Same. I'm about to pull the trigger on preorder but there isn't much out there on the system. Also any idea on release date?I'm really want to see how PS1 and Sega Saturn titles run, those are my main consoles of interest for this thing.
I'm really want to see how PS1 and Sega Saturn titles run, those are my main consoles of interest for this thing.
I'm really want to see how PS1 and Sega Saturn titles run, those are my main consoles of interest for this thing.
I can't remember off the top of my head but I'll be sure to ask. I think I'll probably wind up reviewing it so I'll certainly get all the information on which emulators are being used.
pretty sure they mentioned using mame for neogeo cd and i think their snes emulator will be the only in house effort as they were not able to use snes9x or higan/bsnes
Being a closed-box system means no ROM hacks. No custom levels, randomizers, translations, or a lot of other things that make emulation cool.
I'm part of a small niche of people who has original copies of games and wants to use them, but I also want to use modern televisions with HDMI (especially for recording footage).As I said in the YouTube comments I'm always baffled by stuff like this, who has original carts and discs and then chooses emulation - not even the best emulation possible (unless I'm mistaken) at that. You can literally build a living room safe, small PC these days giving you much more flexibility and more options for scaling/resolution etc - plus this thing isn't even cheap. I truly don't get it...
Makes sense for the neo geo, but I thought byuu made csnes specifically for this kind of usecase. Maybe he abandoned it.
I'm part of a small niche of people who has original copies of games and wants to use them, but I also want to use modern televisions with HDMI (especially for recording footage).
I'm part of a small niche of people who has original copies of games and wants to use them, but I also want to use modern televisions with HDMI (especially for recording footage).
Well, if I do end up buying this it'll certainly be down the line when I have the money! I just prefer using something like this over a PC since for PC gaming I really have issues getting distracted (I often just want to quit the game to surf the web or something).In that case mate I understand what you're saying, but it's simply charging $400-$650 for FREE PC emulators with less options. I just think you'd get a much better result utilising that money into a specialist emulation PC. I know it's more hassle to set up - but the end result will be superior...
EDIT: I do understand the simplicity argument, but I'm just expressing my view not to annoy anyone!
Well, if I do end up buying this it'll certainly be down the line when I have the money! I just prefer using something like this over a PC since for PC gaming I really have issues getting distracted (I often just want to quit the game to surf the web or something).
I think FPGA could have been viable for some systems but not others which would make it a bit strange, perhaps. Like...you're not doing Sega Saturn on a Cyclone V and stuff like Sega CD and 32x is perhaps too complex as well. PlayStation is feasible but difficult and nobody has done that yet.I also don't understand why FPGA became unviable, the chips themselves are sold near cost due to them being intended for development. Up to around the SNES or Megadrive it ends up being more cost effective getting a Cyclone 5 as opposed to a much higher clocked ARM chip to do software emulation. Even systems which have too high a memory bandwidth to work on the (cheap) FPGA chips, tend to use a Z80 or M68k chip somewhere else (sound, inputs, io controller etc) so it's not like it would go to waste putting one in.
Inside jokes strike again. It's Alfred Chicken.
I think you're underestimating the appeal of an attractive looking box that does everything with a clean interface. I know plenty of people that are very much into that idea.If I wanted a re-usable device that can perfectly emulate a ton of things with no additional cost overhead, I would get a MiSTer.
If I wanted hassle free, perfect emulation of classic systems, I would get the Analogue systems.
If I wanted passable software emulation of more recent consoles, (PSX, Model 1/2, Naomi, NeoGeo) I would get a Rasp Pi 4
To everyone saying that you could just do this on a PC, where are you getting the PC cart readers for NES/SNES/Genesis/TG16 cartridges?
Same. The idea of being able to play all my old games with the benefits on emulation on my HDTV, and play using my original discs like a proper console is very appealing to me.
To everyone saying that you could just do this on a PC, where are you getting the PC cart readers for NES/SNES/Genesis/TG16 cartridges?
There are already many ways to accomplish that feat without the Polymega.
Hence my question of how are you reading & dumping carts on a PC? There's the Retrode, but that's only SNES/Genesis. Also from what I can tell, the Retrode is no longer actively being produced.
You can't play off the actual carts or discs with this product. It dumps them and turns them into roms/images. There are already many ways to accomplish that feat without the Polymega.
I came across another preview thanks to someone here suggesting Modern Vintage Gamer and he talks about a few things that digital foundry didn't cover.What a strange little device.
Are they locking the systems behind purchasing each adapter? as it feels like all the CPU and power is in the base unit and the detachable component is just a glorified USB hub with the relevant I/O slots on it. I already feel a bit weird buying multiple Analogue systems when the internals are almost identical to one another, so I really hope they let folks who already have USB controllers and digital rips of their games, to play them without the need (and cost) for the adapters.
I also don't understand why FPGA became unviable, the chips themselves are sold near cost due to them being intended for development. Up to around the SNES or Megadrive it ends up being more cost effective getting a Cyclone 5 as opposed to a much higher clocked ARM chip to do software emulation. Even systems which have too high a memory bandwidth to work on the (cheap) FPGA chips, tend to use a Z80 or M68k chip somewhere else (sound, inputs, io controller etc) so it's not like it would go to waste putting one in.
So where are they trying to position this?
If I wanted a re-usable device that can perfectly emulate a ton of things with no additional cost overhead, I would get a MiSTer.
If I wanted hassle free, perfect emulation of classic systems, I would get the Analogue systems.
If I wanted passable software emulation of more recent consoles, (PSX, Model 1/2, Naomi, NeoGeo) I would get a Rasp Pi 4
It's a little bit weird that nobody in the scene really knows where they are getting their emulation software from, there are maybe only a handful of people who can write great emulators for some of these systems, as you need to be almost obsessive about a system to understand all its idiosyncrasies, undocumented op codes, graphical quirks etc. So it's not like they can just write a bunch of them in-house with a small team.
I came across another preview thanks to someone here suggesting Modern Vintage Gamer and he talks about a few things that digital foundry didn't cover.
It turns out they decided to not have an all in one FPGA. What they did instead was make FPGA in the separate modules but only for the ones they felt capable if doing right. The Saturn module is specifically 100% software emulation, no fpga.
He also mentions who made the various emulators but I'm not familiar with the emulator scene so you are better off listening to the extensive list of name drops.
He also covers a few other technical details everyone who cares will find interesting.
I figured they would go with a razor blade strategy of selling the base unit with all the CPU horsepower in it
If i just wanted to play Saturn or PS1 games i could just buy the basic model for $299 right? If so that's not a bad price.
It's still ripping your physical copies, seems easy enough to use and also acts like a proper console. I don't want to turn my old console games into a PC gaming experience. I want to have a console underneath my HDTV that can play all these old games and have them look good.
I came across another preview thanks to someone here suggesting Modern Vintage Gamer and he talks about a few things that digital foundry didn't cover.
It turns out they decided to not have an all in one FPGA. What they did instead was make FPGA in the separate modules but only for the ones they felt capable if doing right. The Saturn module is specifically 100% software emulation, no fpga.
He also mentions who made the various emulators but I'm not familiar with the emulator scene so you are better off listening to the extensive list of name drops.
He also covers a few other technical details everyone who cares will find interesting.
I bought a kazzo board but I can never get the damn thing to work no matter how much I update the mapper scripts or tinker around.
Well, PC is always going to offer the best performance for emulation just due to vast horsepower.no FPGA, no sale.
There's no way the cd emulation is going to be better than what we can get on our PC's/Raspberry Pi's
Well, PC is always going to offer the best performance for emulation just due to vast horsepower.
Is Saturn emulation on Pi really that good, though? I didn't realize it was full-speed across the board! That's pretty impressive.
Last time I messed around with it on a Pi it was pretty slow but it's been a while. I'd imagine a Pi 4 will help there anyways. It's been great on PC for a long time, though, yes.I could do full speed saturn emulation in many games in SSF back around 2005 on a shitty dell laptop. I don't know why this idea that Saturn emulation has been a high bar has persisted for years. Even today, emulators for the saturn are still single threaded applications, so it's not like there has been a huge advancement in technology to run said emulation.
Last time I messed around with it on a Pi it was pretty slow but it's been a while. It's been great on PC for a long time, though, yes.