If you live in Europe, were interested in Pixel FX’s new internal HDMI mod and want to save on shipping, 8BitMods has you covered! The price is $125 for a complete kit, then if you want the paid software upgrade that allows for 1080p output, you’ll have to do that through the Pixel FX website when it’s shipped in September. There’s no word on if the paid software upgrade will cost the same $70 as when ordering through the Pixel FX site, or $80 as stated in their marketing materials. Here’s the link, with more info below:
Retro G.E.M UK Seller: https://retrorgb.link/ukretrogem
Main Site: https://www.retrorgb.com/pixelfx-retro-gem-playstation-2-hdmi.html
I wish the Pixel FX team had more details about the software update. It seems a bit unfair to stiff UK buyers out of that $10 discount, however this scenario really shows how the tiered pricing can be a help to customers: Anyone outside the US can save quite a bit on import taxes, as they’re “importing” the cheaper version, then upgrading via software later. That’s sure to save more than the $10 difference and definitely one of the few positive scenarios of the paywall. If you’d like more info on the product, what I wrote in the original post still appears to be up-to-date: https://www.retrorgb.com/pixelfx-retro-gem-playstation-2-hdmi.html
Also, there’s been a lot of debate on higher resolutions and better deinterlacing options being locked behind a paywall. It’s probably best to think of this as a “$200 product that you can get a discount on if you don’t need extra features”, however you’re welcome to your own opinion. If you’d like to hear more of my thoughts on it, I discussed the paywall scenario in the last Weekly Roundup podcast at 1:53:
