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[VGEsoterica]

For the last three I have been playing around with MiSTer FPGA and in that time it has gone from a fun hobby platform with some decent experiences to a full blown "platform" that basically feels like an essential piece of hardware for any fan of retro gaming no matter if they are a retro console fan, arcade fan or vintage PC fan.

It seriously basically has everything; NES, SNES and N64 in progress, Sega Master System, Genesis, Sega CD, 32X and Saturn WIP. PS1 and the PS1 2X enhanced core. Neo Geo and Neo Geo CD. PC Engine and PC Engine CD. Gameboy, Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance...and that's just the mainline makers of consoles.

Throw in a metric crap ton of arcade cores like the Capcom CPS and CPS 2 library with CPS 3 on the way along with like 200 other hardware accurate arcade boards...just mind blowing stuff.

PC's? It's an Amiga, a 486 DOS machine, a Sharp X68000 (work in progress), etc etc etc.

and the best part is building one isn't that bad at all.

But I am curious GAF...who's gotten on the MiSTer FPGA train? and who's waiting to board? Trust me...you want one and anyone can build one

 

[diffusionx]

I want one but I feel like it would just be collecting dust after a few weeks.

 

[Guilty_AI]

This feels like a great asset to have in the apocalypse

 

[Setsuna Mudou]

For the last three I have been playing around with MiSTer FPGA and in that time it has gone from a fun hobby platform with some decent experiences to a full blown "platform" that basically feels like an essential piece of hardware for any fan of retro gaming no matter if they are a retro console fan, arcade fan or vintage PC fan.

It seriously basically has everything; NES, SNES and N64 in progress, Sega Master System, Genesis, Sega CD, 32X and Saturn WIP. PS1 and the PS1 2X enhanced core. Neo Geo and Neo Geo CD. PC Engine and PC Engine CD. Gameboy, Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance...and that's just the mainline makers of consoles.

Throw in a metric crap ton of arcade cores like the Capcom CPS and CPS 2 library with CPS 3 on the way along with like 200 other hardware accurate arcade boards...just mind blowing stuff.

PC's? It's an Amiga, a 486 DOS machine, a Sharp X68000 (work in progress), etc etc etc.

and the best part is building one isn't that bad at all.

But I am curious GAF...who's gotten on the MiSTer FPGA train? and who's waiting to board? Trust me...you want one and anyone can build one

You know you can emulate all that and much much more on PC. Even a Steam Deck will run PS3 games and Switch, on top of those older consoles.
What is the point of that exactly?

 

[diffusionx]

You know you can emulate all that and much much more on PC. Even a Steam Deck will run PS3 games and Switch, on top of those older consoles.
What is the point of that exactly?

Accuracy and output to an analog TV, primarily.

 

[Setsuna Mudou]

Accuracy and output to an analog TV, primarily.

What makes it more accurate than other PC emulators? Analog TV? Are we talking CRT?

 

[diffusionx]

What makes it more accurate than other PC emulators? Analog TV? Are we talking CRT?

Read about the difference between FPGA and emulation.

Yes, CRT.

 

[Setsuna Mudou]

Read about the difference between FPGA and emulation.

Yes, CRT.

ok, i'll give it a look

About CRT, come on, who the hell still has one of those nowadays though? Unless you find a fallout vault irl that is.

 

[diffusionx]

ok, i'll give it a look

About CRT, come on, who the hell still has one of those nowadays though? Unless you find a fallout vault irl that is.

A lot of people, to the point where good ones are becoming scarce. Think about it, all these old games are designed for a CRT, if you care about playing the game the way it was meant to be played, CRT is kind of mandatory.

 

[Starhowl]

Yeah, I love the idea - but I would only get an improved version where I could use shaders - not just simple filters.

 

[theHFIC]

The MiSTer stuff is pretty neat, but since I have a decent collection of physical cartridges for different systems I went the Analogue route to output to modern displays with my original games and accessories and dabble in FPGA with the Pocket. In the end, I just didn't want to pay MiSTer prices to copy over a roms folder.

 

[German Hops]

How are the prices these days?
Can I get one for under $300?

 

[nowhat]

ok, i'll give it a look

In short, FPGAs are chips that can be repurposed on the fly to actually replicate the properties and functionality of other chips. So with FPGAs you are not emulating a system (something that can be error-prone), but essentially running the actual target hardware.

 

[beatdowniidx]

I love mine use it mostly for amiga 500 games

 

[VGEsoterica]

ok, i'll give it a look

About CRT, come on, who the hell still has one of those nowadays though? Unless you find a fallout vault irl that is.

lol I’ve got four

Sony consumer CRT, 2x Sont 14” PVMs and a 20” Sony PVM. But I am not normal

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

What’s the price today, and how difficult is it to set it up?

I was already interested a few years ago, imagine now that it’s close to running Saturn and N64 properly.
Truth be told tho, I can barely be bothered to fire up an emulator these days. I would never use a Mister like it deserves unless I win the lottery and don’t have to work another day in my life.

 

[VGEsoterica]

How are the prices these days?
Can I get one for under $300?

What’s the price today, and how difficult is it to set it up?

I was already interested a few years ago, imagine now that it’s close to running Saturn and N64 properly.
Truth be told tho, I can barely be bothered to fire up an emulator these days. I would never use a Mister like it deserves unless I win the lottery and don’t have to work another day in my life.

You can be in at AROUND $320. I’ll have a video on that in a bit. But watch what I posted. If you can put together Lego you can build MiSTer. It’s very easy

 

[VGEsoterica]

You know you can emulate all that and much much more on PC. Even a Steam Deck will run PS3 games and Switch, on top of those older consoles.
What is the point of that exactly?

You aren’t wrong. You can emulate these systems on PC or Steam Deck. I do both regularly and you can’t beat Deck for portability.

The difference is in the end result; FPGA replication of original hardware is, in essence, using a programmable chip and the logic elements inside to “become” the target hardware.

Properly programmed FPGA code in essence IS the hardware it’s targeting. Take a SNES and take its equivalent MiSTer core. It’s 1:1

Software emulation is awesome. I use it all the time. But it’s performing a different version of the same end goal; play SNES games.

When you get deeper into the technology behind FPGA chips and how they function you get to parallel operations vs sequential in FPGA vs software emulation.

But FPGA has its place along side software emulation. It’s just a harder topic to explain as to why it’s “different” and in some ways “a superior product”

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

ok, i'll give it a look

About CRT, come on, who the hell still has one of those nowadays though? Unless you find a fallout vault irl that is.

I have three Sony PVM's....they are an alter at which I prey to the 8/16/32bit Gods.

MiSTer FPGA - "This is the way"

OP ( VGEsoterica ) also does a TREMNDOUS amount of high quality YT content on emulation, retro consoles and software, as well as preserving games of yore.

Defiantly worth checking out their work, they deserve the exposure and support.

 

[VGEsoterica]

I have three Sony PVM's....they are an alter at which I prey to the 8/16/32bit Gods.

MiSTer FPGA - "This is the way"

OP ( VGEsoterica ) also does a TREMNDOUS amount of high quality YT content on emulation, retro consoles and software, as well as preserving games of yore.

Defiantly worth checking out their work, they deserve the exposure and support.

Aww thanks! I try to have fun and teach people cool shit while also preserving the stuff others can’t / won’t. The recent Castlevania Arcade stuff was a good time!

 

[SF Kosmo]

I have put a lot of effort into my emulation set up, and the ease of access, curation, browning experience, and wider variety of systems available far outweigh the trivial benefits to latency.

I think if I wanted to build/mod an arcade cab with a real CRT or something, MiSTER would be perfect. But for being able to browse and hop into any game I want, emulation is just a better overall experience.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Hackers make emulators justified, I think it implies stealing.

 

[RagnarokIV]

One of the best game related things I ever bought.

 

[Retro_Stew]

Alternatively, even if it's still emulation, you can use a Recalbox RGB Dual.
The results are quite incredible on a CRT, the interface very clean, and it's a way cheaper solution (using a Raspberry Pi 3B or 4)

Recalbox RGB Dual

Bring your CRT screens and TV sets back to life and play all your childhood games with RECALBOX RGB Dual!

www.recalbox.com

 

[Dr.D00p]

It's just emulation for the snob.

I'm willing to bet that in a blind test, no one would be able to tell the difference between a properly configured emulator, and a FPGA setup.

 

[OCASM]

Read about the difference between FPGA and emulation.

Yes, CRT.

Mister FPGA is emulation too.

 

[VGEsoterica]

It's just emulation for the snob.

I'm willing to bet that in a blind test, no one would be able to tell the difference between a properly configured emulator, and a FPGA setup.

Depending on the genre I’d disagree nicely MiSTer is being used for fighting game tournaments now where software emulation isn’t being used

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

I think this is very much a hobbyist platform.

For a typical user who just wants to know "why does everyone mention this chrono trigger game" something like RetroArch is a far better solution.

The benefits that a Field Programmable Gate Arrays provide are significant...from a high level POV it isn't "emulation" as something like snes9x or noca$h (apps) would be considered but MiSTer is a deeper, more computationally accurate, PLATFORM that provide a more complete/authentic emulation experience.

Not necessary for someone who is just running roms on their pc.

 

[alphachino]

ok, i'll give it a look

About CRT, come on, who the hell still has one of those nowadays though? Unless you find a fallout vault irl that is.

JFC... how out of touch are you?

 

[nkarafo]

Accuracy and output to an analog TV, primarily.

Both already done with emulators, way before FPGAs were a thing.

Properly programmed FPGA code in essence IS the hardware it’s targeting. Take a SNES and take its equivalent MiSTer core. It’s 1:1

Software emulation is awesome. I use it all the time. But it’s performing a different version of the same end goal; play SNES games.

Un no.

Accurate emulation has the same goal as any FPGA. Replicate the hardware 1:1.

Also, there is no SNES core that is as accurate as BSNES. Even the analogue SNES project used BSNES as reference to fix their bugs.

Lastly, FPGAs are also emulation.

Depending on the genre I’d disagree nicely MiSTer is being used for fighting game tournaments now where software emulation isn’t being used

That's because they are more convenient. They can offer accurate emulation in a very small box that's also very easy to connect to a CRT. It's a bit more involved to get the same result on a PC, especially if you want to reduce the input lag to a similar level.

It has nothing to do with the accuracy of the emulation.

 

[Spukc]

It's just emulation for the snob.

I'm willing to bet that in a blind test, no one would be able to tell the difference between a properly configured emulator, and a FPGA setup.

I can instantly spot it.
Software emulation is peasantation

Also it hooks up with an RGB cable to a telly.

 

[nkarafo]

But FPGA has its place along side software emulation. It’s just a harder topic to explain as to why it’s “different” and in some ways “a superior product”

In order to explain the differences you also need to know a thing or two about emulation. You seem to know a lot about FPGAs and real hardware, but when it comes to emulation, your knowledge isn't any different than any other youtuber game collector who has a bias for physical hardware and software.

 

[SpiceRacz]

The problem is, for most people, the difference between emulation and fpga isn't significant enough to justify spending $300+.

I love mine use it mostly for amiga 500 games

What model of Dell monitor is that?

 

[VGEsoterica]

In order to explain the differences you also need to know a thing or two about emulation. You seem to know a lot about FPGAs and real hardware, but when it comes to emulation, your knowledge isn't any different than any other youtuber game collector who has a bias for physical hardware and software.

lol bias? I literally have series on getting software emulators running for people. I have no bias outside “hey go play games and have fun”.

I just want people to play

 

[Thaedolus]

I’d really like one, but hard to justify when I still have working old hardware and also want a new car

 

[VGEsoterica]

I’d really like one, but hard to justify when I still have working old hardware and also want a new car

Yeah def save up for that car. Priorities

 

[alphachino]

What model of Dell monitor is that?

If you're looking for a 4:3 Dell monitor, keep an eye out for the 2007FP or 2007FPb. I have 3 of them and they are really fantastic displays for retro games.

 

[Sethbacca]

As cool as these are, the average person is probably perfectly fine with something like a retroid pocket or simple pc emulation. Unless I had a pile of money sitting around collecting dust (which is like almost never) I'd not even consider this since 99 times out of 100 I mostly just want to play a few rounds of Super Punch Out or something.

 

[nkarafo]

lol bias? I literally have series on getting software emulators running for people. I have no bias outside “hey go play games and have fun”.

I just want people to play

I watch all of your videos and i'm also a sub. Sorry if i sound harsh, i really do like your channel and i tend to be more critical about the things i like. I do feel like you have a bias for FPGAs vs emulation in that you don't seem to spend the same amount of time or have the same enthusiasm in getting deep into emulation, as you do with FPGAs or hardware.

I'm not saying you should, if you prefer FPGAs/Hardware that's fine. The reason i subbed was your awesome showcases of obscure hardware nobody else has. But i'm sure nobody is forcing you to make videos about emulation and when you do, the information is often false or out of date. Again, no problem with someone casually making videos about emulators and having a surface knowledge about them but in your case it's not only about “hey go play games and have fun”. Because in your videos you always give a lot of information, you do comparisons and teach stuff, like you specifically mention in the OP. So, when it comes to teaching stuff and making comparisons, i expect a level of knowledge above the casual "let's have fun" level. But hey, maybe it's just me.

There are no YouTube channels that have good information about emulators unfortunately. Not a single one.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

I would love to have one, they look amazing. Right now I can't justify the time / cost but sooner or later I'll make it happen.

Software emulation is still what I use for all my current setups, but I would absolutely consider a hardware option superior if I had the option.

The thing about software emulation -- even if it's on the super-accurate side like BSNES mentioned above -- is that you're always still running it inside a host OS with a million other things on top. Even if you shut down every other process and manage to never have a single interruption in the priority of the emulation thread, it's hard to ignore or forget that this is all happening around it. You're basically running exponentially more compute around the game to run it in a virtualized way.

Putting the implementation onto small, focused hardware just feels more authentic on every level. Then I'm actually playing with a physical "gadget" that maps 1:1 to what the original piece of hardware did, fitting in the same spot between wall power and TV, computing only the games, with only that console's software systems as its entire internal horizon. Some of this is subjective reaction, sure, but it's also just more impressive to know that you're not running a software emulator inside one process, which is then sending frame to a modern host OS, which is then timing that along with all kinds of other things and threads on the CPU, etc.

 

[VGEsoterica]

I watch all of your videos and i'm also a sub. Sorry if i sound harsh, i really do like your channel and i tend to be more critical about the things i like. I do feel like you have a bias for FPGAs vs emulation in that you don't seem to spend the same amount of time or have the same enthusiasm in getting deep into emulation, as you do with FPGAs or hardware.

I'm not saying you should, if you prefer FPGAs/Hardware that's fine. The reason i subbed was your awesome showcases of obscure hardware nobody else has. But i'm sure nobody is forcing you to make videos about emulation and when you do, the information is often false or out of date. Again, no problem with someone casually making videos about emulators and having a surface knowledge about them but in your case it's not only about “hey go play games and have fun”. Because in your videos you always give a lot of information, you do comparisons and teach stuff, like you specifically mention in the OP. So, when it comes to teaching stuff and making comparisons, i expect a level of knowledge above the casual "let's have fun" level. But hey, maybe it's just me.

There are no YouTube channels that have good information about emulators unfortunately. Not a single one.

I just haven’t gotten there yet deep dives into software emulators with setup guides is on my production schedule. Fall/winter this year

 

[VGEsoterica]

Alternatively, even if it's still emulation, you can use a Recalbox RGB Dual.
The results are quite incredible on a CRT, the interface very clean, and it's a way cheaper solution (using a Raspberry Pi 3B or 4)

Recalbox RGB Dual

Bring your CRT screens and TV sets back to life and play all your childhood games with RECALBOX RGB Dual!

www.recalbox.com

I need to check one of these out as I’ve heard a few people mention them. Seemingly worth it eh?

 

[Serge85]

Mister is Great! I have 3, one hooked up to a Crt and modern tv, and the others two, connected to candy cabinets (cyberlead and NAC) via mistercade.

 

[existensmaximum]

ok, i'll give it a look

About CRT, come on, who the hell still has one of those nowadays though? Unless you find a fallout vault irl that is.

I do. I would never play my 8/16-bit consoles on anything else (I use the original consoles though).

 

[Ulysses 31]

Nice if you don't have the OG hardware anymore but if you do I prefer to mod those to hook them up to modern displays like I did with my N64.

 

[Omnipunctual Godot]

I really want to get one. Does it seem like part prices are increasing or decreasing?

 

[noonjam]

If you're looking for a 4:3 Dell monitor, keep an eye out for the 2007FP or 2007FPb. I have 3 of them and they are really fantastic displays for retro games.

EIZO Releases 21.3-inch Square Monitor for Long-Term Supply to Back Offices and Control Rooms

EIZO Corporation (TSE: 6737) today announced the release of the FlexScan S2134 - a 21.3-inch square monitor with a 1600 x 1200 native resolution for back offices and control rooms. The S2134 is the successor to the 21.3-inch square monitor S2133 with brightness of 500 cd/m², up from 420 cd/m²...

www.techpowerup.com

EIZO is releasing a brand new 21.3" 4:3 1600x1200 monitor with vga, dvi and displayport connections.

brightness 500 cd/m²
contrast 1800:1

 

[alphachino]

EIZO Releases 21.3-inch Square Monitor for Long-Term Supply to Back Offices and Control Rooms

EIZO Corporation (TSE: 6737) today announced the release of the FlexScan S2134 - a 21.3-inch square monitor with a 1600 x 1200 native resolution for back offices and control rooms. The S2134 is the successor to the 21.3-inch square monitor S2133 with brightness of 500 cd/m², up from 420 cd/m²...

www.techpowerup.com

EIZO is releasing a brand new 21.3" 4:3 1600x1200 monitor with vga, dvi and displayport connections.

brightness 500 cd/m²
contrast 1800:1

I've actually got the EIZO FlexScan EV2730Q as well... a 1920x1920 monitor, epic monitor for 3D work, but I don't use it for gaming. I haven't messed with it much with MiSTer, but it has the potential to be awesome as a single display for both horizontal and vertical orientation

 

[Setsuna Mudou]

JFC... how out of touch are you?

lol, a lot clearly, but hey, glad I asked, it's definitely a rabbit hole I wasn't expecting.
I have plenty of old school emus setup in different devices, even had to find a way to get lightguns that would work in lcd panels to run a bunch of old school shooting games and spent quite a bit of money on it.

Pretty interesting to find out people are still able to get somewhat native hardware, but unfortunately I can't see myself having enough space to get an old school crt, I'd need a second man cave as my current one is completely filled with sim racing stuff.

Loving what I'm seeing so far and I'll definitely check out VGEsoterica

So thanks to all who replied to educate me a bit

 

[VGEsoterica]

I've actually got the EIZO FlexScan EV2730Q as well... a 1920x1920 monitor, epic monitor for 3D work, but I don't use it for gaming. I haven't messed with it much with MiSTer, but it has the potential to be awesome as a single display for both horizontal and vertical orientation

All these odd new monitors and almost all are pretty great for retro gaming