Relive retro gaming with Raspberry Pi
Retro gaming got popular as emulators improved and internet access spread. Some people prefer older games because they remember them from childhood. Others think the constraints of early hardware forced designers to be more creative. I mostly just like how straightforward they are to play.
The Raspberry Pi makes portable retro gaming affordable. There’s an active community at the sudomod forums and on Discord building all kinds of devices:
- Minty Pi by wermy - fits inside an Altoids tin
- Game boy Null 2 by Ampersand - slim with a large screen
- Tiny Pi Pro by Pi0cket/moosepr - small enough for a keychain. I built one and wrote up how it went
- Circuit sword by Kite retro - drop-in replacement for original Game Boy internals
- Picicle by Shirokov brothers - clean minimalist design
Most of these are limited runs, so grab them if you’re interested.
How It Works
Raspberry Pi is a single-board computer. Different models have different specs and sizes.
It runs on 5V DC. Load an OS onto a memory card and it works like a small computer.
For gaming, use RetroPie or RecalBox. Both handle emulation and have good game launcher interfaces.
For a portable setup, you need:
- Raspberry Pi (Zero is smallest)
- Power source: 5V 2A adapter for tethered, or a 3.7V Li-ion battery for portable
- Display: HDMI or SPI (like ILI9341)
- Memory card with OS and games
The sudomod forums have build guides for most popular projects. Start there.
If you want to go smaller than a Raspberry Pi, I later built a handheld console on an ATtiny85, which has 8KB of flash and no operating system at all.
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