Retro gaming with a Raspberry pi
Using a Raspberry Pi for reto I know, that it’s underpowered for quite a few different emulators. I’m very surprised what you can play on it . When you first buy a Rasberry PI, you will have to download their free os called Raspbian. Then you can sign up to the PI store, so you can download all kind of apps. They have four good classic gaming emulators available, all of them are free downloads: MAME4ALL , PiSNES — Super NES emulator, Pcsx_reARMed — PlayStation1, Atari800 — Atari 8-bit computers (800, XL, XE, etc.)
There’s even any image out there call Retro pi. Someone has done all the hard work for you already. The Raspberry Pi will boot automatically into EmulationStation. This is a program running off a custom SD card called RetroPie that allows you to use a controller to select an emulator and a game without ever touching a keyboard or mouse. After everything’s set up, you’ll be able to navigate and do everything you need to do on the Raspberry Pi from a controller.
What systems can you emulate? A lot of them:
- Amiga (UAE4All)
- Atari 2600 (RetroArch)
- Doom (RetroArch)
- Final Burn Alpha (RetroArch)
- Game Boy Advance (RetroArch)
- Game Boy Color (RetroArch)
- Game Gear (Osmose)
- Intellivision (RetroArch)
- MAME (RetroArch)
- MAME (AdvMAME)
- NeoGeo (GnGeo)
- NeoGeo (Genesis-GX, RetroArch)
- Sega Master System (Osmose)
- Sega Megadrive (DGEN)
- Nintendo Entertainment System (RetroArch)
- PC Engine / Turbo Grafx 16 (RetroArch)
- Playstation 1 (RetroArch)
- ScummVM
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System (RetroArch)
- Sinclair ZX Spectrum (Fuse)
- Z Machine emulator (Frotz)
Some of the more advanced emulators like the Playstation 1 and Neo Geo don’t work as well, but for the most part the older systems work great. It has a quick usb copy option, so just format a usb stick and plug it into the retro pi and wait about minute. It will make the directory for you, plug it in your pc and you can just load your roms to your favorite emulator instead of using ftp. The other thing I found out when it comes to using the Emulation Station and a PlayStation 3 or Xbox360 controller is mapping out the buttons for each individual emulator it can be a real headache. There is an auto config tool for the joysticks but it does not always seem to work properly when you jump from emulator to emulator. So I would recommend going with a third-party generic usb Super Nintendo controller or make your own fight stick. I think it’s makes a great Retro Arcade System and does not cost a lot of money. There a few links on how to build a Retro pi
Cool. Will try it put when I get the time.
Busy right now, will deffinately give it a try… and blog about i… using GOLOR – VHBL 2.12..
Thanks for the update.. hacinformer 🙂
fanjita?
ouya is great in emulating games too and nvidia new console
Nice to see some RPI stuff here! =)
I own one of these. They are fun, enjoying to setup. I installed Openelec on mine and it works great as a media center. Even supports 720p movies.
I have not tried it as an emulator machine yet. I have read about some great uses for these little computers. People have used them from alarm systems to beer and liqueur dispenser. here is the link for bartendro.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/partyrobotics/bartendro-a-cocktail-dispensing-robot
A great machine for projects. just dont expect it too much at once, most smart phones are more powerful. but fun none the less. They can work with an Arduino and breadboard for fun projects.
Have you tried XBMC on the pi? and I would like to try the Arduino GSM Shield. It allows an Arduino board to connect to the internet with your sim card from your phone,you can make/receive voice calls and send/receive SMS messages with it and browse the net too. It would be like a pc with 4g service but with your own sim card from your phone.
openelec runs xbmc, then add navi-x it works great, a little slow on startup but does the job. it manages 720p movies. i dont work for openelec or sponsor, i just use it.
http://openelec.tv/
Open Embedded Linux Entertainment Center (OpenELEC) is a small Linux distribution built from scratch as a platform to turn your computer into an XBMC media center. OpenELEC is designed to make your system boot fast, and the install is so easy that anyone can turn a blank PC into a media machine in less than 15 minutes.
the arduino board sounds great being able to add a sim, with both there is endless projects. i only have the raspberry pi. its all good fun
can the vita emulate a raspberry to emulate a vita back again?
No but the raspberry pi can emulate the psp, but it’s to slow for that. I found one game,I could get working a old pinball game for the psp but that was still to slow to play.
If anyone one here is going to purchase a Raspberry Pi I would suggest buying one that is made in the UK. The solder job is much better, The audio port is blue, and I don’t have issues with the power supply as i have with my China made one.
I’ve actually been looking for a way to build a system for my grandpa so he can play some of the old nintendo games and Retro Pi looks like it would work really well.