Imagine Minitel was a Video Game Console
That is exactly the concept of the MiniPlay cartridge, Arduino compatible and completely Plug-n-Play !
The concept
You take a minitel. You insert the cartridge in the DIN port. You turn on the minitel and .. Tadaaa! a video game starts right on the screen. The cartridge is designed to contain a video game which starts automatically when the minitel is powered up. All this within an enclosure the size of a standard Din connector !
Auto-production
A small batch was start during spring 2024 and 3 games have been developped for the launch. The color of the enclosure indicates the game inside ;)
Available games :
- 2048 : Based on Grabiele Ciruli game which has made a buzz in 2014. 2x2, 3x3 et 4x4 grids are available. You can save your games and try to beat your best scores !
- Pong : From the famous Atari game. Play against the computer to win trophies and unlock extra mode and game options ! You can also play in 2-Players mode by sharing the keyboard with your opponent.
- Sokoban: This was the first Pushing-block game ! Studied by mathematicians for its complexity like chess game. Lot of people loves solving and creating levels which can be infinitely challenging. This cartridge contains hundreds of levels and you can also edit your own level !
Custom Enclosure
The enclosure were modeled using open source software FreeCad. It was designed as a subsitute of the standard connector cover so that it holds all the pieces together.
It is 3d printed by stereolithography with photo-sensitive resin. Then it is sanded et painted with correct game colour.
Hardware : compatible Arduino UNO
Electronic was designed around Atmega328p microcontroller (same as Arduino UNO). It is not designed for developpment but to be cost-effective. You can still flash it using ISP port on pcb bottom side. For development, you can grab an Arduino UNO or use the MiniDev cartridge.
Assembly video
Here's a video showing how the cartridge is made, from assembly to programming. If you have never seen solder paste assembly, it's worth a look. You'll also see 2048 game demo at the end of the video.
Developper !
Develop and share your own games by pulling a request to project repository ! We may choose a new color for a new cartridge :)
