Flashback Portable VS GamePort ?

[Reaperman]

in all reality, the ~6 of us are the closest things to fans gameport has, and they'll take what they can get. Granted that forum won't open until there's noticable updates, or we'll just sit on there and rag on them. I've already thought of a ton of bogus project names they could merge with, and am fighting the temptation to start a new thread about them... Maybe a poll...

 

Of course the new forum will only come after updates and that's really the trick with them. Will it or won't it be updated? So, who else has had the brief thought that persistance can make up for lack of knowledge and checked prices on fpga dev kits? Exactly why can't I by a commodore the size of a candy bar for $50? Weren't dtv diagrams released a *long* time ago? There's already diagrams for SD drives for it. So really all it needs is somebody to sit down and move parts around. It's almost like they're daring somebody to do it...

 

I really liked the 8-bit scope of the original gameport, those 16-bit system requests are going to put them in over their head. scope changes keep a lot of projects from getting done--or done right.

Edited March 3, 2008 by Reaperman

[+karri]

Of course the new forum will only come after updates and that's really the trick with them. Will it or won't it be updated? So, who else has had the brief thought that persistance can make up for lack of knowledge and checked prices on fpga dev kits? Exactly why can't I by a commodore the size of a candy bar for $50? Weren't dtv diagrams released a *long* time ago? There's already diagrams for SD drives for it. So really all it needs is somebody to sit down and move parts around. It's almost like they're daring somebody to do it...

 

I really liked the 8-bit scope of the original gameport, those 16-bit system requests are going to put them in over their head. scope changes keep a lot of projects from getting done--or done right.

 

I have around 10 Linux PowerPC CPU's, with Spartan II FPGAs, 3 ethernets, 5 serial links and tons of memory sitting in a cupboard gathering dust. The FPGA's are created as /dev/fpga devices so I can load any code there at runtime. It would be trivial to drag them out and start working on a project like this. That was exactly why I got interested in GamePort. I wanted to create an Atari Lynx emulator in FPGA for it. The FPGA's were originally used for wirespeed AES, 3DES, SHA1 and MD5 stuff.

 

I mailed the GamePort people a few times. Never got an answer of any kind.

 

--

Karri

[S1500]

So will Duke Nukem Forever be running on this?

[raskar42]

is vapor hardware still considered vaporware?

 

i like reaperman's responce: "Screw you guys, i'll make my own gameport....with blackjack.. and hookers!"

Edited March 4, 2008 by raskar42

[Reaperman]

is vapor hardware still considered vaporware?

 

i like reaperman's responce: "Screw you guys, i'll make my own gameport....with blackjack.. and hookers!"

sure, and I'll bet my commodore and gameport come out on exactly the same day--the day hell freezes over and pigs fly. But we'll all have many more important things to do on that day, I'm sure. Like making out with Cher on the moon.

 

Man, it really is a good thing gameport didn't open up a forum yet...

Edited March 4, 2008 by Reaperman

[mos6507]

So will Duke Nukem Forever be running on this?

 

No, that's a Chimera game

[TwinChargers]

Any guesses on when the next update will come?

 

Put me down for August 4th 2008.

[raskar42]

Any guesses on when the next update will come?

 

Put me down for August 4th 2008.

 

 

are we starting a pool?

i say the site stays unaltered for the next 9 months and disappears in october.

[Reaperman]

just a warning to gameport fans that april fools day is comming up--we may get that site update...

[+karri]

Omg, finally some news!!!

 

"Retro is the Future!

 

Gameport developers kits are shipping!"

 

 

--

Karri

[TwinChargers]

Anybody else check the site daily to see if anything has happened, or am I the only one desperate for any type of portable with AV out?

[Reaperman]

Anybody else check the site daily to see if anything has happened, or am I the only one desperate for any type of portable with AV out?

it's still on my 'auto open' list, but no changes.

really a lot of types of portables have av-outs though. They just kind of suck compared to what gameport was talking about.

[+karri]

Anybody else check the site daily to see if anything has happened, or am I the only one desperate for any type of portable with AV out?

 

I am not at all that desperate. Drooling over it once a week is enough for me.

 

Why did they have to tear down the forum at gameport.tv - at least it was something.

--

Karri

[SalemFrost7800]

Any guesses on when the next update will come?

 

Put me down for August 4th 2008.

 

 

are we starting a pool?

i say the site stays unaltered for the next 9 months and disappears in october.

 

Still no updates, this project must be dead.

[TwinChargers]

Damn, I thought there was maybe an update. Well, I'm still down for August 4th.

[SalemFrost7800]

Damn, I thought there was maybe an update. Well, I'm still down for August 4th.

 

Maybe the ATARI Movie will spark new life into retro gaming

[Atari Dogs]

Damn, I thought there was maybe an update. Well, I'm still down for August 4th.

 

Maybe the ATARI Movie will spark new life into retro gaming

 

Free with every ticket sold.

[TwinChargers]

Well, they got some new info if you haven't seen it yet.

 

http://www.wanga.tv/

 

A new site this July supposedly. There will be new forums, and all the stuff written in the old forums has been analyzed and destroyed.

[ehenciak]

Well, they got some new info if you haven't seen it yet.

 

http://www.wanga.tv/

 

A new site this July supposedly. There will be new forums, and all the stuff written in the old forums has been analyzed and destroyed.

 

OK, a handheld with ethernet, 2 banks of DDR DRAM, a 1.5M gate FPGA (have to assume a Spartan 3e or Cyclone here), 1gbps busses.....I guess it isn't a handheld unless Wanga also developed some kick ass fuel cell. It looks as if the feature creep has taken over. Just a suggestion in case the Wanga people are paying attention : stick to your original gameplan

 

What baffles me is that I cannot see how this could be produced @ a reasonable price. Moreover, development kits already exist with most of these features....you're better off getting once of those cheaper $99 Xilinx kits and making a simple riser card for the video output.

 

Someday I'll finish my 2600 VHDL project. In fact, I might just release the source code when Wanga comes out :-)!

 

(Please, no "Ok Ed, that makes two cases of vaporware"....trust me, my version does exist and I have given the source to a few people in the event I die or FPGA design induces a heart attack :-)!)

 

Ed

[jbanes]

What baffles me is that I cannot see how this could be produced @ a reasonable price.

They can't. Allow me to show you a sneaky photo I took of their new product:

 

[+karri]

Well, they got some new info if you haven't seen it yet.

 

http://www.wanga.tv/

 

A new site this July supposedly. There will be new forums, and all the stuff written in the old forums has been analyzed and destroyed.

 

Buahhhahaa, hahhaaa, buahhahhhaa!!!

[Torlus]

Someday I'll finish my 2600 VHDL project. In fact, I might just release the source code when Wanga comes out :-)!

 

(Please, no "Ok Ed, that makes two cases of vaporware"....trust me, my version does exist and I have given the source to a few people in the event I die or FPGA design induces a heart attack :-)!)

 

I'm playing with FPGAs too, and I would be interested by what you've done so far with the 2600. I've emulated some old (obscure) computers myself (the latest one being the Oric-1). Have a look at my website, there is some information about my projects.

[Torlus]

Someday I'll finish my 2600 VHDL project. In fact, I might just release the source code when Wanga comes out!

[ehenciak]

Someday I'll finish my 2600 VHDL project. In fact, I might just release the source code when Wanga comes out :-)!

 

(Please, no "Ok Ed, that makes two cases of vaporware"....trust me, my version does exist and I have given the source to a few people in the event I die or FPGA design induces a heart attack :-)!)

 

I'm playing with FPGAs too, and I would be interested by what you've done so far with the 2600. I've emulated some old (obscure) computers myself (the latest one being the Oric-1). Have a look at my website, there is some information about my projects.

 

 

Ah...you're the Intellivision guy :-)! I've been to your site many times!

 

I basically have the whole 2600 up and running. I'd say compatibility is about 95% of all

titles released prior to 1992. I don't have the ability to test some of the stranger bankswitching

schemed games at this time since I haven't written the circuits yet. There are a few critical things

I have to do though :

 

1> Damn Cosmic Ark starfield bug....I know how this happens (I think) in TIA, but you gotta have it perfect

if you *really* want to play Kool Aid Man :-). I really don't care about this since I hate Kool Aid Man and

Cosmic Ark is more than playable, but I am also a perfectionist :-)!

 

2> I need to fix two or three "asynchronous clear" paths in the FPGA....these cause a build-to-build issue that unveils a few problems.

Basically, I hacked in a solution just to test games...this really has to be fixed though since good digital designers keep the whole

thing synchronous ! Let's say I made an ASIC out of this or ported it to some other FPGA....chances are things would misbehave :-)!

 

3> Add undocumented opcodes to the 6502 from Opencores (MikeJ and I fixed several bugs in this core for cycle-to-cycle accuracy

issues....it still could be a lot better though).

 

Still, some of the demos that beat the crap out of TIA are behaving just fine and I managed to squeeze it all

into a relatively tiny FPGA (2,000 LEs....I figure I can get this down to 1,500 with a better 6502). I also wrapped a

Microblaze around the core + use external asynchronous SRAM to act as both a frame buffer for the LCD I am driving as

well as a manager for uploading games to external SRAM. Of course, the Microblaze adds more logic, but that is not

really needed (it's just a fast way to add communications ).

 

There's mention of my rendition of the 2600 in an old Xilinx Xcell journal....just do a search for Xilinx Atari on Google.

 

I'd love to make a small system out of this (I am 1/4 thru the 7800 and have a decent understanding of the 5200 based chips), but I flat out don't have much time. I work full time + manage to swamp myself with contracts on the side. Still, if I could get a few people together to handle some embedded software stuff, I'd like to make a small system based on this thing someday ! I'm booked until August though and I promised my wife that I would behave on side jobs this fall. I am more interested in making a console as opposed to a handheld since LCD prices still aren't exactly cheap (save the ones you can get from Electronics Goldmine.....but you need to discard a few scanlines to smash the 2600 display onto that).

 

PM me your email address ! I wouldn't mind talking with you !

 

Ed

[Reaperman]

wow, do a few lines of extra text count as an update now?

I think I just put about as much thought into this post as they have used on their entire site.

 

sounds like it's not handheld anymore. Which is probably for the best.

Of course its 'most devoted' fans know a modded xbox can be assembled for about the same $100--granted my hands tend to know the difference between software and hardware emulations. My eyes and wallet tend to have trouble with it though...

Edited June 28, 2008 by Reaperman