Raman_Anand@mindlink.UUCP (Raman Anand) (03/31/91)
> DXB132@psuvm.psu.edu writes: > > Msg-ID: <91090.160052DXB132@psuvm.psu.edu> > Posted: 31 Mar 91 21:00:52 GMT > > Org. : Penn State University > > In article <13940@darkstar.ucsc.edu>, theacct@bill.ucsc.edu (El hombre de > pelo > estranja) says: > > >I don't know about the NES, but I've heard rumors of a "GAME BOY EMULATOR", > > Jez San and his Argonauts wrote a game boy emulator for the amiga to > speed their development. It will not be released. Who wants to play > gameboy games anyway? > > -- Dan Babcock I wouldn't mind having a "gameboy" emulator on my amiga. Raman -- ******************************************************************** * "I believe in a God which doesn't need heavy financing.", Fletch * * Raman Anand * * CIS: 73767,2161 * * USENET: 73767.2161@compuserve.com or Raman_Anand@mindlink.UUCP * * * * VANCOUVER, BEAUTIFUL BRITISH COLUMBIA * * (604) 591-5344 (Home) - (604) 522-1137 (Work) * ********************************************************************
ai065@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Thomas Hill) (03/31/91)
If you see a few versions of this message running around the net please excuse them as pws.bull.com seems to have vaporized the two I sent to comp. sys.amiga.emulations. Anyway, I thought I'd try it again here... The story: A friend of mine just picked up a 500 for small business and game use. The Nintendo goes into storage. He'd like to continue playing his Nintendo games that he has a lot of time invested in. Anyway, after I explained the obvious to him about the problems this brings up, I ran upon an interesting idea: Is there anybody working on a Nintendo emulator for the Amiga? My knowledge of the inner workings of the Nintendo are limited so I'd like to hear from somebody who knows what is consists of. How hard would it be to rig up a board to download the carts onto disk for future loading? Of course this is only half the battle. Anybody know how complex a Nintendo's hardware is? I would assume it's an 8 bit running something like a 6502 and not much beyond that. I would also venture that it's an easier system to emulate because of it's limited IO versus something like the 64. I'd like to hear more about the Nintendo's hardware and answers to the following questions that come to mind: What does the motherboard consist of? How much RAM does the system have and what kind of "expasion" can a cartridge add to this? What, if any, built-in OS (software functions) does the system contain and what kind of tricks does it use to get by (IE: bank switching, etc). Very interested in hearing more on all of these points. Tom -- Why purchase a MAC when an Amiga with the same CPU will run 99% of all __ MAC software..and FASTER at that?! The same can be said of the IBM and __/// Atari computers, and I can run those in a window. IBM's greatest sales \XX/ tool is ignorance on the consumer's part. Only the Amiga! DEVO Anyone?
yorkw@stable.ecn.purdue.edu (Willis F York) (03/31/91)
ai065@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Thomas Hill) writes: > The story: A friend of mine just picked up a 500 for small business and >game use. The Nintendo goes into storage. He'd like to continue playing his >Nintendo games that he has a lot of time invested in. Anyway, after I >explained the obvious to him about the problems this brings up, I ran upon an >interesting idea: Is there anybody working on a Nintendo emulator for the >Amiga? My knowledge of the inner workings of the Nintendo are limited so I'd >like to hear from somebody who knows what is consists of. How hard would it >be to rig up a board to download the carts onto disk for future loading? Of >course this is only half the battle. Anybody know how complex a Nintendo's >hardware is? I would assume it's an 8 bit running something like a 6502 and >not much beyond that. I would also venture that it's an easier system to >emulate because of it's limited IO versus something like the 64. I'd like to >hear more about the Nintendo's hardware and answers to the following >questions that come to mind: What does the motherboard consist of? How much >RAM does the system have and what kind of "expasion" can a cartridge add to >this? What, if any, built-in OS (software functions) does the system contain >and what kind of tricks does it use to get by (IE: bank switching, etc). Very >interested in hearing more on all of these points. Interesting, but i hear the Nintindo cartridges have some sort ot anti-pirating chip, (Priority chip?) (Pripority.., Copyrighted!) Be nifty idea, how about a Nintendo Construction Kit where ya can Create Nintendo Games with ya AMIGA!. Bet Nintindo get REAL pissed off at that!, but i think that's what that special chip does, prevents third party games. Heard Nintendo was getting sued because of it. (By Atari!) Nintindo has a 68000? No.. That's a Sega Genisis.... What Does a nintindo have? . Be nifty, I'd proberly get one if they existed. How about a "drive" for the nintendo so ya can .... Nope.. I can't continue that line of thought, it may get someone sued. Well C-ya. . -- yorkw@ecn.purdue.edu aka Willis F York aka Squid on IRC The only thing that Apple invented is the idea to borrow Xerox-invented ideas. (Hope THIS sig don't insult anyone!) :^)
DXB132@psuvm.psu.edu (03/31/91)
Nintendo uses a 6502 clone and has 2K of RAM. Don't know what gfx hardware it has (can't be too much!). Probably no ROM... -- Dan Babcock
theacct@bill.ucsc.edu (El hombre de pelo estranja) (03/31/91)
In article <22722@know.pws.bull.com> ai065@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Thomas Hill) writes: > > If you see a few versions of this message running around the net please >excuse them as pws.bull.com seems to have vaporized the two I sent to comp. >sys.amiga.emulations. Anyway, I thought I'd try it again here... <lots of stuff deleted, I have a picky newsserver> >explained the obvious to him about the problems this brings up, I ran upon an >interesting idea: Is there anybody working on a Nintendo emulator for the >Amiga? My knowledge of the inner workings of the Nintendo are limited so I'd >like to hear from somebody who knows what is consists of. How hard would it <and more deleted! :) > I don't know about the NES, but I've heard rumors of a "GAME BOY EMULATOR", I don't know how they work the interface and all that yummy stuff, but it seems to me that Nintendo would get kind of pissed. Dunno. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daniel Jalkut -- Amiga guy | "And didn't I read that these devices snozer@toast.santa-cruz.ca.us /// | go two way and everything I do or say 408-429-8628 -- Day /// | is goin' on a tape somewhere right now 408-423-6926 -- Night \XX/ | planted in my cavities?" -- LARD -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
mykes@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG (Mike Schwartz) (03/31/91)
In article <yorkw.670381352@stable.ecn.purdue.edu> yorkw@stable.ecn.purdue.edu (Willis F York) writes: >Interesting, but i hear the Nintindo cartridges have some sort ot >anti-pirating chip, (Priority chip?) (Pripority.., Copyrighted!) > >Be nifty idea, how about a Nintendo Construction Kit where ya can >Create Nintendo Games with ya AMIGA!. > Some nintendo carts have additional hardware (the pirate chip is not an issue) to allow for special hardware tricks. Emulating these in software would be a chore. You'd have to break open one of every cart to see what the hardware was doing. >Bet Nintindo get REAL pissed off at that!, but i think that's what that >special chip does, prevents third party games. > Prevents games only from working on a nintendo, not with some sort of emulator. >Heard Nintendo was getting sued because of it. (By Atari!) > True. >Nintindo has a 68000? No.. That's a Sega Genisis.... >What Does a nintindo have? >. 6502 > >How about a "drive" for the nintendo so ya can .... > Sharp makes a nintendo with a floppy drive. It is sold in Japan, but I don't know if you can get it in the US. >Nope.. I can't continue that line of thought, it may get someone sued. > >Well C-ya. >. > >-- >yorkw@ecn.purdue.edu aka Willis F York aka Squid on IRC >The only thing that Apple invented is the idea to borrow Xerox-invented ideas. >(Hope THIS sig don't insult anyone!) :^) -- ******************************************************** * Appendix A of the Amiga Hardware Manual tells you * * everything you need to know to take full advantage * * of the power of the Amiga. And it is only 10 pages! * ********************************************************
<DXB132@psuvm.psu.edu> (04/01/91)
In article <13940@darkstar.ucsc.edu>, theacct@bill.ucsc.edu (El hombre de pelo estranja) says: >I don't know about the NES, but I've heard rumors of a "GAME BOY EMULATOR", Jez San and his Argonauts wrote a game boy emulator for the amiga to speed their development. It will not be released. Who wants to play gameboy games anyway? -- Dan Babcock
kuch@reed.edu (04/02/91)
I took a Nintendo NES (or whatever the acronym is) apart once and was less than impressed. The CPU is not a 68000...it's an old MOS 6502! The Commodore-made chip that went in the Apple ][, the Atari 8-bits, the VIC and the C64. There are a couple of custom chips which I believe only Nintendo has the access too. I believe the specs are something like 280 x 160 screen resolution, on the order of 50 colors (maximum, a real value of 24 wouldn't be too surprising), and a few voices of low-fi sound. Basically, there's no function- ality there that wasn't in the Atari 5200 (basically a disemboweled Atari computer) during its brief and ill-fated stay on the market about 8 years ago. Their programming skills seem to have come a distance since then, but in the hardware zone, there's just not much to be impressed with...
dtiberio@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu (David Tiberio) (04/03/91)
In article <22722@know.pws.bull.com> ai065@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Thomas Hill) writes: > > If you see a few versions of this message running around the net please >excuse them as pws.bull.com seems to have vaporized the two I sent to comp. >sys.amiga.emulations. Anyway, I thought I'd try it again here... > > The story: A friend of mine just picked up a 500 for small business and >game use. The Nintendo goes into storage. He'd like to continue playing his >Nintendo games that he has a lot of time invested in. Anyway, after I >explained the obvious to him about the problems this brings up, I ran upon an >interesting idea: Is there anybody working on a Nintendo emulator for the >Amiga? My knowledge of the inner workings of the Nintendo are limited so I'd >like to hear from somebody who knows what is consists of. How hard would it >be to rig up a board to download the carts onto disk for future loading? Of >course this is only half the battle. Anybody know how complex a Nintendo's >hardware is? I would assume it's an 8 bit running something like a 6502 and >not much beyond that. I would also venture that it's an easier system to >emulate because of it's limited IO versus something like the 64. I'd like to >hear more about the Nintendo's hardware and answers to the following >questions that come to mind: What does the motherboard consist of? How much >RAM does the system have and what kind of "expasion" can a cartridge add to >this? What, if any, built-in OS (software functions) does the system contain >and what kind of tricks does it use to get by (IE: bank switching, etc). Very >interested in hearing more on all of these points. > > Tom > >-- > Why purchase a MAC when an Amiga with the same CPU will run 99% of all > __ MAC software..and FASTER at that?! The same can be said of the IBM and > __/// Atari computers, and I can run those in a window. IBM's greatest sales > \XX/ tool is ignorance on the consumer's part. Only the Amiga! DEVO Anyone? It is probably possible to use an A2000 to emulate the Nintendo, if the A2000 has a Bridgeboard. There IS an IBM Nintendo emulator board, so theoretically it could be used in an IBM slot of an A2000. Most of the Nintendo development is done on IBMs. One of my friends did a Big Bird program which has digiized voices of Big Bird for the Nintendo, and it was written in assembly. -- David Tiberio SUNY Stony Brook 2-3481 AMIGA DDD-MEN -- Any students from SUNY Oswego? Please let me know! :) -- Looking to buy a used 68000 CPU and 1.3 Kickstart
David.Plummer@p0.f70.n140.z1.FIDONET.ORG (David Plummer) (04/03/91)
What does a Nintendo cost, about $99 Canadian? $75 American? I really can't see any point... unless you're thinking about a software one, which I think would be highly impossible. Does Nintendo have composite out? Plug it into the back of your monitor. -- David Plummer - via FidoNet node 1:140/22 UUCP: ...!herald!weyr!70.0!David.Plummer Domain: David.Plummer@p0.f70.n140.z1.FIDONET.ORG Standard Disclaimers Apply...
flazar@amiglynx.UUCP (Frank Lazar) (04/04/91)
Well, since the Sega Genesis games are developed on Amigas, I could see a Genesis emulator working well, say something to plug into the disk drives and a disk to start it up? I did buy Golden Axe which was ported to the Amiga. And I just saw Immortal ported to Nintendo!
droberts@theborg.mlb.fl.us (Dan Roberts) (04/06/91)
If I remember correctly.. I was reading a magazine that compared the game machines. The Nintendo runs off of a 65C02 chip.
ifarqhar@sunb.mqcc.mq.oz.au (Ian Farquhar) (04/09/91)
In article <m0jNi4R-0003PXC@reed.edu> kuch@reed.bitnet (Jerry Kuch) writes: >I took a Nintendo NES (or whatever the acronym is) apart once and was less >than impressed. The CPU is not a 68000...it's an old MOS 6502! The >Commodore-made chip that went in the Apple ][, the Atari 8-bits, the VIC and >the C64. No, not quite. Nintendo re-engineered the 6502, removing some operations and optimising others. It is not a stock-standard 6502 by any means. >There are a couple of custom chips which I believe only Nintendo has the >access too. From memory, there is the CPU, the PPU (Picture Processing Unit), the CIC (lockout chip), and a couple of TTL gates, plus 2K SRAM for the CPU, and 2K SRAM for the PPU. Nintendo, as usual, made heavy use of custom silicon. >I believe the specs are something like 280 x 160 screen resolution, >on the order of 50 colors (maximum, a real value of 24 wouldn't be too >surprising), 56 colors. The carts are bankswitched, and must include a CIC chip. If the CIC is not present, the system continually resets itself. Of course, this is easily circumvented, as the CIC serves no other useful purpose and can be disregarded in a clone. The PPU would be easy to clone. The major hassle would be Ninetndo's legal department. Even people who have cloned the CIC chip, or produced games based on a cute little workaround that disabled the CIC chip (Nintendo recently plugged that hole), have been sued, and Nintendo's legal department is something you do not want to tackle. However, as many people have pointed out, the Nintendo is just too cheap to bother cloning. I doubt that you could manage to do it in software, and the hardware would just cost too much to make it economically feasable. -- Ian Farquhar Phone : + 61 2 805-9400 Office of Computing Services Fax : + 61 2 805-7433 Macquarie University NSW 2109 Also : + 61 2 805-7420 Australia EMail : ifarqhar@suna.mqcc.mq.oz.au
kuch@reed.edu (04/10/91)
Recently someone posted that the 6502 used in the Nintendo system is a modified version with "some instructions removed, and others optimized". Does anyone know: a) What is the original source of this information? b) Exactly what removals and optimiztions took place? To think that the 6502 was being changed a fair span of time after anyone would have considered it mainstream...