Re: [Re: [stella] Miniaturization (NES programming)]

Subject: Re: [Re: [stella] Miniaturization (NES programming)]
From: guy fellows <guyvf@xxxxxxx>
Date: 19 Apr 00 09:00:53 CDT
kurt.woloch@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> On April 19th, A. Davie wrote:

[snip]

> The Game Gear, by the way, is closely related to the Master
> System, hardware-wise, while the Game Boy Color to me 
> basically seems like a portable NES, maybe with a bit 
> more memory, but still the same color limitations. 

You have the SMS/GG relationship correct, but as far as
hardware is concerned, there is no relation between the
NES and GB. To start with, the NES runs on a 6502 processor;
the Game Boy is Z-80 based... which means it is more 
closely related to the SMS and GG, which are Z-80 based.
:-)

as for color limitations,i think game boy sprites 
are limited to 2 colors from a pallette of 8 
(i could be wrong)

> Now while the NES and the Master System were released roughly
> at the same time (at least here in Austria - in fact, the NES 
> was released here in 1987 while the Sega started in 1986), 

this is just one reason why the SMS kicked butt in europe...
in the states, the NES came out in '85, the SMS in '86.
(i didnt get my NES till '88)

> the Game Boy Color came out just now (how long is it? 
> One Year?), 

i think longer than that, but i do not know.

> while the Game Gear's been around since 1991-1992 
> (is it still on the market, anyway?)

no. it has been rendered obsolete by the neo geo
pocket color. :-(

> So... I think Sega could have pushed far more out 
> of their machines with the right marketing, but 
> apparently failed to stand against Nintendo despite
> Sega's far superior hardware. (OK, that doesn't 
> count the Genesis vs SNES now...)

yes, it does. the SNES has the same clock speed
as the SMS, which explains all the slowdown i 
got when playing action games. 

the Genesis was much faster, plus the SNES
never had a CD-Rom drive.

> Or does anyone know other backgrounds here, 
> why Sega didn't make it as big?
> Are their systems maybe harder to program for,
> or are there other reasons unknown to the 
> public?

first, nintendo screwed them with exlusivity 
agreements. (the whole game market in the NES
days, Street Fighter II' in the SNES days)

then, sega screwed themselves with the hard
to program Saturn.

(i think they will do better with the dreamcast.
incidentally, any SMS fans here? remember the
snail game? now think of the DC logo... 
a swirl... what animal is shaped like a swirl?)
:-)

well, this is all i feel qualified to comment
on. hope i answered your questions.
g.f.

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