[hardware-emulated jazz tunes]
[computer buzzes, beeps] Greetings, and welcome to
another LGRcade thing! And once again, I find myself spending a remarkable
amount of time messing with the MiSTer. The open source FPGA project that reproduces
the functionality of classic game consoles, computers, and – most importantly for today’s
topic – arcade machines. Specifically, we’ll be looking at the MiSTercade
version 1.1 from MiSTer Addons, a kit that provides all the appropriate connections for
turning the MiSTer into a drop-in JAMMA arcade solution. Quite the appealing prospect indeed, especially
if you don’t own that many cabinets and wanna try more games without physically swapping
out original PCBs. Something that I often do with my Raiden II
machine here, which I bought largely to play my Raiden series PCBs and other vertical shooters. I made a video about this already and the
cabinet restoration is still a work in progress, but it’s functioning well enough to install
a MiSTercade and see what it’s all about. [glorious Finalizer gameplay sounds] Now, this is by no means the only solution
for something like this, nor is it the cheapest. But owing to its innately reprogrammable hardware,
MiSTer currently delivers one of the most appealing methods for accurately replicating
older systems using modern components. And the most common MiSTer setup is optimized
for outputting to a TV or computer monitor through HDMI or VGA, and uses gamepads, keyboards,
mice, and other traditional input devices. This makes for a fantastic under-the-TV or
desktop experience, and really that’s what the project was tailored to provide from its
inception. And I love this kind of setup! You may recall I’ve covered the MiSTer Multisystem
already, which is one of many available options for putting together a nice practical all-in-one
system. Check out that video if you’d like a more
general overview of what the MiSTer project provides. But the MiSTercade here takes things in a
different direction, being geared strictly towards installation inside an arcade machine. Something with an arcade power supply, monitor, control panel, and coin slots. So long as you have a typical JAMMA setup,
all you need to do is unplug whatever PCB you had before and plug in the MiSTercade. That’s it! Beyond some configuration for your individual
cabinet, which we’ll cover in a bit, the MiSTercade really is a straightforward option
for converting an old school arcade machine into an emulation beast. Of course, the concept of a modern drop-in
arcade solution is nothing new, from prebuilt multi-game boards and Pandora’s boxes, to
the Phoenix ArcadeSD, and the various Raspberry Pi-powered options. All of which have their own positives and
negatives, each one I can appreciate for their unique attributes. But the MiSTercade has the distinction of
providing the uncanny accuracy of low latency FPGA-powered hardware emulation, an experience
as close as I’ve ever felt to real hardware. So it’s a top notch choice for those seeking
accuracy and longer term preservation. [top notch gameplay] That being said, let’s take a closer look
at version 1.1 of the MiSTercade! Which in the interest of disclosure, I did
purchase myself from Mister Addons, but the person who runs the shop gave me a 25% discount,
no strings attached. Typically though, the Lite kit on its own
costs 250 US dollars, coming with everything required to augment your RAM-expanded DE10-Nano. Or you can grab the full kit for $560, which
includes the DE10-Nano and RAM module together with the MiSTercade stuff. Granted, these are only the prices at the
time of recording in August of 2022. Supplies of FPGA boards and other components
are in constant flux, so pricing and availability may be different whenever you’re watching. Hello to viewers in 2027, I really hope the
chip shortage is less of a thing by now. Anyway, there are also some extras available,
like the control breakout board for breaking out the controls onto a board using screw
terminals and headers. As well as this Remote, which MiSTer Addons
kindly included here for me to look at. The remote supplies a handy way to access
the most frequently-used controls: like coins, reset and menu buttons, volume, and headphones. And even a tasty SNAC port for plugging in
controllers using Serial Native Accessory Converters. Quite a convenient thing to have all broken
out here so you don’t have to reach inside the cabinet to do that stuff. And you can even hook things up simultaneously
to have a sweet multi-display setup, an awesome option for capturing and streaming video footage
directly from your machine. The MiSTercade itself packs all the same functions
too of course, it’s just that you won’t be seeing it very often since it’ll be tucked
away inside the machine. While it’s out though, let’s take a closer
look at this shiny silicon sandwich! Starting with the JAMMA edge connector itself,
a defining feature here since it’s the primary way it connects to an arcade machine. The majority of cabinets from the mid-80s
onward used this JAMMA standard, including my Dynamo HS-5 configured as a Raiden II machine. Display, sound, inputs, power and so on all
connect through this one connector. So in cases like mine, as long as you have
a pretty standard JAMMA cabinet then this is likely all you need. There are always exceptions though, like a
kick harness if you have more than 3 action buttons for each player. And this comes with the popular CPS1 and CPS2
style headers. There’s also 3-volt 15-pin RGB output, intended
specifically for multisync arcade monitors. Not something used in my case since my standard
res 25-inch monitor simply goes through JAMMA. And it’s distinct from the other 15-pin
port, which is for consumer VGA or component cables, with an associated header for changing
sync options. This jumper here is also useful. Normally MiSTercade manages power by grabbing
the required 5-volts from the 12-volt rail on your power supply. But moving that jumper makes it take 5 volts
directly, which can be useful if your 12-volt isn’t up to snuff and 5-volts is measurably
within spec. There’s also this handy selection of DIP
switches, which mutes the audio amp, merges 1 and 2 player coin inputs into one, and a
freeplay option that makes it so coins are virtually inserted and start is pressed at
the same time. A nice feature if you don’t want to enable
freeplay within every single core, though it’s not always advised since it can cause
issues on a few arcade inputs and conflicts with console cores. And yes, you can indeed play console games
on here, which is just neat! I mean, it’s extra silly here since I have
a vertically-oriented machine, but still. Seeing an arcade cab boot up as a PlayStation
at all is surreal. [PS1 startup sounds] Then right below the JAMMA connector are two
external controller ports, HDMI out, and a secondary MicroSD card slot. Note that the system itself doesn’t boot
from this one, it’s meant for convenient access to additional storage. The main MicroSD that contains the OS is kind
of hidden away inside, since that slot is part of the DE10 and that’s just how it
is. Finally, on this side you’ve got the connector
for the remote, a User I/O port for connecting SNAC adapters or projects like the MT32-Pi. And line level stereo output jacks, both RCA
and 3.5 mil, right below the volume knob up top. Nice to have since audio output through JAMMA
alone is in mono. And yeah, the rest of this is pretty much
what you’d expect with your typical MiSTer stack! Lots of USB ports, ethernet, power, video,
and other things that chances are you won’t be using inside an arcade cabinet. I mean, maybe ethernet, but I’ve instead
opted for a USB Wi-Fi adapter as it’s easier than routing a cable inside my machine. I’ve also got a wireless keyboard going
too, since even though you can interact through the arcade controls, there are still times
where a keyboard simply makes more sense. Especially during the initial setup process,
which for the most part is the same routine as any other MiSTer configuration. You copy a Mister Fusion image to your SD
card, run that from the system itself, and let the “update_all” script update all
the things. And I gotta say, it’s enjoyably bizarre
to see a Linux command line interface grabbing things online through a mid-90s arcade cabinet. Feels wrong, but I like it. Once that’s done you’re pretty
much good to go! However, there are still a few considerations
beyond the usual setup process. The first is choosing your main input mapping
configuration – that is, how your arcade control panel will interact with the MiSTer. Multiple configuration files are available
on the project’s GitHub, so just choose whatever makes the most sense for your setup. Next is Fast USB Polling, which enables the
1 millisecond/1000 hertz polling rate supported by the MiSTercade, maximally minimizing latency. And then there are display options to get
things looking proper on various 15kHz and 31kHz displays. Which, that’s easy enough normally, MiSTer
supports native arcade resolutions and refresh rates by default. But in my case there’s an extra step, since
I’ve got a vertically-oriented “tate” arcade setup here. And the tube is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise,
whereas clockwise seems to be the more common setup that many games default to. Thankfully, MiSTer Addons provides a pile
of files for customizing your system so you don’t have to edit INI data yourself. And in my case, that meant using the “15kHz-TATE-CCW”
settings file. I also needed to adjust the overscan a bit
to make sure things weren’t cut off, and then manually tweaked the geometry adjustment
pots on the monitor itself. But after that – yeah, it’s looking as
it should! More or less! Like I said, clockwise rotation seems to be
the norm, meaning lots of arcade cores are upside-down on first boot. Just gotta look through the menu for each
core and see if there’s a “display flip” option or DIP switch setting to make things
right. And again multiple configuration files are
also provided online, for us counterclockwise users. There are a handful of titles that are upside-down
for me no matter what due to their lack of settings, and that sucks. So I could physically rotate the tube at some
point, but eh y’know. For now, I can play the majority of vertical
game cores as intended, and it is excellent. Especially all those awesome Cave shooters
that are now available on MiSTer, which are rare and expensive boards that I’ll likely
never get the chance to own. [Guwange gameplay plays awesomely] So, here’s the thing though. As fun as it is to be able to have all that
the MiSTer provides inside of an arcade machine? It’s also just downright costly for what
you get. Fact is that at the moment, you don’t get
near the customization or versatility offered by something like a Raspberry Pi or a PC, each of which have JAMMA interfaces available as well. While you can customize things like the background
wallpaper and fonts on the MiSTer, that’s about the extent of it currently. Nothing close to what can be done with all
the feature-rich frontends and flashy game libraries available on Pi and PC setups. And the quantity of games available is comparatively
small on the MiSTer, at this point, with cores numbering in the hundreds compared to the
thousands of titles emulated through MAME. It is still early days for MiSTer and more
is being added constantly, but right now there’s just a huge disparity. So, the value proposition may not totally
make sense, depending on what you yourself are most looking for. Like for me, the primary reason I have this
cabinet is to play the Raiden series, and not a single one of those games is available
on MiSTer yet. Maybe one day, sure, it’s possible! But as I record this it’s not even an option
since they simply don’t have cores yet, whereas they’re already emulated on other,
more affordable platforms. They’re not 100% accurate, nor are they
as low latency as what you could get on MiSTer. But at least they’re there, right? So yeah, disregarding the relative lack of
games and customization though, holy crap. The future potential is bright as balls. I love the MiSTer project and all it stands
for regarding accuracy and near lag-free hardware emulation. And to have that packed into a well built,
high quality product like the MiSTercade is wonderful, and I gotta give huge props to
the folks behind it. But you need to adjust expectations according
to its strengths and drawbacks alike. The price can be an unpleasant pill to swallow
right now, though I’m hopeful that could someday drop as the DE10-Nano and other components
become readily available again. We’ll see. For the time being, I’d still recommend
the MiSTercade as a product overall due to how nicely put together it is and how effective
it is in what it offers, since it will only get better from here. [outroduction jazz tunes play] And if you enjoyed this bit of arcade coverage
then do check out my previous videos, both on arcade things and other retro things and
things. I’m always doing things on LGR so stick
around for more things. And of course, thing you for watching!
