The relationship between video games and oscilloscopes is closer than you might think. Tennis for Two is considered "the first video game" designed purely for entertainment (rather than a technical demo), and it used an oscilloscope as its main display. Today you can do something similar, but instead of sticking to a single game, the idea is to build an entire console, complete with cartridges and sound. The original project spanned over three years, and anyone attempting it will have to wrestle with thousands of lines of assembly code... but the end result is excellent.
If someone tries to imagine building a DIY console these days, the most likely path leads to the Raspberry Pi and its emulators. Earlier this year we covered the process to install and configure RetroPie, but the market also offers complete kits for those who want to minimize assembly. Now, if you're looking for the ultimate DIY adventure... nothing beats building a console based on an oscilloscope as its screen. The person behind the Mixtela portal published a complete assembly guide, but I think it's best to start with the video:
Technical Details
The heart of this console is an ATMega128 chip, which enables hardware timers for sound generation, and the combination of two DACs and two OP-AMPs handles the X and Y axes on the oscilloscope.
But there's a notable detail in the cartridges. The Harvard architecture implementation in ATMega chips has a special restriction: all code must be loaded into the internal Flash memory. That meant the project's creator had to write an entire bootloader to dump the cartridge to memory, jump to the beginning of the code, and start execution. Technically, the user could remove the cartridge once loaded, but the creator decided to 'keep the illusion' of a traditional cartridge, and if you remove it, the console stops working.
The Games
Another interesting aspect is the games. Each one took about a week to create (a limit the programmer imposed on himself), but in some cases he didn't finish the code, as happened with Astro Lander. The final retro touch is compatibility with original Nintendo NES and Super Nintendo gamepads.
In summary, building a console connected to an oscilloscope requires solid knowledge of assembly language and electronics at the same time, and it's already classified as 'not recommended' for beginners, but if you're comfortable with both fields, why not?
https://old.neoteo.com/construye-una-consola-retro-control-wii-u/
