Retro VGS indiegogo campaign. (changed title)

[WizardStan]

Why are people so upset over the fact theres atleast a handfull people out there that wanted this?

Because it sets a precedent.  When it fails it will be a stain on the future of any indie cart console; the more spectacular the fail, the bigger the stain.  There aren't "a handful of people", there are many, many, MANY people that want this, they just want it done right.  If this team gets funding and through hubris and incompetence screws everything up beyond recovery, when another team tries to do the same there will be people that point back at this failed project and exclaim how it just won't work.  These haters can be entirely wrong, the new team could be quite competent and ready for anything, but it'll be a drag on the campaign regardless.
Just wait until the Pyra is up for sale, you'll see this in action: watch the haters come out of the woodwork to talk about how "it's the same guys who made the failed Pandora console, don't be scammed", and I guarantee EvilDragon will get fewer sales as a direct result of that.  Same thing here, this guy is going to fail, he can either fail gracefully by backing off, seeing what needs to be fixed, and trying again, or he can fail hard and make it harder for himself and anyone else in the future.
He's hell bent on the latter option, it seems.  Looks like we'll be lucky and he won't get the money, at least.

 

[Exophase]

Cmon guys, what youre saying is make it into a Steambox or Android console, and there are already a ton of those, whats the point of disapearing in a crowd? Would you buy the Retro VGS if it were such a device? I doubt it. Did the Pandora sell a measly 6000 units? What advice would you have for ED to turn the Panda into a billion dillion unit selling succesfull device? Skip the keyboard, kids only like touchscreen controls anyway? Run the Android OS as default?
YOU DONT GET IT, there is NO other cartridge system out there, not an alive one I mean. Though I dont like the Jaguar size cartridges either... I would have wanted NEO GEO sized!!!1

I said make it have Steambox support in ADDITION to being a cart system. That doesn't make it disappear, that helps make it justify its high cost without adding much extra.

 

[EvilDragon]

Cmon guys, what youre saying is make it into a Steambox or Android console, and there are already a ton of those, whats the point of disapearing in a crowd? Would you buy the Retro VGS if it were such a device? I doubt it. Did the Pandora sell a measly 6000 units? What advice would you have for ED to turn the Panda into a billion dillion unit selling succesfull device? Skip the keyboard, kids only like touchscreen controls anyway? Run the Android OS as default?YOU DONT GET IT, there is NO other cartridge system out there, not an alive one I mean. Though I dont like the Jaguar size cartridges either... I would have wanted NEO GEO sized!!!1

I said make it have Steambox support in ADDITION to being a cart system. That doesn't make it disappear, that helps make it justify its high cost without adding much extra.

Yep. Sounds like the best mixture of both. Cartridge to run directly off the hardware (or at least with a minimal system so that the cart starts 4 - 5 second after switching on), and without a cart, it could boot into a more advanced OS like a SteamBox, etc.

 

[rygD]

Has anyone else noticed ED taking notes over there?

 

[WizardStan]

I can't imagine it'd be all that easy to build an Atom based cartridge console, but that could be a brain block from years of "x86 = Windows" brainwashing.

 

[EvilDragon]

I can't imagine it'd be all that easy to build an Atom based cartridge console, but that could be a brain block from years of "x86 = Windows" brainwashing.

Well, a cartridge simply has code stored in a ROM.

Use a Mini Linux that can boot in seconds, include SDL, etc. and the cartridge simply has the executables and data on there which will run.
That works with any processor

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

I can't imagine it'd be all that easy to build an Atom based cartridge console, but that could be a brain block from years of "x86 = Windows" brainwashing.

Well, a cartridge simply has code stored in a ROM.

Use a Mini Linux that can boot in seconds, include SDL, etc. and the cartridge simply has the executables and data on there which will run.
That works with any processor

If you build it they will come. It's a pity the retro vgs guys botched this as I was interested initially but played a wait and see game.
Now I see.

 

[EvilDragon]

I won't do it. Got enough to do, and certainly not enough money for all that stuff.

Even the Pyra will be a very close call moneywise!

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

I won't do it. Got enough to do, and certainly not enough money for all that stuff.

Even the Pyra will be a very close call moneywise!

I know. Just kidding. The Pyra is plenty of work and I'm certainly looking forward to it. 
Can you stick an fpga in the pyra? (Kidding)

 

[rygD]

I won't do it. Got enough to do, and certainly not enough money for all that stuff.

Even the Pyra will be a very close call moneywise!

I know. Just kidding. The Pyra is plenty of work and I'm certainly looking forward to it. 
Can you stick an fpga in the pyra? (Kidding)

And add a cartridge slot (also kidding, but I wouldn't mind adding a Retrode or RetroPi to my order).

 

[bismuthdrummer]

They could also hire on Craigix as a marketing and finance consultant.

 

[fahrstuhl]

I won't do it. Got enough to do, and certainly not enough money for all that stuff.

Even the Pyra will be a very close call moneywise!

I know. Just kidding. The Pyra is plenty of work and I'm certainly looking forward to it. 
Can you stick an fpga in the pyra? (Kidding)

There's the Xilinx Zynq series of chips that combine two ARM Cortex A9 cores with an FPGA on the same chip. The new Zynq Ultrascale+ sound even more interesting, they have A53 cores and an ARM Mali GPU in addition to the FPGA part. So if it were feasible to get these chips and design a Pyra mainboard around them, you could.

But honestly, what for? Would an FPGA actually help speed up emulation of a system that's not already in a playable state in software? Maybe I lack imagination but I can't really come up with an actual use case. An SoC with a GPU capable of GPGPU computing like the NVidia Tegra sounds way more interesting to me. (Also I kind of hate the Xilinx toolchain but that might just be me.)

 

[mjohansson]

KABOOM!

From their Facebook page:


"

Hey Everyone! It’s clear, in its current state the RETRO VGS Indiegogo campaign is dead in the water and thusly will be shut down early. Once the Indiegogo team explains to us how we can do this, the plug will be pulled and all of you who have contributed will receive a refund post haste. Or you can go in and request a refund from Indiegogo right now.

The good news is we aren’t giving up and have made some adjustments to our hardware team, which includes the involvement of other hardware gurus who were part of our venture in the very beginning. We will also be lowering the price while maintaining most of the cool features you all want.

We will be back in the near future with a prototype RETRO VGS system, front-and-center playing our games on our cartridges and with our USB controller. Sit tight, be patient and RETRO VGS will return.

Thanks again for your support, patience and understanding while we regroup and prepare for the relaunch of a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.

"

 

[mjohansson]

So the question is wich will go, the FPGA or the ARM? And if one of those hardware gurus is Kevtris Im guessing its the ARM that goes. If its the ARM that goes then the question is will I have to learn that specific language to code for it?

 

[mjohansson]

But Im so glad theyr not giving up!

 

[bismuthdrummer]

So the question is wich will go, the FPGA or the ARM? And if one of those hardware gurus is Kevtris Im guessing its the ARM that goes. If its the ARM that goes then the question is will I have to learn that specific language to code for it?

I'd be shocked if that bridge had been rebuilt. Good on them though, hopefully they'll take the lessons from this experience and adapt.

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

Yup, they listened to the the general consensus. At least they are capable of listening.
Kevtris could indeed be back on board or someone else. I wonder if one of the current hardware guys is leaving though.
If they get it right the second time I might be in for a retro vgs.
I'm still looking forward to see what the new prototype will bring. That should speak for itself.

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

From my e-mail:

Hey Everyone!  We wanted to come in here and post another update in case some of you have missed that we've wanted to end this campaign early and remove it from their system, but so far, this is something we've not yet been able to do with Indiegogo.  So the best thing is for you to go to this link and learn how to initiate a refund right away: https://support.indiegogo.com/hc/en-us/articles/526876-Refunds-Can-I-get-my-money-back-

We are now working with a new lead hardware engineer and have been successful reengineering a good chunk of cost out of our initial design by simplifying our PCB architecture.  We will be back by the end of the year with a playable prototype, a lower purchase price and a significantly lower minimum campaign goal.  We appreciate your support and hope we can count on it again when we bring RETRO VGS to Kickstarter this winter. 

Thanks again,

- Mike & Steve

 

[fusion_power]

Hm, why do I have the feeling that making an modern Smartphone/tablet thingy is far more easy than making an old 2D retro Console? 

 

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

Hm, why do I have the feeling that making an modern Smartphone/tablet thingy is far more easy than making an old 2D retro Console? 

 

Who knows. A new lead hardware engineer? The other guy may have been shown the door.