What was the Odyssey 2 hardware like?
The CPU in the Odyssey 2 was an 8048, which was a 4-bit internal microprocessor with an 8-bit bus. The 8244 was the custom game chip and had the first sprite based architecture. That is, each sprite had an x/y component that, if changed, would move the sprite around the video screen. Four of the sprites pointed to RAM which could be changed on the fly, providing animation. There were another twelve sprites which pointed to objects that were stored in ROM and could not be changed, objects like letters and numbers. The chip also contained sound and a programmable grid. Each object could be one of eight colors, which also could be changed on the fly. The game cartridges started out at 2K and represented my biggest challenge as a designer. I spent more time trying to cram the code into 2K then any other part of the game development. Eventually 4K ROMs were used but they also were filled quickly. I suppose it is worth mentioning that all the code was assembly language and all graphic charac
