Pokemon Mini

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Moondandy
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Pokemon Mini

Unread post by Moondandy »

I've had one of these for about a year I picked up cheap on a whim and it's a fun little thing. It didn't have a lot of games, but had since obtained a strong homebrew scene. For people who don't know it is the world's smaller handheld console that had cart releases, all of the games were Pokemon themed.

Pokémon_mini_system.jpg
Pokémon_mini_system.jpg (53.44 KiB) Viewed 5781 times

Reading more about the hardware today, it might be a relatively easy core for someone to develop.

Technical Details:
CPU 8-bit, 4 MHz Seiko (now Epson) S1C88
96 x 64 pixel monochrome LCD
Game Pak (512KiB cartridge)
Internal BIOS of 4kB
Internal ram 4kB (shared with video subsystem)
21-bit cartridge bus
256 hardware register; in most cases Open-Bus registers

The console has already been emulated several times, and there is a lot of documentation about development tools.
https://www.retroreversing.com/official ... -mini-sdk/

The S1C88 chip also has a manual
http://www.rayslogic.com/Software/Timex ... manual.pdf

For such a small piece of kit it has some interesting hardware features
IR for playing 2 player games with another handheld (would not be ale to be supported on MiSTer)
Real-Time Clock (supportable)
Reed switch for detecting shakes (could presumably be mapped to a button press)
Motor for rumble support (could be supported one day when supported in framework)

Do people think this could be doable on MiSTer?
KremlingKuthroat19
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Re: Pokemon Mini

Unread post by KremlingKuthroat19 »

I second this. Not to be an armchair developer, but this seems like it'd be a relatively easy core to create. The most complicated aspect is probably the real-time clock. It seems to be about as powerful as the Arduboy so I'd say it's most likely doable.
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Re: Pokemon Mini

Unread post by Moondandy »

RTC might not be too difficult, FPGAzumSpazz had implemented it into the GBA and GB/GBC cores. Be great to see his take on this cores viability.
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Re: Pokemon Mini

Unread post by barfood »

Looking forward to see someone tackle this neat little console!
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Moondandy
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Re: Pokemon Mini

Unread post by Moondandy »

Hopefully someone does take it on, it does look like all the info needed is out there, just needs someone with the skills and a desire to have a go.
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