Exploring the Potential of eFPGA for Custom Gaming Hardware

[Eric12368]

I've been diving into the world of embedded FPGAs (eFPGA) recently and wanted to start a discussion on its potential applications in custom gaming hardware.

For those unfamiliar, eFPGA is a type of programmable logic that can be integrated directly into ASICs or SoCs, allowing for post-production reconfiguration. This could be a game-changer for retro gaming hardware, where the ability to update or modify certain logic functions without needing new hardware could extend the life and capabilities of a system.

I'm particularly interested in how eFPGA could be utilized in modern adaptations of classic consoles, perhaps allowing for customizable graphics pipelines, sound processing, or even new ways to handle input/output without altering the original hardware footprint too much.

Has anyone here experimented with eFPGA in their projects? How do you see this technology impacting the future of gaming hardware, especially in the retro gaming community?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences!

[kendrick]

I happen to own two game systems that have FPGA components in them. One is for handheld games, the other is for a 16-bit cartridge-based system. They both work very well and talk to modern HDMI screens and aren't fully compatible with all my games, so in a lot of ways it's an experience similar to emulation.

When I'm asked to summarize what GamesX is about, I generally tell people we're about preservation and restoration. That is to say, we have original hardware that we want to keep using. Implementing an FPGA into an existing game system seems to live outside of that space in that you're using the chip to replace some or all of the silicon, and that's not quite in the spirit of maintaining your Megadrive in working order.

As moderator I'm not going to get in the way of FPGA discussion if that's what the group wants. I will say that there are other dedicated forums where pro-level software developers are working on FPGA personality/core code actively, and there are prepared products that already have FPGA chips in them that will run games out of the box without much effort. Programming and testing is often outside of our usual topics, so I fear that if you're looking to cultivate talent in those areas from GamesX then you might walk away disappointed.