{"slug": "mister", "name": "MiSTer", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 2.955, "rising": 0.35, "first": "2025-11-17", "latest": "2026-09-16", "why": "It's a super cool project, and I highly recommend checking it out", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "It's a super cool project, and I highly recommend checking it out", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/mister-devel/pcxt_mister", "official_url": "https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main_MiSTer", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["MiSTer"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 795552384, "item_id": 49722024, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49722024", "by": "jumploops", "date": "2026-09-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It's a super cool project, and I highly recommend checking it out", "excerpt": "In case it's helpful to anyone, MiSTer is a project[0] that recreates classic computers and video game consoles on hardware. What do I mean by hardware? Rather than emulating the device in software, which can cause various issues (especially related to timing), by mapping the actual device logic to a field programmable gate array (FPGA), you can achieve an \"exact\" replica of the hardware. It's a super cool project, a", "context": "", "use_case": "FPGA retro hardware recreation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Recreating Voodoo Graphics and a Late-1990s Gaming PC on an FPGA"}, {"id": 779901728, "item_id": 48743858, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48743858", "by": "musha68k", "date": "2026-07-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "MiSTer project is just great for this kind of stuff", "excerpt": "\"RTFM\" if available and factual to me is very satisfying. So without much nostalgia / betting on actual hardware the (partially ST community derived) MiSTer project is just great for this kind of stuff - I guess you know it - if you will a micro PDP-11 surrogate. I haven't tried this core myself yet but I will eventually: https://github.com/MiSTer-Enhanced/PDP2011_MiSTer", "context": "", "use_case": "Retro computer emulation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hatari \u2013 Online Atari ST/STE/TT/Falcon Emulator"}, {"id": 735277712, "item_id": 45954857, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45954857", "by": "leeter", "date": "2025-11-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "That has been tuned so it's capable of running the AREA5150 demo", "excerpt": "Honestly? I expected this to be talking about the MiSTer project FPGA core[1]. That has been tuned so it's capable of running the AREA5150 demo[2] which is an insane challenge (AFAIK the timings of the v20 break that demo). Not saying this isn't cool, but it's definitely not what I was expecting. [1] https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/PCXT_MiSTer [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOmcgp99fEk", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "FPGA Based IBM-PC-XT"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "agg23", "context": "software engineer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47051528", "date": "2026-02-17"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["fpga retro hardware recreation", "retro computer emulation"], "compared": [], "makers": [{"id": 764072320, "item_id": 47754520, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47754520", "by": "tombert", "date": "2026-04-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I maintain a fork of the main MiSTer executable", "excerpt": "Let's see; I keep so many projects going concurrently that I have to go look through my git history :) I'm presenting at LinuxFest this year, so I'm currently in the process of wrapping up my slides for that. They're turning out ok; I have had to resist the urge to have AI write them for me, since they has a tendency to make everything feel soulless. I maintain a fork of the main MiSTer executable [1] because of some", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (April 2026)"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49719938", "title": "Recreating Voodoo Graphics and a Late-1990s Gaming PC on an FPGA", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48740135", "title": "Hatari \u2013 Online Atari ST/STE/TT/Falcon Emulator", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47741527", "title": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (April 2026)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47303111", "title": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (March 2026)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47050211", "title": "Can a Computer Science Student Be Taught to Design Hardware?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45945784", "title": "FPGA Based IBM-PC-XT", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 795552384, "item_id": 49722024, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49722024", "by": "jumploops", "date": "2026-09-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It's a super cool project, and I highly recommend checking it out", "excerpt": "In case it's helpful to anyone, MiSTer is a project[0] that recreates classic computers and video game consoles on hardware. What do I mean by hardware? Rather than emulating the device in software, which can cause various issues (especially related to timing), by mapping the actual device logic to a field programmable gate array (FPGA), you can achieve an \"exact\" replica of the hardware. It's a super cool project, a", "context": "", "use_case": "FPGA retro hardware recreation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Recreating Voodoo Graphics and a Late-1990s Gaming PC on an FPGA"}, {"id": 779901728, "item_id": 48743858, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48743858", "by": "musha68k", "date": "2026-07-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "MiSTer project is just great for this kind of stuff", "excerpt": "\"RTFM\" if available and factual to me is very satisfying. So without much nostalgia / betting on actual hardware the (partially ST community derived) MiSTer project is just great for this kind of stuff - I guess you know it - if you will a micro PDP-11 surrogate. I haven't tried this core myself yet but I will eventually: https://github.com/MiSTer-Enhanced/PDP2011_MiSTer", "context": "", "use_case": "Retro computer emulation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hatari \u2013 Online Atari ST/STE/TT/Falcon Emulator"}, {"id": 756855683, "item_id": 47303480, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47303480", "by": "tombert", "date": "2026-03-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I forked the main MiSTer binary due to some disagreements I had with Sorg", "excerpt": "A few things. I've been on/off working on a Forth compiler for the NES. It will be open source soon enough but I'm not happy with the code right now as it's extremely messy, repetitive, and buggy, but I think it's turning out ok. I am resisting the urge to use Claude to do all the work for me, since that's depressing. I've also been working on a clone of the old podcasting website TalkShoe. It's nothing too complicat", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (March 2026)"}, {"id": 752824449, "item_id": 47051528, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47051528", "by": "agg23", "date": "2026-02-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "ported others for the Analogue Pocket and MiSTer project", "excerpt": "I wasn't taught directly (and don't know what I'm doing still), but I've had a lot of fun learning about retro hardware design as a software engineer. I've made a few of my own reverse engineered designs, trying to synthesize how the real designers would have built the chip at the time, and ported others for the Analogue Pocket and MiSTer project. Here's an example of my implementation of the original Tamagotchi: htt", "context": "software engineer", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Can a Computer Science Student Be Taught to Design Hardware?"}, {"id": 735277712, "item_id": 45954857, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45954857", "by": "leeter", "date": "2025-11-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "That has been tuned so it's capable of running the AREA5150 demo", "excerpt": "Honestly? I expected this to be talking about the MiSTer project FPGA core[1]. That has been tuned so it's capable of running the AREA5150 demo[2] which is an insane challenge (AFAIK the timings of the v20 break that demo). Not saying this isn't cool, but it's definitely not what I was expecting. [1] https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/PCXT_MiSTer [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOmcgp99fEk", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "FPGA Based IBM-PC-XT"}]}