Raspberry Pi Gaming thread - Cheap emulation and gaming projects

You probably aren't going to get a definitive answer until you try it. As for the official DS3, Retropie supports the DS3 over the built in Bluetooth, while recalbox requires a Bluetooth dongle. Recalbox dues not have the Pi3 built in Bluetooth working properly last I saw.

Will DS3s simply work is there a special driver necessary or anything like that?


I've not yet opened my pi3, but I'm starting to mentally prepare for it.
I was considering controllers, and originally though I wouldn't mess with bluetooth, as it seems to have a lot of hassle from what I've seen....

Can anyone vouch for specific bluetooth controllers that work easy and work well, without lag? I'm thinking about the FC30, the famicom looking bluetooth controller from 8bitdo..
But if Bluetooth is more of a hassle than simply having wired controllers, I might just try out a few of those ibuffalo USB Famicom controllers.

I've got a few junk famicom systems whose shells would be perfect for the pi, and I love the idea of playing with controllers that will fit into the famicom controller rest slots, with USB slots for another 2-4 controllers.
 
Hey everyone,

I am thinking of getting a a Pi - but I know nothing about it.

I got an NES mini and it made me want more. I've also heard about the Pi for such a long time and have been interested. Is it easy for a complete noob to this to be able to pick up a kit or whatever to make this work? I want to to get a setup with my tv and a Dual Shock 3, basically want to have as much retro gaming as possible up to whatever console can be reliably emulated.

This is the kit I was considering (I live in Toronto Canada) - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01CCF6V3A/

Can anyone tell if that kit in amazon would be good?

I bought a CanaKit. I was really pleased with it.

The setup went smoothly. I am not experienced in these things. The biggest problem I encountered was when I decided to try using a bluetooth controller. I eventually got it to work.

I watched this video before buying mine. I think this video might of sold me on the CanaKit.

https://youtu.be/mKSil5kJmwM

They encountered some of the same problems as me, mainly setting up FTP. Luckily, there is a very simple solution (\\retropie).
 
I have an 8bitdo SFC30 and an 8bitdo SNES30 both witlessly paired to my Pi 3 with retropie, I have 0 issues with them whatsoever don't have any lag or at least noticeable either I can play NES Punch-Out without issues. The initial setup is not so friendly I give you that.
 
I have an 8bitdo SFC30 and an 8bitdo SNES30 both witlessly paired to my Pi 3 with retropie, I have 0 issues with them whatsoever don't have any lag or at least noticeable either I can play NES Punch-Out without issues. The initial setup is not so friendly I give you that.

Would you mind elaborating on that initial setup? ... and once you get the initial set up out of the way, they're great?
 
I had a lot of trouble setting up my SNES30.

None of the popular tutorials worked. I eventually found one that worked. I did not bookmark it though. Looking through my history, this might be it.

https://howchoo.com/g/mjcxyzcymjj/using-a-wireless-bluetooth-controller-with-retropie

My controller would not always show up when trying to initially pair it. It usually showed up on the 2nd try. It will display the controllers name when it finally does show up on the list of bluetooth devices.

Once it was paired and setup, I had some trouble getting it to reconnect after rebooting the system. Many of the tutorials gave conflicting information.

I found that the start button is the only thing I needed when turning the controller on. Some tutorials mentioned holding the R button and start, but this only caused problems for me. If I held start for a few seconds and saw a rapidly flashing blue light, I knew I was in good shape. I could then plug in the Pi and it would connect without issue.

I spent a few hours trying to get the controller to work. It was a frustrating experience. But, once I got it working, there have not been any problems since.

I am going to add two SNES30 to a Pi later this week. I am a little worried that I will encounter the same trouble as I did before. I think many of my problems were caused by not using the start button to power the controller on. I think I was using R and start or L and start.

Thank you both

Would you mind elaborating on that initial setup? ... and once you get the initial set up out of the way, they're great?


This. Please.


Also to anyone: what is the most complete build possible to make a Pi most efficient without having to install too much. I'm thinking about just giving this to my mom. She was impressed with it over xmas.
 
Would you mind elaborating on that initial setup? ... and once you get the initial set up out of the way, they're great?

Make sure your 8bitdo SNES30 or SFC30 has the latest firmware (2.70) if not, go to the 8bitdo official website and update your firmware, actually I don't know if there is any way to know what firmware your 8bitdo has until you update and it tells you what firmware version you are updating from. for example my SNES30 came with a 1.67 firmware while my SFC30 came with the latest firmware already installed.

Then Follow this guide to the T

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Setting-up-an-8bitdo-Bluetooth-controller

it might take a few tries for your controller to be discovered by the Pi the first time you are trying to pair it during the setup, don't panic just scan for Bluetooth devices again until it sees it.

only thing I would add is that, once you have the controller paired and boot up retropie for the first time you still need to go to the controller configuration mapping menu with a wired controller different from the 8bitdo and only then you'll see the controller and proceed to map it. The first time I paired my controller I thought that retropie would detected it right away and I was missing that small detail of still going to the mapping controller menu with a different controller before retropie would finally see it.

This looks somehow complicated but it shouldn't take you more that 5 minutes to do it, do it once and you are good to go. 8bitdo controllers work amazing with retropie, Like I said I have 2 and I play beat'em ups and fighting games with friends and my little son and never have had any issues.
 
Hey everyone,

I am thinking of getting a a Pi - but I know nothing about it.

I got an NES mini and it made me want more. I've also heard about the Pi for such a long time and have been interested. Is it easy for a complete noob to this to be able to pick up a kit or whatever to make this work? I want to to get a setup with my tv and a Dual Shock 3, basically want to have as much retro gaming as possible up to whatever console can be reliably emulated.

This is the kit I was considering (I live in Toronto Canada) - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01CCF6V3A/

Can anyone tell if that kit in amazon would be good?
I have this same exact kit, I can't remember how much I paid, but $100 is pretty steep. No RPI at the moment plays N64 well.

The appeal of the pi is to be able to get a complete kit for $40-60 USD and be good. At that $99 price, you're better off getting an open box laptop or stick PC from Best Buy and connecting it via HDMI and gaining the ability to play lower end Windows games and DOS games. A Lenovo Ideacentre stick is $99 NIB or a Lenovo Ideapad 100s is $150 open box (prices in USD). Both will play N64 better than the Pi can, plus double as a Windows 10 machine - I think most or all frontends available on the Pi are available on Windows 10.

That's the route I went. Now I can do everything I can do on the Pi and play Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst. Very much looking forward to the next generation of Pi, because it is such a shame that emulation on budget machines has always historically hit a brick wall at N64 emulation.

is there any inkling of a raspberry pi 4? Don't want to buy this one and the next can play like dreamcast games.

From what I read, not in 2017 - just a RP3 revision.
 
Hey everyone,

I am thinking of getting a a Pi - but I know nothing about it.

I got an NES mini and it made me want more. I've also heard about the Pi for such a long time and have been interested. Is it easy for a complete noob to this to be able to pick up a kit or whatever to make this work? I want to to get a setup with my tv and a Dual Shock 3, basically want to have as much retro gaming as possible up to whatever console can be reliably emulated.

This is the kit I was considering (I live in Toronto Canada) - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01CCF6V3A/

Can anyone tell if that kit in amazon would be good?

That's the exact kit I bought a few days ago. Got it put together and was playing games in under an hour in Retropie an hour thanks to the numerous amounts of guides online. I didn't use the SD card with Noobs pre-installed that comes with that kit though, I used a new, blank card. I believe you'd have to format the one with Noobs first if you're planning on that. I kept that card as-is in case I want to mess around with that stuff at a later date.

I'm currently using a DS3 wired and have no issues, other than some settings menus I believe should be controllable with the pad aren't, so I have to use my USB keyboard for those. I'd advise having one ready as well.

FYI, I don't know if this has changed with newer versions of Retropie than what was covered in the videos I watched, but if you plan to use your DS3 wirelessly, you need to install an extra driver which will overwrite the default Bluetooth drivers meaning you can only use the DS3 over BT and nothing else. This is not an issue with DS4 controllers.

I have not tried Recallbox, but I believe it doesn't support the Pi 3's Bluetooth at all currently, so you need to also have a BT USB dongle.

As for how noob friendly it is, I'm a pretty big idiot and I got it going with ease. The software is really well set up and honestly I think I spent more tweaking my TV settings to get a perfect image than I did tweaking the Pi. Outside of its initial setup, the main things you need to do on your own is turn off/on Overscan if you have black bars around the screen, setting up wifi and then doing a package update (which took me over an hour, good god!)

I'd suggest checking a few setup videos on Youtube before you order it to see what's involved first, but I doubt you'll have issues. I'm really impressed with mine so far, but I haven't dug too deep into it due the holidays being busy.

Edit: Oh, I do have one small issue with my DS3. Since I'm using it wired, it's still BT paired to my PS3 and for some reason after shutting down the Pi, the pad goes into wireless mode turns on my PS3 by itself. I assume I can use the pinhole button to reset the controller, but that seems like it'll get annoying having to redo that all the time if I use it on the PS3 which will pair them again, so I'm just dealing with it. I could also just unplug the PS3, but I still use it as a BD player.
 
Does the 8bitdo NES30 have the same issues as the SNES one? I just ordered one along with a RP3--really excited but apprehensive about controller issues.
 
Does the 8bitdo NES30 have the same issues as the SNES one? I just ordered one along with a RP3--really excited but apprehensive about controller issues.
What are the SNES30 issues? I have a SNES30 and a SFC30 both paired to my Pi 3 and never have had any issues, no lags no disconnects, nothing.
 
That's the exact kit I bought a few days ago. Got it put together and was playing games in under an hour in Retropie an hour thanks to the numerous amounts of guides online. I didn't use the SD card with Noobs pre-installed that comes with that kit though, I used a new, blank card. I believe you'd have to format the one with Noobs first if you're planning on that. I kept that card as-is in case I want to mess around with that stuff at a later date.

I'm currently using a DS3 wired and have no issues, other than some settings menus I believe should be controllable with the pad aren't, so I have to use my USB keyboard for those. I'd advise having one ready as well.

FYI, I don't know if this has changed with newer versions of Retropie than what was covered in the videos I watched, but if you plan to use your DS3 wirelessly, you need to install an extra driver which will overwrite the default Bluetooth drivers meaning you can only use the DS3 over BT and nothing else. This is not an issue with DS4 controllers.

I have not tried Recallbox, but I believe it doesn't support the Pi 3's Bluetooth at all currently, so you need to also have a BT USB dongle.

As for how noob friendly it is, I'm a pretty big idiot and I got it going with ease. The software is really well set up and honestly I think I spent more tweaking my TV settings to get a perfect image than I did tweaking the Pi. Outside of its initial setup, the main things you need to do on your own is turn off/on Overscan if you have black bars around the screen, setting up wifi and then doing a package update (which took me over an hour, good god!)

I'd suggest checking a few setup videos on Youtube before you order it to see what's involved first, but I doubt you'll have issues. I'm really impressed with mine so far, but I haven't dug too deep into it due the holidays being busy.

Edit: Oh, I do have one small issue with my DS3. Since I'm using it wired, it's still BT paired to my PS3 and for some reason after shutting down the Pi, the pad goes into wireless mode turns on my PS3 by itself. I assume I can use the pinhole button to reset the controller, but that seems like it'll get annoying having to redo that all the time if I use it on the PS3 which will pair them again, so I'm just dealing with it. I could also just unplug the PS3, but I still use it as a BD player.


Okay, thanks for the info, and thanks to everyone else who responded as well. I watched a couple videos including the one that was linked for me by someone else and I've decided to go for it.

This kit seems to be well liked in general and has everything I need to start. I'm so excited to get a decent retro setup going! I had so much stress trying to obtain an NES classic and it got me looking more into the Rasberry Pi as so many people were suggesting it as an alternative.
 
is there any inkling of a raspberry pi 4? Don't want to buy this one and the next can play like dreamcast games.

Very unlikely:

What to expect in 2017 with Raspberry Pi's

- Pi3 Computer Model being released - mostly for developers, but could be used in making gaming consoles or handhelds.
- Pi3 Model A being released - cheaper price, 1 usb no Ethernet, but has onboard wifi and power of Pi3, maybe less energy consumption.
- No Raspberry Pi 4 apparently
 
Bought the stuff I need to make one of these today on Amazon.

Only downside is that none of the bundles seemed that great, and that Amazon isn't an official reseller of the Pi 3. Hoping everything goes smoothly when it comes in.
 
Got most of the way finished with my tabletop arcade machine:

g0MOtqU.jpg


qrQ1jQJ.jpg

The wiring in the second image only shows the ground wire soldering, the others are just straight to GPIO on the Pi.

Made a few mistakes on the laser cutter designs - the most annoying of which is the gap between the screen surround and the control panel. The other major issue is the lack of start and select buttons, which I completely forgot about! Still pretty proud of it though.
 
Got most of the way finished with my tabletop arcade machine:



The wiring in the second image only shows the ground wire soldering, the others are just straight to GPIO on the Pi.

Made a few mistakes on the laser cutter designs - the most annoying of which is the gap between the screen surround and the control panel. The other major issue is the lack of start and select buttons, which I completely forgot about! Still pretty proud of it though.


Nice work :) It's nice to see another person make a laser cut cabinet!

I'm assuming you wen with the 7" panel for portability running it off 5V ?
 
Anybody have tips on getting PC Engine CD / Turbografx-16 CD games to work on Retropie? I have the syscard3.pce in the bios folder and the pcengine folder. The game I'm trying is Y's I & II. It just goes back to my games list when I try to launch it.
 
Anybody have tips on getting PC Engine CD / Turbografx-16 CD games to work on Retropie? I have the syscard3.pce in the bios folder and the pcengine folder. The game I'm trying is Y's I & II. It just goes back to my games list when I try to launch it.

I've had the same problem! Not sure what the issue is.
 
Nice work :) It's nice to see another person make a laser cut cabinet!

I'm assuming you wen with the 7" panel for portability running it off 5V ?
Cheers :) We're allowed free access to the cutter at the lab I study at, I ended up making nearly all of my Xmas presents on it.

I bought the display on a whim in Amazon's Prime day sales. It's actually pretty good and has capacitive touch. The touch data and power go over the same cable, so for touch you power the screen from the Pi itself. From what I remember you have to manually up the amount of power coming out of the Pi's USB ports though. Felt a bit funny about it, so am just dealing with an extra phone charger coming out of the back of the cabinet :)
 
Does anyone know of a way to boot directly into Attract Mode. Im affraid when Im not around the kids will be forced to reboot when something goes wrong and not be able to get back to Attract Mode.
 
is there any inkling of a raspberry pi 4? Don't want to buy this one and the next can play like dreamcast games.

Not for a while, late 2017 at the earliest, but Raspberry Pi has always been coy about releases. RP3 was dropped with just about no announcement.

It's the only way they can afford to sell them as cheap as they do. If they announced the next model months ahead, demand would be too high and the previous model sales would dry up too quickly.

They're also pretty damn cheap.
 
Anybody have tips on getting PC Engine CD / Turbografx-16 CD games to work on Retropie? I have the syscard3.pce in the bios folder and the pcengine folder. The game I'm trying is Y's I & II. It just goes back to my games list when I try to launch it.

Try putting a copy of the BIOS into the CD image folder. That worked for me on the Windows version.
 
Anybody have tips on getting PC Engine CD / Turbografx-16 CD games to work on Retropie? I have the syscard3.pce in the bios folder and the pcengine folder. The game I'm trying is Y's I & II. It just goes back to my games list when I try to launch it.

I figured out this problem one year after I started trying to play TG-CD games at 2 am in the morning and I was pissed.

First, you are right with the syscard3.pce file. Next, shorten the name of the game. TG-CD games tend to be long for no good reason.

Next, make sure the .cue file matches EXACTLY as the .bin or .iso file.

The last step is very important. Make sure that when you are editing the .cue file, make sure you turn rich text edit OFF. I WAS STUMPED FOR A WHOLE YEAR PLAYING TG-CD games because the stupid quotation mark in the .cue file was not the generic quotation mark but a closed quotation mark. When I fixed that, every game I had started working.

Enjoy!
 
So I just ordered my Raspbery Pi 3 Kit and a SNES clone controller (Buffalo Classic) thats imported from Japan. How good is Retropie in emulating SNES / Mega Drive / GBA games?
 
I figured out this problem one year after I started trying to play TG-CD games at 2 am in the morning and I was pissed.

First, you are right with the syscard3.pce file. Next, shorten the name of the game. TG-CD games tend to be long for no good reason.

Next, make sure the .cue file matches EXACTLY as the .bin or .iso file.

The last step is very important. Make sure that when you are editing the .cue file, make sure you turn rich text edit OFF. I WAS STUMPED FOR A WHOLE YEAR PLAYING TG-CD games because the stupid quotation mark in the .cue file was not the generic quotation mark but a closed quotation mark. When I fixed that, every game I had started working.

Enjoy!

Still no luck on my side. Argh!!
 
I found out we have a 3D printer at my university which we can use. Can someone direct me to where I can get plans for a portable case for a Pi Zero?
 
The friend who bought me the pi3 says his set up has a Bluetooth dongle for Bluetooth, since he says the native Bluetooth function isn't good enough, and I think he has the OS on the sd and roms and whatnot on a USB drive.

I wanted to ask here, is the Bluetooth sufficient as is for you guys, or do you use dongles, and also, are you guys using USB storage instead of, or in conjunction with the SD?

Also, are there any easy ways to get power switches working if I stick the pi into a game console shell? I'm a noob in every way here, but if there's something made for that which I can buy I would do it.

Also, as I'd like to stick it into a game system shell, I'm going to need things like USB and hdmi extenders, right, as well as things that secure these parts to the shell, etc. since I'm sure some of you have done this already, do you have a recommended shopping list for things like this?

Edit: one more, do you guys use heat sinks?
Seeing these online but wonder what you guys thought.
 
The friend who bought me the pi3 says his set up has a Bluetooth dongle for Bluetooth, since he says the native Bluetooth function isn't good enough, and I think he has the OS on the sd and roms and whatnot on a USB drive.

I wanted to ask here, is the Bluetooth sufficient as is for you guys, or do you use dongles, and also, are you guys using USB storage instead of, or in conjunction with the SD?

I installed Lakka on my Raspberry Pi 3 and it works fine with a Dualshock 3 using the native Bluetooth. Also, ROMs run from the SD card just fine as well, just make sure it is a good brand Class 10 SDHC card.
 
Hey everyone,

I am thinking of getting a a Pi - but I know nothing about it.

I got an NES mini and it made me want more. I've also heard about the Pi for such a long time and have been interested. Is it easy for a complete noob to this to be able to pick up a kit or whatever to make this work? I want to to get a setup with my tv and a Dual Shock 3, basically want to have as much retro gaming as possible up to whatever console can be reliably emulated.

This is the kit I was considering (I live in Toronto Canada) - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01CCF6V3A/

Can anyone tell if that kit in amazon would be good?

That kit seems really expensive. I got a CanaKit with the Pi, the case, the power supply and heat sinks for $50 US. Buy an SD card for $10 to $15. I'm sure you can find a reader for cheap.

CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3 Kit with Clear Case and 2.5A Power Supply https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C6EQNNK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

RetroPie kicks ass. My son is having a blast with it. So much better than the NES classic.
 
Going to close this off into a famicom shell.. Is it better to use Bluetooth mouse and keyboard (taking up Bluetooth spaces), wireless with dongle (taking up USB spaces) or just do wired USB for when they're needed?

Also, with extra USB ports available, are there any nifty tricks or other practical uses?
Like USB powered LED or a tiny internal fan, or anything like that? Any other thoughts?
 
Has anyone tried those RetroLink SNES controllers? I know the Buffalo ones are the go to choice, but I might pick up a couple of RetroLinks since they're cheaper for multiplayer.
 
Going to close this off into a famicom shell.. Is it better to use Bluetooth mouse and keyboard (taking up Bluetooth spaces), wireless with dongle (taking up USB spaces) or just do wired USB for when they're needed?

Also, with extra USB ports available, are there any nifty tricks or other practical uses?
Like USB powered LED or a tiny internal fan, or anything like that? Any other thoughts?

If you are using it for emulation only you shouldn't need to use the mouse and keyboard too often. Just for initial setup really. I'm using Lakka instead of Retropie or Recalbox but I have never used them at all because the UI is tailored to be used with a controller. If I ever needed to log on the console to use the command line, I could just connect from my PC using PuTTY.
The Raspberry Pi can power up a fan using the GPIO pins. Some cases like this one come with their own fan but you should be able to purchase the fan on its own.
 
Found my issue while looking through the github retropie site. I missed out on changing the .bin labeling inside the cue file. It was always UPPERCASE. Once I changed .BIN to .bin, Y's loaded up fine. Now to work on Dracula X.

Hmmmmm, this is my folder and cue file. Everything matches up as far as I can see, no? I selected Make Rich a text to show that it ISN'T in rich text right now...

 
Hmmmmm, this is my folder and cue file. Everything matches up as far as I can see, no? I selected Make Rich a text to show that it ISN'T in rich text right now...

I changed my ISO to a BIN. I mounted the cue file in Daemon Tools Lite and then created a BIN image in imageburn. I'm not sure if ISO files work but when I was trying them, I still had the incorrect text in the cue file.
 
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