After reading the news here, I decided to look into what it would take to create a simple handheld system capable of playing roguelike games. Roguelike games are particularly simple, since they can be displayed in black and white AND plain text, not to mention that they don't require much processing power. Anyway, here's the cheapest thing I've been able to come up with that's still relatively easy:
This thing:
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8855Is $50, can accept flash memory via flash cards, comes with the PIC microprocessor, has a mini-usb port, and a relatively nice screen for the price. It's essentially an all in one system, even has a small "joystick", which would be perfect for roguelikes. Everything else that I've seen adds up to more money for the same functionality when all said and done. So, this thing is a pretty cheap all in one system that could be programmed into a roguelike gaming machine!
I'm still a little disappointed that it's so expensive. But, it saves a lot of time in soldering and debugging. Anyway, I might save up some money and buy one of these things for roguelike development purposes.
