Project Ninja


EvilDragon

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 4, 2003
Messages
29,986
Age
46
Location
Ingolstadt
Some of you may have read that Mr. Mirko and some other devvers are currently creating a new handheld console - specifically aimed at homebrew development.

This handheld doesn't have a name yet - we'll just call it 'Project Ninja' for the time being.

It doesn't have a real homepage yet, as I didn't have time to design one.
But I created a small minipage with notepad.exe, so that we do have a start.

Stay tuned for more updates soon.

The official site for this project is:

http://ninja.gp32x.de
 
Cool! Can`t wait to see (buy?) the final product!

EDIT: What do you think the production will cost?
 
i'd like to contribute $$ will there be a donation thing set up to help the project? I know this will without a doubt be expensive.
 
i'd like to contribute $$ will there be a donation thing set up to help the project? I know this will without a doubt be expensive.
Yup, the develpment costs will most probably have four digits... So we need to raise money. I´ll sure donate a bunch of €´s, and others will too.
For the mass production of the handheld we will have to take preorders, there´s no other (safe) way to raise money for approx. 1000 units. We need to make publicity, so all homebrew/retro/emulation enthusiasts will be informed and put an order.

But all that´s just speculation, we need to wait for a prototype first...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'll have one to, it's looking to be more powerful then the psp...
Have you come up with a shell design, if not I was bored a while back and done a few hand sketches of my dream handhelds
 
Since not everyone can view the page yet, the specs:

---

Some specs that will definitely be in the system:

Samsung s3c2440 400Mhz arm9 CPU
64MB SD-RAM 133Mhz
128kb Flash boot-Rom.
Soundchip DAC
SD-Card slot
USB port (charging via batteries may be possible)
Extension port, like the GP32 one (e.g. for chatboard)



Some things we're still discussing:
TFT type (3,5" original BLU screen - very cheap)
or a 4" 16:9 TFT screen
We also don't know yet if it will have WLAN, Bluetooth, IRDA...


It will DEFINITELY not have a harddisk or compact flash slot, and it won't have a touch screen.

---

Of course, I will have to chip in a few suggestions (and I suppose everyone will want to get their $0.02 in on such an exciting concept). So, in order of decreasing feasability:

+A headphone jack, while not essential for devving, would still be appreciated.

+If it's going to run on AA cells, see if a CRV3 Li-Ion battery can't fit in the same space.

+Four face buttons would be great (especially with the specs in the target range for CPS2/NeoGeo emulation); six...would probably give it the proportions of an first-gen Lynx.

+TATE-ability (90-degree rotated functionality like the Wonderswan). Start & Select buttons adjacent the D-stick/pad/trackball/whatever would be perfect for a web browser or those vertical-aspect MAME titles.

+Is there a chance of, say, a console version with a TV-out, multiple USB inputs and networking features? I don't think I'm the only person who'd buy one (or two!)
 
What do you mean by this? A set consisting of a pre-made circuit board and the components? Don´t think this is gonna happen... most people wouldn´t be able to solder this. And many would try and fail. No, the minimum would be a board with all components already mounted, but without case. And actually that would be very unprofessional. Mr. mirko is a perfectionist, he wouldn´t settle for a half- ass solution...
 
wow! an extremely ambitious, and bold project. not at all surprised to hear of such a thing coming out from the brilliant minds who foster the GP32 dev scene - of course, as they've truly taken it over and made it their own (not hard, considering it's open-oource-ness, extremely low profile, and utter lack of a "commercial scene" - and I am praising these things in this case, not damning them!)

i will actually be surprised to see such a device come out of all of this, planning/etc is fun (just like doing HB I am sure) and obviously many people get off on tricking things out/designing weird superspecialized gadgets. but going all the way to completion with it, supporting a scene, and (just as important) making it affordable enough that people will easily want to get in on it, those are definitely hurdles. Still, there's so many other things that are just wastes of time, so it's cool to see people into this.

my reservation, of course, is with the current state of handhelds... GP32 is pretty damn powerful and capable for someone like me (and I am pretty "hardcore" already). All I need is an OC and an upgrade from flu to blu and I'd not want any more, realistically. You can bet I am watching the PSP scene, as many are.. if it develops like it looks like it could (like many of us hope!) then I wouldn't think twice about going that route. Sure, supporting the indie scene is of course very leet and cool, but with a device as powerful and sexy as the PSP (and ohhh, that screen!) and the possibility of enjoy all the GP32 has to offer and then some on a system like that, it already seems to good to be true.

as with anything.. I will just have to sit back and wait, in both instances. COol times to watch, though. I enjoy this scene, always so interesting and fresh!


-r
 
hmm.. this is almost making me want to wait out on the psp ;)
desicions desiocions.... if only i didn't need to buy a car.. and a new computer...
 
FORGET 16:9. It would be bad for emus as all of those old systems were 4:3. If you used 16:9 then you would have to stretch everything to that aspect which would make stuff squashed or have bars on the sides, bah bad idea scrap 16:9. There is no advantage of widescreen on a HB handheld that will have mostly emus. Just because Sony does it doesn't mean it is needed. It is actually a bad point of the PSP for emulation.

Plus the resolution should be 320 x 240 as most systems emulated fit pretty well at that res. (face it this thing would be used primarily for emus) Go too high and everything would need to be scaled. Scaling doesn't look as good as 1:1 it gets pixely or blurry if filtered. You could do 640 x 480 and then stuff could be pixel doubled when needed. But I still say use a 320 x 240 4:3 screen but BIG like 4"-4.5".

It should also have hardware support for tiling and transparencies for stuff like SNES.
 
Back
Top