André LaMothe, the
"world's best-selling game programming author", has expanded his horizons. His goal: to teach you how
to build your own game console. He says, "You start off knowing nothing about electrons and you end up knowing how
to put together your own console." Topics include, "Basic atomic physics and semiconductor theory primer.
Introduction to circuit analysis; current, voltage, and resistance. Analog design using discrete components. Digital
electronics and Boolean algebra. Physical hardware construction and prototyping techniques. Combinational logic and
advanced integrated circuit building blocks. Finite state machine design. Computer architecture and design.
Understanding and using microprocessors and microcontrollers. Developing software for embedded systems. Designing video
(NTSC/VGA), audio, and input device systems. Interfacing and communications. And finally, the complete design and
discussion of the XGS Micro Edition as well as XGS Pico Edition." Riiiiiiiiiight, I'll just stick to playing
them.And for the curious ones, although the book doesn't address the current console war, LaMothe thinks the PlayStation 3 has a graphical advantage stating, "I look at the PS 3 demos of Metal Gear Solid 4 and my jaw drops. It's like they almost skipped the generation that is the Xbox 360." Ouch! Then again, Kojima himself has said the 360 was capable of running the real-time tech demo. The battle continues.
