Build your OWN retro game console with a Raspberry Pi!
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- Опубликовано: 2 июл 2024
- Is it possible to have more fun building your game console than playing it? And heck, maybe we can build a game console that plays more retro games than a brand new Switch! It's certainly more open.
Here's all the equipment I used or purchased (affiliate links):
- Weller WES51 Soldering Station: amzn.to/3izaxRZ
- Menda Alcohol container (for my isopropyl alcohol): amzn.to/3mybDym
- WS-5 Adjustable stripper: amzn.to/3agpzax
- Dowell Micro cutter: amzn.to/3li57MN
- Hakko long-nose pliers: amzn.to/3iDiJAO
- Hakko CHP 7-SA Tweezers (for SMD components): amzn.to/3DgJNNP
- APT 1mm 1" Kapton heat-resistant tape: amzn.to/3oB4SP6
- AUSTOR Desoldering wick and solder sucker: amzn.to/3FruweY
Mentioned in this video:
- Null 2: www.null2.co.uk
- My Null 2 build blog post: www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/202...
- RetroPie Weekly Build: files.retropie.org.uk/images/...
Support me on Patreon: / geerlingguy
Sponsor me on GitHub: github.com/sponsors/geerlingguy
Merch: redshirtjeff.com
#RaspberryPi #RetroPie
Contents:
00:00 - Meet Null 2
01:19 - The build
06:02 - Getting software working
08:45 - Assembling the Acrylic case
11:03 - RetroPie setup and gameplay
14:00 - Things I like
15:31 - Things I don't like
16:21 - Results and Outtakes 
Наука
The trick with the applicator thing for the acrylic cement is to have it about half full, hold it upright and squeeze the air out and flip it over, then the vacuum keeps the stuff in and you can very precisely control how much you want to squeeze out
Oooh... well that would actually make sense!
🗿
That's what I had to do for a store brand eardrops for drying out the ear. Otherwise too many drops came out instantly
Donno why ppl would dislike this much of information packed videos..i am a hobbyist and know how much efforts one could need to put to get something right when things go sideways.maybe ppl who don't understand but still watches this kinda video would dislike.
Loved it! As an electronics guy, I specially enjoyed the parts about SMD soldering, acrylic cement and other mechanical features in this board that can be useful for me.
How about having a custom copper backplate made for a heatsink and see how much more performance you could get out of it?
I like this idea. Could also just cut out part of the back-having the entire back be metal could be a bit overkill for the Zero 2 W. It can only soak up a few watts maximum.
@@JeffGeerling True, anyways I'd love to see you do this and if you are up for it mention I gave the idea. I have LOTS of ideas but no time to do all of them.
@@JeffGeerling grab an old laptop and steal the heatpipe from it and spread the load over the rear. thermal epoxy is your friend.
This sounds like a RSJ adventure….
@@JeffGeerling try connecting a rtx 3090 to get better emulation performance
Thanks for the prograde cardreader recommendation in an earlier video i commented on, its so fast and not flakey, makes importing photos much more enjoyable. Also the magnet base is nice :)
What a fun build! I've built a few mechanical keyboards and doing surface mount parts is always a bit of a pain. I found that if you just get some solder on one of the mounts, hold the part with some tweezers, and solder one side, it makes it easier to solder the other side.
This was inspiring. You showed the whole process, the good and the bad, and still persevered to the final result. Thank you for being so thorough. God bless you.
This review and step by step guide are detailed and fun. He goes through everything without taking an age.
Wow! This is amazing :) . Hope I can build my own console like that. Well, I am always amazed every time I watch your video :)
This is really cool. One of the projects that got me interested in electronics was making a portable SNES using Ben Heck's book. This was in the mid 2000's, before there were many handheld devices that could emulate the SNES well.
Quite an impressive journey if you're into such projects, and a nice "documentary" Jeff !
I stuck my Zero2 inside the GPi case... wish i had a spare cartridge to improve cooling and OC it, might look into it later.
For the time being i decided to build a FPGA handheld; you have a valid point about acrylic cases here, which i didn't think of, so maybe i will leave out 3d printing 🤔
That's a cute tiny handheld! Nice to see some of the building process!
I found this video helpful because it covers many practical soldering problems I frequently encounter
I am really looking forward to your cutiepi review! I would prefer a more conventional tablet with kickstand instead of the handle, but it is easily the most compelling pi tablet I have seen so far. I hope it is good!
A scary, nerve-wracking, but worthy Christmas gift! Merry Christmas brother!
4:53 That's why you aim the board at other people when you snip off pins.
Hmm 🤔
Don't give ideas to Red Shirt Jeff 😂😂
@@asciilal lmao.
So I ended up making a similar project with a Pi 3A+ instead (as Pi Zero is impossible to find nowadays) , and it actually ended up costing me around 50$ total. I did not have a 3d printer, so I ended up using a 2$ pencil box as the case, and all the buttons were mounted manually and connected to a Pi pico, which was in turn connected to the Pi 3a's USB Port. It ended up working pretty great (though not so great look wise). Also I can use the Pi 3's headphone jack without external dac, and having access to power & hdmi ports means I can dock the device with my TV. I actually am frequently carrying it to my college to play games during free time. This Gameboy Null project gave me the inspiration to attempt to try doing it, and I'm grateful for it.
Tremendous work! So impressive that makes me want to reproduce it! 👍 Thanks!
Love the meter! I've been using the same one for years as it's never let me down. Plus I love the buzzer.
I can see so many older projects people have made with the Zero, get a big upgrade with the zero 2. Keeping the same physical profile on the board was a smart Idea.
Actually Jeff my hacked switch runs ubuntu so I can ssh into it 😂
Well, 'out of the box' 😜
@@JeffGeerling Fair enough😁
Nintendo Wants to Know Your Location
@@ilfirinms " -FBI- NoA open up!!"
😂
I have the Raspiboy which is larger (it's like 4 years old at this point), but it doesn't require any soldering at all. The main interface board has spring-loaded pins that connect to the test pads on the back of the zero. It also exposes usb so you can use external controllers.
That is a beautiful build I love it !
Hey Jeff. I don't have much to say. Love how the content on your channel is more "affordable" for us regular people with regular incomes that have children and all of that life. In fact, I just wish you'd have more time to make more content :)
Very interesting little build, I'm personally working on building a PiGRRL Zero Advance around my own Zero 2, I'm really hoping I can leverage the touch screen to squeeze some Nintendo DS emulation out of it. The Pi Zero 2 and Compute Module 4 are both fantastic leaps forward in making portable RasPi devices practical, I just really hope they can step up production because thanks to the chip shortage they're clearly struggling to keep up with current demand.
I absolutely love the build but I think it might be out of my soldering skill level. Well done !
Those bad cuts in the end are so funny. And it shows how time-consuming it is to make a video. Keep up the good work Jeff!
Really love a good practical application!
Amazing work Jeff!! :D
I think I get to have my first smart moment. In circumstances where parts are tricky to hold / solder, don't use tape like you have here, use bostik blutack. easy to place, easy to remove, when its below 35c its fairly rigid. awesome work none the less Jeff.
I LOVE that retro multi-meter!!! 😊
I still have a fully transparent original Xbox Controller and it was always amazing to look at. Choosing the clear version is definitely the right choice and I would go for it too if I would buy this product
Great video! I feel like you went into the rabbit hole so we don't have to. I suspect your handheld game system is something you could take pride in given all of that work and frustration.
This build is great
Surface mount (SMD) soldering is so much easier using solder paste, applied to every pad, before mounting the component and heating the pads.
Have you heard of a stencil. Speeds up the solder paste distribution process.
I love to see your childhood memories come back 👾
Just subscribed, love the content. After a realisation a few weeks ago I just had to finally say it - the US pronunciation of "soldering" reminds me of the ancient cities of Soldom and Golmorrah.
This will ve really helpfull As i want to make a handheld after i made a regular console
Seeing that THPS footage was what I wanted from this video. I've got a Retroflag GPi case and can't wait to stuff a Zero2W into it. The crashes during GT2 are likely an emulator bug, it's rock solid on a regular Pi 3 and 4.
Yeah the weird thing is I tried four times before working on recording the script. Then when I went back to record the video clip of it crashing... it worked every time! No clue why.
Good job on that console! Specially with soldering, I fear soldering SMDs.
Quite a complex project but it looks awesome
Great video !!! Thumbs up for the retro multi-meter 🙂. Using solder paste and a heat gun might have made things easier for cup hole soldering ;-) .
Great video!
Use a small paint brush to apply the Weld-on, far more control. It works great on most 3D filaments too
thanks for the review!
It looks like there is a clear path from the HDMI port to the outside of the shell. It's likely you could use a ribbon cable or extension PCB.
Maybe you could solder pogo pins into the pi GPIO vias and have the pi contact the PCB with compression. That way you could easily replace the Pi if needed. Some pogo pin configurations should seat into the vias and ultimately add almost no thickness (less than a 1mm) when compressed. Downside is tolerance for the case will need to be much tighter. Really boils down to whether you want easier assembly and or easier swappable components.
Looks great. Thank you. 👍🏻
I'd like the L and R tab buttons if I made one. Those were nice for 3D games for things like autolocking and switching between targets.
Looks sick!
Very useful video. I just ordered my Null 2 kit. Missed the bit about the battery and acrylic. Made it very expensive overall. Seeing the trouble you’ve had, I’m not sure I’m looking forward to building it. One thing: is it ‘solder’ or ‘sodder’ 🤪😂
Thanks for this video! It definitely keeps me from trying to build something like this 😂
great project 👍
Getting a wermy vibe great video! 👍
You should look up the Zega Mame Gear. It's a similar drop in modders board that you can add a PI4, Pi3 or PiZero1/2 boards to, but you them mount them into a Game Gear shell.
You can avoid the "cup hole" soldering by removing the plastic thing (I think because I have not built this but anyhow the plastic is removable. Once soldered trim the excess.
Love it, got my Google home doing simpler gaming stuff. Good old welder, use to get made in Wodonga Victoria.
Love what you've done here. I found a much cheaper way with my Odroid go advance kit. Runs upto ps1 perfect and coat me only £40 plus the SD card. Batocera or emuelec both great options on it.
For the cup hole soldering, would it help to snip a tiny length of solder into each hole first, then melt it in situ? - maybe with a hot air gun?
You would have less control over the amount of solder once things get hot, and I don’t recommend hot air for this as it would heat larger areas, encouraging the solder to spread and bridge connections. You can use stripped wire to help fill the hole if you have a problematic pad.
Honestly, I probably would have put little solder "balls" on the pads individually before putting the pi on it. They'd help fill the gaps in the back, and would wick through the holes providing visual confirmation that the solder did indeed flow and connect.
In theory this would work, however in practice, I don't know.
I'd probably go with snipped off legs from resistors. You can drop them in the holes and the solder will flow down without excessive heat, flipover to complete.
@@ChrisP978 this. Definitely. 👍🏻
I tried this cupholder thing with an esp32. Most unreliable way to solder imo. I've done a some smd stuff, like mcu soldering and medium package size stuff. Barely any issues with those. Cupholder did me in
Thanks for the interesting Video.
Great vid. Thanks
This is amazing
You could also presolder the gpio and then just reheat and add extra solder when adding it to the mainboard
AMAZING!!
Paper boy was a game that I really enjoyed as a kid. When I'd lose at a level and have to do it again, after a while I would just throw the paper into their windows from frustration.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was the first video came I ever played ever. Zone 2 Chemical Plant has probably the best audio of a 16 bit era game and I think still stands up today.
I still listen to a lot of the music from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games. Everything from Powerman 5000, to Millencolin becoming a sneaky favorite of mine after buying their albums.
I had to do math tests for a kid of a friend of the family. It's been 10 years since I've been out of college so it's been a while for me. I pulled out one of my old calculators, which felt surprisingly familiar, but the results had me wishing for more. What if instead of handheld game consoles we made the ultimate graphing calculator kit? How about a square screen?
Have you seen a modern graphing calculator? They are quite impressive.
It’s a lot of fun messing around with the Pi like this. But if you’re serious about gaming on the go, you’d have a better experience getting an RG300 from Aliexpress and updating to the latest RetroFW. It will play everything your device will, but with an almost instant boot and safe instant off. Not to mention 4-6 hours of play time and a gorgeous IPS panel. All for ~$50.
I bought a custom Super Famicom style Gameboy Advance shell and built a Pi Zero 2 based emulation machine into the shell :)
back when i got my gpi case, the zero w was always out of stock
so i got desperate and desolder one of my zero wh, it was hell on earth
looking at this gave me ptsd all over again
I would love to start building these as a hobby.
where do u learn to do this. is this xomputer engineering?
Personally, I would've loved to have the larger PCB have new spots to resolder the HDMI and USB Micro ports or better yet extenders, along with pogo pins for the gpio.
Cool video, keep it up,thanks :)
AvE’s ears perked up with the squint reference.
Skookum!
It's super skookum and really chooches, not to mention it's the cockford ollie lol
Keep your stick on the ice lol
Great work Jeff! Really like the acrylic and it’s nice to use readily available parts during the chip shortages. Something that has severely held back my console :(
Kickstarter for your CM4 build soon?
I have loved what progress you've made so far!
@@fibreglassmonkey When CM4 availability improves next year, we will release a kit version. That’s the goal we’re working towards.
Great! Now i want one...
Great video, I love the form factor of the Zero (and Zero 2). BTW being British, Pratchett probably talked about 'soulder' rather than 'sodder' 😉😜 (it's one of those fun words that we seem to pronounce completely differently both sides of the Atlantic!)
Ha, yes, he would probably have pronounced it a bit different.
Just a heads up, soldering a lot of this would be easier if you had high-quality solder! Personally I have Kester solder and swear by it, it makes SMD soldering easy and repeatable. Make sure to get rosin core, 63-37 leaded solder and you'll be set.
Dude this is awesome. It looks a little to challenging for my taste. Im waiting for the minty pi lite to be available.
I love that build too! Now that I've built this, I feel compelled to build another :D
@@JeffGeerling You should . Awesome content man , keep up the good work
Keep trying with the PSX titles, I installed Recalbox on my GPi Case, and haven't had any issues with any of the games I've tried! Gran Turismo 2 is every bit as addictive as I remember...
clear plastic ftw. If its an option, I ALWAYS buy it like that.
Another great video, Jeff!
Out of curious, did you get a chance to also try running DosBox on this? Just curious if the Pi Zero 2 is powerful enough for emulating Dos games =D
Pi zero 2 added with pocket chip handheld design could solve as the GPIO pins are moved on the top.
George at 1up Restorations (Long Island Retro Gaming on RUclips) does that "Cup Hole Soldering" fairly regularly. Check out his Fix It Friday videos.
for under 49usd you can get a PSP used in good condition which does all the old consoles and PS without problems. There are also linux distros build for PSP, cheaper alternative.
And you don't need to build everything from scratch, buy the first model and you also have IR options.
Dear Jeff, what power soldering iron do you use?
I bought one of those 60-100 Watt soldering iron kits and it's really helped me. Just wondering if a powerful iron would help you when doing the narrow point soldering?
I bought the KSGER t12 after seeing lots of RUclips reviews. Digital temperature control, high power, so it keeps the tip at that temperature for quick soldering. Less risk of burning.
I'm only a beginner though.
Your review was excellent. Detailed yet pacey, covered everything, step by step video clips, edited together so well. I've never seen one of your videos before but my gosh I'm impressed. I'm going to look at what other ones you've made after I write this comment. Have a great day.
I love how this guy gets so lucky and manages to get everything working after he breaks it 😂
I think a low profile connector like the one on the compute module would have been a good idea, although getting one with the 0.1" spacing for connectors might have been an issue. Having said that, perhaps since USB and HDMI aren't being used, maybe a version based on the compute module?
I think many of the custom builds are gravitating towards the CM4. There are already a number of builds out there, some getting pretty small like those from Zarcade! pipci.jeffgeerling.com/boards_cm
Raspberry Pis are amazing!
I think I want to do this just for playing Paper Boy again. I played that game on a Commodore and a joystick that my dad built from a butter box.
I've subscribed to your channel and I also play retro games. The desktop is a power house and downloaded the software. Then tested for educational purposes and found that a desktop can handle most retro emulators. Recalbox is amazing and you can see the retro game demo before playing the game. However, you can play kodi media center. So Recalbox is my favorite emulation station for pc l and I recommend it.
I love it when someone uses peach jelly as a solder flux.
Tastes good too!
You could use resistor's snipped legs instead of solder joins.
You should definitely try NeoGeo. Great games, will work flawlessly.
I personally just use the GPi Case 2w for my Pi Zero 2w. Mostly because I haven't soldered in a long... long time...
I had fun building it. I don't really think you'd see this, But I also had an issue where it was just sitting on a white screen. It ended up being raspberry pi imager was doing something, so I had to use win32 disk imager, and add my Wi-Fi credentials with a Bluetooth keyboard
You need a good amount of flux and then it solders easier, also throwing it in the oven at 150C for a couple of hours will help get the solder between the boards.
great video! with the cup hole soldering, did you tin your pads and the back side of the pi first? tinning and flux help a lot. or, solder some thin wire to the pad sticking up. if it is coated, a bit of flame will take it off.
also, use a lower wattage for electronics. 15-25 watts instead of 40 watts. that along with a low temp solder will make it less nerve wracking.
Was all excited there for a moment -- mistook the speakers for analogue sticks.
My dream pocket device is a Pi Zero 2 with AAAAALLLLL the buttons so I can use it to play MAME ROMs on the train then use it for serious work as well. All the cheap Far Eastern handhelds can do the games, but without wifi, I can't use it as a local wifi hotspot and webserver for interactive classroom activities.
Not many of these builds have the analog sticks, not sure why. Probably has to do with Zero not being quite powerful enough for some of the games that really require them. But that's changing!
@@JeffGeerling Console-centric thinking, isn't it? Quite a few 80s arcade machines had analogue controls -- particularly driving games.
Then of course there's native games to think about, even if there isn't all that many of them.
RUclips and convenience probably has a part to play in this -- showing how it runs games on a particular console gives a readily-understood benchmark on power, whereas saying how well it runs certain MAME ROMs doesn't really give much generalisable information.
So they build to what gets seen.
No analog sticks because this was designed for the original Pi Zero, which couldn’t play much at all that needed them. Nothing to do with RUclips, I made something I wanted to use and was lucky that others want to make and use one too.
!! i got one of those multimeters at a flea market and the buzzer noise is the best thing ever. new multimeters should have that (wonder if i can transplant it...). great for continuity testing.... not so for much else, i prefer my dmm
Haha, true. Outside of the buzzer for continuity, it's not the most accurate, and it can be a bit flakey nowadays too.
But I still love the thing.
first off this is awsome. but for 150 its like you said more about the journey and fun you have in assembly. if you really wanna use one i would advice 150 bucks retroid pocket 3+ and as best in category i would say ayn odin from 200$ pro a lil more but the base model has no problem emulating ps2 and gamecube
Also take a look at MintyPi, its a retro gamd console that fits in a altoids tin
Man I want this. On the list now. Remember the clear laptop from Hackers???? Why don't we have those today? I love the metal look, but I agree. Clear is awesome.