You know, thinking about this, we just don't know enough about the X8.
First off, why was it created in the first place? Hats off to Frank for doing it, the guy is just a super genius, to be sure. But was it something like "USB is too hard? Hold my beer." or what? I'm a bit puzzled by its very existence, while still being impressed by it. (12 Mhz!)
@The 8-Bit Guy, you said there was an emulator. As part of this feedback process about how to go forward, can't we get access to the emulator?
You said 64K of RAM yes? So are the ROMs switchable, a la the C64? How is the RAM vs ROM treated then, if not very similar to the C64?
Have you fully ported Petscii Robots to the X8? What were the pain points, if any, in that process? Or were the X16 and X8 versions simply developed in parallel?
In all honesty, the X8 does really muddy the waters. Doing both the X16 and the X8 just seems like "too much". The choice, as hard as it is, probably need to come down to: which one do you kill? And at this moment, I for one, am not sure which.
Like, would snes controllers be usable with usb adapters, on the X8? Like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Tomee-SNES-USB-Controller-Adapter-pc/dp/B00HM3QCT6 Is the IEC port really needed?
I haven't done much sound work yet, but is the Yamaha chip critical?
And USB is more tantalizing than old, tired PS/2, to be honest.
As I think about this more, it seems like we're talking more and more about a VERA ecosystem. It's doing the I/O, the sound, the graphics, and basically the X8 sounds like a VERA ate a 65C02, met a nice USB interface and moved out on its own.
So if you basically have the "VERA ecosystem" and it's processor agnostic, then you have the X8, as a standalone, but then you'll want to make add-on cards for C64, the Vic 20, and why not other 65xx systems, like the Apple II, and others? Maybe just embracing the VERA is the way forward.