well, assembly isn't really all that tough to learn and once you get the hang of it, its not bad at all -- as long as you don't have to write any LARGE programs and as long as you're working with a "friendly" assembly language. Assembly languages like the 65xx thats used in the NES are actually very very simple and can be picked up pretty easy -- there are a few tutorials that i've seen on the internet that i'm sure are still around if you look.