It might seem odd for us to award our Best Retro Hardware of the Year award to a product which, under the surface, is the same as the MiSTer FPGA platform – a system which is a good few years old now.
The open-source MiSTer FPGA project offers incredibly accurate replication of a wide range of consoles, computers, handhelds and arcade systems, and for many retro gamers, represents the pinnacle of vintage gaming – but it was, until 2024, a very expensive club to be part of.
However, what Taki Udon has achieved with the MiSTer Pi project has changed the FPGA landscape dramatically. At one point, owning a MiSTer FPGA was an expensive affair, putting it out of reach for many interesting retro gamers.
MiSTer Pi changed that all overnight; each component was significantly cheaper (around $150 for the Mega Pack bundle, which gives you pretty much everything you need, or $95 for the basic package), reducing the cost of entry by a wide margin.
Of course, this has only increased interest and demand in the MiSTer FPGA ecosystem, which means that Taki Udon's stock never sticks around for very long – but that doesn't take away from the fact that MiSTer Pi has been a shot in the arm for the FPGA community, and will open up this fascinating subsector of retro gaming for even more people.