GW Studio

GW Studio is a portable Windows application for Nintendo Game & Watch modding workflows.

Current release: 1.0.18.

The program helps read console information, create backups, build a Retro-Go firmware bundle, flash the console, and restore firmware from user-owned backups or user-provided stock firmware.

What It Does

• Reads Game & Watch hardware information through ST-LINK.
• Saves console backups under the device UID.
• Builds either a dual-boot setup or a Retro-Go-only single firmware.
• Supports offline firmware builds without connecting a programmer first.
• Shows memory usage between console status and the console preview for faster build checks.
• Updates M/Z console screenshot frame alignment.
• Moves update metadata checks into the Tauri backend so WebView cache/CORS does not hide new releases.
• Reads update SHA256 from GitHub release asset metadata before falling back to the .sha256 download.
• Lets offline users select STOCK, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, or 256 MB external SPI capacity.
• Exports the generated firmware folder for manual flashing through Raspberry Pi or another programmer.
• Imports supported ROMs for Retro-Go cores.
• Downloads optional game menu images from public thumbnail sources.
• Uses small 96x96 firmware images for the console while keeping UI previews separate.
• Flashes Bank1, optional Bank2, and SPI with progress indication after the console is identified.
• Restores the console from UID-based backups.
• Restores original stock firmware after the user provides matching stock files.
• Checks GitHub Releases for application updates.

What Is Not Included

GW Studio does not include Nintendo firmware, commercial games, BIOS files, or copyrighted ROMs.

You must provide your own legally obtained:

• Game & Watch stock firmware backups.
• Game ROMs.
• BIOS files required by specific emulator cores, such as ColecoVision or MSX.

Supported System

• Windows 10 or Windows 11 x64.
• ST-LINK compatible programmer for backup and flashing through GW Studio.
• Nintendo Game & Watch Mario or Zelda hardware.
• Folder path without Cyrillic characters.

The portable release is a single executable. On startup it extracts its bundled tools to a temporary runtime folder next to the exe and removes that runtime after closing.

Screenshots

Main Menu

The main screen shows device status, the selected or detected hardware profile, and the main workflow buttons. Build remains available without a connected console; Backup and Flash require device detection.

Device Status

Read the connected console, ST-LINK programmer, UID, detected firmware, external flash, and protection state.

Auto Backup

Save Bank1, Bank2, and SPI backups under the detected console UID before flashing.

Build Emulator

Import ROMs, download optional menu images, and build the Retro-Go firmware bundle. Choose M, Z, or NONE; NONE creates a Retro-Go-only image and asks for the hardware profile.

Flash Device

Flash the prepared Bank1, optional Bank2, and SPI images with progress indication. The firmware output folder can also be opened for manual Raspberry Pi flashing.

Settings

Change language, update the application, and enable advanced flasher options when needed.

Download And Verify

Download the latest GWStudio.exe from GitHub Releases:

https://github.com/Serjio193/GWstudio/releases/latest

Each release also provides:

• GWStudio.exe.sha256
• GWStudio.exe.sig

PowerShell verification:

Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 .\GWStudio.exe

The printed hash must match the first value inside GWStudio.exe.sha256.

Example .sha256 format:

87664067AB929B6C55B53886B9D0D71887A27BFD09C1A2A85FF8DF8A64FA2B9D  GWStudio.exe

Windows SmartScreen

GW Studio is currently not code-signed. Windows may show a warning such as "unknown publisher" or "Windows protected your PC".

This warning appears because the executable is unsigned and new, not because the SHA256 check failed. To reduce risk:

• Download only from the official GitHub Releases page.
• Verify GWStudio.exe with the matching .sha256 file.
• Keep the exe in a Latin-only folder path, for example C:\GWStudio\GWStudio.exe.

Basic Workflow

1. Start GW Studio.
2. Open Build emulator and add ROMs.
3. Choose the firmware layout:
   • M or Z: dual boot using matching user-provided stock firmware.
   • NONE: Retro-Go only; choose M Hardware or Z Hardware.
4. Optional: press Download Images before building if you want images in the Retro-Go menu.
5. Press Build Firmware.
6. If the console was not read, select the installed external SPI capacity: STOCK, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, or 256 MB.
7. For manual Raspberry Pi flashing, open the generated firmware folder from Flash Device.
8. To flash through GW Studio, connect ST-LINK, press Read Device Info, create a backup, and use Flash Build.

Dual boot writes stock Bank1, Retro-Go Bank2, and SPI. Retro-Go-only mode writes Retro-Go Bank1 and SPI with INTFLASH_BANK=1 and EXTFLASH_OFFSET=0.

If stock firmware files are required and missing, GW Studio asks you to drop the matching original files. The program checks that Mario/Zelda stock files match the selected hardware before saving them.

Updates

GW Studio checks the latest GitHub Release after startup. If a newer version is found, it asks before updating.

The update process:

1. Downloads the new exe from GitHub Releases.
2. Requires the official GWStudio.exe, GWStudio.exe.sha256, and GWStudio.exe.sig release assets.
3. Verifies SHA256 before installing.
4. Verifies the Ed25519/OpenSSH signature with the public key built into the app.
5. Closes the current application.
6. Saves GWStudio.exe.rollback next to the current exe.
7. Replaces the old exe.
8. Starts the new version.

You can also run the same check from Settings with Update program.

Links

• Latest release
• Report an issue

Support

  

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Third-Party Components

GW Studio uses open-source third-party tools and firmware projects. See:

• THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md
• THIRD_PARTY_TOOLS.md
• LICENSE_MANIFEST.md
• third_party_licenses/

Retro-Go fork source:

• https://github.com/sylverb/game-and-watch-retro-go

Game & Watch patch source:

• https://github.com/BrianPugh/game-and-watch-patch