jamess

So the product he took money for isn’t going to happen and he’s not issued the refunds he said he has. I don’t think he’s going to win this dispute!

I’d like to see how it fares in real world tests before buying. The ad blurb looks carefully worded “8BitDo, 8Speed delivers an exceptionally stable 2.4G connection with ultra-low latency as low as 1ms”. It doesn’t say straight that it delivers a stable 1ms latency.

And the feel of the controller is also really important as others have noted.

If it can actually deliver a stable, reliable 1ms latency over wireless then that’s very good indeed.

For reference, the best I have over wireless at the moment is the DualSense which is tested at 6.3ms or the 8BitDo NeoGeo controller at 4.5ms.

If I was playing a game that relied on very fast responses on Windows my first choice would always be a wired arcade stick with about 1ms response via the Brook Universal Fusion board. It also has the advantage of wide compatibility, it works well on PS2-5, Switch and Xbox 360 and later Xbox.

But if a standard modern controller layout is required I’d go with the DualSense and a wired connection which is tested at 1.8ms. I very much like the feel and weight of the DualSense.

1ms latency over wireless? Big news if true.

A unicorn would’ve been cool.

Not sure about a moose. Although if Nintendo had leaned into it and maxed the moose-ness it might have been cool too.

@BulkSlash

Video Game Esoterica was talking about this in his 0.274 update video (YouTube). Apparently getting the analogue right for arcade driving games is really difficult as they’re bespoke implementations for each game. It can involve taking measurements of the cabinet… I can understand why it’s the hardest part to emulate accurately. Also - some of the games were just jerky to control in the first place.

VGE is well worth a watch if you’re not already.

MAME really is awesome and well worth the effort to set up well. So much goodness available in it. Last night I was mucking about with Muchi Muchi Pork!, Pink Sweets: Ibara Sorekara, Ibara Kuro: Black Label, XII Stag and Demon Front. None of that available in FPGA yet, all played really well. Gonna do more tonight.

Hamster is doing good work.

The 9th bit - like the discovery of the 9th planet.

It’s a great book. But!

I personally think it would have been better with far less text. Some of the pixel art on the GBA is utterly fantastic and the book presents it beautifully. It does a great job of stitching some of the artwork together from different screenshots to show large scenes all together. This part is amazing.

I just wish the art had been given more room to breathe… I mean I would have been happy to just have pages and pages of pixel art with minimal words.

@pomegran Yes. Hopefully there’s recourse for people who’ve preordered through payment protection schemes like those offered by the credit card companies and PayPal. Sega’s demand that the project is cancelled should help anyone who’s looking to do this as it strengthens the argument that the company behind SuperSega is unable to deliver what it promised.

Sega will argue that the SuperSega project generated a bunch of cash on the back of their brand name and IP. A strong argument IMO.

They can also argue that this venture is bringing their name into disrepute - another strong argument IMO.

I think these guys are well and truly screwed. A name change won’t save them.

TBH I’m glad - they’re clearly scammers and they deserve this.

In terms of the Dreamcast core - the useful quotes:

“Over the last 2 years we got a running DC core”

“The videos showing DC games (Crazy Taxi etc..) were using a 3000 euros evo board”.

So they’re saying they have a working DC core on a EUR 3,000 FPGA evo board.

Assuming this is true - any views on this + the challenges of getting it into a board they can sell for less than EUR 500?

For anyone who’s given their credit card details for this - I’d check your credit card company’s dispute resolution period. I think you generally get 6 months after a transaction hits your card to dispute it. In that 6 month period you can reclaim any charge against it if what has been promised hasn’t been delivered.

@Razieluigi I’m not going to watch the video but pulling up in a Lamborghini like that is expert level trolling.

It’s getting quite entertaining. What’s next? Can he do a video from a private jet dressed like James Bond whilst being waited on by some hot flight attendants?

My first impression of “The Cliffhanger: Edward Randy” was - holy crap I’ve stumbled across one of the best hidden gems ever.

It looks fantastic and there’s a bat-sh*t crazy level of stuff going on.

But a few more minutes of play time later and - no - definitely not one of the best games ever.

Well worth a play through though.

Video game industry - “You can only play what we sell. And you don’t own that, we’re just letting you use it for a bit”.

Erm, no thanks!

@pomegran Yeah not taking up too much space and keeping the wife happy is an important factor in all this too.

@Stegosaur1589 Interesting.

@pomegran

Oh right, perhaps I should calm my expectations down a bit then! Both SuperSega and MARS have suggested DC is possible in the near future which I think is where my optimism comes from but… well… nothing here yet. We’ll see.

TBH I’m happy playing all the stuff beyond MiSTer on original hardware at the moment. The move to FPGA for the formats you’ve listed would be great but it’s not like the MiSTer where there’s the convenience of playing about 30 formats in one small box.

The main thing I’d love to see on FPGA is new arcade stuff, beyond what the MiSTer / Pocket can do. There’s a lot I’m using software emulation for at the moment and FPGA versions would be awesome.

@pomegran I’m not sure the next generation of FPGAs is 3-5 years off - is that what you meant? The Analogue 3D looks like a big step forward on MiSTer in terms of its FPGA and that’s releasing early next year.

Dreamcast was kind of mid-generation but I guess it was still a big step up on what came before. I’ve no idea how much work is involved, how long it would take, who’s working on it and how far they’ve got. I suppose my point was that the common consensus about what’s possible and the timing of cores has been proven wrong before. Hopefully someone’s far enough along the process and a powerful enough FPGA is close enough to bring that timeline forward. I wouldn’t be surprised.

@Razieluigi

So I just re-watched the video and you’re right - there’s a jump edit when starting each game. I hadn’t picked up on that before.

Giving him the benefit of the doubt, it may be stuff he wants to keep hidden in the boot sequence or something. Or it may be a scam.

I’m going to temper my enthusiasm until this is proven to be genuine. Certainly not parting with any money! But will be keeping an eye on it in case it pans out.

@pomegran In terms of scepticism about getting Dreamcast FPGA in the near future - people said the same about the PS1 and N64 you know. N64 was deemed a step too far and boom - there it was.

So I don’t understand Spanish and the YouTube translate thing is a bit dodgey, but he’s playing Dreamcast Gunbird 2 on the FPGA at the end of the video right? Just loading from a storage card rather than CD?

If so - that’s the first time I’ve seen FPGA Dreamcast. And I love Gunbird 2. Potentially good stuff!!!

@Jalex_64 Yeah I’m interested to see how the CRT effect they’re talking about looks in 4K. They say on their website that it does 1080p but 4K is the better experience. I’m sure the FPGA implementation is at an advanced stage so videos would definitely have been possible. My guess is you’re right and it’s them trying to keep a low profile particularly with how litigious Nintendo have been recently. Not sure if they took the same approach with their NES and SNES consoles in the run up to their launches (I bought them after launch).

@Jalex_64 I’ve found Analogue’s products have been high quality and unmatched in terms of FPGA solutions supporting real carts. I’ve ordered with full faith that they’ll deliver again, TBH the thought that they won’t deliver hasn’t even crossed my mind. They’ve said it will ship Q1 2025. The black controller is a separate purchase so won’t affect this (and 8Bitdo are reliable IMO). I guess that anyone who’s concerned about their ability to deliver will be able to order further down the line - so no need to take a risk if you’re uncomfortable with it.

@Bod2019 No, I’ve been checking through the day and it’s not been available. The white was actually available on Amazon a couple of hours before the 3D. But no black that I’ve seen.

@Coalescence Yeah thanks for explaining. I read up on all that this morning before deciding to buy and reached the same conclusion. I do own a number of the other Analogue consoles and some of them do play other cores when jailbroken but understand it’s not open to other developers, just Analogue. My main hope was that the extra logic elements would make more possible on the arcade side, beyond what’s currently possible on MiSTer / Pocket. I appreciate that’s very unlikely on the 3D but am happy to buy based on what it could do just for N64 carts + anything else is a bonus (I’m a big N64 fan with a decent cart collection). The main thing this has made me want though is a new MiSTer equivalent with the additional logic elements, particularly if it’s around the USD 250 mark - much lower than the price bracket that was being discussed for MARS a while back!

Got one in black. Completed check out at 16:01 with some hardcore shmup-like focus but looks like it was unnecessary as they’re still taking preorders now.

@bronZfonZ Understood. Based on what @mrfield was saying above it would still be possible via jailbreak if one existed though? Appreciate it’s dependent on one being available but there is a good track record of that. At the moment I’m planning to take a punt (availability permitting).

@bronZfonZ Wow that’s quite a difference. Impressed they’ve hit that price point if it’s that much bigger than the MiSTer. Sounds like it’s the first “next gen” FPGA device to market then. I’m not at all technical but I guess that opens up quite a bit in terms of what would be possible on it?

@mrfield Cool. Thanks for the reply. I may well get one then. Will give it some thought.

“The system makes use of the 220k LE Altera Cyclone 10GX FPGA chip, "the most powerful FPGA Analogue has ever used in a product."”

How does that stack up against MiSTer and Pocket? Any chance it can give us new stuff?

@ganonms Honestly I think not raising those subjects is the best thing to do in this interview. Better to focus on the positives.

Pramod’s doing good work. He clearly takes pride in what he’s doing. The points he makes about helping other people to become developers should be supported. Clearly he’s a busy guy, doing all this on top of a job. I’m personally really thankful for what he’s doing. And I’m looking forward to what he and the Coin-Op Collection / MARS team bring in the future with more powerful hardware. They have a track record of delivering good stuff, although maybe not delivering in line with what they promise at times.

Yes - some of what’s been said in the past has not been good. But that’s true on both “sides”. And it’s easy to take offence to something critical when you’re working really hard on something and doing your best. IMO people are free to say what they want. Better to tune the words out and focus on what they’re actually doing.

To put that in full context - I’m also looking forward to any other next gen FPGA devices in the near future.

Good interview, thanks. Interesting to hear about the relative strengths of the MiSTer and Pocket. I’d (wrongly) assumed that MiSTer was the more powerful of the 2 across the board but Pramod’s explanation helps to understand why some cores play better on the Pocket. I’m having a lot of fun at the moment with the Batrider and Garegga cores on the pocket. Garegga is repeatedly kicking my arse but it’s a lot of fun.

Not clicked the vids - but hurrah for some NSFW!

@RetroGames Totally agree with all of that. To me - what you’re describing should be the role of a journalist.

1. Establish the facts
2. Separately show varying interpretations of the facts (different viewpoints).
3. Reach a conclusion based on an analysis of the facts with supporting reasoning and the author’s own views.

I’m finding that this has become increasingly rare in all forms of journalism (i.e. not just games). A lot of journalism nowadays is pushing an agenda or a set of beliefs and twisting the facts to support it. At best it’s just biased, at worst it’s intentionally dishonest.

@UK_Kev Totally agree. I’m not going to spend 30 minutes checking every single word they said was accurately translated, better things to do. But the intent and meaning of their message was very clear - frustration and disdain about the environment we’re in where perfectly innocent artistic representations are needlessly censored. The main stream gaming press (Nintendo Life included) will jump on the “mistranslation” stance to protect Square Enix and their sales, and pursue their usual course of historical revisionism in an attempt to cover up what was actually said. It’s very transparent. And easy to counter - just don’t spend money on any of it.

I thought I’d give this project a chance and tried watching the PCN interview with an open mind. I didn’t make it past the first 10 minutes. There’s absolutely no chance this project comes to fruition.

I think anything that’s not commercially available falls into the realm of game preservation. There’s enough out there in terms of preservation that anyone interested can play pretty much anything they want. Nintendo, or any other company, aren’t going to be able to meaningfully impact that. In the grand scheme of things, going after a YT account isn’t important. The status quo, whilst not ideal both for companies trying to protect their IP and games enthusiasts trying to preserve and play “old” games, is probably the best we’re going to get.

@LadyCharlie And that’s fine. Hopefully there are games you can enjoy, there are after all lots of games available old and new. I think the problem is that the current approach of censoring and suppressing certain types of content goes against what a lot of people actually want. It restricts choice. I believe ultimately the approach will fail for purely commercial reasons - what actually sells will prevail. But it will take the industry some time to get there.

@LadyCharlie Yes that’s an element of it. And, to be clear, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It’s perfectly normal. But it is more than that. It’s about supporting the the creation and realisation of artistic visions. Often those visions will be shocking and, at times, offensive to some. But all good. it’s what helps make art and entertainment interesting.

@KingMike The art style is an important part of the games and a significant part of why they became popular. It appeals to the target demographic. Why is that a problem?

@LadyCharlie This is the classic argument used to support censorship. Perfectly reasonable, right? After all, it’s only a little skin.

It gets us to where we are today. Bland games that supposedly appeal to everyone. Watered down content.

In reality - it results in games that don’t really appeal to anyone (well, at least not anyone who wants to spend money on them).

We should go out of our way to protect and support freedom of expression in all forms of art and entertainment.

Watering down game content to suit the lowest common denominator can often make games bland. The same applies to any form of entertainment. A lot of the best art / entertainment I’ve experienced has pushed boundaries. It’s part of the immersion - taking you out of the real world. The current focus on making games for “modern” or “global” audiences is, in many cases, stripping games of their identity and making them bland. Playing “old” games reinforces this.

I think the comments should be welcomed to be honest.

The key ones for me:

“Double Dragon is a game with a strong punch and a unique, distinctive feel, but this game has none of that.“

“The fact is that not a single person in the Technos team recognises this as a Double Dragon game.”

So he’s making comments based on the core gameplay of the original games, and believes this new game is not faithful to those.

This is a problem for me. If a new release is supposed to be a new entry in the series it should, IMO, make an effort to focus on this. There’s plenty of opportunity to take the original core gameplay mechanics and expand on them, or take them in new directions. But to bin that off entirely - the game becomes something else in a Double Dragon skin.

Also - I feel we need to move past criticising people for giving an honest opinion. It’s highlighted here in particular as the opinion is from someone who was deeply involved in the history of the series. You may not agree with what he’s saying - and that’s fine - but people should be encouraged to speak out with their opinions.

This new “Double Dragon” game may prove to be a great game in the genre. And that’s great. But, based on the comments above, would it really be a great Double Dragon game?

Had a look on Patreon. Jotego currently has 4,352 paid members and Coin Op Collection has 304. So a big difference.

I personally subscribe to both. I joined Coin Op recently so I could play Twin Cobra on the MiSTer.

I’ve been subscribed to Jotego’s for years.

The good thing about Jotego is relatively regular releases of new cores for MiSTer and the weekly updates are informative.

I’m sure if Coin Op took a similar approach their numbers would increase. I think they’ve distanced themselves from MiSTer though - to focus on cores that are beyond its capabilities. So hopefully something more for the future.

I appreciate all the work these guys are doing and have found their output for the MiSTer and Anolog Pocket amazing. And I am more than happy that there’s money to be made for them on this. 4k+ subscribers throwing in $5ish a month is excellent for everyone involved if you ask me.

Thanks Damien, this looks interesting.

@Damo Thanks for clarifying.

FYI I used the following link, which is IGN’s own reporting of the acquisition. It gives “IGN Entertainment” as the acquiring division and gives the impression that IGN is now in control of the Hookshot media brands.

https://www.ign.com/articles/ign-entertainment-acquires-eurogamer-gi-vg247-rock-paper-shotgun-and-more

It’s good to hear you’ve retained your editorial independence though. I’ve enjoyed your work for the Hookshot Media sites for a number of years and really like what you’ve been doing with Time Extension. Long may it continue.

@Ganner I don’t think it’s a coincidence that IGN acquired Hookshot Media (Nintendo Life, Push Square, Pure Xbox and Time Extension) in May.

Quotes from the article above.

“That's right – the knucklehead brigade appears to be out in full force because this version of Jo Dark (a character who, lest we forget, looks almost entirely different in each game she's starred in) doesn't meet their own personal fantasy of what the video game heroine should look like.”

“We'll refrain from posting some of the more eyebrow-raising takes”

Clearly there’s not going to be an open discussion on this if you’re going to refer to people who prefer the more “sexualised” look to Jo as the “knucklehead brigade” and then moderate it by removing replies that argue this.