Which consoles haven't been portablized?

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ProgMetalMan
Posts:257
Joined:Sat Feb 05, 2011 8:18 pm
Re: Which consoles haven't been portablized?

Post by ProgMetalMan » Wed Jan 18, 2012 4:14 pm

Sorry. Got a little confused. :oops:
ShockSlayer wrote:Proggy's right.
ttsgeb wrote:mfw prog was not only right, but 100% so.

Galane
Posts:17
Joined:Sat Feb 04, 2012 4:28 am

Re: Which consoles haven't been portablized?

Post by Galane » Tue Feb 07, 2012 2:42 am

Nobody has done a TI-99/4A laptop. There are very compact "micro PEB" boards being made that incorporate the most needed expansions plus use a CF card for massive "disk" storage capability. A 4A laptop would just need one of those and a speech synth board shoehorned in to be functionally complete. Also in the works is the F18-A VDP chip replacement. This is a pin compatible drop in replacement for the TMS9918A Video Display Processor. The goal of the person designing it is to first do a 100% emulation in hardware of the VDP, then add enhancements. It outputs VGA video so that would make monitor selection easier. The F18-A prototypes have already been tested and worked perfectly in an MSX-1 and a Colecovision, should work in any computer or console that used the TMS9918A. Replacing the other TI VDP chips should be as simple as loading modified code to the FPGA.

There was a working prototype portable/handheld Vectrex and there was one prototype color Vectrex which had its screen damaged in testing. They tried a layered phosphor design with varying electron beam voltage lighting up the different colors. When it was turned up too high it burnt the phosphors off the glass. Oops.

A Magnavox Odyssey^2 would make an interesting laptop, especially if someone did some homebrew programming. Going by the bullet sprites in "Armored Encounter!" and "Showdown in 2100 A.D." the console ought to be capable of higher resolution than the games used. Perhaps it needed more RAM to utilize the smaller pixels for more than two sprites at a time?

Can't think of other 80's consoles or computers that could use portabalizing. Nothing that was any good as-is and hasn't already been mentioned. One *could* hack a Mattel Aquarius, but then someone would have to track the modder down and beat him/her with it. ;)

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