The Picade Console kit was an ideal solution for me as it's relatively portable as it doesn't have a screen attached. The HDMI port allows the Picade to be connected to any screen of any size, even a projector!

The Picade also comes with an Arduino-compatible board with an integrated 3W stereo amplifier and behaves like a HID keyboard when plugged in via USB. This addition resolves the major headache (if you were to build you're own) of converting input from the buttons and joystick into a signal the Raspberry Pi will understand.

I do need to find a way to enable two people to play at the same time as there is only one joystick available. Perhaps a second controller can be added via usb or Bluetooth?

Building the Picade was relatively simple as you can follow a guide or now a YouTube tutorial (updated) on how to do so. All you need to do is add your own Raspberry Pi and away you go.

Adding RetroPie for playing retro games

Now that I had my arcade, I now needed a way to play the games I enjoyed playing in my childhood. RetroPie is the ideal solution as it allows you to emulate many different machines such as the ZX Spectrum, Amiga, SNES, Mega Drive and many more.

RetroPie is simple to install and has an interface that is easily controlled with the joystick and buttons alone. The RetroPie operating system can be downloaded from the RetroPie website and burnt to a micro-SD card with Raspberry Pi Imager.

Some of my favourite retro games are below;