One Cartridge To Rule Them All

Champion (330)

21-09-2022, 18:45

I came across this last night. A cart that can be used on many 8-bits including the MSX1/2.

Unfortunately it doesn't give any information of what the capabilities are for the MSX but I'm assuming in runs .ROM files but for those of us with many systems it seems very interesting.

No stock yet.

The BackBit Pro Cartridge is a universal instant loading cartridge capable of interfacing with multiple vintage computers via system-specific adapters, including:

Amstrad CPC+ / GX4000
Apple II+ / IIe
Atari 400 / 800 / XL / XE
Bally Astrocade / Professional Arcade / Computer System / Home Library Computer
ColecoVision/Adam
Commodore 16 / +4
Commodore 64 (incl. C128, C64C, SX64*, C64GS*, PAL & NTSC variants) *requires straight adapter
Commodore VIC 20
Magnavox Odyssey² / Philips Videopac
Mattel Aquarius
Mattel Intellivision
MSX 1 / 2
PCjr
Sinclair ZX81 / Timex Sinclair 1000 / Timex Sinclair 1500
Tandy Color Computer / 2 / 3
Timex Sinclair 2068
TI-99/4A
ZX Spectrum

By Pentarou

Hero (513)

21-09-2022, 21:28

Ok, I'll bite.
It's not a cheap cartridge, in-fact quite expensive compared to dedicated solutions.
Could be interesting if you have many machines, but then you will also need an adapter for each system and expect to juggle one cart to various machines.

Strangely it doesn't support game consoles (well, a few are in the list, but no FC, PCE, SMS, MD...), but probably it would't stand a chance against 20Eur chinese Everdrive clones.

Moreover, as you noticed, MSX feature set is not explained: Only 1MB ROM size? Does it add RAM? Which Mappers does it support? Audio expansion? Etc.

By CASDuino

Champion (330)

22-09-2022, 03:49

I don't have one but at the moment it's Level 1 support which means ROMs. Their claims to be RAM support but the only person I know who has one hasn't tried it on the MSX. SCC support is apparently in development. Considering the price of MFRSCC+, $130+$10 per adapter is pretty good considering all the bits and pieces I've bought over the years for various devices.

But it would be nice to know what it does do for the MSX.

By sdsnatcher73

Prophet (3848)

22-09-2022, 05:36

An everdrive style cartridge with good mapper support and possibly SCC would be nice. But I guess for me an MSX only solution in a nice case would be preferable.

By evietron

Supporter (1)

24-09-2022, 11:13

Hi everybody, I am Evie, the maker of the BackBit cartridge. Indeed stock is out and unfortunately it may not be available again until 2023. There is no audio output, but that may be supported with an adapter in the future. For now you can take a cartridge with the SCC chip and put it in your other cartridge slot if you remove the ROM chip.

Mappers supported are ASC8, ASC16, GEN8, GameMaster, and Konami, all up to 1MB. Mappers that have battery backed RAM are supported, and saves can be versioned in the interface. Game is saved after pressing the button to return to the menu, so if you lose power during gameplay it will not be saved.

I am actively supporting the firmware and am open to adding more systems.

By AxelStone

Prophet (3189)

24-09-2022, 11:25

For MSX, I'm not sure that this cartridge can bring anything new to the table. We have our own very complete solutions at different prices: MFR, Carnivore 2, GR8Net, SDMapper...

In other machines that don't have a specific cartridge it can be more useful.

By sdsnatcher73

Prophet (3848)

24-09-2022, 15:17

Well from a usability standpoint a cartridge like this is much better than MFR, C2. No booting into DOS, loading a game with SofaRun, running into compatibility issues. Everdrive like carts (and the BackBit is) you just boot into a menu (software in ROM), select the ROM you want to play and off you go. Compatibility of ROM games will be much higher (on the level achievable only by flashing with OPFX for MFR and C2MAN for C2).

By CASDuino

Champion (330)

24-09-2022, 22:48

evietron wrote:

I am actively supporting the firmware and am open to adding more systems.

Great to have you here Evie. I must admit I stumbled across your video from the other day and I am very intrigued with this cart. I have your Chip Tester Pro and it's great.
I avidly watching to see when new stock comes in and which new machines will be supported.

By AxelStone

Prophet (3189)

29-09-2022, 16:26

sdsnatcher73 wrote:

Compatibility of ROM games will be much higher (on the level achievable only by flashing with OPFX for MFR and C2MAN for C2).

What do you mean much higher? Compatibility with the current devices is practically perfect, even in FPGA, you only need to use the dedicated loader. It's true that Sofarun has some minor compatibility issues, but considering that it's general purpose is quite nice. If you use OPFX (MFR), C2MAN (C2) or MGLOCM (FPGA) the compatibility is perfect. Apart from this you can load DSK, use as massive storage / HDD and provide extra features: PSG, SCC, FM, extra RAM...

Of course this cartridge can have a target public, but I see a high price (up to $139) compared to MSX custom solutions, this is the price for a Carnivore 2 that gives you a lot of features, apart from ROM loading.

By retro69

Resident (35)

29-09-2022, 21:44

The big question is: is there a market for this device ?
I have computers of multiple platforms, so from this point of view it should be interesting for me.
Leaving aside that for almost all of my computers I have already a storage device I am happy with (does anybody want to sell a wDrive for the Apple II ?), the benefit would be to have a device which would fit a couple of my computers at a a more than competitive price. The downside is that, at least as I understand it, the device does not offer any disk emulation on any system with the only exception being the C64. This is a feature I do not want to miss as I like to program in BASIC. The other point is that some of the computers like the Atari 8 bit have disks as their main software format. You are somehow limited if you can only use ROM files or single load software / games - in this context: does it support tape files on the ZX Spectrum ? And comparing this device to an MSX specific one with Nextor support you will also lose direct access to the storage media (e. g. SD card) as well, a feature which essentially allows to use your SD / CF card as a hard disk. However, I must admit that not everybody requires a disk emulator. The other point is also that having another storage device option is in itself a benefit, also considering the current situation of the market for our beloved MSX system.