC is a custom designed IC that is built on the NES algorithm. Every attention to detail has been spent on compatibility.
Did they even test this thing? How hard could it be to make a 100% compatible NES clone in 2005? And how could they possibly say it’s truly compatible with any game? Sigh. Marketing “oversight,” I guess.
I recently have been alerted to the fact that Messiah has posted a game compatibility list on their site — conveniently long after I committed my money to the NEX (I pre-ordered in August). It makes me think Messiah themselves didn’t get their hands on the final NEX hardware until about a week before I did. If I had seen the list beforehand, I definitely wouldn’t have ordered one. Also note that a game like River City Ransom (the first game I tested with it, incidentally) shows up on their list as working (as of this writing.. they may change it once they see the criticism), but in fact if you play it, the first intro-stage has really weird colors, THEN it shows the title screen, and then you start playing. God knows how else it’s garbled up if you keep going. So I think we can tell that their game compatibility list isn’t accurate.
The compatibility problem brings me to another issue. I suspect that the Messiah guys didn’t do the hardware development on this machine. I think they probably repackaged the latest Asian gray-market Famicom clone, perhaps adding the built-in wireless controller functionality themselves in the process (supposedly its best selling point, although I have not tested it). If anyone can find some hardware design credits on their site (There are none in the system manual, only to the “President” and some marketing guys), let us all know. This whole thing stinks like fish. And speaking of the President, here’s an inspiring word from the man himself, direct from their May 23rd, 2005 press release:
Brad Strahle, Messiah’s President, considers the Generation NEX to be one of the most important retro products available. “With the release of Generation NEX, we want the core gamer to know that we have not forgotten our roots. Classic gaming is where it all began and with Generation NEX the classics will live on.†Strahle continued, “All gamers will love playing their favorite retro games on the Generation NEX and enjoy them with a new passion.â€
Safely considering myself to fall under the banner of “all gamers,” as mentioned by Mr. Strahle in the release, I am sorry to say that I don’t love playing my favorite “retro” games on the Generation NEX. The only new passion it has inspired in me is a distrust and dislike of a company known as Messiah Entertainment. I highly recommend staying far away from this me-too capitalize-on-retro-craze rip-off. It has game compatibility akin to, or even worse than, a $10 Chinese Famicom clone. For $60 you could probably get an original NES with a new 72-pin connector in it, some real NES controllers, and ten or more decent games. Avoid the NEX and get the real thing (Ebay is calling). With all its problems, it would have more appropriately been named the Generation SUX. Yeah, I know; that’s hitting below the belt. But I never promised a civil review.
By the way, if anyone is lured by the pseudo-stereo capability of this thing, don’t be impressed. Just use an RCA 1 Male to Two Female Y-cable on a normal NES. It splits the mono signal into two channels so you can easily plug it into both your left and right audio input on your TV or receiver.
With this thing being such a bust, check out my article on replacing the 72-pin cartridge connector on your NES and eliminating the blinkies.
Review Update (11/10/2005): A few people have told me that I didn’t mention that the NEX plays original Famicom carts as well as regular NES games (through a slot on the top of the unit), and that this is a strong feature of the unit. My review was originally targeted at people who were already familiar with the system’s features, hence the oversight. But it is worth mentioning, and it does play them — I tried the only two Famicom games I have (Robocop 2 and Zippy Race) the first day I got it, and they worked, although Robocop 2‘s music seemed a little messed up. The Famicom cartridge slot is a nice extra, but I reviewed this system from the standpoint of a complete NES replacement system, as it is primarily marketed. Unfortunately, the NEX fails miserably at this task. I suspect that the attractiveness of the NEX for most people (the general gaming public) would be as a replacement for an old, unreliable front-loading NES, for which they might actually have games. It’s highly likely that only the most dedicated of NES fans have Famicom carts they want to play. But if Famicom compatibility is your thing, go for it. Nobody’s stopping you but your own wallet.
Second Update (11/14/2005): If anyone wants to know more about Famicom to NES converters inside copies of Gyromite, check out my new article on it here.
Third Update (12/21/2005): What’s up with IGN’s weird Generation NEX review? I don’t know. My comments about it are here.
| The Skinny: Generation NEX | |
| Good Features: | Die-cut manual that looks like a NES cartridge in a case. Nice industrial design on the console’s exterior (Probably the two things actually designed by Messiah employees). Doesn’t explode when you turn it on. |
| Bad Features: | Pathetic game compatibility. Glitchy sound. Dumb pack-in controller design with superfluous buttons and odd button placement. |
| VC Rating: (10 Being Best) |
[ 4 out of 10 ] Shiny Marbles |
November 3rd, 2005 at 3:46 pm
I have had a similar experience with my NEX. I was impressed with the demo units that they had at the show, but my console’s color and sound is just as buggy as yours. I too despise the controller; I was playing super Mario Bros. and spent most of my time inadvertently hitting the pause button (thinking it was jump). Well I have boxed my NEX back up into the package it came in and hooked my old NES back up (though I needed to make a new paper wedge to seat the cartridges properly). To be fair to Messiah, I have no doubt that many of these QC issues are growing pains though they better figure them out if they hope to grow any more.
November 3rd, 2005 at 4:43 pm
Get this… when my Messiah arrived their was a heatsink loose inside the unit. A bolt had detached itself (or more likely never been assembled properly) and so it was rattling around inside. I used my mad electronic skillz and my handy dandy computer repair kit from Microcenter to fix it–without breaking the sticker which would void its sacred warranty. So I plugged it in an was pretty excited… Then I started to notice in addition to poor craftsmanship, I also have the same issues with the unit as you both are. Although the sound is kind of amusing it’s annoying when you’ve come to expect the real deal. I’ve got two real NES machines (top loader and front) and I’ll likely be returning this unit ASAP.
Sad too. I just ordered my first Famicom game.
November 3rd, 2005 at 5:17 pm
I allready have two NES systems including a top loading NES. What I want a Generation NEX for is for Famicom games and not having to mess with the VCR style busted NES.
November 3rd, 2005 at 7:04 pm
Thanks for your comments, guys. It did occur to me that this might be a good machine to play Famicom games on. But guess what — I played Robocop 2 (one of the only two Famicom games I own) on it and the music was messed up. So you’re going to have the same performance problems with Famicom games too. But oh well, at least it’s easy to set up.
November 3rd, 2005 at 9:53 pm
Here is a technical discussion of the NEX over at NES Dev:
http://nesdev.parodius.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=698
They discuss reasons for the poor compatibility, and they also disect the system’s innards. It is also pointed out in that thread that the NEX in fact uses a NES-on-a-chip, and a crappy one too!
November 4th, 2005 at 10:05 am
Has Messiah been paying for fake news articles to be written in order to hype up the NEX?
“A small Los Angeles company, Messiah Entertainment, has promised to release this week the NEX, a system that plays NES games and even enhances the experience with wireless controllers and the ability to play rare Japan-only Famicom games.”
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1511657/2…017/index.jhtml
“To sum up the Messiah NEX will be sleeker and trouble free, works with all our games, and accessories, dual mono, and plays Japanese ports.”
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art36274.asp
November 4th, 2005 at 12:14 pm
I think the main problem with those publications is that they were just repeating the press release exactly as stated, without taking Messiah’s claims with a grain of salt. As a result, they’ve unintentionally done hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of positive marketing for a terrible product.
November 4th, 2005 at 1:22 pm
Come on sending out a couple of press-releases is hardly a “hundreds of thousands of dollars” ad blitz.
I am going to get my Generation NEX this weekend and I am still looking forward to it and making my own mind up.
November 4th, 2005 at 1:54 pm
Thanks for your comments, Jake. My point about the “hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of marketing” is this: If Messiah had bought 6-months worth of advertising space (perhaps the equivalent to a long-lasting, archived news article) for the Generation NEX on MTV.com and all the other sites that repeated its press release, it would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, literally. How do I know this? Because I’ve investigated advertising on similar sites before for other projects. I’ve also written and released successful press releases before, so I know the business.
I, too, look forward to you checking out the NEX for yourself. Then you can see, like us, just how bad it is. 🙂
Your skepticism is well-founded, though. It’s nice to see somebody out there who doesn’t just take somebody else’s word for it. We could all stand to read as many views as we can get before even attempting to form an opinion on something, especially if one doesn’t have first-hand knowledge on the subject.
November 4th, 2005 at 3:45 pm
Has anyone tried any of the other Messiah products? – particularly their 2.4ghz wireless NES and SNES controllers? I’ve been super excited about ordering a few, but if the NEX is this bad, I may be having second thoughts…
November 4th, 2005 at 4:18 pm
If you want to play Famicom games on an NES, it’s really easy to find a Famicom->NES adaptor on the used market. They’re usually sold as “Gyromite.”
(Open the cartridge up. A few early NES games such as Gyromite and ExciteBike were manufactured as Famicom games, likely because they hadn’t tooled up for producing the new NES cartridge connector, and so they stuffed a Famicom->NES adaptor inside the cartridge case.)
November 4th, 2005 at 6:46 pm
I was wondering about Messiah’s wireless controllers myself, Terry. When I first heard about them a while ago I was excited — then I saw what they looked like. There are two features I personally don’t like about them (dumb directional pad and slanted button layout) that stopped me from buying them, but that doens’t mean you won’t like them. As for their quality, I have no idea. I did read some good reviews of them before, but knowing how shady Messiah is with their PR, I’m not sure we can trust those, in retrospect.
The Gyromite adapter is a good suggestion, fluffy. I have two copies of Gyromite and I know that one of them has an adapter in it (I keep the cart specially marked with masking tape just in case I ever need it). So the odds are probably pretty good of getting one if you buy a few copies of the game.
November 4th, 2005 at 10:12 pm
As the owner of one of the Messiah wireless controllers, I can attest that they are really quite nice. In fact, it’s the reason I pre-ordered a Generation NEX months ago–I was hoping for comparable quality. It’s much larger than the pack-in controller that comes with the NEX, and Start and Select are actually in the right place (why they changed that for the NEX controllers, I’ll never know). Even when I had a problem with my first one, their customer service department was really helpful, exchanged mine no questions asked, and even waived the return shipping fee.
Naturally, I was stoked for the NEX, and I ordered one almost immediately after the console was announced. I was incredibly disappointed when I ended up with a Famiclone that was the same caliber as the Yobo that I had purchased for $20 less. I’m definitely gonna try to get a refund for this thing.
November 5th, 2005 at 1:46 pm
atariage.com and digitpress.com also have some forum threads about this. I am frankly disappointed too. all that hype and then the letdown.
The controllers are a different story though. I love my wireless controllers with a passion. I would even go so far as to say they are as good as the dogbone controllers that came with the toploader. good reaction and sensitivity, and very ergonomic. some might claim the d-pad is weird, but the only problem is a slight learning curve with double tapping (for running in some games) the A/B button angle isn’t as annoying as you may think. perhaps that is becasue I am used to the dogbone controllers and more modern controllers (ala PS2)
anyway, from my experience with the controllers and dedication to other products, I am willing to say that messiah does not put out anything without an effort. Too bad for the incompatability issues. hopefully more effort will go into another iteration of an otherwise awesome product.
November 5th, 2005 at 2:08 pm
I’m glad to hear that Messiah’s wireless controllers are a quality product. Maybe Messiah got misled by the people who did the Generation NEX hardware design for them, and they’ve been just as bamboozled as we have? Until Messiah themselves address the issue, we may never know.
November 6th, 2005 at 9:44 am
DO NOT buy the wireless controllers for SNES. They are wayyyyy over sensitive. Any diagonal movement is impossible. And for RPGs? Forget it. Navigating the menu system is impossible, way over sensitive. So forget playing FF2, 3, Earthbound, anything with menus.
A+ For presentation
D- For Functionality
November 6th, 2005 at 2:42 pm
[…] Vintage Computing has a fairly in-depth thrashing of the Messiah Entertainment Generation NEX console. Turns out it’s a giant piece of crap. It doesn’t work with all of the games on their compatibility list, and the games it does work with have issues. Oh, but it does have 2.4 GHz wireless…for some reason. […]
November 6th, 2005 at 6:24 pm
I’d be cancelling my Generation Nex preorder but for the fact that I bought a wireless NES controller from these guys a few months ago. Didn’t work: after sending it back to Lik-Sang, getting a second unit that didn’t work (having paid lotsa postage), buying a second NES console to try it on, waiting for Lik-Sang to get an Australian NES to test themselves, we discovered that the controller just won’t work on the Australian model NES.
Play Messiah didn’t return my emails.
So a Generation Nex seemed like the only way to go. But it sounds like that’s going to blow, so I’m not real pleased.
I have to say, though, that I’m happy with the SNES controller, thumb pad and all.
November 7th, 2005 at 9:05 am
[…] not impressed. We’ll have to see what others have to say before making a final judgment. # Permalink Posted at 3:10 pm Send To AFriend […]
November 7th, 2005 at 12:28 pm
[…] In other game news real quick, the word on the street is that the Generation NEX, the “brand new” NES system, pretty much bites. There’s reports everywhere stating incompatibility problems, even with Super Mario Bros! What the hell? And for a while, I honestly thought this would be the one thing to help really re-ignite the NES scene. […]
November 7th, 2005 at 3:54 pm
Initially I posted a positive review of this Generation NEX over at Lik-Sang. Then I started playing more and more of my games. Playing is a polite word to use, but mauling my games would probably be more appropriate. Graphical errors, and terrible sound problems abounded the more games I tried. I am Furious with Messiah as a company. This purported savior of the retro gaming community has turned out to be nothing more than a pimp for an overpriced piece of steaming crap!!! Messiah will never get any more of my money, and I look forward to meeting Brad Stahl the next time I go to McDonald’s, as I give him my food order. A Word of advice. Save the money, and get a REAL NES off of eBay. This thing is like marrying a beautiful woman, only to find she has chronic genital warts on the honeymoon. In short, this thing is not worth wiping your ass on.
November 7th, 2005 at 4:32 pm
[…] From Vintage Computing, comes word that the Generation NEX device is a piece of crap. For anyone who doesn’t know, the NEX is a Nintendo Entertainment System that can play American and Japanese titles, with built-in support for the wireless controllers made by the same company, Messiah. Too bad it doesn’t work, and too many of the simplest games barely work. […]
November 7th, 2005 at 6:38 pm
[…] Back in the day, we just threw up our hands and suffered with the problem, never really thinking there could be a solution — other than buying a later model top-loading NES (released in 1993), which eschewed the high-class ZIF mechanism for a more plebeian (and low cost) approach. And as we all now know, recent attempts at NES replacements just don’t cut it. Then, a few years ago, enterprising young lads on Ebay started selling replacement 72-pin connectors (the cartridge port on the NES has 72 pins) for afflicted front-loading NES systems. The concept is this: you buy a new connector, you disassemble your NES and replace the old one, and supposedly the blinkies will be gone. So about three months ago, I finally decided to buy one and try it out. Sellers want anywhere from $7 to $12 (!) a piece for these things, which is a lot of markup considering they’re probably being churned out by Chinese peasants at a cost of a cent a piece. However, they are quite unique in the world of connectors and I (in my limited experience) know of no other device that has ever used such a component. So until we find out who these sellers are smuggling these things from, the gaming public will have to put up with the high prices. […]
November 8th, 2005 at 3:48 am
Well I liked it
http://www.8bitjoystick.com/archives/jake_review_generation_nex_game_system_kicks_ass.php
November 8th, 2005 at 10:15 am
Jake, thanks for the kind words about VC on your blog — I really appreciate it. I definitely respect your review of the NEX as well. It is indeed a glass half-full or half-empty issue. I was primarily reviewing the NEX on the basis of it being a complete NES replacement, which the Messiah folks seemed to be marketing it as. And in that regard, I think it fails badly. But if you’re happy with it, warts and all, then that’s fine as well. Your input will always be welcome and highly valued on Vintage Computing and Gaming.
November 9th, 2005 at 11:17 am
Redwolf,
I want to thank you profusely for your synopsis of the “NEX”. I was preparing to buy this, but thanks to your review, I have saved myself $60, plus some headaches. It’s a shame that this system turned out this way, as it could have been a nice little console.
Surprisingly, I bought a Yobo NES clone for $20, and have not had a single problem with it. My only complaint is that the US NES games, when attached to the adapter, don’t seat very well. However, I will eventually get a “real” NES system on ebay that has been cleaned and has a new set of 72 pin connectors. Thanks again, and great site.
Gil
November 11th, 2005 at 7:06 pm
Wow. We get excited about the prospect of a new version of a NES system, then we find out it’s a terrible replacement. Glad I didn’t spend $60 to order this thing.
I for one REFUSE to pay for anything that won’t let me play Castlevania III.
November 14th, 2005 at 12:18 am
To be perfectly honest, I expected as much.
The NeoFami/FC Game Console sounds to be a better system overall for clones. Near-perfect game compatibility, and the games that do run run as they should. The NeoFami hardware can’t handle Tengen carts properly(at least the black unlicensed ones, unsure about the licensed Tengen carts), nor Castlevania 3(it will boot and get to the name menu, but freezes after that. Again, I suspect chip incompatibility). And perhaps a couple others I missed. Plus the USA version includes an NES cart slot and uses all NES controllers. And they cost about $30 for somehting with toploader-like functionality AND AV outputs.
I hate replacement cart connectors. I’ve used 2, and the pins were so misaligned inside, they’d grab the cart too tight and actually removing said cart was a chore. Some eBay sellers trying to pawn off refurbished systems with replacement connectors will often tell you that the NeoFami is junk that won’t play right, which simply isn’t true. they claim that because the internal components are smaller, it’s junk, when a 20 year leap in technology makes such arguments empty. But they’ll never tell you how poorly made replacement connectors are.
November 14th, 2005 at 9:44 am
I find it interesting that Red Wolf had a similar experience with River City Ransom that I did with another 3rd Party NES device. Back in the late 90s, I received the Tri-Star Super-8 Adaptor for my SNES as a Christmas present, after being out of gaming for a few years and wanting to get back into the game.
For those that don’t know, it’s an adaptor that lets you play NES/FC/SFC along with your SNES games on your SNES. While I own no FC/SFC games, and I would get a couple *blockout* messages playing SNES games, with the system assuming it was a copying device, or a rare “scrambled” game, like Street Fighter Alpha 2… practically every NES game I played, and even the few unlicensed games I had, played perfect.
All EXCEPT River City Ransom. While I have, probably, around 80 or so NES games still, I’ve used probably 95% of my collection on the Super-8 and the only one I’ve ever experienced a problem with was River City Ransom’s ‘inverted colors’ on the intro stage. I don’t know if the people from Messiah are using the same technology, but I find it interesting nonetheless that both have the same effect on the game.
I will say though that Castlevania 3 plays fine on my Tri-Star Super-8 adaptor, as well as any other game from the MegaMan series, to Super Mario, to Kirby’s Adventure, to Contra, Final Fantasy… and so on. Hell, it works 10-fold better than the OFFICIAL Genesis 3 Unit that came out at the end of it’s lifespan.
As for the Famicom converters in Gyromite… that’s more of a myth than an reality. Yes, some copies of Gryomite have converters, to rush them to the market from Japan when supplies were low, but according to some of the threads that I’ve seen at Digital Press’ messageboard, it’s more like 1-in-20. Not the “Every other Gyromite cart” idea that most people think. So don’t be surprised if the copy you find doesn’t have one. I’ve never opened mine to check.
November 14th, 2005 at 2:27 pm
Christopher, thanks for your comments. I have a Super 8 as well, and interestingly enough, every game I’ve tried on it plays perfectly, with perfect sound and everything, including Castlevania III. I’m not trying to debunk you on River City Ransom not working on the Super 8, but this is really, really weird — my copy of River City Random works perfectly on my Super 8, but on my Generation NEX it has the inverted intro stage colors you described. Not sure what’s going on, but I’ll probably write an entry on the Super 8 soon.
Regarding the Gyromite Famicom to NES Adapters, I’ve just written an article on how to tell if any copy has an adapter in it. It can be found here:
http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/23
Check it out, and enjoy.
November 15th, 2005 at 4:38 pm
Nice Gyromite article. I should weigh mine to see how it turns out. I don’t really have a desire to open it up, but it’s nice to know either way. As for River City Ransom… if I ever get my digital camera back from being exchanged at Buy.com, I’ll try and take a snapshot of the inverted colors, since I don’t have a TVTuner.
😛
November 16th, 2005 at 1:51 pm
Wow…$60 bucks saved! I work at gamestop and I was going to preorder one TODAY…nvm. Too bad that company is a hoax.
November 17th, 2005 at 12:21 am
I’m surprised Gamestop is even willing to carry these. Might Nintendo not like that? Though Gamestop is underhanded enough to sell it.
While one can assume most clones use the same NOAC, it also depends on the hardware inside, too. The Neo Famis are built a lot better than the Super Joy III, for example. It was worth it to me to spend $100 on a Famicom AV, though, but I use a Neo Fami US version. Bear in mind the Neo Fami can play PAL games, too.
The Game Theory Admiral may have problems but the thing simply isn’t built to use a converter and a heavy NES cart effectively. I also have the “Power Games” cartoon penguin Famiclone, but haven’t tried any NES carts on it(I sold my converter).
November 17th, 2005 at 12:51 am
I left a bad review for the NEX on Gamestop the day I got it, but — no big surprise — it still hasn’t showed up on the site. Oh well. Same for Lik Sang. I left a review there on the same day and last time I checked it still wasn’t up either. Sounds like a bit of commercial censorship to me. But then again, they DO actually want to sell those things. Makes you wonder if places like Amazon.com ever censor their customer reviews sometimes.
November 17th, 2005 at 7:00 pm
I have a theory as to why Famiclones tend to eventually die. They all have some kind of incorrect wiring, which does something stupid like wire 5V to ground. While this won’t necessarily kill the system immediately, it means that at any given point in time, the system stands a chance of frying itself. Typically this won’t end in a fire, but instead simply ends in a dead system. The NEX has such bad wiring, and I wouldn’t be surprised if in 5 years, NEX systems have more issues than 25 year old toaster NES systems.
November 18th, 2005 at 5:52 am
Well, Lik-Sang has certainly been listening. They just contacted me to say that, on the basis of reviews and the evaluation sample they received, they have decided to drop the Generation NEX from their product catalogue.
November 19th, 2005 at 1:46 am
damn, and i remember the articles about the system a few months back, i thought about getting one, might as well get a toploading NES along with a famicon2nes convertor.
November 25th, 2005 at 11:09 pm
I can’t believe so many people are actually negative about the NEX system! Guys, I bought one, and it works just fine to me! So far I’ve played SMB1/DuckHunt, SMB3, Excitebike, Zelda, Hogan’s Ally, and Castlevania. All had graphics/colors that were just fine, sound was as expected for an NES game, and the games were 100% playable, just as they are with the real system.
The pluses: The system worked, and was no where near being “unplayable” as someone poetically exclaimed above. Yes, It is entirely possible that the sound is not a 100.000000000% perfect match to actual NES hardware, but, all the music still sounds great, as do the sound effects. I honestly think that a real NES could sound like the NEX, depending on the TV used and hookup methods. No biggie guys, really!
The minuses: The included controller, while it works and is fully functional, has the start/pause buttons in a different spot, and top buttons. This makes it have a slightly different feel then the original controller, and could take some getting used to. Not a deal breaker by any means.
Guys, I honestly believe that this system has gotten an unfair rap. This has no doubt scared a bunch of potential buyers away, when they probably would have been greatly satisfied with this system.
I’m totally satisfied with mine- it’s sleek, new tech and reliable, and compact. It works, and in my opinion it works very very well. To me, the games look, sound, and play like my real NES sitting right next to my NEX. If you guys are mad about the less than 5% of the games that won’t work, keep your original NES around. Remember- 5% is not a lot, considering the # of games made for NES!! Let’s say NES has 500 games- that means that 25 of those might not work.. I think the NEX is legit, and I’m glad I bought one.
Jason
December 1st, 2005 at 1:56 pm
Jason,
The technology used in the NEX is not new. It is the same technology that has been used in Famicom and NES clones for the past decade now. New Famicom and NES clones are released every year. Some of them look like the original NES, some look like a Playstation, and some are even portable. Why are you so hyped up about this NES clone as opposed to all of the previous NES clones?
Also, as stated many times before, the NEX’s cart slot is wired incorrectly, which means that it could possible fry your games. That is completely unacceptable. Also, using the “just 5%” spin is misleading, as that %5 of games includes many of the best NES games.
Finally, you obviously have not compared the NEX to a real NES, as the sounds and colors are off. Even NES emulators for your PC have better game compatibility, and there are Famicom/NES clones available for as cheap as $10, which are based on the same technology as the NEX and therefore have the same compatibility as the NEX.
Summary:
1. $60 NEX versus $10 Generic NES clone
2. Poor game compatibility
3. Incorrect colors and sounds
4. Additional glitches in games
5. Incorrectly wired cart slot, which can possibly fry your carts
In conclusion, why has the NEX gotten such a bad rap? Well, that should be obvious. What is not obvious is why the NEX got so much hype.
December 3rd, 2005 at 3:12 pm
When I first read about the NEX in EGM Magazine, I was pretty excited and ended up getting one. I couldn’t wait to play all my old favorites and sort of “re-live” my favorite video game era.
I read somewhere (can’t remember) saying “no more blowing on carts or empty screens”. Ha, the first thing I saw was a blank orangish screen. After blowing on the cartridge a couple times, the game loaded. Oh well, I said. I hunted down atleast 12 NES I wanted to play and they all work, except Guantlet. I also have a regular controller, a zapper, and an NES advantage that all work perfect. I can’t wait to find more of my favorite games and even a few I never got to play.
I like the small design, packaging, and manual.
As for the bad, I noticed the buttons stuck on the controller a little and didn’t like the button layout either. The fact that I can’t play Castlevania III and Guantlet (a game i never got to play) stinks, but I would have to give this system a 7/10.
I give a big thanks to Messiah for re-sparking my interest for classic NES games and re-living the best era in video game history.
December 4th, 2005 at 9:58 pm
Mimika,
That EGM article was pathetic. They obviously wrote it up before the NEX even shipped, so they had no idea about all of the flaws with the system. Also, apparently most people don’t realize this, but Messiah didn’t do anything new with the NEX. NES clones have existed for 10 years now, and yes, there were even clones that looked like mini-NES systems.
December 4th, 2005 at 11:22 pm
Guy,
I think you’re missing my point dude.. I fully agree that the NEX is not 100.000000 percent perfect compared to a real-deal NES. But, I think that for guys like me- the average player, the percentage that it is true to the original (95%-98%?) is plenty close enough. I’d play with an emulator, except I don’t wanna cart my whole computer onto the couch with me. The fact that my lightgun and controllers work with the NEX is a bonus.
By-the-by, when I said “new tech”, I’m comparing against the original NES. Why is this system hyped by so many? I don’t know, but it looked cool enough for me to warrent it’s purchase, and it works well enough for me to play it, so that’s that for my dollar votes anyway.
I didn’t read how the catridge slot was wired wrong. How is it wired wrong? How can it possibly fry a cartridge? I haven’t looked inside any NES carts, but I imagine they have PROMs in them, which are pretty tough. My guess is that the cartridge bus of a NES system is on 5v logic power.. If the games work, they’ll work. Am I missing something here? In my opinion, the weakest link of the system is the old carts- their edge contacts can be oxidized and funky enough to cause problems regardless of the system used to play them.
PS- I’m new to NES clones, so I’m not talking smack or anything with this post or my previous one. I certainly hope my dialog with you here is not perceived as an attack whatsoever- I’m happy people are reading this thread still and commenting! My personal point is that, not all of us bought a NEX are unsatisfied- I really like mine. It was cheap enough, works well enough, and is sleek looking enough for me to not be pissed about any minor color difference. *BUT*, I’m also a guy that’s only into playing zelda, tetris, mario, and the other more common games that I grew up with. I’m not into playing RiverCityRansom, or some high $$$ collector game like hot slots or anything like that.
I looked around breifly before purchasing the NEX at other clones, and the only one I saw (other than on eBay the top loading Nintendo NES) was the Yobo units. What’s the story on these? About the same level of compatibility as NEX? Better? Worse? They look kinda cool too, almost like a mini game-cube. Where are the 10 dollar ones you are talking about also? Are there any NES clones that have been produced that have generally been favorably received?
Finally, I have an old-school, original NES (with a new connector to install in it), a Sega Genesis, an Atari 2600, an N64, a GB Color, and a Commodore 64. With all these retro systems (and I even have bought a couple of “TV-Games” style mini 10-in-1 joysticks that plug into your TV!) I have no time to play any of these systems anyhow, so this is all a wash anyway. Darn it- too cluttered here too! 🙂
Jason
December 4th, 2005 at 11:35 pm
PS- what bothers me about the other people smashing the NEX is that some of their comments are blatently false.
One person was lamenting about Super Mario Brother not being compatible- Based on my own personal playing experience with the NEX I received, I do not believe that there is any problem at all. For me, Super Mario Brothers worked fine.
Some of the comments from folks saying that the colors and sounds were off so bad as to make the games unplayable is *in my opinion* total hogwash.
I think the guys at Messiah are unfortunately running into a tough market of “collectors”, who will not be satisfied with anything but perfect, and those are the folks that talk so loudly everyone else gets squelched..
December 4th, 2005 at 11:43 pm
Yeah, I think a lot of people took what I said about the colors and sound being a bit off and exaggerated it, then people only heard what the exaggerations are, not first-hand experience. I was not happy with the inaccurate sound, but that was just me. The problems with the colors and sound definitely do not make the games unplayable.
By the way Jason, I like your style. Thanks for not taking it personally when people have differing opinions than you (as a couple people have by me simply not liking the NEX). If most forums and blogs only had more people around like you, the world could have much more intelligent and constructive conversations about stuff.
I hope we can all remember that discussions of differing opinions on hardware, etc. should never be personal — after all, we’re only talking about pieces of plastic, metal, and silicon. One can like and dislike things without disliking the people who like or dislike them. 🙂
December 5th, 2005 at 8:04 pm
Jason,
The “Yobo” aka “US Version Neo Fami” has game compatibility that is as good as the NEX’s, and it also costs half as much, sometimes even less. It can also be used with Messiah’s wireless controllers, just like the NEX. In order to play Famicom games on it, you must use a Famicom to NES adapter, which can be had for around $5.
Another interesting clone is the Pocket Fami, which is made by the same people that make the Neo Fami. It is a portable Famicom, so you will need to use a $5 NES to Famicom adapter if you want to play NES games on it:
http://www.lik-sang.com/image.php?category=159&products_id=6347&img=pocket-famicom
You can even hook the Pocket Fami up to your TV, for some big screen action. Again, the Neo Fami, Pocket Fami, and the NEX all have roughly the same game compatibility, accuracy of video and sound. They are all based on NOAC chips.
My biggest beef is that Messiah came along, announced the NEX, made it seem like it would be more than yet another NOAC based NES clones (of which plenty already exist), and they stated that it would have improved compatibility compared to previous clones. People started to hype the system, and people started to make claims that Messiah was doing something great for retro gaming. When the system was finally released, the world got to see that the NEX was nothing more than yet another NOAC based NES clone… and an expensive one at that. They lied.
Messiah contributed very little at best, I mean another NES/Famicom clone after literally thousands of such clones, some portable some not, had been released for years… it just smacks of another “me too” company trying to take advantage of retro gaming.
It would be much better for NES gamers to buy a refurbished and modded original NES.
December 5th, 2005 at 9:58 pm
Guy sums up my main problem with the NEX and Messiah pretty well in his paragraph beginning with “My biggest beef.” In retrospect it’s easy to be apologist for them as Messiah tries to backtrack, but the main point is that yes, they either lied or they themselves were incredibly deceived by whomever they outsourced the hardware design of the NEX to (regarding the NOAC thing, compatibility, etc). And that’s that. I’m glad Guy has his facts straight, he does a really good job explaining the whole story.
I don’t even worry about the NEX anymore, as Guy predicted. It’s been less than a few years…more like a month, in fact, and I’ve already essentially forgotten about it, packed it in the closet as a historical curiosity and moved along. I have no vendetta towards Messiah. They don’t need anyone to attack them; they’ve done more damage to themselves than a thousand forum flamers could ever do.
December 26th, 2005 at 9:42 pm
I have an Extreme box NES clone and I am curious how I get normal NES carts to fit, it has built in games but has a smaller slot for using a cartridge, would this be a Fami slot?
Thanx
Ryan
December 30th, 2005 at 3:58 pm
Ryan,
It is a Famicom cart slot. You just need a cart adapter that lets you play NES games on a Famicom. They are sold all over the internet, at places like Lik-sang.com and Ebay.com and many others.
January 18th, 2006 at 1:40 am
Refurbished NES? NES replacement? What’s all this I’m hearing?
Not required! Observe:
http://www.classicgaming.com/features/articles/nesrepair/
I’ve had my NES for 14 years, and was getting ready to toss it out and get a Famicom with an adaptor. I decided to try this procedure first, and it works perfectly now, just like new. I’d be willing to try it on a “broken” system.
Replacement pins are crap; I bought one for $10, and it wound up being a hideously deformed pile of cheap rusted brass (gold-plated, heh) that didn’t even work at all, despite the tight grip on the cart.
January 20th, 2006 at 11:43 am
That’s cool, Kulor. I actually found that article once and wondered if it really worked. Maybe I’ll give it a shot some time on one of my shoddy NESes. Thanks for the note!
January 31st, 2006 at 8:53 pm
Hi guys – I just wanted some opinions here on the Famicom-side of NEX. I plan on buying a Famicom Disk System soon and the composite out of the NEX as well as the ease of which the FDS could be utilized with it sounds pretty good to me so far. I own an NES with a new 72-pin and have no intention of using NEX to play US titles. In your opinion, should I still go with my idea of using a NEX with the FDS or do you have another idea (besides using an original Famicom unit, heh, heh).
January 31st, 2006 at 9:14 pm
For Famicom and FDS games, the best option is the AV Famicom. It has the best video quality, game compatibility, and reliability. It can even use NES controllers.
February 1st, 2006 at 1:20 pm
I guess considering all the options, maybe an AV Famicom would be best, like Guy says. Other than that you might try a Sharp Twin Famicom. Just be aware that with any disk system you buy (FDS or Twin Famicom), you’ll probably have to replace the rubber belt in it. I’ve had some trouble finding the right one for my Twin Famicom, but if I ever get it right I might post a tutorial on how to replace it.
February 3rd, 2006 at 3:27 pm
Personally, I love my Nintendo AV Family Computer. I bought it brand New in Japan in 2003. That was the last year that they were made. I keep it boxed unless I am playing it. I bought it at Best Denki for less that 5,000 Yen.
If you look hard enough, you can still find them new I think, since Nintendo only stopped producing them 3 years ago.
It plays everything I have put in it perfectly, including my PAL copy of Ufouria (I have a 60 to 72 pin connector) that I bought from some German seller on Ebay. You just can’t beat the real thing made by Nintendo.
February 10th, 2006 at 10:54 am
Thanks for your thoughts, everyone!
I never imagined I would turn to the Famicom-side of things since PlaySta and SEGA dominate my import playin’ but, apparently, I’m about to branch out into JPN Nintendo titles outside of the Cube. I’ve never seriously looked for an AV Famicom unit in Japan so when I go there again this May, I’ll keep an eye out for a new/decent one. If not, I’ll just see about a Sharp Twin. Failing all that, there’s always eBay when back in the States . . . ugh.
February 11th, 2006 at 10:35 pm
Here’s something odd for everyone…
I live in Australia and for years I’ve been searching the cheap stores for Famiclones, ever since I saw one in 2002 and didn’t get it, and unfortunately the shop ran out soon after. One day, I went to my local K-Mart (K-Mart here is run by Coles Myer, one of the biggest conglomerates in the country, and is a store of diminishing importance for gamers – very important in the 80s and early 90s but not for about 10 years) and I found a wierd N64 controller-shaped unit, a ‘Maxx Play’, featuring 95 games built in. A look at the box revealed they were all odd NES hacks with the graphics completely changed! This seems normal, in retrospect, but anyway…this package cost me AUD$50 – quite expensive, really. For double that I could have bought myself a full-priced modern game.
Upon getting it home and opening it, further inspection reveals a cartridge slot on the back of one of the controllers. Plugging a famicom cartridge into it revealed it was fully functional. It’s strange that isn’t mentioned on the box! The only difficulty was it was literally under the controller, right where your hand goes, and nothing holds the cartridge in. However, wrapping two rubber bands around it so it sticks to the battery compartment (which is behind it, and is shaped like the N64 controller’s rumble/memory whatsit) made it stable, and I was able to play the cartridges.
The story doesn’t end there, however: upon a more recent expedition to a store called Crazy Clark’s, a discount department store chain (and not traditionally a place you’d find games other than hilariously bad titles such as The Sniper 2), found an identical looking product, different box, claiming 75 or so games, and for the much better price of $20. I bought two (it was near Xmas!) and although the design and built-in games were slightly worse and still graphic hacks (and only one controller, although it still has a 9-pin female socket on its underside which you could probably plug an old Quickshot into if you had to), it still had the cart slot. I didn’t try it out, however. Be warned, though: the built in games on this last controller are actually repeated without new hacks a bit. There’s actually about 60 ‘games’. The other controller, while games repeat, all appear completely different.
So for any Aussies which may be looking for a similar device, check out your local K-Mart and cheapo warehouses. It’s only a NES-on-a-chip, but $20 is peanuts. The only games you could buy for that price suck, anyway.
(FWIW, the carts I tried were three previously untested HK multicarts. One didn’t work, but it was the most complex, claiming to feature seven games such as TMNT2 and I think SMB3. May be something to do with the mappers, I don’t know.)
But I’d still go the real thing.
February 11th, 2006 at 11:12 pm
Thanks for the report, Gurt — sounds interesting. Has anybody else had experience with those Famiclones?
March 2nd, 2006 at 1:49 pm
I bought something similar to what Gurt got, in the U.S. It was not at any store, though, it was at a kiosk in my local mall…a temporary shop in the middle of the mall. It was $40 USD and came with a genesis controller that would plug into the “N64” controller; and a gun. My old Nintendo game did NOT work at all, when plugged into the bottom:(
It had 76 games built-in, but the strange thing was; the game list went up to 76,000!!! It repeated the same 76 games, 1000 times??!???!!!?. The system mysteriously stopped working after 5 months and the Kiosk was no longer there…and no other game stores had them or even heard of them!
March 2nd, 2006 at 2:17 pm
outofthegamer,
Was your unit anything like the “Power Player” unit shown in this article?
http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/68
If so, then of course you bought a weird cheap Famicom clone. The fact that it stopped working is no big surprise. 🙂
April 6th, 2006 at 1:37 pm
I have one as well, a “76 In One” and so far it still works. It’s just something I take and throw in my overnight bag when I travel, and if it stops working, it won;t be the end of the world. Right after I bought it, however, they were no longer being sold in the malls. Shortly before, they were also selling a similar console that had “Super Shrek Brothers”
April 8th, 2006 at 9:38 pm
OK, about the $10 generic NES clone vs the $60 NEX: With the $10 generic famiclone, you get what you pay for, with even more problems than the NEX.
I don’t buy the fact that the NEX sucks. I wanted one back when I heard about it. For me, who has finally given up on my old toaster NES, it’s a frickin’ godsend.
I’m a collector, but if a game isn’t compatible, I don’t make a big deal out of it.
I also think that certain people are overshadowing the PR department of Messiah. Remember, Messiah doesn’t employ that many people, only three or so permanent employees so far (and those 3 founded Messiah) and they don’t have the hefty PR department of, say the makers of that Yobo piece of sh*t.
If you heard a favorable review of this on my new show, Retro Fungi Radio, would you buy it? If I told you that I knew my sh*t about the NES, and I talked about some of the issues, but in the end, I felt it was a worthy purchase, would you buy it then?
Remember Shane Monroe’s GP2X review on the November 2005 episode of Retro Gaming Radio? He talked a LOT about the issues that thing had, and he said that C=64 emulation ALONE would justify the purchase for him. I think the justification of the purchase of this NEX thing for me is the fact that my NES’s connector hasn’t been replaced since I got the damn thing almost 15 years ago and I will never replace the connector is proof enough. I don’t want to go in there, screw it up, and then have no NES to play anymore. So, this is a justifiable purchase for me.
I don’t understand the bad press this thing’s gotten. It’s a godsend for us toaster NES owners. If you have a top-loader already, this is NOT for you. But if you have a toaster NES, this is for you.
BJ
April 9th, 2006 at 8:04 pm
If you guys want the best portable “Famiclone” with TV out, I suggest you look into a GP2X…..it’ll be a little pricey, but it also handles Neo Geo MVS/AVS perfectly!
June 5th, 2006 at 12:32 am
Well, my friend just manages to use the computer and the connector pins to run his games. Somehow the computer did the rest. I have no clue how this would be possible but, I expect foul play. They worked, colors were a bit askew. Possibly because of the full array of vibrant colors that don’t match alot of the old retro gaming colors. I.E. Mario looks cherry red instead of brick reddish. Music wasn’t to much of a problem. I suppose he did something about that as well. he had a program in place for most of it. Its a funky rig but, hey, it worked for him. I wouldn’t be able to pull something like that off. Well, I’m not a technical genius like him so, that doesn’t say much.
August 7th, 2006 at 2:53 pm
I bought the Nex and I had a weird problem, when using any controller (including classic NES ones) the only button to respond is B and it act like the start button. I contacted Messiah and have yet to get a response (Its been over a month).
August 12th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
Dudes, you need to look on Generation NEX compatibility list. I looked, and seriously they have a list of games that don’t work or have glitches. For instance, “Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse” gets a “Green Screen.” They didnt lie. they have something that says all NES games wont work. Just most of them. I mean, i cant say honestly i have ever used one, but jeez, give it a chance.
August 12th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
Whether or not they lied doesn’t change the simple fact that that the NEX sucks. Heck, the fact that they even have to have a compatibility list is proof of that.
August 16th, 2006 at 7:50 pm
I don’t what the #### you are talking aboutthe nex is amazing all my games work as good i hate you you s o b you suck you retard #### you
August 30th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
First if all, I do not own an NEX Messiah system.
Second, I represent the target market Messiah is hoping to get with this system. Over the past couple of months, I have re-purchased all of my old NES games, as well as ones that I’ve always wanted to have. Now I need a system to play them on. I am a retro gamer to the core, and believe the only way to truly enjoy the retro experience is with a system and carts.
I am really on the fence here. I was ready to buy the NEX and wireless controllers until I started to read all the bad feedback it’s been getting. I fully understand that the vast majority of bad press it’s been getting is blown waaay out of the water, but it was still enough to prevent me from pulling the trigger. Right now, my choice us either a used toaster NES, fully cleaned and new 72pins, or the brand new NEX and it’s minor shortcomings. It’s a tough choice as particularly like my stuff to be as new as possible.
Anyhow, this thread has been a long read and quite honestly, I’m in the exact same position now as I was when I first started to read the responses. Time will tell…
August 30th, 2006 at 1:26 pm
Well Matt, you definitely can’t go wrong with an original NES. But if you don’t mind the fact that the NEX is not 100% compatible with the NES game library, perhaps you should try it out and let us know how you like it. I’m the picky kind and can’t stand glitchy sound and the fact that not all of my games work in it — as a result, my NEX was quickly relegated to “closet curiosity” status, where it has stayed since last year. But if you only have a small number of games and aren’t as picky about 100% faithful graphics and sound, then the NEX might be for you. Thanks for the comment, and let us know how it goes.
September 19th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
Apparently Lik-Sang is carrying another NES clone, although it does not appear (although I am not 100% certain) to support the original nes controllers, advantage, power glove, etc.
Check it out:
http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=182&products_id=8542&
It is also available here in blue, and for cheaper:
http://www.superufo.com/product_html/Cool_Stuff_RetroCon___Blue.html
Aside from the controller issue, Does anyone have an opinion on these NES Clones (game compatibility, sound, etc), compared to the aforementioned Yobo and the Nex?
I’m not a hardcore NES enthusiast, but I would like to get something to play my old games that works better than my old original NES. I tried replacing the 72 pin connector in that, and it still doesnt work great
October 19th, 2006 at 7:33 pm
I know this is an old thread but I just wanted to contribute my $.02.
About a month ago a few NES-related stories got posted on digg.com and I quickly became nostalgic. I was the first in my town to own an original NES when they were first released in the U.S. in late ’85/early ’86, and over the next 3 years I built a respectable collection of games for it. Soon after, I left for college and my NES got passed on to my niece. A short while later the internet arrived to steal away my attention span and I largely got out of console gaming altogether. The NES and the Sega Master System were the first and last game consoles I ever owned.
After reminiscing on digg with other retro gamers I quickly discovered the Generation NEX and talk of other NES clones. I checked out Messiah’s web site, read this thread and many others, saw reviews both good and bad, and after weighing all of the plusses and minuses I decided the NEX was worth a look. (Hell folks, it’s only $60. Who cares if it isn’t $30? Any good entertainment under $100 these days is a bargain.) I picked one up at my local Game Crazy last weekend, along with a few well-worn NES carts.
Long story short: I absolutely love it. I think the criticisms of slightly “off” colors, sound not 100% identical to original, less than 100% compatibility rate, etc., are valid yet minor, and have been blown way out of proportion. For me, the positives of the NEX far outweigh the negatives. And after all of the reading I’ve done I’m sure I’m the first to say this, but I actually love Messiah’s wired controller that comes with the NEX, much more so than the original NES controllers. I like it so much that I just got off the phone with them inquiring how to get a second one since they don’t currently sell additional wired controllers on their web site, and the nice guy in sales sold me one over the phone for $15 plus USPS shipping.
Bottom line (IMO): if you are a purist or a collector type, pick up a refurbished NES or refurb one yourself. If you just wanna play, don’t care about *only* 95% compatibility (do *any* clones have 100% compatibility?…), and don’t want to hassle with 20-year-old equipment with design quirks that don’t hold up over time, like the NES’ zero insertion force cartridge slot, the NEX is a nice substitute. Personally, I like the compact design that pays homage to the NES, Messiah’s included wired controller, the option of wireless, the standard cartridge slot, and the fact that it is new hardware.
I’ve been running around town like an idiot all week visiting gaming stores looking for all the great titles I remember, giddily snapping up Bionic Commando, Castlevania I and II, Jackal, Punch Out!, Ring King, Ninja Gaiden, Super Mario Bros, and even Nintendo Baseball and Tennis. Still need Contra but hey, can’t find ’em all in one day!
I suppose I could’ve just waited for a Wii and its Virtual Console Channel, but I don’t care much for modern video games and dropping $250+tax for a new console to play games from the late ’80s seems silly to me.
Anyway, one vote here for the NEX, and yes even its controller. =D
November 1st, 2006 at 5:40 pm
the nex is a great system! i have owned my messiah, or actually my 3 messiahs, since the same year you have, and to be quite honest i have never felt any problems with the system. before i press on, let me introduce myself. i am the applemonkey, just a regular nintendo nerd since 1986. i have myself a nice collection of the nes. i must admit, the compatibility of the nex is not 100% but i can’t recall any one my nintendo parties i host with my friends has anyone asked to play gemfire, or hey applemonkey you know what i want to battle with Romance of the Three Kingdoms II or hell guys lets geek out with Mig-29 Soviet Fighter!!! sorry redwolf that you didn’t get happy over that and what else did you mention, ‘mushy’ controllers!!! now when a writer must use such adjectives as mushy, they just can not claim to be a writer, hence that is why this article is not a review but just one’s feelings toward the system!!! as for your dorky following that claim the nex quote unqoute ‘the nex just sux’ do you guys really own a gen nex? i prefer to use my gen nex over the toaster nes or even the top loader nes, for the following reasons, i don’t have to worry about getting wear and tear on my nes’s. i don’t have to worry about playing around to start a game now. nex= space saver, nes= MONSTER, nex, actually works with real nes cartridges, 7600 in 1, didn’t that guy how made it get arrested, put in jail and post a hugh ad. in several gaming magazines claiming fruad??? i think that’s a postive!!! i know you are going to bash on me, and i say go right ahead, that just means i have hit a cord on you and your following!!! oh and did i mention how grand the nex plays with 273 famicom games i own??? oh i didn’t, well it does!!! also i’ll admit, the sound might be different, but when i’m challenging some geek, i notice that the is no sound for any systems, cause it’s drowned out with ownage shouts and rants!!! so that’s another great subject… if i cared for the sounds of the game, i would sample it and make some tracks with it on protools, oh wait i have!!! well i could go on and on about this, but again, why?! the best thing for the nonbelievers to do is go try it out yourself!!! i would rather spend sixty bucks and go thrift store shopping or making some bargains at the swap meet for the o.g. games than rather own a emulator or some cheap knockoff!!!
thnx for reading!!!
from the,
applemonkey!!!
p.s.
my miracle piano works just grand on it!!!
November 7th, 2006 at 1:11 pm
i actually like mine also.
the controller that came with it is kinda stupid but the wireless ones are great though.
even the other clones dont play everything and with the exception of one or two games it plays everything i own well enough that it doesnt affect game play.
im ordering the snes wireless controllers hoping they will be as good as the ones for the nes…
November 15th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
got the snes controllers
well both freaking awesome and somewhat annoying
the buttons are a little over sensitive but dont hurt game play too much but other then that these are some damn nice controllers
November 18th, 2006 at 8:31 pm
The Generation NEX is, as everyone suspected, a repackaged NOAC-based clone. It has flawed sound, bad color, off-center video, lousy game compatibility, and bad hardware compatibility. Super Mario 3 doesn’t work, for goodness’ sake! It has the same flaws as my crummy Yobo NES clone – probably because it has the same flawed NOAC inside! Controllers which work fine on an original NES don’t work on the NEX. If you try this system next to a real NES you can see how bad it really is.
Thanks for the honest review – and to anyone who may be reading, don’t bother with the Generation NEX – it’s a disappointing hoax. And insane to buy, when you can get a real NES (or a new cartridge connector, if you can’t fix your existing one) cheaply from eBay and elsewhere. The only thing I can say for Messiah entertainment is that they refunded my money.
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:13 am
Thanks for all the inputguys, while this unit looks amazingly cool, from the sounds of it its a pile a crap.
For double the money (or less) I’ll go with an orig NES top loader. I had one and sold it in 96.
I dont care that the Wii may eventually have most great nes\snes\n64 games for download. Theres something special about a cartridge and a retro system to play it on. CD/downloadable games have no personality at all!
OK I’m done thanks guys!
~TrIggy
XBL gamertag : CommanderTrIg
December 1st, 2006 at 8:51 pm
HEY HERE’S SOME GOOD INFO THAT MESSIAH JUST HAPPENED DIDN’T MENTION… THERE ARE GAMES THAT DO NOT WORK AND ONLY GIVE AN ‘ORANGE SCREEN’ AND YET ARE STILL ARE ON THE LIST! THERE ARE CERTAIN SUPER MARIO BROS. GAMES THAT DO NOT EVEN WORK ON THE SYSTEM! I FIRST THOUGHT IT WAS JUST THE GAME. I CLEANED THEM, BUT THEY NEVER WORKED ON THE MESSIAH! BUT WHEN I TRIED THE GAME ON A TOP LOADER, OR EVEN ON A REGULAR NINTENDO SYSTEM, THE GAME WORKS! WHATS UP WITH THAT! THERE ARE OTHER GAMES THAT DO THE SAME PROBLEM, BUT MESSIAH JUST NEVER MENTIONED THIS PROBLEM! YUP JUST A FAST WAY TO WASTE 60 BUCKS!
December 15th, 2006 at 10:10 pm
BL wrote:
> Super Mario 3 doesn’t work, for goodness’ sake!
You didn’t elaborate so I’m not sure if you meant it doesn’t work at all or that the results don’t meet your incredibly high standards, but my Super Mario 3 cart works just fine on my Generation NEX.
January 15th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
I got one of these for X-mas. It takes a huge amount of force to squeeze games into it, and to take them back out. (Yes they are clean games.) Many games listed as working do not. It’s junk, I’m about to send it back.
February 23rd, 2007 at 2:54 pm
You know i live in europe and my oppinion about all this is that Generation NEX is not as good as we expected because, well. . . . IT’S A GODAMN CLONE FOR CHRIST SAKE!!!!
As we all know clones are NEVER gonna be as faithful as the original systems were and so failures like these stated in this forum might happen. I do NOT own a Generation NEX or will i ever do because it was only released in America and even if could order one back here i could only play NTSC games on it, well DEJA VU, the same happened with The original NES and even the SNES, i live in Portugal and back then when i was a kid it was damn hard to find those games in here, that’s why sega was more popular back here, wich was bad because as nintendo fan like me i never had a good start at all, that’s happening with Gamecube too, but as a friend of mine once said : “This country simply isn’t Nintendoland”.
I think it’s kinda sad that this is happening here because if i want to find good games i have to kill my self trying to.
I still don’t own a NES or a SNES or even a NINTENDO 64 because of all those reasons, now the only nintendo videogame systems that i own are a crappy Famicom clone and a Gamecube, i wish i ever own the original 8 and 16 bits nintendo systems but i do not, STILL i think that if you want to play the games like you used to back then, neither someone makes a clone even better than the console itself or you’re just gonna have to get the original one labeled by the Original company that first made that videogame, or if you’re not that pesky about videogames you can just try these new clones, hey! i don’t blame this guys for making these clones, as i said i have one, i just think they should try harder than, i mean it’s not that hard to remake a videogame system now in 2007 that they made in 1985 or ’86 🙂
May 18th, 2007 at 1:27 am
SORRY GUYS, BUT I PURCHASED ONE AND I AM OK WITH SPENDING 60 BUCKS ON A BACK-UP SYSTEM JUST INCASE MY OLD ORIGINAL NES CLONKS ON ME. LATER DOWN THE YEARS, WHEN I HAVE A FULL TIME JOB AND A FAMILY AND WAY TO MUCH TO DO, I THINK BUSTING OUT THIS SYSTEM ( THAT I ONLY PAID $60 FOR ) AND TASTING THE NASTALGA FROM WHEN I GREW UP PLAYING IT, WOULD BE ALL WORTH IT. BOTTOM LINE IS, IF YOUR A DIE HARD GAMER, THEN JUST FISH OUT THE CASH AND GET A ORIGINAL AND CALL IT A DAY, BUT IF YOU ALREADY HAVE ONE AND YOUR JUST LOOKING FOR A BACK UP OR A JUST IN CASE. THEN YEA, TAKE A CHANCE ON THIS. I DONT PLAY 8-BIT NINTENDO ALL THE TIME, BUT I THINK MY OLD ONE, OR ANYONES OLD ONE, HAS TO BE ON THE FRITZ ( UNLESS YOU HAVE THE TOP LOADER ) WICH I WISH I HAD ENOUGH COURAGE TO SPEND THE MONEY ON, BUT I DIDN’T SO I WILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS. LIFETIME WARRENTY, FINE WITH ME. ONLY PROBLEMO IS, IT DOESN’T PLAY 5% OFF NES GAMES. THIS REALLY BOTHERS ME. BUT AGAIN $60 COMPARED TO THE 600 DOLLARS I SPENT ON MY PS3, I CAN LIVE WITH IT……..JUST MY VIEW.
July 9th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
i got one of these consoles. they arnt bad at all. if you got one of the 1st truck loads of them then yea they have problems but all game systems have problem in make the 1st few thousand of them. take the 360 for example some didnt even read the 360 games at first. stop bitching bout the nex. it works great. and it does enhance the picture which is why some or you are whinning. its makes it look better but you all think its gotta be exactly the same as the nes. you cant make a system like that exactly the same as the nes. there are copyright laws. they have to be diffent in some way or form. if u want one that works, looks, and plays games like the old ones, then go Fucking Buy it and stop bitching about the nex
July 30th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
I recieved mine this morning… controller doesn’t bother me at all, i play loads of games that work well with turbo so its a bonus, as far as glitchy sound, the only difference i can see it that the console runs faster than the nes, therefore increasing the pitch of the sound by 2 keys… games, especially the mega man series sound pretty good like this, and the gameplay is alot faster too which feels brilliant.
The colour is slightly off, but this can be overcome by turning your colour down slightly and sofetening the picture.
aside from that, its a bloody relief not to have to giggle the buttons and the carts for 5 mins everytime i wanna play the dam thing.
November 12th, 2007 at 4:11 am
Oh my god… how many retarded people are there on a planet? How cannot they understand from reading, that:
– Noone says NEX is bad, just that it is highly disappointing
– Because the original description looked somewhat more promising in this regard that the reality turned out to be
– That this thing is a blatant rip-off – one can get the SAME, possibly even with a few problems less, for 1/3 or less the price. And we’re not speaking of original NES here, but of other new clones! And NEX was no way the first of them, they have been with us since one and a half decades!
December 20th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
no suprise that the noac technology from famiclones wich is also used in the nex console, suffers from the original nes.
becouse from what i,ve readed, manny pins,wires and chips etc,, are wrong and/or incerrect connected to eachother and bad emulation, as a result manny games don,t work correctly,could be crash or even don,t work earther.
it,s a mearecle that this thing has not been blow up once connected to a wallet, cuzz even the power voltage pin has been wrong connected.
sure the designers dit,nt want and spent the time to take more study of the nes, and connect every wire,pins and the chipsets in the richt way to eachother and improving their emulater, to make the nex 100 % compatible, unfortunately!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 31st, 2008 at 10:16 pm
I can’t believe I completely forgot about this thread. Next time I hook up my Super NES, I’ll take a picture of AND capture footage of the inverted colors on my River City Ransom.
March 9th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
i guess the reviewer were taking those words from the companny wich claims that you can play all your nes games with a new pass etc,, to seriouse.
but offcourse why not i should also aspecting that it shut do the things they said.
but since this system is also based on the noac chipset manny wires and chipsets are incorrect and incomplete, manny games don,t work or not correctly.
now they said enjoy your games in a new passion,the only new passion to your nes games i can consider are ,incorrect colors,glitchy graphics,a green screen,raspy missing and incorrect sound,a akawaka wireless controller, and possibely damaging and crashing games.
also they said there,s is stereo out but in fact it,s just duo mono,but they could output real streo by saperating those soundchannels from eachother.
and hey were the external sound input for famicomgames???
the only good thing about it is it,s great desing and it,s improved frontloading system,and one input for famicom games.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
why all the NEX haters! i just bought a NEX system, and its AWESOME! I LOVE IT. it looks so cool in the entertainment center next to my playstation. i have bought just about every famiclones/NOAC machines and the messiah generation NEX puts them all to shame. and sure, its not 100% exactly the same as original NES, but at least you dont have to BLOW on the cartridges to get them to work.
does NES play both NES and famicom games without a converter.
does NES have built in wireless technology.
does NES have stereo A/V jacks
does NES play the games the first time you insert it, without a blinking screen, without having to clean the cartridges, or blow in it, or fiddle around with it for an hour.
yes, the generation nex is a famiclone, but its the KING of all famiclones. thats the whole point, if you are thinking of buying a famiclone, why not get the best. most normal people will never notice the tiny little differences.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:36 am
This review is so crap man. pathetic compatability? about, 10 or so games out of the 700 nes games don’t work on it, oh well!
bad controller? you can use the origanal nes one!
distorted sound? It sounds exactly the same to me! in fact, it’s a little more clear because it’s dual mono.
graphical glitches? I havn’t encountered any. The system does make every game look a little brighter, but this can easily be adjusted in your TV settings by putting the brightness down a bit, and it looks JUST like the origanal NES.
considering that there is no cartridge blowing like the origanal toaster, and it plays famicom games, theres no reason to get an origanal nes over this (unless for the nastalgia or if you REALLY need to play castlvania 3)
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I thought i’d chime in here, I bought an NEX back in 2005 and stumbled across this article while considering to buy a second on for a friend. It’s a great system in my opinion – here’s how I see it:
Toploader factory original NES > Messiah NEX > Original front loader blow in the cartidge all day might work standard NES > other NES clones(like yobo or FC Twin).
I’m an NES junkie and I can’t really find fault with the sound, it’s worked on all the games I want to play, and the overall quality of the piece was quite excellent for the price.
However I don’t like their wired remote for the reasons the article mentions, and I don’t care for the disc instead of D pad on the wireless remote – but frankly no remotes but the original feel right to me so I’ve plugged in two gently used original controller I had.
The NEX is far better than any aftermarket NES on a chip consoles I have owned or played. I’ve experienced terrible sound quality, actual marring of the contacts inside game cartridges, and slots that look like nintendo controller plugs that can’t take an orignal controller so you’re stuck using the cheapo controllers that come with it.
December 9th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Ok, IGN listed this as a plus, and now steve said it too. The NEX has mono audio split into two channels. You can get this fake stereo output by just using a mono AV to stereo AV cable. Or use an adapter like this one, which costs $2.25:
http://www.computercablestore.com/5_FT_RCA_Mono_to_Stereo_C_PID459.aspx
I had a cable that went to stereo laying around, and use it with my front loader to get fake stereo. It works fine.
January 21st, 2009 at 8:24 pm
CRAP! I bought this piece of junk for 70 bucks! Turns out it doesn’t play ANY of my games! I even returned one copy thinking it was broken, and the other one worked just like the same! I don’t know how they did this. I hope they burn for this. You should never make a product and just try to freaking cash in on people like this. These guys got tons of money for making a piece of crap. I saw this at Hastings, if you ever see a Generation NEX… don’t buy it. By the way, notice that their website doesn’t come up anymore?
February 18th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
hey guys i just wanted to throw another point of view out there.
i love the messiah i think its a great system to get back into retro gaming. i think the systems needs improvement in a few aspects, like maybe suction cups on the bottom of the system to hold the console secure while you remove/ add a cartridge, and so on.
my beef with messiah is that WILL NOT RETURN EMAILS OR CALLS!!!
i own a small flea market business in amarillo and messiah will not confirm orders or even answer a call. i got all kinds of accessories but no systems.
also i have a ton of games…like 5 maybe 6 hundred. i could have sold many MANY untits if only someone would ship the damn things to me!
this totally sucks i lost money this christmas because messiah refused to answer their phones.
thanks guys for letting me vent also,
beefcake
September 9th, 2009 at 12:05 am
Messiah’s webpage is indeed dead. It’s a shame that they didn’t use the money they made from the first batch to vastly improve the system for a second. It was a neat design, and worked with _original_ controllers, something that is sadly missing from the newer famiclones (and the reason I won’t buy them!)
October 10th, 2009 at 12:43 am
I Do not agree.
That is putting my view kindly.
What I see here, is a clear case of ridiculous, biased, silly nerdy nitpicking to death.
As far as ALL NES clone hardware go, this one is pretty much.. THE best that you will get. 8-bit Jake’s review is not only better written, more intelligent, more insightful and thoughtful then yours is.. it’s also not a load of hot air.
The NEX, sir, does not suck. You do.
First off… do you have any idea how impressive a 95% compatibility rate really is? Judging by your article, no. You do not. Out of a library of literally hundreds of games, to have a compatibility rate that high, is frankly, remarkable.
This system is the most well put together, the best designed, and overall the NES clone with the most work and best functionality of all.
Frankly, I find it disgusting how you have bamboozled and misled many of the easily swayed sheep that come to this site and scared them away with your overly harsh, hot air spewing and scare mongering hyperbole, consisting of incredibly lame and excruciatingly minor nitpicks.
The original NES is a badly designed, and very flawed peice of hardware. Connectors easily corrode and bend over time, rendering them useless unless constantly moniored and replaced. If blinking screens, and hours spent trying to get ONE game to work correctly, then by all means, stay with the original toaster NES, and live in frustration and repair funds to replace pin connectors every few months.
Or, if you want to pay ridiculous amounts for the inferior NES Top Loader with it’s only AV option bein the horrible RF switches and awful video quality, then by all means, stick with that.
But if you want 95% computability,games guaranteed to work most every time you turn them on, AND crisp, AV Component cables with dual mono instead of having to listen to only one speaker… then get the NEX.
it frankly is the best and most well made of all clones. highest compatibility rate, and best on the market of unlicensed NES’s.
You article is wrong. It is misleading, it is nitpicky, it is harping severly and unnessessarily harshly on a series of minor, non-issues, it makes mountins out of molehills, it is biased, and ridiculously negative for no readily apparent reason, other than the words of a disgruntled man who was havin a bad day and needed somethin to take his frustrated, anger out on.
This article is a disgrace to this fine NES clone system, from the first word of it’s misleading title, to every word of it’s nitpicky, ridiculous, garbge, poorly reasoned diatribe within.
Don’t listen to this article. It’s ludicrous. THIS is the best you will find of it’s kind. In fact, not bein able to play Castlevania III, non-withstanding, it is even superior to both OFFICIAL NES MODELS in the aforementioned ways.
And if you have an LCD tv… then it’s a no brainier. You absolutely MUST buy this. There is no other option. As NES clones go, I guarantee that you can not do better than this.
October 10th, 2009 at 11:14 am
I’d like to thank everyone who has read (and will likely continue to read) my Generation NEX review over the years — even those who took criticisms of a piece of plastic and metal personally.
It’s been almost four years since I posted this review, and I admit now that some of the language I used back then was a little crass (i.e. “Generation SUX”). Much has changed in the blogging world since 2005, and I’ve changed along with it. But the underlying criticisms of the NEX cited here remain valid.
It’s finally time to close the book on the Generation NEX. This story is over now — the market has spoken, and Messiah is out of business. Their product truly was terrible for the price, and I advise anyone out there who might run across a NEX to avoid it unless a) it’s $10 or b) you’re a completionist and want it for your collection.
As a functional NES player, the NEX just didn’t cut it, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.