Unofficial Deunan's GDEMU Thread

And just for a brief second... I thought preorders were open:

https://gdemu.wordpress.com/

"It turned out that we are short on capacitors for Rhea and Phoebe as well so these will be delayed a week or two. Therefore, since it always takes a bit of time to switch production to another device, it makes more sense to open orders for GDEMU again as these will be ready faster: Saturday, same time as before."

That was yesterday, head to preorders page et voila...

"Preorders are currently closed"

Like another user here, possibly in the other discussion, I do now have the money to shell out for a GDEmu but I repeat, I have never seen preorders open on a random visit to his page and that's many, many, times over a space of years. This was possibly the closest I've been to seeing it open, and I was just a matter of hours late.

Also, no comments regarding the folks selling official Phoebe/Rhea/GDEmu for $600+ on eBay. Somehow, a Chinese clone which is actually 'in stock', and costs quite a bit less than the original, is worse than a lot of people price-gouging the original on eBay? 4x or 8x more than they're worth? Or does that sky-high (insane) price reflect how hard it is to actually get hold of one? Perhaps that is much closer to the truth here and the sellers/buyers know it?

This guys sold 16 so far, total price is over 400 Euros - and you don't even get a console thrown in? Think about this for a second - if it's that hard to get '1' - how on earth does this seller end up with about '20' from Denuan without Denuan raising an eyebrow and wondering if the buyer is in fact a reseller? Nobody's curious how that happened?

https://www.ebay.it/itm/SEGA-DREAMC...819712?hash=item46754ef5c0:g:yQAAAOSw-Rhaajo5

6 of these sold already, and a 'bargain' at just over 800 Euros (Denuan sells them for $130)

https://www.ebay.it/itm/SEGA-SATURN...476087?hash=item441e33a0b7:g:JUcAAOSwCyFbQn~Y

I celebrate the clone and I hope Rhea and Phoebe are next - and even FamilyGuy has also admitted that Denuan's approach to "availability" is somewhat lacking (there's an understatement) I'll be buying one and will be happy to report back if anyone's curious. Denuan may be a coding genius but his approach to marketing and business leaves a lot to be desired. He shot himself in the foot by not making it more accessible and wanting to keep every scrap of profit for himself - if he'd just loosened up, just a little bit, employed someone (a friend) to help out and do things with him then he'd still have his market. My general impression is that even after all these years, he's still very much a one-man band. The crazy thing is, having 3 of 4 unique products, he could and should have changed his business model or the inevitable was going to happen... and now it has.

 

A. This is where we strongly disagree. I abhor them and think they're a disgrace.

B. This is where we agree.

I don't think that B justifies A. But I think it explains why so many people, like you, are gloating about the clones.

 

Scalpers gonna scalp

Its worse that people are actually paying it, it happens with lots of things from iPhones to Raspberry pis (the first batch)
THEY MUST HAVE THIS THING THEY WILL OVER PAY FOR IT!

Its the same situation with the PSIO (even if it now says on his site that mass production has begun)
I did get my name on the preorder list for the first batch, but it got cancelled the second batch came and got scalped to high hell

Happy to support the creators if I can easily get the product, but when I cant?
I dont wanna over pay for stuff and in most cases I can wait

I have been on forums where it starts to get very uncivil when you have a different opinion to theres they start acting like kids a start name calling and throwing insults

 

I'm not sure about gloating - I also would have been happier if Denuan was in complete control of his market, he did do the work after all - I'm just glad it's finally accessible to everyone, that really is my point. Also disgusted at the price-gouging on eBay which everyone seems to be ignoring. Still no real answer as to how a reseller can get 20 Phoebes directly from Denuan without Denuan knowing he's selling to a reseller - and the average guy can't even get '1'.

I also don't see any point censoring anything here - that should only be necessary when people are throwing insults at each other, which I'm not seeing here (or in the other thread)

One of the good things (hell, the best thing) about Assembler/mods is that discussions are generally allowed to run, no matter the differing viewpoints, as long as it's a civil discussion.

 

Unless I start calling people rubber johnny's full of custard.............

Im still tempted to get a clone at some point and bung it in another DC

 

What do people think runs through the minds of talented devs when they see the community they're supporting with time and effort supporting long dead hardware openly talk about buying copies of their work. Does it occur to anybody that may just help them decide it isn't worth the trouble to continue in the future?

 

It depends, are they running it for profit, a hobby or a living?
I can understand if some want to make a little bit on top of a sale, life costs and that
For a living (afore mentioned Krizz) clones can hinder that

Then you get those guys like that one that states that he just cracked the Saturn's code and is coming out with a card that slots in the bck to allow loading isos and parps on for half an hour about disc rot, dogs, something something darkness and dont realise other people have done such a thing before

 

Are you talking about jhl and the Satiator? Nobody did what he did before, and what with the condescending tone? The guy is graduating his PhD and moving while he develops his device in his *free* time. He is pro open-source and an overall nice person, he doesn't owe us anything.

 

No he dont owe us anything,
Watched the video ages ago so cant remember the details of it
All of these guys make this stuff in there spare time then release it, most of them we owe drinks.................

 

Plot twist: What if Denuan is actually selling them to him in bulk, before completing other orders and giving him a cut off the inflated price? Wouldn't be hard to see how it is possible for 1 guy to get so many of them from him time and time again.

Double Plot twist: What if Denuan is actually the scalper himself?

 

I for one lost all respect for him and the other guy. Their complete lack of business acumen, and stubborn refusal to essentially do what Krikzz has proven to work, is just aggravating.

 

Plus Krizz dose have a warranty with his Everdrives

Only ever had a fault with one in the past (PC Engine one) he switched it
And ive done bulk buys for them in the past among different forums/Facebook/Face-to-face and they always arrived
They proved quite popular and people got things cheaper. in some cases cheaper than the clones
Only really did the group buys so I could get what I wanted cheaper

Know a bloke that makes his own Jaguar carts to bung his stuff on
It costs very little to get a bulk load of PCBs printed, just soldering the chips and programming takes time

 

I'm surprised how clones the GDEMU or any other aftermarket device are being received so well. The entitlement some have nowadays is really toxic and it pains me to see how the 'scene' is bleeding from this. We are not talking about rich enterprises developing and benefitting from a small community, but about hard working and really talented people who put time dedication and risk into getting things like these off the ground.

 

I for one NEVER support clones. I chastise people constantly on the Krikzz forums, who buy Everdrive fakes, then cry when they break. No, my point is that GDEMU/Rhea are fully established, and if Deunan had any sense, he would have licensed them to someone like Krikzz who can manufacture far cheaper, faster and in greater quantities. This not only benefits him, but the entire community. Instead, he and MNEMO refused, and so we're left to wait months if not a year or more just to get a shot to buy one. And the prices are astronomical as a result. Sorry, but both of these guys are NOT good for the community.

 

The prices are astronomical? Compared to what, 100% emulation? The legit SD2SNES runs higher than any of Deunan's stuff. If jhl released the Satiator at $200, I'd still consider that a bargain. It's hard to take any complaining about the prices of drive emulators seriously, considering what the actual retail games are running.

So what if a person has to wait? That's a normal part of life. The community has other options for running games, and they've been there for years. No one's being hurt because they simply had to wait a year for the latest and greatest most convenient option.

 

The prices aint that bad, compared to what it would cost to buy some Dreamcast games

Or put next to the NeoGeo AES flash cart (Someone please do a CD loader with better load times)

 

Not to throw fuel on the fire, and certainly not to try and justify anyone purchasing a clone, But a large part of this discussion seems to be centered on whose responsibility it is to protect Deunon's work.

Some have taken the stance that we live in a cynical world, and that Deunon is entirely responsible for the welfare of his own product.
Others say that regardless of anything else, as ethical consumers, we owe it to the original creator to adhere to his business guidelines and not support the blatant theft financially.

Honestly, I believe that the truth is probably a bit of both, and it's entirely naive to expect Deunon to cowtow to any consumer demands because he "owes" his consumers a right to purchase his product on their terms.
Conversely, it's equally naive for Deunon to expect the same potential consumers whose criticisms he's so consistently and casually dismissed for years, to have his back and not succumb to the temptation to go elsewhere for a cheaper, and far more available alternative.

As for myself, I own a USB-GDROM, and am hoping that both Deunon, and anyone seeking a ODE for their Dreamcast can come together to find a constructive solution instead of all this shouting and finger pointing, and that the clones will die on the vine.

 

On this

How long on average does it take for him to respond to a order request?

Edit :
Got a response
2 weeks till I have to pay

 

Playing devil's advocate here, but given Deunan's business model, is anyone aware of whether the clones have negatively affected his bottom line? Genuine versions still seem to be fetching a premium on eBay and the orders he's opened since availability of the clones became known have sold out just as quick as always. I appreciate the issue is not only financial, but about IP violation, but the impression I get is that many people seem to believe the mere existence of a cheaper clone will instantly wipe out any sales. If anything it could be a catalyst for him to get a suitable ordering system in place.

True, but as with almost anything if people can get practically the same experience, but not have to wait, they usually will. In this case I don't even think the waiting is an issue for most, but the ordering process which has been a bit of a crapshoot. I think it would have been far better if Deunan had just kept orders open at all times, but updated the expected delivery period. That way he could monitor how many orders he received over time, wouldn't have to put up with constant questions about availability and people could then just place an order and sit back and wait.

 

Having more people offer a product gets rid of a monopoly. That's why I want a clone of rhea. They are ridiculously overpriced right now