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QuickCast Episode 5: Retropie

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Show Notes

In lieu of the ever-unattainable Mini NES, Graev decided to build himself a Retropie out of a Raspberry Pi. He showed it to me this afternoon and I knew we had to devote this week's QuickCast to discussing this cool new toy.

Here's what we chat about this week:

  • The gist of what a Retropie is and basically how to set one up
  • The hardware you'll need
  • The peripherals you can pick up to enhance your Retropie system
  • The games
  • The 'legality' or ethics of the emulator/rom scene​

Episode Links

Here are the accessories and gadgets we mentioned in this week's episode:

  • I’m actually in the process of building a pie arcade cabinet, I’ll post some pics when it’s finished. The hardest part is wiring the buttons so far 🙁

    • That’s awesome! We would love to see it. I think one day when I have the space, I’ll build one. I found a guide for buying the buttons and joystick stuff on Amazon and wiring it up. Seems tough, but rewarding.

    • That’s awesome. I have a wired USB 360 controller right now plugged in. I use it for the games that are basically ports from console to PC. Works great. If it can work with a retropie, I think that’ll be even better than a SNES controller — though less retro.

  • Just listened to your episode. I have been building Retropie machines for awhile. I think the coolest feature I have found that keeps me playing games and not just tinkering with it (which I still do a lot of)is Retroachievements. You can sign up for them at Retroachievements.org and it is just a couple of steps to add your RA account to Retropie. There is a github page that’ll walk you through the process.

    I also built a Retropie arcade machine and that was a very fulfilling experience but there is something nice about sitting on the couch playing emulators with a wireless controller on the big screen. Best controller is SNES 8bitdo Bluetooth. It feels identical to original SNES, but is wireless.
    Here is a vid of my 2 Player Bartop Arcade I built https://youtu.be/C7imt7YqCKQ

    There are also vids of retroachievements on my YouTube feed using Retropie. Add me on retroachievements, coreyhussell

    Keep up the good work