We’ve come across all sorts of projects for the Raspberry Pi since the little $35 developer board launched back in February. In fact, not too long ago the Raspberry foundation rolled out version 2.0 of the Pi – bringing a few tweaks to the original design.
If you’re looking for an interesting project to embark on with your Raspberry Pi, you might be interested in the cool Picade. This enclosure reminds me more than a little of the iCade for the iPad offered by ThinkGeek. The Picade has turned up on Kickstarter and is actually a project helmed by a UK-based company known as Pimoroni.
The project is seeking £32,768 ($52,497) and managed to surpassed that amount in only three days. The primary Picade and smaller Picade mini will ship in kit form and inlcudes cabinet panels, fasteners, an LCD panel mount and protective overlay, the LCD panel and driver board with inputs.
The LCD measures at least eight-inches for the Picade Mini and 12-inches for the Picade. The kit is also bundled with an amplifier and speakers, headphone socket, a panel mounted video input socket, a proper arcade stick, illuminated micro switches, and more. If you want one of these for yourself, you can pledge at £120 ($192)for the Picade Mini or £176 ($281) for the full-size Picade.
Nevertheless, you’re basically on your own in terms of coming up with classic arcade games to play, as no titles are included with the purchase. The kit is estimated to ship by April 2013, and buyers will need to add an extra £25 for shipping outside of the UK.
In the meantime, the company has set up some stretch goals and if the project reaches £49,152 ($78,746) it will produce decals and custom artwork to apply to the bare cabinet. If the project reaches £65,536 ($104,995), Pimoroni will investigate kits that work with other boards such as the PandaBoard, Beaglebone, and other mini-ITX boards.
