Project Ninja

[Jaw]

ninja will do it. ninja will do psx too.
if it will overclock that well with voltage mod .

psx emulation is much easier than snes because there is a LOT less in it custom wise, it's just what there is runs pretty fast

 

[junker]

why are so many people going on about touch screens and wi fi compatibility?

surely the whole point of this project is to make a handheld which can firstly give us a solid platform for emulation, secondly, sd card support and why are some people mentioning psx emulation? who wouldnt be more than satisfied with full snes, more mame and possibly even amiga emulation as well?

And with sd card support we could expand upon the pc engine emu's and add super cd as well - same goes for mega cd with a little more work.

and maybe, just maybe X68000

People seem to think we can just jump 2-3 generations or game system in one go - let's try for one step at a time.

​

i'm with you too, but i still think 64mb would hit the spot.
and yeah, this isn't in competition with the other commercial handhelds, also, the psp homebrew scene isn't perfect yet, and probably won't be for a long time.

 

[starpause]

this thread is still interesting. i'm with the KISS (keep it simple, stupid!) kamp, wi-fi and a touch screen would be a nice *bonus* ... but this thing is a game device, not communications or pda. i'd rather see more ram than either of these things.

i've been thinking i may need a PDA, the way i always forget things ... hopefully not though, those things are way dork! :rolleyes:

so all the specs look good, but i'm worried about one thing: portability! i absolutely LOVE the clamshell design of the GBA-SP, it's damn near perfect. easy to hold, easy to see, the buttons are a little scrunched. if the unit was a little wider (say, as wide as the screen planned for the NINJA h34r: , maybe they wouldn't be so scrunched.

if i'm not taking a bag with me somewhere i grab my gba-sp because it fits nicely in my pocket and i don't have to worry about scuffing the screen/buttons being hit if i pause the game and throw it in my pocket, etc. the gp32 and case is very bulky!

hmm, now that i think about it, maybe it doesn't matter regarding a clamshell ... something as rare as a gp32 or ninja, i would commit suicide if i smashed it falling off my skateboard. i best keep my gba-sp as my cheep bitch for quickie trips, and my gp32 gets taken out only on nice dates :unsure: :blink: :lol:

 

[lubidog]

And when the zodiac sorts out the snes, then why would anyone buy the Ninja?

​

The zodiac sots out snes? Haven´t noticed that on mine... No, the Zodiac has maybe better SNES emulation than the GP32 but is still rather slow. And actually the SNES emulation on the PSP isn´t sooo good, you still have to use fs2 which wakes some blinking stuff invisible and the gameplay glitchy.
Snes with sound and fs0 is what we need! And the ninja might do it...

​

So, the snes emu isn't soo good? Well, it's not perfect. But it is VERY playable.

And they've done this in WEEKS! I mean, WEEKS!!!! All these emus are popping up like weeds in an allotment. It's amazing how fast the scene is moving.

So again, what will the Ninja do that'll make people buy it? We have to keep an eye on the possibilities of what we're building, not just for the thrill of actually building it. Or no one will buy it...

 

[LHC]

It's not a commercial device as such, so the "nobody buying it" thing isn't a total worry. Of course for it to be financially viable we need some people to buy it, but it's clear that there is already interest in it.

Nobody expects to win over PSP fanboys or whatever though.

 

[Nova]

this thread is still interesting. i'm with the KISS (keep it simple, stupid!) kamp, wi-fi and a touch screen would be a nice *bonus* ... but this thing is a game device, not communications or pda. i'd rather see more ram than either of these things.

i've been thinking i may need a PDA, the way i always forget things ... hopefully not though, those things are way dork! :rolleyes:

so all the specs look good, but i'm worried about one thing: portability! i absolutely LOVE the clamshell design of the GBA-SP, it's damn near perfect. easy to hold, easy to see, the buttons are a little scrunched. if the unit was a little wider (say, as wide as the screen planned for the NINJA h34r: , maybe they wouldn't be so scrunched.

if i'm not taking a bag with me somewhere i grab my gba-sp because it fits nicely in my pocket and i don't have to worry about scuffing the screen/buttons being hit if i pause the game and throw it in my pocket, etc. the gp32 and case is very bulky!

hmm, now that i think about it, maybe it doesn't matter regarding a clamshell ... something as rare as a gp32 or ninja, i would commit suicide if i smashed it falling off my skateboard. i best keep my gba-sp as my cheep bitch for quickie trips, and my gp32 gets taken out only on nice dates :unsure: :blink: :lol:

​

well a clamshell would be impractical for 2 rechargable aa batteries, meaning it would have a thick and rather heavy bottom

 

[Titcher]

It won't use AAs or rather, chances are minimal, AAs don't have enough power to power the thing, so some li-ion battery will be used or similar.

 

[Myth]

What about GPQ+ design ? To watch movies, it was the best ! We maybe could forget the added boutons specialized in MP3 player... But a screen like GBA SP who could be returned, could be really nice.

And touch screen... well... I think honestly that's the best way to have an ergonomic gameplay for the SCUMM, SARIEN etc... Except if there's a mouse (like the chatboard)...

 

[Titcher]

I don't know the GPQ+ is, but, I think the design should have a screen that folds in, there's an indent where the screen goes in, the rest sticks out a bit, like the DS, but the top flap is a fraction of the size for just the screen. I think that would be very practical.

 

[Jarska333]

Say, would it be possible to put a X68000 compatible chip inside?

I allways figured, that chips could be used in any manner, if the machine is constructed as such...

Example: ARM9 processor, X68000. If we want to emulate NES, we do it the normal way, maybe have the X68000 do the audio emulation. Now, if we wish to emulate Megadrive, or Amiga, instead of emulating the Motorola processor, we let the 68000 take over the CPU burden, and emulate the extra chips with the ARM9.

Just an example, I have no idea if 68000 compatible chips are even manufactured/sold nowadays, or, say, Z80.

Silly idea. But I figure, if I recal correctly, GBA doesn't emulate GB, it has GB's chips buit in. Soooo...

 

[onionfrog]

Clamshell design would be kickass!
Or just a way to properly secure screen protectors too it...
Touchscreen is something that i do not want... then my screent will get scratched by using it and it will drive up the cost...

 

[Squidge]

I've got a touchscreen on many things - NDS, Zodiac, X50V, and none of them have a screen protector on them. None of them having a single scratch either. You only get scratches if you start trying to draw with a screwdriver, or some other stupid pointy thing.

As for putting a 68K or Z80 inside, where are you going to source them from? Also, if your going to the length of doing that, you may as well put an FPGA in there that can emulate both in the same chip, and Mirko's already crapped on that idea.

 

[Fishbong]

As for putting a 68K or Z80 inside, where are you going to source them from?

​

He´ll buy 500 old Megadrives and rip the chip out.

And actually i think it is a very stupid idea to put 15 years old technology into a new powerful device, whether it is avaiable or not...

 

[DemonStar55]

As for putting a 68K or Z80 inside, where are you going to source them from?

​

He´ll buy 500 old Megadrives and rip the chip out.

And actually i think it is a very stupid idea to put 15 years old technology into a new powerful device, whether it is avaiable or not...

​

well could you only destroy 499 of them and give me the 500th one?

 

[pea]

Squidge, no offence, but the reason I am focusing on emulation is because of your previous post, which led me to believe that this is what the ninja is geared towards, as this was the main point of your argument!

Why? Graphics chips are generally completely useless for emulation, and not used that much by homebrew as it's easier and more portable to do it in software (probably the learning curve too).

The only time a graphics chip will be useful is if you are emulating a 3d game system such as the PSX, N64, etc, where you can throw all the 3D stuff to the chip rather than doing it yourself. We know we are not going to get a 3D chip in there though, so may as well forget about a graphics chip completely.

I see what you mean about the graphics chip being too difficult to source, especially in low quantities, but I don't agree with your statement above. If the ninja had a graphics chip, I bet more and more projects would make use of it, and not just higher system emulation.

On the other main point - even though the community doesn't wish the ninja to be a competitor for the other handhelds, this will always happen, whether we want it to or not. The other scenes (PSP, Zodiac, Gismondo etc) may not be designed specifically for the homebrew market, but that is not to say that a homebrew scene isn't emerging for each one - as it is. A potential customer is always going to weight up the ninja against the existing consoles, and make a decision based on that - not purely on the fact that the ninja is purely homebrew and easy to develop on.

For example, if I were faced with the decision of getting:
1) Gizmondo
2) Ninja with similar specs to gizmondo, but fully open-source
I would go for (A), even though my main reason would be homebrew development, just because the Gizmondo has all these features and selling points that set it above from the rest (Bluetooth, GPRS, WAP, SMS, SIM card, graphics chip, camera etc).

 

[Julius]

Sounds great, I would be willing to donate a few euros for development (<50€).

But I also think a touchscreen(!) and 64mb ram would be a really good idea (almost essencial ) Exspecially since the support is already on the chip.

Last but not least some sort of expansion port that would allow for a seperate TV output box and a normal USB connector (where a USB hub could be connected to) would be a really cool feature.

 

[Jarska333]

As for putting a 68K or Z80 inside, where are you going to source them from?

Hoh, caveat was included.

"Just an example, I have no idea if 68000 compatible chips are even manufactured/sold nowadays, or, say, Z80."

Just curious, if it would work, at all?

 

[Blah]

If your gonna do that you might as well include a FPGA.

 

[Jarska333]

That's not the point.


Would it work? Are the different CPU's interchanceable trough software? B)

I mean, taking the bus to work might be the most easy and sensible thing to do, but building your own dirigible and flying to work is so much more fun.

OK, bad analogy. h34r:

 

[Blah]

That's not the point.


Would it work? Are the different CPU's interchanceable trough software? B)

​

It would work, it might be too slow communicating with the screen and sound hardware though. Yes they still make them, at least Zilog still makes the Z80, don't know about Motorola and the 68000, but theres just no point when these are so easily emulatable.