[HN Gopher] Nintendo 64 Java ___________________________________________________________________ Nintendo 64 Java Author : zdw Score : 125 points Date : 2023-01-12 20:15 UTC (2 hours ago) (HTM) web link (www.mikekohn.net) (TXT) w3m dump (www.mikekohn.net) | [deleted] | sebazzz wrote: | Java runs on one million devices plus one, it appears :-) | [deleted] | naet wrote: | I want one of those Everdrive 64s for myself to play with N64 | development but it's nearly the price of a new console at $200... | qiqitori wrote: | This is one of the things (along with repair) that finally | motivated me to learn electronics. You could probably build | your own Everdrive 64 for less than $20! (Plus hundreds of | dollars for an oscilloscope and other equipment but you can | keep that for the next project) | | Maybe worth it? | Decabytes wrote: | Is there an equivalent to Java Grinder for C#? | exabrial wrote: | > "RISC architecture is going to change everything" | | Classic | [deleted] | aussieshibe wrote: | Maybe I'm missing something here? This line read like a joke / | sarcasm to me. But RISC _did_ change everything, didn 't it? | asveikau wrote: | > But RISC _did_ change everything, didn 't it? | | Iirc it's not such a meaningful distinction anymore. "CISC" | x86 uses micro-operations internally. "RISC" ARM has several | different instruction encodings (ARM, Thumb, Thumb-2, A64). | Increasing numbers of people are working in high level | languages anyway. | msla wrote: | > "CISC" x86 uses micro-operations internally. | | Like generations of CISC before it. That doesn't make it | any less CISC. | | https://userpages.umbc.edu/~vijay/mashey.on.risc.html | | From that page, which collects a number of Usenet posts by | John Mashey: | | > The RISC characteristics: | | > a) Are aimed at more performance from current compiler | technology (i.e., enough registers). | | > OR | | > b) Are aimed at fast pipelining | | > - in a virtual-memory environment | | > - with the ability to still survive exceptions | | > - without inextricably increasing the number of gate | delays (notice that I say gate delays, NOT just how many | gates). | | The point b is where RISC chips really pulled away from | CISC in terms of architectural design, especially chips | like the MIPS, which Mashey worked on: The MIPS had a | number of points where it exposed the tricks it used to | pipeline more aggressively, even at the expense of making | compilers somewhat harder to write and/or human assembly- | language programmers think a bit harder. However, the lack | of complicated addressing modes (post-increment, scale-and- | offset, etc.) and the lack of register-memory opcodes with | ALU operations, and total lack of memory-memory operations, | is still a very common feature of RISC design. | bee_rider wrote: | That seems like RISC changing everything. How much did it | change things? CISC has been transformed from a true | competitor to RISC to a sort of abstraction layer on top of | it. | chaosite wrote: | It's a quote from Hackers (1995). | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPrUmViN_5c | aussieshibe wrote: | Thanks, somehow I've never seen this movie. | newswasboring wrote: | I just rewatched that clip, did the writer transition from | technobable to relationship dialogue? Because the scene has | this tension and saying "RISC is good" can also be heard as | "risk is good". | doublerabbit wrote: | Could be a double entendre? Great film. | kevin_thibedeau wrote: | Superscalar processors are a bigger advancement. | als0 wrote: | Projects like this is why I come to Hacker News. | mberning wrote: | That's really cool. I had not heard of Java Grinder before, but | I'm definitely checking it out. | monocasa wrote: | > Most likely most game devs used someone else's RSP code | | Yeah, almost all RSP code used was written by SGI/Nintendo and | used as shipped in the SDK. For a long time emulators simply high | level emulated the RSP code based on the hash of the RSP binary | and accepted that a few games like Rogue Squadron simply wouldn't | run. | kmeisthax wrote: | I've heard Nintendo didn't even release an RSP SDK until | _really late_ in the N64 's life cycle. AFAIK Factor 5 loved | writing custom microcode for it. | fexecve wrote: | There's a fun conspiracy theory that Nintendo intentionally | made the default RSP binary they provided sub-optimized, so | that later in the console's life they could release an | optimized version so that games continue to appear to get | better. This is likely entirely rubbish, of course. | JamesSwift wrote: | I couldnt find an answer online... what does RSP stand for? | mikepurvis wrote: | Reality Signal Processor: | https://www.retroreversing.com/n64rsp | | Basically a very, very early programmable GPU, but you were | writing actual firmware for it, rather than writing the kind | of high level shader functions that would come a decade+ | later. | tadfisher wrote: | I always heard it referred to as "microcode", and there | were different RSP microcode packages floating around, | shipped by Nintendo/SGI, or programmed from scratch and | included in the ROM. | davb wrote: | What a wonderful project to read about. It's too easy to get into | a mindset where you auto-filter your ideas based on whether or | not it'll make money, or directly help you reach some career goal | (especially in the HN bubble). This is fun. This is art. I wish I | took more time to do "pointless" (in the least derogatory sense | of the word) projects like this one. Bravo. | andrewmcwatters wrote: | The graphics and music are next level. I love it. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2023-01-12 23:00 UTC)