If it's not disappointing enough that one person has announced the imminent release of a flash cartridge, having a second one appear out-of-the-blue accepting pre-orders and promising a shipping date of next month certainly adds another nail to the coffin.
So it should surprise no-one should I throw my hands up and admit defeat.
However, after a few positive interactions on the forum, reading of other recent developments, and evaluating the situation, I'm starting to believe that perhaps all is not lost. It may be that bringing to market a pure flash cart as I first envisaged isn't going to be as lucrative as I'd hoped, but there may be some room for a product that differentiates itself with other features. And even more promising, low-cost spin-off cartridges for specific functions that aren't being catered to at this point.
So I have some thinking to do. And some convincing of a few fellow conspirators to do as well. I guess if anything is to happen though, it needs t happen soon. I've been sitting on a fully laid-out PCB for 18 months now... I don't even know if all the parts are still in production!
Stay tuned...
Monday, 24 October 2016
Monday, 27 June 2016
It was only a matter of time...
User Mohammad has pointed out in a comment on the previous entry in this blog that someone else is now working on a programmable cartridge for the Neo Geo.
It was always going to be on the cards that someone else would at least start on a similar project before I had the chance to finish it myself.
So where am I at with the project these days?
Well, closing down your office and working for yourself from home with two young kids has its advantages and disadvantages. Obvious benefits are increased family time and less commuting. On the down side, as far as side projects are concerned, is that there's far less opportunity to work on non-revenue generating projects, not to mention the fact that there's also less revenue already as I no longer have other engineers working for me.
The original plan was to allocate one day per week to NGPACE, but thus far I haven't been able to manage this due to an ongoing arrangement with a prior client and also - you guessed it - there always seems to be some work to be done around the home. And to be completely honest, lately I've been more focused on other interests outside work and the only retro-related activities I've been pursuing are all purely software-based.
FWIW I will shortly be freeing up a day per week in my work schedule. Having said that, at this point I can't guarantee that the extra day will end up 'free' in a sense that will allow me to work on NGPACE, for example. There's always overflow work from my current employer and even if not, I am working from home... enough said.
In conclusion, any sort of commercial success from a project like this almost certainly requires you to be the first product off the line. Either that, or offer significantly enhanced functionality over the existing market. It's doubtful that I'll be in a position to do either anytime soon. But they do say that life is what happens whilst you're busy making other plans...
It was always going to be on the cards that someone else would at least start on a similar project before I had the chance to finish it myself.
So where am I at with the project these days?
Well, closing down your office and working for yourself from home with two young kids has its advantages and disadvantages. Obvious benefits are increased family time and less commuting. On the down side, as far as side projects are concerned, is that there's far less opportunity to work on non-revenue generating projects, not to mention the fact that there's also less revenue already as I no longer have other engineers working for me.
The original plan was to allocate one day per week to NGPACE, but thus far I haven't been able to manage this due to an ongoing arrangement with a prior client and also - you guessed it - there always seems to be some work to be done around the home. And to be completely honest, lately I've been more focused on other interests outside work and the only retro-related activities I've been pursuing are all purely software-based.
FWIW I will shortly be freeing up a day per week in my work schedule. Having said that, at this point I can't guarantee that the extra day will end up 'free' in a sense that will allow me to work on NGPACE, for example. There's always overflow work from my current employer and even if not, I am working from home... enough said.
In conclusion, any sort of commercial success from a project like this almost certainly requires you to be the first product off the line. Either that, or offer significantly enhanced functionality over the existing market. It's doubtful that I'll be in a position to do either anytime soon. But they do say that life is what happens whilst you're busy making other plans...
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