Eric Crabill
Xilinx

In an attempt to help me maintain a better work/life balance, my wife suggested that I pick up a hobby. The first thing that came to mind was developing FPGA-based video games. I have never been a good game player, but I am fascinated by game hardware. The reason I studied electrical engineering in the first place was to get a job at Atari Games, but they closed their doors before I earned my degree.

Silicon, software, and solutions from Xilinx® are all you need to develop game platforms and write games. You can get started for less than $100 with the Xilinx Spartan™-3 Starter Kit and ISE™ WebPACK™ software. Implementing video games in FPGAs is not only fun, it creates an opportunity to learn more about FPGA devices and development tools through experimentation—without the stress of deadlines.