The Arduboy Retro Gaming is a new pocket sized 8-bit game device that has started a firestorm of interest on Kickstarter.With only 25 days to go, it has far exceeded the goal almost eight times the $25,000 goal. This could spark a miniature retro revolution! The handheld Arduboy has so much potential to sway gamers from smartphones and tablets. The Arduboy is a throwback of the Game Boy of years past, but it is packed with modern technology to make it relevant for pocket gamers and developers.

  The Arduboy gaming system is no bigger than a credit card. It will play classic 8-bit games and it encourages programming skills and users can make and swap games. Arduboy is an open source platform and built on the Arduino chipset. The end-user can play, create  and share game. The Arduboy will ship with a couple of games pre-installed with the option to download more games from the Arduboy Arcade. What's even way more cool is the Arduino platform software make it way cool to learn to program.   The 8-bit games are displayed on a black and white 128x64 1-bit OLED screen. The games they will include are Ardumon, Space Rocks, Cascade Path, Alien Attack,Maruino and Tank Battle. The game Arduboy runs on an ATmega32u4 processor with 32 KB Flash, 2.5 KB RAM, 1 KB EEPROM memory and USB 2.0 with built-in HID profile connectivity. The programming side is accomplished by using the Arduino IDE, Codebender, GCC and AVRDude. The Arduboy has an integrated 180mAh thin-film polymer lithium-ion battery that should give you 8 hours of playtime before you have to recharge it. The charging is done by a standard micro-USB cable. The Arduboy also serves as a digital business card and a QR code holder and an 8-bit audio synthesizer. whats even more coo is you can connect a keyboard or a mouse controller through the USB port. Sound comes from 2 channel Piezo speaker. Arduboy is designed to remind you of a simple time back in the old days of gaming. "If you think back, we have a tendency to throw features at elegant and simple products, making them painful to use and learn over time. The Arduboy is a back-to-basics handheld game system that takes people back to the day when you could just sit down and play a game -- not download, then find an app, then worry about going broke from in-game purchases," Enderle told LinuxInsider.

 

The design and retro appeal helped contribute to the overwhelming success and major funding and development. The Arduboy is made of metal and a polycarbonate with a stamped metal back. The front has six buttons a tiny display and resembles the classic Game Boy in very way in my opinion. the biggest thing for me is that it is small inexpensive, retro like feel and being on Kickstarter seals it for me. The first 1,000 Arduboys are gone to the first 1000 backers that got them at a special buy-in price of $29.95. The good news is you can pre-order one now for only $39 dollars, still a great deal for a newer device with a old school touch. I myself have the craving for some old school fun!