CoolRunner-II Retro-pong

This blog, like much of the technology media community, focuses on the high end of design, and that seems to be a realm where most designers like to spend the bulk of their time. But I’ve always been a supporter of the retro phrase “Everything old becomes new again” – which may be why I purchase almost as much music in vinyl formats as in CDs or digital files.

With that in mind, may I present a recent YouTube entry showing the emulation of the General Instrument AY-3-8500 gaming IC in a Xilinx CoolRunner-II CPLD. A British designer has written the emulation code in VHDL, and has used a 250-macrocell device for a chip that can play pong, squash, tennis, and solo. “Retrocores” promises to provide a color emulation of Breakout. One commenter asked for Space Invaders, though I’m holding out for Donkey Kong – perhaps in Spartan rather than CoolRunner.