Tiny Arcade Update - New Games, Video Converter, Tutorials
about 9 years ago
– Thu, Mar 30, 2017 at 02:41:07 PM
I hope everyone has been enjoying their Tiny Arcade and thank you again for supporting our Kickstarter! We're excited to announce a few updates for the Tiny Arcade, including some new games, an official video converter (can finally play your own movies on your Tiny Arcade), a detailed API document for the TinyScreen / Tiny Arcade Library, and a new tutorial on how you can create your own Tiny Arcade game using the Arduino IDE.
As a thank you to everyone that backed our Kickstarter, we'd like to extend a 20% off coupon exclusive to our Kickstarter backers. This is good on everything at the TinyCircuits.com store, including the Tiny Arcade!
To use the Kickstarter coupon, enter the coupon code tinykickstart20 at checkout. The coupon is good through April 6th at 11:59PM EDT.
New Tiny Arcade Games
We've got new games for the Tiny Arcade! Read about Super Oteme and TinySTG, created by user kuran_kuran, and Tiny Brick, created by intern Brandon Farmer. Click here and scroll down to the "Games" section to download the updated .ZIP file with all of the games. If you need to know how to transfer your games and videos to your Tiny Arcade's microSD card, look at this tutorial for more information.
.TSV Video Converter
Our long-awaited .tsv video format converter is here! You can view the article about the Windows program here and start converting your videos for the TinyScreen and Tiny Arcade today. We plan on releasing an OSx and Linux compatible version in the future!
Create your own Tiny Arcade Games
Check out this tutorial on creating your own game for the Tiny Arcade entirely in the Arduino IDE environment! There is also a fully documented API for the TinyScreen / Tiny Arcade library as well here. We'll teach you the concepts needed to build your own game from the ground up. Only a basic understanding of Arduino coding is needed.
Future Games
We're working on more games for the Tiny Arcade, and look forward to more user submissions. If you do create a game, please let us know on the TinyCircuits forum or feel free to send us an email at [email protected].
Thanks again from all of us at TinyCircuits, we couldn't do this without you and we appreciate all of your support!
- Ken
Tiny Arcade Kickstarter Complete - and now in stock!
over 9 years ago
– Wed, Aug 17, 2016 at 11:29:26 AM
I want to thank everyone for their support during the Tiny Arcade Kickstarter! We're happy to announce that we're done shipping (with a few minor exceptions listed below) and thank everyone for their patience while we got all the Tiny Arcades out to you.
The feedback that we've gotten is great! It seems like everyone is having a lot of fun with their Tiny Arcades and a number of backers are working on new games for it that will make this even more fun in the future!
People have been asking, and we're excited to announce that you can get more Tiny Arcades now (Black and Clear acrylic versions) on our website here.
As a thank you to everyone that backed our Kickstarter, we'd like to extend a 20% off coupon exclusive to our Kickstarter backers. This is good on everything at the TinyCircuits.com store, including the Tiny Arcade!
To use the Kickstarter coupon, enter the coupon code tinykickstart20 at checkout. The coupon is good through Fri Aug 19th at 11:59PM EDT.
Shipping Notes
There are a few Premium arcade backers that haven't gotten their units, I've emailed you all personally about this and greatly apologize, these units should get out in the next few days.
There are also 20 backers who have not filled out their Backerkit information and we've tried contacting over the past few months. If you haven't received a shipping confirmation email or direct contact from me, please check to see if you filled out the Backerkit info. If you have any questions about this please email at [email protected] and we'll get your address and your Tiny Arcade shipped out.
Games
We've heard the feedback - everyone wants more games! More games are definitely in the pipeline from us and a number of Kickstarter backers are also working on games. Now that we have the Kicskstarter orders out, we're going to be focusing on more games, and also more tutorials and instructions on how to make your own games for the Tiny Arcade.
Tiny Arcade Future
We really love the Tiny Arcade and want to see this as a source of fun for all of you for a long time, so we really want to foster a great community that keeps building games for it. So we're excited to announce the the Tiny Arcade community will be getting much larger in the near future, as we have commitments from three major retailers (Fry's Electronics, Microcenter, and ThinkGeek.com) to start distributing the Tiny Arcade this fall. A number of our standard distributors will also be selling the Tiny Arcade, so we look forward to getting thousands of more users into the Tiny Arcade community over the next few months and keep growing this platform.
Thanks again from all of us at TinyCircuits, we couldn't do this without you and we appreciate all of your support!
- Ken
Shipping in Progress / Updates
almost 10 years ago
– Thu, May 19, 2016 at 12:51:27 AM
We're excited to announce that we started shipping Tiny Arcades last week and a number of backers have received these already! We expect to have all shipping down by the end of May. Thanks for your patience over the past months, we're glad these are getting out to backers now and it's great to hear the feedback as people start playing with their Tiny Arcades!
Shipping Progress
We've shipped out several hundred units, mostly DIY kits first to US backers so we could get some quick feedback. Note:You will receive a shipping email with tracking number when it ships, this is automatically generated when the shipping label is created. If you haven't received an email, then the order has not yet shipped.
Based on some backer feedback with various issues we've slowed down the shipping this week to review some issues people have been seeing (see the below sections about issues, mostly with acrylic DIY cabinets).
The good news is that all of the electronics for the entire Kickstarter are built, tested, and ready to go and we actually have a surplus of boards. We're working out some issues that backers experienced with the first set of acrylic cabinets, and have a new design that we'll be using to make future cabinets to make this easier to put together.
We're cranking out the new cabinet design now and over the weekend, so we'll start shipping again in high volume starting early next week, and plan to have all the orders shipped by the end of May.
Premium Arcades
We have not yet shipped any of the Premium Arcade versions, the good news here is that the case design is finalized and the final design has been released to Sculpteo to make the 3D prints. So these should start shipping near the end of May.
Issues
Acrylic / Wood breaking
This is the biggest issue that people are having with the DIY kit version, where the acrylic fit is too tight and pressing the parts together lead to a part cracking. In a number of cases this is mostly cosmetic and can be covered by the stickers if used, in some cases it may affect how well the cabinet stays together. In either case, if you have pieces that break and want a replacement, message us directly on Kickstarter or send an email to [email protected] and we'll get you replacement parts.
Because of the feedback from backers on this, we've modified the design and are test fitting all pieces prior to sending out future orders. The updated design improves some of the most difficult pieces to put together to make this easier and more robust. The other major feedback point we've heard from backers is in identifying which piece is which, so the new pieces will now have part numbers on each piece to make this more obvious which piece is which and what side of the part goes where.
We're laser cutting these new cabinets now and over the weekend, and plan to start shipping new kits in high volume starting early next week.
MicroSD Card Not Found
A number of backers have had issues when trying to use a microSD card to play games, where the card is not identified by the Tiny Arcade. We've been working on a fix for this and have tested it with multiple backers over the past two days to make sure it is working well. If you have this issue, you can update the firmware on your Tiny Arcade by following the instructions on our website here:
Future Tiny Arcade shipments after today will include this new firmware by default, however if you have received your Tiny Arcade (or if it has already shipped) and you are having this issue you can perform the update to allow you to start using the microSD card.
Sound
Not all of the games currently support sound (yet), so if you don't hear any audio, try the Tiny Shooter game which is complete with audio.
Games
We've been updating our Tiny Arcade page with links to the games, both in binary form (that can be put onto a microSD card) and the source code itself. There is a link right under the Games heading on this page with all of the current games in one zip file that you can load onto a microSD card and start playing. Individual pages for each game with source are up for some of the games, with the others coming in the next few days.
Some of our developers are working on new games as well, so look for more in the next few weeks. And if you develop any games yourself, please contact us so we can share them with everyone!
Maker Faire
A few members of the TinyCircuits team are going to be at the Bay Area Maker Faire this weekend, showing off all the latest TInyCircuits products and demos. If you make it to Maker Faire, definitely stop by, we'd love to meet you!
- Ken & the entire TinyCircuits Team
Surveys are Coming!
almost 10 years ago
– Thu, Apr 07, 2016 at 12:58:54 PM
We will send an email with a special link to BackerKit surveys soon. It is important to respond to your survey as quickly as you can since we need this information for fulfilling your rewards.
You do not need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey, just click on the survey link, fill it out, and you’re all good to go! You will be able to answer questions about your rewards preferences, provide shipping information, and pledge for more “add-ons” if you'd like. You do not have access to this survey link yet, but it will be available soon via email!
If you decide later that you want to edit your survey response, you can go back to your survey and change it any time before we lock down the surveys for processing.
If you need to review your information or pledge status, you will be able to recover your survey here: tinyarcade.backerkit.com
If you use your Facebook login for your Kickstarter account, the BackerKit survey will be sent to the email you used for your Facebook account. If you have another email address that you would prefer to use, please contact support at tinyarcade.backerkit.com/faq and we'll get you sorted out!
Add-ons and Options
Through Backerkit you'll be able to customize your order, and choose your arcade options (like select wood, clear acrylic or black acrylic) and choose the artwork stickers you would like.
You also have the option to add on additional items if you would like, like additional TinyScreen+ boards, arcade cabinet options, stickers and more.
The Tiny Arcade processor will come preprogrammed with a default program that plays one game and also lets you load games from a microSD card (the microSD card is not included).
One the main add-ons that we think is really useful is a microSD card preloaded with games and sample videos, so you can just plug this in and get going.
Shipping Update
We're getting close to start shipping initial units, our current schedule for shipping is to start by mid April and hope to finish by early May for the standard Arcades, and late May for the premium versions.
Shipments will be made based on when you pledged, so the early pledgers will get their orders shipped first. All packages will be sent out via US First Class mail (with tracking), and you will receive an email when the shipment gets sent out.
Website Update
We'll be rolling out a major update to our website in the next few weeks as well, which will have more tutorials and a dedicated Tiny Arcade section where you can learn about making your own games, and download all of the latest Tiny Arcade games.
Thanks again, and can't wait for you all to start playing with your Tiny Arcades!
Tiny Arcade Update
about 10 years ago
– Tue, Mar 15, 2016 at 05:15:45 PM
Thank you all for your support for the Tiny Arcade! We're continuing to work hard to get these produced and out to you soon!
Development Status
We've shipped out 15+ developer units and a number of great developers are working on games for this and we're also working internally on the core libraries for this. The following video shows the current state of the Tiny Arcade, including several new games and the video player functionality:
One of our backers, Eike Decker, has created an emulator to make development easier, below is a screenshot of this with his Tiny Tino game running in it.
Tiny Arcade Emulator running Tiny Tino
Note: If you're a game developer or a hard core Arduino developer that wants to contribute games, send me an email ([email protected]) with your qualifications and we'll talk with you more about it.
Production Status
Production is going well, unfortunately we have a bit of a delay on getting one of the components (the joystick itself) for the flex board, this will cause a minor delay in getting the arcades finished (hopefully we'll be shipping most in April) but we're trying to work around this as much as possible, see the below section for more details.
TinyScreen+
Production on the TinyScreen+ board is complete, we've produced about 1200 of these and they're ready to go - if you've been following our story, you know that we make our own electronics in our factory in Akron, Ohio, USA, below are some pics of the TinyScreen+ being made
Dave does an inspection before the TinyScreen+ Panel goes into the oven
Panel after reflow soldering, before screen attachment
TinyScreen+ boards after screen attachment and final test. Ready to go!
Flex Board Status
Flex boards assembled
The flex boards are the next important electronic piece for the Tiny Arcade, and has the joysticks, switches, volume knob, microSD card connector and speaker attached to it. We have the all the major components for this except for one, the joystick. Our order for these got delayed a bit due to Chinese New Year and the delivery for these is mid April.
That being said, we do have 100+ joysticks and will be producing the initial units using these, and still hope to get these shipped out to early backers by the end of March / early April.
To help minimize the impact of this delay, we plan to have the production wrapped up on all the other arcade parts before then, then jump full force into building up the flex boards the moment the joysticks come in, to get these built up as quickly as possible. We hope to be able to start shipping the majority of the units within a week or so after the joysticks come in, so hopefully by late April / early May.
Arcade Cabinet Status
Laser cut arcade cabinets lined up
The laser cutter is cranking out cases as we speak, the design for this is done and we shouldn't have a problem getting these made in time.
Updated 3D printed cabinet
For the 3D printed premium version, we continue to tweak the enclosure to get this to a final printable state (which encompasses the latest versions of the the flex board and TinyScreen+), we hope to have this complete in the next two weeks and order the production 3D prints by the end of the month.
Surveys
We've held off sending out surveys till we get a firmer ship date, we plan to send these out in the next two weeks. These surveys will allow you to specify things about your order, such as what type of material you would like this made off (clear acrylic, black acrylic or wood), as well as get your current shipping address. You will also have the option to additional items to your order, like a second case or additional units.
Thanks again for all your support! The Tiny Arcade has been a lot of fun and we can't wait to get them out to everyone!!!
