Retro Gem + Installation Service - PixelFX

THIS LISTING IS FOR THE RETRO GEM (HDMI UPGRADE BOARD) HARDWARE + INSTALLATION SERVICE OF A RETROGEM for the following console types: PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 2 Slim, Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast, or 3DO

You must mail in a compatible console for this service

Please go HERE to check your console version and make sure you send in a compatible console (returns due to incorrect version being sent may be subject to a restocking fee)

PLEASE NOTE: we are no longer supporting the SCPH-3900X models for Playstation 2. This version has known issues with the Retro Gem hardware.

It is not neccessary to send in any flex ribbons for the installation, we will provide whichever version is needed.

Models other than the SCPH-5000X require a Re:PS2 unit which we sell HERE or (SCPH-5000X PSU + SCPH-5000X Metal Shield)

PLEASE NOTE: Upgrading/Installation Services typically take between 1-4 weeks from the time the console is received until it ships back out. Please keep in mind that this is just an estimate and it can sometimes go over by a week or 2 during busy times.

Stone Age Gamer offers no responsibility for a pre-existing upgrades. While rare, there could be a scenario where Stone Age Gamer has to replace your motherboard. We would not replace or reimburse the customer for any pre-existing upgrades. If for some reason your upgrade is found to be incompatible with the Retro GEM product Stone Age Gamer is not responsible for replacing or reimbursing the customer, however we will offer support and parts in any way we can.

AFTER PURCHASING

Ship only your Console (please no AV cables, power cables, or accessories) along with the Retro Gem Hardware and a printed invoice to:

Stone Age Gamer - Retro Gem
378 E. State St.
Salem, OH 44460
U.S.A.

PLEASE READ: We highly suggest insuring your shipment to us. We are not responsible for any damage until the console is received and inspected. Your console must be in working order when inspected. We are not a repair service, we only provide the installation of the Retro Gem Product. Do NOT ship your console to us without purchasing this service first.

This service includes the Retro Gem Digital product. If you already have the Retro Gem hardware and only need an installation service, we offer that Here.

About Retro Gem:

Successor to N64 Digital, PS1 Digital and DC Digital.

The Retro GEM is the ultimate HDMI kit for your retro gaming consoles.

Digital lag-free HDMI output
Simple firmware update procedure via WiFi
Advanced scaling and video filters in Shiny Edition

Please Note: Retro Gem requires a Mini to Full sized HDMI cable. Available optionally.

Current Console Support:

Nintendo 64
Sony PlayStation
Sony PlayStation 2
Sega Dreamcast
More Coming Soon

Differences between G.E.M. and G.E.M. Shiny Edition

Please click here for specific mainboard revision compatibility.

The Retro GEM must be soldered into your gaming console. These upgrades are advanced and require a high level of soldering skill. Never soldered before, do not fret! We have recommended installers that can do the upgrade for you.

The basic can be upgraded to the Shiny at any time, even after installing into a console. License upgrades can be purchased here.

Please see the Retro GEM documentation to learn more.

The optional spare flex isn't required, one flex cable is already included in the console kit. But sometimes mishaps happen during the install and an extra flex will give you a second attempt.

Each console kit is priced differently and will be available for purchase separately in the future. They are priced differently as each console can have varying specific setups.

For who own HDTVs and UHDTVs, this is the best upgrade for the 3DO.

Posted by Steven Williams on May 24th 2026

Upon installation by SAG and review tests of my own. I can tell you that the picture is stunning by orders of magnitude! I have a couple of 3DOs and a few of them have RGB mods. I have one connected to a PVM that uses BNC. I can tell you that the picture you get from the Retro Gem beats out CRTs housing an RGB upgraded 3DO.

IMPORTANT: There is a bonus upgrade that is installed seperately AFAIK known as overclock upgrade. It takes the hardwares internal clock speed from 50 mhz to as high as you want! The threshold should be no higher than 60 mhz since that is the maximum you can get away with without bricking your 3DO! That said though there are some downsides.

While the overclock upgrade may improve the performance of homebrews like Open Lara and the NFS [Speed Hack.] I couldn`t find any true discernable differences in the other 3DO games with the exception of two where there are negatives.

The overclock upgrade absolutely butchers Gex! It speeds up the intro videos and nueters the sound at the cost of game speed. The speed is almost too fast it makes the game feel clunky!

Samurai Showdown suffers from the same issue.

Another problem I have is that 1440p was advertised with the Shiny, more expensive version of the Gem. I discovered that doesn`t even work unless your TV supports 120 Hz, that part is such a downer I have to knock off a few points in this review.

If you`re Pixel FX and you`re going to advertise that feature, people like me pay extra for it, you must make it clear that resolution is exclusively for the high-performance televisions! Now perhaps there will be a firmware update that improves compatibility, that`ll be my hope. Since nothing is promised there I have to deliver a tough review over false or unclear advertising!

That said, the picture in 1080p and Direct Video is perfect no complaints for 1080p. You can even connect to the Retrotink4K for Direct Video! Please note, unless you want DR you might as well connect directly to the display as that`s the way the Gem 3DO is meant to be played.

There is a cool firmware channel that enables you to FTP [SSH?] stuff like clockspeed settings over to the 3DO (See guide for that!), this only works with the internal clock upgrade installed. If you`re a 3DO enthusiast like me who`s interested in the Retro Gem adjust expectations accordingly.

12 Reviews

3
For who own HDTVs and UHDTVs, this is the best upgrade for the 3DO.

Posted by Steven Williams on May 24th 2026

Upon installation by SAG and review tests of my own. I can tell you that the picture is stunning by orders of magnitude! I have a couple of 3DOs and a few of them have RGB mods. I have one connected to a PVM that uses BNC. I can tell you that the picture you get from the Retro Gem beats out CRTs housing an RGB upgraded 3DO.

IMPORTANT: There is a bonus upgrade that is installed seperately AFAIK known as overclock upgrade. It takes the hardwares internal clock speed from 50 mhz to as high as you want! The threshold should be no higher than 60 mhz since that is the maximum you can get away with without bricking your 3DO! That said though there are some downsides.

While the overclock upgrade may improve the performance of homebrews like Open Lara and the NFS [Speed Hack.] I couldn`t find any true discernable differences in the other 3DO games with the exception of two where there are negatives.

The overclock upgrade absolutely butchers Gex! It speeds up the intro videos and nueters the sound at the cost of game speed. The speed is almost too fast it makes the game feel clunky!

Samurai Showdown suffers from the same issue.

Another problem I have is that 1440p was advertised with the Shiny, more expensive version of the Gem. I discovered that doesn`t even work unless your TV supports 120 Hz, that part is such a downer I have to knock off a few points in this review.

If you`re Pixel FX and you`re going to advertise that feature, people like me pay extra for it, you must make it clear that resolution is exclusively for the high-performance televisions! Now perhaps there will be a firmware update that improves compatibility, that`ll be my hope. Since nothing is promised there I have to deliver a tough review over false or unclear advertising!

That said, the picture in 1080p and Direct Video is perfect no complaints for 1080p. You can even connect to the Retrotink4K for Direct Video! Please note, unless you want DR you might as well connect directly to the display as that`s the way the Gem 3DO is meant to be played.

There is a cool firmware channel that enables you to FTP [SSH?] stuff like clockspeed settings over to the 3DO (See guide for that!), this only works with the internal clock upgrade installed. If you`re a 3DO enthusiast like me who`s interested in the Retro Gem adjust expectations accordingly.
5
RetroGem Shiny Dreamcast

Posted by Brandon Fiadino on Mar 28th 2026

The HD upgrade utilizing the Retrogem Shiny version on my Dreamcast works flawlessly and looks absolutely amazing! The best upgrade you can get for modernizing your Dreamcast for modern televisions by far. Definitely get this one and thanks again for the great work they did at Stone Age Gamer!
5
RetroGEM PS2 Slim Installation Is Excellent

Posted by Andy Clarke on Feb 21st 2026

I shipped out my PS2 Slim for the RetroGEM Shiny HDMI upgrade to be installed. Stone Age Gamer worked on it efficiently, and the picture quality looks amazing on my 4K TV! What pleasantly surprised me though is that, for the mini HDMI port to be installed onto the PS2 Slim, the original LAN port had to be removed and replaced with the mini HDMI port. However, Stone Age Gamer was extremely generous and even included the original LAN port and its green board as a bonus, in case I would ever want to switch back or give the working LAN port to someone who would need it for their PS2 Slim. I did not request the original LAN port to be included, but the fact that Stone Age Gamer did so is just above-and-beyond customer service. Lastly, I realized I also wanted the UltraSonic Cleaning + UV Protectant added to my PS2 Slim RetroGEM order once they received my PS2 Slim. They gladly accommodated my request by sending an invoice to add the UltraSonic Cleaning to my order, and after paying that. the PS2 Slim came back shiny in every sense of the word. Excellent service by Stone Age Gamer overall. I highly recommend them for your console upgrading or cleaning needs!
5
RetroGEM Installation Service

Posted by Zachary LaMountain on Feb 3rd 2026

I couldn't be happier! My PS2 came back in better condition than I sent it. I'm so pleased with SAG and their work. Their customer support was great. Very timely and informative responses. I admit I was a bug and they kept patience and treated me very good. I will not hesitate to use them again in the future.
The product itself was worth every penny. Very satisfied. Thanks guys!
5
Unmatched Customer Service

Posted by Hayden on Oct 11th 2025

Great service and quick turnaround. They have amazing customer service I would easily buy from them again with confidence.
5
Simply amazing

Posted by Yan Pigeon-Roy on Aug 5th 2025

I had big trouble running PAL n64 games on my NTSC tv and tried many converters... without success. I learned about the Retro GEM and tried to find someone to install it for me. That`s when i found out about Stone Age Gamer and shipped it for installation. I had many questions and the team support was amazing! Received my n64 and played PAL games for the very first time and i`m having a blast!!!! Many thanks and will buy again!!!
5
Retro Gem Installation Service is spectacular!!!

Posted by Jenifer H McDaniel on Jul 7th 2025

I can recommend this service highly enough. Stone Age Gamer took extremely good care of my PS2 Slim. It has never been opened before, and even getting it back, it still almost looked like it hadn`t, minus some small creases on the warranty sticker. The upgrade is GREAT! I have a PS1 Digital install from a few years back, so I sort of knew what to expect with the Retro Gem, but the actual performance exceeded my expectations. The picture is amazing and there are so many great options to get any game looking great on your 4K or HD set. I did the Shiny version, but I am sure the basic is great too for different types of setups. It`s neat you can upgrade too just through unlocking the firmware if you decide you want the Shiny later. The scanline options and masks can really get any game looking great, especially if you are like me and prefer it looking more like a CRT and just the more jagged raw pixels, although it can cater to that look too. The settings can be customized on a per game basis too as long as GameIDs are being read. I don`t think the PS1 Digital did that, although maybe I am forgetting. In any case, buy with confidence. Thank you so much Stone Age Gamer!!!
5
Fantastic Installation

Posted by Kevin E on Jun 22nd 2025

I ordered this last year during the summer season and after playing my PS2 Slim in this stage for almost a year I can say that this service really help out in making my PS2 Slim run HD perfectly; with so many option through the Shiny Edition I can have my console run at any resolution and see what presets suits me. It also adds the PS2 longevity.
5
Awesome product

Posted by Mike B on Jun 22nd 2025

I had no idea how good a PS1 could look. I like my bullet hell games. Raiden, RayStorm. DonPachi... Massive upgrade if you have a compatible PS1. Fast Install and return. USPS did not destroy anything so props to them. Well done and enjoying my upgraded PS1.