Fly an X-Wing on an Oscilloscope

Oscilloscopes have a long history with video games; it was, in fact, on just such a display device that the first-ever experimental video games were designed in the 1950s. But you’d hardly think they could still have a use in 2007.

Surprise!

An enterprising geek has found a way to hack MAME, the famous arcade machine emulator, to run Atari’s 1983 Star Wars vector game using a Cole S1001 oscilloscope for a “monitor.” Of course it’s monochrome, of course the refresh rate is terrible, of course the screen size is tiny… but it works and it’s cool. (Plus it even kinda looks like the targeting displays in the original X-Wing cockpits from A New Hope…)What more could you ask?

Alas, my search for more information hasn’t turned up any instructions for how to do this project yourself, but you can still view a somewhat viral YouTube video showing this unique rig in action. Fun times, and it should appeal to the hacker in all of us.

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