Overview:

Gameduino is a game adapter for Arduino (or anything else with an SPI interface) built as a single shield that stacks up on top of the Arduino and has plugs for a VGA monitor and stereo speakers. The sound and graphics are definitely old-school, but thanks to the latest FPGA technology, the sprite capabilities are a step above those in machines from the past. The adapter is controlled via SPI read/write operations, and looks to the CPU like a 32Kbyte RAM. (Unlike many 8-bit machines, there are no restrictions on when you can access this RAM). There is even a handy reference poster (which you can download below) showing how the whole system works.

Features:

• Video output is 400x300 pixels in 512 colors
• All color processed internally at 15-bit precision
• Compatible with any standard VGA monitor (800x600 @ 72Hz)
• Background Graphics
• 512x512 pixel character background
• 256 characters, each with independent 4 color palette
• pixel-smooth X-Y wraparound scroll
• Foreground Graphics
• each sprite is 16x16 pixels with per-pixel transparency
• each sprite can use 256, 16 or 4 colors
• four-way rotate and flip
• 96 sprites per scan-line, 1536 texels per line
• pixel-perfect sprite collision detection
• Audio output is a stereo 12-bit frequency synthesizer
• 64 Independent Voices 10-8000 Hz
• Per-Voice Sine Wave or White Noise
• Sample Playback Channel

Note:

Through Gameduino, you can master the structure composition of sprite palette in the game, the way to move, rotate and display the background image, and the compiling principle of the game music code. In addition, you can also learn the principle in the game, such as collision against and destroying the enemy by bullets. Eventually you can master how to write game codes.