Hello, before I'm describe my question I want to say that I've found a game that attracts gamers to live. It named Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, is there anybody already have play it, are you succeed, and how long did it take you ? I've watch several videos, they seem to be breaking down, because most of them play for more than two hours, and are not at the finish line, or go straight back to the origin.
Ok, my situation is following: Recently I've got a toy from my grandmother, it makes feel that she is so lovely. The toy is like the picture below, maybe it is. So, I'm curious about how the early handheld video games from the 70's and 80's worked. You know, those small games with a LCD0821 display with "fixed elements" meaning it was hard wired for one (or a small number of) specific games(s). For instance,
this one:
or this:
Specifically, what type of micro controllers did these games use? As I recall, there was usually one big epoxy "blob" at the center of the board which probably controlled everything. So my question is, what was inside this blob? Was it a small standard microcontroller with a ROM running the actual game, or was it a custom CPU/controller for every design? Or maybe it wasn't even a CPU but more like a simple state machine hardwired for the game in question? I realize the answer may depend on the particular game.
Has the design/schematics for any of these games been released or is there any good books/references about how they were made? Finally, what tools were used to design microcontrollers like this? Was it based on something like VHDL/Verilog synthesis, or was it a more low-level approach with wiring the individual elements?
Thanks all.
Ok, my situation is following: Recently I've got a toy from my grandmother, it makes feel that she is so lovely. The toy is like the picture below, maybe it is. So, I'm curious about how the early handheld video games from the 70's and 80's worked. You know, those small games with a LCD0821 display with "fixed elements" meaning it was hard wired for one (or a small number of) specific games(s). For instance,
this one:
or this:
Specifically, what type of micro controllers did these games use? As I recall, there was usually one big epoxy "blob" at the center of the board which probably controlled everything. So my question is, what was inside this blob? Was it a small standard microcontroller with a ROM running the actual game, or was it a custom CPU/controller for every design? Or maybe it wasn't even a CPU but more like a simple state machine hardwired for the game in question? I realize the answer may depend on the particular game.
Has the design/schematics for any of these games been released or is there any good books/references about how they were made? Finally, what tools were used to design microcontrollers like this? Was it based on something like VHDL/Verilog synthesis, or was it a more low-level approach with wiring the individual elements?
Thanks all.
Last edited by a moderator:
![Luca [OT]](/data/avatars/s/3235/3235113.jpg?1697196734){kind=avatar}
