Chapter 327: The Loongson-powered Famicom is incredibly strong!

In the early GPU-less era, computers displayed images via the CPU; initially it was fine because computers mainly did data computation and showed only characters, but as window systems arrived, CPU workload grew, so dedicated GPUs were created to share the task.

In short, in the 2D era, the CPU was still usable!

But… if it were in a computer, needing both complex computation and display, Loongson 1 might not keep up; however in a game console, game character actions are simple, so at this point Loongson 1 can fully help compute the image.

How to beat Atari? Make the game fun, with gorgeous graphics!

"Loongson 1's performance is very advanced, so when we play this Super Mario game, the resolution can reach 720x576, giving a very nice display effect..." Gong Ben Mao had already introduced it, not noticing Shan Nei Pu winking below.

Now it's not suitable to say too much about Loongson 1; mainly we're introducing our Famicom!

Next, Qin Miao also sighed, these island engineers really have a few tricks up their sleeve.

Qin Miao's impression still stuck in the past Famicom era; a bit lower resolution doesn't matter, we'll talk later when we have advanced GPUs.

When Nintendo wanted to use Loongson 1, Qin Miao was still a bit curious, after all, in his memory the Famicom didn't need such powerful processing power; an 8-bit was already more than enough.

Now I finally understand: these islanders have high aspirations; they dislike the low resolution of existing game consoles, so they want to build a high-resolution machine, which thus requires a CPU with strong computing power.

Two staff members came up, picked up the game controllers, and began operating the little character to jump, move forward, dodge… a smooth sequence of actions; many widened their eyes, watching with great interest.

This game is different from any we've played before!

They can't help but want to get their hands on it!

"Don't rush, everyone; after the launch event ends, every person present here will receive a game console."

This is the islanders' lavish generosity!

One each! Let's play first!

There are many benefits; simply put, this is bribery—with so many reporters on site receiving a game console, who would speak ill of them? They'll surely praise it in every way; within a week, the strength of Nintendo's Famicom will spread worldwide!

Then after shipping, it will surely be snapped up upon arrival.

As for those electronics manufacturers… even if they got Nintendo's game console, they couldn't copy it, because it needs Loongson!

286 processor? Not suitable for this kind of game console; simply put, it's the complex vs. reduced instruction set issue!

Loongson's instruction set makes programming complex, but running it is super efficient, especially when repeatedly executing the same instruction, which can be optimized!

Smooth visuals aren't just thanks to Loongson; they also result from programmers' optimizations. Gong Ben Mao has hardly slept a full night lately, so letting him speak at this launch also encourages him—after all, appearing at the event will soon be remembered worldwide.

Most people wore smiles, while a few had faces clouded over.

Geluofu clenched his fist; he knew the 286 processor couldn't handle this—it lacks any integrated multimedia instruction set, only computes, can't do rendering etc.

This Loongson, at its previous launch, still hid many trump cards—or rather, the details are in the processor's introduction documents, which he didn't examine closely.

"Not bad, not bad, this Loongson processor indeed meets our needs." At that moment a voice came from nearby: "Where's Mr. Qin? I want to find him; our Apple company will later purchase large quantities of Loongson!"

"Jobs, as Apple is an American company, shouldn't you support domestic American firms?" Geluofu said angrily; perhaps, after just pressuring Nintendo and selling ten thousand processors, he got a bit carried away.

In short, Geluofu now wants to sell more processors.

"Sorry, Intel's processor cannot meet our Apple computers' requirements."

Geluofu grew angrier: "How can it not meet your needs? Isn't it stronger than the 6502 you're currently using?"

Early Apple computers used Motorola 6502, an 8‑bit processor at only 1 MHz; now Intel's 286 runs at 6 MHz and is 16‑bit.

"Surely stronger than the 6502, but still not up to Loongson."

"How can it not be better?"

At this point Geluofu must have been fuming mad, even failing to notice countless cameras turning toward him.

"Can your 286 processor handle such complex graphics?"

"A personal computer isn't a game console; why would it need graphics processing capability?"

"Of course it's needed; we believe that for user convenience, personal computers should have a graphical interface, so users shouldn't have to deal with black‑screen command prompts… we've been looking for a suitable processor, and now we finally have one!"

Generally speaking, the earliest graphical OS is considered MACOS, and the earliest graphical computer is Apple's Macintosh, released in 1984, a year before Microsoft's Windows 1.0.

Thus Apple has always held a grudge, thinking Microsoft stole their idea.

Now the Apple II computers still sell well, but they're already planning the next computer; Jobs's mind is full of graphical interfaces, and seeing the clear interface of Nintendo's game console, he knows Loongson is their best choice.

"A personal computer needs a graphical interface? You're aiming too high!"

"We're just building the most suitable computer; Geluofu, don't bring Intel's internal hard‑line stance outside—Apple doesn't care about Intel's fate, we just want the most advanced processor!"

"Our 286 processor is the most advanced!"

"No, Loongson is! As an American company we must broaden our horizons and seek the best parts worldwide; since Eastern Loongson meets our needs, we'll choose it—as for Intel… Geluofu, when you can produce a chip rivaling Loongson, we'll consider it."

"You! You're going too far!" Geluofu rolled up his sleeves.

Wait, something's off!

Click, click! The sound of countless cameras rang out.

It's over!