I first read about the ClockworkPi GameShell back when it was a Kickstarter project. In short, it’s a handheld retro gaming device that runs (Debian) Linux and looks like a chunky GameBoy.
However, the difference between the GameShell and its Nintendo inspiration, is that this device is fully open-source for both software and hardware. Their reasons for developing the device are here.

 

The Kit

 

It arrives as a kit that requires some assembly, a bit like a model aeroplane with the sprues holding component parts, but also, in this instance “batteries are included”. There is a choice of cases supplied in the box, one plain, smoked plastic and the other having lego-compatible mountings. Naturally, I went for the Lego one! Primarily, this was to allow mounting of the supplied ’Lightbar’ that gives you a set of five buttons that mount to the back of the case (on the Lego mountings) and not surprisingly (given the name), they do light up. The buttons are most useful for games like Doom/Quake/DukeNukem that have a need for more buttons that fit on the front of the case for functions such as strafe. Or indeed any other functionality you require.

There’s also space in the case for an Arduino-compatible GPIO board, should you want to extend the deice with extra sensors or whatnot.

There are also available from the website, downloadable STL files of the cases so that you can print your own (assuming you have a 3D printer, which I certainly do). I do have a plan to internalise the lightbar, as there is enough space at the base of the back case to make this happen. Several other alternative case designs have been spotted on their user forums as well.

 

Putting it together

 

Assembly (carefully) of the ClockworkPi GameShell took a couple of hours (including copying the supplied OS image to a larger microSD card), as getting all of the self-assembled modules into the case can be a bit fiddly when getting the internal cables routed around tidily.

Starting the device brings you quite quickly to an XMB-style menu where you can select from the supplied emulators (supply your own ROMs) and some open-source software offerings courtest of their regular “Game Jams”.

The 320×240 is by necessity quite small, but is entirely in keeping with the retro aesthetic and isn’t too much of a problem for all the emulators the device is capable of running – up to the n64 and PS1 era.

For those who have managed (according to the forums) to get the mupen n64 emulator running, it can feel a bit slow, as I also found running OutRun (oh happy memories!) under MAME.

 

It’s Linux!

But remember, underneath this all lies an only-slightly-customised Debian ARM system which you can SSH into and do with as you wish, which means you can use the device for more than just games. You can either connect the device to your Windows/Mac/Linux machine via USB and it shows up a virtual ethernet device, or once you’ve connected it to WIFI, check the “TinyCloud” applet to let you know what IP address it has obtained. The only thing that annoys me about this is whilst you can connect via hostname to access the samba share for getting your games onto the machine (“\\clockworkpi”) it doesn’t appear to publish its hostname via DHCP, but I’ve not looked into this enough to find out why…

But don’t break it…

I will admit to logging into the machine and wanting to upgrade the packages (because we should all keep our Linux install up to date right?), but at least with the v0.4 image, the sources.list is configured for Debian10, even though the OS is Debian9, which I amended to prevent having to reimage the thing again. For some reason though, once the system was all up to date, the login screen now takes a noticeable amount of time to appear… Maybe this will all sort itself out when I do a full upgrade to Buster, although that will mean doing a backup of the 256G microSD card I decided to put in the thing (which is not meant to be accessible externally, but the whole thing is held together with two round clips).

And on the big screen…

Plugging the ClockworkPi GameShell into my living-room 4K projector was certainly an interesting experience, as it brings up a small desktop image of itself in the middle of the screen. Maybe it was because it was running at a resolution over 1080p, but it did seem to be running out of oomph. But the fact you can do this with something hand-held is still pretty awesome.

 

But anyway, does it “bring joy”? Yes!
Is it a lot of fun? Yes!
Will it give you something to endlessly fiddle about with the shape it to your needs? Most definitely!

 

ClockworkPi GameShell kit includes:

  • New clockworkPi V3.1 (Quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU, WI-FI & Bluetooth on-board,1GB DDR3 memory, Micro HDMI output)
  • ATmeage168p programmable Keypad
  • 2.7 inch TFT RGB@60fps screen
  • Dual speaker
  • 1200mAh rechargeable lithium battery
  • Lightkey module (for shoulder buttons)
  • 1 front shell + 2 back shells
  • 16GB MicroSD card
  • clockworkpi OS, Linux Kernel 4.1x supported
  • 14PIN GPIOs development cable
  • Assembly instructions & sticker
  • Gift Package
  • DHL or FedEx courier service

 

Available direct from clockworkpi.com for $159

 

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