Polymega Remix

Credit: Polymega

Pre-orders are now live for Polymega’s newest offering, the $199 Remix, which essentially functions as an external disc and cartridge drive for Windows 11-compatible devices and a convenient way to preserve your nostalgia. More device compatibility is coming later, according to Playmaji.

The basic idea is that you connect the Remix to a desktop, laptop or even a gaming handheld like the ROG Ally X via USB, and then you backup retro games to the respective machine’s storage. From there, you can use the free Polymega app to organize and play titles from your library by way of emulation. On that note, you can even connect original console controllers to the Remix (or Playmaji’s redesigned ones, if you so please).

But as with the original Polymega system, you’ll have to buy individual modules separately, which each have their own bespoke cartridge slots and controller ports. There’s even a TurboGrafx-16 variant that allows the insertion of HuCards, but you won’t need other modules for CD-ROM/DVD titles, as the optical drive is built-in.

Besides the disc drive, the Remix comes equipped with two front-facing USB ports, though, so you can connect less proprietary controllers like the DualSense or an Xbox gamepad, or even something shiny from 8BitDo. Essentially, the Remix is a Polymega without the internal guts that would allow it to function independently, or connect directly to a display. You’re outsourcing the horsepower required to actually play retro games to your computer, essentially, as well as the space to store them.

According to Playmaji, the Polymega app directly mirrors the experience you’d have on a Polymega console, only now you have more flexibility with raw performance, I’d assume, depending on what sort of hardware you’re working with. Apparently, the original Polymega is getting upgraded with beefier specs, and existing pre-orders for those will get the better components—more RAM, more storage, etc.—for free. Early summer is when you’ll be able to place a new order for the refreshed Polymega.

The Remix is compatible with tons of disc-based consoles, including my beloved PS1, the Sega Saturn and the Sega CD, among others. No Dreamcast yet, unfortunately. This is the one I’m really anticipating, should Playmaji ever indulge. Compatible cartridge-based systems include older and much-loved platforms like the SNES, the Genesis and the Nintendo 64.

I suppose if all you wanted to do was back up your disc-based games to your PC, you could purchase a pretty cheap disc drive off Amazon and go that route, bypassing the $200 Remix entirely, but you’d be missing out on the convenience of the Polymega app, of course. Backing up cartridges is an entirely different story, so the Remix has the advantage here. That said, once you’ve backed up your entire library, you don’t need to keep the Remix attached to your device anymore, as it only serves as the media intermediary.

Overall, I like this general idea, the notion of a product that basically moves all of my retro software to my powerful PC, and then seamlessly cobbles it together in a pretty application for me to access and play. Yes, you could do much of this on your own if you have the tech know-how, but Playmaji is (ideally) removing the hassle with another unique addition to the Polymega ecosystem. Color me intrigued, to say the least.

Both the Remix and the Polymega app begin shipping next month: May 2026. Given past delays and production hurdles, let’s hope they can hit the release window.