Warning: long, sappy post, followed by giveaway!
When I got into MiSTer in 2018, the list of cores I was interested in was very small. The most notable cores were NES, Amiga, and Genesis. Game Boy came out around that time as well. Thanks to developers like
@AzumFpg,
@topapate,
@srg320_,
@wickerwaka and many more, we now have even more incredible cores, such as GBA, Neo-Geo, CPS, M92, PlayStation, Saturn, and more. These pluck at my 90's-era heartstrings.
I received my BS in Electrical Engineering in 2010 and a Masters of Engineering in Modeling and Simulation in 2017. The first 11 years of my career were devoted to electromagnetic test and evaluation (lightning and EMP), and the latter part has been in management.
MiSTer gave me an opportunity to dust of my EE skills, learn the ropes of running a web store (previous experience was a photography business), make some mistakes, and grow a social media following. Seriously, how did I just pass 12k followers!? Why do you punish yourselves? haha
MiSTer is preservation in its most pure form: open source. There may be shinier, more polished FPGA solutions, but when the hardware dies, or the companies close, the body of knowledge powering the devices die with it. MiSTer owes much of its DNA to the MiST project. As hardware limits are reached, it's inevitable that new hardware will fill its place. This will be true for MiSTer as well ;)
I've noticed a bizarre anti-MiSTer sentiment that's permeated the retro gaming scene in the last 3 months. I have my suspicions as to why, but let's just say some people dislike things they can't control. Is MiSTer perfect? Absolutely not. Is it exactly the way I want it to be? Also, no. But is it the most streamlined and accurate way to play I choose to play games? Unequivocally, yes. HDMI, CRT, USB, original gamepads, minimal latency, constantly updated, and simple.
As some doors close, new ones open. I've been called nearly everything imaginable but I don't take it to heart. I'm proud of my customer relations and try to spread positivity to an increasingly negative retro gaming landscape. To further this effort, I've openly sponsored 3 incredible gaming news channels:
@lu_source,
@VEsoterica, and
@PixelCNinja. These channels have been 100% above board with their sponsorship. If you're a content creator looking to partner, reach out!
Lastly, thank you for the incredible 5 years of progression and development. I create products that I wish existed, but don't, be they passively cooled aluminum MiSTer armor, the best way to integrate MiSTer into a JAMMA arcade cabinet, an extremely versatile controller adapter, or USB PD products for your original gaming consoles. I'm on the verge of releasing a flurry of new products, including new IO boards, Sega Genesis link cables, controller adapters and harnesses, and more!
As a thank you, I'm giving away a full MiSTer Armor kit. Winner gets their choice of color (Beyond Black, Graphic Gold, Growler Green, Cyber Cyan, Punk Pink, or Bolt Blue) and IO board type (analog or digital). To enter:
1) Follow me on Twitter
2) Sign up for an account on
misteraddons.com
3) Like and retweet this post
Winner will be announced in 1 week. Remind me if I get sidetracked haha.
P.S. I know people have strong feelings about Twitter Blue, but imagine reading this spread across 10 posts. No thanks.