Words Worth Knowing: 8-Bit
Words Worth Knowing was a vertical I wrote weekly explaining key pieces of gaming jargon to parents, guardians and teachers, as part of the larger overall GameHub outreach effort. The column ran for nearly two years and resulted in around 60 WWK articles. GameHubHQ.com closed in late 2017. This piece originally appeared on Oct 03 , 2016.
What It Is: 8-Bit = The 8-Bit Generation of gaming consoles, such as the BBC Micro and the Atari 2600.
What It Means: 8-Bit is an advanced computer term, relating to the microprocessing power of gaming consoles and working computers in the 70s and 80s. These units were "8-bit" and are the predecessors to the modern microprocessors as found in devices today.
Why You Care: Many of you may be watching Dara O'Briain's "Go 8-Bit" [link removed] family gaming programme on the channel UKTV Dave, and may be wondering what the go "8-Bit" part of the title was referring to. Though the actual definition is a heinously complicated and highly technical term...
In computer architecture, 8-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are at most 8bits (1 octet) wide. Also, 8-bit CPU and ALU architectures are those that are based on registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. 8-bit is also a term given to a generation of microcomputers in which 8-bit microprocessors were the norm. -Wikipedia
...the only bit [ha ha ha - ed] you need to take away is that it is a term used to refer to retro games and consoles. It implies a blocky, pixelated 2D graphical style, and "chiptune" music; think Space Invaders. 8-bit microprocessors are now considered antique technological objects.
