So...this guy recreated the sega genesis, master system, and more in an FPGA. That cool, but I have an issue with his statement… “What Analogue is doing is one of a kind – we're bringing totally new products to users, designed completely in-house from scratch. No compromises. No licensing (or stealing) the same software emulators and sticking them on a low-powered Android or Linux box, ad nauseam. And this isn't a criticism towards the actual software emulator authors – the authors are the ones doing the real work – but their work just isn't going to shine on cheap hardware versus a full-powered desktop computer, which even then has its limitations, such as latency."
Well technically you’re recreating another company’s work in your own system, so it’s not new. The implementation is for sure, but not the actual device. For all I know, you could have just looked at how these systems worked, put the exact system in an FPGA minus anything patent locked, added some custom software modules to it, and called it a day. So not really new, just a different paint of skin.
But it’s still legal. Heck, there’s thousands of rip off electronic products on the market like how people copy the Hakko 888D Soldering Iron, rebrand it, and then resell it. If they aren’t infringing on a patent, it’s fully legal; just lazy.
And if it gets more people curious about FPGAs good. It’s very fun to make digital circuits in Quartus using VHDL and then simulate it on my Altera DE1 board (if you’re a student, you get a discount). Most of the software tools are free, it’s just that you have to buy the corresponding hardware to program them like for Altera, Xilinx, or another board.
@GravyThief I have a question then, ignoring the argument of "preservation", if you are a supporter of emulating consoles exactly, how do you feel about the Dolphin devs allowing you to buy games directly from Nintendo using the Wii Shop Channel? This uses a Wii's original address (I think MAC address), so you would have to own a Wii, or at least know someone that owns one, to buy software on Dolphin. This way, you can continue to support the devs.
Then you could hack/graphically improve/mess with the game however you would like. Yes, this isn't using the software in its original sense and may not be completely legal (regarding the use of the Wii Shop Channel), but morally this still is paying devs for games.
I love getting roms for games I own and then improving them graphically, such as using the fan-made graphical mods to Xenoblade Chronicles Wii. If I could buy all my games on Dolphin, or an emulator like CEMU, I likely would do so.
Would you like to see more emulators that allow you to buy games from the devs, or do you think that this still running around Nintendo in a shady way?
Comments 2
Re: Feature: The Console Wars Are Back With The Analogue Mega Sg, The First FPGA Sega Console
So...this guy recreated the sega genesis, master system, and more in an FPGA. That cool, but I have an issue with his statement… “What Analogue is doing is one of a kind – we're bringing totally new products to users, designed completely in-house from scratch. No compromises. No licensing (or stealing) the same software emulators and sticking them on a low-powered Android or Linux box, ad nauseam. And this isn't a criticism towards the actual software emulator authors – the authors are the ones doing the real work – but their work just isn't going to shine on cheap hardware versus a full-powered desktop computer, which even then has its limitations, such as latency."
Well technically you’re recreating another company’s work in your own system, so it’s not new. The implementation is for sure, but not the actual device. For all I know, you could have just looked at how these systems worked, put the exact system in an FPGA minus anything patent locked, added some custom software modules to it, and called it a day. So not really new, just a different paint of skin.
But it’s still legal. Heck, there’s thousands of rip off electronic products on the market like how people copy the Hakko 888D Soldering Iron, rebrand it, and then resell it. If they aren’t infringing on a patent, it’s fully legal; just lazy.
And if it gets more people curious about FPGAs good. It’s very fun to make digital circuits in Quartus using VHDL and then simulate it on my Altera DE1 board (if you’re a student, you get a discount). Most of the software tools are free, it’s just that you have to buy the corresponding hardware to program them like for Altera, Xilinx, or another board.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@GravyThief I have a question then, ignoring the argument of "preservation", if you are a supporter of emulating consoles exactly, how do you feel about the Dolphin devs allowing you to buy games directly from Nintendo using the Wii Shop Channel? This uses a Wii's original address (I think MAC address), so you would have to own a Wii, or at least know someone that owns one, to buy software on Dolphin. This way, you can continue to support the devs.
Then you could hack/graphically improve/mess with the game however you would like. Yes, this isn't using the software in its original sense and may not be completely legal (regarding the use of the Wii Shop Channel), but morally this still is paying devs for games.
I love getting roms for games I own and then improving them graphically, such as using the fan-made graphical mods to Xenoblade Chronicles Wii. If I could buy all my games on Dolphin, or an emulator like CEMU, I likely would do so.
Would you like to see more emulators that allow you to buy games from the devs, or do you think that this still running around Nintendo in a shady way?