Asteriods: The Belt Buckle

asteroids-video-game-belt-buckle

This is going to change the way you play with yourself. What if every time you got a little bored you reached for your belt rather than your smart phone? [Cunning_Fellow] may be doing that more often now that he finished this slick-looking video game belt buckle which plays the classic Asteroids game.

It isn’t just an intriguing concept. The build was pulled off at a very high level of quality… this thing should have no problem standing the test of time. First off he had to figure out if it was even possible to run the game at a respectable frame-rate. Cheap 320×240 LCD screens don’t have a frame marker (think of it as a vertical sync signal with can be used as an interrupt for the microcontroller). But he thought it was possible that the frame marker pin just wasn’t connected like on more expensive screens and he was right with at least one model he acquired.

With that out of the way he laid out and etched a beautiful double-sided board to house all of the electronics. But he still needed a case. To get a one-of-a-kind look he masked and etched a sheet of brass. Once cut out and folded ti gives a wonderful look and protects the electronics inside quite well. 

19 thoughts on “Asteriods: The Belt Buckle

  1. Cool, but the button/gamepad is backwards. Space Invader games have the joystick on the left and the buttons on the right. Not to mention almost every game pad is also setup like that. Maybe the maker is left handed?

    1. It can switch/mirror the LCD top to bottom so either you can play it or someone else can play it. When you are playing you have to use the D-Pad as fire and the buttons as the D-Pad.

  2. tbh, the first thing i thought when i saw this was
    “He attached a Dingo to his belt”
    But sexual innuendos and first impressions aside, it’s a cool build.

    1. No where near as powerful as a dingo/caanoo/pandora. It does get 20-30 hours battery life though.

      Real reason I did it myself with an AVR was “;cause I could” :D

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