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Saved by Derek Lomas
on October 8, 2009 at 11:17:37 am

Welcome to our Wiki!

If you are interested in helping develop new games for the 8-bit "$10 computer" this is the place to start.

News

We have started a Ning member directory for Playpower volunteers. Share your background and skills and use the free blogspace to share your Playpower projects. Also check out profiles of Playpower artists and developers

Getting Started

So you want to start programming on "the $10 computer?" This device, which is found in street markets around the world, is a clone of the 6502 Nintendo Famicom (AKA NES). This computer hardware is now in the public domain, due to expired patents. It is being produced by the millions in China, and you can even obtain them in the USA through Makershed.com.

The NES hacking scene has produced a number of tools over the years to enable homebrew game making. To get started, here's the information you need to know:

Use a PC or a Mac running windows (like me)... most of the tools are not Mac friendly, sorry!
Download one of our recommended open-source emulators, nestopia or nintendulator
Bookmark this page, Nerdy Nights. It is a tutorial for programming on the NES, written by Brian Parker of Retrozone. It really starts from the basics!
Also bookmark this page, wiki.nesdev.com. This website is a work-in-progress to document all the relevant features of the NES. It also provides more advanced tutorials for NES programmers. Join and contribute!
1. For help programming, first check out the nesdev BBS forums
2. and then consider listening in to the conversations at the #NESDEV IRC channel.
You'll probably want to have some more source code to play with. Don Miller, AKA No-Carrier, has produced a series of GPL NES applications, which are available for download here. Try the GalleryNES! See if you can generate a new picture, following the instructions in the readme file.
Finally, Retrousb.com, aka Retrozone, contains a number of hardware tools for serious production.

Differences between the NES and the $10 Computer

So it is all well and good that there are resources for producing NES games. But there are some key differences between the NES and a "FamiClone."

Currently, FamiClones are typically sold with 60 pin cartridges, not 72 pin cartridges, as on the NES
FamiClones use "GlopTop" integrated circuits. This means that the actual chips are less accessible than on the NES.
There are a few, poorly documented, timing differences between the NES and the FamiClone. However, these prevent most of the Retrozone kits from working.

Help develop open-source learning games!

Game Ideas (add your own!)

View the code base

Project History

Current Projects:

Developing SDK for game development on the TV-Computer