Super NT Creator Kevin Horton aka Kevtris - In-person Interview

My second stop on this RetroRGB Road Trip is in Indiana at Kevtris' house. It was so much fun finally meeting him in person and talking about all his amazing creations! We talk about the Analogue Super NT, the NT Mini's FPGA cores and plenty of other awesomely nerdy topics!
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[@dougdabandit2003]

we owe this guy so much. he has done so much for the retro community. thank you kevin!

[@MatthewHolevinski]

I'm not part of the community, I don't really care where it goes, what gets done, i literally give zero fucks about all of this. BUT Anybody who isn't blind can see over time how much that dewd has given ya'lls community. That kevin dewd is a godsend, you're right he has given you guys sooooooo much. A HUGE thumbs up to him and his efforts.

[@thedarkknight100]

@@MatthewHolevinski Two Words: 785983 345702572!

[@Something9008]

On a side note Kevtris invented the .nsf spec over 20 years ago which allowed people to enjoy NES soundtracks outside of the NES system / emulator (winamp!) and provided a standard format for custom NES chiptunes.

[@caivsivlivs]

SOMEONE GET THIS MAN MORE TIME, THE THINGS HE COULD CREATE WOULD BE AMAZING

[@douro20]

I have the feeling that he has almost no life outside of his work. I haven't seen any public activity from him since March of last year and that was after two years of inactivity.

[@caivsivlivs]

@@douro20 shieet ;;

[@jgillenwater79]

Kevtris thank you for all the hard work you put into your systems. I enjoy them immensely!!

[@TanookiSuit]

I want to put a personal thank you out there for your last two projects. In a matter of about a month through a lot of saving and a bit of luck I was able to both get your HiDefNES kit (put into a top loader) and also a Super NT. You solved a huge problem of mine not wanting anything to do with a CRT nor having the space. Finally a HDMI solution that doesn't lag up and cause problems on a modern display and just with enough fluff and fun features to pick at if the desire is there while being highly customizable too. I can only guess the hellish hours behind all that were put into it to accomplish that. I hope you find some point where you can just relax, a break should be needed.

[@yawnny9098]

You're doing great work here Bob. I love seeing the environments these creators work in. Their desks, their monitors, their chairs, all that cool stuff that makes up their sweet "lab" so-to-speak. It's great for inspiration in my own little hobbyist den, and I can't wait to see more!

[@PersianImm0rtal]

Kevtris is a legendary GOD. Immortalized by his work!

[@leonkiriliuk]

In my opinion, the most influential product Kevin ever released was the CopyNES. Thank you for another wonderful video Bob.

[@Manatarms25]

Love the interview and great work on the multiple camera's ! After watching this interview Kevtris has something up his sleeve. Let's hope it's a Genesis Console next !

[@PSNGormond]

I would like to add that i'm really happy with the Super NT, that combined with the Switch takes up all my gaming time nowadays. I really hope the genesis is your next project as it would pre-order it instantly.

[@tellycasternopoulos3560]

I got ny Super NT on order. I cant friggin wait. Much love to this guy. Software validation is always tough

[@gabrieleriva651]

This guy was already making great post about hardware back in the 80s on BBS.

[@dra999]

Great interview! Very informative. I'd like to see more like this from Kevtris.

[@PSNGormond]

Kevin is looking much healthier than last time I saw him, well done on the weight loss.

[@mikeammon3637]

Thanks again for doing this Bob. Very much appreciated.

[@tonycrazy88]

13:30 When you showed the board, I immediately though of a "Space Invaders Frenzy" or "World's Largest Pac Man" type of application. That would be neat.

[@urieal]

First thing I spotted was the Microsoft Natural Elite. Mad props :).

[@MichaelDBaker]

Great interview, Bob! I'm hoping that Kevin is still planning to work with someone like Jason from Game-Tech to release cartridge adapters for the Nt Mini. (Sorry if that was mentioned in the first RetroRGB Road Trip video, I'm about to watch that one.)

[@RetroGamerBB]

I liked the interview attached to the show, makes it kinda like retro gaming letterman or conan.

[@cybernitemusic]

Kevtris thanks for what you do.. it's more than providing us with games it's preserving video game history. You da man

[@bagofclothes7360]

Hey Bob and Kevtris, big fan of both of yalls work. I have a question! I hang out in r/consolerepair, a subreddit dedicated to repairing consoles. And we get about a post a week of 2 Chip Snes's that have PPU rot. Would it be possible to take the work Kevtris did on the PPU/SuperNT and create a drop in replacement for the PPU? Hopefully you could use a lower tier FPGA since you wouldnt be trying to replicate the entire SNES. I don't know. It would be cool to have a solution for a problem thats plaguing SNES's everywhere.

[@Adamchevy]

This is a guy that can pull an entire retro console civilization out of a speck.

[@dashby07]

Where can I get that digital LED clock on the shelf behind the interviewer?

[@jnftech]

11:15 For writing chiptune music for 8-bit 16-bit systems, you could just use something like the Deflemask tracker. It wont "convert" from one format to another, but if you are wiring your own you can just write different parts/versions for different systems. Export to a rom for a flashcart and you can get original hardware to play the compositions.

[@ScumDenial]

I bet Kevtris is a right old laugh on a night out …

[@timgraham7851]

When can I purchase an NT Mini?

[@iretro969]

Won't be cheap, won't be easy but in 2020 I will be buying the SuperNT mini AND SegaSG mini finally as i really have to have this awesome piece of hardware.

[@PabstOban]

I love these! Who are your dream interviews?

[@gterry180]

What would it take to go full time on pursuing this stuff, I mean, if that was even an interest.

[@Pain714]

Any chance of an AnalogueStation? :)

[@HeNnEsSy_HiCcUpS]

Any word on his flip dot thing?

[@PersianImm0rtal]

What is with all the bleeping? I am so confused....

[@extremawesomazing]

The R5 was valuable to me for exactly the same reason. I learned that new, seemingly impressive, hardware can't be trusted to give a quality gaming experience.

[@MarkVersion1]

Bob, kevtis is not planning to finish the Zimba 3000 anymore?

[@bishopwilliams6817]

The super nt is his realisation of the zimba 3000. Cores will come in time

[@bishopwilliams6817]

Kevtris has already said his zimba had been realised through analog. All his cores work through the analog NES mini. he's currently working on another project for analog plus his other job in the day. There will be no zimba 3000 Sorry to say

[@bishopwilliams6817]

Just to add there currently exists an SD card based PlayStation neo geo Saturn and dreamcast hardware

[@red2503]

Did he use the Nios CPU or an external CPU for making the menus of the Super NT? And did he use a framebuffer to upscale the image?

[@stefanrijkse8216]

Good vid!

[@oldatarigamer]

People watching this probably looking for random Genesis carts on his desk. LOL

[@charvelgtrs8960]

Yeah, Kevtris ain't no fool.

[@drdroop2163]

I looked, didn't see anything. I really hope we get a MegaNT someday soon! Even without SCD/32X support it'd be awesome.

[@bishopwilliams6817]

I bought virtua racing ntsc cart just in case a mega NT gets released

[@bigcheesepuff1]

I was just thinking today how likely it would be to get a combined console with SCD & 32X support, - the digital foundry vid on the 32X is interesting, since it seems there isnt that much actual circuitry involved. - What would be even more awesome is if he can also replicate the Sega arcade boards like AM2 - imagine instead of just playing the genesis ports, y could play an actual arcade perfect version of Daytona for instance - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sega_arcade_system_boards - some of these boards are more interesting than others

[@bishopwilliams6817]

The 32X has an added processor. Of course the sega wonder mega had a 32X and sega CD and Megadrive combined. Or the sega Neptune which would have been 32x and sega genesis

[@bishopwilliams6817]

I want a mega nt

[@ericyoung3480]

Great interview, wish I had his skills!

[@eric90000]

12:51 - Figure it out!

[@secondleasegamer8312]

you removed the last one. =(

[@beefcurtainz69]

Second Lease Gamer it’s the same interview

[@secondleasegamer8312]

Yeah but I had the first like and comment on the other one. This one I have the first comment but second like. =( /fail.

[@beefcurtainz69]

Second Lease Gamer that’s so unfortunate..... I’m very sorry for your loss

[@secondleasegamer8312]

RIP

[@nitmare64]

11:50 AWKWARD MOMENT...

[@brucejones868]

GOD 8 bits

[@ArcDevErik]

Wow, when does he find the time to work out.

[@RWL2012]

On the 23/12/21 I learned that Bob from RetroRGB is colourblind.

[@mrpopsicleman]

Why couldn't he say the name of the PPU he developed on?

[@bishopwilliams6817]

Because it would have given the next project away

[@mrpopsicleman]

At 2:56. How would saying the name of a PPU he developed the Super NT on give away his next project? That doesn't make any sense.

[@Deltax5]

1. the day when we see the ultimate fpga system with every system core and arcade and cd systems 2. Wonder when we will get the next super nt update. thou what we have now seems very good. I hear he is working in getting the scan line redone. Whatever he does i hope for a better experience. 3. I hope for some cores that the super nt can handle. (turbo graphics 16/pcengine i need.) iDK 4. im hearing the next project may be the mega nt. from varies forums. Don't put my work for it, it may be a rumor that isn't true. if it is hoping it can atleast hook up to the sega cd somehow. i wonder if the sega cd sends digital single thou the connector to the genesis. 5. Those carts he was working on for the nt mini I hope it gets released so you can put real carts into the system. It would make putting the jailbreak cores into the official firmware without troubles. 6. that rgb output attachment will be cool for people who use pvm's maybe add the other connections if possible like composite, s-video or even component. 7. this guy does way to much things in his life. SO many projects he does for fun. for money, for enjoyment. no wonder he has no time, plus he has a full time job as a doctor right.

[@iCach0]

LOL, "Atari POS"

[@iCach0]

Yes, that's what made it funny.

[@Crashtian]

If analogue were to somehow create an fpga Neo geo and charge $700, I’d be all over that….

[@RetroRGB]

I suggest looking into this. There's more options coming soon that might surprise you :) www.retrorgb.com/openmvs.html

[@hc5979]

Neogeo fpga

[@electronash]

Henry Colorado Check out Furrtek's Twitter account. ;) There have been one or two FPGA Neogeo cores written before, but I'm not sure if they were quite 100% finished. Furrtek is currently working on an EXACT core, by actually decapping the Neogeo custom chips, analyzing each and every logic gate, then implementing that in Verilog (or VHDL?) for the FPGA. In theory, it should result in a 100% accurate clone of the hardware, but I'm not sure if he's planning on adding a cart slot (probably), or just loading the huge ROMs from SD card. There are LOTS of other FPGA retro cores available already though, most of which are open-source and already highly accurate with games etc. The MiSTer board is a superb platform at the moment, as it looks like the best bang-per-buck right now for 110,000 Logic Elements, HDMI (with upscaling), USB, Ethernet, and a dual-core ARM SoC. (around $160 or so with the add-on board, which is required mainly for the older style SDRAM for many of the retro cores, but also adds analog audio, SPDIF, VGA / RGB / Component output as well.)

[@jacobstaringatthesun6203]

Sounds like they are running him ragged. I really dont think we needed mega sg this quickly. I would have rather had the DAC.

[@dr.ferret5802]

Dude take like a break like every week take 2 or 3 days off

[@RetroRGB]

I wish it were that easy for either of us :(

[@mikeuziel]

@@RetroRGB AS someone who also sips the workahol- you either do, or life will do it for you. But I say that sitting here working three jobs at once, soooo... Hahaha

[@JLMtime]

Its hard to believe he needs to keep his day job something is wrong

[@Tell_It_Right]

No offense, but you need to start doing more prep work for your interviews. Also, you should stop adding your two cents in when Kevtris is explaining something. He keeps correcting you time and time again, over and over, because it's obvious you don't know much about this. That's fine, but as an interviewer you should know how you want to steer the interview, what questions you should ask to accomplish that, and then just let him talk and explain, he's the expert. I think Kevtris was pretty gracious seeing how he knew you didn't know much and were saying weird stuff.

[@mytruefreethoughts4943]

Kev please wear a different shirt. I love you.