shmups.system11.org

I've brought up the lack of clones or competition so many times. I'd surmise the cash sitting waiting for dude to get off his ass and actually produce could have bought someone's time to engineer a competitor easily.

If these things ever actually get sent out - does anyone know if the orders are fulfilled from top to bottom on the spreadsheet? What worries me is there is a reseller who ordered 100 of them high up on the list. Seems like they would take almost the whole first batch... then how long until batch 2 and the common man on the list who just wants one unit gets served?

IMO the addition of analogue RGB output has been the main source of delays and is more or less now redundant given the ease of downscaling using Rama's GBS-C firmware.

I just never understood the point of adding the analogue to these. The reason this product blew up in the first place is because people wanted a pure digital HDMI option. There are so many different RGB boards available and the newer ones even have de-blur. I get that some people like having both on one board, but I'd say the bulk of people who have ever been interested in the UltraHDMI wanted it for... well.... the damn HDMI!!!! LOL! Why completely transform the product to something that almost nobody ever wanted? Like I said, I get that "some" people are interested, but I'd have to guess it's very few people. So you alienate your main demographic and hold up availability for like, 2+ years, to add a feature that probably 5% of your customers want. Just whyyyyyyy?!

I'm actually very interested in the new analog RGB output of the UltraHDMI. It's the reason why I've waited 4 years to get a Nintendo 64 solution. I first learned about the UltraHDMI back in early 2016 after watching My Life in Gaming's N64 RGB205 Video on YouTube. At the time though the UltraHDMI was digital only and still had a lot of hiccups to be smoothed out. I wanted something to output both analog and digital signals simulatenously, so I could play in high quality de-blurred RGB on my CRT, get lossless digital sound, and stream all at the same time with one simple device. The analog RGB mods at the time didn't have de-blur as a feature yet though. Even when De-blur and 15-bit color mode were added later, I still wanted that higher quality lossless digital sound and streaming capabilities of the UltraHDMI. To make matters worse, I was told that the UltraHDMI and the N64 RGB bypass boards could not be used together, so I just waited for a new solution. I was highly tempted to purchase Borti's N64 Advanced Board, but in retrospect I'm glad I waited.

I'm glad Marshall is taking his time to perfect this new UltraHDMI HW2 design. I want it to be as perfect as possible too without any design issues or missing features, and so I don't mind waiting longer.

And that's perfectly reasonable, but you might be waiting till 2026 at this rate. LOL!

Right around the Nintendo64 Classic Classic launch.

I'd like to add my voice to the chorus and say that the analog RGB was the only reason I decided to get one of these. By itself having a direct HDMI output from the N64 seems redundant with so many high quality options like the EON, OSSC (+Koryu or RGB mod), RetroTink (RT2X) and GBS-C readily available to get you to HDMI. The de-blur option is a very compelling advantage, but as I still prefer to do my N64 gaming on CRTs, having that only available via HDMI was still a non-feature for me. This mod only became interesting when the possibility of deblur+analog RGB was advertised. True I could have (and nearly did) go with Tim Worthington's N64RGB mod, however deblur is set with a jumper rather than with an OSD, and from what I can tell it's the sort of thing you want to decide to use or not to use per game. Going with the UltraHDMI made more sense from an ease of use standpoint, and as little as I would probably use it, the HDMI output is a nice bonus.

Generally, I don't prefer HDMI mods in retro consoles. HDMI is good, but I think analog RGB has been and will continue to be relevant for much longer. HDMI suffers from a lot of compatibility and stability issues particularly with respect to retro console mods and solutions. At least every mod I have has some persistent problem with at least one of the TVs in my house. I tend to think of things in terms of longevity rather than just whether it works in the moment. After S-Video modding consoles for a few years then watching that standard basically evaporate from mainstream support, I don't share the implicit view that HDMI is forever. Just like S-Video even though HDMI will always be an awesome format, sooner or later it's going to go by the wayside and all of the retro consoles modded with HDMI that outlast HDMI are going to be stuck with this weird middle standard that requires some kind of complex conversion mechanism, or additional mod work get it to work on contemporary displays. We're already at least two (more depending on how you count) video standards past 1080p, and Marseille are already selling game-centric 1080->4k scalers (mCable and mClassic) because most of the TVs sold are 4k now but none of these HDMI mods can scale or output at 4k. How long before we start seeing console HDMI mods that output in 4k and make those we've already installed obsolete? Yeah, Analog RGB is technically obsolete too, but since it's a standard ubiquitous with retro consoles, any current and future scaling options aimed at the retro market need to take it into account and support it. So far the same has not been true of HDMI.

The GBS-C can get you from HDMI to 15khz RGB as well though (which is exactly what I do with one of my two ultrahdmi modded n64s)

I'm aware. It just seems cumbersome to have another box that requires another power supply to convert a signal back to something that the console is generating internally anyway (deblur notwithstanding). I could see it if your main setup was HDMI based and you occasionally wanted to do analog RGB, but my situation is reversed - analog RGB is the main show and I sometimes dabble in HDMI. My current RGB modded N64 is connected to a gSCARTsw with one of the outputs going to my main CRT and the other going to an OSSC which is connected to a modern TV.

Anybody was was able to ask for a refund and got it?

People on the top of the list should receive their's first. Those on the top of the list have been waiting the longest.

What's fair in this case is subjective. The first-in-first-out principle you're espousing is only objectively fair in the circumstance where everyone going in is equal, but the re-sellers/modders with large orders have unbalanced things. There is a qualitative difference between a business interest and a personal interest.

If supplies are limited and re-sellers have ordered so many that almost no one else will get one from the initial shipment then rationing may be called for (i.e. those who ordered 100's will only get part of their order from the first batch, and have to wait for subsequent batches to get the rest.) I've seen this scenario go both ways in the past, and I've been both the guy trying to buy up all the inventory for business reasons and the guy just trying to get one for personal use.

Going with a first-come-first-served process without thoughtfully evaluating the situation - meaning that you let resellers soak up all of the available inventory because they were first in line - usually leads to a considerably greater number of unhappy customers, while going the "one-per-customer" route tends to frustrate a much smaller group of people but a smaller group of people with potentially greater buying power. In this case the risk of those resellers going elsewhere with their business is non-existent - the greatest risk is that they drop their plans to purchase altogether, but that's only detrimental in a situation where you aren't guaranteed to sell whatever inventory that they don't buy and I don't see that as a large risk here.

Logically, if the initial supply is limited "one-per-customer" is generally considered the best move and it absolutely fits this situation.

You suppose he actually cares about keeping all of the complainers happy. "Fuck off and request a refund." would be my mantra. The customer is always wrong.