Hey all -- I've learned a lot attempting this Kickstarter, but I am shuttering it since reaching the funding goal seems exceedingly unlikely. I might opt to move these over to Etsy at some point, but I'm going to shelve the project for a bit.



If you happen upon this Kickstarter, please take a look at the design and take the time to fill out this survey so that I can make improvements going forward.

https://freeonlinesurveys.com/s/Og6RVM29









Hello, Kickstarter Community!

I'm here to talk about a project that I'm really excited to share with you, the MIMIC!



The MIMIC is a fully contained Raspberry Pi gaming station with storage space for cables, controllers, and most importantly, holds a Raspberry Pi 3B+!



MIMIC stands for:

Multiplatform

Integrated

eMulating

Independent

Console





A "Mimic" is a fantasy beast that takes the form of common objects, most often a treasure chest. When an unsuspecting victim opens the lid they are often devoured whole. I began thinking about a way to house a Raspberry Pi and controllers, and a treasure chest came to mind since it is an iconic part of many video games. Because it was housing a game system, it made sense to think of it as a Mimic, inconsequential at first glance, while offering a difficult challenge once opened.

The style is meant to look like a pixel-drawn treasure chest, since it fits best with the retro-gaming theme!

Why a Kickstarter?

Making a MIMIC takes quite a bit of time, requiring that the frame materials (32 pieces in all!) be cut, primed, painted/stained, finished, and assembled, and they include a number of electrical components and some hardware. Creating MIMICs in a large batch allows for reasonable pricing through more cost-effective production methods. The cost of hardware and materials alone make for a very large investment, one that would not be possible without the support of the Kickstarter community.



Please take a look at the prototype gallery to see a slideshow of the production process for a better look at what production will entail!

Let's talk about features:

MIMIC front view and features

MIMIC rear panel

That's convenient.

Mugshot

8BitDo Snes30 Pro controller



Includes the brand new Raspberry Pi 3B+!

This Kickstarter is just in time to incorporate the brand new Raspberry Pi 3B+! The 3B+ boasts better heatsinking, improved Bluetooth and Wifi, and an increased clock speed than its predecessor, the Pi 3B!

As for the rest of the features:

A magnet in the body and lid hold the lid shut while offering a small amount of resistance when you open it. There are 4 USB ports on the back panel, in addition to the micro-USB power input, HDMI out, and optional audio out. Since HDMI carries an audio signal many people won't use this, but it is a nice alternative for anyone who prefers to connect audio directly to a receiver or set of speakers. The lid has a storage space for the included power cable and HDMI cord.

The power button has an red illuminated ring that indicates the power state of the Raspberry Pi. As with anything that writes data, unplugging during a write operation can corrupt data. The button puts the raspberry pi into a halt mode, and once the LED is off, it is safe to unplug. In the event that your SD card has any data issues, each Raspberry Pi 3B+ will come with a flash drive pre-loaded with an instruction manual, backup Raspbian installation image, and links to software to make reinstalling quick and easy.



The instruction manual will also show you how to back up your current SD card installation image, transfer games to your SD card, and how to load the backup image in the event that anything goes wrong.



RetroPie is free, but cannot be distributed installed on hardware -- the RetroPie team has, however, made the setup script available to share under GPL. What this means for users is that the first time you power up your Pi, the included instructions will guide you through how to connect to the internet and run an included program in order to download and install Retropie. After that, you can back up the image and have it stored in case anything goes wrong. The Raspberry Pi 3B+ has onboard WiFi, but connecting directly to a router or modem by ethernet is faster and easier.



While a number of vendors violate these terms and conditions, I respect the developers and will abide by their legal statement. You can find RetroPie's legal statement in the link below.

https://retropie.org.uk/about/legal/

I mention this in the video, but there are a few changes to be made that aren't present on the prototype, and I will be posting some pictures of the updates going forward. There will be hinge blocks to keep the lid from flipping open all the way, and the golden edges on the bottom frame will be a bit thinner since they look a bit bulky. Additionally, the power button will be moved to the center of the keyhole!



About the pledge rewards:

I've created 6 different pledge options for those of you who want a MIMIC, which might be a bit overwhelming at first glance -- here is a quick summary. At the core, they're all the same MIMIC, with some options to accommodate what you might already own and what you want in your MIMIC.

Lv 1 MIMIC

The Lv.1 MIMIC( Bring your own Pi) reward level is exactly what it sounds like -- a MIMIC for those of you who already have a Pi gaming console and want to upgrade it to a MIMIC. I designed this reward assuming that you have a fully functioning Pi 3, controllers, and cables. It comes with an Raspberry Pi box painted to match the color of the frame.



This pledge reward will include a digital instruction manual showing how to connect the LED+power button, and the necessary code so the button can be used to power up and down. This requires use of pins 5, 6, and 8 -- if you intend to use these pins for another purpose you'll have to alter the code to fit your situation.

You'll need to provide, at a minimum, a Raspberry Pi (3B or 3B+ is suggested) w/ SD card, power + HDMI cables, and a controller that is compatible with your Raspberry Pi.

Lv. 2 MIMIC



The Lv. 2 MIMIC includes a Raspberry Pi 3B+, cables, SD card, in addition to the USB instruction manual+backup image, a mini USB keyboard, and two iBuffalo brand SNES-style USB controllers. These come with very solid reviews from nearly everyone who uses them.

iBuffalo USB controller

Lv. 3 MIMIC

The Lv. 3 MIMIC includes everything that the Lv. 2 MIMIC does, but instead includes two wireless SNES30 Pro controllers (in either Super Famicom or Super Nintendo style) and a Bluetooth USB dongle for improved signal. While the Raspberry Pi 3B+ comes with onboard bluetooth, many report issues with signal, and suffer from signal dropouts and interference.

8BitDo Snes30 Pro controller



Common or Rare?

All MIMICs that are "Common" will be finished in the standard Red/Gold color scheme that was shown in the prototype images -- a fairly common treasure chest color scheme in games, movies, etc.



If you opt for the "Rare" MIMIC you can choose from a plethora of colors to replace the Gold paint, and a large list of colors to replace the red wood stain.

Additionally, you can choose to have the panels painted instead of stained-- be aware this will cover the wood grain.



List of colors:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iGAw1oHfvFDxTE9OSjNk0mi-tR-w-4e97X-lmbs4vT4/edit?usp=sharing



I've provided a few suggestions for color schemes below, but you can choose any pair of colors that you want. I have 185 listed paints and 39 options for stains. That comes out to 7215 color combinations for paint/stain, and 41440 if you include the option of painting the side panels. Your choice.