SHA2017

Today we announce another speaker: Axel Theilmann and his talk about the Hackeboy handheld game console! Axel Theilmann is part of the small game label Hackefuffel from Hamburg.

The people from Hacktuffel love the 8-bit looks and feels of retro gaming. But in 2016, they found that the hand-held console of their dreams was still missing. To resolve this problem, they started building a system that was a combination of the newest modern hardware, with a proper old-school approach to the programming model, the runtime environment and the games themselves. This will give the games not only a retro look, but also give them a retro 80s/90s feel on the inside. They called it : the hackeboy.

The console will feature enough buttons for retro-style games, a cartridge slot, sensors, wireless networking and a 24bit, capacitive touch panel LCD screen, because there is no kill like overkill for a modern 8-bit game console. You can follow the development at the hackeboy blog. All design files and source code will be made available so people can build one themselves or remix the hardware for their own ideas.

The prototypes were built on 33c3, but now it is time for the next revision. The latest version is a nice step up from the breadboard to a portable and mobile console. In his talk, Axell will introduce the hardware and the development environment. He will share what they learned on the road to their dream console, what worked and what didn't. And he wants to share the stories with other retro-gamers and hardware hackers... Because actually, making your own gaming console is not quite that hard... ;-)

Come see, play with and develop for the hackeboy prototypes at SHA2017!
Interested in other talks? See the halfnarp with the first set of accepted talks. There you can help to prevent scheduling conflicts.