Building a 'Homebrew' Video Game Console
March 14, 2019 3:24 PM   Subscribe

Portuguese developer Sérgio Vieira explains how he built his own gaming console.
posted by Foci for Analysis (9 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
impressive! 👾
posted by exogenous at 4:49 PM on March 14, 2019


Wow I've been building a Game Boy Zero but this is some next level shit.
posted by bradbane at 5:32 PM on March 14, 2019 [1 favorite]


Interesting that the main CPU is a humble 8-bit Z80, whereas the graphics circuitry contains a 32-bit Atmel microcontroller.
posted by acb at 5:59 PM on March 14, 2019 [1 favorite]


acb: see also the L-Star, which uses a real 6502 but virtualizes most of the other chips with a 32-bit multicore Propeller. I think it's nifty!
posted by qbject at 6:25 PM on March 14, 2019 [2 favorites]


There is something deliciously decadent about bit-banging composite video output, especially in color. Although he does say he's working on a new FPGA-based graphics system in Verilog or VHDL.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:45 PM on March 14, 2019


Similar to this, 8-bit Guy is working on his own 65816-based C64-esque system.
posted by dumbland at 8:39 PM on March 14, 2019 [2 favorites]


If the idea of messing about with a homebrew 8-bit console appeals to you, but actually making the HW is not your primary interest, maybe the Pico-8 is for you. It's kind of an emulator for an 8-bit console that never was, so you can program it on your PC and generate HTML5 versions of your game so even people who don't own Pico-8 can play your creations in their browser.
posted by Harald74 at 12:08 AM on March 15, 2019 [2 favorites]


That brought back many memories! Well done Sérgio
posted by andrewmc at 1:23 AM on March 15, 2019


The author really showed off their skill when they coded up breakout in z80 assembly in ‘a few days’. That’s certainly a talent to aspire to.
posted by Kikujiro's Summer at 4:56 AM on March 15, 2019 [2 favorites]


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