Making retro gaming portable is nothing new, but maker and developer Jason Rogers aims to make retro gaming wearable with his Retro Gaming Watch project. His work has culminated over the years into a Kickstarter campaign. The funding goal was set at $35,000, but the project has already received over $50,000 worth of pledges with 23 days to go.
The system will be driven by a Renesas/Dialog DA14706 SoC (system on chip) powered by an Arm Cortex M33 processor, which can operate up to 160 MHz. It includes 1.5MB of internal RAM and 8MB of external QSPI RAM. It uses a 2D GPU alongside an FPGA, making it more than capable of emulating DOS games.
In addition to retro gaming, the Retro Gaming Watch can also integrate with smartphone apps. The watch will have Bluetooth support, which enables wireless communication with external devices like smartphones or tablets. Rogers explains an example case in which you can use the watch to receive and send messages.
The central processor is a Dialog DA14706 with plenty of other valuable tools to take advantage of. The Retro Gaming Watch also uses an Efinix T20 FPGA, light sensor, accelerometer, magnetometer, audio amplifier, and more. It sports a 1.5-inch LCD screen with a 320 x 320px resolution and a refresh rate of 60Hz. There are four buttons for user input, as well as a D-pad.
According to Rogers, proof-of-concept applications are complete to demonstrate the watch’s capabilities. This includes things like game demos and emulation examples. To get a closer look at this project, check out the official campaign on Kickstarter. It’s also worth noting that supporting any crowdfunding-based project is more like an investment and does not guarantee receiving a product. Check out our best Raspberry Pi projects list for more fabulous creations from the maker community.
