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Mario Reduced To 8x8 With Open Source and Arduino

adeelarshad82 writes "The open-source Arduino electronics platform has received a ton of attention from the hardware enthusiast community. And one more follower is joining the fray — Mario himself. The mustachioed plumber of console video game fame has been converted into an eight-by-eight LED matrix by Carnegie Mellon University student Chloe Fan. However, the game isn't quite the Mario you know from your legacy Nintendo Entertainment System. For starters, it's just lights. While one often sees the game's LED-backed grid used in devices like the open-source Monome, where it can function as a push-button toggle for music beats and effects, Fan's version of Mario uses the grid as a display only. Mario — or rather, a one-light representation of the game's hero — is controlled NES-style through the use of two buttons. One button makes Mario move forward; the other makes him leap into the air."

18 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. Live version by suso · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've always enjoyed this version of super mario

    1. Re:Live version by b4dc0d3r · · Score: 4, Funny

      This one's better, but it has a bit of swearing
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in6RZzdGki8

  2. Two classic games combined by suso · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This 8x8 version almost looks like a combination of Super Mario and Tetris.

    1. Re:Two classic games combined by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 4, Informative
      There's a company called HACEDuino that makes Arduino kits if you're interested. Cheap, they sell them on Ebay out of Australia. Neat little kits, I have one myself.

      Disclosure: company belongs to a friend of mine, but I have no financial interest.

      --
      Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
    2. Re:Two classic games combined by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 3, Funny

      You know you really don't have to disclose that sort of thing just to comment on slashdot ;)

    3. Re:Two classic games combined by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This 8x8 version almost looks like a combination of Super Mario and Tetris

      Hmmm... I wonder what that would be like . o O http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/522276

    4. Re:Two classic games combined by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Thanks for that ;) I only really require it of myself.

      --
      Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
  3. Mario reduced to 12x16 with toaster and bread by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
  4. Chloe Fan by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 5, Funny

    I love you. If you had Princess Leia hair buns in your profile pic, you'd be the perfect woman.

    --
    I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
    1. Re:Chloe Fan by biryokumaru · · Score: 2, Funny

      One might think you were a Chloe fan.

      --
      When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!
  5. Not Super Mario Bros. by esaulgd · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Other than the music, there's nothing on the game to make it "Super Mario Bros.". The player character runs and jumps over generic obstacles without making any use of SMB physics or any other distinctive elements. If anything it's closer to Pitfall.
    Then again, "8x8 platformer created with Arduino" wouldn't attract as much publicity.

  6. Re:It's been done before. by ircmaxell · · Score: 2, Informative
    Don't forget, the Arduino is significantly more powerful than the original NES.

    Nes: 1.66 mhz, 2kb ram
    Arduino (ATMega 328): 16mhz, 32kb ram

    Not to mention that the Arduino contains a boot-loader...

    Sure, the DIY part is cool, but to say that this was a difficult feat isn't very accurate...

    --
    If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good
  7. Re:Who cares? by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Most of the 8x8 LED Matrices use round LEDs, so I don't see any problem with your request.

  8. DHS response: by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's a bomb! Lock her up and probe her anus immediately!

  9. Wicked cool. by ArundelCastle · · Score: 2

    Awesome job. Now, finally, can there never be another "girl gamers don't exist" joke? Can we please turn that corner in 2010?

  10. Re:What's it with Arduino, anyway? by kobaz · · Score: 5, Informative

    From my pov, it went from "did not know it existed" to "why is everyone so excited" pretty much over night. I don't get it and would appreciate it if anyone told me why this particular bit of hardware hit home so hardly.

    Because when I was in EE classes in college it took weeks (probably faster for someone who knows what they were doing) to build up projects using ICs and little microcontrollers. The microcontrollers also had to be programmed with a UV eraser and reprogrammer, which required having a printout of the machine code in hex, and typing it all by hand into an eeprom programmer.

    Now with the Adruino, you get a USB interface to a very cool little chip that you can upload C code on to. There's also bunches of modules (shields) that you can link together to create your project. Ethernet modules, wireless modules, input device modules, output device modules (led/lcd screens). All these boards can work together in harmony... versus building all this stuff from scratch with the basic components. They are also quite cheap compared to what it would cost to build from scratch.

    --

    The goal of computer science is to build something that will last at least until we've finished building it.
  11. Re:It's been done before. by bitrex · · Score: 2, Informative

    The ATMega328 only has 2KB of RAM - the 32KB is its Flash storage which holds program data since the microcontroller is Harvard architecture. The NES had 2KB plus 2KB of video RAM, plus RAM for the sprites. Even with the ATMega's higher clock rate I think replicating the performance of the 6502 in a video game system with it would be a challenge.

  12. Re:Who cares? by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What's up with her voice? She's obviously intelligent, but she talks like she has down syndrome.

    Thank you for helping maintain American stereotypes, jerk.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)