I used the simon game as a project for my physical computing students. Good digestible logic problems to build a structure around. I'm surprised that the chip inside is not under a blob of epoxy coating... Is it strange to see an ASIC in that package for such a novelty item?
Chip-on-board can deliver marginally lower unit costs, but the setup costs are higher. A packaged IC just goes through the same pick-and-place cycle as everything else, but the COB IC needs a separate wire bonding process. Plastic IC packages are so cheap these days that you'd have to be producing _serious_ quantities for COB to be worth the effort. It's not uncommon to see pads for both a packaged IC and a wire bonded COB in the same footprint, to provide the flexibility to switch between packaging technologies as sales quantities change.
I took an electronics design refresher course some years back that did that. We had to break it's operation down via flow chart then design logic circuitry by translating the flow chart to truth tables, then spec gate packages for power economy, price etc. We didn't have to actually build it though.
It's not really an ASIC, since the same IC can be programmed for other applications. It's simply an MCU, with a load of flash/mask ROM and a class D amplifier for a speaker. The same IC will be used in numerous devices.
The digital logic lab for my BS in CS was just a six week sequence of incrementally building Simon on an fpga. I guess this is a popular project for students. I was little sad that it was all plug and play and not any real design work though.
I just took apart a modern mini Simon branded Simon one and the biggest surprise to me was it had actual Energizer batteries included. Cost wise I was confused but then I noticed on the battery compartment it had 'best with Energizer' or something close to that on it 😅 it's a weird feeling to know that toys have advertising baked into the molding 😅
There are literally just a handful of factories that make Alkaline batteries these days, and they make the "cheap brands" and the "expensive brands" on the same production line. They just pack in more chemical powder into the better ones and apply a different label. They may well be selling Energizer-branded cells of any quality to this toy maker, and are almost certainly getting a big discount that makes these cells THE CHEAPEST, for including this Energizer Advert in the product.
Having A.D.D. as I think back I hated games like Simon they were totally uninteresting to me as a game, I took them apart THAT was more interesting and could hold my attention, seeing what made things tick, my parents were reluctant to buy anything costing more than $10-15 because I'd take it to bits by the end of the week. They would get some educational type like a Radio Shack 150 in 1 electronics projects that was cool but my parents couldn't be bothered to help me with some of the more complicated ones. pre internet😠 so I gave up
Sorry. That's sad and quite challenging at same time. i just get thing twisted in my head; Imagine trying to teach yourself ... then when results are outcome lack 'intelligence' and comprehension you try again. lol But, You're Here, you must have gotten further than "150 in 1 electronic projects". perhaps Parents didn't understand it?? Love Reptiles, tho - sadly Parents weren't Herpetologists.
Boy that brings back some memories of a big round box with lights. So futuristic it was a little computer that did one thing. Enhanced my sugar rush...
That’s awesome! I built a Simon game from a touchscreen TFT and an ESP8266. It was interesting doing the research to make it as close to the game as I could. The Controller in the original was the first mass produced. It was the TI TMS1000. And That the tones were always harmonic. Just a fascinating Bit of history to look up and brought back so many memories.
Hey Big Clive! I have been a follower for quite a while and enjoy your tear down videos. On that note , this was the only way I could figure to contact you with a suggestion. My wife recently had to begin wearing a glucose monitor and the thing is full of micro circuitry. It is about the size of a US Quarter and disposable. They must be replaced every fourteen days due to battery life I presume. How about you take a look inside one of those? Those are Bluetooth devices and have micro-transmitters, I believe.
I"m old enough to remember when the cost of the electronics inside the Simon game swamped the cost of the big case and buttons. Now, the opposite is true... as is so painfully obvious here. I don't REALLY miss "the good old days" (because if we're honest, they weren't good at all) but the level of technology which is now considered almost disposable takes my breath away. :) "eh, I broke my phone, guess I'll throw it away and buy a new one" (looking back and forth between a modern smart phone and a Western Electric bakelite monstrosity from my childhood whose receiver was so robust you could _____ someone to _____ with it... I'm just... I'm all verklempt!)
I have an old Western Electric 302 dial phone sitting here on my desk with the separate box on the wall. It still works as it should even though I have phone service delivered by VOIP by the cable company. Not bad for an 90 year old device. I was quite surprised that the VOIP box handles repertory pulse dial input. I suspect that is because there are legacy alarm systems and other automated equipment still hanging around which pulse dial
This seems like a more true-to-original copy than I would have expected. IIRC, the original Simon was also a single chip, which happened to be an early microcontroller. The sound effects are a neat touch.
Simon and Merlin both showed up one Christmas. all the beeping and booping and BLAAAAAHHHHHH !! followed by yelps and hoots kept my dad occupied for hours. My sisters and I had moved onto backgammon by the time he got his fill. and the cranium caramel closes, Thanks for that Xmas Memory Clive. thanks. -_-
Imagine if in 1949 someone had said to Mao Zedong that in 70 years' time the People's Republic of China would be by far the world's largest manufacturer of electronic cat toys.
I remember i was just a kid when Simon came out. Our family was always on a budget so our parents bought a. Simon for me and my two sisters to share for Christmas gift. After a few months went by I was bored and just HAD to know what was inside and how it worked! I tore it apart and added all components to my big box of components from other gadgets. And then my parents whipped my ass for tearing it apart.... Ahhh the good memories in life! Lol 🤣
Now that you mention greeting card, it would be rather interesting to implement a Simon game into one of those, the technology is definitely thin enough to fit, and there’s already cards that have lights speakers and buttons in them on the market. Definitely sounds like it would be a licensing nightmare though lol
@@tncorgi92 oh yeah without a doubt, China has no qualms against knocking just about any product off. By “licensing nightmare” I was referring to if it was sold in an actual proper chain type store
As a total aside, I’ve just watched the “Edinburgh Tattoo “ well done for all the background work you and your buddies do to make such an awesome event possible, once again WELL DONE Thanks
Another option is to set the "default route" for your email addresses to point to whatever one you actually use. That way you can put anything you want @your.domain and keep track of who is selling your email address to whom. Also makes it super fun to tell people "just put anything @my.domain" and see what they actually put. 🙃
I remember having a Simon-like game when I was growing up in the 1980's. It was a Tiger Copy Cat, and I remember the "electronic" smell it had when I was allowed to play it. I always had to take out the battery and put it back in its box when I when I was done with it.
I recall my roommates in 1979 had a Mattel Football [US style] game about the size of a pocket calculator with an array of I believe 27 red LEDs on a field representing players, a few buttons, and a few seven segment displays up top. It must have been a bit pricey because we didn’t disassemble it. For such a device of the time, it must have had a fair amount of computing power. My recollection was the device had pretty respectable battery life too.
This reminds me of something I had in the 80s Called 'Melody Madness' by a manufacturer called GAF (who I didn't realise until just now also made the 3D viewers, I remember having the A-Team one for my 5th birthday!). Very similar concept in a lot of ways. If I ever find my old Melody Madness (not absolutely impossible!) I'd happily send it to you for a considered teardown and review!
It's amazing how easy it is with only five elements and how quickly it becomes difficult. It's also a game which (allowing for the complexity of recognising the patterns of lights) a computer could play perfectly for immensely long sequences. It illustrates how different human and electronic brains are.
I had an "Einstein" (like Simon, but rectangular) game I liked better. It had 4 levels of difficulty. 1st level, if you got all 10 sequences right, it went crazy. (Lights flashing, funky sounds) Level 2 had about 20 sequences. And so on to 40. Interesting video about Simon.
I was going to do precisely this because I want to know what CPU it uses, but I can't find an actual registration page. You may have to be a partner to get the datasheet. Shame, because their web site says it's a 4-bit processor, and they're always fun.
I had an toy called family guy in your pocket. 8 buttons which when you pressed them played a small audio sample from the show. I often wondered if it could be hacked to play your own samples.
Was a great toy .Challenging .The additional sound effects are nice .The other 80s games like the mini arcades a Donkey kong, Pac man and others and electronic battle ship ..I had electronic hockey with the surface mount LEDs just like the first led watches, And let's not forget electronic chess and checkers ! Great games some didn't last very long others were bullet proof and pretty much indestructable.
Love your videos big Clive.your electrical knowledge always astounds me.i used to take things apart when I was a wee boy.the difference is I didn't have a clue what the f##k I was doing 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I was surprised it used a chip with numbers on it and some description on the internet not just a boring black/white blob i also love that its a multi purpose chip with speech hardware and things much better and a 4bit mcu and ram and rom
Hi Big Clive; I'm not sure how to message you but I just put together the Hex PCB "supercomputer" slow flash LED kit and I know in your review/demo video you mentioned the ground pads take longer to solder due to the bigger surface area of the tracing- what should I do in this situation? Should I increase the temperature of my soldering iron or should I keep the normal temp and hold the connection longer? Or is there another solution? I've got it working, but I'm curious how to improve my solder joints on the ground side. Can excessive heat or time damage the LEDs, or the surface mount resistors? Your videos are great! Entertaining, educational, but also soothing and relaxing.
Like you, I fully expected a blob-on-board. I approve of this Simon knockoff. Simplistic design, probably hackable. (I wonder if the sound samples can be replaced with new ones, can you imagine a celebratory fart every five rounds?)
I think there's enough space to put inside a lithium batter salvaged from a single-use e-cig, and a simple tp4056 (i chaged to tp5100 for the sake of efficiency, but everyone uses the 4056) board to protect/charge it. I know it will be more expensive the mod than the actual toy, but hey... i bet i'm not the only one thinking on doing it...
I'm surprised that it isn't a blob on board. Looks worth decompiling and adding in the increasing speed. Also, did I miss something or is it three, not four × LR44?
And how, pray, does one decompile firmware hidden inside a one-time-programmable chip? It literally doesn't have a "read" facility. (Not to mention the question of how to "add" functionality to a one-time-programmable device...)
I use disposable email addresses to access sites that ask for too much information, I never give my real email address unless I 100% trust the site and need their services !
Was expecting a blob job pleasantly surprised that at least it's a special purpose chip! Now I wonder what's in an original Simon from 1978. My guess is discrete logic or maybe a 4004 and small amount of memory. Wikipedia says the prototype used the TMS1000 so maybe the final production version did too.
It uses a custom chip, called an MB4850. It's very likely a repackaged, pre-programmed TMS1100. Four bit, 8192 bits of ROM, 256 bits of RAM. It also contains a National Semiconductor DS75494 Hex Digit Driver, 2 discrete capacitors, and 2 resistors.
have you considered using a temporary mail address for an account creation? most still work for one time verification, though some servers have blacklisted tempmail addresses.
The coolest small electronic game I had was Nemesis Factor. It had a ball-in-cage tilt sensor that got flaky over time. I wanted to upgrade to a better mercury-wetted component but don't have the game anymore. 😔
Looking forward to "One Below" coming to a town near me! No longer bother with "Poundland" since they became "Too Many Pounds Land". So sad to see big financiers destroying the pleasure of pound shop style.
You could always set up a burner email for accessing the data. Use any name you like then for an address, I normally use the HQ or local office whichever political party I'm currently not liking!
I have a version of тhis - VTech's Mini Wizard. Instead of illuminated buттons it uses a мatrix of LEDs in the мiddle. I have to dig it out of one of the boxes in the basement next tiмe I go down тhere.
Those button cells are more expensive than the device itself. I hate that... My daugher have this "LOL"-figure that runs on 3 LR44 batteries, but the batteries are so damn expensive here :(
Too bad they didn’t use the “lose” sound from The Price is Right game show, but that would have attracted copyright police like picnics attract ants. The “pac-man dying” sound would have been nice, too, but - again - copyright police. Maybe a random flatulence sound? 😆 Or even breaking glass. Because that’s always a surprising thing to put in a mass-produced consumer item. 😌
this has got to be the must cut down circuit going. so it just relies on the chip doing everything. Was this from the desingers that added speech synthesis to the Austin Montego ?
Those button cells should get banned. They might last for like 2hrs and then you need new ones. They only make sense in ultra low power applications like a little thermo-humidity meter or a small LCD clock. But even there, just put a USB-C onto it and a little LiPo.
Seeing this has piqued my curiosity. Does anyone know where a schematic for the original Simon game can be found? I'm interested to see how they did this back in the day.
I used the simon game as a project for my physical computing students. Good digestible logic problems to build a structure around. I'm surprised that the chip inside is not under a blob of epoxy coating... Is it strange to see an ASIC in that package for such a novelty item?
Chip-on-board can deliver marginally lower unit costs, but the setup costs are higher. A packaged IC just goes through the same pick-and-place cycle as everything else, but the COB IC needs a separate wire bonding process. Plastic IC packages are so cheap these days that you'd have to be producing _serious_ quantities for COB to be worth the effort.
It's not uncommon to see pads for both a packaged IC and a wire bonded COB in the same footprint, to provide the flexibility to switch between packaging technologies as sales quantities change.
I took an electronics design refresher course some years back that did that. We had to break it's operation down via flow chart then design logic circuitry by translating the flow chart to truth tables, then spec gate packages for power economy, price etc.
We didn't have to actually build it though.
It's not really an ASIC, since the same IC can be programmed for other applications. It's simply an MCU, with a load of flash/mask ROM and a class D amplifier for a speaker. The same IC will be used in numerous devices.
@@alunjones3860 Thanks! That answered my question or reprogramming 'curiosity'. (no skill, just wondered)
The digital logic lab for my BS in CS was just a six week sequence of incrementally building Simon on an fpga. I guess this is a popular project for students. I was little sad that it was all plug and play and not any real design work though.
I just took apart a modern mini Simon branded Simon one and the biggest surprise to me was it had actual Energizer batteries included. Cost wise I was confused but then I noticed on the battery compartment it had 'best with Energizer' or something close to that on it 😅 it's a weird feeling to know that toys have advertising baked into the molding 😅
Energizer(R) branded electrons only
That's because I think Energizer make the best Alkaline batteries. Was this a Simon Micro Series game by any chance?
Check out "EEVblog 1497" for disastrous (Duracell style) damage from Energizer bats. Killed a Fluke 3000!
There are literally just a handful of factories that make Alkaline batteries these days, and they make the "cheap brands" and the "expensive brands" on the same production line. They just pack in more chemical powder into the better ones and apply a different label.
They may well be selling Energizer-branded cells of any quality to this toy maker, and are almost certainly getting a big discount that makes these cells THE CHEAPEST, for including this Energizer Advert in the product.
@@Basement-Science Good to know, as I buy supermarket own brand and feel I get as good a value as any other branded product at a reduced outlay.
Having A.D.D. as I think back I hated games like Simon they were totally uninteresting to me as a game, I took them apart THAT was more interesting and could hold my attention, seeing what made things tick, my parents were reluctant to buy anything costing more than $10-15 because I'd take it to bits by the end of the week. They would get some educational type like a Radio Shack 150 in 1 electronics projects that was cool but my parents couldn't be bothered to help me with some of the more complicated ones. pre internet😠 so I gave up
Sorry. That's sad and quite challenging at same time. i just get thing twisted in my head; Imagine trying to teach yourself ... then when results are outcome lack 'intelligence' and comprehension you try again. lol
But, You're Here, you must have gotten further than "150 in 1 electronic projects". perhaps Parents didn't understand it?? Love Reptiles, tho - sadly Parents weren't Herpetologists.
The real memory game starts when I try to remember where I put it and my back is making sound effects while I crouch to look under the sofa.
Boy that brings back some memories of a big round box with lights.
So futuristic it was a little computer that did one thing.
Enhanced my sugar rush...
That’s awesome! I built a Simon game from a touchscreen TFT and an ESP8266. It was interesting doing the research to make it as close to the game as I could. The Controller in the original was the first mass produced. It was the TI TMS1000. And That the tones were always harmonic. Just a fascinating Bit of history to look up and brought back so many memories.
also: you have some of the best fans now, I swear. So many smart and hellpful (okay mostly) people...
Hey Big Clive!
I have been a follower for quite a while and enjoy your tear down videos. On that note , this was the only way I could figure to contact you with a suggestion. My wife recently had to begin wearing a glucose monitor and the thing is full of micro circuitry. It is about the size of a US Quarter and disposable. They must be replaced every fourteen days due to battery life I presume.
How about you take a look inside one of those? Those are Bluetooth devices and have micro-transmitters, I believe.
I"m old enough to remember when the cost of the electronics inside the Simon game swamped the cost of the big case and buttons. Now, the opposite is true... as is so painfully obvious here.
I don't REALLY miss "the good old days" (because if we're honest, they weren't good at all) but the level of technology which is now considered almost disposable takes my breath away. :)
"eh, I broke my phone, guess I'll throw it away and buy a new one"
(looking back and forth between a modern smart phone and a Western Electric bakelite monstrosity from my childhood whose receiver was so robust you could _____ someone to _____ with it... I'm just... I'm all verklempt!)
I have an old Western Electric 302 dial phone sitting here on my desk with the separate box on the wall. It still works as it should even though I have phone service delivered by VOIP by the cable company. Not bad for an 90 year old device. I was quite surprised that the VOIP box handles repertory pulse dial input. I suspect that is because there are legacy alarm systems and other automated equipment still hanging around which pulse dial
3:09 - I use an alternate ('junk') e-mail address for such occasions!
This seems like a more true-to-original copy than I would have expected. IIRC, the original Simon was also a single chip, which happened to be an early microcontroller. The sound effects are a neat touch.
Very surprised that there was an actual chip instead of a black blob
Simon and Merlin both showed up one Christmas. all the beeping and booping and BLAAAAAHHHHHH !! followed by yelps and hoots kept my dad occupied for hours. My sisters and I had moved onto backgammon by the time he got his fill. and the cranium caramel closes, Thanks for that Xmas Memory Clive. thanks. -_-
Sticker over the speaker is for the parents' sanity. 😁
The sticker is there to make it stereo.
We put tape over all of those sorts of toys!
BangGood has an inexpensive Roomba-like device that actually "cleans" the floor, but primarily serves as a cat toy.
yes and if kitty decides to use your carpet as a litter tray those roomba devices make a real mess spreading it around !
Imagine if in 1949 someone had said to Mao Zedong that in 70 years' time the People's Republic of China would be by far the world's largest manufacturer of electronic cat toys.
Definitely 1980's tech - and very popular in its day too, with seemingly "everyone" either having one, or having access to one!
I remember i was just a kid when Simon came out. Our family was always on a budget so our parents bought a. Simon for me and my two sisters to share for Christmas gift. After a few months went by I was bored and just HAD to know what was inside and how it worked! I tore it apart and added all components to my big box of components from other gadgets. And then my parents whipped my ass for tearing it apart.... Ahhh the good memories in life! Lol 🤣
To think I completely overlooked this video. I love these games!
Now that you mention greeting card, it would be rather interesting to implement a Simon game into one of those, the technology is definitely thin enough to fit, and there’s already cards that have lights speakers and buttons in them on the market. Definitely sounds like it would be a licensing nightmare though lol
That hurdle hasn't bothered China's game manufacturers, they label them in Chinglish with a little stolen graphic or two.
@@tncorgi92 oh yeah without a doubt, China has no qualms against knocking just about any product off. By “licensing nightmare” I was referring to if it was sold in an actual proper chain type store
Ctrl+F "Simon" replace with "Seymore", print money.
@@Demiglitch LOL
As a total aside, I’ve just watched the “Edinburgh Tattoo “ well done for all the background work you and your buddies do to make such an awesome event possible, once again WELL DONE Thanks
Clive, you probably already know, you can get a temp email address which lasts for about ten mins. Just right for such download tasks.
Another option is to set the "default route" for your email addresses to point to whatever one you actually use. That way you can put anything you want @your.domain and keep track of who is selling your email address to whom.
Also makes it super fun to tell people "just put anything @my.domain" and see what they actually put. 🙃
@@ConstantlyDamaged I'd expect you'd get a lot of emails directed to "anything@my.domain" 😂
Interesting, I had no idea
@@RealJohnnyDingo Yeah. Been a few scammers trying to hit various ones too "admin", "root", and a few more.
Don't do anything complicated, just give Ralfy's email.
I remember having a Simon-like game when I was growing up in the 1980's. It was a Tiger Copy Cat, and I remember the "electronic" smell it had when I was allowed to play it. I always had to take out the battery and put it back in its box when I when I was done with it.
I still remember the commercial with Vincent Price: "Simon's a computer. Simon has a brain. You either do what Simon says or else go down the drain."
I recall my roommates in 1979 had a Mattel Football [US style] game about the size of a pocket calculator with an array of I believe 27 red LEDs on a field representing players, a few buttons, and a few seven segment displays up top. It must have been a bit pricey because we didn’t disassemble it. For such a device of the time, it must have had a fair amount of computing power. My recollection was the device had pretty respectable battery life too.
Hearing Clive say 'ooh ooh ooh ooh" was priceless. I want that for a ringtone:-)
Last time I played with my original Simon, I accidentally dialled a Stargate.
That last noise that was made before you took it apart was a slide whistle sound
I had one of the original ones (round one), use to play it all the time, back in the 90s, I wish i still had it.
This reminds me of something I had in the 80s Called 'Melody Madness' by a manufacturer called GAF (who I didn't realise until just now also made the 3D viewers, I remember having the A-Team one for my 5th birthday!).
Very similar concept in a lot of ways. If I ever find my old Melody Madness (not absolutely impossible!) I'd happily send it to you for a considered teardown and review!
It's always handy to have a decoy e-mail account for websites that want your info.
First time I have seen a single rubber button with pull through’s to mount it. Nice design.
I used to play the original a lot as a kid...pretty fun!
It's amazing how easy it is with only five elements and how quickly it becomes difficult. It's also a game which (allowing for the complexity of recognising the patterns of lights) a computer could play perfectly for immensely long sequences. It illustrates how different human and electronic brains are.
I still have my Merlin electronic game. Still a fun little gadget. Played with a Simon in the old days, but it was just a one note Charlie, IMHO.
Looks a smart gadget thanks Clive
This is why we love you.
I had an "Einstein" (like Simon, but rectangular) game I liked better. It had 4 levels of difficulty. 1st level, if you got all 10 sequences right, it went crazy. (Lights flashing, funky sounds)
Level 2 had about 20 sequences. And so on to 40.
Interesting video about Simon.
I think the label over the speaker is an excellent idea. I tend to do that to my toddlers toys when I can't be bothered to open them. =)
Last weekend I spotted a brand new Simon Says with its original case in a toy store. I don't remember how much it is, though.
3:08 Have you thought about using a throw away email generator like Temp-mail or 10 minute mail if giving out an email is a problem?
He could give Ralfy's email.
I was going to do precisely this because I want to know what CPU it uses, but I can't find an actual registration page. You may have to be a partner to get the datasheet. Shame, because their web site says it's a 4-bit processor, and they're always fun.
These games with button cell batteries. Replacing the batteries is probably more costly than just buying another game.
The compatible silver oxide 357 lasts a lot longer at even more expense or you can modify it to accept a USB connection.
Watch, they are Pavloving a little song in your head.
I had an toy called family guy in your pocket. 8 buttons which when you pressed them played a small audio sample from the show. I often wondered if it could be hacked to play your own samples.
While "uwuwuwu noise" is a fine way to put it, I believe the term you were searching for is "slide whistle".
Was a great toy .Challenging .The additional sound effects are nice .The other 80s games like the mini arcades a Donkey kong, Pac man and others and electronic battle ship ..I had electronic hockey with the surface mount LEDs just like the first led watches, And let's not forget electronic chess and checkers ! Great games some didn't last very long others were bullet proof and pretty much indestructable.
Never seen someone misspell so many games in one breath before. Well done.
@@SodAlmighty chines auto erect correct and predictive text .Big problem with Google.At least It was brought to my attention !thank you !
Just to remind you, it's been 8 months since you cooked something with 240 volts. 😌
pretty sure i saw a DIY PIC 'simon'' design in an electronics magazine 20+years ago!
That would be an interesting IC to de-cap if you ask me!
If it's not a Simon, maybe it should be called a Garfunkel.
Love your videos big Clive.your electrical knowledge always astounds me.i used to take things apart when I was a wee boy.the difference is I didn't have a clue what the f##k I was doing 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I was surprised it used a chip with numbers on it and some description on the internet not just a boring black/white blob i also love that its a multi purpose chip with speech hardware and things much better and a 4bit mcu and ram and rom
Hi Big Clive;
I'm not sure how to message you but I just put together the Hex PCB "supercomputer" slow flash LED kit and I know in your review/demo video you mentioned the ground pads take longer to solder due to the bigger surface area of the tracing- what should I do in this situation? Should I increase the temperature of my soldering iron or should I keep the normal temp and hold the connection longer? Or is there another solution?
I've got it working, but I'm curious how to improve my solder joints on the ground side. Can excessive heat or time damage the LEDs, or the surface mount resistors?
Your videos are great! Entertaining, educational, but also soothing and relaxing.
Those buttons do remind me old membranes with graphite buttons at downside...
I coded a zx spectrum game in assembler, oh 1984 possibly.
Not surprised at what you found inside though
Like you, I fully expected a blob-on-board.
I approve of this Simon knockoff. Simplistic design, probably hackable. (I wonder if the sound samples can be replaced with new ones, can you imagine a celebratory fart every five rounds?)
For the sites that need your email to continue I’ve found that most will accept random letters as long as it’s in email address format.
Hmm. Is that how the kids are all saying that now?
"Aww, he's so *specialist*?"
The brits seem to have lost specialized.
I played this for hours then I built one myself to relive the fun
Dear Big Clive. If you ever narrate an audiobook, please let me know so I can buy it. I would buy anything you narrate
First place for a "tear-down speed-run" goes too BigClive.
Simon, now in suppository form.
Cheers to you. ..
The light-up of the buttons would look better when matched colored LEDs where used.
Those are the same kind of buttons I've seen on cheap flashing LED rings and their ilk. They don't tend to have a great lifespan.
I didn't have one; but I can remember they were much bigger back then.
Clive has very big hands.
Thanks for the teardown. No good for me I can't remember if I pressed the button on the pelican crossing!!!
I think there's enough space to put inside a lithium batter salvaged from a single-use e-cig, and a simple tp4056 (i chaged to tp5100 for the sake of efficiency, but everyone uses the 4056) board to protect/charge it. I know it will be more expensive the mod than the actual toy, but hey... i bet i'm not the only one thinking on doing it...
I'm curious how well this would help stroke patients?
I need one...thanks for the video.
The fail noise is a side whistle, if anyone is interested...
Slide
I thought it was an m80 round from a tank, silly me!
We need some circuit bending on this :D
I'm surprised that it isn't a blob on board. Looks worth decompiling and adding in the increasing speed.
Also, did I miss something or is it three, not four × LR44?
And how, pray, does one decompile firmware hidden inside a one-time-programmable chip? It literally doesn't have a "read" facility.
(Not to mention the question of how to "add" functionality to a one-time-programmable device...)
They sell these exact ones in Australia Post stores
That was brief. I suppose you would have to tear down a toggle switch to find fewer components. It's minimalist, indeed. Good luck. 👍
I use disposable email addresses to access sites that ask for too much information, I never give my real email address unless I 100% trust the site and need their services !
Was expecting a blob job pleasantly surprised that at least it's a special purpose chip! Now I wonder what's in an original Simon from 1978. My guess is discrete logic or maybe a 4004 and small amount of memory. Wikipedia says the prototype used the TMS1000 so maybe the final production version did too.
It uses a custom chip, called an MB4850.
It's very likely a repackaged, pre-programmed TMS1100.
Four bit, 8192 bits of ROM, 256 bits of RAM.
It also contains a National Semiconductor DS75494 Hex Digit Driver, 2 discrete capacitors, and 2 resistors.
As a Simon. I can confirm that I to am "simple" and "specialist" 😆
have you considered using a temporary mail address for an account creation? most still work for one time verification, though some servers have blacklisted tempmail addresses.
small mistake on the pad. 3xlr44 not 4xlr44.
The coolest small electronic game I had was Nemesis Factor. It had a ball-in-cage tilt sensor that got flaky over time. I wanted to upgrade to a better mercury-wetted component but don't have the game anymore. 😔
I love the Nemesis Factor. I got 1000 on it this week! So cryptic yet so fun.
Did you know it will explode if you accidental push in the secret launch code !
Don’t tell trump !
That would be a great Easter egg to program in using any spare memory.
i expected to see a timing resistor. usually these things have a resistor that sets the speed. You can under/overclock it by changing the value.
I always do that to the greeting card circuits its fun to thinker with and thats what i am, a thinkere
Yep. Do that on a toy piano to get some awesome bass synth sounds. Sadly many also have internal clocks especially since the mid 2000s.
Looking forward to "One Below" coming to a town near me!
No longer bother with "Poundland" since they became "Too Many Pounds Land".
So sad to see big financiers destroying the pleasure of pound shop style.
Interesting that they used an actual speaker
Quite an interesting looking chip that one. I wonder what else it is used in.
You could always set up a burner email for accessing the data. Use any name you like then for an address, I normally use the HQ or local office whichever political party I'm currently not liking!
Omg I like the old version better. Won on highest setting.
Hey! What do you use to hold your camera/phone when recording these bench shots?
Is the sequence always pre-determined or randomised at the start of a game?
The old game was randomized.
Cool and surprising it's not a blob chip
I have a version of тhis - VTech's Mini Wizard. Instead of illuminated buттons it uses a мatrix of LEDs in the мiddle. I have to dig it out of one of the boxes in the basement next tiмe I go down тhere.
Those button cells are more expensive than the device itself. I hate that... My daugher have this "LOL"-figure that runs on 3 LR44 batteries, but the batteries are so damn expensive here :(
I am programming one in c#. Its playable as is, but I have plans for it!
This end in it becoming self aware and…
I read the memory as mercury...
How come only one of your videos gets 3 million views but the rest only get a few tens of thousands? Did that particular one get promoted?
It's very random.
The other noise is a slide whistle.
Can't speed up to increase difficulty because it has no clock to reference.
Pretty cool chip though, seems easy to multipurpose
If it’s generating tones, it certainly has a clock on-chip.
Too bad they didn’t use the “lose” sound from The Price is Right game show, but that would have attracted copyright police like picnics attract ants. The “pac-man dying” sound would have been nice, too, but - again - copyright police. Maybe a random flatulence sound? 😆 Or even breaking glass. Because that’s always a surprising thing to put in a mass-produced consumer item. 😌
this has got to be the must cut down circuit going.
so it just relies on the chip doing everything.
Was this from the desingers that added speech synthesis to the Austin Montego ?
Those button cells should get banned. They might last for like 2hrs and then you need new ones. They only make sense in ultra low power applications like a little thermo-humidity meter or a small LCD clock. But even there, just put a USB-C onto it and a little LiPo.
Seeing this has piqued my curiosity. Does anyone know where a schematic for the original Simon game can be found? I'm interested to see how they did this back in the day.
I should've looked a little harder before asking the question. Never mind...
And kids will play with it for a couple hours, then it'll be lost in the draw of forgetfulness. 😀👍