The Wire Witch Hex Project

You should not be looking at this page at this point in time, it's an absolute placeholder. But since you got here somehow, here's what this is going to turn into, over the next year or two, or ten, who knows?

I am designing a DIY 16-bit game console, the Wire Witch Hex. Once it's finished, this (or, really, a similar page TO this with some production value to it and a real URL), will be the place to come for:

• Ordering a pre-built console to be shipped to you, pre-built, with a controller or two, ready to plug into the wall and a TV out of the box.
• Links to order the PCBs for the console and controller (or just plans for them if you prefer), 3D printer files for the shells, and all the other components you need to build your own system at cost as a personal electronics project, if you aren't too shy to do some soldering. We may also offer partially pre-built consoles for those who don't have the tools or inclination to build the whole thing up from scratch.
• Emulators for various platforms, if you'd rather sidestep dealing with hardware at all.
• Our games, with full-color manuals, either as pre-built cartridges to ship out, or just the software, for those who either don't want to bother with physical copies, or would just prefer to set up their own set up, programming ROM chips to slot into a cart with some sort of solder-free mounting, build into a multi-cart, whatever.
• Everything you need to make your own Wire Witch Hex games, from tutorials and software tools to, like the console itself, links to compatible PCB production, 3D printed shells, any chips you're likely to need.
• Submission guidelines and best practices for formal recognition of releases, qualification for production and publishing assistance, and possible development assistance. The short rough version, if your game (or console/controller/other peripheral manufacturing) passes our guidelines on physical design specs (i.e. using the right chips internally, cart/console dimensions, nothing wired up incorrectly), safety/inclusivity (i.e. don't give people seizures/be colorblind friendly), game content (i.e. don't make the player shoot a dog, don't sexualize minors), conform to design conventions (i.e. don't flip which button is yes and which is no), and meet some basic subjective quality standard (i.e. this feels like a complete, functional game, not a buggy mess/2 minute tech demo/weird scam), you'll qualify for free promotion, and possibly some real material assistance in getting it out to people.
• Links to developers/manufacturers following the above rules, and a full catalog of formally recognized hardware and software for the platform.
• Maybe a zine. This is more pie in the sky, but if enough people start developing for the console for it to be practical, we may slap together some regular or irregular magazine with previews of games in development, features on new releases, tips and maps, interviews, fan art, likely not as an actual physical product (print publication without a huge install base is prohibitively expensive for something like this) but probably as nice well-produced PDFs or something.

Overall, the goals of this project are to createa console with both the look and feel of something from the early 1990s yet with its own unique capabilities and personality (not to mention compatibility with modern A/V standards), to create a fun and educational hobby project for people with a blooming interest in electronics, and to create a standardized platform for games which, while likely VERY niche, at least at first, is built from commonly available parts, and sufficiently open in its licensing, that it can be developed for, indefinitely, by anyone, regardless of whether the original creators go under or move on to something new.

Project Milestones (target dates subject to change)

• Controller design finalized (Nearly Complete)
• Initial controller prototype assembled (target date: summer 2024)
• Demo cart to test controller with existing game hardware (target date: fall 2024)
• Controller version 1.0 released, with construction materials publicly available (target date: before end of 2024)
• Initial console chipset and architecture mapped out (target date: early 2025)
• Kickstarter for finalization of console design, prototype production, testing, and launch library (target date: early 2025)
• Initial console design finalized and prototyped (target date: mid-2025)
• Console version 1.0 released, alongside at least 1 complete game (target date: early 2026)
• At least 5 first-party released completed and released (target date: late 2027)

Random development progress blog posts:

Rough sketch of planned controller.

A more formal pitch on the whole idea.

Designing a font for the demo cart.