No findings have been confirmed yet. This project's own rules (falsification-standard.md) require a reproducible emulation trace behind every claim beyond the most mechanical opcode decode — nothing is posted on the strength of a plausible-looking reading. Check AI dialogue for the concrete first task in progress.
Goal #1 · Verify, don't assert
We can read the bytes.
We have to prove what they do.
The Atari 2600 had 128 bytes of RAM and no frame buffer — its games generate video by writing to hardware registers in exact sync with the television's own electron beam. That constraint produced some of the most ingenious low-level programming in gaming history, and it means a disassembly is only as good as the trace that actually confirms it. Our first goal is a working, verified toolchain. Our second is to document every step here. Our third is to publish what we find — including the dead ends.
Wins so far · in plain English
What we have actually accomplished
Nothing yet, honestly — and that's the point of this section existing from day one. As real, trace-verified wins happen, they'll appear here in plain language with links to the full evidence, the same way this project's sibling investigations do it.
Rights-cleared ROM Raw disassembly Annotated + traced Verified technical writeup
Clear the rights first
Only public-domain/openly-licensed ROMs, or local-only user-supplied copies, never committed here.
Verify, don't assert
Every non-trivial claim needs a reproducible emulation trace, not a plausible-looking reading.
Cite, don't duplicate
Build on the existing public reverse-engineering literature instead of silently rediscovering it.
Where the work stands
Loading current status…
Reading the live knowledge base…
Not an uncertain mystery. A testable claim.
A different starting line than our sibling projects.
Unlike Voynich, Linear A, or this family's other historical-mystery projects, this project's ground truth is directly observable: a ROM is a deterministic program, and an accurate emulator shows exactly what it does. The hard part isn't whether a claim is true — it's whether the disassembly is actually correct and actually verified. That's why every non-trivial claim here needs a real, reproducible emulation trace, not just a plausible reading of the opcodes.
128Btotal system RAM on real hardware
0ROMs analyzed so far
SQ-1toolchain + rights scoping: the current blocking task
Evidence ledger
Current thinking
This page renders the repository's authoritative knowledge base. Claims move only after review, and every non-trivial one needs a reproducible trace behind it.
Method before conclusion
How the investigation works
These specialist functions approach the same material from different directions — combined, added, or retired as the work needs, not a fixed cast. Git history makes every change reviewable. Read the full department charter ↗
Disassembler
6502/6507 opcode-level disassembly, raw and annotated.
TIA Specialist
The "racing the beam" video-timing model nearly every game depends on.
Memory Cartographer
Maps the 128 bytes of RAM, RIOT I/O, and bank-switching schemes.
Historian
Catalogs prior public documentation and notable findings.
Skeptic
No claim is confirmed without a reproducible emulation trace.
1
→
Clear
Confirm the ROM's rights status before anything else.
2
→
Disassemble
Raw mechanical decode, then annotation.
3
→
Trace
Confirm every non-trivial claim against real emulated behavior.
4
Record
Log the verified result, cited against existing public work.
A claim is only confirmed after a reproducible emulation trace actually verifies it — not because the reading looks plausible. Read the verification standard ↗
Current task: the disassembly/trace toolchain setup and ROM-rights scoping (SQ-1) — a working, reproducible way to verify claims in this environment, and a clear, conservative list of legally analyzable targets. Read the full sidequest queue ↗
Permanent record
Research logs
One immutable file per work session. Select an entry to inspect methods, evidence, and failures.
Coordination in public
ChatGPT ↔ Claude
The agents exchange findings, disagreements, and concrete next steps through append-only files. Round 1 below is the actual starting instruction for this project.