TAKING CONTROL
No retro gaming experience would be complete without a suitable controller. If you simply want the approximate look and feel of your childhood gaming experience, Amazon and ebay sell a number of Playstation/sega/nintendo-style USB controllers such as the Buffalo Classic USB Gamepad.
If you already have an original controller, you may prefer to buy a USB adapter so you can plug them into the Pi. Some, such as the Mayflash Dual SNES Controller Adapter, accept two controllers. You may find that this puts too great a strain on the Pi’s USB ports, though. If the second controller isn’t detected, try using a mainspowered USB hub. For this review, we used a Sony PS4 controller connected to the Pi via a micro-usb cable.
If you add a second controller, it should automatically set up but you can use the Emulationstation Menu to reassign buttons if necessary. See http://bit.ly/lxf257config for more information.
If you don’t want to relive the tangled cabling of your youth, Retropie also supports a number of wireless controllers. One excellent choice is the Logitech F710, which resembles a Sony Dualshock controller but has programmable buttons and joysticks. See http:// bit.ly/lxf257logitech for steps on how to set this up on your Retropie. Retropie also has limited support for wireless PS4 and Xbox controllers. If you’re on a tight budget, the experimental software
Virtual Gamepad may help you turn your Android phone into a wireless controller – see http://bit.ly/2qu6fft for more information, though don’t expect miracles in terms of performance.