Portable ColecoVision: Would you buy this?

[Pixelboy]

I believe a picture is worth a thousand words:

 

 

Some specs to complement the pic above:

 

- The unit uses SD cards, plugged in at the top of the screen (like the first-generation GBA). This means that homebrew games could readily be played on the unit.

 

- The headphone jack is located on the bottom left, next to the volume control.

 

- The white buttons under the screen are the CV keypad buttons (as if it wasn't obvious enough).

 

- Screen resolution is 256x192 (as it was with the old CV console).

 

- Shoulder buttons are used as Button 3 and 4 on Super Controller.

 

- The spinner (above the B1/B2 buttons) is the same as the one on the Super Controller, but it can be put in "Steering Wheel" mode with the switch at the bottom right of the unit (when in "Steering Wheel" mode, button #3 becomes the gas pedal). This makes it possible to play Turbo, Destructor, and Dukes of Hazzard on the unit!

 

So, would you buy such a portable game system?

[+remowilliams]

So, would you buy such a portable game system? 

990353[/snapback]

Definitely! Duh!

 

I think the real question is what are the odds of such a device ever existing, so that you could actually buy it?

[Pixelboy]

So, would you buy such a portable game system?  

990353[/snapback]

Definitely! Duh!

 

I think the real question is what are the odds of such a device ever existing, so that you could actually buy it?

990358[/snapback]

Or more to the point, how much would it cost to manufacture the unit, as a prototype, and also in a mass-production situation? I know LCD screens are very costly, but considering the Nintendo DS uses 256x192 screens, maybe it would be slightly less expensive to get one for a prototype.

 

I think the real problem would be the spinner, since it's not a typical input device, like a button or a D-Pad. And since it can work in two modes (Super Controller Spinner, which is speed-based, or Steering Wheel, which is position-based), it would be a bit more complicated to implement than the one on the original Super Controller.

 

I also wonder if Eduardo's SEM could fit in there...

[8th lutz]

I might. Ben Heckendorn would be the one to consider doing it.

[SteveW]

I'd be all over that. And LCDs aren't all that expensive, those portable Famiclones made by Pelican with the nice LCD screens are only $30.

[Pixelboy]

I'd be all over that. And LCDs aren't all that expensive, those portable Famiclones made by Pelican with the nice LCD screens are only $30.

990388[/snapback]

Yeah, because they're mass-produced. But when you're buying only one or two for the purpose of building a prototype, the price goes up considerably, from what I've been told.

 

Also, I'm wondering if a small trackball would be easier to include in the unit, instead of the spinner... Such a trackball could be used as a speed-spinner, a steering wheel AND the trackball on the Roller Controller... The more I think about it, the more I like the idea...

 

I sent an e-mail to Ben Heckendorn, just to see what he has to say about it, theoretically. If he replies, I'll post his input here.

[Jess Ragan]

That system looks totally feasible, and pretty cool besides... sort of like the Game Boy Advance's hip cousin. I don't think the dial controller would work there, though... I would put it on the top of the unit, where the left shoulder button rests, then get rid of the shoulder buttons entirely and put them on the face of the unit.

 

My question is this (and I've asked Ben this, only to receive no response): can't you just nick a screen from one of those Pelican TV Games units and build it into your system prototype? It seems like it would not only cost less than a handheld television set, but consume batteries less quickly as well.

 

JR

[Flojomojo]

I'd buy one of these if the price were right. If it weren't, I'd just recommend everyone run out to get Pocket Colecovision and a nice little $50 Ebay Casio E-125 to run it on.

[+remowilliams]

I'd buy one of these if the price were right. If it weren't, I'd just recommend everyone run out to get Pocket Colecovision and a nice little $50 Ebay Casio E-125 to run it on.

990456[/snapback]

Ah yeah, the E125. The first and apparently last pocket PC that was built with gamers in mind. Nice little piece of hardware, I overclocked mine as well. Too bad it's hopelessly out of date now.

 

I'm hoping for a GP2X Coleco port now

[opcode]

Cool!

 

Whenever the CV87 becomes a reality, and if some company decides to produce it in ASIC format, then such device would be possible at a very reasonable price.

Unfortunately in FPGA format I can't see how it would fit inside such small device, but a small LCD would still be used, since I am planning to include a VGA output.

 

Eduardo

[Pixelboy]

That system looks totally feasible, and pretty cool besides... sort of like the Game Boy Advance's hip cousin.  I don't think the dial controller would work there, though... I would put it on the top of the unit, where the left shoulder button rests, then get rid of the shoulder buttons entirely and put them on the face of the unit.

Not a bad idea, but why place the dial on top? Wouldn't that be unconfortable? At least with the current configuration, the dial is completely out of the way if it's not needed. and if it is needed (in steering wheel mode, for example), then the player just needs to raise his thumb slightly higher to reach the dial.

 

My question is this (and I've asked Ben this, only to receive no response):  can't you just nick a screen from one of those Pelican TV Games units and build it into your system prototype?  It seems like it would not only cost less than a handheld television set, but consume batteries less quickly as well.

990423[/snapback]

It's a good question, and I hope Ben will reply to you. He did reply to me, however, and here's his response:

 

Ah, that's a pretty good layout. Actually I'm close to finishing a custom Colecovision portable for someone right now, of course it uses original guts.

 

As for the rest, your design, yes, the big thing would be a "Coleco On A Chip" and an SD/RAM card reader, plus cartridge bankswitching emulation, if any. The Coleco was all off-the-shelf parts (nothing custom like the 2600's Stella) so it's probably easy to replicate.

Not exactly the response I was looking for (I was more interested in the actual cost of making a prototype), but still, it's interesting.

 

I'd buy one of these if the price were right. If it weren't, I'd just recommend everyone run out to get Pocket Colecovision and a nice little $50 Ebay Casio E-125 to run it on.

Oooh! That looks nice!

[SteveW]

Weren't the Japanese working on a MSX-on-a-chip? Since the technology is so similar, could that technology be modified to play Colecovision games? Then, it could possibly be stuffed into a handheld device.

 

If a portable could play both Colecovision and MSX games, that would be fantastic! That would open up the library to a thousand plus games.

[Bill Brasky]

All the CV games could be made to run on a Game Gear. The Game Gear has a custom SEGA chip that has the CV's TI sound and graphics on one chip, plus a Z-80. Just add a keypad or remove it from the game programs.

[Jess Ragan]

That system looks totally feasible, and pretty cool besides... sort of like the Game Boy Advance's hip cousin.  I don't think the dial controller would work there, though... I would put it on the top of the unit, where the left shoulder button rests, then get rid of the shoulder buttons entirely and put them on the face of the unit.

Not a bad idea, but why place the dial on top? Wouldn't that be unconfortable? At least with the current configuration, the dial is completely out of the way if it's not needed. and if it is needed (in steering wheel mode, for example), then the player just needs to raise his thumb slightly higher to reach the dial.

 

See, this is what I was thinking. When turned on its side, the dial would fit better and spin more freely on the top left hand corner of the system. While playing racing games, you could rest your pointer finger on the top of the unit, spinning the dial when necessary and accelerating with the face buttons. With the current design, I imagine it'd be tough spinning the dial while holding down the action buttons.

 

I've also never been that fond of shift buttons on the tops of controllers. I groaned when I first discovered that the Playstation had FOUR of them... who the heck could possibly need them all at once? It's far better to put them on the face of the controller, where they can be easily accessed.

 

JR

[Pixelboy]

See, this is what I was thinking.  When turned on its side, the dial would fit better and spin more freely on the top left hand corner of the system.  While playing racing games, you could rest your pointer finger on the top of the unit, spinning the dial when necessary and accelerating with the face buttons.  With the current design, I imagine it'd be tough spinning the dial while holding down the action buttons.

This might be valid for some homebrew CV games, but you'll have a problem with games like Turbo, Dukes of Hazzard and Destructor: In all three cases, you need the D-pad to shift gears (just like it was required on the actual CV console when playing with the steering wheel module). So it's better to have the steering wheel (i.e. the spinner) under one thumb, and the D-pad under the other thumb.

 

Also, using the original steering wheel module meant that the two trigger buttons on the standard controller were unaccessible. For my handheld unit pictured above, this implies that you will never use the spinner and the B1/B2 buttons simultaneously!

 

I've also never been that fond of shift buttons on the tops of controllers.  I groaned when I first discovered that the Playstation had FOUR of them... who the heck could possibly need them all at once?  It's far better to put them on the face of the controller, where they can be easily accessed.

First of all, I don't like shoulder buttons either. Even back in the Super-NES days, I could never pick up the habit of using them even if it could make my life easier. And it didn't get better with the PS1 or PS2 (the only games that made be really enjoy having shoulder buttons were Mega Man Legends and Metroid Prime). But for this CV handheld design, shoulder buttons are not as bad, mostly because most CV games don't use the third and fourth buttons on the Super Action Controller anyway, and because using a face button for the gas pedal can be just as tiring for the thumb as it can be tiresome for an index finger to hold down a shoulder button.

 

It's really all a question of preference, I guess...

Edited December 29, 2005 by Pixelboy

[cimerians]

If this thing existed I would buy one.

[Vic George 2K3]

Ben Heckendorn, where are you?

[else]

Why not just run the Coleco emulator on a Windows CE or Palm device? Seems like that would be a lot cheaper and easier. I honestly don't see why anyone would want to do custom hardware these days when emulators are so readily available, unless of course you're doing extremely high volumes and you're looking to shave every penny out of the design.

 

If you're really stuck on your case design, then just hack a Windoews CE device in to that form factor....

[sega saturn x]

That would be a damn cool little unit, if it played all the games well I would have no problem buying one. I figure it wouldn't be to much more expensive than buying a regular coleco, which I don't own any way.

[yuppicide]

Duh, price doesn't go up considerably. We'd just buy the famiclones for $29.99 for the 2.0" LCD or $39.99 for the 2.5" LCD model. People over at Ben Heck's forums are already starting to work on using the LCD's for other purposes.

 

.. and yes I'd buy a portable Colecovision if it was done nice. If it took cartridges, I'd want them to slide down the back like a Gameboy. That's what annoys me about 2600 portables. the cartridge sticking out.

 

I'd be all over that. And LCDs aren't all that expensive, those portable Famiclones made by Pelican with the nice LCD screens are only $30.

990388[/snapback]

Yeah, because they're mass-produced. But when you're buying only one or two for the purpose of building a prototype, the price goes up considerably, from what I've been told.

 

Also, I'm wondering if a small trackball would be easier to include in the unit, instead of the spinner... Such a trackball could be used as a speed-spinner, a steering wheel AND the trackball on the Roller Controller... The more I think about it, the more I like the idea...

 

I sent an e-mail to Ben Heckendorn, just to see what he has to say about it, theoretically. If he replies, I'll post his input here.

990401[/snapback]

[Jess Ragan]

Why are there grapes coming out of your cat's clown anus?

 

JR

[Pixelboy]

Why not just run the Coleco emulator on a Windows CE or Palm device?  Seems like that would be a lot cheaper and easier.  I honestly don't see why anyone would want to do custom hardware these days when emulators are so readily available, unless of course you're doing extremely high volumes and you're looking to shave every penny out of the design.

 

If you're really stuck on your case design, then just hack a Windoews CE device in to that form factor....

991055[/snapback]

Nah, that's the easy way out.

 

Besides, if one were to go with some kind of Palm derivative, might as well make a generic one that could play games from many different consoles, like the Atari 2600 and the NES. Just put the latest emulator on the SD card together with the games you want to play, and voilà!

 

I'd like this Portable CV unit to be a CV-on-a-chip device, nothing more, nothing less. But that's just my humble opinion.

 

Why are there grapes coming out of your cat's clown anus?

To quote Buffy in the Xbox game: "Y'know, sometimes in this job, I just have to say... Eww."

[Vic George 2K3]

Why not just run the Coleco emulator on a Windows CE or Palm device?  Seems like that would be a lot cheaper and easier.  I honestly don't see why anyone would want to do custom hardware these days when emulators are so readily available, unless of course you're doing extremely high volumes and you're looking to shave every penny out of the design.

991055[/snapback]

 

Because emulators are not entirely perfect, however much we would want them to be. Also, Pocket PCs and Palms aren't generally designed with games in mind, but for a phlethora of tasks that can be done on the units. So, until a game-oriented Pocket PC or Palm unit comes along -- with controls that are best suited for gaming purposes -- I'm not bothering with emulators for such units.

[thegamezmaster]

I'd love to have one of these. Wouldn't it be better to make one that just used Colecovision carts? And maybe have the ability to hook it up to a TV?

[Flojomojo]

I'd love to have one of these. Wouldn't it be better to make one that just used Colecovision carts? And maybe have the ability to hook it up to a TV?

991253[/snapback]

A TV out option is nice, I agree. As for cartridge support, I will take

 

 

over this every time.

 

The entire Colecovision collection will fit on the smallest SD card imaginable with tons of space left over. I've got 300 ROMs that take up a little more than 5MB. 300 cartridges might be fun to have, but ... no.