A Question on Arduino and its Massive World:

[The Didact]

Hiya EP,

I've been contemplating building my own Arduino-powered handheld console. I'd like it to resemble something like that of the Gamebuino/Arduboy models (click on names to follow links) but I'm at a complete loss on where to start.

Does anyone know of a good tutorial video or doc to get started, or possibly just some stuff like good processors?

Also, if anyone is interested in talking more about this, let me know below and we can set something up.

..TheDidact..

 

[KeithM]

How much about electronics do you know? I can probably give you some links and an idea on where to start, but I need to know how much you know first

 

[Gryd3]

Hiya EP,

I've been contemplating building my own Arduino-powered handheld console. I'd like it to resemble something like that of the Gamebuino/Arduboy models (click on names to follow links) but I'm at a complete loss on where to start.

Does anyone know of a good tutorial video or doc to get started, or possibly just some stuff like good processors?

Also, if anyone is interested in talking more about this, let me know below and we can set something up.

..TheDidact..

What kind of experience do you have?
If this is something you want to dive into, I would strongly suggest looking at the homebrew development scene for the older nintendo consoles. NES, SNES, GB, GBC, GBA.
All of the hardware specs, op-codes, etc are known and you can build and run example code in an Emulator on your PC. At the very least, take a look. If this project still sounds amazing to you, go grab some hardware and see what you can do

(You can find tutorials for GameBoy Advance programming. It's an ARM processor and you have direct access to all of the peripherals. You can even load sample code to an old gameboy with a modified cable or 'Development Cartridge')

 

[The Didact]

How much about electronics do you know? I can probably give you some links and an idea on where to start, but I need to know how much you know first

I'm pretty familiar with the Arduino system and can put together wiring diagrams fairly easily. On the software side of things, I'm pretty good at pasting code and loading premade Arduino files but I'm learning how to do more.

 

[The Didact]

What kind of experience do you have?
If this is something you want to dive into, I would strongly suggest looking at the homebrew development scene for the older nintendo consoles. NES, SNES, GB, GBC, GBA.
All of the hardware specs, op-codes, etc are known and you can build and run example code in an Emulator on your PC. At the very least, take a look. If this project still sounds amazing to you, go grab some hardware and see what you can do

(You can find tutorials for GameBoy Advance programming. It's an ARM processor and you have direct access to all of the peripherals. You can even load sample code to an old gameboy with a modified cable or 'Development Cartridge')

Forgive me for sounding like a n00b, but is there a simulator for GBA that lets you write code for GBA and display the results on a virtual screen? Sorta like the Simbuino program for Arduino?

Thanks for your help, Gryd3

 

[Gryd3]

Forgive me for sounding like a n00b, but is there a simulator for GBA that lets you write code for GBA and display the results on a virtual screen? Sorta like the Simbuino program for Arduino?

Thanks for your help, Gryd3

There absolutely is. Last I saw there were 3 or 4 good ones for PC and a couple for Android.
The catch here though is that the programming environment will be different. It won't have the same kind of forums and 'shield' friendly community. It's an older device, it's documented amazingly well, and you get to see the low-level code required to simply write a red, green, or blue pixel on the screen. (You game won't be written with this low-level code, but you will be made aware of it, and lightly touch base with it)

Here is an old resource. I'm sure most links work : http://www.coranac.com/tonc/text/toc.htm
You don't necessarily need to program this, but I think you should give it a quick read to see what you might be getting into
... and don't worry, the obscure low-level stuff gets tucked away inside functions that are rolled into large libraries you can reference... kind of like how Arduino uses 'DigitalRead()' .

 

[The Didact]

There absolutely is. Last I saw there were 3 or 4 good ones for PC and a couple for Android.
The catch here though is that the programming environment will be different. It won't have the same kind of forums and 'shield' friendly community. It's an older device, it's documented amazingly well, and you get to see the low-level code required to simply write a red, green, or blue pixel on the screen. (You game won't be written with this low-level code, but you will be made aware of it, and lightly touch base with it)

Here is an old resource. I'm sure most links work : http://www.coranac.com/tonc/text/toc.htm
You don't necessarily need to program this, but I think you should give it a quick read to see what you might be getting into
... and don't worry, the obscure low-level stuff gets tucked away inside functions that are rolled into large libraries you can reference... kind of like how Arduino uses 'DigitalRead()' .

Thanks Gryd! This is a great inspiration. I'll probably keep rambling later on about the progress I make... We'll see!