Gameduino videogame shield for the Arduino

A while back, I participated in my first Kickstarter project by ‘funding’ something called a Gameduino:

It’s an add on module (aka a shield) for the Arduino hardware platform. It basically gives the Arduino the missing bits of electronics to be a self contained 8-bit videogame platform including VGA and sound ports to connect to your tv or computer monitor and speakers. Needless to say, it was wildly successful as a Kickstarter project and is now available from a bunch of distributors around the world.

I received my own Gameduino (each is individually numbered and tested) in short time after the Kickstarter closed and immediately had Space Invaders up and running on it:

I had this arcade style controller from the original Xbox days in my garage and thought it would make the perfect ‘host’ for the Gameduino since it has a joystick and a lot of buttons already mounted in a sturdy, wooden box.

Fortunately, it was very easy to remove the Xbox controller portion and wire in the Arduino/Gameduino:

I was even able to mount it inside using an Arduino holder that I printed with my 3D printer:

There is already a large community of people playing with the Gameduino libraries and some really cool games and remakes are coming out. Like Frogger which is the basis of one of the game design tutorials:

I haven’t had nearly as much time as I had hoped to mess around with the Gameduino but I’ve got some fun ideas to use it for beyond playing Frogger.