Editing Asteroids (video game) (section)

===Hardware===
''Asteroids'' was implemented on hardware developed by Allen and is a [[vector monitor|vector game]], in which the graphics are composed of lines drawn on a vector monitor.<ref name="allgame"/> Rains initially wanted the game done in [[raster graphics]], but Logg, experienced in [[vector monitor|vector graphics]], suggested an XY monitor because the high image quality would permit precise aiming.<ref name="RetroGamerAsteroids"/><ref name="EdgeAsteroids"/> The hardware is chiefly a [[MOS Technology 6502|MOS 6502]] executing the game program,<ref name="RacingTheBeam">{{cite book |last1=Monfort |first1=Nick |last2=Bogost |first2=Ian |title=Racing the Beam |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |year=2009  |name-list-style=amp|title-link=Racing the Beam|isbn = 9780262261524}}</ref> and [[QuadraScan]], a high-resolution vector graphics processor developed by Atari and referred to as an "XY display system" and the "Digital Vector Generator (DVG)".<ref name="WiredEdLogg"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Dillion |first=Roberto |title=The Golden Age of Video Games: The Birth of a Multibillion Dollar Industry |publisher=CRC Press |year=2011 |page=58 |chapter=Part 1: Games That Pushed Boundaries |isbn=978-1-4398-7323-6}}</ref><ref name="asteroidsflyer">Asteroids Flyer, 1979, Atari, Inc.</ref>

The original design concepts for QuadraScan came out of Cyan Engineering, Atari's off-campus research lab in [[Grass Valley, California]], in 1978. Cyan gave it to Wendi Allen, who finished the design and first used it for ''Lunar Lander''. Logg received Allen's modified board with five buttons, 13 sound effects, and additional RAM, and he used it to develop ''Asteroids''. The size of the board was 4 by 4 inches, and it was "linked up" to a monitor.<ref name="WiredEdLogg"/><ref name="RetroGamerAsteroids"/>