[aeropriest]

Guys

Our team has self funded and spent last 18 months developing stackable XBMC box on which various accessories can be stacked upon.

Most retro game enthusiasts are still looking for that perfect retro game player and probably a stackable player for this box could be it. Members of our team are open source developers and embrace the open source community and will release developer kit whereby open source hardware can be built and stack on top of this box.

Please find more details of the box on indiegogo here

Thanks

[garbear]

Hardware that officially supports RetroPlayer? Count me in From what I understand, you've already added a photo library to XBMC, so extending it to games shouldn't be that hard. The idea of wireless photo syncing is cool enough, but having a module that you can stack on top to plug in cartridges and play console games takes this to a whole new level. Good luck, I hope you meet your funding goals!

[wolfgar]

Hi there

I am stephan, I have been working on porting xbmc on imx6 for one year now and I also support Ashok's project.
I am not a core retro gamer but you can count on me to help with the integration of anything useful (cartridge reader, dedicated console accessories...) for this use
Do not hesitate to contact me if you need any test or dedicated imx6 support for this target

Kind regards
Stephan

[aeropriest]

The idea of wireless photo syncing is cool enough, but having a module that you can stack on top to plug in cartridges and play console games takes this to a whole new level. Good luck, I hope you meet your funding goals!

glad you like the idea, we are very excited as well, we did some quick rendering, please let us know your thought

[MediaPi]

If you don't meet your funding, you should do another kickstarter or indegogo. This is a different concept an would take of really fast.

[aeropriest]

running crowd funding campaign is tricky, most campaings come with huge funding behind, hire.pr companies for 25-50K to get featured in big tech blogs. there are other ways to trick the backers e.g. make it flexible funding or keep the goal so low that you over shoot in no time.

we are actually doing well on the campaign, we have moved to 21st place on the IGG tech section, once we move above 12, we will be funded and to reach to 12, yoy guys can help big times

- contribute $1
- start asking questions in comments
- share it on fb/twitter

anyway this thread is about feedback for retroplayer hardware, couple of questions

- could cartridge be inserted from front? (that way stacking continues yo work)
- are there any legal/licensing issues to build it (of course we will keep it open source)

[malte]

I guess inserting cartridges from top should be much easier to handle (from user perspective). Some cartridges are quite big, so you must make sure that your components are high enough. Additionally the cartridges can not be pulled in like disks. So you will need a little physical power to get them in. This could be difficult to manage from front. Just my oppinion, should not stop you though.

Maybe you could get some inspiration from retrode. Besides the form factor it seems to do what you want to achieve.

[aeropriest]

thanks for the retrode link, that is really helpful. few more renderings are below.

We planning to announce this accessory as perk on our campaign, any suggestions how we should approach this

[RockerC]

Add slots / readers for a few more classic gaming system cartridges, like 8-bit NES/Famicom, Super NES, N64, Sega Master System, Genesis, and Mega Drive. AND also add matching (dual) ports for the respective game console gamepads / joysticks so that it would allow you and a friend to use the original game controllers, then it could be a success on Kickstarter!

Such a complete device with XBMC support could easily compete with RetroN 5 by Hyperkin even at a premium price
http://www.retron5.com
http://hyperkin.com/

You could possible also get some great ideas from Retrode since their USB reader is actually closer to what your module will be. Might therefor be a good idea to contact retrode.org and ask if they would be willing to partner with you to create a such module together
http://www.retrode.org/plug-in-adapters/

PS: Kickstarter is a normally a better launch platform than Indiegogo for getting noticed.

[aeropriest]

Add slots / readers for a few more classic gaming system cartridges, like 8-bit NES/Famicom, Super NES, N64, Sega Master System, Genesis, and Mega Drive. AND also add matching (dual) ports for the respective game console gamepads / joysticks so that it would allow you and a friend to use the original game controllers, then it could be a success on Kickstarter!

thanks Rocker, that sounds super exciting
- back the old questions, which ones could be front loading cartridges
- should all be added to one (like retron5) stackable or modularize if they could be front loaded
- does retroplayer already supports all of those games?

You could possible also get some great ideas from Retrode since their USB reader is actually closer to what your module will be. Might therefor be a good idea to contact retrode.org and ask if they would be willing to partner with you to create a such module together
http://www.retrode.org/plug-in-adapters/

gona ask them if they want to take our design and build the accessory, this is open hardware design to anyone could build stackable accessories however would need license from us for commercial usage (so we could enforce our patent)

PS: Kickstarter is a normally a better launch platform than Indiegogo for getting noticed.

No doubt about that, like I mentioned earlier, we are self funded Hong Kong based startup and KS requires us to be incorporated in certain countries, incorporation only is not as expensive however other logistics are expensive so we decided to go ahead with IGG.

We just extended our campaign by 30days on IGG and should be announcing the stackable retroplayer module on the campaign after exploring the idea here, we would reach our goal of 75K so hopefully would't have to re-run the campaign (it takes lot of work to run a campaign)

[RockerC]

If you decide to go ahead with this then please consider 8-bit NES / 8-bit Famicom as it must be the most iconic retro game platform to this date, checkout http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_En...ent_System

- back the old questions, which ones could be front loading cartridges
- should all be added to one (like retron5) stackable or modularize if they could be front loaded
- does retroplayer already supports all of those games?

Top-loading is probably only way that makes sense. Game Boy, Game Boy Color, & Game Boy Advance cartridges are probably the only ones small enough to have front-loading for them. Plus the fact that is the action of top-loading a game cartridges is part of the nostalgia trip itself

Yes RetroPlayer supports all those and many more, as it uses Libretro API which supports all the same cores as RetroArch does
http://www.libretro.com/index.php/ecosystem/
https://github.com/libretro

You could possible also get some great ideas from Retrode since their USB reader is actually closer to what your module will be. Might therefor be a good idea to contact retrode.org and ask if they would be willing to partner with you to create a such module together
http://www.retrode.org/plug-in-adapters/

gona ask them if they want to take our design and build the accessory, this is open hardware design to anyone could build stackable accessories however would need license from us for commercial usage (so we could enforce our patent)

According to http://retrode.com actually looks like the maker of Retrode is retired, though maybe he can be convinced of for a fee

"About the Retrode
We’re quitting!

As of Summer 2013, we have stopped producing the Retrode and its accessories. If you want one, get one while our stock lasts – we still have a bunch of everything but no new ones will be made. Why? Because by "we" I really mean "I", and I have taken on a full-time faculty position that is every bit as time-consuming as it is rewarding on a personal and professional level. Of course, we’ll continue to provide user support through the usual channels, and the developer team will keep improving the features through occasional firmware updates.

Business folks – if you want to produce your own Retrodes (makes sense at 1000 units or more due to some part suppliers’ MOQ), please let me know.

Thanks to all customers and contributors for your support!
Matthias Hullin"

[aeropriest]

- Thanks Rocker, I already mailed them (as in him) at [email protected] however no reply yet, I will try find Mathias directly and message him.
- Showed the possibility of this concept of couple of big tech blogs, one of them are interested and did an interview with us, might be running the story next week and we would announce retroplayer hardware, we calling EzeeGame, next week with that article.

[aeropriest]

so this stackable cartridge reader has been made available for pre-order

[encript]

I seen the story today. I hope the exposure means this can become a real thing.

[aeropriest]

We are funded now, we just need to make it to $125K to make this happen