We’re announcing three things today:
openFPGA is Analogue’s Developer program, allowing 3rd party developers to preserve video game hardware. Analogue has provided early access to several 3rd party developers. Expect to see a plethora of 3rd party openFPGA cores released over the coming days and weeks after OS v1.1 beta's public today on July 29, 2022.
openFPGA starts at the beginning: Spacewar! on PDP-1, the first digital video game. Alongside the launch of openFPGA is a 3rd party developed openFPGA core of PDP-1 and Spacewar!, playable today on Pocket. Simply enter into openFPGA on the home menu, select “PDP-1: Spacewar!” and select run.
See this guide on how to play Spacewar! on Pocket today.
Library on OS v1.1 beta features a game detail screen when selecting “Play Cartridge”. Insert an authentic game cartridge and press “Play Cartridge”. Pocket will read the game cartridge and take you to a Game Detail screen featuring the game title, system, developer, publisher, region and game revision. It will also show any user generated assets associated with the game if you have installed them on Pocket (see How to install user generated images for Analogue Pocket’s Library). In the near future, Library will evolve to a reference level database to play, explore and share. A scholarly cataloging of the entirety of video game history. You will be able to search and explore through its full breadth; system by system, game by game, region by region, developer by developer, publisher by publisher, revision by revision.
Memories on OS v1.1 beta features 128 memory slots usable by Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, & Game Gear. Memories is connected to Analogue Library and Date & Time - so every Save State you create will capture the game title, platform and date & time directly from a game Cartridge. Press [analogue] and [up] to capture a save state. During gameplay, press [analogue] to access the in game menu and select Memories to load or delete Save States. For access to Memories power user features go to Settings > Memories. In the near future, Memories will evolve to features that display each Save State with a screenshot showing exactly where you were in game when the Save State was captured along side sorting options to view Save States organized with your preference.
Dock with OS v1.1 beta features newly added 2p and 4p support. It also features added support for many 13 Bluetooth and 2.4g controllers. To use these controllers on Dock, make sure to update Dock to the latest firmware and update all 8BitDo controllers to the latest firmware. Other updates include reduced lag, faster connection, improved range, connection and input reliability changes.
Download and update your 8BitDo controllers for OS v1.1 here
Ongoing openFPGA Features: Continuous
DAC support: Q2 2023
Full Button Mapping: Released v1.1 beta 5
Library: Released v1.1 beta 7
Memories: Released v1.1 beta
Screenshots: Released v1.1 beta 7
GB Camera Image Saving: Released v1.1 beta 7
New Original Display Modes: Q2 2023
Tracking Tools: Released v1.1 beta 7
Library is only compatible with authentic game cartridges. Reproduction cartridges or unofficial cartridges may connect to a Game Detail screen.
Make sure to clean your game cartridges. If a game cartridge isn’t working with Pocket or you are experiencing any issues, make sure to clean the game cartridge well. 99.9% of all issues are due to game cartridges not being clean.