Surely a company like Microsoft or Sega has enough weight to throw around to get a contract obligating the GPU provider to continue providing GPUs for X amount of years after the console’s launch, right? Maybe that was an oversight on the original Xbox, but I don’t see why they couldn’t do that now.
Thats how you get elevated government contract prices, to compensate for ensuring these factories keep making a product longer than its natural shelf life. And also the risk of being stuck with an obsolete technology.
If they're trying to make a consumer device with a sales price under $100 (the article says the Mega Drive Mini 2 is $75) that is very hard to do with a modern desktop processor and GPU. It's also much more horsepower than they need for Saturn or Dreamcast games.
To me it sounds like this is saying they'd have to make their own hardware if they wanted to make Dreamcast or Saturn Mini, not that they intend to do so.
When you're dealing with that vintage of software it's not a matter of rebuilding the program to target a different architecture. You're talking about emulation.
They probably instead were opting to remanufacture chips with support for the original instruction set and none of the quirks of emulation.
the bigger a chunk of it that each embedded component eats.
The markup/licensing for the GPU in a little device can be a significant percentage of that little device's potential-profit-margin.
Same as a $6 markup isn't significant on a $1000 thing, whereas it IS significant, when the target-price is only $10, and now you're left with $4 for all-your-contribution.
I've discovered that the good heart-rate sensors cost in the $30 range, whereas the shit ones are much much less.
So, if I were to put into production a fitness-trainer that used the proper equations, & didn't do any spying on people ( as Fitbit & smartwatches do ), then I'd need to .. either create a shit product, or bite the bullet & get the good sensors.
I can't afford to create my own sensors, see?
Maybe Sega can afford to make their own GPU.
Do keep in mind that there already has been a opensourcehardware GPU, iirc, some years ago ( shit performance, but if it's public-IP, and it can be significantly-improved-on, then it's possible )
I CAN'T AND FOR FREE SEED HOT POCKETS SNEED'S DILATE SEETHE DILATE SEED DILATE CITY SLICKER SNEED SNEED SUCK SNEED I CAN'T FOR FREE FUCK CITY SLICKER ON LEMMY HOT POCKETS SEETHE SNEED SEETHE JANNIES HOT POCKETS SNEED'S JANNIES AND HOT POCKETS JANNY JANNY SNEED'S SUCK SEETHE FOR FREE COPE SEED SUCK HOT POCKETS DILATE FUCK ON LEMMY JANNY AND SNEED FOR FREE JANNIES AND
SEED SUCK FEED JANNY SUCK CLEAN IT UP SEETHE SNEED'S FLOYD SEED CHUCK FEED ON LEMMY JANNIES I CAN'T FLOYD JANNY CHUCK'S FOR FREE FOR FREE FOR FREE SUCK AND CHUCK JANNY COPE JANNY COPE FOR FREE FUCK JANNY JANNIES FEED CHUCK SNEED'S SEED AND COPE CITY SLICKER FEED ON LEMMY CITY SLICKER COPE ON LEMMY FLOYD I CAN'T CITY SLICKER SEETHE FLOYD DILATE
CITY SLICKER SNEED'S FOR FREE SNEED COPE CLEAN IT UP DILATE JANNIES DILATE FUCK FUCK CHUCK'S SNEED SNEED'S SNEED'S JANNY SNEED CHUCK'S COPE JANNIES SNEED'S FEED FEED DILATE COPE SEETHE FLOYD FLOYD JANNIES COPE SUCK I CAN'T ON LEMMY CITY SLICKER CHUCK'S FLOYD CLEAN IT UP SEED AND HOT POCKETS SNEED'S AND AND SNEED'S AND COPE COPE SUCK DILATE FLOYD
FUCK JANNIES CLEAN IT UP HOT POCKETS SNEED FUCK CITY SLICKER JANNIES FOR FREE ON LEMMY AND SNEED'S CLEAN IT UP FLOYD FUCK FEED SNEED'S AND HOT POCKETS CLEAN IT UP SEED SNEED'S SEED CLEAN IT UP SEED FLOYD I CAN'T I CAN'T FLOYD CLEAN IT UP JANNIES FUCK FUCK AND CITY SLICKER CHUCK SNEED CHUCK'S I CAN'T SUCK SNEED'S HOT POCKETS CITY SLICKER CLEAN IT UP I CAN'T SNEED SEETHE CLEAN IT UP COPE SUCK
SNEED'S I CAN'T SUCK FOR FREE CHUCK'S I CAN'T CHUCK FLOYD AND FEED FUCK HOT POCKETS I CAN'T I CAN'T HOT POCKETS FLOYD CHUCK HOT POCKETS COPE FOR FREE SEED SNEED COPE SNEED ON LEMMY CHUCK'S HOT POCKETS ON LEMMY SNEED'S CHUCK'S CHUCK'S JANNY FUCK JANNY CHUCK AND JANNY SNEED'S ON LEMMY SEED JANNIES ON LEMMY DILATE SNEED FOR FREE HOT POCKETS COPE COPE CHUCK ON LEMMY
CHUCK'S SNEED SNEED'S FOR FREE FOR FREE SEETHE SUCK HOT POCKETS SNEED'S AND SEETHE SNEED'S SEED I CAN'T CITY SLICKER JANNY SEETHE FUCK DILATE JANNIES I CAN'T SEED SEETHE SNEED COPE SUCK JANNY I CAN'T SNEED JANNIES DILATE SNEED FOR FREE SUCK COPE SEETHE FEED CHUCK DILATE CITY SLICKER COPE SNEED FEED AND CITY SLICKER CLEAN IT UP SNEED SEED AND SNEED'S