The idea of a generic wireless controller for controlling all three systems is a great concept, but, in practice, IR is not the best technology for the job. If you've ever used an IR remote control... and missed... you understand the problem here. Infrared remotes are
directional, meaning that you must have the gamepad pointed toward the
RetroN 3. While this might not sound like an issue, I found that when things got exciting, I have a tendency to tilt the controller upwards, much like if I were holding a steering wheel. At around 30 degrees or so, I found that the console wouldn't reliably get the signal. With some training, I restricted myself to keeping it angled correctly, but this wouldn't have been an issue if the controllers were radio-based.
Another thing that worries me a bit is the number of warnings the RetroN 3 has. The back of the box warns: (1) Only one game can be played at a time, (2) Do not rapidly switch among systems, (3) Do not place the SNES cartridge in backwards, (4) Handle with care, and (5) Do not use both s-video and video AV at the same time. I was surprised to see that number 3 above was even possible; it seems that the RetroN 3 has a cartridge slot that fits the SNES games, but which doesn't have the tabs to prevent them from being inserted backwards. (The correct orientation is with the SNES game's front label towards the front of the console.)
*I also found that, while the NES and SNES controller ports worked fine, I couldn't get the old-school SEGA or SEGA Genesis controllers to work with the system at all - at first. I found that the Genesis controller ports wouldn't work if I had an NES and SNES cartridge in the system as well. I turned off the unit, removed the Nintendo cartridges and turned the system back on and the Genesis controller worked fine. I don't know if this is a glitch in the design or something strange about the unit I reviewed, but if you find you have the same issue using the RetroN 3 with Genesis controllers, you might want to try the same thing I did. Mind you, the included IR remote gamepads worked perfectly fine with any and all of the consoles, even while I had a game in each cartridge slot.
I would love to see pretty much the exact same thing as the RetroN 3, but with the included controllers upgraded to, perhaps, radio-based wireless and the issue with the Genesis controller ports ironed out a bit. While the RetroN 3 isn't for everyone, there are a few good situations where it really fits the bill. The RetroN 3 has a suggested retail price of $69.99, but you might be able to pick one up for a bit less than that on Amazon... and let your Nostalgia stretch its legs a bit.
