Markus has been hard at work on the upcoming OSSC Pro over the past few months and has just posted a picture of prototype hardware. There is still no official price or release date, however we get lots of questions about the Pro’s status, so I thought one post that sums up everything we’ve learned since it was first announced might satisfy some people’s curiosity.
One point I’d definitely like to make, is it seems the the OSSC Pro isn’t really a replacement for the inexpensive, well-performing OSSC. The “Pro” seems like a “power-user upgrade” that some people will be thrilled over and equally as many people won’t need at all. Think along the lines of “Toyota vs Lexus”; Some people might think “it’s twice the price for the exact same thing”, while others will both use and appreciate the extra features and performance.
Here’s what we know, in no particular order:
- The Pro is still planned for a 2021 release, but with everything going on in the world, there’s no guarantee.
- There’s no official price yet, as the market is constantly changing and quantity ordered could drastically affect the final cost. A rough estimate is between $350 and $550, which makes sense for the hardware being used.
- As shown in the picture above, prototypes have been received and testing on that design has begun. As with all major projects like this, I’d expect at least one more hardware revision before it’s final.
- Composite and S-Video will either be handled by an expansion module that plugs into the port on the left, or through the RCA jacks for YPbPr…or both. Each option has advantages and disadvantages. As a note, S-Video through YPbPr would be done with a Y-cable and RCA adapters through something like this.
- “dev kits” that use the DE-10 Nano and DE2-115 have been in use for a few months to test the code and new features.
- All features from the original announcement are still planned, but some might not be available at launch.
If you’d like to follow the project in real time, Markus regularly posts progress updates on shmups. We’ll continue to only post here when there’s solid updates…and of course we’ll post the moment there’s news about pre-orders, price and shipping: https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=65892
