Tiger Game.Pi Hand Held - A Raspberry Pi Zero Project

[@willcamick]

When i was a kid with my Tiger handheld i tried my best to make the best of it but always dreamed of it being something like this. Its so cool to see one modded like this.

[@Leonsk08]

Will Camick When you're a kid, you at least have to use your imagination to make up for the shortcomings. As an adult, you realize the horror of actuality. Lol. As a kid, I had a Radio Shack Sea Battle LCD game and it was fun for its time, but it lacked any depth, as you would imagine. Thanks for the comment.

[@johnr2630]

We all did my friend. We all did. Thank God for,the game boy and everything that came after

[@DanielBrosman08211986]

@@Leonsk08: Did you make sure that the warranty expired before you mod it?

[@1johnmill]

Man memory lane! Dude I'd save up my allowance for 3 weeks to get tiger handhelds and would cut my one of my hands opening it up lol🤣😂 thank you so much for this! My favorite video on KZbin right now 👍🏼🙏🏾

[@kevinbarton9052]

Great one, lad. Love this so much! This Raspberry Pi project rocks through the roof!

[@Leonsk08]

Kevin Barton It's nice to know that people appreciate my efforts. Thanks for the comment and kind words. Take care.

[@kevinbarton9052]

Good. Anything is possible recreating all Tiger Electronic portable games to real portable arcade machines with Raspberry Pi in many different sizes.

[@curtdower1330]

Now that’s a portable arcade machine. 😮😃

[@betatalk64]

I... I dont believe it. That mad lad did it! He made it good again!

[@betatalk64]

Btw, could you do this on a Game.Com? :)

[@Rave79-egc03]

Cool concept!!! Kudos and goodluck on your improvements in your projects

[@Leonsk08]

Thank you for the kind words.

[@leekotvfilms5236]

You're making the world a better place

[@HipsterBlackMetalOfficial]

Would love one of these with all Mortal Kombat's on a Tiger Mortal Kombat LCD. The marquee art on these were the best thing about em.

[@richardg5301]

Flash forward to 2020, you can buy these again new for $15. Makes a great platform to start a pi project on.

[@Freedomlander_101]

Somebody needs to pay you thousands of dollars so you can mass produce those and make you more succesful than the original Tiger games!

[@emilflognoid1532]

At the time, tiger games were awesome! Yes, it was no game boy, but no kid “loathed” their tiger handheld, they were awesome!

[@Sharptooth100]

Great one, lad. Even I thought creating Tiger Game Pi MAME as an option sounds terrific.

[@Leonsk08]

Thanks for the kind words. I'd love to check out your finished project some day. Be sure to come back and let me know.

[@Sharptooth100]

@@Leonsk08 I might have a hard time doing this, lad. I am using this as an explanation.

[@Leonsk08]

@Sharptooth100 I see. I have another video where you can see the internals. Maybe that one can help guide you a bit.

[@bENOFFICIALMASSIVE]

Man this is cool as hell!!! I remember games like these forsure. There was a big Pacman one that was like $50 or something. It looked similar shape but yeh I can't remember who made it.

[@Leonsk08]

BEN-OFFICIAL MASSIVE Thanks, I appreciate the positive comment. Regarding the Pacman game, could it be the MGA-210, or MGA Color FX Pacman? If you do happen to find it, do share.

[@bENOFFICIALMASSIVE]

Leon K Yeh that rings a bell actually. It had red buttons, white plastic similiar to the Sonic one but lil bit different shape. And yeh I'll let u know forsure :)

[@the_relaxing_tony2818]

Hey is it the pacman coleco tabletop?

[@xDragonWarrior]

@@bENOFFICIALMASSIVE did you find which one it is

[@bland9876]

wondering about the size of a gameboy micro in comparison

[@Leonsk08]

Hi, I don't have a GB Micro to compare it with but I'm sure you could find a GB Micro to SP comparison video on KZbin.

[@mrpickles6968]

That’s so cool. When I was a kid this is what I envisioned tiger games to be like before I got sonic the hedgehog tiger game and then being so greatly disappointed when I started playing it.

[@paranoidmaniac1063]

Not the tiger electronics re release we deserve, but the one we need

[@Bee_Star33]

Good job, I'd love to do something like that.. The Tiger shells are nostalgic to me but not the games themselves...

[@Leonsk08]

Thank you. I agree with the nostalgia and underwhelming gameplay aspects.

[@AlexExpress84]

very nice , now the tiger lcd has be reedited i will partage your video ^^ its awesome

[@neobogard]

As an 80's kid I could tell you we loved these. I don't get the AVGN generation and shitting on retro things because of looking at them in a modern perspective.

[@Leonsk08]

I had fun with them in my time but they were a shallow game experience. I would compare the Tiger games to an Atari 2600, whereas a Gameboy would be an NES. The Tiger games are fun although novel and they lack the compelling experience of a gaming handheld like the Gameboy.

[@TeeDohJackson]

That's so cool!! That screen is really scratched up though. Buy some "Poly Watch" rubbing compound polish and you'll be able to get those scratches out and it'll look brand new.

[@Leonsk08]

Thanks! I actually used some Mother's Mag Polish a while back and it turned out pretty well. People in the car community use them for restoring foggy/yellowed headlights. I actually internalized the battery a few months ago. Perhaps I should do a small update vid.

[@TeeDohJackson]

@@Leonsk08 Great video!!! I was just searching KZbin for the LCD games I had as a kid. No luck finding a video on the Tiger Talking Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing game though 🙄 That game was enormous and was 2 player. But I'm so happy I came across your video!! That Tiger Pi conversation is so sweet!!! And yeah, if that Mother's Mag doesn't fully do the job of getting all the scratches out, try Poly Watch. That stuff is amazing and absolutely saved my old scratched up clear plastic screens. I collect and wear Swatch Watches and I use Poly Watch to rub out serious deep scratches that I thought was forever trashed. Recently I tried it on some other clear plastics, like Tiger LCD screens and sunglasses and this stuff is amazing 🤩 When you use it on the Tiger LCD screens just make sure you don't put too much pressure down on the screen. On Amazon, Poly Watch also comes with a silk napkin I think and so I just use that to polish them up.

[@Leonsk08]

@@TeeDohJackson Thanks again, and I will consider looking into that Poly Watch suggestion. I hope you'll eventually stumble across that Sugar Ray Leonard game someday - perhaps on eBay or at a yardsale/Goodwill. Then, I can comment on your video. Lol. As a kid I specifically remember having a Radioshack game called Sea Battle. It was a game where a battleship defended against enemy aircraft. I believe I may have had a Wolverine themed Tiger Game as well. Your kind words are most appreciated and I'm glad my vid brought you some sort of enjoyment.

[@bland9876]

What's with the non spindash run in triple trubble cuz you are not invulnerable when you do it also the spring found in the first stage is useless as well as far as I know

[@bland9876]

Also sonic Is better than Mario because Mario was made for 8 bit and sonic for 16 bit. Comparing sonic to ether donkey Kong country or Yoshi's island makes more sense

[@Leonsk08]

Hi, thanks for the comments. When I was playing Triple Trouble, I was comparing it to Super Mario Land. To clarify, I wanted to convey how they were both slightly different than the traditional console titles. Also, I wouldn't say either Sonic or Mario were better than another based on their respective hardware. When comparing the 8 and 16-bit titles, I find them equally appealing because of their unique gameplay and control schemes. I had both Nintendo and Sega consoles when I was younger, so I got to enjoy the best of both worlds.

[@YoshiIsCool1]

Woah Very Nice

[@Patrick19833]

Imagine going back to the 90s with this thing!

[@enriquepinero707]

Very cool!

[@chrisplissken4626]

lol as weird as it sounds I use to love the tiger games lol..I use to have eternal champions ,Street fighter,mortal Kombat,Sonic 3D blast lol oh man good times xD

[@Leonsk08]

chris Plissken Lol. I agree, rudimentary games can still be fun. I used to have a Radio Shack (Tiger game style) game called Sea Battle and I used to play the heck out of it. I never owned a Game Boy back then, so maybe that had something to do with it. :D

[@gmpnj29]

this is awesome, nice work.

[@Leonsk08]

Thank you for the kind words.

[@johnr2630]

This is sick!!

[@valentinolar955]

what screen you used. next time if you build one please document we want to see the process thx

[@Leonsk08]

I used the Adafruit 2.2 TFT LCD (Non Touchscreen). The lcd and Raspberry Pi Zero are soldered directly together. I'm not sure if I would make another; however, in the future, I could do a video of the internals with details.

[@kissthistwice5]

That’s excellent. I always loved the design of these things but the games were terrible so I would totally get one of these if they could play game gear games or other consoles. Bravo!

[@BanCorporateOwnedHouses]

You should sell these. I'd totally buy one!

[@MentalPolution]

so awesome!!

[@jhgfljugcijggfdgjiii6901]

30 fps only? Why...

[@Leonsk08]

Hi. It's a limitation of the lcd that I used.

[@edstar83]

This is awesome.

[@hamadalrowaie6882]

😍 kickstarter it man !!

[@Leonsk08]

I don't possess the knowledge to persue such an endeavor. If I did, Tiger or a parent company, would surely hit me with a cease and desist. Your comment is very flattering though. Much appreciated.

[@User-sb6er]

Nintendo new game watch with lcd are awesome...I wish tiger did something similar..cause i feel that these can sell really well .

[@sharptoothtrex4486]

Even creating a Tiger Game PI MAME as an option might be an alternative choice playing real arcade games. Then again, build a Tiger Game Pi MAME portable from scratch as an alternative.

[@andrewzapata3427]

You should work for M2, Sega and M2 could work together to do for the Sonic 1 and 2 tiger handhelds what Nintendo did for the new Mario and Zelda game and watch handhelds

[@Leonsk08]

Lol. Thanks for the kind words but I'm not worthy. However, that would be awesome and I think they would do well. The world needs more Sega.

[@illkid86]

Had these and later on a game boy and game gear

[@Leonsk08]

Nice. If you only had a Game Boy then you would have missed out on Game Gear and vice-versa. The Atari Lynx and NEC Turbo Express were also interesting machines. The Lynx was tecnically impressive for a handheld in it's era. The Turbo Express was cool because you could play TG-16 cards, but it was and still is, very expensive.

[@illkid86]

@@Leonsk08 true

[@bland9876]

If only there was a way to get the buttons to look like the ones from the genesis but smaller so they would fit in here also of a matching color to the rest of the plastic then it would be perfect

[@Wedeemgaming]

That's cool... I'm trying to turn a Chinese Handheld into a pi zero handheld but I'm trying to reuse the buttons on the original Chinese board... The board will have to be cut on both sides and the controls separated from the overall board. I will have to learn how to wire and program the controls!

[@Leonsk08]

We Deem! Hi, and thanks for the comment. The control wiring is actually quite easy. I go over it in my second video where I detail the construction of the Game.Pi.

[@Leonsk08]

We Deem! Here is a link to the video. If you have any further questions, just ask. Good luck with your build. kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5Synopre8l_hck

[@Wedeemgaming]

Leon K thanks, definitely will check it out!

[@memberberry6177]

Love this build.. Only gripe is that the screen is too far to the left side, which makes it look kinda wonky. But kudos anyway

[@Leonsk08]

Member Berry Hi. Thanks for the comment. You're right, it is indeed slightly offset. However it is something I can live with. Another flaw I could point out is that the scavenged plastic pieces surrounding the DS buttons, aren't painted. I wanted to paint them blue, but decided against it because of pure laziness, and the possibility of messing it up. Maybe one of these days I'll address that.

[@memberberry6177]

Leon K Big Sonic fan, so love the case you chose.

[@Leonsk08]

Member Berry I was a huge Sonic fan until the end of the Sonic Adventure era. After that I sort of lost interest. Some of the newer games aren't too bad, but the originals were clearly the best. Blast processing, lock on technology, Michael Jackson composed soundtracks. SEGA!

[@memberberry6177]

Leon K Yeah me too. Love the new Sonic Mania!

[@Anonymous-ye8id]

try build tiger handheld using cm4

[@Leonsk08]

Hi. The Tiger handheld would be pretty powerful with that board but I don't think it would be practical for the chassis/form factor. To justify the boost in power you would probably want to be able to use higher end emulators like Dreamcast, Wii, Gamecube, etc. and the Tiger simply lacks the control mechanisms and or the real estate for the extra buttons. I'm sure it could be done but I think straying too far from the original look and feel would diminish the nostalgia.

[@brentbernardo5095]

You've improved it at last 2019 still great nice modifications on the fucken tiger handheld

[@kassfoss3210]

I remember having A Bug's Life LCD handheld when I was seven or eight.

[@Leonsk08]

Now you have to find one to buy for the sake of nostalgia.

[@Rockmankb]

This is amazing! I’ve been trying to do the same thing for a long while but was trying to keep the buttons that were on the system since I wanted it to look as much as the original as possible, but I really am feeling the use of the ds life buttons. The other problem I had was in how to get working buttons. I was just gonna back the original handheld pcb, but that thing is weird as a lot of the points overlap so you can really solder to it without stuff sharing signals besides ground. In the description it says you used tact switches on a custom breadboard. Could you tell me more about the breadboard and how you did that part exactly? It’s pretty much all that’s keeping me from doing my own! Thanks for any help you can give me and again, amazing work!

[@Leonsk08]

Hi and thanks for the comment. I also pondered keeping the original buttons, however they were really stiff and tough on the hands. I ultimately decided to go with the DS Lite button set because they fit really well, and they were comfortable. Another factor that drove me to using the DS Lite buttons, was the fact that Sonic 2 only had a single action button. If I had a Tiger game that had a D-pad and four action buttons, I may have went that route instead. Regarding the original Tiger button PCB, if you take your time, map out the buttons, and then isolate the traces, it is very possible to retain it. Honestly, I think it would be easier to keep the Tiger PCB because it was created for the device and has a perfect fitment. Concerning how I created my button arrangement/setup, lucky for you, I just finished an in-depth and descriptive look into my Game.Pi. I will be releasing it very soon and I hope you check it out.

[@Rockmankb]

Man, that’s amazing that we had a lot of the same ideas (including using a cellphone to try and do this originally!) but I’m glad at least you were able to pull it off and I’m REALLY glad you’re going to be posting an in-depth look into how you did things! I also was thinking about just isolating the spots on the pcb by cutting the traces, but thought there was an easier way. I had my cousin design a pcb that was the same size but also friendly enough to use for the project, but never actually got it printed. Either way I’m super glad you’re gonna be detailing yours! Maybe I can take some of my old ideas and some of your awesome new ones and see what I come up with. You definitely earned my sub!

[@Leonsk08]

Thanks for the subscription. In addition to the in-depth look inside the Game.Pi, I'm going to be putting out another video game/Pi Zero related project soon. Regarding the button PCB, another method of tackling that issue, would be tracing out the old PCB on top of some perforated board. I created mine in a similar fashion, but not completely. You'll see that here shortly, as I have the video in the pipeline. I have been working on it overtime. Furthermore, I would love to see what you come up with and how you solve some of the riddles associated with projects such as these. Finally, I'm glad that what I've done, is helping someone get something out of their mind and into their hands. Take care.

[@youngblackandstrappedcarte2508]

Leon K do you make and sell them would love one wit a mortal kombat skin that was the firs tiger game i got

[@youngblackandstrappedcarte2508]

See people forget what it was like to play one back then on account of what we have today. Shit im a 80s baby and when i got the Tiger games it was lit. All me and my cousins did was swap them. We had 50 of them between the 6vof us. Using almost dead batterys kuz we was poor. And now i got ps4 and switches and shit. Man the good old days doe

[@foxb5974]

Ya tiger games wish they could those things

[@theycallmet3061]

I would love to make one but I'm an absolute failure with electronics. Do you have any advice for me? I wish I could pay to commission you one but I don't want to be of any bother in case you want to keep the project a private thing. Still,Great idea. This is SO COOL. Keep it up!!

[@Leonsk08]

Hi. Firstly, thanks for the kind words. Second, have some faith in yourself. No one is born with skill and knowledge - it must be obtained. If you're motivated and passionate enough, I have no doubt that you'd be able to create one of your own. I have a comment pinned with a link where I exposed the insides of my Game.Pi project. It has insights that should be able to help you. Also, you should look at a project called PiGRRL on Adafruit's website. That project helped me with the technical side of things. Best of luck and I'm looking forward to the day where you respond with a video of your project. Take care.

[@theycallmet3061]

@@Leonsk08 Thank you so much,if I ever actually managed to make it I'll make sure to send a video to you?

[@Leonsk08]

@@theycallmet3061Welcome and when that day comes I'd gladly watch you present your work to the world.

[@matteii8262]

I swear my first tiger experience was exactly like this when i was 4

[@YoshiIsCool1]

What is this ???

[@edwinquintanilla7999]

tiger should make games like this now.

[@Usual_Fedora]

Cool

[@jhgfljugcijggfdgjiii6901]

Lol it was bad... but now it's good!

[@AlexParr]

Should've played a Tiger Handheld game on it.

[@Leonsk08]

Lol. At this point I'm surprised there isn't an emulator of the original Tiger games. I always thought it would be kinda cool to make the front end / homepage a background of the original Tiger Sonic 2 background insert but I never got around to doing that.

[@Anonymous-ye8id]

verry cool

[@mr.derpyface558]

If Tiger worked on something similar like this, maybe they'd not become such a mess in the 90's as they did in rl.

[@RedMageGaming]

adafruit has lipo batteries and breakouts for charging that you could use. Fairly inexpensive the powerboost 1000c and a 2500mah lipo together would give you everything you need.

[@BärenmarkeScotch]

You should have installed a Tiger Handheld LCD into Raspberry :)

[@okamijubei]

A Sega Sonic 2 on an handheld game shell of Sonic 2. That's would've been cooler in the 1990s but highly impractical then.

[@Leonsk08]

Hello Everyone, I just uploaded a new video with a very detailed look inside my Game.Pi. The video features tips and insights of the build, a near complete dismantling of the device, and an exhibition of some new upgrades. I hope you enjoy it. Here is the link. kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5Synopre8l_hck

[@Kenjifoxhog5437]

Wow he made the tiger electronics handheld console ridiculously stupid to super good.

[@ttyler77414]

How bout a how to video? Had the proof of concept 2 mins into it.

[@Leonsk08]

Hi. I made a video that shows the internals with build details and insights. It's not a step by step process but it will give you a general idea of how everything operates. The link is pinned in the comments.

[@francescolavilla271]

the casing was the only good thing about these handheld.

[@JoRoBoYo]

why so sad

[@amagus4241]

lcs