Raindown

Just a quick status update – there are some delays already due to bad weather. The chemicals I use to clean the PCBs are not good for one’s health in the long run so I try to run the cleaning operation outside. This actually works quite well but only if it’s not constantly raining :)

Since the final inspection and testing (and obviously packaging) comes after cleaning I don’t have anything ready to ship at the moment. But I do have a box of assembled PCBs so the delay shouldn’t be big. Do keep in mind there’s only so much I can do in one afternoon even if the rain stops – I will need at least a few days to catch up. But I am assembling more PCBs in the meantime so it’s not a complete waste of time.

High Hopes

In a world of magnets and miracles:

It’s internal codename is Phoebe but I’m probably going to name the final product Theia. And in case you’re still confused – it’s a 21-pin ODE for SEGA Saturn.

It’s not perfect though – you won’t be able to play CD+G discs. Well, audio will play but that’s it. Shouldn’t be a problem as those discs are rare and proper dumps even more so, but it’s a pity as I was able to get it working on Rhea. On the bright side I did get as close as possible with it and the results are very promising for PCE, which uses a very similar subcode protocol.

Before you start asking – it’s not for sale yet. There are several variants of the 21-pin drive and the device must be first tested with each one. That’ll take time.

Never Miss a Beat

First of all there is a small update in the Links section, a guide to making a simple but effective tray for Rhea has been added. That tray goes under Rhea and prevents dropped SD cards from going deep into Saturn internals, so quite handy.

Now as for promised preorders, I’m about to open them now but as I explained I might have to close soon after if I’m swamped with emails. But fear not, this should actually prevent situations like before where you had to wait more than a month for your unit. I know many of you won’t like this on/off thing but I have to manage the production somehow and the last two ideas for that were not so good after all.

Unfortunately I’m very busy again but I’m planning to test something this weekend, hopefully it’ll work and I’ll have something new to show in few days.

EDIT: Apparently even after all this time it’s still unclear so: DO NOT SEND ME ANY MONEY IN ADVANCE! You will be asked to pay via PayPal once your order is ready to be shipped, it’s all explained on the ordering pages.

If you send anything via PayPal to the gmail address I will not be able to claim it (or refuse it) and it will just sit there for 30 days before PayPal returns it to you. And there’s nothing I can do to speed it up. For security reasons this email is not and will not be ever tied to a PayPal account.

Bring Me to Life

Good news for a change, this is the final straight for current GDEMU run, I can see the end of the list now :) Because of this I have started planning for the next one – which is currently scheduled to begin on the second week of June. This might still be moved a bit if necessary but it’s the time window I’m aiming for.

Anyway, I think we call all agree the current run was not very well executed, and some of it is my fault. So I’m going to try yet another approach – I’ll be sort of turning the preordering page on/off to manage both the inflow of mails and total queue length. If you happen to miss your chance to place an order just wait a bit (hopefully days and not weeks) for another one. As usual I will do my best to answer all emails but if I see that people are abusing the system by trying to place orders when I’m closed, I will start ignoring those. I’m a human being too and my patience is not unlimited (quite the opposite actually).

Dear Japanese customers:

You can order and buy GDEMU (and Rhea) via Sangatsu-Usagi shops in Akihabara:

Store: Sangatsu-Usagi No.2
Takara-Building 1F 1-5-7, Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Store: Sangatsu-Usagi No.3
3-11-3, Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

You Will Be Perfect

The green/gold GDEMUs turned out really nice, I like them even more than the black ones. Here’s a photo but it really doesn’t do them any justice:

It’s been a year since I’ve started making GDEMUs so I dub these 3 units Anniversary Edition ones. They will now undergo extended testing and should ship early next week.

And before you ask – I’m not planning on making any more green/gold units for now, but might try again sometime in future.

Lemon Phase

News:

• The good: SD card sockets arrived and I’ve restarted my assembly line.
• The bad: All preorders are now closed, lists are full for weeks in advance.

I keep getting tons of emails asking for another GDEMU production run – yes, there will be one, but I don’t yet know when exactly. My best guess is “in few weeks”, with a very broad definition of “few”. Pestering me about it is not going to speed up things.

I HAVE NOT, AND WILL NOT START ANOTHER WAITING LIST UNTIL THE DATE OF NEXT PRODUCTION RUN IS KNOWN. NO, I WILL NOT MAIL YOU, OR THE FEW DOZENS OF OTHER INTERESTED PEOPLE, PERSONALLY WHEN I DO OPEN THE PREORDERS. WATCH THIS BLOG, IT’S HERE FOR A REASON.

That should hopefully make things clear.

Spring sale

Still waiting for the parts to arrive but I haven’t got an email telling me the date has been moved so I might just get them this week. In the meantime I figured I might do some cleaning – I have some leftover PCBs that I could sell if there is interest. What’s in the box:

• 3x GDEMU PCBs that are green with gold finish. These are the latest v5.4 models that I ordered as a test for the gold plating plus possibly to replace my own v4 testing unit. The color combination is unique and if someone wants them I could sell 2 out of 3 for the usual price.
• 3x gold/black GDEMUs that suffered some minor accidents. There’s nothing wrong with them except might be slightly scratched or have places where the solder spilled over gold. So basically cosmetic defects. I thought I would keep them in case I need to quickly ship a spare but I haven’t had a case like that yet so…
• 1x silver/black GDEMU that had to be reworked. Works perfectly now but suffered a bit in the process, so again it’s a cosmetic defect and shouldn’t actually be noticable once inside console.
• 1x v3 Rhea, that is the one that needs power wires soldered. There was a last minute cancel so it stayed with me and then I forgot all about it. This is the last of its kind.

EDIT: SOLD OUT.

I might just be persuaded to lower the price on the blemished units ever so slightly. The other good thing is I will sell those out turn, on first come first served basis. Do note I still need to actually finish assembling the green ones though, but that shouldn’t take more than a week.

In other news, I feel it’s unfair that I only get paid once and you keep playing with the ODE forever. So starting with next FW I will introduce Pay-to-Play system which will limit the active time of the devices to a certain number of hours. Once the time runs out the device will stop working until new FW is flashed. The unlocking FW will be available for a small charge, I’m targeting 1 USD for 25 hours but it’s not set in stone yet.
I’m also thinking of making some of the features like the ability to have more than 20 images on the card an extra, paid for separately. Features will not time out except maybe after a year or so.
Lastly there will also be a weekly lottery, anyone who writes a positive review or makes a flattering YT movie will be able to participate in it. Winners will get a free unlock for 100 hours of play. Possibly more if you can score more than one win in a row.