Classic gaming computer under $70
The Raspberry Pi is all grown up and with the RetroPie Linux distro, classic gaming isn’t far away — provided you have the game ROMs.
Sometimes, you just want the original, and in terms of community support, nothing comes close to the Raspberry Pi. With now over 10 million in circulation, the Raspberry Pi powers everything from servers to entertainment. Thanks to the RetroPie distro, that includes classic gaming.
R-PI VERSIONS
There are essentially three versions of the Raspberry Pi — the Zero and the first-gen boards running that singlecore 700MHz Broadcom BCM2835 SoC, the Raspberry Pi 2 with quad-core BCM2836 Cortex A7 chip and the latest Raspberry Pi 3, powered by Broadcom’s BCM2837 quad-core Cortex A53 chip. Importantly, all generations run the same VideoCore IV GPU.
The peripheral hardware varies but typically includes at least one USB port (four Type-A ports on the Pi 2 and 3), HDMI output, plus some combination of Ethernet or Wi-Fi. However, they all require you bring your own flash storage and operating system.
RETROPIE LINUX
There are several Linux distros available for the Raspberry Pi, including the excellent Raspbian, but it’s RetroPie ( retropie.org.uk) that’s aiming to turn any Raspberry Pi into a slice of classic-gaming paradise. Given the range of performaMCN available in R-Pi boards, there are two RetroPie versions available — one for the Zero and first-gen boards, another for the Pi 2 and 3 boards. We tested it out on a first-gen 256MB Raspberry Pi Model B board, which has the same SoC hardware as the new Pi Zero.
Inside, RetroPie is predominantly a massive collection of emulators for classic games machines from the Atari 2600 down to the ZX Spectrum. But it also offers a number of games ported to the Pi’s architecture. These ports include classics such as id software’s DOOM, Quake and Wolfenstein 3D, Commander Keen, PriMCN of Persia and more. However, in many cases, this gets you the game engine only — you have to provide game assets (textures, maps, sounds) yourself.
The great thing about classic games, though, is they were written in an era where storage and clock cycles were at a premium, so you can get Wolfenstein 3D running nicely even on a Raspberry Pi Gen-1 board with just 256MB of RAM.
RetroPie is designed to work with minimal keyboard or mouse input (for games that don’t need a keyboard or mouse). Plug in your game controller and RetroPie’s Emulation Station front-end recognises it straightaway. We tested a Logitech GamePad F310, a PS3 DualShock 3 controller (wired-mode only) and some random Xbox 360 controller we bought years ago from EB Games — all three worked a treat.
WHERE TO GET GAME ROMS
Sorry, this we can’t tell you — downloading copyrighted game ROMs is illegal. That said, you don’t have to search far to find game ROMs by the bushel. Common thinking is you can download a ROM for a game you already own and be okay, legally. Apparently in Australia, at least... not so ( tinyurl.com/ apc437-roms).
GET YOUR RETRO ON!
In the end, the Mini Classic NES is a glorified single-board computer running Linux and NES ROMs in flash storage. Creating a similar hardware build is the easy bit — whether you’re happy to download game ROMs illegally or stick with open-source games, setting up a suitable Linuxbased distro to cover your needs often requires a bit of work and perseveraMCN. But regardless of your budget, retro-gaming can live on.