FPGA Based Videogame System

[NE146]

To buy one, I'd need to know after some time, the other cores will get ported. IF they re-release a batch of the Analogue NT Mini, it will frustrate me that MORE hardware is needed for Super Nintendo support.

 

Yeah but who would you expect to give that confirmation? At this point as far as Analogue the company is concerned, the NT Mini plays NES/Famicom carts and that's it. Officially, they have nothing to do with the jailbreak cores.. so we can't expect to hear anything from them about that. Might as well ask Sony about PS3 hacks for all that's worth.

[seastalker]

Of course. I am not saying I have an expectation for the company or Kevtris to be able to state such things. Just an unofficial tidbit from reliable jailbreak insiders - those youtubers who somehow get the inside scoop that appears doubtful at first but usually ends up being correct. Some nod or wink to help a buyer know to buy now, or wait for the next. On that note, has anyone done a teardown of SNK's neo geo mini to see if it is FPGA based or arm-emulation? I keep looking at that and the Polymega.

[RetrogamerX]

Of course. I am not saying I have an expectation for the company or Kevtris to be able to state such things. Just an unofficial tidbit from reliable jailbreak insiders - those youtubers who somehow get the inside scoop that appears doubtful at first but usually ends up being correct. Some nod or wink to help a buyer know to buy now, or wait for the next. On that note, has anyone done a teardown of SNK's neo geo mini to see if it is FPGA based or arm-emulation? I keep looking at that and the Polymega.

 

I've been wondering about the Polymega as well? I not going to lie and say it's an amazing idea that needs to release asap.

 

Wouldn't it be great if Analogue were working on such console right now as we speak and beat Polymega to market? That would be a shocker and I'd be first in line to buy it

[Keatah]

The boss is playing in the corporate big leagues now. There are rules and regulations and secrecy about what can be said. I might prefer it this way, even. Because it's more like the old days of the 1980's. Where you'd only learn about a product once it was essentially finished or undergoing final beta testing. Where you'd learn about a product through print media or television. And the release times would be accurate and reliable and not a year into the future.

[F34R]

The boss is playing in the corporate big leagues now. There are rules and regulations and secrecy about what can be said. I might prefer it this way, even. Because it's more like the old days of the 1980's. Where you'd only learn about a product once it was essentially finished or undergoing final beta testing. Where you'd learn about a product through print media or television. And the release times would be accurate and reliable and not a year into the future.

I kinda like that as well. I dislike hearing about a product that I'm interested in, and then time goes on, and on, and on, and we wait, wait, and wait..

[Andromeda Stardust]

The Super Nt is a digital console, but it can be adapted to a certain form of analog video very well :

 

20180720_232211.jpg

Our housekeeper recently gave us an old PC. She says it doesn't work any more and wanted to get rid of it. Honestly I don't care about the tower but I've got a shiny new CRT monitor to play with (sadly I gave away my Viewsonic years ago...). It wouldn't take much to order an HDMI to plug from Adafruit and pump VGA 480p (or larger) SNES graphics into the thing from the Super NT.

[RetrogamerX]

Does the Everdrive N8 work on the Retro-Bit Retroport on super Nt?

[Jurai]

Does the Everdrive N8 work on the Retro-Bit Retroport on super Nt?

 

man that is one frankenstein's monster you're making there

[Jurai]

Our housekeeper recently gave us an old PC. She says it doesn't work any more and wanted to get rid of it. Honestly I don't care about the tower but I've got a shiny new CRT monitor to play with (sadly I gave away my Viewsonic years ago...). It wouldn't take much to order an HDMI to plug from Adafruit and pump VGA 480p (or larger) SNES graphics into the thing from the Super NT.

 

Kinda regret getting rid of my viewsonic, was just eating up way too much space and only had vga input, didn't have use

[RetrogamerX]

 

man that is one frankenstein's monster you're making there

 

lol

 

I just looking for a cheap way to play the N8 with HDMI. I guess that's not it. I found out it uses a A/V plug on the cart to get video. Yuck. I'll pass

Edited July 27, 2018 by RetrogamerX

[Jurai]

 

lol

 

I just looking for a cheap way to play the N8 with HDMI. I guess that's not it. I found out it uses a A/V plug on the cart to get video. Yuck. I'll pass

 

yeah I'm not surprised, pretty much all of those 'play your old games on a different system' adapters are just using the console port for power, they aren't actually using it to run the game itself

[cybercylon]

A retrousb AVS is probably your best bet to play an N8 in HD at this point.

[Tanooki]

I'd say the kevtris HiDefNES is the better option, if you have a cheap enough console to install it into and can do it yourself or know a friend who can for free/cheaply. Yes the AVS has 4 ports and a FC slot, but the other would be using an original system with a very solid core update that had nice options built in.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Kinda regret getting rid of my viewsonic, was just eating up way too much space and only had vga input, didn't have use

Yeah, mine was a gorgeous 19" display. The max resolution was 1280x1024@60 but if you pushed it, being an analog device, you could probably O.C. the H-Scan rate slightly up to 1080p and force HD video into it (at wrong aspect ratio) with an HDMI to VGA adapter. It would work for Super NT, though 720p is a more ideal scanline thickness. Problem with vga 480p is you get scaling artifacts when stretching the image 2.5x to 640 pixels. Or do 512p and stretch the image using the controls.

 

Due to text size onscreen (and making fonts bigger causes issues with fixed size dialog boxes), I prefered 1152x864@70Hz, a bit more headroom than 1024x768 while still readable, less noticeable flicker, and not skewed like 1280x1024. I always hated non-square pixel aspect ratios. 1600x1200 was too tiny for the rare displays that actually supported it, though it's been mitigated in the hd era. I later discovered some years later you could force 1400x1050, but never got to try 1080p as this was well before hd widescreen became standard. PC monitors were native hd displays, but most early pcs were ill equipped to handle video at native resolutions much larger than vga.

[atmn]

I'd say the kevtris HiDefNES is the better option, if you have a cheap enough console to install it into and can do it yourself or know a friend who can for free/cheaply. Yes the AVS has 4 ports and a FC slot, but the other would be using an original system with a very solid core update that had nice options built in.

 

 

For me it would be the AVS over HiDef since the AVS could play PAL and NTSC at proper speed. HiDef are stuck on whatever the CPU/PPU. Thats logic.

 

Guess there is no need for that in NTSC countries, don't know if there was any PAL exclusive NES games worth playing.

[Great Hierophant]

 

 

For me it would be the AVS over HiDef since the AVS could play PAL and NTSC at proper speed. HiDef are stuck on whatever the CPU/PPU. Thats logic.

 

Guess there is no need for that in NTSC countries, don't know if there was any PAL exclusive NES games worth playing.

 

There are a couple of PAL exclusives worth playing, Elite, Noah's Ark, Parasol Stars, Rainbow Stars (PAL remake).

[Jagasian]

My guess for Kevtriss next project is it is an FPGA Gameboy, Super Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance that uses SNES controller ports for input and an HDMI output.

[n_yohan]

My guess for Kevtriss next project is it is an FPGA Gameboy, Super Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance that uses SNES controller ports for input and an HDMI output.

 

 

That would be Amazing! I keep thinking about buying a GameCube with the GBA add-on and an HDMI mod but it's pricey and the parts are older so might need repair/replacing soon. A new system would be an instant buy from me!

[brentonius]

I love my AVS. I feel like it is the true NES clone system... the shell's design, the way it handles games... it's just wonderful. I prefer it over the mini to be honest, although I am aware the mini does 1080p, the 720p output is just fine for me. I never felt the mini quite looked of the NES family but the AVS really does.

 

I believe with Analogue and Kevtris, with their ongoing relationship, we have the best possible outcome. Kevtris working for Analogue has sped up core development considerably. If it were not for Analogue, I doubt Kevtris would have had the time to work so hard and fast on the SNES FPGA core. It is such a quality core too. Now he is working on something else, who knows, the speculation is exciting and fun because we know it's probably something very cool. But this sped up development is leading to more and more cores. It's great for people like me who would rather own various FPGA consoles all with their own personality. It's great for people who are waiting for the fabled Zimba 3000 as core dev. has gone to light speed. With no cores, you have no Zimba. So I'm pretty darn happy about the situation now. Faster core dev, Kevtris getting paid for great work, a really quality company (just look and touch the Super NT... it's a piece of beautiful artwork). The only thing I wish could happen was wired 8bitdo controllers that have zero lag. But I guess I'm just dreaming. And in maybe five to ten years, after all cores have been sold, who knows, maybe we'll get the Zimba. But if I were to look at a collection of ten FPGA systems with their own unique looks and personalities, no cart adapters, no controller adapters... I'd be very ok with that too. Main advantage of the Zimba idea for me is the "wife allows only one or two systems attached to the TV" thing hehe. Good for people who live in small spaces. But I personally am more excited for staggered releases of cores... personally I'm super excited for a CD compatible PC Engine clone or perhaps even Sega Genesis. The portables would be cool too. But my bet on what they're working on now? I think sales wise they'd do quite well with the Genesis, reasonably ok with PC Engine, and Neo Geo could be doable too, but perhaps getting a bit niche.

[cacophony]

I love my AVS. I feel like it is the true NES clone system... the shell's design, the way it handles games... it's just wonderful. I prefer it over the mini to be honest, although I am aware the mini does 1080p, the 720p output is just fine for me. I never felt the mini quite looked of the NES family but the AVS really does.

 

You own both? I used to own both but ended up selling the AVS. I can understand where you're coming from but the higher resolution isn't really why I personally prefer the Nt Mini. It's the 5x by 6x integer scaling with accurate looking PAR, analog output capability, in-game menu, custom palettes, rom loading from sd card, customization options, and music player.

 

The AVS shell design is charming but the aesthetic and elegance kind of falls apart if you use a famicom cart. While the Nt Mini design doesn't have the same nostalgia factor it's a simpler and more consistent design and I appreciate the build quality (both internally and externally) because it's something I plan on owning for a long time.

Edited July 28, 2018 by cacophony

[Tanooki]

Well I've got a top loader with the kevtris kit installed so perhaps the PAL speeds aside, it isn't region locked like the normal system is (without pin snipping) so it's all good for me. I just like all the choices, and if 4P were needed that's what some official Nintendo options are good for, and I've got a honeybee for FC stuff too.

 

 

I do like the idea of a guess of a FPGA by kevtris for all things Gameboy. I'd be all over that immediately. The thing is I'd have to wonder what the damage would be if it were in a proper handheld environment to get something like that going as it likely wouldn't be a kit but a stand alone analogue device.

[Toth]

I wonder what they would use for a display in a handheld since getting the proper aspect ratio and resolution displays would probably not be possible.

Edited July 29, 2018 by Toth

[phoenixdownita]

Didn't the GB and GBC have a BIOS?

If so unless there's a way to run games totally without it, one need copyright license from Nintendo ....

[Atariboy]

Game Boy and Game Boy Color don't need a Nintendo copyrighted bios. That's why clones and emulation systems can get away with those two systems now that the patents are all expired and in the public domain.

[Andromeda Stardust]

There are a couple of PAL exclusives worth playing, Elite, Noah's Ark, Parasol Stars, Rainbow Stars (PAL remake).

Wasn't Parasol Stars released on Famicom? I have it for PC Engine. Many of the few non-sports "PAL Exclusive" NES releases were Famicom games that got limited Scandinavian release.

 

Devil World, Mr Gimmick, and Parodius are popular examlles of this. Devil World is NROM, but Mr Gimmick and Parodius used special mappers. Mr Gimmick had audio which was removed for the PAL release (and NTSC prototype) and Parodius was converted from VRC4 to MMC3.

 

As for Noah's Ark, I have an NTSC NES version from Piko's Kickstarter. It was unlicensed, and an NTSC prototype was produced but not released stateside.