if anybody is thinking of putting a mini console together (you don't have to make a cabinet), I have found a Raspberry 2 b does the job and you can pick these up on ebay for £26 and playstation like USB joy pads are £4.99 each on ebay too. Happy to answer any questions if anybody is interested in putting one together.
I have built a temporary cabinet to test everything and it is bloody addictive. The great thing about the software is you can exit the game instantly and move on to another. The arcade games are not copies, they are the original arcade games. Golden Axe, NBA Jam, WWF, Space Invaders. Then you have virtually every Gameboy, Gameboy Colour, Gameboy Advance, Atari 2600, NES, Master System, Megadrive, Snes, PC Engine and the Sega 32x and Cd games too. Then you have all the NEO GEO arcade games including the excellent Metal Slug games, then the arcade from the early games to Out Run, After Burner etc...
I just have to do some tidying up, I need to put on the screen border which I couldn't do until the monitor was mounted to get the size right. I had buttons with bulbs in them. There was no wiring or instructions for getting them to light up, but I had the idea of buying a cheap set of Christmas lights and removing a light from the set and replacing with the button light x 12. It looks good as they have different flashing cycles. I then have to fix on the side panels below and the plastic piping between the two panels.
One of the problems is the breaks you take to play a game or two. I am going to do another one as I think I can do it even better and I really enjoy it.
I decided to go with a VGA monitor as the 4:3 ratio display looks more authentic than a widescreen. You can get the reconditioned monitors for £15 from ebay, I them had to buy a VGA to HDMI adapter which was £3 and also a set of USB powered speakers for £4.99 - again from ebay.
The outer is aluminium we have printed and this has been built around a wooden frame. It is going to look very tasty when finished, but there are some little details I can do better! Anyway, off to play a bit of Carnival and Lunar Rescue - games I loved in my youth - yes they are very old!
It will look better when I cover the monitor. Not sure whether to go plain or put in a little design. The two player options are great for some of the games and I have Kick off 2 and Sensible to play with my brother.
I left out the Playstation and N64 as whilst many of the games work they feel like they are pushing the raspberry slightly outside its comfort zone. I have thousands of games for all the major consoles before those.
Not sure. Do you mean NASCAR? Polygon cars that suffer damage on a bitmap track. It is one of the few racing games I haven't got, not for want of trying. Most are not great but there are some nice ones. I could do a cabinet with steering wheel etc... Not sure the wife would be too keen!
Pole position is so basic, it sin't much fun. I have enjoyed playing Mille Miligia, it is very arcardy and works well with the joystick. Outrun plays well. I used domed screws on the outside, but have worked out how to hide them on the Aluminium. It was a real learning curve, with the software too! It can be a bit fiddly setting it up correctly.
One of the problems is the breaks you take to play a game or two. I am going to do another one as I think I can do it even better and I really enjoy it.
Ah man, Outrun. That takes me back to the upstairs of Crook Log Sports Centre 1985. Just need a cherry coke with crushed ice or root beer out the drinks machine now!
One of the problems is the breaks you take to play a game or two. I am going to do another one as I think I can do it even better and I really enjoy it.
Ah man, Outrun. That takes me back to the upstairs of Crook Log Sports Centre 1985. Just need a cherry coke with crushed ice or root beer out the drinks machine now!
Ever thought about selling kits with instructions Muttley?
I hadn't thought of that. One of the problems is you sort of have to work it out as you go along, everything doesn't naturally slot into place. All that would be needed that people can't get hold of is the printed alumium which I can print. If they are good with D.I.Y. (wood) Skills they will probably be much better than me. The rest of the stuff is on ebay. I am going to change the aluminium design a bit to make it easier and to double up on panels to obscure screws. You have to make one and go on that journey to work out what would work better.
In all honesty, it really challenged me and was close to the edge of my abilities. I could have done better with the select/start button panels. Using the Christmas lights was a stroke of genius! But I am not that handy! You can get wooden cabinet kits on e-bay. If somebody wanted to do one, I would be happy to give advice/answer questions.
The Dragon's Lair theme looks good but it is a crap game to play. I think yellow with Pac Man theme would be better. All the bits are cheap but you need a few so it adds up.
If you just want to play the games you don't need a cabinet. You can buy a raspberry Pi 2b or 3b. A 2b is about £25 but you can find them cheaper sometimes. Then a case to put it in is about £2.30. A power supply about £3.50. Then you can get playstation type USB joypabs for £4.99 each. Then you need a HDMI lead to your TV.
The software and games is via retropie. Strictly speaking people shouldn't be able to sell this as the games are copyright, although nobody plays them anymore and that is sad. It is easy to get hold of them though. My set up uses a 64gb SD card and I can load and save. There are thousands of games on this for all formats including Arcade and NEO GEO.
So if you wanted to play these games it can be done reasonably cheaply.
@MuttleyCAFC - Not sure if it's too late to mention for your build, but on mine I have stuck in a couple of USB ports at the front for some 8bitdo controllers that can be easily plugged / unplugged. With the new Pi4 out there is a level of expectation that the N64 / Dreamcast emulators will run a lot better as GLES 3.x is supported.
I will probably build another one for that. I have played N64 games on the Pi3 and some are ok so I'm sure the Pi4 will be up to it when they work out the software for it. The thing about the software is it can be a pain. When you set up for two players it messes up other things which is complicated to put right.
Frustrated as the bits to build another cabinet are in my mum's garage. I could have finished another during this lock down.
Lockdown tip for retro gamers
If anybody wants to play retro games during this lockdown on a dedicated device, I can recommend the system below. It comes with 20 Capcom arcade games along with hundreds of megadrive, snes, gameboy advance and nes ones and is under £50. You can add more console games by downloading roms onto an sd card if the one you like is not one of the many pre-loaded ones. It had the snes version of sensible soccer on it already but I prefer the megadrive version and downloaded the rom and it works great from the sd card.
What is more interesting, for the more adventurous, is that you can hack into it and turn it into a machine that plays a lot more games by downloading an image to an sd card and replacing the internal one. There are a few options here. It does involve opening it up but isn't too difficult to do if you are that way inclined and fancy a bit of a project. Although if you like the console games, you are probably ok leaving as is and you may be interested in a smaller version that is half the price. I can let you know about that if anybody wants, But this is the best one. I have tested games like Pokemon on the Gameboy Advance and the saves work perfectly.
Comments
The outer is aluminium we have printed and this has been built around a wooden frame. It is going to look very tasty when finished, but there are some little details I can do better! Anyway, off to play a bit of Carnival and Lunar Rescue - games I loved in my youth - yes they are very old!
I left out the Playstation and N64 as whilst many of the games work they feel like they are pushing the raspberry slightly outside its comfort zone. I have thousands of games for all the major consoles before those.
What was the 80s racing game that you had to choose one of 4 tracks .
Was monza one of the tracks .
I'm half thinking pole position.
Pole position is so basic, it sin't much fun. I have enjoyed playing Mille Miligia, it is very arcardy and works well with the joystick. Outrun plays well. I used domed screws on the outside, but have worked out how to hide them on the Aluminium. It was a real learning curve, with the software too! It can be a bit fiddly setting it up correctly.
Just been watching a bit of karate champ on you tube
In all honesty, it really challenged me and was close to the edge of my abilities. I could have done better with the select/start button panels. Using the Christmas lights was a stroke of genius! But I am not that handy! You can get wooden cabinet kits on e-bay. If somebody wanted to do one, I would be happy to give advice/answer questions.
The Dragon's Lair theme looks good but it is a crap game to play. I think yellow with Pac Man theme would be better. All the bits are cheap but you need a few so it adds up.
The software and games is via retropie. Strictly speaking people shouldn't be able to sell this as the games are copyright, although nobody plays them anymore and that is sad. It is easy to get hold of them though. My set up uses a 64gb SD card and I can load and save. There are thousands of games on this for all formats including Arcade and NEO GEO.
So if you wanted to play these games it can be done reasonably cheaply.
I want one. A retirement project maybe - only a few years to wait.
Lockdown tip for retro gamers
If anybody wants to play retro games during this lockdown on a dedicated device, I can recommend the system below. It comes with 20 Capcom arcade games along with hundreds of megadrive, snes, gameboy advance and nes ones and is under £50. You can add more console games by downloading roms onto an sd card if the one you like is not one of the many pre-loaded ones. It had the snes version of sensible soccer on it already but I prefer the megadrive version and downloaded the rom and it works great from the sd card.
What is more interesting, for the more adventurous, is that you can hack into it and turn it into a machine that plays a lot more games by downloading an image to an sd card and replacing the internal one. There are a few options here. It does involve opening it up but isn't too difficult to do if you are that way inclined and fancy a bit of a project. Although if you like the console games, you are probably ok leaving as is and you may be interested in a smaller version that is half the price. I can let you know about that if anybody wants, But this is the best one. I have tested games like Pokemon on the Gameboy Advance and the saves work perfectly.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-3inch-Mini-Portable-Handheld-Arcade-Retro-Classic-Game-Console-3000-Games-8Bit/283836491014?epid=21036012488&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item4215f92506:g:HpoAAOSwFN9eDwdM&enc=AQAEAAACcIQvEcHUrT7nmUC3yY5qbPyaBN1nJEDYW8MyypsJPgXKVlA44ZLASBNW4fVOteB5Xzwq7p0gkd6luPdWEqCwgFBGMOOAEoZ5t7otjRUvXu8h6vODd%2BXvbanRfIGlpYonesYYc6T%2B2Ohou1s1eDMsIjw8RjhiMC9nogXZ%2BYCt9PNf%2FPRcF%2Fb9k%2BxtVw3bMsh6gTl48iWfhZYF%2Fjm5o4GWgh1QQKVHd%2B5turT0L3rBnniPUUOvq1yUeJpzXPXU0miv%2BaLKhG2jrjo9HjYFg3GQC41tiLtkWcEEi2kP48jZlv3DG1IGkj5QFckXFnd7niol3k06Bj1w%2BCQZXuytL2PqCTa7RIoa5PGJfQLpk%2BBBDWHUMUvnlhR7hnnqm3RTCWuB%2FCNK95dqSbAMVnr8rjUW88PJZtrGtsLPNSMKe7D07rgTJ2btQFuutfE6qagX6L09QIeOk6FGYnKu5NIp0nqUqAtO%2BZXGN%2Faa08b25xHpWhlVj%2B%2FhnP0Mh1gKAWLTR404EzlRY08fHnr4mQxTDTk1s%2BDv6yQrB7Qyw8i%2FYf85WgcM6fYAvSgT%2Fk2vYI2zHpuCg5ctd2S7WoFr20eEwXS3GN%2Bw%2B4uHxCg3REGH0ujYWe8V02epmxFTtjPNhwQmk1U7n489EYZNejeLbhcuVkTCY1KKzLUrkjM6WjWyGN4G%2Bdfy%2BK%2FokzeF0H12GkB76RwkGKgmRooduslBvBbrljTkKoYtSa3Pacs7%2Bgc0lANRyovMjl5iu2X0NUFXfwUwuZMWyxgdJmTiTXpSaM27Y0WzFEJk1HMu%2Bie5mBgm67sWGq9Qa5J9Ntvl0YMoTKVGmO80%2BQ%3D%3D&checksum=2838364910141a61754d08704422bae81795ca9a50b5
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