MiSTer FPGA Review [HARDWARE]

[@thickie-d]

MiSTer really is the best gaming device I've ever bought!

[@thickie-d]

@@tylersherman9250 yeah seriously - especially with the Saturn core apparently coming soon, already booting up retail games

[@ArcadeCabNBud]

@Brian Babin grow up mate we are all adults here.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

Yes, but for the cost, you could buy several retroconsoles. I may get one anyways eventually, but it's not exactly cheap.

[@sunekoo]

Thanks! Would love to see a step by step guide on how to set it up (like your everdrive vids in the past). I know the info is online but you always explain things really clearly

[@RetroBreak]

Hope you all enjoyed this look at the MiSTer! I made a follow up looking at some of the best Neo Geo games on the system now I got it working! --> kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKWceHivlNOlaJI Also, i'm no expert on FPGA technology, so if there was anything I got wrong, please correct me in the comments! :) There was also a lot I didn't talk about in this video, such as all the different filter options, so if there's anything you'd like me to cover in a part 2, please let me know! Have a good day!

[@FoxbatStargazer]

The analog I/O board is huge for youtubers, you can capture pristine upscaled HDMI while playing lag-free on a CRT at the same time. Might be worth getting that and matching case versus running fifty converters!

[@kurtisbunker7724]

At the time I got this and the BliSTer unit they were out of VGA boards. I never thought it would be such a work of “converter art.” ;) Going to have to awhile a VGA model for Nick perhaps. Cheers

[@LucaMolteni84]

At this time we already have too many screen captures of old games via HDMI, we need the actual CRT filmed for digital preservation!

[@RetroUnlim]

I love my MiSTer, such an incredible device! Great video!

[@robertc4826]

Great video Sir... I'll have to keep this in mind

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

Got my DE10 nano, am waiting for MiSTer Multisystem now 👍 great video!

[@BeyondEntertainment_]

Great video! 🎉🔥

[@RottenMechGaming]

Next video I make I will get my hair blowing in the wind. I think it adds to it! Thanks for the video, great overview.

[@Vintiqueture]

When the NES Classic Mini released nearly five years, it was impossible to get a hold of. I waited online, was bombarded with checkout errors, and gave up in frustration. Around that time I heard of the Raspberry Pi and RetroPie, and the world of emulation changed for me. I didn't have to fumble around and launch different emulators for different systems. Everything was presented in a gorgeous GUI, and with a lovely little case, you can have a tidy little retro system in your entertainment console. Needless to say, I love my Pi setup! But because I'm a retro gaming enthusiast, this Mister has always peeked my attention. "What's FPGA? A hardware clone of a system can be achieved?! No way!" While my Pi has served me well the last several years, the allure of 100% compatibility and not being traditional emulation, the Mister will be my next project. All this goodness on a glorious CRT? Give it to me, haha!

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

That's the same reason why I got my second Pi. I couldn't get an NES classic without paying a ridiculous amount off eBay and it wound up being cheaper to just buy the Pi. Recently, I bought an old school NES console which was about what the NES classics were going for at the time. Obviously, no games included, but that's still nuts.

[@realmchat6665]

Mister and an arcade stick is retro gaming heaven.

[@_Bruzzi]

Great video, my mister arrives today!!!!

[@RetroBreak]

Awesome, enjoy!

[@retroimportgamer513]

That looks an amazingly clever device, seems very thorough in what it includes. Just sounds a bit complicated to get the best out of it. I have a raspberry pi which is similar but less sophisticated and mine does have problems running some games considering it was a third of the price I don't suppose it's too bad. Fascinating video once again 👍

[@dinierto]

It's actually more complicated to tweak a Raspberry Pi than a MiSTer, honestly. Part of that is because the Raspberry Pi has an entire OS, front end, and Retroarch built in and settings for each. The MiSTer doesn't have so many different layers to configure.

[@superviewer]

Going into my 4th years as a MiSTer owner and I still love it. I particularly love it for the ever evolving computer cores. I also run a quick game here and there in emulation on Mac and PC, but most exploration is on the MiSTer. The DE-10 Nano board cannot handle computer architectures later than mid/late 90's. Just remember that before you buy. No Dreamcast, XBox, PS2 etc. Do that stuff in emulation :)

[@SgtBarnes73]

Welcome to the community! :)

[@STEV3_B]

This looks awesome! ..... puts my retropi to shame

[@phantombrainm]

I also came from the Pi and the resolutions were not pixel perfect, framerate was stuttering plus the lag of the emulation on top...Mister is like night and day! and machtes my real stuff. I feel no difference. (Some consoles, Amiga 500, C64, ...)

[@Nordlicht05]

@@phantombrainm I noticed that on some news games where the reaction counts. But I though getting maybe one for my arcade cabinet... But I am not that deep into this what games I can run und what Not.

[@lt7114]

Look at those luscious locks blowin in the wind.

[@RetroBreak]

Look at that luscious comment blowing into my notifications ;)

[@davieslm]

Great video! I think I will get one of these and have also been looking at RMC's console-style MiSTer Multisystem version. I am actually coming from a powerful gaming PC using Retroarch with a Hori Fighting Edge with Sanwa parts. I am very happy with the performance of the emulation on my gaming PC and do not notice any real input lag but do notice alot of sound issues with Mame /FB Neo. I emulate arcade, Amiga, C64, Megadrive and PS1. I also have modded PS1 Classic which boots straight into Retroarch (ozone gui) with 2 x 8BitDo wireless USB receivers and 2 x Dualshock 4 controllers. I also have 2 x 8BitDo 2.4Ghz arcade sticks with all Sanwa parts for the PS1 Classic. This is hooked up to a Pioneer KRP-500M plasma which looks pretty decent with some light-weight CRT shaders. Also have a custom PC powered bar-top arcade with Hyperspin front-end but I am now ready to have a dive into a MiSTer system and will also pickup a Sony PVM or portable CRT TV.

[@jonathan2950]

I definitely like the looks of these, especially with the analogue output part for CRTs. I hope they manage to cover N64/PS1 and even PS2/GC in the future. Until then it’s not really worth it for me as I mostly play games on the those systems. But I appreciate what great hardware and a great philosophy this device is!

[@phantombrainm]

This FPGA will not fit the systems you are looking for plus the chips are replicated 1:1 in the FPGA. It's not software. Your mentionied systems have so many transistors and are so complex that it's nearly impossible for the community to replicate it. But you never know. Maybe in 15 years the impossible happens ;)

[@justinr1094]

Same here. My dream is to have a CRT setup with all of the pre-HD/16:9 systems all built into one device. I'll be content once Dreamcast, PS2, GameCube, N64 and Xbox are possible. Even if it takes over a decade. With the startling amounts of progress MiSTer makes each year, it wouldn't surprise me too much if it could be done in the future...eventually.

[@ThirdXavier]

@@phantombrainm posting from the future playing FF7 on the PSX core! Lol!

[@1183newman]

I have a Mister and it is fantastic, def worth the investment.

[@DarrenBike]

Awesome video. Im definitely not a techie person. I would love to buy this with all the cables, controllers and harware set up so I can just plug it into my tv and play. Where can I buy this and what is a reasonable cost for this system

[@Eth3realwarrior]

Big ups for the Axley track, such a underated SHMUP by Treasure!

[@RetroBreak]

By Konami you mean, but yes awesome game and soundtrack! :D

[@Eth3realwarrior]

@@RetroBreak Treasure actually had a major part making Axley after they finished Super Castivania IV.

[@fellleg]

@@Eth3realwarrior source? That's interesting if true!

[@Eth3realwarrior]

@@fellleg ah Got the story a bit wrong Axley was developed by employees of Konami that later quit the built the company Treasure. Wikipedia and you can probably find videos on KZbin about it too.

[@BB-te8tc]

Do you know if it's it possible to emulate Super Game Boy functionality for enhanced games like Donkey Kong '94?

[@RetroBreak]

Yes it is, I recorded some footage from a super game boy game, but must have forgot to inclue it! When you load up a game boy game theres an option to choose if it runs as an original game, a super game boy game, or a a game boy color game, so you can get it to think it's any of those, and it does include the borders and special extras too :)

[@BB-te8tc]

Amazing! Went from "That looks neat, but my Retropie is fine" to "Seriously considering buying one" in no time flat. Thank you!

[@snstay316]

If you download the dark soft ROM pack for neo geo it works great!

[@RetroBreak]

Got it working :) just made a follow up video checking some Neo Geo games out on it! - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKWceHivlNOlaJI

[@steventeasdale9082]

Does everybody get the complete set of written out instructions for setup, updates etc???

[@emen3y-ttv]

welcome to the MiSTer FPGA family

[@MrArkBrian]

Just look at all the development in the last 1.5 years. The one thing that benefited from the lockdowns….. MiSTer FPGA

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

The globalists can't stop indie! BAWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ClassicGameSessions]

Great technology!

[@yllib2012]

The MiSTer is a great option but so is emulation. You can emulate systems that the MiSTer will never be able to do. You can have multiple instant saves with emulation and in many emulators you can upscale the resolution. If you want gameplay as close to the original consoles as possible, the MiSTer is the way to go. If you really like retro-gaming, you should use both options as they fit your needs or desires. Neither option is wrong.

[@Inv8erZlM]

Great video! I love my MiSTer! One thing, though. That lag test doesn’t mean anything. You can get a perfect score even with a ton of lag.

[@RetroBreak]

Oh.. what is the lag test for then? Someone on Twitter told me to use it to make sure the cables didn’t introduce any lag

[@connorwatson9946]

What controller are you using at 11:38?

[@ZXSpectrum128K]

sam coupé? 4mb ram? zx spectrum with ula+ spectra? shamazx dma

[@Chris-Courage]

I've got one of these and they are great! However, I will say that for my eyes and ears, I haven't really seen or heard anything while in use that makes this more accurate than just running emulators on a Wii. So for most people, the extreme accuracy of the mister may not even be noticed compared to other emulation options.

[@RetroBreak]

True I feel like only really enthusiasts and perfectionists would realise the difference between this and regular emulation. I can definitely feel the difference though

[@mrburns366]

the input latency is a big thing. Also, it doesn't have frame skipping like an emulator. it always runs at full speed, cycle accurate hardware "simulation" so to speak. it runs the game code natively with no translation

[@mrkirk4944]

Then why are you here ? Stick to your silly Wii, and crap emulation. Stop polluting Mister comments with your nonsense.

[@Chris-Courage]

@@mrkirk4944 Because it's still cool to see videos about it. I have a mister and appreciate what it can do. I'm just saying that it's not for everyone. I'm not trying to start a debate.

[@JPMonteith]

My experience is this is mostly true for consoles - or, at least, I never used the old consoles enough to pick up the differences. However, for arcade systems the differences are much more apparent. I tried multiple MAME emulators and they all have display and timing issues that made it very difficult to enjoy the experience that FPGA completely corrected - for the arcade games it supports.

[@jorgevega1907]

Gran informacion, excelente video.

[@orignal29]

I litteraly ran upstairs to get the door and there was no one!

[@RetroBreak]

Haha oops! Sorry! Hope you enjoyed the video anyway

[@retrogametech1626]

Nvidea shield tv pro 2019 is a great emulation system

[@kenkwok83]

Just curious. Can you use analogue systems like mega SG and snes nt and then play home brew games and hacks right out of their system ? To save money ?

[@RetroBreak]

No you’d need to get an Everdrive for the system to be able to play homebrew games, unless you want to try and hack the NT or SG

[@kirabate]

For neo Geo you need to download the mame list.

[@RetroBreak]

I got it to work, used an Everdrive list

[@RetroBreak]

just made a follow up video checking some Neo Geo games out on it! - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKWceHivlNOlaJI

[@seamistseamist]

You could shop for 5 or 6 consoles, or just one.

[@Meerlu]

32 whole degrees Celsius? Poor guy! hehe ..was 42 here during our heat wave. :/

[@mahdiyussuf9804]

MiSTer is the bomb! Not expensive, all you need is to find the de10 nano unit from digikey for 170 or something and you're good to go (used to be 130usd). Ram upgrade is crucial for more than something like just genesis, however. Can use hdmi to vga adapters in lieu of the analog board to save more money as well if you dn't need multi video out.

[@megazenn22]

small correction: Pal is 16.666% slower than NTSC NTSC is 20% faster than Pal 👍

[@kirabate]

Man, don't use the 5v cable on the HDMI to VGA adapter, it could damage the MISTer's HDMI output

[@RetroBreak]

Thanks for the heads up! Just tried it without, and it still works!

[@DenisBrkhus]

Great vid. Just curious, why would you do the overly complicated video signal routing? Instead: MiSTer -> HDMI splitter -> HDMI2VGA -> CRT -> Capture Card The OSSC is a nice box, but feels like it has no place in this setup? Converting the signal to analogue then back to digital seems a bit unecessary?

[@RetroBreak]

I tried it that way round, but using a splitter before the VGA adaptor didn’t work. the capture card didn’t recognise the signal, so I had to either to go through the OSSC or my Scart - HDMI converter to get the capture card to recognise it. Think it’s because the Ini file changes the output to not display through HDMI, so doing the splitter first didn’t do anything

[@DenisBrkhus]

@@RetroBreak I see, well capture cards can be finicky beasts i guess 🤷‍♂️ Good you found something that works for you😊

[@rjmaas]

In Western Canada it was so hot one day, fans start feeling like hairdryers. No joke

[@majasajesa]

Canada sux

[@vitorkk328]

Really great!!

[@davethebulb]

Somewhat confused as Bifrost Bridge Studios don't seem to sell Mister? Also Norton says link provided to purchase a kit (different website BTW) is dangerous?

[@RetroBreak]

BiFrost are just sponsoring the video to get visibility of their own work. You can buy the mister here - www.ultimatemister.com

[@davethebulb]

@@RetroBreak Thanks. Just to let you know that Norton reports the site you recommend as "a known dangerous website"?

[@allisterfiend_2112]

@@davethebulb Norton is the virus.

[@NML32]

Nice video.

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

Dood that is awesome.

[@guardianali]

I have both and still use the Pi4 more. While i love the mister from a functionality level, i hate that the front end is just a text list. I dont need something super heavy and fancy, but a simple game description and a single screen shot would go along way to figure out what game is what if you have a long game list. Until the come up with a better front end, i still find myself using the Pi4 specially since most games run just as good latency wise with run ahead

[@DanCherishedsoul]

Can it run n64 tittles ?

[@RetroBreak]

No, only up to snes / Megadrive era at the moment. But I think it’s being worked on?

[@FabioSpelta]

Integer scaling is actually on every retroarch emulator

[@cestusfr]

Some people say it is very expensive (i agree it is not a cheap solution) BUT if you had to buy the real consoles, it would be way more expensive. Plus you would need everdrives too for each console! And space to spare. ^___^;

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

I think it depends a bit on how many consoles you'd be getting. Around here, you'd be able to get at least 4 different consoles for the cost of the MISTer. In either case, you'd be stuck buying carts which is where most of the cost here is. Personally, I'll likely buy the MISTer anyways, but for a bunch of people, they'd probably be better off buying the consoles and putting the money into carts to go with the systems. I'm sure there are people out there that have a diverse enough taste in games from different systems that this is the more affordable option. For most people the main reason to get this is so that they don't have to worry about replacing failing components in retro systems.

[@TheSocialGamer]

WOW.! with all of the cables, dongles and adaptors it's a better value to just have both analog and digital outputs on the MiSter. lmao

[@RetroBreak]

As I said at the start of the video, I was sent the digital only version.

[@RonaldoNoschang]

what a nice commercial, but thanks, I'll wait for it to work out in the end. I don't believe in the current version.

[@RetroBreak]

What don’t you like about it at the moment?

[@sunderark]

@Ronaldo You do know the MisTer isn't a product right?

[@interghost]

It does look amazing mate, but man that comes at a very over priced premium. For free I would love to use it. But for that price you can pick up a pretty decent current gen gaming PC device. - I don't think I would fork out hundreds for what is just a fancy emulator. It was very cool of them to send you one though! (Not sure they are allowed to provide ROM files though, hummm, lol)

[@sergilopezmilan6899]

Not the same experience... I cant enjoy emulators. Dont get the same feeling, mister is the perfect experience. You can buy base unit to play on hd tvs much cheaper.

[@interghost]

@@sergilopezmilan6899 Agree, I use the real systems and Everdrives! ;)

[@rs.matr1x]

@@interghost how many everdrives do you own? If you have 5 or more everdrives it's probably cheaper to get the MiSTer since it does both the console and cartridge functionality in one device. Everdrives are also FPGA Devices after all.

[@RetroBreak]

Overpriced is all relative, when you think that just an FPGA NES by Analogue on its own sold for over $500, this is cheap in comparison. And can do a lot more. Also depends how much money you have to spend on something like this, £300 for one person could be a lot, but for others it’s nothing. All relative so I don’t really comment on pricing because everyone has different ideas of what’s worth how much.

[@storerestore]

First of all, there's a difference between "expensive" and "overpriced". The MiSTer is a hobby project based on a DE10 Nano board. Just the board is going to set you back $170, which is still cheaper than the unit price of the FPGA SoC it's populated with. The rest are add-ons that for obvious reasons can't be produced in huge volumes and don't have the economies of scale advantages of a mass-produced consumer product. It's expensive because manufacturing is, not because anyone is charging you huge premium. All you really need to get started is the DE10, preferably a SDRAM module and any powered USB hub. Case, stacked USB hub, I/O board and all that is optional and the costs easily add up. Second, the massive product here isn't so much the hardware but the quality work put in by the firmware, framework and core authors. That's free! As for whether you think it's worth it, YMMV. I've kept original hardware around not because I'm an obsessive collector, but because emulators on a general purpose PC have to make compromises. FPGA emulation platforms like MiST and MiSTer are the first things that have made me confident that I can eventually sell a lot of my old hardware off because they maintain the timing characteristics of the original systems.

[@ChadZeluff]

Great video. I really just wish using original controllers was a higher priority. I’ve seen some solutions but they’re expensive. Nothing breaks immersion more than playing SNES games on a 360 controller.

[@RetroBreak]

Think you can get USB adaptors for most original controllers now, but not sure how well they work.

[@FuzedBox]

UGH!!! Holy shit! I tried telling you twice how to get your core working, and these YT censoring fucksticks keep deleting it.

[@RetroBreak]

Weird, I can see that you tried to leave a comment, but when I click on it, it said comment not found… maybe KZbin censors talk about downloading r o m s?? No worries anyway I got it working as you’ve seen :)

[@FuzedBox]

@@RetroBreak Not only the evil R word, but the evil B word, too. Possibly certain file names as well. Yeah, saw you got it working, but the state of online communication is bleak.

[@TafferDP]

Graphical artifacts starting on 8:13 I'll probably stay on the original consoles

[@thickie-d]

Seems more likely a capture card anomaly, never seen that whilst playing on mine

[@RetroBreak]

Yeah think it’s something to do with the flicker not being picked up correctly by the capture card, it didn’t look like that on the TV

[@DocBrewskie]

I’ve been wanting a Mister but I got justify the price. I know it’s all the old consoles but man. That’s pricy.

[@zagreatandini2345]

My neo geo wouldn’t work and it was because the avs mvs roms were garbage, you NEED DARKSOFT neo geo roms and then bam! They all work

[@RetroBreak]

Got it working :) just made a follow up video checking some Neo Geo games out on it! - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKWceHivlNOlaJI

[@tonybell7267]

The neogeo need 128mb of ram

[@KISEwun]

Tekmology

[@silentbungaming3147]

The real question is, what can't it do?

[@RetroBreak]

Play the games for you? … actually.. maybe it can using a script!

[@NinjaRunningWild]

Play much beyond PS1 & the PS1 core has a ways to go. Hopefully some day!

[@akairibbon4658]

Can't justify $400 for something like that. Emulators are just as good, with input lag just as low or lower. If you're in any way computer fluent its just not very useful.

[@robertl8069]

FPGA is overrated. Today's modern devices completely surpass the OG consoles with emulation. Why would I want to keep all the quirks and slowdowns from OG retro consoles? If you're going to talk about running a game 1 to 1 on FPGA then why go and stretch, double the res and what not. I will stick to my Pi 4 or Launch Box from a PC with its HUGE collection of pretty much everything under the sun with a beautiful GUI to boot. Modern devices offer emulation with relatively zero noticeable lag (when properly configured) even to the 5% or less that can actually detect said lag lol. But to each his own, I guess. Good Video though 👍

[@OldNerdPlayingOldPCGames]

Like 👍

[@droopy935]

I don’t really understand the purpose of this seems like a rasberry pi or even a modded wii would suffice and you wouldnt have to spend so much money

[@RetroBreak]

The point is that it’s a more authentic way of playing the games. Definitely more for enthusiasts than people who just have a passing curiosity in retro games