NOTICE!

The Floopy Drive has moved to https://loopy.land/shop. Thank you for your support!

What is the Floopy Drive?

It's a flash cart for the Casio Loopy, a lesser-known Japanese-exclusive "5th generation" 32-bit game console, with an integrated full-color sticker printer! The Loopy only had a small library of 10 games (plus Magical Shop, a video capture accessory), and some of them are quite rare and hard to access. With the Floopy Drive, you can play any commercial game, plus homebrew!

Features

The Floopy Drive is not just a flash cart but a devcart. It has functionality useful for hacking and developing on Loopy, and is forward-looking, providing homebrew devs with more space and features.

• 32Mbit Flash. Loopy games come in 16Mbit and 24Mbit varieties. The Floopy Drive supports them all, as well as any future translations and homebrew games up to 32Mbit.
• 1Mbit Battery-backed SRAM. Loopy games use 64kbit up to 256kbit of SRAM for saves. The Floopy Drive supports them all, as well as any future homebrew games that use much more.
• Simple flashing using your computer over USB-C. Floopy Drive doesn't use an SD card, you plug it into your PC to flash games. Flashing is drag-and-drop, with no drivers or software to install, everything runs in the browser thanks to WebUSB. MacOS and Windows, Chrome, Chromium, and MS Edge tested.
• Automatic backup and restore of your saves. When switching games, SRAM is saved and restored automatically so you can pick up where you left off.
• Save compatibility with emulators. MAME 0.260+ and Loopy My Seal Emulator both tested.
• Provides serial access to the Loopy's CPU. Devtools, homebrew, and even some commercial games use the UART0 port on the Loopy for debugging functionality. The Floopy Drive provides a plug-and-play proxy to the otherwise unexposed serial port. Just insert the Floopy Drive into your Loopy, connect USB-C, and the Floopy Drive detects it's inserted and presents a serial interface over USB. Talk to it just like any other serial device and the Floopy Drive transparently forwards serial in both directions!
• Simple firmware upgrades. Just stick a pin in the pinhole in the back of the cart and drag the new firmware onto the USB drive that appears. Done!

What's the compatibility like?

The software for all ten games plus Magical Shop runs on the Floopy Drive, with the following notes:

• Wanwan Aijou Monogatari has a custom sound chip which is not on the Floopy Drive, so you won't get any PCM sound effects like dogs barking, but you still get music and the game is 100% playable. This may be implemented in a future Floopy Drive.
• In Lupiton's Wonder Palette, there is an option to capture images from the Magical Shop when plugged into a Magical Shop. This currently only works with original hardware. All other functionality is intact and it's 100% playable. This may be implemented in a future Floopy Drive.
• You can run Magical Shop's software on the Floopy Drive, but it's basically useless without the Magical Shop hardware. This won't be implemented, but there may be interesting homebrew you can run on the Floopy Drive that could print from USB...

FAQ: GETTING ONE

• What if it is sold out? I will use the number of people on the waitlist to determine how many to build next time, so if it sells out, sign up and I'll let you know as soon as I have an ETA for the next batch. Keep an eye on the top of the page for updates.
• Can I build my own? Yes! This is open source hardware, and absolutely everything you need is on the github linked below!

FAQ: "EVERDRIVE"

• So this is an Everdrive for Loopy right? No! Biggest difference: you use a web browser on your computer to flash a game onto the Floopy Drive. The Floopy Drive does not have an SD card slot for storing the games, and it does not have a menu that runs on the Loopy. Also, Krikzz is WAY smarter than me and he's been doing it WAY longer - this is a hobbyist project that does not compare in complexity and polish.
• Wait, why no SD card? Personally I think the webUSB flashing method is extremely simple and convenient. There may be a future version of the Floopy Drive, or another flashcart, in the future that does use SD card like an Everdrive, if that is something you require! There are other reasons I went this way: we don't quite have the tools yet to easily make a GUI that runs on Loopy, I also wanted to get something out there that works and iterate on it. Also, Everdrives only have a single game on the flash at any time as well - it's really just a matter of them flashing on the console vs flashing on a computer. For portable consoles this has an obvious advantage, but for a home console, I think it becomes less necessary.
• What is the flashing speed like? Size varies, but expect to flash a game in 1-2 minutes. For example, Harihari Seal Paradise flashes in 75 sec, including backing up the previous save (<1 sec), erasing 16Mbit flash (15 sec), writing 16Mbit flash (59 sec), and restoring the previous save (1 sec). Speed may be improved in future firmware updates without requiring new hardware.

FAQ: INCLUDED

• Do I need a USB-C, or USB 3.0 port on my computer? No, if you have a USB-A to USB-C cable and a basic USB 2.0 port that should work fine. The cable is not included.
• Does it require a save battery? Yes, a standard CR2032 coin battery is preinstalled. It's easily user-replaceable. And save backups are made on the Floopy Drive's internal storage so best case scenario, you can restore your save after the battery runs low.

FAQ: EXPLAIN YOURSELF

• Floopy? Drive? You know, like, a floppy drive, but for Loopy? Cause you can write to a floppy drive?
• What's up with the labels? Each one spoofs a different game for Loopy! (Loopy Town no Oheya ga Hoshii / I Want a Room in Loopy Town, Little Romance, Lupiton's Wonder Palette.) Art by the talented Loopy superfan and evangelist VideoDojo!
• What powers it? Why, a RP2040 of course!
• Homebrew? What homebrew? It's coming... I'm also working on a full English patch for Wanwan Aijou Monogatari!
• I have other questions you didn't address! See the project's wiki at https://github.com/partlyhuman/loopycart/wiki, use the "Ask a Question" button on the right side of this page above the order button, or find me online @partlyhuman!

Warranty notes

THE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. All use of the Floopy Drive is at your own discretion and risk.