MiSTer

I think the hype is a little bit more than just the games running and more around the preservation and accuracy side of things. It also has a really healthy level of development currently going on for it.

You're right though, as a daily cabinet driver for actually playing games, some of the other emulation options are already brilliant and I wouldn't be in a rush to replace everything if I already had a decent Hyperspin setup.

I quite like that these FPGA units are so small and relatively plug and play if you get a complete kit. I'm beyond faffing around getting things set up so am hoping once the MiSTercade arrives I already have an ultimate mister and can just plug them all together and lash them in the cabinet.

Don't automatically buy into the notion that FPGA = accuracy, because it doesn't. It can be, but not by virtue of it's existence. Latency is the big seller here, because there's no underlying OS overhead. Have a quick read of the late (and very great) Near's thoughts on things, from a few years back, there's some fantastic truths in here that many with an axe to grind/profit to make don't like hearing - https://archive.md/2018.07.07-112551/https://byuu.org/articles/fpgas-arent-magic/

That said, I think FPGA solutions are, really great. I love everything about them, have an Analogue Pocket pre-ordered, and would dearly like to pick up a DE-10 and a MiSTer Multisystem, maybe next year if supply of DE-10's gets anywhere normal again! I also love software emulation, and have spent countless hours curating a couch-ready experience that offers me everything from Atari to modern systems, with zero/low latency, stunning shaders that really give good crt's a run for their money, all controllable with a controller. So both approaches have their strengths.

Near (in the above link) also shares some thoughts on the parallel processing side of things:

Again, I do think FPGAs do offer benefits, but put one in blind taste test with original hardware and a properly configured emulation setup would catch many a purist out.

Latency is definitely noticeable when comparing a low power device or vanilla emulation setup to OG hardware or fpga solution. There's games that just absolutely break your heart where additional latency is introduced, so for most, that's where fpga truly shines.

That said, when runahead came along, it was revolutionary. It immediately nulified additional latency, and transformed how games felt. For the first time in decades, emulation felt on par again with OG hardware.

However, not all RA cores support it (it requires save state functionality to function), so the likes of MAME won't support it. That puts MiSTer out in front in this case latency wise for those cores.

The other huge seller for me with MiSTer is the analogue video out. Long known to be awkward with modern pc's, MiSTer is literally plug and play.

I'd strongly agree there, for no fuss plug and play, there's nothing else out there that rivals it. You can achieve similar with software emulation, but to do it justice, you have to face a significant learning curve.

MiSTer #2 has arrived from Taiwan, whoop

Class

Hi All, cousin was telling me about this over the weekend.

Just wondering where is the best place to order one of these? Also do I just need to board to get up and running, I see a few people ordering memory etc. too.

So what do I need to get up and running with old Amiga roms? Telling the kids about the old sleepwalker game but need to show them.

Other options for MiSTer in arcade cab

€ 179,40 | MisTer FPGA JAMMA IO Board Kit with custom shell

If you're using a Mistercade, then you just need SDRAM and a DE-10 Nano.

My Life in Gaming did a very long and detailed look at MiSTer the other day. I've not watched it all yet(over 2 and a half hours long). But if their past videos are anything to go by this will be worth a look.