Sometimes I get a bug in my bonnet about a project. In this case, I was enthralled with Adafruit's Super Game Pi system back when I was first getting into Raspberry Pi prototyping. I grew up on old games, and there are a fair few which I never got around to playing. I wanted a portable system, and the Super Game PI looked just to my liking. But Adafruit's system left a lot to be desired, like the fact that it's about as portable as an attaché case but without the handle or the dignity.

Not pictured: Cramps. Presumably.

So, owning some raspberry pi experience from the Write-O-Tron, I set out to improve Adafruit's nifty system. I fired up the ol' 3D printer, taught myself CAD, and got to work.

I give you... the Game-O-Tron.

Keeping with the -O-Tron theme is of course a must.

(I can give you NO news about the Write-O-Tron... sorry. Patience while I figure some stuff out).

Using a combination of Adafruit's instructions and my own experience, I started assembling the first Game-O-Tron during the summer.

The first case, seen here in orange, failed for a variety of reasons.  But the second one in red came out much better.

And... knowing that I have to keep up production and keep my 'Tron assembly skill sharp, I made another one.

Another issue I had with the Adafruit Super Game Pi was that the shoulder buttons were their own design, which you had to 3D print with Ninjaflex filament. Well, I didn't have any of that so I painstakingly engineered it so the original SNES controller shoulder buttons would work.

(Seriously, it was a LOT of work to get those shoulder buttons working. Probably spent about half a reel of filament prototyping the parts).

So that's it! I finally have my own portable hand-held game console. Much like the Write-O-Tron, I built this thing to use it... but hey. I wouldn't mind selling a few here and there.

I'll be putting them in the Etsy store soon enough. Stay tuned!

Here's a YouTube video of the two Game-O-Trons in action: