A Virtual Playground for Gamers and Hackers

When was the last time you put graphics on the screen in a few lines of tight code? Wouldn't it be great if you could poll for player input by reading a few bytes from the right port?

Harken back to the early years of video games – Atari, Commodore 64, vintage Nintendo and more. These pioneering game systems were built with a good deal of imagination, code-building, and expert programming; before the high-tech computer age of today. Now you can build your own video game console in the old style. This retro-inspired gaming system is designed specifically for hardware and software hackers. The system is powered by an 80 MIP RISC processor, has direct raster controlled graphics, 3-channel sound, built in programmer, and is capable of outputting both NTSC and PAL composite video. And, it's directly compatible with vintage Atari 2600 joysticks as well as custom-designed game pads.

Ultimately, the XGS Micro Edition is a unified, inexpensive platform you can build, take apart, and own exclusively. The kit comes with an assembled XGameStation console, a controller, all necessary cables, a CD containing all system software and tools necessary to develop for the system, and of course, an extensive eBook that explains how the system was designed and how it works from the ground up. Everything from basic digital logic to computer engineering to circuit board design to firmware and low-level software is covered, in precise detail. From transistors to firmware to platforms and power-ups, you'll learn first-hand how everything works. Build it, break it, hack it, tweak it, demolish it, or turn it into something completely different.