OK, so I’m lying. It really isn’t. We’re talking about housing a Pi in a Gameboy. While it’s already been done, I’m looking to create a controllable game of Minecraft with the Gameboy in the left hand, and a wireless mouse in the other. The Pi can be utilised with an emulator so that traditional DMG/GBC/NES games can be played also with the front panel, (as well as a little bit of LSDJ/nanoloop fun)
So I’ve been hankering after a Raspberry Pi for a while and I just couldn’t justify buying one for the hell of it. My initial desire was the interest in some basic coding skills in linux because I work as a Cross-Platform analyst and the truimvirate of Mac and Windows and Linux is desirable to me. Mainly because I’m such a fussy completionist.
So when I saw that such a thing as Minecraft Pi exists, I immediately splashed cash on a Pi for next day delivery, convincing myself that I’ll have my own Pi-Pirate broadcast network in my neighbourhood and build an intelligent thermometer to control the water boiler in the flat.
But fuck all that, because making something simple that works is a lot more rewarding that an experiment that fails right? Probably not. But that’s my ballsy arrogant mantra for the project and if it gets the job done, then let’s do ‘er.
So it’s not Minecraft on a Gameboy. It’s Minecraft Pi, on a Raspberry Pi in a Gameboy shell, with a working set of buttons on the front. The D-pad will control Steve’s footwork and a wireless mouse will help him look.
What is Minecraft Pi then?
Let’s talk about what this thing isn’t going to do first. It isn’t the guts of the Gameboy anymore. We’re putting a computer into it and emulating the Gameboy part. Minecraft Pi is also not even the full Minecraft experience. It’s a very stripped down version of the full fat release. It doesn’t have sound. It isn’t online. It’s essentially free and offline. It works smoothly and it’s still the building-block part of Minecraft. It also has a Python API for real time hacking and coding, which is the exciting bit.
I’m trying to make a fun machine that sits alongside your other older Gameboys. Essentially, the iconography of the classic shell, mixed with the inner workings of the most modern micro computer available. Not only this, I’m going to show you the easiest way to do it and lay out your options as I go.
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[…] The build, created by Travis Brown, features original Gameboy Pocket buttons driven by a Teensy 2.0 board to output button presses as if it were a QWERTY keyboard which interfaces with the Rasp Pi. The 2.5″ backlit color screen is suitable for emulating many consoles (NES, Gameboy Color, Master System, and Game Gear) and even playing games such as DOOM. Other aesthetics carried over include using the original headphone jack and AC adapter, as well as the volume potentiometer and power switch. Borrowing from its younger brother the Gameboy Advance (SP), the power indicator LED is two-colored to indicate charge level and charging status. The mod uses very little original code, just what was written for the Teensy to work with Gameboy buttons. Otherwise, everything made use of existing code created by the Rasp Pi community. A brilliant application of thoughtful design and resourceful repurposement of parts that easily could have been discarded, this mod can be bragged on for authenticity as well as innovation. Check out the full build log here, and to see a the beginnings of a Raspberry Pi – Gameboy build in progress by OhmNohmNohm’s very own Michael Television, check out this post. […]