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NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
#701
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Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
Has anyone here who owns an NES Classic tried to use a Wii Classic Controller in the first controller port? I'd like to be able to use the mini-joystick for games like Pac-Man.
Nintendo's website says the Wii Classic Controller is compatible with the NES Classic (along with several other controllers), but gives the following warning:
The Wii Classic Controller, Classic Controller Pro, the Wired Fight Pad, and the Battle Pad can be used with the NES Classic Edition as a second controller for 2-player games only.
Nintendo's website says the Wii Classic Controller is compatible with the NES Classic (along with several other controllers), but gives the following warning:
The Wii Classic Controller, Classic Controller Pro, the Wired Fight Pad, and the Battle Pad can be used with the NES Classic Edition as a second controller for 2-player games only.
#702
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Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
Production for the Nintendo Classic Mini: NES continues, and NOE [Nintendo of Europe] will continue to ship units to retail on a regular basis.
#703
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
Those same rumors were mentioned a month ago here too and discussed a little in this thread about retailers supposedly seeing end of life notices in their systems. I wonder if it's more a listing oddity on Nintendo's part.
#704
Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
#705
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Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
NPD ranked the NES Classic the #3 best selling piece of gaming hardware in January, so...does that mean it outsold the 3DS too?
Edit! NPD replied to me. Answer is "no".
Edit! NPD replied to me. Answer is "no".
Last edited by Adam Tyner; 02-17-17 at 09:26 PM.
#706
DVD Talk Legend
Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
I read that somebody hacked this thing to play other systems now: Sega, SNES, etc... sounds like a Pi to me.
#707
Senior Member
Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
Has anyone here who owns an NES Classic tried to use a Wii Classic Controller in the first controller port? I'd like to be able to use the mini-joystick for games like Pac-Man.
Nintendo's website says the Wii Classic Controller is compatible with the NES Classic (along with several other controllers), but gives the following warning:
The Wii Classic Controller, Classic Controller Pro, the Wired Fight Pad, and the Battle Pad can be used with the NES Classic Edition as a second controller for 2-player games only.
Nintendo's website says the Wii Classic Controller is compatible with the NES Classic (along with several other controllers), but gives the following warning:
The Wii Classic Controller, Classic Controller Pro, the Wired Fight Pad, and the Battle Pad can be used with the NES Classic Edition as a second controller for 2-player games only.
#708
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Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
Perhaps someone who has real knowledge about FPGAs can chime in and educate me. But as far as I understand, emulation is still emulation, whether hardware- or software-based. The quality of the reproduction is still going to depend on the quality of the work put into it. There is no guarantee the Nt Mini is 100% accurate even though it is a "hardware clone".
http://my-cool-projects.blogspot.com...n-vs-fpga.html
I've clipped it down to a small bit, but it's worth reading the whole thing. This is from just under a year ago, but months before the RetroUSB AVS and Analogue NT Mini were officially announced and released.
The way that CPU's in classic 80's arcade games work is that they all require a clock which alternates between a high and low state at a frequency usually in the low megahertz range (ie 1 MHz). They also usually have at least 16 address lines and at least 8 data lines.
The CPU's 16 address lines are always outputs, meaning that the CPU is the only device in the computer that is allowed to change its address. The CPU's 8 data lines can be either inputs or outputs. The CPU has other lines on it which indicate whether it is trying to read from its data lines or write to its data lines.
Each CPU instruction takes a specific number of clock cycles to complete.
If I were trying to implement a CPU inside of an FPGA, I could (if I do it correctly) have the FPGA's input/output lines behave exactly like the original CPU. And if the FPGA's I/O behaves exactly like the original CPU's I/O, then the FPGA could be considered to be 100% compatible with the original CPU and one could use it as a drop-in replacement for the CPU without sacrificing any sort of accuracy. This is what people mean by "one to one." I should note that from what I have seen of efforts to implements CPU's inside of FPGA's, I am not convinced that the people who put forth the effort were terribly concerned about accuracy, and may have been more concerned about making the FPGA version CPU perform faster than the original. So just because an FPGA could in theory be a 100% accurate replacement for the CPU does not mean that this is what is happening.
The CPU's 16 address lines are always outputs, meaning that the CPU is the only device in the computer that is allowed to change its address. The CPU's 8 data lines can be either inputs or outputs. The CPU has other lines on it which indicate whether it is trying to read from its data lines or write to its data lines.
Each CPU instruction takes a specific number of clock cycles to complete.
If I were trying to implement a CPU inside of an FPGA, I could (if I do it correctly) have the FPGA's input/output lines behave exactly like the original CPU. And if the FPGA's I/O behaves exactly like the original CPU's I/O, then the FPGA could be considered to be 100% compatible with the original CPU and one could use it as a drop-in replacement for the CPU without sacrificing any sort of accuracy. This is what people mean by "one to one." I should note that from what I have seen of efforts to implements CPU's inside of FPGA's, I am not convinced that the people who put forth the effort were terribly concerned about accuracy, and may have been more concerned about making the FPGA version CPU perform faster than the original. So just because an FPGA could in theory be a 100% accurate replacement for the CPU does not mean that this is what is happening.
Now, what might people mean when they say "not emulation" ?
CPU emulators [ ... ] do not emulate the clock of the CPU, but instead are designed to execute a variable number of cycles in one shot as quickly as the host machine (ie a modern x64 computer) can execute. The code that is driving this execution is then responsible to regulate the overall speed of the system so that it does not run too quickly.
This creates an unauthentic experience because it means that instead of instructions being executed at a steady slower cadence, they are executed in quick bursts with delays in between. This is usually not noticeable by a human playing the emulated game because it's just 1 ms, but several problems can arise depending on the other architecture of the original hardware.
On a game like Dragon's Lair where there is just one CPU and a steady clock that never varies, the above method of emulation is "good enough." A human is not really going to notice any meaningful difference in accuracy.
But what of the game has multiple CPUs such as a dedicated sound CPU? Now the emulator has to execute a smaller slice of cycles on the first CPU, then switch to the second CPU and execute another smaller slice of cycles. If there are interactions between these two CPUs (and there usually will be), the slice of cycles that gets executed needs to be small enough so that there is no unnatural lag in the interactions which hurts performance of the overall system. And even if each CPU takes turns executing just 1 cycle, the potential for an inaccurate interaction between the two emulated CPUs still exists since the emulator does not take into account the clock.
On a lot of the Williams games, like Joust, their custom DMA chip will actually halt the CPU while the DMA operation is running. On Star Rider, the CPU's clock gets halted every field for unknown reasons (that's on my TODO list to figure out why). Last time I checked, this behavior was not emulated very well in MAME (it may have improved since I last checked) and certainly Daphne is not equipped to handle this type of scenario. However, an FPGA would be able to handle it just fine.
CPU emulators [ ... ] do not emulate the clock of the CPU, but instead are designed to execute a variable number of cycles in one shot as quickly as the host machine (ie a modern x64 computer) can execute. The code that is driving this execution is then responsible to regulate the overall speed of the system so that it does not run too quickly.
This creates an unauthentic experience because it means that instead of instructions being executed at a steady slower cadence, they are executed in quick bursts with delays in between. This is usually not noticeable by a human playing the emulated game because it's just 1 ms, but several problems can arise depending on the other architecture of the original hardware.
On a game like Dragon's Lair where there is just one CPU and a steady clock that never varies, the above method of emulation is "good enough." A human is not really going to notice any meaningful difference in accuracy.
But what of the game has multiple CPUs such as a dedicated sound CPU? Now the emulator has to execute a smaller slice of cycles on the first CPU, then switch to the second CPU and execute another smaller slice of cycles. If there are interactions between these two CPUs (and there usually will be), the slice of cycles that gets executed needs to be small enough so that there is no unnatural lag in the interactions which hurts performance of the overall system. And even if each CPU takes turns executing just 1 cycle, the potential for an inaccurate interaction between the two emulated CPUs still exists since the emulator does not take into account the clock.
On a lot of the Williams games, like Joust, their custom DMA chip will actually halt the CPU while the DMA operation is running. On Star Rider, the CPU's clock gets halted every field for unknown reasons (that's on my TODO list to figure out why). Last time I checked, this behavior was not emulated very well in MAME (it may have improved since I last checked) and certainly Daphne is not equipped to handle this type of scenario. However, an FPGA would be able to handle it just fine.
As modern computers get faster, it will become more feasible for emulators to become more accurate without hurting performance. I believe that aside from the problems associated with running on a modern operating system (with many processes and threads all competing for the CPU's time), there is no reason why software-based emulators cannot achieve 100% accuracy as their architectures are improved. However, I do not believe that that day is here... yet.
The Analogue NT Mini guy says this, specifically:
my NES core has a "real NES" video output mode where it recreates the exact same voltages and transitions using a DAC to recreate the video signal. There's no lag involved- it is generated in the same way a real system generates its video signal, complete with the same steps and transitions. I guess the lag, if you can call it that, will be a few nanoseconds for the data to propagate through the DAC and be presented on the output pin. My "real NES" video is an exact reproduction (well it looks like that on a scope and on a monitor using direct A/B testing) of what a real system outputs. You'll have trouble making a software emulator do this.
And while loading the games onto an SD card is a sweet-ass feature when combined with the promise of an FPGA clone running as advertised, I'd still be one to hunt down a bunch of original carts of games to play on it that I truly cherish.
#710
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
Pretty sure he probably read it elsewhere that had a lot more info...
He also might have read Dan's post about the Analogue NT Mini
He also might have read Dan's post about the Analogue NT Mini
#711
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
Currently in stock at Amazon, in case anyone still wants one. Haha!
*note that you are limited to one per customer
*note that you are limited to one per customer
#712
DVD Talk Hero
Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
Thanks!
#716
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Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
If you want to pay an extra $32, you can get the Famicom version.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...oop_bw_c_x_3_w
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...oop_bw_c_x_3_w
#717
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
Got mine at least ordered. Hopefully that means it's reserved. Talk about a short window to order.
Last edited by sherm42; 02-23-17 at 04:18 PM.
#718
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
It was actually available for longer than I have seen anyone have it since launch. Most orderingredients windows have just been a few minutes. Glad that I helped a few of you pick one up. I had one get cancelled by TRU back in November, and have been on the lookout ever since. Just wasn't willing to pay eBay/Craigslist asking prices. 😊
#719
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
I saw it early enough and was tempted to buy one, but decided to pass. It's funny, if this were before Christmas I would have jumped on it but a couple months later I kind of lost interest with the Switch coming out and other games i'm looking forward to.
#720
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Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
Sorta same here too, except I ended up getting a Raspberry Pi and it works great. No interest in purchasing this one now.
#721
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
The wife was wanting one back around Christmas, but now that ship has passed. I actually ran across one while in Walmart a couple of weeks ago and happened to be on the phone with my wife at the time. I asked her if she still wanted it and she just said "not any more". Debating about getting a Raspberry Pi but may hold off and see how my brothers turns out as he is building a console using it.
#722
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Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
I guess Best Buy got so fed up with controller shortages that they just made their own.
http://m.bestbuy.ca/defaultpage.aspx...f821a72b60en02
http://m.bestbuy.ca/defaultpage.aspx...f821a72b60en02
#723
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Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
Nintendo discontinues the NES Classic Edition:
Nintendo will discontinue the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition and the last shipments will go out to retailers throughout this month.
A Nintendo representative provided the following statement to IGN:
“Throughout April, NOA territories will receive the last shipments of Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition systems for this year. We encourage anyone interested in obtaining this system to check with retail outlets regarding availability. We understand that it has been difficult for many consumers to find a system, and for that we apologize. We have paid close attention to consumer feedback, and we greatly appreciate the incredible level of consumer interest and support for this product.”
A Nintendo representative provided the following statement to IGN:
“Throughout April, NOA territories will receive the last shipments of Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition systems for this year. We encourage anyone interested in obtaining this system to check with retail outlets regarding availability. We understand that it has been difficult for many consumers to find a system, and for that we apologize. We have paid close attention to consumer feedback, and we greatly appreciate the incredible level of consumer interest and support for this product.”
#724
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Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
edit: beat by Adam! Damn you!
First reaction: AHAHAHAAHA! Fucking Nintendo! HAHAHA!
Second reaction: for those of you who still wanted this thing...
Nintendo Discontinues The NES Classic
That last bit, though.
First reaction: AHAHAHAAHA! Fucking Nintendo! HAHAHA!
Second reaction: for those of you who still wanted this thing...
Nintendo Discontinues The NES Classic
Given the widespread excitement, interest, and sales of the NES Classic, it only makes sense for Nintendo to stop selling it.
#725
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: NES Classic Edition (30 games; 60 bucks; 11/11/2016)
I guess I'll eat crow on Nintendo discontinuing these things, never thought they would make it such short lived. Pretty silly and stupid.