GameMT GBA FPGA handheld

[open nova]

Technically called the Pro Max? All I know is that this is supposed to be a FPGA handheld that takes GBA cartridges

[radiant sandal]

[chilly delta]

Um yes please. But why does it look like it has a 1:1 screen instead of 3:2?

[lament karma]

tbf that 1:1 screen is good for GBA

clean 3x upscale

[chilly delta]

I mean, can't argue with that. But seems like an odd choice for a GBA dedicated device

[mental swallow]

Why does it have four buttons if it's gba? Must be plans on supporting other cores

[cinder mulch]

would be cool if it also supports GB/GBC cartridges, would make more sense with 1:1 screen

[spiral leaf]

This would make so much more sense if it used the V10 screen.

[flat tapir]

Should’ve looked like this

[fathom wyvern]

it looks pretty cool

basically rgb30 without sticks and l2, r2

altough that start and select placement looks pretty bad

[spice hemlock]

Someone forgot to tell the render guy to add the speaker grills.

On the front, I would hope.

[humble ledge]

What size?

[vale lantern]

This translates to Apple's high definition big display. Therefore, it is most likely the screen from the iPhone 4/4s, which has a 3:2 aspect ratio, 3.5" 960x640, the same as Pocket Micro.

[flat tapir]

Maybe that render is a place holder

[chilly delta]

And perfect 4x upscale of GBA. Nice.

[formal hemlock]

Damn, I forget just how small phone screens used to be. I remember how awesome that iPhone was when it came out lol.

[quick thorn]

looks hand crampy

with the inward downslope

[copper cypress]

You don’t want a trapezoid handheld?

Also if this is a GBA device why does it have dual shoulders???

So many questions

[chilly delta]

Same reason it has ABXY I guess

[light remnant]

I can only assume it's for macros

But I have no idea if this kind of device even gives you that kind of freedom

No idea if the Analogue Pocket lets you do it

[copper cypress]

I’m reasonably sure that the Pocket doesn’t allow macros, but I’ve never tried

[light remnant]

So, dumb question

But GBA FPGA doesn't guarantee GB and GBC FPGA, does it?

[cinder mulch]

If they will make it open source I believe someone can make GB and GBC cores

[keen rivet]

iphone screens are still being made?

[restive halo]

In theory it should as you like need a larger FPGA for the GBA than you do for GBC and GB

[copper cypress]

It’s not the size of the FPGA that matters, someone has to write/adapt the core for it to emulate the GBC hardware

[stiff osprey]

I don’t know all the detail but each FPGA has a number of logic cells. The greater the number, the more complex system it can emulate, which correlates with the age of the hardware being emulated. An FPGA might be big enough to do GBC while being too small for GBA. Although it seems most ones used now seem big enough for GBA, which perhaps is what you mean too. Besides the cores not being compatible, needing to be adapted for each FPGA

[copper cypress]

Right, so each FPGA has a certain number of logic gates it can create. If we assume this is meant to emulate GBA hardware, it will have enough to emulate GB/GBC hardware as well. What I was getting at is even if there are enough logic gates, that doesn't necessarily mean that there will be a core for GB/GBC created. The core is basically a configuration that tells the FPGA how to behave

[stiff osprey]

Absolutely

[nova cave]

Maybe this is not dead?

[vivid jacinth]

I super don't need this... when do I get it?

[nova cave]

I really like it, even if i have an analogue pocket, is nice to see affordable handhelds that read cartridges

[vivid jacinth]

totally, I was hoping Funny Playing would release a FPGA GBA

[light remnant]

It lives???

[radiant sandal]

I still don't get it. assuming only a GBA core is made for this, why the square screen?

[light remnant]

It's definitely weird

But I assume they're banking on fans making other cores work

Kinda like how a lot of handhelds are "open source"

[formal hemlock]

They could’ve easily made the speakers front firing. Why the insistence on back firing stereo speakers?

[stiff osprey]

“Supports up to PS1”

(Reading from the screenshot above)

[light remnant]

Wait

Emulation?

Did they give up on this being FPGA?

I hope not

[velvet quiver]

Where was it mentioned to be fpga? Screenshot in the first post only mention load gba cartridge.
Remember Anbernic has a similar device.

[stiff osprey]

It could be in a broad/loose sense, or just bad translation. It still has a cartridge slot, which is unusual if it’s for software emulation

Hmm nothing coming up on Google re: FPGA, maybe it’s not

[light remnant]

I actually don't know what device you're talking about

[velvet quiver]

This, but I just Google a bit, seems like this isn't fpga but is actually a clone chip of the gba 's soc.
https://anbernic.com/products/anbernic-k101

[light remnant]

So not even FPGA

Literally just unofficial GBA lol

[light remnant]

Surprised more of these haven't come out tbh

[livid flume]

that thing is like over 10 years old at this point lol

i have my old revo rotting in a drawer somewhere

might grab the anbernic rerelease for shits n giggles

[elfin dew]

I would buy it if it was compatible to gb and gbc too

[keen rivet]

If it's fpga we're good

[copper cypress]

Only if they have the cores to run those

Well know more later on I’m sure

[light remnant]

We're so fucking back

[fathom wyvern]

?

[light remnant]

Sinyorksu released this this morning

[cinder mulch]

i hope it supports GB and GBC carts as well, otherwise the square screen doesnt make any sense - on the other hand backfiring speakers are also controversial idea, seeing how much space is left on front

[light remnant]

Yeah I'm definitely not a fan of the speaker placement

[copper cypress]

Still withholding judgment lol

It’s interesting but I’m not sold

Bad screen for gba only

[obtuse oxide]

Isn't a gba fpga backwards compatible with those?

[cinder mulch]

Hard to say, it depends if they will make cores for them. GBA core is not autonatically compatible with GB/GBC, i believe they even included additional soc on og hardware to play these - GBA hardware clones are not compatible with them, (you cant play GBC games on Exeq Gamebox or Revo K101)

[obtuse oxide]

Original hardware used a physical switch to know what cartridge was inserted iirc

[obtuse oxide]

it'd be interesting if they didn't add those. When you can literally use a 16gb card to contain the whole library of gb,gbc and gba with save states, fast forward and rewind. Why would I want fpga again? xD

They better have a link cable port...

[twilit sinew]

You can never have too many GBAs!

[amber oriole]

New name?

[obtuse oxide]

not the same device afaik

[copper cypress]

Yeah that’s pretty different

[fathom wyvern]

worse rg cube, case closed

[warped lance]

Not necessarily worse, should be much more pocketable than the Cube. I wonder when it will get its own channel?

[light remnant]

Why's that?

Or how, I should ask

Should it be more pocketable?

[warped lance]

The cube is a bit too thick for me to pocket, the E3 looks flatter.

RGB30 has about the max outer dimensions I’m comfortable pocketing outside the house.

[light remnant]

https://youtu.be/-eHMVzYRWms?si=Ti_QWz2Iq_dZIqXI

I guess the way it lies on the surface of the vid would indicate that it doesn't have ergo bumps

Which would definitely make it more pocketable than the Cube

Still

I don't really like the idea of a 1:1 display device having the stick on top

So even if everything else about this is fantastic, I probably still wouldn't buy it

[warped lance]

Yep, I’ll definitely be waiting on reviews of it.

[twilit sinew]

I'm excited to see this Handheld in action.

[rough raft]

Dpad bottom on a 1:1 (or 4:3) device is no bueno

[light remnant]

I get it for 4:3 for N64 and up

[spiral leaf]

Would have been happy to replace my CubeXX with this if the damn stick wasn't up top. 😑

[old mica]

Can we please just have a good 1:1 horizontal device without a major fatal flaw

RGB30: fatal power/battery issues, awful build quality
RGB30 knockoffs: awful build quality, unnecessary (and ugly) sticks
RG Cube/XX: Too thick and bulky, ugly sticks
This thing: dpad on bottom

[light remnant]

RGB30 could be amazing but it has a ton of issues with its general build quality AFAIK

[old mica]

Terrible build quality and sometimes you need to physically disconnect the battery because it will refuse to turn off

[light remnant]

How does that even happen with the battery

So weird

[old mica]

Retroid just needs to make a landscape version of the Classic and I'll shut up.

[light remnant]

There is the XF40H but I haven't bothered with it because supposedly the D-pad is (expectedly) not great

[warped lance]

My RGB30 v2 is one of my favorites. Build quality is better than the Game Console devices, and I haven’t had battery issues with the latest versions of ArkOS or UnofficialOS as long as I do a battery disconnect after using ROCKNIX.

I do recommend the kapton tape d-pad mod though.

[old mica]

Unnecessary buttcheeks

[light remnant]

That's true

But apparently they're not so bad

[chilly delta]

Isn't that the Mini V2?

[old mica]

Basically, but I admire the simplicity of the Classic. It's basically the definitive SNES handheld if you don't mind vertical handhelds

[amber oriole]

it's definitely the ultimate Gameboy too

[timid sonnet]

They need to do a more old-school dpad for it to be definitive SNES imo

[spiral leaf]

I came within a hairs breadth of getting a classic more than once but the thing that keeps stopping me is how low the d-pad sits on the device. The 40XXv sits so much more comfortably in my hands (esp once the stick is gone). If the Classic had that much extra to hold onto at the bottom I'd have gotten it in a heartbeat.

[light remnant]

I get it for nostalgia purposes but I find clicky D-pads to generally be straight up better

Especially Retroid's

[amber oriole]

Never apparently

[light remnant]

Just made one because I may as well

https://discord.com/channels/741895796315914271/1429805430191816714

[turbid cipher]

Any new stuff about this one

[leaden plover]

It will never come out

[light remnant]

Certainly a long, long way away at the very least

Sinyorksu runs a very small operation AFAIK

[steady moth]

[light remnant]

I'm confused

Is this both FPGA as well as capable of software emulation?

[steady moth]

no clue, but I will be mad if this isn't like a Frogboy Color and I can't shove my GB(C) cartridges into it to play

I know it says GBA but ehhhhh

[worldly umbra]

Imagine it reads the game name from the cartridge and runs RetroArch with that ROM

[steady moth]

that would suck so much

like I would be completely happy if we get a horizontal FPGA that does GB, GBC and GBA well

[copper cypress]

Theres the GameBub project

On crowd supply

[tidal flume]

what's the deal with GameMT and this kind of dpad lol

[twilit sinew]

I guess you hate ergonomics because the RG-CUBE/XX are both incredibly comfortable.

[opaque kettle]

I guess you hate putting handhelds in your pocket

[twilit sinew]

Nah not every Handheld I purchase needs to fit in my pocket or look like a PS Vita. Sometimes I just want my Handhelds to be playable. Maybe Gaming devices don't have to be Pocketable or "not ugly".

[warped lance]

It’s far easier to add a grip to a pocketable handheld, than remove ergonomic bumps from one that’s nearly so.

[opaque kettle]

Ah that’s fair. I tend to only use one main handheld, but if you have a bunch you rotate through I can understand it

[twilit sinew]

Yes this is me, I buy all Handhelds within a niche.

[stoic adder]

this is not fpga lol

[old mica]

Never said it'suncomfortable, I just generally prefer sleeker handhelds. I'm willing to sacrifice comfort for portability to an extent

[light remnant]

Is it just software emulation that can read carts?

[twilit sinew]

I never claimed that you said that. I made the assumption that since the RG-Cube/XX is thicker, bulkier, and "ugly" that you hate ergonomics. Personally I'll take an Uglier Handheld if it's comfortable to play for elongated periods of time.

[opaque kettle]

It dumps the cart then loads the rom

[light remnant]

I'm guessing you're joking

Unless you're actually serious

[opaque kettle]

I wouldn’t put it completely out of the question tbh, if it’s not fpga it may be the route they went

But lord I hope not

How did that one handheld from way back when handle the gba slot? Was it fpga?

https://blog.omgmog.net/post/review-the-revo-k101-plus/

Hmm 2015, doubt it was fpga

[old mica]

No, the Revo wasn't FPGA; it did basically the same thing that Hyperkin does with their Retron consoles where it dumps the cartridge ROM before you play and then plays that via an emulator. I suspect this might do the same thing

[old mica]

Interesting

[opaque kettle]

Idk if the revo was dumping and emulating tbh, everywhere online describes it as a “hardware gba clone” but I can’t find anything that goes more in depth than that

[old mica]

Actually you're right, I was getting it confused with its flash cart for ROMs. The Revo had a link cable port so it was definitely more of a hardware clone

[steady moth]

the Revo is basically a GBA on a chip, like those old 90s NOAC, GOAC and SNAC chips in the Retron 1-3, the Retron 5 dumps the cartridge as that is emulation based

[stoic adder]

nope, they are using gbaclone chips similar to famiclones

so its not emulating anything, its running like original hardware

[stoic adder]

its like famiclone chips.

[stoic adder]

probably why revo got banned from selling.

they poof out of existence last year from aliexpress stores

the clone chips are those black glue blobs.

[winter flare]

Playing gba on this aspect ratio would be weird

[turbid cipher]

100% agree

whats the point of making a gba fpga if it doesn't even look like it can run gba

[woeful compass]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXFgqAjoX6k

[winter flare]

Why did they chose that aspect ratio for gba
Wouldn't it made more sense for gb or gbc

[limber meadow]

It's 720p horizontally (3x integer), that's the only redeeming quality I'd say. But Anbernics 34XX 3:2 screen is just as big for gba games, and also 720p horizontally.

[light remnant]

Yeah

[steady moth]

the weirdest part is that it's probably not compatible with GB(C) cartridges and the SEGA d-pad

[turbid cipher]

Why do all the white colors look ugly

Itd be nice to see something like ayaneo with all white and silver or gray on the edges

[twilit sinew]

I'm pretty sure you can play GB, GBC, and GBA on this Handheld.

[twilit sinew]

GameMT and MagicX really need to work on the ergonomics of their devices.

[light remnant]

How do you mean?

[twilit sinew]

By not making Handhelds that are slabs of plastic.

[light remnant]

Okay, but maybe I like slabs of plastic?

They fit way fuckin better in the pocket lmao

[twilit sinew]

Curves would definitely help.

[frosty rampart]

Interesting, but why would I choose this over a Cube XX? Maybe for more portability but then I would just take a 34xxSP.

[twilit sinew]

One word: Cartridges

[copper cypress]

It’s just such a weird screen ratio for GBA specifically

Seems like it would have made more sense to offer cart support in a device with a 3:2 screen.

Then again the Analogue pocket has a similar screen ratio and people do GBA on that

This just looks… odd

[light remnant]

AP was primarily marketed for GB and GBC

Whereas AFAIK this doesn't even play those games out of the box

I can only assume they're banking on community support to make GB and GBC a possibility

[twilit sinew]

Then it's would be worst for GB and GBC. Remember the GBA was backwards compatible with the GB and GBC too.

[copper cypress]

That doesn't mean that this FPGA based console will be as well

It's likely to be supported after the fact, but they've only directly shown GBA

[twilit sinew]

@copper cypress They're most likely shooting for GB and GBC too.

[copper cypress]

Until I see something to confirm that we're just speculating tbh

but I hope so for your sake if you're interested

[twilit sinew]

A 1:1 screen will be better for GB, GBC, and GBA.

[copper cypress]

A 1:1 is objectively not good for GBA,

but I agree that it works

[twilit sinew]

Yes but if you're trying to hit all three at once 1:1 would be the best ratio.

Also yes I know the GBA was 3:2.

[copper cypress]

I just think it's weird to have marketing specifically refer to GBA, and have a 1:1 screen. I understand what you're saying and don't disagree

[twilit sinew]

Besides 4" 1:1 panels are easier to access.

[copper cypress]

It's just a weird product that I don't think looks that nice that's doing something that I haven't seen anyone ask for

but more power to them

[twilit sinew]

That's why they ran with the 1:1 screen.

This also gives them the chance (choice) to make the screen AMOLED if they decide to go that route.

[copper cypress]

There are a number of 3:2 or 4:3 panels that I feel like would have been a better middle ground between the 2 aspect ratios, likely for cheaper

[copper cypress]

I haven't seen a 1:1 OLED anywhere, the RP mini screen is close, but it's not that

and this is almost certainly not that screen imo

[twilit sinew]

Fair enough, I just think that's what they were going for.

[woeful compass]

https://youtu.be/86AtF6cPxXk?si=C-QOjdrnIf7BdaEd

[light remnant]

Wait this is actually coming out???

I could've sworn it got cancelled shortly after announcement

[torpid rivet]

This looks much better than the FPGA one

[steady moth]

another Unicorn

god damn it, do them with a proper cross-dpad on top

[twilit sinew]

I agree this is very annoying.

Hey @hard path is there a way we can convince GameMT to put the D-Pad up top instead of the Left Analog Stick up top? 😢

It would be way better for Retro Gaming this way.

[steady moth]

literally the reason I use my Unicorn way less than it deserves... let alone the RG CUBE (non-XX)

[twilit sinew]

I agree, besides it would set them off from the competition in the right ways too.

[steady moth]

true true

[twilit sinew]

I agree it actually has curves on it. Unlike MagicX which keeps making slabs of plastic.