Schlagwort: retropie

  • Collection of Raspberry Pi retro tech projects

    Collection of Raspberry Pi retro tech projects

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    During lockdown, Stuart (aka JamHamster) wanted to keep busy whilst between jobs, and ended up building a mini empire of rescued retro systems. Cassette tapes, Game Boys, and floppy disks were all among the treasures he reclaimed.

    All up and running on my 'shelf of deceit' where nothing is what it seems
    Stuart calls this the “shelf of deceit” – where nothing is what it appears to be

    Cassette tape starter

    Stuart got started by fitting a TZXDuino tape loader into a cassette tape shell. Remember those? This allows him to load software onto a ZX Spectrum by inserting a tape into the tape deck, just as Nature intended. He has since improved the design (check out V2 on YouTube) and carefully documented it on GitHub, so people can build their own.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMpGGf-YUzU?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Here’s how the cassette tape project went down

    With that first project in the bag and getting attention on a Facebook group (Spectrum for Everyone), Stuart went forth and sourced more retro tech to revive with tiny pieces of new technology.

    Twitter lit up for Stuart’s retrofit cassette tape

    Enter Raspberry Pi

    Then Stuart discovered our tiny computer and realised there was heaps of scope for hiding them inside older tech. Although we can’t quite officially endorse Stuart’s method of “carefully” removing a port on his Raspberry Pi – it’ll void your warranty – we will say that we like people who go about intentionally voiding their warranties. It’s a cool video.

    Here's the collection so far and I'm really pleased with how they worked out
    You can see all the modern devices labelled alongside the retro tech they’re encased in

    He has since created loads of retrofit projects with Raspberry Pi. Let’s take a quick look at a few of them.

    Raspberry Pi 3 Game Boy build

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Z4hHLV8Rc?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Another gem of a build video from JamHamster on YouTube

    First up is a Game Boy build with a Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+. Stuart built an aluminium chassis from scrap, and this sandwiches the Raspberry Pi to hold it in place inside the Game Boy enclosure, as well as acting as a heatsink. There’s a grille in the cartridge and he also added four rear buttons. The hardest part of this build, apparently, was soldering the custom HDMI cable.

    Better-than-real CRT screen

    Stuart liked the look of an old-fashioned CRT (cathode-ray tube) screen for playing retro games on, but they chew through energy and aren’t that portable. So he had the idea to make a space-efficient LCD system that sits on a desktop and just looks like a retro TV.

    Wait for the heroes in half-shells at the end

    This project features a 3.5-inch screen of the type that’s usually found on a car dashboard to help the driver to reverse. Stuart converted it to 5V, and added a cut-down Raspberry Pi 3 and a custom-machined chassis. A custom-ground curved lens makes it look like a real CRT, and he added ports on the back for two Atari joysticks, as well as an external composite input and USB.

    The Pi 'CRT' has two onboard Atari Joystick ports and plenty of connectors for other machines
    This Raspberry Pi-powered “CRT” display has two onboard Atari joystick ports and plenty of connectors for other machines

    The build process for this project is also documented on Github. Here are some extra pictures.

    Sega Game Gear build

    Stuart’s sister gave him her Game Gear to fix, but the batteries leaked and killed it so he converted it to a Raspberry Pi 3B portable gaming system. And because it was for his sister, he went all out, spending six weeks refining it.

    He also ended up rewriting elements of the Arduino Joystick library for responsiveness and ease of configuration. Here’s the Github link for those interested in that part of the build.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABpZQituV4A?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Check out the carnage that Stuart rescued with Raspberry Pi 3B

    RetroPie cassette

    Stuart’s latest cassette build features a Raspberry Pi Zero running RetroPie. He wanted to make one with a transparent case, so he encased the Raspberry Pi in a heatsink sandwich to hide the wiring. He added a full-size USB port and a 3.5 mm media connector for sound and visuals. Here are some shots of the inside.

    I'm really pleased with the 80s green
    I love the 80s green

    Try new things, expect failure, enjoy the process

    There were far too many cracking retro builds for us to list here, so follow Stuart on Twitter @RealJamHamster and subscribe to JamHamster on YouTube to properly check everything out.

    They need hefty heatsinks but I like working with metal and had fun with some of the designs
    They need hefty heatsinks, but Stuart likes working with metal and had fun with some of the designs

    Makers, tinkerers, and crafters don’t always have a practical reason for embarking on projects, and Stuart is no different. Here’s what he had to say about why projects like this make him happy:

    “I will be happy to admit that I have no clue what I’m doing most of the time, and I am by no means an expert, but I believe everyone should try new things as you never know what you’ll be good at. 9 out of 10 of my ideas don’t work but that tenth one is generally pretty good. I’ve been between roles during lockdown so I am building these out of scrap metal and whatever I have lying around, which is an extra challenge. My philosophy is to try new things, expect failure, learn to enjoy the process and that it’ll be done when it’s done.”

    Website: LINK

  • Hide a huge arcade machine in plain sight with Raspberry Pi

    Hide a huge arcade machine in plain sight with Raspberry Pi

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Problem: I really want an arcade machine at home, but I don’t have the space for it.

    Solution: Build Alexandre Chappel’s giant two-player machine, which is sleek and hidden in plain sight on your wall.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB8VauGEvqg?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Subscribe to Alexandre’s YouTube channel

    Alexandre’s goal was to build something that looks like an ordinary piece of furniture, and that you’d have no idea is an arcade machine until you flip it open. It’s a fully functional two-player device and it requires no coding skills to set up.

    Big build

    It’s a big piece of furniture, so you’ll need a big space and a good table saw to get all the wood cut. Alexandre made the whole thing out of just one piece of oak plywood. He’s a woodwork perfectionist, and didn’t want any visible screws on the finished product, so he had to get fancy with biscuit joints. He also ironed on edge banding, to give an extra-smooth finish to the rough cuts of plywood.

    Maker cutting large piece of wood for the project
    Master carpenter in his giant workshop

    Hardware

    The electronics for the build arrived by way of a complete kit containing everything needed to make the joysticks and buttons. The kit came with a little circuit board which all the buttons and joysticks plug into, and the output is a simple USB which connects to the Raspberry Pi brain of the system.

    Back end of the arcade structure with raspberry pi and speakers and wires for buttons
    Raspberry Pi and wiring for buttons and joystick all tucked away in the back of the wooden frame

    Parts list

    (These are all links to the actual products used in this project)

    Software

    Alexandre had never used a Raspberry Pi before, but still found the electronics the easiest part of this build.

    finished hidden arcade mounted on wall
    Retro gaming easily accessible in your home

    This tutorial video made it easy to load up RetroPie software on the Raspberry Pi’s SD card and get some games onto a USB stick. And this video showed him how to run games from a USB device.

    Sleek design

    Everything is so neatly tucked away in this design. A slot for the USB cable and a Raspberry Pi reset switch are built into the wooden frame, so absolutely none of the electronics are on show.

    The design files are available to buy online

    Alexandre’s beautiful online shop allows you to buy full woodworking plans to recreate his projects. You can buy the design files for this project for $15.

    Website: LINK

  • RetroPie booze barrel

    RetroPie booze barrel

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    What do we want? Retro gaming, adult beverages, and our favourite Spotify playlist. When do we want them? All at the same time.

    Luckily, u/breadtangle took to reddit to answer our rum-soaked prayers with this beautifully crafted beer barrel-cum-arcade machine-cum-drinks cabinet.

    A beer barrel with drinks inside two opening doors cut into the front of the barrel and a retro arcade console serving as the lid of the barrel with joystick and buttons on a ledge in front
    We approve of this drink selection

    The addition of a sneaky hiding spot for your favourite tipple, plus a musical surprise, set this build apart from the popular barrel arcade projects we’ve seen before, like this one featured a few years back on the blog.

    Retro gaming

    A Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ runs RetroPie, offering all sorts of classic games to entertain you while you sample from the grownup goodies hidden away in the drinks cabinet.

    The maker’s top choice is Tetris Attack for the SNES.

    A beer barrel with drinks inside two opening doors cut into the front of the barrel and a retro arcade console serving as the lid of the barrel with joystick and buttons on a ledge in front
    Such a beautiful finish

    Background music

    What more could you want now you’ve got retro games and an elegantly hidden drinks cabinet at your fingertips? u/breadtangle‘s creation has another trick hidden inside its smooth wooden curves.

    The Raspberry Pi computer used in this build also runs Raspotify, a Spotify Connect client for Raspberry Pi that allows you to stream your favourite tunes and playlists from your phone while you game.

    You can set Raspotify to play via Bluetooth speakers, but if you’re using regular speakers and are after a quick install, whack this command in your Terminal:

    curl -sL https://dtcooper.github.io/raspotify/install.sh | sh
    Booze barrel joystick and buttons panel during the making process
    Behind the scenes

    u/breadtangle neatly tucked a pair of Logitech z506 speakers on the sides of the barrel, where they could be protected by the overhang of the glass screen cover.

    Hardware

    The build’s joysticks and buttons came from Amazon, and they’re set into an off-cut piece of kitchen countertop. The glass screen protector is another Amazon find and sits on a rubber car-door edge protector.

    The screen itself is lovingly tilted towards the controls, to keep players’ necks comfortable, and u/breadtangle finished off the build’s look with a barstool to sit on while gaming.

    We love it, but we have one very important question left…

    Can we come round and play?

    Website: LINK

  • Build an arcade cabinet | Hackspace 35

    Build an arcade cabinet | Hackspace 35

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Games consoles might be fast and have great graphics, but they’re no match for the entertainment value of a proper arcade machine. In this month’s issue of Hackspace magazine, you’re invited to relive your misspent youth with this huge build project.

    There’s something special about the comforting solidity of a coin-eating video game monolith, and nothing screams retro fun like a full-sized arcade cabinet sitting in the corner of the room. Classic arcade machines can be a serious investment. Costing thousands of pounds and weighing about the same as a giant panda, they’re out of reach for all but the serious collector. Thankfully, you can recreate that retro experience using modern components for a fraction of the price and weight.

    An arcade cabinet is much easier to make than you might expect. It’s essentially a fancy cupboard that holds a monitor, speakers, a computer, a keyboard, and some buttons. You can make your own cabinet using not much more than a couple of sheets of MDF, some clear plastic, and a few cans of spray paint.

    If you want a really authentic-looking cabinet, you can find plenty of plans and patterns online. However, most classic cabinets are a bit bigger than you might remember, occupying almost a square metre of floor space. If you scale that down to approximately 60 cm2, you can make an authentic-looking home arcade cabinet that won’t take over the entire room, and can be cut from just two pieces of 8 × 4 (2440 mm × 1220 mm) MDF. You can download our plans, but these are rough plans designed for you to tweak into your own creation. A sheet of 18 mm MDF is ideal for making the body of the cabinet, and 12 mm MDF works well to fill in the front and back panels. You can use thinner sheets of wood to make a lighter cabinet, but you might find it less sturdy and more difficult to screw into.

    See – simples

    The sides of the machine should be cut from 18 mm MDF, and will be 6 feet high. The sides need to be as close to identical as possible, so mark out the pattern for the side on one piece of 18 mm MDF, and screw the boards together to hold them while you cut. You can avoid marking the sides by placing the screws through the waste areas of the MDF. Keep these offcuts to make internal supports or brackets. You can cut the rest of the pieces of MDF using the project plans as a guide. 

    Why not add a coin machine for extra authenticity

    Attach the side pieces to the base, so that the sides hang lower than the base by an inch or two. If you’re more accomplished at woodworking and want to make the strongest cabinet possible, you can use a router to joint and glue the pieces of wood together. This will make the cabinet very slightly narrower and will affect some measurements, but if you follow the old adage to measure twice and cut once, you should be fine. If you don’t want to do this, you can use large angle brackets and screws to hold everything together. The cabinet will still be strong, and you’ll have the added advantage that you can disassemble it in the future if necessary.

    Keep attaching the 18 mm MDF pieces, starting with the top piece and the rear brace. Once you have these pieces attached, the cabinet should be sturdy enough to start adding the thinner panels. Insetting the panels by about an inch gives the cabinet that retro look, and also hides any design crimes you might have committed while cutting out the side panels.

    The absolute sizing of the cabinet isn’t critical unless you’re trying to make an exact copy of an old machine, so don’t feel too constrained by measuring things down to the millimetre. As long as the cabinet is wide enough to accept your monitor, everything else is moveable and can be adjusted to suit your needs.

    Make it shiny

    You can move onto decoration once the cabinet woodwork is fitted together. This is mostly down to personal preference, although it’s wise to think about which parts of the case will be touched more often, and whether your colour choices will cause any problems with screen reflection. Matt black is a popular choice for arcade cabinets because it’s non-reflective and any surface imperfections are less noticeable with a matt paint finish.

    Aluminium checker plate is a good way of protecting your cabinet from damage, and it can be cut and shaped easily.

    Wallpaper or posters make a great choice for decorating the outside of the cabinet, and they are quick to apply. Just be sure to paste all the way up to the edge, and protect any areas that will be handled regularly with aluminium checker plate or plastic sheet. The edges of MDF sheets can be finished with iron-on worktop edging, or with the chrome detailing tape used on cars. You can buy detailing tape in 12 mm and 18 mm widths, which makes it great for finishing edges. The adhesive tape provided with the chrome edging isn’t always very good, so it’s worth investing in some high-strength, double-sided clear vinyl foam tape.

    You’ve made your cabinet, but it’s empty at the moment. You’re going to add a Raspberry Pi, monitor, speakers, and a panel for buttons and joysticks. To find out how, you can read the full article in HackSpace magazine 35.  

    Get HackSpace magazine 35 Out Now!

    Each month, HackSpace magazine brings you the best projects, tips, tricks and tutorials from the makersphere. You can get it from the Raspberry Pi Press online store, The Raspberry Pi store in Cambridge, or your local newsagents.

    Each issue is free to download from the HackSpace magazine website.

    If you subscribe for 12 months, you get an Adafruit Circuit Playground Express , or can choose from one of our other subscription offers, including this amazing limited-time offer of three issues and a book for only £10!

    Website: LINK

  • Turn a watermelon into a RetroPie games console

    Turn a watermelon into a RetroPie games console

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    OK Cedrick, we don’t need to know why, but we have to know how you turned a watermelon into a games console.

    This has got to be a world first. What started out as a regular RetroPie project has blown up reddit due to the unusual choice of casing for the games console: nearly 50,000 redditors upvoted this build within a week of Cedrick sharing it.

    See, we’re not kidding

    What’s inside?

    • Raspberry Pi 3
    • Jingo Dot power bank (that yellow thing you can see below)
    • Speakers
    • Buttons
    • Small 1.8″ screen

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqgjozNR3W8?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Cedrick’s giggling really makes this video

    Retropie

    While this build looks epic, it isn’t too tricky to make. First, Cedrick flashed the RetroPie image onto an SD card, then he wired up a Raspberry Pi’s GPIO pins to the red console buttons, speakers, and the screen.

    Cedrick achieved audio output by adding just a few lines of code to the config file, and he downloaded libraries for screen configuration and button input. That’s it! That’s all you need to get a games console up and running.

    Cedrick just hanging on the train with his WaterBoy

    Now for the messy bit

    Cedrick had to gut an entire watermelon before he could start getting all the hardware in place. He power-drilled holes for the buttons to stick through, and a Stanley knife provided the precision he needed to get the right-sized gap for the screen.

    A gutted watermelon with gaps cut to fit games console buttons and a screen

    Rather than drill even more holes for the speakers, Cedrick stuck them in place inside the watermelon using toothpicks. He did try hot glue first but… yeah. Turns out fruit guts are impervious to glue.

    Moisture was going to be a huge problem, so to protect all the hardware from the watermelon’s sticky insides, Cedrick lined it with plastic clingfilm.

    Infinite lives

    And here’s how you can help: Cedrick is open to any tips as to how to preserve the perishable element of his project: the watermelon. Resin? Vaseline? Time machine? How can he keep the watermelon fresh?

    Share your ideas on reddit or YouTube, and remember to subscribe to see more of Cedrick’s maverick making in the wild.

    Website: LINK

  • Raspberry Pi retro gaming on Reddit

    Raspberry Pi retro gaming on Reddit

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Reddit was alive with the sound of retro gaming this weekend.

    First out to bat is this lovely minimalist, wall-mounted design built by u/sturnus-vulgaris, who states:

    I had planned on making a bar top arcade, but after I built the control panel, I kind of liked the simplicity. I mounted a frame of standard 2×4s cut with a miter saw. Might trim out in black eventually (I have several panels I already purchased), but I do like the look of wood.

    Next up, a build with Lego bricks, because who doesn’t love Lego bricks?

    Just completed my mini arcade cabinet that consists of approximately 1,000 [Lego bricks], a Raspberry Pi, a SNES style controller, Amazon Basics computer speakers, and a 3.5″ HDMI display.

    u/RealMagicman03 shared the build here, so be sure to give them an upvote and leave a comment if, like us, you love Raspberry Pi projects that involve Lego bricks.

    And lastly, this wonderful use of the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+, proving yet again how versatile the form factor can be.

    CM3+Lite cartridge for GPi case. I made this cartridge for fun at first, and it works as all I expected. Now I can play more games l like on this lovely portable stuff. And CM3+ is as powerful as RPi3B+, I really like it.

    Creator u/martinx72 goes into far more detail in their post, so be sure to check it out.

    What other projects did you see this weekend? Share your links with us in the comments below.

    Website: LINK

  • Make a retro console with RetroPie and a Raspberry Pi — part 2

    Make a retro console with RetroPie and a Raspberry Pi — part 2

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Here’s part two of Lucy Hattersley’s wonderful retro games console tutorial. Part 1 of the tutorial lives here, for those of you who missed it.

    Choose the network locale

    RetroPie boots into EmulationStation, which is your starter interface. It’s currently displaying just the one option, RetroPie, which is used to set up the emulation options. As you add games to RetroPie, other systems will appear in EmulationStation.

    With RetroPie selected, press the A button on the gamepad to open the configuration window. Use the D-pad to move down the options and select WiFi. You will see a warning message: ‘You don’t currently have your WiFi country set…’. Press the D-pad left to choose Yes, and press A. The interface will open raspi-config. At this point, it’s handy to switch to the keyboard and use that instead.

    Choose 4 Localisation Options, and press the right arrow key on the keyboard to highlight Select, then press Enter.

    Now choose 4 Change Wi-fi Country and pick your country from the list. We used GB Britain (UK). Highlight OK and press Enter to select it.

    Now move right twice to choose Finish and press Enter. This will reboot the system.

    Connect to wireless LAN

    If you have a Raspberry Pi with an Ethernet connection, you can use an Ethernet cable to connect directly to your router/modem or network.

    More likely, you’ll connect the Raspberry Pi to a wireless LAN network so you can access it when it’s beneath your television.

    Head back into RetroPie from EmulationStation and down to the WiFi setting; choose Connect to WiFi network.

    The window will display a list of nearby wireless LAN networks. Choose your network and use the keyboard to enter the wireless LAN password. Press Enter when you’re done. Choose the Exit option to return to the RetroPie interface.

    Configuration tools

    Now choose RetroPie Setup and then Configuration Tools. Here, in the Choose an option window, you’ll find a range of useful tools. As we’re using a USB gamepad, we don’t need the Bluetooth settings, but it’s worth noting they’re here.

    We want to turn on Samba so we can share files from our computer directly to RetroPie. Choose Samba and Install RetroPie Samba shares, then select OK.

    Now choose Cancel to back up to the Choose an option window, and then Back to return to the RetroPie-Setup script.

    Run the setup script

    Choose Update RetroPie-Setup script and press Enter. After the script has updated, press Enter again and you’ll be back at the Notice: window. Press Enter and choose Basic install; press Enter, choose Yes, and press Enter again to begin the setup and run the configuration script.

    When the script has finished, choose Perform a reboot and Yes.

    Turn on Samba in Windows

    We’re going to use Samba to copy a ROM file (a video game image) from our computer to RetroPie.

    Samba used to be installed by default in Windows, but it has recently become an optional installation. In Windows 10, click on the Search bar and type ‘Control Panel’. Click on Control Panel in the search results.

    Now click Programs and Turn Windows features on or off. Scroll down to find SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support and click the + expand icon to reveal its options. Place a check in the box marked SMB 1.0/CIFS Client. Click OK. This will enable Samba client support on your Windows 10 PC so it can access the Raspberry Pi.

    We’ve got more information on how Samba works on The MagPi’s website.

    Get the game

    On your Windows PC or Mac, open a web browser, and visit the Blade Buster website. This is a homebrew video game designed by High Level Challenge for old NES systems. The developer’s website is in Japanese — just click BLADE BUSTER Download to save the ROM file to your Downloads folder.

    Open a File Explorer (or Finder) window and locate the BB_20120301.zip file in your Downloads folder. Don’t unzip the file.

    Click on Network and you’ll see a RETROPIE share. Open it and locate the roms folder. Double-click roms and you’ll see folders for many classic systems. Drag and drop the BB_20120301.zip file and place it inside the nes folder.

    Play the game

    Press the Start button on your gamepad to bring up the Main Menu. Choose Quit and Restart EmulationStation. You’ll now see a Nintendo Entertainment System option with 1 Games Available below it. Click it and you’ll see BB_20120301 — this is Blade Buster. Press A to start the game. Have fun shooting aliens. Press Start and Analog (or whatever you’ve set as your hotkey) together when you’re finished; this will take you back to the game selection in EmulationStation.

    If you’ve been setting up RetroPie on your monitor, now is the time to move it across to your main television. The RetroPie console will boot automatically and connect to the network, and then you can move ROM files over to it from your PC or Mac. At this point, you may notice black borders around the screen; if so, see the Fix the borders tip.

    Enjoy your gaming system!

    More top tips from Lucy

    Change the resolution

    Some games were designed for a much lower resolution, and scaling them up can look blocky on modern televisions. If you’d prefer to alter the resolution, choose ‘RetroPie setup’. Open raspi-config, Advanced Options, and Resolution. Here you’ll find a range of other resolution options to choose from.

    Fix the borders

    These are caused by overscan. Choose RetroPie from EmulationStation and raspi-config. Now select Advanced Options > Overscan and select No on the ‘Would you like to enable compensation for displays with overscan?’ window. Choose OK and then Finish. Choose Yes on the Reboot Now window. When the system has rebooted, you will see the borders are gone.

    The MagPi magazine issue 81

    This article is from the latest issue of The MagPi magazine, which is out today and can be purchased online, at the Raspberry Pi Store, or from many newsagents and bookshops, such as WHSmith and Barnes & Noble.

    The MagPi magazine issue 81

    You can also download issue 81 for free from The MagPi website, where you’ll also find information on subscription options, and the complete MagPi catalogue, including Essentials guides and books, all available to download for free.

    the MagPi subscription

    Website: LINK

  • Make a retro console with RetroPie and a Raspberry Pi — part 1

    Make a retro console with RetroPie and a Raspberry Pi — part 1

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Discover classic gaming on the Raspberry Pi and play homebrew ROMs, with this two-part tutorial from The MagPi Editor Lucy Hattersley.

    Raspberry Pi retro games console

    Turning a Raspberry Pi device into a retro games console is a fun project, and it’s one of the first things many a new Pi owner turns their hand to.

    The appeal is obvious. Retro games are fun, and from a programming perspective, they’re a lot easier to understand than modern 3D powerhouses. The Raspberry Pi board’s small form factor, low power usage, HDMI connection, and wireless networking make it a perfect micro-console that can sit under your television.

    RetroPie

    There are a bunch of different emulators around for Raspberry Pi. In this tutorial, we’re going to look at RetroPie.

    RetroPie combines Raspbian, EmulationStation, and RetroArch into one handy image. With RetroPie you can emulate arcade games, as well as titles originally released on a host of 8-bit, 16-bit, and even 32- and 64-bit systems. You can hook up a joypad; we’re going to use the Wireless USB Game Controller, but most other USB game controllers will work.

    You can also use Bluetooth to connect a controller from most video games consoles. RetroPie has an interface that will be very familiar to anyone who has used a modern games console, and because it is open-source, it is constantly being improved.

    You can look online for classic games, but we prefer homebrew and modern releases coded for classic systems. In this tutorial, we will walk you through the process of setting up RetroPie, configuring a gamepad, and running a homebrew game called Blade Buster.

    Get your microSD card ready

    RetroPie is built on top of Raspbian (the operating system for Raspberry Pi). While it is possible to install RetroPie from the desktop interface, it’s far easier to format a microSD card† and copy a new RetroPie image to the blank card. This ensures all the settings are correct and makes setup much easier. Our favourite method of wiping microSD cards on a PC or Apple Mac is to use SD Memory Card Formatter.

    Attach the microSD card to your Windows or Mac computer and open SD Card Formatter. Ensure the card is highlighted in the Select card section, then click Format.

    Download RetroPie

    Download the RetroPie image. It’ll be downloaded as a gzip file; the best way to expand this on Windows is using 7-Zip (7-zip.org).

    With 7-Zip installed, right-click the retropie-4.4-rpi2_rpi3.img.gz file and choose 7-Zip > Extract here. Extract GZ files on a Mac or Linux PC using gunzip -k <filename.gz> (the -k option keeps the original GZ file).

    gunzip -k retropie-4.4-rpi2_rpi3.img.gz

    Flash the image

    We’re going to use Etcher to copy the retropie-4.4-rpi2_rpi3.img file to our freshly formatted microSD card. Download Etcher. Open Etcher and click Select Image, then choose the retropie-4.4-rpi2_rpi3.img image file and click Open.

    Etcher should have already located the microSD card; remove and replace it if you see a Select Drive button. Click Flash! to copy the RetroPie image to the microSD card.

    See our guide for more information on how to use Etcher to flash SD cards.

    Set up the Raspberry Pi

    Insert the flashed microSD card to your Raspberry Pi. Now attach the Raspberry Pi to a TV or monitor using the HDMI cable. Connect the USB dongle from the Wireless USB Game Controller to the Raspberry Pi. Also attach a keyboard (you’ll need this for the setup process).

    Insert the batteries in the Wireless USB Game Controller and set the power switch (on the back of the device) to On. Once everything is connected, attach a power supply to the Raspberry Pi.

    See our quickstart guide for more detailed information on setting up a Raspberry Pi.

    Configure the gamepad

    When RetroPie starts, you should see Welcome screen displaying the message ‘1 gamepad detected’. Press and hold one of the buttons on the pad, and you will see the Configuring screen with a list of gamepad buttons and directions.

    Tap the D-pad (the four-way directional control pad on the far left) up on the controller and ‘HAT 0 UP’ will appear. Now tap the D-pad down.
    Map the A, B, X, Y buttons to:

    A: red circle
    B: blue cross
    X: green triangle
    Y: purple square

    The Left and Right Shoulder buttons refer to the topmost buttons on the rear of the controller, while the Triggers are the larger lower buttons.

    Push the left and right analogue sticks in for the Left and Right Thumbs. Click OK when you’re done.

    Top tips from Lucy

    Install Raspbian desktop

    RetroPie is built on top of the Raspbian operating system. You might be tempted to install RetroPie on top of the Raspbian with Desktop interface, but it’s actually much easier to do it the other way around. Open RetroPie from EmulationStation and choose RetroPie setup. Select Configuration tools and Raspbian tools. Then choose Install Pixel desktop environment and Yes.

    When it’s finished, choose Quit and Restart EmulationStation. When restarted, EmulationStation will display a Ports option. Select it and choose Desktop to boot into the Raspbian desktop interface.

    Username and password

    If RetroPie asks you for the username and password during boot, the defaults are pi and raspberry.

    The MagPi magazine issue 81

    The rest of this article can be found in the latest issue of The MagPi magazine, which is out now and can be purchased online, at the Raspberry Pi Store, or from many independent bookshops, such as WHSmith and Barnes & Noble. We’ll also post the second half on the blog tomorrow!

    The MagPi magazine issue 81

    You can also download issue 81 for free from The MagPi website, where you’ll find information on subscription options, and the complete MagPi catalogue, including Essentials guides and books, all available to download for free.

    the MagPi subscription

    Website: LINK

  • Zelda casemod with levitating Triforce

    Zelda casemod with levitating Triforce

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    I know: you’ve seen a bajillion RetroPie implementations before, and a bajillion casemods to go with them. But this one’s so hopelessly, magnificently splendid that we felt we had to share. Magnetic levitation. It’s not just for trains and frogs.

    This Zelda casemod, covered with engraved pine from the forests of Hyrule and shiny brass mouldings hammered by…dwarves or something, would be gorgeous as-is. The levitating, mirrored Triforce twizzling away on top is the icing on the cake; and a very lovely cake it is too. Here’s some video (in Spanish, with English subtitles) from Tuberviejuner in Spain, walking you through the build.

    Raspberry pi Zelda mod: MagicBerry WindWaker by Makomod & Tuberviejuner.

    Raspberry pi Zelda mod: Magic Berry WindWaker The Legend of Zelda by Makomod & Tuberviejuner alucinad con el triforce levitador.

    This magical piece of work is by MakoMod, a case modder who splits his time between Barcelona and Texas. There’s a Pi inside running RetroPie, and a separate electromagnetic device levitating the Triforce up top. If you’re interested in incorporating something like this into one of your own builds, there are two ways to go: make your own from scratch, as DrewPaul Designs has done here, or buy a pre-built kit.

    If you get in there quickly, you’ve a chance to own this one-off case: MakoMod is auctioning it on eBay. You’ve got until July 14 2018 to bid – good luck!

    Website: LINK

  • Weekend Project: 3D Print Your Own RetroPie Nintendo Switch

    Weekend Project: 3D Print Your Own RetroPie Nintendo Switch

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    The Nintendo Switch games console is an undeniable success. But, retailing for a few hundred dollars, its does require a significant chunk of change. Why not build your own for a fraction of the cost instead? Here’s how (disclaimer: the PiSwitch will not play Nintendo Switch games).

    Home hackable gaming has never been more alive, with the likes of RetroPie allowing tech savvy gamers to experience classics from their past on low-cost hardware for relatively little effort.

    Looking to shoehorn this rich seam of fun-filled nostalgia into a contemporary frame, maker Christopher Foote has 3D printed a RetroPie housing that accepts official Nintendo Joy-Con controllers. The end result is a handheld games console that looks like a Nintendo Switch, but plays decades old games.

    Foote calls his device the PiSwitch, and has made all of the parts, processes and instructions available online. Scroll past the jump for a deeper dive and make your own!

    3D Printed PiSwitch — Looks Like a Switch, Plays Like a RetroPie: What do You Need?

    Building a PiSwitch console is a little more involved that your typical printable project, requiring some soldering skills and bundles of patience. Here’s the full parts list:

    Building a 3D Printed PiSwitch RetroPie Games Console


    PiSwitch Nintendo Switch RetroPie

    Foote details the building of the PiSwitch across seven stages (part one being the procurement of the parts). Little of it is particularly difficult, but steady hands are a must as many steps require soldering.

    First up is to solder lengths of wire between the Raspberry Pi 3 and audio jack. And then following this, it’s time to wire up the power board and switch.

    The project includes a PowerBoost 1000C which enables the charging of the PiSwitch’s battery (to current spec giving 2-3 hours run time). Some trimming of legs on the power switch is required, before further wiring between it and the PowerBoost.

    Next up is to bring together the aforementioned pieces, plus the speaker and audio board, again with short lengths of wire. Foote details in his build guide the necessary arrangement. It’s at this point that the exposed PiSwitch can be hooked up to a battery to test all is well and working — an LED on the Pi should light up.


    PiSwitch Nintendo Switch RetroPie

    If the board lights up, then you’re good to continue. At each step of the build Foote recommends hot gluing the freshly soldered connections to secure them and eliminate shorts. In our opinion it makes sense to do this only after you’ve checked everything is working and know no re-soldering is required.

    After 3D printing the case parts, assembly should be a simple case of arranging the boards to align with their corresponding port holes. They can be fixed in place with the various laptop screws Foote recommends in his parts list. The design of the PiSwitch case doesn’t accommodate a hole for the headphone jack as is, so one will need to be drilled — between the Raspberry Pi 3 and PowerBoost.

    The penultimate stage of the PiSwitch build is to attach the screen, which Foote cautions against accidentally placing upside down in his guide. When correctly oriented, the screen will line up with the case.

    Finally, the last step to Switch-sized RetroPie goodness is to build the Pi software image. Before following Foote’s instructions specific to this project, you’ll need to visit the RetroPie GitHub and follow the installation instructions there.

    With that done, you can then follow along and set up the Joy-Con controllers and get to the device’s first boot.

    If this sounds like the sort of thing you’d happily spend a weekend doing, head on over the Foote’s Instructables post for the full guide in more detail.

    Of course, you could always just buy a Switch instead. Just sayin’…

    Source: Gizmodo

    Website: LINK

  • Use all your old-school game controllers with the turn of a dial

    Use all your old-school game controllers with the turn of a dial

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Use all your old-school game controllers with the turn of a dial

    Arduino Team — November 6th, 2017

    IT professional (and Arduino cap fan) John Milner had a minor problem. While his retro gaming setup could emulate a wide variety of systems and games, it was still missing the tactile feedback of the original controllers. Rather than “submit” to playing with only an Xbox 360 controller, he developed the Multijoy Retro Gaming System that can change gamepads with the turn of a knob using an Arduino Micro.

    The resulting system lets him not only choose the original controller for each game, but if you want to mix things up and see how Super Mario Bros. would feel on a PlayStation 1, or even a Genesis controller, you can do that too! It also features shortcut buttons on the new console.

    The Arduino presents itself as two joypads with native plug-and-play support for Microsoft Windows 7+ and Linux/RetroPie. The selector is simply a ring of LEDs with a potentiometer in the center, using the knob will move the lit LED to the desired controller pictured in that position, a simple system with an unexpected bonus of being a little retro in its appearance.

    You can check it out in the video below, and see more of the project on his blog and on GitHub.



    This entry was posted by Arduino Team on Monday, November 6th, 2017 and is filed under Arduino, Featured, Micro. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

    Website: LINK

  • Raspberry Pi 3 NES Classic Mini Project

    Raspberry Pi 3 NES Classic Mini Project

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    The Raspberry Pi 3 NES Classic Mini Project was in our mind from day one when the new New Classic Mini arrived 🙂

    After so much time there is a company from new york making small pi cases looking like this:

    Perfect case for our project , so here is the full list what you need:

    Optional:

    Setting up the Raspberry Pi + Case Assembly

    We got this nice PDF Document from oldskool.tools that shows very nice how to assemble the case right.

    Here is the Download Old Skool Tools Setup Tutorial

    Needs:

    • Controller
    • HDMI/DVI monitor or TV
    • HDMI cable
    • Laptop or PC with SD port
    • Micro SD card
    • Raspberry Pi case + Raspberry Pi
    • USB Keyboard
    • USB micro power supply (preferably the official Raspberry Pi power supply)

    Downloads:

    SETUP

    1. Insert your SD card in the SD card slot of your laptop or PC
      (Note the drive letter assigned to the SD card, for example G:)
    2. Unzip the downloaded RetroPie project SD card image with an extraction program
    3. Extract the RetroPie project SD card image to the SD card. Be careful to select the correct drive
      (Win32DiskImager for Windows and ApplePi-Baker for Mac)
    4. Remove the SD card from your laptop or PC
    5. Insert the SD card, one of your controllers and your keyboard into the Raspberry Pi
    6. Plug in the HDMI cable then plug in the power supply. This will boot up your Raspberry Pi
    7. Follow the onscreen prompts with your controller to set it up (up, down, left, right, etc)

      Done!

    RetroPie doesn’t show the emulators that don’t have ROMs installed, so don’t worry when you notice that only a small number of emulators are available. This is how it’s supposed to work. The other emulators will show up as you add ROMs. Make sure to download some ROMs and we’ll show you how to transfer them to your Raspberry Pi.

     

    TRANSFER ROMS

    TRANSFERRING ROMS TO RETROPIE

    You are almost ready to begin your journey back in time. Now that you’ve dealt with the setup of RetroPie, it’s time to transfer your favorite games to your Raspberry Pi. There are multiple ways to transfer your ROMs to your Raspberry Pi, but we’re going to show you two methods:

    – Transferring ROMs via a USB stick
    – Transferring ROMs via SCP

    USB METHOD

    Needs:

    • USB stick (formatted to FAT32)
    • Raspberry Pi (powered on)
    • USB keyboard

    Setup:

    1. Insert the USB stick in your computer
    2. Make sure that your USB is formatted to FAT32
    3. Create a folder called retropie on your USB stick
    4. Remove the USB stick from your computer
    5. Plug your USB stick in your Raspberry Pi and wait for your USB stick to stop blinking (If your USB doesn’t have a light just wait 5 minutes to be sure)
    6. Take your USB stick out of your Raspberry Pi and plug it into your computer
    7. Add the ROMs to their respective folders (in the retropie/roms folder on your USB stick)
    8. Plug your USB stick back into your Raspberry Pi
    9. Wait for your USB stick to stop blinking then remove your USB from your Raspberry Pi
    10. Refresh emulationstation by pressing F4, or choosing quit from the start menu

    SCP METHOD

    Needs:

    • Ethernet cable (wired)
    • Raspberry Pi > = 3 or Raspberry Pi < = 2 with a WiFi dongle (wireless)
    • USB keyboard

    Downloads:

    Setup:

    1. Open WinSCP or Cyberduck
    2. Setup the following
      File Protocol: SCP
      Host name: the IP address of your RetroPie.
      (To find the IP address of your RetroPie, go into RetroPie options from the main menu, and select the last option [ Show IP address ] )
      Username: pi
      Password: raspberry
    3. Drop the files in the ~/RetroPie/roms/$CONSOLE folder, where $CONSOLE is the name of the target console (e.g. snes or arcade)

    After Setting Up your Retro Console the next thing to do and last thing is the black ducktape, for the true NES design 😉

    Here are some Photos of ours finished , with controllers and all you need:

    And now you know what the black tape is good for ^^

    We hope you liked our small and quick project, follow our other channels. Thank you for reading.

    Sources: http://www.8bitdo.com/

    http://retro-bit.com/

    https://www.oldskool.tools/