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There’s a brand new contender being ready for the 8-bit console area, however will it discover anybody there? The new GameTank by Clydeware is an open supply design leveraging venerable MOS Technology 6502-based processing. However, it might punch properly above its weight, with its clean-sheet dismissal of legacy baggage, its twin-CPUs, and its customized framebuffer-based graphics structure.
Importantly, the GameTank isn’t for enjoying video games (or emulators) from different 8-bit methods. It is designed to be a standalone ecosystem to encourage “the next generation of 8-bit games.”
According to the specs shared by Clydeware, the brand new GameTank is constructed upon simply fundamental logic and RAM chips, with no FPGAs or microcontrollers in sight. Peculiarly, for a retro console, the GameTank’s motherboard features twin CPUs. The processors chosen are enhanced CMOS versions of the popular 6502, which first became available in 1975. Readers may be familiar with the 6502 as it was behind classic systems such as the Apple II, Commodore PET, Atari VCS, Nintendo Entertainment System, and more.
|
CPU |
WDC’s W65C02S clocked at 3.5 MHz |
|
Video |
128×128 framebuffer, some rows on top and bottom hidden by most TVs |
|
Graphics acceleration |
Hardware-accelerated byte copy, also known as a “Blitter”, can transfer images to the framebuffer on every clock cycle at 3.5 MHz |
|
Graphics RAM |
512 KB used as source data for blitter |
|
General purpose RAM |
32 KB banked in 8 KB sections |
|
Audio |
W65C02S at 14 MHz with 4KB RAM, default 14 kHz sample rate |
|
Controller |
D-Pad + “A” “B” “C” and “Start” buttons, 2x ports |
|
Cartridge |
Custom 36-pin 0.1-inch pitch format, standard board contains 2 MB of flash memory |
|
Expansion port |
26-pin rear expansion port exposing 12 bits of GPIO and other system signals |
As you can see in the table, above, the GameTank uses a WDC W65C02S clocked at 3.5 MHz as its general purpose CPU, with a W65C02S running at 14 MHz dedicated to audio duties. The system architecture’s RAM allocation is also atypical for an 8-bit console. You can see the GameTank has 32KB of system RAM, but a whopping 512KB RAM for graphics, which the developers have dubbed ‘Sprite RAM.’
Clydeware’s balancing of assets signifies that the GameTank structure leans on a hefty framebuffer and blitter for “smoother and more fluid animations.” This contrasts to 6502 consoles of yesteryear, just like the aforementioned NES, which might characteristic tile/sprite based mostly display addressing and the place scrolling was typically uneven.
Other GameTank options which are value calling out embody its “big chunky cartridges,” that are customized however open in design. Tools for flashing ROM information to those carts can be found, and the cart has a USB-C port for comfort.
On the subject of video games improvement, the console designers recommend the usage of a C SDK based mostly round CC65, an open-source compiler concentrating on 6502-family processors. However, it additionally says that “any toolchain able to generate 6502 assembly can target the GameTank platform.”
It is attention-grabbing to see the unshakable retro embrace of the GameTank, with its chosen sole video output from an NTSC composite RCA jack. In an identical vein, it’s going to use wired controllers.
The GameTank is set to launch in crowdfunding soon. But, despite being ‘hardware-first’ platform, you won’t even need a physical console to enjoy some GameTank action. There is already a GameTank emulator on GitHub, which was created to speed software development for the hardware – but since it is open source, feel free to do what you want with it.
Stay tuned for the GameTank crowdfunder launch date, availability, and pricing.
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