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CIC (Nintendo)
The Checking Integrated Circuit (CIC) is a lockout chip designed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) video game console in 1985; the chip is part of a system known as 10NES, in which a 'key' (which is stored in the game) is used by the 'lock' (stored in the console) to both check if the game is authentic, and if the game is the same region as the console. The chip was designed in response to the North American video game crash of 1983, which was partially the result of a lack of both publishing and quality control; the idea was that by forcing third-party developers to have their games go through an approval process, Nintendo could stop shovelware from entering the market. Improved designs of the CIC chip were also used in the later Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Nintendo 64, although running an updated security program which performs additional checks. The lockout chip was controversial, with several developers opting to release their games without N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1983 Video Game Crash
The video game crash of 1983 (known as the Atari shock in Japan) was a large-scale recession in the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985, primarily in the United States. The crash was attributed to several factors, including market saturation in the number of video game consoles and available games, many of which were of poor quality, as well as waning interest in console games in favor of personal computers. Home video game revenues peaked at around $3.2 billion in 1983, then fell to around $100 million by 1985 (a drop of almost 97 percent). The crash abruptly ended what is retrospectively considered the second generation of console video gaming in North America. To a lesser extent, the arcade game market also weakened as the golden age of arcade video games came to an end. Lasting about two years, the crash shook a then-booming video game industry and led to the bankruptcy of several companies producing home computers and video game consoles. Analysts of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurogamer
''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX organised by its parent company, which was called Eurogamer Expo until 2013. From 2013 to 2020, sister site USGamer ran independently under its parent company. History ''Eurogamer'' (initially stylised as ''EuroGamer'' was launched on 4 September 1999 under company Eurogamer Network. The founding team included John "Gestalt" Bye, the webmaster for the PlanetQuake website and a writer for British magazine ''PC Gaming World''; Patrick "Ghandi" Stokes, a contributor for the website Warzone; and Rupert "rauper" Loman, who had organised the EuroQuake esports event for the game '' Quake''. ''Eurogamer'' hosts content from media outlet ''Digital Foundry'' since 2007, which was founded by Richard Leadbetter in 2004. In January 2008, Tom Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Super 3D Noah's Ark
''Super 3D Noah's Ark'' is a Christian video game developed by Wisdom Tree for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and was ported a year later to MS-DOS, and re-released in 2015 on Steam for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The game was an officially licensed id Software Wolfenstein 3D engine title, but was not licensed by Nintendo, so it was sold in Christian bookstores instead of typical video game retailers. Gameplay The game plays similarly to ''Wolfenstein 3D'', but the graphics were changed to reflect a non-violent theme. Instead of killing Nazi soldiers in a castle, the player takes the part of Noah, wandering the Ark, using a slingshot to shoot sleep-inducing food at angry attacking animals, mostly goats, in order to render them unconscious. The animals behave differently: goats, the most common enemy, will only kick Noah, while the other animals such as sheep, ostriches, antelopes and oxen will shoot spittle at him from a distance. Goats are also unab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SNES
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania, and 1993 in South America. In Japan, it is called the In South Korea, it is called the Super Comboy and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics. The system was released in Brazil on August 30, 1993, by Playtronic. Although each version is essentially the same, several forms of regional lockout prevent cartridges for one version from being used in other versions. The Super NES is Nintendo's second programmable home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The console introduced advanced graphics and sound capabilities compared with other systems at the time. It was designed to accommodate the ongoing development of a variety of enhancement chips integrated into game cartridges to be competitive into the n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dongle
A dongle is a small piece of computer hardware that connects to a port on another device to provide it with additional functionality, or enable a pass-through to such a device that adds functionality. In computing, the term was initially synonymous with ''software protection dongles''—a form of hardware digital rights management where a piece of software will only operate if a specified dongle—which typically contains a license key or some other cryptographic protection mechanism—is plugged into the computer while it is running. The term has since been applied to other forms of devices with a similar form factor, such as: * adapters that convert ports to handle different types of connectors (such as DVI to VGA for displays, USB-to-serial data communication, and in modern computing, USB-C to other types of ports, and Mobile High-Definition Link), * USB wireless adapters for standards such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi * USB flash drives (more commonly described as "USB stick" or " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Home Entertainment Suppliers
Home Entertainment Suppliers Pty. Ltd. (or HES) is an Australian company that distributes computer games and gaming equipment. HES' offices are based in Riverwood, Sydney. HES's founder and managing director is MR Sebastian Giompaolo. They began distributing Commodore 64 titles such as ''Pitfall!'' in 1982 and '' Kung-Fu Master'' in 1985 and Atari 2600 titles nearing the end of the 1980s under the name Activision. HES still remains a dominant distributor within Australia, despite not being well known. HES currently is the distributor for Mad Catz, Saitek, and Gamester joysticks, cables, memory cards, and other peripherals. HES also remains the official Australian distributor for Action Replay. Quite a large number of software titles are currently also being distributed by HES for Windows, Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance by publishers ZOO Digital Publishing, Tru Blu Entertainment and Phantagram. In the past, HES had gained a reputation for developing and distributin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voltage Spike
In electrical engineering, spikes are fast, short duration electrical transients in voltage (voltage spikes), current (current spikes), or transferred energy (energy spikes) in an electrical circuit. Fast, short duration electrical transients (overvoltages) in the electric potential of a circuit are typically caused by * Lightning strikes * Power outages * Tripped circuit breakers * Short circuits * Power transitions in other large equipment on the same power line * Malfunctions caused by the power company * Electromagnetic pulses (EMP) with electromagnetic energy distributed typically up to the 100 kHz and 1 MHz frequency range. * Inductive spikes In the design of critical infrastructure and military hardware, one concern is of pulses produced by nuclear explosions, whose nuclear electromagnetic pulses distribute large energies in frequencies from 1 kHz into the gigahertz range through the atmosphere. The effect of a voltage spike is to produce a correspondin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Source Code
In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source code. The source code is often transformed by an assembler or compiler into binary machine code that can be executed by the computer. The machine code is then available for execution at a later time. Most application software is distributed in a form that includes only executable files. If the source code were included it would be useful to a user, programmer or a system administrator, any of whom might wish to study or modify the program. Alternatively, depending on the technology being used, source code may be interpreted and executed directly. Definitions Richard Stallman's definition, formulated in his 1989 seminal li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A patent is not the grant of a right to make or use or sell. It does not, directly or indirectly, imply any such right. It grants only the right to exclude others. The supposition that a right to make is created by the patent grant is obviously inconsistent with the established distinctions between generic and specific patents, and with the well-known fact that a very considerable portion of the patents granted are in a field covered by a former relatively generic or basic patent, are tributary to such earlier patent, and cannot be practiced unless by license thereunder." – ''Herman v. Youngstown Car Mfg. Co.'', 191 F. 579, 584–85, 112 CCA 185 (6th Cir. 1911) In most countries, patent rights fall under private law and the patent holder mus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microcontroller
A microcontroller (MCU for ''microcontroller unit'', often also MC, UC, or μC) is a small computer on a single VLSI integrated circuit (IC) chip. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of ferroelectric RAM, NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a small amount of RAM. Microcontrollers are designed for embedded applications, in contrast to the microprocessors used in personal computers or other general purpose applications consisting of various discrete chips. In modern terminology, a microcontroller is similar to, but less sophisticated than, a system on a chip (SoC). An SoC may connect the external microcontroller chips as the motherboard components, but an SoC usually integrates the advanced peripherals like graphics processing unit (GPU) and Wi-Fi interface controller as its internal microcontroller unit circuits. Microcontrollers are use ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sharp Corporation
is a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products, headquartered in Sakai-ku, Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. Since 2016 it has been majority owned by the Taiwan-based Foxconn Group. Sharp employs more than 50,000 people worldwide. The company was founded in September 1912 in Tokyo and takes its name from one of its founder's first Ever-Sharp mechanical pencil, which was invented by Tokuji Hayakawa in 1915. History Early years 1912–1945 In 1912, Tokuji Hayakawa founded a metal workshop in Tokyo. The first of his many inventions was a snap buckle named 'Tokubijo'. Another of his inventions was the Ever-Ready Sharp mechanical pencil in 1915. The product became one of the first internationally available mechanical pencils (while concurrent US design replaced it soon and became a modern type), and due to this big success the Sharp Corporation derived its name from it. After the pencil business was destroyed by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
