FPGA Based Videogame System

[Schizophretard]

With all the speculation that everyone does regarding Analogue's future plans there is one actual quote from Chris Taber (founder):

 

"Meanwhile, Analogue isn’t limiting itself to Nintendo. Up next, Taber says, are plans for every forgotten console released in the years since: Sega Genesis, Atari Jaguar, 3DO, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast. There’s no timeline, but their focus and the interest it’s creating certainly makes a strong case for the conservation of gaming’s history."

(source: http://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/2118165/retro-gaming-gets-21st-century-boost-analogue-consoles )

 

To be honest, I'm a little surprised to see Atari Jaguar and 3DO mentioned, but no TG-16 or Neo Geo.

 

What do you think of that list? What would be your ideal next console(s) for Analogue to tackle?

 

They may not have been listed but the "every forgotten console released in the years since." would cover that. However, it makes me worried that they have no plans for pre-crash systems because it seems like it would have been worded as "every forgotten console released in the years since and before." or just "every forgotten console."

 

My ideal next console would be a no compromises perfect hardware replacement for the SEGA Genesis.

[RadikusRLZ]

S

 

Or using the Framemeister at all when he could just plug an hdmi cable.

If he wants the real "warts and all" experience, why not get an old crusty nes with worn pin connector and even more worn rf switch, a janky crt with maladjusted electron beam and color spots cause by risidual magnetic fields. Blow on the carts until you're blue in the face, then cram that New kids on the block cassette tape on top of the cart to hold the loading tray at half mast, don't even breath on the system once the game loads lest you lose your progress due to sprite corruption, and finally enjoy the jailbars, wavy lines, and snowy reception in that rare instance when the actual game cart behaves...

 

So how i can get composite signal trough hdmi?

I use this for Framemeister, I think you dont know that hdmi is digital signal and you need upscaler to get composite to work with

Edited January 31, 2018 by RadikusRLZ

[RadikusRLZ]

If that includes both the adapter and composite cables then that eliminates options 1-5 so it looks like option 6 it is.

Maybe you are just newbie, lol =)

[RadikusRLZ]

He's asked this question before. IIRC he's running his NT Mini's composite through a Framemeister, which personally I don't get. Shouldn't you just be able to use HDMI and use an NTSC palette? I think he said he was from Eastern Europe and asked a question about the lack of a SECAM or Dendy/Famiclone video mode. It may be that the NT Mini Composite signal doesn't match what he remembers from back in the day, or maybe Eastern Europe tv's do something weird to NTSC composite signals or mess with the colors or something.

Yes, there is lots of problems with NT mini, especially composite / S-video signal problems both PAL and NTSC. This is my second NT Mini where was same problems. And problem is that they dont test devices before shipping them to customers.

[Atariboy]

Why are you sending a XRGB Mini a composite signal from this in the first place?

 

You're seemingly unaware that the NT Mini has a HDMI port and can send up to 1080p out of the system. Instead you've spent a small fortune on a NT Mini and are trying to send low quality 240p composite out of it with a faulty cable to an expensive XRGB Mini.

 

It doesn't make sense...

Edited January 31, 2018 by Atariboy

[atmn]

I dont know if this has been talked about but this Analogue HDMI->analog adapter for the Super NT. This could be used on a Hi-DEF-NES aswell to get RGB? Or any 1080p digital source for that matter?, like playing retro-games on modern consoles on CRT:s..

[Laner]

I dont know if this has been talked about but this Analogue HDMI->analog adapter for the Super NT. This could be used on a Hi-DEF-NES aswell to get RGB? Or any 1080p digital source for that matter?, like playing retro-games on modern consoles on CRT:s..

 

Yes, it's apparently in the works as an add-on.

Edited January 31, 2018 by Laner

[SegaSnatcher]

Just wanted to say thanks to Kevtris for all his hard work. The Super NT looks amazing and I can't wait to get mine. I bought it with the assumption there wouldn't be added cores down the road. Just having a high quality FPGA SNES clone is good enough for me, especially for the price.

I don't know what Analogue has planned next, but I really, really hope its a FPGA Genesis. Though, I have a feeling they might go big and go for Neo-Geo next instead. Either choices would be great, but Sega needs some love first, especially considering how well the Genesis sold.

Edited January 31, 2018 by SegaSnatcher

[sofakng]

I'm very curious if Kevtris will release more cores for the Super Nt. I've been looking at Analogue's store page for a while and they don't seem to be restocking the Nt Mini so even if I wanted to purchase one for NES compatibility it looks like I can't?

[atmn]

I'm very curious if Kevtris will release more cores for the Super Nt. I've been looking at Analogue's store page for a while and they don't seem to be restocking the Nt Mini so even if I wanted to purchase one for NES compatibility it looks like I can't?

May I guess?

 

I think there will be cores for the similar as the NTM got, BUT I dont think playing SNES games from SD-card will be a feature, at least for quite a while.

[RadikusRLZ]

Why are you sending a XRGB Mini a composite signal from this in the first place?

 

You're seemingly unaware that the NT Mini has a HDMI port and can send up to 1080p out of the system. Instead you've spent a small fortune on a NT Mini and are trying to send low quality 240p composite out of it with a faulty cable to an expensive XRGB Mini.

 

It doesn't make sense...

I dont understand what you mean, composite is the analog source and hdmi digital. You dont use hdmi cable to test composite signal.

[SegaSnatcher]

I'm very curious if Kevtris will release more cores for the Super Nt. I've been looking at Analogue's store page for a while and they don't seem to be restocking the Nt Mini so even if I wanted to purchase one for NES compatibility it looks like I can't?

As great as that would be, I'm not getting my hopes up and I highly advise people to do the same to prevent any kind of dissapointment.

[Atariboy]

I dont understand what you mean, composite is the analog source and hdmi digital. You dont use hdmi cable to test composite signal.

 

Why are you testing a signal you don't even need for your setup? That's what me and many others have been asking you about, without any answers.

 

Even if your composite allegations have any truth to them, you have a high end NT Mini here that is capable of outputting NES games at native resolution via RGB, component, S-Video, and composite. So not only does that alone make it bizarre that you care so much about the lowest quality signal of the bunch being fed into an expensive HD upscaler, but then there's the NT Mini's own HD options that leave everyone reading your posts scratching their head afterwards.

 

You can output NES games directly from the NT Mini at up to 1080p via both component and HDMI with no input lag being introduced during the process. Why then do you care so badly about the 240p composite output being fed to your XRGB upscaler, which then introduces lag during the upscaling process before sending a HD signal to your HDTV?

 

Hook the darn thing up directly via HDMI or component and avoid composite and your external upscaler completely. Or heck, if you just have to feed it through your XRGB for some reason or another such as simplifying your setup if you just have one HDMI input on your tv with everything routed through your Framemeister, at least do so via the NT Mini's HDMI or component connection with the NT Mini setup to output in HD.

 

And if you're so darn set against using the NT Mini's HD abilities for some reason or another (Such as if you're splitting the signal to capture equipment and something like a high end CRT), at least feed your XRGB a 240p RGB or component video source from your NT Mini. Instead you have all this high end equipment and you're connecting it in the most backwards and illogical way possible, and then complaining every few days in here about the resulting video quality.

 

Even if the composite quality doesn't rival your original NES, I think we'd all love to know why you care about that one way or another?

Edited January 31, 2018 by Atariboy

[atmn]

Hoping for that Intv-core and HiDef NES to restock.

 

Have a lonely AV Famicom that gonna get a HDMI-shaped hole.

[SegaSnatcher]

Hoping for that Intv-core and HiDef NES to restock.

 

Have a lonely AV Famicom that gonna get a HDMI-shaped hole.

Intv-core for what system?

[atmn]

Intv-core for what system?

Its "confirmed" for the NT Mini.

[SegaSnatcher]

Its "confirmed" for the NT Mini.

I asked because if you already have an NT Mini why do you still want an HDMI modded AV Famicom? In some respects that would be a slight downgrade. Famicom only cart slot, no extra cores, no 5x - 6x scaling, no loading roms from SD card unless you have an Everdrive, dual controller ports only, etc...

Edited January 31, 2018 by SegaSnatcher

[atmn]

I asked because if you already have an NT Mini why do you still want an HDMI modded AV Famicom? In some respects that would be a slight downgrade.

 

In the AV-Fami case, resell..

[SegaSnatcher]

 

In the AV-Fami case, resell..

Okay, that makes sense then.

[SegaSnatcher]

Funny, I was reading an Emulation vs FPGA thread when I noticed a post made by Kevtris sometime in 2013.

"I am not sure if people would want to buy FPGA game systems. It's easy to say that a PC emulator is free which is true, but you would not buy it only for that. You'd be paying for something that plugs into a TV or monitor and has an absolutely perfect emulation of the target system with a cohesive menu and controller choices with hardware upscaling and no input lag at all. This isn't so easy to do on a PC emulator, if it's even possible."

Now we are in 2018 and waiting for Kevtris's 2nd FPGA game system. I'm glad the market proved to him that there was enough demand to justify FPGA based consoles.

[leods]

"I am not sure if people would want to buy FPGA game systems"

 

Sure, but it's one thing for just this guy to make a custom board, and a 3D printed case, or an acrylic enclosure, and sell his systems to people on forums. That system would not be as good, it would cost more, and not many people would be interested.

 

Kevin was absolutely right. Look at the MYST FPGA project. How much interest has that got? How many people are buying that, and donating for it's development?

 

This is not "the market". This is Analogue. There is marketing material, there is graphical design, there is PR talk, building hype and all that. The FPGA cores are Kevtris', but these products are Analogue co's production. It's a work of a team. The Zimba 3000 would probably have been awesome, but it would probably never have this widespread appeal. And that was, at that point, the reality Kevtris was facing. The reality of putting thousands of hours into developing something, then paying for production to then see wether people would buy it or not. It was risky, and TBH, kinda dumb to do that.

[DadsGlasses]

Cant wait for Feb 7th.

[F34R]

Cant wait for Feb 7th.

SAME! It's like the days are going by even slower now. The wait is creating an anxiety cloud over me lol.

[SegaSnatcher]

 

Sure, but it's one thing for just this guy to make a custom board, and a 3D printed case, or an acrylic enclosure, and sell his systems to people on forums. That system would not be as good, it would cost more, and not many people would be interested.

 

Kevin was absolutely right. Look at the MYST FPGA project. How much interest has that got? How many people are buying that, and donating for it's development?

 

This is not "the market". This is Analogue. There is marketing material, there is graphical design, there is PR talk, building hype and all that. The FPGA cores are Kevtris', but these products are Analogue co's production. It's a work of a team. The Zimba 3000 would probably have been awesome, but it would probably never have this widespread appeal. And that was, at that point, the reality Kevtris was facing. The reality of putting thousands of hours into developing something, then paying for production to then see wether people would buy it or not. It was risky, and TBH, kinda dumb to do that.

 

But isn't that more of a developers tool than something aimed at a mass consumer? Is it truly plug n play like a Nt Mini, AVS or Super NT? I could be wrong, but it seemed like the Myst Project targeted a totally different consumer base.

[SegaSnatcher]

SAME! It's like the days are going by even slower now. The wait is creating an anxiety cloud over me lol.

I'm just as excited for the MLIG review which is going to be very detailed and come with that awesome interview with Kevtris.