Nintendo Game Boy

By: Kevin Millar and Humza Syed

Agenda

● History

● System Overview

○ Memory

○ CPU

○ Registers and ISA

○ Display

○ Game Cartridges

● Future Impact

History● Milton Bradley Microvision

○ Released in 1979○ First programmable handheld○ Library of 11 games○ LCD matrix screen○ Interchangeable cartridges○ Decent battery Life○ 16x16 resolution○ 0.1 MHz CPU

● Nintendo Game & Watch○ Displayed game characters and objects○ 59 unique games released between 1980

and 1991

● Nintendo Game Boy○ Originally released in 1989○ Interchangeable cartridges○ Bundled with Tetris○ Competed with Atari Lynx and Sega Game

Gear

Overview of System

● Grayscale dot-matrix LCD display● 64 Kb LCD Display SRAM● 64 Kb Working SRAM● 32-pin connector for ROM cartridge● 6-pin subconnector for serial

communication● Sound amp● Speaker● Stereo headphone connector● Input connector for external power source

Memory

● 32 KB of programming area; 0x0-0x7FFF○ 0x000-0x0FF used for starting address for

interrupts○ 0x100-0x14F used for storing name of the

game in ROM○ 0x150 used as starting address of the user

program

● 8 KB for display; 0x8000-0x9800

● CPU internal RAM; 0xFE00-0xFFFF○ 0xFE00-0xFE9F used for OAM-RAM○ 0xFF00-0xFF7F and 0xFFFF used for

instruction registers and system controller flags

○ 0xFF80-0xFFFE used as CPU work/stack RAM

CPU● Sharp LR35902

● 8-bit CPU

● 1.05 MHz (Machine Cycle)

● 4.19 MHz (Clock Cycle)

● 127 x 8 bits of RAM

● 8 kB RAM for LCD Display (Internal)

● 8 kB Working RAM (Internal)

● 16-stage Frequency Divider

● 8-bit Timer

● 4 types of Internal Interrupts

● 1 type of External Interrupt

● DMA COntroller

● 4 Input Ports P10 ~ P13

● 2 Output Ports P14 and P15

● Serial I/O Ports SIN, SCK, SOUT

CPU Instruction Set Architecture

LCD Display and Controller

● 160 x 144 Dot-Matrix Display

● Background○ 8 x 8 dots

● Object ○ 8 x 8 dots○ 8 x 16 dots

● Number of Usable Characters○ Background: 256○ 8 x 8 Object: 256○ 8 x 16 Object: 128

● Grayscale○ Background: 4 shades, 1 palette○ Object: 3 shades, 2 palettes

Future Impact

● Popularized portable gaming

● Brought people together

● Introduced major game

franchises

● Proceeded by future

handhelds

● Nintendo remains at the top

of the handheld market○ Nintendo Switch

References

● J. Vincent, “The Game Boy turns 25: How a 'grey brick' took over the world of portable

gaming,” The Independent, 22-Apr-2014. [Online]. Available:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/the-game-boy-turns-25-ho

w-a-grey-brick-took-over-the-world-of-portable-gaming-9273092.html. [Accessed:

12-Dec-2017].

● T. Fahs, “IGN Presents the History of Game Boy,” IGN, 27-Jul-2009. [Online]. Available:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2009/07/27/ign-presents-the-history-of-game-boy?page=1

. [Accessed: 12-Dec-2017].

● Game Boy Programming Manual. Nintendo of America Inc., 1999.

Questions?