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NeoGeo Pocket Colour Flash Cartridge


SainT

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And once I've got the B&W and slim models from Mattroid and tested those I'll be sending out a few carts for final testing. So not long now...

 

I would be interested in helping testing if possible! Aside from being in the UK (thus cheap postage heh), I do have several handhelds here as part of my collection, including a b/w NGP and the Hanshin Tigers for example. I think the only thing I don't have is a slim model, but I'd have to double check there.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all!

I'm new on AtariAge and have just registered to thoroughly follow the development of this awesome flashcart, as well as learning and contributing as much as possible to this great community. On the Atari side, I have to say that my first videogame console was a clone Atari 2600 Jr. which currently I lovely preserve and enjoy playing to. The existing Lynx SD flashcart also developed by SainT is making me wish an Atari Lynx, too, in the same way the incoming Jaguar SD flashcart does with this system. ;-)

As I said on your YouTube channel, I was just hoping for an SD-based flashcart solution for my little Neo-Geo Pocket Color Slim, and now I see my wish has finally come true. Congratulations for your awe-inspiring job, Sir SainT! It's incredible and looks simply great and perfect. Thank you so much for putting your time and efforts into this endeavor! Just subbed your channel and registered my interest on your website.

Finally, as a suggestion for future projects, I'd be very much interested in a WonderSwan (Color) SD-based flashcart, as the current one from FlashMasta doesn't flash games from the SD card.

 

Looking forward to its final release for purchasing! :grin: Of course, I offer myself for beta-testing if required, as an user from Spain having an NGP Color Slim.

Again, thank you very much for inhaling new life to our retro systems! :thumbsup:

Edited by Sceptre_JLRB
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Thanks for the support, always nice to read! :)

 

I got the Slim & B&W models from Mattroid a couple of days ago, and I've finally got to test the cart fit on them both. The fit does differ slightly between all 3 models, so I'm now just going to fine tune the cartridge shell slightly to fit all models well. So many thanks to Mattroid. :)

 

Once that is done I'm going to get stuck into the final updates to the menu to support the B&W model and finish things off in general.

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Ok, I've re-written the menu so that it works on the B&W and just used the upper palette compatibility mode to add a bit of colour for the game type icon when used on the colour models. The cart does fit and work in all models, but it just needs a little more work so its a bit easier to insert on the slim model. It seems the slim is the tightest fit on the angled edges on the cart that stop you trying to insert it upside down.

 

Getting very close to getting this finished now. :D

Edited by SainT
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Ok, I've re-written the menu so that it works on the B&W and just used the upper palette compatibility mode to add a bit of colour for the game type icon when used on the colour models. The cart does fit and work in all models, but it just needs a little more work so its a bit easier to insert on the slim model. It seems the slim is the tightest fit on the angled edges on the cart that stop you trying to insert it upside down.

 

Getting very close to getting this finished now. :D

Impressive! You are shockingly fast as hell!

Great job! Congratulations!

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Lookin good! Is there any chance you could bring having pre loaded slot like this to your lynx cart? I don't swap around games very often and usually stick to one game at at time. For my console systems I like using the flash carts for space reasons. So I can play my games but keep all the originals stored out in the garage. It seems like I most often play the neogeo pocket as of late because the batteries last forever and it fits nicely in my jacket pocket. Sadly neither of those are true for the lynx or game gear. Do you know how much this flash cart effects battery life of the ngpc? Since I most play on the train to/from work the non lit screen for the most part doesn't bother me. Although playing puzzle bobble sometimes I miss read colors. I have a gba sp as well but the battery life isn't as long as the ngpc for me.

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The Lynx and NGPC carts are very different in the way they work -- the Lynx cart is SRAM, so a game needs to be loaded into the RAM each time the cart is booted (the contents get lost when turning off). The NGPC cart is based on FLASH memory, as the NGPC itself is entirely built around having a FLASH chip for savegame etc, so rather than having a long delay in programming single games, I opted for the re-programmable multi-game approach. So they are what they are! :)

 

I'm not aware of how it will effect battery life yet, that's something I'll have to test.

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Ok, I think everything is complete now -- just needs a good testing. I've contacted a few people, but I think I'll have one or two units spare from this initial beta batch. If there's anyone else who has the time to basically play every game there is on the NGP and preferably owns all models of the console (B&W / color / slim color) for testing, then your help would be appreciated. But in return for the beta cart I really do need someone to play a LOT of games in return and let me know if there are any issues... :D

 

I've played a good few, specifically looking for savegame issues, and everything seems good to me. All save game states have been correctly saved and restored when switching games and deleting and re-flashing games all seems good. And the games work, ofc... ;)

 

Ideally I'll start getting these manufactured in the next couple of weeks, then there's about a 3 week lead time. So realistically it looks like around mid-late May these will start shipping.

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That shell looks like a rough 3D printing, or is that final?

 

I'm looking to buy NGPC this week before Easter, hopefully I do. I'd help with the testing but let's be realistic, what can I do if I don't have all the models that need testing? Not much.

 

That's final, it's about as good as I get out of the printer I have in its current state. Given the likely production run on these there's not going to be any point in going to injection moulding given the cost and setup time involved.

 

It looks better in the flesh given that image appears around 4x the width and height of the actual unit when viewed full size. The thumbnail is closer to real size depending on your monitor dot pitch. :)

Edited by SainT
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Just found this thread after SainT posted a link in the JagSD board. Looks amazing! I definitely want to purchase one. With a potential release in late May, is there an official way to preorder or is that still pending? Thanks again for all of your hard work SainT.

 

Yep, for anyone wanting to register to get one of these, you can put your name down here: http://www.retrohq.co.uk/neogeo-pocket-pre-order

 

Flip back through this thread (or posts on the RetroHQ website) for further info on the cart -- I've done a fair few youtube videos as I've gone along showing progress. :)

Edited by SainT
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That's final, it's about as good as I get out of the printer I have in its current state. Given the likely production run on these there's not going to be any point in going to injection moulding given the cost and setup time involved.

 

It looks better in the flesh given that image appears around 4x the width and height of the actual unit when viewed full size. The thumbnail is closer to real size depending on your monitor dot pitch. :)

Currently my good daily laptop is out for warrantied waste of my time (but not money) HDD replacement and deep scan to see why #2 went if the system itself is doing it. I'm on my 7yo i5 that's locked down to a 1366x768 setting so yeah in those limits your thumb look about on par from a NGP cart from memory.

 

I actually have a NGPC ordered and should be here early/mid next week so I'm happy. I'm pretty certain I put a notch into that preorder list of yours. That said I still think I'd buy games for it too, at least stuff I once owned that's still sanely priced (which means no Mega Man and no Cotton) and I'd also try out Japanese stuff or the stupidly cost prohibitive Evolution UK release. Those 3 alone make your card very affordable as an option. Also would love to dig up those NGPC protos like Magician Lord 2 to mess with.

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