<s>
The	O
XGameStation	B-Device
is	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
embedded	O
systems	O
,	O
primarily	O
designed	O
as	O
a	O
dedicated	B-Device
home	B-Device
video	I-Device
game	I-Device
console	I-Device
,	O
created	O
by	O
Andre	O
LaMothe	O
and	O
sold	O
by	O
his	O
company	O
Nurve	O
Networks	O
LLC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
designed	O
to	O
teach	O
electronics	O
and	O
video	O
game	O
development	O
to	O
programmers	O
,	O
newer	O
models	O
concentrate	O
more	O
on	O
logic	O
design	O
,	O
multi-core	B-Architecture
programming	O
,	O
game	O
programming	O
,	O
and	O
embedded	O
system	O
design	O
and	O
programming	O
with	O
popular	O
microcontrollers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
XGameStation	B-Device
was	O
originally	O
conceived	O
of	O
as	O
a	O
handheld	O
system	O
called	O
the	O
nanoGear	O
based	O
around	O
the	O
68HC12	B-Device
microprocessor	O
,	O
a	O
modern	O
derivative	O
of	O
the	O
6809	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	O
would	O
also	O
contain	O
modern	O
derivatives	O
of	O
the	O
6502	B-General_Concept
and	O
Z-80	B-General_Concept
microprocessors	O
,	O
for	O
retro	O
coders	O
and	O
hackers	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
make	O
emulation	O
of	O
classic	O
computer	O
and	O
video	O
game	O
systems	O
easier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
several	O
iterations	O
,	O
the	O
plan	O
changed	O
to	O
use	O
an	O
ARM	B-Architecture
microprocessor	I-Architecture
and	O
an	O
FPGA	B-Architecture
on	O
which	O
a	O
custom	O
designed	O
GPU	B-Architecture
was	O
implemented	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ARM	B-Architecture
and	O
FPGA-based	O
system	O
was	O
renamed	O
the	O
XGS	O
Mega	O
Edition	O
after	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
Micro	O
Edition	O
,	O
and	O
though	O
planned	O
to	O
be	O
sold	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
never	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Then	O
original	O
XGameStation	B-Device
was	O
announced	O
by	O
August	O
2003	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
input	O
,	O
the	O
system	O
has	O
a	O
single	O
PS/2	B-Protocol
connector	I-Protocol
for	O
keyboard	O
or	O
mouse	O
input	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
two	O
DB-9	B-Protocol
for	O
connecting	O
Atari-compatible	O
joysticks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programming	O
is	O
done	O
in	O
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
or	O
in	O
a	O
custom	O
written	O
XGS	O
Basic	O
,	O
either	O
on	O
a	O
PC	O
and	O
then	O
transferred	O
to	O
the	O
console	O
or	O
on	O
the	O
system	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Micro	O
Edition	O
contains	O
the	O
XGameStation	B-Device
unit	O
,	O
"	O
Designing	O
Your	O
Own	O
Video	O
Game	O
Console	O
"	O
-	O
a	O
detailed	O
book	O
in	O
PDF	B-Application
format	I-Application
teaching	O
the	O
basics	O
of	O
electronics	O
,	O
a	O
power	O
supply	O
,	O
A/V	O
cables	O
,	O
a	O
joystick	O
,	O
a	O
COM	O
cable	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
few	O
extras	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
PDF	B-Application
version	O
of	O
one	O
of	O
Andre	O
LaMothe	O
's	O
previous	O
books	O
"	O
Tricks	O
of	O
the	O
Windows	O
Game	O
Programming	O
Gurus	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SX52	O
has	O
been	O
made	O
obsolete	O
by	O
Parallax	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
that	O
now	O
packages	O
the	O
SX-series	B-Device
of	O
micro	O
controller	O
dies	O
,	O
made	O
by	O
Ubicom	O
,	O
because	O
they	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
a	O
package	O
with	O
52	O
pins	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
according	O
to	O
the	O
people	O
at	O
XGameStation	B-Device
,	O
there	O
are	O
enough	O
SX52	O
chips	O
available	O
for	O
all	O
their	O
future	O
needs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Pico	O
Edition	O
is	O
based	O
around	O
the	O
SX28	O
microcontroller	O
,	O
which	O
,	O
like	O
the	O
SX52	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
high-speed	O
PIC	O
microcontroller	O
running	O
at	O
80MHz	O
for	O
a	O
total	O
of	O
80	O
MIPS	O
,	O
though	O
it	O
has	O
less	O
RAM	O
and	O
Flash	B-Device
capacity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programming	O
is	O
done	O
in	O
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
or	O
in	O
a	O
custom	O
written	O
XGS	O
Basic	O
,	O
on	O
a	O
PC	O
and	O
then	O
transferred	O
to	O
the	O
console	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
input	O
,	O
like	O
the	O
XGS	O
Micro	O
,	O
two	O
DB-9	B-Protocol
ports	O
and	O
a	O
PS/2	B-Protocol
port	I-Protocol
are	O
supplied	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
instead	O
of	O
being	O
compatible	O
with	O
Atari	O
joysticks	O
,	O
the	O
DB-9	B-Protocol
ports	O
are	O
compatible	O
with	O
Nintendo	O
gamepads	O
(	O
though	O
directly	O
connecting	O
an	O
NES	B-Language
or	O
SNES	O
controller	O
would	O
require	O
a	O
pin	O
adapter	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
the	O
prior	O
XGS	O
and	O
Hydra	O
systems	O
,	O
programming	O
is	O
primarily	O
in	O
C/C	O
++	O
,	O
utilizing	O
system-specific	O
libraries	O
,	O
though	O
assembly	B-Language
programming	I-Language
and	O
a	O
custom	O
written	O
XGS	O
Basic	O
are	O
also	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
XGS	O
AVR	O
8-Bit	O
processor	O
is	O
an	O
Atmel	O
MEGA	O
AVR	O
644P	O
with	O
64K	O
FLASH	B-Device
and	O
4K	O
SRAM	O
running	O
at	O
over	O
28	O
MIPS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
XGS	O
PIC	O
16-Bit	O
processor	O
is	O
a	O
PIC24	O
with	O
256K	O
FLASH	B-Device
and	O
16K	O
SRAM	O
running	O
at	O
over	O
40	O
MIPS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Hydra	O
uses	O
the	O
multi-core	B-Architecture
Parallax	B-Architecture
Propeller	I-Architecture
microcontroller	O
,	O
which	O
has	O
an	O
architecture	O
resembling	O
the	O
Cell	O
microprocessor	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Operating_System
3	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
has	O
much	O
more	O
memory	O
than	O
the	O
Micro	O
Edition	O
's	O
SX52	O
:	O
32K	O
RAM	O
and	O
a	O
32K	O
ROM	O
which	O
contains	O
a	O
bitmap	O
font	O
for	O
the	O
video	B-Architecture
display	I-Architecture
generator	I-Architecture
,	O
(	O
the	O
Propeller	O
can	O
generate	O
a	O
high	O
quality	O
VGA	O
or	O
PAL/NTSC	O
color	O
picture	O
using	O
software	O
and	O
some	O
special	O
support	O
logic	O
built	O
into	O
each	O
CPU	B-Architecture
core	I-Architecture
)	O
,	O
tables	O
for	O
mathematical	O
function	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
interpreter	O
for	O
the	O
multi	B-Operating_System
threaded	I-Operating_System
SPIN	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
CPU	B-Architecture
core	I-Architecture
also	O
has	O
its	O
own	O
2K	O
RAM	O
(	O
512	O
32bit	O
words	O
)	O
of	O
dedicated	B-General_Concept
memory	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
input	O
,	O
the	O
system	O
has	O
two	O
PS/2	B-Protocol
ports	I-Protocol
for	O
a	O
mouse	O
and	O
keyboard	O
(	O
which	O
are	O
sold	O
with	O
the	O
system	O
)	O
and	O
two	O
NES	B-Language
compatible	O
game	O
controller	O
ports	O
(	O
one	O
game	O
controller	O
is	O
included	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	O
also	O
has	O
a	O
mini	O
USB	O
interface	O
for	O
programming	O
the	O
system	O
,	O
an	O
RJ-11	O
Ethernet	O
port	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
128K	O
serial	O
Flash	B-Device
EEPROM	I-Device
for	O
storage	O
.	O
</s>
