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So, what happens if this particular FPGA no longer can be bought? Isn’t it more likely it will be possible to compile and run current C code on 22nd century ha

So, what happens if this particular FPGA no longer can be bought? Isn’t it more likely it will be possible to compile and run current C code on 22nd century hardware (possibly on some virtualization solution) than that it will be possible to compile and run FPGA code on 22nd century hardware?

johnfernow 3y ago
I agree. For me, one of the challenging long term parts of video game preservation will be non-standard controllers and other peripherals, such as the Wii remote, Wii balance board, Guitar Hero/Rock Band guitars and drums, etc. Sure, technically you can use a mouse and keyboard for some of those, but it’s fundamentally an entirely different experience from the original. The Wii came out over 17 years ago and third party companies still make controllers for them. Maybe that will still be the case 40 years after release, but eventually nearly all Wii consoles will stop working. Will there always be a big enough market of people playing Wii games on emulators to justify making those controllers and peripherals? I hope so, but am not sure. There near certainly won’t be enough demand for 3rd party Wii balance boards, which I can honestly live with, but I do hope the main controllers themselves are still available for purchase or possible to make out of other hardware available in the future.
bogantech 3y ago
> So, what happens if this particular FPGA no longer can be bought? The same code can be easily target another FPGA as long as you don't use any vendor specific primitives or IP cores
cm2187 3y ago
I agree, this is tying the video game to a more recent hardware, which will also disappear in its own time. Much better to have a full software emulation that can be ported / recompiled to newer CPUs and new OS.
markemer 3y ago
Verilog is just a logic implementation. It should be pretty portable. There are some issues, and certainly the bitstreams won’t be compatible, but if C still works, I imagine verilog would too.

johnfernow 3y ago

I agree. For me, one of the challenging long term parts of video game preservation will be non-standard controllers and other peripherals, such as the Wii remote, Wii balance board, Guitar Hero/Rock Band guitars and drums, etc. Sure, technically you can use a mouse and keyboard for some of those, but it’s fundamentally an entirely different experience from the original. The Wii came out over 17 years ago and third party companies still make controllers for them. Maybe that will still be the case 40 years after release, but eventually nearly all Wii consoles will stop working. Will there always be a big enough market of people playing Wii games on emulators to justify making those controllers and peripherals? I hope so, but am not sure. There near certainly won’t be enough demand for 3rd party Wii balance boards, which I can honestly live with, but I do hope the main controllers themselves are still available for purchase or possible to make out of other hardware available in the future.

bogantech 3y ago

> So, what happens if this particular FPGA no longer can be bought? The same code can be easily target another FPGA as long as you don't use any vendor specific primitives or IP cores

cm2187 3y ago

I agree, this is tying the video game to a more recent hardware, which will also disappear in its own time. Much better to have a full software emulation that can be ported / recompiled to newer CPUs and new OS.

markemer 3y ago

Verilog is just a logic implementation. It should be pretty portable. There are some issues, and certainly the bitstreams won’t be compatible, but if C still works, I imagine verilog would too.