Gameduino: a game adapter for microcontrollers

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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

Follow @gameduino

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.

• FAQ
• Hardware Technical Reference
  • Physical connections
  • Low-level SPI interface
  • Background graphics
  • Sprite graphics
  • Sound
  • Registers
  • Coprocessor
  • Colors
• Coprocessor
  • Hello World: compiling and loading
  • Execution
  • Memory
  • Stacks
  • Word reference
  • Saving space
  • Examples
  • Coprocessor-only registers
• The GD library
• Sample sketches
  • Basic examples
    • sprites256
    • palettes
    • rotate
    • collision
    • scroll
  • Music and sound
    • toccata
    • midi playback
    • voice synthesis
    • Sample playback
    • Instrument Synthesis
  • Advanced techniques
    • interrupts
    • split-screen scroll
    • jkcollision
    • bitmap
    • wireframe
    • snow
    • Background color register
    • Asset Library
  • Demos
    • ball
    • chessboard
    • asteroids
    • selftest
  • Developing
    • screenshot
• Tutorials
  • Frogger Tutorial part 1
    • Converting the graphics
    • Creating the game sketch
  • Frogger Tutorial part 2
    • The Score
    • Animating Sprites: First Cars
    • The Road
    • The River
  • Frogger Tutorial part 3
    • The frog
    • Dying
    • Road section: splat
    • River section: riding the logs
    • The riverbank: winning
    • Sound
    • Moving the action to the center of the screen
    • The finished sketch
• Demos and Hacks
  • Watterott Logo
    • Background color
    • Dancing spark
    • Logo reveal
    • Sparks
  • Emulating the ZX Spectrum’s Display
  • Manic Miner
    • How it was made
  • Spinning DNA
  • Better-looking text
• Gameduino for Artists
  • Screen and colors
  • Background graphics
  • Foreground graphics
• The Gameduino Python package
  • gameduino.prep - for graphics and sound preparation
  • gameduino.sim - simple simulator
  • gameduino.remote - remote interface
• Cookbook
  • Coding for Arduino
    • Use PROGMEM for graphics data
  • Background graphics
    • Text background color
    • Fade to black
  • Sprites
    • Smooth sprite animation
    • Solid color sprites
    • Hiding sprites
  • Making extra 16-color palettes
  • Monochrome sprites
  • Audio
    • Square and sawtooth waves
• Resources for creating media
• Making a Gameduino
• Gameduino bringup with other hardware
  • Powering Gameduino
  • SPI

• Index

Gameduino is open-source hardware (BSD license) and all its code is GPL licensed.

Logo design by iLKke.

Last modified $Date: 2011-07-31 15:23:57 -0700 (Sun, 31 Jul 2011) $