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6502

If you are a fan of the 6502, then this is the place for you. I have a deep interest in the 6502 and through this site, I hope to educate others on what it is and what it can do.

The 6502 is so ubiquitous that a large percentage of the population have used something that contains one, even if they do not realise it! The Acorn Electron, Apple I, Apple II, Atari Lynx, Atari 2600, BBC Master, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Commodore PET, NES and Tamagotchis – these are just a few of the devices where the 6502 was used! Although it was introduced in 1975, it is still in production today and continues to be loved by enthusiasts and commercial enterprises.

This site contains courses that I have created that will teach you all about the 6502, how to build a 6502-based computer, how to write in 6502 assembly language and how to write games in 6502 assembly language. You can access the different courses that I have available for you via the menu.

The 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was and still is, incredibly successful. When launched in 1975, it was the cheapest microprocessor on the market and caused the competition to reduce their prices. Its introduction contributed to the computer revolution of the 1980s, with the 6502 or a variant of it appearing in many systems.

The 6502 was designed by a team from MOS technology. The team had previously worked at Motorola, working on the 6800. The 6502 benefitted from this, as it is essentially a less expensive and faster version of the 6800! Chuck Peddle, one of the team members had seen that customers were put off by the high cost of microprocessors and that they wanted a smaller instruction set.

Soon after, Commodore International purchased MOS technology. Commodore International continued to sell the 6502 and licenses to other manufacturers. It was also second-sourced by Synertek and Rockwell.

To this day, the 6502 continues to be popular, with the CMOS iteration by the Western Design Center being used in embedded systems and by enthusiasts.