Inside FunnyPlaying's New FPGA Game Boy

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Inside FunnyPlaying's New FPGA Game Boy

Рет қаралды 18,114

Күн бұрын

Let’s face it - FPGAs are cool, but the FPGA gaming devices that we’ve seen to date are just outright expensive. Until now, that is... retro device modding company, FunnyPlaying, recently released their new FunnyPlaying Game Boy Color - a modern FPGA implementation of the classic Game Boy Color handheld.
But can the device actually compete with the likes of the Analogue Pocket? In this video, I’m going to take a close look at the hardware in the FunnyPlaying Game Boy Color. I’ll show you how it works, and how it compares to the Pocket.
⛓️ Links Referenced in this Video:
- Funny Playing FPGA Kit: funnyplaying.c...
- Analogue Pocket: store.analogue...
- Cyclone V Device Overview: cdrdv2-public....
- Gowin FPGA: cdn.gowinsemi....
- WCH Microcontroller: wch-ic.com/pro...

Пікірлер: 101

@logan_cadfgs 4 ай бұрын

Devices like this are exactly what we need: Affordable, accessible, no-frills solutions to recreate an authentic handheld with some modern amenities. Obviously there’s some caveats with this particular thing… Compatibility, weird non-integer scaling, lack of IR, etc. Definitely not perfect execution. But I’m absolutely thrilled it exists, and I hope it establishes a trend.

@thewiirocks 4 ай бұрын

The larger screen allows for the X4P mode which gives a old school pixel screen effect (i.e. "screendoor effect) by leaving a blank pixel every 4 pixels. This is my preferred mode as it gives a look much closer to the original screen while still being bright and vibrant. There's also 4X integer scaling if you don't want the effect. If leaves a bit of the screen unused, but it's not really that noticeable.

@benh1467 Ай бұрын

A few months late to the party here, but I am absolutely loving my FPGBC. FPGA really excites me, and for $80, this was a fun project to put together, and it just seems to work.

@FabuBrik 4 ай бұрын

This was way, way more in depth than I was expecting 😅

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

I'll take that as a complement... it's what I strive for 😊

@snesy 4 ай бұрын

This is the best video I've seen so far on the FPGBC (which isn't saying much), but it's incredibly detailed and excellent! It has answered so many questions for me

@nameresu 4 ай бұрын

Thank you for the thorough review, it is clarified for me that I can use any gbc shells with this kit, I just need to drill a type c hole. It was also very interesting to see a display under a microscope and all the info about FPGA used in here

@destoer949 4 ай бұрын

The alleyway bug is due to not emulating the serial control register (its trying to check theres no other gameboy connected and just gets stuck waiting for either the SC reg to clear a control bit or the serial interrupt to fire (i cant remember which one) )its the same behaviour you get on a software emulator when you dont implement it, hopefully it gets updated as its not too tricky to fix

@garydustin 4 ай бұрын

Really hope to see FunnyPlaying iron some of the early issues out, really would be happy to pick one up. I have a huge Gameboy/Gameboy Color game collection and no system to play them on. Great video, thanks!

@misterretrowolf1464 4 ай бұрын

Amazing video, as always Ken.

@overdriver99 4 ай бұрын

great video. thanks for explaining every hardware of this.

@dmug 4 ай бұрын

I had no idea there was anything outside of the analogue FPGA system. Good break down of the pros and cons.

@JamieBainbridge 4 ай бұрын

Even with the "worse" option I'd rather this than waiting until the heat death of the universe for Analogue to add literally anything. FunnyPlaying seem a good company who are not hostile to users and iterate quickly over a wide range of products.

@TheMysteryDriver 4 ай бұрын

Unless you get a broken part. They really don't like doing exchanges from what I've seen.

@saadchaaban5007 4 ай бұрын

so far this is the best video about the FPGB! No bullshit talk. straight to the point and short info whats in the kit and how to assaemble it! Loving it! only feedback: About the alleyway game: did you tried to change modes in the fpga settings? heard you need to do that in some games, to run them properly

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

When you saying changing modes, are you referring to GBC mode instead of GB?

@compuowl Ай бұрын

Absolutely fantastic video about an absolutely fantastic device

@EmulationOnline 12 күн бұрын

Nice deep dive, I hadnt seen anyone else compare the fpgas yet. Taki Udon took a look and game compatibility, and noted Donkey Kong also has some graphical artifacts. Seems the fpga bitstream is less than perfect.

@6581punk 4 ай бұрын

Sometimes games used tricks, undocumented op-codes or even bugs to their advantage. An FPGA implementation of chips or CPU without these results in a non-functional game.

@CarrizalesVO 4 ай бұрын

Really? That's super neat. Do you know of any examples where something like that doesn't work on fpga implementation?

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

Yeah, FPGAs are only as accurate as the developer’s understanding of the system. FWIW, Alleyway works fine on the Analogue Pocket…

@SmallSpoonBrigade 4 ай бұрын

@@whatskenmaking Yes, although that also applies to emulators. From what I understand though, both emulators and FPGA implementations can be updated, although in the case of the FPGA implementation, fixing a bug in one game may well wind up fixing other things in other games rather than requiring a per game patch for such things.

@AB0BA_69 4 ай бұрын

@@CarrizalesVOlmao yeah: Paprium. It won't work on Analogue's FPGA Sega machine, but that's more the game developer's choice as an FU to anyone trying to play his game on hardware that is not original 😂

@Artimidorus 4 ай бұрын

@@AB0BA_69 That works on the MegaSG. Was fixed a few years ago. ^_^ Point stands though.

@Supervocetubeia64 4 ай бұрын

Great video! The non-integer scaling is a dealbreaker for me. I'll stick to my AMOLED GBC.

@Breakbeats92.5 2 ай бұрын

I'm positive that save state functionality will be added in a future firmware revision. Maybe the coders are already working on an alternate os.

@RGSPro 4 ай бұрын

I was very surprised that alleyway didn't work as well. I loaded it up on both the GB and GBC core as well as the DX hack. What a bummer that wasn't sorted out on the 1.08 update.

@whatskenmaking 3 ай бұрын

I did eventually hear back from FunnyPlaying, and they told me that their developers are indeed working on fixing that game. So maybe in 1.10?

@pentacosttb2565 4 ай бұрын

Honestly, for anyone without a GB/GBC already, this feels like a great budget alternative to a buying one either with or adding an IPS screen yourself, however I just got the OLED screen for my original and an happy as a pig in plop with it, so I’d recommend that if anyone has an old GBC lying around instead.

@leecollins5479 4 ай бұрын

im loving my fpgbc.the sound from these is amazing

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

Yeah, I didn't mention it, but the audio in the FP GBC with that 2W speaker is incredible. You feel it resonating through the device when you hold it

@user-vp3sf7vj3s 4 ай бұрын

there is also AMOLED screen available for GBC

@HellHatch666 3 ай бұрын

I have done a few AMOLED screens in GBC's awesome mod but the problem is you need to have a GBC to mod and the prices skyrocketed then its still 50 bux for the mod. I really like this option way more affordable. However I do like my OG AMOLED GBC's so now I need an FPGA one too and my girlfriend is going to be like why? lol

@NonyaDamnbusiness 4 ай бұрын

Excellent breakdown of the FGPA chip used in the FPGBC as compared to the Analogue Pocket FPGA chip. The reason it's a kit is it really cuts down on their costs if they don't have to assemble the full thing. I'm sure eventually someone's going to figure out how to hack it to use micro-SD cards but with flash carts being so prevalent in this area, I'm not sure it's worth the effort.

@SneakyGreninja 4 ай бұрын

great video, also you should have uncensored those names of the comments of those clowns at the beginning so we can laugh at them lmao

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

ha, if you really wanted to, you can read through the comments in my FPGA videos to find them :)

@AdrianDX 4 ай бұрын

What a great video. It's a bit concering that Alleyway doesn't work. Such a simple and early game, super-weird it'd have any problems with it. And I love Alleyway so that's actually gonna be a deal-breaker for me😂 Not a fan of the 4.5x display either, but hey. Almost nothing is perfect. I wonder what other titles it has any trouble running. Hoping for more devices like this for other systems in the future.

@TheRestartPoint 4 ай бұрын

Very good thanks. Wish this had a NES or even TG-16 core too, but maybe they would not make price / performance / business sense for funnyplaying

@thewiirocks 4 ай бұрын

Alleyway is the only game I've found that doesn't work. In theory, anything that uses the IR port would also not work. Though the link cable tested fine for me. I was able to link with an original GBC and play Puzzle League. The only other issue I had was with a Grimace's Birthday repro cart. Being a newer GB Studio game, it often kernel panics when attempting to run. I tried it on an original GBC and GBA SP. Both worked fine. So I dumped the cart and tried it on an Everdrive Pro+. Worked fine in the FPGBC. Tried writing to an insideGadgets board. Worked fine in the FPGBC. Rewrote the repro cart with the latest Grimace Birthday image (v1.7) and still had the same kernel panic issue. Seems like the problem is the HC007-BGA-V2 knockoff board. They're cheap repro boards, but they generally work fine. This is the only case where I had a problem with this board. For some reason, Grimace Birthday does not like that board when running on an FPGBC. Otherwise worked fine under literally all other conditions.

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

Appreciate the details on what worked and what didn't. None of my knock-off multi-carts worked, either ... I need to open them up and take a look at the design

@samuelbanya 4 ай бұрын

Nice, good to see the Chinese are going to give the current ripoff FPGA units a run for their money. Keep it coming.

@niplob 3 күн бұрын

The display is a Blackberry Q5 display

@jackipiegg 4 ай бұрын

12:35 According to makho funnyplaying will release this with oled soon, would be a bummer for someone to purchase this and oled released after the fact.

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

Nice, I wasn't aware of that

@TheMysteryDriver 4 ай бұрын

I'm waiting for them to fix another issue that Russ brought up.

@UltimatePerfection 4 ай бұрын

Wish that kit had an OLED display, other than that, it's great.

@V3Efreet 4 ай бұрын

Hopefully this is a test to release a more "powerful" version that can also run gba. GB/GBC aren't that interesting considering there are tons of device that run them and plenty of modkit for original hardware. I was lucky enough that i bought an hardware clone with lcd display before the emulation craze started so i got a screen modded gbc for 25 bucks (gb boy colour). While i see the appeal of this kit with the bigger screen it kinda ends making the analogue pocket more palatable since you get so much more for double the price.

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

GBA would be the logical choice for their next FPGA handheld. Give us a microSD card slot in it, and I think that would be quite compelling. I remember seeing the GB Boy Colour when it came out. I never picked one up, but kinda wish I did

@PaulSpades 3 ай бұрын

@@whatskenmaking the GBA is a slow, memory constrained, ARM7 device. There's some minor complication with the sharp cpu(that runs gb and gbc games), ppu and audio engine, but software emulating those devices is easy. What's the point in emulating arm in fpga? A $5 raspbery pi pico (or any modern arm cortex m micro) can run the native code and emulate the other devices.

@vilgevorcblack6178 2 ай бұрын

awesome job

@TheBlueArcher 4 ай бұрын

I just visited their website, I was interested in this. But seeing that you found a game that didn't work. I wish they provided a changelog for their firmware. If they don't, how are we to know what issues get fixed, if any at all? If i'm waiting for a specific bug for a specific game to get fixed I have to hope someone else has come across it and decides to post the status. A quick google also found a blog post of issues with games. I would link except YT blocks links. edit: that blog post mentions a fix for alleyway

@WiLLiW_oficial 3 ай бұрын

Microscope zoom LCD screens? Sold! Where's the subscribe button?

@Andreatuzze 4 ай бұрын

the link cable works with original gameboys?? because I've seen people having this issues

@piplup10203854 4 ай бұрын

12:42 Exactly, the price point would be great and I am onboard with your idea for an open fpga around this price point. I ended up buying one of these though because I been going back and forth on an Analogue pocket because of the screen really because I love my original hardware and I got my gameboy color still but the Analogue doesn't look like one and this does so I got it right away. I was really hoping to get one in that Barry color but there wasn't a shell close enough so I went with Blue which is what I wanted from the Analogue pocket but it was a limited edition and I can't get one within a reasonable price. But, I am really stoked to get this in and try :) if I go look in storage I am sure I will find all my games lol Do they make one of these for the Gameboy Advance? I never got one of those and would love an open FPGA in one that or N64 :D

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

No, but I would imagine that the GBA would be the next one they make. FP already makes a replacement stock PCB for the GBA

@piplup10203854 4 ай бұрын

@@whatskenmaking 👀 Ah shoot, well hopefully that is what they tackle next. I ended up buying one of these though because I love my Gameboy Color and still got it 🥹 I love the idea of bringing original hardware but preserving it and re-enjoying it with modern niceties plus if it can help the company develop further on this then count me in :D If they make a GBA one I'd love to try it out. I have a bunch of retro shops near me that I can go hunting plus I got a lot of my gameboy advance games still.

@HellHatch666 3 ай бұрын

If you already have a GBC just do the AMOLED screen update with the shell and never look back it's cheaper and its super easy to do!

@piplup10203854 3 ай бұрын

@@HellHatch666 That’s a great idea! I’ll have to check 😊 thank you.

@Cookiedon15 4 ай бұрын

I wonder if an update can fix the issue with that Alley Way game. I already own an Analogue Pocket, so I probably won't get this, but I do like the form factor of it. I'm assuming that it doesn't have the DMG screen masks and filters like Pocket does (like the green screen or the GB Pocket gray scale). I do like the 2 button layout, though. While I could just play GB/GBC on Pocket, I could consider getting a "FPGBA" with the Advance's form factor and button layout. I don't really like GBA on the Analogue (especially the shoulder buttons), but it is what is what it is

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

It does have color palettes you can choose, as well as a pixel grid - but not as many filter options as the Pocket. I’m looking forward to seeing where the market for more affordable FPGAs goes… but, that said, I brought my Analogue Pocket with me to VCF East this weekend and left the FPGBC at home.

@thewiirocks 4 ай бұрын

@@whatskenmaking also, the GBC palettes for GB games work. Try pressing the DPAD in different directions on boot (and/or A & B buttons) to see the different palette options. It will affect the boot screen itself so you know what's happening.

@________mr.empty________ 3 ай бұрын

it would be perfect if it run gba and snes

@gluttonousmaximus9048 4 ай бұрын

Considering it does have a firmware update path via USB, maybe there can be longterm compatibility support in the future, but don't hold your breath for it. I can imagine a higher end FPGA used in the Game Boy Advance equivalent (They did bring out a GBA replacement motherboard kit after all) that might add support for additional retro machines.

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

Yeah, I think a different FPGA would be likely in a GBA version. If they give us a microSD card slot in a GBA device, and price it under $100, I think they would capture a large part of the market for this kind of thing

@carloswashere7787 4 ай бұрын

Nice video

@cwells7285 4 ай бұрын

is 220 for an analogue pocket really a lot for people? jeeze

@SmallSpoonBrigade 4 ай бұрын

With the two button layout, I can't imaging them intending for anything more recent than an NES to be used with it. I could potentially see somebody coming up with a microsd card cart to play atari or NES games, but that's about it. But, for the price, it doesn't look to bad if you just want GB and GBC games. And mostly GBC as the GB Light exists and is by far the best way to play GB games on original hardware.

@LeesChannel 4 ай бұрын

Game Gear. TurboGrafx-16 (if the FPGA is powerful enough.) Master System came out on the same day as the Famicom, so not exactly newer. Neo Geo Pocket Color. Those all had two buttons.

@mardomacfleno2474 4 ай бұрын

Wondering if this works with a multicart. I assume yes.

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

Some, but not all. It works great with the everdrive gb x7, but not the cheap Chinese multicarts I’ve tried

@ianmathews 4 ай бұрын

I wish an upgrade to GBA and GBA form factor existed

@Tim_Heaven 4 ай бұрын

Is there a way to install an SD card?

@SpeedyGaming 4 ай бұрын

You can play the fpgbc with a flash cart so it can make up the difference of not having an SD card slot on the side, it still runs great, but I’d recommend everdrive flash carts or lower, it can run everdrive as it is the only powerful flash cart with the reputation to run it well, it will not however, run an EZ flash Jr.

@Missterpaja 4 ай бұрын

It's cost 83 plus shipping, not 70

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

When I ordered it from FunnyPlaying, my total was $69.90 (shipping is free for orders over $35). It’s only more if you add their shell and the buttons, but you can modify and reuse an old gameboy color shell if you have one.

@Missterpaja 4 ай бұрын

@@whatskenmaking the free shipping Is not worldwide, cost like 20 bucks, Aldo the Shell is a must.

@zacmitchell_1984 4 ай бұрын

There is a github for this machine s firmware, report the bug there

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

I'm aware of the GH repo that Makho has, but it's just a collection of FP's compiled firmware revisions and not associated with FunnyPlaying. Bugs have to be reported directly FunnyPlaying, which I've done for this one.

@espset1234 4 ай бұрын

A gameboy that cannot play alleyway is no gameboy😅

@n64fan60 4 ай бұрын

The only real difference between emulation and FPGA is input lag. That's it. An FPGA core is not inherently more accurate than a software emulator just because it's FPGA.

@Reaching8 26 күн бұрын

Yeah, I’ve noticed this too that there’s some misinfo with that. I think that perhaps it’s just people mis-defining terms to an extent though. If the console directly interacts with the game cart like original hardware, it is ‘more accurate’ in the colloquial sense than the dump & play kind of emu boxes.

@realityengine 4 ай бұрын

Sub pixel rendering is an immediate non starter.

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

That's one advantage that the Analogue Pocket's display has - it's a 10x scaling, so it's all integer in full screen mode

@realityengine 4 ай бұрын

@@whatskenmaking yea I love mine. It’s display is one of the best I’ve seen

@classicnut6655 3 ай бұрын

Analogue Pocket all day over this.

@boogiedownnyc 2 ай бұрын

to me emulation for gb and gbc is pretty much perfect at this point- no need for something like this

@LeesChannel 4 ай бұрын

I was getting angry until 8:40 and you showed that it was a kit. I couldn't believe the gall that they would actually put the Nintendo logo on their handheld.

@LeesChannel 4 ай бұрын

Okay, I got to 9:40 and saw their "replacement" shells complete with the logo 🤦‍♂️

@whatskenmaking 4 ай бұрын

Yeah, that's a pretty common practice with the aftermarket modded parts scene in the far east - they regularly infringe on copyrights.

@legendofswords 4 ай бұрын

I really fail to see how its a big issue to have the logo on there. Obviously they know that people are buying it for the GBC Form Factor and the aftermarket scene has tons of these aspects as well due to the fact that well pfft unless you are lucky the OEM parts are not available. Nintendo could go after them however i dont see nintendo ever intending on repopulating the world with brand new gameboys for any amount of time in the foreseeable future

@iamdmc 4 ай бұрын

so it's a worse game boy colour emulator that has compatibility issues with a now-outdated IPS screen (vs the newest OLED screen) Will pass on this - thanks for the heads up