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History of video games/Platforms/Gamebuino

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  • The front and back of the Gamebuino Meta.
    The front and back of the Gamebuino Meta.

History

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Saint-Etienne, France, the provenance of the Gamebuino Meta.

Development

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The original Gamebuino was initially a project done for the amusement of its creator.[3]

Gamebuino Launch

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The launch of the original Gamebuino classic occurred in 2014.[4] Thousands of Gamebuino classic consoles were distributed.[5] Outside it's home nation of France, the console was typically exported to countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.[6]

An open source DIY kit called the MAKERbuino was demoed at Maker Faire Rome 2016 and later crowdfunded through kickstarter.[7] This version was designed by a Croatian developer, and through collaboration with the original Gamebuino team, was made 100% compatible with it.[7] This developer also received some assistance from the Pokkito developer.[7]

Gamebuino Meta Development

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A Kickstarter in November 2017 was held for the improved Gamebuino Meta with a planned launch date for January 2018.[8][9]

Gamebuino Meta Launch

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Gamebuino production started on the 9th of February 2018, with the option of picking up units in St-Etienne, France.[10] Gamebuino began shipping on February 20, 2018.[11] Uniquely for a console launch, members of the community were invited to come to an office to see production, and were also invited to a February 26th, 2018 party to help the team ship consoles.[11]

In 2019 Python programming support was added to the Gamebuino.[12]

Temporary Closure and Revival

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On October 1st, 2020 the Gamebuino line was quietly discontinued when Gamebuino maker Aadalie SAS entered judicial liquidation.[13][14][15] This closure is said to be unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16] A DIY Kit for the Gamebuino Meta had been planned, but not released.[17][18]

In February of 2021 it was announced that the company Papillon Ingénierie would revive the Gamebuino project[16] By the 25th of 2021 the GameBuino was fully relaunched.[19]

Gamebuino Technology

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The original Gamebuino was a simple Arduino based portable system which used a black and white display and a rechargeable battery.[20]

Gamebuino Meta Technology

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Compute

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The Gamebuino Meta is powered by a 32 bit ATSAMD21 ARM Cortex M0+ architecture microcontroller.[21][22]

The microcontroller has 32 kilobytes of RAM and 256 kilobytes of flash storage built in.[21]

Hardware

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A 1.8" backlit color TFT LCD with a resolution of 160 by 128 pixels is included.[21] By default the display runs at half resolution to highlight pixel art.[21][22] Eight RGB LEDs on the Gamebuino Meta offer off screen lighting effects.[21]

The system sports a microSD card slot for expanded storage.[21]

The Gamebuino has a 10 bit DAC and a class D amp for audio.[21]

Battery life is about 16 hours on the included 900 mAh LiPo battery.[21]

The Gamebuino Meta was made in France, leveraging French manufacturing facilities.[21]

Software

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Games for the Gamebuino are typically free and open source games coded in C or C++.[21]

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Gamebuino Meta

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  •  
    Button labels are marked onto the PCB.
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    The Gamebunio Meta with no wood grain.
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    The back of the Gamebuino with no wood grain.
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    The Gamebuino Meta with a wood grain applied.
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    The Gamebuino Meta with a different wood grain.
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    The Gamebuino Meta developer backpack.
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    The wood grain kit.
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    The Gamebuino next to a Pokitto and an Arduboy.
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    Gamebuino Meta packaging.
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    Gamebuino Meta packaging.

MAKERbuino

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  •  
    A MAKERbuino handheld game console, powered on.
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    A MAKERbuino compared to an Gamebuino classic. The MAKERbuino is somewhat larger.
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    A MAKERbuinoo with no casing.
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    A partially populated MAKERbuino board in a vice.
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    A MAKERbuino PCB. Note that instructions for assembly have been silkscreened on the board.
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    The ATMEL ATMEGA 328P microcontroller used in the MAKERBuino.
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    A closeup of the LiPo charger board.

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gamebuino Meta

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: MAKERbuino Games Console

  1. ↑ "The Gameduino - News - SparkFun Electronics". www.sparkfun.com. https://www.sparkfun.com/news/603. 
  2. ↑ "Gameduino - DEV-10593 - SparkFun Electronics". www.sparkfun.com. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  3. ↑ "Un étudiant français crée une console low-cost qui fait déjà fureur" (in fr). Le Figaro Etudiant. https://etudiant.lefigaro.fr/les-news/actu/detail/article/un-etudiant-francais-cree-une-console-low-cost-qui-fait-deja-fureur-9030/. 
  4. ↑ "Gamebuino Classic - Gamebuino". gamebuino.com. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  5. ↑ "Gamebuino META". Kickstarter. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "Les inventions étudiantes futées de 2014" (in fr). Le Figaro Etudiant. https://etudiant.lefigaro.fr/les-news/actu/detail/article/les-inventions-etudiantes-futees-de-2014-10366/. 
  7. ↑ a b c "MAKERbuino - a DIY game console". Kickstarter. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  8. ↑ "Press - Gamebuino". gamebuino.com. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  9. ↑ "Gamebuino META launched - Gamebuino". gamebuino.com. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  10. ↑ "Update #12: Production started, send your address! - Gamebuino". gamebuino.com. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  11. ↑ a b "Make your Gamebuino & party invitation - Gamebuino". gamebuino.com. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  12. ↑ "Python on Gamebuino now! - Gamebuino" (in en). gamebuino.com. https://gamebuino.com/news/coder-en-python-des-maintenant. 
  13. ↑ "Construisez et programmez votre console de jeux open source - LinuxFr.org". linuxfr.org. https://linuxfr.org/news/construisez-et-programmez-votre-console-de-jeux-open-source. 
  14. ↑ "RIP Gamebuino". Arduboy. 5 October 2020. https://community.arduboy.com/t/rip-gamebuino/9314/8. 
  15. ↑ "https://twitter.com/thegamebuino/status/1311693576573779968" (in en). Twitter. https://twitter.com/theGamebuino/status/1311693576573779968. 
  16. ↑ a b Coquet, Noémie (February 26, 2021). "Saint-Etienne / La console vidéo Gamebuino change de main" (in fr). lessor42. https://www.lessor42.fr/saint-etienne-la-console-video-gamebuino-change-de-main-26400.html. 
  17. ↑ Rodot, Aurélien (2 May 2019). "Gamebuino DIY kit" (in en). Aurélien Rodot. https://www.aurelienrodot.com/2019/05/02/gamebuino-diy-kit.html. 
  18. ↑ "Gamebuino company is shutting down" (in en). reddit. https://old.reddit.com/r/Gamebuino/comments/j3fy32/gamebuino_company_is_shutting_down/. 
  19. ↑ "Arrivée du forum!" (in en). Gamebuino. 25 March 2021. https://community.gamebuino.com/t/arrivee-du-forum/36. 
  20. ↑ "Gamebuino: A Handheld Arduino Gaming Console Ready For Prime Time". Hackaday. 28 February 2014. https://hackaday.com/2014/02/27/gamebuino-a-handheld-arduino-gaming-console-ready-for-prime-time/. 
  21. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j "What is Gamebuino META? - Gamebuino". gamebuino.com. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  22. ↑ a b "Playing Gamebuino META Games on Arcada". Adafruit Learning System. Retrieved 13 November 2020.


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