Get Perfect Emulation From this FPGA-Based Arcade

The JAMMA (Japan Amusement Machine and Marketing Association) specification was a brilliant innovation in arcade gaming. Compatible arcade machines could simply switch motherboards, like home consoles switched cartridges, to run different games. The same arcade machine that ran Bionic Commando could also be used to run Ninja Gaiden. Now hobbyists can play all JAMMA games (and more) with hardware perfection through the FPGA-based Multisystem 2 Arcade board.

The Multisystem 2 Arcade is a board that drops right into the JAMMA slot on any compatible arcade machine. It gives you the ability to run any game you like on that hardware. That would include all the JAMMA games, but there is certainly homebrew potential here, too.

And importantly, this is not emulation. An FPGA doesn’t provide software emulation; it recreates the actual physical circuitry of the original hardware. The Multisystem 2 Arcade will therefore provide a perfect gaming experience that should be indistinguishable from playing on an original arcade machine.

This was designed and built by the same people as the MiSTer, which is a similar solution for home console and personal computer gaming. MiSTer is very well-regarded in the retrogaming community, so I have no doubt that the Multisystem 2 Arcade will also receive a warm reception.

Development is done and they’ve already progressed well into the testing phase, but the Multisystem 2 Arcade isn’t quite ready for purchase yet. If you’re interested, you should join the MiSTer FPGA forum to stay up to date on new developments and the upcoming product release.