diff --git a/papers/doc/7-systems/gamecom.md b/papers/doc/7-systems/gamecom.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..9be1ee8f --- /dev/null +++ b/papers/doc/7-systems/gamecom.md @@ -0,0 +1,16 @@ +# Game.com + +The Game.com console was a tiny little hand-held game console released in 1997 by Tiger Electronics. It boasted a 200 x 160px @ 4 bit greyscale screen, and a Sharp SM8521 @ 10 MHz as its soundchip and CPU. + +Ultimately, most of the games ended up being failiures in the eyes of reviewers, thus giving the Game.com a pretty bad reputation. This was one of the reasons that the Game.com only ended up selling at least 300,000 units. For these reasons and more, the Game.com ended up being discontinued in 2000. + +However, for its time, it was a pretty competitively priced system. The Gameboy Color was to be released in a year for $79.95, while the Game.com was released for $69.99, and its later model, the Pocket Pro, was released in mid-1999 for $29.99 due to the Game.com's apparent significant decrease in value. + +Its CPU is the SM8521, which also contained its sound features. It had 2 4-bit wavetable channels, a noise channel, 5-bit volume, and a low bit-depth output which means it distorts a lot. It also phase resets when you switch waves. + +## effect commands + +- `10xx` Set waveform + - `xx` is a value between 0 and 255, that sets the waveform of the channel you place it on. +- `11xx` Toggle noise mode + - Seems to do nothing right now.