Albert Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 http://www.mindspring.com/~2600onachip/Electronics engineer Carlos Lopez has revealed his plans to create an Atari 2600 on a single chip. This chip will include the Television Interface Adapter (TIA), 6532 Parallel Interface Adapter (PIA), and the 6507 core, all wrapped up in a single FPGA chip. One of the goals of this project is to allow the manufacture of portable Atari 2600 systems without having to salvage parts from existing 2600 boards (such as the TIA). Please visit Carlos' 2600-on-a-Chip page for more detailed information about the project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveinabin Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 That is SO cool, I was wondering when someone would get round to this. I bet they won't make a PAL version though:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattG/Snyper2099 Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 Wow, if these chips cost $20 or less, I know that I'll order a couple as soon as they are available. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turnspike Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 Alright! Now we just need some dip.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ataribernie Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 Don't forget the alcohol! (isodrypyl) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcprs1 Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 THIS IS AN IDEA WHO'S TIME HAS COME!!!! This will so cool to have a portable 2600. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSmirk Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 I just came from reading his site, and man thats impressive.....as a "home brew" project goes this one is hardcore! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari-Jess Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 i mean once this is done just imagine how cheap and how small portable VCS's will be! I cant wait for this!! Im sure heckendorn (spelling?) will be pleased to hear this as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari-Jess Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 from the site: So far, the TIA and PIA synthesizable cores have been completed and are 100% functional. The TIA design took me approximately 150 hours and the PIA about 10. As for the 6502 core, I have completed the architecture (ALU, registers, datapath) and I'm working on the microcode, the most time consuming part of the design. that is very good news, its almost done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted August 22, 2002 Author Share Posted August 22, 2002 As for the 6502 core, I have completed the architecture (ALU, registers, datapath) and I'm working on the microcode, the most time consuming part of the design. I don't know if I'd go as far as "almost done", as the 6502 is the most complex piece of silicon in the 2600. It probably cost Motorola millions of dollars to develop back when it came out, and I bet it was done by more than one person. It's pretty damn cool that the tools exist today to allow someone to completely rework these chips from scratch and integrate them into one package. I really look forward to all sorts of cool projects once this is finished. I hope the final product isn't very expensive. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicJoke Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 This really is some exciting news! I, also, hope this single chip Atari is reasonably priced. If it is, it will give me a "giant push" towards building a portable 2600 for myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARIPITBULL Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 When it is done and someone makes a new portable 2600 system, I know I will be buying one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thelen Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 This is very cool !!!. does it make a difference a pal or ntsc machine. the roms make the difference i thought ?. thelen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveinabin Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 yeah, it will - TIA chips do come in PAL and NTSC varieties, so this will be NTSC only, I'd guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobf Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 yeah, it will - TIA chips do come in PAL and NTSC varieties, so this will be NTSC only, I'd guess. It wouldn't matter in a handheld tho would it eh? Bit like the PAL Vectrexes you often see on Ebay Steve/Jobf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobf Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 Oh wait. I suppose its a problem if all your carts are PAL, though of my 360+ carts, I'd say that a third are NTSC, so I'd still get a handheld if they were ever produced. Steve/Jobf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGuru Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 As for the 6502 core, I have completed the architecture (ALU, registers, datapath) and I'm working on the microcode, the most time consuming part of the design. If you need help coding some more VHDL, just drop me a line. Your project looks great ! What's the Xlinx part you've been using? Great job, OG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smf_4ever Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 This is so freakin cool...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassidy Nolen Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 Correct me if I am wrong, but... Wasn't the TV Boy (or whatever variations exsist) exactly this? I think it has been done, albeit not easy to find now. Might be worth looking into finding out how/what etc, has been recorded on it. I have to say that is the most amazing test fixture I have ever seen. I get confused by anything more than a 10 row breadboard, this dude had about a million jumpers. Oh if only I was not dislesxisc?... Cassidy BTW, Sign me up for a few when they are ready! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eduardo Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 Bravo! Carlos has a great project goin'on there, many of us were waiting for the right person to make this happen someday, and it seems as if the stars aligned in the right position. I'll buy that in a microsecond. Viva Mexico! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari freak 1 Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 This means they could reissue the vcs. You may say "But there is no market for that kind of thing" Yeah, but what if they make it a special order thing. Lets say some 30 year old still has there carts but not the machine. He could go down to his local wal-mart or what ever and order one. And they would probably be able to make them cheap. So it's not like it would be expensive for the company to make them. All they need to do is a circit board with the chip along with the cart port,switches and joystick ports and a built in combat and It's all made. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Mitchell Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 If you need help coding some more VHDL, just drop me a line. Dear OG: The quote that you are responding to was dumped off his site .. He has not posted here. Here's hoping for a portable VCS that can support the Cuttle Cart! Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGuru Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 The quote that you are responding to was dumped off his site .. He has not posted here. oops... Sorry about the confusion! In that case, I'll contact Carlos directly. Thanks, OG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris++ Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 The TV Boy is 100 games in one, and you don't need a separate VCS to play the games. I don't know enough about Stella hardware to remark whether this is the same thing as the 2600-in-a-Chip concept or not. The only way I've been able to play a lot of import games (Puzzy/Bit, for instance) has been on my TV Boy, so there must be some way of making PAL games work on an NTSC console/television, unless they were converted especially for the TV Boy. CF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorbytheRobot Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 [ It probably cost Motorola millions of dollars to develop back when it came out, and I bet it was done by more than one person. ..Al Just to nit-pick, the 6502 was actually designed by ex-Motorola engineers at a company called MOS technology. The original 6501 was too similar to the Motorola 6800 and they were sued. They made changes and produced the 6502. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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