New reality: review of the Dendy game console
Nintendo has, without exaggeration, revolutionised the entertainment systems market. We are confident that in a year or two, we will not be able to imagine how we ever managed without game consoles. Through incredible efforts, we managed to get our hands on a Dendy, a brand new console that is the Russian equivalent of Nintendo’s recently announced Japanese NES.
What does this console with an 8-bit heart have to offer avid gamers? We stocked up on a fair number of game cartridges and immersed ourselves in a completely new reality for a few days.
Appearance and design features
The Dendy console comes in a spacious box with the well-known elephant logo. The packaging is exactly the same size as a Macbook Air. Inside, we find the console itself, a pair of detachable gamepads, a cable for connecting to a TV (preferably a colour TV, but a black-and-white one will do in a pinch), a light gun, and a test cartridge with 9999 games.
We’ve got everything you need – find the top free spin games
The console is compact and lightweight, unlike the monstrous consoles of the previous generation such as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It is immediately apparent that Nintendo knows a thing or two about ergonomics, even when it comes to non-portable devices. There are compartments on the sides of the device where you can store a couple of gamepads. Again, with competitors, the game controllers do not come into contact with the console body at all, even if you leave them right on the floor.
The main elements are concentrated at the top of the console. Here you will find a slot for the cartridge, covered with a red plastic cap. Below it, the power and reset buttons are symmetrically placed. Some console models have a lever for removing the cartridge. Our Dendy does not have one, but that’s for the best — the console creaks less, and there is less risk of damaging the game media.
Under the logo strip, there are two ports for connecting gamepads. If desired, a pistol can be connected instead of one of the joysticks. It will come in handy for shooting ducks, bandits, cowboys, and other vermin.
Engineering minimalism is also evident on the back of the Dendy. There are no network interfaces or other unnecessary features — only a power connector and AV. The power supply, by the way, is external, just like in the Xbox One.
Gamepad
Fortunately, the manufacturer did not skimp on the game controllers. The set includes two wired gamepads. Recall that Microsoft and Sony included only one outdated wireless joystick in the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 boxes. Not only do you have to constantly change the batteries, but you also can’t play with a friend without additional costs.
The Ricoh 8-bit processor runs at 1.79 MHz, and the RAM reaches an impressive 2 KB. The developers of Dendy made sure that there would be enough memory even for future hits. To achieve this, they allowed the system to use the free memory resources built into the cartridge. Today, it is hard to believe that 2 KB might not be enough to run a game. However, if this ever happens, there is always a reliable reserve in the form of free cartridge memory.
The video chip with 2 KB of video memory operates at a frequency of 5.37 MHz and can display 48 colours and 5 shades of grey. The entire system, in conjunction with the processor, is capable of displaying up to 64 sprites on the screen at the same time!
It is immediately apparent that the console is designed for a long life cycle. It is quite possible that its technical characteristics will still be relevant even in 20 years. In any case, the current power is more than enough to display graphics never seen before.
Cartridge
A new standard in our region is used as the game medium for Dendy — a cartridge. In fact, it is a microchip with memory enclosed in a plastic case. One cartridge can contain from one to several thousand games. Since the capacity of the medium is limited, usually to a megabyte or two, you will have to accept that one cartridge can hold one high-quality, full-fledged, large game.
