Was the Commodore 64 used to make games for NES or Atari?

[bigbadbear9885]

I've heard the Amiga and Sharp x68000 was used with their graphic programs (like Dpaint) to make 16 bit games for Snes and Genesis etc

So I wondered if that was the same thing for the Commodore 64 and NES, was the c64 used for NES development.

By the way, when companys would go this route, how did the programming part go?

Did they just have to type the code into one of those computers and then send them to the company to put on a cartridge, or was there processor specific assemblers on those kind of computers, or was there emulators for them?

You get what I'm trying to say, I'd just like to know, how exactly game dev on those old consoles on those kind of Computers worked.

[NayusDante]

This is something I've wondered a lot myself. I've never seen any kind of "making of" feature from an NES game, except for this short clip of the Final Fantasy II staff and studio:



I know I've seen that graphics editor before, but I forget what the name is and what platform it runs on.

[ApolloBoy]

This is something I've wondered a lot myself. I've never seen any kind of "making of" feature from an NES game, except for this short clip of the Final Fantasy II staff and studio:



I know I've seen that graphics editor before, but I forget what the name is and what platform it runs on.

Looks like they're using PC-98s.

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

I have that Sony monitor! I even used it to play NES games on a few years ago. Makes me feel like I'm an NES dev

[Neb6]

I've heard the Amiga and Sharp x68000 was used with their graphic programs (like Dpaint) to make 16 bit games for Snes and Genesis etc

So I wondered if that was the same thing for the Commodore 64 and NES, was the c64 used for NES development.

Check out the book "Commodore: a company on the edge" by Brian Bagnall. There's some interesting Commodore-Nintendo cross-over in there.

[CMA Death Adder]

So I wondered if that was the same thing for the Commodore 64 and NES, was the c64 used for NES development.

Most NES games were developed on PCs running DOS. In Japan they would have used NEC machines.

was there processor specific assemblers on those kind of computers

Yes. The code had to be compiled and (thoroughly) tested before sending it off to Nintendo for consideration.

was there emulators for them?

No. The PCs didn't have enough processing power for that, back in the day. The game binary was transferred from the PC to the game console by means of a development cartridge or to the console's RAM. A cable ran from the PC to the console. Software on the PC helped analyze and debug the game code as it was executed on the console.