I love the newsletter but found it ironic that you spent a large section of copy telling us how the R6 upgrade was not a necessary, then two sections later you tell us about the TI 99/4A core that will only run on an R6, and joysticks that will require R6. Looks like I have to start saving for the upgrade.
Well spotted. :) I meant to connect those ideas more directly in the text, and when I was recording the audio I threw in an extra note about it there. The TI core's initial release is for the R6, but it'll take only a bit of build logic to get it working on the R3. We're in the same situation with muse's arcade cores, which are only built for R3 and need just a bit of effort to get them built for the R6. There's a legit hazard here, but it goes both ways, and isn't about the capability of the board so much as developer effort.
Hopefully my conclusion about game controllers rings true. There are no R6-only game controllers today, and there may never need to be given the 3-button protocol which is supported by both boards.
Jay, you took the words right out of my mouth. Well said! Unfortunately, I don't see any upside to having been an earlier batch recipient as I believe the R6 will likely get all the love moving forward, especially if there is always a need for separate builds of everything. I'm decidedly not interested in spending any more in this space since I thought once we had the Mega65 we were golden, so I'll likely see if there is a market for my R3 machine and just stay on the emulation side of this hobby moving forward.
Thank you for keeping us so well apprised of all that's new, Dan!
No promises of course, but you might be able to recoup most of what you paid, and apply it toward the purchase of a new one. For R3 owners that just want the R6 mainboard, that might be cheaper than buying a second mainboard. Good luck!
I love the newsletter but found it ironic that you spent a large section of copy telling us how the R6 upgrade was not a necessary, then two sections later you tell us about the TI 99/4A core that will only run on an R6, and joysticks that will require R6. Looks like I have to start saving for the upgrade.
Well spotted. :) I meant to connect those ideas more directly in the text, and when I was recording the audio I threw in an extra note about it there. The TI core's initial release is for the R6, but it'll take only a bit of build logic to get it working on the R3. We're in the same situation with muse's arcade cores, which are only built for R3 and need just a bit of effort to get them built for the R6. There's a legit hazard here, but it goes both ways, and isn't about the capability of the board so much as developer effort.
Hopefully my conclusion about game controllers rings true. There are no R6-only game controllers today, and there may never need to be given the 3-button protocol which is supported by both boards.
Jay, you took the words right out of my mouth. Well said! Unfortunately, I don't see any upside to having been an earlier batch recipient as I believe the R6 will likely get all the love moving forward, especially if there is always a need for separate builds of everything. I'm decidedly not interested in spending any more in this space since I thought once we had the Mega65 we were golden, so I'll likely see if there is a market for my R3 machine and just stay on the emulation side of this hobby moving forward.
Thank you for keeping us so well apprised of all that's new, Dan!
No promises of course, but you might be able to recoup most of what you paid, and apply it toward the purchase of a new one. For R3 owners that just want the R6 mainboard, that might be cheaper than buying a second mainboard. Good luck!