One interesting way to incorporate hands-on experience with retro games into a capstone project would be to design and build your own retro gaming console. You could research various retro game systems from the 1970s-1990s like the Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Super Nintendo (SNES), Sega Genesis, etc. Study their hardware architectures, investigate how the games were programmed on a low-level, and look into emulation efforts that have allowed these classic games to live on.
With this research under your belt, you could then embark on designing and building your own retro gaming console from scratch. Some key components and considerations would include selecting a microcontroller powerful enough to emulate games but not too powerful to keep costs down. An Arduino, Raspberry Pi Pico, or other inexpensive microcontroller could work well. You’d need to include connectors and circuitry to interface game cartridges or other media. Storage may involve emulating the game cartridge format on an SD card. Graphics and sound output are also important – target resolutions around 240p for early 8-bit consoles.
For the casing, you could 3D print or CNC machine an attractive retro-styled enclosure. Include features like game cartridge slots, power and video/audio ports, and controller ports. Designing your own game controller with authentic-feeling buttons and joystick/D-pad would add to the authentic retro gaming experience. Rigorous testing would be needed to ensure gameplay feels smooth and responsive like the original hardware.
On the software side, you’d need to tackle emulation. Research emulation techniques for various consoles and investigate open source emulators to understand how they work. Implement emulation for one or more classic 8-bit or 16-bit game systems in your preferred programming language. This could involve virtualizing the system’s CPU, memory-mapped I/O, graphics/audio hardware, and peripherals like game controllers. Get simple games booting and playing with responsive, bug-free emulation.
For additional polish, consider implementing save states that allow pausing gameplay. Code functionality to browse game libraries, view box art, and load ROM files from the cartridge storage. Implement online score submission if leaderboards were part of the original gameplay experience. Extended testing across a library of classic games would be needed to ensure broad compatibility.
Quantitative metrics could measure factors like emulation accuracy, frame rates, input lag, and compatibility rates. Given the hands-on technical challenge of designing, building, and coding a fully-functional retro game console and emulator, this type of capstone project would demonstrate skills in hardware, industrial design, software engineering, and systems emulation.
User studies could examine the authenticity and usability of the gaming experience compared to original hardware. Surveying retro game fans on perceptions of the recreation and gathering thoughts on improvements would provide validations. There are also opportunities for scholarly research – for instance, exploring how emulation impacts preservation of classic games or influences perceptions of nostalgic IP.
With successful completion of such an ambitious project, key deliverables would include thorough documentation of the design and development process, working code and schematics made publicly available, and a demonstration unit showcasing the recreated retro gaming experience. Presenting the project at technical conferences or showcasing at classic gaming expos could help evaluate the work against authentic retro hardware while engaging communities invested in preserving gaming history.
Designing and building a retro game console from the ground up that accurately emulates nostalgic titles would be an exemplary capstone project incorporating deep hands-on experience with retro games. Tackling the hardware, software, and user experience challenges of recreation demonstrates strong competencies across many technical and research-based disciplines. With rigorous testing and evaluation, a project of this scope and ambition could leave a meaningful scholarly impact and help ensure these classic games live on for generations to experience.