nintendo nes Archives - The Silicon Underground

Cleaning NES games and consoles

Dave Farquhar — Sun, 15 Jul 2018 11:00:15 +0000

Anyone old enough to have played with an original Nintendo NES knows the problem: You plug in the cartridge, turn on the system, and get a blank screen and the power light blinks at you. The schoolyard fix is to take

The post Cleaning NES games and consoles appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Nintendo NES AC adapter replacement

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 31 Aug 2017 11:00:11 +0000

If you misplaced the AC adapter/power supply that came with your Nintendo NES, or it broke, you may need a replacement Nintendo NES AC adapter. Fortunately, you have a number of options. Most devices are super picky about electricity. Don’t

The post Nintendo NES AC adapter replacement appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

The Atari 2600 CPU: The MOS 6507

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 29 May 2017 11:00:40 +0000

The Atari 2600 CPU was a nondescript MOS 6507 chip. Neither Intel nor Motorola had a CPU chip in the early 1970s that could meet Atari’s price point. MOS Technology didn’t have one either, but they asked Atari what they

The post The Atari 2600 CPU: The MOS 6507 appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

The trade off of fidelity and convenience in marketing, and how it doomed my favorite company

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 11:00:35 +0000

I’m reading a book called Trade-Off, by former USA Today technology columnist Kevin Maney. It’s primarily a marketing book. Maney argues that all products are a balance of fidelity and convenience, and highly favor one or the other. He additionally

The post The trade off of fidelity and convenience in marketing, and how it doomed my favorite company appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Commodore 128, top-12 dud? By what measure?

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:13:32 +0000

PC Magazine presented a list of 12 computer duds, and while I agree with most of them, my old friend the Commodore 128 makes an appearance. Commodore released several duds over the years, but calling the 128 one of them

The post Commodore 128, top-12 dud? By what measure? appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Review: GT Max Playstation-USB converter

Dave Farquhar — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 12:43:00 +0000

After my disappointing experience with an inexpensive–perhaps I should just say cheap— X-Kim USB gamepad, I decided to give the GT Max Playstation-USB converter a try. This inexpensive (under $5) adapter lets you use Playstation and Playstation 2 (PS2) controllers

The post Review: GT Max Playstation-USB converter appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Review: X-Kim GPTL-00A

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:11:38 +0000

I think the last time I saw a halfway original idea for a game was around 1992. Everything I’ve seen since then has just been a re-hash of something old, with incrementally better graphics to make it prettier to look

The post Review: X-Kim GPTL-00A appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Why piracy matters

Dave Farquhar — Sun, 24 May 2009 14:58:14 +0000

Rob O'Hara offers an interesting perspective on piracy.

I agree with him. 20 years ago, copyrighted material offered presence. It was something special.

The post Why piracy matters appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Blister on my thumb…

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 23:29:29 +0000

So, I got my hands on a working Nintendo NES and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out cartridge. I used to play that game at my cousin's, about 20 years ago. It's addictive.

The post Blister on my thumb… appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Commodore’s back!

Dave Farquhar — Sat, 03 Jul 2004 04:20:18 +0000

Long, long ago, I owned a computer that was so reliable that it only ever crashed on me and caused me to lose work once. I remember it well, and I was livid about it. So much so that I never used that word processor again. And the computer never crashed on me or caused me to lose work again.

That computer was a Commodore 128.

The post Commodore’s back! appeared first on The Silicon Underground.