Making a new game console (yes really)

SpamYouToDeath

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Wall of text incoming...

I'm building and selling my own game console. As in, an actual game console with purpose-built software on purpose-built hardware, not a Linux PC in a case. This is statistically a suicide mission, but I think it's worth doing anyway. Maybe I can explain. I want to make a good game console, because I think the big companies suck at it.

As a gamer I hate having to deal with all their bullshit. Why is the machine complaining that I didn't shut it down properly? Why is it pestering me to update the system software? Why am I downloading a terabyte of shit even though I put in a disc? Why am I waiting for things to install? Why does the controller cost $120 and always run out of goddamn batteries?

As a game developer I was baffled by some of the hoops we jumped through on Xbox and PlayStation. Why do I need to handle the Kinekt taking away someone's profile while they're playing? Why does an Ethernet-pull affect my single-player game? Why do I have to support suspend-and-resume, when the OS can't actually suspend my process? Who the hell designed these graphics APIs, and can I have whatever they're smoking?

I want to make a good game console, so it's worth defining what makes a game console good.

Obviously, good games make a good game console. Duh. But why do some consoles have lots of good games, and some just a few stinkers? I think the most important factor (aside from, maybe, the parent company remaining solvent) is the development environment. A good console has a good development environment. A good development environment makes happy developers. Happy developers make fun games. So a lot of the value in a game console is how it can make a game developer's job easier. That means simplicity, uniformity, predictability, and clear documentation are all wins. Complexity, unpredictability, spurious requirements, or mandated gimmicks, are all losses.

There's also a lot of value in specifically how a gamer interacts with a game console. They're buying it because they want someone else handling all the technical fussing. They want to put the game in the machine, hit the button, and go. If a console doesn't get that right, it's just a shitty PC in a little case. It also needs to avoid those other pitfalls that make it less fun - fragile controllers, long-ass installs, mandatory updates, stuff like that.

So, while knowing I can't compete on raw performance or production-value, I concentrated on what I could do really well. The result is called "Neki32". It's a 32-bit game console, designed to give everyone a nice experience. It's got a bog-standard ARM9 CPU hooked up to a USB-C power jack and an HDMI transmitter. It uses Sega Genesis controllers because they're dirt-cheap and I can source the plugs for them. The games are on SD cards and they load fast and don't flake out over time (no "go make a sandwich" Neo-CD loading screens here).

n32dev00.png
^^^ That's what the devkit looks like. The "consumer version" will have a nicer plastic case and decent packaging, once I figure out how to design either of those things.

I've got 5 of them on my desk at the moment and the materials for 30 more incoming. If you're interested in developing software, check out the manual and SDK available at the web site:


Send me a message too if this seems interesting to you! Hopefully I can build some momentum and get some great software on this little machine.
 

max 330 megafartz

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Im definitely interested in seeing where this goes. Is it 3D capable or primarily a 2D machine? Need a game tester? 😃
 

yagamikun

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Neato project! Love stuff like this.

Just out of curiosity - why settle on 32-bit? Like, could we expect PS1 era levels of performance here or maybe something 2D and closer to a Taito F3 in features? (similar question to @max 330 megafartz )
 

Moob Butter

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Dude this is fucking cool, I definitely resonate with a lot of what you say about the bloat with modern consoles. When you only have time to play a game once a week (if that), who the fuck wants to download a multi gigabyte patch, or upgrade the firmware in their fucking controller.

I strongly believe that limitations can actually inspire more creatively. I hope some good developers take up your SDK.
 

HornheaDD

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Asking as someone who knows absolutely nothing about game or hardware design, so just fyi.

You mentioned using Genny controllers because they are easy to source. Was there a reason you didn't go with USB?

Either way, definitely a cool project and Im interested in where it goes.
 

Rtron

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Wow, that sounds incredibly intresting!
I'm looking forward to it.
 

Yoshi

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This makes me wish I even knew where to start with development. Best of luck!
 

Moob Butter

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Asking as someone who knows absolutely nothing about game or hardware design, so just fyi.

You mentioned using Genny controllers because they are easy to source. Was there a reason you didn't go with USB?

Either way, definitely a cool project and Im interested in where it goes.

OH JESUS COMPLAIN COMPLAIN COMPLAIN WHY DON'T YOU GO BUILD YOUR OWN CONSOLE THEN YOU GOBSHITE?

But yeah really why no usb? Then you could use a Saturn Pad replica
 

Hattori Hanzo

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But he actually has a point, 32-bit meant 4 shoulder buttons. I always liked the MD pad 3 and 6 button. Good luck with your console.
 

Heinz

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Fascinating! See what geographical isolation does to a man? Good things, very good things.
 

SpamYouToDeath

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Im definitely interested in seeing where this goes. Is it 3D capable or primarily a 2D machine? Need a game tester?
Probably most useful for 2D, because it's all software-rendering. Though, I ported Doom and added some features (bilinear filtering, square-pixel mode) and it runs well. Quake actually runs somewhat well too, which is surprising because there's no floating-point unit at all. If I had some free data like FreeDoom but for Quake, I'd put some effort into making that run nicely. I think it's doable; Quake 1 level graphics should work fine.


Neato project! Love stuff like this.

Just out of curiosity - why settle on 32-bit? Like, could we expect PS1 era levels of performance here or maybe something 2D and closer to a Taito F3 in features? (similar question to @max 330 megafartz )
It should be able to run something like a PS1 game easily. The intent was, it's like a 32X that doesn't suck - it's just a fast little CPU attached to some memory and a video display. (It's about 10 times faster than a 32X.)

The performance level was a compromise. It's performant enough that a developer can just write something simple in C and get reasonable graphics on the screen. On the other hand, it's quite modest, which is good for a number of reasons. An important one is compatibility. For example, I can't just show up and demand a million of some CPU like Sony or Microsoft could. So I have to react if I can't get the exact same CPU in the future. A lower bar means I can produce 100%-compatible systems for longer and cheaper. I intend to keep making these for a long time.

You mentioned using Genny controllers because they are easy to source. Was there a reason you didn't go with USB?
USB was a close second.

There's a bunch of competing demands on the controllers. First and foremost, though, the controller has to be standard. It's a big time-saver as a developer, when you know exactly the controller you're dealing with. It's one of the great things about making a game for a game console, you can just pick one or two control schemes and that's how the game works. (Nobody expects Super Mario Bros to work with their WingMan Extreme.)

USB kind of opens the door to too many possibilities - especially given that I don't have my own nice branded controller with a big logo on the front. I'd be co-opting some other controller with a USB port, but then saying "only this one USB controller". It wouldn't be as clear which controller works with the system.

Also I wanted a standard controller that was digital-only. I don't really like analog sticks. If you get rid of the analog sticks, the controller is cheaper and more reliable, and arcade sticks work better with all the games. There's not really a standard for digital-only USB controllers - nothing like XInput that really nails it all down. There's USB HID and you're left sorting through a pile of HID descriptors that nobody really double-checked to figure out what buttons go where and it never works right. (Steam's solution to this is literally a giant crowdsourced database of every controller ever, and even then it doesn't always work.)

I wish Saturn controllers had kept the d-sub plug, I would have just gone with them. I didn't want to risk running out of plugs and not being able to keep using the controllers.

I was very close to calling a 6-button arcade stick the "standard controller". Shipping those from Perth would be brutal tho.

But he actually has a point, 32-bit meant 4 shoulder buttons. I always liked the MD pad 3 and 6 button. Good luck with your console.
It detects Master System and 3-button Genesis pads too but I consider that an unofficial feature. (Mostly it stops spurious inputs from showing up, if you just polled them blindly like a 6-button pad.)
 

lithy

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So, Magician Lord 2 when. ;)

Do you have an idea of a price target/ballpark? Good luck, I'll be keeping an eye out for the consumer version.
 

HornheaDD

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USB was a close second.

*snip*

Only snipped the rest of the explanation to save space but a very valid explanation at that. Im looking forward to where this goes. I know this is probably way too damn early anyway, but have you considered a price point?

Oops, lithy beat me to it XD

When you said "I dont like analog sticks" I gotta tell you I smiled at the thought of just good old fashioned 2D games. I dont know why, maybe it sparked a core memory.

:buttrock:
 

SpamYouToDeath

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So, Magician Lord 2 when. ;)

Do you have an idea of a price target/ballpark? Good luck, I'll be keeping an eye out for the consumer version.
Only snipped the rest of the explanation to save space but a very valid explanation at that. Im looking forward to where this goes. I know this is probably way too damn early anyway, but have you considered a price point?

Oops, lithy beat me to it XD
I'm selling the developer model for US$189 (shipped!) from really small production runs. So it's likely cheaper than that. I don't want to promise a specific price for the consumer version but I'm doing everything I can to keep the price down. I know this isn't going to be anyone's single choice for a next-gen console or anything, so it's important that just one or two good games can make it a worthwhile buy.

($189 is the launch price of a Sega Genesis)
 

SpamYouToDeath

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All you need to make this successful is a nice insert in a fancy case for the SD cards so people can display them on a shelf.
You have no idea how hard I've looked for someone who can print Digipak-style cases for SD cards. 100% aware that the graphic design of the game packaging is part of the job.
 

HellioN

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You've mentioned SD cards.
Are you working on any kind of copy protection?
 

douglas

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Wall of text incoming...

I'm building and selling my own game console. As in, an actual game console with purpose-built software on purpose-built hardware, not a Linux PC in a case. This is statistically a suicide mission, but I think it's worth doing anyway. Maybe I can explain. I want to make a good game console, because I think the big companies suck at it.

As a gamer I hate having to deal with all their bullshit. Why is the machine complaining that I didn't shut it down properly? Why is it pestering me to update the system software? Why am I downloading a terabyte of shit even though I put in a disc? Why am I waiting for things to install? Why does the controller cost $120 and always run out of goddamn batteries?

As a game developer I was baffled by some of the hoops we jumped through on Xbox and PlayStation. Why do I need to handle the Kinekt taking away someone's profile while they're playing? Why does an Ethernet-pull affect my single-player game? Why do I have to support suspend-and-resume, when the OS can't actually suspend my process? Who the hell designed these graphics APIs, and can I have whatever they're smoking?

I want to make a good game console, so it's worth defining what makes a game console good.

Obviously, good games make a good game console. Duh. But why do some consoles have lots of good games, and some just a few stinkers? I think the most important factor (aside from, maybe, the parent company remaining solvent) is the development environment. A good console has a good development environment. A good development environment makes happy developers. Happy developers make fun games. So a lot of the value in a game console is how it can make a game developer's job easier. That means simplicity, uniformity, predictability, and clear documentation are all wins. Complexity, unpredictability, spurious requirements, or mandated gimmicks, are all losses.

There's also a lot of value in specifically how a gamer interacts with a game console. They're buying it because they want someone else handling all the technical fussing. They want to put the game in the machine, hit the button, and go. If a console doesn't get that right, it's just a shitty PC in a little case. It also needs to avoid those other pitfalls that make it less fun - fragile controllers, long-ass installs, mandatory updates, stuff like that.

So, while knowing I can't compete on raw performance or production-value, I concentrated on what I could do really well. The result is called "Neki32". It's a 32-bit game console, designed to give everyone a nice experience. It's got a bog-standard ARM9 CPU hooked up to a USB-C power jack and an HDMI transmitter. It uses Sega Genesis controllers because they're dirt-cheap and I can source the plugs for them. The games are on SD cards and they load fast and don't flake out over time (no "go make a sandwich" Neo-CD loading screens here).

View attachment 80432
^^^ That's what the devkit looks like. The "consumer version" will have a nicer plastic case and decent packaging, once I figure out how to design either of those things.

I've got 5 of them on my desk at the moment and the materials for 30 more incoming. If you're interested in developing software, check out the manual and SDK available at the web site:


Send me a message too if this seems interesting to you! Hopefully I can build some momentum and get some great software on this little machine.
doing God's work
 

GutsDozer

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Excited to see how it develops!
 

SpamYouToDeath

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You've mentioned SD cards.
Are you working on any kind of copy protection?
I went around in circles a few times.

Ultimately I think the copy protection needs to be done per-game. I'm planning that the game cards themselves will contain features to prevent duplicating them. The console itself won't enforce anything. Yes, that's giving up some of the benefit of a game console, from a developer's point of view. But...
1. If I enforce copy-protection at a console level, then I'm deciding what constitutes an "original" versus a "copy". I'd need to be enforcing software licensing and making decisions about who can publish what. In some way I'd need to be in the supply chain for all software. I'm hoping to avoid that. (I'm not trying to pull off a razor-and-blades business with licensing fees.)
2. Allowing the copy-protection schemes in each game card individually means, generally speaking, each one is more of a pain-in-the-ass to defeat.
3. If the console itself isn't enforcing copy-protection - rather, the interaction of the game software and game card is doing it - then I don't worry about emulators. As long as the machine running the emulator can pass-through accesses to a real SD card reader, it's legit and legal.
4. It's nice if every console can also be a devkit without fussing-about with cryptography and stuff.

I've got some ideas for fairly diabolical bullshit I can pull off, if I control the firmware in the SD card. That's still ahead though.
 
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