Video gaming and computing has come a very long
way from the good ol' 8-bit NES days. From the Atari 8-bit line of
computers, to the Sega Genesis, a wide variety of powerful, innovative
video game consoles and computers have been made in the past. Like any
other computer, these consoles utilize various microprocessors.
For the systems/retro computers I own/am interested in, they have the following microprocessors
Due to when these video game consoles and retro computers were released (mostly from the 1980s to the late 1990s), these retro platforms have little to no copy-protection nor BIOS security, making the ability to run unsigned code very easy. By utilizing a flashcart (for cartridge-based systems), floppy discs (for computer-based consoles), or using burnt CD-Rs (for early CD-based systems), these consoles can easily be made to run code. For decades, many young software and electronic engineers have reversed-engineered these simple systems in order to learn how they tick, from both a hardware and software engineering perspective. Not only have these young engineers written their own technical documents on these platforms, but also people online have archived official technical documents. Using all of this information, homebrew development is possible, as well as reverse engineering some of the games to make modifications I work currently work with the platforms and microprocessor architectures below in my hobby homebrew development. The platforms I work with |
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