8086 based game console

[amd64pager]

I was currently thinking up of an 8086-based game console.
It has many 8086es:
The maths module 8086
the graphics module 8086
the input module 8086
the logic module 8086
the main 8086

A game will contain 256k EPROMs for each of the 8086 processors.
They communicate through the 64k shared memory module and alert each other by using the Interrupt Control Bus(which is like the PIC).

Whats your opinion on it?

[Solar]

Whats your opinion on it?

I'll pass.

Abysmal performance, abysmal tools and language support. Probably more abysses to be found in that concept, but those two are enough for me.

This is the 2010's, you know? PS3 has the Cell, XBox 360 has the Xenon, even Wii has the Broadway... and you want to build with 8086's? They aren't even produced anymore for all that I know...

[Coty]

I'll pass to. If we had to go backwards in technology, I'd want to use 6502 processors. (Like Atari's, NES and comidore64)

[Combuster]

If you want to home-bake a console, grab yourself some AVRs as they are pretty much the only CPU that's actually on sale for consumer electronics. Performance will still be dreadful.

[CrypticalCode0]

I done a dual Z80 setup some months ago.(2 Z80A's from sharp)

Currently playing with some MC68SEC000 working around the missing _BGACK signal.

You sparked my interrest but really what should it do?
I personally find 8bit computers fun to fool around with but 16bit systems lack that elegance IMHO. (we all know what a 8086 is)

What bus sharing scheme are you thinking of?
How many exactly and at what clock rate?
What ammount of RAM in total, shared and none shared?
What would the memory map look like for each core?

Edit: recently acquired another 4 Z80A from Sharp, so i now have a total of 6 spare Z80A's.

[AndrewAPrice]

I think a modern sub-$200 single-core computer with an entry level GPU and processor could out perform 5 8086 CPUs. Stick it in a mini-case, write a custom OS for it (or a frontend over another OS for example Linux (which you get hardware accelerated drivers/OpenGL/etc for free)) and there you go

[MasterLee]

Ever heard of FM Towns Marty?
The design sounds a little bit like design of the HIVE-Projekt except that they use Parallax Propeller instead.

[amd64pager]

Sorry for replying so late,

I now am focusing on a game platform based on Intel Atom or ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore with a PowerVR SGX543MP4+ GPU.

Which do you think is better?Is the Intel Atom better or ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore is better?

[Solar]

I'd say the FooInc CPU v3 is better...

Better for what?

Price / Performance?

Maximum performance?

Future availability?

Future development (so your Game Console 2 won't have to be a complete redesign)?

Availability of development tools?

Availability of documentation?

Applicability for a game console?

What is your question?

[Thomas]

Hi amd64pager ,

I have set up a site for Game Console development. see : http://openconsoles.org . I am in the process of writing tutorials /articles for the same . But professional commitments take up most of my time so do not expect anything soon . Hoping that this does help you in your quest


--Thomas

[MasterLee]

Sorry for replying so late,

I now am focusing on a game platform based on Intel Atom or ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore with a PowerVR SGX543MP4+ GPU.

Which do you think is better?Is the Intel Atom better or ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore is better?

Xilinx Spartan. So you can postpone the decission until the end of days.

[amd64pager]

@thomas - nice site,but whenever i try to access articles it says "database unavailable".
edit:Is anyone allowed write/post articles for it?(I got a lot of free time)

[Thomas]

Hi amd64pager ,
Sorry for late response. Perils of purchasing a cheap web hosting service ( I have 25 gb space for nearly 25$ per year) ! This one is shared hosting .

I will purchase a vps from a slightly more reputed vendor and start working on it... Sure I will give you an account once I purchase it . With the present vendor to get anything done , I have to raise a complaint and follow it up regularly to ensure that everything is working fine .

--Thomas

[OSwhatever]

Coin-ups are funny piece of hardware because speaking of old under performing processors. I think there is data base somewhere on the net where you can see what hardware they have. Even in late 90s and the beginning of 2000 they still often used 68000 or z80 processors, together with slave processors.

Now the arcade game industry is having harder times but it is interesting to see how conservative the industry is when it comes hardware. The coin-up was basically having its golden years in the 80s and the HW is basically based on that era.

[Owen]

Modern day coin-ops are almost all one of

• Commodity PC in a big box with a screen
• Console in a big box with a screen, and maybe more RAM