Ok, I am in search for a new mint famiclone. But I want it to have discrete chips, not the NES-on-a-chip crap. Are there any? Analogue Nt seems perfect but $499 is not what I'd spend on a famiclone.
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Ok, I am in search for a new mint famiclone. But I want it to have discrete chips, not the NES-on-a-chip crap. Are there any? Analogue Nt seems perfect but $499 is not what I'd spend on a famiclone.
Retro USB is supposed to be coming out with one this year that plays NES and Famicom games. I think it will be either a custom SOC or FPGA based design, not a crappy NOC. It's also going to have HDMI output. Who knows when it will happen. I think he's having trouble getting the manufacturing done. He's also making wireless controllers.
Is that an actual name? All I found is retrousb.com site that sells repros and USB controllers. I'd prefer actual discrete chips as in the real famicom, but FPGA design would be cool too if it's as accurate as the real thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by old man
That's the right site. They sell the USB CopyNES and PowerPack among other things. They also used to carry the CIClone which was a PIC12F629 implementation of the NES lockout chip. Honestly I hadn't visited their website in a while, their current product offering is much smaller than what it was a few years ago. I clearly recall purchasing a few NES cartridge cases from them...Quote:
Originally Posted by Orchid87
The only place you're getting what you want right now is the Analogue Nt and that's only because it uses gutted Famicom parts which makes it less a clone and more a re-built Famicom in a pretty case.Quote:
Originally Posted by Orchid87
The price is unjustifiedQuote:
Originally Posted by Obviously
I agree completely and I'm not even sure who the market is for it. There are a lot of better things collectors can spend 500 bucks on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Orchid87
While I appreciate the amount of work required to desolder the ICs and what not, it's way too expensive; even if the required parts labour do legitimately come up to $500...Quote:
Originally Posted by Orchid87
I'm torn on the Analogue. I would never buy it, but when you factor in build time, new part, plus the fact that is has RGB output directly you've already got some money sunk in per unit. Maybe not $500, but it's not going to be a sub $200 machine either.
You aren't going to find a modern Famiclone without an NOAC in it. Current clones are all based around multiple different flawed NOAC designs. RetroUSB's upcoming clone, if I remember correctly, will run on a Xilinx FPGA. I'd be curious to test this thing out once it's released.
In the meantime, I'm actively researching old discrete hardware Famiclones to find chipsets which will deliver perfect compatibility and accuracy. I plan on releasing a few discrete hardware Famiclones in the future, preferably with Viletim's collaboration, so that the clones can have integrated NESRGBs. I currently have found a Dendy CPU which looks to be a perfect replica of the 2A03 but with a different internal clock divider, and it would seem for a clone limited to Composite output, any clone of the 2C02 will work provided the video amp is adjusted for potential differences in color saturation. I will do some more experiments with the chips I have to get a working prototype clone put together at a later date.
Can't you just literally clone the hardware since the patent is expired?Quote:
Originally Posted by Ace
I think he downsized to focus on his HD nes clone.Quote:
Originally Posted by db Electronics
In my limited understanding, the biggest hurdle is it's not all off the shelf parts so if you want a perfect hardware clone you'd have to custom make the chips and that would get more expensive than it's worth.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gentlegamer
What about the Retron5 (if that's the right one)? Even if the stock emulation isn't the best (I don't know), can't you swap it out for pretty much anything now?