Autor: Basarâm Ștefan
Grupa: 333CD

This project consists of a game console featuring popular retro games such as Snake, Pong and Asteroids. It uses as control inputs a button and a joystick, with an ultra-wide display composed of 2 LED 8×8 matrices and a buzzer for audio feedback.

The purpose of this device is to facilitate a unique gaming experience in a portable package which aims to capture the golden period of arcade games from the 1980s. This console offers a unique handling to players today who are used to playing games on their phones and desktops/laptops.

My inspiration comes mainly from my existing passion for graphic and game design. Having limited resources, I decided examples from the first generation of video games are the most suited.

The biggest audience for this device are the teens who have an affinity for old-school video games who would thoroughly enjoy a similar gaming experience to the one provided by arcade cabinets, all available in a neat and portable package similar to actual game consoles on the market.

• When the console is powered on, a little start-up animation plays on the main display, scrolling the console name and then the first game out of three (Snake) automatically starts.

• The analog joystick is used to move the characters and the dedicated module button is used for firing or adjusting the game difficulty.
  
• If a player wishes to skip a game, they can do so by pressing twice on the button integrated in the analog joystick in quick succesion.

• Every frame, the game updates its game state, reads user input and draws the result to the main display formed of two 8×8 LED matrices.
• If the game detects an entity collision or a decision is being prompted, the buzzer will be triggered to provide an auditory feedback.

• For each of the three games the player has 3 lives. These are represented by the 3 color LEDs arranged in an LED array which are colored red, yellow and green from left to right.
• When a player loses a life, the rightmost LED flashes and turns off. The current game subsequently restarts, or resumes. When a player consumes all lives they will enter into a gameover.
  The red and green LEDs flash for a moment, followed by one of them being active at a time signifying the player's choice to either retry the current game, represented by the red LED, and moving to the next game represented by the green LED.

• Arduino Uno R3 ATMega328P-AU CH340G - The brains of the operation. Conveniently already possessed one and its small size allows it to be stored in a compact construct.
• Module Button - The reason I bought a button with dedicated pins, instead of using one ready-to-go on a breadboard, is precisely because I did not want to use it directly on a breadboard.
• Analog Joystick - With limited controls, a joystick offers a lot of options for movement, along with a normal button in a single package
• Two 8x8 LED Matrices - The main display of the console. Unlike a typical LED matrix, these display modules have a microcontroller which control the LEDs via just 5 input pins, which not only simplifies the circuitry massively, they also allow to be used independently of a breadboard. They also have 5 output pins which mirror the input ones which allow daisy-chaining displays by assigning every display an address. I decided against using these however in order to favor a smaller console.
• Three LEDs of colors red, yellow and green (part of kit) - Secondary display. Shows extra info about the current game state.
• Resistors 220Ω (part of kit) - For the LEDs.
• Passive Buzzer - Every respectable console with a small budget should sport an annoying buzzer such as this.
• 9V Battery + Adapter - Allows the console to be used without being tethered to a computer.
• Cables male-male and male-female
• Breadboard - Used for wiring together the display and player inputs, as well as powering the passive buzzer.

For all devices, the VCC pins are connected to 5V and GND to a GND pin on the host (Arduino).
The Host ↔ Device column presents which pins are used, as well as the direction that information flows in.