Post by Darth Gecko on Jan 26, 2014 0:48:29 GMT -5
After talking to omgngx, we've decided to start a thread about this.
When I got my NGX dock, I realised that with some modifications, it would make the perfect case for a Raspberry Pi. If you don't know, the Raspberry Pi is a $35 ARM-powered Linux computer a bit bigger than a credit card. It has already been used in many retro-gaming projects, including MAME which you can see all over the net. There are distributions of Linux for it specifically for retro-gaming, including Neo Geo.
As proof of concept, you can see Metal Slug running on one here:
The I/O of the Raspberry Pi matches the dock very nicely, by running the correct cabling from the Pi to the appropriate sockets of the dock. It's almost a match made in heaven!
The Pi's 2 USB ports should connect thru to the Dock's front USB ports - allowing access to the NGX arcade stick, gamepads, mouse and keyboard.
The Pi's micro-USB should connect through the Dock's power socket quite effortlessly, even factoring in the Dock's power switch.
The Pi's HDMI can be routed straight to the Dock's HDMI port.
The Pi's composite video and audio jack can be connected via a cable direct to the composite jack on the Dock.
I have seen Pi's used on arcade cabinets with a button mapped to it's GPIO to act as an ESC key to exit games, this should be possible with the Dock's Menu button.
omgngx has also had the idea of extending the Pi's SD slot to the front of the dock ala AES memory card style.
Since emulation distros already exist, it is down to the user how they would want the setup, I would be personally interested in modifying the Linux boot SD to display a Neo Pi or SNK logo and boot into a Neo Geo emulator menu. This should not be too difficult, or to implement another setup.
Obviously Neo Geo emulators exist, FBA, GnGeo, MAME. I also have discovered that a Neo Geo Pocket emulator exists.
So, the end result - A homebrew Neo Geo console, 100% customizable, with sufficient SD space - capable of running every game ever made. It's similar to the idea behind the NGX itself, but completely open source, no jailbreaking needed with a wide choice of emulators and potential games. Plus it will also look fantastic using the Dock's chassis as a case. I will be sourcing another dock soon along with a Raspberry Pi and will update this thread as the project progresses in future.
Ideas, thought's etc. please.
When I got my NGX dock, I realised that with some modifications, it would make the perfect case for a Raspberry Pi. If you don't know, the Raspberry Pi is a $35 ARM-powered Linux computer a bit bigger than a credit card. It has already been used in many retro-gaming projects, including MAME which you can see all over the net. There are distributions of Linux for it specifically for retro-gaming, including Neo Geo.
As proof of concept, you can see Metal Slug running on one here:
The I/O of the Raspberry Pi matches the dock very nicely, by running the correct cabling from the Pi to the appropriate sockets of the dock. It's almost a match made in heaven!
The Pi's 2 USB ports should connect thru to the Dock's front USB ports - allowing access to the NGX arcade stick, gamepads, mouse and keyboard.
The Pi's micro-USB should connect through the Dock's power socket quite effortlessly, even factoring in the Dock's power switch.
The Pi's HDMI can be routed straight to the Dock's HDMI port.
The Pi's composite video and audio jack can be connected via a cable direct to the composite jack on the Dock.
I have seen Pi's used on arcade cabinets with a button mapped to it's GPIO to act as an ESC key to exit games, this should be possible with the Dock's Menu button.
omgngx has also had the idea of extending the Pi's SD slot to the front of the dock ala AES memory card style.
Since emulation distros already exist, it is down to the user how they would want the setup, I would be personally interested in modifying the Linux boot SD to display a Neo Pi or SNK logo and boot into a Neo Geo emulator menu. This should not be too difficult, or to implement another setup.
Obviously Neo Geo emulators exist, FBA, GnGeo, MAME. I also have discovered that a Neo Geo Pocket emulator exists.
So, the end result - A homebrew Neo Geo console, 100% customizable, with sufficient SD space - capable of running every game ever made. It's similar to the idea behind the NGX itself, but completely open source, no jailbreaking needed with a wide choice of emulators and potential games. Plus it will also look fantastic using the Dock's chassis as a case. I will be sourcing another dock soon along with a Raspberry Pi and will update this thread as the project progresses in future.
Ideas, thought's etc. please.
