@Azuris Indeed. There should be ways to implement CD ROM drives to load games just the same as any other storage the system uses. As you noted, this has been done for years on emulators and there are even some FPGAs that load CDs. Heck they should be able to implement cartridge readers as well some day.
The current way they are experimenting with physical CDs seems silly though. If you are going to go through the work of making the whole drive actually spin up… just make it work so the actual game boots from the CD.
The cartridge system also seems silly to me. The fun of reliving the past isn’t there if I am not inserting a cart and pulling it back out to clean with qtip. May sound annoying to some but that was part of the experience and ritual. Taping a cart just seems unrelated to the experience, so just an annoying extra step. Sometimes when I am playing a game through emulation, what I will do is have the boxed copy there and pull out the manual incase I want to look something up. Then the original cart and box are there with me. Don’t feel the need to tap the cart anywhere.
Why are so many people in the comments talking about piracy and game preservation? Please stick to the facts folks.
Despite people wanting game preservation to be a thing, it isn’t legal so it is irrelevant.
Despite people wanting Nintendo to win based on personal morals, piracy has nothing to do with anything here, so it is also irrelevant.
What happened was the guy showed images of Nintendo IP, which is legal under fair use laws in journalism, which is what his videos are.
The MiG device which many have brought up is also not piracy nor did he show piracy in his videos. The device allows you to make backup copies of your games, which again.. is legal.
Emulators are legal.
We have known all these things for decades. Nintendo didn’t use any legal tactics to take this guy down for doing something that is against the law. Nintendo simply committed false claims to YouTube. This is shady and inappropriate. YouTube however is a platform owned by neither party. YouTube chooses to just honor false claims rather than risking legal battles with the thousands of companies making these false claims. We all know how the legal system is faulty (I hope), as you can win every legal battle in court, but still come out the loser as you go bankrupt from lawyer and court fees. It is even more hopeless to have a fair outcome in this instance since YouTube and Nintendo are partners in many business avenues, they aren’t about to stand up for a mid sized YouTuber even if he is right.
So to clarify all the nonsense off path discussion going on.. the facts are, the channel in question did nothing illegal, no matter if you agree or disagree with his methods. Nintendo on the other hand is cheating a system to attack something they don’t like. That isn’t cool or appropriate even if you think these videos shouldn’t be allowed, that isn’t the law, and that isn’t even YouTube’s policy. Though you may feel something and want your opinions to matter, let us not pretend like these opinions are facts of the issue. The fact is one side did nothing wrong under the law or under the hosts platform policies. The other side was being nefarious, abusing the platforms tools to take advantage of a situation.
@LadyCharlie “I'll give you the answer for free: nothing.”
This isn’t an opinion on your part. You are factually incorrect. Artist’s intent and world building isn’t “nothing”. Taking away elements of design erodes the complete concept. The creators of the game have expressed this is against their desires. Who are we to tell them what is and isn’t important in their games? You are able to have opinions on your personal feelings of the work and changes made to it. We all are. And a game can live or die by those opinions. However that is neither here nor there. Changes made to games, are in fact actually changes, and changes are factually something. There is no debate or opinion on that, that is just the nature of reality.
This game has had a lot of changes over the years, and these changes for the most part have been appreciated and accepted. The first Switch port many do not like however simply based on visuals. So visuals do in fact matter. That much is clear. Any sane person can accept your opinions and thoughts on the game, as I do myself. But let’s not sway from reality and bend truth to say that visuals don’t make a difference. Every small change makes a difference.
@LadyCharlie If it’s “really not a big deal at all”, then there is no reason at all to change anything right?
It is an artists vision no matter how ridiculous it may seem to some. Pixels and polygons obviously have meaning. Changing art changes a game. There have been games that literally flopped because of art choices. Game play isn’t all you need. People want to enjoy the visuals of the world they are engaging with, same as they want to enjoy the audio. When you have a long established franchise, you don’t go mucking about with it to please the vocal minority that most of which weren’t going to buy in the first place, and those who would have would have bought it either way despite their few but loud voices.
@sdelfin That is what I love about this era. So many choices. Personally I play mostly on emulators because I am running through a lot of RPGs so input delay isn’t an issue. Also makes working with teanslations and managing my svae backups easier. I use fpgas and original hardware as well, mostly for action games I have muscle memory with and light gun games. I have a crt in the garage for that. I do prefer the look of a CRT even when on an emulator. I have an Apple Thunderbolt Display for that. It has an incredibly thick real glass slab on it, so with CRT filters enabled it looks like the real deal.
What a great time to be alive. We should all be praising all this incredible diversity in software experiences we have, because its all about personal preference. No one choice is the best for everyone, but they are all great choices (except for people who prefer forced 16x9 NOAC clones. Screw those people 😂)
@845H It's still a part of the emulation scene just as much as it ever was. Heck your preferred front end, RetroArch has been the center of much drama.
Currently the dev of Duck Station is getting death threats over community drama. Duck Station also has links to RetroArch drama where the dev had a falling out with the RetroArch team a while back. I think you need a better reason to avoid FPGAs, because drama is all over every hobby. Just preferring emulation is good enough. it has a lot of advantages.
@BulkSlash Oh man really? I loved DD4. I was so disappointed with Neon and so relieved when 4 came out. They OG dev was a little harsh, but after seeing the trailer, I am a little nervous this is going to feel like a heartless smartphone game.
@_Ex_ I have never used an emulator on any system (Linux, Windows, Mac, Android, console rereleases), where I couldn't feel the lag. Many, maybe even the vast majority of people won't notice it, but for some of us, it's there and it's annoying. I have pretty much used every emulator for all the mainstream systems. I have used a vast variety of modern displays, most of which have extremely low input delay. The fact of the matter is, the fastest USB controller has some lag. The fastest modern displays has some lag. An emulator has some lag.. especially on PCs, because emulators run on the top layer and they take a back seat to system processes, even when in 'game mode' modern OSes provide. So when you add all those components together that all have a tiny amount of lag each, it adds up to lag that some players feel and are turned off by.
When I play on original hardware or a decent FPGA that allows for analog video and direct to the cpu wired controllers (no USB data packets and security handshakes, and PC processes getting in the way), I don't experience the lag. There is of course lag as data can only travel a light speed, but my brain cannot detect it at that level. Also my CRT cannot detect the lag, enabling me to play light gun games with a proper light gun.
FPGA and emulation both have their inaccuracies. Yes even modern mature emulators. I still run into games crashing here and there where they don't on original hardware. I still run into weird glitches that aren't on original hardware. This is on both FPGA and emulators. Though I tend to find the glitches more common on emulation, and the crashing is about equal on both options.
"The draw is elitism I suppose.' That statement kinda comes off as your own elitism for emulation. It isn't a battle of what platform is best. It is preference. All the options have their own advantages. Emulation isn't the best, it is simply one of many great choices we have in modern times. I do most of my gaming on emulation, because of the ease, the customization, and the freedom of hardware. But there are some games I only enjoy on a CRT with the speed of an fpga or original console. Mostly 8 and 16 bit games I spent hundreds of hours on as a kid and my muscle memory is precisely tuned.
@sdelfin These features only help with the actual emulation software, not with the hardware devices emulators require you to play on. That is why you can't just plug an NES Zapper into a USB adapter and play Duck Hunt on a PC (aside from the fact that emulators aren't programmed for these types of controllers). The hardware devices are just too slow. USB introduces lag. Your screen introduces lag. You would never be able to properly compensate for this lag, because USB lag is variable, depending on what the system is doing. There are modern gadgets that allow you to use a classic Zapper on modern hardware... but they do so by changing the games code to actually allow for more lag. That is why these devices only work on games that the gadget manufacturer has enabled. They recoded the rom for each game to accept delayed input and to accept a variable amount of delay. So yes even with these cool new and much appreciated features emulators offer, the lag fix isn't 100% there and many of us old players that spent way too much time on the same games over and over.. we notice the lag.
I agree that this project doesn't inspire confidence, and I personally wouldn't preorder one with where we are at now... But what is with all the people saying this can't be done for $350, or they wouldn't make any money selling at the price point. What is that based off of?
The AVS was the first FPGA retro game console. The manufacturing was planned by one man, who negotiated with factories and had the consoles shipped to his personal home. This was all done a decade ago when retro gaming was much more niche and not the post pandemic craze it is now, so orders were done in much smaller quantities, so even though parts and manufacturing may have increased since then, the size of the order should keep the price in check. The AVS also only had one man working on the FPGA design.
We also have Analogue which is considered a premium device manufacturer who many people claim is over priced.. and they are selling an FPGA with a CD ROM drive for $249 right now on their website.
Ya'll really think if this product actually proves to be real, there won't be enough people lining up to buy a system that plays every Sega console? Analogue sells out large orders of mono system FPGAs.. Like a system that only read SNES carts.
It's not like they have to have multiple different chips for each system they are emulating. It is an FPGA, just like the SNES clone from Analogue, the one FPGA can play games from many systems.. just the cartridge slot isn't compatible. But given it's a Sega system, one cart slot and one disk drive should cover things.
There is nothing funky about the pricing. It falls in line with previous endeavors.
The funky stuff we have to look out for is if they are capable with the FPGA design and writing custom firmware for an off the shelf CD ROM drive to allow it to read GD ROMS (yes that is all it takes, the Dreamcast drive is typical CD ROM hardware, with special firmware). They have to prove the tech live in front of reliable members of the community and journalists who know what they are looking at. If they can clear those hurdles, the fears should be lessoned.
@gingerbeardman Really hard to say someone took something from someone on Instagram when these controllers that attach to the top of a touchscreen for use with emulators and games and relay presses by making contact with onscreen buttons, have been around longer than Instagram has. There was a guy that use to make these for Android phones when Android phones were a brand new thing.
The Hyperkin thing was pretty similar too though I am not sure if that made contact with the screen or just relayed inputs through it's USB C port.
Also not like it isn't some crazy genius idea that would be impossible for two people to come up with at the same time. Since Delta dropped I have been hoping someone would release something like this.. so it was at least already on my mind, without ever knowing about some dude on Instagram.
This isn't the first place I have seen a comment like this, so I am guessing some internet mob is whipped up knighting on this Instagram guy's behalf, frenzied without even stopping to think how logical it is
@wiiware Maybe I am weird, but I played through SOTN a couple times through when it was new. But as an adult none of the tracks stuck with me. I downloaded the sound track a couple years ago, and it just sounded boring and flat. This is the opposite experience I had with the NES, Genesis, PC Engine and SNES original games. Every time I hear those tracks I am jamming away.
Just now I was playing the Genesis SOTN clip below and I was thinking to myself how the music finally has some life and character.
I personally feel like the Konami folks weren’t really sure how to make the best of CD audio at the time? But then again Rondo’s tracks were fire. Maybe its just a me thing.
-edit Just read the comment above yours. I guess I am not alone. Genesis music for SOTN bumps.
Please tell me they finally fixed the Dpad. I have bought all 3 of the previous versions (the launch Nintendo theme, the revised less Nintendo lawsuit inducing, and the translucent colors), and they all have faulty dpads that make playing games like Contra and Tetris impossible.
These controllers would be just about perfect if they tweeked the dpad slightly. If its just the previous versions in a new skin, its just going to be another return.
@Bonggon5 Entertainment and joy are definitely useful. Mental health is one of the most important areas of health to focus on, especially in this day and age.
@VGScrapbook Gulikit has a controller that is the same color as a yellowed Game Boy, but there is no mention of yellowing or sun damage in their marketing. I am guessing they just brought in some young designer and told him to make a theme to cash in on nostalgia. Junk they keep unloading on the west and people keep buying it.
@combywomby Exactly. Even myself, deeply knowledgable of the niche.. if I saw those shoes in public, I wouldn't notice. If I saw them up close, my first reaction would be "Ha, I wonder if Adidas knows how close they are to stealing Nintendo's SNES font?". With that design, the furthest thing from my mind is that is intentionally representing the SNES.
Headline: “Prominent handheld gaming YouTuber, Taki Udon has a second project up his sleeve” Sub: “It’s some sort of open source device” Picture: His channel icon with the YouTube logo.
@-wc- At first glance I was thinking it was just an external USB C SSD. But after reading it over, it seems a bit more useful. It magnetically attaches to your devices, so it would be hanging there like a normal dongle. It has pass through charging, which is a must on handheld PCs that legit get 1 hour of game play on some AAA stuff. You could rig up something yourself with a USB C hub and an SSD, but it would be an awful mess.
Only thing I wish it had which isn’t mentioned is data pass through. Be a bummer to not be able to use this on a bigger screen.
There is a product similar to this by a company called “NewQ” on Amazon, but it also acts as a stand and a USB hub. Down side is, it only works for Steam Deck, and the storage is much slower because it uses micro SD. Also while it has video out, it is HDMI, so you lose the one cable USB C connection if you have a monitor that supports that.
@Spider-Kev This would be ludicrously complex and everything would fall apart in court with cases dragging on for years. Not every piece of media fits into a neat little category. There are albums released on game cartridges, movies on game disks, interactive movies, DVD player games.
You could put all media in one box of rules, but good luck getting a law passed when Hollywood, record companies, and the video game industry team up lobbying.
And if you jump that impossible hurdle, good luck getting judges who understand the nuances of technology and media.
And if you get past that impossible hurdle, the industries will just cheat.Once a year for a 3 day period, release a “special digital collector’s edition” $100 for a single movie. Or hide a game away for sale without announcing it on some unknown platform. Or keep everything available on a platform no one wants to use. Keep it in a physical location where their actual data archive is and charge people $500 to go in person to view. They will do anything to horde the data, but not have to incur costs of hosting the data for people to view. Letting people host themselves is a loss of control which is unthinkable for these industries, and it also means they can never pull on these old things to reuse again and again, and instead have to innovate.
Also not sure how IP would work. Currently there is no official Winnie the Pooh canon. Doesn’t really matter for that series. How about Dragon Ball? Every fanfic is now just cannon? That could destroy franchises. People would lose interest when they didn’t know which way to turn their head.
It’s just a mess and I am sorry I didn’t bring solutions. Only gloom
@Blast16 I don’t know if I am missing something or everybody else did, but the controllers discussed in this article are wired.
As for experience with the controller, I havent used these wired versions, but the wireless variant has bad dpads. You’ll get a lot of accidental diagonals that make Contra and Tetris a nightmare to play.
@KitsuneNight There is really only 2 current FPGA handhelds that I know of currently available. Unless you mean handhelds in general, which would be odd since this is a specific niche. Would someone say the same when a new phone comes out? Another bloody handheld.. plays games too. Or a PS6 comes out? Another bloody Roku.. streams videos..
FPGA handhelds are a tiny device lineup. I realize you may not care about the differences of an FPGA and an emulation device, but that still is a weird take.
@PZT Is it a shock value thing or genuine racism? Mike Matei has a similar history with Loco Bandito, but I don't think the dude is racist. Just ignorant and trying to get attention on the cheap. Of course that doesn't make it acceptable, but just wanted a better picture of whats going on, because while both actual racism (hatred of people based on race) and cheap shock value content based on race are terrible, there are different levels to it. The one where you hate people and actually believe they are less than you or even want them removed, is more evil than not caring about others and saying/creating things that cause chaos, uncomfort, and downright cringe.
@Mario500 I was able to finish reading it, but I agree. Seems like this stuff is creeping in everywhere. There isn’t even a warning at the beginning. This isn’t really an adult oriented site that is trying to be edgy, it’s just a regular history and news site, so it seems out of place/unprofessional. Not familiar with the writer, that may be his thing and perhaps he’s freelance so his writing style may be more for other things he’s been published under, so not placing blame there. But the story should be adapted to the site, by the editors or have a warning at least.
I could understand if it was a quote from an interview, but even then you normally would get a warning at the head of the article. But this was just put in the text by the publishing system of Time Extension. As many kids are these days, my kids are into retro gaming with stuff like the Nintendo Online service and Mario maker being popular in my home. They are also new readers, I would have though up until today to let them use this site in reader mode (no comment section).
Hope someone can see this as constructive feedback. Thanks @damo @Sketcz
I am not really familiar with much beyond DnD. Is this a good company? Are they pretty well known? Will this be one of those buy it now or miss it forever things, or are they know to support campaigns long term? Do they put out quality books, and pieces, or are they more of a thin character sheets, cheap paper back mostly black and white books, and cardboard PCs and NPCs?
@RetroGames Sega had expandability in its cartridge slot as proven by the 6 J-cart games, Sonic and Knuckles, and Virtua Racing. It wasn’t caught off guard by the SNES’s 2 year later arrival with expandable carts… that was a NES feature going back years.
It comes down to the simple fact that in regards specifically to co-processors, Mega Drive didn’t need them to compete. It could do all the stuff the SNES was doing with their ad-on chips, just on a stock Mega Drive.
It wasn’t until the Super FX chip debuted that Sega felt the need to respond and they did so by responding with a much better polygon experience and just left it at that.
What would be the point in putting co-processors in a cart, that would make the cart more expensive, when they could just sell a regular cartridge cheaper that did the same as the competitor that had to sell a more expensive cart?
The SVP thing just seemed like a way to show off for no reason really, rubbing it in SNES consumer faces that the SNES has a weak cpu. I think it was a mistake. It should have just been an add on. No reason for consumers to pay a hefty fee for special cartridges like SNES customers had to. The Genesis didn’t need co-processors.
@RetroGames I guess it depends on what you mean by expansion chips. Coprocessors is what SNES was famous for. That is largely due to the fact that the CPU on the SNES is rather slow, so it needed another chip to help with the work of more demanding games. Stock, the SNES was an RPG machine, and the action games that didn't have extra chips on cart were closer to 8 bit style systems like PC Engine.
On the other hand, even though Sega launched its system a couple years prior, it decided to prioritize raw CPU speed, which was good for the system later in its life when SNES was out. It could do the same graphical tricks the SNES needed extra processors for, stock just through programming those features on the basic ROM of a Genesis cart.
There is dude going by Gasega68k who does tech demos of SNES games ported to stock Genesis. Heres Star Fox running at a faster frame rate than the SNES version that had to use an outsourced add on chip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY0N2BVN_X4
Nintendo was the golden child in Japan so Japanese devs put their A teams on it, and gave Sega their lower level programming teams, but even so companies like Konami were able to put out games with the scaling and rotation effects similar to what SNES had to implement by locking the system into a special graphics mode that cut back on what else the system could do at the same time.
Sega could and did make a cartridge with a coprocessor. The cartridge was about the size of an SNES cartridge, but of course Virtua Racing performed 3d much better than Star Fox. They just didn't have the need to do this before as the stock system's processor was capable of matching the performance of what its main competitor was doing with add on chips. Thats why you didn't see games with a coprocessor from them.
Instead they had stuff like the Sonic and Knuckles lock on cartridge with special hardware inside that wasn't about boosting performance but other abilities that made sense. Codemasters released Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament on Genesis with RAM that could save data when the system was turned off, and two extra controller ports.
I think you are not being genuine when you say you are "stating general details and facts". You came in saying Sega Genesis wasn't capable of expansion, knowing full well that the SVP chip exists. Just because it was expensive has nothing to Mega Drive's expansion capabilities. It performed better than what SNES expansion chips did so obviously it was more expensive. SNES also had expensive games, many of which were $60-$100 here in the States. Does that mean SNES couldn't do expansion chips too? In fact most Genesis AAA games here were $50, but many SNES AAA games were $70. The Genesis showed off many ways it could expand, even through the cartridge slot, a coprocessor was just one of those ways. It is factually incorrect to say otherwise, because Virtua Racing is a real object in the real world that factually exists.
@Dehnus Pretty much. Even though SNES debuted a couple years after Genesis, it needed expansion chips to really compete. A stock Genesis can do a lot of things an SNES needed expansion chips for, just by throwing together code to implement the features. There is a StarFox clone someone made I saw years ago here on YouTube and that was a game Nintendo needed one of their later more expensive add on chips to make a reality.
Look at something like Red Zone, there are areas of that game that you could mistake for a PS1 game. Without extra chips Nintendo and third party devs were only putting out NES style games with upgraded graphics or JRPGs that used huge amounts of storage. It makes sense Nintendo did it, they had to.
Sega wasn’t forced into that position, so they only really toyed with the idea. Blundered around not putting their full effort into projects and wasting money. But yeah as seen in all those wastes, Genesis had many ways to expand, the cartridge slot, the side bay/bottom bay, lock on carts, etc.
I always say we could be living in a completely different timeline if Sega held off on the CD until 94 and threw the SVP in there. Selling the Sega CD as an add on to Genesis owners as well as making a stand along system for new adopters. Skip 32x and Saturn and hit Dreamcast early.
A system like that would have rocked the world in 94 with release lead on PS1 without offending retailers and a far out lead on N64. PS1 from what I remember got off to a slow start (as did Saturn but even slower), but really picked up when cheap disk games became available.
More importantly it would have given Sega a huge jump on PS2 and they wouldn’t be financially stressed before even releasing Dreamcast. A summer 97 release of Dreamcast would have been killer. Hitting PlayStation just as its biggest titles were debuting, and Nintendo would probably be pushed even further back relying solely on its handhelds.
Heck while I am having mad fantasies, I’ll go ahead and say the Dreamcast was made backwards compatible with Sega CD SVP disks, and its controller was a Nomad rather than a VMU controller. You could use the Sega CD style RAM cartridge to back up your Dreamcast saves or play those mini VMU games, or just play your Genesis library.
Okay I admit I have gone too far beyond the boundaries of reality..
Anyway game comments aren’t really the place for political discourse if any mods want to delete all this going back to my first comment thats cool with me
@GhaleonUnlimited yeah I can definitely see that dude. I just think the younger people today aren’t as familiar with WW2 era travesties, and they are falling victim to some of the trappings of the past without knowing it. And yeah we are about the same age and I do see a few folks my age but mostly a generation or two up that are falling victim to it coming from the other direction. Feel like both political ends are going the same way without realizing. As a result, especially online I feel out of place, taking part in neither side. Both ends getting upset about every little thing said and digging their heels in.
Social media has lead to a lot of hatred and short fuses. Thats why I am tired of the “I’m offended by that culture”. Missing the era of when people were chill and laughed with each other. And it isn’t just the younger generation that is like that. It was the younger generation in this particular topic in regards to the SS. But the older generations get super offended about other things they are too touchy about. And yeah even my generation and gen X do it too, though I think it is to a lesser degree.
Kinda feel stuck in the middle watching things collapse. However I am surrounded in my personal home and life by people who didnt grow up in western culture and its politics though, so I am able to enjoy the real world in my home with my friends and family. Sadly though I have to explain to them how they have to walk on eggshells at work and in public as some of them have gotten in trouble for innocent and unknowing things they did or said around folks dogmatic to one or the other political side. They are all from a place that was a little more comfortable in public and with neighbors. A place of smiles and greetings, similar to how it was when I was growing up many years ago here in the west.
@GhaleonUnlimited “ I don't think most people know facism is these days, much less connect the name of a niche retrogame device to that SS.”
Bro you said almost the same thing as me . Who is “most people these days”. The younger folks.. Unless you were implying that all the media older folks absorbed and all the things they used to teach in school in previous generations, was forgotten en masse by previous generations, leading to a state where they too know nothing about fascism…. In that case I am mistaken lol.
@GMMXX I don’t think most people these days, the younger ones offended by everything, even know what the SS was. It isn’t en vogue at the moment to care about that history.
I am all for these. Even just a one off, I hope this community keeps growing. My late 90s Win 98 machine could die at any time and I am too afraid to spend the money on a mid 90s Macintosh like I had in my childhood home, as those are dying too. As long as these projects keep chugging along and FPGAs are still being developed for various reasons, there is hope there will be one soon, powerful enough to run those 90s operating systems and replace full retail systems of the early Pentium and PowerPC era.
@RetroGames No idea what any of that means. Haven’t noticed that trend. Can you give some examples? I tend to find the gaming history books I have purchased in the past few years are pretty accurate. The one book I did find an error in, I contacted the author and he thanked me for info and made the appropriate update in a revised edition.
For the GD ROM disks, I would imagine someone capable of programming an FPGA would be able to write custom firmware for a CD ROM drive. The Dreamcast used the same hardware as a CD ROM drive, but it was programmed to read disks at different speeds than an off the shelf CD ROM drive.
I wonder if the Mega Drive portion has 32x and Sega CD support included or at least planned to add to the FPGA in the future. It would be pretty complete at that point.
Hope this project becomes reality. Then I will just be waiting for someone to do a Windows 98 and Macintosh System 7 FPGA, and my gaming hardware will be complete.
My favorite fighting game of all time is CVS2. So many characters and 3 grooves from each side. Hidden characters and bosses. Many modes. It really feels like all the classic 2D characters got to shine and play in a way of the players choosing from their favorite series. The ultimate dream Zangief vs Raiden, Ryo vs Ryu, Mai vs Chun. What more could you ask for? A part 3 I guess.
I'd be down for a metal FPGA. Analogue Pocket's dpad doesn't work right so I sold mine. That stripe is turning me off though. GB and GBC are 90s systems, why have that ugly late 70s design plastered on a premium build device?
@sdelfin The dude mentioned in this article, Taki Udon actually has a video on his YouTube channel where he does an input lag test. The NES emulator he checked on Android had 75ms of lag. Frankly that is unbearable on its own. But the test was done on an Android handheld game device… meaning the input was hard wired to the board and there wasn’t as many background processes going on as a normal Android device. Most people emulating on Android are using a phone and a controller grip that has USB or Bluetooth lag to add in as well.
Greater than 30ms total input lag I can easily feel on NES games I am super familiar with. Greater than 60 ms and I just won’t even bother playing, because it messes up my muscle memory and at that point I am not having fun anymore.
Input lag on emulation is definitely not a myth. It has been verified through thorough tests for years. On top of that you are playing on USB or Bluetooth controllers which both add a lot of lag, and you are playing on modern TVs which also add lag, so add all that to the overhead of whatever OS you are on and the emulator’s own lag, and you end up with a totally different gaming experience for many people who are sensitive to input lag.
For action games I prefer FPGAs that I can connect to a CRT, but even in a handheld its noticeably faster than emulation.
@Bonggon5 Actually "Funny Playing" has an FPGA handheld too. You do have to put it together yourself, but it's super simple. It's just a few pieces and no soldering required.
@nocdaes as @Bonggon5 said, those other handhelds you are talking about are just emulators or in some cases a NOAC 😬. I am in a similar boat as the other guy. I have been playing NES games so long, I am super sensitive to lag, and most emulators are unbearable for me, especially ones that run on top of Android, as that OS introduces significantly more lag.
I did have an Analogue Pocket for a while, but I sold it because the Dpad is not accurate (it was designed by 8bitdo and this is a common issue with them). I did put Pokemon Red in at first, but then I decided I didn't want to potentially mess up my cartridges, and used it exclusively with the SD card.
Another advantage is lightgun support. I don't know if Analogue ever got their dock and DAC to work together with light gun games, but I know they said they were going to add that feature at one point. I have used lightguns with other FPGAs in the past though. Not gonna happen on an emulator.
@Azuris That would be cool if possible, but that seems like it would have to be a rather large leap in technology. The MiSTer can't even do Windows 95 at a useable performance level. I am hoping to see perhaps Windows 98 and Mac System 7. A solid Windows 95 experience would be the minimum to get me to buy.
@Guru_Larry I was hoping for a title like “Conmen Can’t Jump” taking inspiration from Bill Clinton’s NBA Jam appearance, but now featuring all the famous world leaders from the last 30 years.
Imagine Putin’s “He’s on fire” and he charges across the screen on a flaming horse, Biden “From downtown!” and the ball rides a jet plane cross court, only to stop short at the basket and fall down the stairs of the jet, with a random chance to fall in the hoop. Trump’s “Razzle dazzle” turns one opposing team member into a zombie that helps you for 15 seconds. Kim Jong Un has missiles. Gotta fit Blair in there somehow.
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Re: Pre-Orders For FPGA N64 'Analogue 3D' Open Next Week, Will Cost $250
When will the controller gods bless us with a bluetooth controller that has 6 primary face button as well as 4 shoulder buttons and two analog sticks?
Anyway this is cool and I am glad they didn't go crazy on the price.
Hoping their next system is just a general FPGA with modular cartridge slots and CD drive accessory.
-Edit: Is that a CD slot on the side? Perhaps it is just a vent, but a guy can dream...
@Zuljaras 8Bitdo sells a "DIY" kit to change a real N64 controller into a wireless bluetooth controller.
Re: MiSTer FPGA's Next Trick? Launching Games From CD
@Azuris Indeed. There should be ways to implement CD ROM drives to load games just the same as any other storage the system uses. As you noted, this has been done for years on emulators and there are even some FPGAs that load CDs. Heck they should be able to implement cartridge readers as well some day.
The current way they are experimenting with physical CDs seems silly though. If you are going to go through the work of making the whole drive actually spin up… just make it work so the actual game boots from the CD.
The cartridge system also seems silly to me. The fun of reliving the past isn’t there if I am not inserting a cart and pulling it back out to clean with qtip. May sound annoying to some but that was part of the experience and ritual. Taping a cart just seems unrelated to the experience, so just an annoying extra step. Sometimes when I am playing a game through emulation, what I will do is have the boxed copy there and pull out the manual incase I want to look something up. Then the original cart and box are there with me. Don’t feel the need to tap the cart anywhere.
Re: Nintendo Is Now Going After YouTube Accounts Which Show Its Games Being Emulated
Why are so many people in the comments talking about piracy and game preservation? Please stick to the facts folks.
Despite people wanting game preservation to be a thing, it isn’t legal so it is irrelevant.
Despite people wanting Nintendo to win based on personal morals, piracy has nothing to do with anything here, so it is also irrelevant.
What happened was the guy showed images of Nintendo IP, which is legal under fair use laws in journalism, which is what his videos are.
The MiG device which many have brought up is also not piracy nor did he show piracy in his videos. The device allows you to make backup copies of your games, which again.. is legal.
Emulators are legal.
We have known all these things for decades. Nintendo didn’t use any legal tactics to take this guy down for doing something that is against the law. Nintendo simply committed false claims to YouTube. This is shady and inappropriate. YouTube however is a platform owned by neither party. YouTube chooses to just honor false claims rather than risking legal battles with the thousands of companies making these false claims. We all know how the legal system is faulty (I hope), as you can win every legal battle in court, but still come out the loser as you go bankrupt from lawyer and court fees. It is even more hopeless to have a fair outcome in this instance since YouTube and Nintendo are partners in many business avenues, they aren’t about to stand up for a mid sized YouTuber even if he is right.
So to clarify all the nonsense off path discussion going on.. the facts are, the channel in question did nothing illegal, no matter if you agree or disagree with his methods. Nintendo on the other hand is cheating a system to attack something they don’t like. That isn’t cool or appropriate even if you think these videos shouldn’t be allowed, that isn’t the law, and that isn’t even YouTube’s policy. Though you may feel something and want your opinions to matter, let us not pretend like these opinions are facts of the issue. The fact is one side did nothing wrong under the law or under the hosts platform policies. The other side was being nefarious, abusing the platforms tools to take advantage of a situation.
Re: "An Evil Disguised As Good" - Dragon Quest Vets Rail Against Censorship In Candid Interview
@LadyCharlie “I'll give you the answer for free: nothing.”
This isn’t an opinion on your part. You are factually incorrect. Artist’s intent and world building isn’t “nothing”. Taking away elements of design erodes the complete concept. The creators of the game have expressed this is against their desires. Who are we to tell them what is and isn’t important in their games? You are able to have opinions on your personal feelings of the work and changes made to it. We all are. And a game can live or die by those opinions. However that is neither here nor there. Changes made to games, are in fact actually changes, and changes are factually something. There is no debate or opinion on that, that is just the nature of reality.
This game has had a lot of changes over the years, and these changes for the most part have been appreciated and accepted. The first Switch port many do not like however simply based on visuals. So visuals do in fact matter. That much is clear. Any sane person can accept your opinions and thoughts on the game, as I do myself. But let’s not sway from reality and bend truth to say that visuals don’t make a difference. Every small change makes a difference.
Re: "An Evil Disguised As Good" - Dragon Quest Vets Rail Against Censorship In Candid Interview
@LadyCharlie If it’s “really not a big deal at all”, then there is no reason at all to change anything right?
It is an artists vision no matter how ridiculous it may seem to some. Pixels and polygons obviously have meaning. Changing art changes a game. There have been games that literally flopped because of art choices. Game play isn’t all you need. People want to enjoy the visuals of the world they are engaging with, same as they want to enjoy the audio. When you have a long established franchise, you don’t go mucking about with it to please the vocal minority that most of which weren’t going to buy in the first place, and those who would have would have bought it either way despite their few but loud voices.
Re: Review: MiSTer Pi - A $99 Gateway To FPGA Retro Gaming
@sdelfin That is what I love about this era. So many choices. Personally I play mostly on emulators because I am running through a lot of RPGs so input delay isn’t an issue. Also makes working with teanslations and managing my svae backups easier. I use fpgas and original hardware as well, mostly for action games I have muscle memory with and light gun games. I have a crt in the garage for that. I do prefer the look of a CRT even when on an emulator. I have an Apple Thunderbolt Display for that. It has an incredibly thick real glass slab on it, so with CRT filters enabled it looks like the real deal.
What a great time to be alive. We should all be praising all this incredible diversity in software experiences we have, because its all about personal preference. No one choice is the best for everyone, but they are all great choices (except for people who prefer forced 16x9 NOAC clones. Screw those people 😂)
Re: "I Am Tired Of Receiving Death Threats Over A Video Game" - FPGA Dev Explains Why Mortal Kombat Is Skipping MiSTer
@845H It's still a part of the emulation scene just as much as it ever was. Heck your preferred front end, RetroArch has been the center of much drama.
Currently the dev of Duck Station is getting death threats over community drama. Duck Station also has links to RetroArch drama where the dev had a falling out with the RetroArch team a while back. I think you need a better reason to avoid FPGAs, because drama is all over every hobby. Just preferring emulation is good enough. it has a lot of advantages.
Re: Double Dragon Artist Says Double Dragon Revive Is "Cheap" And "Shows No Respect" To The Series
@BulkSlash Oh man really? I loved DD4. I was so disappointed with Neon and so relieved when 4 came out. They OG dev was a little harsh, but after seeing the trailer, I am a little nervous this is going to feel like a heartless smartphone game.
Re: Review: MiSTer Pi - A $99 Gateway To FPGA Retro Gaming
@_Ex_ I have never used an emulator on any system (Linux, Windows, Mac, Android, console rereleases), where I couldn't feel the lag. Many, maybe even the vast majority of people won't notice it, but for some of us, it's there and it's annoying. I have pretty much used every emulator for all the mainstream systems. I have used a vast variety of modern displays, most of which have extremely low input delay. The fact of the matter is, the fastest USB controller has some lag. The fastest modern displays has some lag. An emulator has some lag.. especially on PCs, because emulators run on the top layer and they take a back seat to system processes, even when in 'game mode' modern OSes provide. So when you add all those components together that all have a tiny amount of lag each, it adds up to lag that some players feel and are turned off by.
When I play on original hardware or a decent FPGA that allows for analog video and direct to the cpu wired controllers (no USB data packets and security handshakes, and PC processes getting in the way), I don't experience the lag. There is of course lag as data can only travel a light speed, but my brain cannot detect it at that level. Also my CRT cannot detect the lag, enabling me to play light gun games with a proper light gun.
FPGA and emulation both have their inaccuracies. Yes even modern mature emulators. I still run into games crashing here and there where they don't on original hardware. I still run into weird glitches that aren't on original hardware. This is on both FPGA and emulators. Though I tend to find the glitches more common on emulation, and the crashing is about equal on both options.
"The draw is elitism I suppose.' That statement kinda comes off as your own elitism for emulation. It isn't a battle of what platform is best. It is preference. All the options have their own advantages. Emulation isn't the best, it is simply one of many great choices we have in modern times. I do most of my gaming on emulation, because of the ease, the customization, and the freedom of hardware. But there are some games I only enjoy on a CRT with the speed of an fpga or original console. Mostly 8 and 16 bit games I spent hundreds of hours on as a kid and my muscle memory is precisely tuned.
@sdelfin These features only help with the actual emulation software, not with the hardware devices emulators require you to play on. That is why you can't just plug an NES Zapper into a USB adapter and play Duck Hunt on a PC (aside from the fact that emulators aren't programmed for these types of controllers). The hardware devices are just too slow. USB introduces lag. Your screen introduces lag. You would never be able to properly compensate for this lag, because USB lag is variable, depending on what the system is doing. There are modern gadgets that allow you to use a classic Zapper on modern hardware... but they do so by changing the games code to actually allow for more lag. That is why these devices only work on games that the gadget manufacturer has enabled. They recoded the rom for each game to accept delayed input and to accept a variable amount of delay. So yes even with these cool new and much appreciated features emulators offer, the lag fix isn't 100% there and many of us old players that spent way too much time on the same games over and over.. we notice the lag.
Re: You'll Be Able To Secure Your SuperSega FPGA Console For Just Three Bucks
I agree that this project doesn't inspire confidence, and I personally wouldn't preorder one with where we are at now... But what is with all the people saying this can't be done for $350, or they wouldn't make any money selling at the price point. What is that based off of?
The AVS was the first FPGA retro game console. The manufacturing was planned by one man, who negotiated with factories and had the consoles shipped to his personal home. This was all done a decade ago when retro gaming was much more niche and not the post pandemic craze it is now, so orders were done in much smaller quantities, so even though parts and manufacturing may have increased since then, the size of the order should keep the price in check. The AVS also only had one man working on the FPGA design.
We also have Analogue which is considered a premium device manufacturer who many people claim is over priced.. and they are selling an FPGA with a CD ROM drive for $249 right now on their website.
Ya'll really think if this product actually proves to be real, there won't be enough people lining up to buy a system that plays every Sega console? Analogue sells out large orders of mono system FPGAs.. Like a system that only read SNES carts.
It's not like they have to have multiple different chips for each system they are emulating. It is an FPGA, just like the SNES clone from Analogue, the one FPGA can play games from many systems.. just the cartridge slot isn't compatible. But given it's a Sega system, one cart slot and one disk drive should cover things.
There is nothing funky about the pricing. It falls in line with previous endeavors.
The funky stuff we have to look out for is if they are capable with the FPGA design and writing custom firmware for an off the shelf CD ROM drive to allow it to read GD ROMS (yes that is all it takes, the Dreamcast drive is typical CD ROM hardware, with special firmware). They have to prove the tech live in front of reliable members of the community and journalists who know what they are looking at. If they can clear those hurdles, the fears should be lessoned.
Re: Namco's Tank Shooter Game 'VS. Battle City' Is Coming To Switch & PS4 This Week
Battle City is also on Switch in one of the Namco collections.
Re: Bitmo Lab's GameBaby Turns Your iPhone Into A Game Boy
@gingerbeardman Really hard to say someone took something from someone on Instagram when these controllers that attach to the top of a touchscreen for use with emulators and games and relay presses by making contact with onscreen buttons, have been around longer than Instagram has. There was a guy that use to make these for Android phones when Android phones were a brand new thing.
The Hyperkin thing was pretty similar too though I am not sure if that made contact with the screen or just relayed inputs through it's USB C port.
Also not like it isn't some crazy genius idea that would be impossible for two people to come up with at the same time. Since Delta dropped I have been hoping someone would release something like this.. so it was at least already on my mind, without ever knowing about some dude on Instagram.
This isn't the first place I have seen a comment like this, so I am guessing some internet mob is whipped up knighting on this Instagram guy's behalf, frenzied without even stopping to think how logical it is
Re: Yes, This Is Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night On The Sega Mega Drive
@wiiware Maybe I am weird, but I played through SOTN a couple times through when it was new. But as an adult none of the tracks stuck with me. I downloaded the sound track a couple years ago, and it just sounded boring and flat. This is the opposite experience I had with the NES, Genesis, PC Engine and SNES original games. Every time I hear those tracks I am jamming away.
Just now I was playing the Genesis SOTN clip below and I was thinking to myself how the music finally has some life and character.
I personally feel like the Konami folks weren’t really sure how to make the best of CD audio at the time? But then again Rondo’s tracks were fire. Maybe its just a me thing.
-edit Just read the comment above yours. I guess I am not alone. Genesis music for SOTN bumps.
Re: 8BitDo & Genki Collaborate On SNES-Inspired Genki PocketPro Controller
Please tell me they finally fixed the Dpad. I have bought all 3 of the previous versions (the launch Nintendo theme, the revised less Nintendo lawsuit inducing, and the translucent colors), and they all have faulty dpads that make playing games like Contra and Tetris impossible.
These controllers would be just about perfect if they tweeked the dpad slightly. If its just the previous versions in a new skin, its just going to be another return.
Re: Sega Genesis Is Finally Capable Of SNES-Style Transparency Effects Thanks To Clever Modders
@Bonggon5 Entertainment and joy are definitely useful. Mental health is one of the most important areas of health to focus on, especially in this day and age.
Re: Adidas And Nice Kicks Have Revived The 16-Bit Console War, But With Sneakers
@VGScrapbook Gulikit has a controller that is the same color as a yellowed Game Boy, but there is no mention of yellowing or sun damage in their marketing. I am guessing they just brought in some young designer and told him to make a theme to cash in on nostalgia. Junk they keep unloading on the west and people keep buying it.
@combywomby Exactly. Even myself, deeply knowledgable of the niche.. if I saw those shoes in public, I wouldn't notice. If I saw them up close, my first reaction would be "Ha, I wonder if Adidas knows how close they are to stealing Nintendo's SNES font?". With that design, the furthest thing from my mind is that is intentionally representing the SNES.
Re: Creator Of $99 MiSTer FPGA Has An Open-Source Handheld In Development
Headline: “Prominent handheld gaming YouTuber, Taki Udon has a second project up his sleeve”
Sub: “It’s some sort of open source device”
Picture: His channel icon with the YouTube logo.
Fixed.
Re: Genki's SavePoint Is Like A Modern-Day Memory Card For Your Steam Deck, iPhone And More
@-wc- At first glance I was thinking it was just an external USB C SSD. But after reading it over, it seems a bit more useful. It magnetically attaches to your devices, so it would be hanging there like a normal dongle. It has pass through charging, which is a must on handheld PCs that legit get 1 hour of game play on some AAA stuff. You could rig up something yourself with a USB C hub and an SSD, but it would be an awful mess.
Only thing I wish it had which isn’t mentioned is data pass through. Be a bummer to not be able to use this on a bigger screen.
There is a product similar to this by a company called “NewQ” on Amazon, but it also acts as a stand and a USB hub. Down side is, it only works for Steam Deck, and the storage is much slower because it uses micro SD. Also while it has video out, it is HDMI, so you lose the one cable USB C connection if you have a monitor that supports that.
Re: 'Heir Of The Dog' Is A New Retro-Style Point & Click Adventure Inspired By Jekyll & Hyde
But do they listen to Nazareth?
Re: "Never Work With Movie Franchises" Laments Quarter Arcades Boss As Ghostbusters And RoboCop Cause Issues
@Spider-Kev This would be ludicrously complex and everything would fall apart in court with cases dragging on for years. Not every piece of media fits into a neat little category. There are albums released on game cartridges, movies on game disks, interactive movies, DVD player games.
You could put all media in one box of rules, but good luck getting a law passed when Hollywood, record companies, and the video game industry team up lobbying.
And if you jump that impossible hurdle, good luck getting judges who understand the nuances of technology and media.
And if you get past that impossible hurdle, the industries will just cheat.Once a year for a 3 day period, release a “special digital collector’s edition” $100 for a single movie. Or hide a game away for sale without announcing it on some unknown platform. Or keep everything available on a platform no one wants to use. Keep it in a physical location where their actual data archive is and charge people $500 to go in person to view. They will do anything to horde the data, but not have to incur costs of hosting the data for people to view. Letting people host themselves is a loss of control which is unthinkable for these industries, and it also means they can never pull on these old things to reuse again and again, and instead have to innovate.
Also not sure how IP would work. Currently there is no official Winnie the Pooh canon. Doesn’t really matter for that series. How about Dragon Ball? Every fanfic is now just cannon? That could destroy franchises. People would lose interest when they didn’t know which way to turn their head.
It’s just a mess and I am sorry I didn’t bring solutions. Only gloom
Re: 8BitDo's Anniversary Celebration Includes Gold And Silver Controllers
@Blast16 I don’t know if I am missing something or everybody else did, but the controllers discussed in this article are wired.
As for experience with the controller, I havent used these wired versions, but the wireless variant has bad dpads. You’ll get a lot of accidental diagonals that make Contra and Tetris a nightmare to play.
Re: The Next Analogue Pocket Limited Edition Is Made From Aluminum, Costs $500
@Blast16 It just has the errant diagonal issues that many 8bitdo controllers and the Switch Pro controller suffers from.
You press up, down, left, or right on the dpad, and if you aren't dead center with you press, you might get a diagonal input instead.
Makes stuff like Contra and Tetris unplayable.
I guess its a little mushy like classic era dpads. I happen to like those.
Re: $150 Handheld MiSTer With AMOLED Screen Starts To Take Shape
@KitsuneNight There is really only 2 current FPGA handhelds that I know of currently available. Unless you mean handhelds in general, which would be odd since this is a specific niche. Would someone say the same when a new phone comes out? Another bloody handheld.. plays games too. Or a PS6 comes out? Another bloody Roku.. streams videos..
FPGA handhelds are a tiny device lineup. I realize you may not care about the differences of an FPGA and an emulation device, but that still is a weird take.
Re: Rescue Force Is A Metal Gear Clone That Comes With A Remake Of Troublesome Adult Game Custer's Revenge
@PZT Is it a shock value thing or genuine racism? Mike Matei has a similar history with Loco Bandito, but I don't think the dude is racist. Just ignorant and trying to get attention on the cheap. Of course that doesn't make it acceptable, but just wanted a better picture of whats going on, because while both actual racism (hatred of people based on race) and cheap shock value content based on race are terrible, there are different levels to it. The one where you hate people and actually believe they are less than you or even want them removed, is more evil than not caring about others and saying/creating things that cause chaos, uncomfort, and downright cringe.
Re: Konami Butchered This SNES Classic, So We Fixed It
@Mario500 I was able to finish reading it, but I agree. Seems like this stuff is creeping in everywhere. There isn’t even a warning at the beginning. This isn’t really an adult oriented site that is trying to be edgy, it’s just a regular history and news site, so it seems out of place/unprofessional. Not familiar with the writer, that may be his thing and perhaps he’s freelance so his writing style may be more for other things he’s been published under, so not placing blame there. But the story should be adapted to the site, by the editors or have a warning at least.
I could understand if it was a quote from an interview, but even then you normally would get a warning at the head of the article. But this was just put in the text by the publishing system of Time Extension. As many kids are these days, my kids are into retro gaming with stuff like the Nintendo Online service and Mario maker being popular in my home. They are also new readers, I would have though up until today to let them use this site in reader mode (no comment section).
Hope someone can see this as constructive feedback. Thanks @damo @Sketcz
Re: Phantasy Star Is Getting Its Own Tabletop Roleplaying Game
I am not really familiar with much beyond DnD. Is this a good company? Are they pretty well known? Will this be one of those buy it now or miss it forever things, or are they know to support campaigns long term? Do they put out quality books, and pieces, or are they more of a thin character sheets, cheap paper back mostly black and white books, and cardboard PCs and NPCs?
Re: Genesis Virtua Racing Port Almost Cost As Much As The Console Itself, Thanks To The SVP Chip
@RetroGames Sega had expandability in its cartridge slot as proven by the 6 J-cart games, Sonic and Knuckles, and Virtua Racing. It wasn’t caught off guard by the SNES’s 2 year later arrival with expandable carts… that was a NES feature going back years.
It comes down to the simple fact that in regards specifically to co-processors, Mega Drive didn’t need them to compete. It could do all the stuff the SNES was doing with their ad-on chips, just on a stock Mega Drive.
It wasn’t until the Super FX chip debuted that Sega felt the need to respond and they did so by responding with a much better polygon experience and just left it at that.
What would be the point in putting co-processors in a cart, that would make the cart more expensive, when they could just sell a regular cartridge cheaper that did the same as the competitor that had to sell a more expensive cart?
The SVP thing just seemed like a way to show off for no reason really, rubbing it in SNES consumer faces that the SNES has a weak cpu. I think it was a mistake. It should have just been an add on. No reason for consumers to pay a hefty fee for special cartridges like SNES customers had to. The Genesis didn’t need co-processors.
Re: Genesis Virtua Racing Port Almost Cost As Much As The Console Itself, Thanks To The SVP Chip
@RetroGames I guess it depends on what you mean by expansion chips. Coprocessors is what SNES was famous for. That is largely due to the fact that the CPU on the SNES is rather slow, so it needed another chip to help with the work of more demanding games. Stock, the SNES was an RPG machine, and the action games that didn't have extra chips on cart were closer to 8 bit style systems like PC Engine.
On the other hand, even though Sega launched its system a couple years prior, it decided to prioritize raw CPU speed, which was good for the system later in its life when SNES was out. It could do the same graphical tricks the SNES needed extra processors for, stock just through programming those features on the basic ROM of a Genesis cart.
Check out Red Zone a basic Genesis cart:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPeI4CcDjt4
There is dude going by Gasega68k who does tech demos of SNES games ported to stock Genesis. Heres Star Fox running at a faster frame rate than the SNES version that had to use an outsourced add on chip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY0N2BVN_X4
Nintendo was the golden child in Japan so Japanese devs put their A teams on it, and gave Sega their lower level programming teams, but even so companies like Konami were able to put out games with the scaling and rotation effects similar to what SNES had to implement by locking the system into a special graphics mode that cut back on what else the system could do at the same time.
Sega could and did make a cartridge with a coprocessor. The cartridge was about the size of an SNES cartridge, but of course Virtua Racing performed 3d much better than Star Fox. They just didn't have the need to do this before as the stock system's processor was capable of matching the performance of what its main competitor was doing with add on chips. Thats why you didn't see games with a coprocessor from them.
Instead they had stuff like the Sonic and Knuckles lock on cartridge with special hardware inside that wasn't about boosting performance but other abilities that made sense. Codemasters released Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament on Genesis with RAM that could save data when the system was turned off, and two extra controller ports.
I think you are not being genuine when you say you are "stating general details and facts". You came in saying Sega Genesis wasn't capable of expansion, knowing full well that the SVP chip exists. Just because it was expensive has nothing to Mega Drive's expansion capabilities. It performed better than what SNES expansion chips did so obviously it was more expensive. SNES also had expensive games, many of which were $60-$100 here in the States. Does that mean SNES couldn't do expansion chips too? In fact most Genesis AAA games here were $50, but many SNES AAA games were $70. The Genesis showed off many ways it could expand, even through the cartridge slot, a coprocessor was just one of those ways. It is factually incorrect to say otherwise, because Virtua Racing is a real object in the real world that factually exists.
Re: Genesis Virtua Racing Port Almost Cost As Much As The Console Itself, Thanks To The SVP Chip
@Dehnus Pretty much. Even though SNES debuted a couple years after Genesis, it needed expansion chips to really compete. A stock Genesis can do a lot of things an SNES needed expansion chips for, just by throwing together code to implement the features. There is a StarFox clone someone made I saw years ago here on YouTube and that was a game Nintendo needed one of their later more expensive add on chips to make a reality.
Look at something like Red Zone, there are areas of that game that you could mistake for a PS1 game. Without extra chips Nintendo and third party devs were only putting out NES style games with upgraded graphics or JRPGs that used huge amounts of storage. It makes sense Nintendo did it, they had to.
Sega wasn’t forced into that position, so they only really toyed with the idea. Blundered around not putting their full effort into projects and wasting money. But yeah as seen in all those wastes, Genesis had many ways to expand, the cartridge slot, the side bay/bottom bay, lock on carts, etc.
Re: Genesis Virtua Racing Port Almost Cost As Much As The Console Itself, Thanks To The SVP Chip
I always say we could be living in a completely different timeline if Sega held off on the CD until 94 and threw the SVP in there. Selling the Sega CD as an add on to Genesis owners as well as making a stand along system for new adopters. Skip 32x and Saturn and hit Dreamcast early.
A system like that would have rocked the world in 94 with release lead on PS1 without offending retailers and a far out lead on N64. PS1 from what I remember got off to a slow start (as did Saturn but even slower), but really picked up when cheap disk games became available.
More importantly it would have given Sega a huge jump on PS2 and they wouldn’t be financially stressed before even releasing Dreamcast. A summer 97 release of Dreamcast would have been killer. Hitting PlayStation just as its biggest titles were debuting, and Nintendo would probably be pushed even further back relying solely on its handhelds.
Heck while I am having mad fantasies, I’ll go ahead and say the Dreamcast was made backwards compatible with Sega CD SVP disks, and its controller was a Nomad rather than a VMU controller. You could use the Sega CD style RAM cartridge to back up your Dreamcast saves or play those mini VMU games, or just play your Genesis library.
Okay I admit I have gone too far beyond the boundaries of reality..
Re: "We Are Waiting For A Reply From Sega" - SuperSega FPGA Console Team Talk Price, Release Date And More
Anyway game comments aren’t really the place for political discourse if any mods want to delete all this going back to my first comment thats cool with me
Re: "We Are Waiting For A Reply From Sega" - SuperSega FPGA Console Team Talk Price, Release Date And More
@GhaleonUnlimited yeah I can definitely see that dude. I just think the younger people today aren’t as familiar with WW2 era travesties, and they are falling victim to some of the trappings of the past without knowing it. And yeah we are about the same age and I do see a few folks my age but mostly a generation or two up that are falling victim to it coming from the other direction. Feel like both political ends are going the same way without realizing. As a result, especially online I feel out of place, taking part in neither side. Both ends getting upset about every little thing said and digging their heels in.
Social media has lead to a lot of hatred and short fuses. Thats why I am tired of the “I’m offended by that culture”. Missing the era of when people were chill and laughed with each other. And it isn’t just the younger generation that is like that. It was the younger generation in this particular topic in regards to the SS. But the older generations get super offended about other things they are too touchy about. And yeah even my generation and gen X do it too, though I think it is to a lesser degree.
Kinda feel stuck in the middle watching things collapse. However I am surrounded in my personal home and life by people who didnt grow up in western culture and its politics though, so I am able to enjoy the real world in my home with my friends and family. Sadly though I have to explain to them how they have to walk on eggshells at work and in public as some of them have gotten in trouble for innocent and unknowing things they did or said around folks dogmatic to one or the other political side. They are all from a place that was a little more comfortable in public and with neighbors. A place of smiles and greetings, similar to how it was when I was growing up many years ago here in the west.
Re: "We Are Waiting For A Reply From Sega" - SuperSega FPGA Console Team Talk Price, Release Date And More
@GhaleonUnlimited “ I don't think most people know facism is these days, much less connect the name of a niche retrogame device to that SS.”
Bro you said almost the same thing as me . Who is “most people these days”. The younger folks.. Unless you were implying that all the media older folks absorbed and all the things they used to teach in school in previous generations, was forgotten en masse by previous generations, leading to a state where they too know nothing about fascism…. In that case I am mistaken lol.
Re: "We Are Waiting For A Reply From Sega" - SuperSega FPGA Console Team Talk Price, Release Date And More
@GMMXX I don’t think most people these days, the younger ones offended by everything, even know what the SS was. It isn’t en vogue at the moment to care about that history.
Re: Creator Of The Handheld Saturn Is Making A Portable MiSTer Next
I am all for these. Even just a one off, I hope this community keeps growing. My late 90s Win 98 machine could die at any time and I am too afraid to spend the money on a mid 90s Macintosh like I had in my childhood home, as those are dying too. As long as these projects keep chugging along and FPGAs are still being developed for various reasons, there is hope there will be one soon, powerful enough to run those 90s operating systems and replace full retail systems of the early Pentium and PowerPC era.
Re: "I Had This Dream With The Complete Plot " - Jane Jensen Has Written A Story For Gabriel Knight 4
Oh yeah, a new Gabriel Knight would be awesome. I hope she has it done more traditionally. I wasn’t a fan of the look of the remake.
Re: Random: Was Hudson Copying Sega's Homework With Adventure Island III's Palm Trees?
They were embarrassed by their sprite work on Adventure Island II palm treess.
Also don’t forget Sonic on Master System 1991.
Re: The Console Chronicles Heads To Retail This September, A Little Later Than Planned
@RetroGames No idea what any of that means. Haven’t noticed that trend. Can you give some examples? I tend to find the gaming history books I have purchased in the past few years are pretty accurate. The one book I did find an error in, I contacted the author and he thanked me for info and made the appropriate update in a revised edition.
Re: 'SuperSega' FPGA Console Will Play Genesis, Master System, Saturn And Dreamcast Games
For the GD ROM disks, I would imagine someone capable of programming an FPGA would be able to write custom firmware for a CD ROM drive. The Dreamcast used the same hardware as a CD ROM drive, but it was programmed to read disks at different speeds than an off the shelf CD ROM drive.
I wonder if the Mega Drive portion has 32x and Sega CD support included or at least planned to add to the FPGA in the future. It would be pretty complete at that point.
Hope this project becomes reality. Then I will just be waiting for someone to do a Windows 98 and Macintosh System 7 FPGA, and my gaming hardware will be complete.
Re: Street Fighter 6's Season 2 Crossover Might Pave The Way For Capcom vs. SNK 3
My favorite fighting game of all time is CVS2. So many characters and 3 grooves from each side. Hidden characters and bosses. Many modes. It really feels like all the classic 2D characters got to shine and play in a way of the players choosing from their favorite series. The ultimate dream Zangief vs Raiden, Ryo vs Ryu, Mai vs Chun. What more could you ask for? A part 3 I guess.
Re: Backlash Against $99 MiSTer FPGA Clone's Name Results In Creator Offering Alternatives
Going by the poll with new options, it’s apparent that he is just bad at naming things. All the options are corny or generic
Re: Limited Run's New "PC Micro Edition" Hasn't Gone Down Well With Some Fans
@BHPM Given the choice between ewaste and nothing, always choose nothing.
Re: Chromatic Is A FPGA-Based Game Boy From Palmer Luckey
I'd be down for a metal FPGA. Analogue Pocket's dpad doesn't work right so I sold mine. That stripe is turning me off though. GB and GBC are 90s systems, why have that ugly late 70s design plastered on a premium build device?
Re: $150 Analogue Pocket Rival Will Use An AMOLED Screen
@sdelfin The dude mentioned in this article, Taki Udon actually has a video on his YouTube channel where he does an input lag test. The NES emulator he checked on Android had 75ms of lag. Frankly that is unbearable on its own. But the test was done on an Android handheld game device… meaning the input was hard wired to the board and there wasn’t as many background processes going on as a normal Android device. Most people emulating on Android are using a phone and a controller grip that has USB or Bluetooth lag to add in as well.
Greater than 30ms total input lag I can easily feel on NES games I am super familiar with. Greater than 60 ms and I just won’t even bother playing, because it messes up my muscle memory and at that point I am not having fun anymore.
Input lag on emulation is definitely not a myth. It has been verified through thorough tests for years. On top of that you are playing on USB or Bluetooth controllers which both add a lot of lag, and you are playing on modern TVs which also add lag, so add all that to the overhead of whatever OS you are on and the emulator’s own lag, and you end up with a totally different gaming experience for many people who are sensitive to input lag.
For action games I prefer FPGAs that I can connect to a CRT, but even in a handheld its noticeably faster than emulation.
Re: $150 Analogue Pocket Rival Will Use An AMOLED Screen
@Bonggon5 Actually "Funny Playing" has an FPGA handheld too. You do have to put it together yourself, but it's super simple. It's just a few pieces and no soldering required.
@nocdaes as @Bonggon5 said, those other handhelds you are talking about are just emulators or in some cases a NOAC 😬. I am in a similar boat as the other guy. I have been playing NES games so long, I am super sensitive to lag, and most emulators are unbearable for me, especially ones that run on top of Android, as that OS introduces significantly more lag.
I did have an Analogue Pocket for a while, but I sold it because the Dpad is not accurate (it was designed by 8bitdo and this is a common issue with them). I did put Pokemon Red in at first, but then I decided I didn't want to potentially mess up my cartridges, and used it exclusively with the SD card.
Another advantage is lightgun support. I don't know if Analogue ever got their dock and DAC to work together with light gun games, but I know they said they were going to add that feature at one point. I have used lightguns with other FPGAs in the past though. Not gonna happen on an emulator.
Re: Did The Stampers Really Think Miyamoto Copied Sabre Wulf With Zelda?
@Serpenterror why do you have to call the games awful?
Re: Yolk Heroes: A Long Tamago Is A Game Boy-Style RPG With Digital Pet Mechanics
@jesse_dylan Has a bit of a deeper meaning I guess if it means egg in Japanese. All of our pasts began as an egg.
Re: Yolk Heroes: A Long Tamago Is A Game Boy-Style RPG With Digital Pet Mechanics
@jesse_dylan I just thought it was a meaningless made up word on first glance. Second glance Tamagotchi-Time Ago?
Re: A Powerful New FPGA Rival To MiSTer And MARS Is In Development
@Azuris That would be cool if possible, but that seems like it would have to be a rather large leap in technology. The MiSTer can't even do Windows 95 at a useable performance level. I am hoping to see perhaps Windows 98 and Mac System 7. A solid Windows 95 experience would be the minimum to get me to buy.
Re: Cruis'n Blast Team's NBA Jam Spiritual Successor Is Called NBA Superstars
@Guru_Larry I was hoping for a title like “Conmen Can’t Jump” taking inspiration from Bill Clinton’s NBA Jam appearance, but now featuring all the famous world leaders from the last 30 years.
Imagine Putin’s “He’s on fire” and he charges across the screen on a flaming horse, Biden “From downtown!” and the ball rides a jet plane cross court, only to stop short at the basket and fall down the stairs of the jet, with a random chance to fall in the hoop. Trump’s “Razzle dazzle” turns one opposing team member into a zombie that helps you for 15 seconds. Kim Jong Un has missiles. Gotta fit Blair in there somehow.