CVG 101: Em-yoo-lay-shun? (originally for Classic Gamer Magazine)

[Classic Gamer Magazine introduction. This article was originally published in CGM volume 2, #1 (April 2004). This is the article as I submitted it and does not exactly match what was published.]

If you’re a classic gamer and are on the Internet, odds are you've at least heard of emulation and emulators. You may even have a hard drive full of ROMs and a computer desktop full of emulator icons at home. If that’s the case, you might as well go read this issue's “MAMExposed” by Scott Marriott. If you're the one saying, “what's a ROM?” (Yes, you! The one in the back!), keep reading.

An emulator is simply a program that lets one computer imitate a different computer. When I say “computer,” I mean it in almost the most generic sense. In this case, an electronic device that uses microprocessors to, er, compute. For example, there are emulators that let your Apple Macintosh act like a PC, your PC pretend it's a Sony PlayStation, and your PlayStation think it's an Intellivision. (And for some real fun, try running the Intellivision emulator on your PlayStation emulator on your PC emulator on your Mac.) Sounds simple enough, right? “So,” you ask, “how do they work?” I wish you hadn't asked that.

Creating an emulator is not a simple task. It takes a lot of technical know-how and programming skills. It's really more complicated that I can explain in this limited space, but let's see if I can cover the basics. Since this is Classic Gamer Magazine, we’ll limit our discussion to home video game consoles and coin-operated arcade video games. For all video games, there are four primary areas to consider: video, audio, controls, and central processing unit(s). These are collectively known as the hardware.

The CPU emulation is really the heart of an emulator. It's the CPU that runs the program that is the game, whether the game is contained in a chip on a cartridge (as in home consoles) or on several chips soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB) (as in arcade games). In order for an emulator to run a game, you have to make your computer processor run as if it were the console's or coin-op's CPU.

In addition to the CPU, there are probably other processors that handle the video, audio, and controls. When the emulator programmer creates these components, he must not only have them imitate the original hardware, but translate their input or output to the emulator's host system. For example, you can't hook up your Atari 2600 directly to your PC monitor. They simply aren't compatible. Similarly, your sound card isn't a TV speaker and there's nowhere to plug in the joystick. So the emulator has to convert what was once a TV (or arcade monitor) signal into something your video and sound cards can understand. Likewise, it has to convert certain presses of the keyboard into something that appears to the emulated CPU like pressing the joystick and buttons.

So, to reiterate, an emulator is a computer program that imitates the hardware of another computer. Now, when it comes to computers, where there's hardware, software usually isn't too far behind. In the case of video games, it's the game itself that is the software. When you plug a cartridge into your ColecoVision, you're actually connecting a Read Only Memory (ROM) chip to the CPU. When you turn the console on, the CPU then executes (runs) the code found in the ROM chip (or just ROM for short). Similarly, when you turn on an arcade game, the CPU reads the software in the ROM chips connected to it.

Now, most people don't have the hardware to connect a cartridge to their computer. This is where ROM images (or, again, just ROMs for short) come in. It is possible to buy or even make the proper cables and/or hardware to connect a cartridge or arcade game ROM chip to a computer. Then you can use special software to copy the software contained in the ROM to a file on your computer. This file is called a ROM image. The ROM image (or, say it with me, ROM for short) is identical to the code that the console or arcade game runs. Thus, when used in conjunction with a good emulator, you can get an experience that's almost just like playing the actual console or arcade game.

You might be wondering why you didn't hear about emulation until recently. [Author’s note: “recent” is a relative term here. This article was originally written for the non-existent seventh issue of CGM back in 2001.] This time, I’m glad you asked. The primary reason is that computer processors have only recently gotten fast enough to handle emulating other systems. There's a lot of overhead in getting one computer processor to emulate another. It wasn't until the mid-1990s that personal computers had the power to emulate a 1MHz CPU! And then programming an emulator generally required using assembly language. Assembly language is a very low-level language for directly programming a computer. It's basically only a couple steps removed from the actual zeroes and ones your computer uses. The advantage is, because you're practically talking the language of the computer, programs written in assembly are (generally) very fast. But because it's so rudimentary, few people take the time to learn it. Thus, there were few people that had both the interest and the ability to write emulators.

By the late 1990s, computers were powerful enough to handle emulators written in higher-level languages like C. A program written in a language like C is converted down to assembly language by what's called a compiler. But even the best compiler isn't going to create an assembly language program as efficient as that written by hand. (At least that written by the hand of an experienced assembly language programmer.) Thus, such programs run slower. This has been made up for in processor speed.

To give some early history, Digital Eclipse released their Williams Digital Arcade series for the Macintosh in 1994. The games of the series were Defender, Joust, and Robotron: 2084. These were the world's first commercially released arcade game emulators. The following year, Activision published their first Atari 2600 Action Pack, which was an Atari 2600 emulator accompanied by 15 games. This was the first commercially released home video game console emulator. These two programs, along with several independent efforts that happened to be taking place about the same time, started the emulator revolution. At the same time, the Internet was starting to really take off. This allowed programmers to better share their works and communicate with each other to compare notes.

It also made it easier for those few with the ability to make ROM images to share them with others. This brings us to a legal technicality. While there is (generally), nothing illegal about creating or using an emulator, most of the games they run are still the property of the companies and individuals who created them. Their copyrights won't expire for many years yet, and some companies are intent on defending them, as is their right under the law. Thus I feel I must point out that it is illegal to download ROMs from the Internet, particularly if you don't own the actual game.

The laws regarding “backing up” software muddy the issue some. Technically, the owner is supposed to back up his own software. However, since all copies are identical, once you've downloaded a copy, how could anyone tell that you hadn't done it yourself? Second, there are some questions as to whether laws allowing the backing up of software apply to software distributed on a robust medium like a cartridge. As best I know, these particular issues have not been tried in court because the companies that own the games don't generally go after the emulator users; they target those that distribute the ROMs on a large scale. Beyond the legal issues are the ethical ones, which I don't have nearly the space to go into here. Suffice it to say, you'll have to sort out for yourself whether breaking these laws is actually harming anyone or not. It's not an easy question to answer.

Regardless of your answer, today you can find an emulator for practically any home console or computer that was popular in its day. And even some that weren't so popular. You can also find emulators for thousands of arcade games. By far, the most popular is the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator or MAME (www.mame.net), which currently emulates over 2600 unique games. Can you imagine an arcade with 2600 different games??? Well, thanks to emulation, you don't have to imagine it. You can have it in your home, filling up your computer's hard drive.

Postscript (12 June 2013)

This article was originally written for Classic Gamer Magazine volume 1, #7 in 2001. Yes, the one time I managed to get an article written on time — or was it even ahead of time? — the magazine folded. Unfortunately, CGM wasn't the only one.  Syzygy and GameGo also disappeared about the same time. At first, CGM publisher Cav planned to publish the seventh issue on CD-ROM, but four months later, he realized that even that was to expensive a venture. So he planned to use our articles on the Classic Gamer web site to maintain interest until he could figure out what to do. Finally, in 2004, CGM was re-launched with volume 2 as a PDF document and this article saw "print." By then, however, I had other commitments and didn't write any further articles.  (See the "Remembering CVG 101 and Classic Gamer Magazine" entry for more information on the magazine.)

That note about the article being written in 2001 was not included and that part was re-written, possibly not by me. Also, Scott Marriott's column was renamed to MAMEusements and my article edited to reflect that.

Re: Ever picked up a cart out of pity?

[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic as a response to the quoted (>) post.]

In article <20040106165616.01786.00001429@mb-m20.aol.com>,
Bass Guitar God wrote:
>Now here's the question: Have you ever "rescued" such a cart, purchased it,
>taken it home, cleaned it up, and add it to the stack of copies you already
>owned just out of respect for the game?

>And you cannot stand to see it like this, and figure that it would be much
>better in your care, until the time comes when you can at least give it to
>someone who could use it. Can anybody relate to this? I can!

Yes, and that's my problem! 8) I'm currently agonizing over that Pong clone I mentioned Monday. I went back and they wanted $15 for it! ($10 after I showed the lady the battery leakage.) I can't afford to pay $10 for the privilege of seeing if I can resuscitate it.

Today I went do a different thrift and found a Mattel D&D Computer Labyrinth game for $2! It was missing some pieces, of course, but in the (beat up) box. I went up to the counter and asked about opening it to check it out. I also made sure there wasn't an old battery in it and related my experience to the cashier. She said there were some thrift stores in town (didn't mention names) that price things based on how nice you're dressed. I figure that's what's happening to me, because I have to go on lunch hour from work. I also figure she was referring to that very store because I think all the rest in town put price tags on everything.

And before you suggest dressing down and going on the weekend or something, I've been making regular trips there so long they know my face. My only hope is to catch a time when a different lady is at the register. (I've never been fond of the one I had to deal with, and this is why.)

Weekend Colecovision finds

[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]

I admit, I'm only thrifting infrequently right now, but while out of town this past weekend, I finally found some actual classic games that I didn't already have! I don't remember the last time that happened.

There are four thrifts I usually try to hit while at the in-laws, which are spread out quite a bit. I picked one for no particular reason, but chose wisely as I scored some Colecovision games. The ones I didn't have were Illusions, Ken Uston's Blackjack & Poker, and Threshold. I also picked up 2010: The Graphic Action Game, B.C.'s Quest for Tires, The Heist, Jumpman Junior, and One-on-One for trade bait. I left Donkey Kong, Venture, and Zaxxon for the next person. So yes, for this weekend, I was Sum Guy.

I haven't had time to test them yet, but look forward to doing so.

[10 Nov 2011 comment: I sadly don't remember exactly which thrift store this was any more. Possibly it was the America's Thrift Store located at Airport and Schillinger. (I think it was open back then.) That store has since moved to Tillman's Corner and the old space is now a Dirt Cheap.

The phrase "Sum Guy" originated on rec.games.video.classic to refer to that person who bought up all the classic video game stuff before you got there, even the common games (e.g. Pac-Man, Combat, and Space Invaders). As best I can tell now – because honestly, I don't remember as no one had any idea it would catch on so at the time – it was originated by Terry E. Rutt on 4 Feb 1996. Some credit might also be due to Robert Batina for starting the thread on the phenomenon and CudaBert for following up with "News Flash.....Some Guy spotted in New Jersey area".]

Today's finds (books)

[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]

I don't get to go thrifting much these days, but decided to hit at least one today. This turned out to be a good decision. No games in sight, but I found the 1984 Comsumer Reports Buying Guide and Don't Overdo with Video Games!. I may already have the former (I'll have to check), but not the latter. So far I've only had a chance to glance at them, but here are some notes.

The 1984 CR Buying Guide doesn't give ratings to the consoles, just reviews. All the info is condensed from the Nov 1982 and Jan 1983 issues of Consumer Reports, if you care to search those out. They review the Astrocade, Atari 5200, Atari VCS, Colecovision, Intellivision, and Odyssey^2. They also review a few games for each console in just a few sentences. I love what they say about 2600 Pac-Man: "The graphics aren't quite as good as in the arcade version, and the unresponsive joystick limits the player's control."

The full title of the second book is actually What to Do When Your Mom or Dad Says . . . Don't Overdo with Video Games!. It's by Joy Wilt Berry with illustrations by Bartholomew, and is the Weekly Reader version of "The Surival Series for Kids." (This means it has a flipside that's WTDWYMODS . . . We Can't Afford It!.) The illustrations feature a young boy being constantly tempted by what looks like an orange monster from Pac-Man, but with arms and a mouth. My favorite part is that all the games the boy plays are part of the fictional Gorp series of games. (Note that this book is copyright 1983 and Gorf debuted in 1981.) There's Gorp, Gorp Zapper, Combat Gorp, Space Gorp, Wizard Gorp, Star Gorp, Ms. Gorp, War Gorp, and Super Gorp. All we need now is Gorp Deluxe, Gorp Plus, Baby Gorp, Gorp Junior, Gorp Bros., and Gorp-o-tron, and we'll be set. 8)

[An hour later, I followed up with the following post.]
I gave it a better look. Here are some quotes I've added to my random signature file. William Cassidy and other O2 enthusiasts beware; they weren't kind to it.


"Gone are the simple home video games of the 1970's. Current machines have micorprocessor 'brains' that endow them with computer-like speed and sophistication."
     -- Consumer Reports on home video games (1984)

"The graphics aren't quite as good as in the arcade version, and the unresponsive joystick limits the player's control."
     -- Consumer Reports on Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 (1984 Buying Guide)

"The list of games available for the Atari 5200 should lengthen rapidly . . . ."
     -- Consumer Reports on the Atari 5200 (1984 Buying Guide)

"Here's another challenge to your ability to master the controls before they frustrate you."
     -- Consumer Reports on Night Stalker for the Intellvision (1984 Buying Guide)

"The only computer language available . . . is "Assembler" -- a cumbersome language of little practical utility on this equipment."
     -- Consumer Reports on the Odyssey² (1984 Buying Guide)

"The machine's [joysticks] worked reasonably well. But that was was about the only good thing the panelists could find in the Odyssey 2."
     -- Consumer Reports on the Odyssey² (1984 Buying Guide)

"Several panelists wondered why a machine with such potential was handicapped with an array of such crude games."
     -- Consumer Reports on the Odyssey² (1984 Buying Guide)

CVG 101: Please Don't Chew the Gum! (originally for Classic gamer Magazine)

[Classic Gamer Magazine introduction. This article was originally published in CGM #6 (spring 2001). This is the article as I submitted it and may not exactly match what was published. Some information is incomplete, so please see the postscript at the end.]

If you're a child of the '80s, you probably bought at least a pack or two of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, or some other kind of video game stickers.  Remember those?  They came in wax packs with a piece of pink cardboard masquerading as chewing gum, just like baseball cards.  While there were later ones based on characters like Super Mario Bros., for the sake of this article, we'll limit discussion to video games "Golden Age."  (That is, the early 1980s.)

Although there were two different companies making video game related stickers during this time, Fleer and Topps, there are many similarities in the way they were sold.  All of them came 36 packs to a box.  (Super Pac-Man was also available in boxes of 48 packs.)  Each pack (except maybe Dragon’s Lair) contained three sticker cards, three rub-off game cards, and the previously mentioned stick of “chewing gum.”  The packs sold for 25 to 30 cents each.

Fleer started the whole thing by releasing Pac-Man stickers in 1980.  Back then, Pac-Man was on everything from mugs to shoes to bed sheets, so it’s only natural the trading card industry would try to get in on the action.  There were 54 stickers in the set.  The front of the stickers generally had black, yellow, or white backgrounds and featured either one or two Pac-Man characters with word balloons or one or two rectangular stickers with sayings on them.  The text on several stickers was taken from the lyrics of “Pac-Man Fever” by Buckner and Garcia.  (“Slide out the side door”/”I’m cookin’ now.”)  Others were just plain silly.  (“Happiness is a hungry Pac-Man.”)  This may also have been where the words “Waka!  Waka!” were immortalized, as they appeared on several stickers.

The backs of the stickers were rather plain.  They had the Fleer logo and said “Pac-Man Sticker No. X of 54.”  They also contained suggestions for holding contests using the rub-off games.  The interesting thing about the backs is that there were a few variations.  In my experience, most have blue ink on the back, but you can also find some that are black.  In the upper right corner is either the traditional circle-with-a-wedge-missing Pac-Man or the legged Pac-Man from the side art of the coin-op.

There were also two different styles of front:  those that had eyes and those that didn't.  That is, you could find the same sticker, but one would have eyes on the Pac-Man and another wouldn't.  The Pac-Men with eyes also had blue and red highlights around the edges.  My observations show that the cards with the circular Pac-Man on the back have a no-eyed Pac-Man on the front, while the side art Pac-Man on the back has a Pac-Man with eyes on the front.  (If you have examples that break this pattern, please let me know.) [There are, in fact, more than two variations. See the postscript below.]

As for the rub-off games, they were a simplified version of the Pac-Man maze covered in gold circles.  You “moved” through the maze by scratching off the gold circles that filled it, revealing either a dot; blue monster; red, orange, or pink monster; or a cherry.  The object of the game was to get through as much of the maze as you could before revealing three non-blue monsters, at which point your game was over.  All the other items were worth points, which determined how well you did.  There were 28 different rub-off games, so once you had an example of each, you were set to cheat your way through the rest of your rub-off games.

Apparently Pac-Man stickers were a success for Fleer, because in 1981 they released a set of Ms. Pac-Man stickers.  Again, they generally featured one or two characters with word balloons or a rectangular sticker with a saying.  Looking at them now, from an adult perspective, there was a strong undercurrent of sexual innuendo.  (“Ms. Pac-Man does it faster.”  Pac-Man saying, “I need it bad.”)  Most stickers had a blue or pink background.  The backs of the cards simply stated “Ms. Pac-Man Sticker No. Y of 54” in pink ink.  The Ms. Pac-Man stickers did not suffer from the variations that the Pac-Man stickers did.  On the fronts, both Pac-People always had eyes.  Pac-Man had the red and blue highlights around the edges while Ms. Pac-Man did not.

Since the Ms. Pac-Man arcade game had four different mazes, there were four different mazes for the rub-off games.  In addition to the cherry, the Ms. Pac-Man games also had pretzels and bananas.  The basic premise remained the same.  The backs of the games came printed in either blue or black ink.  I have never seen a count of the unique game cards for any sticker series other than Pac-Man, so I do not know how many different Ms. Pac-Man games there were.  The same goes for all of the sets described below.

Fleer’s last set of Pac-Man stickers was Super Pac-Man in 1982.  It was more of the same on the front.  Once again, the Pac-People all had eyes.  The backgrounds were red, blue, purple or divided into three stripes of purple, white, and pink.  The backs this time all promoted a Pac-Man poster contest.  They featured either a child wearing a Pac-Man hat, a girl wearing a Pac-Man shirt, or a boy holding a Coleco Pac-Man tabletop game.  I’m uncertain if you could find the same sticker with different backs.  It was pointed out to me by Geoff Voigt at Classic Gaming Expo 2000 that if you turn all the fronts to face the same way, some of the backs will be upside down!  Because the stickers don’t tell you how many there were in the series, I’m not sure, but there were at least 40.  From the previous two sets, I’d say 54 would be a good guess.  The rub-off games this time were all the same maze, but there were gates in the maze that you were not permitted to go through unless you revealed a key nearby.  There was also a large gold oval in part of the maze that might direct you to the scratch-off “super speed button” at the bottom of the card for bonus points.

Nineteen eighty-two was also the year Topps got their chance to cash in on the video game phenomenon.  They acquired the license to produce Donkey Kong stickers.  There was no set layout for the front of the stickers, which featured various corny sayings.  (“Jump Man at work.”  “I’m ape over Donkey Kong.”)  The backs of each sticker featured a piece of one of two pictures.  It took 15 stickers to make a complete picture.  There was a 16th sticker for each puzzle that showed what it should look like when completed, so there was a total of 32 cards.

There are four different styles of rub-off games, one for each board of the arcade game.  The object is to get to the girl at the top without revealing a combination of three fireballs and barrels.  That’s right, there are both fireballs and barrels on every card, even though barrels only appeared on the first screen of the coin-op.

One thing about the Donkey Kong stickers people don't know is that a slightly different version of them were included in specially marked packages of Donkey Kong cereal.  The fronts are identical to those found in the packs.  The puzzle pieces on the back, however, are oriented vertically instead of horizontally, and it takes less of them to make a complete picture.  The two pictures were the same, however.  Each picture was made of only nine stickers, plus a tenth one showing the completed picture.  Thus, a complete set of these would be 20 stickers.  Good luck finding them, though.

The next year, in 1983, Topps released their Video City stickers.  Instead of featuring a single, highly popular video game, this series of stickers featured four moderately successful ones:  Donkey Kong Jr., Frogger, Turbo, and Zaxxon.  A complete set consists of 28 stickers:  seven for each game.  However, describing the seven is a bit complicated, so bear with me.  There were four stickers that had a portion of a larger picture on the back, similar to the Donkey Kong stickers.  Then there was a fifth sticker showing the completed puzzle on the back.  The catch is that front of this fifth sticker was identical to one of the first four.  For most of the games, it’s the same as the one with the lower left puzzle piece on it, but for Frogger, it’s identical to the upper right piece.  The sixth sticker front is the same graphic as the complete puzzle and has playing tips for its arcade game on the back.  Then, there’s a seventh sticker for each game that is also the same as the puzzle, but has a special subscription offer for Electronic Games magazine on the back.  The rub-off games are much simpler to keep track of.  There’s only one board design per game.  In the case of Donkey Kong Jr., which had multiple screens, Topps used only the first screen.

Finally, Fleer got back into the act one final time with Dragon’s Lair stickers in 1984.  I have to admit, I never even knew these existed until a few years ago.  Most of the stickers featured art from the game, some with an extremely corny word balloon (“Please don’t squeeze the Dirk.”) and some with a just label naming the featured character.  Some didn't feature any art from the game at all, just a saying.  The backs of the stickers featured playing tips for the game.  Some game tips were repeated on multiple stickers.  According to the front of the stickers, there were 63 in a set.

I’m not sure anyone knows how many Dragon’s Lair rub-off games there are.  They featured art from the game as their backgrounds.  The problem is there are at least two dozen different backgrounds used.  Unlike all the other rub-off games mentioned here, instead of circles, they have solid paths that branch.  A nice change of pace after all those circles.

Now that you know what’s out there, you might wonder where to find these stickers.  First, there are the usual sources:  other collectors and eBay.  You might also try comic book and trading card stores.  Geoff Voigt let me in on an online merchant that he doesn't mind sharing named Marchant Non-Sports Cards (www.marchantcards.com or www.nscards.com).  Their prices for Donkey Kong and Video City are very reasonable.  The prices on the rest might give you pause.  Just remember, no matter where you manage to find your stickers, please don’t chew the gum!

Sidebar

If collecting stickers isn't up your alley, but you’d like to give them a glimpse or know what they say, try these web sites:

Donkey Kong

• http://www.ohio.voyager.net/~ngsippel/cv/donkeykong.txt

Dragon’s Lair

• http://www.tomheroes.com/Video%20Games%20FS/Arcade/dragon's_lair_cards.htm
• http://www.dragons-lair-project.com/community/merch/ [Try this instead.]
• http://bioinfo.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman/vgmuseum/cards/dlruboff.html

Pac-Man

• http://home.hiwaay.net/~lkseitz/cvg/pac_stick3.html

Author note: Many thanks to Geoff Voigt for his help in researching this article. You can also thank (or blame) him for letting us use his title.

Postscript (12 June 2013)

As I mentioned in the previous Classic Gamer Magazine entry, this article was written quickly to replace one that was rejected. (You can read about the reasons in that entry.)

Some of the information above, while maybe not inaccurate, is incomplete. If you have any interest in stickers for the various Pac-Man games, you must visit The Pac-Star web site by Kevin Jay North! It is the end-all and be-all of information on these stickers. (And Russ Perry, Jr. and I helped provide some bits of information.)