It’s been an exciting two months learning about the new Intel Agilex5 and the RK3588 used in our new Replay2 platform. The design and schematic are nearly completed – after a number of last minute changes/improvements. Samples of the part are on the way and we’ll post some detailed layout images and specs of the board in the near future. I’m also...

It's been a long time coming, but we are really excited to announce that Replay2 will be based around the Intel Agilex5 FPGA...

It's been a long time coming, but the desk is clean and ready for the first hardware prototype, hopefully December '23....... Good things come to those who wait...

I'm fully focused on Replay2 currently, but just a quick update on the Namco CUS34 replacement. I really wanted to complete the alternative mode used on ToyPop and Libble Rabble. Using my 20 year old bit of vero-board, I can compare the replacement and real chip directly. The logic analyzer connects to both parts and dip switches let me isolate outputs...

I've been shipping Namco CUS34 replacements for a while and the majority of the engineering work was done over 10 years ago. Reverse engineering the silicon by decapsulation of the die, taking pictures and manually tracing them is best way to understand what is going on, but it's very time consuming. Most of these chips are quite simple and have...

Well, more time has passed. I had surgery on my jaw a few weeks ago in an attempt to remove part of a wisdom tooth that was left behind a few years ago. I'm in recovery, but it really knocked me out for a bit. We are making good progress on both the DE10-nano support and Replay2 - more info shortly. I...

I think many people agree that retro hardware looks best on CRTs from the same period. The downside is CRTs are expensive, bulky and hard to get hold of now. I've got a small Sony PVM I use for testing, and a large Sony broadcast monitor that is most often used as a coffee table to be honest. Modern screens have...

Sorry it's been a bit quiet here for the last few months. I had to move flat three times since January and all the retro kit has been in storage. Work has been intense and it's only the last week or two that life is calming down enough to get the Retro stuff back on track. The initial plan was to...