FPGA Based Videogame System

[cacophony]

Kevtris mentioned in the MLiG interview that there was plenty of space left on the new FPGA, but I don’t think he’s had enough time to work on Super FX and SA-1 emulation.

 

 

He mentioned it took 6 months to get a fully working SNES, yet we also been told he's been working on this project for a full year. So maybe that extra emulation was done in the second part?

[narshe]

 

And there you have it :-)

 

A Neo Geo FPGA system only makes sense if it outspokenly plays roms, hence it will not happen.

 

I would disagree with that. For one, you could buy a NEOSD https://www.neosdstore.com/shop/index.phpand two, Neo Geo systems are insanely expensive. You're better off building your own, which is a task most people don't want to undertake.

[jamon1567]

 

I would disagree with that. For one, you could buy a NEOSD https://www.neosdstore.com/shop/index.phpand two, Neo Geo systems are insanely expensive. You're better off building your own, which is a task most people don't want to undertake.

 

I think the point is that anyone who already has those things already has an AES or MVS, therefore the only reason to upgrade from that would be HDMI or the ability to just load roms. If it isn't going to allow for loading of roms, is HDMI worth whatever it will cost for an FPGA NeoGeo? I don't think so, but hell, if you're into the NeoGeo scene then whats another few hundred bucks I guess lol.

[narshe]

 

I think the point is that anyone who already has those things already has an AES or MVS, therefore the only reason to upgrade from that would be HDMI or the ability to just load roms. If it isn't going to allow for loading of roms, is HDMI worth whatever it will cost for an FPGA NeoGeo? I don't think so, but hell, if you're into the NeoGeo scene then whats another few hundred bucks I guess lol.

 

I'd like to get into the Neo Geo scene, I just can't just the cost. So for me, it's appealing.

[mrnarse]

And there you have it :-)

 

A Neo Geo FPGA system only makes sense if it outspokenly plays roms, hence it will not happen.

I could see it happening sooner if Analogue partnered up with SNK and there was a library of titles included on the system out of the box. Otherwise I don’t see it being a priority when the game cartridges are so rare and expensive.

 

Analogue must be happy with the Super NT sales, seeing as the pre-orders sold out and they already have a second batch that’ll be ready to ship out in a month.

[cacophony]

One of the reviews (can't remember which offhand) mentioned a game that didn't boot past the title screen: Rendering Ranger R2

There's some discussion of this over on the Restera thread for the Super Nt.

 

[LewisD]

Ive noticed many people here and on Twitter offering possible names for future Analogue products such as Mega NT. NT stands for Nintendo, so it makes more sense for possible future consoles to be called Analogue SG, Analogue NG, or Analogue NT Boy for a portable console. Just putting this out there as it has become a pet peeve of mine.

[cfillak]

I could see it happening sooner if Analogue partnered up with SNK and there was a library of titles included on the system out of the box. Otherwise I don’t see it being a priority when the game cartridges are so rare and expensive.

 

Analogue must be happy with the Super NT sales, seeing as the pre-orders sold out and they already have a second batch that’ll be ready to ship out in a month.

Yeah it'll be interesting to see how things play out when Analogue ventures into consoles from manufacturers that are no longer in the console game. They may be less squeamish about ROM loading if they can get a good licensing deal out of it. AtGames even released an officially licensed portable Genesis player that had an SD card slot and advertised the ability to load ROMs:

 

[jamon1567]

 

I'd like to get into the Neo Geo scene, I just can't just the cost. So for me, it's appealing.

 

To expand on what I was getting at, there are two possible customers for an FPGA NeoGeo. Someone who is on the fence about getting into the scene, and someone who already is. For the person on the fence, the barrier to entry would be the Analogue NeoGeo, lets say at least ~$400 (a wild guess, but you see how much the rom carts go for....), a rom cart ~$400 and a controller or two, price dependent on how you want to approach that. So you're looking at about a grand after shipping and other costs. I just don't see many of those people deciding to finally take the plunge if they haven't already.

 

The second set of possible customers are those already in the scene who already have equipment and carts. NeoGeo's are basically collectors items, and a lot of people in the scene are in fact collectors. I don't see many of those people tossing out their old systems to replace them with an FPGA. Some may supplement their setup with one, but again, without the ability to load roms, I still think the audience would be limited.

[Nomenclature]

What is confusing to me is that the Nt Mini is out of stock and Analogue doesn't mention any interest in restocking it. Does that mean that Analogue will produce a cheaper Nt Mini? I can't see them having Kevtris write an NES FPGA and then run it out of stock and be finished with it.

 

If Analogue doesn't want to allow more cores on the Super Nt, then why not sell them instead of give them away for free? I'd be more than willing to pay for each core especially an NES one. If Kevtris wrote the cores on his own time then maybe he and Analogue could make an agreement for a 70/30 split or something similar.

 

Of course, the most ideal is to release the cores for free and build more good will with the customers

 

It's not confusing if you realize the Super NT will run all the cores and thus there will be no more NT mini's (makes them obsolete).

 

None of that is in any way evidence of a jailbreak coming. If it is for YOU, that's your own speculation based on fantasy interpretation.

 

That doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

 

This.

 

It's all 100% evidence to support the cores being released. You must not know the definition of the word... You can use evidence to support your theory (they aren't releasing cores for it because....business?), and we'll see who was right in a couple weeks.

 

Just my opinion as of 2/8/18:

 

3. I am expecting to receive a Super Nt that functions as advertised.

 

4. I would love to find out a week from now that additional 16bit cores are being released for free in an unofficial firmware update. I would love if this update also allowed copy Snes and direct rom read for Snes games.

 

5. I would be slightly disappointed if point 4 doesnt happen, but that is based solely on my personal expectations.

 

6. I would like to see Analogue market a plastic, HDMI only NT Mini that remains an 8bit console. (Not for me, for others.)

 

7. I would like to see Analogue NT Mini remain an 8bit console and have Super NT become a 16bit console. I am not looking to have the Super NT replace my NT Mini. (Mainly because I enjoy OEM Nintendo controllers.

 

 

Thanks again to Kevtris and Analogue. I absolutely love my NT Mini and so do my kids. (My wife, not so much.) I cant wait to get my Super Nt. The excitement has reached a fever pitch.

 

Kevtris has already said the system won't support any other 16 bit systems, at least anytime soon. But he mysteriously didn't mention it wouldn't support 8 bit systems or snes cores at the same time....hmm, wonder why? Why waste time producing and selling a cheap NT mini when they can just sell more Super NT's by releasing all the same cores for it?

 

 

 

Get over yourself. They are selling a sub $200 HDMI ready SNES. If that's too pricey and not featured enough for you, don't buy it. Anything added later would be like getting a free T-shirt.

 

It's better for them that they say nothing. Because if they even hint it MIGHT play roms, and later they don't enable that... You folks would go nuts and turn that into "but you said it would!!". "Scammer!". I've been in this hobby too long, so don't try and tell me for one second that wouldn't happen. Entitled whiners do as entitled whiners do.

 

Why not just say it won't support them then and then it'll be a surprise when it does? They could prevent all this (if they weren't releasing cores for it), by simply saying they're not. And I don't really care, either I keep my NT mini, Sd2Snes, and modded snes jr, or I keep my Super NT. I play all the same games either way. Would just be nice to have it all-in-one with 1000$ in my pocket. Ebay is easy. 200$ hdmi snes? no thanks. 200$ hdmi snes that plays roms? yes please...

 

 

And there you have it :-)

 

A Neo Geo FPGA system only makes sense if it outspokenly plays roms, hence it will not happen.

 

You mean like the NT mini? (500$ nintendo that doesn't play roms?) lol. Or a 200$ genesis that doesn't play roms? I'm sure that'll be a great seller too. If they establish a track record with a snes core for the super nt, it'd be pretty obvious why you want an FPGA neo geo or an FPGA genesis with Sega CD support.

 

Ive noticed many people here and on Twitter offering possible names for future Analogue products such as Mega NT. NT stands for Nintendo, so it makes more sense for possible future consoles to be called Analogue SG, Analogue NG, or Analogue NT Boy for a portable console. Just putting this out there as it has become a pet peeve of mine.

 

So much this. Kinda hard to take anyone seriously when they're predicting a Mega Nintendo.

Edited February 8, 2018 by Nomenclature

[Nomenclature]

 

To expand on what I was getting at, there are two possible customers for an FPGA NeoGeo. Someone who is on the fence about getting into the scene, and someone who already is. For the person on the fence, the barrier to entry would be the Analogue NeoGeo, lets say at least ~$400 (a wild guess, but you see how much the rom carts go for....), a rom cart ~$400 and a controller or two, price dependent on how you want to approach that. So you're looking at about a grand after shipping and other costs. I just don't see many of those people deciding to finally take the plunge if they haven't already.

 

The second set of possible customers are those already in the scene who already have equipment and carts. NeoGeo's are basically collectors items, and a lot of people in the scene are in fact collectors. I don't see many of those people tossing out their old systems to replace them with an FPGA. Some may supplement their setup with one, but again, without the ability to load roms, I still think the audience would be limited.

 

What if it costs 200$ and plays roms? Like the Super NT?

 

That being said, all signs do point to the next product being a Genesis, one that plays Sega CD and 32x Roms as well. The only killer app for a potential genesis would be an ODE for Sega CD really. Everything else is much cheaper to accomplish already (genesis hardware is cheap with built-in RGB, flash cards are cheap). Will be interesting how they integrate the actual hardware into this equation though (releasing a product with a CD drive in 2018? really?), seeing as they want to be known as playing actual software, first and foremost. Neo Geo would be a lot easier in this regard.

Edited February 8, 2018 by Nomenclature

[jamon1567]

 

It's not confusing if you realize the Super NT will run all the cores and thus there will be no more NT mini's (makes them obsolete).

 

 

It's all 100% evidence to support the cores being released. You must not know the definition of the word... You can use evidence to support your theory (they aren't releasing cores for it because....business?), and we'll see who was right in a couple weeks.

 

 

Kevtris has already said the system won't support any other 16 bit systems, at least anytime soon. But he mysteriously didn't mention it wouldn't support 8 bit systems or snes cores at the same time....hmm, wonder why? Why waste time producing and selling a cheap NT mini when they can just sell more Super NT's by releasing all the same cores for it?

 

 

Why not just say it won't support them then and then it'll be a surprise when it does? They could prevent all this (if they weren't releasing cores for it), by simply saying they're not. And I don't really care, either I keep my NT mini, Sd2Snes, and modded snes jr, or I keep my Super NT. I play all the same games either way. Would just be nice to have it all-in-one with 1000$ in my pocket. Ebay is easy. 200$ hdmi snes? no thanks. 200$ hdmi snes that plays roms? yes please...

 

 

You mean like the NT mini? (500$ nintendo that doesn't play roms?) lol. Or a 200$ genesis that doesn't play roms? I'm sure that'll be a great seller too. If they establish a track record with a snes core for the super nt, it'd be pretty obvious why you want an FPGA neo geo or an FPGA genesis with Sega CD support.

 

 

So much this. Kinda hard to take anyone seriously when they're predicting a Mega Nintendo.

 

The NT Mini justified the cost (even without the jailbreak) because of all of the options and also because building an HDMI NES that can also output RGB is incredibly expensive. Still, without the jailbreak the audience would have been much more limited.

[jamon1567]

 

What if it costs 200$ and plays roms? Like the Super NT?

 

That being said, all signs do point to the next product being a Genesis, one that plays Sega CD and 32x Roms as well. The only killer app for a potential genesis would be an ODE for Sega CD really. Everything else is much cheaper to accomplish already (genesis hardware is cheap with built-in RGB, flash cards are cheap). Will be interesting how they integrate the actual hardware into this equation though (releasing a product with a CD drive in 2018? really?), seeing as they want to be known as playing actual software, first and foremost. Neo Geo would be a lot easier in this regard.

 

Well I don't think they'll be able to produce such a unit for $200, but even if it were to cost $400 it would still be worth it.....if it plays roms.

[cfillak]

 

What if it costs 200$ and plays roms? Like the Super NT?

 

That being said, all signs do point to the next product being a Genesis, one that plays Sega CD and 32x Roms as well. The only killer app for a potential genesis would be an ODE for Sega CD really. Everything else is much cheaper to accomplish already (genesis hardware is cheap with built-in RGB, flash cards are cheap). Will be interesting how they integrate the actual hardware into this equation though (releasing a product with a CD drive in 2018? really?), seeing as they want to be known as playing actual software, first and foremost. Neo Geo would be a lot easier in this regard.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/242970-fpga-based-videogame-system/page-137?do=findComment&comment=3839494

 

Sega CD is much more than just a CD interface for the original Genesis hardware, it's basically a second Genesis. Yes it'd be amazing to finally get the mythical all-in-one Sega Neptune of our dreams, but we should be realistic.

Edited February 8, 2018 by cfillak

[RabidWookie]

Will be interesting how they integrate the actual hardware into this equation though (releasing a product with a CD drive in 2018? really?), seeing as they want to be known as playing actual software, first and foremost.

Why is a console with a CD drive in 2018 more outlandish than a console with a port for 25-year-old cartridges in 2018?

[narshe]

Why is a console with a CD drive in 2018 more outlandish than a console with a port for 25-year-old cartridges in 2018?

 

Because there are moving parts and have a lot more potential to break.

[Nomenclature]

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/242970-fpga-based-videogame-system/page-137?do=findComment&comment=3839494

 

ahh that's interesting. Analogue NG looking more and more likely I'd say.

 

 

Why is a console with a CD drive in 2018 more outlandish than a console with a port for 25-year-old cartridges in 2018?

moving parts

[RabidWookie]

The technology behind CD drives is mature and time tested. Making a flip top cd drive in 2018 is cheap and it'd be plenty durable. I have boom boxes with CD drives that have been kicked all over beaches for 30 years and they still work perfectly. It's tray drives that have extraneous moving parts that tend to cause issues.

Edited February 8, 2018 by RabidWookie

[DadsGlasses]

For me, the reason for keeping the NT Mini around is for Carts and Controllers without the need for adapters. Keep NT Mini 8 Bit.

 

Just my opinion.

 

 

 

It's not confusing if you realize the Super NT will run all the cores and thus there will be no more NT mini's (makes them obsolete).

 

 

It's all 100% evidence to support the cores being released. You must not know the definition of the word... You can use evidence to support your theory (they aren't releasing cores for it because....business?), and we'll see who was right in a couple weeks.

 

 

Kevtris has already said the system won't support any other 16 bit systems, at least anytime soon. But he mysteriously didn't mention it wouldn't support 8 bit systems or snes cores at the same time....hmm, wonder why? Why waste time producing and selling a cheap NT mini when they can just sell more Super NT's by releasing all the same cores for it?

 

 

Why not just say it won't support them then and then it'll be a surprise when it does? They could prevent all this (if they weren't releasing cores for it), by simply saying they're not. And I don't really care, either I keep my NT mini, Sd2Snes, and modded snes jr, or I keep my Super NT. I play all the same games either way. Would just be nice to have it all-in-one with 1000$ in my pocket. Ebay is easy. 200$ hdmi snes? no thanks. 200$ hdmi snes that plays roms? yes please...

 

 

You mean like the NT mini? (500$ nintendo that doesn't play roms?) lol. Or a 200$ genesis that doesn't play roms? I'm sure that'll be a great seller too. If they establish a track record with a snes core for the super nt, it'd be pretty obvious why you want an FPGA neo geo or an FPGA genesis with Sega CD support.

 

 

So much this. Kinda hard to take anyone seriously when they're predicting a Mega Nintendo.

[RabidWookie]

An NES core on the Super NT isn't a replacement for the NT Mini for people that want to use original carts and controllers. From a business sense, Analogue would be smarter to release a plastic NT Mini than cart & controller adapters for the Super NT. It'd also be a cleaner solution, because who wants to keep a bunch of adapters lying around to be swapped in and out?

[DadsGlasses]

Agree 100%

 

An NES core on the Super NT isn't a replacement for the NT Mini for people that want to use original carts and controllers. From a business sense, Analogue would be smarter to release a plastic NT Mini than cart & controller adapters for the Super NT. It'd also be a cleaner solution, because who wants to keep a bunch of adapters lying around to be swapped in and out?

[Sho]

 

They never hinted at anything core related because they refuse to answer the question. As I explained, lying by omission is still lying. They are free to lie to their customers to temporarily sell more units if they choose, but it is unethical. And relegating the core question to some fringe element of customers is ridiculous. Anyone with half a brain is wondering if you can play roms off that SD slot, same as with the NT mini.

 

Why wouldnt I just sell it on ebay?

 

Youre right, analogue didnt promise me anything, something I never claimed.

 

Im not worried. All evidence points to a core release, so I doubt Ill be selling it off anytime soon. More likely Ill be selling my sd2snes, modded jr and nt mini in a couple of weeks.

 

And you're full of it. Your idea of "lying by omission" is wholly flawed and you just don't understand or get it. Kevtris doesn't work on your schedule -- he doesn't have to talk about anything concerning a possible jailbreak around a time that YOU expect.

 

Also the idea that Analogue has anything to do with the jailbreak is also flawed thinking. If this happens, this will be done completely by Kevtris as a person and not Analogue the company. From the last time the Core Store was released with the Nt Mini, Kevtris put out a small statement along with it:

 

 

Please note that using the jailbroken firmware will NOT affect your product warranty, but it IS totally unsupported by Analogue! So don't contact them with questions about the jailbroken firmware.

 

This exact scenario will happen again when and if the Core Store is released on the Super NT as well. This is also why your idea of "lying by omission" is wrong -- Analogue has sold you an SNES, not an all in one FPGA core box. No one here should be purchasing it with the hopes that this happens at all. Nor should they blame Analogue if it doesn't happen.

 

Again -- just so you can get it, this is not something that would be supported by Analogue as a company. You were promised no cores. You were only given an HD SNES as far as they are concerned.

 

With that said, I see no reason why Kevtris WOULDN'T release a Core Store anyways -- he seems to be a very patient man, and is likely not annoucing anything until he properly ports it over to the Super NT or takes care of any number of bugs in the current official firmware or what have you.

[Great Hierophant]

My body is ready :

 

[nasta18]

Delete

Edited February 8, 2018 by nasta18

[Toth]

In the future they should release a combined system.

 

It could have three cartridge connectors on the top and two each of super Nintendo and Nintendo controller connectors on the front and play both Nintendo and Super Nintendo games. (For good measure they could add nes/snes classic controller connectors as well).

 

Just imagine the frankenstein of a system they could have in like 20 years if they released a bunch of different systems and combined them into one with controller ports for all of them I'd buy a couple.