8-BitHub: Bringing Retro Gaming Magic to GitHub

This is a submission for the Amazon Q Developer "Quack The Code" Challenge: That's Entertainment! Remember staying up late playing games on those chunky old computers? The satisfying click-clack of loading a floppy disk, the suspense of watching loading screens count bytes, those iconic chiptune sounds? That's exactly what inspired me to create 8-BitHub for the Amazon Q "Quack The Code" challenge! I wanted to bring those nostalgic gaming experiences directly to GitHub READMEs, complete with authentic loading screens and all the retro feels. Try It Out! Before I explain how I built it, check out 8-BitHub in action: How Amazon Q Helped Me Bring This Dream to Life This project wouldn't have been possible without Amazon Q's help! When I explained my vision for an embeddable retro game collection to Amazon Q, it immediately understood what I wanted and helped me build a solid foundation. I asked Amazon Q: "Can you help me design a core engine for retro-style games that would work in GitHub READMEs?" and it suggested this excellent starting structure: // Core engine for 8-BitHub with Amazon Q's help class RetroEngine { constructor(container) { this.container = container; this.canvas = document.createElement('canvas'); this.canvas.width = 320; this.canvas.height = 240; this.ctx = this.canvas.getContext('2d'); this.container.appendChild(this.canvas); // System palette (inspired by classic CGA/NES colors) this.palette = [ '#000000', '#0000AA', '#00AA00', '#00AAAA', '#AA0000', '#AA00AA', '#AA5500', '#AAAAAA', '#555555', '#5555FF', '#55FF55', '#55FFFF', '#FF5555', '#FF55FF', '#FFFF55', '#FFFFFF' ]; } } Amazon Q even suggested the perfect color palette inspired by classic systems - that authentic touch I was looking for! The GitHub Challenge (That Almost Broke Me

May 1, 2025 - 17:03

8-BitHub: Bringing Retro Gaming Magic to GitHub

This is a submission for the Amazon Q Developer "Quack The Code" Challenge: That's Entertainment!

Remember staying up late playing games on those chunky old computers? The satisfying click-clack of loading a floppy disk, the suspense of watching loading screens count bytes, those iconic chiptune sounds?

That's exactly what inspired me to create 8-BitHub for the Amazon Q "Quack The Code" challenge! I wanted to bring those nostalgic gaming experiences directly to GitHub READMEs, complete with authentic loading screens and all the retro feels.

Try It Out!

Before I explain how I built it, check out 8-BitHub in action:

How Amazon Q Helped Me Bring This Dream to Life

This project wouldn't have been possible without Amazon Q's help! When I explained my vision for an embeddable retro game collection to Amazon Q, it immediately understood what I wanted and helped me build a solid foundation.

I asked Amazon Q: "Can you help me design a core engine for retro-style games that would work in GitHub READMEs?" and it suggested this excellent starting structure:

// Core engine for 8-BitHub with Amazon Q's help
class RetroEngine {
  constructor(container) {
    this.container = container;
    this.canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
    this.canvas.width = 320;
    this.canvas.height = 240;
    this.ctx = this.canvas.getContext('2d');
    this.container.appendChild(this.canvas);

    // System palette (inspired by classic CGA/NES colors)
    this.palette = [
      '#000000', '#0000AA', '#00AA00', '#00AAAA', 
      '#AA0000', '#AA00AA', '#AA5500', '#AAAAAA',
      '#555555', '#5555FF', '#55FF55', '#55FFFF', 
      '#FF5555', '#FF55FF', '#FFFF55', '#FFFFFF'
    ];
  }
}

Amazon Q even suggested the perfect color palette inspired by classic systems - that authentic touch I was looking for!