FPGA Arcade and Minimig overview

[matthey]

@fishy_fiz
The MiniMig would be a downgrade to a lightly expanded 1200 in my opinion. It has some advantages with compatibility to older games, portability and syncing to newer monitors but it has less ports, expandability, compatibility (no 68020), and no AGA. I think the 68000 will continue to be less supported as it's less common for regular users, optimized code for the 68000 doesn't run well on 68020+ (68000 is 16 bit while 68020+ is 32 bit), the code is larger and some common CPU features are missing. The fpgaArcade is really the only option at the moment if you need a "new" 1200 replacement soon. Here's how I see the fpga boards...

MiniMig = Amiga 500 with massively overclocked 68000
fpgaArcade = Amiga 1200 with 030@50MHz or 060 accelerator
Natami = Amiga 4000 with 060 accelerator

An fpga Clone-A from Individual Computers could make a surprise appearance with who knows what specs. The Natami will be fully AGA backward compatible so even if you don't use the new SAGA features, they won't hurt compatibility. It should have a FPU, the best RTG (chunky) support, 3D at some point, and the most expandability but at a significantly higher price.

[matthey]

Fpga Amigas need to be supported with updates after they come out. That is why I favor the ones that are created by Amiga enthusiast or companies that have a history of supporting the Amiga and have open specifications and documentation so others can provide support too. I think that the MiniMig, fpgaArcade, Natami and Clone A all look promising in this regard although the fpgaArcade will probably kill the MiniMig for the low end market as it's a much better base Amiga system for the price. The fpgaArcade and Natami don't compete directly as one is low end and the other high end. It would be nice if they could cooperate more on open standards which would make me support them both even more. There is room for the Clone A with a good design for the price as many Individual Computer products are. It would probably take some market share from the fpgaArcade and Natami though.

[matthey]

@Everyone. A few people have mentioned prices on the FPGA Arcade. So are we now in a position to guess how much a NatAmi will cost?

Sure, we can guess. What currency? It could be much cheaper in many currencies if the Euro dropped in value and I think that is a likely prospect. Either Europe loosens it's fiscal policies (i.e. cuts rates) or the bailed out countries with no GDP growth will devalue the currency from risk. Inflation is better than deflation although it hurts all the little guys but the irresponsible behavior has already been done.

The first Natami's are MX boards with 060 accelerator cards for developers and cost a lot. The production MX boards will probably cost around $1000 U.S. plus or minus several hundred dollars. The 060 accelerator card comes in 2 flavors. Either with a fpga 133MHz MC68060FE SMD (no MMU) mounted or with an empty PGA CPU slot for a PGA 68060. Both have 4MB of SRAM and their own smaller fpga. The latter 060 board could cost $500 and up and the former 060 board you would add the cost of the 060 too. The main MX board can have a quite fast fpga CPU but that isn't running in the fpga yet. Producing the MX board in larger quantities would dramatically lower the price. Either taking large pre-orders or investors and resellers buying large quantities would help. I have no actual knowledge of prices so these are only guesses. Better start saving your money if you want one though . It should be the best retro hobby computer project ever if it gets released to the masses .

[matthey]

Crikey, what do you do for a job? "International man of Mystery" seems to apply :lol:

Ever heard of "West Texas" Intermediate? You probably didn't know that Brent crude originated in the North Sea from the "UK" either? You probably HAVE seen the Beverly Hillbilly's and know about black gold, Texas "T", now don't you?