Matej
Offline
Solar System

I started my own opensource project (game console / home computer) to support Olimex iMX233-Micro board.

Webpage will be: http://www.matej.tech
Forum will be: forum.matej.tech
(I hope 20.9.2016 will be everything online)

I will call my game console "Matty" as it is nickname for my real name Matthew (Matej).

I have choosen minimalistic and ultracheap ARM sbc board (Olimex iMX233-Micro) but one with good documentation
of SOC. And yes whole board is very well documented (fully opensource - GitHUB). So in future
there is possibility of own manufacturing derivate of it!
I know there are powerful Raspberry PIs and other very nice complex SBC boards. But this one is very retro and very indie...
This board is by very well known manufacturer (they can produce 1000s boards) but is highly
underestimated (no development like on Raspberry PI). Manufacturer of SOC writes on their page long time support for it (2025-2030). So I have decided to support it in this way!!!
And other and main reason is that I allready own 2x at home...

Some specs:
32Bit Risc ARM CPU / 454MHz
64 MB RAM
TV PAL/NTSC video output
720x480 pixels (NTSC)
720x576 pixels (PAL)
16,777,216 (24-bit color depth)
Pixel Processing Pipeline (PXP)
1 USB High Speed Host
Three buttons
60PIN GPIO
Stereo headphone DAC with 99 dB SNR
SDcard
Linux

Compare to Nintendo 64:
CPU: 64-bit NEC VR4300 (MIPS R4300i) running at 93.75 MHz
GPU: 64-bit Reality Coprocessor, running at 62.5 MHz
Audio: 16-bit, stereo, CD quality
4 MB RDRAM (Rambus DRAM) on a 9-bit 562.5 MB/s bus, upgradable to 8 MB with Expansion Pak
ROM cartridge (Nintendo 64 Game Pak) bus running at 264 MB/s
Resolution: 240p (320×240), 288p (384×288), 480i (640×480), 576i (720×576)
Color palette: 16,777,216 (24-bit color depth), 2,097,152 possible colors (21-bit color) on screen

So it is not so powerful as todays PCs or RPi3 but it is very powerful as retro game console (like N64, PS1, Jaguar, 3DO, CD32).

Price?

Price will is 19Euro / cca. 20USD. Also there will be 3D printed case (I will do full documentation as I am 3D CAD engineer and open source it). Design will be like little SNES or GENESIS.
I plan to have forum for development, cms website, wiki page and every half year PDF MattyMagazine.
I also will do some coding / pixelart / chipmusic competitions there too!!!

I will not buy new domain as I have nonused and allready payed www.matej.tech. So Matej.Tech will be brand like SEGA, Nintendo and Matty will be product like Genesis or SNES.

All developers will be welcomed! I will make also MattyTeam (MattyLinux,Games,Ports,Language Translations,Magazine,MattySpace Events).
There is allready linux image for that board so we will just add GUI there...
There will be place on my site for other indie and retro software houses / developers (download games, apps from my page).
Also games/apps will be donationware/levelware. If you will love game (or few levels) you will be able to buy
it on SD card with nice box and manual / or buy extra level pack for your fav game or simply you will send paypal donation directly to author, softwarehouse...

Tools for development:
C++, C ,Pascal, Basic, Lua (for example http://liballeg.org/) etc etc...
TileStudio / Tiled - sprites+map (PNG, MAP)
Milkytracker (XM,MOD) - music

MattyLinux will be small normal Linux + very simple gui like on PSP (game loading menu, gamepad settings etc).

Please welcome to discuss your ideas here.

Have a nice day.

Matej

Last edited by Matej (Sep 8, 2016 3:15 pm)

Matej
Offline
Solar System

You can allready buy it! For all developers here you can buy original "Matty" (Olimex iMX-233-Micro).
EU
https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXi … e-hardware
US
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/e … ND/3601084
List of distributors (WORLDWIDE):
https://www.olimex.com/Distributors/

You can get Matty everywhere!!!

There is no audio out on board. So you need wire two pins. So yes it is DIY game console big_smile!!!

BTW it allready runs doom pretty fast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR3N2SycEXM

Here is how big is Matty (in the middle, red prototype enclosure) vs. Raspberry PI2 (left) vs. Raspberry Pi Zero (Right).
So Matty is very small and cute (smaller than original RPi).

First We should  make linux distro image, than nice game console like enclosure (3d printed) + buttons.
I will burn fuses, wire audio out by myself or there will be tutorial on http://www.matej.tech.
Also I will make few consoles kits for EU market in future (also you are welcome to 3D print and assemble them for your town or country - I like idea of local manufacturing). So people will get enclosure, board (with burned fuses),
stereojack mounted on case, audio pins and cable wired and USB retro gamepad from you...
So subbrands will be highly welcome! Remember PC distribution was? There was lot of manufacturers and one PC platform PC286 for example.
And maybe in future we can make our own version of board (white pcb, stereojack on board, wifi for multiplayer via gpio)!!! As it is fully opensource!!!!

I like ports and emulators but I think Matty will be powerful for our own games too!
Or own MOD tracker or XM tracker or LSDJ like tracker or Klystrack like tracker!
You will take small box, adapter and one gamepad and connect it to LCD TV
and you can have gig in any local bar!!! As they have LCD TV...
And it is Linux. So easy to use some C++ game library and MOD files and Tiled, Tile Studio.
For 3D maybe some 3D engines from DS or TinyGL!

During weekend I will setup cms, forum...

Also I am thinking about "Mattie" = Portable Matty (composite TFT+battery+gameboy like 3d printed case and buttons, paddle knob)... Modern handheld for chipmusic, games...

Let me know if you want join MattyTeam or MattiePortableTeam...

DeerPresident
Offline
South Korea

Pretty rad idea, especially considering the price point. If I could make a suggestion though, a PC-Engine or Twin Famicom design might look a bit better for such a small case. Plus they were much better looking than the SNES and MegaDrive.
I'd also be willing to help with the coding where possible, Im a 3rd year computer science major and need some real world exprience.

Matej
Offline
Solar System

It will have my I like PC-Engine too. So I will be inspired sure.
I just buyed USB SNES like gamepads and adapter.
I will post some pictures soon.

theythem
Offline
Melbourne, Australia

So this is an existing computer that you're taking and branding as your own?

Matej
Offline
Solar System

It is board like Raspberry PI and I am branding it like RetroPIe or Happiga.
I am branding only my own Linux distro and my 3D printed case and
www and forum. Matty is nickname for it as platform (PC, Android, MSX)
Olimex imx-233-micro is too long.
As I wrote I want to support Olimex imx-233-micro board
as is not very well supported... And I have 2x at home.

Last edited by Matej (Sep 10, 2016 7:08 am)

Matej
Offline
Solar System

Anyways Fabiano Traple has made His own Matty version
RetroBit - Matty Compatible with 4x DB9 - Sega Genesis / Atari Joystick ports and
2x Cinch for Audio. So I will do 4x boards for experiments.

Here is His GitHub:
https://github.com/ftraple/retrobit

Here is board layout:

So Yes with Fabiano´s RetroBit board, Matty is evolving to new platform.

For now there are 2 Matty platform compatible boards:
Olimex Olinuxino-iMX233-Micro
RetroBit