GameShell is a Game Boy Styled Retro Gaming Console Based on Linux

Brief: Feeling nostalgic about that Game Boy of your childhood and all those games you played on it? GameShell aims to bring it back to you.

Like most of us, perhaps you owned a Game Boy or a device like that. You spent so much time with it that it became an essential part of your childhood and now a part of your good old memories.

But as the vintage clothes and style are back in fashion, so is vintage or should I say retro gaming. It’s not long that we heard about a retro gaming console from Atari and now we have another Kickstarter campaign that promises a Linux based device that you can use to play classic games from Atari, GB, GBA, NES, SNES etc.

Introducing GameShell: A modular Linux based DIY retro gaming console

Meet GameShell, a modular, portable game console that is built on GNU/Linux operating system. It is being developed by China-based Clockwork, the same company that is behind the ClockworkPI development board.

The games that will be published on it will be free, open source with the possibility of the user to modify the code. Do keep in mind that there are plenty of retro games for Linux, thanks to various emulators. Since GameShell runs on Linux, you can add emulators of your choice and play your favorite retro games on it.

As you can see in the images, this hand-held gaming console clearly imitates the looks of Game Boy. But don’t be fooled by its appearance. It’s a modular device. Which means you can easily disassemble its parts and change the way it looks and functions. Perfect for DIY enthusiasts.

GameShell is more than just a retro gaming console

Gameshell is made up of five independent modules which can also be used to learn how to program. The five modules are:

• 2.7 inch RGB display screen with 60 frames per second
• Arduino compatible programmable game keypad
• Stereo speaker
• 1050 milliAmp battery to power the unit
• ARM-based main development board, Clockwork Pi.

Using your skills and imagination, you can modify GameShell into things like a DIY wireless speaker, a remote to control devices or smart toys that interact with Lego blocks. How cool is that!

More details on GameShell

You can watch this video to know more about GameShell. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for Linux videos.

Price and release date for GameShell

GameShell has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise a fund of $50,000. By the time this article is being written, the project has already got over $200,000.

The device will start shipping in April 2018 and will cost $149. If you back it on Kickstarter today, you can get it for $99. More details can be found on its Kickstarter page:

GameShell on Kickstarter

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