For those who’re into homebrew eight-bit gaming, the Arduboy is arguably the most effective platform on the market. Due to its low value and attraction, it has seen substantial adoption by fans. That adoption has led to sport improvement, which has led to much more adoption. It’s a success snowball that advantages everybody! And since Arduboy is open-source, adventurous makers can create their very own distinctive consoles with enjoyable new options. That’s actually the case with this practice ‘Press Play on Tape” Arduboy that appears like a psychedelic cassette tape.
To assist foster new improvement, Arduboy hosts the FX Sport Jam. This previous yr, the winner was the Press Play on Tape dev staff (to not be confused with the Danish bitpop band of the identical title). They made Prince of Arabia, which is a formidable sport impressed by the basic Prince of Persia sport launched for the Apple II again in 1989 (later ported to each different laptop and console on the planet). Prince of Arabia actually squeezes as a lot as potential out of the restricted Arduboy FX {hardware}. It’s apparent why it received the Sport Jam and you may see that for your self by taking part in it by the net emulator.
To reward the staff, Kevin Bates (creator of the Arduboy) constructed this particular version console. It appears like a cassette tape that was left within the pocket of a jacket somebody was tie-dying. It seems that Bates took benefit of full-color PCB graphics printing companies that PCB fabricators have lately began providing. It appears superior.
Underneath the hood, that is principally an Arduboy Mini. But it surely does even have some fascinating upgrades, together with RGB LEDs (controllable by the consumer), an infrared LED for IR-blasting performance, an RTC (Actual-Time Clock) that doesn’t but have a goal, and I2C over USB-C for a hyperlink cable that permits multiplayer gaming. It additionally has capacitive contact buttons as an alternative of the Arduboy Mini’s tactile buttons. We’re hesitant to name that an “improve,” nevertheless it positively appears higher on this particular version design.
Bates was initially planning to make one-off units only for the Press Play on Tape staff, however he might find yourself promoting a really restricted amount as particular version units, as a result of the response from the neighborhood has been so optimistic. Keep watch over the Arduboy web site and Bates’s YouTube channel if you need an opportunity at being one of many fortunate few that will get to buy one.