Let’s be real – collecting retro games is an unorganised and messy business. Integrating old machines into any modern setup is a nightmare, and meanwhile, the myriad others in my collection are on a shelf collecting dust. Not to mention the stacks of discs and cartridges spilling out from every corner. Plus, with the arrival of my first child, space (and time) are commodities that I have very little of now. In short, I needed a solution to help me curate and downsize my retro collection. And as if by some twist of fate, I realised that Playmaji were selling a number of factory reconditioned Polymega machines on their website. It seemed like my problem had an answer.
A machine long coveted
See, this modular retro gaming dream machine that plays a laundry list of systems is something I’ve wanted for a good long while. The fact that it can play original discs and cartridges and then output it all in crispy HD is nothing short of magical. Sure, it’s all emulation-based, but no solution is perfect. My word though, isn’t it an expensive solution? Expensive, and also notorious for only being shipped out after quite a few delays. The next shipment of regular non-reconditioned Polymega was only up for pre-order, and at the time of writing at least, still hasn’t been shipped.
The risk seemed too big. I didn’t want to drop a big chunk of change on something that could potentially take months to arrive. The Polymega had an extremely rough launch, something that many fans haven’t forgiven. A history of lengthy delays and a chronic lack of communcation isn’t exactly a winning combination.
The chance to get a cheaper Polymega, with guaranteed shipping within the next few days was something I just couldn’t let slip by. Granted, it wasn’t a huge discount. It amounted to about £50 worth of savings to have it delivered without an official box. I can deal with that, especially as it still included the one year warrenty. Usually a complete Polymega runs up to about £490-£500 with shipping to the UK, whilst I paid £450. Just forget that I was also charged by UPS for whatever shipping fees. Urgh. Like I said, not a cheap solution. That doesn’t even include all the modules either!
First impressions
As advertised online, a factory reconditioned Polymega came in plain OEM-style packaging. Just a cardboard box with the Polymega logo stamped on it. Nestled amongst the substantial amounts of bubble wrap was the machine itself. A power and HDMI cable both sat alongside it, as did an officially packaged controller. So yeah, I received everything except an official box.
Something was amiss though. When I pulled the Polymega from its packaging, I noticed the usually sleek unit was covered in a strange dusty pattern. A pattern that corresponded surprisingly well with the aforementioned bubble wrap. Apparently, the cleaning solution that had been applied before shipping was to blame. Something to do with not mixing well with the bubble wrap.
Luckily, this odd pattern was easy enough to clean off. Having spent some time on the relevant Discord server, I confirmed that it had happened to other orders. A few hours after getting the device, I also received an email explaining the situation. It was a shaky start.
Plays like a dream
Other than the bland packaging, and the weird dust, this was the real deal. Set-up was easy. Plug-and-play, exactly as I’d hoped. A number of preloaded games were even on there, all of varying quality. The same went with installing my collection. Sure, it took between 5-10 minutes to install each game, but it went pretty smoothly. My wife’s copy of Resident Evil 3 had trouble being read, but worked after a vigorous clean. Her Japanese copy of Resident Evil 3 also went on there pretty well too. We even considered opening her sealed Japanese copy of Dark Seed, but decided not to when we saw the prices on eBay. My copy of Disney’s Atlantis wasn’t recognised, something easily fixable. A quick manual search for the game in the built-in database solved the issue.
In short, everything worked as expected. I filled the rather small 32GB internal storage in no time, and swiftly added a microSD into the dedicated slot. The emulation was solid too, with the added video filters a great bonus. The UI is clean, and easy to navigate. You get cover art, system filters,release year, and even metadata like the genre. This thing is ridiculously easy to set up and use. And that is the main reason why I spent the money. Sure, I could rip my own discs and set up something like a RetroPi, but I don’t really have the time for all that.
No regrets!
Yes, it was an expensive purchase. Although it was one that I will be using a hell of a lot. The price was also offset a bit thanks to everything I managed to sell. My goal WAS to downsize after all, and it’s now the prize of my collection, I absolutely adore it. Especially as it allows me to play the greatest game of all time, Road Avenger!
The Polymega is a tough thing to sell to people. It has a very specific audience. If you are someone that has a big collection of physical retro games from a variety of consoles, but don’t really care all that much about playing them on the proper hardware, then this machine might be for you. Heck, it was tough to sell it to myself! If I didn’t have the opportunity to buy a factory reconditioned Polymega, I might never have bought one!
