Kevin Bates 1st Arduboy video 27.2.2014
Rodot's 1st Gamebuino video 25.2.2014
So I guess both got the idea at the same time.
Some things about porting games and what I think of the Arduboy
I have built a kind of Arduboy (arduino micro + 1.3" oled). You can program the atmega32u4 with the Arduino IDE just as you program the atmega328 of the Gamebuino. The atmega32u4 has in-built USB functionality, so no other chip is required to connect it to the PC.
BUT, the bootloader takes 4kB of memory, precisely because of the USB connectivity. You can't get things for free in this world. So 32 kB - 4kB = 28 kB remaining for the game.
Porting the games would be easy (same code with no changes), but porting the Gamebuino library would require some effort:
1) the SPI communication pins are different + OLED is initialized and programmed differently from the Nokia LCD. Also, timers of the atmega32u4 are different. In order to make sound work, the sound interrupt would have to be re-programmed for the atmega32u4.
2) program has to fit into 28kB of memory
3) OLED resolution is 128x64
But even so, can be done within a weekend. But this does not include the bootloader, which is a different matter altogether.
Then the biggest issue for me is that with no SD card, all this stuff that we are now making would be impossible. No loading games on the go, no streaming music...
I read on the Arduboy page that the author has given up his day job to build the Arduboy. I think he has perhaps overestimated the business potential. Or I might be wrong. Rodot, are you planning to give up your degree in engineering and become a full time Gamebuinoist ?