Talks
Speakers
Events
Topics
Sign in
Home
Talks
Speakers
Events
Topics
Leaderboard
Use
Analytics
Sign in
Suggest modification to this talk
Title
Description
http://www.rubyconf.org.au Released in 1989 the Gameboy was the first handheld console of the Gameboy series to be released by Nintendo. It featured games such as Pokemon Red & Blue, Tetris, Super Mario Land and went on to sell 64 million units worldwide. My talk will be discussing what components make up a Gameboy, such as the CPU, RAM, Graphics and Game Cartridge. How each component works individually and how they work together to let trainers catch em all. Then how to replicate the behavior of the Gameboy in code to eventually make an emulator.
Date
Summarized using AI?
If this talk's summary was generated by AI, please check this box. A "Summarized using AI" badge will be displayed in the summary tab to indicate that the summary was generated using AI.
Show "Summarized using AI" badge on summary page
Summary
Markdown supported
In this talk, Colby Swandale discusses the intricacies of creating a Game Boy emulator in Ruby, emphasizing the components and functionalities that make the original Game Boy work. Released by Nintendo in 1989, the Game Boy was a pioneer in handheld gaming, known for iconic titles like Pokémon and Tetris. Swandale introduces his project and highlights the challenges faced in emulating the console's hardware through software. ### Key Points Discussed: - **Overview of the Game Boy**: Colby explains that the Game Boy, which sold 118 million units, featured a simple yet effective architecture including a CPU, memory, graphics, and game cartridges. - **Emulator Demonstration**: Swandale demonstrates his Ruby-based emulator, showing games like The Legend of Zelda and Tetris. Despite some graphical issues, the emulator can run these games, though it lacks optimization. - **Components of the Game Boy**: - **CPU**: He details the Sharp LR35902 processor, explaining how it executes instructions and describing its registers (e.g., A register, F register) and operands. - **Instructions**: The Game Boy’s CPU operates with 256 unique instructions, which are translated into OP codes for execution. - **Memory Management**: The Game Boy uses 64KB of memory controlled by a Memory Management Unit (MMU), managing different memory regions for programs and graphics. - **Picture Processing Unit (PPU)**: The PPU handles rendering graphics with specific modes for processing, emphasizing how it refreshes the display and manages sprites. - **Game Cartridges**: Swandale discusses the various types of cartridges used by the Game Boy that can store multiple megabytes of data and utilize memory bank controllers for efficient loading. ### Conclusion and Takeaways: Swandale wraps up by explaining that each component of the Game Boy works together harmoniously to deliver a gaming experience. He encourages the audience to explore more about the emulator through the GitHub repository he has provided. This talk not only highlights the technicalities involved in emulating such hardware but also showcases the significance of understanding the hardware’s architecture to achieve successful software simulation.
Suggest modifications
Cancel
