I will definitely watch it😊😊

That's not going to happen ... unless the MEGA65 team sends Dave a free review unit - that's his to keep

I vote for 2 hour episode on X16

David made 3 hours worth of videos in 2023; he claimed YT takes 25% of his time. A 2-hour video would take him months to make.

Why not?, was very short and interesting system, an full experience for a great computer

@heindijs what a shallow comment

@@brusspup what a deep comment

@heindijs your mother never wanted to adopt you, paperwork mishap.

@heindijs ok

Agreed ,

I think it would be interesting if he reviewed the Agon Console 8 (or one of the other Agon products) straight up, gave his honest opinion, said what he liked and disliked about it, and just left it at that. It would demonstrate an element of class that seems to be absent from the Agon creator's petulant sniping about other products, particularly Mr Murray's, that Mr Kastrup deems as some kind of threat. Then again, it would be another demand on Mr Murray's time that wouldn't really be justified, especially as he has so much else of greater importance to be getting on with.

@@paul_boddie🤣

Agonizingly, there's an interview from April '85 where Tramiel talks about how he has a "crystal ball" that allows him to see the future, and his main prediction is that RAM prices will continue to drop rapidly: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/d7N0ZdF3nNPJdH0.html

Planar graphics had some advantages, especially with the technology available at the time the Amiga 1000 and 500 were released. But CBM made "big box" Amigas that could utilise PC style graphics cards. The problem was that the most popular machines weren't the ones with Zorro or ISA slots, so most Amiga software wasn't capable of using such cards. But hindsight is a wonderful thing... lots of really big companies got things wrong back then.

Yes, that's quite true, and why one of the key early design decisions we made with the MEGA65 was to create chunky video modes, because the bit-planes on an 8-bit computer was such a vexed concept. Apart from BASIC, which we have yet to rework the graphics commands from the original C65 ROM's implementation, I'm not aware of essentially any software that anyone has created for the MEGA65 that uses the planar modes. Instead, software that wants to get the multiple play field effect that planar graphics were good for, uses the Raster Rewrite Buffer (RRB) that we added to the MEGA65. That basically holds the most recent raster line in a buffer, and lets you draw multiple layers of text/graphics over it. That's how the FIRST SHOT game looks so nice, it is using multiple 16 and 256 colour graphics layers.

Funnily enough, It was actually part of the EGA standard as well. Sadly, it It needn't have killed the Amiga, retargetable graphics had evolved on the platform as a way to support the use of third party graphics boards.

@@RhetoricaRhamnusia Tramiel had left Commodore by the time the Amiga came about.

Neither of those is a real retro computer.

@@Okurka. they are

@@thenameless3271 you just don't know what you are talking about :)

@@xlr8r171 Retro style means imitating the style from the recent past, not retro.

Though I would like to see it a bit cheaper (as a consumer. Just from David's documentation, i get an idea of what effort is going into developing such machines)

you didnt miss out on anything it was rubbish

and healthy markets need some product choices

@@TheSulross Exactly!

no way it isn’t happening

it's a more classy take on MiSTer approach - and people will spend similar amounts on decking a MiSTer out, so why not go with a slicker end product

Yeah. IIRC, the Mega65 has an XC7A200T, which is a pretty decent FPGA. Technically, one could probably also do something a bit higher end than an 8-bit retro-computer on the thing. In my own project, I was using the slightly smaller XC7A100T and doing a 64-bit CPU and running ports of various DOS era games on it, like Doom/Quake/Heretic/Hexen/etc. Wouldn't be too much of a stretch to imagine someone doing similar on a Mega65 (well, apart from it seems like it has less RAM than a lot of the other FPGA boards, where 128 or 256 MB is fairly typical).

@@TheSulrossIts most compatible software mode is the MiSTer C64 core. It therefore makes sense to instead buy the MiSTer, for which the core was designed ... you'll also get a lot more RAM as a bonus

@@txtworld I have a Mister, an Ultimate64 and a Mega65. needless to say that when it comes to C64, the only machine i use now is the Mega65 since the C64 core which has been ported from the Mister also provides great improvements : I can plug any Retro cartridge such as EasyFlash, EasyFlash 3, Kungfu Flash, any physical cartridge whether it's old or recent, I can plug any SD2IEC drives to the Mega65 ... The experience with the high end keyboard is unbeatable.

I wonder if the Mega65 could have an X16 fpga core 🤯

Definitely. The audio at 0:35 onward is pretty naff.

Yeah, the HVAC was running while Dan was there, and I tried to filter that out some.

Personally I didn't notice anything.

@@ErrorMessageNotFound Eesh! Probably wanna get your ears tested! 😁

They make little wearable mics you can attach to clothing

I actually had to read the title twice wondering if Rocco would appear next to Dave. blew my mind for a while

Dr. Poque’s about to fly to Seattle to attempt a heist of this I’m sure.

What's the Mega64?

There's a project from Poland called "RM 800XL" that's trying to create one. The product isn't available yet though.

@@HLubenow Thanks I will look for it. I hope it comes out soon. I had a Commodore and an Atari 800 in my Ham Shack in the mid 1980s

Someone could write an Atari 800 FPGA core for it. It's open source so it might happen someday. In fact, an FPGA Atari 800 core already exists for MiSTer so it might not be too much trouble to port it over.

I have an original Atari 800 I bought when in high school. It's just sitting in my closet. Been thinking of trying to sell it somewhere or give it to a computer museum. Used to play the crap out of MULE.

I'd love to see a port of Ultima IV and Ultima V with music for the system.

Agree.

I cannot agree more. However, the issue is that there is a very limited supply of retro computers that will interest his viewer base. The Atari 8-bit line or TI-99/4 are not as popular as the C64. ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC are nearly unheard of in the US. He has gone through the Commodores, even the PC clones. What's left are Amiga 600/1200, which are minor improvements over the 500, the C64GS, which no one cares about, and... nothing. The US moved on to PC quickly and there have been 1000 retro PC games channel out there. I guess he can make a 'rare/obscure computer channel', but he is no good electronic engineer, and making videos about what he doesn't know exposes that. Last time he tried to do something like that with the IBM PS/2 he came under significant fire.

@@andyhu9542 But does it have to be computers being reviewed? I enjoy it just as much when it is peripherals, devices, electronics and other releated stuff.

@@DanElgaard9 Yes! That's a great idea! Most people just bought the computer and maybe the datassette/disk drive to load games. Things like printers are usually 'the thing that was always on magazines but never owned.' It is a good source of content.

Same!

The Mega 65 is isn't really a reproduction of anything. The C65 was only ever released in prototype form, and in extremely small numbers. Not all the prototypes were complete, and therefore not compatible with each other. The Mega 65 has added capabilities that the C65 didn't. It's essentially an expensive fantasy computer, created in an FPGA, that can run a handful of software titles written for a machine that never made it in to production.

it's basically emulation, I don't see the point, just run emulators on a PC.

@@pelgervampireduck It's not emulation. It's a circuit recreation. That's why FPGAs cost so much. It is ironic however, that you're basically paying for more limitations. The Spectrum Next being incapable of loading the archival format for the platform without Pi assistance, for example. But they're authentic limitations. I mean, you CAN run a Spectrum core on the C65, but you don't really get the feel of either system without the associated hardware.

@@pelgervampireduck Wrong. FPGAs aren't emulation. When you write a bitstream for an FPGA, you aren't "programming" a CPU in a conventional sense. You're actually operating at a much lower level, actually manipulating the individual logic gates within the FPGA, linking them together in various ways that essentially exactly duplicates the functionality of something. Think of it as something similar in concept to a giant box of tinker toys. You slap them together according to a set of instructions (the bitstream) and you end up with a real working thing -- a bridge, or a robot arm, or a crane, or whatever -- that for all intents and purposes exactly duplicates the look and function of the original object. This is why FPGAs are so popular in the retro gaming community, because with the FPGA "toolbox" you can reproduce the behavior of whatever hardware (a Nintendo or a Genesis or whatever) with an extremely high level of accuracy, and without the performance penalty and inflexibility of traditional emulation.

@@pelgervampireduck What you're missing when running emulators on a PC is the feel of the system. These old systems used unique keyboard layouts and mechanisms, media and peripherals. THEC64 gave you the C64 keyboard, so certain keyboard based games played the way they should, for example "Star Trek by Ian Gray" which used the function keys and the keyboard arrow keys. Playing the game on Vice on my Apple keyboard just doesn't feel the same and isn't as enjoyable for me. The Mega65 gives you the C65 keyboard layout, if not the real key mechanism, ports and even a floppy drive so you can get it to work largely like a C65 would have.

Would love to see the old Commodore bindings, as much of a pain as they were to actually use. Regular spiral's are common enough and fairly inexpensive. We do a lot of very small batch runs of them in my shop for training manuals and the like.

As of now, he's trying to sell a product, so that's what he's gotta do.

I keep wondering if one can break even on game sales for old systems; like, ignoring your time to write code, can you sell at a price, enough copies, to pay for printing disks/pcbs/carts, boxes? I keep being tempted to write a few crazy games for various machines, but being able to break even would be a nice plus. (I wobnder which retro machines have the largest audience? Presumably C64 and NES or SNES, but you never know..)

@@skeezixcodejedi For something like C64 games there are companies who'll take care of the whole boxing, making disks, cassettes, cartridges, marketing and shipping, e.g. Protovision, but I can imagine they require the game to be original and high quality. Alternatively you can sell digital copies on itchio.

@@TheStuffMadeGood jumping off points, thanks!

Not to mention several other modern 8 bit machines that already exist, some of which sell at a much lower price point than any of the ones you mentioned.

The features are already set in stone. The next goal should be to make it as cheap as humanly possible, so as many people as possible can afford it. Computers for the masses, not the classes.

X16 v2 is a freaking console game version.

A development platform with built in functions based on the computer conpiling for, would be nice.

they are bringing attention to the potential here - write software that can target three different machines. Those feeling the entrepreneur tickle do the rest

I have written an assembler that runs natively on the Mega 65. Of course it will not output code for all three machines, but only for the Mega 65. It's called "Mega Assembler" and can output 6502, 4510 and 45GS02 binaries. It's available in the file area of the Mega 65 site.

If the reference exists in a printable form, any good print shop can bind one in a coil spiral for you. I know I'd be happy to do it.

Thanks, hoping to finish it soon 😅

BASIC is easy to use vs assembly. But modern Python or JavaScript etc are easier. A lot of the problem BASIC solved was how to enter a program in the first place - microcomputers didn’t have the memory to run a text editor. Line editing was the way, which is very cumbersome to modern minds. Also, most versions of BASIC lacked library support for graphics and sound, meaning if you wanted to do any of that you’d be writing machine code expressed as incomprehensible sequences of PEEK and POKE commands. It’s a relic of its time.

I think Python would be the best choice if you just want to learn general programming, it’s about as easy as BASIC. I originally learned BASIC decades ago and I think of Python as BASIC evolved for more modern computer capabilities.

I'm not sure David would entertain that idea. 😂 I think Bernardo has touched a nerve by producing a computer that isn't too far away from what David called his "ideal" computer specifications, at a price that David initially hinted he wanted his own computer to sell for. But the X16 missed all the the targets David mentioned in his "ideal computer" video by a country mile. Bernardo even said he would design a 6502 version of the Agon 2 for about the same price as the Z80 version. I imagine that's when David started spitting blood and began sticking pins in effigies of Bernardo. 😉

Bernardo burnt bridges in the retro community by the way he went about writing his original article that slammed the X-16, the X-16 design team, and David Murray - Bernardo put his as*hole mode on full blast when he wrote that piece, then followed up by doubling down. These days Bernardo has been keeping a lower profile and not going out of his way to attack others in the retro community, but no one has forgotten what he did to the overall retro community - a lot of his groupies started going around and hate mongering. Bernardo started all of that. Totally unnecessary and the worst thing that have ever witnessed go on in the retro computing universe. Is a shame because Bernardo is super smart dude and an excellent board designer, given his professional career background. Is just sad to such gifted people be such complete as*holes.

@@TheSulross Go ride your BMX.

+1. I wrote the HDMI output module for the MEGA65. The spec is out there if you want to find it!

@@amb5l I’ll email ya 😂 yeah I was trying to figure out why my OSSC wasn’t playing nice with my black magic on NTSC video. But I think it’s more the principle of the whole thing.

Don't know. Isn't that extremely niche? I had a Laser VZ200 as a kid, and am not really interested in it, tbh.

@@Steril707 that’s fair, but there are a lot of Apple II fans that would probably throw their money at it. I just see VTech being more willing to License the Laser ROMs than Apple would.