hey everyone. i've always wondered how professional game editors like namco or capcom make 8-bit or 16-bit or 24-bit or 32-bit games.. did they use a PC program back then? If so, where can I get this? I atleast want to check it out. Thanks
Back then the process of creating a game for arcade machine or home console was pretty complicated. Games were hardcoded with the machine's native assembly and to write even the most simple game it was HELL. Nowdays (since i'm from some time into that stuff) everything is first written and compiled on PC or something like that and then copied to the console/phone/fridge using some simple interfaces. For example, even if you don't have a PCOne, you can download the SDK and emulator and create cool games for it
to add to what Mikhail121's post:
game company's in the past, present and future, they acquire API's from the console manufacturer. from there, they made games and tested them using any workstation [pc, whatever] that "spoke" the same "language" as the console. Mikhail121 is right about it being almost entirely assembly in the past but today, the API's are pretty high-level. some consoles support OpenGL* and SDL* such that you can program games, demos, etc using these API's.
* as far as I've read, ps2-linux-dev kit had some OpenGL-like support [very much like a mesa library] and someone [sony maybe?] has an SDL port for it also...