Byte Sized Facts ep 1 - the first console and computer with 16bit CPUs

[@nathandaniels4823]

I loved the video format and probably 50% was info I’d never heard before! Definitely down to see more of this type of vid. Hopefully the shorter format is also a time saver for you.

[@InglebardGaming]

I was hoping it would take less time to make, but it didn't, lol. I spent so much time gathering pictures, recording footage and all that it took about the same amount of time as the average video. I'd still like to do more, but we'll have to see how this one does. It's not off to a great start, but sometimes they recover, so who knows.

[@atomicskull6405]

You misunderstand how the CP-1610 instruction set and memory addressing works. The CP-1610 can use 16 bit, 10 bit or 8 bit wide external memory, most CP-1610 instructions only use the first 10 bits with the remaining 6 bits not used when 16-bit external memory is used, a few instructions do use the full 16-bits. In the Intellivision the cartridge ROM is 10 bits wide so as not to waste space on the majority of the CP-1610 instructions. The few 16-bit long instructions do need to use two 10-bit addresses to store the instructions but overall using a 10-bit wide ROM saves on ROM memory. The CP-1610 is basically a PDP-11 minicomputer on a chip, the instructions and programming are very similar to a PDP-11 which most programmers at that time were familiar with. Internally the Intellvision's RAM is 16 bits wide except for a 256 byte 8 bit wide scratchpad memory that is used for game values such as scores and object positions.

[@atomicskull6405]

Also the Intellivision has a sort of primitive BIOS called the Executive ROM that contains some graphics images like the commonly used running man as well as bits of code for scrolling the playfield, moving objects around, collision detection, reading the controllers and other common game functions.

[@atomicskull6405]

The CP-1610 is actually a lot more powerful than you would think based on it's clock speed. One neat trick it can pull off is called GRAM Sequencing, a sort of primitive blitter where the CPU directly edits the tiles to generate moving objects. Most original Mattel Electronics titles used this trick to generate objects onscreen with no flicker. Kai Magazine even managed to do paralax scrolling with overlapping playfields using this trick in their game Anthropomorphic Force.

[@piccolo1976]

Liking your research here, lots of interesting facts. Some computer and console history is truly fascinating, like how the Amiga could have been an Atari computer at one point. These subjects are worth exploring on your channel.

[@RazorEdge2006]

Another "byte" sized fact: The first 16-bit arcade game was Get A Way, released by Universal in 1978. This was the first 16-bit gaming system.

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

The 3DO versions of MK2 and Tomb Raider currently in development are very impressive IMO. Mortal Kombat in particular looks better than the PS1/Sat versions to me.

[@InglebardGaming]

Yeah, I've been following MK 2 for it, it looks pretty impressive. Much better than any commercial games for the system that used digitized characters in them, that's for sure.

[@PlasticCogLiquid]

The one that really burns is removing the scaling hardware from the Genesis, I would've really liked that.

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

Nintendo not doing color for the Virtual Boy.

[@MarginalSC]

More colors would've been a good call too.

[@InglebardGaming]

Not entirely sure why you brought that up in this video, but yeah, I would love to see the original Genesis/MD as they designed it with a larger palette and hardware sprite scaling. They might have either been dominant in that generation with those things or Nintendo might have engineered the SNES with different capabilities in response.

[@PlasticCogLiquid]

@@InglebardGaming Because the video brought it to mind.

[@ostiariusalpha]

​@@InglebardGamingIDK, Nintendo was already a year behind schedule in bringing out the SFC in Japan as it was, it would likely have been too late in the development cycle to change anything more.

[@Mamiya645]

What timing! This very Tuesday the 29th marks the 30th anniversary of the Mega Drive's release in Japan.

[@kalvinravn8431]

Yes I like the information you gave us in this video, thank you.

[@RenzoGamesAndMetalMusic]

My first computer (It was in our house before I was even born) was the TI-99; I remember playing the heck out of it from 3 y.o. until idk I was 6 or 7. Hunt the Wumpuss (not sure if I got that spelling right) baffled me... What's funny though, is when I got an NES for Christmas, I wasn't excited because I thought it was going to be like the TI-99... Once it got hooked up... I was hooked. I think I have that somewhere on VHS... Gotta find it.

[@InglebardGaming]

Yeah, the NES would have been a gigantic upgrade from the TI99 for gaming!

[@ecdhe]

I actually knew of these facts. I wrote demos on many of these systems (Atari VCS, Atari 8-bit, Amiga, Atari Lynx, MSX). Actually I went through the exercise of trying to port a demo I wrote on the MSX to the ColecoVision as it's the same GPU. But other things differ, from the BIOS (address used to call the VDP) to I/O (joystick input) or interrupts (how to define a vblank handler)

[@ostiariusalpha]

The recent Dragon Quest homebrew port for the Intellivision is an amazing hardware pusher; honestly plays better than the MSX and MSX2 versions.

[@atomicskull6405]

Kai Magazine even managed toi get soiftware paralax with overlapping playfields on an intellivision.

[@MarginalSC]

Apropo of nothing, but I do wonder how much in common the tools used for Golden Axe and the Sega Pico have. That tablet looks suspiciously close...

[@carlwillows]

Crazy how Coleco has the best version of Zaxxon

[@InglebardGaming]

I don't like the Coleco version as much. During the scenes where you have to match the height of the enemies, its way tougher to tell where they are. And also, the 'good' C64 version (there are two) is better than all of these 😁

[@ByteSizedSociety]

Hark! I am beckoned!

[@InglebardGaming]

Welcome, you of the special name 😁

[@Fattydeposit]

I'm pretty sure I've heard the Motorola 68K being described as being kinda technically 32-bit owing to its fatass address bus. Kids today must think we're all clinically insane.

[@InglebardGaming]

Yeah, it's how the Atari ST got its name... ST stood for sixteen/thirty-two. I miss the old days of wildly different hardware. Kinda sucks how homogenized everything is now.