We've been keenly following the SuperSega project ever since its inception, and understandably so – as huge Sega fans here at Time Extension, we love the idea of having a single system that plays all of the company's home consoles (with the exception of the 32X) with FPGA accuracy.
However, almost from the start, the venture has been subject to intense scrutiny and scepticism. Amid accusations of peddling vapourware, the team behind SuperSega recently posted a video of the prototype PCB in action – but rather than satisfying people, it seems to have had the opposite effect.
Several people have pointed out that the demonstration video clearly shows edits before a game is loaded – an accusation that has prompted the SuperSega team to release another, apparently unedited video.
Beyond that, many people have been pointing out issues with the supposed PCB, noting that it is a little empty and lacks visible trace lines you'd expect to see on a device this complex. Others have pointed out that the massive heat sink is so large that it obscures the FPGA chip underneath, preventing people from seeing what chip is being used (or if there's even an FPGA chip there in the first place).
"That’s one of the emptiest boards I’ve ever seen," says one comment on Video Game Esoterica's YouTube video on the topic. "It looks like they just ordered a bare board and slapped some I/O ports and a heat sink on it."
Another YouTube comment on the same video picks apart the many issues with this prototype:
As many of you already stated (plus my 2 cents):
- no vrm circuitry for the different power rails
- routing of traces that connect to ceramic caps are sensless
- no decoupling caps around or below the chips (which is mandatory)
- ram is too far away from cpu/fpga - this will ruin your signal integrity
- no voltage shifting circuitry for the old 5V cartridge slots
- no dacs for analog out
- no hdmi transmitter or filter circuitry
- solder bridges on the hdmi port (where tv is connected to)
- no passive filters anywhere
- the orientation of the power switch...and many more red flags!
even for a mockup - this is bad!
Many of the other comments have been just as negative. As pointed out by Pixel Cherry Ninja, the SuperSega team has been deleting negative comments posted on their own YouTube videos.
As we've previously reported, the plan with SuperSega is to allow people to pre-order a unit for $3, but many people are arguing that this seemingly low-risk offer could end up being nothing more than a scam.
The negative reaction to the demonstration video has been amplified by some pretty dire marketing, which you can view below.