So, after playing with the machine for a little while, I've concluded a few things:
1) Although it's clear that a lot of work has gone into the menu system, and the cover art support is pretty cool, a few things bother me:
- the font used for game names is pretty hard to read
- the CD/HuCard switch (select) seems like an unnecessary and awkward step
- it would be more intuitive to sue the 'I' key instead of 'RUN' to run a game
2) The CDROM seek time and read speed are not governed, and as a result there are quite a few issues on games which spoil the effect (although they're basically fairly minor)
- Sherlock Holmes doesn't sync video to ADPCM, and the ADPCM 'skips' several times as the video runs too fast.
- Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari plays unnecessary ADPCM when exiting the bookstore in the beginning town if playing with text at "fast" speed
- Brandish makes a harsh noise in the middle of the opening cinema (when sorceress tries to throw a fireball)
- F1 Simulation starts with a noise after the horn honk
- Super Darius has overlapping (instead of sequential) ADPCM/CD sound at the start of the game
- Double Dragon doesn't complete the "Double Dragon" phrase at start of game
- various lip-sync issues, most notably Mugen Senshi Valis (but including many)
It seems to work pretty well if these things don't bother you, and if you have a CRT or other monitor capable of taking non-HDMI streams.
Since the most popular emulators don't deal with the seek timing properly, people may not know what the game should look like in some cases.
I haven't seen any outright crashes or incompatibilities yet; just wanted to bring these minor complaints up.
Dave