See my reply below - the SA-1 was much more than just a co-processor. It was an entire SoC with its own timers, DMA controller, MMU, RAM and interrupt controller that could actively interrupt the main CPU and transfer control to itself.
A co-processor would be controlled by the CPU, the SA-1 was its own CPU and could use the 65C816 (the main CPU) to "do its bidding" (e.g. for access to the video chip, etc.). The SA-1 was 2.8x faster than the 65C816 and even had faster internal RAM.
Extra processors came in many varieties, but the SA-1 in particular was much more than your typical DSP(1-4) or data-decompression chip.
Edit: I guess what I'm trying to say is that an SNES + a cartridge with an SA-1 is effectively a different console with different capabilities than an SNES without an SA-1 attached. This concept is lost on so many people these days because they can't wrap their head around the idea that games sometimes used to ship with additional hardware built-in, turning the cartridge itself into a mini-console of sorts.
I think your point is certainly correct. The headline makes it sound like this is only a software optimization, and it is definitely not.
Yeah they had to touch 90% of the code. But only to make it work with the different hardware. Sure, hardware that was still found in the SNES, but what you're saying about these chips being added to cartridges effectively turning them into a different console is very interesting.
I wish I knew more about the inner workings of electronic circuits, processors and the like. It's at the top of my TODO list to learn. These 90's era SNES cartridges seem like an interesting era as far as that's concerned. The wiki the article links to in regards to the lineage of special chips many of these games contained is cool. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super_NES_enhancement_...
On this topic, another nostalgic memory I'll never forget (I'm 35) is walking into a K-mart as a boy and playing Starfox at a demo station for the first time. It was right up front as you walked in. There was a TV & SNES playing the game. It was surrounded by poster board marketing material with flashy pictures. It clearly emphasizied the brand new 'Super FX' chip that made the cutting edge polygon graphics possible.
As if anyone knew what the heck that meant, but a 'Super FX' chip sounds really cool to the layperson. But they were some of the best 3D graphics my young eyes had ever witnessed back in '93 :)
Apologies, I didn't mean it to be that it is merely a coprocessor. But I think modern gamers are completely unused to buying a game effectively upgrading the system at the same time. I can't think of a modern analog.
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See my reply below - the SA-1 was much more than just a co-processor. It was an entire SoC with its own timers, DMA controller, MMU, RAM and interrupt controller that could actively interrupt the main CPU and transfer control to itself.
A co-processor would be controlled by the CPU, the SA-1 was its own CPU and could use the 65C816 (the main CPU) to "do its bidding" (e.g. for access to the video chip, etc.). The SA-1 was 2.8x faster than the 65C816 and even had faster internal RAM.
Extra processors came in many varieties, but the SA-1 in particular was much more than your typical DSP(1-4) or data-decompression chip.
Edit: I guess what I'm trying to say is that an SNES + a cartridge with an SA-1 is effectively a different console with different capabilities than an SNES without an SA-1 attached. This concept is lost on so many people these days because they can't wrap their head around the idea that games sometimes used to ship with additional hardware built-in, turning the cartridge itself into a mini-console of sorts.
I think your point is certainly correct. The headline makes it sound like this is only a software optimization, and it is definitely not.
Yeah they had to touch 90% of the code. But only to make it work with the different hardware. Sure, hardware that was still found in the SNES, but what you're saying about these chips being added to cartridges effectively turning them into a different console is very interesting.
I wish I knew more about the inner workings of electronic circuits, processors and the like. It's at the top of my TODO list to learn. These 90's era SNES cartridges seem like an interesting era as far as that's concerned. The wiki the article links to in regards to the lineage of special chips many of these games contained is cool. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super_NES_enhancement_...
On this topic, another nostalgic memory I'll never forget (I'm 35) is walking into a K-mart as a boy and playing Starfox at a demo station for the first time. It was right up front as you walked in. There was a TV & SNES playing the game. It was surrounded by poster board marketing material with flashy pictures. It clearly emphasizied the brand new 'Super FX' chip that made the cutting edge polygon graphics possible.
As if anyone knew what the heck that meant, but a 'Super FX' chip sounds really cool to the layperson. But they were some of the best 3D graphics my young eyes had ever witnessed back in '93 :)
Apologies, I didn't mean it to be that it is merely a coprocessor. But I think modern gamers are completely unused to buying a game effectively upgrading the system at the same time. I can't think of a modern analog.