It looks like he wanted to create a facade of actually working on something so he just got a bunch of boards, soldering hardware, and other techy related things and placed them all messy like on his kitchen table.
+MrMario2011 No doubt about that. It only hurt their campaign because they kept repeating that "prototypes cost money! We need out $1.85 million project funded before we can make one!" then this guy comes out of left field claiming this is a stripped down VGS. All it did was undermine the project, so it's no wonder they dropped him from the team.
+NightWolve1975 You want to hear something even stranger? Some of the patenting he was talking about might be related to convection cooling! He's said on the RGR podcast and in this video that he's proud that the VGS doesn't need a fan. God, where did they find these people?!
+StopDrop&Retro It's hard to believe he or his partners didn't take the time to review this thing a couple of times and realize how embarrassing it comes off as... It's like he did it in the 1st or 2nd take. Total amateur hour! And you can't blame them for deleting it and wanting it to forever disappear to spare themselves further embarrassment/ridicule... But no, we can't have that as it would deny the Internet all the lulz that it craves. :P
+OldsXCool "Hi, I'm John Carlsen! You might remember from such videos as 'We Have No Prototype, Now Give Us Your Money' and 'Someday This 3D Render Could Be Yours!'"
haha, holy shit. is Mike Kennedy offscreen with a desert eagle pointed at the guys balls? This guy looks so nervous and the dialog sounds so forced that it's obvious this guy knew this was a scam. I just wonder how willing he was to go along with it or if he was somehow forced because he totally has the thousand yard stare going on.
Boctor Poo The "super-convincing tools" appear to be a standard EE suite, minus the waveform generator. Which is the most important of them all. Hmm...
+dimmddr1 hahaha, go to their facebook page, they're still kickin' and have a big question mark block to try to generate hype for a big reveal but I don't think it's working too well.
+photolabguy They need to embrace the retro era, he can start by unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt and letting his chest hair flow in the breeze. Very 70's dawn of the videogame culture chic.
And for the low price of $999.95 plus three easy payments of 99.98 for shipping and handling, this one of a kind, exclusive clear shell demo unit can be yours!
Good lord, even before he opened his mouth, his entire look screamed 'shifty', and I once he started talking about his patenting and legal protection before even addressing the hardware, I added 'untrustworthy'. And then with 'power goes in, video comes out' I added 'fucking condescending cockwit'. How was Paul Bearer Jr. here EVER trusted with anyone else's money? No wonder their Indiegogo died on the vine. I don't blame the guy for pulling this embarassing video, but I am even more glad the poster was able to recover and re-upload because this needs to be seen by the next group of people this guy approaches for money to make anything.
+Jurrasic Park It was such a fun ride when their IndieGoGo campaign was live. No one expected this video and since it was made without Mike's approval, no one could explain it either. It's just such an awkward delivery too. I always wanted to hear the story behind this video from John Carlsen's point of view.
+StopDrop&Retro Yes. I know a bit more about the story now, and John Carlsen was never ment to be a spokesman for this product, but the engineer who apparently took the bullet for the failure of the RetroVGS and was canned. Releasing this bizarre video surely made that easier. I wonder what the man was thinking too!
A kid with a papier-maché volcano fuelled by vinegar, baking soda, and red food dye on his kitchen table has more of a genuine "lab" and actual science going on than John Carlsen's table of tangled, tousled technical tchotchkes. Not to mention his twitchy, nervous attitude as he explains his mess is inadvertently hilarious. It needs to stay online forever.
Sean Wilkinson I spy an oscilloscope, a PSU, a multimeter, and an Apple USB keyboard that doesn't look like it's plugged into anything. He has an oscilloscope and no waveform generator. He doesn't even have the right technological gubbins for what he says he's working on.
He moves a mouse a couple of shakes,which is no doubt the upper limit of his geekiness & for the rest he exhibits oral incontinence. Did they really expect some 'crowd - scourcing' funds to come their way? It began with BS & ended with BS.
Never ever, ever, ever lie to the internet. It's still surreal to look back and think they thought their shtick would work and rake in millions from the gullible hype-driven public.
Their only mistake was trying to scam a bunch of nerds who know their shit: classic gamers. If they'd chosen a broader, dumber, more hype-driven mass market product (a la solar roadways and such), they probably could have succeeded - they definitely have their bullshit down pat!
I just can't believe this video is just a year old. His "explanation" really help make this feel like it's straight out of the '90s. Well, he got the immersion down at least lol.
+NightWolve1975 Yeah, imagine how much his fees are. And they make about $70-90 profit on each console sold. They'd need to go into the stretch goals to make an actual console, if it only made the goal they'd have nothing to show but a stack of patent applications. But of course, after the funds are collected it's not their problem anymore.
+dimmddr1 hahaha. I swear you couldn't script all the stuff that happened during their first attempt. The Retro VGS saga is one of the most fascinating things to watch in the history of gaming. Check out their facebook page, they're trying to tease something, I think they're getting ready for round 2!
@1:03 Please welcome, mister John Carlsen The blue-eyed actor from Venice, California He's cool, he's hot, he's crazy, Here's Johnny Cage Fight Cage, Johnny Fight Use your split punch and make 'em cry Be tough, shoot your green fire The shadow kick, we all admire, is strong Fight for your life Mortal Kombat at the speed of light So beat the bad guys and make 'em sigh Johnny Cage is not afraid to die Prepare yourself, the Mortal Kombat's on today Prepare yourself, Mortal Kombat all the way Prepare yourself, Mortal Kombat's here to stay
+motts2roc Believe it or not, part of what he was excited about was convection cooling, that's apparently why he pointed out that it doesn't use a fan. Ugh, this thing would be a nightmare when it gets into consumer's hands.
I just found this video saved on my hard drive so I thought I'd see if it was still on youtube. Good to see it didn't get taken down. It is still hilarious that they actually uploaded this and expected to be taken seriously. Random crap on a table and moving a window around. All thanks to the magic of bulk power! I also have a video of Gamester81 talking about the system and some game called Tiny Knight. I looked it up and It is actually still on his channel which is very surprising.
its interesting how theres no front ports and no cartridge connector on the board (theres a heatsink or 40-ish pin populated gpio header thats offset where it should be). theres also sticky notes covering the right hand side of the board. My guess is those are cable connectors as it looks like the board ends short of the area its covering. Meaning this has the layout of a pc motherboard on its side, possibly a Flex-atx or DTX.
A "remix" of John Carlsen's deleted video. A bit rough around the edges as it could've used some more work, but it does deliver some lulz. :) vimeo.com/141245962
Look at that table! They have that "console" absolutely buried in electronics workplace flotsam i.e. coffee mugs, soldering wire, tape, a volt-meter, jumper wires, mag-lamp, etcetera. Every square inch of space is covered...by something. Don't want any of those pesky cables and cords that show how this "console" is connected to actually show.
there is a device that uses a FPGA that does what this was supposed to do, its called the MIST FPGA computer. it will simulate old computers, and even old consoles. but it doesn't use carts, it uses a SD card.
+madmax2069 Yep. The SD card support makes it painless and modern, but if you want cart support, then the RetroUSB NES coming this year (hopefully) will be the first FPGA NES clone.
Anybody who knows even the slightest bit about electronics and hardware would know this is a completely fictional setup. Hes working on a kitchen table no1.
+Robert Dunn Yeah, and they've identified all the off-the-shelf crap he rigged up: atariage.com/forums/topic/235430-how-has-this-not-been-posted-yet-retro-vgs/?view=findpost&p=3335358
+StopDrop&Retro Uhmm crap? If it was identified correctly, at least the base board is super reasonable, being an evaluation board kit and breakout board for RK3188, an integrated set-top-box and tablet oriented processor. I mean what ELSE would you start prototyping a microconsole with? Or just about anything, you start with an off the shelf device which has sufficient I/O breakout, and has decent availability for low rollers (i.e. NOT Broadcom!). The CPLD board on top does confuse me, where was he going with this?... The campaign promised an FPGA, which are related kinds of devices but FPGAs permit multiple orders of magnitude more logic and somewhat higher clock. What ticked me off in the original project, was that FPGA size was a stretch goal, and not even specific sizes were specified, much less what portion would be occupied by mandatory function and what portion would be free for software developers. Well, now that's a great spec item to gamble with! NOT!
I'd like to get one of those clear shells to put on my Jaguar. If they decide to scrap the project they could start sellibg aftermarket replacement cases for systems and carts (for Jaguar obviously)
+darthv72 I believe they still do sell clear shells. After the first campaign failed, he posted that he wanted to start selling different colors as well. Also, check out their facebook page, I think they're gearing up for a new campaign!
Anyone else notice how his mouse cord runs off the side of the table? Shouldn't it be plugged into the console? The keyboard cord doesn't hang off the the opposite side of the table, but he never even uses the keyboard in the video anyhow so for all we know it was never plugged into anything anyway.
I'd probably make a sort of Jaguar clone with some enhancements to hardware, like putting in built-in JCD support (so you could put a CD game on a cartridge), and make new games for the system.
Why I'm coming back to watch this again? It's so cringe worthy that I still wonder how the f**k this happened. I know he is no saint, but he seems clearly uncomfortable of doing this video.
If one wants to demo a product, it is always a great beginning to state in a video that the best lawyers are available. Amazing content: This is a screen, here is the working keyboard and thats the salad box with some cables. Why not start something which really makes big money out of hot air, like large scale "Multilevel Marketing" ( Ponzi TM ).
+Joshi Oyabun believe it or not, but Geos is probably more useable and would be more successful if released today than the Retro VGS could ever hope to be.
+StopDrop&Retro I loved GEOS on my 386DX PC, but the word processor killed the ribbons on my printer - like 4 passes for each line of text to get a seriously high quality printout. I might have had an Apple II copy of it too or I just saw it used in my cousin's computer store. Anyone who used the DOS version of AOL also used GEOS.
Let's assume that this was (i know it wasn't) an actual prototype of some sort... Why the fuck would you demo it by showing a window that can be moved by a mouse??!?!
such an insult to computer engineering. I recently fell into this rabbit hole of madness you brought us StopDrop and this video is by far the crigiest one, only topped by the Scam Z. Gracias por el contenido, un abrazo desde España
...If they got that far as displaying a GUI then they should have had a working prototype to begin with.... That Apple keyboard though... Where they that fast to build in USB driver support on a raw new OS lol
+Arakmatzu Why? Any sufficiently capable SoC, one with MMU and USB host capability built in, will already have a port of a fully featured operating system which includes both a desktop software suite and USB support. Usually two of the following three major families: QNX, a BSD flavour, or Linux. I was actually half expecting to see a BeagleBone there, but the video doesn't make anything easy to see.
so basically Jhon seems to be a high school science teacher wanting to make a quick buck so he stole every thing from the school science lab then thrown it on his dinning table and then got a raspberry pi connected to a monitor while claiming it to be his own invention. dam
+J o n a t h a n Check out Mike's new posts on AtariAge. He's denouncing this video and admits it was made and posted without his permission. This is not even close to a "working prototype" of their console.
If these guys are veterans, as Mike has said before, um, shouldnt be hard to build a prototype due to them being in the industry and even making the hardware/software as well. I wonder how all those poor supporters do feel since the campaign was cancelled
+Eric Wells You would think it wouldn't be hard to show something working like a game console! As for their supporters, some were bummed out but believe it or not, they had MORE supporters that came out of the woodwork after they canceled the campaign. Remember, a lot of them left when the price jumped to $350 so when they pulled the campaign and said they were reworking it into something more similar to the original concept, some of those fans did come back. This "console" is so strange the deeper you get.
This video has always confused me. For one, half of those things are not necessary for the creation of a console that emulates old games. Next, what inventions is he going to patient? None of them were created by them. The mold isn't made by them, the processor they planned to use at the time wasn't made by them, even the idea isn't even original. Also, for a retro console, why is there a need for an operating system?! Do they want there to be a main menu? That isn't very retro. For that matter, why is there a need for either a mouse or keyboard, you are going to control the games with a controller! In their forums they talk about built in console software that was in old consoles, but from experience of programming on the NES and SNES, there isn't any software in any of them. Just hardware that reacts with the assembly code stored in the memory chips of the cartridges. Clearly none of the idiots on this team know anything about console hardware and software development!
I think the poor man was held at gunpoint to make this video... Someone please save him from Kennedy's grandmother's kitche- I mean, their *super* high tech lab... Because all labs use the same exact dining room set that I have for furniture. And um, not to be stupid, but don't most systems use an adapter similiar to a laptop (as in one end plugs into the wall and the other into the laptop)? I can't process technobabble when I'm looking into my dining room - I mean a totally b**chin' lab.
*edit: Based on further research, I believe John Carlsen was a victim of manipulation, specifically by the threat of being publicly discredited by Mike. Thanks, couldn't find it.Absolutely ****ing ridiculous. He could be discussing countless pieces of hardware with this 'demo'.Also, what the hell is he looking at, a prompt? If he's any sort of electrical engineer, he should be able to spit out such simplistic information without any effort.
+DownForwardPunch Bullshit. Did he have a gun pointed at him? You either walk away or become an accomplice. You have a strange definition of 'innocent'.
Could you go into a little more detail? I've dug into this a little more and it does seems he was being coerced to some degree at least, you are right. Am I correct that the 'gun' was Mike threatening (and following through on the threat) to throw him under the bus? If that is what happened, then John Carlsen is a victim of a criminal manipulator/con artist. Would explain his discomfort and strange generalizations. That's absolutely horrifying. If true, mike kennedy legitimately needs to be contained. From what I've read since my first comment, the situation I outlined above with John Carlsen is something I would expect from Mr. Kennedy.... :(
Here's the thing- John needed a job. The only job on the horizon for him was the Retro VGS project. That's the only thing that coerced him to make that video, he put all his bets on Mike's project. At this point the campaign was not doing as well as they hoped so they decided they needed to hack together a "prototype" and pretend to leak it. I'm sure John's 'gun pointed to his head' nervousness was because even he knew at the time that video was ridiculous. But he had to do it to get the funding to get his job. After that video didn't fool anybody, John realized the only person who was fooled was himself by Mike Kennedy, so he quit. No funding = no job = no John Carlsen.
why is that raspberry pi laying under a take out salad container lid?
+VampierMSX hahahaha
Vamp, you just got the loudest laugh out of me all day! Bravo, sir
It looks like he wanted to create a facade of actually working on something so he just got a bunch of boards, soldering hardware, and other techy related things and placed them all messy like on his kitchen table.
+MrMario2011 No doubt about that. It only hurt their campaign because they kept repeating that "prototypes cost money! We need out $1.85 million project funded before we can make one!" then this guy comes out of left field claiming this is a stripped down VGS. All it did was undermine the project, so it's no wonder they dropped him from the team.
DownForwardPunch John went through the act of making the video and was surely aware of the BS he was advertising.
were do you get this info from?
@The Outback Tinker Yeah, fully agree, however it was the rolls of 4 inch tape in the foreground that put the biggest smile on my face. :)
"Power goes in, video goes out!"
No matter how many times I hear that it's still a damn classic!
+Fevronia Maroulis If I had the mad skillz, I'd make an auto tune remix.
StopDrop&Retro I'm surprised someone hasn't yet.....
"Power goes in, video goes out!"
WOW, absolute genius, where can I sign up for this thing, I MUST give that guy ALL my money NOW!!!!
+NightWolve1975 You want to hear something even stranger? Some of the patenting he was talking about might be related to convection cooling! He's said on the RGR podcast and in this video that he's proud that the VGS doesn't need a fan. God, where did they find these people?!
+StopDrop&Retro It's hard to believe he or his partners didn't take the time to review this thing a couple of times and realize how embarrassing it comes off as... It's like he did it in the 1st or 2nd take. Total amateur hour! And you can't blame them for deleting it and wanting it to forever disappear to spare themselves further embarrassment/ridicule... But no, we can't have that as it would deny the Internet all the lulz that it craves. :P
+NightWolve1975 is what someone would say in 1972.
"Hi I'm John Carlsen, welcome to the kitch.......Retro VGS lab."
+OldsXCool "Hi, I'm John Carlsen! You might remember from such videos as 'We Have No Prototype, Now Give Us Your Money' and 'Someday This 3D Render Could Be Yours!'"
StopDrop&Retro HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
+StopDrop&Retro no prototype but a lot of patents ... wth ??
Power goes in, video comes out.
+ConfusionDistortion lol, it's like a Ford salesman saying "gas goes in, vroom vroom goes out!"
+StopDrop&Retro That is hilarious!
That's what "Bulls__t Retro Gaming Concern" is all about!
(apologies to "The Simpsons")
+ConfusionDistortion pretty much sums it up lol
1:07 John Carlson nervously glances off screen at the glock pointed at his face.
(Glock is also fake, but he believes anything)
This was so painful to watch. At 1:07 he looks to the left as if his own family is tied up...these are the mistakes that ruin careers.
Or a gun pointed at him off camera. He actually darts his eyes over, multiple times in the video. Eerie.
haha, holy shit. is Mike Kennedy offscreen with a desert eagle pointed at the guys balls? This guy looks so nervous and the dialog sounds so forced that it's obvious this guy knew this was a scam. I just wonder how willing he was to go along with it or if he was somehow forced because he totally has the thousand yard stare going on.
Jonathan Green Figuratively that was more or less the case.
Anyone notice that was a old Apple Pro keyboard and what looked like Classic Mac OS on the CRT?
Boctor Poo The "super-convincing tools" appear to be a standard EE suite, minus the waveform generator. Which is the most important of them all. Hmm...
Wouldn't it been easily to jam a SNES inside a Atari shell , John Carlsen?
+B Mc hehehehehe, yep, we'll look at this in the near future!
+StopDrop&Retro please do lmao
The past must never be forgotten.
Thanks for the details, John. Can you tell me more about the power?
+dimmddr1 hahaha, go to their facebook page, they're still kickin' and have a big question mark block to try to generate hype for a big reveal but I don't think it's working too well.
Well you see, it goes in. Now the video, on the other hand, comes out.
I don't trust anyone who buttons their shirt all the way up. Period.
+photolabguy They need to embrace the retro era, he can start by unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt and letting his chest hair flow in the breeze. Very 70's dawn of the videogame culture chic.
well if he has a suite and a tie also, maybe then. tho dunno lawyers wear that kind of out fit so you might be up to something..
Okay but what's the cartoon caution tape for
And for the low price of $999.95 plus three easy payments of 99.98 for shipping and handling, this one of a kind, exclusive clear shell demo unit can be yours!
+jon lewis check out their Facebook page, they want to tease something but I have a feeling people are losing patience with them.
Good lord, even before he opened his mouth, his entire look screamed 'shifty', and I once he started talking about his patenting and legal protection before even addressing the hardware, I added 'untrustworthy'. And then with 'power goes in, video comes out' I added 'fucking condescending cockwit'. How was Paul Bearer Jr. here EVER trusted with anyone else's money? No wonder their Indiegogo died on the vine.
I don't blame the guy for pulling this embarassing video, but I am even more glad the poster was able to recover and re-upload because this needs to be seen by the next group of people this guy approaches for money to make anything.
+Jurrasic Park It was such a fun ride when their IndieGoGo campaign was live. No one expected this video and since it was made without Mike's approval, no one could explain it either. It's just such an awkward delivery too. I always wanted to hear the story behind this video from John Carlsen's point of view.
+StopDrop&Retro Yes. I know a bit more about the story now, and John Carlsen was never ment to be a spokesman for this product, but the engineer who apparently took the bullet for the failure of the RetroVGS and was canned. Releasing this bizarre video surely made that easier. I wonder what the man was thinking too!
Jurrasic Park When you support Mike Kennedy the answer is simple- you weren't thinking.
A kid with a papier-maché volcano fuelled by vinegar, baking soda, and red food dye on his kitchen table has more of a genuine "lab" and actual science going on than John Carlsen's table of tangled, tousled technical tchotchkes. Not to mention his twitchy, nervous attitude as he explains his mess is inadvertently hilarious. It needs to stay online forever.
Sean Wilkinson I spy an oscilloscope, a PSU, a multimeter, and an Apple USB keyboard that doesn't look like it's plugged into anything.
He has an oscilloscope and no waveform generator. He doesn't even have the right technological gubbins for what he says he's working on.
It hurts to watch, but I just cannot get enough of this video.
both power sounds great - how can i get both power supplied to my system?
He moves a mouse a couple of shakes,which is no doubt the upper limit of his geekiness & for the rest he exhibits oral incontinence.
Did they really expect some 'crowd - scourcing' funds to come their way?
It began with BS & ended with BS.
Never ever, ever, ever lie to the internet. It's still surreal to look back and think they thought their shtick would work and rake in millions from the gullible hype-driven public.
Their only mistake was trying to scam a bunch of nerds who know their shit: classic gamers. If they'd chosen a broader, dumber, more hype-driven mass market product (a la solar roadways and such), they probably could have succeeded - they definitely have their bullshit down pat!
Reading Smoke & Mirrors by UKMike in 2021 brought me here.
how could he do anything in that mess?
+JOSHUA KANE I don't think he did! ;)
I just can't believe this video is just a year old. His "explanation" really help make this feel like it's straight out of the '90s. Well, he got the immersion down at least lol.
"Trust us, we have one of the best patent attorneys in Silicon Valley..."
+NightWolve1975 Yeah, imagine how much his fees are. And they make about $70-90 profit on each console sold. They'd need to go into the stretch goals to make an actual console, if it only made the goal they'd have nothing to show but a stack of patent applications. But of course, after the funds are collected it's not their problem anymore.
Quick! Everybody, put something technical on the table! Hook up the TVs! I don't want an inch to be uncovered!
+dimmddr1 hahaha. I swear you couldn't script all the stuff that happened during their first attempt. The Retro VGS saga is one of the most fascinating things to watch in the history of gaming. Check out their facebook page, they're trying to tease something, I think they're getting ready for round 2!
StopDrop&Retro They can't wait to fail again!
I kid, but I don't wan't them to fail. They need to their shit together.
"Hi im john carlsen i am filming this in my mothers basement where i have lived all my life"
How hard is it to fit SNES internals into an Atari Jaguar case?
haha, fudge this guy....been following this channel and I've arrived at this part, glad the video was re-uploaded! Nice work
Thanks! Yep, gotta preserve the history of this shit show.
What did we learn from that?? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
@1:03
Please welcome, mister John Carlsen
The blue-eyed actor from Venice, California
He's cool, he's hot, he's crazy, Here's Johnny Cage
Fight Cage, Johnny Fight
Use your split punch and make 'em cry
Be tough, shoot your green fire
The shadow kick, we all admire, is strong
Fight for your life
Mortal Kombat at the speed of light
So beat the bad guys and make 'em sigh
Johnny Cage is not afraid to die
Prepare yourself, the Mortal Kombat's on today
Prepare yourself, Mortal Kombat all the way
Prepare yourself, Mortal Kombat's here to stay
"Hello I'm John Carlsen and this... Is my pile of wires!!!"
Paid for by friends of friends of John Carlsens pet hamster...
+MobileDecay hahaha
well he answered my two most important question. What temp does the processor run? and does it need a fan? now where are my Bison dollars.
+motts2roc Believe it or not, part of what he was excited about was convection cooling, that's apparently why he pointed out that it doesn't use a fan. Ugh, this thing would be a nightmare when it gets into consumer's hands.
I just found this video saved on my hard drive so I thought I'd see if it was still on youtube. Good to see it didn't get taken down. It is still hilarious that they actually uploaded this and expected to be taken seriously. Random crap on a table and moving a window around. All thanks to the magic of bulk power! I also have a video of Gamester81 talking about the system and some game called Tiny Knight. I looked it up and It is actually still on his channel which is very surprising.
its interesting how theres no front ports and no cartridge connector on the board (theres a heatsink or 40-ish pin populated gpio header thats offset where it should be). theres also sticky notes covering the right hand side of the board. My guess is those are cable connectors as it looks like the board ends short of the area its covering. Meaning this has the layout of a pc motherboard on its side, possibly a Flex-atx or DTX.
+Oliver Lind I think instead of a motherboard it has a Ouija board.
Is he being held at gunpoint?
A "remix" of John Carlsen's deleted video. A bit rough around the edges as it could've used some more work, but it does deliver some lulz. :)
vimeo.com/141245962
+NightWolve1975 hahaha I saw that over at AtariAge! They need more synth and reverb
Good to see you back! It's been a while ;)
Some of the comments on this page are hilarious, it would have been a shame to lose them.
+John Same! It would be a disservice to lose people's comments on this video! It's a classic
Look at that table! They have that "console" absolutely buried in electronics workplace flotsam i.e. coffee mugs, soldering wire, tape, a volt-meter, jumper wires, mag-lamp, etcetera. Every square inch of space is covered...by something. Don't want any of those pesky cables and cords that show how this "console" is connected to actually show.
there is a device that uses a FPGA that does what this was supposed to do, its called the MIST FPGA computer. it will simulate old computers, and even old consoles. but it doesn't use carts, it uses a SD card.
+madmax2069 Yep. The SD card support makes it painless and modern, but if you want cart support, then the RetroUSB NES coming this year (hopefully) will be the first FPGA NES clone.
Anybody who knows even the slightest bit about electronics and hardware would know this is a completely fictional setup. Hes working on a kitchen table no1.
+Robert Dunn No no, that's the Retro VGS lab!
+Robert Dunn Yeah, and they've identified all the off-the-shelf crap he rigged up: atariage.com/forums/topic/235430-how-has-this-not-been-posted-yet-retro-vgs/?view=findpost&p=3335358
+StopDrop&Retro Uhmm crap?
If it was identified correctly, at least the base board is super reasonable, being an evaluation board kit and breakout board for RK3188, an integrated set-top-box and tablet oriented processor. I mean what ELSE would you start prototyping a microconsole with? Or just about anything, you start with an off the shelf device which has sufficient I/O breakout, and has decent availability for low rollers (i.e. NOT Broadcom!).
The CPLD board on top does confuse me, where was he going with this?... The campaign promised an FPGA, which are related kinds of devices but FPGAs permit multiple orders of magnitude more logic and somewhat higher clock. What ticked me off in the original project, was that FPGA size was a stretch goal, and not even specific sizes were specified, much less what portion would be occupied by mandatory function and what portion would be free for software developers. Well, now that's a great spec item to gamble with! NOT!
I just found out the Retro VGS is now the Coleco Chameleon. It looks like the same unit with a new name.
+Slade Simon All I want to know is with the Coleco Chameleon will bulk power still go in and cool games come out?
Classic80sStuff
No clue. Right now, I'm more tempted to try some Pi.
+Slade Simon new name with the guts of a snes jr inside.
If you pay attention at how his eyes move you can tell that he read every single word of the speech.
Which has a higher net worth? Carlsen or that Sony PVM on the kitchen table?
Never forget, KEEP THE FAITH! In RetroVGS we trust! :) lololololo
+MaximumRD I can't wait to see what they come back to us with. The wait is killing me.
I'd like to get one of those clear shells to put on my Jaguar. If they decide to scrap the project they could start sellibg aftermarket replacement cases for systems and carts (for Jaguar obviously)
+darthv72 I believe they still do sell clear shells. After the first campaign failed, he posted that he wanted to start selling different colors as well. Also, check out their facebook page, I think they're gearing up for a new campaign!
Anyone else notice how his mouse cord runs off the side of the table? Shouldn't it be plugged into the console? The keyboard cord doesn't hang off the the opposite side of the table, but he never even uses the keyboard in the video anyhow so for all we know it was never plugged into anything anyway.
lol I like the random pieces of equipment that serve no purpose to the project other than to look hitech like the oscilloscope.
needs more plasma balls
I'd probably make a sort of Jaguar clone with some enhancements to hardware, like putting in built-in JCD support (so you could put a CD game on a cartridge), and make new games for the system.
+Austin Reed See, now that's a great idea! Plus, there is an active Jaguar homebrew scene that uses the CD interface.
StopDrop&Retro
Thank you for the agreement!
I want some nachos now
Why I'm coming back to watch this again? It's so cringe worthy that I still wonder how the f**k this happened. I know he is no saint, but he seems clearly uncomfortable of doing this video.
I swear, we have to preserve this. It's just too strange for anyone to believe without proof. I actually miss the heyday of the Retro VGS.
So he put a laptop inside a Jaguar shell and thought that meant he had a console he could patent. 😂
So his "demonstration" and "proof of concept" is "power goes in, stuff happens". How does he not have a Nobel price by this point?!
My favorite part is when he moves the mouse and you can see the cord swinging under the table. This guy is a phony just like Mike, he is no victim.
+freddysombrero I like his lab. He just needs boiling test tubes to complete the Ed Wood set.
If one wants to demo a product, it is always a great beginning to state in a video that the best lawyers are available. Amazing content: This is a screen, here is the working keyboard and thats the salad box with some cables. Why not start something which really makes big money out of hot air, like large scale "Multilevel Marketing" ( Ponzi TM ).
What patterns does he want to make? it's a 2d console.
Hey, the video keeps erroring right when the intro ends, just informing you, if others have same problem comment so it's known
Huh. You would have figured someone would have a YTP of this by now.
That took place in Lancaster California in a one bedroom apartment
what is this??? looks like Geos for the conmodore 64!
+Joshi Oyabun believe it or not, but Geos is probably more useable and would be more successful if released today than the Retro VGS could ever hope to be.
+StopDrop&Retro I loved GEOS on my 386DX PC, but the word processor killed the ribbons on my printer - like 4 passes for each line of text to get a seriously high quality printout. I might have had an Apple II copy of it too or I just saw it used in my cousin's computer store. Anyone who used the DOS version of AOL also used GEOS.
That is rather blatantly a Raspberry Pi with a ribbon cable on the GPIO hanging out a clear Atari Jaguar case. wtf?
Let's assume that this was (i know it wasn't) an actual prototype of some sort...
Why the fuck would you demo it by showing a window that can be moved by a mouse??!?!
+Conbot Studios True. It's supposed to be a game console. Unless they're making a spiritual successor to Mario Paint.
The difference between this and the Atari VCS? One letter and a slightly upgraded lab. They’re even both Atari designs!
This was shot with potatoe
Dan Quayle approves
StopDrop&Retro Dope reference
This is almost Tim and Eric level comedy.
Oh wow. I had no idea just how fucking hilarious this video was.
"Hard work", "patenting our inventions", yeah, right.
+kduhtdkzrt You have to see the video to believe it! What a bunch of scumbags...
My favorite retro hero!
such an insult to computer engineering. I recently fell into this rabbit hole of madness you brought us StopDrop and this video is by far the crigiest one, only topped by the Scam Z. Gracias por el contenido, un abrazo desde España
...If they got that far as displaying a GUI then they should have had a working prototype to begin with.... That Apple keyboard though... Where they that fast to build in USB driver support on a raw new OS lol
+Arakmatzu Why? Any sufficiently capable SoC, one with MMU and USB host capability built in, will already have a port of a fully featured operating system which includes both a desktop software suite and USB support. Usually two of the following three major families: QNX, a BSD flavour, or Linux.
I was actually half expecting to see a BeagleBone there, but the video doesn't make anything easy to see.
And its back! w00t!
+Enabels Thanks for your support!
so basically Jhon seems to be a high school science teacher wanting to make a quick buck so he stole every thing from the school science lab then thrown it on his dinning table and then got a raspberry pi connected to a monitor while claiming it to be his own invention. dam
Pretty sad, huh? At least a decent high school science teacher would start manufacturing meth.
lol
why hate the idea of the vgs?this just saying we have a working prototype.
+J o n a t h a n Check out Mike's new posts on AtariAge. He's denouncing this video and admits it was made and posted without his permission. This is not even close to a "working prototype" of their console.
StopDrop&Retro lol! How was this video made without his permission. He's talking directly to the camera!
LMAO.
***** oh, my mistake.
+J o n a t h a n lol i love the idea and i really hope to get one when it comes out
Anonymous Idea
Thanks, i be getting one when it comes out. I also be supporting the kickstarter project. i probably get 2.
Or maybe..... Video was brought down because the system as it stands there is no longer what it will be
What did these people think was going to happen if they did get the money? Were they gonna flee the country and try to retire somewhere else?
+NeonPurpleMonkey based on the current situation, that's not a bad prediction!
If these guys are veterans, as Mike has said before, um, shouldnt be hard to build a prototype due to them being in the industry and even making the hardware/software as well. I wonder how all those poor supporters do feel since the campaign was cancelled
+Eric Wells You would think it wouldn't be hard to show something working like a game console! As for their supporters, some were bummed out but believe it or not, they had MORE supporters that came out of the woodwork after they canceled the campaign. Remember, a lot of them left when the price jumped to $350 so when they pulled the campaign and said they were reworking it into something more similar to the original concept, some of those fans did come back. This "console" is so strange the deeper you get.
This video has always confused me. For one, half of those things are not necessary for the creation of a console that emulates old games. Next, what inventions is he going to patient? None of them were created by them. The mold isn't made by them, the processor they planned to use at the time wasn't made by them, even the idea isn't even original. Also, for a retro console, why is there a need for an operating system?! Do they want there to be a main menu? That isn't very retro. For that matter, why is there a need for either a mouse or keyboard, you are going to control the games with a controller! In their forums they talk about built in console software that was in old consoles, but from experience of programming on the NES and SNES, there isn't any software in any of them. Just hardware that reacts with the assembly code stored in the memory chips of the cartridges. Clearly none of the idiots on this team know anything about console hardware and software development!
absolutely. Just a guy trying to resell his Jag molds and having his friends cosplay console devs along the way.
I think the poor man was held at gunpoint to make this video... Someone please save him from Kennedy's grandmother's kitche- I mean, their *super* high tech lab... Because all labs use the same exact dining room set that I have for furniture. And um, not to be stupid, but don't most systems use an adapter similiar to a laptop (as in one end plugs into the wall and the other into the laptop)? I can't process technobabble when I'm looking into my dining room - I mean a totally b**chin' lab.
throwing money at phone... nothing's happening!
try the toilet for the true RVGS experience.
Would love to see what you’ve collected over the years you’ve been chasing this rabbit hole 🐰 🕳️
*edit: Based on further research, I believe John Carlsen was a victim of manipulation, specifically by the threat of being publicly discredited by Mike.
Thanks, couldn't find it.Absolutely ****ing ridiculous. He could be discussing countless pieces of hardware with this 'demo'.Also, what the hell is he looking at, a prompt? If he's any sort of electrical engineer, he should be able to spit out such simplistic information without any effort.
+DownForwardPunch Bullshit. Did he have a gun pointed at him? You either walk away or become an accomplice. You have a strange definition of 'innocent'.
+g10118 In a figurative way, he did indeed have a gun pointed to his head.
Could you go into a little more detail? I've dug into this a little more and it does seems he was being coerced to some degree at least, you are right.
Am I correct that the 'gun' was Mike threatening (and following through on the threat) to throw him under the bus?
If that is what happened, then John Carlsen is a victim of a criminal manipulator/con artist. Would explain his discomfort and strange generalizations. That's absolutely horrifying. If true, mike kennedy legitimately needs to be contained. From what I've read since my first comment, the situation I outlined above with John Carlsen is something I would expect from Mr. Kennedy....
:(
Here's the thing- John needed a job. The only job on the horizon for him was the Retro VGS project. That's the only thing that coerced him to make that video, he put all his bets on Mike's project. At this point the campaign was not doing as well as they hoped so they decided they needed to hack together a "prototype" and pretend to leak it. I'm sure John's 'gun pointed to his head' nervousness was because even he knew at the time that video was ridiculous. But he had to do it to get the funding to get his job. After that video didn't fool anybody, John realized the only person who was fooled was himself by Mike Kennedy, so he quit. No funding = no job = no John Carlsen.
He said literally nothing.
i am you bro
anyone interested in some duct tape?
It looks so fake and it doesn't make any sense (cents /_).
What the Fuck is this
What a bellend
+Ashley White Some day I will interview him. I have to. It is my mission here on earth, to figure out what was going on in this video!
+StopDrop&Retro I wonder if he has cleaned that junk from his kitchen table now...
So awkward, lol.