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Development => Consoles => Topic started by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 16, 2015, 03:02:05 AM

Title: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 16, 2015, 03:02:05 AM
I found this through a Cemetech topic (http://www.cemetech.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11104) by DarkestEx:

http://gamebuino.com/


It's a small handheld game console based on Arduino with specs similar to calcs for people who like old school games and it supports sound. I don't know how much RAM it has, but apparently it supports SD cards.

I wonder if anybody here has one or plan to get one and how good is it?
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Yuki on February 16, 2015, 03:17:36 AM
Well, that looks pretty cool.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: CKH4 on February 16, 2015, 03:32:32 AM
Its a bit expensive for me, 3ds and raspi 2 before that on my list.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Duke "Tape" Eiyeron on February 16, 2015, 07:40:42 AM
86*48? THat's small, why didn't they put a 128*64 screen? Some Nokia had one like that. It makes a pretty 1KB buffer.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Keoni29 on February 16, 2015, 10:18:29 PM
It has 2k of ram. Some of it is probably used by the gamebuino's bootloader, but it might free it up after booting up a game.

Specs for the microcontroller can be found here: http://www.atmel.com/devices/atmega328.aspx
QuoteThe high-performance Atmel 8-bit AVR RISC-based microcontroller combines 32KB ISP flash memory with read-while-write capabilities, 1KB EEPROM, 2KB SRAM, (...)
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 17, 2015, 12:19:32 AM
Wow 2 KB isn't a lot. It seems like they really wanted to go old school. I hope game do not have to be loaded entirely in RAM in order to run like with the 84+.

Also I would probably go with the RPi2 if I was to choose between this and that but I don't know where to buy it that doesn't charge more than the official retail price and actually ships in Canada. The official site doesn't even seem to sell it.

The old school factor for this smaller console is attractive, though :P
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: CKH4 on February 17, 2015, 03:03:02 AM
http://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-2-model-b/ (http://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-2-model-b/) do any of these ship to Canada?
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 17, 2015, 05:07:07 AM
Ah thanks for the link. It appears that http://ca-en.alliedelec.com/raspberry-pi-raspberry-pi-2-model-b/70465426/ would work for me, although they're out of stock.  MCM electronics does ship here as well. The retailers were not listed last time I checked IIRC.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: CKH4 on February 17, 2015, 02:44:10 PM
If you get one you should let us know how it works. I might get one in a couple of months.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: DarkestEx on May 11, 2015, 10:50:17 AM
From my experience with this little game handheld I can say that it is really quite nice.
I wrote, as DJ said, a post about a project I made for this device, which was a little music player (supports any format, but conversion to special format is needed through the tool I made, plays from SD).
It is quite powerful actually, regarding its screen and the fact that it has only 2K of RAM (it does grayscale, decodes music and even Wolvenstein-like 3D is possible. The only thing I dislike about it, is that the screen is not properly attached. My one has a little problem at times, because the rubber connector is too tight or loose and the LCD then begins to fail.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on May 14, 2015, 04:52:04 AM
Aw sorry to hear about the LCD. :( That really sucks. As for the handheld RAM I guess it's ok if it only has 2 KB as long as programs and games don't need to be stored in RAM entirely like with early TI-83+ game shells and BASIC programs.

Also @JWinslow23 recently found CodeWalrus and joined. He happens to have released some Gamebuino games actually, including a port of his 2048 clone. They look quite nice and reminds me of calc games, aside from the smaller resolution.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: DarkestEx on May 14, 2015, 08:22:29 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on May 14, 2015, 04:52:04 AM
Aw sorry to hear about the LCD. :( That really sucks. As for the handheld RAM I guess it's ok if it only has 2 KB as long as programs and games don't need to be stored in RAM entirely like with early TI-83+ game shells and BASIC programs.

Also @JWinslow23 recently found CodeWalrus and joined. He happens to have released some Gamebuino games actually, including a port of his 2048 clone. They look quite nice and reminds me of calc games, aside from the smaller resolution.
Yeah, but the LCD problem is only for my version. They are hand-assembled actually by the creator. I think, that I can fix the problem easily by unscrewing two screws just a bit.
Also, no programs are stored in RAM. That's completely impossible with the harvard architecture based platform. It only allows to execute code from the internal 32 KB flash. The bootloader actually reprograms the flash, everytime you choose a new game, and copies the game over. So the best thing would be some binary language or a assembly emulator. It would decrease the speed, but save the flash and make programming easier (maybe).
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on May 15, 2015, 07:17:12 AM
Oh, nice that they solved the issue then. Sometimes, hand-assembled stuff or stuff that isn't produced by some big company hiring a big factory to do it can have this happening. For example, with Pier Solar's 3rd reprint for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, the cartridge will not boot properly on the original console model, so you have to press reset on it. Also, hand-assembled products can result into massive delays if the seller gets many pre-orders. >.< (I had to wait almost two years for my copy of Pier Solar)

By the way, I assume that there is no external storage, right? Just wondering, since I am curious if a port of one of my RPGs would fit on it. :P
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Unicorn on May 15, 2015, 07:33:57 AM
Dang, I want one of those. Well, gotta start saving again!

Dj, it says you usea micro SD card to store the games. I assume if you have a 32gb card you could port one?
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Snektron on May 15, 2015, 09:31:03 AM
Would 32Gb be enough? :trollface: also you can now get like 200Gb micro sd's O.O
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: DarkestEx on May 15, 2015, 11:00:09 AM
Yeah, this thing supports microSD's up to 32GB.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: CKH4 on May 15, 2015, 12:23:05 PM
If you port one of your RPGs DJ I'll be sure to play it. I got mana force on my friends cse and while a little confusing the ASCII art is really good. On this it might be difficult to use ASCII though.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Unicorn on May 15, 2015, 04:18:05 PM
So yeah, dj, if your RPG is over 32gb you are out of luck.
I also wanted to ask, can you program on the gambuino?
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Snektron on May 15, 2015, 06:10:45 PM
Do you want it though? i mean i don't know if it only has gamepad-like controlls. Would be a bit hard to program on that...
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Unicorn on May 15, 2015, 06:20:49 PM
Oh yeah... In that case, no it wouldn't be very good. :P
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: DarkestEx on May 15, 2015, 07:52:46 PM
Quote from: Unicorn on May 15, 2015, 04:18:05 PM
So yeah, dj, if your RPG is over 32gb you are out of luck.
I also wanted to ask, can you program on the gambuino?
You can't yet. I am working on some kind of a BASIC dialekt (but project is pretty inactive). Maybe Java could be possible too or my new bytecode language could be ported to it. But there will obviously never be a C compiler on this device :P
The programs are written in C on a computer though.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Unicorn on May 15, 2015, 08:43:14 PM
Coolio, I want to get this though, are the emulators nice?
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: CKH4 on May 15, 2015, 08:48:14 PM
I have not been able to get the android emulator to play a game. Sadly the only way to get games onto it is through Dropbox in the android version.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Snektron on May 15, 2015, 09:11:29 PM
What a horrible system. At least you're not running the Android SDK's emulator. Right? Right?!
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: DarkestEx on May 15, 2015, 09:58:21 PM
Quote from: CKH4 on May 15, 2015, 08:48:14 PM
I have not been able to get the android emulator to play a game. Sadly the only way to get games onto it is through Dropbox in the android version.
Don't use the Android emulator. It sucks.
The .Net powered Windows emulator is great though.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: CKH4 on May 15, 2015, 10:06:05 PM
Oh that's good to know, I was worried that all their emulators didn't work.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on May 16, 2015, 06:07:22 PM
What languages can Gamebuino games be programmed in by the way, besides C?
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: DarkestEx on May 16, 2015, 06:19:33 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on May 16, 2015, 06:07:22 PM
What languages can Gamebuino games be programmed in by the way, besides C?
Not too many, but:
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Duke "Tape" Eiyeron on May 19, 2015, 05:16:13 PM
I suppose that everything that gets compiled into binary code could be run on the 'duino. As long as the result isn't too heavy... (Goodbye C++'s STL)
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: DarkestEx on May 19, 2015, 06:10:38 PM
Quote from: Duke "Tape" Eiyeron on May 19, 2015, 05:16:13 PM
I suppose that everything that gets compiled into binary code could be run on the 'duino. As long as the result isn't too heavy... (Goodbye C++'s STL)
Yeah, exactly. The only limitation is the fact, that there's no MMU and no way of natively executing dynamic assemblies.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on May 19, 2015, 06:55:33 PM
I guess it helps in a way that Java is available since some people can't stand lower level languages like C/ASM, but I am curious about the speed and size of simple games?
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Ivoah on May 19, 2015, 07:04:25 PM
Quote from: DarkestEx on May 16, 2015, 06:19:33 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on May 16, 2015, 06:07:22 PM
What languages can Gamebuino games be programmed in by the way, besides C?
Not too many, but:

  • Assembly
  • C
  • C++
  • Java
  • Scripting languages / Bytecode languages

Um, how does java run on it?
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Snektron on May 19, 2015, 07:35:57 PM
Via a VM probably :P
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Ivoah on May 19, 2015, 07:40:39 PM
Quote from: Cumred_Snektron on May 19, 2015, 07:35:57 PM
Via a VM probably :P

I highly doubt that a Java VM would be able to run on an Atmega328p, in fact, I'm nearly positive it can't.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Snektron on May 19, 2015, 09:53:30 PM
http://playground.arduino.cc/interfacing/java - though i don't know if that actually runs on the arduino
http://haiku-vm.sourceforge.net/
http://hackaday.com/2012/10/15/%CE%BCj-a-java-virtual-machine-for-microcontrollers/
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: DarkestEx on May 19, 2015, 10:06:32 PM
It works good. UJ from Dmitry Grinberg works great after some small modifications to the code.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on May 19, 2015, 11:40:06 PM
I am kinda surprised by this, considering the Nspire CX runs at 150 MHz or higher with over 64 MB of RAM, yet it lacks full java compatibility.
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Strontium on May 19, 2015, 11:57:44 PM
Seems a bit similar to the Arduboy (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/903888394/arduboy-card-sized-gaming) :P
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: DarkestEx on May 20, 2015, 12:01:33 AM
Quote from: Strontium on May 19, 2015, 11:57:44 PM
Seems a bit similar to the Arduboy (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/903888394/arduboy-card-sized-gaming) :P
Maybe. But the Gamebuino is still cooler and better looking :P
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on May 20, 2015, 04:03:46 AM
I must say that I like the colors that they chose for the Arduboy, though. ;)

(http://imagenes.leveleando.com/2012/06/nes_gamepad.jpg)
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Ivoah on May 20, 2015, 04:06:45 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on May 19, 2015, 11:40:06 PM
I am kinda surprised by this, considering the Nspire CX runs at 150 MHz or higher with over 64 MB of RAM, yet it lacks full java compatibility.

You can get java on the Nspire, with linux!
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on May 20, 2015, 04:09:19 AM
Oh right, what was I thinking? ??? I remembered that someone wanted to port Jazelle to the Nspire way before Linux arrived, but it never came to fruition then it was deemed impossible by some people to have java on that calc. I tend to forget about Nspire Linux sometimes (probably the fact the platform is so locked down)
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Ivoah on May 20, 2015, 04:10:42 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on May 20, 2015, 04:09:19 AM
Oh right, what was I thinking? ??? I remembered that someone wanted to port Jazelle to the Nspire way before Linux arrived, but it never came to fruition then it was deemed impossible by some people to have java on that calc. I tend to forget about Nspire Linux sometimes (probably the fact the platform is so locked down)

Nspire linux is awesome, I can program an arduino using just my calc
Title: Re: Gamebuino (Arduino-based portable game console)
Post by: Snektron on May 20, 2015, 01:55:10 PM
Program a second NSpire using your first NSpire :P