Retro Gaming

That's pretty cool! It's definitely in the "wait and see" category for me, though. And honestly, I'd want to be able to load ROMs/ISOs and such without using the modules, which doesn't seem like it's possible.

While it may seem like another "emulation box", I'd be interested to see how well it performs if they give the system good hardware specs and customize a lot of the emulators, as was mentioned with the Genesis Emulator. It seems like the main advantage of that system is having everything in one place as well as the 32-bit era emulators, but it starts to get dicey if you need to get the Genesis module to play Genesis ROMs, for instance, and if you're always switching out the modules it doesn't really save a lot of space or make it a plug and play device. With Analogue, MiSTer, and RetroPi, I think it needs to show it's comparatively easy to use and works accurately.

I have read that there are people developing FPGA cores for the 32 bit era as well as the N64, which would be my preferred method. But it seems emulation will be always be generations ahead of FPGA cores, so there's always a place for it. And some people don't care about the differences between emulators and FPGA's.

EDIT: Actually the new lightgun tech they're making that lets you use lightguns on LCDs looks like a huuuuuuuge draw! I would love to know how well it works. Stay tuned for the My Life in Gaming and Digital Foundry reviews when the Polymega is released. :p
 
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Some news to add:

1) The release date for Polymega has been announced for September 12th, though my understanding that's for people who pre-ordered years ago and recent pre-orders and next purchases will be shipped sometime in 2022.
The more I've read about it's history the less I feel inclined to pick it up, but I don't want to temper anyone else's enthusiasm, haha.

2) A few months ago, a new upscaler has been released called the "Retrotink 5x". It can upscale up to 1440p and downscale 480i/p and 720p to 240p for consumer crts. Really good overview here:

3) A Sega Saturn Core is currently in development for the MiSTer, though it looks like it's still a ways away and it's not yet known if the current MiSTer hardware is sufficient.
 
I really hope they add Dreamcast support later down the road.
For Polymega? That would be a huge draw for me, too, since there probably won't be an FPGA version within the next 10 years (if ever!).

I wanted to do a quick rundown of why I've been preferring to use FPGA systems over emulators and emulation boxes. Not meaning to dissuade anyone or make it seem like I'm crapping on other products, but I think everyone might be used to emulators since they've been around on PC for 20+ years and FPGAs are a "newer" method for playing older games that people might not be familiar with. Of course I can't say I'm an expert and don't want to pretend I'm presenting myself like one, as I've pretty much compiled this info over time through youtube and forums.

In terms of retro gaming, FPGAs are essentially chipsets that can be programmed to behave as close to original hardware as possible, so it's "hardware emulation" vs "software emulation". In general, people argue that FPGA's are more accurate to original hardware, since once they're programmed to behave like a console, there's no additional OS or software overhead. Of course there could be poor FPGA implementation as there could also be poor software emulators and there are a bunch of other factors, such as the power of the hardware that's running the software emulators.

For example, a lot of the mini-consoles have audio lag, input lag, refresh lag, and harsher audio. I'm not saying I'm a hardcore "need 150 frames per second to dominate multiplayer shooters" gamer, but all of those things add up to affect the enjoyment of a game at a fundamental level. I've definitely noticed how smooth playing on the Mega SG + CRT has felt, though tbf I haven't really done huge comparisons. A friend of mine has said the same, how much better it feels to play Mega Man on a MiSTer vs an emulator.
 
A few days ago, Analogue announced an OS that their upcoming systems Pocket and Duo are going to use. It will allow users to use save states, take screen shots, and organize a library of games with custom box art, all available with your regular cartridges. I'm assuming there will be a jailbreak firmware like with their other systems, too.

I don't think this will entirely replace flash carts (with a jailbreak) but save states are a pretty cool feature to have added for physical media. I think the absolute most radical killer feature that could ever be added is the ability for two users to have online play.

 
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Has anyone gotten the Polymega? They recently announced that they're going to soon add an EM05 module, which would be for the Nintendo 64.

The analogue pocket is going to be shipped soon! Though I had to ask them to ship mine after the holidays since I'm going to be traveling. It would've been perfect for the plane ride. :cry:
 
Came across this pretty awesome Mod kit for the Nomad:


Features List:
  • Updated IPS Screen
  • Ability to overclock the CPU
  • Support for SMS/Sega-CD games (though in the video, the user had trouble getting the Sega CD games to work)
  • Rechargeable Battery through USB-C, as well as future OS features and updates
  • Rechargeable Battery can also be charged with a battery pack
  • A built in OS where you can easily change numerous video and audio settings
  • Cleaner Video Output
  • A few small QOL improvements
I've seen mods that have a few of these features, or you can combine a few to get all these features, but this seems pretty comprehensive (and I haven't seen the ability to overclock a Nomad a well).
 
A few updates on some stuff I've been following:

1) The Retrotink 4K is being released in January 2024. It's a premium feature-rich 4K upscaler that has just about every analog input + HDMI, as well as incredible CRT scanline emulation. A lot of retro gaming enthusiasts/youtubers have been testing it out for months and it's been getting incredible reviews. (If you are inclined, Check out videos from Modern Vintage Gamer, Digital Foundry, RetroRGB, My Life in Gaming, Game Sack).

It does retail for $750, so I get that may be too rich for some folks and it looks like it would be more appropriate for power users. I'm going to wait some time to see if there are any snags that need to be ironed out and if I need something as powerful as this, or if one of the entry level retrotinks will do (plus I would have to save up!). For me, the mental gymnastics is that this would essentially be a replacement for a top of the line BVM CRT, without the concerns of the size of a huge CRT and any concerns with it crapping out. Plus you can toggle between different types of CRT "looks".

2) Related, the OSSC Pro upscaler was just released. I haven't been following it too much since the Retrotink 4K was announced, but it's about half the price. I imagine there's probably a few unique usecases to use an OSSC Pro over RT4K, but I'll have to wait until more people get their hands on it and run it through its paces.

3) The analogue pocket is going to get the "Original Display Mode" filters in December for the openFPGA. This is the simulation of making the screen look the same as the original hardware (say, the original gameboy, game gear, etc). This previously only worked if you plugged in a cartridge vs playing a game off of a microSD card.
 
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