> What would work better would be a clone of the DPC chip (ala Pitfall II) so
> that new games could use it. This would, of course, violate Activision's
> copyright, but hey.
Actually, thier patent, #4644495. It is a fascinating read for anyone who
is hardware oriented.
> The DPC chip provides for better sound and graphics capabilities to the 2600
> through its DMA-like features.
DMA-like isn't quite accurate. I think Mr. Crane put it best when I was
talking to him at the expo, it can be considered a coprocessor.
It doesn't execute code like we normally think of it, but in a general
form it accepts instructions in the form of the address lines. Depending
on different "instructions"(addresses) it increments registers, fetches
data out of memory, grabs a sample from the audio generators, configures
various parts of it, and so on. All accesses to it must be controlled
from the 6507 via the program code.(Instead of the DPC accessing memory or
the TIA)
If you are interested, you can look it up on the us patent and trade
office web site, www.uspto.gov
Mark
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