Show HN: A retro video game console I've been working on in my free time

#1

Post by pkiller » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 8:25 PM UTC

Show HN: A retro video game console I've been working on in my free time
internalregister.github.io

Re: Show HN: A retro video game console I've been working on in my free time

#2

Post by kgwxd » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 9:29 PM UTC

This is the coolest thing I've seen posted on HN in years, very cool work.

I've been playing with Atari 2600 programming on and off for the past few years and it is so fun programming directly against the specific hardware. I can't help but occasionally wonder if I could piece together a similar system, but I have 0 experience with electronics. I can only imagine how satisfying it must be to actually pull it off.

Re: Show HN: A retro video game console I've been working on in my free time

#3

Post by pkiller » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 9:35 PM UTC

kgwxd wrote: post #2

This is the coolest thing I've seen posted on HN in years, very cool work. I've been playing with Atari 2600 programming on and off for the past few years and it is so fun programming directly against the specific hardware. I can't help but occasionally wonder if I could piece together a similar system, but I have 0 experience with electronics. I can only imagine how satisfying it must be to actually pull it off.

Thanks a lot :)

It really is super satisfying to get this far, I still turn it on sometimes just to check if it really works.

And I also had zero experience with electronics (and I still don't know as much as I should...), so yeah I think you could piece together something like this. :)

Re: Show HN: A retro video game console I've been working on in my free time

#4

Post by stevenjohns » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 9:41 PM UTC

This is something I wish I'd be able to do one day, but every time I look into getting into electronics I get overwhelmed.

Can you recommend the materials you used when learning? Books or resources etc.

This was a really interesting read, thanks for sharing.

Re: Show HN: A retro video game console I've been working on in my free time

#5

Post by abhishekjha » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 9:46 PM UTC

stevenjohns wrote: post #4

This is something I wish I'd be able to do one day, but every time I look into getting into electronics I get overwhelmed. Can you recommend the materials you used when learning? Books or resources etc. This was a really interesting read, thanks for sharing.

+1 from me. I am a lot interested in getting into hands on electronics and most of the times I end up falling a little too short as there is no support around where I live and I never really got a start. Would definitely love some inputs from people who are good at this.

Re: Show HN: A retro video game console I've been working on in my free time

#6

Post by pjmlp » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 9:47 PM UTC

Great achievement! Muito bom!

Re: Show HN: A retro video game console I've been working on in my free time

#7

Post by anitil » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 9:48 PM UTC

Wow! I was impressed to start with, but then the article and the build kept going, and going, and going .....

Re: Show HN: A retro video game console I've been working on in my free time

#8

Post by ArtWomb » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 9:49 PM UTC

pkiller wrote: post #3

kgwxd wrote: post #2

This is the coolest thing I've seen posted on HN in years, very cool work. I've been playing with Atari 2600 programming on and off for the past few years and it is so fun programming directly against the specific hardware. I can't help but occasionally wonder if I could piece together a similar system, but I have 0 experience with electronics. I can only imagine how satisfying it must be to actually pull it off.

Thanks a lot :) It really is super satisfying to get this far, I still turn it on sometimes just to check if it really works. And I also had zero experience with electronics (and I still don't know as much as I should...), so yeah I think you could piece together something like this. :)

I was a tad skeptical when I saw the title. But it looks like you really pulled it off. It took Atari engineers like 4 years ;)

Is it fast enough for multi-input / multi-player?

Re: Show HN: A retro video game console I've been working on in my free time

#9

Post by Pharmakon » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 9:50 PM UTC

This is so badass! Not only are you a good hacker, but your writing was a pleasure to read. I wish that I could upvote this more than once.

Re: Show HN: A retro video game console I've been working on in my free time

#10

Post by pkiller » Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 9:52 PM UTC

stevenjohns wrote: post #4

This is something I wish I'd be able to do one day, but every time I look into getting into electronics I get overwhelmed. Can you recommend the materials you used when learning? Books or resources etc. This was a really interesting read, thanks for sharing.

Thanks :)

Well nowadays there's a lot of material online, I did find a book interesting, though: "Make: Electronics", it teaches the basics in a very nice way.

Aside from that the key, I guess, is to start small and incrementally go for more and more complex stuff going towards things you like (video games, robotics, etc). If you consistently achieve small victories I think it's enough to stay motivated. Everytime I managed to overcome something, I took it as a victory (generating the video signal, getting a program to run on the CPU, etc) and this helped me get to the next problem to solve.

I started with discrete logic and an Arduino, went on to programming microncontrollers similar to the one on the Arduino and moved from there to CPUs, RAMs, FPGAs, etc.

Also Youtube channels like EEVblog and GreatScott! are great learning resources.