Arduboy is a credit-card sized gaming system equipped with an arcade of free 8-bit titles and all the usual controls you would expect from a portable console. While there are a number of free titles available from the Arduboy Arcade, the system is built-on Arduino software making it easy to build your own games (or learn how to) and share them with the community.
Head below for availability information and more details on this miniature, throw-back gaming console:
Made from metal and polycarbonate, Arduboy carries an OLED display (128×64), 6 “soft-touch” buttons (4-way D-pad and two face buttons), a stereo speaker, and about 8 hours of battery life on a single charge. It is literally the size of a credit card (85.60×53.98mm) and “only 5mm thick”.
Built on Arduino software and a completely open-source platform, all games for the system will be free and editable from the Arduboy Arcade. The team is currently working on porting other Arduino titles over to the new portable system, so the library is likely to expand quite quickly. There are already a number of titles available along with a series of free online tutorials on how to create games for those just getting started. But because this is essentially a tiny Ardiuno computer, it can also be a mini synthesizer, a keyboard/mouse-like controller, or arguably, the coolest business card ever!
Having already smashed its $25,000 Kickstarter goal with over $278,000 raised at the time of writing, most of the early bird pricing bundles are taken, but you can still jump in at $39. The first run machines are expected to start shipping come October.
Arduboy Specs:
- Processor: ATmega32u4 (same as Arduino Leonardo & Micro)
- Memory: 32KB Flash, 2.5KB RAM, 1KB EEPROM
- Connectivity: USB 2.0 w/ built in HID profile
- Inputs: 6 momentary tactile buttons
- Outputs: 128×64 1Bit OLED, 2 Ch. Piezo Speaker & Blinky LED
- Battery: 180 mAh Thin-Film Lithium Polymer
- Programming: Arduino IDE, Codebender, GCC & AVRDude
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