What this blog is About

Have you ever played a video game, and thought to yourself, "I'd love to make one of these."? I have, and that thought is a defining moment of my life. My interest in computers started with video games, and I still love video games to this day.   Through the years I also became intrigued with the hardware that runs these games and I have fostered another dream.   Not just to create a video game, but to create a video game system.

I'm about to graduate from Utah Valley University with a Degree in Computer Science with a Computer Engineering emphasis. Sound hard? Sound fun? It's a bit of both.

To graduate each student needs to pick a design project. It can be anything. People have made robots, electronic lap counters, pedometers and all sorts of other electronic gizmos. With the exception of the robots, all those projects sounded pretty boring to me. You can probably guess by now the type of project I wanted to work on.

If you are familiar with a Nintendo Gameboy or a Sony PSP, you are already familiar with the type of device I'd like to build. Watch the first video below if you aren't familiar with the concept. (Or if you want to relive some classic gaming nostalgia)

Can a machine be a video game device if you can't play a game on it?  Of course not so I decided the old classic Pac-Man would be a perfect game to have on the system.  Most people see Pac-Man and immediately know how to play.

This post aside,  the rest of this blog is written in a stuffy academic jargon.  This isn't because I want to bore the socks of you.  It is written in an academic format for two reasons,  the first is because I need something (besides the device) to turn in for my grade, the second, is because I need to be precise in what I what write. I'd like this blog to become a "recipe"  for anyone that wants to make the device that I end up turning in.

So read on!  I hope you enjoy the journey.