I think the new msx should come with some 3D acceleration. And why not a complete Turbo R? But I think this msx part will be left unused more and more, so maybe it will be better to just emulate the msx. If it's possible to program it in hardware, it's possible to program it in software, right?



How does this programmable hardware work anyway? Can I load 'my own' hardware in the new msx? On what planet have I been when they came up with that?

VHDL stands for Virtual Hardware Description Language (or something like that) and allows you to code the behavior of a chip. A FPGA chip runs on (compiled) VHDL code. This way you can change the actions of the chip (hardware) with software. Ain't it great?

My guess is the MSX will have a preset non-changeable part of the chip and a changeable FPGA part. That's where you can create your own sound chips, video chips etc.

Tsujikawa already emulates the V9938/V9958 and the PSG, SCC and OPLL in FPGA. Others have succeeded in FPGA-ing the PSG, or the PPI, or... ... ..

Also, the design for the possibly future V9959 has 3D acceleration in the form of a polygon copy command. That is, copy a rectangle from SX,SY to X1,X2,Y1,Y2.

I think an expanded V9990 (V9999? ) would be much better, but the relatively small improvements suggested for the V9959 can already make a huge difference.

Thanks, snout.



VHDL stands for Very high speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language.



I think it would be nice to have a vdp wich supports z buffering and display list or whatever they are called. That way polygons can be used like sprites on msx.

What about screen size and resolution? From what I heard of NIshi in Tilburg, the screen will be quite small. What is the minimum?

And what about keyboards, etc? I don't like touchscreen.

The minimum resolution should be 256x192 at least, ofcourse And I think it should be possible to connect a monitor. I'd like to see something like 640x480 or even better on monitors.

As far as I know it won't even have a harddisk or something. Will it even be possible to use it like a 'real' computer, or is it just a pda/gameboy/mobile?

Indeed, it should be able to connect to a monitor and use different resolutions (256x192, 256x212, 512x212 etc). I think a 512x384 and 1024x768 resolution are nice, but please no 640x480 or something, that's a stupid resolution ^^; I like powers of 2.

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Indeed, it should be able to connect to a monitor and use different resolutions (256x192, 256x212, 512x212 etc). I think a 512x384 and 1024x768 resolution are nice, but please no 640x480 or something, that's a stupid resolution ^^; I like powers of 2.

The One Chip design sheets of Nishi even mentioned 2000x1000. How horrible ^_^ (or would that be the screen size )

256x192, 512x384, 768x576, 1024x768, 1280x960 and so on are of course resolutions in the spirit of msx!

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As far as I know it won't even have a harddisk or something. Will it even be possible to use it like a 'real' computer, or is it just a pda/gameboy/mobile?

UHn... there are more than enough ways to store data on harddisk/CD-ROM through USB2/Firewire at the moment already. Besides don't you just love them memorycards?

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Thanks, snout. VHDL stands for Very high speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language. I think it would be nice to have a vdp wich supports z buffering and display list or whatever they are called. That way polygons can be used like sprites on msx.

Heh, yeah, VHSIC Hardware Description Language eh? ;p Gotta love nested abbreviations .



Anyways a 'gameboy' not solely targeted at gaming but, also for 'normal' use, with a programming language builtin and very flexible, a mobile phone and internet connection, yet still low-price and with lots of possibilities... Sounds awesome to me .

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Will it even be possible to use it like a 'real' computer, or is it just a pda/gameboy/mobile?

Well, the basic idea was that the design would be scalable. So you can use it as a PDA, aswell as a real computer, as a chip in your shoes, or whatever. That is also a reason why they didn't mention specific specs like MHz'es (who believes in MHz anyways ). Along with the fact that it's still in design stage btw.



However the initial plans point towards a mix between a PDA, Gameboy Advance, and a mobile phone. In other words: portable, yet diverse. Oh, did I mention open and standard? To me, this is very appealing ;p.





~Grauw

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Heh, yeah, VHSIC Hardware Description Language eh? ;p Gotta love nested abbreviations .

TINA (TINA Is Not an Abbreviation)