Portable GBA/GBC Hardware Design
Budget: $250 – $750 AUD
I’m building a custom handheld that plays original Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color cartridges and I need the entire internal hardware engineered for it. I will be designing and manufacturing the outer shell myself, so your focus will be everything that sits inside the case:
• A reliable GBA/GBC cartridge reader is the top priority; it must boot retail carts flawlessly.
• Back-lit LCD (or IPS) screen driven at the correct refresh rate with minimal tearing.
• Stereo speakers plus a small on-board amplifier and 3.5 mm headphone jack.
• Rechargeable battery pack with USB-C charging and power-management circuitry (fuel gauge, protection, and safe-charge IC).
• Responsive D-pad, A/B + L/R buttons, Start/Select, and volume control interface routed to a single main board or stacked boards.
I’m happy to use either a custom-selected processor or an off-the-shelf emulation SoC—whichever you feel is most practical—so long as latency is low and the cartridge slot remains the primary game source. Please propose the silicon and any companion chips you believe fit the brief; I have no fixed preference.
I have rough sketches for the overall look I’m going for that I can provide. Your tasks include schematic design, PCB layout (KiCad, Altium, or your preferred tool), BOM with readily available parts, and firmware or bootloader setup necessary for cartridge access and display/audio output. Intermediate-level expertise is fine; what matters is clean, well-documented work that can move to small-batch manufacturing without surprises.
Deliverables
1. Complete schematics (PDF + native file)
2. PCB layout & Gerbers/ODB++
3. BOM with part numbers and suppliers
4. Basic firmware/driver package and flashing instructions
5. One revision of post-layout tweaks after my mechanical fit check
I will prototype the first boards on my end and share feedback; final payment is released once a stable, booting unit loads GBA/GBC carts and outputs video, audio, and button input as intended.
Looking forward to your ideas on processors, display drivers, and power-management chips that can keep this little console slim, efficient, and durable.
• A reliable GBA/GBC cartridge reader is the top priority; it must boot retail carts flawlessly.
• Back-lit LCD (or IPS) screen driven at the correct refresh rate with minimal tearing.
• Stereo speakers plus a small on-board amplifier and 3.5 mm headphone jack.
• Rechargeable battery pack with USB-C charging and power-management circuitry (fuel gauge, protection, and safe-charge IC).
• Responsive D-pad, A/B + L/R buttons, Start/Select, and volume control interface routed to a single main board or stacked boards.
I’m happy to use either a custom-selected processor or an off-the-shelf emulation SoC—whichever you feel is most practical—so long as latency is low and the cartridge slot remains the primary game source. Please propose the silicon and any companion chips you believe fit the brief; I have no fixed preference.
I have rough sketches for the overall look I’m going for that I can provide. Your tasks include schematic design, PCB layout (KiCad, Altium, or your preferred tool), BOM with readily available parts, and firmware or bootloader setup necessary for cartridge access and display/audio output. Intermediate-level expertise is fine; what matters is clean, well-documented work that can move to small-batch manufacturing without surprises.
Deliverables
1. Complete schematics (PDF + native file)
2. PCB layout & Gerbers/ODB++
3. BOM with part numbers and suppliers
4. Basic firmware/driver package and flashing instructions
5. One revision of post-layout tweaks after my mechanical fit check
I will prototype the first boards on my end and share feedback; final payment is released once a stable, booting unit loads GBA/GBC carts and outputs video, audio, and button input as intended.
Looking forward to your ideas on processors, display drivers, and power-management chips that can keep this little console slim, efficient, and durable.