Serious DIYers: make your own game console

by Christopher Grant { Dec 28th 2005 at 6:30PM }

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.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

trimbandit @ Dec 28th 2005 7:19PM

If he's such a great programmer, where are the great games he must have developed?

Tips if the Game Programming Gurus was great, but many of his subsequent titles have really sucked eggs.

Cone @ Dec 29th 2005 2:07AM

His niche is books, and has done a fine job milking his name on that front. But clearly he's just a fanboy like everyone else.

MrTroy @ Dec 29th 2005 11:27AM

"If he's such a great programmer, where are the great games he must have developed?"

That's much like saying University Professors aren't all that great unless they've done great things. Which most haven't, yet your are somehow capabile for learning from them. He's a good teacher regardless.