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NFG Forums => GameSX - The Site => Topic started by: zedrein on February 25, 2009, 10:18:46 AM

Title: How game consoles work
Post by: zedrein on February 25, 2009, 10:18:46 AM
Video request: Just seeing if anyone can link me up to videos about the inner workings of video game consoles (more specifically, older consoles like the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, Sega Megadrive etc) I'd be interested to see some more technical jargon about how this things processed graphics and sound and such.

Thanks for your time!
Title: Re: How game consoles work
Post by: zedrein on February 26, 2009, 10:25:17 AM
Well surely there is some good videos out there?
Title: Re: How game consoles work
Post by: NFG on February 27, 2009, 05:14:04 PM
I think you're asking for something no one wants. 

Speaking only for myself, I hate watching videos.  I want to drink from the information firehose, not have some chump drone at me, spoon-feeding me information at his pace instead of mine.  If I want to know how a console works (which is a very vague question) I'll go read about it.  I know how google works.

That said, what would a video show you beyond "this is where the AV cable goes..."?  Closeups of chips and a narrator saying "This boring black lump is where all the magic is!"

Egads, I'd die of bordom before the title screen faded to black.
Title: Re: How game consoles work
Post by: ken_cinder on February 27, 2009, 05:55:49 PM
The only way to really learn, is to go to the library and take out a few dozen books on everything from electricity to micro-controllers.

Then, open your wallet and buy at least these items.

1: Oscilloscope
2: Logic Probe
3: EPROM Reader
4: Frequency Counter
5: Spectrum Analyzer

Hell the list is much longer than that, but it's a start.

I'll be brutally honest here, this is one hell of a loaded question, with nowhere near a simple answer. No one person generally creates all the hardware that drives a console, nor does 1 person even making it understand every aspect of it.