New console costs €28, is the size of a matchbox, comes with 300 games

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Before 2023, the new 8-bit console “The Arduboy Mini” is making a name for itself on Kickstarter. The creator of the project, Kevin Bates, actually only wanted €9,300, after a few days he had earned almost €50,000: his console is only the size of a box of matches.

What is this project?

  • The “Arduboy Mini” is an 8-bit console. The “8-bit era” was actually 40 years ago. Systems such as the “Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)”, which appeared in 1983, belong to this generation of video game consoles.
  • The “Arduboy Mini” is the minimalist version of 2 earlier game consoles that the hobbyist Kevin Bates brought to the start. The predecessors were the Arduboy and the Arduboy FX.
  • The current project “Arduboy Mini” is characterized by its tiny size. The dimensions of the device are 48 × 33 × 8 mm. A matchbox usually has dimensions of 50 × 35 × 15 mm.

    • Kickstarter target already surpassed 5 times

    What can that thing do? The Autoboy Mini comes with more than 300 pre-installed games and has 6 buttons under the tiny display.

    The games that the developer shows in a short video are open source projects in black and white. First he shows a “Falling Block” game, obviously a Tetris variant.

    Enthusiasts snatch the mini-console out of the hand of the hobbyist

    What does this cost? On Kickstarter, the smallest participation costs around €28, but the Arduboy Mini is expected to be available in June 2023.

    If you spend more money, you get a graffiti edition or 10 of the tiny consoles at once.

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    Is the project successful? Yes indeed. Kevin Bates only wanted to secure €9,322 via Kickstarter by January 4, 2023, but he has already, on December 31. 2022, almost €50,000 raised.

    This is behind it: Kevin Bates created the “Arduboy” in 2014, a handheld console that runs on open source software. The Arduboy made headlines back then because it looked like a credit card and you could put it in your wallet.

    Back then, Bates wanted to use the device to prove his hardware hacking skills and secure a job. That didn’t work, as the gizmodo site reported.

    But in the 8 years since, Bates has apparently made a name for himself and built a loyal following. Especially “Tetris” variants seem to be very popular on these consoles – like back then on the Gameboy.

    4 crowdfunding MMORPGs that really flopped

    Mini Console is designed to get students to code

    The Arduboy is considered a good platform to start coding: some started designing games here and this now makes for such a wide selection of small games for the small device. Therefore, the Arduboy Mini is also intended for the classroom to introduce students to coding.

    The author at gizmodo writes: Many wanted to learn programming, but then sitting down with a book was a big hurdle. The idea of ​​developing a real video game for the Arduboy Mini is much more appealing. Therefore, the console is a “Trojan horse” to introduce children to programming.

    The device is only suitable to a limited extent for playing action games, and the operation is a bit too sluggish for that.

    However, crowdfunded MMORPGs don’t do as well on Kickstarter as hardware gadgets:

    The 7 Biggest Crowdfunding MMOs – Where Do They Stand?

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