Geeky projects - Uzebox

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 | Editorial

High tech tinkering is in my blood. My father has a couple of TRS-80s in a workroom in the back that he kept around to fiddle with. To this day he keeps up to date with the local Ham Radio users. Which is why when TIGSource featured the Uzebox I had to make mention of it here. Not only is the idea of a weekend project that ends in your own home-made computer game console exceptionally cool, but it uses standard C for it’s interface, meaning if you can write games for Cymon’s Games, you can write games for your Uzebox.

There are a number of down sides to the Uzebox. For one It only holds one game at a time, no switching them out via cartridges, disks, tapes. If you want to change the game you have to reflash the memory using your computer. (If it were me I’d just leave it connected.) Also it relies on controllers and controller sockets from a two decade console that, while not difficult to find, is probably not just sitting around your garage waiting to be cannibalized for this. Maybe they are. However, as the forums say, you can just wire the controllers directly to the board.

The biggest downside to the Uzebox, however, is I just plain do not have the free time to make one right now.

If you’re interested in this sort of thing http://makezine.com/ is a good source of other weekend geeky projects to compete for your precious time.

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3 Comments to Geeky projects - Uzebox

Devin Watson
August 30, 2008

I thought I’d throw some more links your way on some of the other interesting projects I’ve come across regarding this:

Pac-Man Mini and also Engadget Coverage

Of course the forums on the first link are for Ben Heckendorn who’s been kit bashing portable systems for years now. Some truly inspired stuff on there.

Had an XGameStation also at one time and that was a lot of fun to mess with, but only if you were into assembler. Of course now the Hydra is the new kid on the block there and a prize in the competition. Still, the simpler things are more fun for me.

Dungeons of Doom - A complete roguelike in an (extremely portable) Altoids tin using a Sega Genesis controller and hooks up to NTSC televisions. Imagine trying to cram something like Dwarf Fortress into one of those babies. Actually, you probably couldn’t due to memory constraints and a few other things, but it got me thinking at some point that I could actually do it. Ended up building a MAME cabinet instead. Go figure.

This is possibly the world’s smallest Tetris game.

N64/SNES/NES controller adapter for the Wii.

I’ve got literally a few hundred more but I think I’ll stop for now before I sound like some kind of blathering idiot.

Joe
September 6, 2008

Wow.

Can I make a confession here. As cool as I find this stuff, before I can start I need a soldering gun an electronics 101 course.

Joe
September 17, 2008

I may have found my salvation:

http://www.nerdkits.com/

Now all I need is some free time and $80.