FPGA Based Videogame System

[Toth]

How could you tell by opening it if it was defective?

 

I meant I opened it and hooked it up and tested it out. I'd prefer to keep something like that sealed but it's too hard for me not to check and make sure everything works.

[RadikusRLZ]

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you have yet to post pictures/video of what it is doing, and pictures of the cable (showing soldering work). It's impossible to diagnose the problem. Also, the AVS doesn't even output analog signals and is HDMI only. Still not sure why you are trying to run composite into a scaler to get HDMI, vs. using the HDMI the nt mini outputs directly. I mean, you're free to do so but it doesn't make much sense to me vs. using native output directly. Be that as it may, it should work OK no matter what. There's plenty of video/images of the analog output quality from the nt mini on the internet so I find it hard to believe it's an nt mini issue.

 

I make video to YouTube, next weekend. So you see what is the problem. There is so much noise in picture, much more compared to orginal NES.

BLUE and GREEN colors have terrible noise. Like Super Mario Bros green pipes.

Edited February 8, 2018 by RadikusRLZ

[atmn]

Expected delivery this friday.

Quite fast with DHL Express.

 

I really cant understand that the SNES is acually FPGA ported, its quite incredible that it was possible in just a year. The amout of work must be massive.

It must have been quite intense in the beginning before the first working prototype core was ready.

 

The next logic step could be PC NT. Since it's a 8bit/16-bit hybrid too..

[Bakeriffic]

I recently noticed that the AC adapter for my Nt Mini emits a high-pitched noise that sounds a bit like squealing or static. The sound is coming from the adapter itself and not from the Nt Mini or my speakers. Another interesting quirk is that the noise is noticeably louder when the Nt Mini is turned off. The system still runs just fine in spite of this but I just contacted Analogue's support team in order to request a replacement. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

[sofakng]

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

[F34R]

They arent answering the question, theres already roms playing off the system, they did the same thing with the nt mini, the fpga is stronger than that one, its programmed by the same guy, the nt mini is out of stock and they arent answering that question either, etc, etc

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.

 

 

Why you idiot testing it with CRT shit, you have to test it with Framemeister and Full HD tv. So you see how poor quality it is with Composite/ S-Video/ Component. So much noise on picture

That doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

 

 

Just because it has an sd card slot doesn't mean it should be able to play roms. The NT Mini had it first and foremost to update the firmware. The same here.

What it might be used for in the future, who knows.

 

And not answering is not "lying by omission", it's just that: No answer. If you ordered a unit because in your mind they hinted a jailbreak by not answering your question, you should question your reasoning, not their honesty.

 

And don't get me wrong, I would be all for a jailbreak.

This.

[DadsGlasses]

Just my opinion as of 2/8/18:

 

1. Analogue is focused 100% right now on a smooth roll out of the Super NT 1st round orders.

 

2. Analogue is a small boutique company with limited resources. (Hopefully growing each day.) As such they can only have a limited product availability. Right now, that focus is on the Super NT.

 

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.

 

8. Ideally I would LOVE to have a Genesis core on my Super NT. I am not sure that I would buy a separate unit for that. At that point it becomes a bit cumbersome to have three systems Vs two. Thats just my personal opinion.

 

9. Im really just filling time waiting to get the shipping notification for my Super NT.

 

10. My final opinion is that this is probably not the best place to discuss legal aspects of clones / emulators / jailbreaks / etc.

 

 

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.

[Jagasian]

 

Why you idiot testing it with CRT shit, you have to test it with Framemeister and Full HD tv. So you see how poor quality it is with Composite/ S-Video/ Component. So much noise on picture

RadikusRLZ is the best comedic troll I have seen on these forums, ever. Seriously dude, well played... but be careful because your goofy clueless dope routine is going to stop being funny soon and start to just get annoying.

[simbin]

Brief summary of comments from last several pages

[atmn]

I recently noticed that the AC adapter for my Nt Mini emits a high-pitched noise that sounds a bit like squealing or static. The sound is coming from the adapter itself and not from the Nt Mini or my speakers. Another interesting quirk is that the noise is noticeably louder when the Nt Mini is turned off. The system still runs just fine in spite of this but I just contacted Analogue's support team in order to request a replacement. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

Ye, noticed that aswell.

Brought a high quality german velleman 1.9A for my mini..

[Toth]

Expected delivery this friday.

Quite fast with DHL Express.

 

I really cant understand that the SNES is acually FPGA ported, its quite incredible that it was possible in just a year. The amout of work must be massive.

It must have been quite intense in the beginning before the first working prototype core was ready.

 

The next logic step could be PC NT. Since it's a 8bit/16-bit hybrid too..

I know. I wish Kevtris chronicled it and posted it all to his Youtube. Watching some of his older videos where he reverse engineers how an unlicensed arcade board works and stuff like that is really cool.

 

He also has a sweet looking purple Nt. I love how that looks.

Edited February 8, 2018 by Toth

[Riptide]

I know. I wish Kevtris chronicled it and posted it all to his Youtube. Watching some of his older videos where he reverse engineers how an unlicensed arcade board works and stuff like that is really cool.

 

He also has a sweet looking purple Nt. I love how that looks.

He said he had like 80 hours of footage or something crazy like that of him developing it.

[mrnarse]

I know. I wish Kevtris chronicled it and posted it all to his Youtube. Watching some of his older videos where he reverse engineers how an unlicensed arcade board works and stuff like that is really cool.

 

He also has a sweet looking purple Nt. I love how that looks.

I believe Kevtris said that he has like 100GB of video he filmed during development, and that he’s gonna post stuff in the future, so I’m looking forward to that.

 

My Super NT is scheduled to arrive on Valentine’s Day. I wish I could get it via DHL Express instead of UPS Ground. I think many of the international orders are going to be delivered before the eastern US gets theirs.

 

For the person earlier who was worried that their tracking showed the shipment in Canada: It’s in Ontario, California, not Ontario Canada.

 

As for the core store, I’ve learned to expect nothing, and be pleasantly surprised with whatever else we get. If we do get anything, I’d guess we get all the cores the NT Mini has, minus the NES/Famicom, plus the ability to load non-chip games off of SD. 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.

 

In terms of future releases, I think we’ll get a Genesis/Mega Drive around this time next year. That Polygon article hinted at some future collaborations with game companies. Sega loves licensing their franchises out to crappy clone consoles, so I could see them jumping at the chance to license their games for a quality Analogue Genesis. But before that, I think we might also get a new NT mini with a plastic shell and the Super NT’s guts later this year.

[Andromeda Stardust]

This got me thinking, does this mean that the pass through audio on the Super Retro Advance (and RetroGen) would work as well? Would it be possible to allow the pass though video to work through firmware or would that require a modification to the system?

 

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, the SRA adapter has it's own composite output cables BUT if you're using a certain revision of the original Retro Trio (not SRT+) the audio and video pass through the pins somehow and require no additional cables. I'm probably one of the only retrobit fanboys preordering a Super NT, but I'd love to be able to play GBA games on it without messing around with extra cables.

 

afraid not. the super retro advance is composite only, so you would need a built in frame-meister to get usable hdmi out, and it would be poor quality. if you want to play gba in hd, get a gb player for game cube and one of those hdmi adapters for the digital out.

[Toth]

I have a Yoshi's island cartridge that has a problem (it seems this game has a fairly high fail rate compared to others). The first time I use it for a day it will work. I can turn it off and turn it on a couple of times and it seems to work fine and I can play through levels and everything. However, after a short period of time the game will either freeze and no longer work or if I shut it off and turn it on it will no longer work. The little Nintendo boot screen thing will always show up like it is going to work fine but then the game will just be a black screen and pretty much nothing I do can get it to come back except wait a day to try again. Occasionally, I will hear a very faint garbled sound for a few seconds before it just remains silent and black. It does not hold a save reliably but the battery still outputs 3volts so I don't think it's the battery. I think it's because the game seems to just fail and I am guessing it is acting like I am pulling the cartridge while it is running or whatever which causes the save to erase.

 

My question is could this be because the capacitor on the board is bad? Does anyone know what this capacitor is for on the Yoshi's island cartridge? Do any of the other chips on a board like this fail intermittently like this? I feel like it could make sense that it is a capacitor but I'm not sure. That's the only component I am comfortable trying to replace anyway. I don't think I could try to fix any of the other chips on this board due to the tiny points I would need to solder but I could manage the capacitor.

 

If it is the capacitor can anyone tell me what size I would need based on this picture? Is this a 22µF 6V capacitor? There are no other markings on it. It isn't bulged but I know that doesn't mean it might not be bad.

 

Edited February 8, 2018 by Toth

[keepdreamin]

 

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.

 

 

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.

Edited February 8, 2018 by keepdreamin

[NE146]

As for the core store, I’ve learned to expect nothing, and be pleasantly surprised with whatever else we get. If we do get anything, I’d guess we get all the cores the NT Mini has, minus the NES/Famicom, plus the ability to load non-chip games off of SD. 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.

 

I'm not expecting anything.. but yeah, non-chip snes games off the SD is about the ceiling of what I'd be optimistic for in the future if I was being hopeful. I won't hold my breath though.

 

If you have the physical special-chip carts for the games you care about, and a single SD2SNES, that covers most all bases.

[cfillak]

I believe Kevtris said that he has like 100GB of video he filmed during development, and that he’s gonna post stuff in the future, so I’m looking forward to that.

 

My Super NT is scheduled to arrive on Valentine’s Day. I wish I could get it via DHL Express instead of UPS Ground. I think many of the international orders are going to be delivered before the eastern US gets theirs.

 

For the person earlier who was worried that their tracking showed the shipment in Canada: It’s in Ontario, California, not Ontario Canada.

 

As for the core store, I’ve learned to expect nothing, and be pleasantly surprised with whatever else we get. If we do get anything, I’d guess we get all the cores the NT Mini has, minus the NES/Famicom, plus the ability to load non-chip games off of SD. 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.

 

In terms of future releases, I think we’ll get a Genesis/Mega Drive around this time next year. That Polygon article hinted at some future collaborations with game companies. Sega loves licensing their franchises out to crappy clone consoles, so I could see them jumping at the chance to license their games for a quality Analogue Genesis. But before that, I think we might also get a new NT mini with a plastic shell and the Super NT’s guts later this year.

Yeah I'd wager that Genesis is the next system they produce that requires a new core to be written. It'd be smart for them to produce a reduced cost NES/Famicom console as well. They'd obviously axe the built-in DAC and point to their standalone external DAC as a solution for CRT fans, but I wonder if they'd keep the Famicom expansion port and microphone port? I know it's kind of a whole different ballgame ergonomically/design-wise, but I'd really like to see Analogue take a crack at making a portable system, most likely marketed as a Gameboy/Gameboy Color clone. The GB/GBC cores are already written, but probably need some debugging and some spit and polish. Maybe with a ~480p screen you wouldn't need as many FPGA resources for scaling. The core store could include all the obscure handheld systems.

[mrnarse]

Yeah I'd wager that Genesis is the next system they produce that requires a new core to be written. It'd be smart for them to produce a reduced cost NES/Famicom console as well. They'd obviously axe the built-in DAC and point to their standalone external DAC as a solution for CRT fans, but I wonder if they'd keep the Famicom expansion port and microphone port? I know it's kind of a whole different ballgame ergonomically/design-wise, but I'd really like to see Analogue take a crack at making a portable system, most likely marketed as a Gameboy/Gameboy Color clone. The GB/GBC cores are already written, but probably need some debugging and some spit and polish. Maybe with a ~480p screen you wouldn't need as many FPGA resources for scaling. The core store could include all the obscure handheld systems.

I definitely see GB/GBC as the next system they tackle after a Genesis. Once they’ve put out NES, SNES, and Genesis, it’s the next most popular console that can be easily handled by an FPGA. I can also see them making portable versions of the NT Mini, Super NT, and Mega NT.

 

GB, NES, SNES, and Genesis are by far the most popular systems of that era. Used games are plentiful, and many people still have their old game collections. Any other console for, that era is minuscule in comparison in terms of sales. I think Analogue will focus on getting as much mileage out of selling them in both console and portable form before they focus on the less popular consoles.

 

Business-wise, the demand for something like a FPGA Turbo Grafx 16 or Neo Geo is only going to be a fraction of the demand for the Nintendo systems and Sega Genesis. Especially if it’s being marketed mainly as being able to play old game cartridges. The less popular systems have a much smaller market of titles, and games can be extremely expensive. They’re appealing to us hardcore people posting on these forums, but they’ll never have the mass market appeal of a Nintendo or Genesis. So I think Analogue will focus their efforts there before they release the less popular systems. And even then, it might be time for Kevtris to tackle something really ambitious like the PS1.

[cacophony]

 

Why you idiot testing it with CRT shit, you have to test it with Framemeister and Full HD tv. So you see how poor quality it is with Composite/ S-Video/ Component. So much noise on picture

 

Uhhh yeah... good point, I'll have to retest, lol.

Edited February 8, 2018 by cacophony

[jamon1567]

RadikusRLZ is the best comedic troll I have seen on these forums, ever. Seriously dude, well played... but be careful because your goofy clueless dope routine is going to stop being funny soon and start to just get annoying.

 

It's already gotten past the point of being annoying. And if he is being sincere about his displeasure regarding the composite output, then he should just sell the damn things. Someone posted earlier in the thread that they're going for over $1200 on eBay right now. That'd be a nice little profit.

[jamon1567]

I definitely see GB/GBC as the next system they tackle after a Genesis. Once they’ve put out NES, SNES, and Genesis, it’s the next most popular console that can be easily handled by an FPGA. I can also see them making portable versions of the NT Mini, Super NT, and Mega NT.

 

GB, NES, SNES, and Genesis are by far the most popular systems of that era. Used games are plentiful, and many people still have their old game collections. Any other console for, that era is minuscule in comparison in terms of sales. I think Analogue will focus on getting as much mileage out of selling them in both console and portable form before they focus on the less popular consoles.

 

Business-wise, the demand for something like a FPGA Turbo Grafx 16 or Neo Geo is only going to be a fraction of the demand for the Nintendo systems and Sega Genesis. Especially if it’s being marketed mainly as being able to play old game cartridges. The less popular systems have a much smaller market of titles, and games can be extremely expensive. They’re appealing to us hardcore people posting on these forums, but they’ll never have the mass market appeal of a Nintendo or Genesis. So I think Analogue will focus their efforts there before they release the less popular systems. And even then, it might be time for Kevtris to tackle something really ambitious like the PS1.

 

The only thing I can say for sure is that if they release a Neo Geo, it better have a jailbreak to be able to play roms, otherwise it's a pointless venture. It's not like people have cartridges just laying around, and I don't think the addition of HDMI is going to justify the likely cost of the system.

[snatcher1996]

 

It's already gotten past the point of being annoying. And if he is being sincere about his displeasure regarding the composite output, then he should just sell the damn things. Someone posted earlier in the thread that they're going for over $1200 on eBay right now. That'd be a nice little profit.

 

Well he had not posted in days but everyone and her mother needed to call him out calling him an idiot and such.

 

Why not just leave him be if you're annoyed? If he posts a video showcasing his problem, someone, maybe even Kevtris might help.

[Loukey]

 

It's already gotten past the point of being annoying. And if he is being sincere about his displeasure regarding the composite output, then he should just sell the damn things. Someone posted earlier in the thread that they're going for over $1200 on eBay right now. That'd be a nice little profit.

Hes already said that he has too much money, so he probably wouldnt bother selling them.

[snatcher1996]

 

The only thing I can say for sure is that if they release a Neo Geo, it better have a jailbreak to be able to play roms, otherwise it's a pointless venture. It's not like people have cartridges just laying around, and I don't think the addition of HDMI is going to justify the likely cost of the system.

 

And there you have it :-)

 

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