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1) FPGA option will cost below $400. It will come with already soldered DDR memories and will have a mobile phone battery inside that can hold whatever is in memory for 2 days. It can hold up to 4 games simultaneously. Loading time per game is about 10 seconds.
1. Is loading time before DDR contains the game or after DDR already contains the game?
2. And how can I charge the battery? Should I leave the cab on for 1 day? ^^
 
1) FPGA option will cost below $400. It will come with already soldered DDR memories and will have a mobile phone battery inside that can hold whatever is in memory for 2 days. It can hold up to 4 games simultaneously. Loading time per game is about 10 seconds.
1. Is loading time before DDR contains the game or after DDR already contains the game?
before DDR contains the game, then it behaves like a normal cartridge.
 
I have ST-V card, so I understand how to choose a game in option 2. But in option 1, how to choose the 4 games ? 4 dipswitchs ou jumpers ?
 
1) FPGA option will cost below $400. It will come with already soldered DDR memories and will have a mobile phone battery inside that can hold whatever is in memory for 2 days. It can hold up to 4 games simultaneously. Loading time per game is about 10 seconds.
1. Is loading time before DDR contains the game or after DDR already contains the game?
before DDR contains the game, then it behaves like a normal cartridge.
That is good to hear (almost changing my vote :))
And how to charge the battery?
 
And how to charge the battery?
I bet it's as simple as leaving it on. That's how the GD kit charged it's batteries on NAOMI.

Honestly I think it's silly to equip something like a battery (batteries leak you know) that on the device if it takes 2-3 seconds to load the ROMs.

How about store on the storage media a "last played" file and if that exists reload the last played game? Loading stuff to RAM shouldn't take more than 2 to 5 seconds if you're not dealing with flash memory which has slow erases and writes.

If Darksoft use SD spec in parallel (4bit) mode it will get the maximum speed the cards support, which is fast enough for loading 64MB in less than 10 seconds.
 
And how to charge the battery?
I bet it's as simple as leaving it on. That's how the GD kit charged it's batteries on NAOMI.
Honestly I think it's silly to equip something like a battery (batteries leak you know) that on the device if it takes 2-3 seconds to load the ROMs.

How about store on the storage media a "last played" file and if that exists reload the last played game? Loading stuff to RAM shouldn't take more than 2 to 5 seconds if you're not dealing with flash memory which has slow erases and writes.

If Darksoft use SD spec in parallel (4bit) mode it will get the maximum speed the cards support, which is fast enough for loading 64MB in less than 10 seconds.
Wise words :)
I'm planing on using Quad SPI. And I love the idea of "last played" files.
 
I have ST-V card, so I understand how to choose a game in option 2. But in option 1, how to choose the 4 games ? 4 dipswitchs ou jumpers ?
it will be a menu that you can trigger using a combination of keys. The you can swithc games using another combination of keys :)
 
I think they call parallel mode "native mode". And SPI mode (1 bit) for the compatibility mode which is slow.
 
For sure option 2 as option 1 introduces a hassle of charging the battery.
battery is charged automatically while you play. However if you play only 1 hour, it will hold the games for more or less that amount of time.

If you remove the battery, then as soon as you power off, the game will be erased from DDR memory.
 
For sure option 2 as option 1 introduces a hassle of charging the battery.
battery is charged automatically while you play. However if you play only 1 hour, it will hold the games for more or less that amount of time.
If you remove the battery, then as soon as you power off, the game will be erased from DDR memory.
Ok that means the battery will have no use for me anyway, so option 2.
 
Before I vote, will the battery version have an on board battery holder? Or soldered in?

By phone battery do you mean the rectangular ones that plug in with a mini molex?
Yes, with a holder and yes rectangular.
 
id rather not have to mess around with a battery, they can be troublesome.
 
id rather not have to mess around with a battery, they can be troublesome.
According to DS, the battery is optional, you do not need to use it. It is only used to retain the 4 loaded games in memory when you power off the cart/cab. If you dont care about having to reselect 4 games when you power it back up, then this would be the better alternative with fast load times of the games and you could switch between the 4 games instantly. At least thats how I understand it would work.
 
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cast my vote..

Treating the cart like a self contained 4 slot with its own battery is the most ideal way (for me) for this to be implemented, and I'm mega excited for this to become a reality.
 
Razoola over on neo-geo.com mentioned games with extra hardware on the boards (ram) and encryption - and questioned how these were going to be handled.

I think it's a reasonable question - any thoughts, Darksoft?
 
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