Do you remember Alejandro Martín? How could you forget him, right?
He was the driving force behind the SuperSega project, one of the most depressingly fascinating FPGA ventures of recent times.
An all-in-one console which was promoted as supporting original software from all of Sega's key home platforms – including Master System, Mega Drive / Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast – the project crashed and burned, with dodgy prototypes, withheld refunds, legal threats from Sega and much more along the way.
If you're feeling particularly masochistic, you can read a full history of the doomed venture here. But that's not what we're talking about today – no, we've been informed by Martín himself that he's got another project in the works: Compuwood.
"This isn’t just another PC case," reads the email. "A new chapter, with a touch of the past. Solid hardwood PC cases designed for high-end workstations and distinctive setups."
Here's some more of the (unedited) email:
"This project started with a simple idea: What if a computer case didn’t feel like a disposable object… but like something meant and look essence to last ?
In a world of plastic, RGB overload, and short product cycles, everything tends to look the same — and age the same. Remember the "good old (gold) commodore", a beauty that ever look beautiful.
This is not about nostalgia. It’s bringing back that never needed replacing"
I'm a big fan of hardware made of wood – Analogue's first venture was a wooden AES, after all – but you'll have to forgive me for not reaching for my credit card immediately after receiving Martín's email.
I'm sure there are a great many others who feel the same, and for those who are tempted by a bunch of PC parts inside a DIY wooden box, Martín's track record is so bad I wouldn't hold out much hope that anything will actually arrive in the post if you place an order.