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...
Well, no one can fault you for living life and not working on a video game accessory that will likely not make you a lot of money! I'll still follow along your progress, who knows what could happen! If you are looking to make a few bucks on what I would consider a hobby, I would suggest doing this:
ReplyDeletehttp://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=245586
It started a few years ago, and they two guys have a video of it running, but like many of these types of projects, it never got finished. If you could build one, I KNOW you could sell at least a few dozen...
That being said, there also a lot of people trying to get a ZVG working in windows. That would be great, but even better would be a modern solution that works in windows out of the box.
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=135842
It seems your interest are sort of leading you down this path anyway.
Good luck man, I'll keep checking back every few months with fingers crossed!