gamecat80 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Just a little rant, so I don't really expect many (or any) responses.... But I just have to get this off my chest. I am sure some of you have noticed this on Youtube and other places online. What I mean is, there seem to be ppl on there (most likely twenty-somethings and younger) who believe most pre-NES systems are 4-bit. I've seen these ridiculous statements under videos for C64, CV, 2600, etc. Other gamers tend to correct them, but it still persists. Just because a system is pre-crash and more "simple" does not make it "4-bit". To my knowledge, the vast majority of early pre-crash systems (with a few exceptions) were 8-bit, including the Atari VCS/2600 and even the Channel F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyHW Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Intellivision: Leading the 16-bit revolution since 1979. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Those youngsters need a good dose of reality! Common Sense instead of "Political Correctness" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I think you might be able to program pong with a 4 bit processor, with the right support chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 It depends on what you mean by "bitness." Take for instance, the Intellivision, my preferred console. It has a 16-bit processor, an 8-bit graphics bus and RAM, and displays 4-bit colour. Oh, and to top it all off, in the old cartridges, the processor communicated with the ROM ignoring the high 6 bits of the bus, effectively turning it into a 10-bit bus. So, is the Intellivision a 16-bit console, or an 8-bit one? Or is it a 10-bit one? What about the colour, does it matter? I'd say that most of the time, what the "bitness" represents is the graphics quality (which is the part that makes the most impact to the masses), and in that case, the Intellivision is an 8-bit machine, even though it has 16-bit RAM and a CPU with 16-bit registers. So bottom line is, chill out and don't take it personally. When someone calls your favourite console "4-bit," don't have a conniption. Just ask them "What do you mean?" and correct them if they are wrong and open to understanding the truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Maybe the Genesis is 32-bit seeing it uses a 68000 and the SNES is only an enhanced 8-bit, of the 65C02 family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaximRecoil Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I never even heard of the whole "bitness" thing until Sega brilliantly turned it into a marketing buzzword for the Genesis, which became the videogame console's version of "horsepower". In reality, it is meaningless as a measure of performance, as a simple comparison between an "8-bit" Atari 2600 and an "8-bit" NES or SMS will quickly show (likewise, plenty of "8-bit" arcade hardware stomped all over the highest-performing "8-bit" console hardware). Another reason it is meaningless is because it is vague, i.e., simply saying "8-bit" or "16-bit" or whatever is incomplete. It is kind of like saying your car has "four". Four what? Wheels? Cylinders? Doors? Forward gears/speeds? Four-wheel drive? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
famicommander Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Who really cares? It's not as if the number of bits is particularly important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+5-11under Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Who really cares? It's not as if the number of bits is particularly important. It's important if you have a Jaguar. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenorman Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I used to think pre-NES systems were 4-bit as well, back when I was like 10 years old. To somebody that only has a certain amount of technical understanding, it makes perfect sense. There was 8-bit, then 16-bit, then 32 and 64-bit, so anything before that must have been 4-bit. Of course, I've known better for a very long time now, but I can see where this idea comes from. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickeycolumbus Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I've even seen this printed in a book! Sort of annoying, but at least it makes it easier to tell who's full of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenegg Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 It's important if you have a Jaguar. I think this just might be the best thing I'll read on the Internet today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 6502 = 8 bit instructions & 16 bit memory addressing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSchoolRetroGamer Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Ain't really none of my bitness,,,,,,,, 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Doesn't some Microvision games use a 4 bits CPU? I think I read this somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickeycolumbus Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Doesn't some Microvision games use a 4 bits CPU? I think I read this somewhere. That's true, some used the TMS1100 which is a 4 bit microcontroller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatta Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 The Atari 2600 is powered by a 6507 CPU, which is a 6502 missing one address line. So you could call the 2600 a 7 bit console. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8th lutz Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Those youngsters need a good dose of reality! Common Sense instead of "Political Correctness" Calling systems before the Nes 4 bit is not all caused by youngsters that are currently 20 somethings or younger. It is possible that the younger gamers got that misconception from older gamers that were teens back when Sega Genesis was being sold in stores. I am saying that based on what I heard in 1992-1993 school when I was in 8th grade because a classmate didn't like I got a Sega Genesis for Christmas instead of SNES after he heard me answering a question from another classmate about what I got for Christmas. The classmate told me that the Sega Genesis is 4 bit like the Atari 2600 is back in January of 1993 The behavior I heard in January of 1993 in terms calling Atari 2600 a 4 bit machine was something that already started before than. Sega Genesis came out in 1989 and Sega caused the bit mess. Sega in 1989 had their Sega Genesis system say 16 bit power on the system itself. That means the teenagers at the time decided to label what system was in bitness without having a clue what each CPU actually is. The people who where teenagers during the Genesis era are now in their 30's or in their 40's now and may still don't have clue what the CPU for older systems are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyHW Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I think I've figured it out: Sega Dreamcast = 128-bit Atari Jaguar and N64 = 64-bit Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation = 32-bit Neo Geo = 24-bit Genesis, SNES, Amiga, ST = 16-bit TG16, Lynx = (8-bit CPU + 16-bit Graphics)/2 = 12-bit NES, SMS = 8-bit Colecovision, 5200, C64 = 4-bit Intellivision = 3-bit Atari 2600 = 2-bit CPU-based Pongs/Odysseys = 1-bit Pre-CPU games (Indy 800 etc.) = 0-bit 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickeycolumbus Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 The Atari 2600 is powered by a 6507 CPU, which is a 6502 missing one address line. So you could call the 2600 a 7 bit console. It's actually missing 3 address lines, but the 8 bit refers to the width of the data bus which is 8 bits for both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaximRecoil Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I think I've figured it out: Sega Dreamcast = 128-bit Atari Jaguar and N64 = 64-bit Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation = 32-bit Neo Geo = 24-bit Genesis, SNES, Amiga, ST = 16-bit TG16, Lynx = (8-bit CPU + 16-bit Graphics)/2 = 12-bit NES, SMS = 8-bit Colecovision, 5200, C64 = 4-bit Intellivision = 3-bit Atari 2600 = 2-bit CPU-based Pongs/Odysseys = 1-bit Pre-CPU games (Indy 800 etc.) = 0-bit That's funny. That's the way I had it figured when I was a kid in the '80s too, at least for the CV and A5200 being 4-bit and the A2600 being 2-bit. However, the only CPU-based Odyssey was the Odyssey², and it was pretty comparable to the A2600, so I had that figured as a 2-bit machine. The original Odyssey and the dedicated Odyssey Pong-type consoles had no CPU, thus they actually were "0-bit" I suppose. I don't think that any of the dedicated Pong consoles from any of the manufacturers had a CPU; they either used a series of logic chips, or integrated the necessary Pong logic onto one chip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I thought the original pong machines where of a bit and a half... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Doesn't anyone understand how a CPU works anymore? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiv Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 So, is the Intellivision a 16-bit console, or an 8-bit one? Or is it a 10-bit one?Obviously... A 34-bit system! Do the math!!! desiv 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbd30 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 (edited) ... Edited December 31, 2013 by mbd30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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