In 2021 we brought you news of the Piepacker PieReader, a cartridge reader that was intended to allow easy archiving of retro gaming carts.
Sadly, following Piepacker’s rebrand as Jam.gg (me neither), the PieReader has been abandoned. Launched as a Kickstarter in April 2021 as part of the Piepacker project, the PieReader was to have support for the following carts:
- NES (not Famicom)
- Super NES
- SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis
- Game Boy Advance / Game Boy
The intention was that players would be able to dump and import their own cartridges into the Piepacker gaming enviroment.
Following months of upheaval and supply chain wranglings, the following update has been sent to backers.
We’ve come to the painful conclusion that we can’t possibly deliver the Piereader, in the way it and you deserve.
After a long year full of unexpected drawbacks we all remember by now (COVID, the global shortages of micro chips), insane pricing inflation and factory delays reached unmanageable levels: the initial budget was suddenly multiplied by three and the production time more than doubled. After months of exploration to find a workaround, like so many other companies out there, we simply could not get a satisfying delivery time and price for a product we felt confident about.We have decided to do the right thing, take a financial hit and proceed with the full refund.
We’re sorry for bearing such news, and your faith in this project has been legendary. We’ll never forget it.
It’s a huge shame the Piepacker PieReader won’t come to pass. But at least Piepacker/Jam.gg (still not getting it) are refunding backers.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.