What do you do if you’re a developer that gets shut out of the approval process for closed-shop gaming systems? If you’re [Robert Pelloni] you protest first, then establish your own startup to develop a gaming platform that is open and inexpensive. The hardware seen above is a rendering of the nD, a cheap and open gaming handheld. They plan to sell it at cost ($20) and let anyone develop games.
Check out the video after the break to see the pitch. The hardware is sparse; a plastic case and some buttons, a 320×240 LCD screen, a PCB with a system-on-a-chip, and a rechargeable battery. But if you’re writing great games the spartan hardware doesn’t matter (we still love a good game of Metroid when we have the time). Developers will be able to license games for sale in the nD online market. They’ll keep 90% while nD takes it’s 10%. Not a bad deal.
If you haven’t heard about [Bob] protesting Nintendo, give this article a gander.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDOoAw_YajU&w=470]
[Thanks Wouter via OMG! Ubuntu!]
1. The awkward capitalization of nD in the word inDies makes it look like you’re forming the word ‘dies’ from the letters of that word. Probably not the best marketing strategy.
2. What are the specs? It looks like it’s got about the same power as a GameBoy Advance.
3. Can I sideload over USB rather than using your app store? If not, it’s no better than the Apple app store with developers actually getting paid properly.
@blue carbuncle
I find that hard to believe it supported games up until N64, the ‘PSP’ It self which is using better hardware than your KIRF can barely play most N64 games at a decent speed w/ or w/o sound.
Why do I have a feeling after this gets carried on the price will change over 50$?
Something like this already exists and there is no reason to spend money to do it all over again. Guys at GizmoForYou have developed their Version 1 Gaming console found here: http://www.gizmoforyou.net/site/en/shop/pxa-gaming-platform.html
And already set up on doing a better, cheaper and allot more powerful one as described here:http://www.gizmoforyou.net/site/en/component/content/article/11-gizmos/227-will-a-ares-or-ares-g2-a-will.html
They even are commissioning developers for doing games and have a similar plan to the one described here.
It would be allot more practical to help them out in building an already proven concept rather than doing it all over again.
It all depends on how many components it needs.
Microchip is going to sell a 16 bit chip that runs at 60Mips for $2.00 and I believe that I could get a 320×240 LCD really cheap. You basically need a circuit board and some SMT components so it is possible.
The problem is that you couldn’t use middlemen like Sparkfun because they would jack up the cost of every component. It is more likely that you could get is massed produced in China really cheap if you knew some companies over there.
That same microchip chip needs double the time of his previous brother that run at 40Mips to get inside or outside an interruption, and is in general slower than its older brothers.
Need speed and simple things, look for the 120Mips Cortex m3 from ST, or wait for the big M4’s with dsp’s and floating point support in hardware, or go full blow and use a beagleBoard.
How to become a startup
1- Offers nothing than promises (and blender animations).
2- ?????
3- Get money
A game system needs some kind of graphics acceleration. Trying to do everything by cpu rendering and pushing to a framebuffer is terribly inefficient.
Even if he is throwing 400MHz of power at the problem, I’d be damned if he could give an old NDS a run for its money.
That means an FPGA. That means at least 15 dollars blown right there.
I’ll believe this shit when I see it and not a moment before.
Oh, come on. Build a prototype that works, then advertise. The GP2X is probably a better expenditure for what you get.
Id be highly supprised if this could “beat the one with two screens” like they claim.
The NDS was like a N64, but with more ram and thus higher res textures. (little bit of more use of AA too).
I do like their “It looks like a toy because its for kids!” line though :p
Fed up with tech giants trying to pretend these things arnt toys. They are…so what?
Umm, okay.
If you sell one for $20, I’ll buy it, but I have a strong feeling that it won’t happen.