The MiSTer FPGA community is constantly coming up with cool ways to expand the system, and that includes amazing stuff like the TapTo NFC loading system (now known as Zaparoo), which allows you to instantly boot up a ROM using NFC cards, very much like loading a cartridge.
This system has recently been expanded to work with CDs as well, but one of the most appealing uses of the NFC loading mechanism has to be that created by Pixel Memories / @Clive_Frog_2_0.
This modder has created a bunch of 3D-printed components which make loading up games feel like you're tapping an amiibo on your Nintendo Switch.
Pixel Memories has not only created a bunch of characters which come NFC-ready, but they've also crafted a special NFC reader which mixes in elements from classic games such as Super Mario, Bad Dudes, Final Fantasy and Psycho Fox.
You can already order the figures, but the reader will go live for pre-order soon, with the first batch ready in "2 to 3 weeks."
Comments 7
Oh nice idea doing it with such simple materials.
I will copy that idea, as the white NFC Reader looks a bit boring
That looks pretty cool!
Are the NFC's for Zaparoo compatible with Amibo or Tonnies figures? - can the reader just read any NFC and then you load up the correct game for the relevant Amibo?
I love this idea. This expands so easily so you could build out a display shelf of your most loved retro games; have the figures on display and the one you're playing is on the stage. That's awesome.
Take note though, this from the website:
Tapto NFC tags are shipped blank and need to be programmed with your choice of game (using your reader).
I was wondering if it would be a just a token to trigger your emulator to load whichever game is configured to respond to that token, or if it was meant for the game to be stored on the figure. Seems you need to load the game to the figure.
Pretty neat. I do not understand how the development of FPGA "cores" is accomplished, but I appreciate that things like this allow new audiences to experience great retro systems like the SNES on modern TVs.
How much data is in an NFC scan? Wondering if entire NES ROMs could fit in one since they are so small. Would be cool thing rather than having to transfer it to the system via USB or SD.
@DestructoDisk most you can do with off-the-shelf components is an NFC-attached EEPROM, and off-the-shelf EEPROMs go up to 4MB. So, yes, that would be enough for NES/SMS ROMs.
(I researched this recently because I wanted to have something like this, with the data being streamed over the NFC connection. It is technically possible, but due to the low storage sizes possible for NFC-powered devices mostly pointless, apart from loading ROMs for 8-bit games.)
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