Jump to content
IGNORED

Analogue Update: Duo ($250; Ships 2023) and Pocket ($200; Ships 2023) Available for Preorder

DoctorEncore

By DoctorEncore
in The Gauntlet

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 1.5k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

T-Pac
T-Pac

The "SNES Standoff"

DefaultGen
DefaultGen

You take a break CC, I'll make the drawing this time

OptOut
OptOut

Well it's been a long road, but I'm FINALLY whole, just arrived with me today... My first post in this thread was in May 2020, and it was February of this year my third and final OG SFC bit

Posted Images

OptOut

OptOut | 8,880

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Tulpa said:

It's OptOut's dream come true. Assuming they don't ream him on shipping. 😜

I'm shipping it to mah boi @Jeevan! He's my personal mail handler over there, so I can avoid the maximum reamage possible! 😄

Also, to be sure, we can't ACTUALLY preorder yet, right? We just gotta be ready when it goes live... I hope I'm not asleep when it goes up! 🤞😖

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
fcgamer

fcgamer | 4,719

Posted
Posted

This stuff honestly has no appeal to me, literally. I remember a long time back a buddy and I were talking, and he said something about the NT Mini Noir to me back in August or whenever it was supposed to restock. I was considering getting one, since my buddy said it could run Gamate games. Turns out it could run Gamate ROMs, not cards, yeah I went from hard to limp and have to this day seen no good reason for any of these machines.

Maybe someone can explain to me the benefits bid running games on one of these? If it's because of HDMI, it's irrelevant to me as I have a crt TV. If it's about reliability or convenience, then that's really not important to me either.

*Ready to get raked over the coals*

I know I'm a purist, which is why I play old games on a crt. No offence meant to those that run old games on their large HDMI sets, it just doesn't look right, even with all the tricks and wizardry, as the games weren't designed for that. Just as some of you might be able to tell the difference between a DVD and a Bluray and whatever the next thing is (and for me, the notice might be negligible), I can easily tell the difference when running the old games on a crt or HDMI or whatever, and it just looks comparatively like ass on those.

Regarding hardware reliability, convenience, etc: imo, if a person is choosing to run real carts, on real hardware, he or she should also learn something about hardware maintenance. I'm still learning about this myself, but I think it's an essential part of the hobby, which everyone should learn about, to some degree. I mean, I see it sort of like a guy that can play amazing guitar yet can't change his strings or do minor repairs. How much of a hobbyist is the person if they can't even do that? Just run ROMs on an emulator and then just call it a day, if you are gonna be that casual.

Then there's the bit about the hardware being 100% accurate, well I remember that homebrew game and the AV and how a vocal minority got pissed off since it would only run in original hardware 😄 So yeah, I have no desire for any of these,cat all, and have no clue why anyone would waste their money in it. Not trolling, being 100% serious.

About SFC and Japanese MD: Definitely agree the hardware for that pair is quite faculty, from my experience as well.

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
fcgamer

fcgamer | 4,719

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Strange said:

@fcgamerFor the Mega SG, once you’ve got the adapter set, you can play everything Sega put out from the SG-1000 to Sega CD and everything in between (okay, not Piko or 32x but I mean...) For Sega fans that are limited on space it’s a great little device.

Sure, but it's not authentic.

Imo if a person is running carts off adaptors on non original hardware, why even bother with the real carts? I mean stacks of carts or three machines, both would take up similar space, no?

It's just very strange to me, it's like eating a Bic Mac, supersized fries, and a diet coke.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
fcgamer

fcgamer | 4,719

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, OptOut said:

@fcgamer In terms of accuracy, the FPGA offers a far closer experience to the original hardware than standard emulation, and with zero lag. It's the superior emulation choice, for those wishing to go down that route.

Besides, I greatly enjoy playing games in HD on my huge television! 😉

Well in your situation, you play a lot more modernish games than I do, so unless you decided to go for two gaming TVs, I can understand why you'd prioritise in this way, despite the earlier games taking a hit.

I'd likely do the same as you, only in reverse, if I were getting modern machines to play.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
OptOut

OptOut | 8,880

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

Sure, but it's not authentic.

Imo if a person is running carts off adaptors on non original hardware, why even bother with the real carts? I mean stacks of carts or three machines, both would take up similar space, no?

It's just very strange to me, it's like eating a Bic Mac, supersized fries, and a diet coke.

 

But... I like diet coke... 😢

3 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

Well in your situation, you play a lot more modernish games than I do, so unless you decided to go for two gaming TVs, I can understand why you'd prioritise in this way, despite the earlier games taking a hit.

I'd likely do the same as you, only in reverse, if I were getting modern machines to play.

 

Is it bad that I actually just DON'T like the way games look on a CRT? Sorry, I'm not a "purist" TM! 😅

Anyway, there is another big selling point for me, and that is the future-proofing. If any of my real carts die, I can just pop a ROM on an SD card and continue to play like I always have. Analogue systems don't need flash carts, so that actually represents REAL value added right there if you intend to use it.

As a whole, I feel that these consoles, and future FPGA systems, are securing my future as a retro gamer, as the real stuff starts to die. After all, it's the experiences of joy that got me into gaming in the first place, and it's those experiences I wish to continue having long into the future!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
fcgamer

fcgamer | 4,719

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, OptOut said:

Is it bad that I actually just DON'T like the way games look on a CRT? Sorry, I'm not a "purist" TM! 😅

Well with my original post I wasn't directing it at you in general, so I hope you don't take it the wrong way.

But not liking how the games were meant to look...ooof. To each his own I guess. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
darkchylde28

darkchylde28 | 1,546

Posted
Posted
42 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

So getting back to my initial question regarding the appeal of these, it seems like they're designed more as a convenient gaming setup for casual gamers who have physicalsoftware. Would that be correct?

The concept in general is to have a modern system that can accurately (per the FPGA cores loaded) play physical media of the chosen type and automatically upscale it properly, as crisply as possible, and lag free on a modern TV.  When legitimate competitor products are available, the Analogue choice seems to be made at least partially for the same reason that any boutique product is purchased (given the severe price differences between the NT/NT Mini versus the AVS, etc.); they generally have a top notch set of features, but those don't always have as good a price/value ratio as other products which aren't as feature rich.

Official features like being able to play ROMs from an SD card can be highly convenient, but they dont offer the same experience as plugging in your own physical cartridge--even if it's a flash drive.  However, it does come in handy if/when alternate firmware(s) is/are released for each system, allowing ROMs of other systems (since adapters don't exist for anything other than Sega systems and only for the Mega SG) to be played in the same lag-free, upscaled manner with ease.

And, as was mentioned previously, while no current FPGA core has been shown to be 100% accurate to the original hardware, the well known ones have come close enough to perfection (including offering patches and updates to fix issues as they arise and are discovered) that folks enjoy having such systems around as an alternative option to their original hardware in order to keep wear and tear off of the older systems as well as have a modern, near perfect replacement on-hand for when the originals inevitably fail.

I can understand if this doesn't appeal to you, but if you legit don't get what everybody's saying at this point, even if you don't agree yourself, I believe there are larger issues afoot.  😉

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
fcgamer

fcgamer | 4,719

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, darkchylde28 said:

The concept in general is to have a modern system that can accurately (per the FPGA cores loaded) play physical media of the chosen type and automatically upscale it properly, as crisply as possible, and lag free on a modern TV.  When legitimate competitor products are available, the Analogue choice seems to be made at least partially for the same reason that any boutique product is purchased (given the severe price differences between the NT/NT Mini versus the AVS, etc.); they generally have a top notch set of features, but those don't always have as good a price/value ratio as other products which aren't as feature rich.

Official features like being able to play ROMs from an SD card can be highly convenient, but they dont offer the same experience as plugging in your own physical cartridge--even if it's a flash drive.  However, it does come in handy if/when alternate firmware(s) is/are released for each system, allowing ROMs of other systems (since adapters don't exist for anything other than Sega systems and only for the Mega SG) to be played in the same lag-free, upscaled manner with ease.

And, as was mentioned previously, while no current FPGA core has been shown to be 100% accurate to the original hardware, the well known ones have come close enough to perfection (including offering patches and updates to fix issues as they arise and are discovered) that folks enjoy having such systems around as an alternative option to their original hardware in order to keep wear and tear off of the older systems as well as have a modern, near perfect replacement on-hand for when the originals inevitably fail.

I can understand if this doesn't appeal to you, but if you legit don't get what everybody's saying at this point, even if you don't agree yourself, I believe there are larger issues afoot.  😉

Thanks. There's some things I honestly don't understand, but if I choose to ignore those parts, your explanation makes a lot of sense, and I appreciate the information and detailed explanation .

This definitely isn't for me though, I'm glad that was cleared up before I wasted my money on it. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BortLicensePlate

BortLicensePlate | 652

Graphics Team · Posted
Posted

You can use analogue products to play on a CRT if you wanted to though. You can also do that with MiSTer FPGA. But I think that's a minority of users, though options are always nice to have.

Even if you don't get why they exist, at least take it as a sign of a healthy market for these old games. If a company like this can exist and be profitable, that means a lot of people must enjoy playing these games right? Thats pretty cool.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
ifightdragons

ifightdragons | 234

Posted
Posted

Just to back up what everyone else is saying here:

Using Analogue products on a CRT will yield perfect visual results; truly reference quality all the way from S-Video, Component to RGB.

If anything, it's a surefire way to future-proof your console with regards to longevity, and having all options open; CRT and HDTV. With a jailbreak, they also double as a flashcart.

They're basically the ultimate versions of their respective consoles, and as a bonus they negate the need of recapping, repairing or even modding the original consoles.

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tulpa

Tulpa | 3,488

Posted
Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, fcgamer said:

Regarding hardware reliability, convenience, etc: imo, if a person is choosing to run real carts, on real hardware, he or she should also learn something about hardware maintenance. I'm still learning about this myself, but I think it's an essential part of the hobby, which everyone should learn about, to some degree.

But there are limits to what most people can do for a console 30+ years old. The systems are not all living to a ripe old age.

Yes, anyone can clean connectors, but not everyone can recap a console, and we're starting to see those failures, along with chip failures. Optout himself has said he's had three SFCs crap out on him beyond repair.

I mean, there's basic hardware maintenance that everyone should know, but then there's more critical failures that require a more extensive background that not everyone has. If you're expecting every single person in the hobby to pick up a soldering gun and learn this stuff, that IMO is unrealistic.

 

And I'm speaking as someone who has repaired about five NES Vaus controllers, so I know a bit about this stuff. 😛 If Analogue came out with a knockoff of those, I'd ditch my parts collection of those in heartbeat.

 

I also think the "purist" soapbox needs to be put to bed. You use a CRT and original hardware. Good, you do you. Keep them alive.  But constantly proclaiming that you do that is annoying and is not winning you support. Not calling out anyone specifically, but I do see that refrain from a select group that seem to take every opportunity. It just smacks of "hardware shaming."

Don't be a hardware shamer. Be a hobby proclaimer! 😛

Edited by Tulpa
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...