My $0.02 on FPGA retro gaming

Nobody in my vicinity would understand wtf I am talking about so I thought I'd vent here.
Recently, everybody seems to be going apeshit over FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) when it comes to retro gaming.
If you don't know what it is; FPGA (hardware) makes it possible to simulate hardware through the use of an HDL (Hardware Description Language) so that the hardware could behave as the actual gaming system you're trying to simulate. Current emulation is based primarily on CPU processing, which can lead to wildly varying results when emulating a system (lag, video rendering etc). FPGA, when used correctly would completely nullify this issue since the HDL would simulate the inner workings of an old console to the T.
Retro Arcade FPGA projects are popping up like shrooms recently and some retro console manufacturers are already using FGPA in their hardware (Analogue NT for example) but I think it will take years and years before we could actually see a device which uses 'definitive' versions of retro console HDL's. I have no clue how hard it is to create an HDL but for something like a neo-geo the logic you would have to build into the HDL is no small undertaking and would require people to fully understand every aspect of a console - something which truly only the original designers could know. If an HDL is not 100% identical to the original hardware, we are still talking emulation - not simulation.
And therein lies the crux. Will FPGA devices truly ever simulate hardware 100% or will we always be talking about emulation? How long before somebody (a community?) decides that an HDL is the definitive version of any system? And would creating an HDL weigh up to the ever increasing processing power of CPU's? Clockspeeds would be very high to emulate higher end or quirky systems but as long as they are capable of brute forcing excellent emulation without aforementioned drawbacks with every release of a new CPU- would it truly matter?

Nevertheless, a very appealing and awesome prospect. I want to see something like the polymega but entirely built with FPGA HDL's for each supported system which will accept both original hardware (carts/CD's) as well as simulating games through rom files.

Now that I have this out of my system, it's time for a coffee

FPGA's are great for actual hardware simulation but for the majority of people emulation will still be king. It all rests on the experience, how it does it is simply not important if it operates as it should or near enough.

lachlan said:

It all rests on the experience, how it does it is simply not important if it operates as it should or near enough.

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This ^

For me the experience is in using the real hardware on a old CRT.

But I can be equally amused playing something with a friend on retropie on a LCD.

As long as it plays ok its a positive experience.

Of course some things cant be emulated well.

The great thing about FPGAs is the FP part. You can field-program them with a new configuration if you need to change it. So, if an inaccuracy is discovered in an FPGA-based clone, you could have a way to fix that in a firmware update for the machine.

Also, if the name wasn't clear, Verilog was created for verification of digital logic. Users would build Verilog simulations of a new part, and then actually build the part, and compare the visible signals under different test conditions. If you seriously care about the accuracy of your clone, you could do the same - hook a sufficiently-large logic analyzer up to your real console, record cycle-by-cycle traces of all the signals you care about, and compare those to your HDL code under simulation. These systems are generally all synchronous, so being accurate to within one clock cycle ought to be definitive.

This stuff isn't magic. It's all measurable. If I build a console that outputs the same pixels at the same time as a Sega Genesis, for every possible set of control inputs, it's a perfect clone.

FPGA's have been used in the emulation community for over a decade.
Amiga fans are quite happy with them. This is not a novel breakthrough to gaming. Who cares...

NeoSneth said:

FPGA's have been used in the emulation community for over a decade.
Amiga fans are quite happy with them. This is not a novel breakthrough to gaming. Who cares...

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I know. That was my point - why is there such a resurgence? It has potential, sure. But until recently you never got spammed to death with fpga here, there & everywhere. Anyway, doesn't matter.

Gaston said:

Anyway, doesn't matter.

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Then why did you make a thread about it?

NeoSneth said:

FPGA's have been used in the emulation community for over a decade.
Amiga fans are quite happy with them. This is not a novel breakthrough to gaming. Who cares...

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Pretty much sums up how I feel on the matter. It's advanced bank switching with a GUI... good for exactly what it is.

FPGA usage for gaming isn’t a recent thing. It’s been used in the arcade scene for quite a few years now. It’s only now we’re seeing FPGA console products that are of actual quality for mainstream systems...aside the arcade community continuing to use it.

madman said:

Then why did you make a thread about it?

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The Lord compelled me!

What’s FPGA? Sounds like a sports league.