Raspberry Pi: Creoqode brings handheld gaming to the Raspberry Pi CM3L with the LYRA

Creoqode is back with its fifth Kickstarter campaign, having successfully funded the 2048 and PYXA handheld games consoles among other projects. The LYRA, Creoqode's third handheld games console, has already received 130% of its £30,000 (~US$37,487) funding goal from 234 backers with 32 days to go.

The LYRA includes a 5-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen display, a d-pad, XABY buttons and two shoulders buttons, all of which is powered by a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 Lite (CM3L). The CM3L incorporates 1 GB of LPDDR2 RAM and a Broadcom BCM2837B0 ARMv8-based SoC. The 64-bit chip integrates a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU clocked at 1.4 GHz and a 32-bit VideoCore IV, which peaks at 400 MHz.

All these components are run from a 3,000 mAh LiPo battery that charges via micro USB 2.0, with Creoqode including a 16 GB microSD card on which to install games. The LYRA has an integrated speaker but there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack should you prefer using wired headphones instead. The device also supports audio and video out via HDMI, with Creoqode claiming that the LYRA is powerful enough to play games on a TV or monitor. Additionally, you can connect up to 8 sensors or accessories to the LYRA via exposed GPIO pads.

The LYRA currently costs £149 (~US$186) for the DIY version and £179 (~US$224) for the Ready to Go (RTG) version. Creoqode promises that no soldering is required with the DIY model and that it should only take 15 minutes to build.

It is worth keeping in mind that one could build a custom CM3L-based console, with the module costing just £26.99 (~US$34). However, we doubt that it will look as well executed as the LYRA. Moreover, while the LYRA is not much cheaper than the considerably more powerful Nintendo Switch Lite, Creoqode has designed it for a different audience. The LYRA can not only play retro games, which the Switch Lite cannot, but it also can be used as a portable desktop computer because it runs Raspbian. The volume of buttons limits what games the LYRA can successfully emulate though, with PS1 or N64 games that require four shoulder buttons being out of the question.

Creoqode aims to deliver the LYRA to backers in December. The company will use DHL for global delivery, while it will have three programmers and two electrical engineers to help backers with any technical questions that they may have.