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FPGA Based Videogame System


kevtris

Interest in an FPGA Videogame System  

682 members have voted

  1. 1. I would pay....

  2. 2. I Would Like Support for...

  3. 3. Games Should Run From...

    • SD Card / USB Memory Sticks
    • Original Cartridges
    • Hopes and Dreams
  4. 4. The Video Inteface Should be...


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Some of you guys seem to forget about third party cores on the Pocket.   If for whatever reason you find a GBA game via Kevtris's core that doesn't work, well you'll likely have FPGAZumSpass's GBA core to switch to which seems to play 99.9% of all GBA games extremely well.  Not to mention all the other great open source cores that will most likely get ported.  The open source Neo-Geo, NES, SNES, TG-16+CD and Genesis cores are top of the crop.

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19 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

Some of you guys seem to forget about third party cores on the Pocket.   If for whatever reason you find a GBA game via Kevtris's core that doesn't work, well you'll likely have FPGAZumSpass's GBA core to switch to which seems to play 99.9% of all GBA games extremely well.  Not to mention all the other great open source cores that will most likely get ported.  The open source Neo-Geo, NES, SNES, TG-16+CD and Genesis cores are top of the crop.

I don't really think Analogue relying on other devs to make ports of the cores it offers that fix the problems they may in theory have is an acceptable compromise to just fixing it themselves though, especially when it's far from certain they'll get ported in the first place. Unless you're aware of those devs committing to it. I don't follow discord so it's possible you know something I don't.

Edited by jamon1567
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4 minutes ago, jamon1567 said:

I don't really think Analogue relying on other devs to make ports of the cores it offers that fix the problems they may in theory have is an acceptable compromise to just fixing it themselves though, especially when it's far from certain they'll get ported in the first place. Unless you're aware of those devs committing to it. I don't follow discord so it's possible you know something I don't.

Dev kits are free to those who get accepted to the program and I'm at least aware of two devs who have shown interest in the Pocket.  Jotego and FPGAZumSpass. 

Oh, and they will get ported.  The idea of playing those awesome FPGA cores in a handheld is too alluring to ignore.  

Edited by SegaSnatcher
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1 hour ago, SegaSnatcher said:

Evercade is a software emulator handheld with latency.  Software Emulator handhelds are a dime a dozen.  

Pocket will be a much better built system hardware wise, the screen with likely be better too even if its smaller. 

Just did more research on the Evercade.  Pocket has better battery life too.   6 - 10 hrs vs Evercades 4 - 5 hrs.  Not to mention the D-Pad on the Evercade looks pretty awful, like found on those cheap third party controllers. The whole thing just looks super cheap. 
 

What are you, their spokesperson? I want a larger screen, not it's life story. Maybe if it had a bigger screen and FPGA lived up to its hype it would be worth it.

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23 minutes ago, Swami said:

What are you, their spokesperson? I want a larger screen, not it's life story. Maybe if FPGA lived up to its hype it would be worth it.

FPGA does live up to its hype if you understand the underlying tech and what benefits it brings.  Which FPGA systems have you owned or tried?  Not saying FPGA is flawless, nothing is, but it does offer benefits like extremely low latency and great scaling compared to cheaper products based on software emulation.

Screen quality is more important than screen size.   I 100% guarantee you that the Pocket's LCD smokes the one in the Evercade in terms of contrast and color reproduction. Plus it supports VRR.   

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19 hours ago, ApolloBoy said:

That's actually a system itself, the Neo-Geo never had an 8-button stick.

 

17 hours ago, SegaSnatcher said:

Yeah that isn't for a real Neo-Geo.   No Neo-Geo game used more than 4 buttons.  

Thanks, my mistake. I could have sworn I had seen 8 button controllers back in the day, but I might have been remembering a different system platform.

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15 minutes ago, Swami said:

Screen is still way to small. Maybe I'd pay $50 for something with a 3 inch screen in 2020.

Its 3.5"  and people are already paying around $150 for modded IPS GB DMG, GBC and GBA consoles with a smaller screen and a lot less functionality.  In fact, I am one of these people as I bought a IPS modded GBA 3 weeks ago lol.

If they opted for a bigger screen then the Pocket wouldn't be $199.99, or alternatively they go bigger but use a lower quality screen.   Can't have both larger screen and high quality and expect the same $199.99 price point. Also, finding an LCD that is an integer resolution of original GB and GBC hardware is probably not very easy.  They probably have very few choices.

Saying you'd only pay $50 for an FPGA handheld because its using a 3.5" screen tells me you don't really understand what is actually inside the Pocket.  $200 is a pretty sweet price for what you are getting.  

Lastly, you forgot to mention what FPGA consoles you've owned or tried, I'm very curious since you said they didn't live up to the hype for you.

Edited by SegaSnatcher
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5 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

Its 3.5"  and people are already paying around $150 for modded IPS GB DMG, GBC and GBA consoles with a smaller screen and a lot less functionality.  In fact, I am one of these people as I bought a IPS modded GBA 3 weeks ago lol.

If they opted for a bigger screen then the Pocket wouldn't be $199.99, or alternatively they go bigger but use a lower quality screen.   Can't have both larger screen and high quality and expect the same $199.99 price point.

Saying you'd only pay $50 for an FPGA handheld because its using a 3.5" screen tells me you don't really understand what is actually inside the Pocket.  $200 is a pretty sweet price for what you are getting.  

your a known troll banned from multiple threads. This must be your bridge. I'll just round-file your opinion.

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16 minutes ago, Swami said:

your a known troll banned from multiple threads. I'll just round-file your opinion

Randomly calling someone a troll is trolling.   We were just having a discussion and you now start name calling.  Pretty sure that is against forum rules, so you should probably read them again and come back.  Thank You.   

BTW, I've already apologized and payed the price for my aggressive opinions that got me banned from those threads.  So bringing that up is rather weak as I've been on good behavior ever since.   

Edited by SegaSnatcher
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I think the Pocket is looking pretty great. Not sure I will get one but I've liked what I've seen so far. 3.5 may seem small but I've played detailed PS1 games on my Rpi handheld with a screen that size with no problems. But I'm not 40 yet and I've been told that's when my vision will explode. So my days of being okay with 3.5 might be slowly nearing their end.

Edited by MrBeefy
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1 minute ago, MrBeefy said:

I think the Pocket is looking pretty great. Not sure I will get one but I've liked what I've seen so far. 3.5 may seem small but I've played detailed PS1 games on my Rpi handheld with a screen that size with no problems. But I'm not 40 yet and I've been told that's when my vision will explode. So my days of being okay with 3.5 might be slowly nearing their end.

Imagine if Analogue wen't full nostalgia and offered a magnifying glass add on lol.  I actually owned one of those for my OG DMG.

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8 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

Imagine if Analogue wen't full nostalgia and offered a magnifying glass add on lol.  I actually owned one of those for my OG DMG.

Man I had a magnifying screen for my Gameboy Pocket. The only bad thing was it blocked the light from above, but had a light on it to help with that. It still really blocked too much light but was good for late night gaming.

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34 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Man I had a magnifying screen for my Gameboy Pocket. The only bad thing was it blocked the light from above, but had a light on it to help with that. It still really blocked too much light but was good for late night gaming.

At least the Gameboy Pocket's LCD was bigger than the DMG and it didn't have as bad motion while scrolling.  So just that was a pretty nice improvement even though it still wasn't front/backlit, well at least not the EU/NA version.  I believe the Gameboy Pocket Light was limited to Japan correct?

BTW, here's my IPS modded GBA that will arrive soon.  Can't wait.   Should hold me over until Pocket arrives.

 

image0 (1).jpg

Edited by SegaSnatcher
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42 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

At least the Gameboy Pocket's LCD was bigger than the DMG and it didn't have as bad motion while scrolling.  So just that was a pretty nice improvement even though it still wasn't front/backlit, well at least not the EU/NA version.  I believe the Gameboy Pocket Light was limited to Japan correct?

BTW, here's my IPS modded GBA that will arrive soon.  Can't wait.   Should hold me over until Pocket arrives.

 

image0 (1).jpg

Yeah Japan was the only one that got the lite. I think the GB Pockets screen was even bigger than Gameboy Color's screen. It would be nice having a screen like that. I really want to see how crazy the screen is on the A Pocket.

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4 hours ago, SegaSnatcher said:

At least the Gameboy Pocket's LCD was bigger than the DMG and it didn't have as bad motion while scrolling.  So just that was a pretty nice improvement even though it still wasn't front/backlit, well at least not the EU/NA version.  I believe the Gameboy Pocket Light was limited to Japan correct?

BTW, here's my IPS modded GBA that will arrive soon.  Can't wait.   Should hold me over until Pocket arrives.

 

image0 (1).jpg

Careful..You are going to spoil yourself with that.


The GBA AGB-001 model with modified screen is a great setup. It's another reason I'm skipping on the Analogue Pocket. I don't like how GBA games look in ultra high resolution. It loses it's original style, sort of like playing 240p games without scanlines. If you were used to playing them like that then it will seem off. 

 

The other big thing for me is the ergonomics of the GBA vs the GB Pocket. The latter cramps my hands up within a short amount of time. The more comfortable portables are definitely the GG, NGPC, Lynx, PSP, and Vita. Nintendo later reverted back to this orientation after the SP, thankfully. 

 

I bought this for $75 a couple of years ago, and while I still prefer playing on a large display, I have enjoyed it much more than playing on the SP. It's also nice to be able to use AA rechargeable batteries. I don't like the idea of keeping old Lithium Ion batteries in these systems for years and years. 

 

GBA-AGS101-01-vgo-metroid.jpg GBA-AGS101-SMB2-08.jpg

 

GB-SMLand-GBA_Vs_SMLandDX_Vs_SMLand_Emu- GBA-AGS101-Doom-03-vgo.jpg

 

Has Analogue released any photos of the Pocket displaying GBA games?

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4 minutes ago, spoonman said:

Careful..You are going to spoil yourself with that.


The GBA AGB-001 model with modified screen is a great setup. It's another reason I'm skipping on the Analogue Pocket. I don't like how GBA games look in ultra high resolution. It loses it's original style, sort of like playing 240p games without scanlines. If you were used to playing them like that then it will seem off. 

 

The other big thing for me is the ergonomics of the GBA vs the GB Pocket. The latter cramps my hands up within a short amount of time. The more comfortable portables are definitely the GG, NGPC, Lynx, PSP, and Vita. Nintendo later reverted back to this orientation after the SP, thankfully. 

 

I bought this for $75 a couple of years ago, and while I still prefer playing on a large display, I have enjoyed it much more than playing on the SP. It's also nice to be able to use AA rechargeable batteries. I don't like the idea of keeping old Lithium Ion batteries in these systems for years and years. 

 

 Has Analogue released any photos of the Pocket displaying GBA games?

What LCD screen are you using?  AGS 101 or IPS?  Also, what Super Mario Land game is that on the bottom left?   Color Hack?

Edited by SegaSnatcher
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4 hours ago, SegaSnatcher said:

At least the Gameboy Pocket's LCD was bigger than the DMG and it didn't have as bad motion while scrolling.  So just that was a pretty nice improvement even though it still wasn't front/backlit, well at least not the EU/NA version.  I believe the Gameboy Pocket Light was limited to Japan correct?

BTW, here's my IPS modded GBA that will arrive soon.  Can't wait.   Should hold me over until Pocket arrives.

 

image0 (1).jpg

I modded a GBA with the funnyplaying IPS V2 screen and it is so nice.  You will like it a lot. 

EX3fijfWAAEFhT9?format=jpg&name=large

 

EX3fgohXQAIb9XK?format=jpg&name=large

Edited by Toth
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Yep I USED to say the SP-101 was the way to go for GB/GBC/GBA, but now I prefer the original unit specifically for the form factor and AA batteries. 

 

I put a ben heck freckleshack screen in my GBC, and a SP-101 screen in my GBA. The newer IPS stuff looks pretty nice, but I'm pretty much done with them as they look and play fine enough. 

 

SMtbuky.jpg

12 minutes ago, spoonman said:

 It's another reason I'm skipping on the Analogue Pocket. I don't like how GBA games look in ultra high resolution. It loses it's original style, sort of like playing 240p games without scanlines. If you were used to playing them like that then it will seem off.

Well isn't that one of the neat things about the Analogue Pocket is that its resolution is high enough that it can emulate some of the look of the original systems? e.g. gaps in pixels of GB games.  I'm definitely going to try and get one. :)

 

e.g. https://twitter.com/analogue/status/1287764756741292032?s=20

Ed8L0G8U4AESs3q?format=jpg&name=4096x409Ed8L1sxU0AEnQnj?format=jpg&name=4096x409

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4 minutes ago, NE146 said:

Yep I USED to say the SP-101 was the way to go for GB/GBC/GBA, but now I prefer the original unit specifically for the form factor and AA batteries. 

 

I put a ben heck freckleshack screen in my GBC, and a SP-101 screen in my GBA. The newer IPS stuff looks pretty nice, but I'm pretty much done with them as they look and play fine enough. 

 

 

Well isn't that one of the neat things about the Analogue Pocket is that its resolution is high enough that it can emulate some of the look of the original systems? e.g. gaps in pixels of GB games. I'd imagine it'd be able to replicate GBA's screen as well. I'm definitely going to try and get one. :)

 

e.g. https://twitter.com/analogue/status/1287764756741292032?s=20

 

The filters look pretty good, but never quite like the original experience. Which may be a good thing when it comes to the DMG-01. It mainly comes down to comfort while handling it. Had they gone with the GBA style instead of the GB Pocket I would have considered getting it. I am also in my 40's and screen size is becoming more of an issue. If I'm going to buy a new handheld, it needs to be bigger than 3.5". I just can't justify spending $450 on this. Which is what it would cost since I would want the dock ($100), cart adapters ($90), and shipping (probably $50). Then I'd likely miss out on the cart adapters, like I did with the Mega Sg and regret the entire purchase. 

 

11 minutes ago, SegaSnatcher said:

What LCD screen are you using?  AGS 101 or IPS?  Also, what Super Mario Land game is that on the bottom left?   Color Hack?

It's an AGS-101. The IPS are higher resolution and lose the dot pixel pattern. 

 

SML on bottom left is from the Goomba emulator on the GBA, with the wide screen enabled + a preset SML palette.
Here's what Super Mario Land DX color hack looks like:

GB-SMLand-GBA_Vs_SMLandDX_Vs_SMLand_Emu-05.jpg

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33 minutes ago, Swami said:

I'd be good to go if they used the Playstation Vita layout with 5" screen. It would be like my phone.

The problem with that is these retro games are not 16:9 aspect ratio, so you'd be losing most of that screen size by black bars anyways, unless you do the ugly stretch mode.  

Also, don't forget the Pocket's LCD is a perfect 10x integer both horizontal and vertical of the OG GB/GBC which means no interpolation needed for GB and GBC games and grid lines will work perfectly. 

There is a reason they chose the LCD they did.  They wanted something that was native to GB/GBC games and also worked good enough for GBA.   It's all about finding the right compromise.

Also VRR is a very important feature of this LCD as it might allow for native frequencies while in handheld mode.  

 

Edited by SegaSnatcher
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PocketVsGBA.jpg

If you zoom in you see that the Pocket GBA filter is quite a bit different from how games looked on an original GBA. Some day they will get there, but not yet.
 

Are more people buying the Analogue Pocket to play GB/GBC games, or GBA games? I would guess the latter, because GB/GBC emulation has been perfected for years, where as GBA, not so much. Even the PSP struggled with GBA emulation. Going with the 3:2 aspect ratio would give it a full screen image without any black borders on the top/bottom.

GBA-AGS101-04-vgo.jpg

 

 

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I'm really interested in the Pocket and want it to do very well, but I'm passing for these reasons:

 

1. Pay now, get it in a year, maybe?

2. Probably a cool limited edition coming, they did it with all the other systems.

3. How does the plastic feel? Not so important on a console, but very important on a handheld. We only have their consoles to go by so far.

4. How do the d-pad and buttons feel? See #3 above.

5. Does the screen really perform as they claim? It's easy to claim it, but I need some actual hands on reviews first.

6. Orientation does suck worse than horizontal, but I made do with the GB and TurboExpress, I can make do here, but again, need a review first.

7. Price. Actually, I think the price is good for what you get!

 

I think I want one, but I'm not willing to pay now to get something mid-next year. I'll wait, I'm sure if it's popular, they will do a second run. Probably fix a lot of the bugs (hardware wise) if there are any.

 

To those of you pre-ordering, GOOD LUCK ON MONDAY! AND, I'm jealous, I hope it's as awesome as it looks, enjoy it when you get it! I'm not a hater, I want it to be great!

Edited by XtraSmiley
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