How does a game cartridge store information?

Anything that is gaming related that doesn't fit well anywhere else
Breetai
Next-Gen
Posts: 5100
Joined: Sun Dec 07, 2008 10:13 am
Location: Make you humble in Canada

Re: How does a game cartridge store information?

Post by Breetai »

Opa Opa wrote:
YoshiEgg25 wrote:
Breetai wrote:10011011
9B
lol.

Is that what it comes out to? I don't remember how to convert those.
Me, neither. Nor do I really care. :D
Image
Sales thread. Make offers! PC Engine and Famicom: http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 17#p197217.
My PC Engine/Turbografx-16 Guide: http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 57#p654857
User avatar
Jrecee
Next-Gen
Posts: 4520
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:33 pm

Re: How does a game cartridge store information?

Post by Jrecee »

I don't get it either, and I do not have the technical knowledge to understand or care. That's why elves assemble game cartridges, not americans.
gtmtnbiker
Next-Gen
Posts: 4320
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:14 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: How does a game cartridge store information?

Post by gtmtnbiker »

YoshiEgg25 wrote:
Opa Opa wrote:
YoshiEgg25 wrote: 9B
lol.

Is that what it comes out to? I don't remember how to convert those.
I converted it to decimal first.
There's no need to do that. Hex is base 16. So you would take 10011011 and change it to:
1001 1011
9 B

A hex digit represents a group of 4 binary digits.

At some point in Computer Science, you'll learn the binary (base 2), octal (base 7, group of 3 binary digits), hex (base 16, group of 4 binary digits) number systems. You'll know how each hex digit looks like in binary and can convert back-and-forth without having to convert to decimal.

Binary is base 2
1011 is (1 * 2^3) + (0 * 2^2) + (1 * 2^1) + (1 * 2^0) = 8 + 0 + 2 + 1 = 11 (decimal) = B (hex)

Hex is base 16
9B is (9 * 16^1) + (B * 16^0) = 144 + 11 = 155

Computers work exclusively in binary. Octal/Hex is for human convenience to more easily represent large binary numbers.
Hatta
Next-Gen
Posts: 4030
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 8:33 pm

Re: How does a game cartridge store information?

Post by Hatta »

Yeah, I was going to say that too. Binary <-> Hex is much easier than Binary <-> Decimal.

For the OP, there's an article on ROM at HowStuffWorks.
We are prepared to live in the plain and die in the plain!
User avatar
MrPopo
Moderator
Posts: 24190
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:01 pm
Location: Orange County, CA

Re: How does a game cartridge store information?

Post by MrPopo »

gtmtnbiker wrote:octal (base 7, group of 3 binary digits),
Octal's base 8. The grouping's right, though.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
gtmtnbiker
Next-Gen
Posts: 4320
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:14 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: How does a game cartridge store information?

Post by gtmtnbiker »

MrPopo wrote:
gtmtnbiker wrote:octal (base 7, group of 3 binary digits),
Octal's base 8. The grouping's right, though.
Yup, you're correct. Not sure why I said 7.
Post Reply