Andromeda Stardust

Five (5) Spiders onscreen simultaneously?! Why have I never heard of this? How about make a homebrew game that combines the Milliipede engine with Spider Fighter? That would be boss...

×1,000,000 Okay, maybe not a million. But A LOT of people want this to happen.

And I totally respect your opinion on using pads. Nothing beats the bog standard Genesis 3-button pad for playing basic Atari games, IMO is the best choice for cost versus functionality, without an adapter, and mostly works with all 2600 joystick games. The Power Arcade Stick is also a great option, better than any vintage Atari stick, and works extremely well for playing games like Space Rocks and really any joystick game: https://www.amazon.com/Sega-Arcade-Power-Stick/dp/B00H0022D6 Some 6-button Genesis pads may malfunction with homebrew, or any game which attempts to reset the paddle pots. This defect can be corrected by adding a diode between pin 7 and 5 on the Genesis PCB. Also using a Genesis controller with 7800 games that expect a two button controller will cause the game to behave as if both buttons are pressed continuously. Xevious is somewhat playable with a Genesis pad since it gives you continuous autofire. A Seagull adapter should take care of any compatibility issues and ensure compatibility with other devices which might connect into a Genesis controller port, but I have not tested one. Bear in mind you may or may not be able to remap the buttons, so whichever default arrangement it gives you, you may be stuck with. Although Atari doesn't really apply here, converting between diamond and 6 button arrangements can be problematic, as fighting games use the diamond for weak/medium kick/punch, and the triggers for strong or high kick/punch. However platform games which use three action buttons would be better suited to mapping ABC to left, bottom, and right on the diamond.

You can have a quality, cheap pad. You can have a rubbish, cheap joystick. A good joystick will cost a bit more than a pad however. One of the issues with cheap joysticks is leverage. You need a sturdy base to get good response, meaning bigger / heavier is better. The button and joystick also need light actuation pressure to prevent hand fatigue. Build your own joystick with real arcade parts, or pay someone to build one for you. You just need a button, a joystick, any small craft, cigar, or jewelry box with a flat top (preferably made of wood, measure first to make sure everything will fit in it), drill bits, solder, hookup wire, and a 9-pin extension cable or broken controller. Sandpaper and stain / varnish optional.

2Gb cards have been discontinued? I did not know that. A lot of "legacy" devices still require them. I used 2Gb card in my Harmony simply because they were cheap and every Atari ROM ever made would fit 50 times over.

Well then there's the Bad Apple Demo (512kbytes), which HArmony Encore is technically capable of running if only Batari would update the firmware to support it. I imagine it would take a while to flash though. You can "force format" a FAT32 partition to XDHC cards (using Linux, Mac, Windows command line, or third party format utilities), up to a 2Tb absolute partition limit. File sizes are still limited to 4Gbytes or less however. Let's not get carried away now. I doubt we will see "Megabyte and up" sized Atari 2600 games (much less Gigabyte sized) any time soon.

Have they fixed the non-integer scaling issues yet, or ae those still messed up? Are these final production units, or pre-production? If so, there's still a bit of time to fix stuff.

Awesome. For some reason, I don't see RetroUSB listed though (AVS NES-on-an-FPGA). What about all the mod hardwares? Game Tech's HD NES? UltraHDMI N64? Game Cube Dongle?

My Zelda themed art decals came with a screen protector. I attempted to clean the screen before I applied it, but dust specks got trapped underneath it nonetheless. Honestly I keep it either in the dock or in the Zelda Sheika Slate carrying case when I'm not using it. And the carry case holds 12 Switch cards plus I got a [?] block and a POW block that hold 12 more cards each, and fit comfortably inside the side pocket. That will hold me for a while, not to mention the downloadable storage on my 200Gb SD card (I'm barely using 10% of it's capacity). While screen protectors are good for preventing light scratches, they are useless for protection from blunt force trauma. I am a responsible adult (no kids, though technically I am just a really big 37-year-old kid... ) and having a protector with dust specks bubbles underneath would annoy me to no end. My advice: just forgo the protector and take care of your stuffs.

the Super NT and upcoming Mega SG both run on a Cyclone V, do they not? How does the included FPGA compare pricewise? So exactly how does Analogue, RetroUSB get around using HDMI on their devices? Last I checked, anyone can go to Mouser or Digikey and buy HDMI connectors in bulk. Maybe getting the HDCP license is only to use the HDMI logo (which isn't featured on the AVS or Super NT AFAIK) or to generate and/or display protected video streams requires the ten grand per year? Or if the FPGA already has the HDMI driver built into it, or some other IC chip within the console has a built in encoder, than the chip manufacturer has already paid the HDMI license. I really don't know if the license can apply to a circuit on the device and not the device itself. But there is no general protection against using HDMI ports for other uses which do not meet the standard. One company did a kickstarter for a universal controller converter, to allow to plug everything into a PC. The pentagon shaped dongle had a USB on one side and four HDMI ports that plugged into custom controller adapters.

When did he say this specifically?

I don't think we have to worry about that much. While the transition from analog to digital had some pretty heavy growing pains, most digital standards maintain backwards compatibility. For instance, Super Audio CD players played CDs. BluRay players play DVDs, and in fact require a dual laser assembly with both a 650nm red laser (for DVDs and CDs) and a 405nm Blue/Violet laser for reading BluRay discs. 4k or UHD BluRay players play DVDs and BluRay as well. Passive adapters exist to easily and painlessly convert HDMI into other standards such as DVI and Display port. USB3 ports can function as HDMI outputs as well. So I think you will find that legacy digital standards such as HDMI will be supported for a very long time to come, even if the form factor of the plug changes.

I got the email yesterday; looks quite badass. However I would question the merits of buying this model over the standard flare Super NT if you already own one, unless you're buying it for collectability or the "cool" factor. One thing that concerns me however: will the custom boot screens get overwritten if the firmware is upgraded or replaced? Because I imagine fans would be disappointed if this were the case. If the stock firmware does not overwrite the custom boot screen, then the firmware upgrade would have to have the Ghostly boot code already present (assuming it overwrites everything in the console), and some hardware identifier would determine the console type and resultant boot screen. Thus, it may be possible to hack a standard issue Super NT to display the Ghostly boot menus.

Sorry, but Kevtris has the right to do with his IP what he will. If he doesn't want to share, it is within his right not to do so. Analogue makes a fine product and I will continue buying them. Mister in it's current state is about where Nesticle and other emulators were in the mid to late 90s. Immature and unfinished. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy and unfinished product though. When you buy pro, you get quality. When you go free, you get a mixed bag.

i love the bamboo!

So the loose chip is more expensive than the whole damn test board? Throw away the pcb then. A reflow oven will easily fix this issue. Why cannot someone buy the prototyping boards in bulk and just use those? The part suppliers get them in bulk wholesale so theoretically any commercial enterprise with a wholesaler's license could do likewise.

A low profile RFID reader card is inserted into the cart slot, with a cart slot plug attached to plug and conceal the cartridge port. Next, an online web store sells physical RFID decals with commercial and homebrew ROMs embedded inside them. Simply affix the decal to the back of a preexisting game cart and place said cart on the to of the console. Don't own the original game? Get creative. Stick the RFID chip for Pacman on a Pacman Amiibo, toy, or action figure. 21st century physical media needs no lasers or exposed data connectors. Carts and discs are obsoleted. Place the toy on the pedestal to unlock DLC content (or full games in this case). It's not just a played out 20-teens Toys-to-Life fad. It's how physical games get distributed to collectards in the future, in a world without wires...

Your avatar reminds me of that infamous "riding the bomb" scene!

My condolences guys. I wasn't informed when it went on sale, but subbed into the thread and ordered it before it sold out. However I know the feeling. I've missed out on lots of awesome stuff over the years...

Add to that nearly everyone in the market for a 7800 flash cart probably has stacks of 2600 games as well as at least one Harmony or Uno cart.

Well, I try not to hoard. My space is utterly too cluttered as it is. I do have a 4-switch Atari, and AV modded Gemini, and an AV modded 7800 (AV mod by Best). The 7800 has the cleanest picture. Then I have an NES toaster, Famicom, AVS, SNES, Super NT, Geneis, Preorder Mega-SG, a Super Retro Trio (one of the nicer 3-in-1 clones they ever made), etc. One Turbografx, one smoke clear N64 (with LEDs and an Ultra HDMI mod), a Game Cube DOL-001 with HDMI adapter, A Wii-U, and a Switch. My Wii was on life support by the time I transferred my save data over. I also got multiples of some handhelds, but that is another story. Generally one of each system is sufficient, assuming they are readily available and affordable to replace.

Honestly, given the fact there are two competing flashcarts for 2600, both of which run flawlessly on nearly all 7800 board revisions, I think the focus should be on 7800 ROM compatibility first. If it also plays 2600 ROMs, that is a bonus, ie not mandatory, much like SMS compatibility is on the Genesis Everdrives. Batari built his Concerto cart around existing Harmony hardware, and while it worked great for some, it did not for me. Ultimately lack of support led to frustration on my end. The fact that Harmony Encore bios loaded flawlessly on my Concerto, made it clear that hardware originally optimized for 2600 was being re-purposed for the 7800. That would explain why my Concerto loaded 2600 ROMs just fine (those not requiring Melody enhanced bankswitch modes) but crippling corruption issues made the 7800 games all but useless. Others reported similar issues with various 7800 hardware revisions. Sorry but Batari's advice to "go out and buy another 7800" which may or may not have the same issues, wasn't acceptable.

Yeah I think a break from Batari's efforts on the 7800 will be fruitful. Perhaps a fresh start rather than building it off the older design of the Harmony. Timings on 7800 hardware can be a bear to get right.

My TCL 4k HDTV has it's headphone output wired directly to the stereo receiver. For the High Definition Genesis er Mega NT please excuse me, Mega SG, I'll be able to bypass the DAC audio encoder in the TV entirely. Also NES chiptunes sound phenominal as well. I have an original physical copy of Brad Smith's MOON8 (NES cover of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon) as well as numerous other 8-bit albums.

If any game sold more than 500 units, it was probably Pacman Collection. I'll have 3 copies once I get the loot from Albert: The original thick dot TIA version, the PMP multicart, and a shiny new Pokey enabled Pacman cart. Edit: I may sell my gently used loose TIA copy at a later date.