Gameduino: a game adapter for microcontrollers¶
Tiny microcontrollers like the Atmel AVR used in the Arduino are now much more powerful than the 8-bit computers from the 1980s. So why not use them to play video games?
Note
You can now buy a Gameduino from us or from a distributor.
The Gameduino Q&A site is now live: http://answers.gameduino.com
And you can now sign up for the regular Gameduino email newsletter at http://lists.gameduino.com/mailman/listinfo/gameduino-news
If you have questions, email me at jamesb@excamera.com
Gameduino is a game adapter for Arduino - or anything else with an SPI interface - built as a single shield that stacks up on top of the Arduino and has plugs for a VGA monitor and stereo speakers.
The sound and graphics are definitely old-school, but thanks to the latest FPGA technology, the sprite capabilities are a step above those in machines from the past.
- video output is 400x300 pixels in 512 colors
- all color processed internally at 15-bit precision
- compatible with any standard VGA monitor (800x600 @ 72Hz)
- background graphics
- 512x512 pixel character background
- 256 characters, each with independent 4 color palette
- pixel-smooth X-Y wraparound scroll
- foreground graphics
- each sprite is 16x16 pixels with per-pixel transparency
- each sprite can use 256, 16 or 4 colors
- four-way rotate and flip
- 96 sprites per scan-line, 1536 texels per line
- pixel-perfect sprite collision detection
- audio output is a stereo 12-bit frequency synthesizer
- 64 independent voices 10-8000 Hz
- per-voice sine wave or white noise
- sample playback channel
The adapter is controlled via SPI read/write operations, and looks to the CPU like a 32Kbyte RAM. (Unlike many 8-bit machines, there are no restrictions on when you can access this RAM). There is a handy reference poster showing how the whole system works, and a set of sample programs and library.
http://excamera.com/sphinx/gameduino/index.html#gameduino
I want one too!:)
Don
- Gameduino a game adapter for microcontrollers
- Gameduino - Hack a Day
- Gameduino: a game adapter for microcontrollers — excamera
- Making a Gameduino — excamera
- Gameduino: an Arduino game adapter by James Bowman — Kickstarter
- AVGA Homepage
- VGA interfacing AVR microcontrollers - Hack a Day
- VGA Generator Final Version - YouTube
- LucidScience - Build the VGA VIDEO GENERATOR - Page 1 of 16
- VGA Generator Animation Test - YouTube
- Gameduino - YouTube
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