| One of the most famous names in the | | | | Hardcore professional gamers had worked |
| gaming world, Atari, changed the face of | | | | hard on creating their own arcade game |
| the gaming industry and introduced what | | | | versions using FPGA circuit boards, and |
| is an ingenious piece of engineering for | | | | playing the games at home. However, this |
| its time. Atari had created the first | | | | was not until much later in the nineties |
| coin operated Pong electronic arcade | | | | onwards, as the programmable devices |
| machine in 1972, bringing in modern | | | | used in arcade games today work in a |
| gaming technology, popularizing computer | | | | different way to what was used emulate |
| games and putting arcade games on the | | | | games the eighties and consumed more |
| map. Pong along with Pac-Man and Space | | | | power than the standard devices today. |
| Invaders became an addictive electronic | | | | Modern programming devices are in use |
| entertainment and is the influence of | | | | mainly to recreate old games and to act |
| computer consoles today. | | | | as an excellent for games emulation, |
| Prior to the coin operated machines, | | | | whereas the programming devices used in |
| arcade games were in the form of basic | | | | arcade machines in the eighties were |
| mechanical machines, mainly accessible | | | | merely to act as a solution to minor |
| in amusement parks during the 1920's. | | | | graphical issues. |
| These were very basic pinball games, | | | | Pac-Man was used from a Z80 CPU, which |
| shooting galleries and ball toss games. | | | | was very popular for its time. Pac-Man |
| It is thought to have been one of the | | | | had a dedicated hardware installed for |
| major influences of the electronic | | | | video sprites (two/three dimensional |
| arcade machine of the seventies. The | | | | images/animation integrated into a |
| arcade machines were emulated through | | | | larger scene), however, the Z80 CPU was |
| basic CPU units and it was not until the | | | | not powerful enough to draw up all of |
| early eighties that saw a change in | | | | the sprites so a new device was needed |
| graphics of each game, when the FPGA was | | | | to resolve this issue. |
| used and re-used by gaming experts, to | | | | Those intending to play old arcade games |
| play older games from home. | | | | such as Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Donkey |
| FPGA (field programmable gate arrays) | | | | Kong or even Galaxians need to research |
| are controllable programmable devices | | | | for a suitable FPGA device, as well as |
| that can be used to function in any | | | | understanding how to install the vendor |
| specific way. They are an excellent | | | | onto the machine. Some purchased devices |
| source of vector emulation for arcade | | | | come with a batch file to install, so a |
| games and were used to play older games | | | | separate file will not need to be |
| on modern machines. Pong was originally | | | | downloaded from the web. Other emulating |
| a blocky black and white image, whereas | | | | programmes such as MAME (Multiple Arcade |
| Pac-man, Ladybug and Space Invaders were | | | | Machine Emulator) made it possible to |
| more demanding in terms of colour, | | | | preserve the antiquated arcade games on |
| resolution and images - each of which | | | | the modern PC, however unlike FPGA's |
| were not possible to play on home PCs | | | | they are subject of much controversy due |
| without a little tweaking with a modern | | | | to copyright violation issues. |
| programmable device. | | | | |