Handmade 01 - Tiny gaming handheld project in progress

[Chip]

Steward Fu, the Chinese programmer/tinkerer who has been porting dingux and emulators to the RS97, has also been working on an ambitious hardware project. Based around the 1GHz cortex-A8 AM3358 chip, this project promises to pack a heck of a lot of power into a roughly 2.75" x 3" device.

Not all specs are solidified yet, and Steward has not announced any plans to produce/sell the device, but his progress is impressive none the less. Currently the Handmade features a 2.4" 320x240 IPS display, two microSD slots, and a proper 6-button layout.

It may not be the most ergonomic design ever, but it is definitely the most compact handheld I've seen that should be capable of everything up to and including PS1 emulation.

Lots more pics of his trial-and-error design/build process are up on his blog. His comments are sparse and in Chinese, but google translate lets you get the gist. It's a very impressive project, and definitely worth a look.

 

[EvilDragon]

Steward Fu, the Chinese programmer/tinkerer who has been porting dingux and emulators to the RS97, has also been working on an ambitious hardware project. Based around the 1GHz cortex-A8 AM3358 chip, this project promises to pack a heck of a lot of power into a roughly 2.75" x 3" device.

Not all specs are solidified yet, and Steward has not announced any plans to produce/sell the device, but his progress is impressive none the less. Currently the Handmade features a 2.4" 320x240 IPS display, two microSD slots, and a proper 6-button layout.

It may not be the most ergonomic design ever, but it is definitely the most compact handheld I've seen that should be capable of everything up to and including PS1 emulation.

Lots more pics of his trial-and-error design/build process are up on his blog. His comments are sparse and in Chinese, but google translate lets you get the gist. It's a very impressive project, and definitely worth a look.

Well, it should be about as powerful as the Pandora

Sent from my XT1650-03 using Tapatalk

 

[rygD]

Interesting. I would love to try it out.

 

[alxm]

It may not be the most ergonomic design ever, but it is definitely the most compact handheld I've seen that should be capable of everything up to and including PS1 emulation.

I wish more of these new homebrew handhelds focused on real usability instead of trying to be the ultimate keychain console. Even an extra half inch wider would make this one significantly more comfortable to play games on.

 

[rygD]

I wish more of these new homebrew handhelds focused on real usability instead of trying to be the ultimate keychain console. Even an extra half inch wider would make this one significantly more comfortable to play games on.

The worst part is that there is a lot of range between too small to play on comfortably and too big to be picked comfortably. I prefer the larger end of that range as I would rather be able to play without feeling cramped. If people tried to find the best way to make use of the size and layout eventually someone could hit that sweet spot.

Unfortunately, there is not likely to be much attention paid to that since everyone would rather play games on their smartphone than bother with lugging around a dedicated device.

 

[darkborn]

The worst part is that there is a lot of range between too small to play on comfortably and too big to be picked comfortably. I prefer the larger end of that range as I would rather be able to play without feeling cramped.

Oh, you mean time range? I still feel cramped with that "2 months" game play. After all this years.

 

[Chip]

I wish more of these new homebrew handhelds focused on real usability instead of trying to be the ultimate keychain console. Even an extra half inch wider would make this one significantly more comfortable to play games on.

His project, his rules. Maybe he's got really small hands and this size works well for him.

 

[atari_afternoon]

If you could manage a Gameboy Micro (2×4 in), your hands can manage this baby (2.75 x 3)

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Impossible to hold.

 

[rygD]

If you could manage a Gameboy Micro (2×4 in), your hands can manage this baby (2.75 x 3)

Maybe I don't want to try it after all. A Micro might be ok for playing for a couple minutes, but I wouldn't want to actually try to play a game with it. I guess I missed the size. It looks almost comfortable in the pic, and like you can actually see the screen.

 

[levi]

The GB Micro has the control left and right of the screen though, which mean if you had fat thumbs they'd cover part of the screen. Some people on a review I just read for the Micro prefered the spacing of the controls, while this new device goes back to the GBA SP style of controller with d-pad right next to the game buttons which they didn't like. I dunno if that would be a problem for me, but putting my hands around a non-existent 2.75-inch wide box feels a stretch for sure.

 

[Xcl4m4t10n]

Impressive. If he decide to produce it, he will get my money for sure.

 

[rygD]

The GB Micro has the control left and right of the screen though, which mean if you had fat thumbs they'd cover part of the screen. Some people on a review I just read for the Micro prefered the spacing of the controls, while this new device goes back to the GB style of controller with d-pad right next to the game buttons which they didn't like. I dunno if that would be a problem for me, but putting my hands around a non-existent 2.75-inch wide box feels a stretch for sure.

Fixed.

I prefer the original Gameboy layout only because that is what I started with. On the GBA I don't mind the horizontal layout, and it is probably slightly better for your body. When you shoot a shrinking ray at them I can see the GB style being easier to play if your massive thumbs get in the way of the itty bitty screen. Looks like the original way may have been the best way.

 

[levi]

Yeah, but the GB width is 3.5", the GB SP 3.3" and the tiddler is the GB color at 3.03". This is only 2.75" across. On top of that you also need to reach up to shoulder buttons. The benefit (probably) over the GB SP is that the shoulder buttons are spaced out by the screen being between them, so you can at least extend your fingers properly.

 

[second exodous]

Eh, devices like this I don't see myself gaming for hours and hours on end. The GBA and SP I couldn't play hours on end BUT the sp I closed the lid and resumed when the cramps went away. If the device is too small to play for hours and hours comfortably it is alright if it has good sleep state.

 

[rygD]

Finally, someone gets it!

If I had an SP still I would compare it to the others. I suspect GBA or GB would be best for hours of play. I got used to the brick GB when I was still growing, so my hands may be adapted to them.

 

[jutleys]

Hi guys you can find the fan website i created for it here https://jutleys.wixsite.com/handmade01

 

[Caine]

Hi guys you can find the fan website i created for it here https://jutleys.wixsite.com/handmade01

The design of that site is very busy to me and not in a good way. It is very distracting, like the whole site is one big advertisement.

 

[___]

@jutleys yes, it's cool that you are trying to collect info and share it with people, but the site is horrible to read, due to styling issues (and being a wix.com site...). I have only tried it on my smartphone, but scrolling is jerky, there is too many picture background and the text formatting is terrible.

I think to make it better to read, you should find a style that is uniform to make all your textblocks/blog posts etc align and use a uniform size for headings. also tone down the background, maybe give it a gradient with css, so that it doesn't constantly clash with the actual content.

 

[jutleys]

Thanks for the feedback guys.