A new Kickstarter project is looking for backers to fund the development and production of what is being called the first Open-Source handheld video game system. The device, which is known as the GCW Zero, is looking for at least $130,000 to fund the initial GCW Zero handheld; but the developer likes to think big and has announced new additions if the fundraising is able to reach funding levels of $150,000, $175,000 and $200,000.

The specs for the GCW Zero are pretty impressive. It will be powered by an Ingenic JZ4770 1GHz MIPS processor and use a Vivante GC860 GPU that offers OpenGL ES 2.0 support. The display is LCD with a resolution of 320x240 with a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is perfect for retro gaming. It will have 512MB DDR with 16GB of internal storage that can be expanded using a 32GB/64GB SDHC/Micro SDX card.

The unit is totally Open-Source, so development is dependent on the community as far as what you are going to be able to actually play on it; but we suspect that most emulators will be up and running on it at some point once the OS is completed on the Zero. Speaking of the OS, the majority of the essentials are already up and running, and currently the majority of development is tweaks and enhancements. One thing of note is that the toolchain currently only runs on Linux. It is the hope that they will be able to release a VM Image that will allow developers to easily port things over to the GCW Zero.

As of this posting they have raised almost enough to reach the first goal level, and that means that barring issues with the production of the units, initial delivery should start in March 2013.


Find out more about the GCW Zero here.