Screw buying a game console this Christmas, just DIY!

khaag · Post by **khaag** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:36 am

http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/26/fuze ... od-rather/

This is pretty neat, I know a lot of you guys would enjoy this. You can plug in you NES or SNES controllers and then program your own games in C. Pretty neat little setup for all us DIYers.

ian2120 · Post by **ian2120** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:41 am

But is it made in America?????

XBox 4 America!!!!

grahf · Post by **grahf** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:58 am

Thats really cool in concept, but overpriced for what your getting IMO.

Valium · Post by **Valium** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 8:04 am

Someone with great game writing skills could easily turn that thing into a decent portable.

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 8:55 am

70 bucks for an empty board?

Yeah, no. But since it's just 2 chips, maybe I'll just build my own

Harshboy · Post by **Harshboy** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 9:37 am

No thx...I prefer my Games in 1080p.

Post by **Skyone** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:49 pm

Harshboy wrote:No thx...I prefer my Games in 1080p.

*kills self*

themadhacker · Post by **themadhacker** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:17 pm

so does it take cartriges that you program games onto?

jleemero · Post by **jleemero** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:32 pm

This system is the "Fuzebox", which is LadyAda's clone of the Uzebox.

It's a single Atmel ATMega644 and a little RGB -> Composite converter.
It can read off of SD cards, and a bootloader is in the works so you can actually run games from the MicroSD cards.
At the moment, any games you make must be programmed directly to the Microcontroller itself.

Actually, this Fuzebox kit by Ladyada does have a bootloader, already pre-programmed for you.

Yes, it's made in America.

Wonderfully simple little system.

Not nearly comparable to, say, the Hydra game console, running on a single Parallax Propeller microcontroller, BUT, this is still a great little system.

I myself own a Hydra.
I think it's wonderfully fun, just because of the amount of power you can squeeze out of this thing.

Personally though, I'd LOVE to get one of these (F)(U|u)zebox's.
I think it'd be nice to make games in C instead of Spin.

If anyone has any questions, I've been following this project for awhile actually

blackbox_dev · Post by **blackbox_dev** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:57 pm

$70 for a professionally made PCB is reasonable.

I thought this was the Uzebox at first (which somewhat inspired the ever-continuing BB project).

Anyway, it's pretty cool. It makes more sense to breadboard/protoboard it if you want to save money, however.

-iam

nitro2k01 · Post by **nitro2k01** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 8:50 pm

If that microcontroller can do that, my arduino should be able to, too. Makes me want experiment.

jleemero · Post by **jleemero** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 9:02 pm

nitro2k01 wrote:If that microcontroller can do that, my arduino should be able to, too. Makes me want experiment.

Your Arduino is nowhere near as powerful.

While you might be able to generate RGB signals, that's about ALL you're going to be able to do.

The Arduino uses either an AtMega8, or, more recently, an AtMega168.

This thing uses an AtMega644.

AtMega168
16kB Flash
512 bytes EEPROM
1024 bytes SRAM
0 - 20 Mhz

AtMega644
64kB Flash
2048 bytes EEPROM
4096 bytes SRAM
0 - 20 Mhz

The AtMega644 in the Uzebox is actually overclocked to 28 Mhz.

While the AtMega168 (Arduino) certainly has the speed required, it just doesn't have the resources.
Sadly.

I think it would be very cool if the Arduino could generate RGB

ShockSlayer · Post by **ShockSlayer** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:56 am

Skyone wrote:
Harshboy wrote:No thx...I prefer my Games in 1080p.
*kills self*

I dont get it.

SS

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 9:29 am

themadhacker wrote:so does it take cartriges that you program games onto?

It has an SD slot

cowsgoquack101 · Post by **cowsgoquack101** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 4:22 pm

ShockSlayer wrote:
Skyone wrote:
Harshboy wrote:No thx...I prefer my Games in 1080p.
*kills self*

I dont get it.

SS

Neither do I but I do completely.

Any who, I don't think it'd be worth it unless you were REALLY into doing something like that. Otherwise a computer will do the same.