8-bit misconceptions -- a little rant

[Reaperman]

Sure we could fight this tooth and nail, but there is another option.

We could play along...

 

But this isn't to be taken lightly--if we're considering scaling systems based on how much better or worse than NES they are, this is going to get complicated real fast.

Don't worry though, the combined intelligence of the forum has the power to do this right.

Someday the internet will look back on what we're about to do here and totally respect the effort that went into it.

They will surely thank us.

 

I'll start it off:

• Wii is now a 2.75-bit system, as NES is exactly 2.909 times as good as Wii on any given day.
• Neo Geo on the other hand, has little to be worried about--it's just been upgraded to 64-bit.
• Oddly, despite having very similar internals, Neo Geo CD is only a 4.5-bit system.

 

Edited January 11, 2014 by Reaperman

[Keatah]

I don't believe any one single system can be a center reference point - unless you are a fanboi.

 

NES? Why not SNES? Or Apple II or Atari ST. Genesis? Xbox 1?

[Keatah]

I think the old adage of how many bits the CPU is will continue to define how many bits a system is. The ability to equate bits = power is going to apply less and less as we get into CPUs with more cores, aux processing units, bigger and badder graphics chips.

 

In the case of the Apple II I would loosely propose sticking with 8 bits for 6502 CPU. And then add a second number which would be an aggregate score of all the other bits of the other subsystems like:

 

Graphics (memory address bus) + (internal register size) or simply # of bits needed to define color.

Sound (bits used to define a sample or bits used to set-up a waveform)

CPU (internal)

Memory (address bus size)

Memory (bit transfer per clock)

Disk Storage (bit transfer per clock)

 

Categorizing like this will need a little more research to pigeon hole parts that have no "bitness" into a chart that's all about bitness. How far do you want to take it?

Edited January 11, 2014 by Keatah