Mixed Signal Circuit Video Games – Pioneering a new application of analog circuits

by Pablo Antonio Camacho Jr.

I got the idea to make video games primarily from analog circuits for logic and digital circuits for rendering from combining my need to develop my analog circuit design skills with my hobby of making video games. No one else seems to be doing this as far as I can see in 2022 since the search engine usually shows my projects whenever I look it up. Despite the origin of this practice, I believe that the challenge and limits of making video games from a mix of analog circuits for
logic and digital circuits for rendering can lead to technological innovation.

Video games are complex systems because they require the use of a loop of feedback(visual and aural) and user input to provide a novel
entertaining experience. Due to this complexity and need to provide a novel entertaining experience, technologies have been further innovated when applied to video games. Examples include Jerry Lawson’s invention of cartridge based home consoles; John Carmack’s computer graphics code innovations for more efficient visual feedback; Entity Component System software architecture innovation by game developers for more efficient use of CPU and RAM resources; innovative motion controls by the Wii and Nintendo consoles after. These innovations all share a pattern of starting as a technology made independently of video games and then being applied and further developed to accomplish a goal of providing a fun experience within the loop of user input and feedback. I believe that video games can also bring out innovation in the application of analog circuits just as it has done using technologies.

Check out the progress of this analog circuit application in this github project.

https://github.com/adct-the-experimenter/ms-circuit-video-game