FPGA Based Videogame System

[Razzie.P]

https://www.destructoid.com/analogue-restock-super-nt-mega-sg-dac-august-2021/

 

New restock in a couple of days for Super NT and Mega SG, according to that article.

[8th lutz]

19 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

https://www.destructoid.com/analogue-restock-super-nt-mega-sg-dac-august-2021/

 

New restock in a couple of days for Super NT and Mega SG, according to that article.

Good thing I already own them because I do want to go against people that order 2 Super NT systems.

 

Hopefully Analogue does not allow stuff like people buying  2 Analogue Duo systems when it is time to pre-order the Analogue Duo. 

Edited August 7, 2021 by 8th lutz

[Hydro Thunder]

I am pondering this quite sincerely, though I'm not of a mind to spend the $ currently...

I have and ADORE the Mega SG currently; jailbroken with all the hacks and Coleco cores added, it looks and sounds absolutely amazing and does so much.

Considering the Super NT... but have a Snes Classic that I've added games to and that honestly looks wonderful in 720p.  Also have an original Snes that looks frankly amazing on my 13" GXTV.

But that said...that Super NT looks fantastic also.  Off hand (being lazy, sorry!), what are the additional cores for the Super NT?  

[Razzie.P]

6 minutes ago, Hydro Thunder said:

Off hand (being lazy, sorry!), what are the additional cores for the Super NT?  

Cores Supported
SNES/SFC, SPC

 

?

 

It's a pretty nifty machine, but I've seen a lot of people get pretty disappointed over the "lack of core support."  I'm not one of them, as I'm fond of it "as is" but that's what's listed on the jailbreak page.

[Hydro Thunder]

1 hour ago, Razzie.P said:

Cores Supported
SNES/SFC, SPC

 

?

 

It's a pretty nifty machine, but I've seen a lot of people get pretty disappointed over the "lack of core support."  I'm not one of them, as I'm fond of it "as is" but that's what's listed on the jailbreak page.

Thank you, that's what I suspected from cursory looks online.

Dang, do I wish that either the Super Nt or the Mega Sg had 2600 / 7800 cores.  I've got a Harmony cart but still, playing those libraries on either of those FPGA consoles would be incredible.

And no I don't want to spend the current asking price on the Noir

[Steven Pendleton]

5 hours ago, Hydro Thunder said:

I am pondering this quite sincerely, though I'm not of a mind to spend the $ currently...

I have and ADORE the Mega SG currently; jailbroken with all the hacks and Coleco cores added, it looks and sounds absolutely amazing and does so much.

Considering the Super NT... but have a Snes Classic that I've added games to and that honestly looks wonderful in 720p.  Also have an original Snes that looks frankly amazing on my 13" GXTV.

But that said...that Super NT looks fantastic also.  Off hand (being lazy, sorry!), what are the additional cores for the Super NT?  

Depending on what carts you have already, the Super Nt might not be as useful as you might think, as you can't run some games with certain helper chips from the SD card. I'm not sure which games those are due to my own ignorance of the system, but I imagine that most of them are things that are relatively cheap like Star Fox, which I'm seeing on ebay for like $20 or so. Depending on what you want to do, it might be cheaper to get the SD2SNES Pro or whatever it's called now if you don't have one already instead of buying all of the carts, but if you do have one of those currently, there you go.

[Atariboy]

Most of what the Super Nt jailbreak doesn't support that people tend to care about are the SA-1 (Super Mario RPG and Kirby's Super Star are two notables) and Super FX chips (Star Fox and Yoshi's Island are the leading examples).

 

Many of the other enhancement chips like the popular DSP-1 (Super Mario Kart & Pilotwings) and Mega Man X2/X3's CX-4 chip are implemented. 

Edited August 8, 2021 by Atariboy

[roots.genoa]

It was basically because of a "lack of space" in the FPGA chip, but remember the Super Nt is officially supposed to be used with cartridges, not ROMs. Besides, the most recent flashcarts actually emulate those chips anyway (often using FPGA ironically). Regarding the supported cores, I guess the Super Nt could have been compatible with the Game Boy, as the Mega Sg is compatible with the Master System thanks to the included adapter, but I assume you can use a Super Game Boy on a Super Nt anyway. The reason why ColecoVision games also work on the Mega Sg is its hardware is almost identical to the SG-1000's.

 

On Monday I should come home right before the restock, so I hope I'm gonna be able to get a Mega Sg. I kinda regret missing on the limited white version now... Funnily the white M30 is still available on Analogue store, while it's difficult to find even a regular 2.4g M30 at Amazon (in France at least). I still got the Bluetooth one but I don't think it's compatible. I'm still not sure what color I'm gonna choose for the Mega Sg since the difference is quite subtle; I may pick the one that will be left when the store starts working again.

[Steven Pendleton]

2 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

I still got the Bluetooth one but I don't think it's compatible.

It is, but you need to have the receiver for it (sold separately, I believe).

[roots.genoa]

1 minute ago, Steven Pendleton said:

It is, but you need to have the receiver for it (sold separately, I believe).

It it the generic USB one or do you need a DB9 one for the Mega Sg?

[Steven Pendleton]

5 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

It it the generic USB one or do you need a DB9 one for the Mega Sg?

Pretty sure it has its own special DB9 one that's designed just for the controller. Should also work on real hardware, but not sure if it works on other stuff like a Mark III, Master System, or 2600.

[Bod2019]

I’m kinda interested in the Super NT, been waiting due a restock, I have the Mega SG with Retro-Bit Sega 6 button wired pads.

 

So my question, can anyone recommend good quality wired SNES pads?  I prefer wired and have been very happy with the retro bit Sega offering, I’d prefer new pads (I appreciate I can get original SNES pads on eBay).

 

Worse case scenario I’d go for the 8-bit-do’s, but I want to avoid wireless really.

[narshe]

50 minutes ago, Bod2019 said:

I’m kinda interested in the Super NT, been waiting due a restock, I have the Mega SG with Retro-Bit Sega 6 button wired pads.

 

So my question, can anyone recommend good quality wired SNES pads?  I prefer wired and have been very happy with the retro bit Sega offering, I’d prefer new pads (I appreciate I can get original SNES pads on eBay).

 

Worse case scenario I’d go for the 8-bit-do’s, but I want to avoid wireless really.

The only good SNES controller for sale these days is the 8bitdo ones. They feel pretty close to the original. If you have or are able to get SNES Classic controllers, you can get a raphnet adapter. Those seem to be identical to the original. I'm a new controller person too. I had watches on SFC controllers for years and would pick them up any time I found a new one for $30ish. If you're patient, that's not a bad option.

[Steven Pendleton]

6 hours ago, Bod2019 said:

I’m kinda interested in the Super NT, been waiting due a restock, I have the Mega SG with Retro-Bit Sega 6 button wired pads.

 

So my question, can anyone recommend good quality wired SNES pads?  I prefer wired and have been very happy with the retro bit Sega offering, I’d prefer new pads (I appreciate I can get original SNES pads on eBay).

 

Worse case scenario I’d go for the 8-bit-do’s, but I want to avoid wireless really.

OEM PAL SNES controllers are still the best option. No dented buttons like the NA controllers and the PAL controllers have a longer cable than the really short ~1 meter long cable on SFC controllers. Most of 8BitDo's Nintendo controllers have an absolutely terrible d-pad and I recommend staying away from them for that reason. I have 4 of them and they're all very disappointing. I've heard that the newer ones have been fixed, but I've also heard that they have not been fixed, so I'm not sure what to believe. M30 2.4g is excellent and highly recommended, though that's for a different system.

[Bod2019]

Thanks for the replies everyone.  I’ve managed to secure aSuper NT and DAC, I’ll have a look through eBay, might have to consider some OEM controllers.

[newtmonkey]

The 8bitdo controllers are generally somewhat poor.  Their original SNES pad was horrible, but their latest controller is a decent improvement.  They are fine for platformers, but for anything requiring 8-way (or even 4-way) movement, they behave very differently from genuine SNES controllers.

 

I would recommend getting an 8bitdo BT receiver, and pairing it with a Wiimote connected to an original SNES pad over a Raphnet adapter.  Another option is to use the 8bitdo BT receiver, Wiimote, and Wii SNES controller (or SNES classic controller, tho I haven't tried this and can't vouch for it).

[Steven Pendleton]

11 hours ago, newtmonkey said:

Their original SNES pad was horrible

Oh man was that thing terrible. Like the thing is almost completely unusable unless you are playing a game that doesn't require the d-pad at all and I'm not sure how many of those games exist.

 

11 hours ago, newtmonkey said:

but their latest controller is a decent improvement.

I have heard this as well. Think it's worth trying one of the new ones? I'm using SFC controllers right now because that's what I have and have access to locally. Good thing I play games at my desk with the system about 2 feet away from me. I don't like having a cable in the way, though, as the short distance means I typically have a cable wrapped around various things just to prevent it from getting in the way or getting stuck under the wheels on my chair, so I'm still interested in using wireless controllers.

 

Still, there is one thing that I have not tried, which is using other controllers with the 8BitDo Bluetooth receiver. I'm sure that using a PS4 controller's some sort of blasphemy or heresy or whatever and I'm sure someone will let me know, but I might try it, as the PS4 controller is pretty nice aside from the battery life.

Edited August 10, 2021 by Steven Pendleton

[newtmonkey]

@Steven Pendleton

I really wouldn't bother with their latest SNES/SFC controller.  The first one I ordered was defective out of the box, with the right direction on the pad requiring 50% more pressure to activate, which made all games basically unplayable.  The replacement I got was not defective, but the diagonals are still strange, requiring more pressure than the four cardinal directions to activate.  It makes playing any game with 8-way movement a pain.  Even 4-way movement is annoying, since the dpad does not behave/react the same as an original genuine controller when rolling from L/R to U/D.

[Steven Pendleton]

1 hour ago, newtmonkey said:

@Steven Pendleton

I really wouldn't bother with their latest SNES/SFC controller.  The first one I ordered was defective out of the box, with the right direction on the pad requiring 50% more pressure to activate, which made all games basically unplayable.  The replacement I got was not defective, but the diagonals are still strange, requiring more pressure than the four cardinal directions to activate.  It makes playing any game with 8-way movement a pain.  Even 4-way movement is annoying, since the dpad does not behave/react the same as an original genuine controller when rolling from L/R to U/D.

Figures. You'd think that they'd be able to figure out how d-pads are supposed to work, especially after the excellent d-pad on the M30, but apparently not. I suppose I'll try a DS4 with the Bluetooth receiver just for fun.

 

I just remembered the N30 2.4g that came with the Noir. I always forget that I have that controller. That one's good and seems perfectly fine, but I can't say how it is compared to a real FC or NES controller, as I've never used those.

Edited August 10, 2021 by Steven Pendleton

[newtmonkey]

The N30 2.4g is alright, but the diagonals require noticeable more pressure to activate compared with the 4 cardinal directions.  Having said that, as long as you use enough pressure, the diagonals are very accurate.

[Bod2019]

Thanks for everyone’s feedback, I opted for a pair of OEM’s I found on eBay, someone was selling a pair, photos look promising, but proof will be in testing.

 

£30 for two, this hobby is starting to get pricey as that retro bandwagon keeps on rolling.

[Steven Pendleton]

1 hour ago, newtmonkey said:

The N30 2.4g is alright, but the diagonals require noticeable more pressure to activate compared with the 4 cardinal directions.  Having said that, as long as you use enough pressure, the diagonals are very accurate.

Now that you've mentioned it, I don't think I've ever played a game on the system that actually uses diagonals. It's basically just a $500 Akumajou Densetsu machine and nothing else.

[narshe]

 

12 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

I'm using SFC controllers right now because that's what I have and have access to locally. Good thing I play games at my desk with the system about 2 feet away from me.

I've used and had good luck with extension cables for SFC controllers. No lag as far as I can tell.

[Ricdeau]

12 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Figures. You'd think that they'd be able to figure out how d-pads are supposed to work, especially after the excellent d-pad on the M30, but apparently not. I suppose I'll try a DS4 with the Bluetooth receiver just for fun.

 

I just remembered the N30 2.4g that came with the Noir. I always forget that I have that controller. That one's good and seems perfectly fine, but I can't say how it is compared to a real FC or NES controller, as I've never used those.

I got the SF30 2.4Ghz controllers to replace the awful SF30 bluetooth controllers I got with my Super Nt. They have been extremely good so far. I haven't had quite the same experience as newtmonkey with mine. I got mine when they came out, but that's not to say there isn't variance from run to run or if they have multiple suppliers. They are not quite as good as original SNES/SFC dpads, but they are close enough for me to be happy. Some of the stiffness will go away with a bit of break-in, but I never found the stiffness to be of any hinderance personally. Sometimes it's easy to forget how used our old SNES/SFC controllers are.

 

It's amazing how many controllers have trash dpads these days especially when it comes to Nintendo. Obviously the Switch Pro dpad is as bad as the older 8bitdo dpads, but my SNES Classic dpad was also nothing to write home about. MS has never understood the dpad apparently. I've always liked Playstation dpads for the most part.

[Atariboy]

Someone on YouTube that did a review of the latest SNES gamepad from 8BitDo, actually found a good use for the original SN30. He had the clever idea to make use of the shell of the original, swapping in the innards of the new 2.4g controller.

 

He ended up with the best of both worlds. A working d-pad, low lag 2.4g wireless, and a very nice looking SNES gamepad shell that looks 1st party at a glance (From before 8BitDo decided that they perhaps were risking attention from Nintendo's legal department by copying the aesthetics too closely).

 

 

The shell shown above (And the Super Famicom/Euro style counterpart) were the only thing people seemed to like about the original SN30's.

 

At least the Bluetooth Retro Receiver from those 1st generation controllers has a good use these days as well. One can connect 8BitDo's nice arcade stick to those, unlike the 'controller-locked' 2.4g receivers that only work with the controller type that they were sold with. But since the original SN30 is Bluetooth and all of 8BitDo's Bluetooth controllers can connect to any 8BitDo Bluetooth receiver, the new 8BitDo arcade stick can connect to it when set to Bluetooth mode (Albeit with a tad of input lag that may or may not be noticeable depending on one's setup and sensitivity).

Edited August 10, 2021 by Atariboy